Let’s look at the different heart conditions mentioned in this parable.
I. A Hard Heart. (Uninterested Heart)
Verse 4: “And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.”
Fields in Israel were small and were separated from one another by paths that became like concrete from all the people and animals walking on them.
The seed that hit this hard ground would just lie there until the birds gobbled it up.
Today it would be like throwing grass seed on the sidewalk.
We all know people like this- no time for the things of God. You mention God and they get defensive and tell you what a good person they are and how much kindness they spread in the world. They don’t need God to be a good person. There not as bad as so and so. Look at all the hypocrites in the church, I a better than them.
Verse 15: “And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.”
There two forces in the world today- God and Satan- both physically unseen, we don’t see angels floating around and we do not see red man with a pitch fork, but we see both active in the world today. God in the midst of all this evil and selfishness still does miracles, but it is back page news. We still see people risking their lives to help the underdog, third world countries in poverty, we still see people spreading the good news of God in times where a society would rather praise a noted criminal than turn their lives over to God. Wait hours in a line to watch a sports event but cannot give God a n hour of their time on a Sunday morning.
The phrase, “takes away” means, “to seize with force, to rob.” Notice that Satan does this immediately. He loves to bring confusion and to cause callousness when the gospel is communicated.
When we do not accept the things of God intentional and desire to bury the truths of God deep in our hearts, we allow Satan to steal, kill, and destroy the things God intended us to have.
I think each one of us can relate to the hard heart, I think we all relate to each different heart here because we have been at each level and hopefully we will let God work in us to the perfection of our faith.
I know the hard heart.
I know the shallow heart.
I know the selfish heart.
I am working on the humble heart- With God’s help.
Are there any hard hearts here today? Do you feel cold or calloused? Have the feet of others beat you into a hard place? Have you been trampled upon? Do you have protracted pain or has bitterness put you in a bad place? Have you been burned in the past, maybe even by a church, and you’ve locked your heart into a vault? God wants to touch that heart in you. Then He wants to use you to reach other hard hearts.
When you go and sow, the kingdom of God will grow.
II. A Rocky Heart. (Shallow Heart)
Verses 5-6: “Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.”
In that part of the world, much of the land was solid rock with just a thin layer of soil on top. The sun would bake the rock, which would keep the soil warm, thus causing the seed to germinate quickly. But because there was no root system, these plants would wither and die.
When these people hear the message, they become very exuberant and emotional.
Look at verse 16: “And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.”
Pastor, I loved your message.
The people are so…..friendly here.
I want to get involved.
I want to give to this…
This soil looks ready but the problem comes when problems come. (Repeat)
Because of their emotional enthusiasm, their roots didn’t go down deep as we see in verse 17:
“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.”
Trouble comes because of the Word- remember the word is powerful and it begins to cut away things that God wants out of our lives- the problem comes when we do not want to let God cut it out.
Trouble comes because of persecution because of what you believe. We are experiencing that as Christians right now in the world and it is getting worse right here in the country that was founded on Christian beliefs but is swaying away rapidly.
Trouble comes when our faith is weak and we let other people action tear down and destroy our faith. Even Christians are not perfect and if we let other imperfect people weaken our faith, we can easily walk away from something that is not strong.
As soon as difficulties come, they ditch their superficial spirituality. A person like this has a hollow heart and has never let the Word of God go deep into their soul. Behind the emotional fervor is an empty faith and it does not survive.
Some call this “convenient Christianity” because this person likes the idea of forgiveness and heaven and receiving “God’s favor,” but doesn’t want any difficulties.
This person wants a God who does what they want.
This person wants imperfect people to act perfect.
This person wants to be forgiven but does not offer easily forgiveness to others.
Christianity is not about sustaining some sort of emotional high. It is about counting the cost of what Christ did and following Him at all cost.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “if” tribulation or persecution comes, but “when” it comes?
The word “tribulation” has its background from the threshing roller used to smash grain and means, “to crush, press, squeeze or break.”
Trouble and tribulation will strengthen true believers and it also reveals those who have only had an emotional experience.
John 6:66: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”
When you go and sow, the kingdom of God will grow.
III. Thorn Heart (divided heart)
Seeds fall on the third kind of soil only to be choked out by weeds.
Verse 7: “Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.”
The word “choked” means to “choke utterly.” The seed is strangled by thorns and thistles and ends up producing no produce.
Have you noticed how hard it is to grow a garden when it’s full of weeds?
Weeds grow by themselves. You do not plant weeds. The only thing you can do with weeds is get rid of the as soon as possible.
John Calvin referred to the human heart as a perpetual “idol factory.”
Jesus interprets this soil in verses 18-19: “And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
Jesus says that there are three things that can hinder a heart and keep one from being converted.
Cares of the world. The word for cares is “anxiety.” This person is so caught up with cares and concerns that they can’t focus on faith.
Deceitfulness of riches. To be “deceived” means to be seduced. That’s exactly what the love of money can do to us. 1 Timothy 6:17 says to not set our “hopes on the uncertainty of riches.” G. Campbell Morgan believed that persecution is Satan’s second best weapon; his first is materialism.
Desires for other things. The phrase “desires for other things” can be translated as “lusting for all the rest.”
Luke 8:14 defines this as “the pleasures of life.” God’s word cannot thrive and survive in a hindered heart.
Proverbs 27:20: “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
We have to live in this world, but not of this world.
We need money but we cannot be so selfish that we forget others.
We can have things- but we are not to let things have us.
People want to hear what they want to hear. Jesus doesn’t say that we cannot have things- we just cannot be caught up in keeping up with the Jones and forget God- if anything is more important than God- it is an idol and God will bring it down in your life.
If you’re distracted you’ll eventually depart. If you’re all up in the ways of the world the Word will be choked out. If you have a hindered heart, there will be no harvest.
Pull the weeds! Don’t let them choke out the things of God. Let God weed out the things that will hurt you.
IV. Humble Heart. (Good Soil)(Receptive Heart)
There’s only one kind of soil that produces a crop. Verse 8:
“And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Good ground was not hard, hollow or hindered.
If a farmer had a harvest that was seven times what was sown it would be called a good crop.
To have yields of thirty, sixty or one hundred times would be astonishing.
Action Words – Produce, Growing, Yielding.
When you go and sow, the kingdom of God will grow.
I picture Jesus smiling when he declares in verse 20: “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” The word “good” refers to that which is excellent and beautiful.
Humble-hearted people bear fruit.
Luke 8:15 “keeps the word and bears fruit with patience.”
They love the Lord
They listen to the Lord
Saving Faith produces fruit.
The early church-
Acts 17:11: “They received the word with all eagerness.”
Fruit bearing is the mark of a disciple
Bearing fruit
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” When we are faithful, we will be fruitful.
Closing,
The problem is that sometimes the Word of God that you hear is not the Word that you want to hear.
For example Jesus says
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
I don’t want to hear that Word.
I don’t want to pray for my enemy.
I don’t want to do good to people that constantly mistreat my family and me.
However, if I don’t obey Jesus, my heart becomes hard. The next time I hear that Word it becomes even harder to listen and obey.
We must always receive the Word.
This parable is all about us preparing our ground for the seed that is dropped and dropping seed for others that God has prepared their heart.
II Timothy 4:3-4,
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
The Bible says this will happen in the last days. Do we see this happening now? Absolutely!
We are in that day right now! People have teachers, but they are selective in their hearting. They don’t want to receive the truth.
They just want to hear what will make them happy and feel good about themselves. God doesn’t change. God’s Word doesn’t change no matter how society does.
Our hearts have grown hard to the truth. We don’t want to receive it.
What condition is your ground in?
1. On the path / hard? Not teachable
2. On rocky ground – Shallow? Having a quitter mindset
3. Soil already filled with thorns – Bad behavior choking out the things of God and service to the Lord and to others
4. On good soil – Balanced life (Body, Soul and Spirit)
A balanced life is AN ABUNDANT LIFE.
Seed planted in good ground will grow into abundant life. James 1:22 we read,
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The power of the SEED WORD is released the moment it ENTERS your heart. Your heart is where YOU BELIEVE. Believing increases your FAITH SEED. We might read Romans 10:17 this way: “Faith comes by (an outward) hearing and (then an inward) hearing by the (spoken AND personal) word of God.” In Matthew 7:24-27 we read, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Life is in the seed, and the soil, not the sower. Trust the seed. Stop worrying about how good a sower you are. Isn't that a liberating thought?
Galatians 6:7-9,
7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
