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

During the time that Jesus lived in the first century, the world was largely agrarian. There were marketplaces where buying and selling took place, yes. But most people who lived during this time were farmers and gardeners and grew things to provide for the population.

Even in American history, much of the world in our nation's history has been agrarian. From the 1600s to the Civil War era in the 1860s. But then something happened. From 1870 to 1920, a great migration took place.

By the 1920s, more Americans lived in urban areas than in rural. In the present day, it's much more than that. 82 of Americans live in a metropolitan area. Only 18 live in a rural area like we do.

And so when we talk about agriculture, when we talk about farming, if you live in the city, you don't really know much about that stuff. And I can speak from experience. When I came out here, I knew very little about farming.

And four and a half years later, I know a lot more than I did. Still not very much, but a lot more than I did. Now it's interesting that when Jesus gives illustrations, on several occasions, he gives illustrations that would have resonated with the people of his day because they are agrarian illustrations.

And today what we're going to see is that he gives one of those. And farmers can relate to what he is going to say. He's going to give a parable about sowing in the field. And as the sower sows in the field, there's four different people who are going to be described.

And every person on planet earth will fit into one of these four categories. And there's going to be one category that we really want to be in. So this time, I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Matthew 13.

We'll be looking at verses 1 -9 and also verses 18 -23. The reason we are skipping over verses 10 -17 today is because in verses 18 -23, Jesus explains what he said in the first nine verses of this chapter.

So it only makes sense that we combine the two together. And if you're using a red Bible, in the Pugh's it's on pages 972 and 973. And this sermon is titled, The Four Soils. The Four Soils. And I'm going to begin by reading the first nine verses.

Matthew 13, verses 1 -9. 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 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 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.". Here's our big idea. When the Word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic. When the Word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic. And we're going to see four responses why this is the case in our text this morning.

But before we jump in, let me give you a little recap.

Of where we were.

Last week, we had our 140th anniversary celebration, and this was a rich time together, and it was a different sermon. Two Sundays ago, we were in Matthew. In that text, Jesus told the illustration of the demon who left a man because he became morally reformed.

So he was superficially reformed.

Morally.

Not deep, but superficial. The demon eventually came back along with seven others because no true lasting change had taken place in his heart. And these people, these superficial, morally reformed people, which are many in our world today, are in the clenched hand of the devil.

That's what we saw two weeks ago. But the truly righteous, those who have been saved by Christ, those who are bearing the fruit of Christ through the Spirit, Christ will never leave. Remember, those people of which we all want to be, and many are in this room, the clenched hand of Jesus Christ, where Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, 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.

That's the position that we want to be in, and many of you are. But we are not to be fooled by outward appearances. There is true fruit and false fruit, and the one who has Christ truly belongs to God and is truly righteous.

Now, this leads us back to our text this morning. As I mentioned, the big idea is that the response among people as they hear the word of God is drastic. And we'll begin by looking at the first response in verses one through four, where once again, we read 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. Two weeks ago, we saw that Jesus addressed the crowd inside, and as he's addressing the crowd, his family was outside wanting to speak to him.

In verse one of chapter 13, we see that Jesus left the house that day and sat by the sea. And what we have seen throughout Matthew is that wherever Jesus goes, crowds follow him. If you ever see a famous golfer like Tiger Woods, he goes from one hole to the next.

Where do the people go? They don't go to the golf where they don't know about. They go to the golf where everybody went there to see. They follow him. And wherever Jesus goes to teach, the crowds are following him.

In verse two, gives us the indication that the crowds were so large, they pushed Jesus to the edge of the water. So he got into a boat. And Jesus did what many rabbis did around this time. When they taught, they sat down.

And to keep the boat from rocking, it was best for Jesus to sit down while he preached. The crowd stood on the beach and listened while Jesus sat in the boat and taught them. And what verse three tells us is that he was about to speak a parable.

And the text tells us that he often did this. He often spoke in parables. A parable is a biblical truth communicated in story form. And next week, Jesus tells us why he told parables. We'll see that next Sunday.

What the end of verse three tells us is that this parable is about a sower in the field. A sower is a farmer who plants seeds in the field. The people in the crowd as they stood there on the beach would have understood the farming and gardening life very well.

And so do many of you in this room. So this should resonate with you. Now in verse four, he tells one of the places where the seed fell. Because what we're gonna see is four different locations where these seeds are falling.

And in verse four, the seeds fall along the path. There was a path next to the field. The soil of this path would have been hard as people walked over it, and the seed fell close to the path where the ground was harder.

This hardness prevents the seed from taking root so the seed stays visible on the ground near the path. As the seed remained visible, the birds came by. And as the birds see the seed on the top of the ground, they have no problem just snatching it away.

The seed that was planted to produce a crop does not do that, but instead is taken away by these birds. Now what is helpful about this parable is that Jesus tells us exactly what he means. He does this in verses 18 through 19.

Jesus says this, he says, "'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.'". This is a very clear explanation from Jesus. What we learn in these verses is that the seed represents the word of God. Okay, that's this. The word of God, it's the word of God either read or proclaimed like I'm doing right now.

And the soil represents the human heart. 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 we know the word of the kingdom. We know what it is because we've already seen this mentioned in the book of Matthew. In Matthew 3 .2, John the Baptist preached the word of the kingdom when he said to the Jewish people, "'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'".

The word of the kingdom is the gospel. And by extension, it's the whole counsel of God. All right, if you receive the gospel, you receive the whole Bible. And as the message of the word hits the heart, Satan has no problem snatching it away.

It's easy with these people, with this first hard soil near the path. The heart is already full of pride, full of idolatry. And as the word hits the heart, it stops. It's like ping. It doesn't go anywhere.

And before the word can make any penetration, Satan snatches the word away. What Jesus says is that the people in this boat don't understand the word that is preached to them. This is what he's communicating to them, describing this first soil.

Now, they understand what the message is. They just don't like the message. When they hear the gospel message, they want nothing to do with it. It interrupts their life. They don't want it. They do not see themselves as sinners in need of a Savior.

They do not see Jesus as the most glorious being 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 this life. They are selfish. They are prideful.

And the gospel is of no interest. When they hear the gospel, their eyes glaze over.

Have you ever done that?

You share the gospel with someone and you know they're not paying attention? Their hearts harden because they don't want it. When the gospel and the word of God is delivered, the message bounces right off their heart.

It makes no penetration. When it is presented, since there is little to no consideration, they hear it, they don't really think about it, though they're thinking about something else. They're thinking about their idols.

They're not thinking about the word of God. What happens here is that Satan easily influences their mind toward their idols. He distracts them. So any opportunity for the word of God to take a hold on their heart is gone.

Instead of turning from their idols and running toward God, they continue in them. And what is an idol? An idol, once again, is worshiping anything other than God. Now who might this first seed and first soil describe?

This can be a rabid atheist. It can be one who wears sin on their sleeves, like a drunkard. Or it can be a professing Christian who is outwardly righteous. Who thinks they are a good person. Feels no sorrow for their sin.

And is a Christian in name only. Their trust is not in Christ, but in their own self-righteousness. We saw this two weeks ago. Satan has the self-righteous person right where he wants him or her. So this is the first seed and the first soil.

When the word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic. And the first response why is that Satan prevents penetration on the hard heart. This seed that hits the path and is right there for the birds to snatch away.

Here's our second point. The second response why, when the word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic is this. The word is only received superficially. Okay, this is the second seed and the second soil.

Verses five and six and verses 20 through 21. Let's read first the parable, verses five and six. Jesus says, 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 that the first seed landed on hard soil and Satan had no problem snatching those seeds away.

Now in these verses, what Jesus says is that the second seed lands on soil that is soft on the top, but hard on the bottom. And because there is some soft soil there, the seed takes root just a little bit and the crop begins to grow and it looks good.

In fact, the crop grows faster than the other crops around it so that the farmer or anyone coming by may think that this is a crop that will reach full growth faster than the others. But as we see here, there is a problem.

The crop as it grows is not able to take root deeply at all. The crop then withers away as the sun beats on it without it being able to take deeper root into the ground. And Jesus explains what this seed in the soil describes in verses 20 through 21.

He says this,.

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.

Now what this seed and this soil describes is something that's very deceiving. The person hears the gospel and when they hear it, this person appears to receive the word. It appears that there's a conversion,.

A new believer.

The people around this person are fooled because the person appears to believe in Christ. There might be a baptism or something that took place, but the belief is not true belief, but only superficial.

The person maybe prayed the sinner's prayer, walked an aisle, signed a card, was baptized on the spot. Now some people who have walked an aisle, signed a card, or were baptized are certainly saved, but others might not be.

According to this, what Jesus says here, Billy Graham was once asked, are you concerned that many people who came forward at your crusades are not believers? And he answered, yes, I am concerned. And think of how many people would come forward.

Not everyone who prayed to receive Christ that night sincerely prayed to receive Christ that night. The test of whether someone is truly saved is if one continues in the faith over the long haul. The one who prayed to receive Christ and did not walk with Christ from that point should be very concerned, even the person who would still identify as a Christian in a looser sense.

But as my old pastor used to say, not everyone who professes faith in Christ possesses faith in Christ. The test of time proves the authenticity of one's faith. The Apostle John said in 1 John 2 .19, you heard this earlier, 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 is no life in Christ, no power of the Spirit working, showing no fruit that a true conversion took place.

While others leave the faith altogether. But why do these people leave the faith? Jesus says in verse 22, what causes the person to aband his or her former joy? Jesus says, 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, as we all have. But it is the difficulties specifically related to the life of faith. In many places, it's not fashionable to be a Christian.

The person who once appeared to be a Christian will not continue in places where it is not fashionable. You see this with kids who go off to a secular college. They go to a secular school where it's not popular to be a Christian and the Christian faith they once identified with, they no longer do.

People want to fit in. All of us want to fit in. That's not a bad thing, right? In some sense. But if you truly love Christ, following Him is much more important than fitting in with the in crowd, than fitting in with the world.

In America right now, it is becoming less and less popular to be a Christian. People are abandoning the faith left and right. There's been a high volume of deconversion stories. And they are doing so because they live in a country that says that Biblical Christianity is anti-love, anti-women, anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-science, anti-progress.

You hear those talking points put out there? And ask a question,.

Well, what do you mean by that?

Well, let's have a conversation. Now these are lies. True Christians love. Truly love. Truly believe the truth. But people want to be approved by secular society so the decision is easy. They no longer follow Christ.

And they show where their true allegiance is to. It's either to the world or it's to Jesus. And the compromise in this world and in this country is remarkable in a sad way. And this compromise is widespread in the American church as well.

What's happening in society is also happening in the church. And you've heard me say this. Now the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the world. 47 ,000 churches. And they just had their convention where they elected a new president.

Now it's crystal clear that they elected a very compromised man for a number of reasons. One is his embrace of social justice, which I've shown you is unbiblical. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If one is willing to compromise there, there are probably some other serious character issues in his life. Just this week, it has been discovered that the new president elected, his name is Ed Litton, has been plagiarizing countless sermons.

They showed a clip of one pastor who preached from Romans 1 and then he preached Romans 1. He copied the entire sermon. This is the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention. And you'd think, well, people are probably calling for his resignation.

They're not calling for his resignation.

Why?

Because they're corrupt. I posted on my Facebook about a week ago that the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention is eerily similar to the corrupt religious system that Jesus fought against in the first century.

Everybody should be calling for his resignation. He plagiarized numerous sermons. He should resign as a pastor. He should resign as the president. But where are the people calling for his resignation?

The only people calling for his resignation are the ones who protested against him in the first place. The ones who supported him are still standing with him. And so why is this happening? The answer is obvious.

Professing Christians, not possessing Christians, but professing Christians want to be loved by the world. And the mainstream media was delighted that this guy was elected. He's not one of those crazy conservatives who stands on the Bible on everything.

They were celebrating. They said that they were prevented from an ultra-conservative takeover. And they're so happy that this man was elected. They want to be loved by the world. And the guy who would take his place, by the way,.

Is very conservative.

They don't want that.

The SBC leadership wants to be loved by the world. They care what the world thinks and not what God thinks. That's the truth. And once a movement reaches that point, God's blessing is no longer on them.

Okay, I'm not saying every SBC church, there are good SBC churches out there. I'm just saying the institution, the leadership,.

It's corrupt.

And Lord willing, maybe God will reform it someday. But right now, that's where it is. God will use the vehicles that are faithful to him, that are faithful to his word. But the Bible warns us not to be sucked into this destructive path of the world.

The Apostle John said in 1 John 2 .15, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.

And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. And this is why professing Christians fall away. Some will keep the name Christian while they are not real Christians.

While others won't even do that. But either way, the early joy that appeared to be a conversion was an illusion. And the test of time shows it. Over time, the cost of following Jesus was too great, and the love of the world is too strong, and it is the latter that wins out in the person's heart.

When the word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic. And the second response why is that the word is only received superficially. When the sun comes, it withers away. The third response why, when the word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic, is this.

The word is lost through the distractions of life. And we'll see this in verses 7 and 22, 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 seed down and they gather among thorns.

And we know what thorns are, right? Genesis 3 .18 tells us the reason there are thorns and thistles in earth, and that's because of sin. The earth is cursed because of sin. And thorns and thistles are unwelcome guests, and you want them gone so that your plants can grow to be healthy.

And this, like the first two seeds and the first two soils, describes people on planet earth. And Jesus tells us who they are in verse 22.

He says this,.

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 person is similar to the one we just saw.

The soil with hard ground under it describes the one who appears to believe. But over time, it has shown the person is not a believer. The third soil may appear to be a believer also, and some people would argue that it is.

I'm arguing that it's not. When we look at this seed and this soil, there are too many distractions in life to be fully committed to Christ. And the person shows where his or her true allegiance is. This plant or crop that is choked by the distractions of life may be best described in American Christianity over the last 50 years.

America, since World War II, has been the wealthiest country in the world. And it's the wealthiest country by far, not only in the world, in the modern world, but in the history of the world. We live like kings and queens and we don't even realize it.

Middle-class Americans are in the top 1 of wealth in the world. Money is a blessing, but it can also be a serious problem. When you have money, there is a strong temptation for distractions. People buy nice cars, nice boats, nice homes, lots of property, lots of entertainments.

Now these things are not necessarily bad in themselves. Money is not evil, nor is having nice things evil. It is the love of these things over God that is evil. The Apostle Paul tells us this very thing in 1 Timothy 6, verses 9 and 10, where he says 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 the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. It is not money and wealth that is the problem.

It is the love of those things that is the problem. Jesus says in Matthew 22, 37, that 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 very dangerous. This is a trap that people in the Christian community can fall into. The one who lives for this world is not truly following Christ. Now, true Christians can struggle with worldliness, but false Christians that Jesus describes here are dominated by worldliness.

That's the true God of that person's life. 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 at meals.

Does not long for Christian fellowship. Only comes to church if it is convenient. And if this person comes to church, they would rather be somewhere else. They'd rather be playing with their toys or involved with the affairs of life, the busy affairs of life.

This person has no real deep love for God, but only love for self. Their so-called faith is on the back burner while their focus is on the things of the world. Once again, Christians can struggle with materialism.

Christians can struggle with distractions. They can struggle with worldliness. But at the end of the day, a true Christian's allegiance is to Christ and not to the things of the world. The true Christian truly wants these things to die in his or her life.

And is repentant and is sorrowful and says, Lord, free me from this. True Christians think about the age to come. They think about the day when they will be freed from this sin. And their lives are appropriately ordered.

C .S. Lewis once said something very insightful about living in this world while focusing on the next. He said, if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. This is an encouragement to us not to have our focus on the things of the world, but on Christ and His future eternal kingdom.

In this way, we will make a big impact here for Christ. But 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, this person's eyes are fixed on the world and not on Christ.

And the lack of fruit that this shows proves that the person is not a believer. But one who appeared to be a believer and was overtaken by the thorns and the thistles of life. When the Word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic.

The third response why is that the Word is lost through the distractions of life. And now we're to the fourth seed and the fourth soil. The last one here. And this is the most positive one. The one we want to be.

And that is this, that when the Word is received, it produces godly fruit. So when the Word of God is heard, the response among people is drastic. The Word is received, producing godly fruit. Let's see what Jesus says in verses 8 and 9.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Anyone who is a gardener and anyone who is a farmer knows about the importance of good soil when planting.

Good soil with the appropriate sun and rain will produce healthy plants and healthy crops. In Palestine, the region where Jesus ministered, seven out of eight seeds planted would produce. Now what Jesus says in the second half of verse 8 is that these seeds that land on really good soil are going to produce much more than that.

Not eight times like the normal amount, but much, much more. As He says, some will produce a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. You can see where this is going as Jesus explains who this describes.

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, another sixty, another thirty.

So who does this fourth seed and this fourth soil describe? It 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. Yes, but everyone will bear some fruit. I've been helped by quotes from some pastors such as, it's not the perfection of your life, but it's the direction. It's not that you are sinless, but you do sin less.

Once you become a Christian, you have the ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to bear fruit for the glory of God. Jesus tells us in John 15, 2, that every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He prunes, or He takes away, that it may bear more fruit.

People in the tree trimming service, and Derek's not here today, but he would tell you, you have to trim branches in order for that branch to grow healthy in the future. That's what God does. He disciplines us so that we would bear more fruit, so that we would grow more in the future.

The false Christian, Jesus takes away. As Jesus says in John 15, 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

What Jesus tells us very clearly in our passage, and very clearly from the parallel passage in John 15, is that all true believers will bear good fruit. Just as the seed that lands on good soil and receives the proper sun and rain will grow, so does a genuine Christian who has the Holy Spirit.

And He tells us how we grow. How does growth happen? It happens through this. It happens through the Word of God. As the Word of God is brought to bear on people's lives. Remember, when the Word of God is preached, when the Word of God is read, there are drastic responses to it.

But when this fourth seed in this fourth soil receives the Word, the person gladly receives it. That's how you know you're saved. It doesn't ping right off. It digs into your soul. The people who are described as the fourth seed and the fourth soil don't object to the things that the Bible says or try to explain it away like, oh, you know what, there's many different interpretations.

No, there's one interpretation. It's what the Bible says. I don't care what the world says. It's what this says. That's what true believers say. The people described 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 or no relevance to 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 Sundays having little importance to their life.

To the contrary, true believers hunger for the Word of God. True believers love the Word of God because they love God. Once again, believers do sin. And just so you know, it's hard to preach every Sunday because I am faced with my own sin.

And I'm thinking,.

I feel like a hypocrite sometimes when I sin in my own life and I have to come up here and preach. You're not listening to a perfect person. You're listening to someone who needs the Bible, who is repenting, who wants to grow.

Right? That's all of us. But somebody's got to preach, right? So that's why I'm here. God doesn't send a perfect person from heaven to come down and preach the Word. He uses sinners who have been redeemed by Christ who are in the sanctification process.

To preach the Word.

True believers want to be changed. True believers are repentant. I heard it said there's two different types of people in the world. Repentant people and unrepentant people. And they might say, well, sometimes I don't want to read the Bible.

Sometimes I don't want to hear preaching. Pastor Seth, I just want you to end your sermon.

I want to go do something. I want to go on with my day. Sometimes you might feel that way.

But you won't always feel that way.

You won't.

The Spirit won't let you always feel that way. I heard it said by a pastor that the flame from the match will flicker and the Word will once again breathe life into your soul. And if you don't feel it today, you'll feel it sometime down the road.

Imagine yourself having a hard time starting a fire, but eventually the fire lights. This is what it is like to listen to preaching and teaching and to read the Bible. As a Christian, if it is not breathing life into your soul today, it will at some point.

Because it has to.

The Spirit won't let it happen any other way. And He will hit you over the head as many times as He needs to to get your attention. As believers receive the Word, it does come out in their character. What Jesus says in verses 8 and 23 should be very encouraging to us.

He says that it bears fruit and yields. In one case, a hundredfold. In one case, sixty. In one case, thirty. You'll notice here that not every believer grows the same. Some grow faster than others. Some grow more than others.

But there is one thing that is clear. Every believer does grow some. It has to be that way. 2 Corinthians 5 .17. If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come. The war, there is a war.