Matthew 13:1-23
‘The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.’ (13:20-21)
‘When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.’ (Matthew 13:19 NIV)
‘But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’ (Matthew 13:23 NIV)
There would seem to be a fundamental relationship between growth, understanding and the message of the kingdom (NASB has ‘word of the kingdom’). Failure to understand the word sown within us leaves that word vulnerable to being snatched away, stolen from us by the evil one. If our desire is to grow and ultimately to yield a crop, it would seem imperative that we come to some kind of understanding as to just what Jesus is talking about here and apply it to our daily lives.
Matthew 13:1-23
Jesus is teaching a large crowd of people that have gathered around Him. The parable that He tells them is that of the Sower, the story of the seed that a farmer is planting for his harvest. When the parable is told and the crowd has presumably dispersed, the disciples come to Him asking why He teaches the people in parables with the unspoken assumption and question, at least here in Matthew, being that they don’t understand what He has just said.
This week, Bart Wilkins continues our series, Flash Forward. Find out how to effectively digest the Bible and experience God’s transformation in your life.
Results of Salvation
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
What We do
We have seen that we are sinful (Romans 3:23). We have seen that the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God loves us so much that He provided a way for our salvation despite the fact we are sinful (Romans 5:6-8). And so what do we do?
What God Did
We have been swept down the Roman Road of Salvation to the point of despair. We see that “all have sinned,” Romans 3:23. We see that the consequence of that sin is death, Romans 6:23. We have even seen that there is a gift of eternal life but we also know as we saw in Romans 3 that nothing we do can make us good enough to earn that gift.
Results of our sin
As we start down the Roman Road, we have to acknowledge that we are sinful. But knowing that we are sinful isn’t enough. We have to understand the consequences of that sin.
