Parable of the Sower (Dr. Daniel Biddle Genesis Conference 2021)

I wanna look here at a scripture passage called the parable of the sower, where Jesus

is giving us this analogy and he's talking about the seed, which is God's word or the kingdom of God.

And he talks about these four different conditions in which the seed goes out.

So the DNA of the seed has a potential to grow when it's going to grow, but it falls in these different

types of soil conditions that are gonna result in growth or not.

There's birds by the wayside that can come and eat up the seed.

There's a stony soil, thorns, and then there's fertile soil.

So we'll watch a short video here that will explain an overview of this parable.

The parable of the sower.

Behold, the sower went out to sow.

As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road and the birds came and ate

it up.

Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil.

And immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.

And after the sun had risen, it was scorched.

And because it had no root, it withered away.

Other seed fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and it yielded

no crop.

Other seeds fell into the good soil.

And as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced 30,

60, and 100 fold.

So to summarize, we have four different types of soil situations for the seed.

The first is where it says that Jesus says the devil is gonna come and take away the word

that would have otherwise been planted in their hearts and their minds that would have grown up into productive action.

So that's one thing that can happen is the devil can come and take away the word.

The next situation is the seeds have no root.

They take place in believers that believe for a while but then they fall away.

The next one is when the seed is choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life.

And then of course is what we want, which is the good soil, where they're gonna return 30, 60, or 100

fold what's planted in them.

So if you break these down, the first one where the devil comes and takes away the word can

be parallel to someone that just has disbelief.

They come out of tribulation or persecution because of the word and they said, you know what?

It just must not be true anyhow.

The next one can be doubt.

If they have no root and it's not taking place, they start believing God's word, then it hits a rock and they can't

believe it anymore.

That would be like doubt.

Choked with cares, riches, and pleasures are analogous to when people are distracted by the world.

So the seed of God's word will not grow.

Then of course, there's a good ground.

We wanna focus on these top two, the disbelief and the doubt.

This is where creation apologetics can really shine because they can help people understand that God's

word is true from the start.

They don't have to doubt it.

And then their roots can grow deeply.

Those seeds will be secured and then fruitful trees.

So Jesus is talking here and he says, because the seed had no root, it withered away.

And he's talking and says that some fell along stony places where they did not have much earth and they

immediately sprang up.

We have a lot of quick believers here.

So sometimes it happened because they had no depth of earth.

But when the sun was up and they were scorched and because they had no root, they withered away.

He goes on and says, but he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who

hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

Yet he has no root in himself.

He endures for a while, but when tribulation or persecution arises because

of the word, immediately he stumbles.

And we've been doing this ministry for a while.

I can't tell you the number of parents that have come up to us and said, I raised my kid in church.

They went to one Santa youth group and they went away to their first semester college at a secular school and their

comeback now for Christmas as a self -reported atheist.

It happens quite a lot.

And it's because of this tribulation that happens and the doubt and the disbelief that can foster into

a faith that just does not stick.

So tribulation means a pressing, a pressing together or pressure or oppression, affliction,

tribulation, distress and straits.

So in order to get a college degree nowadays, you're required to go through at least seven different

specific courses that they regard as core coursework, things like geology and philosophy

and other classes like this, where the student is gonna get inundated and bombarded with evolutionary

thought.

They need to be prepared for that.

And persecution is to put the fighter to drive away.

So a lot of these seeds that are planted in the minds and hearts of students today are gonna come under this

type of pressure.

Here's an example of what type of persecution we can get all the way from when they're kids listening to programs like that

shown on the screen or the crudes of these movies.

I was on a plane once and the person to my left was watching the War of the Planet

of the Apes.

The person to my right was watching the movie about Lucy that's all about, it's based on how we only supposedly use 10 of our

brain, which is another myth.

And so here are just two people right on a plane watching these movies being steeped in movies that were

overtone with evolutionary thought.

So, and of course, there's a 250 pages of evolution teaching that they're gonna get in school.

So these students nowadays are under a lot of pressure, a lot of tribulation.

And here the word says, but the ones on the rock are like those who when they hear, receive their word with

joy, but they have no root.

Who believe for a while and in time of temptation or testing, they fall away.

We want God's word to grow deeply in people.

And we think that it has to go down all the way down to Genesis.

If they're not believing Genesis 1 to 11 is real history, their roots are gonna start going down and then they're gonna hit

rocks of all, what about the science and Bible?

What about Charles Darwin?

What about deep time?

What about ape to human evolution?

A lot of Christians today, their faith tentacles are starting to go down in the root system in the soil,

but they're bumping into rocks and they're stopping.

And if the roots don't go down, the tree will not fruit or it will only have a little bit of fruit.

We believe that a strong root system requires a thorough, deep belief and understanding of Genesis 1 to

11 as real history.

What happened to me when I was a teenager and going through my young 20s, I did believe in

the Bible.

I would say it was a spirit -filled Christian.

I love Christ, loved his word.

I was just undeclared on the origins idea.

I didn't know any better.

And then later in life, when I came to understand that the Genesis account was real history,

I had to go back and build these kinds of things, these root structures called stilt roots.

This is a particular species of palm tree that grows up.

And when it's in this different type of area, it's gotta have stronger roots.

So these roots come down after the fact and make the tree strong.

That's exactly what I had to do in my life.

I had to go back and regrow some deeper roots that I would have stronger faith.

We don't wanna be like this tree that did not have a tap root that hits the nearest storm, didn't have deep soil,

is able to just fall right over.

We wanna have wide roots.

And we also wanna have a tap root.

A tap root is one that goes down deep so that when you hit the winds and the tides of life,

you're still gonna stand strong.

Psalms 1 says, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor

stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law

of the Lord.

And in his law, or the word could be Torah there, which is the first five chapters of the Bible, including Genesis,

he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in

season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper.

That is a promise from God's word that if we study and meditate and believe in

revering God's word, our root tentacles would go down deep and we will not fail to bear

our fruit in season.

Before we know it, our time on this earth will come to an end.

And all we're left with is a series of choices that lead to the outcome of our lives.

Is that true, dad?

What, Parker?

There used to be fish.

Yeah, I guess that's true.

I don't know, son.

No, son.

You

are a godly man.

It's not possible for you to make me feel comfortable.

Genesis might just be a fairy tale.

We can trust what the Bible says.

Just giving you what you want.

Now you're asking me what I want?

It's a series of choices built on a foundation.

The only question is, what is your life founded upon?