The Parable Of The Beautiful Farm We do not remember this one, do we? Just hold on and we will see the application.

Introduction In our study of the parables, hopefully we have learned many lessons. Jesus taught the people these lessons and they did not realize that He was teaching them. Jesus spoke in parables because their hearts were not ready for the truth about the kingdom.

Introduction Taking stories and events from our physical world helps us to understand things in the spiritual world. No one has seen heaven, yet we are sure it exists. Mainly because Jesus said so. And we learn that heaven is a wonderful place based upon the descriptions of comparison.

The Parable Of The Farm There once was a man who owned a farm. This man worked like all farmers from sun up to sundown. It was hard work, to be sure. It came to pass that his children grew up and moved away to the big city. There they set their course in life in various professions. It came to pass that the man died, and left his farm to his three sons.

The Parable Of The Farm As the sons returned for the funeral, they learned that the valuable land was to become theirs. This land could make them wealthy, because their father seemed to do alright. So they discussed the farm and all three of them considered returning to their home and making a go of the farm. So they gave up their professions and returned to become farmers.

The Parable Of The Farm They soon realized that living under the same roof would be taxing on their relationship, so they sold some of the property and had two more houses built next to each other. Of course, these new houses needed to be better than the others. As they began to settle into their new lifestyle, they got together to discuss what chores each would be responsible for.

The Parable Of The Farm As they went around the farm together they discussed some things that needed fixing up. The fence had fallen down in several places, so they decided to build a nice fence around the entire farm. This was expensive, so they sold some more land and paid for the fence.

The Parable Of The Farm They continued looking, and saw that the farm equipment was old and rusty, and needed to be replaced. So they went to the tractor supply store and found out how expensive new equipment was, but since they needed it, the investment seemed to be worth it. Once again they sold some more land and bought the new equipment.

The Parable Of The Farm As they made more notes, the animal corrals were old and in poor condition. But instead of selling more land, they decided to do the work themselves. Winter proved too harsh to work in, so they waited until spring to start fixing the pens and corrals. They wanted to paint everything so it would be pretty. They also painted the old man’s house. Soon they had the most beautiful farm in the valley.

The Parable Of The Farm As time went along, the operating funds were getting lower. They really were not making that much money from the eggs, so they sold the chickens to pay for the utilities that month. They did not think that they made much money from the milk, so they sold the cows, and paid the utilities the next month. Before the summer was over, they had run out of money.

The Parable Of The Farm Thinking they needed to sell something else, they went into the old barn to see if anything of value was there that could be sold. What they found was bags of seeds that their father had bought. But by this time, the seeds were rotten and unusable. Had they planted the seeds, a crop of great value could have saved their farm. Haggai 2:19: “Is the seed still in the barn?... The explanation of the parable and its application to us.

The Old Farmer Represents Jesus. Jesus knew that He could not stay and do all the work He was commissioned to do. So Jesus appointed His apostles to carry on the work of planting the seed, and reaping the harvest. Jesus also provided the seed and the place to plant the seed.

The Farm Represents the church. The church is to prosper and grow. There is work to be done. When used properly, it would sustain those to whom would benefit from it. Of course with three houses, the neighbors figured out that they could not function together, but had to have their individual dwellings.

The Farm As we see in our story, the sons built the most beautiful farm in the valley. I am sure people would come around and marvel at the sight. The sons became very proud that their farm was better than all the other farms (and they had no trouble expressing such a view).

The Land This represents the world. This is where the seed is supposed to be planted. Yet by selling it off, the sons limited the areas in which they could plant. All too often, we limit ourselves in deciding where to plant the seed.

The Sons We are those sons. Represent individual Christians. These three realized after it was too late that perhaps they should have hired a real farmer to run the farm. Notice also that they waited for a time when it would be more comfortable to work. (2 Timothy 4:2) But they focused upon the material things, and did not pay attention to what was important.

The Sons They were to carry on the work of their father, the same as we are to carry on the work of our Lord. That work involves the saving of souls. If you notice at the end of the story, the father had provided everything they would need. 2 Peter 1:3 Their job was to plant the seed, and the harvest would be provided by God.

The Seed “The seed is the word of God” We have it with us all the time. Often times it is unused by those who should be using it. When something is wasted, it becomes worthless. While the word of God can never be considered useless, if not used will become useless to those who should have used it.

The Lessons We Need To Learn It does not matter how pretty the farm and the equipment is if the seed is not planted. It does not matter how pretty the farmhouse is if the seed is neglected. Many churches have opted for fancy programs and devices to try to attract souls. These programs and devices have been used so that the members would not have to do the planting. In Matthew the sower went out and sowed seed. He just sowed the seed—did not take time to prepare the soil or take the time to decide where to plant.

Conclusion The church is divided today by groups who cannot exist together. Sometimes it is because of doctrinal differences. Each congregation promotes their church over the others. What is lost in all the efforts to make ourselves beautiful, is the failure to do what we are supposed to do—plant the seed. Are you doing anything to plant seed for God?