We want to start the year by examining what we will be judged by in the end. We want to focus on what truly matters and one such matter is how we have responded to the written and preached word. There are several different ways to receive the word and that is the topic of Jesus’ parable of the soil…

Matthew 13:3-9 (Beginning from the End #1)

Sermon Manuscript:

Receiving the Word – (1/3/16 Beginning from the End #1)

ATTN: I teach High School math part-time and one of the things I want my students to learn is not necessarily study harder but smarter. For example, good students will note carefully what’s going to be on the test and focus on those rather than giving equal weight to everything. How would they know what’s going to be on the test? As the teacher, I will at times directly tell my students what will be on the test or sometimes I will drop hints. Good students will pay attention to those and start from there.

So it is with this life. It is wise to start with the end in mind. We are to be wise as a serpent. Here’s a critical question we must ask: What will we be judged by in the end? What will God look at in the end? We need to think about that as we live this life since we will all be graded in the end. It would be tragic to work so hard all our lives to climb the ladder only to find out the ladder had been leaning on the wrong building.

There are many different pictures and metaphors in the Bible that directly tell us or hint at what God will look at in the end. To name some: Faithfulness – God will judge us by our faithfulness. Our words – God will judge us by the words we have spoken to others. Love – God will judge us by how we have loved one another. Endurance – God will judge us by how we have endured to the end. There are more. And as God allows, we will talk about these things in the following weeks. So, I titled our new series: “Beginning with the end.”

And today, we will look at one that has to do with the word of God. God will judge us in the end by this: How have we received the word of God? By that I mean what have we done with God’s word? How have we responded to it? We will be judged by this one day. And Jesus gives us a mental picture of this via a parable.

Read matt 13:3-9, [3] And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. [4] And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. [5] Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, [6] but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. [7] Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. [8] Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. [9] He who has ears, let him hear.”

This is a perfect picture of how salvation happens. There is grace. There is faith. And there is good works. The way salvation works is God gives us grace – unmerited favor. And we respond to that grace by faith. And the evidence of that faith is good works. All three need to be present in that order for salvation to be genuine. And this parable that Jesus told illustrates perfectly how this happens.

I am gong to contend that seed is the grace – the source of salvation, the soil is the faith – the means of salvation, and the fruit is the good works– the evidence of salvation. You see that the seed is sown in all kinds of soils. So, God’s grace is given to all – the good, the bad, the ugly, and the bald. But depending on the soil, the same seed (grace) responds differently. You will notice that the only soil that bears fruit in the end is the good soil. But what is the soil? For all these years, I’ve been teaching that soil represents the heart of the hearer. And that is not wrong, but I could’ve been more precise. As I was meditating on this passage, it dawned on me there’s a name for how people respond to the word – It is the word “faith” The soils represent the faith of the people. God gives us grace which is represented by the seed, and we respond to that grace by faith, which is represented by the soil. And only the good soil represents the true saving faith. All the other soils might have the appearance of true faith, but they weren’t saving faith. Why? How do we know? By looking at the evidence. The fruit! The only soil or faith that produced fruit – good works – is the last soil, or the last kind of faith. What kind of faith is that?

It’s the faith that hears the word and understands it. And how do we know he understood it? He does it according to the word, which we call “fruit” or “good works.” So, to reiterate: God’s grace initiates our salvation, we respond by faith, and the natural result is the good works.

Dead religion will turn this around and make it that our good works is the source of our salvation. We, by our own good-will, do good and be good, and faith is simply another one of the good works that we do. And when we do good and mix it with faith, then the result, the fruit is God’s grace. God gives us salvation as the result of our good works. So, you see that dead religion will turn Christianity on its head and make ourselves the source of salvation and God as simply reacting to what we do. But that is emphatically not the picture that Jesus draws. As a matter of fact, Jesus was so opposed to the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, they wanted Jesus dead. But Jesus wasn’t willing to back down from that hill. He died fighting on that hill. It was obviously important enough a hill to die on. And why is that? Because it has to do with God’s reputation and His honor. Is God the author and giver of salvation or is He simply a person who reacts to what we do? Is God the Master and a Good Father, or Is He a butler or a bellhop? There is no doctrine more important than this in Christianity.

But I want you to hear this – you probably missed it because I didn’t bring attention to it until now. In what form does grace come to us? How do we know we have received God’s grace? Grace comes through the word of God. Did you catch it? Jesus very rarely explains his own parable, but in this He did. In Matthew 13:19, He says, “ [19] When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. So, the seed, which we have been saying is God’s grace, is the word of God. That is how God’s grace comes to us. Then, what is saving faith? It’s the good soil. It is the one that reacts rightly to the world of God! If we respond in the right way, represented by the fourth soil, then it is the genuine faith, and we are saved. However if we do not respond the right way, which are the first three soils, it shows that our faith wasn’t genuine, and we are lost. Let’s now take a closer look at what is the difference between the false faith and genuine faith. Jesus gives us four pictures.

1) beaten path [19] When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

Maybe you invited a friend to church and he heard the word of God, when you ask him after church what he thought he says, “I didn’t understand a thing the pastor dude said…” Sorry to say, “it was boring and irrelevant. I don’t think I will go back.” That person has rejected the word of God. His faith is none-existent.

2) rocky soil: [20] As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, [21] yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

            – this person comes to church and hears the sermon and he gets really excited. He loves the encouragement and especially the message of grace. And he’s super-pumped to get involved and grow in Christ. But several months to a few years later, after some hardships in life, where his prayers don’t seem to be answered and things don’t go quite his way, he quits on God and church. I remember some of the youth that I pastored years ago and they used to serve in the praise team, as student leaders and so on, but now sadly no longer following Christ. I’m still praying for them to turn around and follow Christ since there is still time, but I can’t help but think that they might’ve been rocky soil and their enthusiasm and excitement they showed early on was not a display of genuine faith because it never really bore lasting fruit….

3) thorny soil: [22] As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

(Matthew 13:22 ESV)

2 Tim 4:10, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica,” This person most likely slowly falls away. This person has one foot in the world and one foot in God, trying to have best of both worlds. He may be involved in serving others at church and a really good person, but the cares of the world – such as getting married, raising a family, educating our children, getting a job, climbing the corporate ladder, which are all good and even necessary things – but if they become the primary focus, what our bottom line has become, then the word gets choked up and the seed dies. Sin is, according to St. Augustine, not lack of love, or disordered love. When we love the world – good things of the world – more than we love God and thus we follow the world, we become unfruitful soil and that proves that our faith was never genuine.

4) Good soil: [23] As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This soil represents genuine faith in God as he hears the word and understands it and the implication is that he carries it out. And the natural outcome, or the result of this good soil is the fruit – the good works. In this soil only, we see that all the necessary components of salvation are present – 1) Grace: the word of God is heard, 2) Faith: the word of God is received and understood. And 3) Fruit: the evidence of faith is good works.

Here’s how important the word of God is in a Christian’s life. Do you crave the word of God? Because if you don’t, either you are not a Christian or you are so sick you are in danger of dying spiritually. Why do I say that? Crave the pure milk of God which is the word. 1 peter 2:2 Elsewhere in the Bible the word of God is equated with spiritual milk or food. Now, let me ask you: what kind of baby does not want to drink milk? A dead baby or a very sick baby! If you have no desire to read the bible, I have to say that you are not a Christian. You are dead. Or very sick! Now, unless you think I’m being too strong here, John piper, a retired pastor known for joy and grace says this: I have never called any book a “must-read” except one, the Bible. I suppose that’s because I take the word “must” so seriously. I mean, “Must,” or you perish. “Must,” in order to make it to heaven.

Now there you go, turning salvation by grace into salvation by works. Salvation by Bible reading!

What he means is this. Bible reading is not the source of salvation. But it is a means. It is how the faith acts. It is how we respond to god’s grace of giving us the word. By reading his word, eating it, chewing on it and letting it nourish our spiritual body. If this is not present, if we have no appetite for the word of God, we are not alive spiritually! Our faith is dead. A soil that will not accept the seed cannot be good soil!

Now, how do we demonstrate that we are the good soil, that ours is the genuine saving faith? It is how we respond to the word of God. Think of what a good farmer does with seeds sown on good soil. Does it just let the seed lie there on the soil? No. you must till the ground, put fertilizer on it, and water it, don’t you? Who does that? You do. The farmer. That is working out the faith. What God has sown, you are cultivating it to make sure that seed germinates and grows. And what is that practically? It is reading it, meditating on it, wrestling with it, hearing it through sermons, and carrying it out and outcome of that is living according to the will of God which we call the fruit. So, would you do this for your own sake? For your eternal life depends on it?

CONC: Let me give you something practical to do:

1) Get a Bible translation you can easily understand – NIV, ESV, NLT or even the Message Bible.

2) Set a time each day to read either in the morning or in the evening. But let it be consistent everyday.

3) Use a bible plan such as the one I’m giving you today. Rather than chronologically going through the books, it starts at four different places and goes parallel.

4) Do it with friends and family and encourage one another the progress.