We have been looking at the parable of the sower and the seed. This is the first of the parables that I want to bring to your attention. There's a number of them that we'll attempt to go through in coming Sundays. It's the goodness of the Lord to us that we understand in this church what grace is and that God has given us a privilege to be able to tell other people about what grace is. Grace is God's unmerited favor, as someone has said, but it's also God's enablement to us. It's both imputed and imparted to us. This particular parable that we're studying here talks about the four different types of soil that are found in human hearts, at least generally in an overview. And you and I need to take notice of this so that when we talk to people that we can understand that there are many people out there that do not understand that they must have good ground in their heart to bear fruit unto God. You and I can relate these truths to them. You and I can talk to them about the meaning of this particular parable. Last Sunday we talked about the seed sown by the wayside. And we saw that the seed sown by the wayside was sown on hard ground. It was beaten down. The path was beaten down. And some of the seed would just lie there, and the birds of the air would come and devour it. Well, we want to open this up just a little bit more here this morning by talking about how Satan snatches the seed. Matthew chapter 13, if you'll turn over there with me if you're not already there. In verse 4, it says that the birds came and devoured them. That is the seeds. We want to think about that. In Matthew 13, 19, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. So we see here that the seed is sown, and we saw last Sunday and the Sunday before, we've been talking about the seed being the word of God, the chief sower being our Lord Jesus Christ, and all those persons who are preachers and those who want to share the gospel with others, communicating the truths of grace to people around them in relation to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it says here in Luke 8 5, which is a parallel passage, a sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trampled down. and the birds of the air devoured it." The word for trampled down in the original means to reject with disdain, which is what some people do in regard to the truth of the gospel, they reject it with disdain. So they hear the preaching, it's sown to their heart, and by the way that's really quite an extraordinary thing to think about that when the Word of God is preached, we've been thinking about this together, that it's precious seed, that the Word of God has power in itself. Now, it is a dead letter, as someone says, without the Holy Spirit, but it has power in itself because it's the very words of God. And God accompanies His Word according to His sovereign good pleasure with power. And so we need to see that so that even if the word is rejected with disdain, even though it's trampled down when it's heard, that nevertheless it's a good work to sow seed, isn't it? Even if Satan devours the seeds, it's still a good work to sow seed. So it's interesting wording here in Luke 8, 12, when it says here the devil, then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts. And we began to look at that last Sunday at how he diverts attention from the word of God. And I wanted to begin this time by turning to Hebrews chapter 2. And if somebody could read for me verses 1 to 3, I would appreciate it very much. Hebrews chapter 2. And verses 1-3, who would like to read that, ma'am? For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard." Alright, thanks for that Matt. Now, why is it necessary, I've asked, that we should give earnest heed to the things that we hear preached according to this verse? Why should we pay attention, give earnest heed? What does it mean to heed, by the way? To pay attention to, that's good. Matt, you were gonna go on to say something. Yes, that's a very important thing that we understand, that we will drift away from, I want you to notice the wording. of the verse drifting away from the Word. This is very important that we take heed to this because I think a lot of times that we assume certain things, I mean even as believers we assume certain things that if we know certain things than that necessarily it follows that we automatically do certain things spiritually, that we will abide in the word, that we will follow the Lord, that we will keep his commandments, and we assume wrongly that we won't drift away. Very important that we understand this, that even as believers, because the exhortation here is to believers in Hebrews 2, 1 to 3, we must, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away. Doesn't mean that we have to drift away, but it's possible that we can drift away. For, the Apostle Paul says, I believe he wrote this book of Hebrews, for if the word spoken through the angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, then how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? So there's the connection between the hearing and the doing in relation to the Word of God. If we drift, we neglect. So great is salvation. And that's possible, or else we wouldn't receive an exhortation like that. So we need to give earnest heed lest we drift. And I said to you in my last session with you that Satan snatching the word from the heart appears to take place in relation to the person's not really paying attention to it. Or they're thinking that it doesn't somehow relate to them. This isn't relevant to me personally. And so Satan diverts their thoughts to things that they have heard from other people who are not Christians. We're talking about unbelievers now. So the preacher preaches the Word, and after it's been preached, the Word is explained, and then Satan comes to snatch the Word if he can. And he can snatch the Word if it's not heeded. both in a person who's a non-believer and a person who is a believer, if it's not heeded. That's what I want you to see. So the seed sown by the wayside is sown on a heart that is hard, as we talked about last Sunday. But we must ask ourselves then, how is it that Satan is able to snatch the seed that's been sown in a person's heart? And I want to give you five statements which will help you to understand this. I've got them written up here. The first three are talking about how it can be snatched, and the second three talk about our responsibility here, these statements that I'm giving to you, in terms of sowing the Word of God itself. Let me take them in order. First, Satan will try to suggest the approval of men is more important than the approval of God in relation to the hearing and receiving of the Word. In other words, to take the Word out of the hearts means that Satan tries in every way that he can to suggest to men if they believe in Jesus and His Word, then they can't pursue their own goals. their own earthly desires and wishes. Or in this sense that we're talking about it, seek for worldly glory. Do you know how many people seek for worldly glory? Vast numbers of people seek for worldly glory. Even the temptation to our Lord there in the wilderness, Early on in his ministry was Satan coming to him and showing him all the kingdoms of the world. All this can be yours, if you'll just bow down and worship me, which of course our Lord did not do. So people are trying to get the approval of men, in many cases above the approval of God. We need to see this, because oftentimes that's the way that the word is snatched. is that people think about the approval of men too much. What their friends think, what their relatives think, what their co-workers think, what the people that they come into contact with think, they consider that to be of more importance and greater significance than the approval of God. And that's the hardness of their heart, no doubt, But we need to, from our standpoint, learn to speak and live in such a way that we're showing forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to people around us in our relationship with Him first. Do you see that? that we consider our Lord Jesus more glorious than anyone else. Because He is. He is. So is it possible, the question I have written down here, is it possible that Satan can bring suggestions to our minds that a relative or friend or authority in a false church would not approve of us if we received the word and started to follow Jesus? The answer is yes. And we need to look at a couple verses here. John 12, 43. Who would like to read that for me? Let's see here. John 12, and I think it's more than, it's at least 43. John 12. Yeah, it's 42 and 43. Who would like to read that for me? All right, Marilene. Nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. But they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. All right, this is what I'm trying to show you here. Many people were believing in Jesus. But we need to understand something about faith here. And we need to understand something about believing here. You'll notice that in the ministry of Jesus, over and over again, this happened. The people, it says, would believe in Him, but then later on, they would depart from Him because of some hard saying that He would give to them. Remember that happened in John 6? Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in yourself. Well, what was wrong there? I mean, these people were following Him. What was the problem with them? They saw the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. That should have been enough, humanly speaking, to convince them that they could continue to follow the Lord Jesus. But he gives them this one hard saying, and it says that many of them, they just stopped following him. They stopped walking with him. In fact, so many of them stopped walking with him, that at the end of that passage it says he turned to his disciples and he said, will you also leave me Can you imagine what the Lord Jesus must have felt like in that situation? Or even the disciples themselves seeing all these people supposedly believing in their Christ and yet they receive one hard saying and they can't take it? You and I need to understand this when we share the Word with people, when we sow the seed, that we need to try to tell them what is the most important thing, and that is seeking the approval of God, and not the approval of men. John chapter 5 and verse 44. Would someone read that for me? John 5 and verse 44. Who's got that? Go ahead. This is really an important verse. Again, we're talking about seeking the Lord's glory, seeking God's glory. But Jesus says to these folks, how can you believe who receive honor from one another? and you do not seek the honor that comes from the only God. In other words, God gives an honor to people that seek him, to people who want to behold his glory, want to know him, want to receive good truth and blessings, spiritual blessings from him. But again, here the Lord Jesus is reproving And how can you believe when you receive honor from one another? In other words, you're going to receive this from your fellow Pharisees and Sadducees or your friends or people around you, but you won't stop and consider that God is the one who made you, that God is the one who expects you to relate to him personally in a relationship with him, and not always be seeking to judge people around you unnecessarily. These are great things that I'm bringing to your attention here today when we're sowing seed because this is why it goes by the wayside and this is how Satan snatches it. When people seek glory from one another, honor from one another, and they do not seek the glory that comes from God himself. Statement number two, Satan will try to hide the glory of Christ from people even when the word has been sown. Hiding Christ's glory, I've written down here. hiding Christ's glory. Now I want you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 to 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and verses 1 to 6. Who would like to read these verses for us? This is very amazing, marvelous, and wonderful verses. Who's got it? Michael, go for it. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we receive mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in crackiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves in every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who cannot believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, Hmm. Amen. For it's God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who was shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Wow. What an amazing thing this is. So how does Satan snatch the Word? according to these verses. What is it that he does according to these verses? It's plainly stated here. In verse 3. I think he takes advantage of the natural propensity of the human heart Amen. Yes, takes advantage of the natural propensity, inclination of the human heart. That's exactly what he does, and in doing that, it says here in verse 3, that he blinds their minds. It's like a person wearing a stocking hat pulls the wool right down over their eyes. And what is it that he's trying to hide in these verses? Do you see it? He says, lest, They should see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That is it. That is it. So I'm saying that Satan snatching the seed is hiding Christ's glory. So what is it that we need to do then as believers when we sow the seed? We need to reveal Christ's glory. the excellency of Christ, the perfections of Christ, the work of Christ, the sufferings of Christ. And all of these things then set forth the glory of Christ so that we preach Christ and him crucified, as Paul says. The Jews don't think that's wise and the Greeks stumble over it, but to us it's not. And this is what we need to see. So, third, then casting doubt on the authority of God's Word. We want to look here at 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. I'm saying here that before a person can be converted to Jesus Christ and believe the truth of the gospel, they must come to see and understand that the Word of God is an authority, okay? The word of God is an authority. Second Timothy chapter three and verse 16, and I will read this for the sake of time. It says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete. He's writing to Timothy, the man of God. The preacher of the word, his evangelist, Timothy, will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And if we had enough time, I'd take you to Psalm 19. I can read it for you. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord are pure, Enlightening the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean. Enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward." Well, you can't really be warned by something unless it has authority. Can you? But the Bible has authority. That was one of the things that helped me when I was an unsaved person and starting to think about the things of Christ and about God. I came across a copy of Augustine's City of God in the bookstore, a great big tome of a book. I thought, this is really neat, you know, one of the ancient Christian philosophers. I'm gonna pick this up and read it, and I was picking it up and reading it, and here in the margins were multiple Bible verses being referenced, and I thought to myself, why is he listing all of these Bible verses unless he considers the Bible to be an authority? But you see, that was the Lord helping me to make the right conclusion. And I'm saying that you and I must see this, that the Bible is an authority. So Spurgeon used to say that it's like a lion. You just set the lion loose. Which by that he means, you sow seed. You sow seed. And you will set the lion loose. In other words, the Bible has authority to speak. to you and also not only to speak to you as you read it, in your heart and your mind, but by the Spirit, but also other people then that you share the gospel with, which is a profoundly good and powerful thing to do. So, the question that I have here, when the Bible was written down by men, were those holy men of old so, were they so moved and carried along by the Holy Spirit that when they wrote down the very words that God wanted them to write down, that they were doing that? Were they doing that? Were they writing down the very words of God? They were, weren't they? Because it says in 2 Peter 1, verses 16 and 17, we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus. were eyewitnesses of his majesty for he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and second Peter 1 20 and 21 Knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So let me ask this question. Does Satan like to mix lies with the truth to undermine the truth of the Word of God? Oh yes he does, doesn't he? You remember what he said to Eve in the beginning of the world? Has God said you will not die? But God knows that when you eat of this fruit that you will become like God. So there he is mixing truth with lies. They would become like God. But when they ate, they would die. So he deceived Eve, and then Eve gave some to Adam, and he ate, and they both fell. So in the final analysis, and this is what I want to close with, is that those who preach must see God's Word as precious seed. And I want to read Psalm 126, verses 5 and 6, in closing. Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. We need that in our society, don't we? Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. And he who goes to and fro weeping, bearing precious seed. There it is. It says seed in the New King James and in the King James it says precious seed. for sowing shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. So my final question is, should we sometimes weep as we sow the seed of the word of God? Most definitely. Well, let's pray together. Father, we ask that you will bless us through this study, bless us in this day with these good things that we're looking at. Impress these truths on our heart, dear Lord. May your name be magnified by us today in our worship, and may we set forth the truth to others around us by sowing seed in wonderful ways to them, to their heart, and may it not be snatched when they hear it. We pray and ask these things in your precious name, Lord Jesus, amen.