The Kingdom of God is Like... Part Two

In this episode we go into a deeper explanation of the parable of the Sower and the Seeds–looking into the four types of ground/heart in the parable. 

Along with the first episode, this is a very important and foundational teaching. So much so that Jesus said: 
"Do you not understand this parable? How then can you understand all the parables?" Mark 4:13.  

Important verses to have as you listen: Mathew 13:18-23, Mark 4:13-20, Luke 8: 12-15, Proverbs 4: 5-7, 23

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Your hosts, 
John and Lisa Strazza 

Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:00

Hey, this is John Strazza and this is the Sower's Seeds podcast.

0:23

And today we're going to continue our lesson in The kingdom of God is like dot dot dot. That dot, dot, dot is really referring to the fact that Jesus gave us a lot of different examples, as did Paul, on what the Kingdom of God is like, and how it operates. And in the first episode I gave you an overview of the idea that the Kingdom of God ... it's like farming. It's like seeds, it's like ground and it's really about the word on our hearts. And we were using Mark for most of in that episode. And if you didn't hear the first episode of The Kingdom of God is like... Please, definitely take that in ... It'll give you a broader view, a foundational view of what we're talking about here. And today I am continuing in the same thought of seeds and ground and I'm just going to go a little bit deeper.

Speaker 2 1:23

And the parable of the sower is what we're using actually. And there are three accounts. One is in Matthew 13, one is in Luke 8, and one is in Mark 4, and I'm really taking from all three. I would advise you to go ahead and look at all three. You will see some different details and that gives you a broader and fuller picture of what Jesus was saying. And I'm going to use Matthew a lot today, Matthew 13, but I really am going to draw from all three. So if you're reading in Matthew 13 and you've hear me say something that's not in your scriptures, it's probably because it's from Luke or Mark. So definitely look into all of them. I don't have the time to read all of them here, but I want to start with the explanation of the sower's parable and I want to get into that. And we're really gonna start around Matthew 13 in verse 19 this is when Jesus starts to describe what the parable was really about. But before I do that, I want to repeat something I said on the first episode, and this did come out of Mark. So forgive me for jumping back and forth between these accounts, but Jesus said something that uh , only Mark brought out and it was in the fourth chapter of Mark and it was verse 13 and he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable ?" That is a really a strong question. He was asking them because they were asking him what is this parable about? The people didn't seem to understand it, but Jesus kind of, as he had in other occasions with them, in a sense, almost pressing them, saying, "do you not understand this?" And it wasn't with sarcasm, but it was with importance. I mean he was asking them to answer that question in their own hearts, "Do you not understand this?" And he continued by saying, "How then will you understand all the parables?" And I went over this in more detail on the first episode, but what he was saying, how would you understand any parable if you don't understand this, how would you understand the others? And he's talking about farming. He's talking about throwing seeds, and ground, he's talking about these things. It would be like saying to a farmer, "if you don't understand that when you throw seeds in the ground, what has to happen next? And how will you be a farmer? How will you bear any fruit?" And he's saying the same thing to us. If you don't understand this very foundational thing about the word of God, how will you grow any fruit? And that is what he's saying here. So that's why I really strongly teach the fact that this is a foundational teaching and one of the most important ones that a Christian should learn and really get. I mean really understand. So I really place high importance on this. So let's get to the explanation of the sower's parable and I'll probably be in Matthew for most of these examples, but there were four types of situations here, four types of ground. And really you could just see it as four different types of heart, the way people's hearts are. And they could be mixed a little bit from one to another. But these are four basic things that happen when people hear the word. And the first one was the seeds being thrown by the wayside. And Jesus says, "when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatched it away... what was sown in his heart. This is he who receives seed by the wayside." So he's, he's just again saying, this is the , the account of the wayside where the seeds were thrown and the birds of the air just came and just took it all. And Jesus is saying, what he was really saying was that these people are standing by the wayside. They're not even in the way. I , I don't even know that they're believers. It's possible, but it, I don't even know that he's referring to believers here. But what's interesting is, is that the seed was sound in their heart. They did have it sown in their heart. It was placed there, but they didn't Understand it. And because they didn't understand it says the wicked one, meaning Satan comes and just takes it right out of their heart. And the reason he does that is, is if you look in the account, and Luke, I am gonna jump around in these different accounts, it says, "and those by the wayside or are they that here then comes the devil and takes away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved." So it looks to me there like these people haven't yet believed or received their salvation, but the word is in their hearts and they really ignoring it. They're aloof to it or they're indifferent to it, so their hearts are hardened and they are by the wayside. They're really not even focused on this path of walking with Christ. So I believe that's what's going on here. But the main problem there is that it's sown in their hearts, but they just don't understand. They don't give it any attention. And that would be the first type of person we're talking about. I'm not going to spend as much time with that because I think it's referring at least more so to the unbeliever. They don't believe, they don't pay any attention so Satan just makes sure to come and take that word out of their heart. Though I do think it's interesting that the word was actually sown in their hearts. Every account says that. And that kind of lets you know that when God is dealing with people and his word is going out, they hear it, they know it's there. It was their choice to ignore it. So sad as that may be, that looks like what's going on there. And that's the explanation. The second type that Jesus is talking about was Rocky ground. There was, there was seeds thrown on Rocky ground and the explanation that Jesus has given here, one of the big problem is , is with this type of person is that these people didn't have root in themselves or any depth of soil for that root. So it says, "but the ones on the rock are those who when they hear receive the word with joy and these have no root, who believe for awhile . And in time of temptation fall away." I'm going to read another account , um, out of Matthew, that was out of Luke, but I'm going to read Matthew's account, "but he receives the seed on Stony places. This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy." Now, that's really interesting. "Yet he has no root in himself, but he endures for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." Now this is a , a situation where a person is receiving the word. They hear it. They'll hear it even with joy, but there's not a lot of commitment to the word. It's, it's shallow. There's shallow with it. They're happy. They go to a conference, they go to church, they go to a Bible study, they hear something, they're all excited, and they hold on for a while . That's what it says. It says they endure for a while , but then it says, but when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, they stumble. And the problem is, is that this individual has a seed in their heart, which is good. It's there and they've even received it was happiness and joy. They're happy to have had it. It's not like they're ignoring it, but for one reason or another, their hearts run shallow. I believe that that points to a person who doesn't give a high preference and value to God's word. They're excited. They know God's there and you know that's good for them. They like it, but they don't have the time put into it. They don't take the effort. They don't value it as highly. They may not even understand just how important it is. And because of it, when any problem occurs, a persecution of some sort or tribulation or trial, something shows up because of the word. And I'll tell you "because of the word" is an important thing there that's indicating that God isn't the one that brought that to trial on or persecution. It was because of the word. That means the enemy is coming to push back on a person who has the word actually in their heart. They're happy to have it there, but he (Satan) sees these people are not very grounded and they don't run very deep. They don't have a deep ground and, and you know, in shallow soil we brought this up last time, a seed is going to germinate much quicker (in shallow soil) than it would in deeper soil. And we become very impatient. That's another thing. Impatience can be part of something when we don't see results very quickly with the word in our lives, we become patient and therefore we don't continue with it. And this means we're really running shallow. And unfortunately in this case is another case where the fruit that may have been born there is not, they don't actually bear any fruit. And it's a shame because the word was already in there. So this is somebody who has a very shallow heart and, and the reason is they don't place high value on the word of God and therefore really don't tend to it. And there could be more I could bring out with that , but I'm going to leave that there because I think that'll give you food for thought. You can think about this. What would make you or somebody else or a , even in a part of our life, you know, we may have a part of our heart that we just don't want allow the word of God to grow in, but whatever the case may be, the word will spring up a weak fruit, so to speak. And when any trouble happens, it just falls apart. We just let it go and it just kind of dies out and we're not bearing fruit that's strong. So that's what this is.... ...this is about here, the second person. But it's really important to allow depth in your heart to allow the word of God to fall in deep ground in your heart by allowing it to stay there and giving it time. Time, I think is one of the issues here that I will bring up. Giving the word very, very little time means that it hasn't had time to grow deep roots. This is what we're talking about. How deep are the roots in our heart? And you may have a hard time visualizing shallow soil, but when you visualize that there's no room for the roots to grow, there's no depth of root in , in your, in yourself. It means that this ground is , is Rocky. We're not allowing it to grow is what it is. It's about time and effort and concentration and, and really just saturating yourself in God's word. That's what's not happening here. And that's why , uh , the ground is considered Rocky ground and that's why there's no root in themselves. There's no depth of root. And when there's no depth of root, those plants are not going to survive well. It doesn't mean this person's going to hell. It just means that they're not bearing fruit. And that's an unfortunate thing. Too many Christians are not bearing fruit and that's why, and they're frustrated by it. And this is why this, this lesson is so important. This teaches us how to bear fruit properly in our lives. It's just so important. This is really fundamental brothers and sisters. And, and again, I wish I had more time to go deeper into each one of these. You can almost take an hour on each one, but I don't have that kind of time here. Let's go onto the third where the sower threw seeds into the thorns, so to speak, and they fell among thorns. Now this one is interesting and I think that this depicts , um , a large portion of the body of Christ today. The problem here with the thorns is that there were cares and distractions from the word and the fruit actually becomes unfruitful. And the fruit lacks maturity or perfection. So there is fruit. So let's look and see where problem is here. Let's see Jesus' explanation. This is Matthew 13 and 22. "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word." So this person is hearing the word ... "and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful." I want to read Mark's account too because he brings out a different point . So this is Mark 4 same explanation, just Mark's account. It's a little bit different details. "Now these are the ones sown among thorns. They are the ones who hear the word. And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things entering in." Isn't that interesting. Entering in "choke the word choke the seed and it becomes unfruitful" and I'm going to go into Mark Luke's account too . In this case, I'm reading all three, Luke 8: 14 same explanation, just a different set of details. "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who when they have heard go out and are choked with cares riches and pleasures of life (and look at this" and bring no fruit to maturity." King James says perfection. What it really means is a perfect full formed fruit. So they have fruits but it's not, it's, it's small, it's not growing, it's not maturing. It starts. So if you go back to any one of these accounts, you're going to see something in common that this person receives the word. But when they go out from receiving the word, regardless of where or how they received that, they might've been in quiet time reading their Bible. How many of you have quiet time and you, you read your Bible and you receive something and you've read something that really is touching your heart. To me, folks, this is, I can't imagine right now more important lesson. I just can't, maybe I'm overemphasizing that I don't know, but this to me, it's like the difference between life and death. It's the difference between bearing fruit and not bearing fruit. We received the word and we don't understand how to allow it to bear fruit in our lives. That's a problem. We as Christians are to bear fruit. This one of the things we're called to do and we can't, If you look in John 15 about the vine, we can't bear fruit by ourselves. The word of God is the only thing that will bear fruit and the only place it'll bear fruit is in our heart, that's what this is saying and if we don't allow the seeds of God's word to grow in our hearts, we're not going to bear fruit. It's that simple. It's that plain and that's why Jesus said, "if you don't understand this parable, how would you understand?" and really pretty much anything else. And this is why Christians are frustrated because they, they see this amazing word and they're seeing these wonderful things happen and they read through the Psalms and these and they, you know , read Psalm 1, how we grow by the river and we, we, our leaves won't, won't fail and they won't wither. And , and yet we're struggling. It's because of this. This is explaining our problem and we all have faced it. I'm not pointing a finger. I'll let , I can assure you of that. I've been right here many times myself where I didn't give the word time. And I would question God, well, what's going on? This is what's going on. And I may not have wanted to hear it, but this is the truth. And I'm happy to hear it at this point because I see how to change it. So these are the third type are the thorns are the cares of this world. And how many of you, when you've gotten up from your quiet time and then all of a sudden this beautiful word that's in your heart, just something happens. Some, you know, something happens with the kids or in school or at work or on the news or something happened and you literally, it just comes right out of your heart and you don't give it a second thought. You don't go back to it. And we may be bearing fruit, but we're not bearing perfect fruit. It's not growing to the level that it could grow. And that's what's going on here. So it says basically the deceitfulness of riches entering in, you know, the desire for other things entering in. See that's that one is in Mark and Mark uses those words. Entering in. It means our heart is a place where things can, can come and go if we allow it, we are the ones who allow that or not. But if there was a door there and when we put God's word in our heart, we have to protect it. And when something happens in your life that's a distraction or a desire that's maybe out of check or something that's just going to distract you, don't allow it, those things, to distract the most important thing in your life, which is the word of God in your heart. It's the most valuable thing you have, wisdom, God's word, his love. That is the most valuable thing you have. Protect it , protect it in your heart, and you will see in time like any other farmer sees in time, you'll grow fruit. So I believe that's a common problem. I don't think that most people would disagree with me on that. And this maturity of the fruit is something that we're looking for. So I'm going to go into the fourth type, which is considered the good ground. So in the good ground I kind of have to say, well then what went right with a good ground ? What happened that made this work so well? So what goes right is that the the hearer Hears and Understands and they keep the word safe in their heart and they give a time. Those are the things that a person that bears fruit in God's word does. It's pretty simple, but a lot of people don't do it. They get distracted. I think person number three, heart number three is a real common one where they don't, they allow too many distractions. Now I'll read Matthew's account. Matthew puts it this way. Jesus is saying in verse number three, Matthew 13, verse 23 "and the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil. This is the man who hears the word and understands it and who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundred fold, some 60 fold and some 30." N ow some of the other accounts I'm going to look at Luke just for a minute. A , w ell again, we'll go over all three r eal quickly, but the seed i n the good soil, "these are the ones who hear the word." This is Luke's account. [ inaudible] "in an honest and good heart and holds it fast." I want to , you know, bring that part out, holds "fast and bears fruit with perseverance." So you see these words persevering, holding it. Mark brings out uh , this way. He says, "and these are they which are sown in good ground, such as hear the word and receive it." So he's bringing that out, receiving it, and simply says that they bring forth fruit, some 30 some 60 and some a hundred fold. So if you put all those accounts together, you'll see different aspects of why these people would bear fruit, and they're the only other of the four that bear good fruit. And what they did was, you know, they did what Proverbs says. Look at Proverbs 4 and 23 this is a main staple in my life. I , I bring it up all the time. Proverbs 4: 23 says, "keep your heart with all diligence." "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it. Spring the issues of life" and look it in the same chapter earlier in provers verse five to seven. "Get wisdom, get understanding. Forget it. Not neither decline from the words of my mouth for sake her not with and on and on and on. And she shall preserve you, love her, and she shall keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom and with all your getting get understanding." That's saying, If the word is being put in your heart, take the time to allow understanding to come to you. That's the job of the Holy spirit. That's why he is here with you. He will help you understand I'm teaching you, but he'll help you understand it. He's the one that give you a revelation of what this really means. Give him time. Give God time. So I'm going to leave it pretty much there today and, but before I do go, there's one other aspect of this parable about the Kingdom of God is like, and I want you to find this one in Mark. Same chapter, same parable of the Sowers chapter, but this is in verse 26 it's a very small thing, but it's , it's critical to what we're talking about here. It adds another flavor to this. Another whole understanding of this that is just foundational and important. This one would be called the parable of the growing seed. So this is about what's going on in the earth and in our heart. So listen to this. And Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day and the seed should sprout and grow. He himself does not know how. And it says that "the earth yields crop by itself first the blade and the head and then the full grain of corn." So what he's saying is he's giving another picture of everything we've just been talking about saying that the seed is in the ground and this farmer is looking at it and consider yourself the farmer of your own heart because you're tending that soil and you're tending that seed but you sleep by night and your rise by day. And at some point this, this plant starts to grow and and a part of me says , man, I didn't even know how that happened. It's like effortless growth of this, of this plant, this good plant by the way because the word of God can't yield anything but good fruit. You plant good seeds, you get good fruit. But I just wanted to point this out because in some sense it's like a mystery. But when you put the word of God together with a heart that's holding onto it, that's tending it, that's keeping your, you know, one that keeps his heart with all diligence, understanding that out of it are springing the issues of life. That's a person that on one hand will see the mystery of God taking place and saying, I don't even know how this happens because it says here, "he doesn't know how." And we don't know how. Because the word of God is living and in your heart it will produce by itself. Your job is to keep it there, tend it, focus on it. Love it. Hold it. That's your job. And don't let anything take it away. Don't let anything distract you from the most important part of your life. Uh, so I will end it right there. God bless you. Thank you for listening with us today. And we will come back again with a final episode of the kingdom of God is like...

Speaker 1 27:19

we just thank you for being with us today. God bless you. We'll see you next time. [inaudible] .