Now, the message this morning
is going to come out of Matthew 13, verses 18 through 23. Title of the message, Parable
of the Sower. Now, great multitudes gathered
to hear our Lord speak. And when he spoke, for the most
part, he spoke to them in parables. The disciples came and asked
him why he spoke in parables. And notice what he says to them.
in verse 11. He answered and said unto them,
because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. What a sobering
answer. If I understand, if you understand
the gospel of God's grace, God's sovereign grace, if you and I
understand how God can be a just God and save us, then that understanding
has been given of God. It's the gift of God. Scripture
says faith is a gift of God. It says in verse 16, but blessed
are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. The
seeing eye and the hearing ear of faith, they are the gift of
God. Now, the sower is Christ and
all his ministers. Not everyone standing in a pulpit
is sowing the seed or preaching the gospel, but every one of
God's ministers are. Now, in this parable, we will
find four types of hearers. And these four types, at least
one or all four of them, are present in every true church. Now, the seed is the word of
God. It says in 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. It is written in James 1.18,
of his own will, begat he us with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now
verse 18, he says, hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of
the kingdom and understands it not, then cometh the wicked one
and catcheth or taketh away that which was sown in his heart.
This is he which receives seed by the wayside. The first hearer
is called the wayside hearer. This here is unaffected, unimpressed
by who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and what he is by nature. He has no convictions of sin,
of righteousness, and judgment. He has no conviction of his sin,
his need of righteousness, or judgment. He has no conviction
of it. The gospel seed lands on his
ears, but not his heart. It's like seed falling on hard
pavement, no penetration. Satan comes along and takes away
the Word, and that person will never know what happened. He
understands it not, it says. It remains a mystery to him.
Therefore, he does not believe it. Now, whether I understand
or not is no excuse for not believing God when He speaks. Now we come
to the second here, In verse 20, but he that received the
seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word,
and a noun with joy receives it. This here, he intellectually
receives what he hears, and he makes a fair show for a while.
It says he receives it with gladness, but no mention is made about
his sorrow over his sin, No fear trembling before God's word.
There's no mention of that at all. His first problem is this. He received the seed into stony
places. His heart was just as hard as
ever, and his mind just as dark as ever. He believed the historical
facts, but did not experience the life-altering truth. He believed
the doctrines of grace, but not the God of grace. He received
not the love of the truth, for while he appeared sincere. Here's
his second problem. He had no root in himself. The
principle of grace was not in him, for the spirit of grace
was not in him. No root, no life, no fruit. That describes him. And when
trials come, when trials come his way, he's offended, it says.
When he begins to feel the offense of the gospel, he's offended.
Not at the person, but at God. Not at the person given the offense,
but he is offended at God. Why me? Why is this happening
to me? I thought I was your child. And he's offended at that. And
then he packs his bags, and sooner or later he leaves. Then we come
to the third here. He also that receives seed among
the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and
he becometh unfruitful. All three received the seed,
the gospel. This one seemed to go a bit further
than the others, for it says, he becometh unfruitful. It looked
like there might be some fruit on this one. He seemed to embrace
it more strongly than the others, but he too shrivels up and finally
leaves. Like the fig tree that the Lord
saw at a distance. It was green, it looked like
it had fruit on it, but when the Lord got to the fig tree,
there was nothing on it. And the Lord cursed it because
it was barren. It had a show that it was good,
but it was not. Here's his problem. Here's this
man's problem. His first problem, care of this
world. No care about the world to come.
His life consisted of what am I going to eat? What am I going
to drink? What am I going to wear? In other
words, his care consisted of himself. Earthly care consumed
him. He was more concerned about his
retirement than eternity. He could not set his mind on
things above, but only on things below. He had no saving interest
in Jesus Christ. His only interest was himself,
and his conversation was always covetous. It says in Hebrews
13, five, let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as you have. For he has said, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. This man could not do this. This hearer couldn't do it. He's like the young rich man
whom the Lord told to sell all that he had, give it to the poor,
and come follow me. And it's written, he went away
sorrowful for he was very rich. His riches had him. They choked
him. The second problem with this
hearer is the deceitfulness of riches. The scriptures give us
plenty of warning about riches. They give a false sense of self-worth. God said, I make rich and I make
poor. And then riches give a false
sense of security. Solomon said, riches have wings
and fly away. And then they give a false sense
of God's favor. David said, it's the ungodly
that prosper in the world. Then the third problem is this,
they choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. The problem is not
with the seed, it's with the hearer. When there ought to be
peace, joy, love, long suffering, it's not there. When he ought
to be a blessing, he becomes a stumbling block. There was
the sign of fruit, but the frost of care and the lust of other
things suffocated the word. Like weeds, when they overtake
a garden, they destroy the good crops. But thank God, through
Jesus Christ, there is good ground. God's word will not return void. This fourth hearer is the good
ground hearer. In verse 23, but he that receives
seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and
understands it, which also bears fruit and brings forth some a
hundredfold, some 60 and some 30. The good ground is a work
of God. The scripture says in Ephesians
2.10, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. This good ground is ground that
hath been plowed by the Spirit of God. There is a real conviction
of sin, As David said, I was born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. There is a real conviction. There is a real understanding
of sin. Sin is what I am. Sins is what
I do because of what I am. And then there's a real conviction
of righteousness. There's a real conviction of
my need of righteousness. I don't have righteousness. Self-righteousness
is no righteousness at all. It's just another form of sin.
I need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And it's a real conviction
of judgment. If God sends me to hell, he'll
be a just God. He'll be a just God. The other
three, now listen, the other three receive seed just as they
were. But the good ground has the operation
of the Holy Spirit upon it. in Luke 8.15 is called an honest
heart. In other words, he received the
truth about God, about Jesus Christ, and about himself in
an honest heart. With his heart, he believes God.
This hearer has been given, now I want you to get this, this
hearer has been given a new heart. It is written in Ezekiel 36,
26, a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put
within you. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I will give you in heart of flesh. This
new heart, this heart that this good ground here believes with
is a work of God and it's a gift of God. The new heart comes from
God. And it says he understands it.
Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading.
He was reading Isaiah 53. And the eunuch replied, how can
I except some man show me? And Philip stepped up into the
chariot, took the same scripture, Isaiah 53, and preached unto
him Jesus. And God saved that eunuch. And
that eunuch asked Philip to baptize him, and he did, and he went
on his way. But that good ground here understands how God can
be a just God and a savior, how God can be just, how God can
be God and save me, a wretched sinner. This good ground here
understands his need of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He understands this. He understands
how that in Jesus Christ, he is complete. I have all I need
in Jesus Christ. He understands if God leaves
him alone, he'll perish. He understands that. And he lives
with that understanding every day. Everything he does, every
decision he makes, he makes with this understanding. And it says
he keeps it. All the others lost it. because
the good ground never loses the seed once planted by God. Something
else about the good ground here. He has life and the evidence
is the fruit he bears. He bears love to the brethren.
He bears joy in the Lord. He bears peace in the midst of
trouble. He has real peace, peace with
God and peace in his heart. He bears long suffering. He's
patient. He bears gentleness. He's kind.
He bears meekness. He walks in humility. He bears
faith with that which no man can please God. He watches his
conduct at home and in public. He knows what he is by nature.
He knows he's still a sinner. He knows this. And he does not
want to bring reproach on his Lord's name by his conduct, and
he watches over that. Now, in closing, we are one of
these four types of hearers, or one of them. I pray God, make
me a good ground hearer. The good ground didn't make itself
good ground. Understand this. The good ground
did not make itself good ground. God did. Because God said there's
none good, no, not one. And if I am a good ground hearer,
if you are a good ground hearer, God made you that way. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's of the sovereign grace of
God Almighty. If you understand the Gospel,
God gave it to you. Until next week, may the Lord
bless His Word.