(2)
We come in this message to the first mystery of the kingdom, covered in Matt. 13:3-8 and Matt. 13:18-23.
At the beginning of the first of the seven parables concerning the mysteries of the kingdom, the Lord did not say, “The kingdom of the heavens was likened unto,” as He did in the other six parables (Matt. 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47), because the kingdom of the heavens began with the second parable. In the first parable, the Lord was going out only to sow the seed for the kingdom. The seed had not yet grown to be the crop for the formation of the kingdom. Hence, the kingdom had not yet come, but had only drawn near in the Lord’s preaching (Matt. 4:17).
When the Lord Jesus came, He came to do the preliminary work for the establishment of the kingdom. Throughout His human life, from His birth to His resurrection, the kingdom of the heavens still had not come. What He did in His life was a preparation for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens.
Verses 3 and 4 say that a sower went out to sow some seeds. In His preliminary work for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord Jesus came as a sower. Several times the Lord was called a teacher. But here He likens himself not to a teacher, but to a sower. The sower in verse 3 is the Lord Himself (Matt. 13:37). Actually, the Lord did not come to teach, but to sow the seed. What is this seed? It is the word of the kingdom with the King in it as life (Matt. 13:19). The seed is also the sons, the people, of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38). If we check with our experience, we shall realize that the seed sown by the Lord Jesus into our humanity is just Himself as life to make us the seed of the kingdom. Here three things are interrelated: the word of the kingdom, the sons of the kingdom, and Christ Himself as the life within the seed. These three cannot be separated. The word of the kingdom actually is Christ Himself as the word of life. This seed eventually produces the sons of the kingdom, who are the believers. Therefore, the seed refers to the word of the kingdom, to Christ Himself as life, and to us, the sons of the kingdom. By Christ’s being the living word of life sown into our being, we are made the sons of the kingdom.
In this parable we see that Christ establishes the kingdom of the heavens not by fighting or teaching, but by sowing Himself as the seed of life into believing people so that the kingdom of the heavens may grow up. The establishment of the kingdom of the heavens is absolutely a matter of growth in life. To establish the kingdom is to grow the kingdom. The kingdom is not established by outward working, but by inward growing. We need to emphasize this matter again and again. Because many Christian workers have not seen this, they still think that the church is built up by work and labor. But the church can be produced only by sowing Christ as the seed into humanity. This seed will grow within people and produce the church. The seed of life, Christ Himself in the word, sown into humanity will grow the church. The church is not produced by work; it is altogether produced by the growth in life. Therefore, the kingdom of the heavens is brought into being not by teaching or by working, but by sowing Christ as the living word of life into humanity. This seed will grow, and the life in it will produce the kingdom. The kingdom is absolutely a matter of life which has grown. The source of the kingdom is Christ as the seed of life. May we all be deeply impressed with the fact that the kingdom is a matter of life.
In this parable, which gives us a clear picture of the preliminary work of the kingdom, Christ came as a sower. Everyone who has sown seed knows that if there is no life in the seed, nothing will happen. Without life, it is impossible to have growth. In this parable Christ came neither as a great prophet to prophesy nor as a mighty king to rule. Yes, He was a prophet and a king, but in this parable He appears as a sower, not as a prophet or a king. In His hand there is not a scepter for ruling or for exercising authority, but seed for producing life. He came as a sower to sow Himself as the seed. Oh, may we all see this! This vision will revolutionize our concept and our Christian work. If we see this vision, we would no longer trust in what we do because we would know that the kingdom is a matter of life, that the church is a matter of growth in the life seed sown into our humanity. Therefore, we would trust completely in the growth of life. Those who have been with us for a number of years can testify that I do not teach others what they should do. I do not give them instructions regarding their behavior. But in meeting after meeting, conference after conference, and training after training, I have ministered Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit. It has always been a matter of Christ, life, the Spirit, and the church.
We all need to see this basic vision that the kingdom is a matter of life growing in us. The young people who are burdened for the campuses must see this vision. Young people, if you go to the campuses to do a work, that will mean nothing. You should not go there to work, but to sow the seed, to be a sower. During the years I was with Brother Nee in China, I saw that he was not working; he was sowing Christ as a seed. He told me that Miss M. E. Barber did not come to China to work. She was in China sowing Christ, even sowing herself in Christ. She was a seed sown into that district in China. Eventually, something grew out of that seed. The Lord’s recovery today is the produce of the seed sown by Sister Barber and Brother Nee. Do not think that our working means very much. No, our working does not mean anything. If you study the Gospels again, you will see that the first Christian worker was Christ Himself. However, He did not work very much. Instead, He was sowing.
In the parable of the sower the Lord gives us a picture of what He came to do. He came as a sower to sow the seed. To those who are proud this parable is a mystery. The Pharisees would probably say, “We know all about this and don’t want to hear of it. We know what a sower is. We know that a sower simply sows seed and that this seed falls on various types of soil. This is elementary. We want to hear something deep, something philosophical. Speak to us about the laws of Moses. Jesus, have you never read Moses and the Psalms? We would like to hear about this, not about some seed falling on the wayside, rocky places, thorns, and good soil. You are just a kindergarten teacher.” But to those who are poor in spirit and pure in heart this parable is much more profound than the teaching of Moses and all the Psalms. Hallelujah for the sower, the seed, and the good earth! This is altogether a matter of life. We need more hymns on the sower, the sowing, the seed, and the growth. Again I say, the kingdom grows; it is not built by our labor. Do not try to build the church, for what the church needs is growth. Day after day we need to sow Christ.
Recently an opposer told a brother, “We are going to stop you.” He said that they were planning to stop the Lord’s recovery. If the opposers try to do this, they will find themselves in trouble. Do not touch anything of life, for the more you touch it, the more it multiplies. If you leave it alone, it may remain dormant. But if you touch it, it will grow. Suppose you say to some seed, “Seed, I shall stop you. I shall bury you in the earth.” How good that would be for the seed! But if you leave the seeds on a pedestal, appreciating them, looking at them, and treasuring them, that will be the most effective way to stop them. But if you try to terminate the seed by burying it in the earth, the seed will grow. The opposers simply do not know what the Lord’s recovery is. The Lord’s recovery is not work, teaching, or theology. It is a seed; it is the living Christ as a seed. I have the assurance to declare to the whole universe that the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit has been sown into thousands of Americans. Do not touch them. If you try to persecute them or bury them, the one grain will be multiplied into many more grains. Who can stop the Lord’s recovery? The seed has already been sown. The Lord came to the earth as a sower to sow Himself. Hallelujah, Jesus has been sown into humanity! The principle is the same in the Lord’s recovery today. The recovery as the seed of life has been sown in America, Europe, Brazil, and many other places. No one and nothing can stop it. The Lord’s recovery is not a movement. It is Christ Himself as the seed of life sown into our being. The sower is Christ, and the seed is also Christ, Christ in the word sown into us to make us the sons of the kingdom.
According to this parable and the Lord’s own interpretation of it, this seed is sown into our heart (v. 19). In the past we have pointed out that our heart is not the receiving organ, but the loving organ, and that our receiving organ is our spirit. We say this based upon Ezekiel 36, where God promises to give us a new spirit and a new heart, a new spirit to receive God and a new heart to love Him. Here the Lord Jesus does not mention anything about the spirit; but He does say that the heart is the place where the seed is sown. Nothing can enter our spirit without first passing through our heart. In 1 Peter 3:4 our spirit is called the inner man of our heart. This indicates that our spirit is surrounded by our heart. The three main sections of the heart are the mind, the emotion, and the will. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had no awareness that we were exercising our spirit. But we did realize that we believed in Him with our heart. In other words, when we believed in Him, we opened our heart. The result, however, was that He came into our spirit. When we opened our heart to believe in Him, He came into our spirit. But our spirit is not the soil for growing Christ. The soil is our heart. This parable makes it perfectly clear that our heart is the soil, the earth, the very place where the seed is sown and where it grows. Therefore, in this parable the Lord does not deal with our spirit; He mainly touches our heart.
Verse 4 says, “And as He sowed, some seeds indeed fell beside the way, and the birds came and devoured them.” Beside the way is the place close to the way. Because it is hardened by the traffic of the way, it is difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. This kind of wayside signifies the heart that is hardened by the worldly traffic and does not open to understand, to comprehend, the word of the kingdom (v. 19). The birds signify the evil one, Satan, who came and snatched away the word of the kingdom sown in the hardened heart.
If you compare the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens with the parable of the sower, you will see that this parable is based upon the concept of the constitution. The constitution covers the matters of being poor in our spirit and pure in our heart. Those who are the wayside cannot receive the seed because they are neither poor in spirit nor pure in heart. Because the wayside, part of the soil for farming, was so close to the traffic, it became hardened by the traffic. This made it impossible for the seed to penetrate it. Thus, the seed remained on the surface of the wayside. This signifies those who are not poor in spirit or pure in heart because they have so much worldly traffic. Education, commerce, politics, science, business, and other kinds of worldly traffic go back and forth within their mind, emotion, and will. They are occupied with promotion, position, and ambition. For this reason, it is very difficult to preach the gospel to those in politics. The politicians have too much worldly traffic in their being. Those seeking advancement in politics are ambitious to gain a position or to surpass others. Likewise, it is difficult to preach the gospel to those on Wall Street. Unless the Lord knocks them down, they are too hard to receive the word into them. Day and night they are preoccupied with figures, money, and business. They cannot be poor in spirit or pure in heart. The Wall Street traffic makes them hard in their heart. When you attempt to sow the seed into them, the seed cannot penetrate them. There is no room in them for the seed. This is also true among so many in education, especially those pursuing a doctoral degree. There has been so much traffic in their heart that their heart has been hardened, just like the wayside in the Lord’s parable. Although they may hear the gospel of Christ, not a word can penetrate their heart.
We thank the Lord that, in His mercy, when the gospel was preached to us, we were poor in spirit and pure in heart. On the day I was saved by the Lord, I said to Him, “If the whole world could be mine, I would not take it. I don’t want it and I don’t like it. Lord, I want to keep my heart for You. I don’t like to have any worldly traffic in my heart.” It is never good to have traffic through farmland. No farmer would allow this. Are you part of the wayside? Do not stay close to the way. Stay in the center of the farm. Then the worldly traffic will not touch you.
Verses 5 and 6 say, “And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprang up because they did not have depth of earth; but when the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they were dried up.” The rocky places that do not have much earth signify the heart that is shallow in receiving the word of the kingdom, because deep within are rocks — hidden sins, personal desires, self-seeking, and self-pity — which frustrate the seed from gaining root in the depth of the heart. The sun with its scorching heat signifies affliction or persecution (v. 21), which dries up the seed that is not rooted. The heat of the sun is for the growth and ripening of the crop once the seed is deeply rooted. But due to the seed’s lack of root, the sun’s growing and ripening heat becomes a death blow to the seed.
The things signified by the rocks correspond to what is covered by the complemented laws in the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens (5:17-48). The second type of earth corresponds to the temper, lust, self, and flesh — the things hidden in our heart. Perhaps not many among us are part of the wayside, but I am very concerned that a good number may be rocky places. In appearance they are the same as others, for the soil is on the surface. But they have no depth. Rather, they have lust, temper, self, and flesh. All these are rocks hidden beneath the soil. Therefore, the first type of soil corresponds to those who are not poor in spirit and pure in heart, and the second corresponds to those who still have their temper, lust, sin, self, and flesh beneath the surface. Some of you may still be hiding your lust, your selfishness, and your flesh. You may shout hallelujahs in the meetings, but you do not have much depth. Instead of depth, there are rocks. Sooner or later, all these rocks will be exposed because the word that has been sown into you will not be able to be rooted in you. You may be happy and joyful, shouting praises to the Lord, but there is no root in you. Hence, when the affliction and persecutions come, you will be dried up like a plant without root that withers under the scorching heat of the sun. May the Lord have mercy upon us and dig out all the hidden rocks. May He dig out our temper, lust, self, flesh, and any other negative thing so that there may be room in our heart for the seed to be rooted deeply within us.
Verse 7 says, “And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.” The thorns here signify the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, which choke the word from growing in the heart and cause it to become unfruitful. The thorns, the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of riches, match the section in the constitution covering the attitude of the kingdom people toward riches (6:19-34). Several times in that section of the constitution the words “anxious” or “anxiety” are used. The Lord tells us not to be anxious about our living, about what we shall eat, drink, or wear. The third type of soil is not as bad as the second, but it is still difficult for the seed to grow in it because of anxiety and the deceitfulness of riches. All these thorns must be uprooted. If the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of riches are rooted out of our heart, the seed will grow.
The parable of the sower seems very simple, but it is actually deep and profound. It exposes the real condition of our heart in the presence of the heavenly King. Whatever is in us is exposed. This parable covers the hardness by the worldly traffic; the hidden lust, self, and flesh; and the anxiety of the age and deceitfulness of money. These are the wayside, the rocks, and the thorns. As long as you are either the wayside, the soil with hidden rocks, or the soil with thorns, the kingdom cannot grow in you. In other words, the church cannot grow in those types of soil. In order for the church to grow, the seed must fall on good earth.
Verse 8 says, “And others fell on the good earth and gave fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.” The good earth signifies the good heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches. Such a heart gives every inch of its ground to receive the word that the word may grow, bear fruit, and produce even a hundredfold (v. 23). The good heart is a heart which has no worldly traffic, no rocks, and no thorns. It has no hidden sins, selfishness, lust, or flesh and no anxiety of the age or deceitfulness of money. This kind of heart is truly pure to match the spirit. Such a heart is the good soil that grows Christ. Christ as the seed of life can grow only in this kind of heart, this kind of soil. This is the soil that can grow the kingdom.
In the United States of America there are millions of Christians. Recently a magazine said that there are fifty million regenerated Christians in this country. Only the Lord knows how many among this number are genuine Christians. Although there are so many Christians, I wonder how many are the good earth. How many have no worldly traffic, no hidden sins, flesh, lusts, or self, and no anxiety or deceitfulness of money? How many are poor in spirit and pure in heart? It is very difficult to find such Christians. Although we may be surrounded with Christians, we rarely find one who is truly poor in spirit and pure in heart. How about you? Do you still have worldly traffic in your heart? Are you truly poor in spirit and pure in heart? Are there any hidden rocks deep within? What about the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of money? Although we must consider these questions, we should not be discouraged. Rather, we should be encouraged. Nothing can stop God’s economy. There will be at least some who are the good earth. According to the percentage indicated by the Lord’s parable, this is twenty-five percent of the believers. I would be happy with even five percent. How good it would be if among all the real Christians five percent were poor in spirit and pure in heart, had no hidden self, flesh, or sin, and had no anxiety or deceitfulness of money! How wonderful it would be if five percent were pure for Christ to grow in them! Here and there, in so many major cities, the Lord will find the good earth. The Lord is merciful. We might have had too much traffic, but the Lord saved us from the wayside and placed us in the center of the farmland. I know of many brothers and sisters in whom the Lord has dug out all the hidden things and uprooted all the thorns to make their heart the good earth. Praise the Lord for this! There is no doubt that among us a good many are the good earth, the good soil. The kingdom and the church are growing here. Here in the church life we are growing Christ, and we are growing the kingdom. The kingdom does not come by our working. It comes only by the growth of Christ within us. May we all be impressed that today in the Lord’s recovery the Lord is doing the work of sowing Himself into people so that He may have the good earth to grow Himself into the kingdom. This is the first parable, and this is the preliminary work for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens.
