Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 13:1-23 (Click title for audio access)

"Stories Of The Kingdom" • 9.5.10 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro

- Chapter 13 signals an important turn in Matthew's narrative. We have watched Matthew compile a mountain of evidence regarding Jesus and His claim to be the Messiah.

- Chapter 12 shows that the plain evidence was being distorted because of religious prejudice.

- The Pharisees were looking to discredit Christ, even coming close to blaspheming the Spirit. They wanted to destroy Him and eventually, in His time, Christ will submit to death.

- Before then, so as to continue preaching, but not provoking, Jesus changes HIs methods. He will now speak in stories, which will illustrate Kingdom life for those who loved Him.

- On the other hand, it would confuse those who hated Him. This first story is arguably Christ's most popular: The Parable of the Sower.

Text

• Matthew 13:1,2 : "On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore." : This was the same day that Jesus warned those people assembled regarding how they should think of Him.

- He came out and the crowds stood on the shore to listen, while Jesus climbed out into a boat.

- The teacher sat and the people stood. We have been doing things very unbiblically! The more important aspect is that when a Rabbi taught sitting, this was important stuff.

- What is about to unfold, are not just stories. They are truths about the Kingdom couched in earthly stories taught by the King of Heaven Himself!

• Matthew 13:3-9 : "Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: 'Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'" : Let's quickly synthesize this. A sower which would be a farmer, goes out with the intent to sow his seed, something like wheat for example.

- This was something that anyone listening would have been familiar with. There might have even been a farmer within sight!

- A bag of seed which hung by his side. As he walked, he would grab some of the seed and throw it out to his right and to his left.

- There is no precision in this type of farming. It's mass quantity! As he makes it around the field, the idea is that the seed falls on his field and the adjacent grounds that surround it.

- There are 4 types of ground. The first is the wayside or the traveled roadway. Think of this as a compacted dirt road, one that was well traveled and hardened by the sun.

- Next to every field was a walkway for travelers. Seed would inevitably fall there.

- The second ground is called the stony places. Picture Mentone! In Israel, in many areas, limestone lies just beneath the surface of the ground, hidden by a some top soil.

- The third ground was thorny ground. Think thorn canopy. Foxtails and tumbleweeds.

- Finally, Jesus calls the fourth ground "good" meaning unobscured, fit for planting. It is everything that the other grounds are not: Soft, deep and unobscured.

- The seed is good, as you can see, where it falls, sans the wayside, it grows.

- The wayside does not allow penetration, thus the seed becomes bird food.

- The stony ground is shallow and allows quick, but not protected or protracted growth.

- The thorny ground allows for good growth, but eventually the room necessary for continued growth is not available; the plant becomes stunted.

- Then there is the good soil, which was good because it allowed for growth and production.

- Jesus finishes the story with "he who has ears to hear, let him hear." This is akin to saying, if this makes sense to you, then be attentive to what you have been taught.

- The question you should always ask when you hear this is "Do I have ears to hear? Am I listening to what the Spirit is communicating to me?" This is an important question we must all ask!

• Matthew 13:10-12 : "And the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." : I wonder if the disciples were really saying, "Uh, what does that mean!?" This was a switch in methodology and they were curious as well as stumped!

- Why do you speak in stories? Why not just declare to them the truth plainly? Let's consider that ourselves. What had that accomplished?

- It had led some people to consider Jesus to be the Christ, while others used the same stimulus to attempt to defame Him. In the meantime, fuel was added to the fire of the Pharisees.

- How do you continue to fan the flames of belief in those who it has begun, while at the same time, quench the fires of persecution? The answer was stories, parables.

- There is a revelation of the Kingdom that has been given to the disciples. They have been given a privileged position to understand what God is doing on the earth.

- God is unveiling to them truths that He had previously hidden.

- That is the same with you and I. We have been given a great understanding of the Kingdom.

- We are the childish ones that God has chosen to show things to! However, the proud, the insolent, the ones judging Christ, have no such understanding.

- To those who have this understanding, the parables will furnish them with more understanding. Those who choose to reject Christ, any small amount of understanding is now gone.

- The NLT translates verse 12 like this: "To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them."

- I have thought much about this. How can this be? It's really quite simple.

- When you and I hear some word from the Lord, either through reading or hearing, if we do not act upon it, eventually and inevitably, the impulse to act will lessen.

- If we do not act on what God has spoken to us, that information will be replaced by other information. Before long, it will be impossible to remember what was spoken.

- The same was true about those with unbelief! Without further encouragement to act and without acting themselves, they would lose even that seminal information that they had.

- Today, if you hear His voice, act now!

• Matthew 13:13-15 : "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’" : The parables would add data regarding the Kingdom. The Pharisees would see the pictures. That would be plain to them, but they will not perceive their true meaning.

- They will hear the parables. They will understand the language. The words will make sense to them, but they will not come to an understanding of the meaning.

- Literally, they will not be able to connect the dots! It will remain a mystery to them!

- They will hear these stories, fail to understand, and have little fuel for their fire.

- Jesus says that this will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 6. You'll recall that Isaiah 6 is the chapter where God calls His prophet to service by giving him a powerful vision of heaven.

- God tells Isaiah that he will go, but he will be speaking to people who will not respond! The people who rejected Isaiah are the same type of people who will reject Christ.

- They had their faculties, ie. hearing, seeing, it was of no help to them. Their hearing does not lead to understanding, their seeing does not lead to perception, their mind is closed!

- Isaiah says that the hearts of the people have grown dull. Literally, they have become calloused and are now unfeeling.

- They will not turn back to the Lord so that God would heal them. Here Jesus tells His disciples essentially the same thing, saying that they would not respond so that HE would heal them!

• Matthew 13:16,17 : "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." : These disciples had no idea what kind of privilege that they had. Jesus tells them that they were able to see and hear.

- They had already begun to believe. Their belief was hardly complete and the behavior was not what it would one day be, but they had opened a door.

- That door led them to greater opportunity to understand revolutionary truth that their contemporaries were blind to.

- They were seeing the fulfillment of every picture that the men of the Old Testament only wondered at! They were hearing the words of the Messiah that was only predicted, not experienced!

- They had a more complete picture, whereas the Old Testament men had puzzle pieces.

- They got to experience Christ personally and we get the benefit of that close relationship.

- We get first hand testimony in 3 of the 4 gospels and in all of the rest of the books of the New Testament. People who argue against the validity of the New Testament fail to realize this.

- Now, Jesus is going to open for them what the parable of the sower means. We won't need interpretive genius on this one. Jesus gives it to us.

• Matthew 13:18,19 : "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside." : Jesus establishes that the seed is the word of the Kingdom. What is the word of the Kingdom? It's tied up in Jesus, the King.

- He is the one who has come to save His people from their sins. Those who believe in Him have entrance into the Kingdom, based upon His righteousness.

- That is what it is seminally, ultimately, in regeneration. The word of the Kingdom continues as there are instructions for believers to walk. In the context, it most definitely is regeneration.

- Jesus is the sower, and as we tell of what He said, we become sowers as well. We throw out the seed and it falls on wayside hearts.

- People hear God's claim upon their life, but they do not understand it. That is to say, that this person does not see the relevance. He does not see himself in the story at all.

- He cannot comprehend that as a human being, that his personal sin is bad enough to confine him to an eternal punishment, separated from a Holy God.

- He cannot conceive that "one man," Jesus, could possibly be holy enough to do anything for anyone! "How could He be BOTH God AND man!?"

- The data is there, but it sits on the surface. Soon, the enemy takes it away! Interesting, the enemy "raptures" it away! That's the word for "snatches away."

- Notice that the enemy comes and takes what is sown in the heart. Two things to observe here: Satan does this and is only to blame here. Second, the "soils" represent the heart.

- The wayside heart is hard, inpenetrable. Perhaps you have met such a person.

- They know the facts, they have heard the message, but like the hard ground of the roadway, there is no penetration.

- There is no humility, no contrition, no acceptance. In the end, for that person, there is no salvation! Even that which the hearer had is no longer available to save him.

• Matthew 13:20,21 : " But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." : In contrast to the wayside hearer, the stony places hearer hears the word and without blinking an eye or giving thought, receives it joyfully.

- The idea is that this person goes down straight after the desire!

- They can't wait to run down the aisle. They love the idea immediately. All they hear is "forgiveness" and "love." Who would not run down for that? "Give me double," they say!

- The hearer receives the seed joyfully, but they do not have a root system. The seed is not buried deep enough into the ground and is vulnerable from the rays of the sun, which is persecution.

- I like the NLT here when it says, "But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep."

- The person who comes with great excitement, endures only for a while. They endure until the cost is revealed. They endure until the trouble is over. They endure until someone mocks them!

- Persecution comes up because of what they have believed!

- It's when the family stands up and says, 'You have lost your mind!' Co-workers say that you have been brainwashed.

- Persecution is a part of being a Christian. The stony place hearer lasts until that sun rises. - When it rises, as immediately and straight as they were to receive, so also will they be immediate and straight in their fall.

- Note that the enemy is not involved at all in this. I want to submit that this is an issue with a person's flesh, their own strength.

• Matthew 13:22 : " Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." : This person's seed fell among the thorns, which Jesus tells us are both the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.

- Let's begin with the cares of this world. It might better be translated "the anxieties of this age." The things which cause you the most anxiety in this particular age is what is referred to.

- A generation ago, people had different anxieties than are present today, but they continue to fall into the same general categories.

- They are the things that keep you up at night. They are the things that you are willing to sacrifice for. They are the things that drive you day in and day out!

- It's the better body that you wish you had, the bigger house that you see others have, the broader bank account that would solve all of your woes.

- These are the anxieties of this, your age! They can take precedence over the Word of the Kingdom. What about the deceitfulness of riches? What a fitting title!

- The deceit of riches is that there is one day when we will have enough.

- This is the rule of possessions. Having the right car, the right clothes, the right stuff. These things suffocate the effectiveness of the word.

- The word is alive, it's working, but it cannot grow in a place where there is no room for it to flourish! If it is not given room, it is rendered uneffective.

- And where the word is ineffective in the life of the hearer, their life becomes unfruitful, unproductive spiritually.

- This is the person who is always coming to church, but never quite growing into maturity.

- They never quite achieve anything spiritually because they are attempting to serve two masters. By the way: Jesus said that was impossible!

• Matthew 13:23 : " But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.'" : The fourth type of hearer is the good ground hearer. This person has the complete package.

- I liked one of the definitions that I found for the word "good" in the Greek dictionary. It read, "excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends."

- That is an excellent description. It's great ground in that it is soft, ready to receive seed. It is all soil without admixture of rocks around it. And it's tilled, as all thorns are removed from sight.

- This good ground hearer hears the word. There is no mention of how or whether or not he is excited. He hears it and understands it. He understands it's relevancy to Himself.

- He is adapted toward the ends of that message. What fits in my life now that this message is the center of it? What no longer fits?

- Sometimes one has to question whether or not people have truly committed themselves to the gospel. Have they really understood it? If so, one wonders at behaviors that are contrary to it!

- The good ground hearer understands, comprehends the message of the Kingdom.

- He bears fruit, ie., obedience, repentance and faithfulness. Fruit is never something that a tree or a vine enjoys or judges themselves. Someone else always adjudicates it's value.

- People will see that you are a good ground hearer when your life is in conformity to Christ! There will be no denying it!

- Finally, this person is good ground in that he produces! The idea seems to be that God is able to multiply this person's belief over and over again!

- A good return for seed thrown would be 8 to 10. Jesus starts with a crop that is 3 times that amount!

- The seeds that come from this believer are planted in others, some in great measure, like a hundred and some in modest measure, as in the case with thirty.

- The point isn't to compare. The point is that whatever that good ground hearer is to produce, it's greater than what was started with!

Conclusion

- What are we to take from this for ourselves? First, we are to be encouraged to sow. Sow everywhere, to everyone! Let that seed fly!

- If we learn anything from this passage it is this: The seed we throw is the seed that grows! The result is out of our hands, so SOW!

- Second, we have understanding for failure and patience for success. The seed is not bad, neither is our delivery. It's the soil! It's the ground!

- We have to wait to see if our efforts have succeeded or failed.

- Finally, and this is personal: We must valiantly keep our hearts, so that our soil stays good!

- The word of the Kingdom is not just the word of salvation, it is also the word of sanctification!

- If the soil is to be good, it must first be soft. Don't harden your hearts to what God will say to you. Be ready to say "yes" to all that He says.

- Our soil must also be deep. Faithfulness and obedience are more precious than excitement and pleasure.

- Finally, our soil must be clean. There can be no other competing loyalty in your heart. Nothing else should compete with God's claim upon your life.