1. A Parable About the Readiness of the Human Heart to Receive Jesus
How Is Your Heart?
A Parable About the Readiness of the Human Heart to Receive Jesus

2. Matthew 13:3-9
(3) And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

3. Matthew 13:3-9
(4) And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

4. Matthew 13:3-9
(5) Some fell on stony places, where they had not much earth: and immediately they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

5. Matthew 13:3-9
(6) And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

6. Matthew 13:3-9
(7) And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

7. Matthew 13:3-9
(8) But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
(9) [He] who has ears to hear, let him hear.

9. I. The Hardened Heart, i.e. By the Wayside

10. I. The Hardened Heart, i.e. By the Wayside
The ground has become hard-packed through lack of tilling and repeated foot traffic.

11. I. The Hardened Heart, i.e. By the Wayside
The ground has become hard-packed through lack of tilling and repeated foot traffic.
Sadly, at some past time it may have been fit for farming, but not now.

12. I. The Hardened Heart, i.e. By the Wayside
The ground has become hard-packed through lack of tilling and repeated foot traffic.
Sadly, at some past time it may have been fit for farming, but not now.
There comes a time of heart-hardening with those who deny God's voice in their lives.

14. II. The Shallow Heart, i.e. Stony Ground

15. II. The Shallow Heart, i.e. Stony Ground
The soil in the shallow ground is good, but there is too little of it for sufficient rooting.

16. II. The Shallow Heart, i.e. Stony Ground
The soil in the shallow ground is good, but there is too little of it for sufficient rooting.
One may only discover the lack of depth once the seed springs up.

17. II. The Shallow Heart, i.e. Stony Ground
The soil in the shallow ground is good, but there is too little of it for sufficient rooting.
One may only discover the lack of depth once the seed springs up.
In these hearts, the word is quickly accepted – and gladly so – but the first crises in life will find a shallow commitment to Christ and His Way.

19. III. The Crowded Heart, i.e. Among Thorns

20. III. The Crowded Heart, i.e. Among Thorns
Distractions tend to steal proper “nutrition” from any spiritual life we might have had.

21. III. The Crowded Heart, i.e. Among Thorns
Distractions tend to steal proper “nutrition” from any spiritual life we might have had.
Church members are so busy that they make little time for God, and little time for church.

22. III. The Crowded Heart, i.e. Among Thorns
Distractions tend to steal proper “nutrition” from any spiritual life we might have had.
Church members are so busy that they make little time for God, and little time for church.
Those who make no time for God will find that the little bit of “seed” that falls their way– what ‘spirituality’ may have appeared in their lives - quickly succumbs to worldly concerns.

24. IV. The Prepared Heart, i.e. Good Ground

25. IV. The Prepared Heart, i.e. Good Ground
It is ground which has a quality beyond anything that a man may do to prepare it.

26. IV. The Prepared Heart, i.e. Good Ground
It is ground which has a quality beyond anything that a man may do to prepare it.
It is innately good soil that has been cultivated.

27. IV. The Prepared Heart, i.e. Good Ground
It is ground which has a quality beyond anything that a man may do to prepare it.
It is innately good soil that has been cultivated.
All good ground produces something, but not all good ground produces the same in quality or quantity.