Soldiers for Christ: (Parables of Matthew Part Four)
Text: Matthew 13:18 – 23
Well it’s Memorial Day weekend; and as you all know, Memorial Day was a holiday created originally for the purpose of honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country. There’s a saying that says, “Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.” And I think it is good, and noble, and honorable to remember the sacrifices our brave men and women have paid in service to this country. But at the same time, I also agree with General George Patton who said… and I’ll paraphrase his quote because he used some choice words… but Patton said, “The object in war isn’t to die for your country, but rather to make the other guy die for his.” And personally; I wish we didn’t have to have this holiday. Nobody wants to see their brothers in arms give their lives. But the sad reality and fact is – that in wars, lives are always going to be lost.
When I joined the Army, we had a tough… and I mean tough DS. Drill Sergeant Todd. Six feet tall, 220 pounds of pure muscle and anger. And what made it worse was that he didn’t even want to be a DS. He had been a Ranger, then SF, and then Delta Force, and that’s where he wanted to be, but he had been selected for DS duty, but he really wanted to be back in the field, down range not training new recruits. And I’ll never forget one of the first things DS Todd told us. He said, “You can listen to me and live, or not listen and die.” And that set the precedent. Immediately we knew that we were being trained as soldiers in service to the United States of America, and we would be ready and equipped to fight if war ever came.
So as we look at our text this morning, I want to remind you that Jesus was training these men as soldiers in service to the Kingdom of Heaven (See vs. 52). Because whether we like it or not… the Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual war.
So… let’s look at our text – Matthew 13:18 – 23 (READ).
Last time we talked about WHY the Word of God comes in the way it does… today we’re going to look at how it can be received, or I guess we could say, the way we respond to it. And if you remember; Jesus had told the parable of the sower, and on the outside it seemed like a lesson on planting crops, but Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Which was a clue to us that there was a deeper meaning to the parable. And from our text, we see that this is actually a lesson on God’s Word. There are 4 soils, and each one produces a different result. And we see in verse 19 that the soils are the human heart (not this muscle that beats in our chest, but rather our inner most being). The Seed is actually the Word of God that is being proclaimed. And we see also that out of the four, there’s only one way that the Seed ever produces fruit.
I once heard a preacher say, “There are many paths to hell, and I’m sure you can find one that is precisely to your taste.” But the Bible tells us that there’s only one way to God. It’s a narrow way, but it leads to eternal life. And that’s through Jesus Christ. “No one comes to the Father but by Me.” So you understand… this is Jesus saying, “You can listen to me and live, or not listen and die.” Peter understood that… there’s a story in the Gospels where a lot of the people who had been following Jesus got to a point where it was too hard and they turned their backs on Him and followed Him no more, and Jesus looked at His disciples and said, “Will you go away as well?” And Peter said, “Lord where will we go? You have the Words of eternal life.”
So… let’s look at Jesus’ explanation of this parable of the sower.
The first soil (or heart) is there in verse 19 (READ). It’s the seed sown on the path.
And what this is – is a picture of an impenetrable heart. When the seed lands on the path, it doesn’t penetrate the ground at all. It’s just lying there, so it’s easy for the birds to come up and snatch it away.
So how does this happen?
Well let me read something to you from a theologian named J.C. Ryle. He says, “From Satan come wandering thoughts and roving imaginations, listless minds, dull memories, sleepy eyes, fidgety nerves, weary ears, distracted attention. In all these things, Satan has a great hand.” And in this context; it’s not talking about a believer who occasionally zones out during the sermon. Jesus is talking about a person whose outside of Christ, and the Gospel, that results in salvation, doesn’t penetrate his heart because of hard-heartedness and an unwillingness to repent.
The 2nd soil of our heart is in verses 20 and 21. It’s the rocky soil. And this is what I call a superficial hearer… or superficial heart. This is the person who is genuinely intrigued by Jesus and God’s Word. They might even appear to grab hold of it, and run with it. The problem is that this race is a marathon, but this person is sprinting. And here they are sprinting, but after a while, their lungs start burning, and their side starts hurting, and they say to themselves, “Man, this is crazy! I ain’t doing this!” Specifically speaking… our text tells us that the person begins to face tribulation and persecution BECAUSE OF THE WORD.
Again… when I joined the Army I did it mainly for two reasons. 1st because it was my patriotic duty, and 2nd because it was my familial duty… in other words, joining the military is what McKinley’s have always done. On the McKinley side of the family my dad and three of my uncles served, my grandpa served, his dad (my great grandpa) served, and going all the way back to Scotland… you trace my family lineage, we don’t have kings and nobles like a lot of people can find… instead you find soldiers, outlaws, and preachers (quite a combination huh?). But… while I was in the Army I met a lot of guys who had joined for other reasons… money for college, some joined just because they thought it would be cool, some joined because they were looking for respect. But then when they had to get up before the sun came up, and run 3 miles and do pushups until it felt like their arms would fall off, and march in the rain, and get yelled at by an angry, intimidating DS – all of a sudden they weren’t so interested in it any more. And you’d see guys trying to do all kinds of things just to get out.
Well in the same way… these superficial hearers of the Word, they associate themselves with Christianity, but then their social life takes a hit. Or they realize standing firm for Christ might mean they get passed over for a promotion, or that they can no longer be associated with certain groups or friends. And like a plant with shallow roots, they just kind of wither away. It’s a superficial faith. It’s not real, and it doesn’t last.
2nd Timothy 3:12 says, “ALL who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus WILL BE persecuted”
It’s not optional for a believer! IT WILL HAPPEN! And the way you can know if your roots go deep is when those trials and persecution comes; does it destroy your faith or strengthen it? Do the trials you face drive you further from Jesus or closer to Him?
The 3rd type of soil is the thorny ground. This is a person who is made unfruitful by the demands of the weeds of worldliness. Jesus says that the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word out and make the person unfruitful.
And notice what Jesus is saying here. Persecution separates the true follower from the false follower, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word and make it unfruitful in the person’s life. And then you compare that with the good ground and it yields 100, 60, and 30. And so this “thorny ground” hearer isn’t an “unfruitful Christian”.
In Jesus’ mind Christians are always fruitful, it’s just that some are more fruitful. This thorny ground hearer is a person who hears the Word of God… who hears the Good News of Jesus Christ, and says, “You know what? This being a Christian stuff and following Jesus isn’t for me. I like my lifestyle, and I like materialism, and I like comfort and ease and Christ demands too much. I think I’ll just keep on doing what I’m doing.”
I want to read a quote to you from D.L. Moody that kind of sums this up.
He says, “Many churches are full of barely committed people who have never won a soul to Christ, rarely speak a word on His behalf, and accept Christianity as a nice addition to their lives – which are devoted to the same basic goals as their neighbors.” In other words, they believe that as long as I make an appearance at church, don’t cuss (too much), keep up a friendly demeanor and don’t break any laws – I’m good to go. And they don’t stop to think that Christ is supposed to be seated on the throne of hear hearts. That He’s supposed to have the pre-eminent place in our thoughts and desires. That our activities are supposed to be geared to bringing Him glory and honor. Instead they somehow fool themselves into believing that it’s ok if they chase hard after the things of this world (material things and wealth), and it’s ok that Jesus has 2nd or 3rd or 4th place in their lives. And please, PLEASE hear me church. Jesus wasn’t saying that each and every one of us has to take all that we have and sell it to the poor. He’s not saying that you can’t go and enjoy a movie, or a sporting event, or a couple of days fishing. The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.” Jesus wasn’t saying that it’s a sin to have money. What He was saying is that it’s a sin when money has you. He’s saying that where we get into trouble is when that movie, or sporting event, or fishing trip becomes more a religious and worship experience than gathering with the Church. He’s saying that if you find yourself talking about praising KD more than JC then there’s a problem!
D.L. Moody went on to say this: “One reason we may have so many shallow Christians today is that many of us (And he was talking about pastors) have preached a shallow Gospel rather than the demands of God’s kingdom, and they are OUR converts rather than our Lord’s.”
The cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches. This is the guy who’s working all hours, NOT because his job requires it, but because his LIFESTYLE does!
But it doesn’t have to be that way! There’s another way to respond to the Word of God. We see it in Verse 23 (READ).
You see what Jesus says there? The receptive heart is the one that hears the Word and understands it, and bears fruit. In other words… this is the one who hears the hard saying that I just said, and rather than just rationalizing it away says, “You know what. That’s what God’s Word demands of me. This is what Jesus demands of me as His disciple. He’s calling me to not harden my heart, but instead to be receptive to His Word. He’s calling me to endure persecution as a good solider of Christ Jesus (that’s 2 Tim. 2:3). He’s calling me to stop running after the bankrupt materialism of the world, but instead to run to Jesus, to know Him, and love Him, and trust Him.” And He says that when you do this – you bear fruit. In other words, you’re changed. Everything is changed! Changed love, changed joy, changed peace, changed patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those things begin to manifest and characterize you. You begin to look like the Savior you’ve run to and trusted.
If you never have… please do that this morning. Even if you have to wrestle all night with this like Jacob did with the Lord. Do whatever it takes.
