The Seed and the Heart – The Parable of the Sower Explained

Here again, you still see the heart. The heart is still being seen here. Here’s the heart. Sisters and brothers, I will give you a measurement of your heart. I will give you a measurement of your growth in the Lord. What is your attitude toward the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? The man found the field, and what was in it? Treasure. Where was the treasure? It was buried. It was buried. Of course, it’s buried…in the heart. What is that treasure?

That treasure is not the Lord Jesus Christ…that treasure is the church. Because buried in the Lord Jesus Christ is the church. There is the Lord, there is His Spirit, and there is His church in His Spirit, and it is buried in your heart. And not everybody finds out the treasure is in the field. Not everybody knows that the treasure is in the soil, but when you find it, what do you do? You sell everything you’ve got, and you go…and you buy it. You buy the treasure that’s in the soil.

Now then, this is the transforming work of the Lord. This is where the seed begins to bear an image after its kind. For the treasure that is in that box, hidden in that soil, is in the image of the seed that was planted. And now, and now, praise the Lord, when you open the box and you look at it, what is it? Praise the Lord. It’s a pearl. The merchant found the pearl. Now there has been a complete transformation. I don’t know what you know about the Bible, but if you know anything about the Bible, you’ve got to know that that pearl is nothing less than the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man hath found it, he hides it, and for joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking a fine pearl, and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and he bought it. And again, the kingdom of heaven is… Sister, it isn’t heaven. It isn’t heaven…it’s the kingdom of heaven.

And this is a man on earth. I know; I got taught the same thing you did. I’m going to go to heaven someday, and for heaven I’ll sell everything. Sister, the Lord Jesus Christ is not interested in my going to heaven. I opened a book once published by Dallas Theological Seminary, and it said there is no teaching anywhere in Scripture…now, this is the very pillar and citadel of orthodoxy… No Scripture anywhere in the Bible teaches that man goes to heaven.

Here’s the end of the Bible, and this is the very end. Here it is. You’re going to go to heaven, and we’re going to live in the New Jerusalem. Right? You know, a city. You’ve heard people talk about heaven and the golden street and the pearl and all that. Oh, here it is. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared for a bride adorned for her husband.

The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and rests upon this earth…and there it stays for eternity. The most amazing thing in Scripture is that God originally planned to have His throne on earth…this dumpy-looking place that just stinks and smells really was ordained above the heavens. It fell and was corrupted, and then God said, “I’m going to have my throne where it belongs.” And God sent man to take the earth back from His enemy, and God wants to move heaven to earth. It’s going to be a new earth, and if you’re in heaven, sister, I know this came to me as a great shock one day to find out that if I’m in heaven, I’m going to be all alone. And I’m going to be in a dinky spot because God will have moved out of heaven and moved to Earth. And He will be one with man.

In my Father’s house are many abodes; that house is nothing but the new Jerusalem. And the new Jerusalem is nothing less than you and me and Jesus Christ and God the Father all made one.At this moment, a kingdom is in heaven where the Lord God Almighty rules and reigns, and that is the kingdom of heaven. God will have it on earth, and He has brought its first fruit as a seed in Jesus Christ, who came upon this earth and ruled over man and fallen angels. Then on the day of Pentecost, the kingdom of heaven came upon man, and that is a foretaste of the kingdom of God reigning in the universe. The church is, according to Ephesians, nothing less than the foretaste of the kingdom of God on the earth. Praise the Lord.

When a man saw this treasure hidden in the earth, he bought it, and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the hidden kingdom of God. It’s a pearl. Now, sisters and brothers, a pearl is something transformed. It was a little grain that damaged an oyster, and the oyster formed a pearl. Brothers and sisters, that pearl is something of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. That pearl is heavenly. There is no question about it. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t have one earthly thing. It is utterly and totally heavenly…and so are we, and our spirits have not yet touched ground. Our spirits are still in the heavens. That’s the kind of incredible thing.

Gee, we’re covering an awful lot here tonight. Brothers and sisters, I only have one other thing to say to you, and that is: gauge where you are by two or three things—the tenderness of your heart for the Lord to grow out of your spirit into your heart. Brothers, I really say: where are you in relationship to the kingdom of God? And you can know where your heart is.

What have I been talking about here? The importance of the heart. The heart is no less than the very soil in which Jesus Christ must grow. I got one other verse to share with you, and you ain’t never heard nothing like this.  I am going to read you a verse of Scripture which you’ve probably heard before.

Revelation 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I’ll come into him and will feast with him, and he with me. Now, brothers and sisters, the word dine is just no good. The word should be feast. The Lord doesn’t dine; when the Lord comes along, it’s a banquet. It’s a festival.