First Baptist Church Litchfield
October 5, 2025

      • Psalm 139:1–6ESV

  • Behold Our God
  • Sovereign One
  • To God Be The Glory

      • Hebrews 4:12–13ESV

  • His Eye Is On The Sparrow

  • Mixed Soils

    Jesus begins this parable in Matthew 13:3 with: “A sower went out to sow.” He takes an agrarian image every ear in His audience would have recognized and uses it to expose the deepest reality of the human condition—how your heart receives the Word of God. The sower is the preacher of the gospel. The seed is the kingdom message: that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); that the wages of sin is death, not only physical but eternal (Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27); that apart from Christ, every sinner faces judgment and the wrath of God in hell. The good news is: “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God demonstrates His love in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). And the Word promises: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9–10, 13).
    That is the gospel seed we sow. And hear me—sowing is not just the task of a pastor. The Great Commission is not solely reserved for missionaries or elders. It belongs to every believer. A preschool teacher who tells a child that Jesus loves them is sowing. A factory worker who shares the gospel over lunch break is sowing. A teenager who prays with a friend after practice is sowing. Everyone at FBCL and LCS is called to scatter the seed of Christ’s kingdom wherever God has placed you.
    In Jesus’ day, the sower would take a handful of seed and scatter it broadly across the field. It would land where it landed. The seed had the same power, but the soil determined the outcome. Jesus says the soil represents the human heart. Every time you share the gospel, it is falling on someone’s heart. And, as we saw last week, not every heart is the same. Some are hard. Some are shallow. Some are choked with thorns. Some are good soil. The condition of the soil makes all the difference.
    Our natural sinful hearts are not good soil. Sin hardens us, pride blinds us, and the cares of the world choke us. We need the Spirit of God to plow the soil. We need Him to break up the hardness. He pulls the weeds. He prepares the ground so the seed of the gospel can take root and bear fruit.
    Beloved, as we sow, we trust God to do what only He can do. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” That is why we preach, pray, and persevere. Our task is not to judge the soil but to faithfully scatter the seed. God’s task is to make it grow.
    Jesus explains to us that there are four kinds of soil, which means there are four ways people will respond to the gospel: hardheartedness, superficially, with a divided heart, or a single minded heart united loyal love. Let’s examine each heart soil this morning, and ask yourself some self-examination questions:
    Where is the seed landing in your heart today? Is the Word bouncing off a hard surface? Is it sprouting quickly but shallow? Is it being strangled by worldly distractions? Or is it sinking deep, bearing fruit thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold? The Sower walks among us still. He is scattering His Word even now. The question is—what kind of soil will you be? Hopefully, not the first kind we see in Matthew 13:4,19.

    Some people respond to the gospel with hard-heartedness (Matthew 13:4, 19).

    Jesus explains in Matthew 13:4, “As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.” And in verse 19 He interprets, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”
    The first soil represents the hard heart. The “path” was the beaten-down walkway that ran through a farmer’s field. Over time, constant foot traffic and the scorching sun pounded it into something like concrete. No seed could penetrate that surface. No harvest could ever grow there. When the seed fell on such a path, it simply lay exposed, easy prey for birds that would swoop down and devour it.
    Jesus says this is what it’s like when the gospel falls upon a hardened heart. The Word of the kingdom is heard, but never received. Pride, self-righteousness, and unbelief have packed the soil so tight that the seed cannot break through. And so, like birds that snatch away seed, the evil one comes and removes it before it has any chance to take root.
    We don’t have to guess who Jesus had in mind. In the context of Matthew’s Gospel, the Pharisees embodied this hard path. At first, they may have been curious about Jesus—drawn by His teaching, stirred by His miracles. But when Jesus dared to say, “Your sins are forgiven” (Matt. 9:2), when He exposed their hypocrisy and confronted their man-made traditions, their hearts calcified. Instead of softening in repentance, they stiffened in rebellion. Matthew shows their tragic progression: rejecting His message, attributing His miracles to Satan, and ultimately plotting His death (Matt. 12:14, 24). The seed landed, but the soil was impenetrable.
    Yet it wasn’t only the Pharisees. Even those from Jesus’ own hometown displayed this hardened path. Matthew records:
    “Coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ (Matt. 13:54–57)
    Their reaction was essentially, “Who does this guy think he is?” To them, Jesus was just the carpenter’s boy. Mary’s son. James and Joseph’s brother. Nothing more. And right there, at the hardness of their heart, the evil one was able to feast on the word sowed on their heart. You see it in verse 57,
    “And they took offense at him.” (Matthew 13:57)
    The evil one plucked the seed right out of their hearts, and they stumbled over the very cornerstone God had set in Zion (cf. Isa. 28:16; 1 Pet. 2:7–8).
    When I was a boy, my friends and I used to play football in my buddy’s backyard. After a few weeks of running the same plays, you could see the path we had worn in the grass. The constant pounding of our feet had pressed it into hard dirt where nothing would grow. His dad could water that spot every day, but the seed never took. The ground was simply too packed down.
    That’s the picture Jesus gives. Some hearts have been trampled down by years of sin, pride, and unbelief. The gospel seed lands, but it just sits there, never penetrating. And just like crows circling a field, Satan swoops down and snatches the Word away before it can sink in.
    Beloved, maybe you know someone like that, or maybe that describes you. You’ve heard sermons for years. You can quote the Bible better than most. But your heart is like that beaten-down path in my backyard. The seed is there, but it never takes root. If you have eyes to see that is you, repent of your sin, trust Jesus right now, and thank God for his grace. For unless God tills the soil, your heart will remain hard. And when you do receive the gospel, do not receive the gospel lightly as our next soil does.

    Some people respond to the gospel with superficial excitement (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21).

    Jesus continues His parable: “Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away” (Matt. 13:5–6). He explains in verse 21: “He has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.”
    The second heart Jesus describes is the shallow heart. The rocky ground in Palestine often had a thin layer of soil covering a shelf of limestone. The seed could sprout quickly in that thin soil, but because there was no depth, no moisture, no nutrients, the little plant would wither as soon as the sun bore down. The problem was not in the seed. The problem was the lack of depth in the soil.
    Jesus says that is what it is like when the gospel is superficially received. Someone hears the Word and responds with joy. They may acknowledge their sin. They may even profess Christ, or long for escape from judgment. On the surface, it looks like growth. But it is all rootless. Their faith has no depth, no staying power. When trouble comes—when following Jesus costs something—they fall away. Their faith was never planted deep in Christ.
    The Bible contrasts the righteous and the wicked in exactly these terms. “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (Ps. 1:3). The wicked, however, are “like chaff that the wind drives away” (Ps. 1:4). A true believer is rooted in Christ, nourished by the Spirit, and cannot be uprooted. But the false professor—rootless and fruitless—has no endurance.
    This is why Jesus blesses those persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matt. 5:10). Notice, He doesn’t say “persecuted for being rude” or “for political stances.” The blessing belongs to those who are hated precisely because they reflect Christ’s righteousness. And the reason is clear: “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). Light always exposes darkness, and darkness always resists the light.
    Jesus told His disciples plainly: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you…If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18, 20). Peter echoes it: “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial…as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12). To follow Christ is to face the world’s opposition. Shallow faith withers in that heat. Deeply rooted faith flourishes.
    You have your English Bible because of a man named William Tyndale. He was an English reformer in the 1500s. Tyndale longed for ordinary people to read the Scriptures in their own language. When church authorities opposed him, he fled England and labored in secret, translating the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek. His work eventually cost him his life.
    In 1536 he was betrayed, arrested, and condemned as a heretic. Before his execution, he was given one last chance to recant. He refused. Instead, his final prayer was, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” Moments later, he was strangled and burned at the stake.
    Why didn’t Tyndale wither under the sun of persecution? Because his roots were deep in Christ. His faith was not a shallow sprout of enthusiasm but a deeply rooted conviction that God’s Word was worth more than his life. Within a few short years, his dying prayer was answered when the King of England authorized the distribution of English Bibles—many of which relied heavily on Tyndale’s own translation.
    Tyndale’s life is a testimony that true faith, rooted in Christ, endures. The rocky soil falls away when trials come. But the rooted believer stands firm, because the Word of God is more precious than even life itself.
    Superficial, rootless faith will always collapse when tested. It may look alive for a season, but it cannot bear fruit. But when Christ plants you by living water, your roots go deep. Paul says, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith” (Col. 2:6–7). Only in Christ will you endure trials, persecution, and opposition, because He Himself has endured for you.
    So, beloved, when persecution comes—and it will come—will you wither, or will you withstand? Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:29, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” To suffer for Jesus is not a curse; it is a calling. And when your roots are deep in Christ, the scorching sun of persecution will not destroy you. It will only drive your roots deeper into the soil of His grace.

    Some people respond to the gospel with divided commitment (Matthew 13:7,22).

    Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The same is true of your faith. In Matthew 13:7 and 22, Jesus warns that a divided commitment between the world and the kingdom of God will collapse your faith.
    “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them” (Matt. 13:7). And He explains: “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matt. 13:22).
    If I had to choose one soil that best describes the American heart, it would be this thorny soil. We have been given such wealth and comfort that we confuse our desires with our needs. And when that happens, thorn bushes begin to grow in the soil of our heart.
    Thorns represent the trappings of wealth and comfort—worldly concerns that compete with Christ for our deepest affections. The thorny heart is more concerned with itself than with the eternity of its soul. Douglas O’Donnell puts it well: “This person is inwardly self-indulgent and thus outwardly choked by worldly concerns. Put differently, this person cares too little about his soul because he cares too much about the world.”
    The Greek verb Jesus uses, sympnigō, means “to suffocate” or “to crowd out.” Notice carefully—this heart does not reject the gospel outright, like the hard path. Nor is it shallow like the rocky soil. The gospel actually begins to grow. But the thorns grow faster. And so the Word is crowded out, suffocated, until it is unfruitful.

    What are the thorns? Jesus identifies two:

    First, the cares of the world

    The anxieties of daily life, the constant distractions of busyness, the fears of tomorrow. He already addressed this in Matthew 6:25–34: “Do not be anxious about your life…Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” He rebuked Martha for the same thing in Luke 10:41 when she was “anxious and troubled about many things.”

    Second, the deceitfulness of riches

    The lies of wealth that promise joy, security, and worth. But Paul warns in 1 Timothy 6:9–10 that those who crave riches “fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” Money whispers, “I can give you life,” while it’s idolatry steals it and shipwrecks your faith.
    The danger of thorns is they are subtle. They do not kill suddenly. They choke gradually. You may not realize how much your comfort and wealth matter to you until they are threatened or taken away. And when that moment comes—when darkness demands you choose between Christ and the world—the thorn-ridden heart will always choose the world.
    The tragedy of the thorny heart is that it looks alive but bears no fruit. Jesus says in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away.” Outward appearance without fruit is not salvation—it is deception.
    I’m not much of a gardener. My landscaping looks nice because the people who lived in our house before us knew what they were doing. When I try to work on our bushes, the soil often looks fine at first. But if I don’t clear the weeds, by midsummer they tower over the plants, stealing light and sucking away water. By the fall, the weeds win, and there is nothing left to enjoy.
    That’s exactly what Jesus says happens spiritually. The gospel may sprout in your life. You may even look healthy for a season. But if your heart is filled with unchecked thorns—worldly cares, greed, divided loyalties—the Word will be strangled before it ever bears fruit.
    At the center of a thorny heart is a battle of loyalty. Either you will love the Lord with a single-minded heart united loyal love, or you will love the world. Charles Spurgeon warned us well about divided loyalties:
    “A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; He must be loved first and best.” Charles Spurgeon
    Beloved, what dominates your heart today? Are you anxious about many things? Are you deceived by wealth? If so, the gospel seed in you is in danger of being strangled. But take heart—Jesus Christ came not only to plant the seed but to tear out the thorns. His Spirit can pull up the weeds of idolatry, re-center your affections, and make your heart good soil for His Word.

    Some people respond with single-minded heart-united fruit-bearing loyal love (Matthew 13:8,23).

    Early in the gospel of Matthew, he speaks to bearing fruit. In Matthew 3:8-10, John the Baptist begins the Gospel with this charge: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance…Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Repentance is not just words — it bears visible fruit. A changed heart produces a changed life. Fruitlessness is a sign of judgment.
    Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: “You will recognize them by their fruits…Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit…Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Many may profess Christ, but only true disciples bear good fruit. Fruit does not save us, but it proves who we belong to.
    Jesus also says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:34-35) Here He exposes that words and works flow from the heart. Good fruit comes from a heart transformed by grace; bad fruit comes from a heart enslaved to sin.
    And now in Matthew 13, after warning about the path, rocky, and thorny soils, Jesus climaxes with the good soil:“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” And He explains: “This is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields.”
    Fruit is the sign of genuine understanding and reception of the gospel. Not everyone produces the same measure. Some bear 30, 60, or even 100 fold, but all true believers produce some fruit. The fruit you bear is love for Jesus expressed in joyful obedience, just like Jesus loved and obeyed his Father.
    Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). That is not a cold demand but a warm reality—love for Christ naturally flows into obedience to Christ. And where do we see this most clearly? In Jesus Himself. In John 15–16, Jesus repeatedly declares His love for the Father, and He shows it in perfect obedience—obedience that led Him all the way to the cross. His loyal love was single-minded: He would rather die than disobey His Father’s will.
    Think of it like a compass. A compass needle always points north, no matter how many times you spin it around. In the same way, Jesus’ heart always pointed to His Father—every word, every deed, every step of obedience was oriented toward Him. And when He calls you to bear fruit, He is calling you to that same single-minded loyalty—a heart united in love that shows itself in joyful obedience.
    If you belong to Christ, your life will look like it. It may be thirtyfold, it may be a hundredfold, but there will be fruit. The measure may differ, but the presence cannot. Just as a compass needle always finds north, so a true disciple’s heart always turns toward Christ in love and obedience.
    The question this morning is: which soil describes your heart?

    Is your love for Jesus choked by thorns, scorched by trials, or snatched away by the enemy?

    Or is it rooted deeply, united in loyal love to Christ, bearing fruit that proves you belong to the Father?

    Beloved, Jesus’ words invite us to examine ourselves. If you love Him, you will obey Him. If you belong to Him, you will bear fruit. And when you do, however much or little, it will be the unmistakable evidence that you are His. Amen

      • Matthew 13:4ESV

      • Matthew 13:19ESV

      • Matthew 13:5–6ESV

      • Matthew 13:20–21ESV

      • Matthew 13:7ESV

      • Matthew 13:22ESV

      • Romans 11:33–34ESV

  • Before The Skies
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
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