Real Life Selkirk
May 17 Fruitfulness (Matthew 13:1-23)
  • The Lord's Prayer (It's Yours)
  • Cornerstone
  • Give Me Jesus
  • Worthy Of It All

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 13:1–23 NIV
    That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

    Vision/Mission/Process

    We are walking through the book of Matthew, verse by verse. In this journey, we have a purpose.
    That purpose is to look at the life of Jesus through the lens of His disciple, Matthew
    I want you to think about this for Matthew. Matthew was not walking around following Jesus, writing this book like a diary: “Sunday, May 15th, Jesus went to Capernaum and healed a guy with leprosy”
    This book was written after Matthew had seen the entire picture of Jesus’ life
    When the entire life of Jesus was complete, including His death, burial, resurrection and ascension and even the start of the early church. It was then that Matthew chose to write his Gospel account.
    Matthew wrote this book with a purpose.
    You hear me relate a number of topics in this series. Topics like “discipleship” and “Kingdom”.
    It’s not because I am taking the vision of our church and imposing it onto the text.
    We took the text of the Gospel and imposed it upon our church.
    This is what Matthew saw. After it is all said and done, Matthew was very clear about a few things.
    We must be disciples
    There is a Kingdom of heaven
    Discipleship is the pathway to the Kingdom
    Jesus is the King of that Kingdom and He is the one that commanded we follow
    Follow Jesus— You are in the Kingdom.
    Reject Discipleship— You are not in the Kingdom.
    All of eternity hangs in the balance of these ideas.
    As a disciple of Jesus, Matthew sees a few things as absolutely critical and we are going to talk about them.
    Matthew wanted everyone who read his book to know that Jesus is the King and anyone who follows as His disciple would be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
    Vision:
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time.

    Question to Answer

    Today, we are going to answer the question, “What is the true purpose of my life in God’s Story?”
    “What is my purpose?”
    “What is the true purpose of my life in God’s Story?”

    Relate the question to life

    The question of purpose is one of the biggest questions that we deal with as human beings.
    It really doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not. This is a question that follows us around.
    It is important because every one of us were created in a way that we want our lives to count. We want the breath we breath to mean something on the grand scale of our existence.
    Somehow, we know we were created for significance, but every single one of us in this room struggles (or has struggled to find that significance).
    In the world, this pursuit is evident. The Bible (1 John 2:16) boils down this pursuit for significance and purpose apart from God in three categories:
    Lust of the Flesh
    Lust of the Eyes
    Pride of Life
    Lust of the Flesh- “My life matters because I feel good”
    Comfort
    Addiction
    Sexual pursuits
    Gluttony
    Whatever desire my body has, purpose is fulfilling that.
    And if anyone says anything contrary to that, they are denying my identity.
    Lust of the Eyes- “My life matters because of my pursuits”
    This is the person that is always chasing something that will bring them meaning.
    It isn’t that they are just feeding themselves. They are chasing something else
    Look at the workout bros. They are not embracing comfort. Rather they are finding purpose through chasing something and discomfort.
    If you pursuits cause you to sacrifice life and your pursuits are your purpose, then you struggle with the lust of the eyes
    Pride of Life— “My life matters because of my status compared to others”
    I need to be the boss
    I need to control others
    I need to have bigger stories and better experiences
    Prideful people live to be better than others. Not because it makes them better, but because it puts them above others.
    Comparative living.
    This is a struggle all of us deal with. But even if you are following Jesus, you are not immune to the struggle of purpose and significance.
    “I’m saved! Now what?”
    Go to church
    Listen to the same guy tell the same stories for the rest of my life?
    Significance by getting smarter
    Significance by being the most #blessed
    Significance by being the most righteous (pride)
    Significance by having the best insights or perspective
    Whether you like it or not, today’s passage strikes to the very core of our being.
    When we ask the question, “What is the true purpose of my life in God’s Story?” it is something that we intuitively know is the right question. But why does it seem the answer often eludes us?
    This is all going to be seen in our passage today.

    The Devil is at Work

    What happens if we get this question wrong? Or cannot come to an answer?
    Satan is a liar and when he lies he speaks his native language.
    When we don’t answer this correctly, we have to understand that there is an enemy that is trying to get us to miss this point.
    The Bible calls Satan the god of this world.
    Jesus called His disciples to be fishers of men
    But I believe Satan is a fisher of men as well.
    Look at what He uses as lures:
    Money
    Sex
    Pride
    Cell phones
    This entire world is a fishing ground with things that will draw us away from our purpose in God.
    If we believe a lie:
    At the greatest, we miss the gospel and follow the created rather than the creator
    Hell is the destination.
    If hell is a possible destination for getting this question wrong, is it important? Yes. Pay attention church.
    We live lives that are unfulfilled
    We were never meant to live unfulfilled, insignificant lives.
    Even as believers, we fall into routines of missing God by embracing rules, routines and knowledge.
    Jesus combats all of this with a super simple story.
    Some people understood the story. Other people completely missed it.
    Some people in the room today may understand this story for the first time every.
    Others will completely miss it.

    Preaching

    Let’s dive into our text:
    Matthew 13:1–2 NIV
    That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
    That same day...
    We need to look at the context here because it is going to show us a very important piece of information.
    We just spent three weeks in Matthew 12. It was a tough passage to preach, that’s why I gave one of the sermons to Jason!
    But in that passage, the contention between Jesus and the religious elites was coming to a head.
    They were beginning to plot to kill Jesus. He had so turned the religious and cultural world on its head that they were planning an execution.
    This wasn’t unknown to Jesus, so He began to take a different tactic in talking to the people.
    This tactic was by using parables.
    From this point forward, when Jesus talked to the crowds, He primarily used parables.
    When he talked to His disciples, He spoke in much clearer language.
    Jesus is at a house on the lake and all of the people were crowding around Jesus to hear Him.
    At first, Jesus sat by the lake, but the crowds kept pressing Him, so he got into a boat and sat in the boat.
    I would like to make this a Christlike lesson today. So I’m going to ask everyone to stand, while I sit and preach this sermon.
    I did the math, I’ve preached around 900 sermons in my lifetime. None of them I preached sitting while the people stood.
    Just kidding, you can sit.
    Matthew 13:3–9 NIV
    Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
    Jesus tells the crowd a story.
    Earlier in the day, He was speaking directly. Now He is speaking in stories.
    Jesus tells a story about a guy planting a field
    He takes his seed and chucks it out there.
    Some of it lands on the path. The birds who are always looking for a good meal eat the seed.
    The seed is clearly not going to grow on the path
    Some of the seed lands on the rocky areas.
    After a little time that seed takes off and grows, but then it dies because it got scorched by the sun because it had no root.
    Some of the seed landed in the weeds
    That seed took root and grew, but the weeds choked the plants
    Some of the seed landed on good soil.
    This seed grew up and produced a crop.
    The crop was massively bigger than the single seed that was thrown onto the dirt.
    Then Jesus says, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
    To the crowds, Jesus simply tells a story. They heard the story and understood the basic truth of the story.
    Yes, if you are planting seeds, you don’t want to throw that seed on bad places, you want to throw it on good soil.
    Why would you throw the seed on good soil.
    Well, very simply, not many people have a hobby of trying to plant seeds that don’t grow. They will plant seeds that will grow and produce something.
    It’s at this point that the disciples ask Jesus a very astute question:
    Matthew 13:10 NIV
    The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
    If you are unfamiliar with church or Bible lingo, you may not be familiar with the word, “Parable”
    A parable is a story from everyday life that communicates a Biblical concept in a concrete and memorable way. It is something like a spiritual metaphor or simile.
    This had not been Jesus’ primary mode of communication to this point.
    Now, He will use this extensively.
    Here is how Jesus answers this question:
    Matthew 13:11–12 NIV
    He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
    There are two things that we need to see here. Jesus is using parables as a means to do two things:
    Reveal the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven
    There are those whose hearts have embraced the Kingdom. To them, the parables would grow them in their knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom.
    Parables would be a fountain of truth pouring into their lives.
    Conceal the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven
    Conceal? Hide? Why would that be?
    Parables became a dividing line for the listener.
    When Jesus spoke directly, the Pharisees would publicly confront and argue with Him.
    This had value, but Jesus’ primary ministry was not one of debate. His primary ministry was one of discipleship.
    Parables became a method of speaking to the people who embraced the Kingdom, and hiding it from those who didn’t.
    Proverbs 25:2 NIV
    It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
    Much of the Kingdom of God has to do with our seeking and searching.
    We covered this passage a few months ago:
    Matthew 7:7 NIV
    “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
    As we covered this, we talked about how this isn’t for the things of this world. Rather, this is for the truth of the nature of God.
    We want His glory, we want His presence, we want His will.
    We must seek these things out.
    A heart that seeks the will, the heart and the purpose of the Kingdom is a heart that is surrendered.
    The parable separated those who have a desire to seek the Kingdom from those who had no interest in the Kingdom.
    These are the two hearts that would be exposed in the parable He just told.
    Matthew continues:
    Matthew 13:13–15 NIV
    This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
    That last line might sound odd, like God is intentionally preventing them from truth and healing.
    The Hebrew language (especially poetically) has a tendency to communicate something that is a result as if it were a cause.
    Look at the context here:
    The people’s hearts have become calloused: they don’t listen or see.
    If they did listen and see, they would turn and be healed.
    But as a matter of their hearts, they refuse.
    Jesus communicates that the purpose of the parables is a dividing line between those who desire the Kingdom and those who reject the Kingdom and this is all a matter of their hearts.
    Jesus commends the disciples:
    Matthew 13:16–17 NIV
    But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
    Jesus commends their ability to listen and hear.
    Then He interprets the parable for them.
    I want you to know that Jesus doesn’t interpret every parable.
    This interpretation is something like a math teacher doing the first problem on the board, then sending you home with your homework.
    Who ever did that and found that none of the other problems looked like the super easy one the teacher did on the board.
    We are going to have some of that as we go through the next few chapters.
    Principles for Interpreting a Parable:
    Identify the single central truth of the parable
    Context, Context, Context
    Drive to a decision
    Single central truth- This is not an allegory with dozens of meanings and interpretations. Parables are simple stories that make a single simple point. Don’t over-interpret the parable.
    Context- Look at what Jesus says before and after the parable. He is going to build truth based on those interactions. Parables don’t come out of nowhere.
    Decision- Every parable will drive the listener to a decision based on the single central truth of the story. They are not academic tools. They are decision making motivators.
    I just want to finish this teaching on the purpose of parables with a bit of instruction
    We need to be people of the Word. And I am really pushing us to have our Bibles in our hands.
    Deeper than that. You need to read these Bibles. We’ll talk more about this later in the sermon.
    Jesus identifies the condition of the hearts of the Disciples as ones who were seeking the Kingdom and growing in their maturity in the faith.
    And that they are privileged to get to be in the presence of Jesus.

    Main Text

    With this wild introduction to our text, Jesus will now introduce the purpose behind this parable.
    It is a parable that teaches us about the purpose of our lives in the Kingdom.
    But as we see, there are some people who simply will not find their purpose. Their ears are plugged and their eyes are closed.
    As much as they want to search for meaning and purpose, they will never, ever find it.
    Jesus highlights this reality:
    Matthew 13:18 NIV
    “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
    Jesus interprets the passage for them.
    In doing so, He answers the question, “What is the purpose of my life in God’s Story?”
    It is fitting and important to answer this question in this way.
    There were the religious leaders who looked like they had found their purpose...they hadn’t
    There was the crowd that were being led by those leaders and they were on a journey to find their purpose...maybe
    There were the disciples that had found their purpose, but maybe didn’t quite know what that meant...they would learn the truth
    Here is the story
    Matthew 13:19 NIV
    When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
    In this passage, Jesus helps us understand what the elements of this parable mean.
    He said people have ears, but do not hear.
    The sower is throwing seed out to different soils
    What is the seed? What is the soil?
    The seed here is the message about the kingdom
    The soil is the heart of the one who hears the message about the kingdom
    You might ask, “Who is the sower?”
    Speculation abounds! If that was the point of this passage and if that was necessary for our understanding of the passage, Jesus would have told them. But this parable is repeated in Mark 4 and Luke 8. In none of these passages does Jesus give us that detail.
    It isn’t the point.
    How does the message about the kingdom get out to the world? Preaching, discipleship, the Bible, relationship, the work of God. It gets out there.
    The point is not how it gets out there. The point is what do you do with the truth when you hear it?
    There are three conditions of the heart that lead to a life that is
    What is the message about the kingdom?
    This is much of what Jesus had taught so far
    The Kingdom of Heaven had come with Jesus
    Jesus is the King— this is the identity that Matthew wants us to see at the start of this book.
    The Kingdom is people surrendered to Jesus lordship, and following Him—forsaking themselves.
    The Kingdom is the truth of God
    The Kingdom is contrary to the world
    The Kingdom of God impacts literally every aspect of our lives
    Our pursuits, our finances, our time, our relationships, our family, our purpose and even our identity.
    Some might be inclined to think that the seed is simply the salvation Gospel. I think not. I believe the seed is the aligning truth of the lordship of Jesus and what that looks like in every aspect of our lives and it is intended to bear fruit in every aspect of our lives.
    More on that in a moment
    There are some who do not understand the message about the kingdom
    They do not see with their eyes and they do not hear with their ears.
    I imagine the religious elites are there hearing Jesus talk about the birds and the seed on the path and not even knowing that Jesus was condemning their hearts. The truth of the kingdom was concealed from them, but revealed to the disciples.
    Matthew 13:20–21 NIV
    The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
    When the message about the kingdom impacts a rocky heart, they receive it with joy!
    Good!
    But there is no root and the message about the kingdom lasts only a short time
    When trouble or persecution comes they quickly fall away.
    Do you remember how we opened and I described the lust of the flesh?
    That was trying to fulfil every need I feel I have within me.
    This person receives the message about the kingdom and when it gets hard, or there is trouble, or they are persecuted, it isn’t good for them anymore.
    It seemed to have promise, but didn’t last
    Matthew 13:22 NIV
    The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
    The third message about the kingdom lands on a heart with weeds. The weeds represent the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth.
    This person wants to embrace the kingdom, but also wants to embrace this world.
    They want to continue to pursue the wealth and the best life here.
    Because they never fully step into the kingdom, they are choked and it remains unfruitful.
    Matthew 13:23 NIV
    But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
    The last message about the kingdom lands on a heart that is good soil.
    This person hears the truth about the kingdom and understands it.
    they have eyes to see and ears to hear.
    That message about the kingdom grows, matures and bears fruit in their lives and it produces a crop 30, 60, or 100 times the single truth that was sown.

    Interpretation

    I want to walk through some really simple understanding here.
    Let’s look at the very first line of Jesus’ parable...
    “A farmer went out to sow his seed”
    Why do you think the farmer went out to sow his seed?
    There is only one and obvious answer to that question.
    He sowed the seed to reap a harvest.
    This is not a story about agriculture
    This is a story about identity, purpose, and what God is trying to grow within us
    As human beings, we were created to be fruitful. From the very beginning of creation, we see God’s command:
    Genesis 1:28 NIV
    God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
    Do you notice how this is a statement of God identifying our created identity?
    Scripture continues this theme:
    John 15:8 NIV
    This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
    We can look at the fruit of the Spirit as well. I don’t want to belabor the point, but we were created to be fruitful.
    We don’t “become fruitful”, we don’t perform fruitfulness, or manufacture fruitfulness.
    There is something within our identity in the image of God that we are made to BE fruitful.
    We were created to be productive, to make a difference, to have purpose that changes and impacts the world.
    We know we were created for this and in this passage, Jesus opens the question for us: How are we to live that impact? What is our purpose?
    It is being fruitful. It is a simple answer, but Jesus goes on to explain how fruitfulness comes about.
    The four hearts
    We need to see this. This is so important.
    The seed is the same seed for all four soils.
    The seed doesn’t change.
    The only difference is the soil.
    FRUITFULNESS IS THE RESULT OF THE CONDITION OF OUR HEART
    This is one of the things here. None of the four soils wants to be unproductive. However three of them end up fruitless.
    Every heart knows it has purpose and meaning, but not every heart finds it.
    The heart must strive to be receptive to the message about the kingdom.
    We sometimes deceive ourselves and think that our heart needs to be receptive to fruit.
    Fruit is the result. Fruit is God’s part in our lives. We don’t create it.
    Our hearts need to be receptive to the message about the kingdom.
    Then all of the sudden, we find fruitfulness in our lives. We find purpose. We find meaning.
    CULTIVATING GOOD SOIL
    The point of this parable is simple. We need to have good soil in our hearts.
    Soil that is ready to respond to the message about the kingdom.
    So how do our hearts prepare for the message about the kingdom?
    Jesus has already taught us this:
    Cultivating Good Soil
    Jesus is the authority
    This is what we talked about last week.
    Jesus said, “blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, pure in heart and the peacemakers.”
    Good soil recognizes that Jesus’ word is the authority in our lives
    “All authority in heaven and on earth”
    “Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord (king) to the glory of the Father
    Also, every word He speaks is truth
    Cultivating Good Soil
    Jesus is the authority
    I am not the authority
    As much as I want to be in control of my circumstances, my relationships, my finances, my path in life, the message of the kingdom gives a different authority and pathway.
    I must surrender my path to His authority.
    My experiences are not truth. He is truth
    My opinions are not truth. he is truth
    Cultivating Good Soil
    Jesus is the authority
    I am not the authority
    Humility
    Both of these added together equal humility.
    Discipleship
    Follow Jesus
    Changed by Jesus
    Obedient to His will
    I lay down my will, my rights, my opinions.
    He directs every part of my life.
    God Bears fruit!
    Here is what fruitfulness is.
    When truth is planted in our lives, sometimes it is hard. We often have to uproot lies.
    Lies that have been hardwired into our lives
    But when we trust His truth and live by His truth
    When we forgive rather than holding grudges
    When we are generous instead of selfish
    When we love instead of hate
    We begin to bear fruit
    Fruit glorifies the Father!

    Conclusion

    This is one of those sermons that seem a bit vague.
    We may understand the idea, but the specifics may seem hard to grasp.
    We have the Word of God, we have the Holy Spirit and we have the church.
    Whatever your struggle or circumstance is today, there is truth about the Kingdom that will align you to the heart of God.
    I want to conclude with some statistics.
    That doesn’t seem like a very emotional way to finish. But I want to show you that statistics actually prove the point Jesus makes in our passage today.
    The Center for Bible Engagement did a study of 40,000 people and how their lives look after time in the Bible
    If you don’t read your Bible regularly or only read it up to 1 time each week, there is no difference in your life and the life of the world around you.
    Your heart is calloused to the message of the kingdom
    If you read your Bible 2-3 times each week, your life shows very small changes. Largely insignificant.
    Your heart is hearing the message of the kingdom, but it seems there are things in your life that choke the word making it unfruitful.
    However, if you read your Bible 4 or more times each week, the changes in your life become significant:
    Loneliness dropped 30%
    Anger issues dropped 32%
    Bitterness in relationships dropped 40%
    Alcohol consumption dropped 57%
    Feeling spiritually stagnant dropped 60%
    Viewing pornography dropped 60%
    Sharing your faith increased 20%
    Commitment to discipling other believers jumped 200%
    Do you get the point?
    The Word of God changes our lives. The Word of God develops fruitfulness.
    Do these stats sound like fruitfulness? It isn’t because these people set out to stop drinking alcohol, or watching porn.
    They changed their hearts receptivity to the message about the kingdom and didn’t let anything get in the way.
    The result was fruitfulness.

      • Matthew 13:1–23NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:1–2NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:3–9NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:10NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:11–12NIV2011

      • Proverbs 25:2NIV2011

      • Matthew 7:7NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:13–15NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:16–17NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:19NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:20–21NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:22NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:23NIV2011

      • Genesis 1:28NIV2011

      • John 15:8NIV2011

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Real Life Selkirk
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