Sown in Good Ground

"Sown in Good Ground" – Matthew 13:23 "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit." A person can come to church for reasons that are not the word —a friendship, a wish to feel better, a scruple of conscience— and the day of testing uncovers it. This study defines what the good ground is: a willing heart, not perfect but open, teachable, that hears, understands, retains, and perseveres. And it defines the fruit, which is not borne inside the building but once you walk out the door: changes of character, healed relationships, service, steadiness. The path runs through Luke 8:15, John 15:5-8, Colossians 1:10, and Psalm 1:2-3.

I. Why people come to church

A. One can come for a simple friendship, for a wish to feel better, for reasons of conscience. And the day of testing uncovers it: when we should be praying we are in a bind, and when we should have peace we are in strife.

B. People choose which service they like and which they do not; the Wednesday one gets measured as "something more human".

C. What we think we will possess, we will leave behind. Only the righteous conquers, gains, and grows in wisdom, and his mouth fills with a vocabulary that comes from heaven.

D. Ignorance has to be dropped and maturity grown into: being fierce for the Gospel instead of playing the fool.

II. Growing or falling ill

A. God takes care of the physical: the child is formed, born, and grows. The spiritual is our own responsibility.

B. As the years pass there is either spiritual growth or decline. When a person falls ill spiritually, the dose of carnality is so strong that he turns lukewarm; and the lukewarm the Lord spits out.

C. The day of baptism is the day of the great feast: the burial of the flesh in order to rise redeemed. That is where a sound and wise life begins.

D. Whoever struggles so much with the flesh is short on wisdom; that is why his sayings are common and ordinary, and a good share of our conversations produce nothing effective.

E. "That's just how I am, quiet." Silence is no virtue if it comes from not having God's voice, nor the Holy Spirit speaking through it.

III. Where the sowing is done

A. There is ground that is not good for a harvest: it produces no nutrients for what is planted. That is why one must look at where he sows.

B. Sowing into work yields a pension, not an eternal harvest. That is the ordinary law of the earth; the law of sowing and reaping in Scripture is for eternity.

C. What we do is for our own account: if it was bad, bad is what comes; if it is good, good is what comes.

D. David won his battles because he had warriors, not cowards; and though it was not his to build the temple, he left the whole provision and the pattern ready before he departed.

E. According to how you live your life, so will your reward be. That is why the sowing is for enjoying eternity, not this earth.

IV. The good ground: a willing heart

A. Not perfect —perfection is not reached so soon— but completely open to God.

B. A person may be upright, may be quiet; but the danger is inside. What is not torn out rots the one who keeps it, because that too is a sowing.

C. Humble and teachable, willing to learn new things. Because among so much skill at talking there is much lying, and within the lying, exaggeration abounds.

D. Sincere, but sincerity is not cruelty: saying something wounding and hiding behind "I'm just being honest" is malice.

E. It does not close up, does not harden, does not live on the defensive about spiritual things. Where every word has to be defended, no conversation gets anywhere.

V. Who hears and understands

A. To hear is to listen to the message of God —in the reading, in the preaching— and to say "that is true".

B. The strongest instinct in a human being is that when he does not want to hear, he shuts himself in; and the harm is done by what he refuses to receive.

C. To understand is not merely to grasp with the mind: it is to comprehend by faith and say "this is for me, I am going to obey it".

D. The church is not there to be taken advantage of: it is where the Holy Spirit dwells, where God works miracles and frees whoever arrives bound. The eye must be turned from what is convenient to what is right for the church.

VI. The fruit and how it shows

A. Fruit is the evidence that the word went in and took root. And it is not borne inside the building: it is borne once you walk out the door.

B. Changes of character: more patience, self-control, humility. A raised shoulder is not humility, it is a posture of war; and being humble is the hardest thing, because a human being stays haughty even in old age.

C. Healed relationships: if you cannot stand someone, if the sight of them turns your stomach, the wound is in you, and you are the sick one. And whoever is sick is obliged to get well.

D. Service in love, and steadiness to follow Christ despite pressure and problems; not falling away because "that brother acted like that".

E. Impact on others through the testimony: meek, humble, not loud-mouthed.

F. It is not the fruit of emotion but of a transformed life. "I gave in to the flesh" means the Holy Spirit has not been allowed to transform; and the task is to be transformed yourself, not to fret about everyone else.

VII. "Some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty"

A. God expects fruit, even in different measures. Not everyone produces the same, and that is normal: not even twins produce the same. What matters is that there is production.

B. God does not call you to compare yourself: He calls you to be faithful. Do not demand of another what is not his, and do not take on loads that are not yours.

C. Be faithful with the ground He is working in you; because God is working, and in whom would He work if not in us?

VIII. Keeping the word (Luke 8:15)

A. "Having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."

B. An honest heart: examine your own, since only you know its state —whether there is hatred, strife, anger, or fault-finding with everyone.

C. A good heart: sincere and without duplicity, because before people we are one thing and once our back is turned another.

D. To keep it is not to let it go: to guard it, meditate on it, and put it into practice.

E. With patience: true fruit is not the work of a day, it is produced by bearing the trials. And some trials a person brings on himself through the flesh.

F. The true disciple does not only hear the word: he keeps it, and in time produces constant fruit, not the fruit of one good day.

IX. Abiding in the vine (John 15:5-8)

A. Jesus is the vine, the source of life; we are the branches. Fruit does not come by human strength, it comes by connection with Christ.

B. "Without me ye can do nothing." A person separates himself when he takes offense, when he lives as a victim. We can hold activities; but character, holiness, and eternal impact come only from God.

C. A branch that disconnects loses life and dries up. A faith of appearances ends in dryness; Jesus calls to a real relationship, not a religion.

D. Fruit can be shared; what is demanded and claimed is only for oneself. That is why there is selfishness at home, at work, and in the church.

E. "If my words abide in you": the word stays living inside, guiding decisions, correcting, forming desires. When that happens, prayer aligns with God and the answers are powerful.

F. "Herein is my Father glorified": the purpose of the fruit is that God be honored, not that we be admired. And the fruit confirms the disciple.

X. Walking worthy (Colossians 1:10)

A. To walk worthy of the Lord is to live so that the daily walk matches what is said and believed; one cannot be one thing and Christ another.

B. Pleasing Him in all things, not only in religious matters but in daily ones: one cannot be rude at work and cheerful in the sanctuary. We are not one part spiritual and one part carnal.

C. Being fruitful in every good work: service, generosity, obedience, mercy, integrity; not one isolated deed, but every area of life.

D. Taking care that the Holy Spirit is not grieved and does not depart, because that would be the greatest pain of all.

E. Increasing in the knowledge of God: not just information, but relationship and experience. A sound Christian life is a cycle: walk to please Him, bear fruit, know Him more, keep growing.

XI. The tree planted by the rivers of water (Psalm 1:2-3)

A. "His delight is in the law of the LORD": not merely to keep it, but to love it, hear it, read it, obey it.

B. "And in his law doth he meditate day and night": it becomes constant food; it is thought over, chewed, applied. It is not quick reading, it is inner life.

C. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water: his stability does not depend on emotions or circumstances, but on being near the source.

D. "That bringeth forth his fruit in his season": fruit comes through a process. God works in seasons, and the season a person fails to fulfill leads to his own ruin.

E. "His leaf also shall not wither": even in hard times it does not dry out altogether, it keeps life and hope.

F. "And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper": not a promise of limitless wealth, but of good result and direction in what is under His will. And prospering is learned: it starts with order and responsibility in daily things, including the care of one's own body.

XII. Application

A. Examine why you come. The reason a person gathers is uncovered on the day of testing.

B. Ask what fruit you bore today, and remember it is measured outside, not inside the building.

C. Tear out what you are carrying inside: what is not torn out rots the one who keeps it.

D. Stop comparing yourself. Give the hundred, the sixty, or the thirty that is yours, and be faithful in that.

E. Do not live on the defensive. Where every word must be defended, nothing grows.

F. Put your daily life in order, including the care of your body: prospering does not fall from the sky, it is learned.