Mark 4:3-20 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. and some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

The Parable of the Sower gives us an insight of the workings of God in the lives of people. The word of the Lord is sown in peoples hearts and, depending on the state of their hearts, it grows in different ways. Nevertheless, when it settles in a good heart it bares fruit for the Kingdom of God!

Everything is in the hands of God. The farmer merely scatters the seed, everywhere. Where the seed lands he does not plan, he simply waits on nature to take its course. He may, of course, give nature a helping hand by irrigating the land, but he does not force the seed to grow.

1 Cor 3:5-7 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

It is God who gives the increase, not the one who sows, nor the one who waters- GOD!

The impatient lack the trust necessary. They want instant results, instant harvests, to speak and it be done! Unfortunately, that was at the creation:

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Too often a leader will push his followers. Too often Pastors seek to beat their sheep into submission, to cudgel them; they often use fear in order to drive the sheep into doing what they want. Too often the sheep are dragged along fearing to disagree, they are made to feel that any unwillingness to do the Pastors will is tantamount to rebellion against God Himself!

Too often Pastors, and those in authority, use the same tactics as the cults in order to keep people under submission, in order to prevent them leaving. They make people sign contracts, and brandish these things under their noses when the people appear to be stepping out of line!

In this type of situation being a Christian becomes a burden and not a blessing. Pastors and leaders are then guilty of the very thing that Jesus railed against:

Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Jesus warned about setting up a bunch of rules and regulations in order to be members:

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Mat 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

The Apostles were very careful on this point:

Acts 15:19-20 Therefore my judgement is that we trouble not those from among the Gentiles who are turned to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

(19 dio egw krinw mh parenoclein toiv apo twn eynwn epistrefousin epi ton yeon, 20 alla episteilai autoiv tou apecesyai apo twn alisghmatwn twn eidwlwn kai thv porneiav kai tou pniktou kai tou aimatov)

parenoclew parenochleo par-en-okh-leh'-o

AV-trouble 1; 1

1) to cause trouble in a matter, to trouble, annoy

This means that Gentile people should not be burdened with any more than these four rules!

Setting up manmade rules and regulations is like setting up commandments chiselled in stone, AND Gods law is made ineffective:-Mat 6:5b Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

How does a person enter into Gods family? Is it by signing up, or by rebirth?

When does a person become part of the Vine? After signing up, or after being grafted in?

Who, then, is considered to be a member of Christs body? They who sign up for membership, or they who are born of the Spirit of God?

What qualifies a person for membership of the church? Undertaking a membership course and signing up to its rules? Or is it that the person is born again of the Spirit of God?

GAL 5:1 ¶ STAND FAST THEREFORE IN THE LIBERTY WHEREWITH CHRIST HATH MADE US FREE, AND BE NOT ENTANGLED AGAIN WITH THE YOKE OF BONDAGE.