The Work of the Word

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church.

Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota.

We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message.

From Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 through 9 and 18 through 23.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

Great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down.

The whole crowd stood on the beach and he told them many things in parables saying a

sower went out to sow 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 the 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.

Hear then the parable of the sower 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 the rocky ground this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy yet

he has no root in himself but 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 the thorns this is the one who hears the word but the

cares of the world the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful.

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

He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold in another sixty and in

another thirty.

In the name of Jesus.

Here again the words of the prophet Isaiah from this morning's Old Testament reading for as the rain and the snow

come down from heaven and do not return but water the earth making it bring forth and

sprout giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word that goes out

from my mouth it shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that

which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Today we're going to examine this concept of the efficacy and the work of the Word of God

and we're not going to be able to answer that really thorny question that always seems to perplex us.

Why is it that when the Word goes forth if it doesn't return to God void why is it that when

some hear the Word of God rather than repent and be forgiven and trust in

Christ why is it that they shake their fist at God and say get out of my

face while others when they hear the Word of God it undoes them and they

realize their wickedness and their sinfulness and they repent and are forgiven.

I don't have an answer for that scripture doesn't give us one however our parables today when we examine them

in context or at least our parable when we examine it in context is going to paint a picture for us

that basically points to the fact that the trouble lies within us not

the sower of the seed who is Christ and so with this thought we're going to return to the gospel of Matthew

and you're going to note that our gospel text begins with these words that same day which kind of begs

the question what day was it?

Was it a Thursday?

A Tuesday?

What day is this referring to?

So in order to answer that we're going to back up in the context just a little bit to Matthew chapter 12 and we're going to look

starting at verse 22 and you're going to note this that Jesus in our gospel text

begins preaching in parables but it's Matthew chapter 13 and up to this point

Jesus has not taught in parables when you read the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks plainly and he

preaches openly.

And what we see in Matthew chapter 12 is a changing of the tide if you would where

there is now open hostility to the Word of God in Christ's

mouth open hostility to his ministry and to him.

And this is what predicates Jesus beginning to speak in parables we'll explain as we go

Matthew 12 22 a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute was

brought to Jesus blind and mute.

Wow that has got to be a prison to live in and you'll notice the text makes it clear that the source of

this oppression was demonic so Jesus healed him so that the man

spoke and saw bonafide miracle in front of them all

it must have been awe -inspiring to see.

And the appropriate thing to do when you see something like this happen is to fall to your knees and thank God

that he has visited his people and listen to this.

The people were amazed and they said can this be the Son of David.

They are on the cusp of faith and the devil has having none of it.

And so says this.

But when the Pharisees heard this they said oh no no no no no no no no no

no he's not the Son of David.

No this is by the power of Beelzebul the prince of demons.

That's how Jesus is casting out demons by the demonic powers.

And what's interesting when you read the Talmud today.

The Talmud were written by the Pharisees at the time of Jesus.

And it literally says in Jesus's death warrant which is issued against him by the Pharisees that he was

guilty of practicing sorcery and witchcraft.

So that's kind of a fascinating thing that you read about him.

So they're not denying that Jesus performed a miracle.

It's it's undeniable.

This man could not speak he could not see.

Now he sees and he speaks.

But this can't be the finger of God.

No Jesus is actually a demon in disguise.

How upside -down and backwards do you

have to be to call good evil and evil good.

But that's the nature of our sin.

So you see the growing hostility.

So Jesus knowing their thoughts he said to them listen every kingdom

divided against itself is laid waste and no city or house divided against itself

will stand.

And if Satan casts out Satan then he's divided against himself.

How then will his kingdom stand.

It's a great point.

And so notice Jesus even now in the face of their stubborn persistent

refusal to believe he is reasoning with them and undoing their

arguments taking them captive with the hope that they will repent.

But then Jesus kind of gets a little little stick in here says so if I cast out demons by Beelzebul

by whom do your sons cast them out.

Yeah again I have to always point out Jesus was not politically correct.

And if your vision of Jesus is kind of that precious moments Jesus who wouldn't harm a fly.

That's not do what Jesus is he he slugs back here on purpose.

So he says therefore they will be your judges.

But if by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons then the kingdom of God has come

upon you.

Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods.

Unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house.

Whoever is not with me is against me.

Whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people.

But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven.

But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or the age to come.

And Jesus is giving a very firm warning here basically saying

you are literally blaspheming the Holy Spirit by attributing these powerful

works of God to the devil.

But Jesus here also reveals that what he's up to he's literally saying he's the one who's binding the strong

man the devil himself in order to set them free from slavery to the devil.

And rather than thank him they slap him in the face and they refuse to hear his

words.

Jesus then says either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad.

For the tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of vipers.

How can you speak good when you are evil.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

The good person out of the good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

I tell you on the day of judgment people will give an account for every careless word they speak

for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.

Now rather than repent with this firm push back from Jesus and Jesus is speaking the

very Word of God.

They again refused to hear it refused to be attentive to it

and are resisting it.

So it says this some of the scribes and the Pharisees they answered Jesus saying teacher we wish to see a sign

from you.

Did they not just see a fellow who was blind and mute speak and see

fine.

We want to see a sign from you.

Prove that you are who you claim to be Jesus.

Jesus answered them it's an evil and adulterous generation that seeks for a sign.

Let those words sink in because many in the Christian Church today believe in this movement called the

signs and wonders movement and they like the Pharisees desire to see signs and wonders.

But Jesus makes it clear that if that's really your desire that's an evil and wicked thing he says it's an

evil and adulterous generation that seeks for a sign.

But no sign will be given to it except for the sign of the Prophet Jonah.

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the Son of Man be three days

and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and they will condemn it.

Now note here that the same sign that Jesus says that they will be given is the same sign that we also are

given Jesus's death his bodily resurrection from the grave on the third day.

That is the sign that is the true sign of who Jesus is and his authority and that he

is who he claimed to be and that the words in his mouth are none other than the words of God.

And Jesus again speaks words of judgment when he said so the men of Nineveh if you know the story of

the Ninevites they were well a polite way of saying it is war criminals.

They were so cruel in their execution of war against their enemies that they made the Nazis look like

schoolgirls.

And yet when Jonah is sent by God to preach to them and to condemn them for their

sins they repent and God relents and they are forgiven.

And Jesus says that in the last day on the day of judgment the Ninevites

are going to rise up and condemn the very people that Jesus is speaking to right now

who persist in sin and unbelief and who have hardened their hearts against the word of

God.

He says the men of Nineveh will rise up with this generation.

They will condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonah.

Behold something greater than Jonah is here.

The Queen of the South will rise up at the judgment again another Gentile with this generation.

And she will condemn it.

For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Behold something greater than Solomon is here.

And Jesus is pleading with them to repent to be

forgiven.

But they will have none of it.

They are not attentive to God's words at all.

And Jesus says when an unclean spirit has gone out of a person it passes through waterless places seeking

rest but finds none.

Then it says I will return to my house from which I came.

And when it comes it finds the house empty swept and put in order.

And then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself and they enter and dwell there.

And the last day to that person is worse than the first.

So also will it be with this evil generation.

And Jesus is literally saying to them I have bound the strong man for you cast him out.

But because you will not repent he's gonna come back.

And when he comes back he's gonna bring seven of his demonic friends with him.

And you all are gonna be worse off than you were before I came.

Words of judgment.

Chapter 12 ends with these words while Jesus was still speaking to the people.

Behold his mother and his brother stood outside asking to speak to him.

We know from the cross references to this particular passage that the reason why Jesus's mother

and brother came to visit Jesus is because they thought he had lost his mind.

They were basically coming to take him away and put him in an institution.

You know the type of institution I'm talking about they have the white padded walls and the really comfy white jacket that you can't move

your arms.

That's what they were really trying to do with Jesus.

And so you know the chapter 12 makes it very clear contextually what's going on.

And what's going on is that the people of Israel refused to hear God's Word

refused to repent.

They're totally inattentive to the Word of God.

They are rejecting it in the mouth of Jesus and rejecting him and literally verbally abusing him at

this point.

So what does Jesus do.

He changes up the game a little bit and he decides he's going to preach to them and still continue

to preach the Word of God to them.

But now it's going to be impossible for them to understand what he is saying.

There is a big misperception about why Jesus spoke in parables.

And you can oftentimes hear it in churches today who spend their summer times preaching about the latest

blockbuster movies.

I wish I was making that up.

If you were to ask one of these fellows why are you preaching on movies rather than the Word of God.

They'll say because Jesus spoke in parables.

And Jesus was the greatest communicator ever.

And the reason why he spoke in parables was to be able to communicate the Word of God more effectively.

And you have to ask these fellows do you actually ever read your Bibles.

Because Jesus gives the reason for why he speaks in parables.

And it's not in order to make his word more understandable.

In fact it's to make his word on understandable.

Is that a word.

You get what I'm saying.

Right.

So Matthew chapter 13.

We pick up now where our text began.

That same day.

That same day when they accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebul.

That same day that his family came to scoop him up and put him in an institution.

That same day where they are verbally and aggressively hostile to the Word of God.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and he sat beside the sea.

Great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and he sat down and the whole crowd stood

on the beach.

And he told them many things in parables saying a sower went out to sow as he sowed.

Some seeds fell along the path.

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 the thorns.

The thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on the good soil and produced grain.

Some a hundredfold some sixty some thirty.

He who has ears to hear let him hear.

And he takes the mic and he drops it and everyone's going.

What does that mean.

What huh.

They're totally perplexed.

Verse 10.

So the disciples came to Jesus.

And I always like to picture the disciples here in kind of a Seinfeld esque panic.

You remember George Costanza and Seinfeld when they would get into a panic and I can almost hear him going.

Why do you speak to them in parables.

What is going on here.

They don't understand a word you're saying.

Whoa.

So Jesus calmly answered to you it is be given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but

to them it has not been given.

To the one who has more will be given and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away.

This is why I speak to them in parables.

Because seeing they do not see hearing they do not hear

nor do they understand.

Indeed in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says you will indeed hear

but never understand.

You will indeed see but never perceived.

For this people's heart has grown dull with their ears they can barely hear

and their eyes closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart and turn repent.

And I would heal them.

And I must give a firm warning here to all of us me included

inattentiveness to God's Word is a serious thing.

An unwillingness to hear it is a serious thing.

Sleepily finding excuses to not attend to it and receive it is a

serious thing.

And here we see God's judgment against those who persist in unbelief and resist

and fight against the Word of God.

Now Jesus doesn't stop giving them the word.

He is really kind here that he continues to preach to them but in judgment.

Now he gives them the Burger King option.

Have it your way.

You don't want to hear my words.

I'm gonna keep preaching to you.

But because you don't want to hear him you don't want to attend to him.

You don't want to repent.

Fine.

I'll just make it impossible for you to understand.

But now note verse 16 Jesus speaking to his.

But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears that they hear.

For truly I say to you many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it.

And hear what you hear and did not hear it.

So here then the parable of the sower.

And note then that Jesus gives them the interpretation of the parable so that their eyes can

see so that their ears can hear.

And I want you to note this.

This is one of the fascinating aspects of the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew is writing this in a way that he expects that you are the thirteenth

disciple in the room.

Because you are given the inside information this book assumes that you are a

disciple of Jesus.

And here's the fun part you are learning the interpretation of this parable in the

exact same way they learned the interpretation of this parable by the very

mouth of Christ.

And if you sit there and say well Jesus isn't here is written down.

Understand this.

The Word of God is living and active is not dead.

This is not a dead word.

It is sharper than any double -edged sword.

And Jesus himself is the Word of God in human flesh.

This is the opening verse from John chapter 1.

In the beginning was the Word.

The Word was with God.

The Word was God.

The Word became flesh.

So he understand this.

Although you have not seen Jesus with your eyes Jesus right now is speaking to you in his word

and he's telling you what this parable means because you are not part of them

who are seeing but not perceiving hearing but not understanding.

You have been invited by Christ to sit with John and with Peter and Bartholomew and

Levi the tax collector and hear the interpretation of this parable so that your eyes can see

in your ears can hear and you can understand and turn and be healed.

So then here's the interpretation.

Hear the parable of the sower.

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.

Now I am pretty sure that if I were to talk to the farmers present here today that they would

tell you that seed is a costly thing is a precious thing.

It is something that should not be wasted.

And our day farmers have to buy seed from seed companies.

They don't generally make their own right although that used to be the way it was done.

But that being the case even if they didn't pay for it you have to make sure to keep a part of your harvest that seed so

that you can plant it again the next year so that they'll be seed for the following year and bread on your table that year.

But watch what this sower does.

He sows seed on a path.

And I just asked the question who does that.

I don't know any farmers that do this.

And the reason for this is quite simple because the sower here is Jesus himself.

The seed is his word.

And he's going to cast that everywhere he can even in places you won't expect it to

grow because that way on the last day I hate to say this.

No one will be able to point a bony finger at Jesus and say well we never knew we.

Don't know you're sending us to hell because well well you never sent us your.

Word.

Oh actually I did.

You heard it.

So here's what it looks like when the seed falls on the hard path.

You tell a person hey listen I've got great news to tell you.

Jesus died for sinners and he died for the ungodly.

And because of his great love and mercy Christ himself your God is offering you forgiveness and pardon of all of

your sins and eternal life.

Say those words.

Hang out there in the ether for a second and the person you're talking to their neck gets red the veins start

popping out and outcome these words.

Are you saying I'm a sinner.

Yeah I am.

But the good news is Jesus died for you.

How dare you call me a sinner.

You are clearly a bigoted closed -minded hater.

And I bet you're homophobic.

And you oppress people by forcing your binary gender assumptions on them.

Well I'm a good person.

I don't need Jesus's forgiveness.

I pay my taxes I've never been to prison and I promote an all -inclusive non -gender binary

worldview where everyone is tolerated except those intolerant bigots like you

and your so called loving Savior.

Have any of you had that conversation or is it just me.

Remember the path is wide that leads to destruction.

And it's well paved seed doesn't do so hot there but

yet Christ sows the seed there next soil as for what was sown

on the rocky ground.

This is the one according to Jesus who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy

joy great emotion.

Yet he has no root in himself.

He endures for a while.

And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word he immediately falls away.

Now this is feelings -based Christianity.

I want you to think about that this is all about the experience the goosebumps the feel -good sermons

designed to make you feel like you're the head and not the tail that you can slay all your Goliaths

skate on the top of the water through all of the storms in your life discovered the champion within you and achieve your

purpose.

This feelings -based Christianity is all about that joy joy joy joy down in your

heart.

But as soon as the sword of Islam is pointed at that exact same heart it totally caves and collapses.

And I wish I could say it's something as nefarious as Islam that that would cause it to fall away.

It could be something as ridiculously banal as far as persecution goes as

receiving a harsh comment on Facebook or being blocked by somebody for saying you believe in

Jesus that's considered persecution nowadays.

Have you ever received a phone call from somebody.

Why that person blocked me on Facebook.

It's some people's worlds completely fly apart if their followership on social media

dips especially if the purpose for the dipping is caused by their confessing something

about Jesus.

That's true.

But you'll note then that this feelings -based Christianity that Jesus is talking about that

as long as it provides goose bumps significance and they're in.

But as soon as there's suffering or difficulty or persecution or a cross to

bear these people are out.

They're done.

And here's the reason why.

Remember the path the top of the path is paved real hard right.

Well like the hardened path.

There is a cement like hardness in the soil that is provided by the rocks that are just

under the surface.

And those rocks resist the full counsel of the Word of God.

And those rocks cause that person to reject the difficult truths of scripture which

causes them to refuse to repent when it comes to submitting to Christ in

mind as well as heart.

What does scripture say.

Jesus says those who worship me will worship me in spirit.

And in truth we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart soul mind and

strength.

So if Christianity is all about that joy joy joy joy down in your heart.

Beware because Christianity true biblical Christianity engages head

and heart they're not pitted against each other.

And it's important to note though that we are transformed by scripture through the renewing of our minds.

And that is our minds grounded in the Word of God that guides the biblical Christian not

your feelings your emotions or your experiences.

And the person who flips those two literally risks falling away when things get tough

because that's what they're going to do next.

As for what was shown among the thorns this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the

world the deceitfulness of riches.

They choke the word and it proves unfruitful.

Think of it this way.

These thorns are weeds.

They are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.

Boy everything comes back to the love of money in some form or another.

And these thorns and weeds are whatever is keeping you from hearing God's Word.

Think of it this way.

On those days you don't really feel like going to church what would you rather be doing.

That may be the weed that may be what's going on.

And so this could be sports it could be community service events it could be your farm it could

be your job.

It could be your lake house whatever is in your mind that takes priority over

hearing and receiving and feasting on Christ's words.

These are the thorns in your life now.

It's also important to note here that these thorns cause us to be inattentive to the word.

And I can't even begin to count how many times I have opened up my Bible in the morning to read the Word of

God read a portion of Scripture and then said I have no idea what.

I just read no clue you know why.

Because I was writing a grocery list or thinking about what I was going to do on my radio program.

I was just totally disengaged.

So I have thorns myself.

And if you're honest you know that you have thorns as well.

But I need to warn us all beware these thorns are idols.

That's what they really are.

And God is a jealous God and you belong to him and he will not share his glory with false gods.

So think of it this way.

Christ is coming after your thorns in the same way that my wife goes after the weeds in her garden

and he's going to pluck them out of your life so that so that

you can be attentive to his word.

This is how it works.

And by the way when he does that the process is never painless never

next soil.

As for what is sown on good soil this is the one who hears the word and

understand it he indeed bears fruit yields in one case a hundredfold another 60

and another 30.

Now since I don't do math I'm not gonna talk about that last part.

In fact we're gonna focus on answering this question.

What is good soil.

Now I want to make this perfectly clear that I am a victim.

I'm a victim.

When I was a child my mother engaged in forced me into child labor.

It's true.

She made me work in her garden and I was required by my mother to

pull weeds into prune things and rake stuff.

Oh man I'm waiting for the authorities to give me justice on this just saying.

But I remember over and again that when I was working in my mother's garden notice it

wasn't mine it was hers that from time to time we'd head down to the hardware store or the home improvement

depot or whatever and we would buy huge bags of soil

and you'd lug these things out into the yard to where we're gonna spread it around.

And you'd open the bag a horrible odor.

Just yeah could I hated the stuff.

Okay granted it was clean there were no weeds in it.

But it reeked.

And the reason why it reeked is because good soil is compost.

That's what it really is.

It's dead.

And that's what good soil is.

It's dead.

It doesn't have anything else living in it.

It doesn't have any rocks in it.

So no no weeds or thorns are there.

And good soil is soil has been turned over and over.

And because it's dead composty it's now ready to receive the thing that

actually has life in it.

The thing that has life in it is not the soil.

It's the seed.

So think of it this way.

Good soil is dead.

The seed is living now.

I know I keep using this.

But I'm gonna have to keep reiterating it because I know this makes me look smart.

I'm 100 positive if I were to talk to Roger that he has not figured out a company that he

can use that sells self tilling soil.

Soil that D rocks itself and D weeds itself.

Does this soil exist.

No that would be amazing soil.

By the way somebody make a bazillion dollars if they can invent self tilling soil.

So since soil doesn't till itself it doesn't weed itself or remove its own

rocks.

Good soil must be worked by the sower.

Keep that in mind.

Christ is the sower.

He's the one who sows the seeds.

He's the one who weeds his harvest field.

He is the one who removes the rocks.

And he does this all through the preparatory work of the preaching of his law.

The law of God is that word from God that presses into our chest and condemns us for

our idolatries for following after our own hearts rather than repent and believe

with our heart and mind the truth of his word.

And the scary thing about this parable of Jesus is that each of us me included if we're honest with

ourselves we are forced to recognize that the soil of our hearts is still rocky and

weedy.

And this should give us pause should give us pause indeed.

And so a good soil that is prepared to yield a harvest of a hundred sixty

or thirty fold.

A good soil is a soil that has been worked by God.

A good soil that is now dead and composty dead to self.

And so that being the case I think it's appropriate to end this sermon with a short prayer.

Let's pray Lord Jesus.

Your word reveals that you are the sower of the seed and that you have sent forth your word today.

But Lord our hearts my heart is full of rocks and weeds.

And we are barely able to hear your word.

And sadly we've grown impatient with it.

And like the people whom you Lord preached to we are even prone to be hostile to your word.

So Lord Jesus have mercy on us and forgive us.

Please come today and work on the soil of our hearts.

Remove the rocks and the weeds through the plowing work of your law turn over the soil

and cause us to die to ourselves and to our idols and become dead compost.

The type of soil that your word takes root in and can produce a harvest to your glory

in the name of Jesus.

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