It is a privilege now to read together from the word of God, His holy law. Condensed version of His will for our lives and a marker, a pointer to Christ in all those areas we fail. Exodus chapter 20 and then the summary that our Lord Jesus gives us in Mark chapter 12. God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. We are reminded of our Lord's positive commands, that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength, and to love our neighbor, that is, one another, as ourselves. Let's celebrate the law of God by singing to the Lord from Selection 339, the stanzas 2 and 4. 339, 2 and 4. At early dawn I prayed, thy promises my trust. At night I thought upon thy word, most holy and most just. 3.39, two and four, let's rise again as we sing. For the sake of our guests, we have been traveling for some weeks now through the four Gospels chronologically. This morning we find ourselves in Matthew chapter 13, beginning with the first through the 23rd verse. And the parallel passages that we'll be referencing here and there will be Mark chapter 4, from the beginning of that chapter, and Luke chapter 8, beginning in verse 4. So we'll be working mainly off of Matthew 13, 1 to 23, but also if you have little markers, Mark 4 would be helpful, and Luke 8 would also be handy. Matthew chapter 13, verse 1. The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him. So then he went into a ship and sat. And the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth. And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched. And because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. who have ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. But his people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them. and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while. Then, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that receives seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word. And the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that receiveth seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." We'll read just that far in the Gospel of Matthew. Let's turn now our hearts and minds to the Lord and ask for His blessing upon our time together and this whole day. Let's pray. Beloved, the last time we were together, we saw Jesus in a home, in a house. And he issued four rather timely warnings to the crowd that had gathered together. And then you remember how afterward his family, his mother and some of his brethren were standing outside the house calling for him. And how Jesus said that those who do the will of his heavenly father, they are his brethren and sisters and mother. Well this morning Jesus leaves that house And he goes to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Boys and girls, the Sea of Galilee is a very large body of water in the northern part of Israel. And so, as the crowds get larger and larger, Jesus decides to go into a ship. And the ship goes out just a little ways from the shore, so that more people can hear Him, as His voice carries across the water. And the people, we read, were standing on the shore, hearing what He had to say. And so, we're going to listen too, boys and girls, this morning, to hear what Jesus said to this crowd from the seaside. This morning we're going to hear Jesus say things in a way we never heard before, so far. We've seen him do miracles, we've seen him perform signs and wonders, but we never heard him speak in the way he's about to speak to this crowd. Now, how is it different than before? Well, he's going to begin to speak to them in parables. Now you may be wondering, children, what are parables? And why would he speak in this way to them? But we're going to consider that and a few other important questions this morning. And the part of scripture we're considering is the one we read, Matthew 13, 1 to 23, with the other passages I mentioned before. Let me just read a couple of verses from Matthew 13 to get us started. Verses 10 and 11. The disciples came and said to him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it is not given. The parable we have before us this morning, the very first that Jesus spoke, we're going to call the parable of the sown seed. And we're going to see four things that happen with that seed. First of all, some of it is trodden down, is walked on, and devoured. Secondly, we're going to see seed that sprouts, and then withers. Third, we're going to see seed that sprouts, and then gets choked by thorns. And then we're going to see a fourth place in that field, seed that sprouts, and then it yields fruit. Let's start at the very beginning. What is a parable? Well, simply put, it is a manner of speaking in which a person takes bits and pieces from everyday life experience and uses them to illustrate and to teach a certain truth, a certain lesson. Now, I never cease to marvel that although Jesus plainly said to his disciples and this morning to us why he spoke in parables, many people even today continue to say the very opposite reason of what Jesus himself said. People today are still saying that Jesus spoke in parables to make it easier for the people to understand spiritual truths. But that's not what Jesus said. When his disciples asked him, why are you now speaking in parables? In verse 10 of the chapter, Jesus is asked that, verses 11 and 12, his answer, because it is given unto you, the disciples, to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them, it is not given. And he goes on to say, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given. And he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that he has. Now if we compare Matthew with the account in Mark Mark goes on to quote from Isaiah chapter 6 verse 9 seeing they may see and not perceive hearing they may hear and not understand lest at any time they should be converted and their sins be forgiven them and we see his quotation also here in Matthew beginning in verse 14 but then Boys and girls, if we understand what Jesus is saying, the parables hid spiritual truths from the people. It was only when Jesus explained to the disciples, to some, what the parables meant, did they really understand their true meaning. And then in verses 16 and 17 in the chapter we read, But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For I say unto you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them. Now we may wonder, wait a minute, why would the Lord of glory do this? Why would he purposely speak in a way that the people would not understand? But beloved, do we forget that just a few chapters ago, We heard Jesus praying to his father, Father I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes for so it seemed good in thy sight. We ought to be very grateful this morning Not only do we have the parables on record here, but our Lord graciously gives us their explanation in print for us and for our children and succeeding generations. But we also need to realize that knowing these parables isn't enough. Just recognizing their meaning from the printed page, we should be praying so that we might see, indeed, and hear, and understand. But as we're going to hear from this very parable, we need more. We need to retain. We need to trust. We need to bring forth fruit from the things he's teaching. And beloved, if this teaches us anything, this opening verses of Jesus, it's that Jesus Christ is sovereign over all things. That, as we see today, there are multitudes of people who do not hear the gospel each day and that we are privileged for no reason in ourselves to have the word of God with us. So let's be grateful to God for what we have and let's pray to God that also this very first parable may be well understood but then that the Lord will use it also in our lives to bring forth good fruit to his glory. Well, children, let's see what happens to this seed that's planted, and what this means today. Verses 3 and 4 begin the parable. Behold, a sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Children, I don't know, you know, we live in a mechanized world where you have these planting machines, you know, the tractors are going along and everything gets done automatically, more or less. You just have to steer your tractor straight. And there's even GPS tractors that don't even have to steer your tractor for it to go straight. But not so in those days. They would plow the fields with oxen and with iron. but then the sower would have a bag of seed at his side and he'd reach in his hand and he'd scatter the seed like this here and there and he'd keep walking up and down the fields and the seed would go out this way and that way And Jesus tells us that some of that seed fell here and some there and some in another couple places. Well here, the seed he's describing first is seed that falls on what he calls the wayside. Now Luke adds that before the birds ate the seed, it was trodden down. In other words, because it was on this path or wayside, people stepped on it. Well, if you've tried to grow anything, it's not a good idea to be stepping on your seed, especially if you hope that it grows. So the picture is pretty straightforward. The farmer is casting his seed into the field, and the word that our Lord uses that's translated wayside, it could mean a road, it could mean a path, doesn't really say. But this much we do know, that seed he's describing now didn't make it to the field. It was walked on, and then the birds ate it. Now, let's consider more importantly, shall we children, what does this mean to us? Well, our Lord's explanation, we're going to start in Mark chapter 4. You don't necessarily need to turn, let me just read it for you. Mark 4.14 reads, The sower soweth the word. And Matthew says, the word of the kingdom. First of all, it really is kind of a pet peeve of mine, maybe of yours, that so often this parable is called the parable of the sower. Well, it shouldn't be called that because the sower is of little consequence. We read about him once at the very beginning of the parable and then more or less he disappears. The parable is really about the seed and what happens to it. And that's a good thing. Why do I mention this? Because all of us, in a certain sense, are sowers. Whether you're a father or a mother, a brother or a friend, minister, co-worker, whether you can speak well or not speak well, gifted or not so gifted, that's really not important because the sower's qualifications aren't mentioned here. He just casts his seed and the Lord directs it and takes care of the rest. And that should encourage us. Because this parable is really all about the Word of God. Not about us, and our skills, and our ability, and how fluent we are in presentation, and all of that. No. Our work, very simply, is to sow the Word. To bring the Word to other people. We don't have to make sure that it grows. We don't have to make sure that people totally understand everything. We don't have to check it so often. We don't have to make it grow. In fact, just like natural seed, we can't make it grow. We don't make it germinate. And then Jesus describes this wayside. Now, it's interesting in Matthew 13, 19. Our Lord speaks of a person hearing the word of the kingdom. And we might call that hearing the gospel. Jesus says, and this is key, Jesus says this person does not understand what he or she is hearing. Now, it may be that this person is just kind of ignorant of spiritual things. Maybe doesn't understand what the words and expressions are being used in the Word of God or in our sharing of the Word with them. Maybe this person has no sense of context. We bring them the scriptures, but how does this fit into the world I live in? What does this have to do with me? How is this at all relevant to the life that I'm living? I think we need to pause here just for a second and think. I think because many of us are so used to the Word of God, so used to preaching and reading and hearing the Word at home and elsewhere, that we kind of forget that there's a lot of people who don't have much exposure to the word who maybe don't go to church and we can often be using expressions and biblical illustrations and examples that are totally foreign to them that we've lost them just because we haven't been sensitive to the fact that they are not aware of the scriptures maybe in the same way we are but now when he says this person doesn't understand it might mean more than just simply a lack of understanding of words or concepts. Because we know from God's word that without the work of God in our lives, without the grace, the power of God working in us, we don't really understand even if we do understand. In other words, the spiritual essence of what's going on in the word of God, we're kind of blind to that. and scripture tells us that about people who are not yet born again so for whatever reason there's this lack of understanding now I think we all know the feeling we're hearing something it's not really making sense to us we can't follow what's going on there's words that we don't understand whatever the case may be what happens when we're sitting there listening to something like that well by and by we kind of just drift off we tune out Because it's really not making sense, it's not really very relevant, or doesn't seem to be, so we kind of drift off. I hope there's nobody this morning doing that right now. Where you're kind of, all of a sudden, somewhere else in your mind. So what happens, according to Jesus, to the word that these people did hear? Well, this is really fascinating. Jesus goes on to say, Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. Mark, his rendition, something similar, when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. But now this is interesting. If you would look at Luke's rendition of this parable, he says a bit more of what Christ said on this occasion. Then cometh the devil, taketh away the word out of their hearts, and then he says this, lest they should believe and be saved. We've been seeing little bits and pieces lately, haven't we, as we go through the Gospels, that our Lord every now and then opens up to us a little window into the realm of the spirit world especially of Satan's world from what's recorded in Luke it's apparent that if a person does believe and if a person is saved that Satan can't touch him can't catch the word away but notice when the seed of the word is not understood and we begin to drift in our mind Then Jesus says the evil one is right there waiting to catch that word away so that we're not thinking about it anymore. And what I think is most surprising to me, maybe to you, look at Satan's reach. Look how far he can grasp. In all three Gospels we read that the word was in the person's heart. So it got through somewhat. But then the person let it go. Wasn't grasping it, absorbing it, believing it, making use of it, praying over it, and all that. And so in Matthew, catcheth away that which was sown in the heart. Mark says that word that was sown in their hearts. Luke says, taketh the word out of their hearts. I don't know about you, but I wonder if this in fact is one of the ways that God judges, the way God punishes those who are disinterested in what He has to say to us. I mean, after all, if you're talking to someone, and you're saying something important, and they're kind of like, after a while, not really paying attention, it's kind of insulting, especially if it's something important you want to convey. Well, God is speaking to this person. It's God's Word that's coming to them, and they're like, yeah, well, it might be interesting for somebody, but for me, I'd rather be on the golf course, I'd rather be in the market, I'd rather be doing whatever. well that's insulting to God and maybe this is one of those ways that he judges such people that he allows Satan to take the word from them and what would that be like in real time and that means our short term memory is short term and as soon as we've heard the word out it goes we are done with church or we're done with Bible reading at home and off we go to other things forgetting all about what we just read or heard. We also see a glimpse of Satan's intention. Lest they should believe and be saved. Satan hates people believing, coming to God and not believing his lies. He doesn't want to see people saved. He wants to have people lost like he is. He'll do anything to keep them from believing God's word. So first opportunity we give him Away goes the word. Now, in this instance, the word never, to use the analogy, never germinates. It never sprouts. What's that mean? Well, that means in such a person's life, hearing the word, drifting off, the word snatched away, there's no changes. There's no effect. in this person's life. There's no change in thought or in lifestyle. It's gone, it's forgotten, and he didn't really see the relevance or meaning anyway. And I wonder, I don't know but I wonder, that there's people sitting here this morning that this is describing. That you sat here, oh you've heard the word says right here, they hear, it even got so far as your heart. And that's as far as it went. You didn't take the time to think it through, pray over it, wrestle with it, ask God to help you believe it, incorporate it in your life, and as soon as I say Amen, as soon as you're done reading your Bible at home, hearing it at the table, read or wherever, out of your mind, back to job one, forgetting all about the things you heard. Jesus says nothing more about this person. because quite frankly there's nothing more to say. As long as that person continues to live this way, hearing the word, responding, nothing to it, that person will remain lost and under the wrath of God. Now, Jesus' second description is a rather curious one. The scene in nature, in the parable itself, is seed sown in rocky soil. I guess we know a thing or two about rocky soil here in Arkansas. Rocks, boys and girls, heat up quickly. And so, if seeds have a little bit of soil and they're planted in rocky ground, the soil warms quickly, the seeds germinate or sprout quickly, but the same heat which caused the quick germination. If there's not a lot of soil for the roots to go down and to seek moisture, that very same heat will wither that little plant soon enough. No nutrient in rocks, or not much, no root development, moisture retention, none of that. So the seeds sprout, and a good dose of sunshine later, they wither. The roots were shallow, The sun scorches them. The seedlings never even get close to fruit-bearing age or maturity. They don't get any vegetables, no flowers, no plants from such seeds. Now, what does our Lord say about this? How does He explain this? In Matthew He says, The same is He that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. Yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended." Matthew and Mark make plain that the tribulation or persecution is because of the word. Luke says, these people for a while believe, and in time of persecution fall away. Doesn't this challenge us? I would say it challenges us pretty deeply in several ways. This person described here not only hears the word, but we read Jesus saying he receives the word. And he does so with joy. So, you know, picture somebody sitting in church and you're hearing and, oh, this is wonderful. And they're receiving the word, and they're rejoicing, and they're sitting at home, and this is marvelous. They're talking with a friend, oh this is joyful. And then Luke records for a while they believe. And lest you're thinking, well it must be some other Greek word. No, it's the same Greek word that's always used for faith and believing. This person believes. We wonder to ourselves, what kind of believing is this? And how long can a person go on like this? But we read when tribulation, I'm going to take the four gospel reasons and put them together, tribulation, affliction, persecution, or temptation come, such are offended. And Jesus says they fall away. Jesus says they have no roots in themselves. So, let's just sketch this out. So, as long as things are going along just nicely in their lives, their religious fervor is great. As long as there's not tribulations and persecutions and temptations, and particularly not because of the Word, they're fine. But when the test comes, No matter what form that test comes in, their resources dry up. Now this is a hard subject, isn't it? And I think a lot of us know why. Maybe all of us have known someone who seemed in every respect to be a true believer. There was joy, they believed, and then We watched their demise. Now some people, it comes suddenly. Some people, gradually. But they fall away. And we hoped, and we prayed, and we thought, because we believe there's no apostasy of true believers, that sooner or later, they'd come back. They'd repent. But then they didn't. And the weeks turned into months, turned into years, and they never returned. Those are really hard situations to watch, and they cause us a lot of pain, and they can cause us confusion. I've counseled with people who face this very thing. How can it be? that someone to whom I've been married for 20 years and professed faith in Christ and walk the walk and talk the talk are gone. Just leave. Abandon not just them, their family, but their faith. How can that be? I don't know about you, but when I read this, I feel like the disciples at the Last Supper. Lord, is it I? Is this going to be me at the end of the day? Because I think all of us who are believers, we know that if it's not for the grace of God, if it isn't for Him keeping us and protecting us, this is us. So the seed came to these people. They heard it, we read. They received it. They rejoiced in it. They believed. They acknowledged it to be true. They embraced it as such. But when it came to the test, Afflictions, tribulations, temptations, persecution. When these things pressed in on them, they withered. Jesus says this person is sooner or later offended. Offended. Why does this happen to me? Why do I have to lose friends? This is too humiliating. Beloved, we don't have any idea. Jesus doesn't tell us what time span elapsed before these people fell away. But I don't think the point is time. Time really has nothing to do with this. It's the circumstances that's important here. Our Lord mentions temptations, afflictions, persecution, tribulation. These were the means by which they were offended, by which they stumbled, by which they fell away. So this person's religious profession is temporary. It's not lasting. They seem fine while the sun is shining, so to speak. But as soon as a storm breaks, just like the man that built his house upon the sand, when the storm broke, the house fell. Their believing dissipates like vapor. Well, I don't know about you, but I think lesson number one from this parable is, take heed if you think that you stand, lest you fall. And I, for one, intend to pray in an ongoing way for a lasting faith, for a lifelong commitment to Christ. that we don't turn out to be fair-weather Christians whose professions have no root in our heart, but rather are shallow and superficial and brief. And I do wonder, maybe you do too, that there are many people whose profession for Christ is glowing and vibrant now, but if we indeed have to face, let's say, persecution instead of prosperity. I wonder how many will still be professing Him then. And I wonder if I will be. So it's important, it's really important that our religion is not just in our heads, not just what we learn in books. Our religious longevity is not dependent on our decisions and on our strength and on our resolve. But we need to learn, and we do learn by grace, to walk closely to God, to depend entirely on Him, to cling to Him tightly, to pray to Him often, and to ask Him to keep us so that we don't stumble and fall. Our Lord turns our attention to yet another kind of response to his word. We read, And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. Now because of the Greek expression that our Lord uses in the original here, we don't really know if this is just thorny weeds or these are actually thorn bushes or hedges or what. But at any rate, not a very hospitable place for seeds to grow. And our Lord tells us exactly what He means by this illustration also. If you look at verse 22 of Matthew 13, we read, He also that receives seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word. And he becometh unfruitful. In Mark is added the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word. In Luke, the pleasures of this life. And he bringeth no fruit to perfection. I believe our Lord is coming a little bit closer to most of us in this particular instance. It's not that we're immune to the first or second type of hearer that he described, but if I had to pick one of these three that we're most in danger of, I would pick this one. And why is that? Notice that in this particular scenario, the person doesn't, like the last kind, fall away. He doesn't cast away his profession. And yet, even though this person continues to profess their allegiance to Christ, they're not producing spiritual fruit. It's not because the seed is bad. The seed is good. It's God's Word, Jesus says. It's not because they didn't hear. They did hear, Jesus tells us. But there's other effects taking place here. The first one is care of this world. What does that mean? Simple. It means to be worrisome, to be anxious, and not even about spiritual things, he says. These cares and these worries and these anxieties are about the things of this world. The very things, beloved, that Jesus told us not to be anxious about, remember? Take no thought for tomorrow, what you shall eat, what you shall drink. Your father knows you have need of all these. So what do we do? Worry, anxious. It's not saying about all kinds of sinful things. It just says the cares of this world. The ordinary day-to-day worries and anxieties. And I am afraid, beloved, and maybe you'll agree with me here, There's not a few Christians who think that worrying or anxiety is somehow a kind of a virtue for Christians. Well, it's not. Now, I know that we might not like to call it worry or anxiety. Maybe the religious term is, well, I'm concerned. I'm concerned about this or that. It sounds nicer. But it's all the same. It may differ in degree of how much we obsess or stress, but it's really of the same thing. And he tells us not to do this. In Philippians 4.6, be careful, that's the Greek word for anxious, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let Your requests be made known unto God. So, in other words, when we're anxious, when we're worried, when we're wringing our hands about this or that, we're not pleasing God. Because we're refraining from what He tells us to do. Lay these things on His hands by prayer, not to take thought for our lives. And then we're not only not doing what we're supposed to do, we're doing what we're not supposed to. Don't be anxious about these things. And he warns us here, doesn't he? In this chapter this morning, what happens when we do? It chokes the Word. Choking the Word means the cares, the troubles, the things we're worried about and anxious about are more real than His promises, than His Word. We get consumed by these matters. We think about them more than we ought to. We're paying attention to these things more than the Word. And the Word gets crowded out. Crowded out. That's the picture. Boys and girls, there's the field. There's the seed. Maybe it's even growing. And the thorns are growing. And they crowd out those little seedlings. And they die. Or at least they don't flourish. Then he says, there's also the deceitfulness of riches. Here again, like in other places, our Lord is not condemning riches itself. It's when we are deceived by them. What does that mean? Deceitfulness of riches? It's when we are expecting from money, goods, stuff. When we're expecting things from these kinds of things that they were never meant to give us. In fact, many people look to stuff to give them what we should be seeking the Lord for. For example, security. Some people think if you're loaded, if you've got all kinds of stuff around you, and money in the bank, and policies galore, you're safe. Well, the parable of the rich man, thou fool, tonight your soul is going to be required of you, says God. Whose is all this going to be? So we're never safe. We never have enough. We're never protected from anything. But God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help. That's the refuge we should be seeking, not stuff. And it's true about comfort. You know, we seek comfort from stuff and we want pleasure. Instead of seeking pleasure from the pure fountain of God and His Word and His grace, no, we go in the dirty waters of things. and ease and then on and on and riches deceive people all the time but it's not the riches, it's us who do the deceiving we might think we're all set when everything is going along smoothly when the money is flowing but it's not so now let's get a little more careful in our thought why are riches deceiving? well first of all they seem to give us power and control They seem important because a lot of other people think they're important. But I would challenge any of you to go sit by somebody dying in a hospital or in their bed at home and ask them what they think of riches now. How important it is now when they're 10 minutes or 2 hours from eternity. What do you think about that big house of yours now? How about that big boat now? What about the big bank account now? It doesn't mean a thing. In fact, I don't know if any of you have ever been really, really, really sick. You kind of lose your appetite for a lot of things, and I don't mean just food. You don't feel like doing very much. If you're in a lot of pain, I think any of us can kind of relate to that. You kind of lose interest in anything but getting rid of this pain. Well, that just shows us But depending on the circumstances, these things are nothing. They deceive us into thinking we have something, but we have nothing. And so the love of money, obsessing about it, the lack of it, wanting more, the care of it, how do I protect it, how do I increase it, all of this chokes the word. And when we're looking at all these things, the promises of God begin to get dimmer and dimmer, the heavenly riches can seem very far away, and even God Himself in our need of Him can fade gradually into the background. Jesus also includes pleasures of this life. Now that might refer to sinful pleasures. But there's a lot of danger in what we call lawful pleasures, things that are not sinful in themselves. These things begin to crowd out the word. If these things begin to take up a disproportionate part of our lives and attention. Paul twice addresses this. In 1 Corinthians 6.21. All things are lawful unto me. He's not talking about sin. But the things that are lawful unto me. But all things are not expedient. They're not always the best for me. They're not always the most profitable for me. They're not always good for me. All things he says are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I'm not going to be controlled by my pleasures. I just heard this week from a renowned researcher. You want to take a guess how much time the average American child spends in front of a monitor whether it's TV or computer or another gizmo take a guess how about 53 hours 53 hours that's more than a full-time job now to us that sounds out of this world but this man has done extensive research and this is what people admit to doing You think that fits here? Pleasures of this world? Paul goes on to say in chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians, all things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify. It may be okay to do something, but is it really growing me spiritually? Is it growing me, maturing me? Is it growing me in usefulness for other people? Is it helping anybody? There's things we might do, but they're not advantageous for me to do. There might be things which addict me. You know, there's studies out now where people are checking their Facebook pages every, I don't know how many minutes. How do they get any work done? How do they do anything? How do they relate to anybody? When they're constantly tuned in to social media. So the pleasures of this life, sinful pleasures, yes, but also lawful pleasures, not kept in check, can just sap our time, our energy, our attention, and our desires. Because here's what happens. Children, let me use an example. If two hours, and I'm not saying you should do this, but let's just say two hours before supper time, Your mom says you can have all the cake, ice cream, cookies and candies you want. Just have it all. How do you think you're going to be ready for supper? Are you going to have a good appetite? No, not if you eat all that stuff. Let me just take a little step over here. What if you like reading novels? mystery books, westerns, romance stories, all kinds of other stuff. Do you think that's going to make you more excited when you pick up the Word of God? Probably not. Because these people write in such a way to keep your attention, they get you excited and want to turn the next page. Are you going to feel that way when you put that book down and pick this book up? Satan's not stupid. You might say, well dad, mom, it's a perfectly good book, there's nothing bad in it, it's just a strange story, it's pretty exciting, but like there's no sin, no bad words, no... That's not the point. When you go from that to this, when you go from something that blinks and beeps and talks to you and connects you with all kinds of people to a book that just sits there. I think you can connect those dots. So the pleasures of this world, without even being overtly sinful, can gradually, don't think like thorns, the next day you wake up, the thorns are there and the plants are gone. It happens a day at a time, as the thorns continue to wrap their little tentacles around the plants and choke them. And that's what happens in our life. You don't go from zero to hours and hours of pleasures. You gradually get used to them. You think you need them. You absolutely must have them. Because who doesn't? And by and by, the word gets choked. Then he says, kind of a catch-all phrase in Mark 4.19, the lusts of other things entering in choke the Word. Lusts, that simply means strong desires for anything. Our Lord doesn't specify what. But he says, these desires, as they enter into our minds, as they creep into our hearts, can also become like so many tentacles that wrap themselves around the Word and choke it. So what might these things be in relationships? We can get so engrossed in a growing relationship or an ongoing relationship, disproportionately, that the word gets choked. We don't have time for the word, we're too into this relationship. And it can be just a desire to be noticed, a desire to be liked, a desire for a nice appearance, to build a reputation, to acquire things, to present a certain image, and on and on. Anything that we strongly desire, if not kept in its proper place, chokes the word. And what's the result? He becometh unfruitful. That's interesting. In Matthew, he becomes unfruitful, the person. In Mark, it becomes unfruitful, the word of God. In Luke, brings no fruit to perfection. That means it never ripens, it never matures. Now, it's hard from the grammar itself to determine if it was fruitful at one time but no longer is. But the context makes it very plain. Whatever they might have had at any stage of development, it never was mature fruit. It never grew to the point where it was worth anything. Luke says, never ripened, never worth much. In other words, however much they might have appeared holy, however much they might have appeared to be useful, just like an unripe piece of fruit is not fit for eating, so their holiness is not pleasing to God. And other things, he says, choke the word. Now, I don't know if you have thought much about the expression choke the word, but just think about that. These other things, whatever they are, riches, pleasures, whatever it may be, choking the Word? So, God speaks to us and we allow other things to choke His Word? As though these other things are so much more important, deserve so much more of our time and attention than God speaking to us? Do we even realize what an incredible privilege it is that He speaks to us at all? How many people don't have the word, who never hear a gospel message in their entire life? And we're sitting there thinking, well, that can wait. Or five, six, seven minutes a day is plenty good enough for God to talk to me. I've got other things to do. I've got other pleasures to pursue. I've got my riches. I've got my cares. I'm really worried. I think Jesus gives us a lot to think about here. Gives me a lot to think about. Are there some here who resemble the seed fallen by the wayside? Not particularly interested in God's Word or what He has to say to you? Maybe you're listening, but you're not terribly interested in understanding what you're listening or if you understand, you certainly aren't in the business of striving to apply what you're learning to how you're living. Well, that's kind of a poor choice, isn't it? where are you now? and where are you heading? if that's the way you're hearing this word and maybe some of us are like the stony ground seed there seems to be a time there was at some point in our lives some spiritual joy but maybe things have kind of cooled off maybe we're sort of reverting back to something we once were maybe when somebody started offending us about our Christian principles and actions and beliefs we were offended and we turned well, if that's you or me, where are we now? and where are we heading? and maybe there is a desire, a taste for spiritual things maybe we have received the word but there is other stuff going on You know, we're busy people. Pastor, you know, you've got to understand this, this, you know, devotions thing and going to church twice a Sunday. We're busy. We've got lots to do. Gardens full, looking for work, doing our job, families to raise. Come on. And there's, you know, the economy. Interest rates aren't what they used to be, you know. Well, fine. Tell that to Jesus. Say, look, I appreciate the warnings, but you know, there's bills to be paid and I'm worried sick about them. And there's activities and pleasures. Well, pastor, you know, there's plenty of pleasures. We got to do this activity and that activity. We got invited here and we're going there. And then there's all the stuff we can do at home right in front of our little box. Fine. And what happens? You take all of that together. Because I don't think it's like we're just the one soil or the other. Maybe we're a little bit of all three. I think the word's doing. How much room did we leave for it to flourish? How much effect does it really have on our real lives? Not just sitting here now, but later and this week and next month. Because really that's what Jesus is talking about. It's either fruit, Or it's not. It's either gross, or it's fake. It's either we're living godly for Him, or we're not living at all. Because you see, whether we're the stony ground here, we may look down at them and say, they're not even paying attention. Okay, fine, they're not paying attention. But maybe you're paying attention, but you've withered away. Or maybe you've paid attention, But other things have taken the place of the word in your life. But the bottom line is all three soils have one thing in common. They all heard the word and none of them bear fruit. And that's the bottom line. Right there. If you're not living godly in Christ Jesus, you're not living. No matter what you profess, no matter what you believe, no matter what you say, no matter what you think about yourself or what others think about you, I can tell you of a certainty what God thinks about you. No fruit, no life. Let's pause and sing before a brief conclusion about the last of the four soils. 365 And we'll sing all the stanzas together. 365, the first tune. From the depths my prayer ascendeth unto God on high. Hear, O Lord, my supplication and my cry. Let's sing them all, standing, 365. If you would compare the four gospel accounts together, you would find six qualifications, descriptions, aspects, of the seed that bore fruit soil. The first is the same as the other three soils this person heard the word. You find that in all the Gospels. In Matthew we read, secondly, Matthew we read he understands it. Mark says he receives it. Luke says he keeps it. In a sense of protecting it. Thirdly, Luke mentions, which in an honest and good heart have heard the word and keep it. Then fourthly, in all three Gospels, this soil brings forth fruit. Fifthly, different degrees of fruit. In Matthew and Mark, we read some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. So different yields. but still a harvest. And finally, Luke says, brings forth fruit with patience. Let's consider these briefly before we close. This person, like the other three, hears the word. But unlike the first, this person understands it. But that doesn't mean this person is educated or somehow you know, religiously trained, because God's Word says that not many mighty, not many wise, not many noble are called. So we don't need degrees and schooling and stuff to understand the Word. We need the teaching of the Lord through His Spirit to get the Word. So this person understands spiritually, how do I know that? For sure? Because Jesus himself says this person with an honest and a good heart receives the word. There's only one way to get a heart like that. And that's from the Lord himself, the grace of God. And we saw that the other day from Ezekiel 36. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh. Interesting, right? Stony heart. And I will give you a heart of flesh, I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. So a heart like this, being described now, treasures the word. Forget the pleasures, forget the cares, forget all that stuff. This is the real thing. This is what my heart is set on. He is the one that means more to me than anybody else, and he comes first, foremost, exclusively. Captivated, the word of God captivates the heart like this. So Jesus says this heart will treasure the word. But he also says this is an honest heart. This person is going to be honest about themselves before God, not thinking more of ourselves than we ought to think, but soberly. We're going to be honest with respect to what God says in his word. We're not going to be playing fast and loose, picking the parts of scripture that we like and kind of neglecting the ones that we don't because they pinch. His heart is good because God made it so. And a good heart values good things. So this person, Jesus says, receives the word and keeps it. Children, if your parents gave you something really, really valuable, let's just say grandpa's heirloom watch, very expensive, or grandma's wedding ring or something like that, You're not just going to toss it around like any old toy, you're going to take care of it, you're going to put it in a safe place, all that. That's what this person does with the word. They don't just sit in church and, eh, this is a very interesting sermon, when is it going to be over? No, they're tuned in because this is their life. How many of us, is Christianity not just a set of beliefs? It's a life. Church isn't just a place to go. It's home. It's the place where our friends are. It's the place where our family is. These are the people we love. These are the people who understand us. And we understand them. Sometimes more than our natural family does. Because we're one in Christ. So God's Word, blessed by Him, kept, meditated, way beyond the moment of just reading it or hearing it, the seed begins to grow. And the seed begins to bear fruit. And fruit, very simply, is godliness. Now, there will be differences in quantity from one believer to the other. Some might be just beginners. Maybe 30-fold fruit. That's alright. It's still fruit. 60-fold? 100-fold? That's what the Lord is looking at. Now this fruit is going to mature, unlike the other fruits that ended up getting choked. So we need to be guarded, don't we? And prayerful over our hearts, over our minds, because there are so many things we heard this morning, in just those three other soils, that can really do us in, spiritually. We need the Lord, and we ought to pray and live like we do. And then Jesus adds one more thing, patience. Why with patience? Bring forth fruit with patience. Well it is true that you know vegetables take a while. I'm sitting there watching the tomatoes in our garden you know. Remember last year if you ever grew tomatoes last year lots of green little tomatoes. So this year we're watching and it seems like forever that those things finally get big enough and turn color and then you could actually pick them and eat them. It's a long process, but I don't think that's what our Lord is referring to. Holiness, quite honestly, is not easy. Holiness, children, is swimming against the tide. It's swimming up river with the water flowing against you. It's fighting trends. It's fighting the flesh. It's fighting with Satan. Holiness requires patience. Patience as we're hearing the word, as we're reading the word, as we're trying to process. How many times don't you, don't I sit down and say, what is God saying here? I don't even understand. Let's just say the words on the page. Well, impatience says, off we go, forget this. Patience says, alright, I need to dig deeper, I need to study a little, I need to pray for understanding. Patience. We need patience to keep the word. It's not easy to keep the word resident in our mind, in our thinking from moment to moment. It's easy to forget. Patience. Patience in cultivating holiness day by day, moment by moment. Patience when we see other believers who are far more fruitful than we are. What a contrast. This person from the other three. None of the other three bore fruit. This one did. But I want to close with a little word of encouragement. Maybe there's somebody here thinking, well, pastor, God nailed it today. I'm the wayside hearer. That's been me for years. I let the word go in one ear and out the other and I've done that so long I don't even know how to do any different. Or, boy, when you talked about the pleasures and the cares, that's me, I'm worrying all the time, wringing my hands, if it isn't physically, it's mentally, everything's a burden, everything is so oppressive, or I'm drowning in pleasures, I don't know how to get unhooked, unplugged and everything else, it's just all me. But the good news is, the really good news, you're not locked into that soil. You don't have to be a wayside hero your whole life. You don't have to be one that sprouts up and withers away. Jesus Christ can make the withered, dried up, seemed to have lost away years ago plant come to life again. And he can take those thorns and he can untangle them and he can tear them down and he can make you a new, thriving, fruit bearing plant. He can do any of those soils over again and he does. The person standing in front of you this morning was all of those soils at one time. And by the grace of God, we believers are what we are today. So, even if you have to shake your head and smite your breast and say, Lord, you got me this morning. Don't end there. Come to Him and say, Lord, that's me, right there. But, you've told me this parable for a reason. You've warned me for a reason. You've come to me and described me today for a good purpose. And Lord, I come to Thee now because I realize I can't make that seed to grow. I can't focus on Your Word the way I'm supposed to. I can't keep the Word in my heart like I'm supposed to. And so on and so forth. Tell Him. Confess it to Him. Repent of it. Say, Lord, enough! deliver me, rescue me, change me, help me, then He will. He says He makes the wilderness to blossom as the rose. Isn't that a beautiful promise? I will make the wilderness to blossom like a rose. You might be feeling now like you're the driest, hardest, leaf-root-bearing piece of ground that ever sat in a church. But God can turn you into a water garden. And it doesn't have to be days, and weeks, and months, and years. It can be now. Right now. Cummington is saying, it's me. I'm guilty. I'm tired of it, Lord. I've grieved you year upon year. And I want no more. Take me to yourself. Make me what I'm not. And let me begin day one bearing fruit to your name. Now, one last word. Maybe, by the grace of God, you're in that last soil. But maybe tenfold. Fifteenfold. And you're seeing other believers running far ahead. They're growing in leaps and bounds. They're living for the Lord. They're alive and they're vibrant and they're rejoicing and they're fruitful. And you feel like somewhere you got left behind. Well, the same Lord that can turn a wilderness into a garden can turn a 15-fold into a 100-fold. But are we willing to chop off some of the thorns, pull out some of the weeds, cut down some of the things that are maybe choking the work? Because if not, you're going to be stunted in your growth the rest of your life. You might make it at last across the finish line, but is that worthy of the Lord? To just survive? Why be like Lot when you could be like Abraham? Why be like Somebody who just gasps across into glory. When you could be one who through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ runs across the finish line, casts your crown at the foot of the Savior. I'll close with a quote from our Lord in another place in John. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit So shall ye be my disciples. Amen. Let's pray together.