Welcome to the Plenteous Redemption podcast, where the cross and the culture are on a collision course for discussion. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign The Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block. Unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, here's your host, Thomas Ervin. You can probably guess where we are this morning. In fact, you probably already read it and are prepared and already turned there and ready to go. Mark chapter four. Mark chapter four. Making our way through this book. This book is a blessing. It's one of my favorite books of the Bible. If you can have a favorite book, which I think you can. I don't think it's degrading to any other book of the Bible to say that there are certain truths in some books that might appeal to you more and hit a little more closely to home for you than others. I love all the Word of God, but certain books really stand out. The book of Mark is one of those. It's a book that we should all strive to take on. It's a personality, an aspect of the Lord. He is a servant, and he's continually serving others. And that's what this book lays out. Let's read verses 1 through 20. Mark chapter 4, verses 1 through 20. And he began to teach by the seaside. And notice how the chapter begins, and. Just no break. Just a continual, non-stop narrative. He is a servant and he's just, you gotta get to work and keep going. You don't get a break, you don't get a pause, you don't get to slow down. You just gotta keep going. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he volunteered for that. That's the idea of a servant. That's the problem. Every time you see the word servant in modern Bibles, they change it to either slave or bond slave. And that completely destroys the idea that the problem is a slave doesn't have a choice. You look up the definition of the word servant and it's voluntary subjection. You have a choice, and you can tell that people have a choice because they choose not to serve Jesus Christ. They choose not to come to the church. They choose not to be a part of whatever the Lord would have them be a part of. All right, well, let's try to read the chapter this time. Verse 1, and he began again to teach by the seaside, and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship and sat in the sea, and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine." Okay, so now he's going to start to obscure his language. Now remember, in Matthew, this all happened later in Matthew. You know, you get around chapters 12, 13, 14. That's when all that starts happening. In Mark, it starts, I mean, he just started his ministry, and then we're already at this point where he's breaking ties. At the end of chapter 3, he breaks ties with the people after his flesh, and now he's speaking in parables. And we're going to find out that the purpose for that was to make sure that only certain people understood while others did not understand. That is the entire intent. Now, verse 3, Hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow, and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up, and some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up, and increased, and brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred. 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 twelve, asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. Very important. Now, we covered this chapter quite a bit in our study through the Kingdom of Heaven versus the Kingdom of God, and we looked at it to some extent when we went through the parables in Matthew 13. And so here we are again. We're not going to touch on a lot of the meaning of the parable and all of that, because we've been through it quite a bit fairly recently. But there's some ideas that I want to point out as we go through the notes on this. Verse 12, that seeing ye 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 them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? How then will ye know all parables? Now that seems to be a hint that this parable is a key to all the parables. It is to some extent offering helpful information that would open up not only this parable, but all the parables to some extent. Verse 14, the sower soweth the word. Now in Mark, it doesn't say specifically who the sower is. Now if we base it on strictly on cross references, then the sower is the Lord Jesus Christ. But I think in Mark, because he's speaking to a more broad audience, the sower can be more broadly applied, not only to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to you. You're supposed to be sowing the seed. If you're saved, that is your responsibility. Verse 15, 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 these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, 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. And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred." All right, so that's the parable of the sower. He's going forth to sow the word. It's the word of God. Now, we often reduce that down to the gospel, and there's good reasons for that. You know, we can definitely do that. improper use of the passage or what the Lord is talking about there, but the Word of God, that's specifically what he says. He went forth to sow the Word. It's God's Word that we need to be getting in the hands of people. Now, in this parable, the Lord sets the expectation when it comes to evangelism. Now, reading this again, It reminds me when I get frustrated at the lack of movement here or the lack of growth here, the Lord reminds me again that you're going to sow the seed on good ground and on bad ground, but the majority of that ground, three out of four, is going to be bad, and they're not going to respond. And so the idea is to just keep sowing the seed. Don't worry about the response because you're going to sow it on stony ground, you're going to sow it on thorny ground, you're going to have wayside hearers who really, they're just, they allow the world and the devil and everything else to come and choke it all out. The Bible tells us clearly, do not be entangled with the affairs of this world. If you do, it's going to remove you from Jesus Christ. It's going to remove you from church. And you look at the lives of the average American, their marriages are a mess, their finances are a mess, their jobs are a mess, their children are a mess. And all of these things are spiraling out of control. And instead of running to Jesus for help, they run away from the Lord and go and try and take care of those things on their own. which is just a tremendous mistake to make. Now, unfortunately, that expectation is grave and sad. We should expect the majority of the ground on which we sow the seed to be in vain. Jesus Christ sets that expectation. He says, I want you to faithfully go out and faithfully sow the seed, and I want you to do it understanding that overwhelmingly the response is going to be negative. Well, praise the Lord. Now, do we want results? Absolutely. Do I want to see these doors flooded with people who love Jesus Christ and who are getting saved and who are coming along and learning the Bible? Absolutely. Is that going to happen? Not likely. Now, I do have some expectation this church is going to grow. I have expectations that in, you know, three to five years this church is going to be doing very well. But, It's going to be a hard road. Nobody wants Jesus Christ. Nobody cares. We go out on the street corner and we stand there holding a sign that says, Jesus saves sinners. People drive by, they honk and wave, and the response is so positive. Praise the Lord. Where are you? Why don't you stop and grab a sign? Why don't you grab some church invitations or some tracts? I appreciate the positive response, but Lord, Lord, it's no different. They come to the Lord, Lord, Lord, and their heart is far from them. A positive response to the name of Jesus is definitely better than a negative one, but that's not salvation, neither is that dedication. If I had a, you know, a Roll Tide sign, they'd do the same thing. If I had a Mississippi State sign, they'd do the same thing. If I had a Donald Trump sign, they'd do the same thing. They'd drive by, honk and wave, thank you for what you're doing. It's really no different. The Lord provides us with some sobriety and also prepares our hearts for the labors ahead. Imagine if somebody told you, I'm going to hire you to work here, but three quarters of the time, you're going to be in the negative. You're not going to get paid. And I need you to show up, and you should do it faithfully. Well, that's essentially what the Lord's telling you. And so, and again, you see all these people, Facebook is a mess, even for good brethren. And as they put on Facebook and they put on, you know, out for the world to see, seven saved today, seven saved yesterday, 20 saved tomorrow, 20 saved the next day. Well, praise the Lord. I hope it's all real and all genuine. It just doesn't match what Jesus Christ said would be the expectation. How did you defy the very odds that Jesus Christ laid out himself? And so you just got to be real careful with those things. I'm definitely not trying to down them. And I hope it's all genuine. I hope it's all real. I hope it's all happening exactly as they say it is. I sincerely do. But I have my doubts, and I have my concerns. Most of the people you try to give the gospel were rejected at some point. They might, maybe they'll receive it initially. Maybe it sparks their interest. We go around, we've been going from house to house and putting out these door hangers and trying to invite people to church and tell them that we're here. And we get to talk to some of those people and like, oh yeah, we'll have to check that out. We're so excited. That excitement didn't go very far. So what happened? Well, Sunday morning came and I'm tired. And I want to sleep in. And how far of a drive is it? It's like a whole four miles. I don't know if I can make that drive. We drive 20 minutes to get here. As I get to know this area more, and I get to know people more, people here, except for Miss Phyllis. She goes everywhere. But most people here, they stay in their little area. And that's it. Unless they're driving to work and back, you know, I've told you about Mr. Ronnie, he comes over, he lives in, you know, we're all from Barton over there, that's where we're from. We're Bartonese. And Mr. Ronnie, he drives from his house over by the river over to his property over by our house, which is three, four miles. And he asked where our church is, I told him where it's at, he's like, oh yeah, I haven't been over there in years. He doesn't leave Barton unless he absolutely has to. That's just how it is around here. And I get that, I understand that, but Jesus Christ is worth the drive. A Bible-believing church is worth the drive. We preach to the good ground and the bad, and we do so without discrimination, but we also do so understanding that the overwhelming majority are going to reject Jesus Christ. They are not going to receive the Lord. As unfortunate as that is, it's just the way it is. And so, rather than getting discouraged, you just got to cheer your heart and understand that it pleases God by the foolishness of preaching. It pleases Jesus Christ. It pleases God when you just faithfully make the effort. He'll give the increase when the time comes. Now, this fact can be illustrated in the groups of people surrounding the Lord. First, the multitudes that follow Him. They don't really care what He has to say. They just enjoy the free meals and the good show. Now, when you see this, it's pretty incredible. And it fits perfectly with the parable the Lord just gave us. You've got sometimes thousands of people following Jesus Christ. overwhelmingly, the overwhelming majority of them never trusted in the Lord. In fact, there's a good case to be made that the multitudes that followed him joined the multitudes that said, crucify him. Second, they that are about Him. There's this larger group that are surrounding Him. You have the multitudes who are following Him. Then you have this larger group that are around Him. And it's a smaller group who are somewhat more interested, but loosely committed. And how many people drive by in those vehicles every Friday and honk their horns and wave, who are with the multitude, or at best, part of this group that are loosely committed around the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope they're all saved. I hope they're all going to heaven, and praise the Lord if they are. But the final group, you have the apostles, those who were chosen and are fully committed. Now think about this. You have the multitudes, which is potentially composed of thousands of people at times. And while they find Jesus interesting, they are perfectly fine changing the channel to see what else is on from time to time. They don't really care. While it's interesting, we'll watch. While it's interesting, we'll follow. But if it ever gets boring or you ever ask anything of us, no thank you. will hit the road. They that are about him might be less inclined to change the channel, but they still refuse to fully commit to the Lord. They're not committed. They are one day, and then the next, they fizzle out. And then the Lord convicts their heart again, and they're committed again, and then again, they fizzle out. They're gone for weeks or months. They just disappear. Then they show up. Oh, we're here. We're ready to stay. We are in this. And then a week later, where'd you go? And then finally, out of the thousands following Jesus Christ, including those that are about Him, only 12 are fully committed. That's the reality of the world that we live in. That's what Jesus Christ is trying to explain. Then it goes a step further. Then of them that are fully committed, some will give 30, some will give 60, and some will give 100. So you have these three layers of potential responses of good ground and bad ground. Three quarters of it's going to be bad ground, that illustrated by the multitudes that are about him. Now some of those that are about him, that smaller group around him, do come to the Lord in private. They do show some signs of more dedication. But then of the few that show more signs of dedication and the 12 apostles who are fully committed, some will give 30, some will give 60, and some will give 100. That is not a very positive outlook on ministry. If you're a results-oriented individual, this is not for you. It's not going to go well. That's why people like to kick back and just send money around the world and read a prayer letter. They don't want to go do anything because when you read the prayer letter, what's the missionary put in the prayer letter? Anything good that happened that month. And then a few prayer requests with a few negatives. That's what they put in the prayer letter. So you can feel like, well, my money is going to them, and they're getting a lot of results. But when I go out, I'm not getting any results. Why is that? Well, that's because 3 quarters of the people you're going to preach to are going to reject Jesus Christ outright at some time. They show up for a few weeks. They show up for a few months. They might show up for a year. But when people start finding out, you're not going to go drinking with them anymore. You're not going to go party with them anymore. You're giving over to Jesus Christ. They're going to start mocking you, making fun of you. And then when that doesn't work, then they're going to turn on the guilt trip. Are you saying there's something wrong with us? Well, since you asked. Yes, I am. It's not me that's saying it. It's Jesus Christ that's saying it. It's God. Oh, you think you're better than us? No, I don't think I'm better than you. I think I was one of you until I gave myself over to Jesus Christ. And people can't get that part in their heads, in their minds, in their hearts. The use of sowing seed as an example of preaching the gospel is infinitely instructive. First, nothing is said of the sower in Mark's gospel. Just says, the sower went forth to sow. So we can either assume it is the Lord, based on cross-references, or we can assume it is every Christian who would follow the Lord Jesus Christ. I think in reality, it's probably an example of both. But here's what's important. The passage says, nothing of a calling, or gifts, or talents, or ability. It doesn't say anything about any of that. But that the sower went forth to sow. It's that simple. Well, I just don't think the Lord's called me to do that. Interesting. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that every Christian has been given the ministry of reconciliation. So who would that exclude? The Bible says it pleases God when anyone and everyone preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So why would you exclude yourself from that? I just don't think that's my gift or my talent. You can't pass out a tract. You can't hold a sign that says, Jesus saves. What talent does that require? You know what it takes? It takes your dedication. And that's the part you don't want to give in to. It takes weekly standing on a street corner for an hour, an hour of your weekly life holding a sign that tells people about Jesus. And that's it. Yeah, but I have this to do and that to do. We all have things to do. but you gotta make time for the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, the word is the seed. It is that object that if sown, will likely, somewhere, at some point, grow into a fruit-bearing plant. Praise the Lord. What is certain, if you do not sow the seed, nothing will grow. If you have a farm, you walk out and you say, where are all the plants at? Well, you didn't plant anything. Oh, yeah. So why would you have expectations somebody's going to grow if you didn't sow any seed? You wouldn't, not if you were in your right mind. Therefore, we sow the seed everywhere at all times. Now, as a church, we have dedicated times of ministry, but this should be an everyday aspect and part of your life. It should be who you are. And you should be telling people about the Lord all the time. assuming you have a life that follows. If you don't have a life that follows, you might need to get that straightened out first. There's nothing like telling people about Jesus Christ with a beer in your hand. People do it all the time. I love the Lord. Okay, yeah. Third, when we sow and produce fruit, it creates that which is necessary to take the seed further. Now, where do you get seed from? from the plant. It doesn't just magically show up, you have to plant, you plant corn, it grows and produces more seed to plant more corn. So then it follows that producing more of those plants will produce more opportunity to spread the seed. The more people that get saved, the more people that learn the Word of God, and the more people that apply it to their lives mean there are more people telling other people about Jesus Christ. And then when they win somebody to the Lord, I'm sure everybody's heard all those stories about how if you were to invite one person to church and they were to invite one person to church, it just expands infinitely I mean, it's a massive expanse. Fourth, something harms the rejection of the seed or the growth of the plant at every stage. If you ever try to plant and grow food, trees, or crops of any sort, you will soon learn that particular plant has many enemies you didn't even know existed. Bugs start showing up. You know, I planted these trees out here. I ordered six of them. I planted four of them when it was raining. The other two I received right when the rain stopped. They didn't fare very well. And so if you don't have sunshine, you don't have rain, and you can't protect that plant from its natural enemies, it's not going to grow. Well, the Lord said, I sow the seed, and the majority of the ground I sow the seed on dies out. Only the good ground survives. What's interesting is that the dangers and enemies that prevent the good seed from being received by men or not being received is that it's up to that particular individual. And that's different for plants. It doesn't quite work out that way for plants, but it does for you. It's your choice. So that's the hard part. It's up to you. These are problems common to all men and must be overcome by choice if we are to prove to be good ground. See, this is the issue with three quarters of the ground being bad ground is it was their decision. It's not like the conditions were there to make them bad ground. They allowed those conditions to exist in their life. They could have said, no, I don't care what you say. You can mock me all you want. The world can try and choke this out. Jesus Christ died for me. I'm staying with him. But they don't. They allow those things to drown out the seed, and it dies out. This is why we don't choose where to sow the seed, but spread it abroad everywhere. You don't know what's good ground and what's not good ground. Somebody that looks, you know, you'd be amazed at the number of people who you look at them, you say, they're never going to receive Jesus Christ, and end up being some of his most faithful, dedicated followers. I've heard several stories, there was one in particular of a church, I can't remember where it was at, but the pastor of this church used to go to this university and preach the gospel and there was an atheist there who was just an absolute intellectual, highly intelligent, very aggressive atheist. and would come out and, man, they would just battle it out in front of everybody on the campus. For years they did that. That man got saved, married his daughter, and is now the pastor of the church. The exact person you would assume would never receive the gospel and never be a part of this. You don't know. You just got to be faithful to sow the seed. You don't get to determine the ground. Like, oh, this is good ground here. You don't know that. Uganda, well, if you went to Uganda, you would think you were sowing the seed in the best ground in the world. And you'd find out real fast, it's all superficial. There's no root. It's all, now other than me, we have some excellent young men there who got saved, and women, and trusted the Lord, and they're doing great. But I'm talking about society-wide as a whole. They'll listen to everything you say. They'll eat it up. You think, man, this is great. And then they disappear. You never see them again. Or you find out they're only there to see if they can get something out of you. And then you get crushed and want to quit. There's no reason all ground should not be good ground. But some aspect of the inherent enemies or dangers will encourage them to reject Jesus Christ. And then it's up to them to either do so or not. Now in verses 10 through 20, they that were about him and the 12 who have deeper desires to understand what the Lord is saying begin asking questions. And that really seems to mark the difference. Those who followed up later and said, what did you mean by that, are the ones who seem to be given over to the Lord. The Lord's response is that it is given to them to understand the mystery of the kingdom of God. But for everyone else who doesn't care to come and understand, this is what's so amazing. The very next passage is the light, somebody lighting a candle and then hiding it. And so these two passages interact with each other because the Lord is telling you, I am speaking in parables so that people don't understand. That's the purpose. Then the very next thing he says is, nobody lights a light and, you know, a candle and hides it under a bed. So he's still shedding the light. He's still making it available to anybody who wants it. And anybody in that crowd can become good ground if they want. But if you don't want, you're going to stand there scratching your head like, what? Sowing on? Who sows amongst thorns? Why would you do that? What is he talking about? Well, that was the point, where you stand there scratching your head and ask what he's talking about. But you didn't go to him later and say, what were you talking about? I want to understand. I want to know. And those who did got light, and those who did not just stumbled around in the darkness that they chose. And that's where people get bent out of shape. You choose oftentimes to live life apart from Jesus Christ, knowing he's available, knowing his word is available, knowing his church is available, knowing all the things he's made available to you, you still go out and try to do things on your own, and you make a mess of things, and then you turn around and you wonder, where's God at? How come he's not helping me? Well, you didn't want his help. You chose to go at things on your own, and when it didn't work out, now you want to ask where God is? Why didn't you ask where he was before you got involved in that situation? And when you point that out, people aren't very happy. There are people present there that the Lord does not want to understand the parables, and he gives these parables in that way by design. They see it, but perceive not. They hear it, but don't understand. They had no desire whatsoever to follow up the Lord Jesus Christ, so they just remain in darkness. And that's why we have America, across the world, but just in the context of American Christianity, it is so carnal because nobody wants to know what God actually says. They want to thread this line between sort of acting and looking like the world and kind of having Jesus. And they want to try to ride the fence right there in the middle, and eventually you've got to go one direction or the other. You can't stay on that fence. And they almost always end up going out in the world for Jesus. And that's the way they frame it. Well, I just think we should love people. Me too. Why don't you tell them about Jesus before they die and go to hell if you love them? That's just so mean-spirited. It's true. Verses 21 through 25, we got a lot of ground to cover here with a little bit of time. Miss Pat's slowing me down again. It's not my fault. Let's just read verse 21 down to the end of the chapter, and then we'll go through as many notes as we can. That way we make sure we read all of the Word of God. Verse 21, and he said, under them is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed, and not be set on a candlestick. For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, take heed what you hear, and what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you. And unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given. And he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." And that's contrary to socialism. All right, so Kamala Harris, Tim Walls, AOC, they would not be happy to hear that. They think they should be able to take from you and give to others and take from you and give to themselves. Verse 26, and he said, so is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. This passage beautifully pictures the modern American life. You are so overwhelmed and concerned about things over which you have no control. Is that plant coming up? Is it coming up? How's it coming up? How can it come up? There's no way it's coming up. You're up in the middle of the night. You're up in the day. You go back to bed. You get back up. You can't sleep. You can't settle down. You can't rest. over something that you have no control over. Where's that? Is that planned? It did come up. How did it come up? I didn't know it was going to come up. I'm not even ready for that. It's just everybody's life is a total mess, and they're all over the place concerned about things that they have no control over. And the things that they do have control over, they won't do anything about. It's amazing. I don't know how to fix that. Well, what about this thing right in front of you that you can fix? Well, I don't want to do anything about that. Verse 28, For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth immediately, he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. You see how that works? Like, I'm concerned about this. Is it going to come up? I don't know if it's going to come up. I'm up all night. I'm up all day. I can't get any rest. Oh, it did come up. Well, let's go harvest it. All that, and then one of my favorite cartoons I've ever seen is a man laying on a psychologist's couch. And the psychologist says, why do you seem to worry so much? And the man says, well, it's interesting. Everything I worry about doesn't happen. Why are you worried about it? I'm just so focused on things that I have no control over or that may or may not happen. When I was in boot camp, we were getting ready to go. There's a week, they call it Warrior Week or Hell Week or something like that. It's pretty rough, but it's not hell. And before you go out, you spend all your time in a dorm and marching around the dorm and doing all these things. But now they're going to send you out in the forest, and you're going to sleep in a camp, and they're going to simulate a war. And it's pretty rough. You're up for 24 hours. You're marching all over the place. They play the sounds of war all over the camp. So you hear all this screaming and bombing and gunfire and all this stuff. And so we're asking all these questions about it. And we had this. We had two instructors. One of them was a big, just burly-looking man. And he had these big, huge, beady eyes. And he would wear his hat so that you could just see those beady eyes right under the hat. And he was pretty intimidating. And he's sitting down at the table. And people are asking question after question after question. And every question is, well, what if this? And what if that? And what if this? And finally, he slams his hand down on the table. And everybody jumped back. And he said, what if worms carried baseball bats? looking around like, what? He said, birds wouldn't mess with them. OK. But they don't carry baseball bats. So all the what if questions and worrying about all these things that might happen, that might not happen, things that you might have control over, but in reality have no control over, you've got to learn how to compartmentalize those things and set them aside. And then when you do, come teach me. Now verse 30, and he said, But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it." Isn't that interesting? That means there were limitations in their ability to hear. He said, He went as far as He could in teaching them, as they were able to hear it. Verse 34, But without a parable spake He not unto them. And when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples. And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him, even as He was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind. And in one of the other passages, it calls it urocladon. If you've got to give the storm a name like that, you can imagine it was wild. And the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleep on a pillow, and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? I feel like I could answer that question pretty easily. Did you see that storm? And we're on a boat being tossed at sea. That's why I'm fearful. Now, you know, I like the idea of being dedicated to following Jesus, just not on a boat at sea being tossed by the wind. But listen to what he says. How is it that you have no faith? No faith. And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Now, this is very important. You know, we talked, we've talked a lot about casting seed into the ground. And we talked a lot, you know, we spoke enough about the man who's just concerned about his plants growing and doesn't know if they're going to grow, when they're going to grow, how they're going to grow. You know, is it going to work? Is it not going to work? And just completely beside himself. And we've talked a lot about the parable of the mustard seed, and you know in this passage, or at least you should know, that it's a reference to the kingdom of God, and the fowls are under the tree, not in the tree, which is a distinct difference. That kingdom That spiritual kingdom is going to grow, but God is keeping it pure. God himself is in control of that kingdom. Not true for the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven, they lodge in the branches. And so it's a very different matter. It's a whole different kingdom. He will someday be in charge of the kingdom of heaven. Right now he's not, but that day is coming. So you just look forward to that, and that'll be a blessing. But this last part is the part I think we all need. This passage presents us, verses 35 through 41, with a beautiful picture of life. It relates right back to the man who can't sleep all night because he's worried about his plants growing. What a thing to be worried about. But I guess if that's your livelihood, it'd be serious. Storms are coming. I prefer they did not come. I am thankful that Kristen and I have had relatively calm and smooth lives, and we really have. We have known each other now for about 12 years. We've been married for almost, this year will be 10 years. Man, she's getting old. But we have had it pretty easy. It's been a blessing. It's been fun. It's been adventurous. We've had hard times. We've had difficulties. But overall, it's been really good. But hard times are coming. And when they come, you can either be in the boat with Jesus Christ and travel the sea of life with its coming storms together, or you can try and go with them alone. I don't recommend you try and go with them alone. that it will overwhelm you. You will be beaten down. And what you need is somebody in the boat with you, peacefully sleeping through the storm, which should be an indication to you that as long as I'm with him, it's okay. Or when you lose your mind, you can turn to him and say, I need help, and he can stand up and calm the storm. Or you, one of the two. But who are you going to turn to if you jump in a boat by yourself and head out on the sea of life and you're Rocklin and shows up? Trouble is coming. Storms are coming. Life in America looks like it's about to change drastically. And if you're not, while it's good, while it's wonderful, while things are going well, if you don't have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, what in the world are you gonna do when things really turn bad? Who are you gonna turn to, where are you gonna go? And so you really need to get that settled now, before the storm comes. Not in the middle of it, not after it. You need to have a close relationship to Jesus Christ now. You need to turn to the Lord now. Because when the storm comes, you don't know where you're gonna turn. You're gonna be frazzled and broken and not know what to do or where to go. You're gonna be shattered and then what are you gonna do? Don't make the mistake of going through this life without Jesus Christ. These men were crushed by this storm. If you imagine being at sea on a boat and a storm comes, you have nowhere to go. And sometimes life does that to you. It backs you in a corner that you can't get out of. Now, this is the amazing thing. Jesus Christ, now in this instance, he took the storm away. But what you need to know is that as you go through life, those storms are coming. He's not going to stop them. And so when they back you in the corner, you want to have Him in the corner with you. Romans 5, one of the most amazing things the Bible says is, we glory through tribulation. Which means that God is not taking away the tribulation. He's going to show you how to be happy as you go through them. And that's the goal, that's the mark. Amen? We hope you enjoyed this podcast. You can learn more about our ministry by visiting www.plenteusredemption.com. 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