Good morning. Let's go to our God again, shall we? Our Father in heaven, even as we've just sung, we delight in you that you are our strength. You are the one who rules over the circle of the earth. You are the one, Lord Jesus, who has humbled yourself. from being with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity to take upon our flesh and blood that you would be our prophet, our priest, our king. And so now by your Spirit, though you reign in heaven on high at the Father's right hand, yet by your Spirit we pray that you would come among us as the one who walks among the candlesticks of the churches that you have ordained, that you would be our teacher, that you would open the word that you once gave to us and that we would profit by it. We pray this in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen. So as you know, we are in Matthew chapter 13. So I'd invite you to return to that passage in Matthew's gospel. We've considered our Lord's prophetic office to his church. Isn't it interesting now that we're going to sit at Jesus' feet this morning the teacher of the church, to hear his word. Remember that the Lord Jesus was sent by the Father to proclaim the coming of his kingdom. He is not only our prophet, but he is our king. From Mark 1 verse 15, saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. and believe in the gospel. The kingdom of God is a prominent theme as you look through Matthew's gospel. You recall with me Matthew chapter five, six, and seven, where our Lord Jesus expounds upon the kingdom subjects, the ethics, the moral code of the kingdom, and presses his hearers, that urgent need to enter into that kingdom. Now, if you think for a moment, our Western culture has quite a difficult time. We have a difficult time wrapping our brains around even the concept of an earthly king. It is so far removed from our experience, let alone a divine king who presides over the whole universe, as Pastor Mitch read from Psalm 11 this morning. While most agrees to the concept of a democratic republic, is it not true that our culture can be best described as the nation of Israel was in the period of judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That seems to be more the theme in our culture. And yet all the while, though unrecognized by nearly everyone, as we read from Psalm 103, the Lord has established his throne in the kingdoms, in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Now in the ancient world, kings exercised life and death authority over their whole domain. Their word was law, full stop. We're far, and so we're far more familiar with the rule of law, aren't we? Lex Rex, originally developed during the Scottish Reformation by Samuel Rutherford. In other words, Rutherford urged that law, not an earthly king, had superior authority. He urged that even earthly kings are subordinate to the law, actually God's law. And yet this was not the case during the writing of the New Testament. The king stood in the place of really a God in administering justice, setting state policy and administration, wielding absolute authority, humanly speaking that is. But in this gospel, Matthew focuses upon a kingdom which is unseen. one in which the common person has a vested interest. So make no mistake, Jesus Christ is indeed Lord over all creation. As Paul says, He is Lord of all, from Acts 10. as well as the kingdom of his covenant people, the church. We read in Colossians 118, he is head of the body, the church. And yet not everyone who hears this gospel invitation to this eternal kingdom responds in the same way as we've just read from Matthew chapter 13. King Jesus has a vast number of subjects who have or will enter that kingdom. Peter describes it as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession that we might proclaim his excellencies who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now recall with me from last week as we noted an instance of such a person entering into that kingdom. Her name is Lydia from Acts 16. Luke records that the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Christ the great prophet through his powerful word and the Holy Spirit has the power to open the heart of the most hardened of sinners. So does Jesus expect you and I to sit here passively this morning to wait for some miraculous influence to just fall upon us before we begin sitting up and paying attention to God's word. Was that Lydia's experience there in Philippi as they met by the river there? Is that all the Bible teaches on how a person enters Christ's kingdom? Jesus taught the people by way of parables, as we've seen, of stories based upon real life, which pointed yet to a deeper, more spiritual reality. And this made those lessons come to life, it made them easier to understand, as well as to remember. We just read the parable of the soils in verses three through nine. Sadly, the real meaning of the parable was lost to most of those hearers that were present. Most of these, who listened were those who earlier, if you were to flip back to chapter 11, rejected Jesus as their Messiah. He pronounced the woes or judgments upon several of their cities. From verse 17, we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not mourn. No matter what stern warnings John the Baptist would have preached concerning the kingdom or Jesus gracious warnings, and invitations and miracles, they just dismissed him. Like children who were to be in the marketplace playing funeral or wedding, no matter their excuses shift from one extreme to the other. Either way, they won't listen to Jesus. It seems that if you want to make an excuse, anyone will do, right? If that's what you're determined to do. The disciples get the backstory in our passage in chapter 13 from verses 11 through 15. And you can see just there briefly that this is something that though God was very clear in bringing his word to them, We'll read in verse 12, for to the one who has, more will be given. And to the one who will have an abundance, and from the one who has not, even that which he has is taken away. And this is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, you will indeed hear, but never understand. You will indeed see, but never perceive. For this heart's people has grown dull, and with their ears, they can barely hear, and their eyes, they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart in turn, and I would heal them. And so as we take a step back, sitting there with the disciples, they get something of an understanding of what's going on around them. The nation largely rejected Jesus, having their own preconceived erroneous ideas about some immediate liberation from Roman tyranny and a radical entrance of an earthly messianic reign instead of a gradually emerging society of godly people. Jesus' parable this morning describes several ways in which people respond to his gracious invitation to enter that eternal kingdom. So look with me on your handout, Roman numeral one, and I'm glad that Pastor Mitch helped with this outline. That's why it's gonna be so straightforward. Roman numeral one. Images, images of the parable. Let's take a look at A. First, let's look at the sower. we read in verse 3 of our chapter, a sower went out to sow. And so this parable doesn't explicitly identify, that doesn't identify who the sower is, but the following parable does in verse 37. If you were to look down there, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man, referring to our Lord. And yet it can also apply to everyone spreading the gospel on behalf of Jesus Christ. If we were to turn back to chapter 10, when Jesus sent out the 70 disciples, he says, whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. And so the preacher, the gospel minister's task is to scatter the gospel seed broadly. But the repeated emphasis of this parable, as you can see, are the soils as we look into it. And that said, note that the farmer does not impart life to the seed. God must cause it to come to life. We can think of Paul's words there to Corinth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. So there is the sower, the one who scatters the gospel seed. Secondly, B, what is the seed that's being sown? Well, if you would look down to verse 19 in our text, our Lord identifies it for us. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and then later on in verse 20, 22, and 23, Jesus identifies the seed as the word. Children, when you plant seeds out in the garden, let's say you're going to put tomato seeds in there. You hope to get some more tomatoes, don't you? Doesn't that make sense? Okay, seeds eventually become fruit. Actually, tomatoes technically are fruit. They are not vegetables, even though they're not as sweet. But that's what you expect. And so this is what Jesus is using to teach the disciples. I'm expecting a very special crop. from this very special seed which I'm scattering about. And so now let's focus on the soils, C. We've seen that it is Jesus, it is the gospel preacher, that is the sower. We've seen the identity of the seed, it is the word of God. And now our focus is gonna shift to really what the parable is about, the four soils, the four soils. Now, think about it for a minute. When you compare one type of soil as you go outside, is all soil, is all dirt exactly the same? Well, in the laundry room you might be thinking Yes, pretty much that's true. Well, if you go outside and you look in the garden, you know immediately that's not the case. Even in the forensic science lab, we have very specific methods of identifying and locating exactly where a specimen of soil came from. It's actually very specific. Well, anyway, in Jesus' parable, some soil is actually more like a city sidewalk. but others are moist, dark, and they even smell different. Some soil is hard, even rocky, and others are soft. You may even sink down as you walk across it. Jesus is saying that people are like that too, in how they hear God's word. So the word must penetrate into the heart of a person. into their minds, into their understanding as we've looked at the words here. It's the heart where God is going to be at work and it's where this word must rule and work its wonderful power. Consider with me number one under that heading, the pathway ground hearer or as Pastor Mitch identified it, the unresponsive heart. The unresponsive heart from verse 19. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. And so if I go out my back door and I toss out, let's say, sunflower seeds into my chicken coop, Guess how long that's going to last there. And the ground in my chicken coop is very hard, trust me, from there, pecking around and tamping it down. It's going to be gone in minutes. The same thing if I toss that same sunflower seed along my sidewalk. In a matter of minutes, the crows are going to swoop down, and it's going to be all gone. And the result, well, no sunflowers, obviously, right? It all gets eaten. So let's agree that the pathway soil is certainly worthless for growing anything. Jesus' point is that there are many who hear God's word and reject it out of hand. A kingdom means that a person must submit their wills, their lives to King Jesus. Since Adam and Eve, our first parents, rebelled with Satan against God, this is really how most people respond. They think, we will not have this man to rule over us, they say. Now, if we were to turn back one chapter to chapter 12, we'll get an illustration of this. If you were to look at verse 14 of that chapter, After Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, we find out the response of the Pharisees there in verse 14. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him how to destroy him. Yeah, an unresponsive heart, I would say, wouldn't you? We didn't have to search very far and wide to find this pathway soil type of person, the unresponsive person. And yet Jesus points to other types of hearers as well, doesn't he? If you look at verses 20 and 21, number two on your outline, the stony ground hearer or the impulsive heart, the impulsive heart. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. And yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. And so imagine a very rocky area with only a thin layer of soil over the rocks. Look back to verse six. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, the plants that had sprung up. And since they had no root, they withered away. And so this very thin soil, as you would expect, has very little capacity for storing moisture. And so note the two effects of the sun of tribulation here on this type of hearer, the impulsive heart. The sun is needed for photosynthesis, as we had mentioned previously, in making food inside the leaves there. but plants with shallow roots perish. And so this is true of some who hear the gospel of the kingdom as well. Matthew Henry makes the observation, the same tribulation which drives some to apostasy and ruin works for others a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. They respond to tribulation with perseverance. and growth in fruit in their lives. Trials would shake some, confirm others. So don't assume that a plant sprouting up in the spring is going to be alive come harvest, right? Those of you that have gardens know that all too well. The green blade of a profession of faith is not the same as a well-rooted conversion to Christ. But that's just Jesus' point. Think back with me. Remember when King Saul, oh, he was a tall, handsome man in the Old Testament. Oh, he'll make a terrific king. And yet he failed to serve God wholeheartedly because he feared the people. And he proved unfaithful. If we were to turn to the New Testament and look at the book of Galatians, the Judaizers there compromised the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ alone because they feared the circumcision teachers. If we were to go over to John's Gospel, remember in chapter nine, Jesus had healed this man that was born blind from birth, and yet when he's brought before the Pharisees and the Sadducees, verses 20 through 22 of chapter nine, and the parents get involved, They're brought in and questioned by the Sanhedrin. His parents answered, John records, well, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we do not know, or we do not, you know, we know that, we do not know, nor, I have to start over, nor do we know who opens his eyes. Ask him, he is of age, he will speak for himself. And then John comments on this. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone would confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. We didn't have to look very far, did we, to find this type of heart, to find the impulsive heart. So look with me at number three on your outline then. Jesus moves on. The thorny ground hearer or the preoccupied heart, the preoccupied heart. And again, we're back in chapter 13 of Matthew verse seven. Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them. And then our Lord explains in verse 22. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and approves unfruitful. There it is, the issue of fruit again, of fruitfulness. Do thorns immediately spring up when you're planting a garden in the spring? No, you don't see that, do they? That takes a good part of the warm weather for them to start shooting up, doesn't it? And so there's very likely a whole root system down below that is going to produce those thorns. And apparently that garden was not cultivated enough to produce a clean crop. No weed protection has been used. And so this is like the sin of materialism. The poor man believes that if only I were wealthy, I would be happy. We sang of this in the previous hymn together, that our wealth is really not going to determine our value as people. And yet the poor man doesn't get that. The rich man believes that if only I were richer, I would be happy. There's this preoccupation with and a trusting in riches to satisfy. And again, this third soil, unfruitful. There it is. There's no fruit that's going to come because of the weeds and the tears that have grown up there. Remember with me Judas Iscariot, the false disciple who, as you know, eventually betrayed Jesus. Once when Mary anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, Judas was offended. John records in chapter 12, but Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was about to betray him, said, why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And then John is going to comment. He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put in it. You likely know that he soon betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We could think of Demas as well, Paul's companion, who would visit him in prison, a friend, and later Paul reports to Timothy in his second epistle, Demas, in love with his present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Another example, King Herod from Mark chapter six. And Herod feared John the Baptist, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe when he heard him. He was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. Sounds pretty good so far, doesn't it? At first glance. But Herod would not part with his sin of adultery. and his fear of men. And soon afterward, John was beheaded. On one occasion, Jesus told his hearers, remember Lot's wife, and you may recall the story about her. All of these were unfruitful hearers, though at one time heard the gospel news gladly. They preferred the things and pleasures of this present life more than knowing Jesus, the pearl of great price. And then now in part number four, we turn to the good ground. Or what James Montgomery Boyce calls the open heart. The open heart. From our chapter again, verse eight. Other seeds fell on good ground and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. And then Jesus is going to explain in verse 23 for us. As for what was sown on good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. It enters into his understanding and he embraces it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30. So this is the type of soil to which the whole parable has been building. I hope you see that. If you were or are a farmer, Wouldn't this be the type of soil that you deeply desire to possess on your land? You know, the Amish, we drove through their areas yesterday. The Amish have worked to improve their soil in many cases for generations. They've worked that hard to develop fertile soil. And so there is a direct connection between the soil type and its ability to produce fruit. Now I think back a number of years ago, along with other graduate students, I visited two ranches, one up in Montana and another in South Texas. And we analyzed the nutrition available on each, how you could raise livestock sustainably on each. And so if the land had certain types of plants, it would be better really for deer or elk rather than cattle. And so landowners, particularly down in Texas, they could decide to raise game for hunting instead and then issue permits there. Choosing the wrong livestock would lead to overgrazing and poor nutrition for the livestock. The main point of ranching then is to produce food, isn't it? And it's exactly the same here in this parable. The soil needs to produce a good harvest and you expect something back of a return from the land that you've cultivated. And so this is not the only place that our Lord emphasizes the need for a fruitful life. In John chapter 15, remember in that upper room discourse, Jesus instructs his disciples in chapter 15, beginning at verse seven, if you abide with me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Apparently, there is an intimate relationship between prayer and fruitfulness. In the same chapter, verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Think with me as well. Maybe you might even want to turn there to Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six in Paul's epistle there. And that whole chapter is beginning the theme of sanctification. One who has been made right through faith alone in Jesus Christ, trusting in Jesus Christ to pay for the crimes that he or she has committed. And as we enter into chapter six now, the focus comes, okay, now that you are right with God, you're in fellowship with God, this is going to make a difference in your life, isn't it? You want to live a life that's pleasing to God. And look at how Paul describes this type of life in verse 22. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, The fruit you get leads to sanctification, likeness to Christ, and in its end, eternal life. And so living like Christ is what the fruit looks like, resulting in eternal life. And so as we consider this, this parable under Roman numeral two, what are the major takeaways from this parable? First, under A, You are responsible for trusting in Christ. You are, and me too. The unmistakable focus of our Lord's parable is the soil. And so when a pastor or Christian friend brings the words of scripture before you, even as we considered in the Sunday school class this morning about how we raise our children, how do you respond? Do you immediately get defensive? Okay, the barbed wire comes up and gets electrified. Do you actively seek to twist or dull the plain message of scripture? Do you rationalize that sin away? Or do you even attack the messenger or shift the blame to them on why you poorly responded to God's word? Well, you know, you should have stated this and approached me this way. Then I would have listened to you, but you didn't. That's evidence of a hard heart, isn't it? A sidewalk type heart. Like the Pharisees and the Sadducees who wanted to destroy Jesus, do you shame or disregard God's messenger? Consider with me, secondly, the impulsive heart. After Jesus fed the 5,000 plus, you may remember that from John chapter six, and they're thinking, wow, we don't have to work anymore. Why don't we go ahead, we don't have to kowtow to these Romans anymore in verse 15. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Jesus by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Or are you like that character in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress? Do you remember Mr. Pliable at the Slough of Despond? He thought that traveling to the Celestial City was going to be a hop, skip, and a jump, apparently. And like him, do you respond immediately with enthusiasm, and yet all vanishes once your friends get wind of your come to Jesus moment, and then they start in on you with their sarcasm. Oh, well, I used to think that way too, but now I've come full circle. No one believes that kind of nonsense anymore. And your Christianity fades away like the morning dew. You just kind of shrink away the way Mr. Pliable did. Perhaps you found real substance in the teachings of the Bible. You actually enjoy listening to Bible stories, even sermons. You love the idea that the just shall live by faith. But remember with me in the Old Testament, Haman, do you remember the Syrian general who was leprous? whom Elijah healed when he washed in the Jordan, and yet he returned to his old way of living. From 2 Kings 5 18. In this matter, may the Lord pardon your servant. This Haman is speaking. When my master goes into the house of Ramon to worship there, leaning on my arm and I bow myself in the house of Ramon, when I bow myself in the house of Ramon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter. It's clear that he had a divided heart, a distracted heart as we've looked at in our parable here. Matthew Henry summarizes here, he's reserving any known sin that invalidates the commitment because he reserved this one sin that he knew that he was gonna go ahead and commit. All transgressions must be forsaken. Or praying for future permission to sin, that results in just mocking God, isn't it? It's really setting that sin above his authority, his claim on your life and mine. Or third, not valuing God's favor, the fact that you've been offered free forgiveness, and seeking that forgiveness. Not valuing God's favor, that means not knowing really when to leave a situation that compromises your conscience. Or lastly, truly hating that evil, that means abstaining from any appearance of it. And as we reflected back a few minutes ago, that was Herod's sin, wasn't it? He loved adultery, he loved men's praise more than the call of God upon his life. So but how do we respond, especially if we value our never dying souls? Remember Lydia, when we spoke at the top of the message. Our Lord opened her heart to receive Paul's preaching. If you would turn with me to First Thessalonians chapter one. What does this good soil really look like? I ask myself as I'm thinking about this type of soil. First Thessalonians chapter one. We're gonna look at verse four through seven there. And Paul is reminding them, so grateful, that when he had gone to Thessalonica, and he reflects back upon the reception that he had in this church. And he kind of gushes over them, and even beyond the passage that we're going to read here. But you can see the type of response that good soil is going to have. And I want you to reflect upon your response to the Word of God. Verse 4, came to you not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in full conviction, verse six, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you become an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. He could point to the Church of Corinth and brag about these brethren, how they, even though they were impoverished, they had persecution they were dealing with, and yet even paying themselves to set aside money for famine relief there in Palestine. These Thessalonians, like Lydia, were perfect gospel soil. But think also of Jesus' disciples. When all others seemed to walk away from him one day, going back to John's gospel, chapter six, beginning at verse 67. So Jesus said to the 12, do you want to go away as well? And you know Peter's response there. He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. And so this is the first major lesson. Please don't miss it. How we hear the word of God is a life or death issue, isn't it? There's only of the three, there is only one type of soil, one type of hearer that is going to have lasting fruit that abides in their life. Secondly B, what's the second lesson? Well, it's basically this, generously scatter the gospel seed, generously scatter the gospel seed. We don't find a sower running back, you know, tiptoeing back and then sweeping up. Oh, you know, I didn't mean to put the seed here. Let me just sweep this up so I can put it someplace else. No, we don't see that, do we? No, there's this broad scattering of the seed. Let's just toss it out. And so it ought to be when we scatter the gospel seed as well. Our everyday witness, dropping gospel hints there in this conversation. Paul says in Colossians chapter four, I was reading it this morning, that our words would be seasoned with grace, right? Seasoned with salt. Having salty conversations. that do good, that preserve those with whom you speak. Dropping gospel hints, probing gospel questions, tracts, testaments that you're giving out, books. Practical expressions of love that could be a bridge into someone else's heart so that a door could be opened to share this gospel seed. Yes, there are times when discretion is appropriate. For example, in a work setting and you're on the clock there. Our Lord prohibits casting our pearls before swine, yes. Those who have already resisted hearing the word. But don't let yourself get caught up in mind games. Well, this person is too much of a sinner. I don't see how they could ever become a Christian. Or this one is so sweet, I don't think she could ever believe that she's a sinner before God. And yet none of those things are true, isn't it? We know our own hearts. Encourage others in broadly scattering God's truth. Remember it is God who causes the growth, not the sower. And so don't let the poor harvests of the past discourage you in your broadly scattering the gospel seed. Thirdly, C, mark the true Christian. Mark the true Christian. Don't miss this. It's fruit. If you would turn to Galatians 5, we're going to look briefly at two lists in Galatians chapter 5. Not every apple tree produces the same quantity of apples, does it? We saw that in our Lord's parable. Some harvests are a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. But they are apples, aren't they? They're not pomegranates. They're not those little crabby apples either. From Galatians 5 beginning at verse 19. sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and like things I warn you, as I have warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But Paul goes on, but the fruit of the Spirit, well that's another thing entirely. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And so when a person truly turns to Jesus Christ, away from their sinful lifestyle, forsaking any notion that they somehow could live up to Christ's perfection to please God. When they look to Jesus upon his sacrifice on the cross, to pay for their crimes, trusting alone in Him for acceptance and peace with God. That seed that's been planted into that soil, it germinates in their soul. And that's evidence of that. And so the fruit of this spirit begins to develop. And over the course of time, it's going to grow, it's going to mature, like a ripe peach. And we're in peach season now, so maybe when you think of peaches that you buy, I want you to think of this fruit of the spirit. It's nourishing, it's a satisfying harvest to God. It nourishes, it comforts others. And so as you soberly sit here and reflect, which of these lists best describes you here this morning? To reflect upon. Finally D, finally D. True believers stay with Christ. They stay with Christ, they persevere. And back in our Matthew 13 passage, note the contrast here. We have stony ground here is only, they only endure for a while. And so the implied contrast here is the good soil is going to persevere. True Christians, true believers are going to stay with Christ. Our Lord says in another place in Matthew 24, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. That's the character of this kind of soil. And so Christian, God will preserve you. I want to encourage you. When I first heard this passage in Matthew 24, I would shudder to myself. I don't know how I'm ever gonna persevere. I don't know how that's gonna, God will preserve you. He will keep you from 1 Peter 1 verse 5. Who are kept by God's power by being, are being guarded through faith. Yes, your faith plays a role. who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. And so yes, the means by which his power will be made perfect in you is going to be the means of your faith and mine. By continuing to walk day by day, trusting in Christ every step of the way, he will cause you to stay with him. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, here's the lesson for us this morning from Luke 8 verse 18. Jesus exhorts each one of us this morning, and he is here. And he says, take care how you hear. Take care how you hear. For to the one who has, more will be given. We've seen that in our passage in Matthew 13. From the one who has not, even what he thinks will be taken away. Christian, stay with Christ. Stay with Christ. Don't cast that hope away. Eternal life is at the end of your journey. Amen? All right, let's pray, shall we? Our God in heaven. And Lord Jesus, by your Spirit, knowing you're with us, we pray that you would send these words home to each of our hearts, so that as we reflect upon your great person, that you are our great prophet, that you are our great priest, our great king, that you have every right to lay claim on each of our lives here this morning. We pray that you would wonderfully work in each of our hearts, that you would wonderfully plow up each of our hearts, that we would not be that pathway soil. That as we discover digging down into our own souls, if we find stone there, that we dig it out. These cares of the world. the thorns and the thistles that we would root them out and keep after them and continue to keep after them. That we could anticipate over the course of time walking with you, that you would wonderfully work in each of our hearts producing that fruit of the spirit and that even in our assembly and our church here that there would be the fragrance of Christ here and the fruit of the Spirit. We pray this in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.