Salvation in Soft Soil

Introduction

For The Sake of the Gospel

Someone may ask, “why would we need a series on the Gospel?” Is it to be evangelistic? Yes. Is it because its simply something we ought to do? Yes, as well. However, a forgotten reason as to why the Gospel must be preached and understood is that it edifies the believer. The Gospel is for the lost, but it is not ONLY for the lost.

The Gospel is the bedrock foundation of what we do. - Do you understand this morning that the Church did not create the Gospel, the Gospel created the Church. The Church didn’t generate the Gospel, the Gospel generated the Church.

What I am saying is that the Gospel is not a product of the Church - it is the purpose of the Church.

Therefore, we ought to know it in, out, up, down, and across. We live in a world that has so perverted the Gospel. Mainstream Churches talk of a social gospel, a progressive gospel, a prosperity gospel, a politically correct gospel… May I remind you, there is only ONE Gospel, and we aren’t allowed to define it. Paul said (Galatians 1:8) “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

The Gospel was delivered to us from Jesus Christ of Nazareth, explained to us by the Apostles, and commissioned for us throughout all of the New Testament.

The Gospel has been treated as a product or marketing tool for churches all around the modern world today, we live in the Apostate Era of Christianity. The Gospel in most peoples minds is a sappy story told froma stage, where a preacher then says a “1-2-3 Repeat after Me” Prayer, then has one sign a card, add themto their number of converts, and turn around and never care if that person even thinks about Jesus ever again.

We don’t find that anywhere in the New Testament, it is completely foreign to Scripture. Now, do we use certain methods for evangelistic purposes, sure. (Alter Calls, Invitations, etc.) We use those things and they can be helpful to give people an opportunity to respond to the Lord, but that is not something we do in lieu of the Gospel.

Therefore, today we will look at one of the things that is hard for our soul to hear about of the Gospel as it was preached by our Lord. We will look at the Parable of the Sower, and the challenges it presents to all other forms of the “gospel” as its preached today.

Parable Introduction

The Parables of Jesus. We now see the parables of Jesus (earthly stories to convey spiritual truth) becoming popular in His ministry. Why? Because His ministry had been to the Jews (the message of the kingdom), and He gave them straight truth. They rejected it. NOW, His ministry to much broader, to the Jew AND the Greek. To those who would not understand a theological exercise in the Jewish tradition. His message becomes more accessible to the common man through the illustration of His parables.

The first parable recorded in Matthew’s Gospel is the parable of the Sower. This would be very common for the contemporary people of Jesus’s day. The Sower (or planter) had a method of draping a bag of seed over his shoulder, taking a handful of seed, and broadcasting over his field. He would walk up and down his field and do this all the day long to cover as much ground as possible. In doing so, the seed would fall on 4 types of soil.

The Stubborn Soil

(Matthew 13:4 “And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.”)

- Hard/Rocky. This would be like pavement; it was on the outside of the field. Hardpacked dirt. The seed could not penetrate this hardened soil.

The Shallow Soil

(Matthew 13:5 “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,”)

- Not necessarily rocky, but shallow. There was a lot of runs in this landscape that had a thin layer of limestone just below the topsoil. So, these seeds would hit the ground and plant themselves in the topsoil, yet when it would hit rock, they would die.

The Strangled Soil

(Matthew 13:7 “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”)

- The Soil looks perfect on the surface, but lurking underneath are weeds that feed off the germination of the good seed that is planted. Once the good seed begins to flourish, the weed feeds off its life and chokes the good seed out.

The Soft Soil

(Matthew 13:8 “Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”)

- The good soil. This is soil that is soft and receptive to the seed that has been planted. The seed can grow and flourish in this soil. Yielding “a hundred-fold, sixty fold, thirty fold.”

The Parable

1. The Sower: He who preaches the gospel. In this day, The Lord. In our day ANY Gospel witness.

2. The Seed: The Gospel message.

3. The Soil: The hearts of men. The Soul.

The problems that arise in this parable are not the Sower, and his methods (preaching of the gospel Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”) nor is it the seed itself (the gospel.)

Trying to change either one of these things to produce better results will ultimately be futile.

Even though we live in a day and age where that is common. The problem is the condition of the soil, the heart of men. This is what needs to be changed in order for the seed to be grow.

1. The Stubborn Soil

(Matthew 13:19 “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.”)

a. Clown: This is the person stubborn to the Gospel. Does not and will not believe in God. This is the person who has said in his heart “there is no God.” (Proverbs)

b. Carried Away: Who lives their life in complete opposition. Doesn’t matter how close they are in proximity to the good soil, there heart is hardened and rigid toward God.

c. Covered: It doesn’t matter how much the Gospel is showered on them; its seed will not grow.

2. The Shallow Soil

(Matthew 13:20–21 “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.”)

a. Superficial: The great pretender. Has no genuinely good soil about them. Can act the part, but there has been no root planted within this soil.

b. Surface-Level: This soil is deceptively good-looking soil. But, only on the surface, the heart has not had the root of the Gospel latched onto it. This is common in 21st century. “Gospel” promises of joy, peace, and comfort with NO confrontation of sin and repentance. So, this soil is not properly conditioned.

c. Sad: This soil ultimately disappoints all those around it. At first it sprouts so beautifully, even more so than the other soil. But is altogether taken down at the first sign of trouble. The Shallow soil oftentimes discourages everyone around it.

3. The Strangled Soil

(Matthew 13:22 “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.”)

a. Unwilling: Not willing to give up the pleasures of the world in order to follow the Gospel. Not willing to Give everything up to follow Christ. The world tells us Jesus can just be bookmark in the book of our life, but God’s Word tells us differently (Rich Young Ruler).

b. Uncommitted: The soil was never prepared to genuinely give its all to the seed that was planted because it stored too much room for the weeds. This is a picture of the world and its pleasures. This heart cannot commit to the gospel because it is hung up on the things that the world can bring to it.

c. Unfruitful: Ultimately, this soil can bear no fruit. Therefore, it is not good soil. Was this heart saved, and then lost it? No. The absence of fruit is more telling of the fact that it was never saved to begin with. No matter if it walked an aisle or raised a hand. If this soil was never truly conditioned and rid of the weeds for the seed of the Gospel, it was never truly planted.

Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

4. The Soft Soil

(Matthew 13:23 “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.”)

a. Stirred: Be of good cheer. All soil is hard at some point, meaning there is hope for every heart. It just needs to be conditioned by the farmer! “The Palestinian method”: Sow the soil, and then plow it under! God can stir and soften even the hardest of hearts for the preparation of the Gospel.

b. Secured: The Holy Spirit stirs the soil of mans heart, He accompanies that seed, and plants it deep within the heart of man. And once that seed has taken root, there is NO taking it out. There is no removing that seed. It is secure in the arms of God! “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

c. Saved: The soil then sprouts unto life eternal. Jesus says it yields “a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold…” It bears the fruit of a true plant of The Lord in His field.

Conclusion

Here’s the question. What is the condition of you heart? Are you stubborn toward the Lord, outright denying him? Are you Strangled by the pleasures of the world, unable to genuinely commit to Christ? Are you superficial, and have an air of Godliness, but not truly believing and trusting in Him? All of that can change today, allow the Holy Spirit to soften the soil of your heart, realize that your heart is not good enough on its own. It is dry, weedy, shallow. It must need the breaking up and conditioning of the Sower’s hand! Call on Him to save you today.