Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661
Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org
OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”
Nobleton Community Church
Date September 8, 2024
Text Matthew 13:19; 24-30
Pastor Paul Lehmann
Last week we emphasized that Phillip had “the Power of One” because of the Holy Spirit calling him and using him in a large revival meeting in Samaria, but then was told to go on the road in Gaza to an Ethiopian who was trying to understand the book of Isaiah.
I have mentioned before about the “Sower” who went out to sow the seed (the word of God), and in our text that Carol read, we see that the seed fell on different kinds of soil.
This parable is aimed at two different sets of people; that is,
Those who preach the word, but also the main group Is,
Those who hear the word.
The parable certainly teaches that the Word of God can be accepted in different ways, and the fruit that it produces depends on the It is like this with what Jesus is saying to us. He is basically saying —Are you hearing? When he says “Those who have ears to hear, let him hear.”
The message Jesus communicated through this parable was so important that all three synoptic Gospel writers recorded it. Although the lesson is quite simple, this parable received special treatment by being carefully interpreted by Jesus in verses 18-23. The main message in this parable is simply that: the human soul may be compared to:
VARIOUS TYPES OF SOIL IN WHICH THE SEED OR THE WORD OF GOD IS SCATTERRED.
1.The first soil which was very hard—probably like clay that with the sun bearing down, became so hardened that the seed just lay on top and the birds could easily come and eat it. These birds are like the evil one (Satan) who comes and snatches away what was sown in a person’s heart.
- The second kind of soil we are told was rocky. Often we think of it as soil containing a lot of rocks, but actually a field with a lot of small rocks or stones in it would still permit some seed to go down and establish roots. What we have here is soil only a few inches deep covering a layer of limestone. This soil may be compared to a person with a flighty mind who refuses to think deeply and thoroughly. These are people who enjoy a fad or something new, people for whom form is more important than substance, people for whom an emotional appeal is far preferable to a reasoned appeal. This type of soil is deceptive because on the surface it appears as good as any other soil. It’s all the more deceptive because evidence of life appears immediately from the seed. However, the lack of a root system soon forces the untimely death of the plant before fruit or grain has been produced. Some people who receive the Word of God eagerly embrace it wholeheartedly and end up abandoning their new faith because they have not considered the full implications of its life-transforming power. Some people use Christianity simply as a way for their immediate problem to be taken care of, and when their problem is solved, they quickly revert to their former lifestyle and belief system. On another occasion, Jesus said that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit People of shallow soil are not willing for the seed to die and therefore, are not really ever able to bear fruit.
- The thorny soil is also deceptive because it looks good, but is crowded with competing seeds. Like a busy, cluttered life, the thorny soil is filled with many activities that claim a person’s attention and affection. The current pursuit of self-actualizing and self-fulfilling activities is an example of thorns in a person’s life. Jesus mentioned that the thorns are like the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. Again we have a situation where the implications of the fullness of the kingdom of god and its expectations for its followers are not readily comprehended.
- Finally, the fertile soil is completely unlike the other three.
Verse 23 shows the four types of soil representing different responses to God’s message. People respond differently because they are in different states of readiness. Some are hardened, others are shallow, others are contaminated by distractions and worries, but some are receptive.
My good friend Dr. David Schroeder who was in college with me, and was on the Basketball team with me, wrote a commentary on Matthew and comments about where the good seed fell. He says; …”it is unlike the hardened path because it is soft It is unlike the rocky soil because it is deep. It is unlike the thorny soil because it is clean. This type of person is prepared to hear, understand, and obey the teaching of the kingdom.
The question for us this morning is;
HOW HAS GOD’S WORD TAKEN ROOT IN YOUR LIFE?
WHAT KIND OF SOIL ARE YOU?
Verse 9 says; “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!” Human ears hear many sounds, but there is a deeper kind of listening that results in spiritual understanding. If you honestly seek God’s will, you have spiritual hearing, and these parables will give you new perspectives.
Verse 10 we read; “His disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you always tell stories when you talk to people?” When speaking in parables (or stories), Jesus was not hiding the truth from sincere seekers, because those who were receptive to spiritual truth understood the illustrations. To others, they were only stories without meaning. This allowed Jesus to give spiritual food to those who hungered for it while preventing his enemies from trapping him sooner than they might otherwise have done.
Jesus was saying to the disciples that this message was the one that the prophets of the Old Testament knew would come through God’s chosen Messiah.
Through this parable:
JESUS COMMUNICATED VARIOUS MESSAGES. He communicated:
a message of encouragement.
Seeds from the Word of God will be sown and find suitable soil in which to grow and produce a wonderful crop called the kingdom of God.
Jesus also offered,
a message of realism in that He clearly stated that not everyone will be responsive to the word of God. Nevertheless, the disciples should be persistent because the seed needs to be sown, regardless of the unresponsiveness of some people.
Verse 12 Jesus said; “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 (and hearing), even what they have will be taken away from them.”
Verse 13 “That is why I tell these stories, because people see what I do, but they don’t really see. They hear what I say, but they don’t really hear, and they don’t understand.
Verse 14 “This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah (6:9-10) which says; “You will hear my words but you will not understand. You will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning.
Verse 15 “For the heart of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—–so their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.
How easy it is to agree with Christ with no intention of obeying. It is easy to denounce worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth and still do nothing to change our ways. :
JESUS ALSO BROUGHT A MESSAGE ABOUT PATIENCE.
It takes a long time for the seed to bear fruit, but there is life in the seed and eventually, that seed will sprout in the right soil and bear the fruit of the kingdom of God. Therefore, the message is also one of great hope to the disciples and us.
Then in verses 24-30, we see:
THE TARES (WEEDS) AND WHEAT EXPLAINED AS AN ACT OF AN ENEMY.
This particular kind of weed that Jesus refers to, would have been very familiar to a Palestinian audience. It was like a curse to those who were farmers. It was a weed called “bearded darnel” or (Lolium Temulentum). In their early stages the weeds looked just like the wheat or barley and you couldn’t really tell which were weeds and which were wheat. (Now I have sometimes had trouble telling which were weeds and which were flowers, You don’t want to mow the flowers, but it’s ok to mow the weeds. (The weeds will come back again though if you don’t dig them out by the roots). The darnel could be distinguished easily once the wheat began to get a head of grain on it, but by that time their roots were so intertwined that the weeds (the darnel) could not be weeded out without tearing the wheat out with them.
The picture of a man deliberately sowing Darnel in someone else’s field is by no means only imagination. This was actually sometimes done. To this day in India one of the worst threats that a man can make to his enemy is “I will sow bad seed in your field,” and in codified Roman law this crime is forbidden and its punishment was a fine or a flogging.
The whole series of pictures within this parable was familiar to the people of Galilee who heard I for the first time.
Although Jesus had just finished telling four parables, the disciples were still pondering the parable about the wheat and the weeds. He followed with another point-by-point allegorical interpretation of a parable. Jesus specifically said that the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, (Jesus) field is the world. The good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sows the seeds of the weeds is the devil. The harvest, He said, is the end of the age and the harvesters are the angels.
The point of the parable is that when the weeds are pulled up, they will be burned in the fire, whereas the good seed will be separated from the weeds. The imagery Jesus used about the end of the age is quite alarming. This is the final judgment. Verse 41 indicates that the Son of Man will send out the angels who will weed out of the kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will be thrown into a fiery furnace where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The righteous, however, will enjoy much more favorable future in the kingdom of their Father.
At this point, Matthew interrupts the parables to explain that Jesus was speaking to the crowd using parables to fulfill a prophecy in Psalm 78:2 that says; “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world,”
So we see that there is the time for judgment (Matthew 13: 36-43) [the last verses of this section]
This passage teaches us that there is always a hostile power in the world (Satan) who is waiting to destroy the good seed. We must always be on our guard.
It teaches us how hard it is to distinguish between those who are in the Kingdom and those who are not. A person may appear to be good, but in fact, may be bad, and a man may appear to be bad and may yet be good. We are much too quick to classify people and label them as good or bad without knowing all the facts.
It teaches us not to be so quick with our judgments. If the reapers had had their way, they would have tried to tear out the darnel and they would have torn out the wheat as well. Judgment had to wait until the harvest came. God will do the judging at the end. A person in the end will be judged and the angels will obey the Lord’s command. He will not be judged by any single act or stage in his life, but rather has he or she accepted the message of Christ, and the salvation provided through his shed blood on Calvary; and then he will be judged by the fruit.
It teaches that judgment does come in the end. It may be that humanly speaking, in this life the sinner seems to escape the consequences of sin, but there is a life to come. The person who rejects the gospel of the kingdom will be thrown into everlasting fire. Yes there is a HELL.
WE SEE THAT WE SHOULDN’T DO THE JUDGING BUT WE CAN ALSO BE ASSURED THAT GOD WILL DO THE JUDGING
The kingdom is much greater than what we might imagine, but we understand the concept better than the disciples. We see the kingdom spreading throughout the world. What we need to understand though, is we must contribute to the kingdom through the transformation of lives in our community. Once we grasp the significance of that, we won’t be so concerned about the functioning of our church for “church people”- for the body of Christ is larger than the local church. We don’t enlarge the Kingdom so that our local church can get bigger. We lead people into transformed lives and incorporate them into the local church so that they can grow, and so that we can make a greater impact on the world and transform more lives so the Kingdom can get bigger. Discipling people so that they in turn will bring about community transformation (IITim. 2:2)