Bible Truth #38 - Matthew 13:3-9, 19-23

Matthew 13:3-9,19-23
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.

6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Before I start I want to point out something most overlook. Look at verse 9... who has ears? Obviously Jesus is NOT talking of physical ears because He knows we all have ears. So exactly to what was He referring? Answer - He is speaking of Spiritual ears. So I ask again, who has ears? The fact that Jesus even made the statement clearly implies that not all have spiritual ears. Well, how do we GET spiritual ears? Do we “will” them to ourselves? No. According to Deuteronomy 29:4 the only people who have ears are those whom God has given them. And without ears, a man can’t hear Spiritual Truth. THEREFORE, how can he understand or believe what he can’t hear? Answer - He can’t. Jesus even said as much in John 8:47 - those not chosen do NOT hear because they do NOT belong to God.

Now, understand the parable. Jesus explains it in verses 19-23. The seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). The different soils are the hearts of people. Verse 19: when anyone hears the Gospel (audibly) and doesn’t understand it, the devil snatches away what is sown in his heart. Well, who are those that don’t understand? According to 1 Corinthians 2:14, ALL THE LOST. No one who is lost will understand, nor will they EVER understand. Only those God has saved can understand the parable.

Verse 20 is the person who would be considered a tare (see Matthew 13:24-30). A tare is someone IN the church who looks like wheat but has no fruit, they’re a professed Christian, but not born-again. The same with verse 22, it may look like wheat but it is not fruitful. These are lost within the church that believe in their head, but not in their heart. They may be convinced (by man), but they are not convicted (by God) - and only God convicts.

But the bottom line is the reality of the soils. Can soil change its makeup? Can soil by the way (soil by the path) move itself and change into fertile soil on its own? Of course not. Can rocky soil become fertile ground on its own? Of course not. Can soil that produces thorns get rid of the thorns and become fruitful on its own? Of course not. So as with people’s hearts. The lost cannot, and are unable to, change their nature and believe (i.e. accept), they cannot change (Jeremiah 13:23) they will not come to the Light because they cannot stop hating the Light (John 3:20), they cannot please God (Romans 8:8), and they cannot understand (1 Corinthians 2:14).

It takes the Sower (God) to CHANGE the soil before it can be fruitful. The Sower (God) removes rocks from rocky soil and makes it fertile, the Sower puts up a fence to keep people off what was formerly a path and makes it fertile ground, the Sower pulls the weeds, brambles, and thorns out of soil to MAKE it fertile. It is ALL done by the Sower and NOTHING is done by the Soil. It is even God that causes the seed to grow, or NOT. (1 Corinthians 3:6)

The differents soils are the hearts of man and may I remind you Who forms every man’s heart? (Psalm 33:15)

One more thing to consider: does EVERY square foot of ground on the planet get seed? NO!! The Sower (God) puts seed (the Gospel) where He wants it. Believe it - because there ARE people dying every day who have never heard the Gospel. And it is God Who determines the times and places for every man to live (Acts 17:26). So is not God literally determining who even gets to hear the audible Gospel? YES! Just another example of the sovereignty of God in Election and Him doing the choosing, not man.

Please tell me - why is there NOT ONE parable, illustration, or teaching of Christ concerning salvation, where the object of salvation had anything to do with being saved?