# Parable of the Sower

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Phoenix.
Series: Parables
Date: June 14, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/phoenix/episodes/parable-of-the-sower

## Summary

What kind of soil is your heart? Are you thriving in faith or struggling to grow? Discover the transformative power of the Parable of the Sower and find out how to cultivate a fruitful life in Christ. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

0:07 · Well, good morning, Cross Church

0:08 · Phoenix. How are you?

0:10 · >> Good morning. I'm DJ. I'm the p uh

0:12 · pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. And

0:15 · uh if you're new with us, welcome. I'd

0:17 · love to meet you. Come find me after

0:19 · service. Love to chat with you. And at

0:21 · this time, I invite you to open your

0:23 · Bibles to Matthew chapter 13.

0:28 · Matthew chap 13

0:31 · beginning at verse one. And if you don't

0:33 · have a Bible, we have one in the seat

0:34 · back uh in front or near you. And that

0:37 · is our gift to you. Make that your

0:38 · Bible. Uh you can highlight it,

0:41 · underline, make notes, bring it back

0:43 · next week, but make that your Bible.

0:49 · And I am just as surprised as you are

0:51 · that our brother Brian can speak Hebrew.

0:53 · Uh that was pretty cool. I was like,

0:56 · dang. And he's doing that with

0:57 · confidence. Man, that was awesome. Well

0:59 · done. Well done.

1:03 · Well, last week um uh we started our

1:06 · series in the parables of Jesus and

1:09 · we're staying in Matthew for that. And

1:12 · as we continue this series, we come to

1:15 · one of the most popular parables, the

1:18 · parable of the sewer or the soils or

1:21 · both soils, sors, etc. Um, fortunately

1:25 · for us, Jesus not only gives the parable

1:29 · but also provides the interpretation,

1:32 · which which makes my job a lot easier

1:35 · this morning. So, let's pray. Father, we

1:38 · thank you for this morning and we thank

1:39 · you for your word. Pray your hand of

1:42 · protection over us as we as we read, as

1:45 · we study, as we hear the preaching of

1:47 · the word. God, I pray

1:49 · as you will say here, that we will have

1:52 · ears to hear,

1:56 · that we will listen,

1:59 · that we will consider,

2:01 · and that we will listen again to the

2:04 · parable

2:06 · of the soils in Jesus name. Amen.

2:09 · >> Well, I invite you to stand with us as

2:11 · we read God's word together. Of course,

2:13 · if you're unable to stand with us in

2:15 · spirit uh simply as we honor the word of

2:18 · God together, I'm going to read Matthew

2:21 · 13 1-9 and then 18-23.

2:26 · And it says this, "On that day, Jesus

2:29 · went out of the house and was sitting by

2:31 · the sea.

2:33 · Excuse me, such large crowds gathered

2:35 · around him that he got into a boat and

2:38 · sat down while the whole crowd stood on

2:41 · the shore. Then he told them many things

2:43 · in parables, saying, "Consider the sewer

2:45 · who went out to sew."

2:48 · As he sowed, some seed fell along the

2:50 · path, and the birds came and devoured

2:53 · them. Other seed fell on rocky ground

2:55 · where it didn't have much soil, and it

2:57 · grew up quickly since the soil wasn't

2:59 · deep. But when the sun came up, it was

3:02 · scorched. And since it had no root, it

3:05 · withered away. Other seed fell among

3:08 · thorns, and the thorns came up and

3:10 · choked it. Still other seed fell on good

3:14 · ground and produced fruit. Some 100,

3:17 · some 60, and some 30 times what was

3:20 · sown. Let anyone who has ears listen.

3:26 · And they ask Jesus why he speaks in

3:28 · parables, and he answers them. And we

3:30 · come to verse 18.

3:33 · So listen to the parable of the swer.

3:37 · When anyone hears the word about the

3:39 · kingdom and doesn't understand it, the

3:41 · evil one comes and snatches away what

3:43 · has been sown in his heart. This is the

3:46 · one sown along the path. And the one

3:49 · sown on rocky ground, this is the one

3:52 · who hears the word and immediately

3:54 · receives it with joy,

3:57 · but he has no root and is short-lived.

4:00 · When distress or persecution comes

4:02 · because of the word, don't miss that.

4:05 · Immediately he falls away. Now the one

4:08 · sown among the thorns, this is the one

4:10 · who hears the word. But the worries of

4:13 · this age and the deceitfulness of wealth

4:15 · or the deceitfulness of riches choke the

4:18 · word and it becomes unfruitful.

4:21 · But the one sown on the good ground,

4:24 · this is the one who hears and

4:26 · understands the word, who does produce

4:30 · fruit and yield some 100, some 60, some

4:34 · 30 times what was sown. Amen. You can be

4:37 · seated.

4:45 · Well, last week we were in chapter nine

4:48 · talking about the parables of the wine

4:50 · skins and the garments. And uh like our

4:53 · miracles series, if when there's times

4:55 · where we skip portions, I want you to

4:57 · kind of bring I want to bring you up to

4:59 · speed and kind of give you some context.

5:00 · So by the time you get to chapter 13 in

5:04 · Matthew's gospel, there is growing

5:07 · hostility

5:09 · towards Jesus and his message.

5:14 · In Matthew 12, Jesus heals a man on the

5:19 · Sabbath. And we read the Pharisees

5:22 · response in Matthew 12:14. But the

5:25 · Pharisees went out and plotted against

5:27 · him how they might kill him.

5:31 · So there's already a plot beginning to

5:34 · stir

5:36 · to kill Jesus.

5:39 · A little bit later in Matthew 12, Jesus

5:43 · is accused of casting out demons by the

5:47 · power of Satan.

5:50 · They said Jesus' power must be from

5:53 · Satan rather than the spirit of God.

5:56 · Why? Well, because they didn't want to

5:58 · submit to Jesus.

6:02 · Jesus is coming and his teaching is

6:04 · stirring the pot amongst the Pharisees

6:06 · and the religious leaders. Of course, if

6:08 · you're going to maintain their influence

6:10 · and position and it goes opposite of

6:12 · Christ, well, he must not be of God

6:15 · because if he were, they would have to

6:17 · submit to him. They don't want to. He

6:19 · must be of Satan. So, they believe Jesus

6:23 · is satanic and they're plotting to kill

6:26 · him.

6:29 · It wasn't just what Jesus did that

6:32 · brought opposition to him and his

6:34 · ministry. It's also what he taught.

6:39 · Throughout the gospels, Jesus teaches

6:43 · that there are ever only two kinds of

6:47 · people in the world.

6:51 · These two kinds of people are described

6:53 · in different ways.

6:56 · Wheat and chaff

6:59 · or those on the narrow path that leads

7:03 · to life and those who are on the wide

7:05 · path that leads to destruction.

7:08 · A good tree that produces good fruit and

7:11 · a bad tree that produces bad fruit.

7:15 · Those who, you may remember this story,

7:18 · build their house on the rock and those

7:21 · who build their house on the sand.

7:25 · The sheep and the goats or the good fish

7:29 · and the bad fish.

7:32 · Those who do the father's will and those

7:35 · who do not.

7:37 · those who walk in light and those who

7:40 · walk in darkness and so on. I think you

7:43 · get the point. All of these described

7:47 · basically the saved and the unsaved.

7:52 · Those who know Christ as their personal

7:54 · Lord and Savior and those who do not.

8:00 · Our parable this morning, the parable of

8:03 · the sewer slashthes soils tells us that

8:06 · there are four different kinds of hearts

8:10 · inside of people.

8:13 · We know Jesus is talking about the

8:15 · hearts of people because of verse 19.

8:19 · The evil one comes and snatches what was

8:22 · sown in his heart.

8:29 · While there are four different kinds of

8:31 · hearts, what we'll still continue to see

8:34 · this morning is that there are still

8:36 · only two kinds of people.

8:40 · So that's our main heading this morning.

8:41 · If you have an outline, if not, it

8:43 · should be on the screen. Four types of

8:45 · soil, two kinds of people.

8:50 · Now, before we get into the types of

8:52 · soil, I want us to consider quickly the

8:55 · swer and the seed.

8:58 · Who are they? What do they represent?

9:01 · Well, verse 19 tells us that the seed is

9:04 · the word of the kingdom or as Luke puts

9:08 · it in his parallel account, the word of

9:10 · God. And Mark just calls it the word,

9:14 · right? The word, the word of God, the

9:15 · word of the kingdom.

9:17 · So that's the seed. The seed is the word

9:19 · of God. Who's the swer? Well, if you

9:23 · think about it, Jesus is exemplifying,

9:27 · this is being literally lived out as

9:31 · it's being preached and taught. Jesus is

9:35 · teaching here a crowd about the word of

9:37 · God, giving them a parable, which will

9:40 · be received by those people as he's

9:43 · teaching them. All of which will fall

9:46 · into one of the four types of soil.

9:52 · So Jesus is the initial swer. He's

9:55 · casting the word of God to the people.

9:59 · Paul used similar language in

10:01 · Corinthians to say what that about his

10:03 · and Apollos ministry. I planted Apollos

10:06 · watered but God gives the growth. Really

10:11 · every person, every believer, everyone,

10:14 · pastor, missionary or lay, everyone who

10:17 · gives, proclaims the gospel, give the

10:19 · word of God to people is a swer.

10:24 · If you go out and share the gospel, you

10:27 · are sewing seeds of the gospel, seeds

10:31 · from the word of God.

10:36 · The swer is Jesus and anyone who shares

10:39 · the word of God with others. And what we

10:42 · see today in evangelism and in the

10:43 · preaching and teaching of God's word are

10:45 · the same truths we find here in this

10:47 · parable.

10:49 · The issue in the parable is not the swer

10:52 · or the seed.

10:54 · There are not different kinds of seed so

10:57 · to speak, right? We have the word of

10:59 · God, but then we also have the word of

11:01 · Joseph Smith here in our Book of Mormon.

11:03 · No, we don't have that. Uh we don't have

11:05 · the word of God and then the word of

11:06 · Muhammad in the Quran. No, we don't have

11:08 · that either. The seed is the word of

11:11 · God. There aren't different kinds of

11:12 · seed.

11:15 · And while we might sew differently, all

11:19 · legitimate swers sow the same seed, the

11:22 · word of God. Any true swer sws the truth

11:27 · of God's word. The issue that this

11:30 · parable is focused on is the condition

11:33 · of the soil the seed falls on

11:37 · or we can say the hearts

11:41 · the condition of the hearts of those

11:43 · listening to the word of God. And in a

11:47 · very real way as we preach through this

11:50 · this morning it's also being lived out.

11:55 · What kind of soil are you?

12:00 · That is the question. On any given

12:02 · Sunday morning, not just here at Cross

12:04 · Church Phoenix, but any Bible believing,

12:06 · Bible preaching church around the world,

12:09 · everyone listening to the preaching and

12:12 · teaching of God's word falls into one of

12:14 · these four types of soil. So the

12:16 · question is again, which one are you?

12:20 · Well, the first type of soil is simply

12:22 · this. The unfruitful hard heart. The

12:26 · unfruitful hard heart.

12:30 · Using the illustration of sewing seed,

12:32 · Jesus is using an example that they

12:35 · would obviously be familiar with.

12:37 · Ancient farmers walked up and down rows

12:40 · of field fields scattering their seeds

12:42 · with their hands. You wouldn't just walk

12:45 · around aimlessly and trample upon things

12:47 · that you were growing before. You would

12:49 · walk in a probably the same path every

12:52 · time. Maybe you cut across here, make a

12:54 · little big tri uh rectang not triangle,

12:56 · a big old rectangle, right? Those

12:58 · things. Um and you would walk the same

13:02 · path, a similar path every time.

13:09 · As you walk the path and as that becomes

13:11 · wellworn and often trotten, it becomes

13:14 · hard because of the foot traffic on it.

13:18 · And Jesus is saying, "Some seeds fall

13:20 · upon that hard ground.

13:24 · And because it falls on hard ground,

13:26 · birds come and devour it."

13:29 · Look down at verse 19. This is what the

13:32 · hard soil represents.

13:35 · It represents hearing the word about the

13:38 · kingdom, the word of God, not

13:42 · understanding it, and the evil one

13:45 · coming and snatching it away.

13:48 · This is the hard-hearted person.

13:53 · The word understand in verse 19 means

13:56 · it's not that this per that this is

13:59 · calculus or rocket science and that they

14:01 · don't understand it what they're

14:03 · hearing. It's that they won't consider

14:06 · what they're hearing. It's not that they

14:09 · didn't physically hear it with their

14:11 · ears. It means that they won't pay

14:13 · attention to it. It is refused,

14:16 · rejected, and so taken away by Satan.

14:22 · Luke says specifically, Satan takes away

14:25 · the word from their hearts so they won't

14:28 · believe and be saved.

14:31 · The point of sewing seeds of the gospel

14:34 · is for salvation obviously.

14:38 · And when one's heart is hard against it,

14:44 · when it falls on hard soil, hard heart,

14:48 · Satan takes advantage. Oh, there's a

14:51 · seed open for the taking. Snatch it. I

14:55 · don't know if you guys have ever planted

14:56 · a um winter lawn, but I try. And you

15:00 · know, you put the seed down, you put

15:02 · topper on it, you can't cover every

15:03 · seed. And no matter how hard you try,

15:06 · like if I've been out and all all day

15:08 · and I come back home, there's like 20

15:10 · pigeons on the front yard eating all the

15:12 · seeds. And then of course, I have a

15:14 · patchy um green lawn, you know?

15:17 · >> Yeah. Amen to that. Right.

15:20 · >> So, that's kind of the picture that I

15:21 · get though. Exposed

15:23 · seed

15:25 · that is on on a hard ground.

15:34 · No root takes place in this person. They

15:37 · probably don't stay in church long.

15:39 · Maybe they were dragged in by family or

15:41 · visited on Christmas or Easter. But they

15:43 · see no need to truly understand or apply

15:47 · what they're hearing.

15:51 · And Satan, you can bet your bottom

15:53 · dollar, takes full advantage of a hard

15:56 · heart by coming, taking it, snatching it

16:00 · away.

16:03 · The second soil, number two, is the

16:05 · unfruitful, shallow heart.

16:08 · Unfruitful, shallow heart. Jesus

16:12 · describes this as rocky ground with

16:15 · shallow soil. Verses five and six.

16:20 · It grows quickly because the shallow

16:23 · soil absorbs the sun's heat faster,

16:26 · which would cause the seed to germinate

16:28 · quicker. The problem is there's no root.

16:32 · And though there was a small sprout, the

16:35 · sun scorches it and withers away. Now,

16:38 · please don't miss this. The same sun

16:42 · that caused it to sprout quickly

16:44 · initially is the same sun that scorches

16:48 · it and it withers away. And Jesus will

16:51 · draw this truth out in his

16:53 · interpretation.

16:56 · Jesus tells us this kind of the uh kind

16:59 · of heart of this person in verses 20 and

17:02 · 21.

17:04 · The brief sprout represents receiving

17:06 · the word with joy at first.

17:12 · This is great. This is exciting. I just

17:15 · got back from camp, right? And I have a

17:19 · mountaintop experience.

17:24 · But their reception of the word is

17:25 · short-lived. Jesus says, look closely.

17:29 · It says when persecution or distress

17:33 · comes because of the word

17:37 · because of the word this person falls

17:41 · away. Notice the same word that this

17:44 · person receive with joy at first is the

17:48 · same word that they're ashamed of when

17:52 · opposition comes.

17:55 · They're ashamed of the same word they

17:57 · initially received with joy. You see

18:00 · that represented by, hey, the sun early

18:02 · sprout, awesome, and then the same sun

18:05 · withers away. The word,

18:10 · this is the person who may come to

18:12 · church. They may like what they hear.

18:14 · Maybe they make a profession of faith,

18:15 · get baptized, but then walk away when

18:18 · life gets hard.

18:21 · I tried the Jesus thing out for a few

18:23 · minutes and it didn't work for me. So, I

18:25 · walked away.

18:28 · And can I just take a moment to

18:30 · encourage those of you who have gone

18:32 · through difficult things in life as a

18:34 · believer and you stayed the course? Yes

18:37 · and amen.

18:39 · If you say, "Man, I've been a Christian

18:40 · for however long, doesn't matter, and I

18:42 · have gone through trial after trial and

18:45 · I've stayed the course." That is

18:47 · evidence, fruit of your salvation.

18:52 · And I commend you.

18:55 · This word for falling away in verse 21

18:58 · is the same word Jesus uses in John

19:00 · 16:1.

19:03 · In John 16:1, he says, "I have said all

19:06 · these things to you to keep you from

19:08 · falling away." In Greek, it's

19:11 · interesting. It's scandalidzo, right?

19:12 · It's like from be to keep you from being

19:14 · scandalized by it, right? But in John

19:17 · 16, Jesus contextually is in the upper

19:21 · room with his disciples telling them a

19:23 · bunch of things. Namely, that

19:25 · persecution

19:27 · is coming.

19:30 · Jesus says, "I'm going to send you the

19:32 · Holy Spirit from the Father. He will

19:34 · help you." Why? Because persecution

19:37 · is coming.

19:40 · Jesus doubles down. Why people are going

19:42 · to kill you guys and think they're

19:46 · serving God.

19:48 · Ready to follow Jesus.

19:50 · Sounds fun, right? And it is. Don't get

19:53 · me wrong. But it's not all. The point is

19:55 · that it's not all rainbows and unicorns

19:56 · following Jesus. That's the point.

20:02 · Christ says, I'm telling you this. Those

20:04 · are the things he was saying so that

20:06 · they won't what? Fall away. And to fall

20:09 · away, to be clear, means to disbelieve

20:12 · or to eventually reject.

20:16 · So back to our text, as soon as testing

20:20 · comes, or some translations might say

20:22 · distress, trouble, pressure, when they

20:24 · actually have to take a stand for

20:27 · Christ,

20:29 · they walk away.

20:33 · That's soil number two.

20:36 · Have you ever known someone who

20:38 · professed faith in Christ and looked

20:40 · like they're on fire for the Lord? Man,

20:42 · that guy, that girl is going to do

20:43 · amazing, great things for God, only to

20:46 · see them later walk away from God, maybe

20:48 · even deny Christ, be ashamed of the same

20:51 · word they profess to believe. I know

20:53 · I've seen people like that in my own

20:55 · family, right? Ashamed of the very word

20:58 · he professed to believe years ago.

21:02 · This is the person who has not counted

21:04 · the cost. Super exciting at first. Oh,

21:07 · wait. This is going to cost me

21:09 · something. Never mind. See you later.

21:12 · That's this person.

21:15 · And in the end, the point is that it is

21:18 · unfruitful.

21:21 · Third soil number three is the

21:22 · unfruitful distracted heart. The

21:25 · unfruitful distracted heart. Verse 7

21:29 · describes this heart as thorny soil.

21:32 · While it looks like it might grow and

21:35 · bear fruit, the thorns choke it out and

21:38 · it becomes unfruitful.

21:41 · In verse 22, Jesus explains this heart.

21:46 · They hear the word, but the worries of

21:49 · this age or this world, the

21:51 · deceitfulness of wealth, riches chokes

21:54 · it out.

21:56 · And notice the end of the verse, the

21:58 · point of it all. Once more, it becomes

22:00 · unfruitful.

22:05 · To me, this is probably the scariest

22:08 · soil to be.

22:11 · This person may attend church.

22:14 · They may give. They may even volunteer

22:18 · but never actually bear fruit. Thorns

22:20 · grow up with it. Meaning something's

22:23 · growing there. Something looks

22:25 · promising, but instead of bearing fruit,

22:28 · it chokes. It's choked out and it dies.

22:32 · The bottom line is this person has

22:35 · competing demands for their loyalties.

22:40 · They have competing demands for who is

22:43 · Lord,

22:46 · Jesus or themselves. Jesus or insert

22:49 · your idol here. That's this person.

22:56 · They may come to church, hear the word

22:58 · of God, but as Luke says in his gospel,

23:00 · go on their way. They leave church on

23:03 · Sunday worried about riches and

23:05 · pleasures of this life rather than

23:08 · seeing their need for Christ.

23:12 · This person wants Christ to share the

23:15 · throne of their lives.

23:19 · Christ, you take half the seat and I'll

23:22 · sit next to you and we'll share being

23:26 · Lord. Isn't that great, Lord? No, that's

23:29 · not how it works.

23:31 · Jesus said, "No man can serve two

23:35 · masters, and yet this person wants to

23:37 · give it a shot.

23:41 · This person wants to give it a try.

23:44 · No one can serve God and money." And

23:47 · this person says, "Challenge accepted."

23:50 · And ends up failing miserably.

23:55 · This person is deceived. Notice that

23:57 · Jesus says the deceitfulness of wealth

24:00 · and riches.

24:02 · And instead of serving two masters,

24:05 · which we know is impossible, the word of

24:07 · God is choked out. The cares of the

24:09 · world wins and no fruit is produced.

24:15 · I was sharing in first service, not in

24:16 · my notes, but I was like, I'll share it

24:18 · anyway, right? I saw on the news that

24:19 · Elon Musk apparently became the first

24:22 · the world's first trillionaire.

24:25 · Who cares, right? Like, who cares? Don't

24:28 · care

24:30 · because his soul is in jeopardy. At

24:34 · least I have not heard him make a

24:36 · profession of faith in Christ, right?

24:38 · Not I'm not saying that I know for sure

24:40 · 100%, but it doesn't seem like it to me.

24:45 · What does it benefit you to have a

24:47 · trillion dollars and let you lose your

24:50 · soul? Right?

24:55 · This person

24:57 · is distracted by the things of this

24:59 · world so much that they may look like a

25:02 · Christian on the outside. They're

25:03 · growing parallel to this weed or this

25:06 · this thorn. They might look like a

25:09 · Christian on the outside, but inwardly

25:11 · their heart belongs to the world.

25:15 · This is your Judas Escariat

25:19 · following Jesus for three years, hearing

25:22 · the word of God from God

25:26 · directly

25:28 · for three years. And what we have

25:31 · written down is only a portion. Remember

25:33 · John said, "If I wrote everything that

25:35 · Jesus said and did, uh the the there not

25:39 · enough books in the world that could

25:40 · contain it." So, we only have a portion

25:43 · of it. Judas probably saw, heard, and

25:45 · experienced more than what we can even

25:48 · read about in the Gospels.

25:51 · And yet

25:53 · loves money so much he'll sell Jesus out

25:56 · for 30 pieces of silver and literally be

25:59 · choked out and die. If you're unaware,

26:02 · what did Judas do? He went out and

26:04 · hanged himself after betraying Jesus.

26:07 · Giving us a little bit of an

26:08 · illustrative word picture of being

26:10 · choked out and dying. Literally,

26:15 · he faked loving people. Remember what G

26:18 · uh Jesus this money could be used uh

26:21 · this stuff could be so this could be

26:23 · used for, you know, um to for the poor.

26:26 · And John, you know, in his commentaries

26:28 · when he gives you that little aside, he

26:29 · says, "Yeah, this he said not because he

26:31 · cared about the poor, um, because he

26:33 · loved money. He was in charge of the

26:35 · money bags and was, you know,

26:37 · skimming off the top, whatever, right?

26:40 · He didn't actually care. He was a

26:42 · pretender,

26:44 · right?

26:46 · This is the pretender."

26:50 · Soils two and three are probably on

26:52 · church membership roles all over the

26:53 · world, likely here in Christ Church.

26:56 · They may profess faith in Christ, but

26:58 · their love and affection is actually in

27:01 · the world. And remember

27:04 · remember God doesn't look at outward

27:08 · appearances. He looks on the heart.

27:13 · And God looks at this heart and he ain't

27:16 · fooled by its superficiality. Right?

27:21 · He ain't fooled by any of ours. If

27:23 · you're soil number three, I'm a

27:25 · Christian,

27:27 · but I actually love this more than

27:30 · Christ.

27:34 · We need some good news, man. Uh so, soil

27:37 · number four, the fruitful committed

27:40 · heart.

27:41 · This is the only soil that bears fruit.

27:45 · Jesus describes this person's heart in

27:47 · verse 23. They hear the word, understand

27:51 · the word, and produce fruit yielding

27:54 · incredible yields. The amount, some

27:57 · hundred, some 60, some 30 are are

27:59 · exorbitant amounts. Um, a tenfold crop

28:04 · would be an amazing return on your

28:07 · investment. 30, 60, or 100 is meant to

28:10 · get our attention like, "Wow, that much?

28:12 · That's a lot." Yes, it is.

28:16 · Luke adds that this person holds fast

28:19 · the word in an honest and good heart

28:25 · and bears fruit with patience.

28:29 · That's the good soil. Any first century

28:31 · farmer would know that the only soil

28:34 · that produced fruit

28:38 · is useful.

28:40 · The only soil that produced something is

28:42 · useful is the good soil. that's useful

28:45 · is the good soil. None of the others are

28:48 · useful to the farmer because they didn't

28:50 · produce fruit. The point of farming is

28:52 · produce. If there isn't produce, it's

28:54 · useless. And so only the fourth soil is

28:58 · useful to the farmer. And that's Jesus

29:01 · point.

29:04 · And this is why we, myself included,

29:07 · ought to examine ourselves, right? Is

29:09 · there evidence of fruitbearing in our

29:12 · lives?

29:14 · All over the New Testament, bearing

29:16 · fruit is what is associated with being

29:19 · truly saved.

29:22 · I can only give you a few examples

29:24 · because I can't go over all of them. But

29:25 · like Jesus in Matthew chapter 7

29:29 · says that the way to discern false

29:31 · teachers from real teachers is by their

29:36 · fruit. He says, "Good trees produce good

29:38 · fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit."

29:41 · It's not rocket science, right?

29:44 · And so you say, "Okay, DJ, how do I know

29:48 · if I'm bearing good fruit?" And I think

29:52 · that that is the best question we could

29:54 · ask, right? That's a question we should

29:55 · all be asking ourselves this morning.

29:58 · Bearing fruit is not just about what we

30:00 · do. Unbelievers can do nice things. Elon

30:04 · Musk could donate billions of dollars to

30:05 · all kinds of nonprofits and be a really

30:07 · nice guy. The question is, does he hate

30:11 · his sin and does he love and pursue

30:13 · righteousness and holiness? That would

30:16 · be different.

30:18 · And that's between him and the Lord.

30:20 · Just as an example,

30:25 · bearing fruit isn't just about what we

30:27 · do, but it is characteristic of who we

30:32 · are. For example, the fruit of the

30:35 · spirit in Galatians 5 22:23

30:39 · says, "But the fruit of the spirit is

30:41 · love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

30:44 · goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

30:45 · self-control. Against such things there

30:47 · is no law." These are characteristics

30:51 · of believers, the natural outflow of the

30:55 · Holy Spirit in your life producing those

30:58 · things like love, joy, peace, and the

31:00 · rest.

31:03 · A fruit of the spirit is kindness,

31:04 · right? So, a Christian will be kind.

31:07 · Yes. And that means that they'll do kind

31:09 · things. But because they're a new

31:13 · creation in Christ, kindness is

31:17 · characteristic

31:18 · of them because anyone can do something

31:20 · nice.

31:23 · What else might be fruit bearing?

31:25 · Obedience to God's word.

31:28 · Not just being a hearer of the word, but

31:30 · a doer also. So when you fight against

31:35 · sin and p and pursue righteousness and

31:38 · holiness, you're bearing fruit. A

31:40 · growing love for Christ and his word

31:43 · bearing fruit. A desire to evangelize

31:46 · and see other people come to Christ is

31:49 · bearing fruit. A longing to live a life

31:53 · that is honoring and glorifying to God

31:56 · that's bearing fruit.

31:58 · The Bible calls believers new creations

32:01 · in Christ. And as a new creation, the

32:04 · natural outflow of your life reflects

32:07 · biblical principles because you're

32:11 · filled with the Holy Spirit and led by

32:13 · the Holy Spirit.

32:16 · Not that you're perfect. Don't hear me

32:17 · say that you never struggle or that

32:19 · you're perfect. But it is generally

32:23 · characteristic of your life to pursue

32:26 · God.

32:27 · We could say

32:30 · like we talked about last week, right?

32:31 · Sin is now uncomfortable to you for you.

32:35 · It doesn't fit comfortably into your new

32:37 · life as a Christian and it shouldn't.

32:41 · Conviction of sin. So when you mess up,

32:44 · yeah, you confess it to the Lord. You

32:46 · say, "God, help me." And then you press

32:47 · on instead of, "I I really like

32:51 · sinning."

32:54 · Problem for the professing Christian.

32:59 · Instead of loving sin, you now love

33:02 · righteousness, pursue holiness, uphore

33:06 · sin. That's fruitbearing.

33:09 · The fruit of the spirit is

33:10 · characteristic of the new you.

33:15 · So I'm going to say what I said at the

33:17 · beginning. There are only ever two kinds

33:19 · of people in the world. The unfruitful

33:23 · and the fruitful. That's why I use those

33:26 · words to describe each heart. Three are

33:29 · unfruitful, one is fruitful. That's the

33:32 · point.

33:34 · The only one that produces fruit is the

33:38 · heart committed to Christ and his word.

33:43 · So, we have a parabolic truth here at

33:44 · the end. Of the four types of soil the

33:46 · word of God comes to, only the one who

33:49 · produces fruit is assured they belong to

33:51 · Christ in his kingdom.

33:56 · Or maybe maybe I could put it this way.

33:58 · Only the one who produces fruit is

34:00 · assured that they belong to Christ and

34:03 · are in his family, one of his children.

34:08 · In context, at the end of Matthew 12,

34:11 · you can look back with me for a second.

34:16 · At the end of Matthew 12, beginning at

34:18 · verse 46, Jesus is speaking with the

34:21 · crowds and his mother and his brothers

34:24 · are standing outside and they want to

34:25 · speak to him and someone told him,

34:27 · "Look, your mother and your brothers are

34:29 · standing outside wanting to speak to

34:31 · you." And he replied to the one who was

34:33 · speaking to him, "Who is my mother? Who

34:35 · are my brothers?" Stretching out his

34:38 · hand towards his disciples, he said,

34:40 · "Here are my mother and my brothers. For

34:43 · whoever does

34:46 · the will of my father in heaven is my

34:48 · brother and sister and mother. Then he

34:51 · gives a parable about hearing the word

34:54 · of God and producing fruit from it.

34:57 · That's how you know you are a child of

35:00 · God in the family of God.

35:04 · I want to end with Jesus own words. John

35:07 · 15:5 Jesus one of his I am statements

35:10 · says I am the vine. You are the

35:12 · branches. Whoever abides in me and I in

35:14 · him, he it is that bears much fruit. For

35:18 · apart from me, you can do how many

35:20 · things? This many things is what you can

35:22 · do apart from him. Right? Nothing. Think

35:25 · you can produce fruit on your own? Try

35:27 · again. Right? You can't.

35:31 · And three verses later in John 15:8,

35:34 · by this my father is glorified

35:38 · that you bear much fruit

35:41 · and so prove

35:45 · prove. Did I mention prove to be my

35:49 · disciples? It's one thing to say I'm a

35:51 · disciple of Christ.

35:54 · Prove,

35:55 · right? We are not saved by works. Don't

35:57 · hear me wrong. Right? We are saved by

35:59 · grace through faith. But we are his

36:01 · workmanship created in Christ Jesus for

36:03 · good works. James, the whole book of

36:05 · James, right? Show me your faith.

36:08 · There ought to be evidence of it. So we

36:11 · end with the question we started with.

36:12 · Which soil are you?

36:16 · If you leave church this morning, have

36:17 · zero interest in God the rest of the

36:19 · week, ask God to plow your heart.

36:23 · I'm serious.

36:25 · Ask God to plow your heart. Or if you

36:27 · have idols in your life competing for

36:29 · your loyalties, it's God and this,

36:36 · ask God to plow your heart because it's

36:38 · time to get rid of it. If you have

36:41 · competing interests, competing loyalties

36:43 · for your heart, kill the other one

36:45 · that's not named God

36:47 · and ask God to help you.

36:54 · Uh, I said this at 9:00 service because

36:56 · I wasn't sure if I've said it from this

36:57 · pulpit before, but if you think you're

37:00 · on the fence, you don't want to be on

37:02 · the fence with Jesus because as one

37:04 · preacher said, Satan owns the fence.

37:06 · Right? So, there are ever only two kinds

37:10 · of people in the world. And we would add

37:13 · to this what Jesus has said, the

37:16 · unfruitful and the fruitful.

37:21 · Maybe you're here and you are bearing

37:23 · fruit. You hear the word of God and you

37:24 · go home and you continue to love God,

37:26 · pursue God, worship God, live a life to

37:30 · honor God if that's you. Amen. Keep it

37:32 · up. Amen. Let this be an encouragement

37:35 · to you to continue to produce.

37:40 · That's why I said this whole passage is

37:43 · really a very grave warning for many

37:45 · people and a very uh big encouragement

37:49 · to others depends on which soul you are.

37:54 · But this is the truth of God's word. I

37:57 · want to invite the worship team back up

37:59 · as we get ready to sing our last song.

38:00 · But if you're here and you say, you

38:02 · know, DJ, I might be uh soils one, two,

38:04 · or three. I don't know about this whole

38:07 · being number four.

38:10 · I would love to chat with you about that

38:13 · because this is serious, right? Say

38:15 · serious has a heart attack. Yep.

38:19 · Jesus is dead serious about this

38:22 · and it's being lived out in real time,

38:24 · right? Pharisees have hard hearts

38:26 · rejecting everything he's doing and

38:27 · saying.

38:29 · You have the one who doesn't count the

38:31 · cost. Little rich young ruler action who

38:34 · does count the cost. Says, "Nope, not

38:36 · giving that up." Right? or you have the

38:38 · Judas, don't be like him.

38:43 · Be a Christian who produces fruit. Be

38:46 · someone who loves God and says, "I want

38:48 · to do everything I can for the kingdom

38:50 · of God because he loves me. I love him

38:53 · because he loved me first and now I want

38:55 · to go serve him." Be that. Let's pray.

38:58 · Father, we thank you for your word this

39:01 · morning. And we pray God that it would

39:02 · not fall on

39:04 · hard soil or rocky soil or shallow soil

39:09 · or soil that is um has thorns native to

39:14 · it as well.

39:17 · God, I pray for soft hearts and good

39:20 · soil.

39:21 · the cross church Phoenix would have many

39:24 · who produce incredible yields of fruit

39:27 · as they live the Christian life with you

39:30 · God. It is you who lives lives within

39:33 · us.

39:35 · God help us in Jesus name. Amen. Let's

39:38 · stand as we sing our last song.