 We're going to be looking today at the first 23 verses of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, and that's a portion of Scripture that actually introduces us to Jesus' teaching in what are called parables. And so I'm going to be giving to you the first parable that's a series of eight that you'll be finding in Matthew 13. And I'm going to be sharing with you some contextual things so that as we continue through chapter 13 of Matthew, we'll have an understanding of what parables are and why Jesus spoke in these parables. So this is going to be one of those introductory studies that has some depth to it, and it's also extremely challenging because this is going to be the parable of the sower and the seed. It's also been referred to as the parable of the soils, and you'll see why in just a moment. So let's begin reading together here in Matthew 13 at verse 1. I'm going to read all 23 verses, and then I'll give you an introduction, give you some definition and context, and then we'll move into our study today. We're looking at the parable of the soils. Beginning at verse 1, Matthew 13, 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. Then he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the 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. And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them, Shut up! No, he didn't. 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. 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, seeing you will see and not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are heart of hearing, their eyes, they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, your ears for they hear. For surely 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. Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. He 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. 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 choked the word, he becomes unfruitful. 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, and some thirty. Now Matthew is informing us here in chapter thirteen as we begin this particular Bible study. Matthew tells us that Jesus is leaving the house that he's been teaching in, and he goes to the seashore. We know that Jesus, if you were looking at a map, that Jesus is in the north, in a region that is called the Galilee, and he's by the sea of Galilee. And so he's been ministering up there. So earlier Matthew had made a mention of the fact that the Pharisees, the religious leaders, had begun to plot against the Lord Jesus Christ and how they might destroy him. And then when we looked at Matthew 12 verse 15, Matthew recorded the response of Christ at that point, and it said simply that when Jesus knew it, he withdrew from there. But Jesus had been withdrawing from the kind of public ministry, though he was still drawing multitudes, he was withdrawing from them at that moment, and was teaching the homes and things like that. But now he once again is going to reinstate his open ministry, and multitudes are gathering together to hear him. Now the interest in him and his message has not died down. Luke tells us in chapter 8 verse 4 that a great multitude had gathered and they had come to him from every city. So where Jesus was up in the north, he was now drawing great numbers of people. And Luke makes reference to the fact that there were great multitudes, great droves of people that were coming. And as he sees these people, I want you to see his response, because his response recorded in verse 3 is that he spoke many things to them, notice, in parables. He spoke many things to them. His response to the curiosity of people was to begin to challenge them. That's what he's doing with these crowds. Instead of just welcoming them in and saying, oh, it's great, I've become very popular. People are in droves following me now, and multitudes of people are listening to what I have to say. Instead of taking that kind of tact, he actually now, and you're going to see this very clearly in a moment, begins to challenge them. Now no doubt many came to him for a variety of reasons. He had become well-known for performing miracles, and just the fact that he was performing miracles began to draw people from all over. You saw that at the beginning in chapter 4 and verse 24 where it said there that his fame went throughout all Syria. They brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. And so they were already beginning to draw people, and his popularity to him, and his popularity had continued to grow, and they would often bring to him people in need of a miracle. Matthew records in chapter 9, for example, how he had raised a young girl from the dead. The report, he says, went out into all that land. Again in chapter 9, verse 31, he speaks of healing two blind men, and they spread the news about him in all that country. In chapter 9, verse 33, he casts a demon out, and people said it had never been seen like this in Israel. So his fame is growing, and multitudes are continuing to come to him. There's a growing misunderstanding at the same time of who he is, and the work that needs to be done, and he has to deal with that, because not all are recognizing him for who he is. So with that in mind, he begins to challenge them, and he does so by speaking specifically to them. In chapter 11, we saw that he spoke of them, the nation of Israel, as being children who are unstable, that they easily change their mind. We saw in chapter 11, verses 20 through 24, that he was speaking of judgment that would come. The judgment would come because they're rejecting him. So his ministry remains impactful. But many who are coming need to be challenged. Why is that? Well, he didn't come to attract crowds. He came to produce converts, and there's a difference. We need to remember, even those who are pastors and teachers need to remember, especially those who are pastors and teachers, need to remember that all growth isn't always good growth. There are times when the growth that people see even in churches that seem to be being blessed by numbers, there are times that that growth isn't healthy growth at all, because not all growth is necessarily good growth. A friend of mine was telling me about somebody in his church who began to work out and really enjoyed the bench press. In their workouts began to work a lot on their chest muscles. As they were pushing that weight, their muscles began to expand. He said, you know, this guy, he was so proud of the growth that he was seeing in his workouts that he started coming to church with his tank top on. He kind of walked through with his tank top, and people said, man, you're really building up. He said, and he was pretty proud of that because he'd been working so hard to develop this physique. He says, can you imagine how he felt when he went to the doctor because he wasn't feeling well and had an examination, and it turns out that the growth that he had on his chest was cancer. It was swelling not with muscle, but with disease. Not all growth is good growth. And just because there may be numbers of people following after Jesus Christ, at least in the appearance they're showing up, and there are multitudes of people, doesn't mean that every person there has the same kind of heart for God and wants to know the things of God. And just because people may show up in large Christian things, you know, at concerts and conferences and even church services, just because there are numbers of people doesn't always mean that the people showing up have a heart for God. There are various kinds of soil that are represented whenever the Lord's word is being taught, and that's what this parable is going to teach us about. You see, Jesus in this chapter begins to give a series of parables, and that really is going to be kind of a new technique for him to teach with. He's going to speak to them at this time only in parables. You see that in verse 34 of chapter 13, where he said, all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them. So he's going to be using this as a teaching technique. Now why would he be using an illustration, a parable? Why would he do that? Now illustrations can be interesting, they're easy to remember, and they can be easy to apply. And in this chapter as mentioned before, he gives a series of eight parables. In his teaching, Jesus altogether gave somewhere around 39 teachings in parables. So somebody says, well, that's interesting, but what is a parable? See we use a language in churches called Christenese. We use words that those who are also part of the Christian family that they would know the definition of, and one of those words that we use is parable. But what does a parable mean? What's the word mean? The word literally, it's a Greek word, and the word parable literally means to throw alongside for the purpose of comparison. A parable has been called an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And when Jesus would teach with illustration, he normally had at least three reasons for doing that. Why would Jesus teach with parables for three basic reasons? One is to conceal, the other is to reveal, and the third would be to fulfill. To conceal, reveal, and fulfill. Why would he use stories? Why would he illustrate? It's so that he won would conceal. Listen, when he gave the story, when he gave the parable, those who are not interested, those who are not spiritually hungry, are not going to pursue the meaning because they are what would be called lazy listeners. And they're lazy listeners because their heart is filled with unbelief. And so somebody who hears the story and is not interested is simply not wanting to invest the energy to actually discover what that meaning could actually be to that story. So it conceals. It conceals from people who have no interest whatsoever. But on the other hand, it will reveal. It will reveal to those who have a hunger to know. So a parable could be used to reveal truth for those who are hungry for the kingdom of God. When they heard Jesus speaking in the parables, they would listen carefully that they might understand. It's kind of like what he said in Matthew 5, verse 6, when he said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. So there's one, the lazy listener who could care less. There's the hungry listener who wants to know more. And so you conceal and you reveal, but you also will fulfill because Jesus here and we'll see this in a moment is saying that this fulfills what Isaiah the prophet said as is recorded in Isaiah chapter 6, verses 9 and 10. So it's going to fulfill what a prophet said. You see in the book of Isaiah, and we'll see this again in just a moment when I look at this with you, but in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah was not responding to the message of the Lord. In the time of Christ, Israel was not responding to her Messiah. And that needed to be spoken to. And so these parables are going to reveal that God's plan will be fulfilled in spite of rejection and in spite of opposition. The kingdom in its fulfillment will be postponed until Israel believes and receives her king. So these parables actually are going to reveal something that is called the church age. That is something that was in the Old Testament regarded as what is called a mystery or a secret. When Paul was speaking concerning the church in Ephesians in chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, he spoke of the church which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, heirs together of one body and sheirs together in the promise of Christ Jesus. You see in the Old Testament, when you read the Old Testament, you have humanity separated or divided into two segments. You have Israel and you have Gentiles. And so God did a work amongst Israel. In the New Testament, you have humanity divided into Jew, Gentile, and the church. And the church is made up of believing Jew and Gentile, which is a new thing, but that was not clearly revealed in the Old Testament, but has come to full expression in the New Testament. In Romans 16, verses 25 and 26, Paul said it like this. He said, to him who was able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for a long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God so that all nations might believe and obey him. And so in the New Testament, that's why Jesus will ultimately give that commission and say, go into all the world and make disciples. And so that word went not from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but it also was to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus is giving to us parables here to give us insight into God's work in the church, in the future. You see, the disciples needed to understand that their mission was to be evangelization until the return of the Lord. And so that's what these parables are going to give us insight into and we'll see them one by one and you'll see how that works out. And so with that, in verses one and two, the Bible tells us that Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the sea, great multitudes gathered together to hear him as he's teaching and he begins to give an illustration or a parable. He says in verses three through eight, a sower went out to sow and as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside. So what he does is he uses a common picture for the people of Israel during that day. They understood exactly what he was saying because in Israel, it was agricultural, especially in the north, and it was a common thing for you to see, if you lived up this in an agricultural area, it was common for you to see a man with a bag of seed on your shoulder, on his shoulder, as he would reach in and as he would throw seed. So it's a common illustration that they were able to understand. And so it's a picture to help to clarify what God wants to do. So he speaks of the sower who goes out to sow. In verse four, it speaks of him sowing some seed. Notice he says, as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them. So he speaks concerning the wayside. The wayside is what you would call the hardened path that borders a field. It's where foot traffic would occur. If you're looking at a field, you will see where people normally will walk. It's like a natural sidewalk. And so he speaks of the wayside. Then in verses five and six, 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. So now he speaks of the stony places. The stony places speaks of ground that has an underlying bed of rock. And this ground is covered with shallow blanket of dirt. It was deeper than the plow could reach, but there was no depth of earth. So the seeds would germinate quickly. But the roots could not penetrate the stone and ended up springing above ground faster than normal. They looked healthy, but because they didn't have a mature root system, they quickly withered. Then he goes into verse seven and he says, Some fell among thorns, the thorns sprang up and choked them. Now the thorns he's speaking about are the thistle-bearing weeds that choke out the good seed. The weeds took up the space, took the moisture, took the nourishment, took the sunlight from the healthy plants. Then finally he says in verse eight, Others fell on good ground and yielded a crop. Some 100-fold, some 60, some 30. And so this ground is fertile, it's receptive. And notice with me it's able to produce what would be called a spectacular harvest. You see during this period a good crop was looked at at being a ratio of eight to one. But Jesus here speaks of 100-fold, 60-fold, and 30-fold. That's a spectacular harvest. And then he goes on to say in verse nine, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Listen closely. If you have a desire to understand, then you will. Somebody said, Let every person who feels the necessity of being instructed in the things that concern his soul's welfare pay attention to what is spoken, and he shall become wise unto salvation. So he gives this parable. We're going to look at its interpretation in just a moment. But as he gives this parable, notice the disciples in verse ten. 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. Why do you speak to them in parables? Notice his answer. It has been given. That word given in the original means granted. It has been granted to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. It has been granted to you to know the mysteries. What does that tell us? That tells us that kingdom truth is revealed to man by God. And if God were not to reveal himself to us, we would not know him. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah 45 verse 15, Isaiah said, Surely you are a God who hides yourself. Oh, God of Israel the Savior. You are a God who hides yourself. Listen, if God wanted to play cosmic hide and seek, nobody would find him. He has to reveal himself. He has to tell us who he is. You see, man doesn't naturally seek to please God, and man does not naturally seek after him. Without God's help, the Bible makes it very clear that we aren't actually at war with him. We habitually reject him. We do. We don't even realize we're doing it half the time, but we are rejecting him. We are not listening to him. He's speaking to our heart. And naturally, we're just not receiving what he says. We can look like we are. We can act like we are, but in fact we're not. I remember as a kid, my dad was lecturing me, and I was seated across from him. I still remember where it was. It was in the kitchen at my parents' home. I was 17 years old, and my dad was lecturing me. He was upset about something or other, and was lecturing and looking in his eyes, and I was thinking something else, something entirely different. I know none of you have ever done that. I know you're all just really listening carefully. But me, I was just looking at him, and I was thinking something else, like when I get out of here, I'll just go to my friend's house or whatever. But I was looking at him, and my dad finally says after a few minutes, he says, you're not listening to me, are you? And I said, yes, of course I am. Speak for your servant hears. And I said, yeah, I'm listening to you, Dad. He says, then what did I just say? So I made something up, what he had said before. And I just, well, you said, blah, blah, blah. I just made something up, and he looks at me, and he goes, yeah, that's what I was saying. And I go, wow, you know, got over. That's the way it is. Any parent in here knows exactly what my dad was going through, what I've gone through with my own kids. They're speaking to them, and they're not listening. They look in your direction, but they're not listening. They may paint eyeballs on their eyelids so that it looks like they're looking at you, but they're not listening. That's how people can be. I had somebody approach me in between 1st and 2nd today, and they said, you know, she's going through something, and she had to be out in the foyer. She said, I was sitting there just watching these two guys asleep. She said, they were snoring, Pastor. I said, well, they must have been staff members. That's what they do. But that happens. I mean, that happens. You know that, and I know that. I have been giving Sunday morning services. I still remember this one real well, and I can tell you where it was. 2nd row from the front, right in front of me, and it wasn't in here. It was in another chapel that we were renting, and a lady, sometimes they can be very entertaining because their eyes start crossing, because, you know, they're about to go. The lady fell asleep during the message and fell over. She literally fell over. The power of the Spirit. No, she fell over and landed on somebody's lap. And everybody starts losing it, you know, there, because she says, so you can be in church, you can be listening to Jesus Christ Himself live, and still be going, I'm not listening. And he's addressing that. You know, one of the things about the Lord that I find interesting in terms of his teaching style is he was the master communicator. He was the master communicator, and very often he uses illustrations. Why? 39 different times. You can see him using particular why. He would use illustration for a lot of reasons. One, like I mentioned, it illustrated heavenly truth to you because we would be familiar with somebody doing this particular thing here. This is somebody sowing seed. And that agricultural people would understand that very well. So it would grab our interest, but because when you give doctrinal teachings, simple doctrinal teachings, sometimes the people will get lost in the doctrinal teaching, and so what you'll do is you will bring in a story. And when you bring the story in, they reconnect. It happens here. You'll find stories that I'll give to you on occasion, and you'll wonder, how come he's given a story? It's because I'm watching people do this. And then I'll say, you know, I remember when, and they listen, tell me a story, daddy. Okay, you know, it's kind of like... And the Lord would use these illustrations because that would capture them, and they'd say, so that's how that works. I was wondering, and that's what the Lord is doing here. He's giving them information. Listen, if God worked to hide himself, no man could find him because kingdom truth is revealed to man by God. Man doesn't naturally seek to please the Lord. Man doesn't naturally seek after him. In 1 Corinthians 2, 14, Paul said it like this. He said, the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. The natural man is another way of speaking of an unregenerate person. Someone who hasn't been born again. Somebody who's not the temple of the Spirit of God. They don't receive. They don't welcome in the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because they are foolishness. The word foolishness is also imbecilic or moronic. It makes no sense. You're telling me to turn the other cheek when this guy has sent this about me? You've got that makes no sense to the natural man. You mean I have to be born again? How can I be born again to enter into the kingdom? Am I to enter into my mother's womb a second time and be born again? Well, that's what Nicodemus said. A natural man. How's one receive eternal life? You're born again. How? By going back into mama's womb? No. And that's why Jesus gives illustrations. The wind goes where it wants, and you see it's a fact, but you don't know where it came from. Even so, as every man who's been born of the Spirit, the Spirit leads that person. Unless you're born again, you cannot see nor enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's what Jesus taught. People say, you're born again. There's no Jesus taught that. Jesus taught you need to receive the power of the Spirit, transform life through regeneration. So that, oh, that's what it means. So he uses illustrations quite often. You see, God, as we read our scriptures, is beyond our finding out. Our small intellect could never comprehend God. Because of man's pride, we think we can discover Him on our own. Well, that's because the God that man creates is always much smaller. In Isaiah 55, 8, and 9, God said it like this. God said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways my ways, saith the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts, then your thoughts. You think down here, and God's thoughts are up there, and unless He reveals Himself, we would never know Him. Matthew 11, 27, Jesus said, all things have been committed to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. No one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. So he's making it clear that His followers have the privilege. They've been privileged by God, by Heaven Himself, that they might know Him. They have the privilege of knowing Him. Verse 11, it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. But to them, it has not been given. You see, it's possible to know things about God. It's not hard to collect information. There's a program on right now with some well-known actor, and it's God. That's what they're calling it, basically God. And then, how is it that people believe in God? And then He goes on, and He's going to give you different kinds of religious systems, and it's interesting in this and that. I went to Cal State Fullerton, and while I was in Cal State Fullerton, I took a cultural anthropology class. And the professor was talking about what are called universals. That every culture has certain universals. There are things that are common in every culture on the face of the earth. And so he began to speak in terms of the universal things that you'll find in culture, language. You'll find marriage and definitions of family. I mean, these are cultural universals. And one of the universals that he spoke about is every culture has a concept of God. Every culture that has yet to be discovered an atheistic culture. And this man was an atheist. My professor was an atheist. And he said, I hate to have to say this. This is what he said. I hate to have to say this. But one of the universals is everybody believes in a God. And so we are not naturally pursuing him. God makes his way known to us. And we can also have facts that were given to us that doesn't mean that we actually understand the facts that we can repeat. And there's an interesting scripture. It's one of the scriptures that I really like. It's found in Psalm 103, verse 7. And it says, he made known his ways to Moses his acts to the children of Israel. His acts to the children of Israel, his ways to Moses. Now there's a difference between knowing ways and acts. See, to illustrate, story time. Wake up. To illustrate. Okay, I go to Calvary-Chino Valley. They're going to have worship. It's going to go 12 to 15 minutes. There's going to be a video bulletin. May have a guess. It comes out and shares a little bit. There'll be a song. We'll all stand. We're going to hold hands. Then Pastor David's going to come out and say something dumb. You'll pray. We'll sit down. Pastor David is going to share some things. Oh, by the way, and share some things. Then he's going to say, let's open up the Word. We're going to all open our Bibles. He's going to give us a Bible study. Now we know when he's going to stop speaking because he slows down and his voice gets softer. So about that time, about 40 minutes into it, he'll do that. Then we'll start closing our Bibles because we're telling them, shut up. You've been speaking long enough. Then he's going to close with a prayer. He's going to give an invitation. Sometimes they'll invite people to come forward. You know. So you know what I'm going to do, don't you? You know before I come out what I'm going to do. I'm going to walk out from that door. I'm going to walk over here. I'm going to stand behind here. I'm going to say something silly. We'll get into a Bible study. I'll try to teach. Then I'm going to close. You know what my acts are. My actions, my activities. You can tell me what I'm going to do because you know what I'm going to do. Have you ever seen me come out that door? No, I always come out that door. Right? So that's... You know my acts. My wife knows my ways. There's a difference. My children know my ways. You know my acts. You know what I do. My wife can tell you why I do that. She knows my... my ways. Why? See, the children of Israel could say God delivered us through the signs, took us into the wilderness, crossed the Red Sea, gave us manna to eat, and water from a rock. They could tell you the actions of God. Moses could tell you why God did those things. And there are people who have the knowledge of the activities. That comes through catechismal classes or Bible studies or Sunday school. I was taught these things, the Ten Commandments. I was taught the various prayers. I was taught the Apostles Creed. I received a lot of primary teaching when I was a little boy. I went through the different classes and I was able to give to you activities. I could tell you that Jesus died on the cross. I could tell you that he was buried. I could tell you that he rose the third day. I could tell you he remained on earth for 40 days. He ascended into heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell those who would believe in him. I knew that because the Apostles Creed said that. And I memorized that. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ, his only son, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day I rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven. I could tell you those things. I memorized that at the age of seven. But at the age of 17 I'm smoking pot and I'm arguing with my Jehovah's Witness cousin about God. You don't want to know activities. You want to know reasons. You want to know the God who does that. And Jesus is saying I give parables because it separates. It causes the lazy listener to say who needs this. But it also causes the person with hunger to say I need to know that. And not just that. I need to know him. And that's what Jesus is doing with these parables. He's sharing with people that salvation is more than being able to, like a parrot, speak. Grew up in Norwalk. Story time. I grew up in Norwalk. My dad had a friend who lived in Ontario. Ontario to me was the uttermost part of the earth. Because man, we're driving from Norwalk out here. Why? Well, his friend had horses. And so we would come out to his friend's house and ride horses. And it was fun when I was a little boy. And I can still remember coming out to his house. He lived out here, I think, off of Euclid. Long time ago now. And we went to the door and knocked on the door. And we heard come in and we came in. We walked into the house, sat down in the front room. My brother, me, maybe one of my sisters. And as we're seated there, we're there for a few minutes. And my dad said, I don't know why they haven't come to say anything. And his name was Lucky. His friend was Lucky. Lucky came walking around the corner and was startled. Oh, Frank! I didn't know you were here. And my dad says, What do you mean? You said, come in. He said, I didn't even hear you knock on the door. No, you said, come in. He said, Frank, I never said, come in. I didn't know you were here. Oh, he said, they had a minor bird. True story. They had a minor bird. And he said, watch, he knocks on the door and the minor bird says, come in. Come in. You know, I learned a long time ago, I could be a minor bird. I believe in God. I believe in God. I could repeat what I was taught, but I didn't believe what I was saying. And that happens, doesn't it? You know how to say what you think they want you to say, what you think they want you to hear. But in fact, with my mouth I'm professing faith in God, but my heart is far from him. Parables. And Jesus is speaking concerning that. You see, the children knew what God did. Moses knew why God did them. He disclosed himself to Moses in a way that he didn't disclose himself to others. And that's why Jesus in verse 11 said to them, it hasn't been given. They didn't have a desire for him. They didn't have the faith. They weren't depositing in him. When he says in verse 12, 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. In the spiritual life there is no standing still. Either you're gaining or you're losing. Those who believe in Jesus will progress in their faith. And they walk with him. So either you're progressing or you're stagnating. Either you're advancing or you're declining. Now in the case of the apostles, they received Christ. They were advancing. They had a great need to grow, of course, but they were progressing in their understanding of the kingdom. On the other hand, whoever does not have even what he has will be taken from him. It will be taken means to be removed. It will be removed from him. Now those who have a basic knowledge of things that are spiritual may have had a heritage. Maybe they went through Sunday school or whatever. Maybe they received instruction. But as they grew older, they were never born again. They never understood. They never pursued. And even that initial training will fade away. When they refuse to trust in God, they grow colder to the gospel. They may even lose any of the memories of early days. The things they had been taught. They fade away. I have spoken to people who say, you know I was raised in the church and I went to Sunday school. But I don't remember any of that. I don't remember any of that. Because if you don't practice, you don't progress. When I was nine years old, I started learning to play the trumpet. And I played the trumpet until I was in high school. That's not something I'm proud of. My dad, my dad liked the trumpet and as a little boy I wanted to give my dad in my way of thinking as a kid, I wanted to give him a gift of me trying to learn to play an instrument that he liked. There was a song that I still associate with my father. It's called Wonderland by Night. It's a trumpet, a song that features trumpet and my dad liked it. And it just was something that I liked. And so I tried to learn how to play it and obviously never really could. But I tried to learn to play. And I played the trumpet nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. And then at the age of fourteen, I said I don't feel like doing this anymore and that's when I gave up the musical instrument. It's interesting because I was okay, I wasn't great of course, but in any means. I enjoyed playing it, I did play it, I played it often. But my grandson came home to our home with a trumpet and I tried to play it. If you don't practice, you lose it. You can't do it. You make just some odd sounds and remember the scale. You don't sound so good anymore because that's just the way it is. And even the little that you had, you will no longer have. Because if you don't add to your faith then that what you had or if you don't add to the instruction and embrace then you lose it and so the Lord is making it clear that that's what happens. Now it's interesting in verses 13 through 15 how he says I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear. And at this point as mentioned a little earlier he's quoting from the book of Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10. In Isaiah chapter 6, 9 and 10, Isaiah was giving a word to the nation of Israel. You see in the time of Isaiah over seven centuries before Christ the Jewish nation had become guilty of rejecting God. No matter how God had called to them to repent they refused to hear him. So when you read the book of Isaiah and you look at the first chapter in chapter 1 it says in verses 2 through 4 here oh heavens and give ear oh earth for the Lord has spoken I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib but Israel does not know my people do not consider a last sinful nation a people laden with iniquity a brood of evildoers children who are corrupters they have forsaken the Lord they have provoked to anger the holy one of Israel they have turned away backward. So these opening words are really an opening argument in a lawsuit. Isaiah is like a prosecuting attorney and he lists God's charges against the nation. God says my children have rebelled against me without cause I nourished them they have brought them up and they have rebelled against me. He says my people do not consider my people don't understand even unthinking beasts like an ox and a donkey are more considerate than Judah has been. He says they have forsaken the Lord the word forsaken means abandoned they have provoked the holy one of Israel to anger the holy one is Isaiah's favorite title used 25 times in reference to God and then he says backsliders. So what is Israel known for? Rebellion ignorance, leaving, provoking backsliding and all of this is their responsibility. Israel's guilty of rejecting God Israel doesn't hear his voice. They were obstinate they hardened their heart they ignored his word and they loved their sin. Israel ultimately was judged through Assyria later through Babylon. Isaiah 1.7 says your country is desolate your cities are burned with fire strangers devour your land in your presence it's desolate overthrown by strangers. Well this hardness was still true in the day of Christ John the Baptist was the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his path straight when it says that he was the voice of one crying that word crying means to shout. He was shouting out in the wilderness of sin because sin ruined lives and he cried for them prepare the way make his path straight he called Israel to clear the debris out of the way straighten out the roads so Messiah might enter in but the majority are still refusing and voluntarily closing their eyes and ears to him and he says in this Isaiah's prophecy is being fulfilled verse 16 but blessed are your eyes for they see your ears for they hear for assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and did not see it to hear what you hear did not hear it think about that one for just a moment rejoice God's truth has been revealed to you and you are able to see the unseen many prophets many righteous people desire to see what you see and didn't Abraham Isaac Jesus David Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah they all desire to see Messiah and they were moved by the spirit to write in 1 Peter it says in chapter 1 verses 10 through 12 concerning the salvation the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care trying to find out the time and circumstance to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven even angels long to look into these things don't take this book that you have in your hand for granted Abraham Isaac Jacob David Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah wanted to know the things that have been openly revealed to us through Jesus Christ and we ought to be so grateful blessed are your eyes for they see because these Old Testament saints long to see these things but these things have been fulfilled and we can now hold fast to those things by faith and so you say okay but are you going to give to us the parable yes verse 18 therefore hear the parable of the sower when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart this is he who received seed by the wayside 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 rooting himself but endures only for a while or when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles now he who received seed among the thorns as he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word he becomes unfruitful but he who received seed on the good ground as he who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundred fold some sixty and some thirty so as we look at this according to verse 37 of chapter 13 Jesus is the sower he answered and said to them he who sows the good seed is the son of man Jesus is the sower according to Luke chapter 8 verse 11 the seed is the word of God so he is saying Jesus is the sower the seed is the word and then in verse 19 when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and doesn't understand it the wicked one comes and takes it away this is speaking of the seed that fell by the wayside it's important to point out that the seed is good it's the person who is callous he doesn't understand why because he is callous he is unconcerned about the things of God the wayside represents where people walk it's a footpath that's heavily traveled and thus the soft ground has become hardened like a sidewalk when the seed drops on it into that seed into that ground and birds come and take it away and so the wicked one he says snatches the seed away they hear the message but they reject it they have no desire to listen they are hardened in their sin and there are people I have to tell you they have you know this they have no desire to hear have no desire to hear it doesn't matter to them they don't want to hear the word of God it's very easy for the word to go out the wayside kind of hardened the wayside kind of heart they don't want to hear please there are people who bring their kids to church here and the kid is just waiting until they turn 18 and then bang I'm out of here I don't need this I don't believe this you can believe it if you want I just don't believe it there are people who are invited to church service like this or perhaps other places maybe a conference maybe a crusade or whatever and they listen and their arms fold they really don't care these are wayside people the seed is sown their hearts are hard and it finds no root within them it's no way it's going to produce any kind of fruit they don't care they really don't just last week after service somebody came into our bookstore a young man right here just last week after second service decided that wanted to burglarize it opened up one of the cases that we have to have various little bracelets and things he had some kind of pry bar instrument that he used grabbed a handful of stuff and went running down the road and ended up trying to sell it sold it actually to store in local area long story made short he was discovered brought back sat down and one of my staff members shared the love of Christ with him and tried to talk to him and he says listen I already know all that stuff he says I've come here for various things before I don't need this I don't want it that's wayside that's a hardened heart the seed has no place in him he doesn't care and some in this room may not be like that in particular and I wouldn't say that you are but that doesn't mean that your heart can't be like that how many times your mom is shared with you or your daddy is shared with you or grandpa and uncle or friend or pastor and your heart you just say man get me out of here I don't need this garbage you believe it if you want that's what I used to tell my mom and my mom wasn't even a believer that was my mom you need God and I say you need God he's your crutch I don't need your crutch he's your crutch and that's how I'd speak to my mom I'd say you can have him if you want him I'm praying for you son pray all you want but don't pray for me I don't need your prayers I don't believe in the God that you say you worship and that's how I was at 16 and 17 18 and 19 into my 20th year I don't need it leave me alone and some of you some of you are the same way some of you are the same way a grandma who prayed for you a mama who prayed for you a friend who prayed for you you have somebody who loved you and they would tell you this is what the word says you want to be my friend please leave me alone would you stop pressuring me I don't need it you need it and I'm glad that you have it the world needs more people like that but I don't want what you have away side way side the word is finding no place to bear any fruit way side he goes on in verse 20 he will receive 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 indoors only for a while when tribulation and persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles stony places ground, that receives the seed, but it has no root. I mean, it's got this lower layer of rock, and so it springs up. It has every appearance that something has actually happened. Happening it. There's an immediate response, but it's very shallow. And then there are those who say this is a good illustration of what has been referred to as easy believism. You have a soft-sal Gospel that says, listen, if Jesus comes in your life, all your problems will be gone forever. And so you say, well, that sounds good to me. But then you encounter something and it's tough. You may raise your hand. You may come forward. You may be happy. But when something happens in your life that disturbs you, you immediately fall away. You didn't have a real relationship with Jesus. You just received a soft-sal Gospel that didn't prepare you for what was coming. Then you have third, the one who received when he says it in verse 22, you receive seed among the thorns, see who hears the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, he becomes unfruitful. This one is just so worldly. The word has no place in him. We used to use the word, I don't know if it's even used commonly anymore. It was used in a negative way when I grew up where they would say, he's a materialist man. Materialism is his God. He's a materialist. He wants first and foremost material gain. That's what he wants. And that's what Jesus is speaking about. A person who says, and notice with me in verse 22, he speaks of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. One who says, if I just had a little bit more, I'd be really satisfied. How much is enough? A little bit more. You ask the millionaire, how much is enough? And he says, just a little bit more. A little bit more. You don't hear him say a little bit less. Because when your heart is caught up with a little bit more, then that crowds out anything else that might be able to give you what is lasting. I've done a number of funerals, and I have attended more than one person who is on their deathbed. I don't think I've ever heard any one of them say, my one regret is I didn't get that car I wanted. I didn't get that house. You don't hear that when people are dying. You don't. You don't hear them turn to you know, pastor, I just didn't get enough education. What they usually say, they say things like, I didn't love my family enough. I put things in front of my kids. I didn't treat my friends the way that I feel terrible, and now it's too late. That's what you hear. I have never heard somebody say, I wish I'd have made another million. Never. And Jesus speaks about that, and he says, these people were crowded by the cares of this world. But finally, verse 23, he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it and bears fruit produces 100 full 60 some 30. This soil is good because it was properly prepared to receive the seed that was sown. This soil is not filled with unbelief and therefore receives by faith the word. It becomes productive and spiritual fruit occurs. It's like what Jesus said in John 15, verse five, when he said, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. It's like what Paul spoke of in Galatians five 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control against such. There is no law. Colossians 110 where Paul said, I pray that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work increasing in the knowledge of God. And so that's the fruit that comes from having a relationship with God. And notice each one produces according to its own capacity, some 160, some 30, whatever your capacity in the Lord is, you are to produce. And the key to becoming productive is simply being faithful to what God has given to you. You see in first Corinthians four two, Paul said it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. And so in this room right now, and those who are listening in the overflow, those who are watching via the Internet, watching online, the question that we would be asked this morning as we're about to close as simple, what kind of soil am I? Am I the wayside? Am I stony ground? Am I amongst the thorns? Or am I productive? Do I do I hunger and thirst after the Lord? Do I desire more of God? Do I want to produce fruit for eternity? Or am I so so hung up on the cares of this world? Or when things get difficult, do I turn from the Lord instead of turning to him? Where's my heart? And that's what Jesus wants us to answer for ourselves today. Where is your heart? Because if it's with the Lord, he wants to produce fruit in you. And I have to tell you, after a number of years of following Jesus Christ, there is nothing more joyful than to know that you're producing fruit for the kingdom of God. There's nothing that lasts longer than the eternal reward that Jesus will give to you when he says, well done, my good, my faithful servant. To hear him say, enter into the joy of your Lord. That should drive everything within the heart of a genuine believer.