THE SERMON ON THE BEACH

Jesus gave three major sermons…"The Sermon on the Mount"; concerning the perfection of man…The Olivet Discourse; about his second coming…The Sermon on the Beach; about life here and now.
Matt 13:10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
12 Whoever has (to use, to take hold of) will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Last week, we observed, how God sees things from his perspective…Here Jesus reveals new mysteries of God, through parables… But he says that this knowledge must be put to use or it will atrophy. To help us to understand better, Jesus gives us seven parables important to our lives, here and now.

Matt 13:3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 He who has ears, let him hear."
A parable is a mystery with different clues to guide us to the meaning…Jesus helps us with the first one.

The Humanist: Matt 13:18 "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
Jesus tells us that the seed is the gospel which has the power to change lives for the better…
But the point of the parable is the condition of the soils… Or the conditions of the human heart.
The trouble with the first heart is its narrow mindedness and its hardness…Like a path, stepped on.
This is a humanistic heart, taking no time to understand spiritual things because of worldly distractions.

The Egotist: Matt 13:20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
This heart is shallow having very little soil over bedrock…This is a person going from one experience to another, seeking happiness…A person placing Christ alongside of the other experiences in life and when things get hot he becomes a snowbird, heading for milder weather…Leaving God’s word behind.

The Materialist: Matt 20:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
This is a heart kept busy… Interested in the gospel, as it relates to material possessions… The heart wrapped up in the pursuit of things and the cares of this world…Too busy for God, alone.

The Realist: Matt 20:23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it (acts on it). He produces a crop, yielding 100, 60 or 30 times what was sown."
Here is the heart that’s neither narrow minded nor hard…One that desires a deeper relationship with God…Not lost in the worries and deceitfulness of the world…This is the heart that produces fruit…
This is the real Christian heart, receiving the power of the gospel enabled by God’s Holy Spirit.
This is the heart where a person changes from a seed to a garden, producing fruit for God’s pleasure.
This is the heart that makes a difference in the world right here and now, demonstrating God’s glory.
The questions each of us must ask ourselves are…What is my heart like? What has Jesus said to my
ears and understanding? And, am I going to put this understanding to good use or allow it to atrophy?

The mystery of this parable has been revealed...How will it affect your life?