{"id":2221,"date":"2017-08-29T16:49:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T16:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2221"},"modified":"2022-02-21T18:36:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T18:36:10","slug":"four-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2221","title":{"rendered":"Four Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 1<\/p><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\">[<strong>Note:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our <strong>Brief Articles 1<\/strong>\u00a0 page.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\">The title above doesn\u2019t refer to a \u201chand\u201d in a card game. Rather, it relates to Jesus\u2019 parable about a farmer who sowed seed in his field (Luke 8:5\u201315). Of the thirty or so parables He told, this is one of the very few that He explained in detail. He tells us plainly: \u201cThe seed is the word of God\u201d (v. 11), thereby implying that the \u201csower\u201d is one who teaches God\u2019s Word. The four kinds of \u201csoils\u201d represent the various kinds of human hearts into which the Gospel may fall. Let us examine them briefly:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\"><strong>The Wayside<\/strong>\u00a0describes paths that ran through the unfenced Galilean fields and were packed by the feet of travelers. Seeds that fell thereon remained on the surface, and birds soon devoured them. Jesus said that this soil represents hearts that do not \u201cunderstand\u201d the Word (Mat. 13:19). That is, their hearts were as hard concerning the Gospel as the wayside soil was concerning the seed. Some have such closed minds toward God, His Son, and the Bible that they refuse all the evidence testifying to their existence and\/or genuineness. The devil will waste little time taking the Word from them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\"><strong>The Rock<\/strong>\u00a0(\u201crocky places\u201d\u2014Mat. 13:5, 20) describes thin topsoil on top of bedrock. Thus the seed enters the soil, germinates, and sprouts, but promptly withers and dies because its roots cannot penetrate the rock and find necessary moisture. The Lord said this soil represents the receptive, impulsive, albeit shallow heart that joyously embraces the Gospel and \u201cbelieves for awhile.\u201d Not having counted the cost of discipleship, when temptations or persecutions arise, these \u201cfall away\u201d for lack of root.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\"><strong>The Thorns\u00a0<\/strong>describes soil that is not cleared in preparation for the seed. The seed germinates and sprouts, but thorns overpower and starve it. This is the heart that has not repented of various \u201cthorns\u201d of behavior (i.e., \u201ccares, and riches, and pleasures of this life\u201d). Such competing influences for our time, energy, and money leave us spiritually starved and will prevent our bearing any spiritual fruit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\"><strong>The Good Ground<\/strong>\u00a0describes soil that is open for the seed, has depth, and has been cleared of competing influences. This, said Jesus, is the \u201chonest and good heart\u201d that belongs to one who will hear (i.e., obey) the Word, \u201chold it fast,\u201d and produce manifold fruit. The key word here is \u201chonest,\u201d for no heart can be good that is not honest.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The heart of every person is included in one of these types of soil. <strong>Which type are you? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\">\u00a0[<strong>Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in the <em>Denton Record-Chronicle, <\/em>Denton, TX, April 22, 2016.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif;\"><strong>Attribution: <\/strong>Printed from <em>TheScripturecache.com<\/em>, owned and administered by Dub McClish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 1[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1\u00a0 page.] The title above doesn\u2019t refer to a \u201chand\u201d in a card game. Rather, it relates to Jesus\u2019 parable about a farmer who sowed seed in his field (Luke 8:5\u201315). Of&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"easywp-readmore\"><a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=2221\">Continue Reading&#8230;<span class=\"easywp-sr-only\">  Four Hearts<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,91,66,74,81,65,34,85,38,72,78,16,51,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aplostasy","category-atheism","category-commitment","category-conversion","category-covetousness","category-dedication","category-emotions","category-great-commission","category-repentance","category-salvation","category-sanctification","category-commentaries-on-passages","category-sin","category-temptation","wpcat-47-id","wpcat-91-id","wpcat-66-id","wpcat-74-id","wpcat-81-id","wpcat-65-id","wpcat-34-id","wpcat-85-id","wpcat-38-id","wpcat-72-id","wpcat-78-id","wpcat-16-id","wpcat-51-id","wpcat-57-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2221"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19047,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2221\/revisions\/19047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}