Hearing the Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:18-23
September 25, 2011
Studying through Matthew’s gospel we are now in the section
In which Jesus reveals the truths about the Kingdom of heaven.
His kingdom is a very present spiritual reality.
The physical kingdom will arrive when He returns,
But His spiritual kingdom is presently here.
Matthew 13 shows the realities of that kingdom.
In this chapter we find 8 parables concerning the kingdom of heaven.
As I told you last week, this is not a chapter meant
To explain to the lost how to be saved.
(That was the purpose of 5-7)
This is a chapter meant to explain the realities of the kingdom
To those who are entering it.
In fact, last week we learned that Jesus
Wasn’t even making the truths of the kingdom clear to everyone.
He only spoke a parable to them.
He gave them a farming illustration about a sower sowing seed.
After it was over He said (9) “He who has ears, let him hear.”
And of course none did.
The disciples were perplexed by this.
(10) “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
They wanted to know why Jesus didn’t just tell them straight.
Why did He give them a farming illustration?
(11-13) “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
Jesus reveals that the reason He is speaking in a parable
Is because He is proving the blindness and the deafness of Israel.
He was revealing that though they thought they saw clearly,
They were really blind.
Now the disciples did understand.
They knew Jesus was talking about more than farming.
And Jesus said to them:
(16-17) “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly 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 were blessed because God had made them able
To hear the Word of God.
God had made them able to understand.
Jesus would explain this parable, because they were willing to see Him
They responded correctly to their first piece of truth,
Now they get the second.
So in our text this morning, Jesus will explain the parable to them.
BUT THE DISCIPLES GET THE MEANING
(18) “Hear then the parable of the sower.”
And this is an important distinction.
I’ve often referred to this as “the parable of the soils”
But that isn’t what Jesus calls it.
He calls it “the parable of the sower”
So this parable isn’t about the soil, it is about the sower.
This parable is given to those who sow seed, not those who receive it.
And that is obvious, since those who would be receiving the seed,
Obviously aren’t listening to it.
This is a parable for any and all who spread the truth of the gospel.
Luke’s gospel gives us some more important insight.
Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.”
With just one statement of clarity,
This parable us unlocked and makes sense to us.
The farmer isn’t actually a farmer, he is a preacher of the gospel,
And the seed isn’t really seed, it is the word of God.
The soil isn’t really soil, it is those on whom the word of God falls.
And so we are talking to those who preach the gospel.
This is a parable for them.
There must be a preacher, and he must preach the word of God.
Romans 10:14-17 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
And Jesus is here talking to those people.
Any who would dare to spread the truth to the lost world around them.
And this parable is meant to explain to them
Why everyone they preach to doesn’t enter.
It is meant to explain why some who seem to enter fall away.
You see, preaching the gospel can be a discouraging job.
• Sometimes people don’t even seem to listen to you.
• Other times people listen but won’t respond.
• Other times people respond, but don’t last.
And that can leave a preacher of the gospel extremely discouraged.
Jesus gives this parable so that preacher will not be discouraged.
You see the overwhelming point of this parable is this:
• It is not the fault of the sower.
• It is not the fault of the seed.
• It is the fault of the soil.
If you preach the gospel (throw true seed)
And the soil doesn’t take it, or doesn’t keep it,
Don’t blame yourself and don’t let others blame you either.
It is not the sowers fault, he did what he was called to do.
It is the fault of the soil.
And the disciples needed to hear that.
Before they went out in ministry, they needed to understand
That they are not to blame if not everyone wants to enter the kingdom.
And so Jesus presents a parable to explain that reality.
That being said, that doesn’t mean we don’t also learn
To examine our hearts while we study this parable.
Jesus here reveals four types of hearts that exist.
And while the main point is to help those who preach the gospel not get discouraged, we must also let God reveal our hearts as well.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
And so while we learn the truths about those we preach to,
We also learn to let God reveal our own hearts to us.
#1 THE HARD HEARTED
Matthew 13:19
If you go out and preach the gospel to four people this week,
Odds are good that at least one of them will be a hard hearted person.
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
Well notice the first thing about them.
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it”
We are not talking about those who have never heard.
We are talking about those who heard, but didn’t care.
They didn’t “understand it”
Just like those we saw last week.
The light revealed their blindness.
You may speak the truth to them, and they won’t hear a word you say.
And that is a shame, because the opportunity doesn’t remain forever.
“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.”
Earlier in verse 4 He said, “and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.”
Now we understand what happened to that seed.
What happens if you throw a seed on the path? Nothing.
The ground is not soft, it is packed hard, and the seed just sits on top of the gound.
And then something happens.
The birds will take it away.
It is not the fault of the seed, nor is it the fault of the farmer.
It is the fault of the soil. It is too hard.
I suppose you could blame the birds (the devil), but if the soil had protected the seed, the birds would have never been able to get to it.
This is the heart that is too hard to receive the word of God.
They will not apply it to their own lives…
They will not let it look at their hearts…
They keep the truth of the word of God away from their heart.
Luke’s gospel says:
Luke 8:12 “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.”
We have seen this type of person in Scripture.
Exodus 7:13 “Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.”
Pharaoh refused to allow his heart to be affected by the word of God.
Jeremiah preached to a people like this.
Jeremiah 15:6-7 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting! “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.”
Certainly Jesus preached to people like this:
Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
There are people in the world, who are hard-hearted people.
They don’t see, they don’t hear, they don’t understand
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t succeed in converting them.
• Don’t change your message
• Don’t change the means
Just understand that their heart is too hard to respond to the gospel.
I know that seems foreign.
• Today it would be “Do whatever it takes to reach them”
• Change the means (instead of preaching use music, or drama)
• Change the message (hell is too direct, speak on something else)
And people do that today trying desperately
To get crops to grow on hard soil.
BUT YOU CAN’T GET CROPS TO GROW ON HARD SOIL
You may get them in church…
You may get them to pray a prayer…
But you will never get them to produce fruit.
Hardened soil can’t.
And Jesus here is telling the disciples that right off the bat.
When you preach the gospel,
Just know that there are some who will hear but never respond.
And so some hearts are hard.
#2 THE SHALLOW HEARTED
Matthew 13:20-21
Here Jesus explains the rocky soiled heart.
It is another type of person you are bound to come across.
And we notice again that “this is the man who hears the word”
The farmer has sown the seed.
But these are different from the hard-hearted.
“hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;”
These get all excited about what they have heard.
They might run down the aisle, they might talk about it with their friends,
And just put on a huge emotional display.
These people jump on what you said.
But again, we see there is a problem.
(21) “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.”
The first guy didn’t understand the message.
This guy didn’t understand the cost involved.
• He thought Christianity was all ease and no cost.
• He thought he could be saved and never suffer.
• He thought he could keep this life and the next one.
But since he was never ready for the hardship, he did not last.
And since he did not last he proved that he was not real.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”
You see true faith perseveres,
If there is no perseverance then there is no true salvation.
Now let me clarify.
I got accused after Ken Gilcrease’s funeral, because I said he persevered to the end, that I must believe a person can lose their salvation.
NO YOU CANNOT.
And if you would give me another couple of hours I could get exhaustive with you as to why you cannot lose your salvation.
Salvation is secure
• Based upon the full atonement of Christ to pay for all sin.
• Based upon the resurrection of Christ to prove justification.
• Based upon the ascension of Christ to sit and intercede for us.
• Based upon the strength of Christ to let no one snatch us out of His hand.
What we are talking about here
Is not a person who got saved and then lost their salvation.
We are talking about a person who never got saved.
Yes, they walked the aisle.
Yes, they prayed the prayer.
Yes, they got baptized.
BUT THEY DID NOT GET SAVED.
And we know that because they did not persevere until the end.
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
We see these in the Bible all the time.
Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
It is a dangerous thing for people not to count the cost of salvation
Today preachers do a real disservice to the gospel
By never calling people to count the cost.
We promise the good, and omit the bad.
I’ve probably told you about the chorus I hate
“Come just as you are, hear the Spirit call. Come and see, come receive, come and live forever. Life everlasting, and strength for today. Taste the living waters, that never flow away. Come just as you are, hear the Spirit call. Come and see Christ the King, come and live forevermore.”
Sounds great doesn’t it. It’s only half true.
Jesus always told you to count the cost.
Jesus told you to “Come to Me” but He did require you to take His yoke.
Luke 14:25-27 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Or how about the guy we saw earlier in Matthew’s gospel?
Matthew 8:19-20 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Jesus wouldn’t let people come without counting the cost.
WHY?
Because He was guarding against the Rocky Soil conversion.
And yet, even Jesus had some.
• How about Judas?
• How about the crowd in John 6 who wanted to make Him King?
John 6:65-66 “And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”
• How about the crowd in John 8 who it says believed in Him, but by the end of the chapter they are trying to stone Him.
Even Jesus had followers who followed one day and abandoned the next.
AND SO WILL YOU.
But rest assured it is not your fault.
Today many have been blamed for not discipling well enough.
I’ve heard people say, “We are winning a lot of people to Jesus, but we aren’t doing a good enough job disciplining them, and they are leaving the church.”
That is not a discipleship problem.
That is a rocky soil problem.
Those people never were really saved, that is why they left.
You can’t do anything for a sheep that refuses to eat.
And so Jesus lets it be known that some won’t stay.
The Hard Hearted; The Shallow Hearted
#3 THE HALF HEARTED
Matthew 13:22
Now again, we see that “this is the man who hears the word”
The sower did his job, but there is another problem.
This heart already has a crop growing.
“and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
They cannot devote themselves fully to the gospel message,
Because they are not willing to deny themselves.
We have seen these throughout the Bible.
1 Kings 11:4 “For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”
2 Chronicles 25:1-2 “Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.”
Amaziah turned away from God to worship the gods of the Edomites.
But perhaps the most vivid illustration is found in the New Testament.
Matthew 19:16-22 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”
You cannot love the world and God.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
If you are not willing to forsake all for Jesus,
Then your heart is full of weeds, and the gospel cannot grow.
• The first guy didn’t understand the message.
• The second guy didn’t understand the cost.
• This guy doesn’t understand the value.
He actually traded the glory of heaven for the gold of earth.
And listen to me, if that person doesn’t respond to your gospel,
It is not your fault.
Yet many churches have shouldered the blame.
Some have even tried to create a Christianity that allows him to keep all his heart idols.
Listen, you just can’t grow crops in the midst of weeds.
They choke out the plant and you don’t get fruit.
(Which is why we preach repentance first)
But if they won’t leave their sin.
• It is not the preacher’s fault.
• It is not the gospel’s fault.
• It is their own fault, they love the world too much.
Even Jesus knew the Rich Young Ruler couldn’t be saved.
In fact he went on to say:
Matthew 19:23-24 “And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Was Jesus to blame for the Rich Young Ruler?
No, his weedy heart was.
It is not the sower’s fault, it is the fault of the soil.
The Hard Hearted; The Shallow Hearted; The Half Hearted
#4 THE WHOLE HEARTED
Matthew 13:23
Now we see the one we have been looking for.
“this is the man who hears the word and understands it”
He understands the gospel.
He understands the cost.
He understands the value.
And he is the real deal disciple.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
“who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
They love Jesus with all their heart, no matter the cost.
This was David’s heart.
Psalms 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.”
Luke 19:5-10 “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
You see the heart that gave all to Jesus.
We even have a name for those types of people.
We call them Christians.
A TRUE CHRISTIAN
Hears the Word
Counts the cost
Accepts the Word
Obeys the Word
Everyone else is an imposter, regardless of if they claim the name.
And just as you can’t take the blame for those who didn’t respond,
You can’t take the credit for this guy.
The farmer didn’t produce the fruit, and neither did the soil.
WHAT PRODUCED THE FRUIT?
The seed.
It is the seed that produced the fruit.
But it took someone to plant it, and someone to accept it.
And here Jesus is revealing to the disciples what they will face
As they go out and sow the seed of the gospel.
• Some people won’t hear it at all.
• Some people will accept it quickly, but won’t last.
• Some will think it is too costly, and won’t leave their sin.
• But occasionally one will get it and become a true, fruit-bearing, kingdom citizen.
Just know that before you ever go out with your bag of seed,
So that you will not get discouraged
When the results aren’t as flattering as you would like.
Just remember, our goal is not to get people to pray a prayer.
Our goal is not to get people to come to church.
Our goal is to get people to produce fruit.
Anything less is a failure to indicate that the seed has taken root.
Now this parable is meant to encourage the disciples,
But we would be foolish to miss the other application.
And that is that we each have one of those 4 types of hearts.
Hard, Shallow, Half, or Whole.
And really determining which heart you have is not all that important.
What is important is determining
Whether or not you are producing fruit.
Because if you aren’t producing fruit
Then you don’t have the right kind of heart,
And you have missed the point of the soil.
If that is you this morning, let me encourage you to
Count the cost, Forsake your sin, and Surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
And then go and produce fruit.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
