Now this morning's message will
be brought from Matthew chapter 13 verses 18 through 23 on the
parable of the sower. In this parable we have four
types of hearers. I want us to look at these four
types of hearers. You will find these four types
of hearers in every true church. You'll find their presence. When
you have time go back and read this chapter after we look at
it this morning. Now the sower is Christ and all
his ministers. Not everyone that is standing
in a pulpit is sowing the seed, preaching the gospel. Not everyone
preaching on the radio. Not everyone preaching on television.
John said try the spirits, whether they are God. Many antichrists
have gone out into the world. There are many false gospels
being preached. Paul said they'll preach another
Jesus. So try the Spirit, take the Word of God now and try what
I say. Don't take my word for it, take
God's word for it. Now the seed here is the Word
of God. It says in 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not a corruptible
seed. but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever. No one is born again without
the word of truth, without the gospel. James said that of his
own will, of his own sovereign will, beget he us with the word
of truth. Now it says in verse 18, Hear
ye therefore the parable of the sower. Here's the first hearer. Luke calls him the wayside hearer.
This here is unaffected, unimpressed by who God is. He's unimpressed
by the person and work of Jesus Christ. He has absolutely no
conviction of sin and judgment and righteousness. He has no
interest in God. He has no interest in the gospel.
The gospel seed lands on his ears like seed thrown on a pavement. It has no penetration. And Satan
comes and it says he takes this good seed and he takes it away.
And that person will not even know it until he dies and stands
before God in judgment without excuse. And it says he understands
it not. It remains a mystery to him.
Therefore he believes it not. My understanding or not understanding
is no excuse not to believe God. It's no excuse for unbelief.
God is to be believed, understand or not, because God cannot lie.
Now we have the second hearer. He that receives seed into stony
places, the same as he that heareth the word, in an hour with joy
receives it. This hearer gives mental agreement to what he hears.
He makes a fair show at first. He receives it with gladness,
but no mention is made of sadness over sin or fear and trembling
at God's word, he joins up quickly like Herod who heard John the
Baptist gladly but later cut his head off. There's two problems
here I want to point out about this here. First of all, he received
the seed into stony places. His heart was still just as hard
as ever and his mind just as dark as ever. There was no change
made in him. The gospel did not come to him
in power. It came to him in word only. He believed the historical
fact, but did not experience the life-altering truth that
comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. He received the doctrines
of grace, but not the God of grace. For a while he appeared
to be sincere, and it may have been a long while, but he'll
finally leave. The second problem is he had
no root in himself. The principle of grace was not
there because of this. The spirit of grace was not there.
It was not in him. No root, no life, no fruit. And
when trials came, he was offended. When he began to feel the offense
that comes with believing the gospel, he packs his bags and
leaves. Now here's another one in verse
22. He that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth
the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Notice
all these received the seed, the gospel. They gave agreement
to it. And this one seemed to go a little
further, closer than the others. It says he becomes unfruitful,
which means he started. I get the sense that this one
embraced it more strongly. But he too, in time, shrivels
up and dies. Like the fig tree that our Lord
went to eat of. It was real green. He looked
at it from a distance and it was real green. It looked like
it was a very good tree. But with closer examination,
there was no fruit. There was no fruit. Now let's
take a closer look at this one. It says the care of this world,
no care of the world to come is mentioned. His life consisted
in what he was going to eat What he was going to wear, what he
was going to drink, where he was going to sleep. Earthly cares
consumed this man. He could not set his mind, his
affectionate things above where Christ sits at God's right hand.
His conversation could not be without covetousness. Like Lot's
wife, he kept looking back. What I could have, should have,
would have. That was his life. It was the care of this world.
It is written in Hebrews 13, 5, Let your conversation be without
covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. And this hearer could not be
content with what God gave him. He wanted more. And peer pressure
got to him. He wanted to keep up with his
neighbors. Like that rich young man, he
came to the Lord and he said, What must I do to inherit eternal
life? He said, Go sell all you have and give it to the poor
and come follow me. And he said he went away sorrowful
because he was very rich. He couldn't do it. He could not
take what he had and give it to the poor and follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because he counted what he had
worth more than what Christ was. Here's his second problem. The
deceitfulness of riches. They had him. In Mark 4.19 he
calls it the lust of other things. The scripture gives us many warnings
about riches now. They give a false sense of self-worth.
They make you think you're actually worth something. It'll take God
about a second to show how worthless you are. It happened in the Great
Depression. People who were rich became poor
overnight. It gives a false sense of security. Solomon said, Riches
have wings and they fly away. They're here today and gone tomorrow.
They give a false sense of God's favor. David said, The wicked
prosper in this world. Victor says, blessed are the
poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. And notice what
these things do, they choke the word, they suffocate the word.
And he becomes unfruitful. The man becomes unfruitful. The
problem is not with the word, it's with the man. The spirit
of grace, love, joy, peace, long suffering is not there. When
he ought to be a blessing, he's a stumbling block. And this here
becomes unfruitful. There was a sign of fruit at
first. There was a bloom. But the frost of care and lust
of other things killed it. I thank God through our Lord
Jesus Christ for this last one. And I pray that God would make
us all good ground hearers. This good ground is made that
way by the work of God. It takes God to make good ground. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus under good works. A believer is a work of God from
beginning to end. This good ground is one that
has been plowed up, broken up by the Spirit and Word of God.
He has a real conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
All the other ones received seed just as they were. There must be the work and operation
of the Spirit of God in the heart. The ground must be prepared.
In Luke 8.15 it's called an honest heart. Where in the world does
a man get an honest heart? Well, he gets it in the new birth.
God gives him a new heart. And when he does that, he receives
the truth. He receives the gospel. He receives
the truth about God, that he's holy and just. He receives the
record that God gave of his son. He receives the truth about himself
that he is a sinful man, ungodly, doomed, damned sinner. And he
receives it into his heart, that new heart that's of God that
comes in that new creation. And it says he understands it.
Proverbs 3, Solomon said, In all thy getting, get understanding.
He understands how God can be just and justify him. Do you
understand that? Do you understand how God can
be a just God and justify you. I know that through the blood
and righteousness of Christ, God can be a just God and clear
me of all charges. He understands that all that
he needs, such as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
he has in Christ. He knows that in Christ he's
complete. He understands that if God leaves him alone, he'll
perish. He lives with that understanding. Everything he does, he does with
this understanding of the gospel. His decisions are based around
the gospel. Now Luke 8.15 says he keeps it. All the others lost it. But the
good ground never loses the seed. There's something else about
this good ground here. He has life. And the evidence
of that is the fruit it bears. All the others bore no fruit,
no lasting fruit, but this one does. This one bears the fruit
of the Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5.22 and 23. He bears love. He
loves God and those that are born of God. He loves the brethren.
His love is sincere. He loves Christ, the Son of God,
and all that has to do with Him. He bears joy, real joy, not like
the one who received it with gladness and then left, but joy
that lies deep in the heart. He joys in the things of God
now. He bears the fruit of peace in
the midst of a troublesome world. He has real peace. peace with
God through the blood of Christ, peace of conscience, peace of
mind. This man has real peace, knowing that all things are working
together for his eternal good. He bears the fruit of long-suffering. He submits to the chastening
hand of God with patience, knowing that all things are of God. He
bears the fruit of gentleness. He's not a harsh, mean man anymore.
God made a real change in him. When God creates in you a new
heart and a new nature now. He makes a real change. He bears
the fruit of goodness. Helps others. He helps who he
can. He's a giver. You don't have
to squeeze it out of him. He's a giver because God's given
him eternal life. He bears the fruit of faith.
He believes God. He believes it shall be just
as God said it would be. He doesn't believe there is a
God. He believes God. He believes the God that is.
He bears a fruit of meekness and temperance. He's quiet. He's
under control, under God's control. Sin has no more dominion over
him now. He watches over his conduct. And all his fruit that
he bears is not for himself. It's for all those around him.
The apple tree doesn't bear fruit for itself. It bears it for you
and me. And all this fruit of the Spirit is for us, for one
another. Mine is for you, your love's
for me, and my love's for you. It's for one another. I want to mention this in closing.
All of them heard the same gospel, but only the good ground brought
forth fruit. It takes God to make this good
ground. It did not start out that way.
The rocks had to be removed, thorns cut down, fertilized,
plowed, sowed, watered, and God gave the increase. And know this,
I want you to know this, He which hath begun a good work in you,
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. May God bless
his word.