http://www.calvaryhillsboro.org/

Subscribe To Watch More: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMljrvWnX5HWCHwB-GAbCsw

Thank you for watching. God bless you and your family!
We would love to hear your comments and please like and share this video.

Working with soil is fascinating. There are certain types of soil where the condition of the soil is obvious; you know what you are in for before the shovel hits the dirt.
2. There are other types of soil where the condition is not so obvious; you must dig beneath the surface to know what kind of soil you’re working with.
3. The same is true with the heart. The human heart is fascinating, not just the physical ticker, but the soul of a woman or man.
4. In Matthew 13:1-23, Jesus connected the human heart with four types of soils to reveal the different responses people have to Jesus and God’s Word.
5. Jesus made the connection so that we may take a careful inventory of our lives and know the condition of the soil of our hearts.

Matthew 13:1-23

Context
1. In Matthew 13:1-3, we’re told that Jesus got into a boat on the Sea of Galilee and taught the crowds many things using parables. What is a parable?
2. The word parable comes from two Greek words, para and ballō, which together means “to throw alongside”.
3. A parable, like a story or an illustration, makes a comparison between a known truth and an unknown truth. It “throws them alongside” each other.
4. A parable teaches one main truth, though there might be many parts or different characters used to develop the main truth further.
5. Jesus used familiar things like sowing seed to reveal spiritual truths that had never been revealed to Israel in the Old Testament, truths about the kingdom of God.
6. Because parables use something familiar in story-form to make a point, the parable draws the listener into the story in order to bring them to a point of decision!
7. Why did Jesus shift His approach to teaching and use parables?
8. Context is helpful to answer the question. In Matthew 12, the scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of using Satanic powers to heal people and deliver demoniacs from evil spirits. Their accusation was an official rejection of Jesus by the religious establishment. In essence, they declared that Jesus was not Israel’s Messiah, the promised King of the kingdom of God. He was from hell.
9. Now, their final rejection occurred when the Jewish leaders asked Pontius Pilate to release Barabbas so that Jesus could be crucified (Matthew 27:20-22). Nevertheless, the lines were drawn in Matthew 12 for the nation of Israel had officially rejected their King.
10. This context helps us understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 13:10-17. Here Jesus gave two reasons for His use of parables:
a. First, parables reveal spiritual truth about the kingdom of God to those who earnestly seek it. At the same it, parables conceal spiritual truth about the kingdom of God from those with rebellious hearts. Thus, parables reveal and conceal spiritual truth.
b. Second, by using parables, Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophecy. Here He quoted from Isaiah 6, but also note Psalm 78:2.

Psalm 78:2, I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old…

Transition – Now, let’s look at the first of the seven parables in Matthew 13, The Parable of the Sower and the Four Soils.

I. Some Hearts are Hard like a Beaten-down Path

• Let’s identify some key elements of this parable.
• First, according to verse 37, the “sower” is the “Son of Man”, Jesus.
• In verse 19, the “seed” is the “word of the kingdom”, meaning the Word of God and the “evil one” is Satan.
• In that day, seed was sown one of two ways:
o Some farmers would walk through their fields with bags of seed and scatter the seed by hand.
o Others, lazy farmers, would simply place a bag of seed on the back of a mule, slice a hole in the bag, and walk with the mule as the seed fell out of the bag.
• This information was familiar to all who were listening to Jesus from the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
• But here, Jesus links the sowing of seed to the four ways people will respond to the message of the kingdom of God.

Pastor Rich Jones
Pastor Matthew Dodd
Rich Jones Sermons
Rich Jones Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel Worship Center
Calvary Chapel Hillsboro
Calvary Chapel Oregon
Calvary Chapel Beaverton
Calvary Chapel Portland

Tags:
Pastor Rich Jones
Pastor Matthew Dodd
Rich Jones
Matthew Dodd
Rich Jones Sermons

Rich Jones Church, Rich Jones Christian, Rich Jones Christian Church, Rich Jones Bible Study, Rich Jones Prayer, Pastor Rich Jones Faith, Rich Jones Grace, Rich Jones Teaching, Rich Jones Bible Teacher, Rich Jones Bible Verse, Rich Jones Teaching, Rich Jones Transformation, Rich Jones Salvation, Rich Jones Truth, Rich Jones Sermons, Rich Jones Calvary Chapel, Calvary Chapel Worship Center, Calvary Chapel Hillsboro, Calvary Chapel Beaverton, Calvary Chapel Portland, Calvary Chapel Oregon