Parables Of The Kingdom. Conditions Of The Heart. Matthew 13.1-23 Part 1

2025.05.25.Sermon Notes. Parables of the Kingdom. Conditions of the Heart. The Heart of the Matter_Matthew 13.1-23 PART 1

William Akehurst, HSWC

Scriptures: Matthew 13:1-23, Isaiah 6:9-10, Galatians 6:7-8, Jeremiah 4:3, Colossians 2:6-7, Psalms 1:1-2, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Isaiah 55:6-7

Big Idea: Using the Parable of the Sower, Jesus teaches that the condition of your heart determines the fruitfulness of your life in response to God's Word.

Key Verse:

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 13:9)

Jesus wasn’t just making a statement—He was issuing a call. A call to listen deeply, not just with your ears but with your heart.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a story that everyone in His culture could relate to—a farmer scattering seed. But He wasn’t giving farming tips. He was revealing the spiritual reality behind why some people grow in God and others never seem to change.

I. The Word Is Powerful, But the Heart Must Be Prepared (vs. 1–9)

1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But 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 sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

He go into a boat and sat: Jesus’ pulpit

He spoke many things to them in parables: Using life lessons relative to their lifestyles.

Jesus describes a sower casting seed. The seed is good. It’s not defective. It represents the Word of God.

The difference isn’t in the seed, but in the soil.

POINT: The condition of your heart determines the fruitfulness of your life.

Four Types of Soil:

1. The Path (Hard Heart): No understanding. No reception. The enemy steals it quickly.

2. Rocky Ground (Shallow Heart): Quick emotional response. But no root—no depth.

3. Thorny Ground (Crowded Heart): Competing priorities—worry, wealth, worldly desires.

4. Good Soil (Receptive Heart): Understands, receives, and bears lasting fruit.

Illustration: A seed can’t grow on concrete. You could scatter all the seed you want, but if the surface is hard or cluttered, nothing will take root. The same is true spiritually.

II. Not Everyone Is Listening With the Same Ears (vs. 10–17)

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

And seeing you will see and not perceive;

15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables. His answer reveals a sobering truth:

“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom… but to them it has not been given.” (v.11)

There are two kinds of hearers:

• Those who are spiritually hungry

• Those who are spiritually hardened

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9 “This people’s heart has grown dull…” The problem is not with God's Word—it's with people's hearts.

Isaiah 6:9-10

9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;