Please take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 NIV
When I was a young teenager I actually did some broadcast sowing of seed. We were renting a field which was only a couple of acres and my Dad had plowed and dragged the field but we did not have a broadcast planter so we filled up buckets of buckwheat and walked through the field scattering the seed about and the seed brought a harvest!
Things to remember from last week:
Jesus is telling a parable - a short story that makes a spiritual point
The Lord is the Sower - He is not wasteful but generous
There is nothing wrong with the seed of the Kingdom of God
With those thoughts in mind let’s take a look at the four soil types:
Matthew 13:4, 19a NIV
“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up … when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.”
What hardens the ground? In this case it is a path which has been stomped down over and over and over and over and over!
Hardness of heart can come from stamping down your own soul with sin over and over and over and over and over.
Of course, we think of those who are the infamous ones, Hitler, Stalin, Mao. Under these men millions upon millions died from murder, torture, slavery, starvation, genocide, etc.
Think of the hardness of the hearts of those who herded other humans including women and children into gas chambers day after day after day.
Such things will either make your heart so hard as to almost be impenetrable or drive you to insanity.
Think of the ultrasound technician who works in the abortionist’s office day after day after day. Making sure that the mother cannot see the monitor screen; carefully guiding the tools to best facilitate the destruction of the baby. And of the doctor who kills unborn babies for money. How hard must a heart be in order to enjoy the luxury of blood money?
And then think of one of these hardened people hearing a little snippet of the Gospel can they even think that it would ever be possible that there is a God who could forgive them, a God who sent His Son to die in the most horrible manner so that he could have eternal life? Would such a concept even be able to register in their brain or make it to their soul?
Obviously not … that is … apart from the grace of God, but then, we’re getting ahead of ourselves …
OK … those are the obvious ones but just as hardened can be those who scoff at the Lord and His followers day after day after day after day using His great name in vain day after day after day after day.
What about the next soil?
Matthew 13:5-6 NIV
“Some (seed) fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.”
When a seed sprouts its growth will go somewhere; either into the root system of the part of the plant above the ground.
If the soil is shallow there is nowhere for the roots to grow so the stem sprouts up. When the stem sprouts up and scorching heat comes the plant needs to draw water through its root system in order to replenish the lost fluid and with no root on rocky soil this will not happen and the plant dies.
Matthew 13:20-21 NIV
“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
This person is excited to hear the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ! They come to faith in Christ quickly!
This right here is exactly the testimony of Pastor Karenlee when she first was saved as a teenager! She was so excited when she heard the good news from a traveling singing group at her church that she was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. When they asked who wanted to receive Jesus as their Savior she immediately jumped to her feet and thought everyone else in the place would do so as well.
Now, after she was saved she didn’t exactly receive persecution but more like neglect. The church she attended never talked about sin and the need for a Savior so they didn’t know what to do with her. Her Mom and Dad were Christians in name only at that time. The never read the Bible or prayed except in church or in a canned prayer before eating. All of her friends from school were non-Christians with non-Christian attitudes. And, so, without depth of soil she just kind of shriveled up spiritually and when I met her she was at the point where her ideas about Christians was that they were basically losers who needed some sort of crutch in their lives. She had no depth of soil.
Just try to challenge her faith now! The Lord has transformed her! PTL!!
We all know how critical it is to care for newborn infants, right? The very same care is needed for those who are born again into the Kingdom of God! They need “depth of soil”.
Depth of soil comes from
- The Word of God combined with the guidance of the Holy Spirit
- Teaching by a mentor in Christ
- Fellowship with other believers
- Worship of the Lord
The next example in verses 7 & 22 says …
Matthew 13:7, 22 NIV
“Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Have you ever noticed that the Lord never just drops a concept into the Bible without backing it up in other places in the Scripture?
Luke 16:13 ESV
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
To serve means to obey or be devoted to … to be a slave to …
Illustration:
The Rich Young Ruler (tell the story in your own words)
What about you. Do you have another master beside the Lord?
Is there something pulling at you on Sunday mornings?
Is there someplace you’d rather be?
Would you give up an hour or two of overtime work in order to have enough energy to read the Word of God and pray?
Would you put less into your 401k or postpone buying that brand new “whatever” in order to give the Lord His tithes and offerings?
Would you take down that plaque of a Bible verse at work if it meant you might get a promotion?
Finally we come to the last example:
Matthew 13:8a, 13 NIV
“Still other seed fell on good soil … the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
This soil, my friends, is exemplified by the heart of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8.
Tell the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch found in Acts 8:26-40 in your own words
The heart of this man was good soil
The heart of this man was seeking after God
The heart of this man was ready to hear of Jesus before he even knew of Jesus!
We see people with “good soil” hearts throughout the Bible
- King David after he repented of his terrible sins
- The righteous King Josiah when the Book of the Law was found
- The believers in the Berean church
We may very well have all four types of soil in the church this morning.
In the parable of the sower the soil is the soil but God’s Word shows us that we who are the soil have the ability to choose what kind of soil we are; not by our own power but by not allowing the movement of the Holy Spirit on our lives.
If you a person whose heart is like the path that is so hardened and where the evil one comes and steals the seed of the Good News from you, run to Jesus.
You have once again heard the Word of the Lord. Respond to the Word before the evil one can come and deceive you again! Be like the man in the Bible who said to Jesus, “I do believe, Lord help my unbelief.” The Lord is faithful He will break up your heard heart and make it into good soil where the Word can be planted.
If your heart is like the rocky soil; where you have committed your life to Christ but you have no depth and are shriveling up and just about ready to abandon your faith in Jesus, don’t! There is help for you. How horrible it will be for those who reject Jesus as their Savior, and, even worse, we are not able to fathom the despair in the heart of someone who once placed their faith in Jesus and then rejected Him. What an eternity of sorrow.
Perhaps the world has you tangled up and you cannot make a decision between the things of this world and a life abandoned to following Jesus.
Don’t put your hope in the things of this world!
The things of this world will not just fade away but in the last days they will all be destroyed along with this world. Those who trusted in their position of honor and their power and their riches will be hiding in caves and praying for the mountains to fall on them and deliver them from the judgment of the Lord.
If you are any one of the people represented by the previous three soils there is hope for you! Through the great transformation of the grace of God you can be good soil, ready for the seed of the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ to be planted in your heart!
Here is a promise that the Lord God of Israel, Yaweh, made to His chosen people and it is as good for you as it was for them.
Jeremiah 29:12-13 NIV
“You will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
Concluding remarks and invitation if the Lord leads.
