WWUTT 037 Tilling the Soil (Matthew 13)

A sower went out to the field to sow seed, and some of the seed fell on the path, some fell in rocks, some fell in the thorns, but there was seed that fell in good soil and grew up and produced a harvest.

We've been studying that parable this week so we might come to understand who it is that has received the message of the

Kingdom of Heaven and who has not when we understand the text. You are listening to When We Understand The Text, an online

Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website www .utt

.com Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. This week we are doing a mini -series through the parable of the sower, which we see written in Matthew 13.

That is our root text, looking at Matthew 13, but the parable of the sower is also recalled in Mark 4 and in Luke 8.

In Matthew 13, yesterday when we started this parable, we read the following, A sower went out to sow seed, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

He who has ears, let him hear. This is the first of Jesus' parables that we see recorded in the

Gospels. Our Lord Christ, as we come to you today to learn from you, to receive these things that you taught us through your

Word, that you communicated to your disciples, I pray that we as your disciples would understand them, that by your

Spirit these things are revealed to us so that we might come to know the wisdom of God that has been given to us through your

Word. It is only the spiritual man that can understand spiritual things. The natural man can't understand these things.

They are hidden from him. And so, Lord, as your disciples, please show us, open our eyes, open our ears so that we might hear, and may our hearts and minds be changed by the promises that are given about your kingdom through these parables, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

So Matthew chapter 13, parable of the sower, we see the explanation of the parable given in verse 19.

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 what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself.

He endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is one who hears the word and understands it.

He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30.

Yesterday, we concentrated primarily on what the seed represents, and as Jesus says here in Matthew 13, 19, it is the word of the kingdom.

Now Mark is more broad in his explanation of the seed. He says it's the word of God. That's a broader, more generalized explanation.

Matthew's more specific, where he says that it is the word of the kingdom. That is what the seed represents.

What is the kingdom? What are we talking about when we talk about the kingdom of God? Well, first of all, let me say that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are terms that are interchangeable.

Matthew really likes to say kingdom of heaven, and Mark uses more kingdom of God.

Like for example, in Matthew 19, when Jesus encounters the rich young ruler who goes away sad because he had many great possessions,

Jesus looks at his disciples and says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

When you read that same story in Mark 10, Mark says it's easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle, or I'm sorry, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

They both mean the same thing, just two different words that are used to describe the kingdom. So very specifically, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is

God's sovereign rule over all of creation in heaven and on earth.

That's the kingdom of God. And there's going to be a time when the separation between the spiritual kingdom of God and the physical world that we live in right now, that that separation is going to be removed and the kingdom of God, God, God is going to under and God is going to usher in his peaceful kingdom, removing those who are evil in the process.

So that's what we're talking about when we talk about the kingdom of God and those who are in Christ have received the kingdom of heaven.

Even now, they carry a piece of the kingdom with them. They are citizens of that kingdom, but are exiles here on this earth.

So we spread the kingdom whenever we take the gospel message to other people. Their lives, their hearts are transformed by it.

And we have another citizen there in the kingdom of heaven. So the kingdom is not fully actualized until Christ returns and ushers in his peaceful kingdom.

Then we'll no longer have that separation between the physical and the spiritual. But for now, it is

God's sovereign rule over all of creation in heaven and on earth. The kingdom is given to those who are in the sphere of salvation.

They have entered into the new birth, which Jesus talks about with Nicodemus in John chapter three.

Those are the ones who are the citizens of the kingdom. If you are in Christ, you're a citizen of the kingdom.

So the seed in Jesus's parable represents the message of that heavenly kingdom.

And when the heavenly kingdom is spoken about and a person doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.

And that represents the seed sown along the path. There's seed that falls on rocky ground and is sown in thorns.

And we're going to talk about those things a little bit later on in the week. But first of all, before we get to that,

I want to talk about sowing, sowing the seed. OK, so a farmer goes out to sow or a sower goes out to sow more specifically.

A farmer does both. He sows and he harvests. But Jesus delineates between the two in John chapter four.

That was a reference we made yesterday where Jesus says to his disciples, one sows and another one harvests.

OK, so so there's the sower in the harvest, but their reward is both the same in the kingdom of God.

The person who sows and the person who the person who harvests receives the same reward.

You might think of a person who sows as an evangelist. They go out with the message of God and they they seek to preach that message to lost souls so that their hearts might be transformed by that message and they would come into the heavenly kingdom.

So this is the sower as he goes out to sow seed. There are hearts that are hard and there are hearts that are softened to receive the message of the kingdom.

The only heart that we see that receives that message is the good soil. This is the

Christian. The path, the rocks and the thorns are all unbelievers.

They all hear the message, but their hearts do not receive that message in any way.

Do we not see that they've received the message and become saved, producing fruit rather?

It is just the good soil that represents the Christian who receives the message and is saved.

So the other three are hard hearts, dirt that is packed into a path.

We have dirt that is occupied by rocks and we have dirt that is occupied by thorns.

These are all hardened hearts that do not receive this message. They might have some sort of a of an indication of receiving it at some point, exemplified by the rocks and the thorns, but there's no real root there.

It doesn't grow up and produce any fruit, and so therefore they aren't truly saved individuals.

So let's go back to this sower here who is going and is sowing the message of the kingdom of God.

He has first gone out and tilled up the soil. He is tilled the soil to be receptive to that particular message.

So let me give you an explanation of this. Let's say you have an evangelist and he might start his message out the same way that John the

Baptist and Jesus started their ministries. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

What is the kingdom of heaven? It's a wonderful place where God dwells, where God and all of his glory and majesty and holiness exists unabated, and we can be there in the presence of God and there will be no more crying.

There'll be no more tears, no pain, no sorrow, no death. And for those who are in Christ Jesus, they get to inherit that wonderful, glorious kingdom.

And a person says, oh, that's such a beautiful thing. How do we get into the kingdom of God? What do

I have to do to get into the kingdom? And the answer is nothing. Really?

Nothing. I don't have to do anything to get in the kingdom. No, you can't. In fact, you can't do anything to get into the kingdom.

Jesus has done all the work for you. And a person says, oh, well, that's great news.

Jesus has done all the work for me and I can get into the kingdom. That's great news. It is great news, but not for you.

Because if you are an unrepentant sinner, then the day that the Lord comes bringing in his peaceful kingdom means that he will remove all unrepentant sinners, all of those who walked in unrighteousness, all of those who thought that they had to do something and by their own merit, they could do something in order to inherit such a kingdom.

These people are blasphemers. They put themselves in the place of God. And so the day of the

Lord will be a day of wrath. It will be a horrible day, a terrible day as they are removed from the presence of God for all eternity and placed in the place that was reserved for the devil and his angels, an everlasting fire, everlasting punishment.

That's where those people will go. And a person says, oh, that sounds absolutely terrible.

Why would God do something like that? Because he's a good God. He is a holy God.

He is a righteous judge and he cannot let evil go unpunished.

So those who have blasphemed his name, which is everybody, because the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So all who have rebelled against God, all who have been his enemies, all who have blasphemed

God with the breath that God gave them, he will remove from his presence and cast into eternal punishment because he is good and because he is righteous.

But understand this sinner, God loves us so much that he didn't leave us in that state. Though there was nothing that we could do to earn our salvation, though even our best deeds were like filthy rags,

God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross in our place. All of the wrath of God that was to be poured out upon us for our sin was poured out on Christ instead.

And it says in the scriptures that God crushed him. It says in Romans 3 that God presented him, put him forward as a sacrifice.

And in the book of Acts, it says it was according to the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God that these things would come to pass.

So Christ died in our place. All of our sins, the sins of his people were placed upon him and God crushed him.

He was buried in a tomb and he rose again from the grave three days later to show that God had received his sacrifice and also that Jesus had the power over the grave so that all who are in Christ, we are baptized with him in his death and we inherit his life.

If we are followers of Christ Jesus, then we get that eternal life.

We get to share in his life and become a part of his eternal kingdom.

And that's good news. That's the gospel. And a person says, oh, yes, that's great news. So thanks for sharing that with me.

And I can now go about my way. No, you must crucify the old self. You must put the old self to death and be raised again brand new by the power of the spirit.

And then you will show that you are citizens of the kingdom of God when you behave yourself in such a way, according to the commands that have been given by the king.

We will show that we love God when we obey what it is that he has commanded of us.

In Romans 2, 8, 9 and 10, it says, it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works so that no one may boast for. We are

God's workmanship prepared for good works, which God prepared for us in advance that we should walk in them.

OK, so that's the evangelist message. And what he's done at the very beginning of that, at the very beginning of that message, he's made a declaration of the kingdom of God.

He's preached the good news about the kingdom of God. But he's also said that it's not enough to hear this news.

You must understand that you are a sinner. Is it necessary for every person who comes to Christ to know that they are a sinner in order to be saved?

Absolutely. Yes. A person who does not know that they are a sinner who has fallen from God in their sin does not think that they need a savior.

And therefore, Christ has not actually saved them from anything. But what he saved them from is their sin, the wages of their sin, which is death and the wrath of God.

Christ has saved them from those things. And with that knowledge, they receive Christ as savior.

And now they are a follower of Christ. But if a person doesn't know that, if they've not repented of their sin, then they are not saved.

And so what the evangelist does, what the sower does, who is sowing the seed is first he tills up the soil.

And this is ultimately the spirit that does this in the heart of a person. But the spirit tills up the soil.

The evangelist is tilling up the soil with the word of God. He is revealing that the wages of sin is death.

As it says in the book of Romans, he is stopping the tongue so that no one would declare themselves righteous in their own eyes, which it says in Romans chapter three and in the book of Proverbs where it says that every man believes that he is righteous in his own eyes.

So the evangelist is stilling the tongue and he is informing everyone that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and no one by their good works will inherit the kingdom.

So he's tilling up the soil to receive the gospel. All of these things that the evangelist is saying is not the gospel.

Telling a person about their sin and how they're fallen from God, that's not the gospel. It's preparing the heart to receive the gospel.

The gospel is good news. All of this news that we're sinners that are under the wrath of God and we're going to be thrown in hell if we don't repent.

That's all bad news. That's not the gospel. That's just, it's the truth, but it's bad news. And so the evangelist is preparing the person's heart to receive the good news.

He is tilling up the soil that they might be open and receptive to hear the message of the kingdom.

And once a person is, has now realized their sin in light of God's holiness, they realize their imperfection, their sinfulness, their unrighteousness, their unholiness in light of God's holiness.

As the evangelist is preached about how wonderful God is, they see the depth of their sin and that they're fallen far from God.

And so they will come to God in repentance, knowing that by nothing that they have done, by no good work can they inherit the kingdom.

It is only by the work that Christ has completed on the cross. And so they come to the

Lord with a repentant heart, receiving the message of the kingdom then, knowing that a hope has been given to them that Jesus Christ has paid the price in their place.

And if they are a follower of Christ, they've been justified. They are justified by faith, having nothing to do with themselves, but everything to do with the work that Christ did on the cross.

And so then they become a follower of Christ Jesus, desiring to do what he did, learning from the shepherd, a sheep now following the shepherd.

When Jesus said to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that's a command. And those who are his sheep will hear it and will follow it.

Those who aren't his sheep won't. And that repentance is not something that happens just one time.

It is continuous in the life of a believer, that they continue to repent and show that fruit in their lives, that the repentance the first time was genuine because they continue to do it and continue to be grown in holiness and in sanctification.

And as we grow in these things, our repentance gets perfected. Our repentance wasn't perfect the first time we did it, the more and more we repent, the more we grow in the knowledge of the holiness of God, the better we get at repentance, desiring to be shaped in the image of God.

So the heart has been conditioned in such a way to receive the message of the kingdom.

And so this is the person who is the good soil. Their heart was tilled. It was opened up by the spirit, something that we mentioned last week when we were talking about Acts chapter 16,

Paul and Silas came to Philippi preaching the gospel and Lydia's heart was opened by the spirit to receive it.

God doesn't stand at the door of anyone's heart knocking. That's not in scripture anywhere. It's a misunderstanding of Revelation 3 .20.

The Bible does not say that Jesus is standing at the heart of a person knocking at the door.

It says that he opens up the heart to receive the message. That was what Jesus, that's what the spirit did for Lydia.

And that is what the spirit is doing in the life of a person who is good soil, opening them up to receive the message of the kingdom of God.

And as that message falls in good soil, it grows up and produces a good harvest.

The heart must be prepared to receive the good news of the gospel. If the soil has not been tilled, the seed, the message of the kingdom cannot take root.

It is necessary for a person to know what sin is, that they have sinned and what the penalty for that sin is in order to receive that Jesus Christ has paid for that sin.

And only in him is new life, abundant life, eternal life.

I've heard many so -called evangelists and many so -called preachers completely skip that message of sin and death out of a desire to be more cheerful and uplifting.

Perhaps it's the way of American Christianity to be positive and encouraging. What ministry do you know that uses that slogan?

Some will just outright attack such a message talking about sin and death. One of the most famous preachers in the world, lampoon the idea that anyone should ever call themselves a sinner.

You're no longer a sinner. He said, you are a son, a daughter of the most high God. Folks, even after we come to Christ and are adopted into the family of God, we still sin.

The difference between a disciple of Jesus Christ and a person who is not is the disciple knows his sin while the lost person doesn't.

Repentance is a daily thing. You don't just do it once. You continue to do it. This is one of the fruits of being rooted in Christ.

We're going to talk about that some more as we talk about the good soil a little bit later on. Jesus said that we only need to be washed once, but we still need to regularly have our feet cleansed.

That's John 13 10. We read in 1 John 1 9, if we're faithful to ask forgiveness for our sins,

God is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Preachers who avoid the sin message or will say things like you're made in the image of God, so that makes you, that makes you beautiful and good are perfectly capable of preaching about heaven.

They can still talk about the kingdom and be biblically accurate when they do, but they're merely sowing seeds on the path in the rocks or in the thorns.

The heart has not been prepared. So that message will not take root. Ultimately, it is the spirit that opens the heart up to receive the message of the kingdom.

And I hope that the spirit has done that in your life. As we continue this study of the parable of the sower, our gracious heavenly father, we thank you again for the words of your son, that we might know this parable.

We might know the message of the kingdom and receive it filled with the hope of these promises in Jesus Christ, our

Lord, and it is in his name that we pray, amen. In John 10, the

Jews pressed Jesus to speak plainly if he was the Christ. Jesus answered, I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name.

Bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand.

I and the father are one. It is God who gives us eternal life and it is God who keeps us there.

In Jude 24, we are told it is by his power that we are kept from stumbling and presented blameless before him.

In Ephesians 4 .30, Paul writes that in Christ we are sealed for the day of redemption and in John 3 .16,

those who believe in Christ are given eternal life. If it was possible to lose that gift of eternal life, then it was an eternal.

If you could lose salvation, then you haven't been saved. It is by no work of our own that we are saved and it is by no work of our own that we stay saved.

It is from beginning to end, the gracious work of God. If a person confesses to being a follower of Jesus for a time but then falls away, then they were never rooted in Christ to begin with, which

Jesus explained in the parable of the sower. But for those of us who have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light, take heart,

Christian, for nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our

Lord, when we understand the text. Our question today, well, much more of a comment than a question.

This comes from Sandy in Redding, California. She says, Dear What, thank you so much for your video on eternal security.

These are issues that I've dealt a lot with in my past, but the Lord has only recently delivered me to a place where I know with certainty that I have nothing to fear of his judgment because I am safe and secure in Christ Jesus, not by my power or authority, but by the power of him who has the authority to subject all things to himself.

Your ministry is wonderful and I share your videos with others often, so they might not be tossed to and fro by every shifting wind of doctrine, but that they are straight and steady by the sound words of God.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to what you will produce in the future, Sandy. Sandy, I appreciate so much that message and that video on eternal security actually stirred in the hearts of several individuals to contact us and thank us for that video or also ask us questions about their security in Christ Jesus.

You know, something that you said in that message, Sandy, reminded me of something that was written by Charles Spurgeon.

You referenced giving those videos to your friends so that they would be straight and steady and not not being tossed to and fro by every shifting wind of doctrine, which of course is out of Ephesians chapter four.

But from Charles Spurgeon, we read this. He references Psalm 62, a trust in him at all times, and he says faith is as much the rule of temporal as of spiritual life.

We ought to have faith in God for our earthly affairs as well as for our heavenly business. It is only as we learn to trust in God for the supply of all our daily need that we shall live above the world.

We are not to be idle. That would show we did not trust in God who worketh hitherto, but in the devil, who is the father of idleness.

We are not to be imprudent or rash that we were to trust chance and not the living God who is a

God of economy and order acting in all prudence and uprightness. We are to rely simply and entirely upon the

Lord at all times. Let me commend to you a life of trust in God in temporal things.

Trusting in God, you will not be compelled to mourn because you have used sinful means to grow rich, serve

God with integrity, and if you achieve no success, at least no sin will lie upon your conscience. Trusting God, you will not be guilty of self -contradiction.

He who trusts in craft sails this way today and that way the next, like a vessel tossed about by the fickle wind.

But he that trusts in the Lord is like a vessel propelled by steam. She cuts through the waves, defies the wind, and makes one bright, silvery, straightforward track to her destined haven.

Be you a man with living principles within. Never bow to the varying customs of worldly wisdom.

Walk in your path of integrity with steadfast steps and show that you are invincibly strong in the strength which confidence in God alone can confer.

Thus, you will be delivered from being troubled with evil tidings. Your heart will be fixed trusting in the

Lord. How pleasant to float along the stream of providence! There is no more blessed way of living than a life of dependence upon a covenant -keeping

God. We have no care, for he careth for us. We have no troubles, because we cast our burdens upon the

Lord. That's from the Apostle Peter who has said, cast your care upon him, because he cares for you.

And the Apostle Paul said to his servant Timothy, that even when we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot disown himself.

Our assurance is in Christ alone, not in any ability of ours, not in our past, not in our future.

It is in Christ in the here and now. So trust in Christ, for he cares for you.

Our Lord, we thank you for all the things that you have shown us today, everything that you have taught us through this parable of the sower and the things that you are teaching us about steadfastness in Christ.

And so help us remember that great exhortation that was given by Jude when he said, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory, with great joy, to the only

God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.

Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text. Pastor Gabe is the author of the book 40 of the

Most Popular Bible Verses and What They Really Mean, available in paperback or for your Kindle. He's also authored a

Bible study through the book of 1 Corinthians. Both books can be found at our website at www .tt

.com. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's Word when we understand the text.