Doing the Math on The Kingdom Parable of The Sower Matthew 13

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.


1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.


2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.


3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;


4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:


5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:


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


7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:


8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.


9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.


18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.


19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.


20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;


21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.


22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.


23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.



Please observe:



Most  of the world, 75%  to be exact, never even get the word of truth. The remaining 25% who do receive the word even diminishes with time in these last days down to precisely -> 30% of that original 25%.


It looks like this:


100 people standing in a room reserved for saved people. 75 of them are lost, they want to go elsewhere and walk out of the room, leaving only 25 standing in the room. One day later 10 more change their mind and exit. Now only 15 people remain. One day later another 10 exit with 5 (barely 5 since 3O% of 15 souls is 4.5... (4+5 = 9 - Judgement).


So in summary, Out of 100 people only 5 (less than 5 actually, but 4.5 ) in these last days will actually receive the word of truth and have it thrive in their lives.


Less than 5% ... 4.5 % to be exact...  We have to keep this in mind when dealing with this crazy world.





Amen! Maranatha!

Below is a study by Dr. Woods in his book, "The Coming Kingdom" about the Parable of the Sower.


Begin quote: "Parable of the Sower In the famous Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:1–9, 18–23), Christ explained that the gospel will be faithfully preached throughout the current age with varying results depending upon the receptivity of the human heart. Yet, the very action of the sower going out to sow, or a preacher going forth to disseminate the gospel, well indicates that the present age is something markedly different from what the Old Testament predicts concerning the kingdom. Pink notes: The words “went forth to sow,” or as Mark’s Gospel puts it “went out” were indicative of the great dispensational change which was soon to be introduced. There was no longer to be a planting of vines or fig-trees in Israel, but a going out of the mercy of God unto the Gentiles; therefore what we have here is the broadcast sowing of the Seed in the field at large, for as verse 38 tells us “the field is the world.”6 In the prior dispensation the world came to Israel to learn of God. After all, it was the Queen of Sheba who had traveled over 1,500 miles from her native homeland to Jerusalem in order sit at Solomon’s feet and learn of his wisdom (2 Chron. 9:1–12). Similarly, during the kingdom age, the nations will flock to Jerusalem in order to bask in spiritual truth (Isa. 2:2–3; Zech. 14:16–18). However, here something quite different is taking place as the gospel herald is going forth among the Gentiles rather than the Gentiles coming to the land of Israel. It is also worth pointing out that what is disseminated in the present age is the mere “word of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:19) or the message of the kingdom rather than the kingdom itself. Pink notes, “In verse 19 it is called ‘the word of the kingdom,’ while in verse 38 we read ‘the good seed are the children of the kingdom.’ Like produces like: the word of the kingdom produces sons of the kingdom: the fruit is according to the Seed!”7 Thus, upon the fruitful soil, it is not the actual kingdom that enters the hearts and minds of people. If this were so, Matthew 13:19 would merely employ the term the “kingdom” rather than the mere “word of the kingdom” in order to show what was interjected into the soil in order to make it fruitful. Rather, it is the message of the kingdom’s values and future certainty that is what enters the hearts and minds of individuals. This message of the kingdom, in turn, produces “sons” or inheritors (Gal. 4:7) of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38). Just as the message of how to gain heaven can produce an inheritor of heaven, the same is true regarding the “message of the kingdom.” Toussaint and Quine properly interpret the expression “sons of the kingdom” as a kingdom heir: When Jesus explained in Matthew 13:36–43 His parable of the tares among the wheat (vv. 24–30), He said “the sons of the kingdom” and “the sons of the evil one” are represented by the good seed and the tares, respectively (v. 38). The latter are obviously unbelievers, and the former are sons of the kingdom not in the sense that the kingdom is present but in the sense that as believers they will inherit the millennial kingdom.8 Moreover, such a notion of the message of the kingdom entering people should not be construed as a present, spiritual manifestation of the kingdom in the hearts of people since the Bible nowhere portrays the kingdom entering people. Rather, it is people who will one day enter the coming kingdom (Matt. 25:34; John 3:5). Beyond these distinctions, if the Parable of the Sower communicates anything concerning the gospel in the present age, it conveys its lack of progress. Only on one type of soil is the gospel fruitful. Even there, it is fruitful in decreasing proportions. The lack of progress in the receptivity of the gospel as communicated in the Parable of the Sower conveys the idea that the present age should not be confused with the kingdom for the simple reason that the kingdom will represent a time in history when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9). Pink observes: One great design of this opening parable is to teach us the measure of success which the Gospel would receive among the Gentiles. In other words, we are shown what the results of this broadcast sowing of the Seed would be. First of all, most of the ground upon which it fell would prove unfavorable: the hard, shallow, and thorny soils were uncongenial to productiveness. Second, external opposition would be encountered: the birds of the air would come and catch it away. Third, the sun would scorch, and that which was lacking in moisture at its roots would wither away. Only a fractional part of the Seed sown would yield any increase, and thus all expectations for the ultimate universal triumph of the Gospel were removed. The plain teaching of our present parable should at once dissipate the optimistic but vain dreams of post-millenarians. It answers clearly and conclusively the following questions: What is to be the result of the broadcast sowing of the seed? Will all the world receive it and every part of the field produce fruit? Will the seed spring up and bear a universal harvest, so that not a single grain of it is lost? Our Savior explicitly tells us that the greater part of the seed produces no fruit, so that no world-wide conquests by the Gospel, in the Christianizing of the race, are to be looked for. Nor was there any hint that, as the age progressed, there would be any change, and that later sowers would meet with greater success, so that the wayside, stony, and thorny ground hearers would cease to exist or would rarely be found. Instead of that, the Lord Himself has plainly warned us that instead of the fruitage from the Gospel showing an increase, there would be a marked decrease; for when speaking of the fruit borne He said, “which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty” (v. 23).9" End Quote


 NOTE:  In reading any work, always read it with your King James Version Bible. Although there are solid parts in Dr. Wood's work, there are, however, other parts of the Coming Kingdom where I've found Dr. Woods to be in serious error, in part because he uses the NASB version Bible which most of Bible scholars use today.  The great irony is that in exposing the ecumenical apostate church of today, Dr. Woods is also bringing in false teaching along with correct teaching. We must test all spirits and be good Bereans ACTS 17:11kjv.  Here's my letter and rebuke to Dr. Woods regarding aspects of his book, "The Coming Kingdom": Reproving Dr. Woods:


https://www.thethirdheaventraveler.com/2018/10/reproving-dr-andrew-woods-case-study-in.html