Sermon Tone Analysis

*Intro* – Sandy Koufax was my hero.

During my senior year we moved to CA, so that summer 2 of my cousins and another friend and I made plans to go to Dodger Stadium to see Koufax pitch.

I was on Cloud 9. When we got to the Stadium, I dropped the friend and one cousin to go get tickets while my other cousin and I parked.

Shortly, they returned.

The game was sold out.

They had 2 scalped tickets, but couldn’t find anymore.

On this most anticipated occasion in my young life, I listened to the game on the radio in my car parked just outside the entrance.

So close and yet so far.

I consoled myself that I’d have other opportunities.

But Koufax’s arthritic left elbow caused him to have to retird at age 31 at the end of that year.

I never saw him pitch.

That was tough.

But imagine arriving in heaven thinking you’ve got a ticket only to find you don’t!

That’s what this passage is all about.

Jesus’ crowds are big but fickle.

He knows He’ll never see most of those faces in heaven.

Jesus is a merely a novelty, a great preacher, and entertaining healer – but saving faith is mostly absent.

They think they are okay, but they are fatally mistaken.

As the old spiritual says, “Everybody talkin’ bout heaven ain’t agoin’ there.”

So Jesus gives this parable to warn of missing heaven for not hearing Him because of heart trouble.

It’s a simple parable.

The seed represents the Word.

The sower is Jesus in this case, and by application anyone who shares the true gospel.

What differs is the soil.

There are four types here – 4 kinds of hearts.

And key is Jesus’ comment in v. 8, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Each person is responsible for how they hear the Word and what they do with it.

Will it land on fertile soil or on soil that is polluted in some way?

The answer to that is up to us.

*I.

Wayside soil – (The Rejecter)* – So last week we looked at the first soil – the wayside soil – so packed down from being walked on that the birds, representing Satan, come along and steal the seed before it has any chance to germinate.

To such outright rejecters with hard hearts Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now, let’s look at the next category of soil

*II.

Rocky Soil – (The Experientialist)*

V. 6, “And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.”

This describes a thin layer of soil on top of limestone beneath – common in Palestine.

Under these conditions, plants can’t take root.

They spring up quickly then die when roots can’t get any nutrition.

Jesus inteprets in v. 13, “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy.

But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”

Some have taught that these are true believers who backslide.

But the parable’s point is to warn hearers against “false” belief – thinking that they are okay when they are not.

Rather than a true believer, this depicts the experientialist or emotionalist – a person of impulsive heart – someone whose emotions are easily moved but whose heart is not engaged.

This person who goes from one trend to another –one experience to another, one high after another, without ever committing.

They hear the Word and say, “This is great!

This will fix all my problems.”

They profess faith in Christ.

But they are just as likely to be attracted to the family values of the Mormons next week and sign on.

Or they may find peace in transcendental meditation for a time.

Or they become hooked on Dr. Phil or Oprah.

Their compass is their emotions, not the Word.

They flit from one thing to another – moving on when hard times come, looking for another “fix” somewhere else.

When hardship comes, they burn out and bail.

They are not real.

People often respond to the gospel for the wrong reasons.

They have experienced a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, financial setback, a lost job.

They joyously expect Jesus will fix everything.

They want the blessings more than Jesus.

They are not and never were saved.

Look at what characterizes them and ask, Could this emotionalist be me?

*A.

They Receive the Word, but Not Christ*

V. 13 again, “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy.”

Sounds like saving faith, doesn’t it?

But there’s no root.

Theologians use 3 Latin words to describe the elements of saving faith.

Notitia – knowledge.

We must know the facts.

Rom 10:14, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

You can’t believe what you don’t know.

As Joe Friday says, “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts.”

Notitia.

Second, assensus – assent – accepting the facts as true.

Someone might tell me the ice will hold my weight.

Now the question is, do I believe.

Similarly, many know what the Bible says.

But they may or may not believe it.

Step 2 in saving faith.

We must assent to or believe the facts to be true.

Assensus.

Unfortunately, a lot of people get stopped right there – at assensus.

They never get any further.

Then comes the critical element.

Fiducia – trust.

I must act on what I believe to be true!

I move out onto the ice.

That’s saving faith.

I know, I assent and I move.

Hearing and believing are nothing without a commitment.

God gives a great visual at the time of the exodus from Egypt.

Remember the final plague involved God saying, I am coming to kill all firstborn (noticia).

Clearly most if not of the Israelites believed (assensus).

The Egyptians did not.

But here’s the point.

Even tho they believed, they still had to apply the blood from the sacrificial lamb (fiducia).

Knowledge and assent without action would have been fatal.

Another personal example is in Acts 8.

An early church deacon, Phillip, was in Samaria preaching Jesus.