Matthew 13:1-23“SEED - SOIL - SALVATION”

THOUGHTS ON FAITH

Henry Louis Mencken (1880 - 1956), better known as H. L. Mencken

Was a journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic, and “freethinker”

Mencken defined faith as “an illogical belief in the occurrence of the impossible.”

Samuel Clemens… better known as Mark Twain (18835 - 19510),

Said (through one of his characters) that faith is “believin’ what you know ain’t so.”

KEY INSIGHT: These are men wh have influenced the thinking and attitudes of many in our country.

But for all of their renown, they are inaccurate…. They are describing superstition, not faith.

REAL FAITH…. the faith of a Christian, rests on solid foundations…. is built on something SOLID, something SURE.

KEY INSIGHT: Everybody lives by faith in something or someone.

The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is not that one has faith and the other does not.

Both have faith.

The difference is in the object of their faith.

KEY INSIGHT: As we continue our study in the life of Jesus (as recorded by Matthew) we find Jesus and His followers at a critical moment in His public ministry.

CONTEXT - We have just seen the moment when the enemies of Jesus concluded that they must destroy Jesus.

The fact of His suffering and death is something that He was going to explain to His disciples.

Their FAITH in Jesus and in His Kingdom are in the balance!

The logical question churning in the hearts and minds would be - “What will happen to the kingdom that You have been PROCLAIMING and EXPLAINING?

Jesus is going EXPLAIN the nature if His Kingdom in a series of parables.

One of our Lord’s favorite ways of teaching the people was by means of PARABLES.

KEY INSIGHT: At least one third of Jesus teaching was done by using Parables!

To ignore them would be robbing ourselves of much of His teaching.

KEY INSIGHT: A Parable has been described as an Earthly Story with a Heavenly meaning.

Jesus took EVERY DAY things - things that people could easily relate to - and used them to help His listeners understand heavenly things.

KEY QUESTION: Why so many Parables?

The Lord used Parables to

AROUSE INTEREST

And PROVOKE SPIRITUAL HUNGER in those who were spiritually “dull.”

We would be wise to seek the Lord as to how we can AROUSE INTEREST and PROVOKE SPIRITUAL HUNGER in those who were spiritually “dull.”

KEY QUESTION: In a light of all of the Preaching and Teaching that is going on in the world, Have you ever wondered why the whole world isn’t Changed?

The Parable we are going to study this morning

Helps to explain the realities of proclaiming and the Word….

Will answer questions about the effectiveness of God's Word.

Will help you understand what is happening as you Share God's Word with others.

(Mat 13:1-3 NKJV) 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 (THE) sower went out to sow.

Most likely, as Jesus was using the boat by the lakeside as a pulpit, there was in one of the fields near the shore a sower, sowing seeds

Jesus used the sower, whom they could all see, and began - "Look at the sower there sowing his seed in that field!"

Jesus began with something which at the moment they could actually see… something that they were all familiar with, in order to open their minds to truth which, as yet, they had never seen.

KEY INSIGHT: This parable is Foundational to our understanding of the Kingdom of God.

In Mark’s Gospel we read - "Know ye not this Parable? And how then will ye know all Parables? (Mark 4:13)

KEY OBSERVATION: There are 3 common earthly things that Jesus s going to use to explain heavenly realities.

THE SEED….. THE SOWER….. THE SOIL

{4} "And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

KEY INSIGHT: In Israel of that day

The fields were in long narrow strips….And the ground between the strips was always a right of way.

It was used as a common foot path

All of the foot traffic caused it to become as hard as a sidewalk.

{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.

REMEMBER – This was a PICTURE that all would see and understand.

KEY INSIGHT: The Soil in Israel is littered with Rocks Everywhere.

There is a very thin layer of dirt on top of an underlying shelf of limestone rock.

When the seed lands on this soil it cannot get deep roots –

When it sent down its roots in search of nourishment and moisture, it would meet only the rock

It would be starved to death, and unable to withstand the heat of the sun.

{7} "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

HOW MANY GARDENERS HERE? Every gardener knows that the weeds grow faster and stronger than the seeds you plant.

Good seed and the weeds grow together

But the weeds are so strong that they choke out the life of the seed.

{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!"

{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.

HERE’S THE POINT that Jesus is making -

If a man wants to know the Word of God, he can know it.

If a man wants to know the truth, he can know it.

But you can also shut your ears to it.

There are multitudes of self-proclaimed broadminded people who shut their ears to the Word of God.

If you don't want to hear it, you won't hear it.

Not only would you fail to hear it, but you wouldn't understand it if you did hear it.

You must have the kind of ear that wants to hear the Word of God.

BUT - If you know a little truth and you want to know more, the Lord will add to it.

If you don't want to know the truth, the Lord will see to it that you won't get it.

KEY INSIGHT: Jesus will never shut the door to one who wants to hear.

He makes it very clear that this is His reason for speaking in parables.

{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.

KEY OBSERVATION: As we follow Jesus through this chapter we are going to find Him using the word hear some SEVEN times.

KEY INSIGHT: In the Bible hearing means much more than simply listening to words.

“Hearing” means listening with spiritual understanding and receptivity.

(Rom. 10:17) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Here we have the reason for Parables.

Parables both Reveal and conceal.

A Parable will Awaken one, it will Harden another.

Those who are Prideful and Hard hearted will not understand.

(Isa 6:9-10 NKJV) 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."

But those who are Humble and Teachable will receive

{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."

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus explained this parable so there is no doubt of its meaning.

The SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD

KEY QUESTION: Why compare God’s Word to seed?

1.) Because the Word is “living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12).

Unlike the words of men, the Word of God has life in it; and that life can be imparted to those who will believe.

1 Pet 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

2.) Seed bears the BLUEPRINT for life within it.

If you want to grow a Living Plant, you must begin with a seed.

Just this week in James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth

3.) Like a Seed, the Good News is small, yet Powerful:

Have you ever seen a Seed crack a concrete side walk?

POINT: NEVER underestimate the POWER of the Word of God!

NEVER be ashamed of it….. because IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. (Romans 1:16)

4.) Also like a Seed, God's Word is Extremely Fruitful.

God's Word can produce all kinds of Fruit in our lives.

5.) The Word, like a Seed, must be Planted to do any good.

It must be Cultivated, Nurtured etc.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: The truth of God must take root in the heart, be cultivated, and permitted to bear fruit.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: It is RADICAL to observe that three fourths of the seed did not bear fruit.

NOTE THIS WELL: Jesus did not describe an age of great harvest, but one in which the Word would be rejected.

He was not impressed with the “great multitudes” that followed Him

Jesus knew that most of the people would not receive His Word in a way that would bear fruit.

TRAGICALLY today there is a HUGE segment of Christianity that has FAILED to understand this FOUNDATIONAL truth of the Kingdom…

They lay the blame for the apparent failure to reach the multitudes on the “Message”… on the Bible itself…

They say that obviously we have a message that no one wants to receive… so we have to change our message… or in their terminology… our “story”.

JESUS NEVER changed message.

BECAUSE He… the AUTHOR and the SUBJECT of the message…. understood the nature of the SEED… that it is GOOD seed.

He makes it unmistakably clear in this illustration that the problem is not with the seed but with the soil!

MORE ON THIS in a moment!

THE SOWER IS ONE WHO SHARES THE WORD

Originally, Jesus was the Sower.

Then, He passed the Seed to the Apostles, and eventually to us!

KEY INSIGHT #1 - FAITH is required when Sowing Seed.

In the agricultural world, the Farmer must have confidence that he is sowing GOOD seed and that the seed WILL grow!

We NEED to have confidence in the SEED that we are sowing.

We NEED to understand that we MUST never Sow God's Word Plus Man's Philosophy, Theory or Tradition.

KEY INSIGHT #2 - Anyone who shares God's Word is a Sower.

A Sermon

A witness to a friend

A letter

A song

KEY INSIGHT #3 - A Farmer must Sow with His Seed with COMPASSION.

Psa 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Key insight #4 – Kingdom sowing involves Team Work

It takes the team work of the Body of Christ to make a Good Harvest.

1 Cor 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

KEY INSIGHT #5 - PATIENCE is needed after Planting

James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

KEY INSIGHT #6 - The Farmer sows the Seed LIBERALLY

SOWED = BROADCAST

We get our radio and television terms BROADCAST from this agricultural picture.

Casting seed abroad!

CRUCIAL POINT: We should do it as MUCH and as OFTEN and in as MANY ways as possible.

CRUCIAL APPLICATION:

“PASSION FOR THE WORD OF GOD” is not a slogan

In the DNA of what Metro is, is the PASSION to BROADCAST the seed of God’s Word

As MUCH and as OFTEN and in as MANY WAYS as possible.

> Here.. In every area of ministry

Kids…. Teens…. Men….. Women….Young adults….. Young married

> Region (KFIA and hopefully more)

EXAMPLE: Friday… Ken in San Ramon

> Uttermost parts of the World

Missions

What happens in these walls is the TIP of the iceberg of metro’s ministry and mission

International Radio (Kenya)

Web Development….

We want to develop more ways of SOWING the word via the internet.

London group

We have been encouraging missionaries and other pastors with our web based resources

THIS is THE GREAT ENTERPRISE

of YOUR church!

SOWING the seed of God’s Word is what Metro INVESTS in!

THIS is what YOU support in your giving.

Think of how much this building is being used on a weekly basis in the enterprise of

SOWING the Word of God.837-9795