(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, so this morning I'm going to continue on with a series I began two weeks ago. We had a break there for the Resurrection Sunday, but if you remember, I started a series two weeks ago called analogies in the Bible, or analogies of the Bible, rather. And we were talking about, not necessarily the analogies that the Bible uses to illustrate different things, but actually analogies within the Scripture that illustrate the Scripture to us. The Bible likens itself unto several different things throughout Scripture, and we're just going to go through over the next several weeks and look at a few of those. The last time, two weeks ago, we were in this series, we were looking at the fact that the Word of God was likened unto a mirror, as we read in James 1, 23. It said, if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is likened to a man beholding his natural face in a glass, and we went on and talked about how the Word of God is a spiritual mirror that reflects us spiritually, for better or worse. And the application there at the end was that we need to use the Word of God in order to help us with our spiritual grooming. But today I'm going to move on in the series, and we're going to talk about the fact that the Word of God likens itself unto a seed. You might have caught that in 1 Peter 1, verse 23, right? That's where the 23 came from there a minute ago. Verse 23, it says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So the Bible's showing us here that we were born again, we were saved, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, and he says that that seed is what? The Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So it shows us again that the Word of God is likened unto a seed. And this is something that actually comes up in several different passages in Scripture. And if you want to go ahead and turn over to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, we'll see some of that this morning, that the Bible's actually often referred to, or likened unto a seed this morning. And I believe there's some things that we can understand about that, and really some very important doctrine that we can learn from that. A doctrine that's going to affect our methods of evangelism. These are things that we need to understand. This is important this morning. This analogy of the Word of God being a seed is important because of the fact that it helps us to understand the way in which we should go soul winning. The way in which we should reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ. The first thing I want to point out about this analogy this morning is the fact that there is a need for the seed. There is a need for that seed, okay? The Word of God, remember, that's what the seed is, right? That's what's being likened unto a seed. The Word of God, the Bible, the Scriptures, okay? The Word of God is necessary for the new birth. The Word of God is necessary for the new birth. You have to have the Scripture in order to get somebody saved. In order for a person to be born again, they must put their faith in the Word of God. You say it's all by belief, but believing in what? Believing in the record that God has given us of his Son. Believing in the Word of God. We have to put our faith in the Word of God. We have to have that seed there. You can't just get people saved through logic. You can't just get people saved through reasoning or some kind of evidence. The Word of God has to be there because that is what the seed is. You're not going to go out and try to plant a garden by just talking to the ground and saying grow, grow. I don't care how long you stand out there and yell at it. Until you put a seed in the ground, nothing's going to grow. You have to have the seed to get something to grow. The Word of God is showing us this morning that there is a need for the seed, the Word of God, to be there in order for there to be a spiritual fruit. This is throughout Scripture. I'm just going to read to you from John. The Bible says, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. People say, well, see, it's just got to believe. It's all by belief. I understand that. Jesus goes on and he clarifies a few chapters later and says what it is that we have to put our faith in. What is it that we have to believe? What does he mean by believing on him? He said, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth. You see that? There's a hearing of the Word of God, hearing the words of Christ and believing. We understand, we use this illustration all the time out so many. The unsaved world believes there's a historical figure named Jesus. No one denies that. They're not putting their trust in him. They're not believing the words that came out of his mouth. They don't believe all the things that he said that if we put our trust and faith in him, he'll give unto us everlasting life. That's what he says. He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life. Of course, he was speaking to the Jews also in this chapter. He went on and told them, verse 38, ye have not his word abiding in you. What was their problem? The word wasn't there. The seed was not there. For whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Why is it that they believe not? Why is it that rather that they didn't have his word abiding in them because they didn't believe? We see that the belief that we have is in the Word of God. We have to have that seed there. He said, search the scriptures. For me, think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Yes, it's all by faith, but it's all by faith in what? In the scriptures, in his word, and what he has spoken. So first of all, we see that there is a need for the seed. The Word of God is being likened unto an incorruptible seed this morning, and the first thing we can learn from that is the fact that in order for there to be a new birth, the Word of God has to be there. The next thing I want us to understand this morning, and I've spent a little bit more time on this point, is that a seed requires a sower. A seed requires a sower. You know, I used the illustration a minute ago, you can't just go out in the backyard and speak to the ground and say, bring forth abundantly, avocado, tomato, whatever plant you want. I wish it were that easy, right? There has to be a seed there, but here's the thing, somebody has to put that seed there, don't they? I mean, you can buy all the seeds you want and put them out in the garage or wherever, but until you actually take the time to take that seed to the ground and put it in, nothing's going to grow, right? And we can't just go down and buy the seeds and bring them home and set them on the kitchen counter or maybe set them, you know, somewhere near close to the door and hope the seeds are just going to hop out and run over there and plant themselves. You know, that would be ridiculous, and it's a silly illustration, but I'm trying to show us to make the same point here that yes, we have the seed, which is the Word of God, but we have to be the ones that go and plant that seed. There has to be a sower of the seed, okay? A soul winner is necessary for the new birth. So we see, first of all, that the seed is necessary for the new birth, but the sower is also necessary for the new birth, and we see this in the examples of Jesus and his parable of the sower. You're there in Luke chapter four, look at verse 42, I mean, Jesus even had to go sow the seed. He said in verse 42, in Luke chapter four, verse 42, and when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place, and the people sought him and came unto him and stayed him that he would not depart from them, and he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. So what was Jesus saying here? I have to go, and for what purpose? To preach the kingdom of God. He couldn't just stand there and wait for everybody to come to him, and then they were just going to look at him and just immediately get saved. No, he had to go there, and he had to preach to them, and he says specifically, that is the reason, he said, for therefore am I sent. God sent Jesus Christ to come down here and to be a type of sower himself, to come and to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. That's what he was sent here to do. So even in Jesus' own life, we see this sowing of the gospel. We see the sowing of the seed, right? We have the seed of the word of God. There has to be a sower. Now we all know his parables. Go over to Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13. Familiar with parables, I understand, but let's listen to these things and let them sink down into our hearts and understand this doctrine, because this doctrine is under attack. People do not believe this today, and it has affected the way Baptist churches evangelize the world. It has, and I'm not just saying that out of some kind of empty rhetoric. I've witnessed it firsthand. I've even participated in it to some degree. He said here in Matthew chapter 13 verse 18, hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. So he's actually going to give us his whole parable about what? About sowing. So it seems to me that sowing is a pretty important part of our ministry, that it's something that we should be endeavoring. He's using it as an illustration to show us soul winning, basically. That's what we see here. He says in Matthew 13 verse 18, hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom. Catch those words when he hears the word, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one to catch away that which was sown in his heart. So the devil comes and he snatches away that which was sown in his heart. Now how is it sown there? Did someone come along and shove a gospel tract into his chest cavity? Did someone make him ingest John 3.16 out of the Bible? Shove it in his mouth, swallow. The seed's in there, it'll grow now. No, of course not. Again, I'm being a little facetious, but it's an example. And he's using this example of a sower going out and casting seed, right? That which was sown in his heart, how did it get there? When he heard the word. When anyone, verse 19, heareth the word, that which was sown in his heart. So we see that hearing the word of God is the sowing of the seed. And by the way, emphasis on the word hearing, not reading, hearing. You're not gonna show me when anyone reads the word of God on their own. It's always when he heareth the word of God, preach to him, okay? Which is why Jesus had to go and preach to other cities, the kingdom of God. That's why he was sent to preach, not to just hand out literature. Read this when you have a chance, read this when you have a chance, read. No, he had to go and he had to preach. The word is sown in his heart when he hears the word of God. And it goes on in that same verse. This is he which received the word by the wayside. Verse 20, but he that received the seed in stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, there it is again. Verse 22, he also that received the seed among the thorns is he that what? Heareth the word, it's a hearing. But verse 23, he that received seed under the good ground is he that heareth the word. It's a little redundant, we need to understand this principle. Because it is under attack, because it is going by the wayside. Go over to Luke chapter eight, Luke chapter eight. I'm gonna take the time to emphasize this, because this is something that people can get off on. People can get drawn aside, and people can lose their way in this doctrine, people can begin to believe false things. But this is the plain reading of scripture this morning. This is the plain sense of the Bible. Luke 8, verse 11, it says, now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. So there again, another great verse just showing this analogy in the Bible, this analogy of the scripture within the scripture, that the seed is the word of God, that the word of God is likened unto a seed, and that seed has to be sown. He says in verse 12, those by the wayside are they that what? Read, no, they that hear, they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they which, what, when they hear. There it is again. Receive the word of God with joy, and these have no root for a while. Believe in a time of temptation fall away. Verse 14, and that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are looked, and are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life. Verse 15, that on the good ground are they which, when an honest and good heart having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth the fruit, a fruit with great patience. So again, the word of God is being likened unto a seed this morning, and we see that a seed is necessary for the new birth, and we see that a seed requires a sower. That's the example of Jesus, as he said, that's why I was sent to preach. That's the example that he uses in his parables. It's the example of the Great Commission. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Well, I know, but those are parables. I know it says here, but is it really, doesn't it mean you could, you know, that seed could come in the form of a gospel track or whatever? Well, what's the example of the Great Commission? What did he tell them? He said to them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He didn't say, go ye into all the world and hand out literature. He said, go ye out, no, I'm not against literature. I mean, it has its place, but that's not the emphasis. That should not be what we emphasize in our evangelism. And, you know, we might not have ever experienced it, but I'm telling you, it's out there. Baptist churches, that's what they emphasize. They buy property, they build buildings, they buy presses, they raise money, they send entire containers of literature to other countries and say, well, we just, we're accomplishing the Great Commission. Oh, really, where's the preaching? Where's the hearing? Now, I'm not saying those things can't be used to some degree, but I'm saying this, that if a person's gonna get saved, they need the seed of the word of God. And the Bible shows us that that seed is sown through preaching, through hearing the word. And then, you know, a big part of it, and I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, is because, you know, if we can take that part of the Great Commission, go and preach the gospel, and just turn that into, go and paper the world. Go drop flyers, go just send mailers. You know what that helps with? That helps alleviate the go part, doesn't it? And that's really what it's about, unfortunately. Cuz the go part's the hard part. Well, I mean, what's easier? To just send a bunch of literature over to another part of the world to actually get up and go there, and do the actual hard work of putting your feet on the ground, and opening up the Bible, and opening up your mouth, and preaching Christ. I think the answer's pretty obvious. It's the example of Jesus, it's why he came, to come and preach. It's the example of the parables that he used. The sower sows through preaching, the seed is received through hearing. It's the example of the Great Commission, it's the example of Paul. That's how Paul fashioned his ministry, was through the preaching. It says in Romans 1, verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. So what is the power of God unto salvation? It's the gospel, right? You say, well, it doesn't matter how it comes. It shouldn't matter. Why do we have to necessarily go somewhere and actually open up our mouth and preach the gospel? We'll look at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 17, he said, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. He said, that's why I'm sent, to go and preach. For the wisdom of the, excuse me, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made in effect, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perishes foolishness. But in us which are saved, it is the power of God. So yes, the power of God this morning is the gospel, but that power is delivered through what? Through the preaching of the cross, through the preaching of it. Not through the illustrating of it in a comic. That's big, it's out there, that's not where the power is. It's not through a text, it's not through literature, it's through the preaching. What else is preaching if it's not opening up your mouth and speaking? I mean, if preaching is something else, then how about next Sunday I show up and instead of me saying a word, we'll just have a teleprompter right here. We'll have a big screen, and we'll just scroll through my notes, and you guys can all just read it. And then I'll just point to the next verse, and I'll just point to this next point. Well, it's preaching, isn't it? No, this is preaching. When I stand up here and open up my mouth and talk. When I use the mouth that God has given me to proclaim the gospel, that's preaching. That's where the power is this morning. That's the example of Paul's ministry. Ask Paul, wouldn't it have been easier to just sit down and bend a scribe and just write out the same thing over and over again, repeatedly, and just have people take it places and just hand it out? Probably could have, he would have been able to lay low, not get into so much trouble. Yeah, he could have done that, but you know what wouldn't have been there? Power. You know what wouldn't have been there? Salvation. Because it's the preaching, yes, is the gospel, and that preaching, that power is delivered through the preaching of the cross. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Even Paul likens evangelism unto that of a sower who was sowing seed, right? He says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, that's where I think I told you to go. I'm working on it. Verse 5, he said, who then is Paul and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. So the Bible says he gave to every man ministers by whom they believed. Meaning this, that if you got saved, a born again Christian had a part to claim that. Somebody preached you the gospel. And you know, you start to preach this and people object and say, well, I never had that happen. Well, I'm sorry, but your personal experience does not trump scripture. You know, and that's anecdotal evidence. That's me just taking you. You might be saying that and you might even believe that's the case with you. No one preached the gospel to me, I just read a tract and got saved. Maybe someone preached it to you when you were younger. I remember as like seven, eight years old being taken to a Baptist church. And sitting in a Sunday school and hearing about Jesus and someone telling me about salvation, trying to explain these things to me. It didn't register, but that happened. That type of thing happens all the time. And I read gospel tracts after that. And you know what? It's true that that gospel tract, at least it got me thinking about spiritual things. At least got me to think about there is a God, that there is a place called hell. But I did not get saved until somebody took me aside and opened up the Bible and explained to me all of these things and preached me the gospel. And people want to argue with that, chapter and verse, chapter and verse. That's what I'm giving you this morning, chapter and verse. The Bible says very clearly right there that they are ministers, by whom they believed as the Lord gave to some people, most people? No, every man, everyone had a minister by whom they believed. That's what the Bible says. He said in verse six, I have planted. There's that analogy again, right? I have planted that seed being planted. He said, I'm the one who planted. Apollo swatered, right? So it might be that maybe some preacher came and, like Paul with the Corinthians, He said, hey, I came and I planted that seed. I preached you the gospel and you didn't get saved right then. But then another soul winner named Apollos came along and he watered that seed. Maybe we're not always the ones that are planting that seed, but sometimes we might be the one that's watering it. That's why we should always try to give some kind of scripture at the door. If people don't want to hear it, just hey, before I go, can I quote you one verse before I go? And I always like to enclose those words, before I go. Then they get in their head, he's about to leave. He's serious about leaving cuz then they're open to it. And they'll say, yeah, you give them John 3.16, give them Ephesians, two, it's escaping me, 89, thank you. Give them those seeds, because you might be Paul. You might be that Paul in their life. And then you never know, Apollos might come along later and water it, and then it'll germinate and they'll get saved. Look at verse seven. Verse six, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. And say, there's a good one for the Calvinists. God just does it all. No, Paul planted, then Apollos watered, and then God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God. It's not that it's all God to the exclusion of us, and it's not that it's all us to the exclusion of God. It's that we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry, you are God's building. So we see that this use of the seed is the example of Jesus. That there has to be a sowing, that there has to be a soul winner to sow that seed. It's the example of Jesus, it's the example of his parables. It's the example of the Great Commission. It's the example that Paul used. That to every man there was given a minister by whom they believed. And you say, well, I don't know, I'm still not convinced. Okay, well, how about this? How about every salvation in scripture? How about every salvation in scripture involves a sower? How about every time we see the seed of the word of God being planted and someone being saved, a sower is there to sow the seed? It's every example. And I strained, and I thought, and maybe I missed one, but I don't think it's there. Go over to, well, let's just go through it this morning. Go to Acts chapter 16, Acts 16, we're going to stay in Acts for a minute. Not only is it the example of Jesus Christ, not only is it the example of Paul, not only is it the example of the Great Commission, not only is it the example of Jesus Christ, not only is it the example of his parables, but the fact that there has to be a sower to sow the seed is the example of every salvation in scripture. Acts 16, verse 30, the Philippian jailer, a very famous story. And they brought him out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? We know the story. And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house. They said, read this when you have a minute. And walked away. Everything you need to know is in this 12 page pamphlet. It's got really catchy illustrations to it. Well, what are you? I've got a track for a Roman Catholic, I've got a track for a Mormon, I've got a track for LDS, I've got a track for, what's your background, Philippian jailer? Because I've got a track made just for you. You read that, and it'll take care of everything. Is that what they did? No, they immediately opened their mouth, didn't they? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. That's that seed getting planted. That's just that little bit of seed. It goes on, it says, we forget about the rest of it sometimes, in verse 32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and all that were in his house. They didn't just give him a little nugget, and then left him some literature, a DVD, just watch this creation seminar. It'll straighten everything out for you. No, they spake unto him the word of the Lord, the Bible says. So there's an example in scripture of a man getting saved having the seed sown in his heart by who? By a sower. By somebody who took the time to open their mouth and speak unto them the word of the Lord. And we could think of other examples, go to Acts chapter eight. Say, well, what about the Old Testament? What about back then? Okay, how far back do you want to go? You want to go back to Noah? You want to go back to the prophets, Old Testament Israel? Preachers abounded. I mean, they had the Levites, they had the priests, they had prophets. Preaching was a major part of the Old Testament. It's not like God made up preaching in the New Testament. But go back to Noah. What was he? The Bible calls him, in 2 Peter, what? A preacher of righteousness. You think Noah just built the ark and then people said it was gone, he just went, figure it out. Connect the dots. No, he was a preacher of righteousness. He preached Christ unto them. He preached faith in the Lord unto them. You want to go back further before him? What about Enoch? The Bible says that he prophesied of these. He was a preacher. We don't know everything that he said, but he preached. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of saints. He preached the Lord. Even before that, they would have had Adam, and so on and so forth. There's always been a preacher. Listen, as long as the word of God has been a seed, there's been someone there to sow it. Because you have to have a sower in order for a seed to get planted. Well, I don't know, what about Abraham? Haha, gotcha, right, Abraham. Well, Abraham had the ultimate soul winner. The Bible says the Lord appeared unto him and spake, right? There it is again, God coming and speaking, right? The Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy seed, I will give this land. Let's look at another example in Acts, chapter 8, verse 27. Another very famous example of the Ethiopian eunuch. And it says in verse 27 in Acts 8, and he arose and went, behold, a man of Ethiopia and eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all the treasure, had come to Jerusalem for the worship. Now, don't miss that. That's an important detail in the story. This is a man that has come to Jerusalem for the express purpose of worshiping God, the true and living God of Israel. I mean, he's well intent. He's there for the right reasons. He wants to know. He was returning, it says in verse 28, and sitting in his chariot, read Isaiah's the prophet. He's reading. He's literally on his way back from worshiping in Jerusalem, still unsaved. And he's literally got the book of Isaiah open and he's reading it. And he's reading Isaiah 53, which is a prediction of Christ. We won't take the time to go through it all this morning, but go read Isaiah 53. It's all about him being wounded for our transgressions, that iniquity of us was laid upon him, that he was a man of sorrow, so on and so forth, and he's reading about Christ. Does that get him saved? No, the spirit grabs Philip and brings him there and says, run and join thyself to that chariot. Why? To preach to him. To preach to him. Not to hand him another DVD. Look, and I'm not against DVDs, we hand them out all the time. Not to hand them, but just some literature. He was returning and sitting in his chariot and he read Isaiah's the prophet. When the spirit said unto Philip, verse 29, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah's and said, understand what thou readest? Understand what thou readest? Look, I remember reading gospel tracts. And again, as I said earlier, a personal experience is not doctrine. But often it can line up with doctrine, can't it? It can back up what we believe. I read gospel tracts, I read the little prayer, and I didn't understand it. I even sat down, I remember, I said, you know what? I'm gonna give Christianity a chance. I opened up my middle name's John. I said, well, the Gospel of John's probably a good place to start. I didn't understand any of it. I got a few chapters in, I said, I don't get it. I was well-intentioned. I was open to the truth. It was like this Ethiopian here. Open to the truth, willing to seek God, had the book open. Didn't understand it. That's what he says here. That's his answer. No, I don't understand it. Well, are you illiterate? Oh, the book's upside down. That's why you can't understand it. How can I, he said in verse 31, except some man should guide me. You see, the seed's not enough this morning. There has to be a sower. There has to be a sower. That's the examples that we've looked at. And here's a perfect case study where there's a man reading a passage of scripture about Jesus himself and his atonement. And he's looking at it, and he says, I don't understand it. I need another person to guide me. The place of the scripture, Isaiah 53, which he read, he's reading, was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter like a lamb done before his shears. So opened he not his mouth, and his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. Verse 34, and Eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee. Of whom speakest thou the prophet this, of himself or some other man? Then Philip did what? Opened his mouth. He opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. He didn't say, well, I'm glad you're interested in spiritual things, and I'm in a hurry. I've got a whole case of these things to hand out if you would just read this. Just do some more reading, maybe you'll get it eventually. No, he said, let me explain to you what the scripture's saying here. That's what it takes to sow, that is the sowing of the seed. It's not just, why don't we just rent a plane and get a bunch of literature, just get a bunch of tracts, and every Sunday instead of going out and knocking doors and opening our mouths and the heat and everything else and doing all that hard work, we'll just fly over this town. It'll actually probably be kind of fun. And we'll just stand out there and just shake box after box. And then we'll just litter this whole city with literature. And people will just pick it up and, aah, get saved just through reading. You can say, well, no, something like that would work. Show me, show me in the scripture. Show me an example, because that's all I'm showing you this morning. Example after example after example, parable after parable of the seed being sown through preaching, through opening the mouth and explaining the things of scripture. And he preached on Jesus and we know the rest of the story. He said, if thou believeth all thine heart, thou mayest. And he believed and he was baptized, amen. Say, well, boy, you're really going off on this this morning. Is it really that big of a deal? It is a big deal. It is a big deal. Let me explain why. When you dismiss or when you substitute the need for a sower to sow the word of God in order for people to get saved, a couple things happen. When you have this attitude that says, well, I understand that's the example. I understand there's a mountain of scripture here. But we don't really need to preach. We just need to send people literature. And again, folks, I've done it. I'm not just making this up, I have stood for hours and handed out Bible tracts. For hours at the Cherry Festival, where millions of people come through. And stood out there in a corner and just handed them to people, handed them to people, by the hundreds, if not the thousands. Year after year I've done that. I used to buy these tracts. I used to leave them at work. Remember I had the Chick tracts, right? Who's ever seen the Chick tracts? We could even discuss what they mean in there about their presentation, the gospel, but point being is this, is that I thought I was sowing some seed every time I went in the bathroom and left the Chick tract on the toilet paper roll. For the next co-worker to come through and read. And they would disappear, I'd say, someone here's gonna get saved. So I'd leave another one. Which for you, heaven or hell? You know, I can't remember all the catchy titles they had. And then one day, I came into the shop, and right at my boss's table, he had all of them laid out. He said, quit leaving those in our bathroom. Didn't do any, I mean, did he read them? I don't know. I remember, I'd leave them in relatives' bathrooms. Here, he'll read that. Then I'd find it in the trash. You know, that's where I found a lot of those tracts that I'd stand out there for hours handing out. Here, here, here, take this, read it, get saved. Go around the corner till they had the little trash can on the sidewalk. That's where they all end up. You'd look in there, just there they all are. People look at them, well, that's cuz they didn't read it. That's why they didn't get saved. Okay, let's give you that. I'll give you that. How then is that an effective ministry? How is that, that's not even close to being efficient at all. Let's just pretend for a minute that none of the scripture even exists that I just read, and that it's possible for somebody to just pick up a tract, read it, and get saved, okay? If I gave you that, it's still, you'd have to admit, an incredibly inefficient way of spreading gospel. Because most people aren't going to read it. There's this principle in marketing that I always try to keep in mind. The more you write, the less people will read. The more you write something, the less people are, the less likely people are to read it. That's a little tip. You know, if you wanna get people to actually read something, some kind of announcement, don't fill it with text. Be very concise and to the point. Cuz people don't want to take the time and go, I gotta read this, you know. I gotta read and understand and comprehend and people want to do that. That's human nature. The path of least resistance. Look, it happens to me all the time. I remember telling somebody this recently. They were putting up the sign up sheet for the soul winning trips. And I said, be very brief. I said, we're gonna highlight this and it's gonna be in red bold text and people still aren't going to get it. It's two sentences. And people still aren't going to get it. No. First time he put it, he said, you were right. I said, I know, because that's the way people are. But you expect me to believe that if we just go out and hand bi-fold tracks with all of this text, this tiny text, that somebody's gonna sit down and read it? Even if that could get them saved, it's incredibly inefficient. It's the way of spreading the gospel. And you have no way of tracking it. You have no way of knowing if it's working at all. And I'll tell you right now, it doesn't work. It doesn't work, because that's not the Bible way of getting people saved. You know, it might get them to think about spiritual things, but it's not going to sow the seed. The sower has to do that with his mouth, through them hearing it. That's how it's received. So this attitude that just says, well, we're just gonna replace the preaching with literature. Instead of actually going to this country and preaching the gospel, instead of investing thousands of dollars, yay, even more, in actually just going there for a week and taking a group of people and preaching to them and actually looking them in the eye and opening our mouth and making known the gospel, we're just gonna get a shipping container and fill it with Bible tracts. Look, these things are out there. I mean, I remember being in a Baptist church and have the guy come through. He was a missionary promoting a Bible tract ministry. And he had all the slides of all the guys, the whole standing around the container with their hands on it, praying for the container of tracts as it makes its way to whatever country. And they all walk away, and I put some money on the plate. Yeah, take my money. I'm spreading the gospel. I could walk out, I did something for the Lord, accomplished nothing. And I'm not, you know what, I understand that this understanding, that this preaching, this attitude about Bible tracts, is gonna ostracize me from the vast majority of Baptists. I don't care. I'm already ostracized already. I like being alone. But it's the truth. I mean, we just looked at a few of the examples this morning. It leaves souls unsaved when you dismiss the need for a sower. It leaves souls unsaved. The Bible says, go to Romans 10, another very familiar passage. It says in 2 Corinthians 4, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. We don't wanna hide the gospel. We know it, we understand salvation. We understand what it takes to get a soul saved. Why would we hide that? Who are we hiding it from? The people who need it the most. Romans 10, it says in verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on them in whom they have not believed? It doesn't stop there. And how shall they believe on whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a what? Preacher. And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. Look, they'll believe, but someone's gotta be there to preach. They won't believe if they don't hear. They can't hear if someone doesn't preach. The seed has to be sown through a preacher. So this attitude of dismissing or substituting or downplaying the need of a sower leaves souls unsaved. You know what else it does? Is it gives a false sense of accomplishment. Like I was saying a minute ago. I'm supporting a tract ministry. I'm handing out a lot of tracts at the Cherry Festival. Really working hard for the Lord. And people say, it is hard. And you know what? I'm sure it is. It was hard to stand there and hand those things out and watch people throw them away. It was discouraging, right? It's a false sense of accomplishment. You know what's a lot harder than that? Actually confronting people about their soul. Actually asking them, if you die today, are you sure you can go to heaven? Do you know where you're going when you die? What do you believe it takes to get there? That's a lot more confrontational, isn't it? Then hey, read this. Vacuum sales people do that. Here, read this. Political, people who are campaigning for political candidates. Here, read this. People do that all the time. That's easy. Tract ministries are inefficient at best. At best, they're inefficient. But again, it all goes back to this idea of not wanting to have to do the hard work of actually sowing the seed. Of actually sowing the seed. It's hard to sow seed if you've ever done it. Ask anybody who's grown a garden. You gotta get down there, turn up the soil, get the seed, make sure it's a good seed, and put it in the soil and bury it. I mean, it's work. Even if you, I remember we would have to, we would seed topsoil for grass along the side of the roads and yards and things like that. Even with a big, what do they call that thing, the spreader, right? The broadcaster. You'd pour in that seed and just show it everywhere. You still had to walk around with that thing. Still had to lift up that big heavy sack. You still had to push that cart up hills, down hills, sideways, everything else. It's a lot of work to go out and sow seed, isn't it? For you to go do it. You know what's easy? Just throw some money on the plate and say, ship those things off for me, would you? I'll think about it for one Sunday service, and then I'll never have to think about it again. I'll just throw some money on the plate, and I'm reaching thousands. No, it says there how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet. Are the feet, not their wallet. Their feet are what's beautiful. Of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. So you'll see how publishing, all right, see that? Gotcha. Go to Romans 10, you're still in Romans 10, right? Well, it says publish how beautiful them that publish good tidings, right? Like a publisher, like a printing press, huh? Yeah, see, I got you now. I found my verse to support my track ministry. The Bible says right there, I got beautiful feet too. I just buy some ink, I buy some stock paper, I get a graphic designer. I fill out a bill of, how beautiful is the bill of lading? No, how beautiful the feet, them that publish people. What does it say in Romans 10? By the way, it's not a word for word. Within the scripture itself, that's a whole other thing. Romans chapter 10, verse 15, and how shall they preach except that they submit as is written, how beautiful the feet of them that what? Preach the gospel of peace. So what does it mean to publish? It means to preach. It means to preach. It means to go out and publicly preach the gospel. That is publishing the gospel. So it's important to understand this doctrine this morning. We're looking at why the word of God is likened unto a seed. One is so that we can understand that the seed is necessary. There's a need for the seed in order for somebody to be saved. And that not only is the seed necessary, the sower is necessary. And if we don't understand this, if we dismiss this doctrine, souls are gonna go unsaved. We're gonna get involved in some other form of ministry, like a tract ministry or whatever, and have some kind of false sense of accomplishment because we gave some money or handed out a few tracts. You know what, and the worst part is that people don't get saved, right? You know what else it does? Is it robs us of our joy. It robs the Christian of real joy in the Christian life. You know one of the best things in the Christian life is? Is getting other people saved. I mean, I understand sometimes we have to drag ourselves to soul winning. The flesh is weak. The spirit's willing, and I've seen it in others, and I've seen it in myself even. For days, it's like, gotta go soul winning. And then the craziest thing happens. I knock that first door, maybe I only get to give a verse. Maybe I get to give the whole gospel. They do say they don't get saved. But when someone gets saved, I say, I don't want to do anything else. I just want to keep going. I can't wait until the next soul winning time. And that's what I remind myself every time I get in the flesh. And I've seen people show up at soul winning times, and they're having a bad day, they're having a tough day. They're a little down, and then they get someone saved, and they come back. Just ear to ear, I'm not even exaggerating. This isn't the same person. I thought you were having a bad day, I don't know what you're talking about. It robs us of our joy when we replace the sower with whatever. When I say, well, I'm not gonna actually go out there with my feet and with the Bible and open my mouth. I'm just gonna send some literature their way. The Bible says, he that goeth forth, he goes himself and weepeth bearing precious seed, the word shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. What made the change in that soul winner? It was the sheaves, right? It was the fact, I got a sheaf, I got one, I got a salvation. That's what brings, they come back, they go out weeping, they come back rejoicing. What made the change? The fact that there's a sheaf, they have something to bring to their Lord, to show him. But what made the change with the sheaf? It was the seed, wasn't it? It's the seed. The seed is what's ultimately responsible for all of it. For the soul winner's joy, for the sinner that got saved, it's the seed. So we need to understand why the word of God is likened unto a seed this morning. Because a seed is necessary for salvation, for something to grow. And a seed must be sown by a sower. Now, a kind of an unrelated point that's gonna be a little bit of a lead in to the next couple of sermons is this, is that, and I'm not gonna develop this point. But a seed, not only is it all those things that we just talked about, a seed also represents a beginning, doesn't it? It represents a beginning, right? I don't know if they still do this in public school or if you've done it at home. But I remember one of the few things I've retained from schooling is when we would take a seed, I don't even remember what kind of plant it was, but you take that little brown paper towel, who knows what I'm talking about, and you put the seed in it, and you get it wet, and you leave it by a window sill or something like that, and then as a little kid, just watching it, and as soon as that little came out, that little sprout, put it in some dirt, and we would grow, I mean, that's fascinating. But what is that little sprout that comes out of that seed when it's germinated? It's a new beginning. It's new life. It's potential, isn't it? But you know what? That seed can't just be left to itself, does it, can it? I mean, yeah, we got it wet, we left it in the thing, and then the teacher said, now, as soon as it sprouts, you gotta get it in some dirt. And we had those little, I think it was the little milk cartons, right, the little cardboard milk cartons that we had the little potting soil in. And you'd put your finger in there, and put it in there, and cover it up, and then you had to water it every so often, make it keep by the window, right? But what if we just left it in the paper towel? It would have dried up and died within a day or two. The water would have been gone, and it would have withered and died. So yeah, a seed is a new beginning, isn't it? That's another thing we need to think about, and we're gonna look at some of the other analogies of the Bible in the coming weeks. And we'll see that the Bible is not only is it the seed, but it is also the nourishment for that seed. It is the light that the seed needs. It is the water that the seed needs. We are that seed, in a way. We that have received that seed, we have the spirit of God germinated within us. And we understand that's never gonna die. Every illustration falls apart at some point, folks. But we need to nourish that seed in our life through the light of the word of God, through the water, through the milk, right? The word of God, not only is it that which brings forth life, it also sustains life, spiritually speaking. But this morning's takeaway is this. The Bible is likened unto a seed. A seed must be received for salvation. And that seed for salvation must be sown by you and I. We have that responsibility. And we receive, and that's not a burden. Yeah, and one thing I always try to remind myself when I say this all I have to do this, to say no, no, no, I get to do this. I get to go out and sow that seed. I understand it's hard work, but it's something I'm privileged to do. Let's go.