The Four Soils Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Of course, our harvest service, and this morning is a celebration, as I mentioned earlier, of the area of the world that God has placed us. Everyone in this room lives in this area because God placed you here.

This is not by accident. Acts 17 .26 says, he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

He placed you in northwestern Wisconsin, a region that is marked with the best of the beauty of the North Country. There are lakes, rivers, creeks, or cricks, ponds, trees, hills, farmland, and wildlife.

We live in a place where there are more animals than there are people. As you go through your week, you'll see deer, birds, fish, if you do fish, and you might even see a bear, which residents do see on a somewhat regular.

Basis.

In this area in which we live, there is also lots of flavor to the weather, for better or for.

Worse.

We live in an area in the world that experiences four true seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall. At the beginning of each year, we find ourselves in the heart of winter, the most depressing week of the year, right?

The first week of January. All the Christmas festivities are gone. All the lights are gone, and it's just dark and cold. Winter gets a bad reputation, but truly during the months of December, January, and February, one of the most beautiful places to be is where we live.

How do I know this? Because last January, we drove to Florida. We went through Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. The middle part of the country, which is warmer than Wisconsin, was ugly.

It was brown with no leaves. Illinois, in particular, was a dreadful state to drive through. No offense to those who have a history in Illinois. I apologize. But once we hit Wisconsin on our way home, the scenery came back.

We started to see hills. We saw trees, and we saw snow. And after driving through the brown of the middle part of the country, what a sight it was to see that dazzling white as the sun shines on the snow.

Winter can get long, but winter where we live is beautiful. When people describe a winter wonderland, we live in it. Then we get to the spring when the warmth starts to return. The days get longer, and the leaves on the trees, the flowers, and the green grass return.

Spring is a wonderful month, as we are reminded that summer is on the way. Then we get summer, the month most natives look forward to the most. While winter is white as far as the eye can see, summer is green.

It is the time of year where it is light for over half the day, and natives like us enjoy the outdoors. Just as winter here is a winter wonderland, so summer here is a summer wonderland. The outdoors calls for you, and you and I take it all in during those precious summer months.

Then we get to the fourth and final month, which is fall. Now what is incredible about God's creation is that the season where everything is dying may be the most beautiful of all. The busiest time in Taylor's Falls and St. Croix is probably in the fall as visitors come to see the fall colors.

Taylor's Falls is regularly voted as the best place in all of Minnesota to view fall colors. And across the border in Wisconsin is one of the best places in all of Wisconsin. The scenery in fall that we just experienced is truly breathtaking.

So when you add it all together, we live in a wonderful place. You can see why the early people of Eureka Baptist settled here. And they appropriately named it Eureka, which means I found it. They found a wonderful place, and we, through the providence of God, find ourselves living in a wonderful place.

Since the early settlers of this land, there are certain patterns of life that happen every single year. I already mentioned that we have farmland. Farming, along with logging, were the huge industries historically in this area.

The world's largest log jam happened about 100 years ago on the St. Croix River. While logging is largely a pastime, farming still remains an important industry in northwestern Wisconsin, where we live, in Polk County.

Farmers plant in the late spring, and then in the summer, we see the crops grow. It's amazing to see these fields grow as we go through that time of year. And then we arrive to this time of year where we experience the harvest.

This is the time when what was planted months before reaches full growth. The farmers pluck the crops, and then the fields are empty again, waiting for another planting season. During Jesus' day, 2 ,000 years ago, agriculture was the major industry.

So it is no surprise that Jesus used agricultural illustrations to describe spiritual truths. This morning, we're going to see Jesus describe a powerful and sobering illustration, where he describes four seeds and four soils.

These four soils describe every single person on planet Earth. So this time, I encourage you to turn with me in a Bible to Matthew chapter 13. As I mentioned earlier, we are going to be looking at the parable of the sower.

And if you do not have a Bible, we do have the red Bibles in the pews. And this sermon is titled, The Four Soils. And I'm going to begin by reading verses 1 through 9 of chapter 13. These are the words of the Lord Jesus.

That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and 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.

And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path. And the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on the 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 60, some 30.

He who has ears, let him hear. Here's our big idea. Few make it safely to the final harvest. Few make it safely to the final harvest. And we're going to see four reasons why in this text. And the first reason why is this.

The Hard Heart and Satan’s Snatching Away

The word makes no penetration on the hardest of hearts. OK, we're going to see this in verses three and four. As we go through this text, we need to understand two important metaphors. The seed represents the word of God.

OK, that's this book right here. There's only one book that God has written, the Bible. And the soil, that which the seed goes into, the soil represents the human heart. OK, what is the heart? What is the human heart?

The human heart is the mind. It is the emotions. It is the desires that we have. A course of a person's entire life is determined by their heart. It's been said, people do what they do because they want what they want.

So those are the two things. The seed is the word of God. The soil is the human heart. And in this text, we're going to see four outcomes to the seed hitting the soil. And let's look at the first response, when the seed of the word of God hits the soil of the human heart.

Verses three and four, Jesus said here again, he said, the sower went out to sow, and he sowed, and some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. So there was a path next to the field that Jesus is describing, and the soil right next to the path was hard, since this is where the people walked over it.

This hard surface right next to the path prevents the seed from taking root, so the seed stays visible on the ground near the path. As the seed remains visible, the birds see it as easy food. The seed that was planted to produce a crop is instead snatched away by the birds.

This seed that landed on hard soil was unsuccessful. It did not accomplish what the farmer had planned for this seed. Now what is helpful about this parable is that Jesus tells us exactly what everything represents.

I've already told you that the seed represents the word of God, and the soil represents the human heart. So this is what he says in verses 18 and 19 to explain this. He says, in verse 19 in particular, 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. So in this case, Jesus explains that the rocky hard soil next to the path represents the rocky hard heart of the one who hears the word of God. The word of God that Jesus mentions in verse 19 is the word of the kingdom.

And earlier in the gospel of Matthew, in Matthew 3 .2, John the Baptist explains what the word of the kingdom is. The word of the kingdom is the gospel. There John the Baptist said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So the gospel is, you are a sinner. You need a savior. You need to turn from your sins.

Repent.

And as this message hits the hard heart, Satan has no problem snatching it away. Satan represents the birds in this parable. As the word hits the heart, it stops. And before the word can make any penetration, he just takes it away.

When some people hear the message of the cross, they want nothing to do with it. They do not see themselves as sinners in need of the Savior. They do not see Jesus as the most glorious one in the universe.

They do not see how glorious it will be to dwell with God in the age to come. Their minds are focused on the things of this life. They are selfish. In Philippians, they said, God is their belly, which means they don't look up.

They just look at whatever satisfies their own lusts. They are selfish. They are prideful. And the gospel is of no interest. When they hear the gospel, their eyes glaze over. Their hearts harden because they don't want it.

Their mind immediately focuses on their idols. And that is of value to them, not Christ. Now you might look at this first seed and this first sowing. You might ask, who does this describe? This could be a rabid atheist.

It can be one who wears sin on their sleeves like a drunkard. It can also be those who would identify themselves as Christians. You might say, well, how could that be? People who appear outwardly righteous, who think they are good people, who feel no sorrow for their sins, and is a Christian in name only.

Whether it is a rabid unbeliever or a cultural Christian, either way, when the word of God hits this person's heart, it pings right off because the heart is so hard. Satan has no problem snatching away the life of God's word, penetrating this person's heart.

You do not want to be the first seed and the first soil. If you make it safely to the final harvest, then the first reason why is that Satan prevents penetration on the hard heart. The second reason why few make it safely to the final harvest is that the word is only received superficially.

Superficial Faith and Falling Away Under Pressure

Verses 5 and 6, Jesus says this, 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.

What we just saw is the first seed landed on the hard soil, and Satan had no problem snatching it away. Now in these verses, what Jesus says is that the second seed lands on the soil that is soft on the top, but hard on the bottom.

And because there is some soft soil there, the seed takes root a little bit, and the crop begins to grow. And in fact, it grows so quick that it appears to even outpace the other crops around it. But then, the test of time, the sun beats down on it, and it withers away.

And Jesus explains who this describes in verses 20 and 21. He says,. As for what was sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word, and he immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a little while.

And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. Now this describes a person where many may be fooled by him or her. This person, by all appearances, looks to be like a genuine follower of Jesus.

This person prayed the sinner's prayer, walked an aisle, signed a card, was baptized. But what looked real in this person was actually false. What we must understand, as has been once said, is that not everyone who professes faith in Christ possesses faith in Christ.

We know the genuineness of one's faith through the test of time. 1 John 2 .19 is an important verse in understanding this. There the Apostle John writes,. They went out from us, but they were not of us.

For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Some people start off good and then veer off into complete mediocrity where there's no life in Christ.

There's no fruit. No power of the Spirit working. Showing no fruit that a conversion took place. But they still hold on to the Christian name. While others reach a point where they don't even do that.

They just leave altogether. There's a term that has been produced because it's happening so often. It's called an ex-evangelical. An ex-angelical. All these deconversion stories. We're not those haters.

We're not those Christians. We're like you guys. We're loving people. And they leave the Christian faith. And it's interesting. This verse tells us why these people leave the Christian faith. When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, the person immediately falls away.

This does not mean that the difficulties of life got to the person. But it is specifically the difficulties related to the life of faith that made this person want to abandon his or her walk with Christ.

In many places it's not fashionable to be a Christian. The person who once appeared to be a Christian will not continue to walk with Christ in places where it is not fashionable. You see this with students who grew up in the church and go off to a secular college.

And sometimes even a Christian college that is pretty worldly. Where there's lots of worldly students there. They go to these places where it's actually not popular to be a strong biblical Christian. And the Christian faith that they once identified with they no longer do.

Others enter other environments like a workplace. Where the Christian faith is looked down upon. And they too see the difficulty of following Christ. So they too abandon the faith. Others develop friendships where they find friends who aren't Christians and they follow their worldly friends away from Christ.

What is deep within the sinful human heart is that people want to fit in. This is what is known as herd mentality. It has been said that the two greatest fears in life are death and public speaking. But when it comes down to it the greatest fear is being alone.

But walking with Christ sometimes means being in the great minority. You must understand this.

Just like the song.

Though no one join me still I will follow. It is fleeing the herd mentality to fit in with the world and follow Christ. That's what Christ calls us to. But we have all these deconversion stories because people want to fit in.

They want to be cool. They want to be liked by the world. They don't want to be seen as one of those crazy fundamentalist Christians. All the ills of society are because of them. And that's how it always is down through history.

In America, it's becoming less and less popular to be a Christian. One thing that's so amazing about the growth of this church over the last several years is that it's never been less popular to go to church than it is right now.

And this church has grown through that. What it says is Christ builds his church in season or out of season. It doesn't matter if it's the worst hardest place there is. He's going to build his church.

The Word of God is going to accomplish its purpose as it goes out. That's what's so amazing about it. This church isn't built on gimmicks or anything like that. It's built on the Word of God. Christ builds his church through that.

It's not popular to be a Christian in our day. Sunday used to be a national holiday. Every single Sunday. Convenience stores were closed. Restaurants were closed. Someone would be at the bar the night before and they'd be at church on Sunday morning.

That's what everyone did. Not anymore. Now a lot of Christians don't even go to church. Think about what a crazy world that is. That's the world we live in. But people get so uncomfortable with what it means to follow Jesus because we are told so many lies about who Christians are.

Christians aren't loving people. They're hateful people. People don't want to be associated with that. So they abandon Christ. And when superficial Christians see this, they fear being left out. Because of their desire to be approved by secular society, they no longer follow Christ.

Instead of being fools for Christ, as Scripture teaches, they are applauded and loved by the world as not being the same as those Christians. But how fleeting it is to receive the praise of man. Matthew 10, 32 and 33 says, Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Can you imagine getting the praise of the world?

What a great guy.

What a great guy that's standing before Christ. You fool. You gave up on that which is life for the love of dust. So with this person, with the second soil, the early joy that appeared to be a conversion to Christ was an illusion.

And the test of time shows it. Over time, the cost is too great to follow Jesus, and the love of the world and one's own desires is too strong, and it is the latter that wins out in this person's heart.

You do not want to be the second seed and the second soil. Few make it safely to the final harvest. The second reason why is that the word is only received superficially. The third reason why few make it safely to the final harvest is that the word is lost through the distractions of life.

Worldliness, Riches, and the Choked Word

Let's look at verse 7, where Jesus says,. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. What we read is that the farmer places the seeds down and the seeds find themselves surrounded by thorns on every side.

You see thorns in your garden. You see them in the field. They are unwelcome guests, and you want them gone so that your plants and your crops will grow. This, like the first two seeds and the first two soils, describes a group of people on planet Earth.

And Jesus tells us who they are in verse 22. 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.

This one is similar to the one we just saw. The soil with hard ground under it describes the one who appears to be a believer, but over time is shown not to be. The third soil also appears to be a believer, but there are too many distractions in life to be fully committed to Christ, and the person shows where his or her true allegiance lies.

This plant or crop that is choked by the distractions of life maybe best describes American Christianity over the last half century. Since World War II, America has been the wealthiest country in the world.

The wealthiest country probably in the history of the world. We live like kings and queens and we don't even realize it. Solomon would be envious of us. Middle class Americans are in the top 5 of the wealth in the world.

It could be a blessing to have money and possessions, but it can also be a serious problem. When you have money, there's a strong temptation to be distracted away from God. People buy nice cars, nice boats, nice homes, lots of property, lots of entertainment.

These things are not bad in themselves. You can use whatever you own for God's glory. Money is not evil, nor is having nice things evil. It is the excessive love of these things that is evil. It is loving these things more than God.

That's what we call an idol. Anything we love more than God is an idol. The Apostle Paul warns us of the dangers of wealth in 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. We are not to hold our money and our stuff in too high a place.

In Matthew 22, verse 37, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. To love money or possessions more than him is dangerous.

To have great money and possessions with no thought of God is a huge problem among unbelievers, but it's also a huge problem among those who call themselves Christians. The one who lives for this world is not truly following Christ.

Now, true Christians can struggle with worldliness, but the false Christians that Jesus describes in this third soil are the ones who are dominated by worldliness. Their money and their stuff is where their true allegiance lies.

Think of the one who spends their time focused on the affairs of life and enjoying entertainment, but never picks up their Bible, doesn't pray, or maybe only prays superficial prayers before meals, does not long for Christian fellowship, only comes to church if it's convenient, and if this person comes to church, they would rather be somewhere else, never gives thought of another person's salvation.

This person has no real deep love for God, but only for self. Their so-called faith is on the back burner while their focus is on the things of this world. The professing Christian who is seduced by the cares and riches of this world does not bear any fruit.

As Jesus says at the end of verse 22, he doesn't bear fruit because the Spirit is not in him. This person's eyes are fixed on the world and not on Christ, and the lack of fruit shows this. And this proves this person is not a believer, but one who appeared to be, but was overtaken by the thorns and thistles of life.

You do not want to be the third seed in the third soil. Few make it safely to the final harvest, and the third reason why is that the word is lost through the distractions of life. And now we arrive to the positive portion of this message.

Genuine Believers and Fruitful Growth

The fourth reason why few make it safely to the final harvest is that the word is received by a minority producing godly fruit. Okay, so let's see what Jesus says in verses 8 and 9. Or verse 8. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Now in Palestine, the region where Jesus ministered, Israel, seven out of eight seeds planted would produce. But what Jesus says in the second half of verse 8 is that these seeds that land on really good soil, think about like Iowa soil, several feet deep into the ground, they're going to produce much more than that.

Not seven out of eight times the normal amount, but some will produce a hundredfold,.

Some sixty,.

Some thirty. And you can see where this is going as Jesus explains this. In verse 23 he says, As for what was sown on 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.

The fourth seed in the fourth soil describes genuine believers. One thing that all genuine believers have in common is that they will bear fruit. To bear fruit is to think,.

Talk,.

And act like Jesus. No Christian bears fruit perfectly. All of us have a very long ways to go to reach perfection. And that perfection will not come until we die or Christ returns. And I've been helped by other quotes from other pastors where they say, It's not the perfection of your life, but it's the direction of your life.

It's not that you are sinless, but you do sin less. Once you become a Christian, you have the ability, through the Holy Spirit, to bear good fruit to the glory of God. Jesus said in John 15 too, Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. What Jesus tells us very clearly in our passage in John 15 is that all true believers will bear fruit. Just as the seed that lands in good soil and receives the proper sun and rain will grow, so does a genuine Christian who has the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells us how we grow. True growth happens as the Spirit brings the Word of God to bear on our hearts. Believers are those who receive the Word when it is taught or read. They are different from the first three seeds and the first three soils who don't really receive it.

The people who are described as the fourth seed and the fourth soil don't object to the things the Bible says. They don't select the things they like and leave out what they don't. They don't see the Bible as a book that has little to no relevance for their life.

They don't see the Bible as a book that is best kept on a shelf that collects dust. They don't see the preaching of the Word on Sunday as having little importance for their life. To the contrary, true believers hunger for the Word of God.

True believers love the Word of God. Now, sometimes we might go through some dry seasons, yes, but you'll always come back to it. The hunger will never leave you if you are a genuine believer. And what happens, and what I believe has happened much over the past several years, is that genuine believers get frustrated with the church they are attending where the Bible is only superficially taught so they find a church where the Bible is thoroughly preached and taught.

There's been a great migration within the broader church in recent years. They don't want the Bible mixed in with worldly philosophies. They want the Bible purely taught. There was an article released on TrueScript this week titled David didn't rape Bathsheba and why it matters.

People are...

It's always been called adultery, right? Now it's because of this oppressor oppressed the social justice thinking that has invaded the church. Because David is king, somehow it's rape. But the text does not say that.

People are fed up with that. We don't want secular philosophies imposed on the text. Just tell us what the Bible says. There's a hunger for that. And there's a hunger from that from genuine believers.

Jesus said,.

My sheep hear my voice. And as believers hear the voice of the chief shepherd, they grow. Once again, believers sin. And when we sin, we are not living out the word of God. But the spirit is working in a true believer's life.

And that will show over time. And we have on our back wall here, there's a picture that Barb made of a farmer holding seeds about to throw them on the field to be planted. And above that is this verse.

And then it says above that, Be the fourth soil. Some people ask us, what is Eureka Baptist all about? We want to be a church that's the fourth soil. That means that the people here are growing in their walk with the Lord.

And it means too that when people come to faith in Christ, they truly come to faith in Christ because there's not some superficial teaching to manipulate someone's emotions, but it's the word of God purely taught where the spirit works in someone's heart.

We want to be the fourth seed and the fourth soil. A growing church. We want to grow in Christ together. The sign on the back, in fact, before you walk out the door, Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That's 2 Peter 3 .18. This is what we want to be. Individually and as a church. And what a beautiful sight it is when this takes place. Nobody wants to be the first seed and the first soil. They're just dead to the things of God.

Nobody wants to be the second seed and the second soil where they appear to be saved. It looks attractive, but then over time, their allegiance is really to the world. It's really to their own selfish desires.

And then we don't want to be the third seed and the third soil that is so distracted by the things of life that we have no time for the Lord, that our focus is in other places. We don't want to be that.

We want to be the fourth seed and the fourth soil who hungers for the word of God, is filled with the word of God, and the spirit is working in this person's life. So few make it safely to the final harvest.

And we've seen four reasons why in this text. And so may the Lord apply this to each one right where they are at. At the final harvest, may we be not only the fourth soil, but the healthiest of the crops of the fourth soil that bear much fruit, where Jesus is pleased as he says, Well done, good and faithful servant.

Now next Sunday, we will be back in 1 Peter. We'll be in 1 Peter 4. And we will look at the treasure the Lord has for us in verses 1 -6. But at this time, let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven, the message is very clear.

Lord, you want our hearts. You want us to be filled with your word. That we would be people, Lord, who would have the Bible in our veins as Charles Spurgeon said of John Bunyan, who loved the Word of God.

And you can see that in his book, Pilgrim's Progress. He loved the Word of God. That's what we want to be, Lord, where the Spirit's work is obvious in our lives as the Word of God pulsates through us.

That we would think and talk and act like Jesus. So my prayer, Lord, is that that would describe everyone in this room. And Lord, as we close this morning, I also pray for the food. We're going to have a lunch downstairs and we do ask for a blessed time of fellowship as we take part in this meal.

And thank you for everyone who worked hard to prepare it.

In Jesus' name. Amen.