In Matthew 13, Jesus preached the parable of the sower. As he sowed seed, some fell on the hardened wayside, some fell upon stony ground, some fell among thorny ground, and some fell into good ground. The seed is the Word of God, and the types of soil conditions reflect the hearts of men in how they respond to the Word of God.
The hard-ground people don’t understand and they don’t care. Satan snatches the seed away. The stony-ground people receive the Word and show apparent growth; but the pressure from the world withers the plant, and it dies. The thorny-ground people receive the Word and they too show apparent growth; but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and thus the plant. But the good-ground people receive the Word, show actual growth and produce consistent, supernatural fruit.
The first three types of people are unsaved, even though many profess to be saved. Only the last type of person is saved. How can you tell if a person is saved? From this parable Jesus teaches that saved people (1) continue and saved people (2) bear fruit—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, an hundredfold. Saved people love the Bible. They resist the world’s pressure, and they do not love the world’s system or its things. People may profess salvation, but time will tell. Do they continue in the truth and in the church? Do they produce characteristic righteousness? Saved people do both.
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