What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Is Your Heart Good Soil? Discovering the Depth of the Gospel
Are you open to the life-changing truths of the gospel? In this engaging episode, we explore Jesus' Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13, diving deep into the different heart conditions that impact how we receive His message. The discussion shifts from the serene imagery of Jesus teaching by the Sea of Galilee to the vibrant insights of what it means to cultivate good soil in our hearts.
We take a close look at the four types of soil that represent various attitudes toward faith—the hardened path, the rocky ground, the thorny soil, and the fertile earth. Each condition holds a mirror to our spiritual lives and challenges us to reflect on how we engage with the teachings of Christ. How receptive are we to this message? Do we let worry, distractions, or hardships steal our joy, or do we allow His word to take deep root, producing a harvest of meaningful fruit in our lives?
This episode encourages listeners to seek transformative growth and maturity in their faith. We discuss practical ways to ensure our hearts remain receptive, nurturing a deep-seated connection with God’s truth. Come join us in this thought-provoking conversation and discover how to embrace a faith that lasts. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave us a review, letting us know how you nurture your spiritual growth!
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? All right, in today's Bible study we are going to be in Matthew 13, starting in verse 1. If you're ready, on that day Jesus had gone out of the house and was sitting by the sea. Let me stop for a second. I had read this verse on Sunday. I had read chapter 13 on Sunday preparing myself for doing this Bible study this morning, and that was the first time when I read this verse. It actually gave me a mental picture of Jesus sitting by the Sea of Galilee.
Speaker 1:I had the amazing opportunity to go to Israel a few years years ago, and while I was there, we spent three days. Our home base was a Baptist hotel called McDalla, and McDalla was built beside an ancient I don't know why I keep saying ancient. Mcdalla was built by a dig site that had unearthed a synagogue that was dated to the time of Jesus, maybe a little before the time of Jesus, but it would have been active during the time of Jesus. It was believed that Jesus would have taught there because he spent much of his ministry around the area of the Sea of Galilee, and when I read this verse on Sunday, I could see Jesus early in the morning sitting by the Sea of Galilee. And when I read this verse on Sunday, I could see Jesus early in the morning sitting by the Sea of Galilee. There's these pebbles that are on the shore, these little rocks, and I could just see him sitting there looking across the Sea of Galilee, the lake that is there. It's a pretty decent-sized lake. It's kind of surrounded by mountains and there's always usually well while I was there it was usually a pretty decent breeze that was blowing, I guess because of the terrain and how it was situated, but there was usually a decent breeze as you sat there and I could just see Jesus sitting there by the Sea of Galilee, looking across the water and the wind. You know I could see it ruffling through his hair as he was contemplating. You know Jesus would go out early in the morning and he would pray. Now you usually go up on the mountain and pray and there was plenty of small mountains there beside that area, along that area, and he could have easily come off that mountain and walked down by the sea and sat down and just took a moment. But for some reason that was the first time he gave me a mental picture and I don't know. I just it hit me. The picture hit me kind of hard and makes me want to go back. I don't, being in Israel doesn't make you any closer to God, but to walk where Jesus walks is kind of special, I don't know, for me anyway. All right, let's continue.
Speaker 1:In verse two. And a large crowd gathered to him. So he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd was standing on the beach and he told them many things in parables, saying behold, the sower went out to sow and as he sowed some seeds fell beside the road and the soil and they sprang up immediately because they had no depth of soil. But after the sun rose they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked them out. But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop some a hundred, some sixty and some thirty times as much.
Speaker 1:The one who has an ear let him hear. And the disciples came up and said to him why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus answered them 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 in an abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, which says you shall keep on listening but shall never understand, and you shall keep on looking but you shall never perceive. Which says return, and I would heal them. 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 people long to see what you see and have not seen it, and hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Speaker 1:Listen, then to 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 the hearts. This is the one sown with a seed beside the road, the one sown with a seed on the rocky places. This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no firm root in himself but is only temporary. And when afflictions or persecutions occur because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one sown with the seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out the word and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown with the seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces.
Speaker 1:All right, let me stop here in verse 23 real quick. We are very blessed to have these parables explained to us by Jesus, as these guys who did not. But I find that even though we have these things explained to us, we still refuse to see sometimes. So let's go over what Jesus is talking about here. In this parable, jesus says because the heart is dull or callous, or some versions may even say hard, that they refuse to understand.
Speaker 1:We have four different soils and these four different soils represent four different ways people will receive the gospel message. He says the first one is by the path. This is the hard ground. Now, the hard ground is someone who hears the word but they refuse to understand it. They don't want to hear it. These are the people who don't want to hear it. They have hardened themselves to the message of the gospel and when you try to talk to them, they have no time for you. They don't want to hear it. They've already. You know they're ready to argue the moment you speak to them. This is the hard ground. The second soul represents the stony ground, and the stony ground are people who, when they first hear the word of gospel, they're interested, they want to hear it and they're happy to listen to you.
Speaker 1:These are the kind of people who go to church or go to find a church, and when they go to find a church they may show up one or two times, but it kind of gets in the way of their schedule. They don't really like the preaching and they really don't have time for it and they just fall away. You never see them again. The third soil, which is kind of the worst one, I think I guess there's no difference. If you don't accept the gospel, then it really doesn't matter what soul you are. I think it's the worst because they have so many opportunities to hear it but they're never changed. And this is the kind of person who is the every Sunday churchgoer. They go every Sunday, they listen to the preacher, they fellowship with other Christians and they actually they are Christians because they even may have a somewhat of a prayer life, but there's, but it never reaches their heart. They're never changed. If you look at their life, it looks no different than anyone else who lives in the world. The gospel has never reached the heart and changed them.
Speaker 1:It talks about fruit. It says the good soil, the person receives it and they bear fruit. So what is this fruit that this message is speaking about? Now, when I first read it, the thought crossed my mind that the fruit must be other believers that are produced because of who you are, because it says some 100, some 30. I thought these fruit were other believers that are influenced by you. Go Make Disciples, which is how I was viewing this when I first read. It was because fruit have seeds in it and when they fall off the tree they go and they spread more seeds. So I was thinking that the fruit must be other believers who were affected by you. Well, at least that's how I first viewed it.
Speaker 1:But after studying it and I believe, growing in maturity I come to understand that fruit is maturity in Christ. It's visual signs of a Christ-centered life, of a Christ-centered life. If you ever pass a grove, you can always tell when there's fruit on the tree. Especially, I live in Florida so we have orange groves and when you pass an orange grove there's either just trees or there's trees with fruit on it. When there's trees with fruit on it it's definitely different because you see all the oranges all over the tree and you know those trees are full of fruit. So there's an obvious sign.
Speaker 1:There's a difference between those who have fruit and those who do not, and I come to understand that when you have fruit, the fruit has seed in it and by your life, by your maturity and how you live and the visual signs that people see, you have the opportunity to spread seeds. So I hope this helps people understand that there is a difference between someone who grows in maturity in Christ, who bear fruit, and those who just show up and believe they are saved because they are a part of something. Christ is trying to teach you that the gospel message has to reach the heart and change a person, because he says those who hear the word, they see with their eyes. They refuse to see and they refuse to hear and be changed, so let us be changed. I don't want to just run through these. I don't think it would do it justice. So I'm going to end this one here and we'll pick up in verse 24 in the next Bible study. Until then, god bless you guys. Bye.