Mark chapter 4. We began into these things this morning and really we only got through the parable section of this where Jesus Christ is expounding upon That that soil of the four different types of ground and a sower went forth to sow and we we looked at those things we went to Isaiah 55 and we examined those things in some good depth and stopped at verse 11 and Lord the Lord stepped in he hit a couple of roots with that plow and had to go back and Hit him again and again and again, and I don't know if the thing got rooted out or not, but I guess we'll find out but mark chapter 4 As I had kind of opened up this morning and had gone into this, this was just in my reading throughout the week as I'm going through the gospels and looking at these things. And the Lord just kind of stirred me up to examine my own testimony of salvation in Mark chapter four. To use these scriptures to put myself in there and to see at what point in my life was I that wayside soil because we never want to see ourselves there. But every single one of us has either been there or is there right now. Okay? This is just the fact of the matter. And as you're going through and looking at these various types of soil, God forced me to reckon the events in my life according to this. When was I wayside? He took me through the explanation of it, about Satan coming and snatching the seed away. And he forced me to reckon in my own life when Satan came and snatched the seed of the word of God away. Anybody ever done that? I can tell you so many times, and it's not just a one-time thing, so many times I'd walk out of a church service, could not remember one word that was preached. Satan had already taken it. Friends, that's wayside soil. That's not just a forgetful mind. When the word of God really grabs hold and takes root, you know it, and you can't forget it. You can't get away from it. It follows you home. It might even keep you up at night, okay? Now, with all of these things, and it's just that preliminary, we're gonna go down through what God has to say here from verses 10 to 20, and then we're gonna kinda sift this all out, and I got some places else we're gonna go in Isaiah and Psalms, and we're just gonna see what happens tonight. But until then, Brother Dale Thredgill, would you please ask the Lord's blessing on this time of preaching? Amen. Mark chapter four, he starts, he ends his first parable there with verse nine, he says, and he said unto them, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the 12 asked of him the parable. Now, I wanna mention something very clearly here. At verse 34, go over to verse 34, if you just, just for a moment. This is something that God stirred up in me, and I'm gonna be preaching on this next week, Lord willing. It's very, very rare, as you all know, that God even gives me the message until Saturday night sometimes, okay? Sometimes Sunday morning in the middle of the service. But without a parable spake he not unto them, and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. You've got to get alone with God in the secret place in order for you to know the secret of the Lord. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. You've got to get alone with him. He got alone with his disciples and expounded all these things to him. God very well may give you the message tonight, but you might need to go home and get alone with God to have him expounded unto you. Just take that with you, just let that one sit. Verse 11. He said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables. Now that word without, it doesn't mean that they don't have something, it means that they are outside of something. As I've said before, there's not a single car within the building, they are all without the building. All right, it's that fact. Verse 12, that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven. Now that's out of Isaiah 6. That was when Isaiah saw Jesus Christ in his glory. We've gone into that. And from there, we springboard off of that and looking at the Lord of hosts in the volume of the book. A lot of power in that. Was it 275 times? I might be off just a little bit on that, the phrase Lord of hosts is used. It's all Him. But that seeing they may see and not perceive. Hereby perceive we the love of God that He laid down His life for us. When you perceive something, you see it with understanding. You may look at something, you may see it with your physical eyes, but you may not understand what's going on. You can't perceive what's really going on. And when you're looking at spiritual things, you may be looking at it with spiritual eyes, but unless God opens up your understanding, you're not gonna perceive what's going on, and that's what's going on here. Jesus Christ hid these truths from these ones so that they would see but not perceive. Look at what else what he says here. And hearing they may hear and not understand. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The only way you're going to get hearing is to be under the preaching of the word of God, to be in the word of God. That's how hearing is going to come to you so that faith can come to you. After that faith has come, we're no longer under schoolmaster. Thank God for that. But you may hear things. As I said this morning, the sound waves may be going through the air and hitting your eardrums and causing certain vibrations so that your brain and how God has constructed it can put together syllables and understanding so you can get a full sentence and hear that thing. But you may not understand that sentence spiritually. Just because you're hearing the voice of the preacher does not mean that you are understanding the word of God. You go into Luke 24 and you see that Jesus Christ had to open the understanding of those disciples. When he did, they saw him again in the volume of the book, in the law, in the Psalms, in the prophets, all those things concerning himself. And he spoke these things in parables so that there would be ones who could not receive it. And you boil all that down, and it was so that they would crucify him. That's the same reason as to why Satan took him to the top of that pinnacle of the temple, said, cast yourself down. Go ahead, the angels, they'll bury you up, unless you dash your foot against a stone. And had he done that, can you imagine a man jumping from the pinnacle of the temple, And 10 legions of angels coming down and carrying him to the ground so he doesn't dash his foot against the stone. You know what that would look like? A triumphant entry of a king. And they never would have crucified him. Pray God he opens your understanding tonight. Because if you see and perceive, and if you hear and understand If those things withheld from you will keep you from being converted and believing, if those things are given to you, you're gonna believe and be converted. God has to do the work. He has to open your understanding of these things. As I said this morning, if God doesn't step in, all of this is for naught. It's worthless. It's just a show. Verse 13, and he said unto them, know ye not this parable? And how then will you know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the wayside where the word is sown. But when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And as I said, the Lord took me back to specific times where I would sit in preaching, and before I was out the doors, before we even sang the last song, before he finished his prayer and said amen, I had forgotten everything that was preached. Satan came, snatched it right out of my heart. Now examine yourselves, according to the word of God, how oft has that happened to you? How many times has Satan come and snatched the word of God right out of your heart? I can almost guarantee you that's happened more times than it hasn't. Be cautious, that's a mark of wayside soil. You're in your own way. And that seed fell in that way, but your way has been, your heart's been trodden underfoot of men. It's hard packed. Let me tell you something, when you have been walked all over by mankind, your heart will be hard. You've grown up with abuses. You've grown up with people walking all over you. You are a prime candidate to be wayside, no matter how religious you are. Mark that. and let the Lord examine your heart. Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. Now, hold on a second. I thought we read in Isaiah 55 that his word was gonna go forth and it was gonna accomplish that which he will. Well, yeah, we looked at that. Isaiah 55 10 says that it would give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. That's the purpose of his word going out. And it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. We even examined that with a 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold, as that would take root, as it would grow, and it would bring forth fruit. What did it do? It multiplied so that the sower would have more seed to sow. The word of God was multiplied within that one. Paul did this. When God brought forth fruit unto salvation in the life of the apostle Paul, as he was there on the way to Damascus, he was born again. He called him Lord and said, what wilt thou have me to do? No man called Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. And did he not use that as seed to sow? That fruit that God brought out of his life, he used it as seed to sow in another heart. Felix. Bread to the eater. You're able to take that, that fruit of the spirit, and it is bread indeed. It is meat indeed. It is that which will sustain you when nothing else will satisfy. And so, therefore, we go back into Isaiah 55, and we see, you know, why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and labor for that which doth not satisfy? It's the Word of God. That's what'll satisfy. The eternal Word of God. Verse 16 says this. And these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground, stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness. And I examined myself, and I found many, many times when I would receive the word with gladness, it would stir within me. This is King James Bible being preached. The word of God was sown in my heart. It did something in me. There was light in it. I received it with gladness. Oh, but the affliction. Oh, but the persecution. You know, Paul talks about a vain belief, 1 Corinthians 15. He talks about, lest you have believed in vain. A vain belief is an empty belief. If I could put it this way, it's what you can conjure up. It's what you can put together. It's empty. This is the work of God, John 6, 29. This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. Do you realize that's a work that God does? Human faith is not saving faith. Oh, sure, if you could measure it out and have the size of a grain of mustard seed, you could move this mountain over here, but that's it. You certainly couldn't save your own soul. So I need the faith of Christ. And faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That means you don't have it and it has to come to you. But glory to God, when he gives it to you, it's yours. He makes it yours. I believe, therefore have I spoken. We also believe, and therefore we speak. These are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word, they immediately receive it with gladness. You see, they hear the word. They've heard the word, it's gone into their ears. Then they've been made a partaker of the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost is ministering the word of God to them in the inward parts. Doesn't mean they've been born of God. Just been made a partaker of that. Applying the ministry of the word of God to the inward parts, it's the job of the Holy Ghost. The Comforter, when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. And as he's reproving, and understand with a reproof comes instruction. And as the Holy Ghost, as the comforter, lost person, is reproving you, that should be a comfort to you. Again, some of the things we looked at this morning, another reason why that should be a comforter for you personally is because it means God's not done with you yet. He's not done with you yet. He hasn't been like Ephraim. What he said to Ephraim, Ephraim's given over to idols. Let him alone. My wife gives testimony of a time When she'd been given over to idols, God said, let her alone. And nothing touched her heart. She didn't get stirred. She didn't get angry. She didn't doubt. God left her alone and the devils left her alone. She was just numb. That's a terrifying place to be. So if God is touching you, you ought to just thank Him for it. But verse 17 says, that these, it says, and have no root in themselves, have no root in themselves, and so endure for but a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. Now, this is an interesting thing to me because as I have examined this, and I've preached out of this passage a number of times, I could probably preach it without the Bible before me. I've preached it that many times. But the Lord just kind of shed a little bit more light. The Holy Ghost turned the oil up in the lamp just a little bit more, and he very clearly told me that affliction and persecution are two different things. Very simple, I know. You probably figured that out the first time you read through it. But I'm a little bit slower. Affliction is a physical infirmity. Physical afflictions are ailments of the physical body. A vexation is something that affects you on the inward parts, on the spiritual nature. People are vexed by devils. They're vexed by an evil spirit. It's a spiritual thing by nature. An affliction is a physical thing by nature. You go into Isaiah 55 though, or 58, and you'll see that fasting is an affliction of the soul. Fasting is that crossing over between of the physical and the spiritual. It's an affliction of the soul And when affliction arises or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And I used to look at this, and I would look at that persecution, and I'd think, okay, persecution, I get that. You know, people persecute you because, hey, I'm a Christian now, I've got this truth, and all this, and persecution comes, and all of a sudden they're offended by it, and they walk away, well, this isn't what I bargained for. That's where my mind always went. But God singled out the affliction to me. And he just made it very clear to me that these that receive the word with gladness take it within themselves, but their hearts are so stony and hard, and there's no dirt there. As soon as that affliction arises, because, and in another passage it speaks of this as those that have no moisture. As soon as that affliction arises, it's on the inward parts. And all of a sudden the word of God itself begins afflicting you physically. It's no longer sweet to your taste, it's sour in your belly. All of a sudden it begins hurting because it begins showing you for what you actually are. And because you had no root within yourself. Who's the root and offspring of David? Amen and amen. because you had no root within yourself, and you lacked moisture. There's no depth of earth there, and your heart is stony, and those afflictions begin arising, and it begins hurting, immediately you're offended. And whosoever believeth on him continually shall not be offended. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. And yet that word in and of itself offends you. Just proof of where you're at. You're that stony heart tonight. Let's go to Psalm 77. Keep your place here. We'll come maybe bounce back and forth. I don't know. We'll see what the Lord does. Psalm 77. I'm gonna read just a couple of verses out of this. Psalm 77 in verse six. Now let's start at verse one. We might as well. I cried unto the Lord, unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My sore ran in the night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Now I believe that's the Lord. I believe that's the voice of Jesus. Verse four continues, thou holdest mine eyes waking. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. Now this is a Psalm of Asaph. Asaph is a seer, he's a prophet of God. But I want you to consider what he is penning here. He's considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. What's he recalling to mind? The past. I call to remembrance my song in the night. I commune with mine own heart and my spirit made diligent search. And then this question arises. Will the Lord cast off forever? Will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy clean gone forever? Doth His promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in His anger shut up His tender mercies? See you later. Looking in the past, recalling to mind the works of God, And these questions arise. Will the Lord cast off forever? What saith the word of God? What saith the scripture? Will he cast off forever? Yes. There are times where he will. And be favorable no more? When they're broken without remedy, yes. Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And then reason comes back to him. And I said, this is my infirmity. This is my infirmity. These questions that arise in my heart, this is my infirmity. This is not God's fault. This is my infirmity that I'm questioning God. Doubts don't come from God unless he's trying to give you assurance that you're lost. You know, God always deals in absolutes. He's always either going to prove to you that you're born of God, or he's going to prove to you absolutely that you are not born of God. And the mystery of the word of God is what's gonna do that. It says, this is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high. Now, what had happened? the record that God gave of his son came back to mind. It was recalled to his mind. And he looked at all those things and he realized, oh, all these questions, how dare I question God? Who am I in light of God? That's my infirmity. It's that heart that has a little bit of growth It's a little bit of life that shows it has no depth of earth. So the inner affliction, that infirmity offends you. Psalm 119 verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction. For thy word hath quickened me. And that's the difference. That's the difference. When that affliction arises and the word of God comforts you rather than condemns you, that's a heart that was good ground. Not immediately offended, but able to receive the word with gladness. It brought forth fruit, some 30, some 60, some hundred fold. This is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickened me. Has the word of God quickened you or is it an affliction to you? You know, where's my hymnal? I need a gray hymnal. Somebody give me a gray hymnal. Oh, okay. I'll take this one. Thank you. Now, we're not going to sing this, but I want you to turn in your hymnal number 567. We're not going to sing this. Thank you, Josh. Now follow along in this and see if you can see the affliction. I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace. Might more of his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face. Twas he who taught me thus to pray. And He, I trust, has answered prayer. And the gospel today ends there and just says, just ask Him to save you, ask Him into your heart. Ignore those inner afflictions. Don't worry about that doubt. Remember, you're not gonna feel anything. But the second line of verse two, but it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favored hour, at once he'd answer my request. And by his love's constraining power, subdue my sins and give me rest. Verse four. Instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart. and let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part. Yea, more with his own hand he seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair designs I schemed, blasted my gourds and laid me low. Lord, why is this? I trembling cried. Will thou pursue thy worm to death? "'Tis in this way,' the Lord replied, "'I answer prayer for grace and faith. "'These inward trials I employ, "'from self and pride to set thee free, "'and break thy schemes of earthly joy, "'that thou mayest seek thy all in me.'" Amen. But have you ever been there? Or did you run from it? Have you ever allowed him to afflict your soul? Or did you reject the Holy Ghost and resist him as did your fathers? The Word of God is a balm. It's also a hammer. It's also a sword. It's also a fire. And it has to pierce, it has to wound, it has to singe, it has to purge, it has to purify before it can be a balm. The reason being is because the stain of sin goes deeper than you ever could know. I think of Brother Lester Roloff singing, that blood went deeper than the stain has gone. But the word of God had to cut that thing open. How often, how many times have you men who work with your hands gotten infection and it healed over? Oh, but it was just putrid inside. Had to bust that thing open, get all the corruption out, apply that balm, apply that ointment, cleanse it, wash it. That's a painful process. And I dare say the pain of that pales in comparison to what leaving it in there is. Because it isn't too very long before the blood gets infected. And those black streaks begin running up your arm towards your heart. And then it's out of control. It goes so far and you've left it alone and you've just ignored it. You push it aside and you just grit your teeth and bear it because you're tough enough. It lands you in the hospital, but it's gone too far and it's without remedy. When it could have just been easily taken care of if you'd just flushed the wound. Now, how do we apply these things to the Word of God? God takes his sword and he pierces with it. It means that he's accurate. He doesn't just go and hack away at you, though it may seem as though as he is cutting away giant chunks of flesh from you. You ought to thank God for that. In me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. But when he takes the word of God and he pierces, and he gets so deep, it even divides asunder the soul and spirit, and the joints and the marrow. It begins discerning the thoughts and the intents of your heart. It begins afflicting you. You know what he's doing? He's getting ready to flush the wound. He's getting ready to flush all that corruption out, And oh, does it hurt. When he begins that process, yield to him. Nobody that has fought a heart surgeon on the surgery table has ever won that fight. Anybody that ever tried to fight back from a surgeon on a surgery table has ever, no one has ever won that fight. Josh, can you imagine if you'd woken up in the middle of that surgery and you started fighting the surgeon? So why do we fight the great physician when he begins piercing? Just yield to him. Yield to him. I'm not just talking about the lost in here tonight. you yield your whole self to that Savior. Let's go back to Mark chapter four. Those with a stony ground have no root in themselves and so endure for but a time, verse 17, Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they're offended. And I remember the times when I was. I remember very clearly the times when I was. And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word. Ah. 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. Oh, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the Lord touched on that this morning, and the lusts of other things entering in. Many times have you walked out of preaching stirred, been affected by the Holy Ghost, you've been smitten of God, and it hurt, and you busy yourself to get away from it. Cares of this world, start talking politics, deceitfulness of riches, start talking about the things going on at work as if that's a big thing to God. The loss of other things entering in and your covetousness just takes control. I want this, I want that. And it chokes the word. And Satan might as well have grabbed it from you before you even walked out the door, because it's unfruitful. It's just another weed. It's just another weed to you. Might I go so far as to say it's a tear? sown among the wheat. Oh, it's going to accomplish the purpose that it was sent forth to do. The word that I have spoken unto you, the same shall judge you in the last day. You'll give an account for every word spoken out of your lips and out of the lips of God. Saved and lost alike. Jeremiah 4.3 says, break up your follow ground. And so not among thorns. Do you know why? Because it's going to choke. It's going to choke it out. There's not going to be any chance for any growth. You say, oh, my soil's prepared. My heart is soft. Yeah, but you are so cumbered about by everything. Your mind's way too busy and way too loud. for you to ever hear the voice of God. I know some people that have a hard time sitting in silence. The number one reason is, is they can't be alone with their own thoughts. Because way too much comes up. Too much bitterness, too much hatred. Do many things of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the loss of other things. Go to, say, Hosea chapter 10. Very familiar verse. Hosea chapter 10. Verse 12, sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. Oh, but if you sow to the flesh, you shall love the flesh, reap corruption. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord. By the way, he just said that to you right now. He didn't say that to you two months ago when you last read this verse. It wasn't only just then. It wasn't two years ago when you heard the preacher preach it. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Break up your foul ground. for it is time to seek the Lord. Awake thou that sleepest, till he come and reign righteousness upon you. And I love this. He tells you it's time to seek the Lord. And you, in the foolishness of your own heart, will rise up and say, well, how long, oh God? How long should I seek you? Till he come and reign righteousness upon you. You'll know when you're done. By the way, you're gonna be done seeking his face when you finally see it face to face. When you draw your last breath here on this earth, when your faith is made sight. Saints of God, your seeking shouldn't have stopped when you said you got saved. If it did, there's a problem with your salvation. You know, when I married my wife, I knew her fairly well. But the more time I spend with her, the more intimate I get with her, the more I know her as a wife, the more that I know that I want to know more about her. Because God's given love there that so far surpasses anything that I could conjure up. Ought not it be that way with the Lord's beloved? Behold, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Why is he not your beloved, though you claim him as savior? Why are you not well pleased with him though you claim him as Lord? Why do you no longer want to seek his face? And then we search the scriptures, see if these things be so. And all of a sudden the scriptures begin searching you and affliction arises and you're offended. Oh no. Things crumble in your hands. of what you thought you had a foundation. You know that those houses that were built upon the sand and upon the foundation, which was upon a rock, they both looked the same sitting there. It wasn't until the stream arose and beat Viamilli against it, that it was found out that the man that built his house on the sand did no digging, did no laboring, and just built the thing without a foundation. It doesn't take long for that thing to crumble. Oh, but the one who dug, the one who labored, the one who hurt, the one whose hands were tired, the one who dug deep and finally found a rock, that house stand firm. Where are you? Maybe it's time to break up that fallow ground. Maybe you thought you had a foundation, but you realize you built that thing on fallow ground. There's nothing there. You know, the thing about fallow ground, there's two aspects of it. Number one, it's deep within the earth. How far down, Brother Terry? 13, 14 inches? And quite often, it's ground that was once prepared. It was once ready to receive seed, but it sat idle. There was a time when the plowman went across it, broke it up, worked those clods in his fingers, crushed it down to fine powder, beat it, maybe with a sledge, got a pick and pulled out the rocks, got a mattock and cut the roots from the trees out. dug up and prepared that ground, and then it sat idle. And the thorns took root, the briars, the rocks worked their way up. All of a sudden, somebody builds a path across it and it becomes wayside. It's time to break up that foul ground, folks. There was a time when God moved his spirit across your heart. The Holy Ghost took the preaching of the word of God, pierced you deeply by it. You were greatly affected by it. In tears and great mourning of spirit, you left this place terrified of the God of heaven. And now flippantly, well, maybe I'll go tonight. Fallow ground. Deadly. You die with fallow ground, it's beyond remedy. But if you're here tonight, you ought to just thank the Lord because he just dropped that plow again. And I said nothing about that thing that rose up in your heart. Make note of that. How many times, Brother Tim, Brother Dale, people come up to you and you'll say, you said this. I didn't say that. Yes, you most certainly did. They'll either leave in a huff or they'll leave rejoicing. You go back through and you listen to the entire thing. You did never say those words. What's God saying to you right now? I hope you take it as it is in truth, the word of God and not the word of man. For it's time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you. You've plowed wickedness, you've reaped iniquity, you've eaten the fruit of lies because thou didst trust in thy way in the multitude of thy mighty men. And you survey your life and you can see where all of that is true. but yet you won't believe where it says, come unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Why? Why can't you believe that? Go to Isaiah 62. Look at verse 10. Go through, go through the gates. Prepare ye the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up a standard for the people. Cast up the highway. This was posed as a question at one point, just not too long ago, and we were going through some things, and the person that asked this, you know, what is this casting up? Well, he tells you right there, gather out the stones. Oh, stony heart, you don't have to stay stony. When the plow of the word of God comes in contact with a stone and it comes to the surface, chuck that thing. Reject it outright, get rid of it. The God of heaven saw fit to humble himself to consider the things on earth and come down and point out a stone in your heart that's hindering that route. And you're just gonna let it lie on the surface? You know, there's some big stones in these fields. Sometimes it takes great labor to get them out. Oh, but how much better is it when it does? I think down here on Horse Run, just as you crossed in front of Haw Baker's plant there, if you look west, there's a nice patch of cornfield there in between the swamp and the houses. And at certain times of the year when the vegetation is right, you can see a rock about a foot around in the middle of that field. And it has sat there since we lived there in 2010. At one point, that rock was brought to the surface and nobody moved it. And it just sits there, hinders the workmen, hinders the plowmen, hinders the reapers, hinders the growth, complacent. Maybe you're just proud of how big that rock was. God forbid. Cast up, cast up the highway. Break up that fallow ground. Break up that wayside soil. Them rocks come to the surface, get rid of them. Let the word of God pierce you. Dig those things out, get rid of it. Worst thing that's gonna happen to you is, well, I don't know, you just might get right with God. Oh, but don't we love the lust of other things? Isaiah 59, verse 19. Gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people. Isaiah 59, 19, so shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun, when the enemy shall come in like a flood. Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. He raises that standard high. He says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. You know how you labor? When he kicks up the stones, you get rid of them. When the plow comes, you don't fight it. When the man comes late at night, grabs hold of you and begins wrestling with you, You wrestle with him till the break of dawn. Determined you're not gonna let go until he give you a blessing. When that enemy comes in like a flood, here we have a promise from God that the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And there's a great enemy that has come into the church of the living God like a flood. It's led many to hell, but God in His infinite mercy has seen fit to lift up a standard against Him. And here it is. The word of the living God. Look unto Him. Look unto Him. Come unto Him. He didn't even hide it from you. Do you realize that? This is the true light which lighteth every man which cometh into the world. God commendeth His love away from us so that we have to go and find it in some dusty cavern somewhere. God commendeth His love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The way you perceive the love of God, the way you see the love of God, the way you understand the love of God is you look at the death of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures. That's how you see it. And when that plowman comes and is preparing your heart to receive seed and you curse him and you spit in his face and you say, not there, Lord, you're not going to touch me there. You're not going to, you're not going to work that over. That's my patch of ground. Ooh. Due to spite and the spirit of grace. Proverbs 24. I just got a couple more places and I think we're gonna be done. Proverbs 24, verse 30. I went by the field of the slothful. and there was a really big rock in the middle of it. I went by the field of the slothful, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction and then the rebuke of the ages. Yet a little sleep, yet a little slumber, little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man. And that fallow ground will sneak up on you. I love telling of how this land back here used to be ready for seed. They dug drainage ditches. They cleared it. They burned the brush. They lined it. They prepared that soil. It was ready. And you look at it now. The only thing it's good for is to hide rabbits in. It's all overgrown. It's live fallow. But it's time to seek the Lord. That slothful man is void of understanding. God will show him exactly what the issue is that will take care of the plague of his heart. Oh, that's too much labor. Besides, it should be easy, right? It shouldn't hurt, right? Oh, and then the words of the songwriter come back. Let's close in Isaiah 55. Let's start at verse 10 this time. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. Now you cannot cling to that verse and say, well, At least they were in preaching when they were a kid, and his word won't return void, so it's gonna accomplish that thing, and they'll get saved eventually one day. If that were the case, every single person that ever even heard a word out of the Bible would be born again before they died. And that's simply not the case. Oftentimes Satan comes and snatches that thing before the service is even done It's 25% of you in here tonight that that's already happened 25% and how I know Jesus said so The sower's been here so in seed all evening long Your heart's wayside Satan's already snatched it Your heart's stony. You might grab hold of the thing, and it might be tomorrow, it might be Thursday, but you'll be offended by it. Thorns in your heart, it might grow up for a little while. Oh, but as soon as you start thinking about the cares of this world, as soon as the deceitfulness of riches again capture your eye, As soon as the lust of other things begin entering into your heart, it's unfruitful. You might as well have just stayed home and watched the game. That's right. I can't remember who it was. It might've been even Pastor Randall that said this. I don't think it was. If it was, y'all that know him and heard it, you're gonna have to correct me on it. He was talking about it, it was Super Bowl Sunday. He said, I think he was praying, and he prayed, and Lord, for those that are gonna stay home from church tonight to watch the football game, I pray you make their TVs blow up. I can't remember who said that, but. Sower went forth to sow. Verse 12 is interesting. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. I believe that's the one that's in the yoke. Take my yoke upon you. My grandfather used to farm with animals. Didn't get a tractor till the 50s, right? still farmed with horses years after that. They'd have a yoke they put on that thing. And to my knowledge, never once did my grandfather, who owned the yoke, get in the yoke with the horse. You know what he did? He either led it or drove it. Take my yoke upon you. and learn of me. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree, and as shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. And with that I say, it's time to seek the Lord. I've got a sign up here that says, Sir, we would see Jesus in Ecclesiastes 5, 2. The end of that verse says, therefore, let thy words be few. And so I'm going to be done. I've been done preaching tonight. We've got a baptism to do, and I thank the Lord