Luke chapter 8, and as you recall, we started with our last celebration of the Lord's Supper, kind of going through the Gospel of Luke, looking at the parables of our Savior, Jesus. And so, in Luke chapter 8, We're looking at verses 16 through 18, which is called here the Parable of the Revealed Light. But it ties in very closely with the Parable of the Sower. And so I'm going to begin reading, actually, with chapter 8, verse 11, so the explanation of the Parable of the Sower, and then read through verse 18. So listen now to the reading of God's holy word. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should leave and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. And these have no root, who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among the thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. No one, when he has little lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear For whoever has to him, more will be given. And whoever does not have even what he seems to have will be taken from him. Let's seek the Lord's blessing on this word. Gracious God in heaven, we rejoice and give thanks for your word. And as we come to this particular passage this afternoon, we pray that your spirit would be with us to give insight and understanding to our hearts and our minds, and that we would truly hear your word, and that truly your word would go forth in the power of the spirit. And as we just read in this passage, that it would be that rich, fertile soil that will bring about a great and abundant fruit for your glory. We ask now for your blessing upon your word, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, our passage this afternoon is, as I mentioned, a follow-up or an epilogue to the parable of the sower earlier in Luke chapter 8. And, of course, in that parable, Jesus described how the seed of the Word of God, the gospel, goes forth, how it falls on different types of soil, and the hard soil of the path, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and then, of course, there was the good soil. These soils represent different types of hearts. The hard unresponsive heart, the shallow heart, the preoccupied or distracted heart, and of course the honest and good noble heart. The point of the parable was that even though the seed of the gospel is to be sown generously so that all are without excuse, it's only going to produce fruit in the good soil, that is, in the heart that God has sovereignly chosen and prepared beforehand according to his most holy and perfect will. And to varying degrees, the other soils in the hearts may actually sow some initial outward response to the gospel But they never mature, and they never bring forth fruit to confirm that there's been a true transformation of the heart inwardly. They've certainly heard with the ears of their head, but they have not truly heard with the ears of their heart, their spiritual ears, we might say. Well, it's this point that Jesus now seeks to reemphasize to his disciples in this passage that is before us this afternoon. He charges them, clearly in verse 18, to take heed how you hear. And so Jesus is going to demonstrate that true faith is found in those who carefully hear the word of God, even the light of the gospel. In verse 16, Jesus gives what we might call a very mini-parable. It's a little bit different from the other parables. And he says, No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand that those who enter may see the light. Now this isn't the first time, nor it's going to be the last time, that Jesus is going to use this particular parable in order to illustrate a point. He applies it differently in different contexts. So, for example, he had previously He used it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. In Matthew 5, Jesus uses it to illustrate that we're not to hide our faith, but to allow our faith to shine. You think about, you know, the little children's song, you know, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. That's where that comes from, that parable when it's there in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is also going to use this same parable later in Luke 11, where there he ties it to the fact that your eye is the lamp of your body. And when your eye is clear, that is, when there are no obstacles and you're seeing with faith, your body is going to fill with light. But if your eye is bad, that is, if it's blind and not seeing with faith, well, then your body is going to be filled with darkness. To understand Jesus' use of it here in Luke 8, again, we put it in the context of the parable of the sower, which just comes right before. And as we consider this connection that Jesus is making between the purpose of the lamp and the purpose of the seed in the parable of the sower, both of which represent the gospel. Now, the purpose of a lamp is to give its light and to shine so that you can see. And Jesus is pointing out here that, look, it's going to be counterproductive to the very purpose of a lamp to light it and then hide it under a container. Or, worse yet, you're going to hide it under your bed. Well, that could certainly, you know, back, there wasn't a light bulb back then. It was a flame, like a candle. Well, that could start a fire. And so it'd be just downright dangerous and foolish. And so the point that Jesus is making simply this. What good is a lamp if you aren't going to let the light shine brightly for all to see? It doesn't make sense to cover it over and to try to hide it. It really defeats the purpose of a lamp. It's foolish. In the same way, the purpose of the seed is to grow into a fruit-bearing plant. The four soils all receive the seed, but in only one Did the plant grow and mature and bear fruit? The other three soils were counterproductive to the purpose of the seed. Obviously the hard soil, it didn't even penetrate into the ground as the birds came and snatched it away. The shallow soil that fell on the rocks didn't have enough depth to allow the seed to fully mature. It couldn't set down any roots. And the distracted soil, produced weeds and thorns that eventually choked out the plant once it started to grow. And so the purpose of the seed was to grow, but these soils prevented that from happening. Remember, the soils are descriptions of different types of hearts. And so in the same way that soils reject, choke out, and fail to nurture the seed, some hearts are going to reject the gospel when they hear it. They're not going to nurture it along. They're just going to let it be choked out by the cares of this world. And the gospel is God's good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. It's foolish to cover it over and to reject it. And so the purpose of a lamp is to shine. Why would you cover it? The purpose of a seed is to grow. Why would you fail to nurture it? The purpose of the gospel is to bring forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and everlasting life. Why would you ever reject it? When you hear the gospel, you ought to make good use of it, to be humbled by its message, and believe it as the good news from God that it is. It's truly foolish to do otherwise. And such foolishness will not go unnoticed, as Jesus now says in verse 17, for nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Now this is another statement that Jesus used on a variety of occasions. But unlike the first, it has the same meaning in each and every case it's used. That is, there's going to be a time, that Jesus is talking about here, when all things are going to be clearly revealed. Now this may occur at certain points in this life, but more especially it's a reference to the judgment at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul confirms this in Romans 2, saying in that day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. The judgment before Christ on the last great day involves the revealing of the hearts of all mankind so that whatever is now hidden and kept secret in our hearts is going to be revealed for all to see. It's a very scary thought when you begin to think about it. Scary especially if your heart is one that has rejected the gospel, if it's shallow, or if it's distracted by the cares of this world. You see, the point Jesus is here making is that the hearts that weren't changed, the foolish hearts that covered over the light of the gospel, these will be revealed to all on the last great day. Of course, this may happen even before the final judgment. That is the guide that we're given in scriptures we find in Matthew 7, where Jesus says, you will know them by their fruits. And this is exactly what's reinforced by the parable of the sower and the soils. We know the good soil is good because it actually brings forth abundant fruit, even a hundredfold. We know the hardened soil is hard because nothing even grows there. Likewise, the shallow and thorny soils, though they initially appear to be good, because a plant does initially spring up, yet they don't endure, they're choked out, and they never reach the point of maturity where they can actually bear any fruit at all. And so by looking at the fruit, at the plant, and at the fruit, we can learn something about the soil, about the heart that is there. But on this, we do have to be very careful. Because though Jesus gives this as our guide, we know that it is not infallible. Only God's judgment is infallible. Our judgment is not. You see, we can be tricked and deceived to thinking that there's no fruit when actually there is, even if it's the smallest little bit of fruit. Because we might look at the thief on the cross, what fruit did he have? Not much compared to someone who's been living as a faithful Christian for 50 years. But there was something, there was some fruit there. And so looking at that, we might be deceived thinking, well, he's not going to make it. We may also think that there's fruit there, when really there isn't. We make that kind of judgment about some people. We think, hey, look at them. They're doing all the right things and they're really active in the church and they're serving and they're doing this and that. But then they reveal themselves to be unbelievers by turning to a life of sin and wickedness. So the point is that we can't know the hearts of others. But friends, God knows. God knows the hearts of all of us, and He's going to reveal them, all those hearts, all hearts of all mankind, on the last great day. And ultimately, the hard-hearted ones, those with a shallow faith, those who chase after the things of this world, and those hypocrites who look good on the outside, but inwardly are dead in sin, these foolish ones, who reject the truth of the gospel, are going to be exposed and justly judged. And so Jesus now reaffirms here in verse 18, summing it all up as it were, so take heed how you hear. For the one who listens well to the gospel, who truly listens with their heart in faith, they receive the seed that's sown and it's nourished in the rich fertile soil which God has prepared beforehand. The plant grows in the soil. It becomes a great fruit-bearing plant for the glory of God. Such a one has been given a great treasure, as Jesus instructed the disciples here in verse 10, or back in verse 10. To you, he says, it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. That's when he was telling them about, you know, the purpose of parables. And this is astounding when we think about it. God is the creator of heaven and earth. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and He has graciously entrusted to undeserving sinners the great mysteries of His kingdom. And if we hold fast to these truths, clinging them to them by God's grace so that we persevere to the end. Well, there will be much more in store, a great reward, even as Jesus says that whoever has to him more will be given. We have now. At the blessing of the gospel that we enjoy in this life, the forgiveness of sins, we have peace with God and we have communion and fellowship with the Lord and with one another. It's only going to get better. No more struggles with sin, no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering. Perfect righteousness in God's glorious presence forever and ever. And then more beyond that. What a gift indeed to those who carefully listen to and believe the gospel with faith and understanding. But of course, there's another side to this equation. See, the one who doesn't listen carefully, the one who doesn't listen with a true and noble heart, the one who doesn't have the seed of the gospel sprouting forth and bearing fruit in them, of this one, Jesus says, whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. It's a sad reality that there are many who think that they have something. They think they have true faith. They think they have their good works. They think they have great riches. They think they have a fire insurance against the flames of hell. They think they're good to go. But what will happen when all those hearts are revealed at the judgment? They'll quickly discover. what they thought they had is actually nothing at all. It's false, it's a sham, and it's foolishness. They may even clamor, as Jesus says in Matthew 7, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And haven't we done all these good things and these wonderful things, working signs and wonders and miracles? And yet Jesus will respond to them. I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. See, they were just putting on a show outwardly. Because inwardly, their hearts were never truly changed by the gospel of grace. And not only this, but Jesus says here that even what they do have, right? Maybe it's the shells of the seed that the birds have left behind. Or maybe it's the withered remains of a once promising plant. Or just the spurs and the wounds of a thorn bush. Or even a lamp, but it's extinguished. It has no fuel, no oil, no wick. even what they do have is going to be taken away from them. Because really, in reality, they had nothing. And so they're going to be left with nothing. Beloved God, this is a very hard truth to consider. A truth that ought to cause each and every one of us, even now, to examine ourselves and to consider the conditions of our hearts, to look Look what's in your heart. Look what's there. Because what's there is going to be revealed on the last great day, even as it is revealed now in the ever-seeing eyes of the Almighty God. It can be hidden from others, but it can't be hidden from God. And truly, friends, you've heard the good news of the gospel. You know exactly what Jesus accomplished on the cross. And what He secured by His resurrection from the dead. We're about to celebrate that very thing. You know what peace that God can truly gain by trusting in Christ. Peace that we can have and enjoy. The seed has been sown. And the lamp before you has been lit. Are you trying to cover over and subdue that light? Even the light that is shining before you? Even right now, the light of the gospel? Or are you listening carefully with a true and noble heart? A heart ready to believe and call upon the name of the Lord in faith? If you're listening, and I do pray for God's grace that you are, Then listen and believe. Embrace the light of the gospel by faith in Jesus Christ. Trust in what Christ has done for you and accomplished on the cross, the forgiveness of your sins and peace and reconciliation with God, both now and forever to the glory of God alone. Let's pray. O gracious God in heaven, we do praise you and thank you for this very, very important reminder. You shine the light of the gospel as we read your word, and especially as we gather together here in the Lord's Day, as the gospel is proclaimed, as we sing the gospel from your word in the Psalms, as we hear the gospel read, as we hear it proclaimed. We cannot deny that the light is all around us. And so we pray, Father, for your mercy and your grace. That we would truly listen. Listen to the light and be drawn to it, embrace it and believe it. That it is. Even for us, even for me. And then we can be, as we examine ourselves and we can be reminded of our own sinfulness, of our many failures, even this week, even this day. Yet we know that even now, that your mercy and your grace through the light of the gospel continues to shine bright. That Christ Jesus offers the forgiveness that He accomplished on the cross for our sins. His body given, His blood shed, that we could be forgiven. He endured your righteous and holy wrath for our sins. When we grab hold of that truth, every fiber of our being and never, ever let go. Father, hold us tight and draw us close to yourself even now. Even as we now partake of this simple meal, to remember these things. All to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.