We are returning again this morning to Matthew chapter 13 and part 2 of our look at the parable of the soils. With this short story, Jesus gives us a view into the hearts of all mankind as they hear the gospel preached to them. Believers who have been a part of the church for any length of time can often look back over the course of their life and walk with God and see other people who have seemed to accept the truth of the gospel for a while and yet now are living in sin and rejection of God. Maybe it was someone that you grew up with, attending Sunday school together, even going through confirmation but now their life looks no different from the world. Maybe it was someone that you witnessed to in college, and for several years they were active alongside you in the campus ministry. But over the last couple of years or even decades, you have seen them drift further and further away from Scripture. Most frustrating and heartbreaking of all I think would be to watch a child that you raised make those sorts of choices. You know you taught them the truth, if you asked them, they could give as clear a presentation of the gospel as anyone and yet there is no active pursuit of Christ to be found in their life.
In all of these cases the one who walked away may not have verbally or publicly denounced their faith, yet by their lifestyle they demonstrate that there is no repentance or concern over their sin in their heart. They may not have actively become an atheist, but they are the one of whom Psalm 14 describes, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” Though they may not have declared themselves to be an atheist, their life shows no recognition that their Creator holds a claim on their eternal soul for good or for bad, and so they have essentially said within themselves, their heart has declared that there is no God.
When you see this apostasy happen it raises the question of “why.” “Why did I remain when my friend did not?” “What was different about my experience, about my faith from my college roommate who has since rejected God?” “There was so much promise, so much growth, what happened?”
Jesus answers this question with the parable of the soils. In it, he gives a picture of the hearts of man as four different types of soil or ground ready to accept the seed of the gospel. This morning we are going to read starting in verse 16 through the end of the explanation of the parable in verse 23. If you have your Bibles with you I encourage you to open them to Matthew chapter 13 and follow along, or we also have the pew Bibles available. Let us begin our time this morning by reading, Matthew 13:16-23.
“Hear then the parable of the sower. 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 the one on whom seed was son beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
We began last week by looking at what Jesus did not say about the one sowing the seed or the seed itself. The one sowing the seed does not matter, whether it be the most eloquent and famous preacher proclaiming the gospel or a child witnessing to a friend. The manner of casting the seed does not matter, whether it is preaching from a pulpit or street corner, or personal evangelism in a café or living room. All that is in view in this parable is the obedient casting of the seed of the gospel of the kingdom out onto the hearts of unbelievers.
We looked at the first three soils, or the first three types of hearts in which the gospel of the kingdom may fall as the seed. The first is that of the compacted road. Not paved concrete, but a heart that has been hardened by the constant traffic of sin such that it might as well be. A heart in which the seed of the gospel bounces right off never having the slightest chance to take root. This is not always a person who is dedicated to living a life of sin and personal gratification at any cost. There are many religious people, even those who would call themselves Christians that would fall into this category. They are so dedicated to their own self-righteousness, their own set of rules and legalistic traditions that the truth of the gospel has no affect upon them. This was the kind of people Jesus was speaking to when he first gave this parable. The Pharisees looked to the world as the most studious and religious people, and yet their hearts were just as hard to the gospel as the most devout atheist or dedicated hedonist.
This type of heart may be the easiest to assess because of its hardness and lack of any acceptance of the gospel or growth. The latter two are more difficult because in the beginning there is an initial response to the gospel and a picture of growth as the seed sprouts forth only to wither away later. In both cases, that of the rocky soil and that of the weedy soil, though there is initial excitement, even an immediate exclamation of joy when the gospel is received, the growth does not take hold and produce fruit. Whether it is because of persecution or the temptation of wealth and worldly things, that initial growth proves to be useless.
These are the kind of people who are so heartbreaking to believers who remain embedded in the faith. They seem to be excited about their conversion, they are dedicated to the faith and Scripture. Attending church, getting involved in Bible studies and outreach or mission’s projects. But as time passes, they prove themselves to be unbelievers by walking away. As the Apostle John says in 1 John 2, “They went out from us, but they were not really one of us.”
This morning we are going to focus on the last of the soils, the good soil. The one in which the seed was sown and took root, growing to bear fruit and bringing forth a return on the investment of a hundredfold, or 60, or 30. We must first understand what Jesus did not mean when speaking about the good soil or the good ground. It would be easy to hear this parable and assume that the good soil refers to good people. That is the good people who listen to the word of God and respond in a positive way. This might lead us to conclude that those of us who are believers and those of us who are striving to be productive believers are that way because we were good enough to receive the word in such a way as to not allow it to be choked out by the weeds or scorched by the sun.
If you have read anything of Scripture, then you should know to reject any such idea. Jesus is not talking about good people, he is talking about good ground. Now this good ground is located within people, but not because the person in themself have any inherent goodness. The word of God, the gospel comes to those who are dead in their sin and trespasses. They are the ones Paul describes in Ephesians chapter 2, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
All people who hear the word of God were first numbered among those who were dead in their sins and trespasses. We were all in that condition by nature. So then why is it that some who were dead in their sins hear and respond to the gospel while others reject it, or only make a brief response that does not remain long enough to produce true fruit?
In order for there to be true biblical repentance and a response that produces fruit something must happen to them first. And unless this thing happens to them, they will remain as the kind of person that Jesus described in verse 14, they will keep on hearing, but will not understand, keep on seeing, but will not perceive. So what is the difference? Why are some good ground while others are rocky or weedy?
Last week we talked about the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It is a doctrine that demonstrates how God maintains his elect, how God maintains believers from the beginning of their conversion until the end when they are glorified. We talked about the phrase “once saved always saved.” Now, I believe wholeheartedly in that statement. Once you are saved there is no way for you to lose your salvation. The problem with that is that people often misuse or abuse that phrase by placing their trust, the assurance of their salvation in the wrong thing. Far too often those who use that phrase will point a person to their initial statement of faith, the prayer that they prayed or the aisle they walked and that kind of assurance is nowhere to be found in Scripture. Instead, we are told to put our faith in the finished work of Christ and the sustaining power of God. To find our assurance, to have confidence in our salvation we must look to our heart and the fruit that our faith is producing in our life.
But going back to the different soils, what is the difference between someone who is the good soil as compared to the rocky or the weedy soil? That leads us to an important second doctrine we need to understand and that is the sovereign and monergistic work of salvation by God. R.C. Sproul used a simple, three word phrase to help people understand this foundational idea. Three words that form the foundation of reformed theology as a whole and distinguishes it from every other type of theology in the world. Three words that you need to remember any time you approach the doctrine of salvation. Regeneration Precedes Faith.
The vast majority of those who call themselves evangelical Christians do not believe that statement. The majority of those who call themselves evangelical Christians would reverse the statement to say Faith Precedes Regeneration. That is to say that these people assume that the cause of being regenerated, the cause of being born again is the exercise of faith in the heart of the individual. It is an understandable mistake to make especially amongst those who are new to the faith. Much of the material written on evangelism that is available in this country focuses on the need of the individual to act on their faith in order to be saved.
Within the doctrine of salvation is an important list of events or aspects of our conversion that come with any particular order. This is known as the order of salvation. The things that happen in what order that bring us to a state of salvation. This list, this order would take quite a while to go through in detail starting with God’s predetermined plan before the foundation of the world and end with our glorification. Paul gives us an abbreviated look at this order in Romans chapter 8 that we talked about last week. In which we read, starting in verse 29 “for those whom he for new he also predestined… And these whom he predestined, he also called; and these whom he called, he also justified; and these can be justified, he also glorified.”
There is an order, a sequence of actions that leads to our salvation and eventual glorification. Not all of these are laid out in a temporal order, some are, God’s predetermined plan was laid down before the foundation of the world, that happened in eternity past, and are glorification, though Paul talks about it as already being completed is something that will not happen until the resurrection. But within the order of salvation there is a number of things we must understand coming not in a temporal order, as they happen instantaneously, but instead in a logical order.
In time, at the moment of our conversion, when we are brought to faith by God and our justification is declared there is an order of events that take place. These all take place in a moment, an instant, but Scripture makes it clear to us that there is a specific order in which we are to understand them. We must understand that regeneration, the rebirth that we experience in which we are given a new heart, precedes the faith that leads to salvation. Rebirth, regeneration, is the work of God the Holy Spirit alone. It is not a joint venture between you and God. This regeneration is the immediate and supernatural act of God by which he changes the heart from the hardened pathway, or the rocky soil, or the weedy soil into good soil, soil that will lead to the production of fruit.
We begin this process spiritually dead. Think back to what I just read in Ephesians 2, we are dead in our trespasses and sins, and spiritually dead people cannot assist in any way in the telling of the soil of our hearts. It is a function that God and God alone can do. If you want another picture of this, flip over to John chapter 3 and the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus who was a Pharisee came to Jesus by night looking for answers and Jesus said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Of course, Nicodemus did not understand this, how can one be born a second time? But Jesus was not talking about being born physically, he was describing the spiritual rebirth. In verse five Jesus says, “truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
There is no fertile soil in our own hearts, nothing in which the seed can take root and begin to grow. All that we bring to the table is our flesh which is completely corrupt and completely useless. Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus that unless you are born again, you cannot believe in the kingdom of God, you can enter the kingdom of God, you cannot even see the kingdom of God. So how are we to be born again? There is nothing you can do about it. You have as much say about you or spiritual rebirth as you did your physical birth. The first act in salvation, the regeneration of our hearts, the spiritual rebirth has to be a divine initiative. It is a supernatural work of grace. As Paul said in Ephesians 2 “even when we were dead in our transgressions, (God) made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.”
In John chapter 6 Jesus explains to the people around him, in verse 44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” “No one can come.” No one can change their own heart, no one can till the soil themselves. No one has the ability, no one has the capacity, nobody has the power, to come to Christ unless; unless what? Unless something else takes place. Unless the divine act of God, a divine gift of God’s grace and mercy comes to the individual. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The word “draws” is not a polite beckoning, a nice appealing invitation; it is a same word used when the soldiers dragged Paul and Silas into prison. It was not a polite invitation, they dragged them, they forced or compelled them in. No one comes to Jesus unless they come under divine compulsion.
All those who come to Christ, all those who have had their hearts tilled and plowed and prepared into good soil ready to produce fruit, all those who have embraced Christ, all those who have truly accepted the gospel of the kingdom, you did not do that in your flesh, in your own ability, but because God in his mercy and grace was pleased to change your heart and to give you the gift of faith and repentance by which you are justified and ultimately saved. The good soil is the heart that has been regenerated by the Holy Ghost; once that regeneration takes hold and the word of God is heard, it takes root and brings forth life and fruit.
Why is this important? Why is it so important that we understand the monergistic work or the one-sided work of God in regenerating our hearts? Why must we understand the importance of the phrase, “Regeneration Precedes Faith?” I want to give you three reasons. The first is that it gives us comfort in evangelism. I told you last week that this passage gives me as a preacher of the word of God comfort because there were many who heard the preaching of Jesus and still rejected the gospel message he brought to them. The work of regeneration that leads to salvation has nothing to do with the one who sows the seed. If there is someone that you have been praying for and witnessing to for months or years, maybe even decades without seeing any change in their life, that has nothing to do with the sower or the seed and all to do with God, who in His infinite wisdom and grace, decided not to change their hearts.
The disciple of Christ is commanded to actively spread the seed. That is your job. You need to be making sure that you are not getting in the way of the seed you are spreading. Your life, your actions, your words both in everyday life and as directed toward the person you are witnessing to need to not be a detriment to the seed you are spreading. But it is not ultimately up to you whether or not that person accepts the gospel and allows the seed to grow into a fruit producing plant. There is nothing that you can do to change the heart of that person, that is the prerogative of God and God alone.
Failing to recognize this fact is what leads well-intentioned believers to compromise the gospel in their quest to “save people.” The problem with the seeker sensitive movement that gripped the church through the 90s and 2000s and continues to have an impact today, had nothing to do with their desire to reach the lost, that was god and Godly; it had all to do with how they felt they needed to do it. When you believe you are responsible for convincing someone to accept Christ, you are willing to go to any lengths to do it. This leads to a compromised gospel message. It can be compromised in any number of ways. It may downplay sin and the need for repentance; it may downplay the justice and wrath of God toward sin or sinners; it may become focused on moralism and the need for the person to make life changes in order to feel better about themselves. One of the buzzwords in the seeker sensitive movement was centered on the importance of reaching the people’s “felt needs.” This was the idea of figuring out what the people in your community want from a church and then filling that void. Do they want contemporary music, will change our music time; do they want a robust kids program, we will add lots of new and exciting stuff.
None of these things are inherently bad, but what you win people with is what you win them to. If you win people, or you get people to come to church because you have a good kids program, then there at your church because of the kids program not the gospel. If you win them with a watered-down or compromised gospel, then that is the gospel they will dedicate their life to instead of the true message of the kingdom.
Third, it is a compromised gospel and misunderstood order of salvation that leads to man centered theology. If convincing the person that their salvation was up to them, if their conversion was founded on the choice they made, than their religion will start with them rather than with God. If it was their choice, their actions, their act of faith that brought about their salvation than the focus is on them.
We must always remember that “Regeneration Precedes Faith;” that it is God who predetermined his elect before the foundation of the world, that it is God and God alone who regenerated our hearts when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, dedicated to our rebellion, that it is God and God alone who compelled us to accept Christ through a faith that we have only because God has gifted it to us. Therefore, all glory goes to God.