Soil of the Heart

Focus Text

Greetings and prayer

Luke 8:4-15

4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Why does Christ teach in Parables ?

Teaching beside the sea- In a Boat- Matthew 13 1-23, Mark 4 1-20

The purpose of the Parables - To enter into the story as a character and figure out who you identify with in the story. Once you do that determine what the story is revealing to you about yourself and determine what you will do about it

Why though, was Jesus teaching in parables?

Do you remember who Jesus was addressing ? Large crowds of people seeking the Messiah the “deliverance of the nation of Israel”

The people were missing the point of Jesus’s ministry.

Acts 1:6 “So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?””

Jesus taught for 40 days after His crucifixion about the Kingdom of God. The people were focused on an earthly Kingdom.

Acts 1:3 “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

They missed the fact that the Kingdom of God is in the hearts minds and actions of every true worshiper of God.

Luke 17:20–21 “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.””

In acts Jesus ignored their question when He would restore the Kingdom of God. What do you think would have happened if Jesus told the disciples they would have to wait 1900 years for the Kingdom they were seeking? Israel didn’t become a nation again until 1948.

The point of teaching in parables was to get the listener’s to think about the Kingdom of God in Gods terms, not flawed human expectations.

Who else was Jesus routinely addressing in His teachings? The Pharisees and the scribes. Everyone who should have known the truth about the Kingdom of God and the Messiah. Remember Jesus called them teachers of the Law. If you think about it that’s kind of a funny statement. What was is that lead to the punishment of Israel? It was them willfully breaking the laws and commandments of God. And now they were being called teachers of the Law by Jesus. What did the teachers of the Law routinely do as Jesus delivered the Gospel and demonstrated the power of God? They routinely refused to believe Jesus. They even attacked and tried to dismiss or disprove the miracles of God He preformed.

Jesus reveals why He teaching them in parables, so the listener can verse 10 “know the secrets of the kingdom of God”. The parables reveal the truth of God and are meant to dispel the faulty fallen human thinking and reasoning we all have. To renew our minds in right thinking. To begin thinking like children of God instead of sons of disobedience.

What are we supposed to See and Hear

Those that didn’t see. Those that didn’t Hear… There was so many that even though they saw and heard did not understand.

Luke 8:10 ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

The crowds who gathered to hear Him were to full of their own fleshly desires, opinions and expectations of God. I see very few times during Jesus’s ministry in which people He interacted with were seeking God for Gods sake and not their own. Healings, meals, to be entertained by other miracles and wonders. To question Jesus and attack His ministry.

HE WAS PLAIN TO SEE… But right in front of all their faces the whole time was Jesus Christ their Messiah, the Son of God and their salvation. As perfect and loving, as full of signs and wonders and miracles as He was they still missed the truth that was right in front of their faces.

Matthew 6:22–23 ““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

The eye through which the see… The neither hear nor see because of the hardness of their hearts, rejecting the truth of God. They were unwilling to accept the truth of God right in front of them. The “eye of their lamp” was full of darkness, therefore they could not see clearly the truth of God because their hearts were darkened by the motives of their perspective. Their perspective, the way they view the world, was the eye they “see” the world through. And who hear knows that the way you see the world is based upon what's in your heart. In other words their selfish motives had blinded them to the truth of God. Church I’m telling you impure motives will blind you to the truth of God.

Jesus Christ was the Kingdom of God. They could not have been more deaf or blind.

As the disciple of Christ, the follower of Jesus what is it your supposed to see and hear? What that the world at large missed Jesus Christ the hope and salvation of mankind. And not just our hope of salvation but far beyond that. The restoration of our relationship with God and the opportunity to manifest Him as He lives in us. For me to live is Christ.

Which Character am I in the parable?

It would be easy for me to tell you to relate to the Sower in this parable. That's the easy message. How as Christs disciples we are called to spread the gospel message of hope. This parable is so much deeper. So I’m going to tell you the deeper character you should be identifying with in the parable. The soil.

You are meant to put yourself in the place of soil the word of God is being sown into. The question you must wrestle with is this. Which soil am I?

Rocky Soil

Thorny Soil

Good Soil

Uncultivated : Rocky Soil and Thorny Soil.

Some soil doesn't even receive the seed: Soil Along the Path, the soil that was trampled underfoot. The word of God doesn’t make into the live of some at all. Before it ever reaches them it falls along the path where it’s trampled underfoot. Because the hearer is busy living life he goes right on past the word never giving it second thought. It has no chance to sprout and grow because the receive is here and then gone.

Stolen by the enemy: Some soil doesn't receive the seed because “ the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts”

Church this got me fired up when I read it.

Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What is the devil doing to those who miss salvation? He is attacking their faith because if they would just believe in God, have faith in God, they would be saved. Does this sound familiar?

Genesis 3:1–4 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

What did the enemy attack ? Their belief, their faith in God. Because if they would have believed in and had faith in the things God said they would have been saved. They never would have ate the fruit and received the penalty of death.

The enemy does this all the time. He would love for you to doubt the truths and promises of God so that you don’t walk in the fullness of life He has called you to. He knows that anything He can get you to doubt God in you will fail to receive the fullness of. Church trust Gods word and receive all that He has for you.

The rocky soil is so shallow is draws no moisture… What did Jesus Christ say He would give to those who ask?

John 4:10 “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.””

John 4:13–14 “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””

Jesus Christ is the source of satisfaction to the thirsty soul. What happens to any plant when the suns hot rays have spent long day beating it down without water? Eventually it withers up and dies. All the life and vitality it once held diminish over time until their is nothing left to sustain it.

What was it that Paul prays for the believers to be rooted and grounded in Ephesians?

Ephesians 3:17–19 “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Love for Jesus Christ, Christ dwelling in our hearts is what will draw upon the living water. And out of that heart will flow far more than was in it to begin with. No wonder its a place of abundant growth. God is there supplying everything needed to grow and thrive.

What about the thorny soil choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life? Who’d life does this not sound like? It certainly sounds like mine. There is always something I need to do or want to do. There is always another pressing issue that needs to be dealt with now. You want to know a little secret, there always will be. Life is full weather we try to make it that way or not.

It’s not only possible to starve and choke the the word of God from growing into something beautiful its likely if you let the even the right kind of stuff overwhelm it.

Relate the sugar snap peas being choked out...

How will Gods purpose for your life grow into the beauty it was meant to if you starve if of the space and attention it needs to grow. Weeds grow fast. Before you know and by the time its already to late to change they can over run a good crop. Opportunities He has provided for you to bear the fruit of who He is will have passed.

And then there is the good soil… A place tended to without weeds or rocks. A place ideal for growing a harvest that multiplies. Who here knows that God can do far more with one sold out on fire believer that the enemy can do with an entire army.

Closing

The crowd was left with a decision to make. What kind of soil where they. We are left with that same decision. God care about how you receive Him. The harder your heart is, the less hospitable the soil is, the less of Him you will see grow and produce in your life. Its a privilege to be the garden of your Father in Heaven. He created us and put us in a garden to love and cherish us. And after we left He made a way to put His garden in us. For us to once again bear the likeness of His image and bear His fruit.

Luke 8:16-18

16 “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”