1 00:00:06,390 --> 00:00:09,140 Hi, my name is Billy. Good to have you with us this 2 00:00:09,150 --> 00:00:11,040 morning. Special welcome if you are 3 00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:12,840 visiting. What an exciting morning for us 4 00:00:12,850 --> 00:00:16,480 to rejoice and together would you open with me to Luke chapter 5 00:00:16,490 --> 00:00:20,390 8 if, if you had a have a Bible with you as we, we come to God's 6 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:26,490 word this morning and continue our series through the gospel of 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,080 Luke this morning, we are going to be looking at versus 4 8 00:00:31,210 --> 00:00:36,110 through 21, but we're especially going to be focusing on versus 4 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,530 through 15. So we're going to start by 10 00:00:38,540 --> 00:00:41,700 reading our passage and, and then I'll pray and we'll, we'll 11 00:00:41,710 --> 00:00:45,060 dive in. Luke chapter 8, verse 4. 12 00:00:45,730 --> 00:00:48,540 And when the great crowd was gathering, and people from town 13 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:53,380 after town came to him, he said in a parable, a soar went out to 14 00:00:53,390 --> 00:00:57,290 sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along 15 00:00:57,300 --> 00:00:59,020 the path and was trampled under foot. 16 00:00:59,030 --> 00:01:00,850 And the birds of the year devoured it. 17 00:01:01,590 --> 00:01:05,060 Some fell upon the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away 18 00:01:05,069 --> 00:01:08,780 because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, 19 00:01:08,850 --> 00:01:11,170 and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 20 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:15,150 Some fell into good soil, and it grew and yielded a hundredfold. 21 00:01:16,050 --> 00:01:19,060 As he said these things, he called out, He who has ears to 22 00:01:19,070 --> 00:01:23,060 hear, let him hear. And when its disciples asked him 23 00:01:23,070 --> 00:01:25,850 what the parable meant, he said to you, It has been given to 24 00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:27,670 know the secrets of the Kingdom of God. 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,390 But for others they are imparables, so that seeing they 26 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,060 may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 27 00:01:35,970 --> 00:01:39,500 Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. 28 00:01:40,030 --> 00:01:42,870 The ones along the path are those who have heard, and then 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,640 the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so 30 00:01:45,650 --> 00:01:47,660 that they may not believe and be saved. 31 00:01:48,420 --> 00:01:50,750 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the 32 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,190 word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. 33 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,700 They believe for a while, and in a time of testing fall away. 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,270 And As for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,790 but as they go on their way they are choked by the cheers and 36 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,919 riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 37 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,570 As for that in good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, 38 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,330 hold it fast, and are good and honest and good heart, and bear 39 00:02:19,340 --> 00:02:23,150 fruit with patience. No one after lighting a lamp, 40 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,040 covers it with a jar, or puts it under a beard, but puts it on a 41 00:02:26,050 --> 00:02:28,890 stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 42 00:02:28,980 --> 00:02:32,190 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is 43 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,400 anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 44 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:41,350 Take care then how you hear, For to the one who has more will be 45 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,530 given, and from the one who has not even what he thinks he has 46 00:02:44,540 --> 00:02:47,850 will be taken away. Then his mother and brothers 47 00:02:47,860 --> 00:02:50,310 came to him, but they couldn't reach him because of the crowd. 48 00:02:50,380 --> 00:02:52,610 And he was told your mother and your brothers are standing 49 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:55,830 outside desiring to see you. But he answered them. 50 00:02:55,900 --> 00:03:00,070 My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God 51 00:03:00,830 --> 00:03:04,830 and do it. What would you pray with me once 52 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,510 we come to the Word, Gracious God? 53 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,960 And can we come to Your Word now? 54 00:03:11,820 --> 00:03:17,190 And we thank you that your word is good, and we pray that we may 55 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,520 be good soil. I pray that we may hear it and 56 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,630 do it. Give our minds clarity with your 57 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,500 Holy Spirit. Speak through me God in Jesus 58 00:03:29,510 --> 00:03:33,500 name, Amen. What about about this time last 59 00:03:33,510 --> 00:03:38,850 year, I was doing some yard work at our house and in the back 60 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:43,050 corner of our section I came across a part of our yard that 61 00:03:43,060 --> 00:03:46,850 was hugely overgrown. The grass had gotten about this 62 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:49,650 high up and it was just a bit of an eye sore. 63 00:03:49,660 --> 00:03:52,330 And so I was determined that I'm going to do something about 64 00:03:52,340 --> 00:03:54,110 this. So I got the weed wacker and it 65 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,830 took me like a good few like afternoons going at it slowly 66 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:59,860 because we've got one of those electric weed wackers that's not 67 00:03:59,870 --> 00:04:02,170 very good, but you kind of got to slowly work it down. 68 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,110 And when I got down to the bottom, I hit something and I 69 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,310 hit some wood and I found out that what was under this grass 70 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,190 that was about this tall, it was actually kind of a wood 71 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,260 barricade for a beautiful veggie garden. 72 00:04:15,020 --> 00:04:16,920 And so Alana and I, we were excited. 73 00:04:16,930 --> 00:04:19,490 We're going, OK, we're gonna get all of the grass out. 74 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:22,430 We are going to get out all of the bad soil. 75 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,570 We're going to put in some nice good soil. 76 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:27,990 And we're going to build up this beautiful veggie garden. 77 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,710 And we're going to be self-sustaining. 78 00:04:30,100 --> 00:04:34,250 And so I took a photo yesterday of where our veggie garden is at 79 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,480 a year on right back to where it was. 80 00:04:39,770 --> 00:04:42,260 And I'm not a gardening is frustrating. 81 00:04:42,270 --> 00:04:45,460 I'm not a, a natural gardener. Maybe for some of you, gardening 82 00:04:45,470 --> 00:04:47,850 is your Forte. It's it's certainly not mine. 83 00:04:48,210 --> 00:04:50,240 But that that's one thing I learned very quickly. 84 00:04:50,250 --> 00:04:53,130 Often when you're gardening, what you want to grow doesn't 85 00:04:53,140 --> 00:04:58,820 grow, and what you don't want to grow grows weeds everywhere. 86 00:04:59,530 --> 00:05:02,360 Gardening is frustrating. Gardening is also something that 87 00:05:02,370 --> 00:05:06,940 is, is relatively universal, especially in the time of 88 00:05:06,950 --> 00:05:09,360 Christ. And it's something that Jesus 89 00:05:09,370 --> 00:05:13,830 often uses as an analogy in his time when he's speaking. 90 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,260 And really what we've got here this morning is a parable. 91 00:05:16,270 --> 00:05:20,180 It's a a story that Jesus is telling any and he tells them a 92 00:05:20,190 --> 00:05:23,200 story about gardening and planting. 93 00:05:23,350 --> 00:05:28,080 And all of this is an analogy for what happens when we hear 94 00:05:28,090 --> 00:05:32,280 God's word. What happens when we hear God's 95 00:05:32,290 --> 00:05:35,040 word? Jesus sees just as when we plan 96 00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:38,590 to seed, often there are barriers that stop that seed 97 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,020 from growing as it ought to or as it should. 98 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:46,860 When we hear the Word of God often there are so many barriers 99 00:05:46,870 --> 00:05:50,290 that stop God's Word from moving from my ears to our hearts. 100 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,680 And Jesus is wanting us to understand here. 101 00:05:54,730 --> 00:05:59,370 What are those barriers you notice in verse 4? 102 00:05:59,380 --> 00:06:01,660 It says he's speaking here to a large crowd. 103 00:06:01,940 --> 00:06:04,510 We shouldn't be surprised at this point in Jesus ministry. 104 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:06,210 He's built up quite the following. 105 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,520 He's been performing miracles. He's been saying incredible 106 00:06:09,530 --> 00:06:13,770 things, but I think we get the idea that this crowd is a mix of 107 00:06:13,780 --> 00:06:15,790 people. It's a diverse crowd. 108 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,890 You've got some in the crowd who are likely curious. 109 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:20,960 They've heard about this Jesus guy. 110 00:06:21,020 --> 00:06:23,370 Like they kind of want to come and see what he's about, but 111 00:06:23,380 --> 00:06:25,750 probably almost viewing him like a circus act. 112 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,400 Like what's this guy about? I just kind of want to see what 113 00:06:28,410 --> 00:06:30,270 he's like. There might be some who are 114 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,100 genuine, but I think on the whole, what you're looking at 115 00:06:33,110 --> 00:06:36,130 here is a crowd that interested but fickle. 116 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,310 And, and, and this sets the scene for the parable that Jesus 117 00:06:40,390 --> 00:06:44,380 is about to say, because it's to these people that Jesus is going 118 00:06:44,390 --> 00:06:46,890 to speak this parable about hearing. 119 00:06:47,930 --> 00:06:49,780 That's what this is about. Look at verse 8. 120 00:06:49,790 --> 00:06:54,040 He says he who has ears to hear, let him hear. 121 00:06:54,860 --> 00:06:56,730 He speaks about four different kinds of people. 122 00:06:56,740 --> 00:06:58,830 Each of them hear the word of God. 123 00:06:59,580 --> 00:07:01,950 Almost a summary verse could be verse 18. 124 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:08,390 Take care then how you hear. And so really the key question 125 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,690 for us this morning as we come to this is how do we hear? 126 00:07:13,570 --> 00:07:18,390 How do we hear God's word? Not do we hear, but how do we 127 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,670 hear? Because I see as I see it, we're 128 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,690 gonna look at 4 examples of people and each one of them 129 00:07:24,700 --> 00:07:27,510 hears God's word. Hearing isn't the problem. 130 00:07:28,300 --> 00:07:31,130 The problem is what happens between the ears and and the 131 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:35,430 heart. How do we hear God's Word? 132 00:07:36,430 --> 00:07:38,780 And I think we've got many opinions on the way God's Word 133 00:07:38,790 --> 00:07:41,020 should be preached, as we should. 134 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:47,970 But do we often stop to consider how we should hear Assumen, how 135 00:07:47,980 --> 00:07:52,360 we should hear God's Word? And what we're going to see is 136 00:07:52,370 --> 00:07:56,460 we look at this parable as is the type of hearing that God 137 00:07:56,470 --> 00:08:02,660 desires is the kind of hearing which bears fruit with patience, 138 00:08:03,130 --> 00:08:06,830 the type of hearing God desires as the hearing that bears fruit 139 00:08:07,540 --> 00:08:11,590 with patience. O, let's look at this parable. 140 00:08:12,220 --> 00:08:15,890 And it's to this big crowd that Jesus tells this parable. 141 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,030 And it's a relatively simple parable. 142 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,670 Look at verse 5. The basis is this, a sewer went 143 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,560 out to sow his seed. Now in Jesus time in Palestine 144 00:08:26,570 --> 00:08:29,340 this is a very common practise. There's no countdown or 145 00:08:29,350 --> 00:08:31,470 Woolworths down the road to go pick up your veggies. 146 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,120 You are planting your own veggies. 147 00:08:33,470 --> 00:08:36,640 Most likely is actually speaking about someone sowing wheat and 148 00:08:36,650 --> 00:08:39,580 that have a big bag of seed over their shoulders and then go out 149 00:08:39,590 --> 00:08:42,000 into their field and they'd literally be walking across 150 00:08:42,010 --> 00:08:45,510 their field sowing the seed across the field. 151 00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:51,710 And the message is this that as a solo ASOS has seed, some of 152 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:56,150 the seed is going to land on healthy, fruitful soil and which 153 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,940 it will grow and thrive and some of it will not. 154 00:09:00,380 --> 00:09:03,990 And so the first type of soil that the seed lands on is the 155 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,830 path. Now this is a dirt path that 156 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,480 would be going through next to the field. 157 00:09:11,370 --> 00:09:13,890 And so, yes, it would still be dirt, but it would be trampled 158 00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:15,780 down. It would be hard, it would be 159 00:09:15,790 --> 00:09:18,260 firm. And so it's almost as the solar 160 00:09:18,270 --> 00:09:21,660 is sowing, some of the seeds kind of trickle off the edge and 161 00:09:21,670 --> 00:09:24,920 and fall onto the path and they bounce on the hard path. 162 00:09:25,170 --> 00:09:27,870 They have no chance to grow. And before they even can, 163 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,220 they'll be trampled under foot. When he says birds come and and 164 00:09:31,230 --> 00:09:33,780 take it away. So this is not good. 165 00:09:34,670 --> 00:09:39,780 The second is is rocky soil. The rocky soil, much of the soil 166 00:09:39,790 --> 00:09:42,340 in Palestine, you wouldn't actually see it from the top, 167 00:09:42,350 --> 00:09:46,060 but about an inch underneath the surface would just be a layer of 168 00:09:46,070 --> 00:09:49,320 limestone rock. And so the seed lands on the 169 00:09:49,330 --> 00:09:53,530 soil and, and, and it shoots down roots immediately, but the 170 00:09:53,540 --> 00:09:56,270 roots only go down for an inch or so before it hits the rock. 171 00:09:57,340 --> 00:10:00,650 And so you have the sage shoot up, but as soon as the sun hits 172 00:10:00,660 --> 00:10:03,350 it, it's got no moisture, it's got no root, and it Withers 173 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,570 away. So that seed is not fruitful. 174 00:10:08,330 --> 00:10:11,390 The next seed Jesus seers, falls among the thorns. 175 00:10:12,570 --> 00:10:15,490 The idea here is that this is actually good, fruitful soil, 176 00:10:16,270 --> 00:10:20,000 and so that the seed builds roots and the seed shoots up. 177 00:10:20,010 --> 00:10:24,420 But what's shooting up alongside it but thorns and weeds? 178 00:10:25,590 --> 00:10:28,840 The thorns takeover, the thorns steal the nutrients from the 179 00:10:28,850 --> 00:10:32,480 ground, and ultimately the thorns around the seed are 180 00:10:32,490 --> 00:10:38,130 overbearing and the seed dies. And so you've got 3 results here 181 00:10:38,140 --> 00:10:41,330 of where the seed could go. And although two of them shoot 182 00:10:41,340 --> 00:10:43,930 U, all of them Jesus says are unfruitful. 183 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:45,750 All of them didn't achieve the purpose. 184 00:10:47,390 --> 00:10:50,120 And then lastly, he says, you've got the seed that lands on the 185 00:10:50,130 --> 00:10:53,240 good soil. There are no other competing 186 00:10:53,250 --> 00:10:56,800 distractions. The seed lands and and it grows 187 00:10:56,850 --> 00:10:59,920 and it reaps. He sees a hundredfold. 188 00:11:00,330 --> 00:11:05,080 This is a hugely fruitful crop that will reap more seeds from 189 00:11:05,090 --> 00:11:10,890 its growth. And I guess in in the science, 190 00:11:10,900 --> 00:11:13,700 it's quite a basic illustration for us to understand. 191 00:11:13,710 --> 00:11:16,740 And so are sowing his seed. And different seeds have 192 00:11:16,750 --> 00:11:18,930 different barriers. Different seeds have different 193 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,840 results based off where they land. 194 00:11:22,780 --> 00:11:25,270 But then he finishes his illustration with a strange 195 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,050 comment in verse 8 where he sees this. 196 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,330 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 197 00:11:33,270 --> 00:11:37,350 What a strange thing to say. In essence, what Jesus is saying 198 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,360 is he's saying there's two kinds of people, two kinds of people 199 00:11:41,370 --> 00:11:42,760 in the crowd that he's speaking to. 200 00:11:42,770 --> 00:11:45,080 I think there's two kinds of people here as well. 201 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,730 There are the people who who who actually desire to understand 202 00:11:49,740 --> 00:11:54,180 the truth that Jesus is saying. And there are people who just 203 00:11:54,190 --> 00:11:57,100 want to say, I just want to see who this Jesus guy is and hear 204 00:11:57,110 --> 00:12:00,800 an interesting story. There's two kinds of people, the 205 00:12:00,810 --> 00:12:03,500 people who wanna hear and the people who want to know. 206 00:12:06,370 --> 00:12:09,740 In this nine his disciples came to him, and they asked him what 207 00:12:09,750 --> 00:12:14,360 this parable meant. This thing he said to you, it 208 00:12:14,370 --> 00:12:18,080 has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God. 209 00:12:18,090 --> 00:12:22,230 But for others, they are in parables so that seeing they may 210 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,530 not see and hearing they may not understand. 211 00:12:28,430 --> 00:12:32,740 Jesus is explaining here why he so often speaks in parables, 212 00:12:32,970 --> 00:12:34,680 especially as we go through Luke. 213 00:12:34,790 --> 00:12:37,300 We're going to see, especially from this point on, many 214 00:12:37,310 --> 00:12:41,630 parables and he's saying I speak in parables because those who 215 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,870 truly want to know what I'm saying, they will seek it out. 216 00:12:46,350 --> 00:12:49,000 But to those who are superficial and they just want to hear but 217 00:12:49,010 --> 00:12:50,860 they don't want to know, it will be hidden from them. 218 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,870 It's a form of judgement for those who don't truly want to 219 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:59,210 know what Jesus has to say. That's why he he's speaking in 220 00:12:59,220 --> 00:13:01,150 parables. But the disciples have come to 221 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:03,090 him and they said, well, well, we wanna know. 222 00:13:04,070 --> 00:13:06,400 We want, we, we don't want to just hear an interesting story. 223 00:13:06,410 --> 00:13:08,740 We want to know what you actually mean. 224 00:13:08,750 --> 00:13:11,840 And I pray that that's true for you this morning as we dig into 225 00:13:11,850 --> 00:13:14,440 what Jesus has to tell us about this parable. 226 00:13:14,510 --> 00:13:16,430 I pray that you are not just left this morning with an 227 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:21,000 interesting story about soils, but what Jesus has to say. 228 00:13:22,470 --> 00:13:27,260 And so it's on that basis that Jesus tells us the meaning of 229 00:13:27,330 --> 00:13:29,670 this parable. So let's look at this meaning. 230 00:13:30,970 --> 00:13:32,840 He starts with this. He sees. 231 00:13:32,850 --> 00:13:39,100 Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. 232 00:13:40,670 --> 00:13:44,000 Let's stop there for a second. He sees the seed is the word of 233 00:13:44,010 --> 00:13:46,190 God. This is common biblical imagery 234 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,480 that that the word of God can be represented as a seed which has 235 00:13:49,490 --> 00:13:53,490 a life of its own and it grows and grows and grows. 236 00:13:53,810 --> 00:13:56,990 But we need to think about this. What is it that brings growth? 237 00:13:58,950 --> 00:14:02,890 What is it that brings growth? It's not charisma, it's not 238 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:07,230 humour, it's not eloquence. It's the word of God. 239 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,250 The word of God is what is going to bring growth. 240 00:14:10,420 --> 00:14:13,690 God sees an Isaiah 5511 at my word. 241 00:14:13,700 --> 00:14:17,150 When it goes out, it's not going to return to me void. 242 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:23,070 Now we need to understand this. When you are speaking the gospel 243 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:28,570 to your neighbor over the fence and you're speaking the Word of 244 00:14:28,580 --> 00:14:32,290 God, it is not you putting the words together in a clever way 245 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,650 that brings growth. It's not if you can say 246 00:14:34,660 --> 00:14:38,510 everything without stumbling or even if you're sweating and all 247 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,410 nervous. It's the Word of God that brings 248 00:14:40,420 --> 00:14:42,580 growth. We need to understand this. 249 00:14:43,450 --> 00:14:47,480 God works through imperfect means to achieve His purposes. 250 00:14:47,490 --> 00:14:50,190 Because it is the word of God that brings growth. 251 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,330 Although I know as I preach, I'm going to make mistakes. 252 00:14:55,340 --> 00:14:57,170 I'm gonna, I'm gonna stumble over words. 253 00:14:57,180 --> 00:14:58,600 I'm gonna expand where I shouldn't. 254 00:14:58,610 --> 00:15:01,350 I'm gonna say silly things. The word of God brings growth. 255 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:08,100 We need to understand this. The seed is the Word of God, and 256 00:15:08,110 --> 00:15:11,430 now we're going to look at the different results to God's Word 257 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,610 going out. There are four different 258 00:15:14,620 --> 00:15:17,250 results. We're going to see three of 259 00:15:17,260 --> 00:15:19,510 them. Jesus is going to highlight 260 00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:24,130 three different barriers to true hearing, three different 261 00:15:24,140 --> 00:15:27,450 barriers from the word of God moving to our ears, to our 262 00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:29,960 hearts, and then he's going to contrast it with the good soil, 263 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:35,090 the intended result. So let's look at 3 barriers to 264 00:15:35,100 --> 00:15:40,770 true hearing. The first verse 12 is a hardened 265 00:15:40,780 --> 00:15:43,190 heart. He sees this. 266 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,160 The ones along the path are those who have heard. 267 00:15:47,100 --> 00:15:50,590 Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts 268 00:15:51,060 --> 00:15:54,190 so that they may not believe and be saved. 269 00:15:55,770 --> 00:16:00,560 Now the picture here is a person who hears but straight away is 270 00:16:00,570 --> 00:16:04,720 not at all interested in what Jesus has to say, not at all 271 00:16:04,730 --> 00:16:07,500 interested in the word of God. They they are like this. 272 00:16:07,510 --> 00:16:11,320 This trodden down path of the sea bounces off completely 273 00:16:11,330 --> 00:16:14,980 closed off to the gospel. You can imagine in Jesus time, 274 00:16:14,990 --> 00:16:18,270 he could be referring to the Pharisees, these religious 275 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,850 leaders who had heard Jesus's message of the gospel over and 276 00:16:21,860 --> 00:16:26,560 over and over, and yet their hearts were hard to the truth of 277 00:16:26,570 --> 00:16:29,840 the gospel. And he's he's saying that 278 00:16:29,850 --> 00:16:32,490 there's actually a dual responsibility. 279 00:16:32,580 --> 00:16:35,870 We hold responsibility because we have allowed our hearts to be 280 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,550 hardened. But he also says the devil is 281 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:43,460 playing a role in this. Look with me in verse 12, he 282 00:16:43,470 --> 00:16:46,340 says. Then the devil comes and takes 283 00:16:46,350 --> 00:16:51,920 away the word from their hearts. We need to understand that the 284 00:16:51,930 --> 00:16:56,300 devil is real and the devil hates God's word going out. 285 00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:00,790 The devil hates the reality that God's word is going out to 286 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,840 people and he will do whatever he can do to stop it. 287 00:17:05,540 --> 00:17:09,089 Man, Satan just loves the thought of people sitting in 288 00:17:09,099 --> 00:17:13,119 church replaying the highlights from last night's rugby game in 289 00:17:13,130 --> 00:17:15,270 their head while the sermon is going on. 290 00:17:17,490 --> 00:17:20,800 Yeah, we we must resist him. We do have a responsibility we 291 00:17:20,810 --> 00:17:23,560 are told in scripture. Resist him and and he will 292 00:17:23,609 --> 00:17:26,780 resist you. We should not give the devil a 293 00:17:26,790 --> 00:17:31,190 foothold in in our life lest our hearts become hardened. 294 00:17:33,510 --> 00:17:36,390 Paul describes this and an Ephesians that when we continue 295 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,220 to dwell and sin, he sees we become callous. 296 00:17:40,730 --> 00:17:43,180 What used to bother us and convict us doesn't bother us 297 00:17:43,190 --> 00:17:47,030 anymore. Are we leading? 298 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,830 Our hearts get hard? I wonder this morning, even as 299 00:17:51,100 --> 00:17:55,300 I'm reading God's Word and and preaching, that you're sitting 300 00:17:55,310 --> 00:17:56,720 there and you've got a hard heart. 301 00:17:59,180 --> 00:18:02,090 It took some convincing to get you to church this morning and 302 00:18:02,100 --> 00:18:04,500 you feel like you've already closed yourself off to spiritual 303 00:18:04,510 --> 00:18:08,250 things, that the things of God. I ask you this morning to soften 304 00:18:08,260 --> 00:18:12,760 your heart. I ask you to consider and take 305 00:18:12,770 --> 00:18:14,440 heed to what Jesus is saying here. 306 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:22,760 How we hear matters. So that's the first barrier, hot 307 00:18:22,770 --> 00:18:28,280 and hot the second, the rocky soil is suffering. 308 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,600 Barrier to true hearing is suffering. 309 00:18:32,610 --> 00:18:36,160 Let's read verse 13. He sees in the ones on the rock 310 00:18:36,170 --> 00:18:40,220 are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. 311 00:18:40,270 --> 00:18:44,100 But these have no root. They believe for a while and 312 00:18:44,110 --> 00:18:46,440 then in time of testing fall away. 313 00:18:48,470 --> 00:18:50,690 So what's the barrier here? Well, there's no route. 314 00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:52,540 The route is shot down and hit the rock. 315 00:18:52,550 --> 00:18:58,060 So when the sun of persecution and testing comes along, the 316 00:18:58,070 --> 00:19:05,020 seed and the plant falls away. I I wonder how many people have 317 00:19:05,030 --> 00:19:08,720 accepted the gospel, have followed Jesus with an 318 00:19:08,730 --> 00:19:13,100 underlying assumption that it is Jesus job to make our life 319 00:19:13,150 --> 00:19:17,660 easier, that it's Jesus job to make our life better. 320 00:19:19,670 --> 00:19:23,500 I'll be a good Christian. I'll say my prayers, I'll read 321 00:19:23,510 --> 00:19:27,670 my Bible, I'll come to church and and on the other side, God 322 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,080 will give me a good life and he will keep me from cancer. 323 00:19:31,690 --> 00:19:36,830 You'll keep my kids healthy. He let me retire with enough 324 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,310 savings that it would be comfortable. 325 00:19:40,140 --> 00:19:41,490 But what's the problem with that? 326 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:44,320 The problem is when our prayers go unanswered, when cancer 327 00:19:44,330 --> 00:19:46,980 comes, when our life doesn't turn out how we want, then what 328 00:19:46,990 --> 00:19:50,900 becomes of our faith? If the foundation of our faith 329 00:19:50,910 --> 00:19:56,320 is that Jesus will return an easy life to us, well, in a time 330 00:19:56,330 --> 00:20:03,070 of testing, our faith shrivels. We get the idea in the Matthews 331 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,210 version of this parable, he says, when a time of testing 332 00:20:06,220 --> 00:20:11,790 comes on account of their faith and meaning, when we realise 333 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,330 that actually the Christian life, although we are saved by 334 00:20:14,340 --> 00:20:17,300 grace, the Christian life is going to ask a few things of us. 335 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:21,590 It's going to ask us to sacrifice. 336 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:25,780 It's going to ask us to make decisions that we don't want to 337 00:20:25,790 --> 00:20:27,130 make. It's going to ask us to turn 338 00:20:27,140 --> 00:20:31,940 away from sin. Or when we find out that life 339 00:20:31,950 --> 00:20:34,700 isn't panning out how we want, how are we going to respond? 340 00:20:36,340 --> 00:20:39,450 Even just the day-to-day of a Christian life, the awkward 341 00:20:39,460 --> 00:20:41,810 conversations that come up at work when people find out that 342 00:20:41,820 --> 00:20:44,290 we're a Christian. Really. 343 00:20:45,110 --> 00:20:47,580 You believe? You believe that there's a God? 344 00:20:47,670 --> 00:20:51,710 Ohh OK alright, how are we gonna respond when the Christian life 345 00:20:52,410 --> 00:20:54,920 is not easy? So often we can be like a child 346 00:20:54,930 --> 00:20:59,540 who desperately wants a puppy, but then a few weeks, then to us 347 00:20:59,550 --> 00:21:02,070 having a puppy, once they've weed on the carpet for the fifth 348 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,560 time that day, we go. I'm not too sure I want that 349 00:21:04,570 --> 00:21:10,380 responsibility anymore and I want to encourage a Pharaoh and 350 00:21:10,390 --> 00:21:12,560 Jessica man, It's an awesome decision you guys have made 351 00:21:12,570 --> 00:21:15,790 today. But often after we're baptised, 352 00:21:16,140 --> 00:21:18,880 that is when the tough times can come. 353 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,780 It's true for all of us. I'd ask you, how are we going to 354 00:21:22,790 --> 00:21:25,130 respond when the Christian life gets hard? 355 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:30,150 My prayer is that your roots may go deep and your joy may go 356 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:36,330 deeper than your circumstances. Suffering can be such a barrier 357 00:21:36,340 --> 00:21:40,150 to true hearing. What's the third barrier? 358 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:45,100 Let's read verse 14, he says. And As for what fell among the 359 00:21:45,110 --> 00:21:49,220 thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, 360 00:21:49,230 --> 00:21:53,120 they are choked by the killers and riches and pleasures of 361 00:21:53,130 --> 00:21:55,880 life, and their fruit does not mature. 362 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,510 So here the barrier is not so much suffering. 363 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,010 In fact, on the other end, the barrier is comfort. 364 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,490 Read it sees as they go on their way. 365 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:14,210 What are they choked by? Killers and riches and pleasures 366 00:22:14,260 --> 00:22:18,460 of life. I think the idea here is someone 367 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:21,380 who so to say they're going through the supermarket with 368 00:22:21,390 --> 00:22:25,540 their trolley and they find Jesus on the shelf and they go, 369 00:22:25,550 --> 00:22:28,220 OK, well, I'll throw him in with everything else that I've got 370 00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:31,660 going on here. And it sees they go on their 371 00:22:31,670 --> 00:22:33,800 way. So I'm going to keep going in 372 00:22:33,810 --> 00:22:37,970 the direction that I'm I'm going and I'm looking for ease. 373 00:22:37,980 --> 00:22:41,990 I'm looking for comfort, but the problem is at the same time 374 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,850 you're walking through the supermarket and you're putting 375 00:22:43,860 --> 00:22:48,040 other things in the trolley. Little bit of Jesus, a little 376 00:22:48,050 --> 00:22:53,610 bit of sports, a little bit of relationships, a little bit of 377 00:22:53,620 --> 00:22:56,410 career, whatever it is, this and this, and it's all mixed 378 00:22:56,420 --> 00:23:00,010 together and you've got so many things that your goal is, how 379 00:23:00,020 --> 00:23:03,340 can this make me as happy and satisfied as I can be? 380 00:23:04,550 --> 00:23:08,410 And the illustration here is that the different thorns, the 381 00:23:08,420 --> 00:23:13,460 different distractions endu choking out the one true thing 382 00:23:13,470 --> 00:23:18,380 that was supposed to grow. There are so many distractions 383 00:23:18,390 --> 00:23:21,420 that are at war for our heart. There are so many distractions 384 00:23:21,430 --> 00:23:24,380 that are at war for our worship. And many of these, like I say, 385 00:23:24,390 --> 00:23:29,000 are good things, whether it be sports, money, jobs, 386 00:23:29,470 --> 00:23:33,140 relationships. But the problem is here is he 387 00:23:33,150 --> 00:23:34,840 saying these things have taken precedent? 388 00:23:35,950 --> 00:23:38,140 These things are in a place where they shouldn't be, and 389 00:23:38,150 --> 00:23:40,290 they're choking out our devotion to Christ. 390 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:44,360 See, it's Lewis. See this? 391 00:23:44,870 --> 00:23:47,620 He said. Prosperity knits a man to the 392 00:23:47,630 --> 00:23:50,870 world. He feels that he's finding his 393 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,670 place in it, while really it is finding its place in him. 394 00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:01,090 And I think the picture here is that this is not a person who 395 00:24:01,100 --> 00:24:05,390 has heard the gospel and turned completely in full devotion to 396 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,680 Jesus Christ. This is someone who heard the 397 00:24:09,690 --> 00:24:11,650 gospel and said, I'll add this to my trolley. 398 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,670 I'll add a little bit of this to my life. 399 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:24,220 And I think that for many of us, we could look at it, soil number 400 00:24:24,230 --> 00:24:29,530 one, and say that's not me. We can look at soil #2 and say, 401 00:24:29,540 --> 00:24:33,180 that's not me. But for me, I get to sort of 402 00:24:33,190 --> 00:24:35,530 number 33 and I, I need to stop and think. 403 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,270 And I think for a lot of us, this is actually a call for us 404 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:48,920 to do a good amount of weeding. We need to be in control of the 405 00:24:48,930 --> 00:24:55,520 competing ideals. For me, as I look inwards, I can 406 00:24:55,530 --> 00:25:00,570 just see a selfish heart that is fostering so often, so many 407 00:25:00,580 --> 00:25:03,310 different forms to grow and be in a place where they shouldn't, 408 00:25:04,090 --> 00:25:09,970 and the soil of my heart, things that are competing for my 409 00:25:09,980 --> 00:25:13,770 devotion to God, even simple things. 410 00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:18,510 Hobbies. For me, golf, running, reading, 411 00:25:18,580 --> 00:25:20,890 those things, you be like, those are fine things when they're in 412 00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:21,950 the wrong place. Men. 413 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:23,480 How quickly do they become thorns? 414 00:25:25,340 --> 00:25:30,160 They've taken away our devotion to God. 415 00:25:31,830 --> 00:25:34,020 Jesus said that simply in Matthew 624. 416 00:25:34,030 --> 00:25:38,720 He says you cannot serve 2 masters either. 417 00:25:38,730 --> 00:25:43,300 You'll be completely devoted to 1 and you'll you'll you'll 418 00:25:43,310 --> 00:25:48,490 despise the other he sees and in this context is saying you can't 419 00:25:48,500 --> 00:25:51,930 serve both God and money. But you could put God and 420 00:25:51,940 --> 00:25:58,140 anything else in that category. The thorny soil is is trying to 421 00:25:58,150 --> 00:26:03,980 have more than one master. In its contrast, all of these 422 00:26:04,050 --> 00:26:07,920 barriers are hardened hearts suffering comfort to the 423 00:26:07,930 --> 00:26:11,690 fruitful hero in verse 15, The good soil. 424 00:26:12,410 --> 00:26:15,020 Jesus sees this. As for that and the good soil, 425 00:26:15,790 --> 00:26:21,130 they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest 426 00:26:21,140 --> 00:26:25,020 and good heart and bear fruit with patience. 427 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:35,290 I want you to notice this good soil, how it contrasts with the 428 00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:37,960 other three receptions to God's Word that we just saw. 429 00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:42,430 He says firstly, the person and the good story lay here God's 430 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,540 word and they hold it fast. They are are grasping onto it. 431 00:26:46,550 --> 00:26:49,990 This contrasts what what we just spoke about with the forms when 432 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,950 there's countless idols competing for devotion. 433 00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:56,460 No, no, the person in the good soil says yes, this is it. 434 00:26:57,380 --> 00:27:00,580 Jesus is the one that I will devote my life around. 435 00:27:02,870 --> 00:27:04,700 I wanna hear it. I wanna embrace it. 436 00:27:04,710 --> 00:27:07,110 I'm not just gonna add him to the shopping trolley. 437 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:14,530 You holding Christ fast? And then this is with a good and 438 00:27:14,540 --> 00:27:19,770 honest heart, in contrast to the one on the path with a hardened 439 00:27:19,780 --> 00:27:22,290 heart that is not receptive to the message of the gospel. 440 00:27:23,860 --> 00:27:25,890 The good soil has a good and honest heart. 441 00:27:25,900 --> 00:27:28,810 This is someone who's eager not just to listen, but but to 442 00:27:28,820 --> 00:27:34,620 listen and be changed. And finally, he sees the 443 00:27:34,630 --> 00:27:38,040 fruitful hearer bears fruit. With patience. 444 00:27:39,890 --> 00:27:42,440 It's 2 prongs there. Firstly, he bears fruit. 445 00:27:42,710 --> 00:27:45,560 Notice that this is the only one of the four seeds that actually 446 00:27:45,570 --> 00:27:51,750 bears lasting fruit. He He is God's words and then he 447 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,020 acts on it. And I think this is the point 448 00:27:54,030 --> 00:27:56,870 Jesus is getting at. True hearing doesn't just hear, 449 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:01,030 but it hears and it responds and it acts and it bears fruit. 450 00:28:02,490 --> 00:28:04,740 Jesus kind of makes this illustration and and we won't be 451 00:28:04,750 --> 00:28:08,090 able to get to it, but in versus 19 through 21, we read it 452 00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:12,020 earlier at one point while his teaching his mother Miri and his 453 00:28:12,030 --> 00:28:15,810 brothers come and they can't get to him because of the crowds. 454 00:28:16,180 --> 00:28:18,270 And so that people say, hey, your mother and brothers are 455 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,610 here and Jesus wants to make a point and he says, who is my 456 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:24,270 mother and my brothers meaning who is my family? 457 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,850 Who are those who are net to me? He says in verse 21 it's those 458 00:28:27,860 --> 00:28:32,520 who hear the word of God and do it to those who hear God's word 459 00:28:32,530 --> 00:28:37,460 and bear fruit. But notice as well. 460 00:28:37,470 --> 00:28:40,140 He season verse 15. These are people who bear fruit 461 00:28:40,210 --> 00:28:46,800 with patience, overtime with patience and endurance. 462 00:28:46,870 --> 00:28:51,260 This is picturing someone who has faced suffering, who has 463 00:28:51,270 --> 00:28:54,220 faced the temptation of competing devotions, competing 464 00:28:54,230 --> 00:28:57,860 distractions to loyalty to Christ, and yet they bear fruit 465 00:28:57,870 --> 00:29:01,120 with patience. They realise often in the 466 00:29:01,130 --> 00:29:06,710 Christian life it is a slog. There are seasons when it seems 467 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:11,380 like we are fighting with the same sin over and over and over, 468 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:14,810 and there are other things around us that are competing. 469 00:29:14,820 --> 00:29:19,930 And yet this person and the good soil beers fruit with patience 470 00:29:20,770 --> 00:29:25,540 and the promises that this person will will reap a 471 00:29:25,550 --> 00:29:31,380 hundredfold meaning from them being patient and bearing fruit. 472 00:29:31,830 --> 00:29:35,460 Jesus is making the point. Countless other people come to 473 00:29:35,470 --> 00:29:39,660 know Christ good soil when they hear the word through this 474 00:29:39,670 --> 00:29:44,860 person. This is a good soil that reap 475 00:29:44,870 --> 00:29:50,860 the harvest, so we ought to pay attention to this and we ought 476 00:29:50,870 --> 00:29:54,740 to have paid attention to Jesus Warning says in verse 18. 477 00:29:54,750 --> 00:30:03,380 Take care then, how you hear? How do we hear the word of God 478 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,960 when she'd ask, What kind of soil do you have? 479 00:30:11,970 --> 00:30:14,860 Are you the hard soil of the path? 480 00:30:16,250 --> 00:30:19,340 Are you the rocky soil that that takes delight in the Word and 481 00:30:19,350 --> 00:30:21,710 quickly falls away when tough times come? 482 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,550 He's a thorny soil. It's easiest. 483 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,550 I'll add Jesus to it, but there's a lot of other things 484 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,350 going on as well. My prayer is that we may be good 485 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,310 soil. We may have to do some weeding 486 00:30:35,330 --> 00:30:39,120 to see that we may be good soil. That he is an ex. 487 00:30:42,290 --> 00:30:45,160 I've got two things to say before I close and then we're 488 00:30:45,170 --> 00:30:50,260 going to move into communion. I'll say this firstly, we need 489 00:30:50,270 --> 00:30:53,610 to be reminded that we are called as Christians not only to 490 00:30:53,620 --> 00:30:59,050 hear, but to. So we are not only the soil, we 491 00:30:59,060 --> 00:31:04,570 are called to be the ones sowing God's word in this and for us as 492 00:31:04,580 --> 00:31:07,170 so is this parable should do a couple of things I think. 493 00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:12,110 Firstly, this should humble us that as we go out and we we 494 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,910 speak God's word, as we share the gospel, we speak God's word 495 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,110 to one another. I mean, the statistics are not 496 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,740 promising here, are they? Many are going to reject God's 497 00:31:22,750 --> 00:31:25,420 Word. We need to be realistic. 498 00:31:25,790 --> 00:31:28,670 Many people will reject God's Word. 499 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,400 Many people rejected the word straight out of Jesus's mouth. 500 00:31:32,410 --> 00:31:37,120 And so it's true, when we speak God's word, we need to expect 501 00:31:37,130 --> 00:31:39,670 turbulence. And yet at the same time, this, 502 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,360 this, this parable, it should fill us with resolve because 503 00:31:44,370 --> 00:31:47,630 firstly, we don't know who was good soil and who was bad soil. 504 00:31:47,700 --> 00:31:51,910 Oftentimes the ones that we assume are are firm as the path. 505 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,790 No chance. They are the ones who end up 506 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:59,790 turning from their sin and truly accepting Christ, and often the 507 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,390 ones that we assume are good soil. 508 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,670 There were thorns in their rocks. 509 00:32:09,130 --> 00:32:12,700 But the hope is that if we continue to sow the seed of 510 00:32:12,710 --> 00:32:16,920 God's word for those who do know, for those who do turn from 511 00:32:16,930 --> 00:32:19,700 this and and accept the gospel, they're gonna reap a harvest. 512 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:25,460 Who shared the gospel with you? If you're saved, who shared the 513 00:32:25,470 --> 00:32:28,780 gospel with you? Someone made that choice to 514 00:32:28,790 --> 00:32:30,350 share the gospel. Maybe it was your appearance. 515 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,230 Maybe it was a stranger, a workmate. 516 00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:34,010 Someone shared the gospel with you. 517 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:40,600 And praise God there was good soil and from that I prayed that 518 00:32:40,610 --> 00:32:47,650 it has reaped the harvest. So we need to be faithful and in 519 00:32:47,660 --> 00:32:50,570 sewing and trust in God for the harvest. 520 00:32:53,170 --> 00:32:56,290 And I'll close with this as as we turn now to communion, which 521 00:32:56,300 --> 00:32:59,660 we're going to jump into after this, and we consider the 522 00:32:59,670 --> 00:33:02,940 barriers that get in the way between our ears and our heart, 523 00:33:02,950 --> 00:33:04,970 I want to consider the cross of Jesus Christ. 524 00:33:07,660 --> 00:33:11,660 As Christians, the the cross is the central event that the Bible 525 00:33:11,670 --> 00:33:16,650 speaks about, where our Lord Jesus Christ came down to earth 526 00:33:16,660 --> 00:33:19,880 fully God and fully man, living a perfect life. 527 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:25,370 And yet he went to the cross. And on that cross he suffered 528 00:33:25,380 --> 00:33:29,210 and he blared and He died not for his own sins, but for our 529 00:33:29,220 --> 00:33:34,150 sins that should we put our trust in Him, hearing his words 530 00:33:34,220 --> 00:33:37,470 and bearing fruit and putting trust in him, our sins may be 531 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,770 wiped clean and we may be, as Jesus said, his mother, his 532 00:33:41,820 --> 00:33:46,720 brothers, his family. We would have the hope of 533 00:33:46,730 --> 00:33:49,220 eternal life with him. That's the essence of the 534 00:33:49,230 --> 00:33:52,460 Christian message. He carries our sin and we carry 535 00:33:52,470 --> 00:33:59,050 his perfect life. And to those who maybe you're 536 00:33:59,060 --> 00:34:04,370 burier this morning is suffering the rocky soil, I just want to 537 00:34:04,380 --> 00:34:09,280 point you to Jesus Christ as the ultimate righteous sufferer. 538 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,190 God doesn't not care about our suffering. 539 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:17,650 In fact, God himself and the person of Jesus Christ walked 540 00:34:17,659 --> 00:34:20,860 directly into suffering. He entered into the greatest act 541 00:34:20,870 --> 00:34:22,489 of suffering mankind has ever seen. 542 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:26,540 He bore the wrath of God. On that cross. 543 00:34:28,389 --> 00:34:34,820 We have a God who suffered, and it promises us a few things. 544 00:34:34,830 --> 00:34:37,540 It promises us through the cross and through the suffering of 545 00:34:37,550 --> 00:34:40,010 Christ. One day all suffering will 546 00:34:40,020 --> 00:34:43,320 ultimately come to an end. For those who have put their 547 00:34:43,330 --> 00:34:46,179 trust in Jesus Christ, we have the hope of eternal life where 548 00:34:46,190 --> 00:34:49,230 every tear will be wiped away, everything will be made new, 549 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,300 everything will be made right through the sacrifice and the 550 00:34:52,310 --> 00:34:56,270 suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross and the suffering of 551 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,310 Christ. It also promises us that our 552 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,250 suffering, the suffering of anyone who is in Christ, is 553 00:35:01,260 --> 00:35:04,500 never without purpose. The cross is the ultimate 554 00:35:04,510 --> 00:35:10,790 example of of a grievous sin, but yet God used it. 555 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,510 God planned it, God worked it for His glory. 556 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,430 We have the hope and we have the promise that although we will 557 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:21,500 suffer, we have a God who is at work in and through suffering. 558 00:35:21,510 --> 00:35:28,730 Suffering is never for nothing. Into the thorny soil I'd point 559 00:35:28,740 --> 00:35:32,210 you to the cross and show you that as Jesus hung on that 560 00:35:32,220 --> 00:35:35,590 cross, he showed us that He is worthy of our full devotion. 561 00:35:37,930 --> 00:35:42,040 As the Him says, love, so amazing, so divine, demands my 562 00:35:42,050 --> 00:35:49,570 soul, my life, my all. Jesus died on the cross that we 563 00:35:49,580 --> 00:35:56,540 may be fully and completely devoted to Him, the Heidelberg 564 00:35:56,550 --> 00:35:59,160 Catechism says. On that cross Jesus purchased 565 00:35:59,170 --> 00:36:02,320 us. He says we are not our own but 566 00:36:02,330 --> 00:36:05,800 we belong to God. And I pray today, whatever kind 567 00:36:05,810 --> 00:36:09,150 of soil you find yourself in, that you might consider the 568 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,130 cross of Christ, you may consider the message of the 569 00:36:11,140 --> 00:36:16,330 gospel, and see the love that God has for broken sinners like 570 00:36:16,340 --> 00:36:18,680 us. So we're going to go to the 571 00:36:18,690 --> 00:36:22,900 table now and take the bread in the car in which we remember 572 00:36:22,970 --> 00:36:29,140 that event where Jesus died in our place that all may believe. 573 00:36:29,150 --> 00:36:32,880 If we may, if we believe, we may be forgiven. 574 00:36:33,850 --> 00:36:41,310 And so let's pray. Almighty God, we thank you for 575 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:47,800 your word. We thank you that your word is 576 00:36:47,810 --> 00:36:52,060 powerful. We thank you for Christ and what 577 00:36:52,070 --> 00:36:57,030 He's done for us. I pray, Lord, that as we have 578 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:02,870 been confronted by Your word, that you may be at work in our 579 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,180 hearts, that we may be good soil. 580 00:37:08,390 --> 00:37:12,550 Pray for those Lord who do not know You today that they may see 581 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,730 the beauty of the cross and the beauty of the gospel and you may 582 00:37:15,740 --> 00:37:19,540 tell U good fertile soil in their hearts that they may hear 583 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,610 and respond. Thank you for what Jesus has 584 00:37:23,620 --> 00:37:27,320 done for us and we pray right now that you may be magnified 585 00:37:27,330 --> 00:37:31,170 through us as a church, that we may respond to you in faith and 586 00:37:31,180 --> 00:37:34,560 love, in Jesus name I mean.