I was listening to Family Radio this evening and heard Dr. MacArthur preach on the parable of the soils from Matthew 13.
I decided to post the mp3 and the sermon pdf because this sermon contains a lot of basic things that can help a Christian better assess his walk and get a sense for how the Spirit of God is working in his life to conform him into the image of Christ, and more.
I noted the following several points as I listened to the sermon, they are major highlight points that should help readers know whether they want to invest the time required to either listen or read.
[Bracketed statements and emboldening are mine.]
- Christ noted 6 different soils during the parable, these represent the readiness of an individual’s heart to receive God’s word when it is sown to him
- The law of God and God’s Spirit PLOW the heart and make it ready to receive His word when it is sown
- What it means to have one’s heart plowed by God: this typically occurs through providences from God that involve affliction, troubles, persecution [it seems to me that anyone who calls himself a Christian is presently experiencing afflictions from the political left; these afflictions also seem to be escalating; therefore, as you experience affliction, remember that therein you will be afforded opportunities via these to get a better sense for the type of soil in your heart]
- The chief mark of a Christian is fruit
- What it means to produce fruit
- Regarding the reception of the word into the soil of the heart, the skill of the sower in irrelevant; that is, God could use someone of low intelligence, high intelligence, young, old…to sow; whether or not the seed becomes good fruit depends upon what type of plowing God has done in the heart wherein the seed falls
- The more seed one broadcasts, the greater the opportunity that the seed will fall into good soil
- [Having an understanding of the types of soil that Jesus described will enable you to discern what type of plowing God has done in your own heart; having an understanding of how God plows will enable you to seek God’s help to endure affliction, and to be comforted that plowing is occurring…; observing how you deal with affliction, troubles, losses…will enable you to ascertain what type of heart you presently possess – God plows the heart via His means of grace: prayer; reading of the word; hearing of preaching; fellowship around the word with believers; and the Lord’s supper; also by affliction and troubles]
- Repentance is a fruit
Mp3 sermon, 49 minutes:
PDF Transcript from GTY.org:
The-Parable-of-the-Soils-Sep-3-2021
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
***At GTY.org, one might download any of MacArthur’s 30 thousand or more sermons. Additionally, there is a phone app that one might also use. To find a sermon of interest, one might choose a chapter of the Bible or a topic of interest. MacArthur’s sermons will enable you to get a sound understanding of the Bible.