The Sower and the Soil, Part 1b

You have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 13. Well, the good thing about the parable of the soil in soil is that Christ interprets it for us. We're not left to speculate as to what it means. Look down to verse number 18, Matthew 13. Here then, the parable of the sower. Christ is going to explain it to him. In verses 10 to 16, the disciples say, hey, Lord, what are you doing? Why are you speaking to people in parables? And Christ tells them. And now he says, here, hear this, the parable of the sower.

Anyone, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom the seed was sewn beside the road. And the one on whom seed was sewn on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary. And when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. and the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns this is the man who hears the word and the worry of the world and the seatfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful and the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil this is the man who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold some some sixty and some thirty Christ says, let me tell you exactly what this parable means.

First of all, the sower. The sower is Jesus Christ. We saw that earlier, verse number 37. He is the one who sows a seed. He is the word. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the first gospel preacher.

He's the one who came preaching, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is why he came. He came to present the kingdom. He came to present the kingdom way of life to people. who did not want him as their king. He was the soar. And the seed? Seed very simply is what? Verse 18, the Word of the kingdom. Mark 4.14 says it's the Word of God. Luke 8.11 says the same thing. So we know that the seed is the Word of God. We know the sower is God himself, who is the Word Jesus Christ. Now, when we become believers, we now become sowers of God.

the seed. You've been born again because of an imperishable seed, the Word of God. And therefore, you begin to realize that this seed, this living and abiding Word of God, and that's why our radio broadcast is called Living Word Radio, because we realize the effectiveness of the word of God that is alive, that's abiding, that is forever, it never dies. It never fades away. It's living. It's for everyone who's ever lived and whoever will live. And we who are believers now become sower of that seed.

We become the people who take the seed and we throw it out on the world. And that seed will land on four kinds of soil every time. Every time. You'll note that when you throw the seed, when you speak forth the word, when you preach the gospel of the kingdom, that that seed will fall on soil. The issue in the parable is not the seed. The issue in the parable is to continue. The condition of the soil. Because God's word never changes. God's words living, active, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.

The parable speaks to the condition of the soil. So you'll know that when that good seed falls, the seed that fell on the roadside soil was good seed. If it fell on good soil, it'd grow. But because it fell on the roadside soil, the birds would come by and snatch it away. It'd be trampled in the foot of men. Nothing wrong with the seed. The seed's good. It's where it landed. Same is true when you preach the gospel. When you preach the gospel, the seed is great. It's good. It's living. It's abiding.

It's alive. It's forever. But the question is, where does it land? So what's going to happen as you study this parable is that three things will happen in your life. And one is your perspective on sharing the gospel is going to change. The people you share the gospel with is going to be more clearly understood. And thirdly, your prayers concerning the people you share the gospel with.

are going to be more pointed because you're going to know how to pray for people based on the parable of the sower and the soils. So let's look at the soils together.

This is where we'll spend the bulk of our time this evening and of course next time as well. First of all, the roadside soil.

It says, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. This is the roadside soil. This is what we're going to call the cold heart. The cold heart. Their heart is so pounded by sin that the message can't even begin to penetrate their cold heart. It's as hard as a rock. His heart knows no repentance, no sorrow for sin, no guilt, no concern. for spiritual things.

Over in the book of Proverbs, this person is described as in Proverbs 1, verse number 7, as a fool who despises wisdom and instruction. Over in Proverbs chapter 23, verse number 9, it says this, do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. That's the roadside soil. That's the cold heart. It says over in Proverbs 20, verse number 22 these words though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain yet his folly will not depart from him that's the cold heart that's the roadside soil the sea kind of like bounces off his cold hard heart and the birds the birds of course are representative of Satan how do we know that the Bible tells us He says the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.

Satan comes and like the bird off that roadside soil comes and snatches that sea right off of there. So nothing happens. And Satan does that to the cold heart. Satan blinds them from seeing the true value of the gospel. Do you ever ask yourself the question? How does Satan blind people? He blinds the number one of false teachers.

False teachers. I'm not talking about blatant false teachers, people that are really wacko. I'm talking about the subtly of false teachers. There are people in churches all across America who are sitting there week after week after week thinking that everything's okay. They're in church, and there are thousands of people around them in church, and they're singing songs about Jesus, and they're writing checks to Jesus, and they're seeing great things happen in the church. They're there every week.

And Satan has blinded their minds, has duped them into thinking that this is good enough. You're here. It's okay. Your pastor's happy. The people next year are happy. Your family's happy. Everybody's happy. It must be okay. And there they said, totally deceived because Satan has blinded their minds. Another way Satan will blind the mind to the unbeliever is causing them to be fearful. Fearful that if they give their life to Christ, then that they, and the demands the gospel are going to be so severe that they could lose their job, they could lose their reputation.

And so they're not going to give way to that. And he's blinded them as to the true realities of the gospel. Another way is Satan just uses their pride, their arrogance. They don't see themselves as sinners. They see themselves as pretty good because they compare themselves to other people who are child molesters and people who are rapists and murderers and drug abuse. They compare themselves to them, and those are the bad people. I'm a good guy. I might cheat on my income tax. I might cheat on my wife, but I'm not a homosexual, and I'm not a murderer, I'm not a thief.

And so they rationalize their sin and think that everything is okay. Satan will use doubt and prejudice and stubbornness, love of sin. Satan will even use procrastination to blind the mind of the unbeliever. I love the story that C.S. Lewis tells in his book, the screw tape letters when he describes the man who goes into the British Museum and sits down to read a book, something he reads inspires him to think of God. And for a moment, it looks as though he is really going to think the idea through.

But the demon's screw tape diverts him with the thought that it is time for lunch, and that he would be in much better shape to consider this important subject after he has eaten. When the man goes outside, he sees a bus full of tired people and a newsboy peddling the cares of this world. And the man comes to the unalterable conclusion that whatever odd ideas might come into a man's head when he is shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of real life was enough to show him that all that sort of thing just couldn't be true.

And how many times have you shared the gospel of people? And they've said, not today. Maybe tomorrow. and they procrastinate and make a decision for the gospel. These people are unresponsive. They're apathetic. They're the kind of people who come to church. That's a great, oh, I love that story. I love the Easter story. I love the Christmas story. I love how your pastor tells the story. Those kind of people. They come once a year and they love the story. They're the kind of people who go to funerals.

I meet them all the time at funerals. Oh, pastor, that was just the greatest funeral message. I ever heard. Really? What are you going to do about it? Well, they didn't want to answer that question because now they're called into account. But boy, they had nothing. That's the greatest sermon I ever heard. Man, that was great. But their hearts are cold, unresponsive to the truth. You've got to have broken and contract heart. That's what you've got to have. You see, there are many people who honor Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

There are people who are people who are people who who blatantly rebel against the truth of the gospel, who will come out and speak against it. There are others who will come and sit in church week after week after week with cold, hard hearts and everything bounces off of them, like a basketball off of a floor. And they leave unchanged, unconverted, uncommitted, simply because there's no repentance. There's no brokenness over sin. He lacks the desire to build a relationship with God. He lacks the desire to be with God more than anything else.

His desires are elsewhere. He lacks desire. Soil number two is the rocky soil. The rocky soil is not the cold heart. It's the careless heart. It's the careless heart. Christ tells us in Matthew chapter 13, and the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. The one on the rocky soil, he hears the word of God and he receives it with joy. These are the quick ones. These are the ones who really look like Christians. These are the ones who come down the aisle.

These are the ones who might even come down the aisle with tears in their eyes. These are the ones who, from an emotional standpoint, respond to Christ. This is the impulsive. of heart. The last thing they want to hear are the issues surrounding the consequences of the gospel. What draws them to the message is the love of Christ. The love of Christ. What draws into the message is that if they give their lives to Christ, then they'll be able to marry the person who's already a Christian, and therefore they'll become a Christian because they're a Christian.

Or they'll become a Christian because God's going to do some good things for the gospel. And they'll be able to them and if I come to Christ, the preacher told me that everything in my life will change and everything will be better and I'm going to give my life to Christ because of that, and therefore I'm going to respond because that's the kind of God I want, who's going to make my life sweeter, kinder, nice, or better. So I give my life to Christ. It wasn't too long ago where in my previous church we had a staff meeting, everybody was sitting around in the circle.

We were talking about the issue in Mark chapter, chapter one and chapter two about the the ministry of Christ in his message. Repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. That's what John the Baptist said, and Christ falled on his heels. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Talk about the issue of repentance and the issue of commitment to Christ and brokenness over sin, and one of the ladies who was on staff raised her hand and said, you know, I don't really think you have to repent of your sins to be saved.

I said, really? I was new at the time. I said, really? She's no, when I gave my life to Christ because I love Him. He loves me. But I've never repented of my sin. I just came to Christ because I love Him. And I said to her, that's not enough. That's not enough. you're not saying now new guy in the block doesn't necessarily go over so well in a staff meeting but truth is truth people who give their life to Christ because of the love of Christ they want to be loved they want him to love them they come to him without any recognition of their sinfulness and his holiness they come to him just because he's a god of love well that's how the world approaches him he's a god of love and god loves everybody and because god loves everybody i'm going to love god and everybody's going to love everybody else because god is love it's a total misunderstanding of god's love These people come to Christ because it's a good feeling.

These people come to Christ because it's something that brings them happiness and joy and ease and comfort in life. And yet, they're like the people that Christ speaks of or God speaks of to Ezekiel the prophet when he says this. But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you, by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, come now, hear what the message is, which comes forth from the Lord. And they come to see you as people come, and sit before you as my people, and hear your words, but they do not do them.

For they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to their things. them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear your words, but they do not practice them. So people of Israel say, you got to come hear Ezekiel. I mean, can he say it like nobody else has ever said it? You've got to come here, this guy, man. He can really rip it off, man. He's amazing. And they talk about it in the marketplace.

They talk about it in their homes. He said, oh, man, Ezekiel, you are like, you have a sweet, sensual voice. You are unbelievable. They hear what he says, but they don't do what the prophet says. That's the person who is eager to hear. It's the person who built his house upon the sand. Remember that guy in Matthew chapter 7? The guy who built his house upon the rock and the guy who built his house upon the sand. The guy who built his house upon the sand I mean the rains came down the floods came up You're saying the song The rains came down and the floods came up You know, you know that song And the house on the sand went splat It's got the religious structure It looks religious In fact it looks the same as the house It's built of the rock They're virtually identical houses Except one has a solid foundation And the other has a superficial foundation And so when the rains come tumbling down, it falls by the wayside.

And that's the, that's the rocky soil. That's the, that's the careless heart. These are people saying, I've tried Christ. I've tried Christ many times. What does that mean? You've tried Christ many times. There are many people who look like they receive the gospel. They're excited about Jesus for a little while. But he says this in Matthew chapter 13. immediately they receive the word with joy yet he has no firm root in himself but it's only temporary this guy is here for a while and then gone he's temper why is he temporary tells him and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word immediately he falls away he doesn't stay in why as the seed that falls on the on the rocky soil because of the limestone that's there and when it begins spring up quickly, because it does, it's close to the surface, it springs up quickly, it looks like the real thing.

But when the sun comes out and beats down upon it, because it can't dig those roots down deeper to the ground to gain the moisture it needs to stand strong amidst the sun, it withers and dies. And Christ says, so is the superficial believer who comes and just walks the aisle and says a prayer and really has no true firm commitment, but is there and says, hey, I love Jesus.

I'll follow Jesus. I'll do it all you guys are doing. And then when affliction comes and when persecution comes, they can't handle it. Can't handle the affliction, which is the mental, emotional, personal problems that occur from within. And they can't handle the persecution, which is the pressure coming from the outside. See, the impulsive heart comes to Christ because they want to get rid of inner turmoil. They want to get rid of inner conflict. They want to easy life. And as soon as something bad happens, they can't handle it.

And they come to Christ because they realize that Jesus is the answer to your problems now. Let me tell you something.

To the Apostle Paul, Jesus wasn't the answer to all of his problems now. That's why Paul said he is the blessed hope. The superficial believer, the rocky soil, the careless heart, comes to Christ because Christ is going to do something for them. So they think. Make their life easier, their marriage better, their children more obedient, their financial status better, their acceptance stronger in the community. Everything is going to be better for them. And they realize it's not better. They turn around and they walk away.

Persecution? Oh, they want nothing to do with them. They're not going to stand strong for Jesus. People are going to make fun of them. You get the yearly church, and Acts chapter 8 speaks of the fact that how persecuted they were and how because they were persecuted, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. The perfect illustration of this in the scripture is Judas. is scary. Judas is scary. It was one who received the gospel with joy. Immediately he sprung up. He looked like all the other ones.

He looked identical to Matthew, identical to Peter, identical to John. He was the most trusted of all of them because he was the treasurer. Everybody believed in Judas. He was the man. And even on the night of Christ's betrayal, when Christ said that one of you is going to betray me, they all said, is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? None of them said, it's Judas. He's a loser, man. I know it. Nobody knew. They all thought it was that. It was Judas. He received the word with joy. He appeared to be sincere.

He appeared to be a sincere disciple. He preached the gospel like all the other disciples preached the gospel. He healed like all the other disciples healed. He did everything else. All the other disciples did. There was nothing that set him apart that would make him different. He was like everybody else. And yet when persecution came, when push came to shove, he had taken for standing for Jesus at the end. He didn't do it. fell by the way, son. He went out, and he hung himself. That's why Christ called him the son a perdition.

Beware of the conversion. That's all smiles, all cheers, but lacks remorse, repentance, and the conviction of sin. That is the careless heart. Where are you? There are two more soils. The third soil is the crowded heart.

And the last soil is the converted heart. My prayer is that you have had a true conversion with a the Lord Jesus Christ. What kind of soil are you? Do you have a cold heart, a careless heart, or a crowded heart as a thorny's soil? Or do you have a truly converted heart? You've turned from your sin. You serve the true and living God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight a chance to look into the Word of God. And pray God that all of our hearts will be examined in light of the Word. We realize there is much that we have not covered so much more to cover.

We pray God that you build before us. help all of us, Lord, to realize that we're going to sow some seed. And some of that seed is going to fall on some cold hearts. And those people are going to rebel, turn away from truth. Some of those seeds will fall on careless hearts. Those people are going to say, yeah, I'll follow Jesus. I'll give my life to Christ. But yet, there's no remorse, there's no conviction of sin. There's no brokenness of heart. there's that same arrogant attitude of the cold heart when persecution and affliction arise they fall by the wayside it says john said in first john 219 they went out from us for they were not of us for if they would have been of us they would have stayed with us but because they were not of us they went up from us they did not want to have anything to do with the persecution of the gospel the bible says that all who live in god in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

So we pray, Father, that if there be an unconverted soul this evening, that you turn them from their sin to serve the true living God. For those of us who have turned, may we demonstrate our Christ-like attitude every day and tell more people about Jesus. We pray these things in the coming king's name, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Thank you.