Transcript for:
Insights from The Parable of the Soils

i pray everybody as well and in good spirits um we're gonna be going over tonight the parable of the soils uh you may be familiar with that in the teaching that um pastor steve did through the gospel of matthew um and so we're gonna see some similar content um here tonight um so i don't intend to bore you but i pray that it just reaffirms one what you already know and maybe where there's some more insight that the holy spirit gives us tonight um so again we're gonna be in mark chapter four verses one through twelve tonight and as you guys always know we do the recap from last week and so what i want to do is start with that so as you guys know last week we talked about jesus speaking to the crowd and talking to them about what his true family is who his true family is and we witnessed that jesus true family was distinct really from his earthly family in that he placed really much emphasis on his spiritual family over that of his earthly family and jesus mentioned that his spiritual family which we we kind of started seeing were the insiders are those who both hear the word and do the word that those are scenarios that you hear the word and you do the word and i believe that the words hear and do are really going to speak volumes to us tonight and really understanding the parable of the soils uh due to the depth really of this discussion um over the parable of the soils we're going to break this into two parts so tonight we're going to cover verses 1-12 and then on our next session we're going to cover verses 13 to 25 and so i believe that tonight we're really going to set a foundation for the parable of the soils so what i really want to do is if you're taking notes tonight's going to be a teaching night where you're going to really probably take notes sitting down and just digging into the text so that's the hope tonight and so what we're also going to see is we're going to i think really understand this concept as we spoke on last week about the insiders and the outsiders and that's going to continue on in the study of the parables so with that being said go ahead and pick me up at mark chapter 4 verses 1 through 12 and we'll dive into part 1 of the parable of the soils again mark chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. and this is the reading of the word of the lord he began to teach again by the sea and such a very large crowd gathered to him that he got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land and he was teaching them many things in parables and was saying to them in his teaching listen to this behold the sower went out to sow and as he was sowing some seed fell beside the road and the birds came and ate it up other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil and after the sun had risen it was scorched and because it had no root it withered away other seed fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and it yielded no crop other seed fell into the good soil and as they grew up and increased they yielded a crop and produced 30 60 and 100 fold and he was saying he who has ears to hear let him hear as soon as he was alone his followers along with the twelve began asking him about the parables and he was saying to them to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of god but those who are outside get everything in parables so that while seeing they may see and not perceive and while hearing they may hear and not understand otherwise they might return and be forgiven this is the reading of the word of the lord he who has ears to hear let him hear let's bow forward a prayer gracious and heavenly father we we stand in amazement at the reality of how you bring us to know you deeply to understand you more we know that that is only by the power of your spirit and lord we come to yet again another familiar passage of scripture teaching that we have may have heard before time and time again and i pray tonight that as we do before that we come to the text with fresh eyes that you open up our eyes says the psalms to say to behold wondrous things in your law that you will open up our mind that we will understand the scriptures i pray now lord that your holy spirit will burn within us as you lead us along the road i now ask that you hide me behind your cross i ask that you speak through me i i don't want to be the teacher lord holy spirit you teach tonight that we may come to full understanding understanding what we may not have had before lord i pray if there are any if there's any unbeliever in the room uh tonight or watching online that does not know who you are lord if if it is in your will to have their eyes open i pray that in this teaching that you will illuminate hearts that you will move people from spiritual death to spiritual life that they may come to know the glorious gospel of god and it is in jesus name that i pray a man and a man so whenever uh tax season rolls around we just got done with tax season not too long ago um what tends to happen is that we send me my wife and i we send our tax documents to our tax representative the tax representative gets all of these things prepared and they validate they send back information to us in order to confirm what it is that we have given for final approval and in doing this when they are communicating with us they tend to communicate with us through this encrypted secure portal because the information that we're giving to them is private information that if for any reason this information were to leak out that that's our public information or private rather information given to individuals who don't have access to it so what they do is they provide us with a code and we enter this code in order to get access to the information that we have requested the only way that we can truly get access to the documents that the tax representatives have completed is if we have the access code and the only way that anyone else can access that is if they have our code in other words friends what i'm saying is hidden information can only be revealed if access is fully given based upon the cooperation of those who hold the access code themselves in a similar way we're going to see tonight that jesus is teaching on the kingdom of god more specifically he's speaking to the secret of the kingdom because we're going to find that the secret of the kingdom is hidden in these parables and the only way in which someone can know the mystery of the kingdom of god themselves is if god himself provides the access for he or she to come to faith in jesus christ and tonight we're going to see just how the mystery of the kingdom will be made known to men and women around the world so with that being said let's look at chapter four verse one this is what it reads he began to teach again by the sea and such a very large crowd gathered to him that he got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land so what we have thus far is at this point in mark's gospel we've witnessed israel nationally reject the offer of the kingdom by rejecting their messiah and on top of that we've come also across some familial conflict with jesus's earthly family he makes this designation in mark chapter 3 verse 33. this is what he states who are my mother and my brothers he then states in the next breath those who do my father's will are my mothers my sisters and my brothers jesus makes it known in luke's account that it is those who both hear and do the word of god who are considered his true spiritual family in in other words what is rightly believed about messiah and rightly lived out to the glory of god are the marks of a true follower of jesus christ it is displayed friends in the obedience to god and his word not merely in word only but also indeed as james says don't be simply hearers of the word but effectual doers of the word for it is in the doing of the word that you are blessed it's then from this point that mark's gospel moves to jesus now teaching at the sea of the galilee and notice that what's happening here in the scene prior to this is we're building up to this point that jesus has been experiencing much much persecution there's been a lot of misinformation that has been going on from both sides of from jesus's family as well as that of the scribes and the pharisees and jesus is experiencing this mounting pressure in his earthly ministry and here's what i want to do really quickly if i could interject for a moment and speak really to jesus's leadership in the midst of the persecution that's happening because i really believe that watching and observing the way in which jesus endures in the midst of the persecution as well as the misinformation that it speaks to what believers should be doing as well understand that jesus did not stop teaching the gospel of god after having been rejected and defamed by his own he remained faithful to doing the will of the father and he did not throw in the towel on his mission and friends may this be for every believer our very position and disposition in the face of adversity and tribulation as well that you and i as followers of christ must continue to persevere we must continue to endure even when it gets tough why because mark points us to the fact that true faith in jesus christ brings about this understanding of what it means to endure hardship so we see that jesus is teaching ministry and following continues to grow despite the grumbling and the persecution of the religious leaders if i were to graph it as jesus's ministry is continuing to increase the persecution is continuing to increase as a matter of fact as we read through this i want us to check out just how much jesus's ministry is continuing to grow amidst the persecution check out some of the descriptives regarding the size of the crowd in verse 1. very large the whole crowd mark makes it clear that his followers have increased in quantity and the increase friends is so much so that jesus had to get into a boat yet again to the sea in order to even teach the crowd now if you remember again in mark chapter 3 verse 9 jesus and his disciples have a boat on the ready for when crowds became too pressing and the need for the boat here simply confirms for the reader then and now that these these issues as far as what jesus was experiencing caused immense growth in his following and it's important that as we see the crowd increase that we need to ask this question and that is this who is included in the crowd that is following jesus i think that's a question that we should ask are these individuals men and women who believe in jesus as his claims to being messiah or not remember that at this point in jesus's ministry there's this mortgage board of people following him recall for a moment the healing of the paralytic man at peter's home that within the crowd who was there scribes and other interested parties so we can assume that the crowd was comprised of a diverse group of people such as the following followers that were committed to who messiah was and knowing that john the baptist had pointed them to jesus secondly traveling skeptics and critics we know those as the scribes and the pharisees and some of the herodians and thirdly we also see individuals solely interested in their own particular interests i.e being healed or miracles are wanting to see miraculous signs and wonders so whatever the heart intentions of these men and women may be jesus's teaching method is going to weed out the outsiders versus the insiders notice what mark says in the very next two verses and he was teaching them many things in parables and was saying to them in his teaching listen to this behold the sower went out to sow so we have it here again jesus as promised is teaching to a large crowd and as he's teaching this large crowd he's teaching them in parables again we need to understand what is a parable a quick definition is this a parable is a figure of speech which uses something common and familiar in our lives and it correlates that with something that is moral ethical and provides some sort of spiritual truth in this particular context and for jesus's use of the parables here it's in regards to the kingdom program it's in regards to the kingdom program and more importantly within this context specifically mark is moving the reader into jesus is answering this question regarding the kingdom of god and how one enters if you recall our last two teachings was hinged on the reality of israel having rejected jesus as their messiah and because of the refusal of the kingdom right then and there they were that offer was rescinded and their hearts were what hardened and the question becomes this how does the kingdom program after the offer is rescinded how does it move forward and with whom will it be given to and revealed now and the only reasonable answer that we can come up to is what jesus says in mark chapter 4 verse 9 that the kingdom will be revealed to those who here it is have ears to hear and eyes to see we'll see in greater detail tonight how jesus is teaching friends and parables is simply a fulfillment of scripture with that being said let's turn to the parable that jesus will share regarding how men and women will come to know the kingdom and who will be in the kingdom the parable that we come across today again as you know is known as the parable of the soils and as we read through the opening verses 1 through 12 there were three specific things that i want us to focus on here three things the sower the seed and the soils i like alliteration and it happened to be there sower seed soils and what we're going to do tonight is we're going to take our time as we walk through this to understand this parable in context so here's what jesus begins with at verse 3. listen to this behold the sower went out to sow jesus begins with this declarative announcement one could imagine with much emphasis him saying at the top of his lungs potentially listen to this i want to get your attention as to the matter that is at hand and the word listen here in the greek is akuo it is the idea of hearing with intention so that those who are able to receive understanding can truly perceive with true spiritual insight and after he grasped their attention he says there was a sower that went out to sow again as we read from the top of the night there are four soil conditions four soil conditions that the sower is throwing seed to let's let's check out those four conditions we're gonna read verses four through eight as he was sowing some seed fell beside the road and the birds came and ate it up other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil and after the sun had risen it was scorched and because it had no root it withered away other seed fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and yielded no crop here's verse eight other seeds fell into this good soil and as they grew up and increased they yielded a crop and produced 30 60 and 100 fold so what we can gather from just a general read of this parable it's that it's reflecting that of the agrarian life within the first century palestine farming was a common thing during the first century as its methods to produce crops was not unfamiliar to the here at that time as a matter of fact farming was essential and as the means for food many people depended upon farmland itself and the goal really for the sower or the farmer is that their seed would produce a harvest that yielded well who wants a farm that doesn't produce any food and according to this parable there is a sower and this shower if you can imagine during that time the sower would have this bag this satchel if you will across their shoulder and there'll be a full bag of seed and they would be able to spread that seed out as they're walking around and what we notice here is that this sower is indiscriminately throwing out seed among the field to some it may seem as though he's scattering this seed without any care in the world he's just here it is wherever it lands it lands and this is key friends for us to note because this parable does not place much emphasis on the sower we need to understand that simply it's placing emphasis on what the sower does and that is so seed we'll come back to that point in detail in our next teaching of part two so incentive to come back so let's move to the soils themselves uh the first soil that we see is in verse four let's read that together it says this as he was sowing some seed fell beside the road and the birds came and ate it up so the first soil is said to have landed beside the road and apparently the sea fell on what would have been considered hard packed road or a trail of some sort and if you could imagine these dirt paths were created in that day so that people would not walk through these fields causing destruction to that of the harvest so with this constant walking on this trail whether by bare feet or by sandal that over time this path would become beaten it would become beaten so for see to have the opportunity to fruit into that soil was impossible the seed would simply sit on the top of the soil and as a result the text tells us it would be devoured by birds so this is what we have in summary for our first soil i want to really explain um the graphic that we have here so this is our parable of the soils latin square you may be familiar with this graphic from the matthew series the pastor steve did and so in this latin square we're going to notice at the top we have seeds exterior reality and that will be broken into what looks dead and what looks alive and then in our root reality we're going to see insufficient root development and sufficient root development i think this is important for us to understand as we walk through this okay so again summary for the first soil condition hard compacted soil impenetrable soil and the seed cannot be planted so because of these conditions jesus says the seed is stolen away by the birds and cannot produce more crop so where does number one fall into it's insufficient root development because it cannot be placed into the soil and there it looks dead why because there's nothing there all right so that's soil number one let's look at soil number two this consists of verses five and six other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil and after the sun had risen it was scorched and because it had no root it withered away so with soil number two jesus says that the soil is on rocky ground and this ground does not have the text tells us much soil it doesn't have much top soil he then mentions that this soil condition there happens to be with this particular seed being planted here some immediate growth so it it it seems as though seed has taken root there could potentially be some life here but later because of its shallow top soil when the sun rises it says the plant withers and it dies it withers and it dies in order for us to really understand this particular soil condition soil number two it requires a topographical understanding of the region of palestine rocky ground is a type of soil in the mountainous regions of of palestine for those who are accustomed to south texas you may know that the soil here is similar to that there that it is composed of this top layer of soil that is not as deep and underneath that is a large layer of limestone limestone rock and with the topsoil there is loose soil available which makes the sowing of the seed relatively easy meaning that the seed can go in it can germinate as water is taking root this will allow the water to penetrate that soil without hesitation and there's going to be somewhat of an immediate growth of this seed this is why verse 5 tells us immediately it's sprang up so with this immediate growth and this particular soil condition the growth that occurs is only short lived notice verse six and after the sun had risen it was scorched and because it had no root no root no root it withered away jesus states that once the sun rises the plant becomes scorched withers and dies and jesus says that this happened because the plant had no roots to sustain the plant itself so to summarize thin topsoil layer with no depth no roots of no depth of roots there's this immediate or enthusiastic growth for a period of time and then once the sun hits once the sun comes out boom the plant withers and it dies why because the roots weren't able to get enough water in order for there to be adequate growth why because underneath this top soil is this large layer of limestone all right so what we see here is we see insufficient root development and it looks alive temporarily okay let's look at soil number three verse seven other sea fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and yielded no crop i'm going to read that again other seed fell among the thorns and the thorns came up and choked it and yielded no crop so jesus tells us here for soul number three that there seems to be a decent amount of depth of soil here for plants to survive how do we know this we we come to this reality because presently there are thorns and weeds that are growing in this particular soil therefore friends we can conclude what that there is some deep roots here now if you are a gardener or you work in your yard one of the things that i'm coming across in my yard right now especially after all this rain these roots keep coming up these weeds keep popping up and you cannot kill a weed at the surface you got to get the root and when you pull these weeds up those things are long right and they're allowed to thrive and what we're seeing here is that within this soil condition jesus says that this seed is growing the seed is growing and the thorns are growing alongside this seed but for this particular situation this particular soil condition the thorns are beginning to crush or choke the seed now what i want us to notice is what's not happening here notice that the seed does not wither up notice that the seed does not die the only thing that's happening for this seed is it's being choked it's being choked the word for choked in greek here is simnip ego it means to press up closely against in the sense of constricting someone's throat to prevent them from breathing in other words although there is growth that is happening here the seed hear me when i say this the seed isn't able to produce more seed that's huge so here's what we see in soil number three the soil here is capable of supporting and sustaining life meaning growth is happening the seed is able to grow itself and is alive internally what do you mean by that internally was deep roots it's able to pull it's able to sustain itself in that sense however its focus is on trying to survive amidst the suffocating growth of things that are around it sufficient root development however on the outside doesn't look like it's thriving okay let's move on to soil number four verse eight other seeds fell into the good soil and as they grew up and increased they yielded a crop and produced 30 60 and 100 fold jesus brings us now to soil number four it's the good soil the soil we all want to see this soil is so good that the seed is able to grow and increase and yield fruit meaning seed more seed is able to be produced from this good soil and this growth is so evident that the crop that has been produced from this sea that has been scattered is producing crop 30 60 and 100 fold i mean it's multiplying you're seeing fruit it's booming it's growing clearly this soil is deep it is rich in nutrients and it's ready for a good harvest from what we can tell from this soil is it doesn't have any contaminants within its immediate vicinity that's somehow constricting it from growth there's no limestone layer underneath that is causing it to not produce seed in other words nothing again as i said is choking it out that there are deep roots that are happening here so these are the four soils that jesus speaks about in his parable and right after sharing these conditions jesus tells the crowd in verse nine he who has ears to hear let him hear it's clear that the parable itself was straight forward descriptively however jesus statement as you know jesus doesn't just say things haphazardly or randomly there's some something underneath this parable that there is some spiritual truth that is to be gained from this parable remember jesus is using parables moving forward in his teaching which means that there are spiritual implications that are in reach and he does not give particular individuals the ability to understand and we can tell really the perplexity of this moment after the parable of the soils has been spoken the reason why i say that if you look at verse 10 check out what the text says as soon as he was alone his followers along with the 12 begin asking him about the parables so mark lets us know at the moment that jesus is alone that his followers and the 12 began inquiring about the parable itself now observing the first half of this verse we can assume that this large crowd of the outsiders left after the teaching says as soon as he was what alone now again maybe jesus has concluded his teaching for the day and these individuals have left they're going back to work they're doing their thing uh because oh geez a great great teaching got to go thanks so much boom out and maybe these individuals go back like i said to their homes to their workplaces for the day however notice what the text tells us it tells us that there's a smaller group a smaller group that remains and what is there what are they doing here they're inquiring to know more about this parable the smaller group according to mark is jesus's followers or his disciples as well as the selected twelve and it's important to note that the synoptic accounts document different groups of individuals present as jesus is explaining what are you what are you talking about wes luke's states luke's gospel is going to state that it was just the 12 that remained with jesus in the explanation of the parable whereas mark and matthew's gospel tells us that the disciples as well as the 12 were a part of this group and i believe this difference in documentation from the authors of the gospel account is not reason for us to get up in arms and say oh there is a misunderstanding oh somebody did something wrong the canon's incorrect we shouldn't jump to that conclusion what i believe that the documenting of these different individuals being here is speaking to a specific thing it's reinforcing really the understanding that there are those who are outsiders and they're those who are insiders those who are going to receive what has to be said and have ears to hear and eyes to see and they're going to be those to be like oh that was a great teaching got to go and they're out in other words jesus is not going to waste his time explaining to anyone outside of those in whom the lord is drawing to jesus friends it wouldn't completely defeat the purpose of using parables in the first place so we can surmise that this group who will have the parable explained to them are those in whom are being uniquely drawn by the father to the son in order to hear and to understand friends these will be the ones that have eyes to see and ears to hear ultimately friends what this does it reveals the illumination of truth within the heart of men and women is only accomplished by the power of the holy spirit put it this way it is the holy spirit who is the revealer of all truth that is from god check out what the apostle paul says in first corinthians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14. again that's first corinthians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14. this is what it reads is what paul says for who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him even so the thoughts of god no one knows except the spirit of god now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit of who is from god so that we may know the things freely given to us by whom by god which things we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words here's verse 14. but a natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them why because they are spiritually appraised so the apostle paul lets us know here that the way in which men and women come to faith in jesus christ is by their eyes being open to the truth of the gospel non-believers cannot comprehend the spiritual realities of gospel truth unless the spirit of god who searches the deep things of god opens up their eyes and reveals truth to them friends this knowledge of the gospel cannot be mustered up by intellectualism it cannot be mustered up by you trying to figure out and piece together what does this mean the kingdom truth is hidden from those who have not been given the ability to see it or to know it let's keep moving check out verses 11 through 12 regarding the mystery the mystery of the kingdom this is what it says and he was saying to them to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom the mysterion of the kingdom of god but those who are outside get everything in parables do you see that there in the text so that while seeing they may see and not perceive and while hearing they may hear and not understand otherwise they might return and be forgiven this is where it gets juicy i love it if if it's not clear by now let me just re-state what's happening jesus lets the inside group know that the mystery of the kingdom has been what given to them which reinforces what we've said previously that those who were with jesus when he was alone after the teaching are those in whom the kingdom has been made known to so they have eyes to see they have ears to hear and jesus then makes another distinctive statement which is this the insiders will see and understand things in which the outsiders on their own will not see jesus then follows up by quoting from a shorter citation from isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 through 10. and i want you to read this with me so if you can turn there at this moment we're going to read this in context because this is huge isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 through 10. this is what it reads he said meaning isaiah go and tell this people god's speaking here to isaiah keep on listening but do not perceive keep on looking but do not understand render the hearts of this people insensitive their ears dull and their eyes dim otherwise they might see with their eyes here with their ears understand with their heart and return and be healed i'm going to read that last part again verse 10. render the hearts of this people insensitive their ears dull and their eyes dim otherwise they might see here it is with their eyes here with their ears understand with their hearts and return and be healed so isaiah provides the reader with understanding three imperatives regarding the commission of isaiah's ministry and these three imperatives that isaiah speaks regarding what would seem to be an unsuccessful ministry for isaiah are the following this is what he says fatten the hearts of the people and as a result they would lose all sense of working the sense of working and having an attaining divine grace secondly their ears would be made what heavy this would result in them not being able to listen then lastly shutting of eyes they would not be able to do what see properly if you notice in jesus's quotation of isaiah he leaves out one particular imperative do you know which one that is he includes both the people's failure to see as well as the inability to hear however he doesn't include the fattening of the heart noting this difference is going to help us understand the parable of the soils completely friends the parable is speaking to the matters of the heart this parable reveals how the mystery of the kingdom of god unfolds upon the hearts of men and women that there will be some who will receive it and they will yield much fruit and then there will be those that will hear it they will see it but they will not respond men and women who hear the very gospel of jesus christ cannot come to the full truth of the gospel why because their hearts are hardened here's the reality before you came to christ you too i too were considered an outsider and because of man's inability to come to that truth on their own what does it render them spiritually dead everybody in this room everybody watching online at some point in your life you were spiritually dead and you couldn't turn yourself on no matter how many bible studies you went to no matter how many bible studies you were invited to you were incapable of knowing within your own strength and intellectual ability what the gospel truly means and friends therefore because one is spiritually dead they cannot bear any fruit for the kingdom nor can they possess the beautiful bountiful amount of immense grace the kingdom of god as the greek says is mysterion it is a [Music] why is it a mystery because it is god that moves its message from being hidden to being revealed it is god that moves hard and hearts to soften and receptive hearts harden soils to good soils what we can gather friends from tonight's teaching on the parables of the soil is that clearly the soils represent the hearts and how the seed is received and responds to the soil and what this really does is it begs the question for us to ask what is the seed representing in the parable well as we prepare for next week i'll give you a little sneak peek luke chapter 8 verse 11. now the parable is this the seed is the word of god so the sower scatter seed indiscriminately unreserved it may seem as though it's being reckless how he's just sending out all of the seed the seed if the seed is the word of god what is the parable speaking to regarding the sower the sower is you the sower is me the sower is jesus sharing the gospel of god sharing the good news and the reality is is that as you share the gospel you must share the gospel everywhere that you go and you are not the sole person responsible for how the seed germinates god is so yeah you may have a friend that may be an atheist you may have a friend that may be an agnostic but guess what your responsibility is share the gospel because it is the gospel that will be able to move upon the hearts of people by the power of the holy spirit y'all years ago i used to struggle with this because i would think that sharing the gospel if i shared the gospel that this person must come to faith because i got the best news in the world and the moment that they would reject what it was that i'm sharing guess who i'm blaming wesley what did you do wrong did you not get the gospel presentation right do you not believe and when you read through the parable of the soils it takes the burden off of you as the sower and it puts the burden on god why because god is the one that will turn people on spiritually he is the one that will allow men and women to stay hidden from the truth of the gospel why because it's at his discretion the gospel if you notice is the common factor in every single soil condition why do i say that because the gospel doesn't change the moment that you begin to change the content of the gospel is the moment that you have no gospel don't change a message that for centuries on end has been the same he is the same yesterday today and more he is immutable in all of his ways his glory goes from beyond to beyond it lasts for an eternity and so don't put the pressure friends on you to think that you have to do something for someone to believe that work is on god may i encourage you sower so like never before may i encourage you sir you sow until you can't sow anymore because the gospel is a news that it will fall on those in whom the father's chosen and that weight and that responsibility is not on you it is on the lord in our next teaching we're going to go through verses 13 through 25 where jesus himself is going to explain this parable and he is going to we can go to the next slide jesus is going to give us an understanding of the spiritual reality so we see the parable of the soils here in its parabolic condition but if we can go to that next slide really quickly we're going to see the spiritual reality we're going to see what it looks like for these these soils to look dead and be spiritually dead seeing the outside appearance and we're also going to see the inward reality and i think that we're going to truly understand what it means for somebody to move from spiritual death to spiritual life and i'm really excited about next week next teaching excuse me because it's going to allow us to truly understand what it means to be a follower of jesus christ with that being said i'm going to pray us out bow your heads with me heavenly father we we thank you for your word we we thank you that your word does not return unto you void that you are not a man that should lie nor the son of man that should repent that you have given the gospel this glorious good news to be shared to all people of all nations and you the sword sends the seed out indiscriminately at random it almost seems as though it's reckless but that's the beauty of your gospel because wherever it falls depending upon what heart it falls upon that if it's upon the heart of good soil if it's upon the heart of those who are willing and ready and have accepted based upon what you are inwardly doing in their lives lord then it is fallen on good ground and so lord i pray right now in the name of jesus that if there is someone tonight that may not know you and may not be yours lord i pray that if you are stirring up their heart and stirring up their affection for you that you will open their eyes through this message tonight of the parable of soils so that they may see your beauty they may see your grace and they may see your glory lord it's in jesus name that i pray a man and a man