What is a thorny ground heart?
Matthew 13:7-22 "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: ... 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
The Type 3 "thorny ground heart" is one of the four types of heart in the parable of the sower. But what exactly is a thorny ground heart like? Let us examine from Scripture:
Matthew 7:16-17 "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit."
First and foremost, thorns is an evil fruit from the corrupt tree. Jesus describes this fruit in Matthew 13:22 as “the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches”, but notice one detail here:
Matthew 13:7 "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:"
This goes to show that before the seed, which is the word of God is sown in that thorny ground heart, the ground was already full of thorns. The thorns are the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Actually, the same is said in Mark 4:19 but there is an additional detail:
Mark 4:19 "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful."
Notice that this fruit came about because of something that entered in from outside. In this, the Bible compares the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches to a "seed". This is the seed of thorns that entered in from outside and later become a corrupt fruit bearing grapes of thorns and figs of thistles. Paul warns us in:
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through [1] philosophy and [2] vain deceit, after [3] the tradition of men, after [4] the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
These are the four things that came in from outside a spoil a man. The word “spoil” also has the meaning “to corrupt”. These four things are the seed of thorns that came in the form of philosophy, vain deceit, tradition of men and the rudiments of the world and corrupts a man. Together, these four things are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things that entered in and choke the seed, which is the word of God (Luke 8:11), so that it becometh unfruitful. Jesus call it “deceitfulness of riches” for a reason because underneath the deception of gain is actually lost.
Numbers 31:11 "And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts."
When a man “spoils” you, it means that he literally takes away all that you have. Likewise, if any man spoil you through philosophy, vain deceit, tradition of men and the rudiments of the world, it means that he is offering you with earthly things that do not last in exchange of the very precious word of God sown in your heart. They will offer you a thousand reasons to reject the word of God, and if you end up being persuaded, you will end up with nothing.
James 3:15-16 "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."
Envying and strife are given as two indicators so that we know we are among those who hath not the love of the truth. These are the Christians who will exchange the truth for a lie, and whose earthly wisdom is not the wisdom that is from above. These are usually the self-proclaimed experts in all kinds of theologies, theories, and doctrines, ever learning but are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
These are the Christians who are hungry for power, fame, recognition, statuses and everything that comes along with them. They usually enjoy getting into debates and arguments, and will not cease to create confusions and promote envyings and strifes everywhere they go. The sad truth is that many Christians will be persuaded to reject the words of the LORD for the earthly wisdom and the things that this world has to offer.
2 Timothy 4:10 "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia."
Demas used to walk with God. He used to serve in the church alongside with Luke the gospel writer and Apostle Paul. But something happened to him along the way. He left Paul and others. The reason according to Paul is Demas "having loved this present world". This term is a reference to the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches in the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:22 "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
More than likely, Demas had a Type 3 “thorny ground” heart. In all certainty, there must have been envyings and strifes between Demas, Paul and others that led to his departure. Likewise, there are also Christians out there who are like Demas, never born again to begin with, for if they were truly born again, they would have faithfully adhere to the word and not seek to corrupt it to suit their own ideologies.
2 Timothy 2:17 "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;"
These Christians will be Christians in name, but as seed of corruption is sown in their thorny ground heart, it will eat up the very word of God that was once sown in them.
2 Peter 2:20 "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
Their latter end will be worse with them than the beginning. Many will be like king Saul who turned to witchcraft towards the end of his life as an alternative to the word of God. More than likely, king Saul too, had a thorny ground heart, and God had given him over to strong delusion that he should believe in a lie, that he might not be saved.
Matthew 13:45-46 "¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
A truly born again believer is just like the merchant man in this parable. The words of the LORD to him is like this one pearl of great price. He will empty everything in his heart that was precious to him and wholeheartedly receive the words of the LORD, and keep it. He will never forsake the truth for all the wisdom and the things that the world has to offer. His faith will endure. The only true Christians are the ones with Type 4 “good ground” hearts.
Psalms 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
These are the ones who will keep the seed of word of God in the good ground of their honest and good hearts, and in the process of time, the original seed of the word of God will take root and bear fruit and thus bring forth more duplicates of the same seed.
Matthew 13:23 "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
The word of God in the good ground heart of a born again believer is like an apple seed which becomes an apple tree, and in turn bear apples and more apple seeds, etc. Faith is a duplicate of the original seed, which is the word of God, just like how the new man is a duplicate of Jesus Christ. It is the substance of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).