Matthew 13:1-23
A Will to Know
Introduction
In last week’s message, I spoke about the human will and the role it plays in our lives as we move toward or away from the will of God for our lives. Each of us has been given a free will to exercise, and God’s desire is that we exercise it toward Him. His desire is Christlikeness – to be more than fire insurance as He rescues us from hell, but to transform our lives by the renewing of our minds.
If you were to read through the list of sins in Romans 1, God wants to transform those who have reprobate minds into men and women of purity; to make the unrighteous righteous; the fornicators and adulterers sexually pure; the wicked holy; the covetous generous and content; the malicious kind; and so forth.
God wants you to be changed, no matter how good or bad you think you are – so that you become like Christ in thought, word and deed. The only way for that to happen is for us as believers to willfully choose that plan for our lives as good and right. It is to make God’s will your will.
This morning as we study Matthew 13:1-23, I want you to see how God’s Word plays an important role in our growth. You should remember that last week we identified four unhealthy wills that we often exercise in our lives: the impulsive will, the obstructive will, the explosive will and the wavering will. As we study this parable of the sower and the seed, I want you to notice how these unhealthy wills keep us from knowing and doing the will of God based on the Word of God. I want you to notice as well that it is only as we exercise a healthy will toward God and His Word that we will be able to know and do what is best for us in all of life’s circumstances.
The Parable of the Sower
"And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold."
As Jesus sat by the Sea of Galilee, we can only imagine what He might have been thinking about. Obviously the events of this long day influenced the story He told. Jesus had been preaching and teaching and performing miracles in the region for some time now, and yet the people still would not believe. In chapter 11 he said that they had seen and heard enough to have been saved, but still they would not believe. He thanked the Father in prayer that the truth was hidden from the wise and prudent people. On the day we are considering, the Pharisees had accused Him of being possessed with a devil. Later they wanted Him to put on a magic show so they might believe, and then finally His own family appears to have wanted Him to settle down – perhaps they thought He had gone crazy. How was it that the Son of God in the flesh could speak the truth with such clarity supported with the weight of His miracles, and yet people still could not grasp the truths He spoke? Consider how Jesus explained the parable in verses 18-23.
"Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Now notice first that there are at least two constants in the parable. First is the seed – which Jesus identifies as the Word of God. The second is the soil – which represents the various ways we receive the Word of God. Some want to try to differentiate between which of these represent the lost and which represent the saved. Rather than looking for who is who, I want you to realize that everyone of you here today can and will receive God’s Word in one or more of these ways. What are those ways?
The Way Side
This first group of people mentioned by the Lord are those who receive the Word by the way side. Along the wayside is shallow soil where the Word of God never takes root and it is carried away. The gospel is preached and the Word is proclaimed, but these people allow Satan to carry the seed away and it does not profit them. According to Luke 8:12, these are obviously people who are not saved.
"Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved."
Think of the countless millions of people who have heard the gospel through the years but refused to heed its call to salvation. The lost man or woman exercises an obstructive will toward God when time after time He casts the seed of the gospel in their lives through various means, but each time they only refuse to hear and Satan carries away that which has been sown and because they refused, they remained lost and condemned.
The rich young ruler heard and refused. The rich man in hell had heard and refused. Others had the same opportunities, but it was going to be their way or no way with the Lord. They found out the hard way that it was God’s way or no way, and no matter how obstructive you or I might be, God is going to get His way – because He is God!
The Stony Ground
In the regions around Israel, much of the ground is hilly, rocky terrain, where seed has difficulty taking deep root. Here we have people who receive the Word with impulsive or wavering wills. Jesus said that these people hear the Word and are glad about it, but as soon as trouble comes along you can’t find them. Like a plant that shoots up in stony ground and withers away as soon as the sun puts some intense heat on it, these people don’t have much root – and as soon as some heat is applied in their lives they get offended and leave.
I like the way Dr. A.J. Kirkland spoke to this…
"These are the people who help the church have "Good" meetings. They react quickly and impulsively to a thing, but they never think through and they always act and react on the same basis. They will get offended and quit the church just as quickly. Those who received the Word and acted on impulse may or may not be saved, but they do not bear fruit. They are unstable. This is the crowd that always responds in any age to any sort of movement…They are easily influenced and make it possible for those who cater to them to make a big show of success."
I think he’s right on. Those who receive the Word on stony ground represent a large group in our churches, because there are so many who act with an impulsive will, who, once they’ve had some time to think things through realize they’ve over committed and then they start backpedaling. You can’t trust the wavering person – not in any area of his or her life.
The Thorny Ground
An obstructive will, an explosive or even wavering will can be seen in this group. These are those whose interests are more physical than they are spiritual. The seed is sown, but thorns and briars choke it out of the person’s life. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches hinder the Word of God from ever taking solid root and making a difference. We might call these people carnal Christians, or worldly Christians. We really don’t know if they are Christians or not – they call themselves by that name, but their lives give no evidence of a real life-changing experience with the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal Word.
There are just so many professing believers who care more about cars and homes and recreation and money than they do the Lord and His kingdom, and it is because they are exercising unhealthy wills toward God and His holy Word.
The Good Soil
This last group represents those who exercise healthy wills – those who respond positively toward the teaching and preaching of the Bible – those who respond favorably to God in salvation, in sanctification and in service. How do you know these people have received the Word favorably? You know them by their fruit. You know because they do more than quote the Word – they live it everyday of their lives. It has made a difference that no other man or woman can make. The healthy will is manifested by what Jesus said: they heard the Word and understood it.
Why Make Spiritual Truths Difficult to Understand?
When the disciples heard the parable of the sower, they came and asked Jesus why He was teaching like He was.
"And the disciples came, and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables?"
Notice what He said,
Spiritual truth is for the spiritually minded. (11)
"He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."
The simple fact of the matter is that spiritual truth is for spiritually minded people. If you find yourself struggling to understand the truths of God’s Word time after time and you listen and hear and try to study and don’t get anywhere, it may be a good indication that you’ve never been saved. You need to seriously question your salvation and start there.
It is in salvation that the Spirit of God takes up residence in a person’s life. It is in salvation that our spirits are made alive unto God, so until you or I are saved, made spiritually alive, we really have no capacity to understand the spiritual truths of the Word of God. Read along in 1 Corinthians 2:9ff and notice the way Paul said it.
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received no the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not to the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Spiritual truth and growth is progressive. (12)
Jesus went on to say in Matthew 13:12,
"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."
It is obvious that we ought to be students of the Word of God all our lives. There will never come a time when we will ever be able to say that we’ve learned it all and know it all. The Bible is rich with subjects and issues that have yet to be explored in our lives. It is a deep well from which we can draw throughout our lives to find the answers to life’s toughest questions – if we will look.
The child of God who becomes careless in the study of God’s Word is in danger of loosing that understanding that he already has. Think of the man who stays by a fire as long as the fire burns brightly and the fuel stays on, but if he gets careless and lets the wood burn out he will get cold. He must continue to add fuel to the fire if he is to stay warm.
I would challenge you to show me a man or a woman who has quit studying the Bible – but who has also continued to burn brightly for the Lord. When we loose our desire to know what God has said, then we loose our desire to be with God and to be useful to Him, and the longer we stay in that condition, the more risk we run of loosing what spiritual understanding we do have.
Spiritual truth is for those who have a will to know it. (13-15)
"Therefore speak I unto them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush here with the disciples. He just lays it out there – people don’t understand the Word of God because they don’t really want to know it. If you want to know what God’s Word says, He’ll teach it to you. That’s not what I say, that’s what the Bible says. The Holy Spirit is our teacher who will guide us into all spiritual truth, but like the people in our passage, many fine Missionary Baptist people just don’t want to know – they have closed their minds to the truth and simply cannot be taught.
Jesus addressed this group and said that even though they physically see, they have no spiritual sight, and though the words passed across their physical ears, they had no spiritual ears with which to hear. Their hearts had grown cold and indifferent to the Word of God, and they became progressively worse as they reached this state of self-imposed, willful darkness and ignorance, and the worse part about it was that it didn’t have to be that way. Jesus would gladly have revealed the same truths to every man and woman on the shore that day had they simply had a will to know what He was really saying, but they didn’t.
They were obstructive, wavering, and impulsive people who were along for the ride, out to see the show, and because they chose to be this way they would miss out on what Jesus was offering. Let me just share this with you – if you want to know what the Bible says – God will teach it to you. You say, "Preacher, I just don’t understand my Bible." I want to know how badly you really want to know what it says. The writer of Hebrews says that God rewards those who diligently seek after Him by faith. How diligently are you seeking to understand what you read? Daniel spent over three weeks studying some of the prophecies of Jeremiah and prayed that God would teach him, and God sent an answer to him after those three weeks. How much time can you say that you spend trying to understand? You must have a will to know.
Those with a will to know will be blessed. (16-17)
"But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them: and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."
Do you really want to know? The disciples did, and Jesus revealed things to them that even the men who wrote much of the Old Testament didn’t get to see and understand. Here’s the good news: those things weren’t just revealed to the disciples, God will reveal them to you too. The great blessing of studying the Word of God isn’t monetary, it isn’t material or even physical necessarily. The great blessing of God in all of this is knowing and understanding the Word of God and in turn being able to rightly discern what is the will of God and being able to act on it. In John 7:17, Jesus said, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." I would also say this, that if any man will seek to know of the doctrine, or the teachings of Scripture, he will know. He will learn and grow.
Conclusion
I wonder as we wrap this up this morning, what kind of soil are you presenting to God each day of your lives as He labors to sow the good seed of the Word of God in your lives? Is it shallow soil, soil that is hard and unfruitful? Are you presenting to the Lord stony soil? Are you being impulsive and obstructive with the Lord in your life, not allowing His Word to take good root and being offended at the slightest little things? Do you turn and run when the heat is on? Are you presenting the Lord with thorny soil? Are you wrestling with the things of this world, staying so busy that you can’t study? Working so hard that you don’t have the time or energy to open up and be taught? Are you so caught up with stuff that it takes precedence over searching the Scriptures daily that you might know of His doctrine? Or are you presenting the Lord with good soil? Soil that is broken and ready to be sown? Soil that is recognized by open ears and eyes and heart, ready to hear and see and learn?
Are you saved today? No amount of study is going to yield the things of God’s Word until you have the spiritual capacity to receive them. Are you staying in the Word? Can you really say that you have been exercising a healthy will toward God concerning the reception of His Word and truth?
