God’s Word and the Human Heart

Matthew 13:1-23

Intro:

1. The ancient seed: In the mid 1800’s an English explorer named Wilkinson found a sealed vase in a burial chamber in Egypt. He sent the vase to the British Museum.  The caretaker there accidentally broke the jar and found that it contained a few grains of wheat and one or two peas, old, wrinkled and hard as stone.  The peas were planted carefully under glass on the 4th of June, 1844.  At the end of thirty days these old seeds were seen to spring up into life.  They had been buried about three thousand years ago, perhaps in the time of Moses, and had lain, apparently dead in the dust of the tomb. There was yet life in those seeds!

What I want to say: God’s word can change a life – but only if there is a response to it.

I.      God plants His Word in human hearts (:3)

A.    Elements essential to producing a harvest

1.    Seed – the seed contains life.

2.    Soil, water

3.    Sunlight, fertilizer are needed for growth but without a good seed, nothing will come

4.    In the same way, the key elements needed for spiritual life to be produced are the Word of God and a ready human heart.

a)    Worship times, Spiritual songs, Small groups – all are good things but without God’s word, they come to nothing

b)    If the Word of God is on your shelf and not in your heart, it is not productive.

B.    Only good seed is capable of producing a healthy plant

1.    There is no problem with the seed – it is certified

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:8-11 NASB95

2.    The seed is powerful

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NASB95

3.    The seed is everlasting

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Matthew 24:35 ESV

4.    The seed is life (John 6:63)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. John 6:63 ESV

5.    Jesus is the seed

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 ESV

a)    John wrote that Jesus is the Logos – the word made flesh

b)    When you receive the Word of God, you are receiving Jesus

The four soils represent the condition of the heart of those who receive the word

II.    Hard hearts cannot receive God’s Word: the truth about the path (:19)

A.    The word can be heard but not understood (:19)

1.    (cp. Luke 8:5 – “trampled underfoot”)  The path is beaten down hard by the passage of much traffic – there is no place for the seed to germinate.

2.    It cannot get under the soil. There is no access to nutrients, no water

3.    The reason there is no understanding is not because they could not understand, but they would not because they were not interested. (cp. :14-15)

B.    The path is hard because it is the way that many people travel.

1.    It is the popular way.  It is the way of the crowds.

2.    It is not God’s way which is soft from desire to know what is true.

For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground… Jeremiah 4:3 ESV

3.    “fallow” ground is land that has been ignored and has thus become hard.

I remember reading about the pioneers who came to what we call the Midwest but was then the Far West of the U.S. and they attempted to plow land that had never been broken up. It had been trampled by buffalo. It was like stone! It broke iron plows.

4.    When you listen to the world’s impression of spirituality, it hardens the heart to God’s way because God’s way is not man’s way.

C.   “Popular spirituality” can actually harden the heart to the things of God

1.    While it is good that people have a heighten spiritual awareness, awareness of a spiritual dimension is not enough

2.    “the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown…”   Satan is the great thief. (John 10) When you do not care for God’s Word you can lose all hope of salvation and heaven.

3.    There is even a kind of preaching that does not confront sin but only promises prosperity which is dangerous to the soul.

4.    Satan wants a spiritual awareness because it is at just that moment of spiritual tenderness that he can slide in some spiritual drivel to distract the heart from the search for Truth.

a)    It is like eating chemical substitutes instead of real food.

ILLUS>  Article “a pew or a canoe”

5.    There is no understanding of what God is saying because there is no desire to understand it since these people believe they already know what God is saying and do not need any more.

III.   Shallow roots are not secure: the rocky soil (:20-21)

A.    Rocky soil is shallow

1.    These hearers have gone much further than those of the highway. They did not turn their backs on the word. They listened!

2.    But frequency of hearing does not save.  It is possible to go further than others in responding to God’s word and still, as Matthew Henry says, “come short of heaven.”

E.g. mushroom converts – Last week I was cutting my grass and I noticed that a mushroom had grown up overnight. It was not there the day before as I walked through my yard. But here it was fully grown up in one day.  That is like the seed that falls on rocky ground. There is a quick response and apparent growth. But it dies quickly. Some who profess to know Christ are like that.

3.    There is an initial response. There is an interest in spiritual things – it even brings joy to a man’s soul to hear God’s word. A green sprout appears! But…there is no root!

a)    I remember a woman who came seeking Christ because of a broken heart from some broken relationship. She was tender from hurt and open to receive God’s word and does so gladly. She began well, seeking to know Christ only to be distracted by some new relationship which drew her away from God.

4.    Shallow faith treats the church like another commodity. Shallow people ask, “What can I get out of the church?” They are always seeking the next church, the new church, the thrilling church, the biggest church because they are not seeking Jesus and the life of faith, they are seeking a commodity to consume and it one church does not have it, they will go to another.

B.    Rootless faith only lasts a short while

1.    If the root is not deep, there will be no strength.

E.g. some years ago we planted a vegetable garden in our yard. I got really bold and planted corn. I was so thrilled to see that corn pop up and grow to two or three feet high. I was beginning to taste corn on the cob. But then, suddenly, without warning, it all died. Every last stalk!  I took hold of one and pulled – it came off in my hand. Some worm had eaten the roots off short.

2.    At the first sign of opposition, this person abandons faith

Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble…

3.    But that trouble does not undo the man or woman whose roots sink deeply into Christ.

IV.  Life’s struggles can strangle weak faith: the thorns (:22)

ILLUS> The Brazilian walnut tree is majestic in size and strength. But this beautiful tree has one enemy, the strangler fig. When a strangler fig seed lands on the walnut tree, its roots begin to descend to the ground. As it grows, the vines of the fig squeeze and choke the walnut tree. The fig’s grip on the tree becomes so great that the vine-encased tree slowly dies. Over time, all that is left are twisting vines in the form of a tree. The tree itself has long since disintegrated. Only a vine structure in the shape of a tree remains, while the inside is hollow and lifeless.

Bob Perrone, Duncansville, Pennsylvania; source: "Deep Jungle," PBS (4-17-05)

A.    Worries of the world choke spiritual life

1.    For these, exposure to the Word of God is like infatuation – puppy love. They have a high emotion but no depth of understanding.

but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV

2.    Worries of this world.  It is an interesting irony that too much care for this world chokes concern for eternity but much care for eternity makes this world the more valuable as it is in proper perspective.

B.    The deceitfulness of wealth is that it displaces trust in God

1.    What is deceitful about wealth?

2.    It gives the impression that it is able to supply every need

3.    It promises to give meaning to life but it is not able to deliver it.

4.    It gives the impression that it is stronger than God

V.    A prepared heart is productive: the good soil (:23)

A.    Good soil is different from other soils

1.    It is softened in that it has been broken up by repentance

2.    Cp. :17 – many prophets and righteous men longed to hear this message

3.    It is ready to receive the seed.

4.    It is not deceived in that it knows what damage sin does and it is ready for the positive power of God’s word.

B.    Good soil brings a harvest!

1.    It does not only grow healthy itself, but it produces other plants! When God’s word is at work in your heart, you will notice that it not only changes you but new life is found in those around you.

2.    The word of God planted in a heart is productive because the Spirit of God is at work.

Concl:

1. Why should you care about this parable? It reveals the condition and reason of your soul – that of someone you know.
2. How is the Word of God received in your heart today?