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;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
POINT: Your ears may be open, but is your heart open?
III. Jesus Explains the Heart Conditions (vs. 18–23)
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Let’s break this down as Jesus did.
1. The Hard Heart – “The seed sown along the path…” (v. 19)
• The Word is heard but not understood.
• Satan snatches it away before it can take root.
• This is the person who’s uninterested, unmoved, maybe even religiously numb.
Question: Is your heart closed off to God’s voice?
2. The Shallow Heart – “Rocky places…” (vv. 20–21)
• Emotional response. Excitement. Fire at first.
• But when trials come? They fall away.
• These are the “Sunday-only” believers with no depth or discipline.
Question: Do you have root, or just surface-level religion?
3. The Crowded Heart – “Among the thorns…” (v. 22)
• Hears the Word but it's choked by:
o Worries
o Deceitfulness of wealth
o Desires for other things
• Too many competing loves.
Question: What's crowding God out of your life?
4. The Receptive Heart – “Good soil…” (v. 23)
• Hears the Word.
• Understands it.
• Bears fruit: 30, 60, even 100 times what was sown!
Truth: God is looking for fruit, not just attendance.
Application: What Kind of Heart Do You Have?
This parable is about you. Every person falls into one of these four categories.
1. Are you resisting God's Word?
2. Are you shallow—on fire one moment, gone the next?
3. Are you distracted—too busy for God?
4. Or are you ready to receive—hungry for more of Him?
Galatians 6:7-8: “A man reaps what he sows…”
You can't produce fruit unless the soil is right.
Galatians 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Closing Illustration:
A farmer doesn’t just throw seed and walk away. He plows the ground. He pulls the weeds. He waters. He waits.
God is doing the same with you. He wants to soften your heart, deepen your roots, and clear the clutter.
Conclusion:
The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
You don’t need more seed—you need a better heart. And here’s the good news:
God can change your heart.
He can break up the hard ground.
He can pull out the weeds.
He can give you a new heart.
Invitation:
Today, ask yourself:
What kind of soil am I?
And more importantly:
Am I willing to let God change the soil of my heart?
“Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.” – Jeremiah 4:3
Jeremiah 4:3
3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns.
Let God prepare your heart to receive His Word—and to bear fruit that lasts.
***10 Signs of Deep-Rooted Faith***
Colossians 2:6-7
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
1. Received Christ Jesus – Colossians 2:6
2. Learns and is Instructed – Colossians 2:7
3. Has a grateful heart – Colossians 2:7
Psalms 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
4. Does not follow the way of the world – Psalms 1:1
5. Keeps good company – Psalm 1:1
6. Delights in God’s Law – Psalms 1:2
7. Meditates on Scripture – Psalms 1:2
Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
8. Trusts in GOD – Jeremiah 17:7
9. Does not wither in fear when trials come – Jeremiah 17:8
10. Bears fruit for the Kingdom – Jeremiah 17:8
Invitation:
Isaiah 55:6-7
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Let’s Pray,
Father, we come and turn our hearts to you in Jesus’ Name. Plow our hearts with faith, and sow seeds of Your Word in us. Make us to be fertile and Holy Ground, to receive of Your Holy Spirit to nurture us to grow and mature in Your Word to produce fruits of righteousness in our hearts, souls and lives. Use those fruits of righteousness to bring others to salvation’s harvest. Holy Spirit, testify to our spirits that we are a child of God. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Pastor Bill
