The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E57 - Good Soil

Episode Date: July 21, 2020

Hey church family. It is time for Devo's. If you got your Bible, we're going to go Matthew Chapter 13. We're going to try to cover a lot of verses. Not only is this one of my favorite parables, but it impacts me a ton as a preacher. I hope it'll impact you as a receiver. But also, it's one of the only places where Jesus explains what the parable means. So we don't even have to leave it up for interpretation. He tells us exactly what it means. It starts this way. Matthew 13 that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and he sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach and so what he's basically creating an amphitheater here we sometimes when we go to Israel we'll do this you can

sit everybody up on it's almost like a like the end zone at the jag stadium or something and then he pushes out on a boat so that his voice will amplify then he begins to teach And he told them many things in parables, saying a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, some 100-fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears, let him hear. And then might drop, he's out. Now, I think a part of why he does this is because he's the master teacher. And with his disciples that followed him around everywhere,

he would dig in on some deep theological questions and things like this. But when these huge crowds are showing up, He's giving them these word pictures of everyday life so that the next time these men and women in their agricultural society are out scattering seed, they are reminded of what he says and this sermon can kind of keep preaching to them over and over and over and over and over. Verse 10, then the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered them, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it has not been given. 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. This is why I speak to them in parables. Because seeing, they do not see. Hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, saying, you will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive. 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 hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. 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. Okay so the disciples are like Jesus why don't you just why don't you just cut to it and tell them plainly the things they need to know and the things they need to do. And I think what Jesus is saying here is,

because the relationship with me is not just built about practicalities and logic. For the person that sees the gospel as primarily and only useful and logical to keep me out of hell and get me into heaven, Jesus is saying, eh, that's not why I came. That I came that I might have a relationship by faith. And so the person by faith that ends up understanding is the person that does not completely understand at first, but believes that somehow when he died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. And when you believe that, when you trust that, when you put your faith in Jesus,

then we are filled up with the Holy Spirit who is the actual teacher. of these things and then and only then will we be able to see and hear and understand. And Jesus, I think, is saying, but these people have the order in reverse. They say, as soon as I understand, then maybe I'll trust you, follow you, and more importantly love you. And I think Jesus is saying, no, actually it goes the other way. For the people that believe me, trust in me, and love me, then as a result of that, the Spirit of God allows understanding to come.

Because if we have to understand all these things first, then we'll never put our trust in Jesus. We're just putting our trust in our own intellect. And your own intellect is a lousy savior. But to trust Jesus alone for our salvation, then it leads to knowledge of the ways of God. Now what Jesus does next is he is going to explain this parable. He says, here then, the parable of the soul.

When anyone hears the words of the kingdom and does not understand it, common, and he keeps going. So every week when I preach, I take it very, very seriously. And I have a responsibility to God first and foremost and to this church and to you when I open the word of God. That I would be inspired, that I would be prepared, that it would be spirit-led, that I would, that I would, that I would, that I would, that I would, would be, I would not add words to the scriptures or avoid words from the scriptures. It is very important to me that I sense where we are as a church and I sense the move of the spirit of God to make sure that we're teaching the right things at the right times, the right people, those kind of things. And so I take this very seriously. And we have such

an incredible staff that they do such a good job that it allows me to spend the majority of my time doing this, teaching the Bible, to our people. But have you ever thought that you have a responsibility every time any preacher opens up the word. Whether you listen online, whether you listen to a divo, whether you attend any of our physical locations, that you have as much responsibility for the preaching of the word of God on a weekly basis as the preacher does. Now, I am not trying to advocate my responsibility and say this is all on you. But in this parable, the farmer throwing seed all over the place is doing his job and it it is up to the recipient of the seed that determines what happens to that seed and Jesus says there's four different categories or some people will say six because

one of the categories has three to it but i like to just say four he says all right so here's here's the here then is the parable of the sword 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 what was sown along the path. In other words, I see it all the time. People come to church, you come to church. There's a whole line of people sitting there, and I'm preaching the same message. I can only preach one thing at a time, right? And there is one person on the end where their arms folded or looking down or playing on their phone. They are absolutely uninterested. And in that moment, what has happened is that their heart is as hard as a path. And even if they agree with what I'm

saying, the hardheartedness is set in so much that oftentimes they have pre-decided, I'm not going to like this, I don't want to hear this. And that is easy pickings for the enemy to come along and just snatch away the life-giving truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, how do you get a hard heart like that? I mean, sometimes it's legitimate reasons. Like I had a bad church experience or your parents let you down or you had built your faith not on the life death and resurrection of Jesus. You had tried to build your faith on acting like a Christian in the church you grew up in and when that didn't work for you and everything crumbled down and it broke your heart, then you set up a wall and now you got a hard heart and it's like a path.

Verse 20. As for what is sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 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. We see this all the time. In fact, one of the things that we're seeing right now in our culture is some folks that were faith leaders that are now coming out publicly and just completely denouncing their faith. And so you say, how in the world could that happen? I mean, pastors and worship artists are saying, eh, I used to be in, I'm not in anymore.

Well, it all has to do with not about how excited you were about the gospel, because there's a lot of people that get really excited. You know, we do a spontaneous baptism, and people say, I believe in Jesus, and he's my Lord, and they get in the tub, and they get dumped, and they come out, and we scream, and then they're one way. Walk out of the tub, they don't get deeply rooted, in a bunch of things, okay?

First and foremost, you've got to get deeply rooted in your faith, and one of the primary ways to do that is to be deeply rooted in His Word. I just don't know the person that has this incredible abiding and deepening long-time decades of walk with Jesus. It doesn't die deep into the Scriptures

and have a love for God's Word. Also, we've got to, we've got to put down deep roots in the faith family, like in some friends that help you know Jesus better. And so oftentimes when that doesn't happen, there is a sense of emotionalism and feelings rise up, but not a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus. Verse 22,

as for what was sown among the 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. So this is the person that tries to have one foot in heaven and one foot in the world. And the problem with that is, I've shared this before, if you ever seen somebody trying to get off a boat,

and it's all or nothing, okay? You've got to go from the boat to the dock. There's no in-between. In-between will kill you. You put one foot on the dock, you put one foot on the boat, and those pressures push away from each other. Depending on your flexibility, determines how long you can stay in that position, but eventually a decision is made. The thorny soil is the one where you receive the Word of God with joy and excitement. Wow, God love me enough, he sent his son to die on the cross for me.

And yet, you're putting all of your hope and faith in this world, in the world, in the world, the worldly things, money and promotion and status, and they will choke you out. He says, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. We're going to talk about the deceitfulness of riches tomorrow. And they choke you out because you're more concerned about what other people think. You're more concerned about status. You're more concerned about safety and security than your savior. gets choked out. Verse 23, and as for what is sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word, and he understands it.

He indeed bears fruit and he yields. In one case, 100 fold, and another 60 and another 30. And then sometimes the seed lands on good soil. So what is your responsibility to preaching? Here's what it is. You are responsible for the condition of your heart and your soul when you walk into church, whatever kind of whether it's online or divos or whatever. Because here, to the best of our ability, we are going to try to sling the gospel of Jesus Christ

in every direction we can. And where it lands, though, you have to take responsibility. So, and by the way, you're like the best group of people to preach to on the planet. I just need you to know this. I get to preach all over the place. And some people sit in church and look like they got weaned on a pickle.

they just look miserable. And so I want to thank you so much just for your encouragement, like just the way you lean in and the way you smile and laugh and cry and all those kinds of things. But the key, I think, for us in this parable is, what do you need to do to be prepared

to receive the Word of God? Because in all of these situations, the environment could change. I mean, I don't know if you've ever planted a field or planted a food plot. When you go out there, it's just wild and crazy. And the first things you have to do

is you've got to take away all the stuff that's going to kill what you're trying to plant. You got to mow down the palmettoes. You've got to mow down the thorn bushes. You've got to take all the dead logs that have fallen in the way. You've got to get those out of the way. You've got to de-stump it

so that that doesn't mess things up. The first step, like the path, you can't just leave it as a hard heart. You ask God, God, would you take the tiller of your sovereignty and just run it through my hard heart so that it would be broken up so that I could receive. Or the ones with deep root.

What do you need to do to stir your affections for the Lord so that every single time you show up to receive the Word of God, you have good soil. Or if you've been choked out by thorns, get rid of the thorns. Get rid of the thorns. I don't care what it costs you. It is worth it. It is worth it.

It's worth a job change. It's worth a career change. It's worth a reallocation of your priorities to make Jesus the one thing that drives everything. So what are the things that you can do in the environment of the soil of your heart to be prepared to receive God's word on a weekly and even daily basis?

Church of 1122, that is your responsibility. It is also my responsibility when I receive the word too. So I promise you this, I'll work really, really hard. All of our pastors will work really, really hard to do our part to bold. proclaim the full counsel of the Word of God and I will trust that you will do your part. You should pay attention to the things that stir your affections for the Lord. You should pay attention for the things that shrink your heart to God. You should cut

those things out and you should continuously ask the Spirit of God to till up the soil of your heart so that it is good soil. So not only when you hear the preaching of the Word that you can receive it and it bears fruit but also when you feel the nudge of the spirit you will know and you can receive it and it will bear good fruit. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we know that the farmer can plant and we can prepare environments, but we cannot make things grow. That you and you alone make the sunshine and make it rain and you and you alone can take a seed put it in the ground that apparently dies and then bring it to new life and that it could produce exceedingly more than we ever hoped or imagined. Lord, I pray that

you would do that with us. I pray that we would pay really close attention to the environment of our hearts. And Lord, in the hard places, in the rocky places, in the thorny places, God, would you prune all of that stuff out of there? And would you make our hearts good soil for your good news? We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.