Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Passage: Matthew 13:1-23
Focus: “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” Matthew 13:11.
I believe the main idea in this “springboard” verse is this: God’s Word (The Bible) is a disclosure of God’s plan for man, a revelation of the glories of His Kingdom and how man can be a part of it. But only one kind of person can receive this message and its wonderful benefits—those who have a heart that seeks after God, which Jesus symbolizes in this illustration as good soil. A person can never be benefited by the Word who does not cultivate good heart soil so as to welcome it and nurture it with a growing and deep-rooted faith, the goal of which is the production of godly fruit (“fruit that remains.” Jn. 15:16).
It’s true—God’s Word is not for everyone. I remember a bible teacher saying, “The reason so many people are confused with the Bible is because they are reading someone else’s mail.” The mail of God’s Word is designed by the Spirit to make sense only to those whose heart soil says “Father God, I want to know You and please You.” That attitude of heart sets one apart from the popular beaten path, away from all the traffic, the stones, the birds, and the thistles, and allows him to link up with God’s Spirit and power to produce what no man can on his own. That’s the Gospel.
Let’s take a moment to review the 4 kinds of ground. Evil spiritual forces snatch away the seed from the heart hardened by social conformity. Trouble and persecution destroy the seed planted in the heart of one satisfied with religious superficiality. The planted Word in this kind of soil never develops the depth of root that can only be achieved by time and experience. Notice that the first two soil types actually lose the seed. The third soil type retains the seed, and it grows, but it dwarfed, obstructed, and weakened in its growth and development. The thorns and thistles of worries over life and possessions cause it to be unproductive of fruit. The fourth soil type, of course, is the good one, a heart that receives the Word, believes the Word, and lives the Word (i.e., a heart that reads and processes its own mail). You definitely want to cultivate this kind of soil. The benefits are stupendous.