"Common Problem”

“Common Problem”

Matthew 13:3-9

INTRODUCTION: People share common needs

Every one of us needs a place to live, food, drink and shelter. Everyone needs relationships – someone to love and love them back.

Though we are different all the way down to our DNA, there are many things we all have in common

***Today we are going to discuss Jesus’ parable of the seed and the different types of soil

Jesus told the story:

The seed is sown in different types of soil and the results varied based on the qualities of the soil

He says that only one type of soil, the “good soil” was able to receive the seed and bear a crop

Now allow me to explain in simple terms what this story means:

The seed represents the Gospel

The different types of soil represent different types of people

Bearing crop is evidence of salvation in the life of a believer

(In other places it is known as bearing fruit)

Though the three non-bearing soils are all different, they share some similarities that I want to show you

Remember: Only 25% are “good soil” in this parable

That means that 75% of the soil, which represents people, shares a common problem

I. Rejection

a. Everyone of these soils that bear no crop do so because they reject the seed (The Gospel)

b. Type #1 “The Preemptive Rejecter”

i. This is the seed that fell along the path and immediately was snatched up by the birds

ii. Jesus later tells us that these are people who hear the word and don’t understand it, so Satan steals it from them

iii. We all know people like this

1. They come to church, they hear all the church words like “saved”, “Holy Spirit, “Worship”

2. When they leave the church or Bible study, because they are unsure, they allow Satan to steal the seed of the Gospel

iv. From then on you can’t even discuss Jesus around them

v. The subject comes up and they bolt for the exit

vi. They have preemptively rejected the seed before it even had time to fully sink in

c. Type #2 “The ‘Try and See’ Rejecter”

i. This is the seed that fell in rocky soil, springs up for a while, but then dies because it has no root

ii. This is the person who has tasted but never really swallowed the gospel message

1. They came to church, became intrigued by the idea and now they are checking it out

2. Jesus says that these hang around ‘temporarily’ until trouble comes, and then they split

iii. These aren’t saved people who lose their salvation, these are people who were never saved, they just wanted to take Jesus for a ‘test drive’ and when He ‘runs out of gas’ their finished

iv. Question: How many people do you know that started attending church – got all into services and seemed to ‘sprout’ for a time – but then split when trouble or something better came along?

d. Type #3 “The Worldly Rejecter”

i. This is the seed that feel among the thorns and got choked out

ii. Jesus said this is the person who is too caught up in the worries of this world to bear a crop

iii. Illustration: “The Rich Young Ruler” A rich man once ran to Jesus and asked him what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus told him to sell his belongings and come and be His disciple. The Bible says the man went away sad because he had great wealth. This is a Biblical example of a worldly rejecter who cared too much about things that will pass away and not enough about things that will last forever

1. The sad thing is the church is FULL of worldly rejecters who don’t know it

2. They have given Jesus their lip service but not their life service

3. And it shows because they are bearing no fruit

iv. Did not Jesus say that many will come on that day and say, “Lord, Lord, and He will say, Depart from me you who practice lawlessness”

1. ‘Practicing lawlessness’ means these people were still living in the lusts of this world

2. They were worldly rejecters and didn’t even know it

3. What scares me is how many will be surprised on judgment day when Jesus separates those who were believers and those who were rejecters

All three soils, though differently, all were rejecters of the Gospel

And I am sure they all felt like they had a good:

II. Reason

a. Excuse #1 “Didn’t Understand”

i. The seed on the pathway that got stolen by the birds can easily feel like they can claim ‘ignorance’

ii. “I just didn’t understand”

iii. Ignorance does not negate the law