What's Your Heart Condition
What’s youR Heart Condition?
TEXT: Matthew. 13:1-8; 18-23
INTRODUCTION: I want you to think for just a moment about the worst nightmare you have ever had in your life. Maybe someone broke into your home; attacked by someone with a gun; plane crash; someone kidnapped your child
Not trying to resurrect bad memories, but how many of you remember the terror you felt, and you awakened heart was pounding, drenched in sweat…and you believe what just happened was real? And when we realize it was all a dream, we melt in sweet relief.
Well, did you know that according to the Bible there is a nightmare that is going to take place in the lives of the majority of people only it won’t be a nightmare, it will be real; real as you sitting and listening to this sermon; real as the people in this auditorium.
And the nightmare is this: You go to bed at night believing that because you’ve been a faithful church attender there is a place reserved for you in heaven, so you draw your last breath…and 2 seconds after you die…you find yourself in hell.
According to the Bible, the greatest truth in all the world = Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins and give us life eternal in heaven. But the greatest tragedy in all the world = majority of people will not get in.
And that doesn’t include just people in the world, but people in the church… people who have been attending for years, people who have given literally thousands of dollars to the work of the church, people who have served on committees, volunteered hundreds of hours, ministered to the needy, served as deacons, and might I add, even pastored the church.
There is a principle that is taught throughout Scripture: Earthly good doesn’t guarantee Heaven’s gain. In other words, just because you are a good member of the church, doesn’t mean you are qualified for Heaven.
In fact, if truth be known, the majority of church members, will not get into Heaven. . Billy Graham - he believed only 10% of the church is really saved.
Some of you here today attended church most of your life, maybe you’ve grown up hearing about the God of the Bible, but if God in His grace were to appear here today and reveal to you whether you’re saved or lost; hell-bent or heaven-bound…you would hear from His lips the most disturbing news in all the world.
You have religion, but you really don't have a relationship.
You’re committed to Sundays, but really not committed to the Savior
You have discipline to attend church, but there is no devotion to follow Christ.
Why is it that there are so few who are really going to heaven? Why have very few genuinely trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord? Mt. 13:1-9 - Jesus give us the answer in the parable of the sower and the seed.
Background: Oftentimes, Jesus used parables to drive home a divine point.
Parable = an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Heavenly truth clothed in earthly language.
In other words, Jesus would illustrate spiritual truths through familiar experiences. He would take common, everyday examples from our lives and drive home the message He so desired for us to hear.
And so in the parable of the Sower, Jesus drives home the truth of why so many people are going to miss the Kingdom of God; why so many will experience the worst nightmare in the life.
Jesus paints a picture in our mind - farmer who slings a bag of seed over his soldier and walks up and down the furrows spreading seeds left and right.
In this story, we find 3 main actors;
Sower = Jesus
Seed = Word of God (that comes into a person’s life)
Soil = Heart of people
Have you ever wondered why so many people will not give their life to Jesus?
Not because of the Sower (nothing wrong with Jesus; He came and lived among us, taught about the Kingdom of God, declared He was the way to God; died on the cross for our sins and arose on the 3rd day and is now with His Father in Heaven…and I have to tell you, there’s nothing wrong with Jesus. He simply did what He was called to do…pay the penalty for our sins.)
Not because of the Seed (nothing wrong with the Word of God…This Bible is the only book in the world that reveals God through the person of Jesus Christ…and reveals God’s heart – desires all to be saved. Only through the Word of God can we come to faith in Jesus Christ.)
Rom. 10:17 “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”
Is. 55:11 “The Word…will go forth and not return empty, accomplish what God desires.”
But there is something drastically wrong with the condition of the Soil.
Notice that there are 4 conditions/types of soil:
Roadside soil – seed fell by the wayside
Shallow soil – seed fell by on stony places
Thorn-infested soil – seed fell among thorns
Fertile soil – seed fell on good ground.
However, did you notice that the soil is not the problem. In fact, every soil has the capability of producing fruit.
If there is any great truth about salvation, it is that every human heart has the capability of being saved, forgiven, and receiving eternal life.
No matter who you are, what you have done, what life you have led, God desires that you would be saved.
No matter how vile, wicked, sinful, and evil you are, if you will turn from your sins and give your heart to Jesus, He will forgive you and give you eternal life.
I'm grateful that Jesus excludes no one from Heaven.
He'll receive the drunkard and the divorced the liar and loose liver the adulterer and abuser the black and the white the American and the Arab
The cheater…and I must say, the church attender if they will turn from their sins and allow Jesus to be Lord of their life.
So what determine salvation? It is not the soil; Not the composition of the soil, but the condition of the soil.
Every person in each condition hears the Word
Truth: Every person is without excuse (Rom. 1:18; 2:1);
If you breath and shop at Wal-Mart, you don’t have any excuse for not trusting Christ. No excuse for you not to come to Christ. People want to make up excuses for not believing and trusting…but the Bible says, all we have to do is look around and realize there is a God, sin, we are in need of salvation.
Not every person in each condition receives the Word 3 out of 4 in this parable are unsaved.
Only few come to salvation. Not one to take everything in the Bible literally, but could it be that literally 3 out of 4 people (75%) are unsaved. Jesus said, "...the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Mt. 7:13-14).
Jesus talks about the soil. What kind of soil doesn't produce fruit? Since the soil represents the heart, what kind of heart will not receive salvation?
I. Calloused-Heart (v. 4, 19)
A. Palestine - Farmers didn't have fences to separate property lines; so the land was divided into long narrow foot paths which were used for the traveling public.
1. Paths were trodden down as hard as pavement, seeds could not saturate the ground, so the birds devoured them.
B. v. 19 -- Notice these people hear the Word but don't understand it; and what they do hear, Satan comes and snatches it away.
Well, how can we identify such a callous-hearted person?
1. Uninterested in the things of God
a) That is, Jesus and the Bible are in reality the farthest things from their mind; and when you bring up God in a conversation or something from the Bible, like a switch, they turn off.
b) Sadly, I’ve seen that with people who claim to be Christians: They talk about anything under the sun, but the moment the conversation is changed to talk about Jesus, they go silent; don’t have anything to say.
c) You can attend church week after week and be as callous-hearted as the person who never attends.
d) Satan doesn’t care that you hear the Word of God just as long as you are not interested.
2. Unmoved by the Word of God
a) How I think about Pharaoh who refused to obey God after he heard the message from Moses to let God’s people go.
b) I believe today churches across the world are filled with people like Pharaoh. They are calloused-hearted people who only want a feel-good, tickle-my-ears type of religion.
(1) The Sunday service – short (doesn’t matter if God is moving or not)
(2) The Songs – familiar (doesn’t matter if they’re biblical or not)
(3) The Sermon – Uplifting (doesn’t matter if it’s challenging or not)
c) Do you know why? Because preaching hell in the morning is safe; For someone who thinks they are already saved, it doesn’t bring conviction;
(1) But start preaching about living the Christian life…and they’ll start squirming.
C. Unchanged by the truths of God .
1. If you boil it all down, the callous-hearted person hears the Word of God, but is never changed by the truth of God. They receive information, but never experience transformation.
II. The Cunning Heart (v. 5, 20-21)
A. In some parts of Palestine lying right beneath the ground is a layer of limestone. When seed falls upon this ground, something dramatic happens. The limestone hold the rain and heat from the sunlight right under the surface, and the seed sprouts quickly. But it has not root, and soon it withers from the scorching sun.
B. And how many people are like the seed on stony ground.
1. They have a dramatic conversion: sobs and tears but in a matter of time, could be one month or 10 years, they are back in the gutters of life.
2. They have a cunning heart -- very convincing. They look like a Christian, attend church like a Christian, serve like a Christian, give their tithes like a Christian…but the truth is, they are not Christian; they just have a cunning heart.
C. See these people have no root. They don’t root themselves in the Word of God. They get just enough Christianity to give evidence to other people that they are Christian.
1. And greatest evidence for living such shallow Christianity, is their unwillingness to grow deeper in the Christian life; they don’t want to change to become like Christ.
a) There are some people who have sat in the church pews for years (some in the same seat) and the only change they’ve experienced is the color of their hair.
b) They really don’t have a heart to grow spiritually; and God forbid that other people in the church grow spiritually!!!
c) So they do everything they can to stifle growth (complain, bicker, protest, and withhold their tithes, and stir up factions)
2. If you must complain and you want something to complain about, complain that more people are not getting saved; not growing spiritually; that too many so-called Christians are too comfortable in the pews.
a) So, if you know of someone who is resistant to any growth…numerically or spiritually, most likely they have a cunning heart.
3. And did you notice something about the person who has a cunning heart? They will be exposed (v. 21); that is, it’s only a matter of time before their deceptive ways are found out.
a) How? When you have to make a choice: pay a price for your faith or walk away.
4. It’s easy living the Christian life here in the US. But just go to China where Christians are imprisoned; go to Egypt where they are tortured with branding irons.
5. What will determine whether we are truly Christian or not is when we must choose…
a) To be labeled a Christian fanatic in the work place or just another employee.
b) To miss out on a desperately needed promotion because of your faith or enjoy a fatter bank account.
c) To stand up against evil or continue to watch it grow.
d) To bear testify or not say a word.
e) If you find Christianity easy, then you may simply have a cunning heart, because genuine faith in Jesus always comes with a price.
III. Crowded Heart (v. 7, 22)
A. Seed falls into good soil, but thorns and weeds grow up and choke out the life of the good seed.
1. Cares of this world
2. Deceitfulness of Riches
3. Useless and fruitless
B. This person wears the label of a Christian, but their heart is for the things of this world.
1. There is nothing wrong with having the world’s stuff, but when the world’s stuff has you, we have a problem.
2. So often we have defined this type of person as a worldly Christian, but no where in the Bible do you find such a person; “Worldly” and “Christian” are 2 totally different animals.
C. And what determines whether a person has a crowded heart is ultimately their use of TIME.
1. Who gets the most of your time? this world or God?
(Not saying you have to been in church whenever the doors are open, but if all you give to God is a couple hours each week, then your heart is crowded. Truth is: God wants all of your time)
2. What are you living for? Bigger car, home, paycheck, the lake, a hobby, kids?
D. It’s obvious that there are numerous church members whose hearts are crowded…otherwise we wouldn’t lack as a church.
1. People would be waiting in line to serve
2. Our giving would be off the chart
3. We would hold 2 services just to accommodate the crowd
E. And the reason:
1. Calloused Heart - hindered by Pride
2. Cunning Heart - hindered by Persecution
3. Crowded Heart - hindered by Prosperity
IV. Converted Heart (v. 8, 23 seed falls on good soil)
A. Only a small number takes permanent root and produces fruit. Heart is tender and soft toward God.
B. Fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
C. What they have to show for their faith is not church attendance, giving tithes, living a good, moral life; but the evidence of their conversion is their sole desire to live for Jesus.
Conclusion: In his autobiography, Col. Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame says that he was always a God-fearing man. In every venture he gave God a tenth of the profits. Yet he knew that if he died, God probably wouldn’t take him to heaven, the worst nightmare.
Worried, he traveled to Australia to a special church convention for the answer, but he didn’t find it.
One day, Sanders was walking down a street in Louisville, KY, when Rev. Waymon Rodgers invited him to some evangelistic services at Evangel Tabernacle. Several days later, Sanders attended, and at the age 79, he got saved.
“When I walked out of that church that night, I knew I was a different man. All my tithing and good deeds had never given me the sense of God’s presence that I knew then.”
I wonder how many of you don’t have the sense of God’s presence in your life? You’ve attended, heard the Word, but you have really never been converted; your heart is calloused, cunning, or crowded…but not converted.