Sunday Morning Podcast February 19, 2017. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT: MATTHEW 13:4-9
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Here Jesus is speaking to the multitudes in parables (or symbolically). He likened people’s hearts, as various types of ground that the gospel is sown in. When the disciples asked why Christ spoke in parables, He essentially told them it was because God’s Word was only for those who were honest “hearers” of it, not those who don’t yet know how to value it. For the seeds of God’s Word, is not meant to be treated as common, but as rare, and precious. Unfortunately much of religion presents the experience of Salvation, as a life without consequences. God intends His Word only for those truly seeking the treasure of it’s holiness.
This parable deals with 4 types of ground. First the wayside ground is the heart that “hears” the gospel, but doesn’t make a place for it’s redemption power to germinate in their life. The fowls of false religion then comes, plucks up, and devours up those seeds of truth. The stony ground, is a shallow faith, so the seeds spring up with no deepness. This causes seeds of faith to be “burned up” as the heat of adversities come, ultimately bringing spiritual death. The thorny ground happens when a person allows themselves to be affected too much by the cares of life, so that they cannot really prosper in faith. The good ground, is when a soul hears God’s Word, the seeds find a humble and receptive heart, that doesn’t allow obstacles to keep good spiritual fruit from growing.
Sometimes all these different ground/heart conditions can affect one person at different times in their life. This does not mean that there is sin in the heart, but rather a spiritual lack. In any an all of these ground conditions, we need to ask God to plow our heart ground, so that we can bring forth the pure fruit of those gospel seeds that were sown. What is not present in a heart that is of good fruitful ground for God? First it is not wayside ground, and there are no stones or thorns allowed to reside. Only a humble heart that is receptive to all of God’s precious word is good ground, bringing forth the fruits of righteousness.
Is your heart of good ground? A humble “heart ground” will bear good fruit!