01 - The Man That Made It By Pastor Jeff Wickwire

The Kingdom of Heaven

Part 1

“The Man That Made It”

Matthew 13: 3-8 “Then he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’”

Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke “many things in parables.”

Simply put, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

In Matthew 13, Jesus speaks eight parables—four from a boat and four from a house.

These 8 parables prod us to ask ‘How will I respond to Jesus and where do I stand regarding the kingdom He came to bring?’

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Now, in the first parable—the parable of the sower—four people hear the same message, the gospel of Jesus Christ; this is the SEED SOWN.

The SOIL the seed is sown into is the heart.

The SOWER in the parable is Jesus Christ Himself, and those He uses to bring the gospel message.

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So let’s look at how Jesus explains it, beginning with the first man in the parable:

13:18-19 NIV “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

Jesus says the first man’s problem is that he doesn’t UNDERSTAND what he hears.

So we will call him Mr. CLUELESS.

For whatever reason, Mr. Clueless doesn’t grasp what he’s heard, and carelessly lets it slip on by.

He doesn’t take the gospel seriously—He never gives it another thought.

Hence, he’s never saved.

Satan the thief quickly pounces and steals the Word out of his heart.

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Then comes the SECOND man:

13:20 NIV “The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”

Whereas the first man was CLUELESS, this man is ROOTLESS.

Notice that Mr. Rootless “receives the word of the gospel with joy!”

He’s excited about what he’s heard...

The promise of heaven,

Of a Savior that died for him,

Of the opportunity for a new life!

But Jesus says the soil of his heart is rocky, which hinders putting down roots.

The rocks may be unconfessed sin, or worldly attachments, or some idol in his life...

Whatever the rocky obstacles are, they are hindering the growth of the seed sown.

So the seed of God’s word has no chance of putting down roots.

You know, a tree may be beautiful and stately in appearance, but it’s not the way it looks that matters most in a storm; it’s how deep are it’s roots!

If a tree has deep roots, it can survive the toughest storm.

But the rocky obstacles in Mr. Rootless’s life prevent the seed from putting down roots.

Jesus says that because he had no roots, his walk lasts “only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”

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After Mr. Clueless and Mr. Rootless, we have a third man. Jesus says:

13:22 “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Here we meet Mr. Fruitless.

This man also hears the word of the gospel, but whereas the first man didn’t understand it, and the second man had no roots, this man is constantly distracted by worries and chasing after money.

So his problem is that he’s still attached to worldly values.

The values of the kingdom of God, like putting Jesus first, not being materialistic, the importance of spiritual growth and so on, are not a part of this man’s VALUE SYSTEM.

For him it’s all about what you own, your status in life, the way others perceive you, etc.

While Jesus’s value system says, “Put the kingdom of God first” his value system says, “Put yourself first.”

Whereas Jesus said: “Life is not defined by what you have,” (Luke 12:15 Message), this man’s value system says “I am measured by what I own.”

Mr. Fruitless is the person who says, “Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus but right now I’m just too busy to put much time into Him. I’ll just have to take care of the spiritual side of life later!”

In other words, Jesus is not King on the throne of his heart.

Constant worries about paying the bills, raising the kids, getting that next house, chasing after riches—CHOKE the seed in his heart so that he bears no fruit.

So Mr. Clueless, Mr. Rootless, and Mr. Fruitless all end up missing the purpose of God for their lives!

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But lastly we come to the man who we most want to learn from.

For he is the only one of the four that is successful in his Christian walk! Jesus says:

13:23 “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

In Luke’s account of the parable he adds that this man “bears fruit with patience and an honest and good heart” (Luke 8:15 NKJV).

So this man had understanding, a good heart, and patience.

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So let’s look at how he became fruitful. FIRST:

He UNDERSTOOD the claims of the gospel.

Unlike the first man—Mr. Clueless—the man that made it deeply considered the claims of Jesus, like:

Or, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25 NLT).

He hears this, thinks about it, and it leads him to repentance and a true conversion, which results in the SECOND THING that made him fruitful:

B. He was born again, which is how he got what Luke calls his “good and noble heart.”

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart...who produce a crop” (Luke 8:15 NIV).

The man that made it experienced a supernatural heart change!

You see, only God can change your heart.

We all have spiritual heart trouble and we all need a spiritual heart transplant.

Jeremiah said, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (17:9 NLT)

But God’s promise for those that receive Jesus is, “I will give you...a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God” (Ezekiel 11:19 LB).

This man heard heard the gospel, understood it, repented, turned to Christ, and was born again, which gave him a brand new heart!

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And finally,

C. He persevered

It says “He bears fruit with patient perseverance...”

The man that made it PERSEVERED when his emotions wanted him to quit.

Unlike Mr. Rootless, he didn’t walk away when persecution came.

He persevered through trials, through setbacks, through storms, and through hurts.

He made up his mind to “not look back” having put his hand to the plow.

He has a dogged determination to follow Christ in spite of tough times, tough trials, and tough roads.

And through it all, the man that made it brought forth much fruit!

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Perhaps you’ve never thought deeply about the claims of Christ and you’re in Mr. Clueless’s boat?

Or, your heart is still stony toward Him and no real roots have grown down into your soul?

Or, a worldly value system is distracting you from placing Christ on the throne of your heart?

The Good News is, you can be just like the man that made it by letting God give you a brand new heart!

And if you’re a believer, let’s pattern our lives after the man that made it!

Let’s pray