Book: Sermons from the Four Gospels
FOUR KINDS OF PEOPLE IN CHURCH
Matt. 13:3-9; 18-23
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God knows the way to a person’s heart is through his mind. There is incredible power in words. Hitler launched Germany into a program of world conquest with words. Karl Marx put words on paper and Communism was born. The pen IS mightier than the sword. How much more powerful are words when they are the words of God!
The common people were amazed at Jesus’ authority (Matt. 7:28-29). Even His enemies said, “No man spake like this man” (Jn. 7:46). His astonished disciples cried out, “Even the wind and sea obey His voice” (Mk. 4:41). His disciples, speaking His word, in His name, “turned the world upside down with their teaching” (Acts 17:6). If this is true, why is there so little change in the lives of church members who are bombarded with words from God’s word?
Is it because God’s word is not preached? I think not. There is some pitiful preaching in our churches, but I will give it this, it is based on the Bible. Is it because God’s Word is not powerful? No! A thousand times no! It is because we are not receptive to, we do not open our hearts and lives to God’s Words. In this parable Jesus tells us why. Look first at:
I. THE SOWER
The sower here is anyone who shares the Word of God, especially the gospel, with others. The greatest sower or witness is Jesus Himself. Preceded by Old Testament witnesses and followed by church witnesses, He stands supreme. He is our example and our subject in witnessing. When you share your faith with a friend, when you teach a Sunday School class, when I preach from this pulpit, we are sowing the word of God into hearts of men.
Most people rejected the message of Jesus and most will reject our message. But this is not our responsibility or our fault. If we sow the truth, truthfully, prayerfully, lovingly and patiently, we can say with Paul that our hands are clear of the blood of our hearers. We are not in sales, we are in advertising. He trouble is in the attitudes and priorities of those who hear. Communication is a two-way street and every preacher is a prisoner of his congregation. Jesus compares our message to:
II. THE SEED
The seed, says Jesus, is the Word of God. This is the whole counsel of God as it is recorded in Holy Scripture. But especially it is the part of Scripture we call the gospel. It is the proclamation of the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is the story of His incarnation - where God becomes a man. It is the story of His sinless life and crucifixion - where God dies for man. It is the story of His resurrection, ascension and reign. It is the invitation to all men everywhere to repent and to believe and to align themselves with the Christ of God and the cause of God through baptism and to endeavor to live a holy life in an unholy world. You will find all of this in the first gospel sermon preached in the early church (Acts 2).
Friends, if our “church talk” is not the gospel then the fault is ours. When Peter, by preaching, and the Apostles, by witnessing, sowed the seed on the day of Pentecost, 3000 people were saved. The sad fact is that so few of us ever saw the seed of the gospel in the lives of our lost, hurting friends and neighbors. Statistics reveal that 95 percent of church members never make an attempt to tell anybody about the Lord.
Even the small segment that does muster up the courage to attempt to witness, seldom get beyond talking about the church and its programs. Even the tiny little section of church members who can and do share the facts of the gospel in some “plan of salvation” often do not communicate the gospel at all. They come on impersonally and rudely and academically like door-to-door salesmen and the people before them hear the words but do not hear the heartbeat of God. Paul says, “Preach the truth in love.”
The moisture that helps germinate the gospel seed is love. And love requires some sort of relationship, some bond of friendship and fellowship and understanding. Words need love to have life. Even those who are saved by reading the words of some gospel tract or by hearing the words on television or radio, have usually had their hearts opened to receive the words, by some kindness shown them by a Christian.
III. THE SOILS
We have the sower, anyone who shares Christ. We have the seed, the truths of Christ saving love, shared in love. And then we have the soils, the four kinds of people we will encounter. First we have:
1. The Calloused Heart. The fields of Palestine were crisscrossed with hard footprints and wagon trails. Seed fell here but would not grow here because the soil was packed and hard and calloused. Staying on top of the ground it was food for the birds. Some who come to church and hear the Bible taught are like this. God’s truth, to them, is “for the birds.” It goes in one ear and out the other. They no more understand (Matt. 13:19) what is being said than a goat understands Latin. The devil, like those birds, snatches the truth away so they cannot believe and be saved (Matt. 13:19; Mk. 4:15; Lk. 8:12).
The reason these people do not understand is that they are not interested. We find out all we can about those things that interest us. When a person falls in love he gets to know the one he loves inside out. A person on trial for his life will listen to every word in the courtroom and makes sure he understands. People come to church who care nothing about what is taught. They come by compulsion, to please their families. They come by custom because they have always done it. Some like the Pharisees come out of contempt because they hate God’s spokesmen. Some come for companionship with others. But all come with calloused hearts, uninterested, unwilling and therefore unable to receive the life changing truth of God. Second we have:
2. The Cowardly Heart. The soil in Palestine lies over a layer of rock. Where the top layer of soil is deep this poses no problem. But where the soil is very shallow, the seed will germinate and the little plant will begin to grow. But it has not good, deep root system and the sun, which is supposed to sustain its life, scorches it until it dies. This represents the cowardly hearer who comes to Christ, but withers in the time of testing when it costs to be a Christian.Not everyone rejects our message. Many accept it, but not all who accept it mean business. Some, with shallow roots, want the privileges of Christianity but not the price tags. They claim to be converted but are offended by the gospel’s unpopularity.
Still in love with the world and courting its praises they do not, as a habit of life, confess Christ before men and therefore Jesus will not confess them before the Father (Matt. 10:32). We are told to expect persecution (Jn. 16:33). This is the blazing sun of the parable and the soul that loves and pampers self cannot endure it. Only the soul rooted and built upon love for and loyalty to God can endure the shame and say with Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 1:16).
3. The Crowded Heart. Every farmer has to deal with weeds and briars and all other kinds of critters who destroy young plants. Jesus and every witness before and after Him have to deal with those who are friendly to the blessings of the gospel but antagonistic to its demands.These people are very similar to the second group but are usually more religious on the surface. They come to church and may even take a job or two, but they never intend to become “fanatics” or take Christianity too seriously.
It has a place in their lives but not first place. These people are offended not only by the gospel’s unpopularity but by its totalitarian demands upon them. Christianity is all right “in its place.” Christianity is fighting a losing battle in most of our lives, not because we are bad, but because we are “too busy with our briefcaseful of second rate stuff” (David A. Redding). In our hearts King Jesus has been demoted to the rank of Corporal. We let Him drill the company for an hour or so on Sunday if we feel like it.
4. The Converted Heart. Some of the seed fell on good, rich, deep, fertile soil. It germinated. The plants appeared and grew and bore fruit. So it is with the gospel. People with good hearts hear the Word, hold on it and patiently bear fruit in abundance (Matt. 13:23; Mk. 4:20; Lk. 8:15). The good heart here is not what we humans mean by good. The Bible says our heart is desperately sick and wicked and deceitful (Jer. 17:9). It is good in the sense that is acknowledges its sin, recognizes its need of Christ, and is willing to obey. It is good like a patent is good and follows the advice of the physician. You here today have heard the Word time and time again. What have you done with it?
My appeal to you is for you to get alone with the Lord and pray as though your eternal soul depended on it, for it does. Confess and forsake sin. Commit yourself to the cause of Christ no matter what the cost. Crown Christ as priority number one in your life. Shun all thoughts of pride by looking only to His cross as your passport to heaven. Do this and your heart will be good soil for the Word of God. You will bear the fruit of slowly becoming a more Christlike person.
And when this life is over you will be welcomed into the Father’s house above. The paradox of this parable is that when the soil produces fruit, it becomes the sower. Our fruit climbs the highest when we share our faith with others. The evangelized become evangelists. The saved become sharers. To those who share the word, who sow God’s truth in human hearts I urge you to use truth and love and patience. It is the truth that sets men free. It is love that makes the truth believable. And it is patience that wins the war against a determined devil. Doing all this you can trust God to honor His word and give you power.
r. Oscar Thompson told a strange story of one of his seminary students. He stopped Dr. Thompson in the hall and said he needed help on a funeral sermon he was preparing for his uncle who was lost. Dr. Thompson expressed sorrow over the uncle’s passing and the student replied, “He’s not dead yet.”
Why then, asked the professor, are you writing his funeral? The young man said he and the uncle were very close and the church in that area had witnessed to him over and over, to no avail. Dr. Thompson asked him if he had tried and he said, No! Dr. Thompson told him to go home and talk to him about the Lord before he began working on his funeral sermon. The boy agreed. A few days later the boy saw Dr. Thompson and came up to him with a big smile on his face. He told him how his uncle had accepted Christ and thanked him for telling hi of the love of Christ.
Then the young man said, “Dr. Thompson, my uncle said the strangest thing. He said he had never been shown that Christ loved him until that day.” Does this mean no one had shared Christ with him all those years? No! But this was the first time he was really listening; the first time he was receptive. For years his heart had been calloused and hard and cold. But God used a death bed, a loving church, faithful pastors, and the love of a young man to plow his heart and get him ready.
Never give up! Never stop sowing the seed. Sow when you feel like it and when you don’t. When I played baseball I went into a terrible batting slump even though I was hitting the ball well. I hit the ball right at the defensive players. My coach said, “Don’t worry, just keep swinging the bat and those line drives will start dropping in.” He was right. The same applies to witnessing. Just keep swinging the gospel bat and somebody will hear about the love of God for what they think is the first time. The calloused heart can become the converted heart. God does the plowing and we do the sowing.
