Mt 13:15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.'

5. Are You!

6. What Kind of Soil
Are You?
Mt 13:15 For the hearts of this people have
grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they
should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears, Lest they should understand with their
hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.'

7. Found in 3 out of 4 Gospels!
• Mt. 13:1-23; Mk. 4:1-20 & Lk. 8:1-15
• This parable is designed to help us
understand the purpose of parables!
–Mt. 13:10-17
• Here Jesus breaks down each part and shares
with us it’s meaning!

8. How well did it grow?
• How many of you have ever planted
something? Did it grow? Did it grow enough
to reproduce? Did the soil in which it was
planted have an effect on how well it grew?
• Even with a perfect seed, you can have a bad
plant, based on the soil in which it is planted!

9. When we hear God’s Word how will we
respond? Will we both hear & heed it?
• Everyone in the story “heard” the same
Word! Think about this for just a moment!!!
• Where the real change needs to take place
then is in the hearts of the hearers!
• We don’t need to change the seed, we need
to help change the soil!

10. I. The Wayside/Path Soil!
• These are the ones that outright reject
what is heard! “In one ear & out the other!”
• Their hearts are so hard that it never has a
change to penetrate and take root in them!
– 2 Thess. 1:8-9 & 2:9-12 “do not love the truth!”
• Many men have done just this! “Hardened their
heart when confronted with truth!”
– Do you remember Pharaoh & the 10 plagues?

11. “Harden not your heart!”
• Many times in the Bible we are given this
warning!
–Heb. 3:1-15
–Ps. 95:8-9
–Eph. 4:18
–Pr. 28:14
–Zech. 7:12

12. II. The Stony/Rocky Soil!
• All that allow the Word to get in “receive it
with joy!”
– Mt 13:20 "But he who received the seed on stony
places, this is he who hears the word and immediately
receives it with joy.“
• This is the one that lets their fire go out!
– Rev. 3:14-22 cf. 2:8-11
• When something isn’t planted deep it comes up
quickly, but then quickly dies away! No roots!!!

13. Many have a shallow, temporary
response to the Gospel!
• Yet, as so as they are put on trial, put to the
test, they give up faith and fall away!
– Mt 13:21 "yet he has no root in himself, but endures
only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles.“
• Just allowing the Word to enter the heart is not
enough, it must remain!!!

14. III. The Thorny/Weeds Soil!
• This soil is soft, is deep and is fertile! So the
real problem here is not with the “kind of
heart” but with “what” the heart allows to
get in! This one failed to “guard their heart!”
– Pr. 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.”
• We cannot serve two masters! (Mt. 6:24)
– Mt. 16:24-26; 19:16-22

15. This likely is the most difficult to
distinguish!
• Lk 8:14 And that which fell among the thorns,
these are they that have heard, and as they go on
their way they are choked with cares and riches
and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to
perfection.
• Are we truly “seeking 1st the Kingdom?”
– Mt. 6:19-34

16. IV. The Good/Rich Soil!
• Mt 13:8 "But others fell on good ground and
yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirty.“ & Mt 5:8 “Blessed are
the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”
–Both of these are derived from the same root
word! Ag-ath-os’ = good, well “meaning not
sick!” This is the one with a healthy heart!!!

17. I would imagine that most believe they
are this kind of soil!
• The question then that we must ask, “then,
how do we know?”
–By the fruit, or lack there of! (Mt. 7:15-20)
• Mt 7:20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know
them.“
• The good news is that God is still working on
us, as long as we are alive we can change!

18. Conclusion:
• So I would like for each of us to once again
consider tonight, “what kind of soil are we?”
• What kind of fruit are we producing? It is the fruit
that multiplies the seed!
• May each of us take this parable to heart and
allow God to continue to change us and use us
for His service!
– Js 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving yourselves.