MATTHEW 13:5,6 Upon stony places Once again, we can see clearly the picture in the parable that the Lord Jesus is drawing. In verse 3 and 4 the seed of the sower fell upon the wayside and it was too hard for it to grow. It s a different type of ground we are looking at now but it is not any more productive, but let s see what Christ draws out from the picture in vv.5,6. THE HINDRANCE OF THE STONES The climate is hot. Sand and stones blow in from the wilderness and the hills. The land the farmer loved, he had to guard zealously and carefully. There is no point sowing seed upon ground that is covered in stones and rocks for nothing will grow. The wilderness is wild. You have got to keep the wilderness out of the fields if ever you want to gather in the harvest. But we can all understand that as the sower walks through his field it is just well-nigh impossible to keep the stones and the influence of the wilderness out of his field. You could put up a hedge or a wall or a fence but you ll not stop the power of nature. The bare fact was that no matter how vigilant and meticulous the sower was he had to live with the fact that the wilderness would leave its mark upon the soil in his field that he so carefully tended. As the seed fell on the stony ground some of the seed found their way into the soil. Now, the soil would not have been good soil, - it couldn t have been! With the heat and dryness some of the elements of the stones and rocks would have worn off through time and settled in the soil. So it wasn t good earth these seeds would grow up in. It wasn t pure soil, - something as hard as the rocks had cast their influence upon the earth that the sower maintained to the best of his ability. These seeds that fell upon this ground would inevitably have had a hopeless start on life.
D.G. 2 They would be starved of the ingredients they needed to grow into a proper and healthy harvest. Out of the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, - known as the Synoptic Gospels, - it is Mark who explains what this part of the parable best means in the simplest of language, Mk. 4:16 these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. The stones are hindering any growth at all! Look at how the application is to be made. Again, the picture is so clear. It is the picture of those who when they hear the Gospel accept it with all the enthusiasm of a child who has just been given a brand new toy! They are excited. They revel in their new-found faith. They tell everyone and they bring it into their every conversation. They can t talk about anything except it includes Christ and their new faith. What s wrong with that?! Nothing except you have to see what type of ground this seed is falling upon. Mark says that when these folk heard the word, - i.e. received the seed, - they received it with gladness. There was no scour on their faces, - these people were the epitome of joyfulness but Mark, what can be wrong!? Mark now says, Take a closer look. See what has really happened. See what kind of fruit they are producing. Remember, says Mark, what Jesus told us, - Mt. 7:20 by their fruits ye shall know them. THE CORRUPTNESS OF THE SEED You don t go by empty words or meaningless gestures. You don t be taken in by vain repetitions and worthless insincerities. With the eyes in your head you can see a fickleness, an indecisiveness and inconsistencies even despite the apparent eagerness that comes from the person. Is there a true confidence in the glory of Christ? Is there a solid foundation upon which their faith is built?
D.G. 3 Is it founded upon clear Biblical truth, do they have a real joy in being released from the power of sin and into the freedom which God gives or is there simply a superficial and emotional joy? And if, after a while, they are still playing about with that which is childish and they haven t moved on in the Christian walk and if there is no growth the Bible would indicate to you that perhaps it may be because there is more stoniness than soil. If there is no growth no matter how good the seed it will never grow into the plant the sower intended. It will be corrupted; yes, it will grow to a certain degree. Whereas the seed that fell on the wayside wouldn t grow at all, the seed that fell on the stony ground was growing, at least to some measure. There s hope, you might say! No, there s not any hope, - no more hope than if it had fallen by the wayside. The little parts of the seed will be trying to force its way down through the stones and into the earth but by the time it gets there it will have worn itself out and used up so much of its energy that if and when it does find any soil the seed is no longer capable of growing the way it was intended. You see the picture? Ah, but you say, I can think of people and what you describe they are a wee bit like that but they ve been coming out to the church and even to the prayer meetings for many years. Well, that is the whole point of what Jesus is saying here. He says that as the seed fell upon ground in which it took no proper root it could not, - was totally incapable, - of growing as a healthy seed. Consequently, it would shoot up so quickly, - maybe even faster than any of the other seeds that fell on the good ground; but its roots were not sufficient to endure to last. There was nothing wrong with the seed that the sower sowed; the problem was with the ground upon which it fell. The ground was stony and would not receive the seed which is the Word of God.
D.G. 4 Jesus said, Lk. 11:28 blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it the sad thing about the stony ground is that it rejected the seed of the Word of God! The ground corrupted and contaminated and ruined the seed. The poor seed stood no chance, - the stones and the rocks on the ground were against it and then also, look above THE BURNING OF THE SUN v.6 when the sun was up, they were scorched. Absolutely no chance at all. Everything was against that seed growing: If the birds wouldn t get it and if it did eventually make its way through to some of the soil deeper down and if it did manage to grow to some degree the sun would get it! I have had folk praise me up and down, and followed me round preaching! I had a woman who not content to hear me preach in Maybole, she travelled thirteen miles to hear me preach the following Sunday in Girvan; whatever I said was Gospel!; within a few months where was she? She started to become more irregular in her attendance at church and the Bible Studies until it got that I never saw her again. I have had folk like that in Paisley and in Ayrshire and that type of person I cannot help but fear for them. They might tell me they are saved, they might even engender some form of excitement when they speak about it but I can t help but see seed that has sprouted up out of stony ground and seed that is not firmly secured in the soil. Listen to what Jesus said, Lk. 6: 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Does it not give you a burden for such people that you would love to go to them and as it were move back the stones, dig down deep to the soil and carefully with the trowel lift them up and out and bring them over to the good soil, where you have already dug a little place to plant them, make sure there are no stones or obstacles, and that the soil is moistened and then you set them in, and you look after them until they can grow on their own.
D.G. 5 But you fear that Jesus has already said over such people, Mt. 23: 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. As you look into these two verses (Mt. 13:5,6) you can so plainly see the hindrance of the stones, the corruptness of the seed, the burning of the sun and you can see what it adds up to THE WITHERING OF THE HARVEST The seed was wasted. Yes, the plant/stem grew up out of the soil but it was long and thin and spinnily. There was no head of the corn on it. It didn t continue the cycle it was supposed to continue. It didn t consist of any constituent that could be of any further use to the farmer. No sooner had it risen out of the stony ground but it began to droop its head and wither and fall. It wasn t even any use to the birds, the farmer had to go and pull it out of the stones and put it in the bag and bring it over to the fire to be burned. I have had young men come and speak to me about the Pastorate or other forms of full-time work and they were so enthusiastic. They had great promise; I had listened to some of them preach but where are some of them today? One of them, - with great potential, - couldn t stick the strain of having a wife that was a hindrance to him. Another one who preached for me on many occasions left his wife and moved in with someone else s wife. Another one moved into a church denomination where he could better enjoy the applause of man. I used to go round the doors with a man who was so enthusiastic about tract distribution. It would have done you good being with him and listening to him talk to the people. However, something happened and he fell away from the Lord, - you would never have thought such a man would have left the Lord, - but he became so hard against the Gospel and he contracted cancer and his life ended and he withered away.
D.G. 6 What happens? These people begin to think they are perhaps a little bit too keen too fanatical, and they slink back. They start to drag their heels in the Lord s work until it gets that you don t see them at all. They wilt, they droop, they fade. The withering of the harvest when the seed falls on stony ground and it does not grow as it ought. CONCLUSION How can we draw a pleasant conclusion to our study this evening? Is there anything positive we can extract from these two verses? Well, as long as a person has breath in their body there is hope for their soul. We are all different and there are bound to be times when we say things or do things other Christians in our fellowship don t like us doing or saying. Just because someone is not for us in every little detail, - it doesn t necessarily mean those who disagree with us are growing out of the stony ground. People may disagree on certain issues but on the fundamentals of the faith every child of God is at one, - that we are saved entirely by God s grace through faith and that it is a work totally of Him. I wouldn t even dream of doubting anyone s salvation that is grounded on such Biblical truth. And I know also there are certain Christians and it is their illfortune (I can t think of a better term although there has got to be one!) to be up and down spiritually, - it seems to be part of their metabolism. They are saved genuinely saved but that is the way their physical body seems to dictate. Pray for people who sometimes seem to be wilting ; it doesn t necessarily cast doubt on their salvation, - not if they come back to full-flower again! Pray for them; after all, don t we all go through a period of wilting every now and again! That is when we need to have the Holy Spirit come and pour over us again the fresh pure water from the fountain in Heaven s Garden. But take heed also of what we have been considering this evening, - the seed falling on the stony ground and if there is any way that the Holy Spirit can use you to lift that seed and replant it in the good soil be willing to make yourself available in and for His service of the salvation of the souls of men and women, boys and girls.