Cultivating Good Soil 07: Qualities of Good Soil

INTRODUCTION

· Today we come to our final lesson in our series that we began in July titled ‘Cultivating Good Soil.’ In this series, we have looked at what God intends his word to do in our hearts and how we must listen to it if we want it to make an impact in our lives. We have also looked in depth at many of the reasons why we can become unfruitful in our lives as we examined the first three soils in the parable of the sower/soils.

· For our final lesson in this series, I would like to examine the final soil in a little more detail. The fourth soil – the good soil.

· Jesus, in the parable, says, “And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” (). Good soil is deep and soft and rich and clean. It’s not competing. There’s plenty of softness to go down to where the water rests. Seed gains entry, finds nourishment, grows to an abundant harvest.

· Then Jesus gives the explanation, “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” () Quite the difference between this soil and the others. No distractions, nothing getting in the way of the word’s impact on the heart… Fruit grows and matures.

QUALITIES OF GOOD SOIL

· Hears the word with a good and noble, or honest heart ().

o This heart desires to be fruitful and to be challenged and changed by God’s word. This point brings us full circle back to our first lesson in this series. In that lesson we saw what God intends for the seed as it is planted.

o This heart is also free from the distractions and hindrances to receiving the word that we have talked about in our other lessons. A good and noble heart has one ultimate love and devotion – knowing God’s word and being fruitful through obedience.

o The Bereans are a great example of this type of heart (). When Paul preached the Gospel there, we are told in v11 “these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (). They were eager to hear the word and put in the effort necessary to make sure what they were receiving was the truth so that they could believe it and apply it. They desired the truth and wanted to make sure they didn’t accept error. They were really paying attention to the word, and because of this, in verse 12, we are told that many of them believed what Paul was preaching.

· Understands the word (). Hearing the word is not good enough. One must really pay attention to it and put effort in to understanding it. One must understand it in order to apply it.

o The disciples give us a good example of this in the context. After Jesus spoke the parable of the soils, probably no one understood what the meaning of the parable was, including the disciples. They heard the story, but all that they heard was a story about a farmer sowing seed into many types of soil… they wanted to understand the meaning, so we are told in that they asked Jesus what the parable meant. And they did the same with other parables. Once the crowds left, they would ask Jesus for the explanation of the parable.

o The Ethiopian eunuch ()… When Philip came to the Ethiopian Eunuch in , the eunuch was reading from a scroll of Isaiah that he had with him. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading, and the eunuch humbly said, he needed help to understand the prophecy. He was willing to humble himself and ask for help in understanding what God says… and because he did so, he was able to hear the Gospel and be saved.

o Jesus says to His disciples, those who desired to understand and to put the effort into gaining an understanding, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven” (). Jesus did not go out of the way to make it so everyone could understand. The understanding came to those who were really paying attention to the word and were seeking to understand.

· Accepts the word (). Once the word is understood, then it must be accepted. This is more than just saying you agree with it… Luke’s account says that they “hold fast the word”. They grab it, hold on tight to it. They treasure it because they understood that it is indeed God’s word.

o We see this in the Thessalonians. Paul says to them in , "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers." (). Because they accepted the word, understanding that it was indeed God’s word, it impacted them.

o Also, in , when Jesus is done giving what is commonly called the ‘bread of life discourse,’ we see that all of the crowds who were following Jesus turned away from and stopped following Him. They didn’t accept His message. But then, when Jesus turned to the 12, and asked them if they were going to leave also, Peter said, "Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." (). They treasured the words of Jesus, even when the teachings were difficult, because they knew who Jesus was and that His words alone bring eternal life to those who accept them.

· Brings forth fruit w/ perseverance/patience (). We saw in our 2nd soil, the stony soil, that because the person hearing the word did not sink their roots deep and continue to be nourished by the word, they could not stand firm when trials came. They quickly fell away.

o In contrast, those with good and noble hearts, because it seeks to understand the word and treasures the word, when trials come, they are not only able to stand firm, but they are able to continue bearing fruit no matter how fierce the trials get. There is consistent bearing of fruit.

o The church in the book of Acts time and time again give us an example of what this looks like. The more the Jews persecuted them, the more the church grew. They would not be deterred from obeying Christ no matter what the consequences would be for their lives physically.

· Brings forth a miraculous yield (). It just doesn’t bear fruit; it brings forth an amazing amount of fruit…

o Matures and increases in yield ()… This happens because God is at work. (and he prunes those who bear fruit so we can bring forth more fruit).

o All of the seed sown into this soil brings forth a great amount of fruit. Many look at this soil’s description and think that there are some people that bring forth one yield while there are others who bring forth a greater yield. But what is being shown here, I believe, is that all of the seed that is planted in this heart brings forth fruit. None of it is fruitless. Something will come from it, and at times, different yields will come from one heart - whether it be a yield of 30-fold, 60-fold, or 100-fold.

o When Jesus, later on in , gives us the parable of the mustard seed, I believe He is coming back to this idea in talking about the impact that the seed of the word has when it is put into a good heart. The mustard seed is tiny, but grows to be a great shrub. It is large enough to even become a resting place for birds. One would never expect such a large shrub to come from one of the smallest of seeds. This little seed brings forth such a large plant that benefits others… And the same is the case when the seed is planted in our hearts if they are good soil. One seed planted can make a big difference in our lives and in the lives of others around us.

WHICH SOIL ARE YOU?

· The hardened soil of unbelief, unwilling to accept what is said because of your traditions or because of sin in your life?

· The stony soil that is shallow and trusts in emotional responses instead of firmly planting roots deeper into God’s word so it can withstand trials?

· The thorny/weedy soil that is distracted by the riches, cares, and pleasures of this life?

· The good soil that hears God’s word with a good and noble heart, understands it, accepts it and cherishes it, and brings forth a great yield of fruit with patience/perseverance?

DANGER OF NOT BEING THE GOOD SOIL

· This is the only one that bears fruit, and because of this, it is safe to say that this is the only soil that is truly saved!

· Jesus says in , “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

· Only those branches that are not fruitful are taken away from the vine where it withers. Then it is thrown in the fire where it is burned. If we do not really pay attention to God’s word, we will die spiritually, be taken away from the Lord’s favor, and be condemned

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