Lesson Outline for Jan 15, 2026
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Goal – To be “good soil,” develop “good soil” and to see and hear from God
- How do we understand spiritual matters and the kingdom of heaven?
- What stops us from understanding spiritual truths?
- Why did Jesus speak in parables Matt 13:10-17?
- What makes good soil? And, what is meant by soil?
- What hinders, stops / contaminates good soil?
Hebrew and Greek Terms / Definitions
- Evil one #G4190 “poneros” – context – Satan and demonic forces, malignant, one that causes and brings toil, perils, trouble, pain, evil and wickedness
- Scorched #G2739 “kaumatizō” – burn, scorch, context – torture with extreme heat (Rev 6:8,9 uses same context)
- Heart #G2588 “kardia” can mean either physical heart or metaphor for soul. Context in this verse is soul – the heart contains the inner parts of a man’s life, thoughts, will, seat of emotions. Any contamination of the heart circulates across the body
- Soul #G5590 “psyche / psuche” heart, mind, seat of feelings, affections, designed for a moral being with everlasting life
Green is the author’s notations in the verses below. Bold text added for emphasis
Soil examination
It’s about our heart condition
Matt 13:1-9 ESV – “1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds (demonic realm) came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root (superficial), they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.””
- This parable picks up after the religious leaders demonstrated hardened hearts, after seeing miracles they asked for more, and accused Jesus Christ on doing miracles, casting out demons by the spirit of Satan
- What are the types of soil and soil environment, path, rocky ground, thorn thicket and good soil
- What does it take to make and keep good soil?
- What gets in the way of good soil?
- How superficial are our relationships, and why?
- What are our “offspring” rooted in? Give, no foothold, crack or crevice – no quarter to our enemy Satan
- Notice v9 – who is the parable for, who can understand it?
Here I am, Speak LORD
Spend time with our LORD to hear and see
1 Sam 3:1-5, 8-10 ESV – “1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God (before dawn) had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. … 8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”
- Samuel ministering to the LORD, his exact age unknown; Josephus wrote the boy ~12 yrs
- We don’t want to become like Eli – a priest who did not ensure God’s Tent and people were respected – his sons were wicked and abusive; Eli previously informed by God of his, his son’s and his house’s fate
- The LORD revealed Himself to Samuel – Eli did not have ears to hear
- As in Matt 13 and elsewhere in the NT – the Pharisee, like Eli were intellectual, but spiritually deaf and blind due to HARD HEARTS
Spiritual ears and eyes, and an open heart
God will give you the spiritual increase
Matt 13:18-23 ESV – “18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.””
- What interferes/stops understanding – Satan and his forces; blinding the minds of unbelievers – God wants us to bring the light
- Where was it sown? Our heart /soul – how does the enemy snatch it away; there’s other things in our heart too – a lot of rooms in our house, open all the doors to God – don’t leave any empty
- Along the path – those that go through life, hear about God, but don’t really hear, or understand – even go to church to please others, business connection – “like water off a ducks back”
- Rocky ground great enthusiasm, but lacks endurance,
- What are some thorns, what chokes out God’s word and spiritual growth; what’s competing for your attentions in an ungodly manner
- God’s word needs to go deep into our heart / soul – so are strong during adversity, trials, etc
- Just like when Satan tempted Jesus Christ, he waits for a more opportune time (Luke 4:13) Satan is patient and cunning. He knows how to set a trap
- We all have a bit of hard areas of our heart, wayside/along the path, rocky ground, thorn patches and GOOD SOIL
- Ask yourself where does my heart (soil) need to be softened and tended to?
- YOU’RE HERE – be encouraged – God is sanctifying your heart
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul (psyche) and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thess 5:23 ESV)
Last thoughts and considerations
- Same seed, same sower.., different soil – the problem is never the seed or the sower!
- Here I am LORD. Send US
- Allow God’s word to: have room, endure, not be deceived and BEAR MUCH FRUIT
- God stands with us! As believers, we have God’s Holy Spirit in us – FOR US to HEAR and SEE spiritually…, and don’t dabble with or invite darkness
- All of us are priests – we can be like Samuel – he kept good soil
- Never let our guard down; the higher our level, the bigger the devil
Additional verses for self-study
Isa 6:8-9 ESV – “8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’”
Rom 5:3-5 NIV – “3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
1 Tim 4:15-16 ESV – “15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Psa 51:17 ESV – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (recommend reading Psalm 51 entirely – David wrote this regarding his sin with Bathsheba)
Matt 19:8 ESV – “He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.””
Eph 4:18-19 ESV – “18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves upto sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
1 Cor 2:12-14 ESV – “12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
