Which soil are you?

Good morning. What a joy it is to be back with you this morning. I missed each and every one of you last weekend. I hated not being able to have Christmas Eve service or Christmas day service. Not only were the pipes frozen here at the church but Melody and I were exposed to Covid on Friday and didn’t feel safe being here. God has worked us through many emotions this past weekend and week.

Anger. Hurt. Loss. Disappointment. Pride. Legalism

In fact God is still working me through emotions to find out where they are coming from and what to do with them

As I came to church Tuesday to being to prepare for this morning, there was still no water by the way, I felt God moving me away from our We are the Church series in I Corinthians and toward something new.

Today we are preparing to start a 4 week sermon series Rooted. Grow Deep. Live Strong. During this series we will look at Psalm 1:1-3 and learn how to be rooted in God. The next 4 weeks we will discuss, Planted, Grow, Prune, Harvest.

As I thought about starting this series this week I felt God ask me…would you intentionally plant seed in bad soil? Of course not, so He lead me to Matthew 13 so each of us could invite the Holy Spirit to evaluate and prepare our soil…our hearts for His message

Let’s Pray

START OBS

As I said today is all about preparing. Preparing to receive God’s Word. Today is New Year’s Day and many are making New Year’s resolutions.

Eat better

Exercise more

Do better with money

Get a new job

Get a promotion

Be a better parent or spouse

Be more involved in ministry here at church

Nothing wrong with those but resolutions and expectations will always fall short

As Christians we have only one expectation.....Jesus

How do we get there? How do we grow? How do we mature to a point where Jesus is truly enough?

First understand that is not truly and totally going to happen until we get to heaven or Jesus returns. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives we can move closer to that everyday!

Jesus teaches us the starting point here in

Matthew 13:1-23

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English Standard Version Chapter 13

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 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, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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.”

15  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.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 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.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 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. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 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. 22 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. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Before we breakdown the parable I felt like we needed to start in the middle.

Why?

Because Jesus explains why He taught in parables.

Matthew 13:10-17

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10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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.”

15  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.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 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.

I want to quickly take a few things from this teaching of Jesus

1. We are taught by the Holy Spirit vs 11-13

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Non-Christians do not have the Holy Spirit living inside of them so they cannot see even though they have eyes and they cannot hear even though they have ears.

God through the Holy Spirit keeps His truth hidden for His children only.

2. To Fulfill Prophecy vs 14-15

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This world, just as in Isaiah and Jesus’ day, has grown cold to God.

They were chasing themselves not God.

They were chasing their wants

They were chasing their desires

They were not chasing God’s will

Makes me think, are we chasing our wants and desires and ourselves and claiming we are chasing God’s Will but we really don’t know God’s Will because we do not truly seek His Will?

This is 1 reason we must have an unquenchable appetite for God’s Word......to keep our eyes and ears open to God!

3. Encouragement and confirmation

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We have the Holy Spirit as Christians. By the Holy Spirit teaching us the Word of God we know we are saved! Praise God!

As they say in college this was just a survey, a 10,000 foot view of why Jesus used parables but I felt it was important to touch on that this morning

Let’s now dive into the parable of Jesus

Matthew 13:1-9

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“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 sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 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 seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus here uses something that they all understood. This culture were fishermen or farmers or both. They all understood how to sow seeds which is why Jesus used this as the basis for His parable, in my opinion. Not claiming to know what Jesus was thinking.

We see 4 landing areas for the seed

Path

Rocky Ground

Thorns

Good soil

Jesus goes on to explain each soil

Path

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Matthew 13:18-19

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“Hear then 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 his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”

The path here could also be a road. When I was thinking about an illustration here I was brought back to my grandpa Prigel’s fields when I was young.

Cow paths everywhere. He was a dairy farmer and the cows would travel the same path everyday and you could see those paths in the fields.

Same as an animal trail that hunters look for

As people, animals, or vehicles use the same route day in and day out we see the same thing happen, the grass dies, the ground gets hardened and a path is present.

The lost are the path. Notice the sower still sowed here. We must sow the seeds of Jesus through the Gospel to the lost.

Without God calling them through the Holy Spirit the evil one will snatch it away but you and I are to continue to sow!

Until salvation a person is the path, hearing the Gospel but rejecting it and having it stolen away by satan!

Rocky Ground

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Matthew 13:20-21

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“As for what was 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.”

Hear the Gospel and receive it with joy.

Today this is what I will term the experience gospel. You know how it works, big or small churches, size doesn’t matter, lights, sound, smoke, concert called worship, wonderful speaker with a message designed to evoke an emotional response.

Now I am not saying you shouldn’t be moved with emotion or be emotional at church because you should be.....thinking about, hearing about, singing about Jesus and what He did on the cross and what that means in our own lives, freedom from sin and death and eternal life in heaven and the ability to have joy in all circumstances should evoke emotions!!!!!

The rocky ground people are joyful in thought only no roots

No depth

No maturing

No they just keep coming back until the emotional response goes away then they also go away. They didn’t really and truly meet and accept Jesus the were just caught up in the moment and emotion

When life hits....cancer....death…loss of job…divorce…addiction returns....they go away…they fall away

Without roots you will fail. A tree with strong roots withstands many storms....many severe storms.

Thorns vs 22

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Matthew 13:22

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“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.”

I want to state here that I believe path, rocky ground and thorns are all unsaved. They are not true Christians.

They range from path which are folks who are against Christ

Rocky Ground down with Jesus for a minute but later reject Him

Thorns, cool with Jesus but not changed by Jesus

These are the Love God love people sort. Now before anyone gets upset I believe we are to love God and Love people and many do that very well.

What I am referring to is this movement we are seeing where people use that statement which is true love God love people but they are using that statement to justify sin.

Who am I to say homosexuality is wrong I am just to love God and love people so therefore because I love them I can’t be against what they believe

That is the opposite of Jesus. Jesus loves everyone. Jesus died for everyone. However, Jesus showed everyone that there is but one way to the Father and that is through Him. Jesus, lovingly showed people the error of their beliefs.

If you truly love someone with agape love you will point to Jesus. You will show them in God’s Word where there may be issues because you want them to be saved and to grow in Christian maturity which requires that we deal with wrong beliefs.

God hates sin

God rejects sin

As God children so must we

God loves everyone

God sent Jesus to die for everyone

We also must die to ourselves and the world so we can serve everyone!

The thorn folk are church folk more than likely

Maybe they attend church every week

Maybe they attend a bible study every week

They know who Jesus is and the agree with Jesus to a point but true repentance is not present because they love sin, money, the world too much to leave them behind.

They are away from me I never knew you folks

Matthew 7:21-23

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“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

These are thorn people, they look like Christians, they sound like Christians, they act like Christians even have the world convinced they are Christians but they are not Christians because they refuse to truly repent

James 4:4

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“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Love of the world. I mentioned 2 weeks ago about a John Maxwell teaching of how to check your commitment level as a leader.....look at your calendar and checkbook and they will show you what you are truly committed to.

Same principal applies here

You chase your true love

Money

Job

addiction

sex

power

prestige

material things, cars, boats, houses

vacations or

Jesus and serving Him and His people and the lost

So many today who call themselves Christians are right here.

I also believe true Christians can be here, allow the world to choke you out but most are not Christians.

Many have responded to an altar call

Many have been baptized

Many even serve in a leadership role in their church

But they love the world so therefore they don’t love God

They are not children of God

No they are enemies of God!

This is a very dangerous place to live

I pray if you are here God through the Holy Spirit awakens you to this today and you repent today!

Good Soil vs 23

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Matthew 13:23

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“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Notice the beginning is much like rocky ground and thorns…hears and receives but good soil understands because of the Holy Spirit then fruit begins to show up!

True repentance always leads to spiritual fruit being produced

John 15:7-8

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“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

If you abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in you…you will produce fruit. Much fruit.

Here is the difference between thorns and Matthew 7 people and true Christians

Much Fruit

Why? Anyone can appear to be producing a little fruit but to produce much fruit can only come from the Holy Spirit.

We need to evaluate our fruit and how much we are producing. Don’t try to do this on your own by the way.....your heart and my hear are deceitful and wicked.

Pray…ask God to search your life and fruit and show you if you are producing much fruit.

Talk with your pastor, an elder, a mature Christian friend and ask them if they see much fruit being produced in your life

What does much fruit look like?

Galatians 5:22-24

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Notice first that it says fruit, singular in the scriptures. This is the fruit of the Spirit and He produces all 9 so you must also see all 9 in your life!

I want to quickly go through each fruit

Love…agape love…God’s love....sacrificial love…others 1st love....the type of love that the cross makes sense....Do things because you love them type of love

Men do the dishes or laundry type of love....meet a perceived need type of love

Joy

You and I as Christians are citizens of heaven and will one day live with God and Jesus and Holy Spirit for eternity type of joy! Nothing on this earth can take that away from us type of joy.....satan could kill you physically but if he did you win type of joy

Peace

Jesus is peace. This is not the lack of conflict, in fact when you are saved and as you grow closer to Jesus you will face more conflict....not Jesus’ peace is knowing Jesus is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do so what happens around us doesn’t matter we have peace in knowing Jesus

Being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer is for sure conflict and something that will try to attack your peace but in Jesus you have the peace to know that God has you. Jesus walks this path with you and that since you are a Christian God will use this to glorify Him and for your good, maybe that good is being called home, maybe that good is being healed either way it is for your good and His glory!

Patience

Long-suffering as the KJV puts it. Patience is a choice......am I willing to suffer so Jesus may be glorified?

I don’t like them but I love them and want them to be saved or mature in Christ so I choose patience.

Kindness

Being Jesus to the world…treating people like Jesus treats you

Goodness

Doing the right thing because it is the godly thing to do. Doing things Jesus’ way not your way

Faithfulness

God is faithful....never changes. Through the Holy Spirit we can be faithful…always believing in and relying upon God

Gentleness

Proverbs 15:1

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“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Jesus stood upon and for God. Jesus drove people out of the temple. You and I are not Jesus.

Sin should anger you

Abortion....the murder of innocent children that God created should outrage you

Same sex marriage....the desecration of God’s institution of marriage should anger you

However, we are to be gentle to them. Speak truth in love and grace.

A soft answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. Gentleness

Self-Control

I don’t like this term because if self is involved we fail…surrendering is a better term. Allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you to do what God wants not what you or the world wants

Living in control of the Holy Spirit

Again this is a singular fruit. Good soil produces all of these fruits and many times over what was planted!!!!

What does your fruit say about your soil? Where do you stand here this morning?

As this song plays ask God to search your heart and if He is showing you things to repent of get to this altar, not out of emotion or because of any other reason other than you realize that you have sinned....that sin caused Jesus to die and you are sorry for hurting God and want to apply the blood of Jesus to that sin

You want be released from the bondage of that sin

You want the true freedom that only comes from Christ.

Maybe you realize your fruit stinks or it is not much fruit. Come.....confess to God....cry out to God and he will forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness and put you back in right standing with Him!

Whatever it is or wherever you are come meet Jesus if He is calling you.

END OBS

Bring it All Invitation song