Kingdom Mindset: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

CIT: Jesus shows that a true disciple is someone who accepts the gospel immediately, deeply, and exclusively.

Three ways of destruction

One way of life

Three ways of destruction

The path (Matthew 13:4, 19)

Now we must ask who does Matthew want us to see as the soil?

Could be the Pharisees, could also be the unbelieving crowds, or it could be an example for us that in our presentation of the gospel there will be some who flat out reject it.

I think the better question to ask here, instead of who this soil is is why this soil rejects the gospel.

For each of these points I believe that there is a clear external and internal application

Satan

It is clear through the Bible, and especially in Matthew, that Satan as the enemy of God does not want unbelievers to accept the gospel. Why is that? Because the second they do they leave his doomed kingdom for the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, when Satan sees a chance at causing someone to reject the gospel he will take it.

The hard heart

Why would a person reject the good news of the gospel though? Because their heart is hard. The Pharisees are a good example of this. They start out interested in Jesus through the gospel of Matthew, but when Jesus says that he has the authority to forgive sins, eats with sinners and tax collectors, and heals on the Sabbath, their hearts grow hard from jealousy and anger. What though is the root of this jealousy and anger? Sin.

Unrepentant sin is the cause of a hard heart that rejects the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The rocky ground (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21)

Suffering

Jesus has promised us that when we believe in him for salvation we are also accepting the reality of suffering for his Kingdom

Matthew 10:24–25 ESV

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Matthew 10:22 ESV

and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Three Ways of Disaster

The true test of discipleship is not whether or not one received the gospel with joy at some datable moment in history. The true test of discipleship is whether or not one picks up his cross and follows Jesus, not for one day or two weeks or three months or four years, but until Jesus calls him home.

The shallow heart

The external reason for this person rejecting the gospel is the suffering that they go through, but there is an internal reason as well, that their acceptance from the beginning was shallow at best.

One day after Lloyd-Jones preached a powerful sermon, an unbeliever came up to him and said, “Dr. Lloyd-Jones, I must tell you that if you would have given an altar call at the end of your message I certainly would have come forward. I would have believed.” Lloyd-Jones replied, “If you don’t want Jesus five minutes after the service is over, then I assure you that you didn’t truly want him at any point during my sermon.”

Have you ever know someone who has walked away from the faith? Why is that? It’s not as if we in America are under constant persecution like many of our brothers and sisters around the globe. I believe it is because they are an example of the next type of soil that Jesus gives.

The thorns (Matthew 13:7, 22)

Stuff

Jesus gives two thorns that come from the same root here.

The cares of the world

The deceitfulness of riches

Both of these come from the root of idolatry. We idolize things and those things strangle out faith.

I believe this is a plague amongst students today. That the cares of the world strangle out faith in those who once claimed to believe.

The strangled heart

There are things all around you that are trying to strangle out faith.

I was scrolling through Instagram the other day and saw a post that asked, “If God took away your favorite thing could you make it through the day? If the gut answer is no, that means you’ve found your identity in something other than God.”

This is a gut check for us, are we so obsessed with stuff, with status, with relationships that we’ve lost our identity in Christ and found it in something else?

One way of life

The great thing about this parable and Jesus’s explanation thereof is that he does not end on a down note. He does not finish explaining how the three other people will be punished, we will see him do that next week. Jesus ends this parable with great and encouraging news for those who have accepted the good news of Jesus Christ by faith. That our faith produces fruit!

The soil that bears fruit (Matthew 13:8, 23)

Jesus says that those who truly believe in the gospel will produce fruit some 100fold, some 60fold, and some 30fold. this is not saying that some will produce a lot of fruit, some not as much, and some barely any. No, Jesus is saying that every Christian is going to produce a TON of fruit in their lives! Some will be a lot. Some will be even more. And some will be even more!!

Rest assured tonight that if you have truly accepted the good news of Jesus’s atoning death and resurrection then you will produce fruit in your life. You will share the gospel, people will see Jesus through your actions, people will feel the love of Christ through you, and people will be saved because of your witness.

Conclusion

How can we be assured of this though? We must immediately, deeply, and exclusively accept the good news of Jesus Christ as Lord, and you will bear fruit. For just as my favorite Psalm says,

Psalm 1:1–3 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.