WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:21.120 So glad you're here this morning. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.600 It's been a wonderful morning of worship. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:29.039 I want to direct our attention now to Matthew chapter 13. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:41.759 And as you're turning there in your Bible, tell you a story, not just a story, something that I lived. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:01:03.439 I'd been on the job about three months, four months, I think, and I I received a call from a mother asking me to meet with her son, to talk to her son, and her made a phone call to this gentleman. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:04.719 I'd never met him before. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.079 I'd heard of him, never met him before. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:15.359 And on the phone, we we spoke for quite a while, and most of the time it was hard to understand him because he was in tears. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:31.760 He was in tears because he had called me to speak to me about some help with his daughter, with his oldest daughter, who was struggling through some things and had been, at least to some extent, suicidal. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:35.359 And he was wanting some counsel and wanting some help. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.519 So I went over to his home to meet with him and sat down on a couch. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:42.719 And we were on a long couch. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.680 He was on one end of the couch and I was on the other end of the couch. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:48.560 We talked for quite a long time. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:50.719 Most of the time he was in tears. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.280 We didn't address his daughter at all. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.359 Because he was the one that needed help. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:13.759 The Lord had providentially been working in his heart to break up the hard soil that had been compacted through a hard life. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:25.360 And in that moment, I had the privilege of opening the scriptures to him and showing him the free gift of God that is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.879 And that man came to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:32.800 Such a privilege. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:35.840 But that's rare. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:46.000 Most of the time you speak with people about the good news of salvation in Christ alone, and it feels like you're throwing a ball against a hard wall. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:47.919 It just comes right back at you. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:58.879 Some of you have have family members, parents, children, spouses that seem to be resistant to the good news of the gospel. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.280 That's hard, isn't it? 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.319 It's a burden on us. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:10.879 Jesus talks about those kinds of situations in our passage this morning. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:13.360 But before we do that, let's take a moment. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.919 I want to give you a chance to pray. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:24.560 Think about that one person in your life that you most communicate the gospel to and most is most resistant to it. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:27.599 Just take a moment and bow your head and pray for that person. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:33.680 Ask that the Lord would soften the soil of their heart to be open to hearing the good news of Christ. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:35.120 Would you do that right where you sit? 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:22.959 We've looked into your glorious face and pages of Scripture and the voices of your saints. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:27.680 We know the joy of your salvation. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.519 We've heard it expressed, and yet there are so many that do not have that joy. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:41.600 Oh Lord, we know that you are capable of softening hearts, and we ask that you would do that. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:55.680 Give ears to hear your truth, not ears that just receive sound waves, but that process and seek to know more to understand who you are. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:06.879 Father, by your sovereign grace, draw people to you so that they might join the eternal chorus of those who praise your name. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.680 Open our ears and our hearts to hear your word this morning. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:12.639 Amen. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:23.199 On another time I shared the good news of salvation in Christ alone with a very good friend. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:29.360 And asked if if he wanted to know where he would spend eternity. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:35.600 And his response to me was, no, I think I'd rather be surprised. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.720 I'd rather be surprised. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:54.639 Last Sunday we started looking at Matthew chapter 13, a chapter that is often referred to as the parables of the kingdom. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.560 The whole chapter here is connected, interwoven. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:05.519 There are pieces all throughout, scattered throughout this entire chapter, that unite the whole thing together. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:25.439 And his disciples, on the other hand, who are somewhat confused about these stories, these parables that Jesus is saying. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:29.199 They are struggling to grasp the meaning of the parables themselves. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.240 So Jesus is doing two things at once. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:34.560 Something that no man can do. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.079 Some women can do well, but no man can do, except for Jesus. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.480 He can do two things at once. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:48.959 He is speaking to the crowds, he's sharing the gospel with them, he's communicating to them in stories. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.839 But at the same time, he's teaching his disciples. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:55.439 He's training them. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:04.160 And that's important for us to understand this morning as it helps us grasp the importance of this chapter for us together in the Lord's church. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:12.160 You see, Jesus was training his disciples to go out into the world to make disciples, right? 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:13.439 That's the end of the book. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:14.959 That's the end of Matthew. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:16.720 Jesus gave a command. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:22.240 As you're going, assuming they were going to go, as you're going, make disciples. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.480 So he's training them for that. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:33.360 But he's letting them know that as they go, they're going to experience many of the same things that Jesus endured. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.879 Some positive, most negative. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:50.079 And as we know from the end of Matthew, these disciples would be commissioned, commissioned under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to make disciples in his name. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:59.920 Initiating those disciples into the Lord's kingdom through faith and baptism and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded as Lord. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:11.759 To put it another way, Jesus, as he's speaking to the crowds of people that gathered, is sowing seed. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:19.120 He's sowing seed of the gospel, of the good news, and he's preparing his disciples to do the same. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:25.519 He's training his disciples to be farmers, to be gardeners, to put out the seed of the good news. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:40.320 And that's what Matthew is hinting at, the end of the chapter in verse 52, where Jesus says, Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:47.440 In a similar way, all disciples, all of us, are to be trained for kingdom work. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:54.159 To be able to understand the word of God and so to be able to make disciples and to teach them. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:06.879 To know that the seed is good seed and it's worth sowing, it's worth putting out there, no matter what the response is to that good news. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:13.759 Last week and this morning are really one conjoined sermon. 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:16.720 So if you missed last week, you'll want to go back and listen to that. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:23.200 Our goal is to grasp all of verse 1 through verse 23, the parable of the sower. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:28.080 So I'll read that if you'd like to follow along so we can get it back into our memories once again. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.279 It says that same day that Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.799 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.080 And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:48.000 And Jesus told them many things and parables, saying, A sower went out to sow. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:53.440 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and devoured them. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:10:01.600 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. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:06.639 But when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:12.000 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:18.559 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.919 He who has ears, let him hear. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:27.440 Then the disciples came to Jesus and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:35.200 And Jesus answered, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:44.879 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:54.080 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:06.799 Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, You will indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:20.240 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:28.000 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:37.600 For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.480 Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:50.639 When any one 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. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.759 This is what was sown along the path. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:00.480 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:11.039 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. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.240 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:23.039 But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:30.000 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:38.480 He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:39.600 Amen. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:47.519 So often we open up our Bibles to read. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:49.919 Often out of guilt. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.440 We haven't read for a while, so we just open it up and start reading something. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:13:00.320 You know, the Lord can use that just opening up his word and reading it, choosing a section to just start reading. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:02.240 But we miss something there. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:11.759 We're missing a point if we if we don't put what we're reading into its context that God intended, and that's true here in chapter 13. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:19.039 Last time we looked at how this all fits together in the flow of Matthew's biography of the Lord Jesus. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:25.919 And we noted that chapter 12 is a significant turning point in the biography. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:33.120 In fact, John's gospel, John chapter 1, verse 11, echoes the theme of Matthew 12. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:41.679 John 11, or John 1.11 says that Jesus came to his own, but his own people did not receive him. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:47.679 And that rejection is very stark here in Matthew. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:53.840 Jesus declared that the Jewish people of his time would be condemned. 00:13:54.639 --> 00:14:04.639 And he gives accounts of that in chapter 12, telling them that they're going to be condemned by non-Jewish people who repented at the preaching of Jonah. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:16.559 Non-Jewish people who were so astounded by God's gift of wisdom to Solomon that they would travel days upon days just to hear Solomon speak. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.399 And yet here the word of God is present, and they'd close their ears. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:36.960 Jesus pictured that situation by an illustration of demon possession at the end of chapter 12, and he says that it's an evil and adulterous generation that rejects Christ. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.559 But the Lord is gracious, isn't he? 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.320 Look around you. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.000 Here's evidence of the Lord's grace. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.240 And an adulterous and wicked generation. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:04.320 You see, as the one who holds all things in his hand, the one who possesses all authority, as we saw in chapter 11, Jesus could have could have wiped out everybody. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.039 Just as God had done in the time of Noah. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:10.399 But he was gracious. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:12.080 He was gracious. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:25.200 Like a farmer sowing seed, Jesus proclaimed the word, the message of his kingdom and his kingship, knowing all along that some of the seed would not fall on productive soil. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:35.120 The gospel of the kingdom with Jesus as its king was heard by those to whom Jesus was sovereignly revealing himself. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:36.960 They had ears to hear. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.919 But it was also heard by those whose hearts were hardened in unbelief. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.519 And it was heard by those who were somewhere in between. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.320 They hadn't ruled Jesus completely out yet. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.960 Maybe they had some sense of curiosity. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:54.159 They were interested in hearing more to some extent. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:02.559 And that we find is the meaning of the soils at the beginning of the chapter that Jesus later explains in verses 18 through 23. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:09.519 Jesus spoke of varying kinds of responses to his messianic preaching. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:14.480 It's described for us in the terms of understanding. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.240 Look at verse 13, they do not understand. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.440 Verse 14, you will indeed hear, but never understand. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:25.919 Verse 15, understand with their hearts. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.159 Verse 19, does not understand, and so on. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:33.759 This is all about do you really grasp what Jesus is saying? 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:55.360 And Jesus says that those who hear the word of God, of all of those who hear, only those who hear and understand are compared to the good soil from which seed sprouts, grows, and bears fruit for the farmer. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:10.720 And significantly, Jesus asked his disciples in chapter 13, verse 51, at the end of all of these sayings, he asks them, have you understood these things? 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.160 Have you understood? 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:22.559 It's important that we, as the Lord's disciples, today also understand these things. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:32.000 We ought to understand that Jesus is talking about the proclamation, the spreading of his good news. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:34.799 This is how his kingdom grows and progresses. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.599 First, Jesus and now his disciples, that's us. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:44.559 We speak the words of the kingdom, the word of God, making disciples. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.119 We plant that word, if you will. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.480 So once we plant it, once we scatter the seed, what then? 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:58.160 What can we expect as farmers of the seed of the word of God? 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:04.880 Well, we can expect nothing more than what Jesus expected. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.319 And this is where we pick up where we left off last week. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.119 Last week we covered the proclaimed word. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.640 Consider with me now the planted word. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:24.319 The people to whom Jesus was speaking would have been familiar with the agricultural ideas in this parable. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:32.559 Now they may or may not have understood the point of the parable, but they would have understood the farming analogy. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.599 And it will help us understand the meaning and the intent of the parable if we too understand that farming analogy as best that we are able. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:54.000 I should have invited one of our farmers up here today to explain the modern concept of farming because I'm going to try to do it as a rancher, not a farmer, and I'm going to make mistakes. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.559 Sorry, guys, that's just the way it is. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.319 I'm going to try my best. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.079 Even though Mr. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.359 Dahlin here is on the front edge of farming, he's going to say, no, there's more ways than this. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:16.160 Today we have machinery designed to efficiently and effectively till the soil to exactly the right depth. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:16.880 Mr. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.559 Dalin's into non-tilling farming, is that right? 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:21.599 Fair enough. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:23.519 All right, good. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.519 But we we have machinery that does all of this stuff, right? 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:34.160 We have cedars that that place the exact number of kernels at the right depth in the soil. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:41.759 We have fertilizer spreaders that that help facilitate growth and enhance soil nutrition. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.119 We have all of these things. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:20:01.039 We have mechanized reapers that make the process of harvesting little more than driving through the field with the proper equipment and then delivering the produce to the processor. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.559 Hope that was a fair enough summary for all the farmers. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:13.759 Farming in advanced countries like ours has never been more productive. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:26.079 Yeah, there are many details involved in keeping up the expensive machinery and making sure everything still goes according to schedule, but we've never been able to produce greater results in a smaller space than ever before. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.240 It wasn't like that in the time of Jesus. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:36.400 We have historical records available to us that tell us how they farmed. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:42.160 Sometimes they seeded a plot of ground and then tilled the seed under. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:47.519 Sometimes they plowed first and then seeded the ground and simply left it. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.039 Sometimes they plowed first, they seeded, and then they plowed it under again. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.039 But when and how often they plowed is not important to this parable. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.559 What is important to this parable is how they seeded. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:12.559 See, most farmers would have a bushel basket or something similar to that strapped to their body right alongside of them, and they would reach in and they would grab a handful of seed and spread it out, fling it out. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.880 It's called broadcast seeding. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:19.680 Often with the two primary grains of Israel, barley or wheat. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:29.039 And as the farmer or his workers walked through the field, they would take a handful and broadcast it, throw it, cast it across the ground. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:36.559 Now, first century Israel was not layered with highways, either two-lane or four-lane. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.200 Fields were not cordoned off by barbed wire fences. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:53.759 Most fields were simply plowed out in the open country, and there were often foot or cart paths going around the fields, or even in some cases, right through the middle of the field. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.759 Some locations had shallow topsoil. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:02.000 You see, much of Israel sits upon a A limestone shelf. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:18.960 And so when Jesus speaks of the rocky soil, it's probably not a location that's that's that's a rock outcropping, but an area of shallow soil with very little, maybe just an inch or two of topsoil on top of that rock shelf. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:27.279 And when soil was not properly worked, any type of thorny bush or weed could grow, even right at the edge of the field. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:38.160 And so Jesus tells the story like this a sower, that is, the person broadcasting the seed across the ground, went to sow his seed. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:47.920 And as he cast out that seed, flinging it out, some naturally fell on the hard-packed ground of the pathway. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:23:00.160 Since the soil wasn't soft, the seed simply rested right on the top of the soil, and birds, hungry birds, or other critters would come along and eat the seed. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:08.400 Other seeds fell on the soil with the rock shelf just underneath the surface. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:14.160 There was some soil, so it might sprout and grow. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:27.440 And since there was very little depth to the soil, it acted like a greenhouse, warming the seed from that rock underneath. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:35.359 So providing an ample opportunity for that seed to grow quickly, but there's no depth for the roots and very few nutrients because of the rock. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:38.480 So eventually it just dries up and withers away. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.599 Some seed fell where thorny bushes grew. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.079 Those types of growth just choke out anything else that tries to grow. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.640 They rob the nutrients in the ground. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:59.599 So the grain may grow a little bit, but other plants steal the precious nutrients in the water, and so it just grows up as a stalk with no head of grain. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:04.880 And finally, there is the seed that falls on good ground and it produces more grain. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.920 Now try to put yourself in the farmer's shoes for a moment. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:17.519 That seed that you are broadcasting is your life. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:21.039 It's your livelihood. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:33.119 The produce from the seed that is broadcasted is needed so that you might eat, might feed your little ones, you might survive. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:40.799 That seed that you're broadcasting is the seed that you need to get more seed to be able to do the same the next season. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.200 Your life is dependent on the output of the sown seed. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:55.680 In that situation and in those circumstances that Jesus is describing, which set or sets of sown seed, broadcast seed are what the farmer is looking for? 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.920 Only the last one, right? 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:07.519 The farmer isn't interested in the stocks that sprout up and die without producing more grain. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:13.359 He's not interested in the stock that grows up in the midst of thorns but has no head of grain. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:16.400 All he cares about is the seed that produces more grain. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.440 That's what's important. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:23.440 If that's not what he cares about, then he won't be a farmer for very long, and he probably won't be living for very much longer. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:32.000 Now we have to remember at this point, we have to remember that Jesus is talking about people. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:49.279 When we hear these parables, especially this one, he's talking about people, specifically people being receptive or not receptive to who he is, to what he's come to bring to them. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.400 Eternal life through faith in him. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.039 I love the one way that one commentator puts this. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:22.559 He says, Once one realizes that Jesus is talking about preaching the word, it's not difficult to see the first three soil samples as involving those in whom that word took no root, who thus never made a profession of faith, those whose initial commitment proved superficial and temporary, and those who, while first appearing like true disciples, demonstrated they could not survive competing demands for their loyalty. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:32.720 And if you are active in sowing the seed of the word of God, you know that that's exactly what you encounter today. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:38.079 It's no different, even though our farming techniques have improved. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:45.920 When it comes to the seed of the word of God, this is the same thing that we encounter today. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:56.400 When we think about the planting of God's word, the proclamation of the good news of Jesus, the Messiah, God's eternal King, we see these exact same kinds of responses, don't we? 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:03.759 Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:13.599 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. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.480 This is what was sown along the path. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:23.039 As for what was sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:31.519 Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of this word, immediately he falls away. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:40.960 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. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:48.000 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:55.440 He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case, a hundredfold, in another sixty and in another thirty. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:00.160 Now Matthew's been preparing us for this. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:03.200 This shouldn't be a surprise to us. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:07.759 He's been telling us about the response to Jesus, the Messiah. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:13.440 The result has not been good. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.279 There are people out to destroy him. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.519 Matthew uses that word. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:25.359 You see, the good news of Jesus was cast out by Jesus himself. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:28.480 He was the sower, proclaiming it to all. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:37.279 And as the seed was scattered in the fields of people, the end result was that only one kind of soil produced what the farmer was looking for. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:50.640 Or, to use Jesus' words, only one kind of soil hears the word, understands the word, and bears fruit and yields. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:59.519 The seed is planted, it is scattered again and again, over and over, scattered all over, but only one kind of soil produces. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:06.640 Let's move then to the last element of this parable and its explanation, which is the productive word. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:20.079 You know, not many life endeavors are as grounded in faith as gardening and farming. 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:31.119 The gardeners and the farmers of our time have far more reliable resources than those of even the recent past. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.079 But faith is still vital, isn't it? 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:41.920 We can prepare the soil, we can even to some extent modify the soil to greater or lesser extents. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:56.240 Soils can be can be irrigated, pests can be fought, weeds can be controlled, but the gardener or the farmer cannot make the seed sprout. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:01.359 A farmer cannot cause a plant to produce. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:06.000 Similarly, no one can control the weather. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:15.599 Do you know that scientists tell us that the year 536 was likely the worst year to be alive on the face of this planet? 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:17.839 They're not thinking about Noah's flood. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:20.079 They're thinking about since then. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:22.480 536. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:28.480 536 was the worst year to be alive on this planet. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:33.759 And it was so bad that the planet, they tell us, did not really recover for a hundred years. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:49.279 Farmers alive in 536 could not expect the eruption of an Icelandic volcano that summer that spread ash all across the northern hemisphere. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:56.480 Historians tell us that the sun's light was darkened so much that it looked more like the moon. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:05.839 Summers for several years across Europe and Asia were 35 degrees colder than normal. 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:09.839 As the sun, they say, took on a bluish tone. 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:15.519 Seasons were hardly distinct at all. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:21.680 There were additional eruptions four years later in 540 and in 547. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.839 And then to top it off, bubonic plague broke out for the first time in 541. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:35.440 Farmers can't control the weather locally, much less regionally or globally. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:42.160 Go back in time, and there is much less within the control of a farmer. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:51.680 It's not much of a surprise then that Matthew relates that Jesus' sowing of the seed of the kingdom was not well received. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.480 From a farming perspective, it's almost expected. 00:31:57.359 --> 00:32:00.640 You just know that some years are going to be really bad years. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:07.039 Sometimes the seed gets on soil that just doesn't produce. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:22.720 Whether it's the soil or whether it's weeds, whether it's the traveling patterns of people or the growth of thorn bushes or weather or geographic events, a farmer understood that dealing with crops depended not on him, but on God who gives the increase. 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:28.400 And that is the explanation of much of the rejection of Jesus even today. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.960 Especially in Jesus' time among the leadership of the Jewish people. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:35.039 But there's even more that we can understand. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:41.440 Think about the human writer of this biography of Jesus, the disciple Matthew. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:44.720 You remember Matthew, right? 00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:49.920 He was a traitor working for the foreign government that invaded Israel. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:58.960 The implication of Matthew's biography of Jesus is that we are all Matthew's. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:05.599 That is, we are all sinners working for the enemy. 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:14.559 We are all scribes and Pharisees, thinking we have our own sense of righteousness. 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.039 We don't need this Messiah. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:26.240 We are all, by nature, hearing the word of the kingdom, but the soil of our hearts is hard. 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:37.200 Maybe we give rain to the devil and the seed is stolen, or maybe our hearts give more to the pleasures of life than to this one who is called the Messiah. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:43.279 And Matthew is laying out for us as disciples, he says, listen, brothers and sisters, this is normal. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.279 This is the life of farming. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:54.880 From a human perspective, the norm is that Jesus is rejected. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:10.559 Because unless God Himself works the soil through the work of God the Father drawing people to his Son and the work of God the Son revealing the Father to us, we remain unproductive soil. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:17.199 That's why I asked you to pray for that person who is most resistant to the gospel. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.880 God must prepare the soil. 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:24.400 And Matthew is always reminding us to look to the scriptures. 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:30.079 And he points here in this chapter, as he often does, to Isaiah in verse 14. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:36.239 From the mouth of Jesus here comes the word spoken to Isaiah in Isaiah 6. 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:39.920 Isaiah 6. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.519 Many are likely familiar with that passage of Scripture. 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:54.079 It's the passage where God called Isaiah to be a prophet, a spokesman, a missionary, if you will, to Israel. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:35:00.480 It's the chapter that is the basis for our hymn, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:12.079 Because there in that chapter, Isaiah came face to face with the God proclaimed by the cherubim as holy, holy, holy. 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:17.280 Or maybe you remember that chapter, Isaiah 6, from the call of Isaiah. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:25.920 God is speaking in his heavenly throne room, and he says to the inhabitants of the heavenly glory, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:32.320 And Isaiah sort of sheepishly looks around and says, I guess you can send me. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:40.320 I've heard that text preached as a call to missions, which I'm sure you have as well. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:51.280 But if we let that passage remain in its context, as Jesus did here, it's not exactly the most welcoming call to missions work. 00:35:53.199 --> 00:36:02.079 See, God said to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6, he said, Isaiah, go and tell this people, that is, the Jewish people. 00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:07.760 Tell them to keep on hearing but do not understand. 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:12.320 Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:27.679 Isaiah, make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and their eyes blind, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:43.920 See, the people of Isaiah's time had so turned away from God that God sent a prophet to them, not to rescue them, but to confirm them in their rejection. 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:48.079 They would hear Isaiah's message and not repent. 00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:55.039 They would see the hand of God upon Isaiah the prophet, but they would just turn away. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:03.440 They would not understand God's word through Isaiah because God was intending to confirm them in their unbelief. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:07.360 It's as if God was saying to Israel, that's the way you want it? 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:08.719 Fine, go. 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:11.039 Have your way. 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:28.880 But he was merely a prelude to Jesus, the greatest prophet. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.320 See, these parables have the same function as Isaiah's prophetic message. 00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:38.880 They confirmed people in their unbelief. 00:37:39.360 --> 00:37:48.400 They had ears, but they would not hear because they loved their evil and their adultery more than they loved the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:50.800 --> 00:38:03.119 So if you have ears to hear today, repent of your lust for sin and spiritual adultery and come to Jesus. 00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.280 He is gentle and lowly of heart. 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:12.880 And he calls you, he commands you to turn to him and be healed. 00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:24.880 But brothers and sisters in Christ who have already heard that news and believed, relish. 00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:30.639 Relish in the grace of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:33.440 What does Jesus say? 00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:36.239 But blessed are your eyes. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:37.119 Why? 00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:39.599 Because they see. 00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:44.559 And your ears, why? 00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:46.639 Because they hear. 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:59.360 For truly I say to you, many prophets, many of God's righteous have longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. 00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:05.360 Isn't it wonderful that Jesus reveals the Father? 00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:14.079 Because if he did not, we would be the hard-packed ground. 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:16.320 We would be the thin soil. 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:26.800 But for the grace of Jesus that grants us understanding to hear the implanted word that saves the soul, there we are. 00:39:28.639 --> 00:39:32.880 But by the grace of God, that divine word sprouts and grows. 00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:40.079 It brings life and eternal fruitfulness because the soil of the heart was prepared by Christ Himself. 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:51.199 As for what was sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:57.280 And he indeed, for sure, absolutely bears fruit and yields. 00:39:57.360 --> 00:40:01.199 In one case, a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. 00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:01.599 Do you know? 00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:11.519 In ancient times we are told that a ten to twentyfold increase on a planting was a good harvest. 00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:15.920 A ten to twenty fold increase was a good harvest. 00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:24.159 Then what's thirty, sixty, and a hundred? 00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:27.920 That's unimaginable. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:47.039 What a miracle then that Christ takes what begins as unprofitable soil, hard, stony ground, wrapped up with thorns because of the cares of life. 00:40:47.519 --> 00:41:04.400 Hearts that are unable to hear, hearts that are unable to understand, and he grants them new life, eternal life, his life, and they begin to grow and to bear fruit, not merely for a good harvest, but an astounding harvest. 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:16.559 Everyone to whom the Son reveals the Father, to whom he grants his authority to be called a child of God, becomes eternally fruitful. 00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:25.440 But understand, the miracle that he's referring to here is not the miracle of fruitfulness. 00:41:27.679 --> 00:41:31.760 The miracle is that there is any fruit at all. 00:41:35.679 --> 00:41:41.519 And this is our hope in sowing the seed of the gospel. 00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:48.639 It's not our duty, friends, to make the seed grow and bear fruit. 00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:51.199 You can't do that. 00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:53.760 You can't do that. 00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:55.840 Because that's Jesus' work. 00:41:57.599 --> 00:41:59.760 Our duty is merely to go. 00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:05.199 And as we go, we we cast out the seed. 00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:17.119 And Jesus will continue his kingdom work through the sowing of his seed, both in rejection and in belief in him. 00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:26.880 And all of that is his building of his church, which will continue until the end. 00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:31.280 Praise be to his glorious grace. 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:32.159 Let's pray. 00:42:32.400 --> 00:42:33.599 Lord Jesus. 00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:37.679 We do pray for that hard and stony ground. 00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:43.599 We pray even for our own hearts that get distracted by the cares of this world. 00:42:44.800 --> 00:42:47.760 Oh Lord, sometimes we just don't know what we have. 00:42:48.559 --> 00:42:52.239 Sometimes we forget the grace that has been given to us. 00:42:54.559 --> 00:43:01.119 May you cause us to know that grace and to relish in the work that you've done in us. 00:43:02.159 --> 00:43:11.199 May you give us a boldness to spread that seed, to sow more seed by speaking of you. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:13.840 It's called the word for a reason. 00:43:14.079 --> 00:43:15.840 It requires speaking. 00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:18.960 It requires communicating. 00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:23.679 Enable us to have the boldness to speak of this Jesus. 00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:28.480 Who, like a seed, was buried. 00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:32.079 Because he died. 00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:36.079 And yet he rose again. 00:43:37.119 --> 00:43:39.519 And he bears fruit to this day. 00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:42.559 May we be like you, Lord Jesus. 00:43:42.719 --> 00:43:45.440 Make your will to be true in us. 00:43:47.280 --> 00:43:53.119 May your will be done here, even as it's always done in heaven. 00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:56.960 We pray for that hard soil that you would break it up. 00:43:58.239 --> 00:44:05.360 We pray for that unfruitful soil that you would fertilize it and cause it to be a good place for the seed. 00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:09.760 We pray that you would hinder the evil one who comes to steal the seed. 00:44:11.039 --> 00:44:14.000 We pray that you would be glorified in all of this. 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:16.960 Because it's in your name we pray. 00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:17.840 Amen. 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:22.559 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:29.679 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:34.000 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.