Sermon: The Responsibility of Hearing
Scripture: Matthew 13: 3-9

This parable is commonly called the Parable of the Sower.

Some people think it should be more aptly called the Parable of the Soils.
No matter what you call it, the sower must possess seeds himself. In this scripture, Jesus left little doubt as to what he meant by “the seed” – he was talking about the word of God.

1 Peter 1:23, NIV: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Today, we should come as people sowing the seed of a living word.
What kind of seed are we sowing? You can tell the kind of seed by the kind of fruit. We are the living evidence of what kind of seed is being sown into us.

In verses 4 through 8 we find the different types of soil that was sown.
During his message Jesus points out that it was really the CONDITION of the soil that determined the harvest. The spiritual lesson here is, it might take time to let God make your spiritual soil more fertile.

Romans 10: 9-10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Look at our lives. On good ground brings forth good fruit. In the scripture we liken this kind of soil to the listener. Jesus says it is a person who hears the word and understands it and responds to it.

Matthew 13:23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Most of us hear, but it is important to respond to what we hear!

What kind of fruit are we producing and what type of spiritual message are we hearing and are we responding to it? And if so, how!