WEBVTT 00:00:05.319 --> 00:00:08.500 Our text this morning, as we begin chapter 13, 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:12.119 we're going to look at, last week I told you 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:15.939 I looked at verses 10 to 17 first, because it 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:19.280 explained why the disciples were privileged to 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.620 have the understanding and interpretation of 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.579 the parables given to them, and yet while the 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:28.500 other people, the crowds and the religious leaders, 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:31.940 We're left outside in the dark. So it kind of 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:33.600 sets it up. So today we're going to look at the 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:35.979 first parable. There are actually seven parables 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:39.079 in Matthew 13, each of them related to the kingdom 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.780 of God. Today is by far the most familiar. And 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:45.979 part of the problem when we have familiar texts 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:50.359 is we come to it and we have assumptions or preconceived 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:54.020 ideas. And we need to set those aside, ask God 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:57.560 to help us. So let's read the text. Let's ask 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:01.299 the Lord for his grace and mercy and then help 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:05.359 to explain it. On the same day, Jesus went out 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.760 of the house and he sat by the sea and great 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.540 multitudes were gathered together to him so that 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:13.140 he got into a boat and sat and the whole multitude 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:16.799 stood on the shore. Then he spoke many things 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:20.579 to them in parables saying, Behold, a sower went 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:23.640 out to sow and as he sowed, some seed fell by 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:26.180 the wayside and the birds came and devoured them. 00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:29.640 Some fell in stony places where they did not 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:31.859 have much earth and they immediately sprang up 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:35.019 because they had no depth of earth. But when 00:01:35.019 --> 00:01:37.540 the sun was up, they were scorched and because 00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:40.659 they had no root, they withered away. And some 00:01:40.659 --> 00:01:42.920 fell among thorns and thorns sprang up and choked 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:46.859 them. But others fell on good ground and yielded 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:50.219 a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some 00:01:50.219 --> 00:01:54.420 thirty. And he who has ears to hear, let him 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.359 hear. Now that's all the crowds heard. That's 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.099 it. No explanation. Now if you would go down 00:02:01.099 --> 00:02:06.519 to verse 18. This is to the disciples privately. 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:10.960 Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:12.879 anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.759 not understand it, then the wicked one comes 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:17.659 and snatches away what was sown in his heart. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.400 This is he who received seed by the wayside. 00:02:22.629 --> 00:02:25.930 But he who receives seed on so many places, this 00:02:25.930 --> 00:02:28.750 is he who hears the word and immediately receives 00:02:28.750 --> 00:02:33.129 it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:36.270 endures only for a while. For when tribulation 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:40.490 or persecution arises because of the word, immediately 00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:45.909 he stumbles. That is, he falls away. Now he who 00:02:45.909 --> 00:02:48.949 receives seed among the thorns is he who hears 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:53.080 the word and the cares of this world. And the 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.159 deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:00.879 becomes unfruitful. But he who receives seed 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.139 on the good ground is he who hears the word and 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:07.620 understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces 00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:11.539 some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:17.340 Let's pray. Father, this is your word. It is 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:21.620 given by inspiration. Father, Lord, we need your 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:24.659 spirit's help to bring illumination to our eyes 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:28.139 and hearts. Lord, if the veil is upon our understanding, 00:03:28.419 --> 00:03:31.319 would you lift the veil this morning? Reveal 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:33.860 to us even the mystery of the kingdom of God. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.659 Lord, we cannot do this on our own. These things 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:40.460 are spiritually discerned. But you tell us to 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:42.300 pray for the help of the Holy Spirit. And so 00:03:42.300 --> 00:03:44.919 we do so in faith, believing that you will grant 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:50.250 that. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. I 00:03:50.250 --> 00:03:52.250 was looking this morning and it was two years 00:03:52.250 --> 00:03:54.789 ago, almost to the day that we began this Gospel 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:58.870 of Matthew study. And Matthew's Gospel was written 00:03:58.870 --> 00:04:02.270 with a specific purpose in mind. Matthew is writing 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:05.229 primarily to a Jewish audience to show that Jesus 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:10.150 is the long -awaited King of Israel and the promised 00:04:10.150 --> 00:04:13.490 Messiah. He is the fulfillment of all the Old 00:04:13.490 --> 00:04:16.750 Testament prophecy. So he begins in chapter 1, 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:21.259 Matthew gives us... the genealogy of Jesus, showing 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:24.019 that he is both the son of Abraham and son of 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:29.139 David. As the son of Abraham, he is Abraham's 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:33.079 promised seed in whom all the world will be blessed. 00:04:33.939 --> 00:04:38.480 As the son of David, he is David's promised heir 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.800 who will sit on the throne of his father David 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.379 forever. Now, Son of David, remember when the 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:47.259 blind men cried out when they saw Jesus? Son 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:51.600 of David, have mercy upon us. Son of David was 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.439 a messianic title. Matthew will now devote the 00:04:55.439 --> 00:05:00.160 rest of this book proving that Jesus truly is 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:05.759 the Son of David. So in chapter 3, after 30 years 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.160 or so of relatively a hidden life in Nazareth, 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:14.339 Jesus is publicly baptized. And that's his formal 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:18.439 announcement to the nation that he is the Messiah. 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:22.139 And he began his ministry calling Israel to repent. 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:28.579 Why? The kingdom of heaven was at hand. And he 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:32.259 began to show, improve, or validate that kingdom 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:34.800 message. He's showing what life in his kingdom 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.639 looks like. So he began to cast out demons, and 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:40.180 he healed the sick, and gave sight to the blind, 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.660 restoring those who were sick and ill. And because 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:46.779 of these miracles, he garnered a lot of attention. 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:51.600 He began to attract large crowds. At one point, 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:54.660 the crowds got so big that Jesus had to have 00:05:54.660 --> 00:05:58.779 a boat ready where he could escape. if the situation 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:03.399 were to become unmanageable. Our text today finds 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:07.579 Jesus in a boat, giving this most famous parable, 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:10.480 known as the parable of the seed and the sower. 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:13.420 Now this parable is given first, and it's first 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:17.980 for a reason. If we do not understand this one, 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:21.939 we will fail to understand the other six that 00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:24.439 come later in the chapter. Now that's a bit bold 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:26.019 statement, but it's not my words. That's what 00:06:26.019 --> 00:06:30.560 Jesus said in Mark 4. Do you not understand this 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.300 parable? How then will you understand all the 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:38.860 parables? So in some way, this parable today 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:42.819 that we just read, it's foundational. It explains 00:06:42.819 --> 00:06:46.480 why some enter the kingdom and some are left 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.079 out. Now thankfully, this parable comes with 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.750 an answer key. We are not left to our own imagination 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:56.810 to guess about the meaning it's given to us. 00:06:57.350 --> 00:06:59.769 So we start to read in verses 1 through 3, and 00:06:59.769 --> 00:07:01.529 I'm not going to take the time to reread that 00:07:01.529 --> 00:07:05.350 text, but I want to set the scene for you. At 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:08.449 the end of chapter 12, Jesus was in a house teaching. 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:11.370 The house was so full there's people inside and 00:07:11.370 --> 00:07:14.329 outside when he decided to leave the house and 00:07:14.329 --> 00:07:17.949 go over to the Sea of Galilee. But the people 00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:20.709 who were there listening to him, Hanging on his 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:24.589 every word, they continued to follow him. So 00:07:24.589 --> 00:07:27.889 he arrives at the shore. The crowd is so large 00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:32.329 that he had to get into the boat. One, so that 00:07:32.329 --> 00:07:35.509 everyone could see him. And two, because the 00:07:35.509 --> 00:07:38.970 natural acoustics of the area would allow everyone 00:07:38.970 --> 00:07:43.189 to hear him. And they began to teach. And Matthew 00:07:43.189 --> 00:07:47.470 says he only taught to the crowds in parables. 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:50.980 That's it. That's all they got. And as we looked 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:53.920 last week, remember a parable is really, it's 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.579 a juxtaposition of an earthly story with a divine 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:01.319 truth. So it's an earthly story designed to teach 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:04.300 a heavenly lesson. And if you want to look at 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:07.740 these parables, you could think of them as expanded 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:11.279 similes. Because Jesus will often start this 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:16.189 way. The kingdom of heaven is like. And then 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:18.509 in verse 24, he says, the kingdom of heaven is 00:08:18.509 --> 00:08:21.470 like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 00:08:22.089 --> 00:08:24.269 The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed 00:08:24.269 --> 00:08:29.250 in verse 31. It's like leaven, verse 33. The 00:08:29.250 --> 00:08:31.149 kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:35.470 a field. It is like a merchant seeking beautiful 00:08:35.470 --> 00:08:39.190 pearls. The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet, 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:43.279 verse 47. So what Jesus is doing in each of these 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.639 parables, he's using familiar things from everyday 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:52.799 life to teach about his kingdom. And that's no 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.059 different in the parable before us today. First 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:59.740 century Israel, it's an agrarian society. So 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:03.080 the picture of a man sowing seed in a field would 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:05.059 have been familiar to everyone. It's familiar 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:08.200 to us today. Now look at verses 3 through 9. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:10.759 Again, I'm not going to take the time. to reread 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:13.820 the passage. We just did it. But we know this 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:15.799 parable. It's often called the parable of the 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.220 sower or the parable of the seed and the sower. 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:22.879 But really, I think a more appropriate name is 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:26.019 the parable of the soils. Because in all four 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:28.799 cases, there are four cases, the seed is the 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:33.539 same, the sower is the same, but what is different 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:37.580 is the seed on which, or the soil on which the 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:40.580 seed falls. So each of the parables, you have 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:44.019 three elements. You have a sower. In this case, 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:46.299 it is the Lord Jesus, but it really could be 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.620 anyone who preaches the word. There's an immediate 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.000 application, and then there's an extended application. 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:55.320 Secondly, you have the seed. Well, that's the 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:59.820 gospel. It's the good news of the kingdom. And 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:03.259 third, you have the soil. And the soil represents 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:06.840 the condition of the heart of those who are hearing 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:11.330 the gospel message. Now the gospel, Jesus said, 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:14.929 is the seed. Now if you sow seed, you know this, 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:17.549 that not every seed that is sown is going to 00:10:17.549 --> 00:10:21.269 germinate and produce a fruit. And as the gospel 00:10:21.269 --> 00:10:25.070 goes out, not all people are going to believe 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:28.850 the good news. Now this is important because 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:32.049 at this time, those listening to Jesus, they 00:10:32.049 --> 00:10:35.490 were all Jews. And the expectation of those listening 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.860 to him... Would be that they do enter the kingdom 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:42.639 of God. Because they're Jewish. They're the chosen 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:46.500 people. We're going to enter the kingdom. And 00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:51.720 Jesus comes. And he clearly upends that expectation. 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:55.179 Now look down at verse 18. He says therefore 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:59.360 hear the parable of the sower. So the crowds 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:02.460 had dispersed. Jesus is alone with his disciples. 00:11:02.539 --> 00:11:05.879 He may have been in the boat. And he gives them. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.240 the inside scoop on what this parable really 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:13.340 meant. But why did he give it to them and not 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:15.460 to the crowds? Well, I'm not going to re -preach 00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:18.059 last week's message, but look at verse 11, and 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:21.860 he clearly tells us. He says, it has been given, 00:11:22.019 --> 00:11:26.480 dido me, it's a gift in Greek, it has been given 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.600 to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.399 heaven. That's God's gracious gift to you. But 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:35.980 to them it has not been given. God did not grant 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:38.779 that to them. So there's two groups here in verse 00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:42.419 11. We'll look at this quickly. There's to you 00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:47.899 and there's to them. The disciples were the inside 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:52.299 group. They were granted the privilege of the 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.580 interpretation. But the religious leaders who 00:11:55.580 --> 00:11:57.240 were gathered because they were always following 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:00.659 Jesus around to trap him and the crowds who were 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:03.019 gathered to listen to him, they were the outside 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:06.600 group. Now what made the difference between the 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:10.620 two groups? The condition of their hearts. The 00:12:10.620 --> 00:12:15.059 Pharisees from the very beginning all along had 00:12:15.059 --> 00:12:17.379 shut their eyes to the truth. Now let me just 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:19.980 say this. The Pharisees as a whole, there were 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:24.000 some Pharisees like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.220 who later became disciples. But the vast majority 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:29.379 of them from the beginning they'd shut their 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:31.620 eyes to the truth. Now here's the important point. 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:38.360 God then, in judgment, judiciously closed their 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:42.820 eyes so they could not see. You don't want to 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:46.259 see? You choose blindness? You're now blind. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:49.899 These parables were given, they were spoken by 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:54.779 Jesus in a climate of unbelief. Despite the overwhelming 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:58.980 evidence, the Pharisees, most of the religious 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:01.889 leaders, They had already decided Jesus is not 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:05.090 the Messiah. They had already corroborated with 00:13:05.090 --> 00:13:08.549 the Herodians, a political group, to conspire 00:13:08.549 --> 00:13:10.929 to put Jesus to death. That's before this parable 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:13.490 was even spoken. But you're like, but pastor, 00:13:13.590 --> 00:13:15.629 what about those large crowds who are hanging 00:13:15.629 --> 00:13:18.909 on his every word? They're following him everywhere 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:24.129 he went. Didn't they believe? And we're going 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:26.450 to see today. Most of them were following him 00:13:26.450 --> 00:13:29.830 out of self -interest. They were looking for 00:13:29.830 --> 00:13:34.649 how they might profit from Jesus. They did not 00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:39.610 have a living faith, as we shall see today. Now 00:13:39.610 --> 00:13:41.610 the Pharisees, if you're talking about insiders 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:43.970 and outsiders, they naturally would have assumed, 00:13:44.029 --> 00:13:47.690 of course, they're the insiders. They fastidiously 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:50.750 keep the law. And they would have considered 00:13:50.750 --> 00:13:52.730 men like Matthew, remember, also known as Levi. 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:55.830 He's one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He had been 00:13:55.830 --> 00:13:58.480 a hated... tax collector for Rome and they would 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:00.279 have naturally considered him to be an outsider. 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.899 He's a traitor. But once again we see Jesus reversing 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:09.039 the order. The kingdom. In God's kingdom the 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:14.000 first will be last. The last will be first. Over 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.779 in chapter 21 when Jesus is speaking to the chief 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:21.100 priests and to the elders he said this. Assuredly 00:14:21.100 --> 00:14:26.029 I say to you that tax collectors men like Matthew, 00:14:26.149 --> 00:14:30.549 and harlots, that is prostitutes, they will enter 00:14:30.549 --> 00:14:34.789 the kingdom of God before you will. Now that's 00:14:34.789 --> 00:14:37.429 a scandalous statement. Think of the scandal, 00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:39.750 the outrage of that statement. Jesus is talking 00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:44.029 to the Jewish elite, chief priests and elders 00:14:44.029 --> 00:14:47.190 of the nation. And he's saying women that sell 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:51.710 their bodies and traders to Israel who work for 00:14:51.710 --> 00:14:55.500 the Roman government, will enter the kingdom 00:14:55.500 --> 00:15:00.139 of God before they will. So that means the kingdom 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:03.960 of God is somehow different from the Jewish expectation 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.200 of the day. And that's why so many of them failed 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.279 to understand Jesus and his mission. So Jesus 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:11.960 now in verse 11, he's talking to his disciples 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.940 and he said, listen, you're blessed. To you it 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:17.659 has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:22.220 That means their understanding itself is a gift. 00:15:22.409 --> 00:15:25.129 It's not attained by human achievement, nor is 00:15:25.129 --> 00:15:27.850 it by natural means. These guys did not come 00:15:27.850 --> 00:15:32.090 up with it on their own. The great American theologian, 00:15:32.090 --> 00:15:35.570 Jonathan Edwards, he said this, It is the secret 00:15:35.570 --> 00:15:38.570 that the kingdom of God has come in the person 00:15:38.570 --> 00:15:42.570 of Jesus. That's the mystery right there. That 00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:45.529 is the secret because God has chosen to reveal 00:15:45.529 --> 00:15:51.059 himself indirectly and in a veiled way. The incarnate 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:55.299 word is not obvious. Only faith could recognize 00:15:55.299 --> 00:16:00.720 the Son of God in the lowly figure of Jesus of 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:05.860 Nazareth. The secret of the kingdom of God is 00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:10.559 the secret of the person of Jesus. Amen. Now 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.200 the Lord is publicly speaking. He's given this 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:15.820 parable. He left intentionally the crowds in 00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:19.950 the dark and privately grants the disciples the 00:16:19.950 --> 00:16:22.809 meaning. So let's just understand something at 00:16:22.809 --> 00:16:25.190 the beginning. There are four soils. Four soils 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:28.529 represent four hearts. You got a hard heart. 00:16:29.610 --> 00:16:34.029 You have a shallow heart. There is a crowded 00:16:34.029 --> 00:16:37.370 heart. And lastly, there are fertile hearts. 00:16:37.850 --> 00:16:40.190 And we'll look at those quickly this morning. 00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:43.789 Look, first of all, verse 19. There's hard hearts. 00:16:44.169 --> 00:16:48.559 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.700 does not understand it, then the wicked one, 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.759 that is Satan, comes and snatches away what was 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.179 sown his heart. And he said, and that's what 00:16:57.179 --> 00:17:00.639 I mean by the one who receives seed by the wayside. 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:03.500 Now again, the imagery is familiar to everybody. 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:05.960 It's a common sight. There were large fields 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:08.039 that would have been used for crops at that time, 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:10.039 and in these fields there would have been well 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:12.359 -worn paths where the people would have walked. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.359 And they walked on these same paths so they wouldn't 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.750 damage the entire field. Now, this path became 00:17:18.750 --> 00:17:22.049 a walking path, so the ground underneath was 00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:26.049 very compacted, very hard ground. So you have 00:17:26.049 --> 00:17:27.809 a sower, and he would have been carrying a large 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:30.750 bag of seed, and he would stick his arm in, and 00:17:30.750 --> 00:17:32.509 then he would pull it out and just fling it out 00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:36.230 into the field. And as he did that, inevitably, 00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:40.069 some of the seed would have fallen onto the hard 00:17:40.069 --> 00:17:44.089 ground. And it wouldn't penetrate. That seed 00:17:44.089 --> 00:17:45.950 would simply sit on the surface of the ground. 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.240 And birds would come and eat it. And Jesus said, 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:56.420 the seed, that's the gospel of the kingdom. The 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:58.759 hard heart is the person who hears the gospel, 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:03.119 but he has no insight. He does not understand 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.119 the meaning. The gospel does not penetrate his 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:11.490 heart. And the reason this was the case is because 00:18:11.490 --> 00:18:15.250 in Jesus' day, many people had a preconceived 00:18:15.250 --> 00:18:18.329 idea of what the kingdom of God would be like, 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:21.269 and they were unwilling to put aside their prejudice 00:18:21.269 --> 00:18:24.490 to hear what Jesus had to say. It's like the 00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:26.190 person who already has their mind made up, and 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:28.509 I will not be moved. That's what was going on. 00:18:29.150 --> 00:18:31.950 So this hard heart has an immediate context. 00:18:32.789 --> 00:18:35.970 This represented the religious leaders, and in 00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:38.640 particular the Pharisees. He's speaking the parable 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.980 against them. Now, it has a far -reaching implication 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:45.819 today as well. But because of their bias, the 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:49.039 Pharisees were unable and unwilling to see the 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:53.240 word Jesus as the Christ. And he said, the birds 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:55.259 who ate the seed, well, that's a picture of Satan. 00:18:55.819 --> 00:18:59.380 He comes and he removes the word. And as a result, 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:03.660 the hearer remains indifferent and calloused 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:08.039 to Christ. Think of the Pharisees. They heard 00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:09.759 the word. They followed Jesus around. They knew 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.099 what he had to say. But their cold, dark hearts 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:18.059 would not receive it. But it's the same today. 00:19:18.819 --> 00:19:22.240 Many people hear the gospel preached. But as 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.160 soon as the sermon ends, the devil plucks that 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:27.700 seed away from them and they go home on their 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:31.460 merry way as if they never heard anything. But 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:35.359 what makes the heart hard in the first place? 00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:40.700 It's sin. Sin darkens the heart. Sin makes it 00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:43.440 hard. Sin makes our hearts unresponsive. And 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.500 sin is really a failure. At its primary level, 00:19:46.619 --> 00:19:49.500 sin is a failure to love God. It's a failure 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:53.160 to love God as we should love him. So sin, the 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.240 essence of it, loves things, whatever it is, 00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:59.859 more than God. Well, what did the religious leaders 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:03.599 love? We don't have to guess. Here is their God 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.269 in Matthew 23. He's speaking of them, the Pharisees. 00:20:07.529 --> 00:20:10.089 But all their works they do to be seen by men. 00:20:10.829 --> 00:20:13.069 They make their phylacteries broad. Those are 00:20:13.069 --> 00:20:15.890 what they would wear on the forehead. They enlarge 00:20:15.890 --> 00:20:17.710 the borders of the garments. They make the hem 00:20:17.710 --> 00:20:21.029 longer. They love the best places at feasts. 00:20:21.150 --> 00:20:23.950 They love the best seats in the synagogues. They 00:20:23.950 --> 00:20:26.690 love greetings in the marketplace. And they love 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:31.789 to be called by men, Rabbi. In other words, they... 00:20:32.009 --> 00:20:35.829 loved the praise and esteem of men more than 00:20:35.829 --> 00:20:40.210 the praise from God, and that idolatry had hardened 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:43.630 their hearts. But we have to beware, friends. 00:20:43.890 --> 00:20:45.650 It's still the same today. It's no different. 00:20:45.829 --> 00:20:50.230 Our idols will make our hearts hard toward God. 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:54.789 And if you're here today and you have never confessed 00:20:54.789 --> 00:20:57.849 Christ and repented of your sin, and you continue 00:20:57.849 --> 00:21:01.309 to hear the gospel without responding, you're 00:21:01.309 --> 00:21:04.650 making your heart harder each and every time 00:21:04.650 --> 00:21:09.509 you hear the gospel. And eventually the day comes 00:21:09.509 --> 00:21:13.990 when you can't respond because God will leave 00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:17.930 you in your hard -hearted condition. Today, this 00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:21.130 age, is a day of salvation. Call upon him while 00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:26.089 he may be found. So this is the hard heart. Particularly 00:21:26.089 --> 00:21:29.109 the Pharisees. But it's no different today. But 00:21:29.109 --> 00:21:30.789 then you have the shallow heart in verse 20 and 00:21:30.789 --> 00:21:34.309 21. This is the seed that is received on the 00:21:34.309 --> 00:21:36.890 stony places. They hear the word, immediately 00:21:36.890 --> 00:21:41.869 receive it with joy. But there's no root. And 00:21:41.869 --> 00:21:44.930 they fall away. So the seed is sown. It's sown 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:47.490 in soil, but the soil is not deep. Now there's 00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:49.680 a shallow layer of soil. But underneath that, 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:51.660 it's just all rocky ground. So what happens? 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.779 The plant or the seed can't go down, so it sprouts 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:58.440 up quickly. But it also fades quickly in the 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:02.119 sun's scorching heat. Why does it fade? Because 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:05.319 there's no root sustaining it. And this represents 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:07.180 the person, and this is where I think we live 00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:10.440 a lot today. This is the person who makes a shallow 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:15.039 decision. They appear to be delighted. They receive 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.920 the joy to be one of Jesus' disciples. They commit 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:20.900 themselves to Jesus, but Jesus did not commit 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:23.799 himself to them because it's a shallow profession. 00:22:24.660 --> 00:22:28.099 And this soil represented the vast majority of 00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:30.339 those in the crowd who heard Jesus speaking. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:33.119 Of course they wanted to be around Jesus, and 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.140 they did call him rabbi. But they were following 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:41.019 him for what they could get from him. It was 00:22:41.019 --> 00:22:44.440 a superficial attachment. And as soon as following 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:47.940 Jesus proved costly, They quit following him. 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:51.740 When affliction or persecution or difficulty 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:54.920 arose on account of the gospel, it says they 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.099 stumbled, which is the Greek word skandalizo. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.420 They fell away. We get our English word scandal 00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:05.440 from here. Skandalizo, it means to fall. It's 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:08.339 to apostatize. It's to fall into apostasy. That 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:12.940 means you abandon Jesus. And there is a prime 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:16.579 example of this. The one who betrayed our Lord, 00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:19.740 Judas Iscariot. He loved being a disciple of 00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:23.819 Jesus when the situation was favorable. If you 00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:26.240 would have asked him, he said, of course I believe. 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:28.839 He would have claimed to be a disciple. He was 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:32.079 in the inner 12. He loved being with Jesus as 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:35.220 long as the crowds were cheering him on, as long 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:37.339 as the miracles were being done and there was 00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:40.920 money in the treasury bag. But when our Lord 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:45.160 began to talk about the cross, and his suffering 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:48.500 in Jerusalem and his impending death for sinners, 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:53.940 Judas was offended. Scandalizo. And he agreed 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:57.960 at that point to betray Jesus. He went over to 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:00.220 him. As soon as he understood, when he realized 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:04.400 Jesus is not going to get rid of Rome, he's not 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.400 going to set up his earthly kingdom as I thought 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:11.180 he was going to, Judas then betrayed Jesus for 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:15.500 30 pieces of silver. even at the very end, Judas 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:17.759 was thinking, how can I profit from this man? 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.539 He decided to sell him for 30 pieces. I might 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:24.240 as well get what I can, right? That's no different 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.059 today. Many still follow him for the wrong reasons. 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:30.700 Jesus is often presented as a good luck charm 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:33.119 who's going to make your life easier, your marriage 00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:35.559 better, your children successful, and your bank 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:38.680 account healthy. And not one of those things 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:43.490 is promised. And when trials come, These superficial 00:24:43.490 --> 00:24:47.789 disciples, they don't stick around. Unlike true 00:24:47.789 --> 00:24:50.509 disciples, they're not willing to suffer, and 00:24:50.509 --> 00:24:52.789 they're not willing to embrace the shame and 00:24:52.789 --> 00:24:57.410 offense of the cross. True disciples persevere, 00:24:57.490 --> 00:25:00.410 even when it gets hard, even when they're being 00:25:00.410 --> 00:25:03.829 persecuted. Why? How do you do that? Because 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:05.670 true disciples know something in their heart. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:08.420 They know this life is not all there is. They 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:09.980 know that there's an everlasting inheritance 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:13.579 reserved in heaven, unfading in heaven for them. 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:17.079 Now, I think, I love this example in the book 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:18.700 of Hebrews. It's one of the things I think of 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:22.720 often. In Hebrews chapter 10, the writer is talking 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.900 to a group of suffering believers. He says, recall 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:29.579 the former days in which after you were illuminated, 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:33.440 you endured a great struggle with sufferings. 00:25:34.490 --> 00:25:36.509 partly while you were made a spectacle, both 00:25:36.509 --> 00:25:38.609 by reproaches, they're being reproached, and 00:25:38.609 --> 00:25:41.789 tribulations, and partly while you became companions 00:25:41.789 --> 00:25:44.130 of those who were so treated. Not only were you 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:45.789 treated bad, everyone you knew was being treated 00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:48.630 bad, and you were their companion. But look at 00:25:48.630 --> 00:25:51.170 verse 34. For you had compassion on me and my 00:25:51.170 --> 00:25:52.970 chains, whoever the author is, whether it's Paul 00:25:52.970 --> 00:25:56.190 or someone else, they're in prison. And this 00:25:56.190 --> 00:26:01.809 next word, and joyfully. I get accepting, but 00:26:01.809 --> 00:26:04.859 I don't understand joyfully. You joyfully accepted 00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:10.440 the plundering of your goods. How do you do that? 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:15.619 Knowing that you have a better and an enduring 00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:20.759 possession for yourselves in heaven. True disciples 00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:24.619 will persevere because the Holy Spirit of God 00:26:24.619 --> 00:26:28.039 lives inside them and is preserving them, keeping 00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:32.190 them from abandoning Christ. I think of what 00:26:32.190 --> 00:26:34.869 Peter said in John 6. In John 6, Jesus had multiplied 00:26:34.869 --> 00:26:37.369 the fish and the loaves. But then he started 00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:39.829 talking about that long extended discourse about 00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:43.289 giving his flesh as meat and his blood as drink. 00:26:43.750 --> 00:26:46.289 And people got really upset and they didn't understand 00:26:46.289 --> 00:26:48.549 him. And they were offended by his words. And 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:50.509 Jesus said, unless you eat my flesh and drink 00:26:50.509 --> 00:26:52.869 my blood, you have no life within you. You have 00:26:52.869 --> 00:26:55.869 no part within me. And so as a result, then he 00:26:55.869 --> 00:26:57.849 also said, you can't come to me unless my Father 00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:02.250 gives it to you. John 6, 37 and verse 44. And 00:27:02.250 --> 00:27:05.890 as a result, in verse 66, many turned away. Look 00:27:05.890 --> 00:27:07.930 at this. From that time, many of his disciples 00:27:07.930 --> 00:27:10.130 went back and walked no more with him. They're 00:27:10.130 --> 00:27:12.569 not disciples. They were, but they're no longer. 00:27:12.990 --> 00:27:15.049 Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want 00:27:15.049 --> 00:27:18.710 to go away? Here's your trance. But Simon Peter 00:27:18.710 --> 00:27:22.549 answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You 00:27:22.549 --> 00:27:25.269 have the words of eternal life. Also, we have 00:27:25.269 --> 00:27:28.509 come to believe and know that you are the Christ. 00:27:28.509 --> 00:27:33.009 Christ, the son of the living God. Peter knew 00:27:33.009 --> 00:27:35.650 something. Oh, life's going to get really bad 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:39.470 for Peter, by the way, and for all of them. Regardless 00:27:39.470 --> 00:27:42.670 of how difficult it became, Jesus was the Christ, 00:27:42.769 --> 00:27:45.609 and salvation was found only in him. Where else 00:27:45.609 --> 00:27:49.910 are they going to go? But today, many have been 00:27:49.910 --> 00:27:52.369 duped into thinking they're disciples of Jesus 00:27:52.369 --> 00:27:55.150 when they're not, partly because of evangelistic 00:27:55.150 --> 00:27:57.410 styles and partly because of slick salesmanship. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.819 Preachers assure people that they are disciples 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:04.940 and Christians. They give them salvation without 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:07.339 repentance, and they offer them a Savior who 00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:12.279 is not their Lord. None of those is the true 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:15.240 biblical Jesus. So these folks here, they're 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:19.240 willing to follow Jesus for a time. But as soon 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:21.039 as their lives are not being enriched, they move 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:23.000 on to the next thing. They don't love Jesus. 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:25.339 They love what Jesus can do for them. And there's 00:28:25.339 --> 00:28:28.140 a big difference. For them, Jesus is a means 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:33.279 to an end. But for the true Christian, Jesus 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.259 is the end. He's the goal. Let me just say this, 00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:39.579 friends. When we think of heaven, heaven is not 00:28:39.579 --> 00:28:41.160 heaven because you're going to see your loved 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:42.759 ones, because you're going to walk on streets 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:44.359 of gold, and you're never going to have another 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:48.599 headache. Heaven is heaven because the Lord Jesus 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:52.519 Christ is there. That's what makes heaven. Jesus 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:54.839 is what makes it worthwhile. Christians want 00:28:54.839 --> 00:28:56.660 to go to heaven because we want to be with Jesus. 00:28:58.220 --> 00:29:01.359 The Jesus who promises a charmed life without 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:05.400 trials does not exist. That Jesus is a figment 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:09.180 of the prosperous West's imagination. He's not 00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:12.319 the biblical Jesus. There's a hard heart, there's 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:14.640 shallow hearts, but there's also crowded hearts. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.400 And all of these are still true today. Look at 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:20.440 verse 22. The one who received the seed among 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:23.900 thorns, he hears the word that cares of this 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:28.180 world and the deceitfulness of riches. Choke 00:29:28.180 --> 00:29:32.240 the word and he becomes unfruitful. The seed 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:35.259 is sown again, the gospel, but it's overcrowded. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.480 It's strangled out. There's not enough room. 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:39.740 There's some thorns that are growing beside it. 00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:43.759 So the crowded heart, it hears the gospel, but 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:46.880 other things become the priority. Jesus said 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:48.579 the cares of this world. Now literally, friends, 00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:51.519 that literally means the distractions of this 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.759 age. I think that's a great descriptor. We live 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:59.400 in a distracted age. Many things vying for our 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:01.819 time and for our attention and affection. So 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:04.180 temporal concerns, and they are concerns. We 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:07.079 need to be concerned. But temporal concerns can 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:09.779 blind us to the gospel. And these people, I want 00:30:09.779 --> 00:30:11.240 to remind you, friends, they're not hostile. 00:30:11.710 --> 00:30:14.069 They're not enemies of the gospel. They even 00:30:14.069 --> 00:30:16.970 may make a profession of faith, but their heart, 00:30:17.329 --> 00:30:20.769 their loyalty, and their allegiance lie elsewhere. 00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:24.650 Warren Wiersbe said it this way. This here has 00:30:24.650 --> 00:30:26.549 too many different kinds of seeds growing in 00:30:26.549 --> 00:30:29.670 the soil. Worldly cares, a desire for riches, 00:30:30.069 --> 00:30:33.369 a lust for things, and the good seed of the word 00:30:33.369 --> 00:30:36.450 has no room in which to grow. He said, let's 00:30:36.450 --> 00:30:38.730 change the image. This person wants to walk the 00:30:38.730 --> 00:30:40.829 broad way and the narrow way at the same time. 00:30:42.190 --> 00:30:45.390 It can't be done. The problem here is that the 00:30:45.390 --> 00:30:47.670 word of God is choked out, and there's no real 00:30:47.670 --> 00:30:50.890 fruit because there was never truly life with 00:30:50.890 --> 00:30:54.490 Christ. They seek to find life in what is not 00:30:54.490 --> 00:30:56.789 life. They want to be a friend of the world and 00:30:56.789 --> 00:30:58.410 a friend of God at the same time, and you can't 00:30:58.410 --> 00:31:01.990 do it. In 1 John, we're told this, do not love 00:31:01.990 --> 00:31:04.069 the world or the things in the world. If anyone 00:31:04.069 --> 00:31:06.289 loves the world, the love of the Father is not 00:31:06.289 --> 00:31:08.710 in him. For all that is in the world, the lust 00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:10.630 of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride 00:31:10.630 --> 00:31:13.140 of life, It's not of God, it's not of the Father, 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:17.000 but of the world. And get this, friends, the 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.519 world's passing away. This age is passing away, 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:21.940 and the lust of it, but he who does the will 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:26.539 of God abides forever. You believe that? Instead 00:31:26.539 --> 00:31:28.599 of using material possessions to serve Christ, 00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:32.440 they serve material possessions. There's no time 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.259 for Christ, because they're busily pursuing other 00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:39.009 interests. and his kingdom are relegated to a 00:31:39.009 --> 00:31:42.049 lesser position. But what you serve is your master. 00:31:43.230 --> 00:31:45.549 That's the truth. To serve anything or anyone 00:31:45.549 --> 00:31:49.730 other than Christ is idolatry. He's Lord of all, 00:31:49.750 --> 00:31:52.569 or he's not Lord at all. So the distractions 00:31:52.569 --> 00:31:56.329 of this age choke the word, but so do the deceitfulness 00:31:56.329 --> 00:32:00.869 of riches. Ah, young people, hear this. It's 00:32:00.869 --> 00:32:03.150 not wrong to be wealthy, but Jesus said, take 00:32:03.150 --> 00:32:08.779 warning of it. In Luke 18, a certain ruler asked 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:12.039 him, saying, good teacher, what shall I do to 00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:15.059 inherit eternal life? Jesus, first of all, said, 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:16.680 okay, well, why do you call me good? No one's 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:19.519 good but one. That is God. Are you prepared to 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.180 call me God? He said, you know the commandments. 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:25.460 He's basically shown him he's broken the law. 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:27.859 The guy doesn't get it yet. Don't commit adultery. 00:32:27.900 --> 00:32:29.839 Don't murder. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't honor 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:31.859 your father or mother. And he said, oh, yeah, 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:34.920 okay, good. I'm in. All these things I kept from 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:38.009 my youth. And when Jesus heard these things, 00:32:38.089 --> 00:32:42.589 he said to him, there's one thing. Go sell all 00:32:42.589 --> 00:32:46.170 you have. Give it to the poor. Then you'll have 00:32:46.170 --> 00:32:48.529 treasure in heaven. And come back and follow 00:32:48.529 --> 00:32:52.950 me. But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful. 00:32:53.349 --> 00:32:58.650 Why? For he was very rich. And when Jesus saw 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:03.089 that he became very sorrowful, he said, how hard 00:33:03.089 --> 00:33:07.500 it is. For those who have riches to enter into 00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:12.240 the kingdom of God. What a sober warning. What 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:13.720 a sober warning for the day in which we live. 00:33:15.339 --> 00:33:17.599 We live in a land of plenty. All of us do here 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.240 this morning. We're a blessed church. You're 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:23.680 a blessed people. We have cars. We have boats. 00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:25.519 We have houses. Many people have full bank accounts. 00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:30.099 God's given us some measure of leisure. But how 00:33:30.099 --> 00:33:33.119 often? Does God bless a man or a woman's material 00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.720 possessions and soon those things begin to take 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.480 over and dull their heart to the things of God? 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:41.940 I've seen that. You see that God starts to bless 00:33:41.940 --> 00:33:43.960 someone and before long that person who has a 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:45.799 little bit of time, a little bit of money, they're 00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:47.779 no longer congregating, they're no longer coming 00:33:47.779 --> 00:33:51.460 to church, they're golfing on Sundays. I work 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:56.380 hard. I can worship God on the ninth hole. Or 00:33:56.380 --> 00:33:58.380 they're out boating when the weather's nice. 00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:02.289 or they're on a sports field every single weekend 00:34:02.289 --> 00:34:05.869 keeping them from the church. So I take seriously, 00:34:05.930 --> 00:34:07.730 and I take literally the words of our Lord. It's 00:34:07.730 --> 00:34:11.050 not my words, friends. Seek first the kingdom 00:34:11.050 --> 00:34:15.650 of God and his righteousness. Be careful. That's 00:34:15.650 --> 00:34:18.210 what Jesus said. Be warned. There's a danger 00:34:18.210 --> 00:34:20.150 of having things. Is it okay to have things? 00:34:20.409 --> 00:34:22.969 Absolutely, as long as they don't have you. And 00:34:22.969 --> 00:34:25.710 parents, I beg of you, if your child is going 00:34:25.710 --> 00:34:30.369 to stand and enter the kingdom of God, Disciple 00:34:30.369 --> 00:34:34.409 them. Warn them of the danger of the crowded 00:34:34.409 --> 00:34:37.429 heart that loves things more than loves God. 00:34:38.550 --> 00:34:41.230 Oh, Christian parents in America, as long as 00:34:41.230 --> 00:34:42.989 our kids are getting good jobs and having nice 00:34:42.989 --> 00:34:47.750 lives, listen, that can all go to hell. No. Pursue 00:34:47.750 --> 00:34:49.670 life, and this life is foolish. It's a fool's 00:34:49.670 --> 00:34:52.989 errand. It's looking for water in a broken cistern, 00:34:53.050 --> 00:34:55.010 and that's what Israel did, and that's why we're 00:34:55.010 --> 00:34:56.849 always told, look back and look at what Israel 00:34:56.849 --> 00:34:59.829 did. Don't do it. Jeremiah 2. My people have 00:34:59.829 --> 00:35:01.789 committed two evils. What are they? They have 00:35:01.789 --> 00:35:03.750 forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. What 00:35:03.750 --> 00:35:06.610 a foolish, stupid thing to do. And they've hewn 00:35:06.610 --> 00:35:09.050 themselves broken cisterns that can't hold water. 00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:11.210 They want water. There's a fountain flowing with 00:35:11.210 --> 00:35:13.090 water and they go over here to a broken cistern. 00:35:14.829 --> 00:35:19.550 Dumb, isn't it? It is. As we close, Jesus is 00:35:19.550 --> 00:35:23.130 the fountain of living waters. We have to seek 00:35:23.130 --> 00:35:26.800 him. Jim Boyce said, riches don't choke a person 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:28.340 all at once. No, of course they don't. It's a 00:35:28.340 --> 00:35:31.280 gradual process. Like the weeds in Christ's parable, 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:34.320 riches grow up gradually. Slowly, slowly, they 00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:36.539 strangle the budding of spiritual life within. 00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:40.980 Beware of that if you either have great positions 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:45.420 or you're on your way to acquire them. Listen, 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.079 God may give you what you want. Remember when 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:49.539 children of Israel wanted meat and God said, 00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:51.920 you want meat? I'll give you meat. And it rotted 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:55.710 them. And then lastly, there's a fertile heart. 00:35:55.769 --> 00:35:58.829 Verse 23. He receives seed on the good ground. 00:35:58.929 --> 00:36:01.889 He hears the word. He understands it. And he 00:36:01.889 --> 00:36:06.610 bears fruit. This is the gospel that produces 00:36:06.610 --> 00:36:11.030 fruit. They hear the gospel and they understand 00:36:11.030 --> 00:36:14.449 it. It resonates with them. There's something 00:36:14.449 --> 00:36:19.849 compelling about the gospel. Why? Because God 00:36:19.849 --> 00:36:23.280 in his grace. has opened your heart and your 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:27.599 mind to receive the truth. Just as fertile soil 00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:30.760 receives the seed and produces fruit, those who 00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:33.059 truly believe and receive the gospel produce 00:36:33.059 --> 00:36:37.079 fruit for the glory of God. Some 30, some 60, 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:39.539 some 100. That's an impressive harvest, by the 00:36:39.539 --> 00:36:42.679 way. That's life in the kingdom of God. Notice, 00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:46.440 not all believers are equally fruitful, but all 00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:49.739 produce fruit. That's the evidence of sonship. 00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:53.400 It's the evidence of discipleship. Those with 00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:58.239 fertile hearts, they hear the gospel and they 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:01.059 understand the gospel. And they begin to realize 00:37:01.059 --> 00:37:04.840 we were the objects of God's wrath. But we also 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:08.719 understand in love that God sent his son who 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:12.460 took our punishment in his own body on that cruel 00:37:12.460 --> 00:37:17.019 cross. Removing the wrath that was once against 00:37:17.019 --> 00:37:21.500 us from us. God has given to us a spirit. Now 00:37:21.500 --> 00:37:23.980 we're motivated and empowered by the spirit of 00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:26.500 God and we seek to love and be obedient to him. 00:37:27.340 --> 00:37:30.840 Imperfectly, yes. But honestly, yes. See, the 00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:35.579 fruit of the good soil is simply our faith that 00:37:35.579 --> 00:37:41.460 is living and working itself out in love. Chris 00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:44.860 Miller. He said, how could the gospel, how could 00:37:44.860 --> 00:37:46.940 the kingdom come and be rejected? You ever think 00:37:46.940 --> 00:37:49.909 about that? Was there some weakness in the kingdom 00:37:49.909 --> 00:37:53.030 that caused it to fail? The answer lies not in 00:37:53.030 --> 00:37:56.250 any deficiency in the kingdom, but in the people's 00:37:56.250 --> 00:37:59.469 lack of response. The ineffectiveness is with 00:37:59.469 --> 00:38:02.989 the soil, not the seed. The seed was the same. 00:38:03.570 --> 00:38:06.889 The opportunity was the same. But the offer itself 00:38:06.889 --> 00:38:10.590 must be voluntarily received. God will not force 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:13.809 his kingdom upon those who don't want it. Nor 00:38:13.809 --> 00:38:18.039 do they want his Messiah. It's true. Now what? 00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:21.820 As we close. The million dollar question is what 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:25.159 type of soil are you? Some hear, but they don't 00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.340 really ever understand. Some receive the word 00:38:28.340 --> 00:38:31.059 with joy, but when life gets hard, it's not what 00:38:31.059 --> 00:38:37.019 I've signed up for. Some are choked by cares, 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:41.539 riches, and distractions of this world. But there 00:38:41.539 --> 00:38:45.059 are some who hear the word, understand the word, 00:38:45.550 --> 00:38:48.590 Hold fast to the gospel. In their lives, the 00:38:48.590 --> 00:38:51.750 gospel takes root downward and produces fruit 00:38:51.750 --> 00:38:55.949 upward. I would say to each of us here, an appropriate 00:38:55.949 --> 00:38:59.889 prayer would say, Lord Jesus, change my heart. 00:38:59.949 --> 00:39:03.409 Do whatever you have to do so that your word 00:39:03.409 --> 00:39:07.070 will take root in my life and bear fruit for 00:39:07.070 --> 00:39:11.250 your glory. He who has ears to hear, let him 00:39:11.250 --> 00:39:17.019 hear. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your 00:39:17.019 --> 00:39:21.659 God -given word. What a rich, beautiful, glorious 00:39:21.659 --> 00:39:25.480 thing the word of God is. It's sustaining, Lord. 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:29.079 It's nutritive, Lord. It gives us what we need. 00:39:29.199 --> 00:39:35.900 Lord, it feeds us with Christ. Lord, I don't 00:39:35.900 --> 00:39:38.909 know. The condition of the hearts of the people 00:39:38.909 --> 00:39:41.650 who have heard my voice today. Lord, I know that 00:39:41.650 --> 00:39:44.449 my voice has absolutely zero power to affect 00:39:44.449 --> 00:39:46.889 change in the heart of anyone. Lord, it can't 00:39:46.889 --> 00:39:49.349 be done. Lord, I could be preaching to cold, 00:39:49.389 --> 00:39:51.429 dark hearts that hear the word and it just bounces 00:39:51.429 --> 00:39:54.590 off of them and Satan steals it away. Some, Lord, 00:39:54.670 --> 00:39:56.710 who may hear the word receive it, but it doesn't 00:39:56.710 --> 00:39:59.210 produce a fruit because there's, Lord God, it's 00:39:59.210 --> 00:40:03.659 just shallow. Others, it's being choked out. 00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:05.119 Lord, there's other things that are priority. 00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:07.539 We live in a very dangerous time because, Lord, 00:40:07.579 --> 00:40:09.800 the deceitfulness of riches and the distractions 00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:12.900 of this age easily come in and choke the word. 00:40:13.619 --> 00:40:15.619 But, Father, Lord, I also know your spirit is 00:40:15.619 --> 00:40:18.280 sovereign. And, Lord God, you will do a good 00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:21.000 work in the lives of your people. And you will 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:24.960 produce a fruit, some 30, some 60, some 100. 00:40:25.739 --> 00:40:27.880 Father, help us to have ears to hear. Open our 00:40:27.880 --> 00:40:30.780 minds, open our eyes, open our ears, all for 00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:33.519 the glory of God, we pray in Jesus' mighty name. 00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:34.280 Amen.