以赛亚书55:10-13；马太福音13:1-9，18-23

恩惠、平安从父神和救主耶稣基督归于你们时常被圣灵雨水的浇灌，藉着道的种子结果子的人。阿们。

主耶稣在今天的福音经文中对着海边岸上的人群讲道，像很多时候那样，他采用了比喻，今天就是撒种和土地的比喻。开启这个比喻的钥匙是什么呢？其实主耶稣自己在福音经文的后半部分已经解释了：种子就是神的道，而土地就是人的心。种子都是一样的种子，农夫也是同一位农夫（耶稣），但是结果却是不一样。糟糕的状况分为三种情况：路旁、浅土石头地、荆棘丛。只有一种情况是好的：结果实的好土。

我们先看这糟糕的三种情况：撒种路旁，飞鸟看见就把种子吃掉，对应魔鬼那恶者把撒在人心灵的道夺去；撒在浅土石头地，土既不深，发苗最快，但没有根，很快就蔫了；撒在荆棘丛，种子被挤出去，不会发芽结果。这个比喻和解释不难理解，尤其是对当时听道的人来说，因为他们对种地和收割都非常熟悉，而且主耶稣用比喻就是为了把道理说得更清楚，并且他自己还亲自给大家解释他的意思。

但是，无论是当时听道的人，还是我们今天在座的各位，怎么看待或者怎么回应这个比喻，又或者说，怎么应用这个比喻呢？最直接、浅显的方法就是省察自己，看自己的心所处的位置如何，我们的心是路旁，是土浅的石头地，是荆棘丛，还是好土呢？当然，我们基督徒都希望自己是好土，无论结果多少倍，但一定要结果子，一百倍、六十倍或者三十倍也好。事实上，我们对这段经文的解释，或者所听到的讲解，大多是我们自己要做结果实的好土，而不要做糟糕的土壤，土地。这样的劝勉和鼓励，或者警醒并没有错，我们要小心。不要怎么样？不要让魔鬼把道抢了去，不要让自己没有根，而是扎根于基督，不要让荆棘充满我们的心，不要让世上的思虑和钱财的迷惑把道挤住了，不能结实。

但是，但是，我们要记住整个经文的全局和主耶稣讲道的目的，不是要我们做什么，或者分辨自己属于哪一类，当然我们都不希望是属于前三种糟糕的土地，那样我们就不能得救了。整个经文，包括上下文都是主耶稣在讲“天国”是什么，以及天国是如何降临，如何在地上扩张的。这里也是一样。主耶稣一直强调的不是你要做什么，而是你要“听”。“有耳可听的，就应当听。所以，你们当听这撒种的比喻。凡听见天国道理不明白的……”（太14:8，18，）听道并且听明白很重要。很多时候我们最常挂在嘴边的是：“只是你们要行道，不要单单听道，自己欺哄自己。听道而不行道的……”（各1:22-23）。但是，我们也要记得，主耶稣也时常强调的首先是听道，听明白，信道。

为了更好地明白和相信道，我们首先应该专注于耶稣和祂所传的道上。回到今天的福音经文，我们来具体看我们常常忽略的一些细节。首先是一个反常的细节，那就是这位撒种的农夫有些愚昧，试想生活当中谁会把种子到处乱撒呢？如果你种地或者种菜，种子是很昂贵的，你肯定不会把种子撒到路上或者石头地里面。你只会把种子播撒在好土里面，预料会结果子的地方，简单地说，就是“有的放矢”，“不浪费一颗种子”。但是，主耶稣的比喻里面，这位农夫撒种，毫不计算成本，不遵行任何经济原理，到处播撒，甚至可以说，大部分是撒在糟糕的土壤里面了。话说回来，难道主耶稣，上帝不知道哪里是好土吗？祂难道不知道谁会听道之后就信，谁听了仍然不信，或者谁刚开始信的非常火热、之后就不信了呢？

祂知道，祂知道万事，没有一件事祂不知道；无论是现在，过去，还是将来，祂都知道。但是，主耶稣播撒天国的种子，并没有对土壤，就是对人的心做区分，而是普世地，针对所有世人。我们所宣扬的福音就是这样，“神爱世人”，不是说“神只爱信祂的人”，又或者说，“主耶稣是背负世人罪孽的”，而不只是背负“信徒罪孽的”羔羊。神并不偏心待人，而是爱每一个人，无论你的处境是如何的，无论你最后信还是不信，祂天国的应许和十字架的救恩都是给你的，因为是给万民，所有生在世上的人。人灭亡，只因为人不信，拒绝神的应许和救恩，或者信了，最后又扔掉恩典，去走世界的老路。

我们再结合今天的旧约经文来思想这个主题。我们本质上，按照我们的肉体血气、老我来说，到底是什么样的质量？说实在的，我们没有一个是好土，就像以赛亚书对被掳的以色列和被毁坏的耶路撒冷来说，我们的本相乃是充满荆棘、蒺藜的旷野，什么好的东西都生长不出来，没有善可以在上帝面前夸耀。

然而，上帝继续让“雨雪从天而降，并不返回，却滋润地土，使地上发芽结实。”（赛55:10）弟兄姐妹们，我们心田这份土地本质上是被世界的忧虑和钱财的迷惑所占据的，没有地方给种子，就是神的道。然而圣灵从天上倾倒下来，藉着耶稣基督十字架的赎罪大功来医治这片土地，而且这播撒的种子种下去，也不断地改变土壤的质量，神的道不断地更新洁净我们。以赛亚继续说：“使撒种的有种，使要吃的有粮”，不是这样吗？主耶稣的道是取之不尽用之不竭的，祂的种子库是无限量的，随时随地都可以撒播，毫不吝惜，而且一定会结出果实来。谁是吃粮食的？也是耶稣自己，因为祂曾说：“我的食物就是遵行差我来者的旨意，做成祂的工。”（约4:34）

有人听了却不信，主的道会落空吗？不。以赛亚说：“我口所出的话也必如此，决不徒然返回，却要成就我所喜悦的。”（赛55:11）我们的角色是什么？就是凭着信心领受主的伟大工作，恩赐圣灵给我们信的人，滋润地土，荒漠变成绿洲。“松树长出，代替荆棘；番石榴长出，代替蒺藜。”（赛55:13）所以，如果我们为着自己的罪感到羞愧，觉得自己不是好土，时常被世界上的东西所占据头脑，风雨一来，逼迫一临到，我们就退缩，甚至否认主的名，那么我们也不要害怕，这圣灵雨水充沛地浇灌我们，滋润我们，翻转我们，让我们心思意念不断地更新，好好地侍奉主，结果子更多。

感谢上帝，将天国的福音赐给我们，让我们以信心保守我们所领受的所有恩赐，若深感自己软弱，土浅，那就继续浸润在主的话语当中，向下扎根，越深越好，与基督紧紧相连；同时，小心呵护我们心中的种子，等发芽的时候，更要谨慎，不断地剔除杂草，把世界的荆棘都统统烧掉，给种子和嫩芽腾出空间和地方，雨水充沛，种子生命力旺盛，土地肥沃，还怕什么呢？无论结实多少倍，都是出于主的恩典，都是神在我们身上奇妙的工作。感谢主，奉耶稣基督的圣名。阿们。

Isaiah 55:10–13; Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, to you who are constantly watered by the rain of the Holy Spirit and bear fruit through the seed of the Word. Amen.

In today’s Gospel text, the Lord Jesus preaches to the crowd gathered on the seashore. As He so often did, He uses a parable—today, the parable of the sower and the soils. What is the key to unlocking this parable? In fact, the Lord Jesus Himself explains it in the latter part of the Gospel text: the seed is the Word of God, and the soil is the human heart. The seed is always the same seed, and the sower is the same Sower (Jesus), but the results vary. Three of the conditions are terrible: the path, the rocky ground with shallow soil, and the thorns. Only one condition is good: the good soil that bears fruit.

Let us first look at the three terrible conditions. The seed sown along the path is seen by the birds and eaten up, which corresponds to the evil one, the devil, snatching away the Word sown in a person’s heart. The seed sown on rocky ground, where the soil is not deep, sprouts the fastest; but because it has no root, it soon withers away. The seed sown among thorns is choked out and cannot sprout and bear fruit. This parable and its explanation are not difficult to understand, especially for the hearers at that time, because they were intimately familiar with farming and harvesting. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus used parables precisely to make the truth clearer, and He even personally explained His meaning to everyone.

But how did the hearers back then, or how do we sitting here today, view or respond to this parable? Or rather, how do we apply it? The most direct and obvious approach is to examine ourselves and see where our hearts stand. Are our hearts the path, the rocky ground with shallow soil, the thorns, or the good soil? Of course, as Christians, we all hope that we are the good soil. No matter how many fold it yields—whether a hundredfold, sixty, or thirty—it must bear fruit. In fact, most interpretations of this passage, or the sermons we hear about it, focus on how we ourselves must be the good soil that bears fruit and avoid being the terrible soil. Such exhortation, encouragement, or warning is not wrong; we must be careful. Careful of what? Not to let the devil snatch the Word away, not to leave ourselves rootless but rather rooted in Christ, and not to let thorns fill our hearts—lest the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, making it unfruitful.

But—and there is a "but"—we must remember the bigger picture of the entire text and the purpose of Jesus’ preaching. It is not about what we must do, or about diagnosing which category we belong to (though, of course, none of us wants to belong to the first three terrible soils, for then we could not be saved). The entire passage, including its context, is the Lord Jesus speaking about what the "kingdom of heaven" is, how it comes, and how it expands on earth. It is the same here. What Jesus constantly emphasizes is not what you must do, but that you must "hear." "He who has ears, let him hear." "Hear then the parable of the sower." "As for what was sown along the path, this is the one who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it..." (cf. Matthew 13:9, 18, 19). Hearing the Word and understanding it is vital. So often, the words most frequently on our lips are: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer..." (James 1:22–23). However, we must also remember that the Lord Jesus also frequently emphasizes that first comes hearing the Word, understanding it, and believing it.

To better understand and believe the Word, we should first focus on Jesus and the Word He preaches. Returning to today’s Gospel text, let us look specifically at some details we often overlook. First is an unusual detail: this sower seems somewhat foolish. Think about it in daily life—who throws seeds around haphazardly? If you are farming or planting vegetables, seeds are very expensive. You would certainly not throw them onto the road or into rocky ground. You would only sow seed in good soil where you expect it to bear fruit. Simply put, you would target your sowing and "not waste a single seed." Yet, in Jesus’ parable, this sower throws seed without calculating the cost, defying all economic principles, scattering it everywhere. One could even say that most of it is sown into terrible soil. But then again, does the Lord Jesus—does God—not know where the good soil is? Does He not know who will hear the Word and believe, who will hear and still not believe, or who will initially believe with great fervor but later fall away?

He knows. He knows all things; there is nothing He does not know. Whether it is the past, the present, or the future, He knows it all. Yet, when the Lord Jesus scatters the seed of the kingdom of heaven, He makes no distinction among the soils—that is, among human hearts. Instead, He scatters it universally, targeting all people in the world. The Gospel we proclaim is just like this: "God so loved the world." It does not say, "God only loved those who believe in Him." Or again, "The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," not just the sin of "believers." God shows no partiality; He loves every single person. No matter what your circumstances are, and whether you ultimately believe or not, His promise of the kingdom and the salvation of the cross are given to you—because they are for all nations, for everyone born into this world. A person perishes only because they do not believe, rejecting God’s promise and salvation, or because they once believed but ultimately threw away grace to return to the old ways of the world.

Let us further reflect on this theme by connecting it with today’s Old Testament text. In our essence—according to our flesh, our old Adam—what is the actual quality of our soil? To be honest, not one of us is good soil. Just as Isaiah described the exiled Israel and the ruined Jerusalem, our natural state is a wilderness filled with thorns and briers. Nothing good can grow out of us, and we have no goodness of our own to boast about before God.

Yet, God continues to let the "rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout" (Isaiah 55:10). Brothers and sisters, the soil of our hearts is naturally occupied by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, leaving no room for the seed, which is the Word of God. But the Holy Spirit is poured down from heaven, healing this ground through the great atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Moreover, once this scattered seed is planted, it continuously changes the quality of the soil. The Word of God constantly renews and cleanses us. Isaiah continues: "giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater." Is it not so? The Word of the Lord Jesus is inexhaustible and unfailing. His seed bank is limitless, available to be scattered anytime, anywhere, without stint—and it will certainly bear fruit. Who is the one who eats the bread? It is Jesus Himself, for He once said: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" (John 4:34).

If some hear but do not believe, will the Lord’s Word fail? No. Isaiah says: "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose" (Isaiah 55:11). What is our role? It is to receive by faith the great work of the Lord, who gifts the Holy Spirit to us who believe, watering the ground and turning the desert into an oasis. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle" (Isaiah 55:13). Therefore, if we feel ashamed of our sins, if we feel that we are not good soil and that our minds are constantly consumed by worldly things—if we shrink back or even deny the Lord's name when storms come and persecution arises—do not be afraid. This rain of the Holy Spirit abundantly waters us, moisturizes us, and turns us around, constantly renewing our minds so that we may serve the Lord well and bear even more fruit.

Thanks be to God for granting us the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, allowing us to preserve all the gifts we have received through faith. If you deeply feel your own weakness and shallow soil, then continue to soak yourself in the Word of the Lord. Take root downward—the deeper, the better—and be tightly united with Christ. At the same time, carefully cherish the seed in your heart. When it sprouts, be even more vigilant; continuously weed out the distractions, burn away all the thorns of the world, and make room and space for the seed and the tender sprout. With abundant rain, a vibrant seed, and fertile soil, what is there to fear? No matter how many fold it yields, it is all by the Lord's grace, and it is all God's wondrous work within us. Thank the Lord. In the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.