Welcome to the Further Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and I want to welcome our listeners on Apple and Spotify and those of you enjoying this on our YouTube video podcast format. On today's episode, I'm continuing with parable number seven in our series, and it's the parable of the four soils, or some will call it the parable of the sower, because it's actually called that in the Bible as well. It's about four types of soils, it's about a sower and a specific seed that is cast on the soils. And the parable that we're going to jump into is one of the longer and most explained parables in all of the Bible. And since Jesus not only tells the parable, but also goes on to provide a very clear explanation, we kind of have our interpretation already done for us, thanks to the Lord, the greatest preacher ever. And it's very key to make note of the fact that Jesus interprets the parable because somebody maybe could excuse a person for bad interpretation on some of the parables. Maybe there's some debated applications or interpretations from parables. Maybe somebody would say ignorance, but everybody, and I mean everybody, should understand this specific parable because Jesus makes it plain as day. Let's start with the context as we have with each episode. And then I'll read the parable in its entirety along with Jesus' explanation, and we'll walk through the text and apply it to our lives. I'm in Matthew chapter 13, verses 1 to 23. As with every episode, hit pause, grab your Bible if you want, or if you're on a run, on a walk, whatever you're doing, I'll walk you through this. So uh let me cue this up. We're in Matthew 13. It's one to twenty three is the actual parable, and then the explanation ends in verse 23. Here we go. That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea, and large crowds gathered to him, and he got into a boat, he sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places. So we have the rocky soil there, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, but because they had no depth of soil, when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. Verse 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears let him hear. Don't miss that. Very important. And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? Jesus answered and said, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he does, shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, You will keep on hearing but will not understand, you will keep on seeing but will not perceive, for the heart of this people has become dull. With their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them. Verse sixteen, but blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Let me stop there real quick and wrap up some context for you, and then we'll come back for the explanation of the soil. By the point that we're at in Jesus' ministry, he's done a lot of miracles. He's casted out demons, he's healed paralyzed legs, he's cleansed lepers, he's taught strongly on discipleship, persecution, good fruit, bad fruit. You think about the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes there in the beginning of chapter five. You think about his strong words about those who will say, Lord, Lord, in Matthew 7, judging, all of it. Everything really clear. He's rebuked the Pharisees for their accusations of him doing what he's doing by the power of Satan. And the verses leading up to this parable are really helpful for context because Jesus has said just prior that whoever does the will of his father in heaven is his brother, sister, and mother. So he's teaching that relationships are going to change based on how people respond to him and how they love him. Now, the statement that I read to you and I repeated it, he who has ears, let him hear, is really deep. It's attached to this theme of hearing in all of the parables, where Jesus is basically saying, those who can actually interpret this and understand it, you got spiritual ears, you're hearing what I'm saying. You got spiritual eyes, you can really see is super important. The Pharisees, with their hardened, bitter, self-righteous hearts, really eyes and ears that were self-righteous and hardened, they couldn't see. They were deaf and they were blind spiritually. And so when we walk through this parable, it's important to know not everybody really understands it. Even when he's interpreting these things, even when he's saying very obvious statements, it's only those who have spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see who are able to receive the word. And that seed is really the message of the gospel. It is the word of God. So really key to understand the theme of let hears, let he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Those who do the will of my father, those are the ones who are my mother, my brother, my sisters. Those are my family. Relationships are changing. How you relate to God and how you love him, obey him, and receive him is all attached to a heart that is spiritually prepared and tilled as soil to receive the word of God. So you can't remove that from the context. What does this parable mean then? With all that in your mind and in your heart, let's just read verses 18 to 23. Jesus 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 the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. So the first soil, hard path. The seed drops, devil snatches it away. It doesn't go in, it doesn't take root, it doesn't last. It's hard. That's hard soil. The one in verse 20, the one on whom seed was sown in the rocky places. There's your rocky soil. This is the man who hears the word and he immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no firm root in himself. He's only temporary. And when affliction or persecution arises because of the world, immediately he falls away. This is the person, this is the rocky soil. That person that loves what they hear from the church, they're kind of into it. It seems like they have found God and received God and surrendered their life to God. You think, wow, they really got it. You know, maybe, maybe they get baptized, they make a profession of faith, they're serving, they're in the mix, and then all of a sudden he says affliction or persecution arises because of the word. Notice that. The truth begins to cost them. They were all in when it was just, it's gonna be awesome. I love church. This is cool, a community, people, this seems really nice. I'm into the vibe. Then all of a sudden, the word causes conflict for them, challenges. They go, I'm out. This wasn't supposed to be like this. That's it's shallow. And John would say they went out from among us because they were never really of us. The rocky soil, not deep, not genuine, doesn't last, it falls away. Verse 22 and the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word. And the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Hey, this seed kind of grows up among the thorns, seems to get up there a little bit, and then it gets choked out by what? Well, the worries of the world. What does that mean? Like I'm worried about uh what? Well, he attaches it to wealth. So worried about stuff, worried about things, worried about what you have, worried about living it up, worried about your pleasures. The deceitfulness of wealth chokes the word. They just can't fathom the idea of not having what they want. They don't have stuff, the stuff has them. Jesus says, Well, your heart belongs to material things. Your heart belongs to money. It's why Jesus taught so often. You can't love money and God. You can't serve two masters. Matthew 6, 21, where your treasure is, your heart is. So look at your wallet, look at your money, look at your stuff. Where it is, what it's attached to, it's your heart. That's what you love. He's saying, these people, they just don't last because ultimately they care too much about the riches and the pleasures of this world. They're not down to follow Christ no matter what. It's not, as we would say, a ride or die kind of approach, all in, no matter what. No. If it gets hard, if there isn't some material prosperity attached to following Jesus, not appealing to them. They don't last. But he says in verse 23, the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, oh, this is the man who hears the word, he understands it. He indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty. Here's the deal. I was listening to a seeker-driven preacher in California one time, and he was one of those hyper-emotional play the music to manipulate the altar calls type of guy. If you're new to our podcast, I don't really vibe with that stuff. If you're not new, you're like, okay, Costi, we already know. Everything was really manufactured, and it was to invoke a response. You get what I'm saying if you've been around for a little while. And listen, don't get me wrong, Jesus was all about response in his ministry, provocative rebukes to the Pharisees. He is compassionate and loving to people. He he wants a response. He wants to arrest the attention of people. But this was one of those where everything was manufactured. And this guy was teaching that the four soils are just the stages, the four stages of the Christian life. And it kind of went something like this: at first, you're like the path, and the seed is just on the surface. It hasn't gone deep. And then it starts to get in there. And we're like the Rocky Soul soil. We're baby Christians and we're just slowly getting roots. But you know, we got to clear away that debris. We got to till the soil, and so those roots can get deeper. So, so clean out those temptations from your life and clean out all those distractions. You're like, that kind of preaches good. I like it. It actually makes sense. You should uh actively fight sin. You should you should remove Hebrew says lay aside every encumbrance. You're kind of like, okay, this plays. I think that's what it means. I guess it's what it means. It's just I'm in the rocky stage. Then he'll say, you know, we got to go deeper though. And then temptations come and we get comfortable. We want to enjoy our life. And and so if we're not careful, those comforts will choke out our faith. And eventually, though, you're gonna mature, you get past that, and you're gonna mature, and you're gonna bear a harvest and and and you're gonna be in the good soil. And some of you, you're in the good soil right now. Some of you, you're young in the Lord, and you're just rocky soil. And and it was like the stages of the Christian life. And so it was okay to be the hard path. You're just new. It was okay to be the rocky soil, you're just young. And it's okay to be sort of, you know, wrestling with temptations and the riches of this world and pleasures and comfort. You know, you got to get uncomfortable again now. And and and that's okay to be there because you're gonna get to the next one. And you you have this picture, like all four are believers. And then there's the prosperity gospel version, and it kind of goes a little like this, you know, some of you in our season, you're in a season where the blessings of God keep falling on you like seed and the devil keeps snatching them away. Don't worry, you know, this season of barrenness is just a setup for your season of blessing. And some of you, you're growing out there, but you got rocks in your life, and you need to know a breakthrough's coming. You get all the breakthrough language. And if you just have faith, God's gonna remove those rocks from your life and he's gonna clear away the debris. And, you know, some of you, uh, you know, you're in temptation and sin, and that's blocking the blessings of God on your life. So always a little bit of truth, like sin will definitely cause issues in your life. It might even block, if you will, the blessings or the fruitfulness of God in your life if you're just living in sin and you don't care. Of course, that's gonna create spiritual issues and conflict. So a little bit of truth there, but then it's, you know, some of you have been faithful and you're bearing fruit and God's blessing you, and you have realized that, you know, the pain just led to your purpose and the burden led to your blessing, and now you're prospering, and everybody, you know, all that kind of stuff. And look, I understand the approaches of the seeker-driven kind of interpretive gymnastics or or softening it all, and then also the the less harsh appeal of the prosperity gospel, and everything's just a setup for God making me rich and I'm gonna live the dream. All of these approaches are designed to lessen the harshness of Christ's words in the parable of the sower, but why don't we just let the text speak? Why don't we just let the word do its work and let the weight of that word settle it, settle in on our hearts and just submit to it, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. So, in the spirit of just letting the book talk and letting the weight of the word sit on you and I, let's just walk through some basic truths that are really obvious from the Bible. Number one, the seed in this parable, it's the word of God. Jesus says in in Luke 11, sorry, Luke 8, 11, because this parable is in that book as well. Now, the meaning of the parable is this the seed is the word of God. Hello, the seed's the word of God. He says it. And that understands, uh, that helps us understand that the seed is not material blessing from God. It's specifically in the context of the parable where it's the gospel and the good news about the kingdom, because he mentions that. And no matter where the sower sows it or the kind of soil it falls upon, the seed is unchanging. It's always the word of God. And so that's how we ought to view the word of God and the message of the gospel. It's always the same thing. Number two, you have the seed, it's the word of God. Number two, the soils are human hearts. Each one is described as being sowed upon with the seed of the word, but each one is a different response. And Jesus uses clear language to describe each heart, and only one, okay, one produces a harvest, though each one hears the seed of the word. So, number one, the seed's the word of God. Number two, the soils are human hearts. And now number three, the side road soil, the hard soil, is a hard heart. In Luke 812, Jesus says, And those beside the road are those who have heard, and the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. Tragically, the side of the road soil represents a hard heart. It's not penetrated by the word of God, even though they hear it. The devil has, like 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says, blinded the minds of unbelievers. They're not receptive to the gospel. And Jesus noticed that he says in the Gospel of Luke, he says it this way, that they may not believe and be saved. So that soil is not Christian. So we are oh for one, if you are the hard path soil, you're not in one of the stages of the Christian life. That individual, or if that was you, you are an unbeliever. You are not converted. Truth number four, the rocky soil is a shallow heart. Jesus says that those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, they receive the word with joy. They got no firm root. They believe for a little while, then temptation comes and they fall away. That Greek word is parasmos. The trials, testing, and that heart loves Jesus when everything is going great. Life is awesome. Jesus makes everything awesome. They love the church, they love the music, the motivational message is really cool. And they're really never offended, and you've got good vibes only, and then the truth hits hard, the winds of trial come and they go, Well, that's not the God I signed up for. Where's my blessing? This is ridiculous. I'm out. And many of the people in American Christianity are actually not saved. You say, How dare you say that? Well, I'm just telling you right now, if soil number one isn't a true Christian, neither is soul number two. This is the shallow person that was in it for the wrong reasons. These are the people who came to Jesus for free food and entertainment. Show me miracles, fill my belly. Today it's the same kind of people that come for the show and the food trucks. Their kids love the rock climbing wall and the laser tag and the fun fest, which by the way, there's nothing wrong with all that. Enjoy yourself and the kids should have a great time. But they're only there for entertainment. Uncomfortable chairs, they're out. A lack of entertainment, I'm out. I don't really like the music, even though there's a lot of truth here. I'm out. This isn't very comfortable. Oh, that building looks shinier. Oh, this guy's kind of cool. I'm out. Everyone's consumers in American Christianity, and it's not really Christian. The minute trial comes, they go, Why is God doing this to me? Why is this happening? What did we ever do? We're good people. We're American. We're we're rich. We give money to the poor every year. We go to a church. They think, well, yeah, you're playing the superficial Sunday church game. And Jesus says, that's not it. Next truth, number five. The thorny soil is the distracted heart. They grow for a while, they appear all in, and then Jesus says, they're the ones who have heard, they go on their way, and then they're choked with the worries and the riches and pleasures in this life, and they don't bring fruit to maturity. This is a human heart that can't get past the riches and cares of this world. They've got to have their money. It's like the rich young ruler in Luke 18, 8. He goes away sad. Why? Jesus says, Oh, you've done pretty good, keep all the commandments. Cool. There's one thing you haven't done. Go ahead and sell all your stuff, give it to the poor and follow me. Why? Does Jesus say you have to sell all your stuff or you're not a real Christian? No. What he's saying is that one thing you love more than me, get rid of it. I dare you. Sell everything. Take the one thing you gotta have and sacrifice it for me. And the guy goes away sad. Why? He had an idol, and that idol was competing with Christ. And you can't compete with Christ. Someone's gonna win. And the Lord wins in the end every time, but ultimately, if you won't let go of that thing, you get to go ahead and have it. But what you don't have is Christ. These are people who may be moral, they may be generous, they may be benevolent and kind, but when called to count the cost and take up a cross, they think that's just too much to ask for. They're too distracted by the things of this world. Three soils that are not genuine Christians, three soils that are not following Christ for real. Truth number six the good soil is the genuine heart. This is the converted person, true follower of Christ. Jesus says the one who has heard the word in an honest and good heart. And they hold it fast, he says. They bear fruit with perseverance. This is not a one-hit wonder Christian. This is not in it for the fun vibes and then out when it's trials and tough testing. This is not the person who enjoys it all when things are going well and they have more stuff and Jesus is blessing them and more money and their kids and their house and their cars and all that. No, this is I'm all in no matter what. This heart wants Jesus more than anything, and it produces a harvest. So, my question to you is why is it so important to get the meaning of this parable right? Because Jesus is explaining that the human heart will always have a response to the word of God. And only the fourth soil is good soil. Only the fourth soil is the kind of heart who will hear and be saved. Genuine fruit becomes the genuine evidence of a genuinely saved person. And if people think they can be hard soil or rocky soil or thorny soil and simply be in a growth phase as a believer, then they've missed the entire point of the gospels. Matthew and Luke in particular, who have this parable and the entire point of following Jesus. This would give false assurance to people that they're saved when in fact they need to repent and surrender their life to Christ for real. You cannot love the things of this world more than Jesus. If that's you, you're not in like a little stage and you get to have that and then sprinkle some Jesus on top. It's all in, all for Christ, and that's what real Christianity is. In both Matthew and Luke's gospel, there are constant reminders that following Jesus is a narrow road. There's no half in, half out Christians. It's all in or nothing at all. Luke 5.11 records the disciples leaving everything to follow Jesus. In Luke 14, 27, Jesus says, if you don't carry your own cross and come after me, you can't be my disciple. Like, don't even bother. You can't. You're not allowed. You've got to carry a cross. You've got to forsake your life to have life. And Matthew's no different. He says in Matthew 7, 22 to 23 many one day they're going to say, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, we casted out demons in your name. We did many miracles. And he'll say to them, Depart from me, I never knew you. That's a huge deal. And that should greatly concern us and cause us to say, which soil am I? If you're not the fourth soil, you're not good soil. Jesus' whole point is that right there. If you don't count the cost, and if you don't take up your cross and follow him, you can't be his disciple. So how should that meaning and those truths impact our response? Number one, turn from sin. Friend, sin is treason against God. Let me remind you of that. If you're a Christian and you've been kind of getting into cruise control mode, remember sin is not like a oopsie thing. It's not light. Call it what God does. Confess it to him and relish in this truth that sin is such a big deal, Jesus had to die to pay for it. If you're not a Christian and you've been playing whatever version of religion you think, or just kind of living for you, and you wouldn't even identify as someone who follows a religion, I want to encourage you, challenge you, plead with you and call you to fall on your knees in humility before God, the one true God, and ask him to give you a soft heart and to receive the seed of the gospel that Jesus Christ is the only Savior for your sins. He is the only one who can redeem you and call you out of the darkness you're in and bring you into marvelous light. He'll do that if you'll repent and put all your faith and all your trust and all your hope in him alone. Number two, quit playing church. Be done with shallow manipulation and entertainment-driven church experiences. If only the fourth soil is good soil, don't play games with how you feed your soul. Get in a strong Bible-teaching church that loves people and loves sound doctrine. You don't have to sacrifice one to have the other. You can have them both in a faithful church. And number three, recognize the cost of discipleship. There's no such thing as cruise control Christianity. You can't call yourself a disciple and then play at half speed. There may be different levels of maturity, but there are not different levels of being a disciple. We all are called to follow, to be the Methedes, the learner, the pupil of Christ, wholly and completely. Next time, we're looking at the parable of the Vineyard Workers in Matthew 20. We're going to learn an important lesson about God's sovereign favor, salvation, grace, and what mankind will sometimes claim as hey, that's unfair. I can't wait to dig in with you. This parable series has been such a blessing to study. And it's of course maybe a double blessing to get yet to encourage you and deliver these episodes. I hope they've been helpful. If they have been, drop a comment on YouTube or on Instagram or an Apple review for the podcast and let us know how the ministry has been sharpening you and encouraging you in the Christian faith and hopefully sending you back to your church, into your small group, and into your ministry with zeal and an uplifted heart. Thanks for listening as always, for watching and for supporting our ministry at For the Gospel. For more information or to partner with us, go to forthegospel.org and be sure to subscribe to YouTube for free video teachings every week. And you can follow on social media for encouragement every single day. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.