Soil Test

Introduction

Today we’re going to look at this parable that Jesus gives unto the multitude by the seaside that day 2,000 years ago.

Today we’re going to examine this message titled ‘Soil Test’. In it, later on I will ask you to examine the various types of soil that Jesus describes and claim one of them for your own.

Today will be a little different in that the majority of the first point will serve as the introduction

So first we are going to look at the Exhortation

I. The Exhortation

The Audience (v1b)

One thing to notice is that at this point in the ministry of Jesus, there was a multitude following Him. Jesus had been on the scene for a while now, and many had heard of this man from Galilee whom John the Baptist testified ‘of whose shoes he was unworthy to latch’, who’d performed miracles & preached the Kingdom of God.

I say ‘at this point in time a great multitude’ because it wasn’t always like that in Jesus’ ministry.

The importance of this point will be realized after a while.

We see the Audience

The Aim (v1a)

Notice why Jesus was there.

It wasn’t to entertain

It wasn’t to gain their approval

It wasn’t to feed or clothe them

It was to teach. Jesus had a desire that they would learn of the things of God.

In our society this thing that seems so elementary is so often overlooked. It’s overlooked by pastors & by many in the congregation.

Let me ask you this: Why did you come today?

Because it’s Sunday & that’s just what you do?

To be seen of men?

To ‘check the box’

Or did you come to learn?

Let me tell you something - the only way you’re going to learn is if you have a teachable Spirit. You’re going to learn if you realize you have room to grow & you don’t know everything.

God does not desire that we live in ignorance. He desires for us to gain wisdom continually. This is why He said: Jam. 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

However, God recognizes that not everyone desires to learn. This is what prompted Paul to write: 1Cor. 14:38 “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

The Aim was to Teach

The Address (v3-8)

Next we’re going to look at a ‘birds-eye’ view of the parable. We’ll examine it more closely in the next point.

The Parable was concerning:

Variety of Soil

Jesus lists four different types of soil: The wayside, stony ground, among thorns and good ground.

Various Results

Because of the variety of soils, you have various results.

This is the word picture in it’s most basic form that Jesus gave unto the multitude in that day.

Now you and I have the advantage of hearing this parable time & again, most likely hearing much preaching & teaching on it and furthermore, we have the following verses concerning it. So you and I have a much better understanding concerning the points that Jesus was trying to teach than they did in that day.

Even still, there’s much for us to learn.

We have the Exhortation. Secondly, we’re going to look at the Explanation

II. The Explanation

Of His Purpose (v9-12)

I’m speaking of the purpose of not only this parable, but for the parables in which He spoke in general.

If you’re not careful, some will look at this passage of Scripture and contort it to mean that God is somehow hiding the truth from a segment of people so that they will remain lost & damned to Hell. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.

Church, we have a ‘whosoever’ Gospel: Joh. 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The Bible tells us: 2Pet. 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Rom. 3:22 “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

Jesus spoke in a parable in Luk. 14:23 “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

People go to Hell today - not because Jesus chose them to, but because they chose it themselves!

The purpose in which Jesus states is the very point of this parable. We will unfold more of this in a few minutes, but it can be summed up with the age old quote: “The same sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay”.

So what is Jesus saying in this parable? Let’s look for a moment at what Jesus gave as Explanation for this parable:

Of His Parable (v14-20)

The Distribution of the Word (v14)

Is Important

Without the casting of the seed, nothing can come forth

Is not a Glorious Position

Notice that Jesus just called him the sower.

We should be casting the seed - not so as to gain recognition - but simply to fulfil the need.

In addition to that, you don’t need to be special in order to be used as a sower by God!

Should be non-descript

In other words, those that are casting the seed should not be careful about where to cast it, just so that it’s cast.

The Diversities of Reception

Broad brush - If we’re putting these in the ‘saved / lost’ categories, I would categorize the first as lost and the remaining three as saved. However, I think that each of the first three can play a part in the lives of Christians at sundry times.

It’s in this portion of the message that I want us to look at take inventory on the soil in which best describes us.

Those of who do not Receive (v15)

There are those who ‘hear, but they don’t hear’.

These are not those who have never heard, but rather those who someone has given the Word of God to, yet they didn’t care enough to listen to the message.

This type of soil is very common today:

Common in the Community:

We live in a society that is labeled ‘Christian’ but is being more and more identified as ‘post-Christian’. The danger in this society is that everyone has heard of Jesus. Everyone has heard of Christianity. I’d say less than half understand the basic premise of why Christ died, was buried and resurrected - but they know of it. And because they know of it, they are uninterested in it.

All too often, they are uninterested in it because those who profess Christ are not good soil, but rather stony or thorny soil. They’ve allowed Satan to come and whisper things in their ears and snatch away the Word! ‘You know the church is filled with nothing but hypocrites, they’re no better than you.’ or ‘Just look at them, they are miserable! What has this ‘Jesus’ done for them!?!’

It’s Common in the Community

Common in the Church house:

There are many people who’ve grown up in church and they’ve heard preachers time & again and never bothered to actually listen to the message which was being preached. They believe that since they know the lingo & have made some sort of profession in time past that they are ‘good’. Church, but knowing what a Christian is and being one are two different things!

It’s Common to find the wayside in both the community and the church. Those who do not Receive the Word

Those of who have no Root (v16-17)

These are those who would represent Shallow Christians. They’ve recieved the Word with gladness (this would be the Word of Salvation - and certainly indicates it as such), but yet they have no root. No stability within them.

Shallow Christians. Those who have been born again, but they’re still babes in Christ.

The church in Corinth was filled with such. Paul said: 1Cor. 3:1-2 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”

The writer of Hebrews spoke of such: Heb. 5:12-14 “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

So what happens with babes?

They are quickly frightened

They're pliable - as they can be led whichever way the wind blows

They have no stability within themselves - they need taken care of.

Let me say this: TOO many Christians have sat in TOO many churches through TOO much preaching to be as Shallow as they still are. BUT PREACHER, HOW CAN THAT BE??? See above - They’ve heard, but they’ve not heard. They’ve heard enough to be born again, but instead of viewing that as the beginning of Christianity, they’ve viewed it as the end. “I’m going to Heaven, that’s all that matters”.

(Ill.) Question: Would it offend you if I said there were shallow Christians in here today? If you are offended by that, then odds are you’re one of them!

These are the Christians that when calamity comes their way:

They freak out.

Or they shut down.

Or they blame God.

Or they drift away.

They have no root to stabilize them.

They have no wisdom to assure them.

They have no understanding to fend for themselves.

They’re saved & going to Heaven, but they’re not experiencing the joy and satisfaction of the Christian life here on earth at all!

Many Christians fall into this category. Those that have no root.

Those of whose lust Rejects (v18-19)

Now you have Wordly-Christians.

If you’re keeping track, Jesus describes:

Non-Christians

Shallow-Christians

Now Wordly-Christians

In today’s society, those who are not pretenders are often shallow. Those who are not shallow are often wordly.

Many Christians today know this passage of Scripture: Mat. 6:19-20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”

And even though they know that Scripture, they are often too busy laying up earthly treasures instead of Heavenly ones. They worry about:

Trophies to sit on a shelf

Medals to hang around their necks

Nice vehicles in the driveway

Fancy house & furnishings

Stocks & Bonds and money in the bank

Preacher, are those things bad? No - not by themselves, but if by focusing on them you’re not focused on the things of God they are anti-Christ!

If you’re more concerned with what the world thinks about you than Christ - then this is you.

If you’re more concerned about the food you’re eating after church than the Spiritual food on the table right now - then this is you.

Those things CHOKE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WORD OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE AND YOUR TESTIMONY.

Those who Reproduce (v20)

Then Jesus says - there’s good soil. That soil not only receives it, but it spreads it itself. And in spreading it, it brings forth fruit - some more than others, but they’re all bringing forth fruit!

Church notice this: The other examples of ‘Christian’ soil - the Shallow & Worldly Christians - they’re not! They’re not bringing forth fruit.

So the question is this: How much fruit are you bringing forth?

There are some who reproduce.

We've examined the Exhortation. Then we’ve looked at the Explanation. Lastly, I want to look at the Application. What are some other things to learn here.

III. The Application

There’s Nothing Wrong with the Seed

Notice that it’s the same seed being cast - it’s just being reacted to differently by the different soil.

This goes back to the point (of His Purpose - v9-12) in what I eluded to earlier.

The reason Jesus said in Mar. 4:9 “And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” and the reason He quoted Isa. 6:9-10 in v12 is because there are some that will hear and receive, and others that hear and reject.

As the saying goes: “The same sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay”. This is the point of the message today and that is, the soil is what matters. The soil brings forth the results!

I’ve heard entirely too many times too many Christians blaming too many preachers as to why they aren’t ‘getting anything out of the message’ - when 9x out of 10x - it’s not the Word, it’s the Soil!

Let me ask you here: What are you gleaning from the message thus far today? Is it because the Word hasn’t gone forth, or is it because there’s a problem with the soil?

Church, there’s nothing wrong with the seed. If there’s a problem, it’s typically found in the soil - as long as the sower is casting the seed!

It’s not the Size, but the Soil that Matters

Many people gauge the successfulness of a church by the size of the congregation. But church that’s not the case. Just because there’s a large congregation doesn’t mean that they are Spiritually sound.

You take this congregation. The Bible calls is a ‘great multitude’, yet they weren’t Spiritually sound. In fact, there were a lot of Pharisees (wayside) and lot of shallow, worldly people as well. We know this because not long afterwards, Jesus fed the multitude and then the next day gave them meat (Spiritually) to eat and the Bible says: Joh. 6:66 “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

That being said, are there larger churches that are Spiritually sound? Absolutely! But instead of being built on wordly lusts, they are build by good-soiled Christians who have taken the word and multiplied!

It’s not the Size, but the Soil that Matters.

We have Say over our own Soil

Now one thing that I’m going to ask of you in a minute is ‘What soil are you?’. But that’s not the most important question. The most important question is ‘What soil do you want to be?’ Because every one of us is the master of the soil of our heart.

(Ill.) Bro. Ancil has one of the nicest yards around. Beautiful grass & garden. Do you know why? Because it’s his yard and he’s spent time tending to it. He’s cultivated it, he’s given it fertilizer when needed, pathed holes and so on. What he’s done physically in his yard, we all can do Spiritually in our hearts. We can right now be stony ground, but what we can do is take a good honest look - see the rocks there and start to cast them out. We might have thorny ground - we need to go through and start cutting down the thorns. Maybe we need to put up a scarecrow in the form of a Cross to keep Satan from coming & Snatching it away?!?

The bottom line is - you are the master of your soil.

Shallow Christians need to increase their studies & their faith will follow

Worldly Christians need to cast off the world so that their Spiritual lives aren’t choked.

Those that are lost - instead of listening to that liar tell you that you’re good enough as you are, you need to repent and believe the Gospel - because God doesn’t want you in Hell!

But wherever you land, it’s because of the choices you make.

We have Say over our own Soil

Conclusion

So what’s your Soil Test show you? Will you do what’s necessary for change, or will you let Satan to snatch this seed away too?