The Stories of Jesus 04/21/24 Mark 4:1-20

For [Music] h [Music] h [Music] I [Music] thank you Miss Judy good morning church morning good morning it is good to see you here at on this beautiful somewhat chilly Lord's day we turned up the heat just a second ago so hey it is good to see each and every single one of you here at First Baptist Church my name is Cody I'm the pastor here and I'm glad that you're here with us if you're new please fill out one of those visitor cards and drop that in the offering plate as it goes by also if you have any prayer requests that is a great opportunity for you to just fill that out and drop that as well because people will always catch me on Sunday morning say Pastor I need to pray about this I always say fill out the card other I will forget so it's my privilege to pray for you as your pastor and to always just serve you in that way couple of things that you need to be aware of firstly this upcoming Saturday is our Dogwood Festival Outreach we're going to be doing the water and the coffee and the breakfast burritos and all that kind of stuff if you want to help out with that there's some sign up sheets right over here or you can talk to H Katherine or Megan or Jamie about any of that we would be more than happy to get you plugged into that we'll have literally thousands of people right outside of our church and so we just need folks that are willing to just be nice because Christians should be nice but also just kind of connect with folks and just get to know them so great way for you to serve

The parade it starts at 10:00 a.m. So anywhere 8:30 9:00 you're going to want to get here so that way you can get to our facility we got a business meeting next Sunday after church it's at 12:45 and so after service we go down we eat all together please remember to bring something we do have Deacon nominations instead of it being in July and then we make those votes in November we're taking the nominations in April and going to vote on those in J in July so please be praying about that and also there will be some discussion from the finance team about amending the budget okay because we've just had a hard time meeting budget and so we've got to make those adjustments that means that we have to make shifts to our plans so be praying about that there's all sorts of different announcements in your bulletin one of the things that someone asked me about was Cody what's this field trip down to Jackson well we're going to go and visit old bethl church which is the oldest non-catholic church this side of the Mississippi so we're going to take a guided tour and see all of that and get to know some of the history there we're going to listen to a hundred-year-old sermon that was preached at their centennial celebration we're also going to talk about what kills a church because that church went defunct why and so it's going to be educational it's going to be a lot of fun we're going to eat some good food and we're going to carpool together so if you want to go to that sign up by I call in the church office and if it is raining though we got to cross this little creek okay I if it is raining we can't go okay so that's just kind of a little FYI so I want to take a moment and invite Miss Kathy bans to come up she's going to be giving an U announcement about the Wu so if y'all

Would welcome her to the platform please [Applause] there we go women on Mission Spring banquet will be Monday May the 6th at 6 PM we will be recognizing our girls in action Teresa Flora from the Timothy Project and they support widows of Ministries Worldwide will be our speaker the theme this year is go as in tell world so that will be enlightening to some of you I'm sure come invite a friend enjoy an evening of good food it's always good food and it only cost $5 ladies and if you know guys if you want to come and hear about a lady that is helping widowed missionaries then this is the time for you to be here we will also honor those gas and hearing about an important organization Nancy McKinny was out at one of the tables between service serves she will be there after the service also if you would like to go ahead and purchase a ticket at that time I do believe you can also pay the night of correct yes I got a headshake yes and another thing that would be useful our bulletin featured content cut that out stick it on your bathroom mirror and then you won't forget to come okay thank you all right yeah are you a non-is matching no you're not okay all right hey Church why don't you just take a moment and find a neighbor hug their neck say welcome to First Baptist Church up for e well good morning church family it's good to see you all here this morning it's good to be in the house of the Lord today amen I invite you at this time just to consider what a privilege it is that the Lord has allowed us and indeed called us here to be together and to worship Him in spirit and in truth in one heart and one mind United in Christ

Jesus at this time I'd invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes as we prep ask the Lord to prepare us for worship maybe right now you're dealing with hurt and heartache I invite you to ask the Lord to help you to worship even in your Affliction knowing that one day one day he is going to unite us with himself for all eternity maybe today you're struggling with just a focusing is you're thinking about what you're having for lunch what your plans are after Serv I invite you now to just still in your mind quiet your hearts and ask the Lord to help you to focus fully on him and what he's done for us and so Lord we come before you and we ask that you would help us to focus on who you are and what you've done Lord I pray that you'd help us to turn that head knowledge into worship knowing Lord that you're worthy of all the praise that we could ever muster and so much more Lord remind us that you are worthy completely and totally so it's in Jesus name we pray Amen in the book of Ephesians the second chapter we read but God being rich in Mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable Riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus for by Grace you have been saved and this is not of your own doing it is the gift of God it is not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them I invite you now to stand and join us as

We sing how we were dead in our trespasses but have been made alive called out of that grave [Music] that's the wrong [Music] key I wased my shame who could car that it was my till [Music] I was Brea but not alive all my fail I tried to hide it was [Music] my till I met you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that out of the darkness into your glorious day [Music] now your mercy has save my soul now your freom is all that I know the old May new Jesus when I met [Music] you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious [Music] I needed my was but chains break the we of your glory I needed shelter I was an now you call me a citizen of heaven when I was broken you are my healing now your love is the air that I'm breathing I have a future my eyes are open when you called my

Name I ran out of that out of the darkness into your [Music] glorious you called my name and I ran out of that out of the darkness into your glorious death you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your [Music] glorious you called my name and I ran out of that out of the darkness to your glorious [Music] day what an awesome God we serve who has called us out of our Affliction and Into His Marvelous Grace this next song we're going to sing is Our Song of the month o for a thousand tongues to sing and in it we Proclaim that we want to be a part of that great congregation singing his Praises here on Earth and also in [Music] heaven oh for Tong to sing my great Redeemer PR the glories of my God K the triumphs of his gra my gracious master and my God assist me to spread through all the Earth of the honors of th name [Music] Jesus the name that our [Music] sorrow in [Music] the [Music] and breaks the power of he s the pr his blood can make his blood ail for [Music]

Me his pra BL behold your saor come and we for Glory to God glory to God and praise and love never ever by Saint below and Saint above the church in Earth in heaven [Music] at this time you can be seated as our ushers come forward to take up the offering in the in the Book of John the Third chapter we all know this one but there's a reason we all know it right the 16th and 17th verses say this for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him it's that Christ that Jesus that enables our worship this morning it's through the sacrifice that he made on our behalf that we are able to gather here to sing praises to our Lord that are pleasing to him and at this point I'd invite you to pray with me as we pray over this offering which is also an act of worship appointed by God for us to participate in however he would lead you let's pray Lord we ask that you would bless this offering we ask that you would guide our hearts and our actions as we prepare to worship through giving Lord I pray that our offerings would be pleasing to you from the great riches that some may have and may be guided to give by you and Lord also the Widow's might those little pennies Lord they are all for your kingdom and For Your Glory in Jesus name we pray amen and in this God has showed his love for his people that Christ came and died on our behalf and that we can have everlasting life with him if only we believe [Music] How Deep The Father's Love For Us how beyond all

Me that he give his only son to makee treasure how great the P ofing the father turns his face away as which The Chosen One bring many to [Music] glor behold the man upon the cross my S upon his shoulders ashamed I hear mying voice All Out Among the St it was my that H him there until it was accomplished his dying breath has brought me life I know that it is fin [Music] I will not in anything no wi but I will in Jesus Christ his death and [Music] Resurrection why should I from his reward I canot give an answer but this I know with all my heart his have made [Applause] [Music] my why should I gain from his reward I can not give an answer but this I know with all my heart his wounds have PA [Music] my but this I know with all my heart his WS [Music] my what can wash away my nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow makes me wi as oh other found I know nothing but the blood of [Music] Jus for my par this I see nothing but

The blood of Jesus for my printing this my nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the that makes me wi as to the I know nothing but the blood of Jesus nothing can for sin atone nothing but the blood of Jesus God of good that I have done nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the that makes me white as the I know nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] this is All My Hope and peace nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my righteousness nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the that makes me white as strong grounds I know nothing but the blood of [Music] Jesus oh precious is the CR that makes me wi as no found I know nothing but the blood of [Applause] J pray with me Lord help us ever to plead the blood of Christ who died on our behalf bearing the punishment for our sin so that we might stand before your throne and you would see his righteousness in US Lord help us always to be to be lowering our pride to be humbling ourselves and to be pleading Christ on behalf Lord I pray that you would help us to continue worship continue to worship this morning as we hear from your word and then as we go from this place to be proclaiming your good works and your awesome nature wherever we go it's in Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to

Mark chapter 4 Mark chapter 4 before we do that though some of you have been asking questions about how we can support Vern and Denny Johnson financially and one of the things you know that we have an opportunity to do Ronda actually Ronda Brandt actually set up a fund for that and so if you want to give monetarily talk to Ronda Brandt about that we would be happy to get you all squared away and how to give financially as they are up in KU going from West Africa to KU in just a couple of days is a big task and so U just be praying about that today we're starting a new series called the stories of Jesus as we've been going through the Book of Mark we find ourselves in Mark chapter 4 and we're going to see these different Parables that Christ is going to walk through this is probably one of the more famous of Christ Parables that we're going to talk about today it might be the parable of the seers in your Bible or whatever it is but this Parable is of vital importance because it demonstrates why the Gospel is not received or why people fall away from Christ and what the evidence is of Christians enduring in Christ I got saved when I was 14 years old the first church I ever went to was Emanuel Baptist Church in Richmond V Virginia just off of Monument Avenue wonderful conservative Christ exalting Bible preaching Church and I went there because you know that was the youth group that I went to Camp with and got saved at and dear friends went there but I needed something maybe a little closer to my home and so I went to this little church it was northr run Baptist Church and got involved in the youth group there for a little bit but I thought no this isn't right this

Isn't quite where I want to be and then I went to WS Baptist Church and that had a student Ministry of like a hundred kids right it's when you can grow a student Ministry on pizza and games which if you get kids with pizza and games you got to keep them with pizza and games and so I went there and you know it was interesting because it was in October of 2002 that I was actually baptized and I was in into the baptismal Waters me and actually a friend of mine from the youth group were baptized on that same day so there was that little bit of like camaraderie you know you just have that connection you're like yeah you know I can remember that and but as he entered into his junior senior year of high school he just began to drift and go away and then all of a sudden he just completely distanced himself from Christ denying the faith and I kind of wondered why what would cause someone to go down that path in fact going back and looking at my peers in my youth group I could only count about 10 that I know of that are still walking with Christ out that youth group of a hundred and we could look at you know the church in America and we could ask the same thing you know you look at U an average Baptist Church or you just look at the SBC as a whole you know our membership is around 13 million people and yet there's only about three and a half million that attend church On Any Given Sunday like where's 10 million people at those are sobering things that we should ask good questions about what is going on with people why does this happen in Christ he explains it here in devastatingly clear language in Christ he identifies four different kinds of hearts that hear the Gospel and their receptivity to it let's stand in honor of God's word as

We read Mark 4: 1-20 God's word it says this again he began to teach beside the sea and a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the whole crowd was beside the Sea on the land and he was teaching them many things and Parables and in his teaching he said to them listen Behold a sewer went out to sew and as he sewed some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it other seed fell on Rocky ground where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil when the sun rose it was scorched and since it had no root it withered away other seed fell among thorns and the Thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no grain and other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain growing up and increased and yielding 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold and he said he who has ears to hear let him here when he was alone those around him with the 12 asked him about The Parables and he said to them to you it has been given the secret of the kingdom of God but for those outside everything is imparables so that they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear but not understand lest they should turn and be forgiven and he said to them how do you not understand this Parable how then will you understand all the Parables and then Christ offers his explanation the S SWS the word and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown when they hear Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them and these are the ones swn on Rocky ground the ones who when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy and they have no root in themselves but endure for a while then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the

Word immediately they fall away and others are the ones swn among Thorns they are those who hear the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful but those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30-fold 60-fold and 100-fold let's pray and so God we just pray that you would help us Lord to understand the truth that you want us to understand from this passage today Lord we confess that we are needy people we confess that sometimes we are ignorant and dumb that we hard of hearing sometimes and so Lord I just pray that you would just work in our hearts that we would have ears to hear Minds to comprehend just God we pray that you would G grant us understanding and an extra portion of your spirit God that we would understand the fullness of this passage that you're teaching to us God help our hearts Lord help us to be yielded to you and God we do pray for Denny this morning God we just pray that you give the doctors wisdom and understanding as they diagnose her Lord pray for protection for her for encouragement for her and ver that you would please help them God in Jesus name amen well this passage it begins on the same day as Christ had his encounter with his family in Matthew 13 The Parallel passage it says that same day and so why did he leave his home well it's because if you remember there were so many people in the home it was so crowded that people were on the outside trying to get in just to hear a little bit about Christ's teachings just to just maybe see a miracle and to experience what it's like to be in the presence of

Master and what happens is that he says you know what there's there's not enough room in my house let's move the location of this teaching and he goes down through that city of capernium and goes down by the sea and he stands in a boat and the crowd gathers and they listen to Christ preaching this is the purpose of Christ's Ministry was to teach and to preach and to do the works of God for the people that needed to hear the Gospel of the kingdom of God and the first thing that Jesus says to them is what there listen listen up the verb to hear is aoan and the verb to obey is hoopa we would understand that it's just it's just listen but with like a hyper before it right so it's it's hyper listening it's listening that goes past the IR drum straight into the mind and the Heart it's what prom obedience to the word of God and so Christ is saying listen up this is very important and Jesus he tells his Parable and we're going to revisit that Parable in a little bit because Christ he gives us the explanation he tells us exactly what it means but Mark he's writing in such a way to explain that after Christ preaches he finds himself alone with the disciples and these disciples aren't just merely the 12 these these are men and women who are professing and identifying followers of Jesus Christ and their question is simple why don't you explain the truth of the Kingdom to all of these crowds and it's a question that many people ask why is it that the Gospel takes hold on some people's hearts so quickly so drastically why is it that it changes a person in a moment here and yet the same person that might be raised in the church that hears the word of God week after week not be phased at all why does

That happen it is a mystery Mark Matthew he writes in the parallel passage he gives a little bit more of an explanation can you highlight the presenter please in Matthew chapter 13 verses 10-1 17 it says then the disciples came and said to him why do you speak to them in Parables and he answered them to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but to them it has not been given for to the one who has more will be given he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away 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 and you will indeed see but never perceive for this people's hearts has grown dull and with their ears they can barely hear and their eyes have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand stand with their heart and turn and I would heal them but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear for truly I say to you many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not it what hold on we have to we have to ask this question why wouldn't God want their hearts to be opened why wouldn't God want them to hear and to understand remember the context here remember the context because it's very important that the people have been seeing Christ preach theyve seen him teach they have seen Miracle after Miracle they have seen the death he they have seen the mute speak they've seen the lame walk they've seen the paralyzed walk they've seen

Demon-possessed people delivered and they're wondering about all of this could this be the Messiah and Jesus is teaching with someone like someone with authority and he's teaching about the kingdom of God and here's the thing is that the people of Israel they wanted the blessings of the kingdom of God without submission to the king of Heaven that's why their hearts were dull that's why they couldn't hear here understand it's because they refused to submit to the lordship of Christ that's been Theo for the nation of Israel since the beginning they wanted the Covenant of God but they wouldn't worship him like he had commanded them to right at the mountain of Si what did what did they do they received the Commandments yes Lord will'll obey not even a few days later what are they doing they're making a golden calf and saying this is the Lord Yahweh what else did they do well they wanted to take Pro possession of the promised land didn't they but not if it meant going to battle even if it meant God promising that he would go before them and he would fight their battles for them but Lord they're too big they'll destroy us and God said well okay I'll just take you into the desert and destroy you and he did for 40 years an entire generation was lost in the wilderness many of them they wanted a new word from God or a new revelation from the Lord and so they set up false prophets for themselves prophets that would teach and say good things and encouraging things and happy things things that made them just feel all warm and fuzzy and yet what did God do he condemned them for setting up false prophets so the teaching of Christ here it serves as a judgment against them but for the disciples the followers of Jesus Christ it meant Abundant Blessings because what does

Jesus say for to the one who has more will be given and he will have abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away see people who receive the truth of the Gospel and Obey it receive more of the goodness of God and those that neglect and reject the word of God will lose the little bit that they have of course you know as Americans would go well that's not right that's that's not very fair some people think that the economy of God is designed around human fairness but we don't want God to be fair with us let's just be honest we don't want God's fairness if God were to be fair with us we would all be suffering for eternity in hell that's fairness we want Mercy we need salvation we need the Gospel that's Grace not fairness so if you hear the word and receive the word obey the word or you stand to risk the word of God condemning you this principle is true in other areas of Our Lives physically if you are a couch potato okay if you are not using your body and using muscles guess what happens after a while you lose the use of those muscles it's what happens same thing with your mind if you if you're not exercising your mind stretching your mind you know doing things like that you will oh gosh what was that person's name it happens but this is a sobering reality for those who sit under the teaching of the word of God week after week and do not respond to it Christ he cites Isaiah 6 verses 9 and 10 here and you know Isaiah 6 is one of those great chapters in the Bible you know it's the throne room of heaven and Isaiah being caught up there and he sees the Lord on his throne high and exalted in the train of his robe fills the temple and the smoke of God's glory fills it and permeates it and he sees

The Lord and there's angels and they're saying holy and he just says woe to me for I am ruined why does he say that why does he say that it's because in the previous chapter God had been pronouncing judgment after judgment after judgment after judgment on the people of Israel and Isaiah is saying I'm an Israelite woe is me this judgment it falls on me and here's what it says in Isaiah after God says whom shall I send who will go for us Isaiah says here am I send me and God this is his commission go and say to this people keep on hearing and but do not understand keep on seeing but do not perceive make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy and blind their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and be healed this is a judgment from the Lord on his chosen people because of their unbelief because of their unfaithfulness to the Covenant of God listen to how Jesus cites this verse in other parts of the Gospel in John 12: 36-4 when Jesus had said these things he departed and he hid himself from them he's talking about the Jews there he hid himself from the Jews though he had done so many signs before them they still did not believe in him so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled Lord who has believed what he has who has believed what he heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed listen to what else it says here in the book of Acts Chap 28: 25-28 and disagreeing among themselves they departed after Paul had made one statement the Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet go to this people and say you will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive for this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they

Can barely hear and their eyes have been closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and I would hear them therefore let be known to you that this Sal of God has been sent to the Gentiles they will listen lots to unpack there that Hardness of Heart Is simultaneously a work of the Flesh and a work of God it's an act of the will and an act of God's will we see that play out in Pharaoh's life don't we four years ago we were in we were preaching through Exodus can't believe that was already four years ago but four years ago we were there and we were in the plagues we're reading about how Pharaoh he hardened his heart against the Lord an act of the will and yet we also read about how God hardened Pharaoh's heart once again an act of God's will but the heart is never made soft by an act of the will that is a work of God where God takes that hard Stony heart and replaces it and gives us a soft heart a heart that has changed towards him that's why when we pray for lost family members Lord please work on their heart please change their heart please get a hold of their heart move in their heart deal with their heart God that's how we pray why is it because we know that salvation is the work of God so Lord please do something in unbelief in the Gospel it leads to a hardening of the heart every single time that's why Pharaoh he couldn't repent was because he did not believe the word of God had personally sent a prophet his name is Moses to perform great works in his sight as a proof to those that would believe and as condemnation to those who would not believe and it was the will of the Lord

To destroy Pharaoh so that God would re receive greater glory and so why couldn't the crowds understand Christ's teachings well because they weren't followers of his they wanted his blessings and none of the commitment and that's why Jesus has told us that it's been given to us the followers of Jesus Christ to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God that word secret here is the same word that we would use for mystery it occurs three times in the Gospels in Matthew Mark and Luke all in this parallel passage that we've been reading and so it's it's something that doesn't happen very often in the Gospels but Paul uses it 21 times Paul uses it 21 times and every time that he uses that word mystery it's in reference to the secret work of God's plan for salvation but it's it's a secret that the Gospel unlocks so if you have the Gospel you have the key it's why before you become a Christian it may be really hard to understand God's word and even after being in Christ it's not like you just have all understanding of God's word it's still hard work but you can get understanding because you have that Holy Spirit In You same Holy Spirit that's in me that's in me is in you okay so lean on the Holy Spirit but yet after salvation have you ever noticed that you know before you were in Christ you read the Bible man I'm just not getting this and then all of a sudden you know you get Sav all of a sudden things just start clicking things just start making sense the reason for that is because that's an evidence that you were saved praise God for that but let's get to the parable okay I love it that Christ he just explains the parable here's what he says the swer is whoever's scattering the seed and that seed is the word of God now for us this doesn't make much sense why on Earth would a would a

Farmer or a sewer be scattering Seed where there's a road right well actually this is this is how ancient farming in the Middle East happened because what they would do is they would scatter the seed and then they would till the soil and that tilling of the soil really wasn't like plowing or anything like that where they would dig up the dirt and take care of it that way it was almost these these these little rods often times just made of a hardwood that would just kind of scrape up the top of the soil and so sometimes if there was a pathway it would go across the pathway if it was going into thorns and into Rocky areas it'd just keep going they wouldn't stop they wouldn't turn over the soil or anything like that's how agriculture worked back in the ancient times and that's why we see so much variation within the Harvest too that's why there was some seed that bore a hundred times more and some seed that bore 30 times more and so let's talk about these soils and we're going to talk about them in the way in the terms of a heart okay because that's what we're dealing with here and this heart that we're going to look at the first one is the hard heart the hard heart this is the person that rejects Christ outright they might listen politely to the Gospel message but they're not really concerned about eternity or Christ or really interested in God at all so why does that happen well their heart is hard and Satan comes along and he steals away that seed of the Gospel he does that to prevent anything from happening and in the screw tape letters by CS Lewis he tells this story of screw tape deceiving this British man at the British museum the man is reading something and it puts him on this train of thought towards spiritual

Things and the man he starts thinking on them and then screw tape says you know what I'm just going to I'm going to try to make this man really hungry and here's what it says once he was in the street the battle was won I showed him a news boy shouting the midday paper and a number 73 bus going past before he even reached the bottom of the steps I had gotten him into an unalterable conviction that whatever Odd Ideas may come into a man's head when he was shut up alone with his books a healthy dose of real life by which he meant the bus and the news boy and all that stuff was enough to show him that sort of spiritual thing just couldn't be true my prayer for you and for that family member that you know and that you love is that their heart would not be hard my prayer is that their heart would be transformed into that good soil so that the word of God might take root here's another kind of heart and it's a shallow heart okay this is a heart that readily accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ amen and we want to see that but this person is like pliable in the Pilgrim's Progress do you guys know Pilgrim's Progress anybody read that the Pilgrim's Progress you need to read it if you have not read it okay I highly encourage you to you can read in a bridge version but you need to know this all right so you got Christian over here he realizes the weight of his sin okay you got obstinate that's been trying to drag them back to he was trying to drag Christian back to the city of Destruction okay you need to come back you're getting too religious me this is non sensible nonsensical sorry and you know you just need to come back well pliable he hears the Gospel and he says wow if the city of Destruction really is going to be destroyed and everyone in it then I

Need to I need to walk this path and so pliable and Christian they're walking this path but then they get to this area called the slav of despond it was just this total muckfest okay they couldn't they couldn't get through they were they were kind of getting sucked into this bog and pable says you know what this is not salvation this is so hard I don't want to go through all of this doesn't seem like a good thing I'm going to go back to the city of Destruction why well he received the Gospel with joy but then he thought much better of it Paul Jesus says here that it's when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately they fall away we're going to see that more and more in our culture we've seen it happen rapidly in our culture over the last 101 15 years we wonder why these things happen it's because of this it's because those that we thought were Believers weren't Believers and it's not up to us to judge them our job is to warn them and to lovingly come alongside them and say brother sister is your heart hard is your heart shallow do you know Christ where's the evidence that you know Christ where where's the evidence of your walk with the Lord Brother sister I concerned for your soul turn away from that and come to Christ he'll take you back you know an oak tree is strong not because of its size but because its roots go so deep and so when a storm comes it's not afraid of the storm because it knows that it can withstand it as it's so deep in the same way the deeper that your spiritual roots go down into Christ the more secure you are when those Storms Come the spiritual maturity it occurs when you as a Christian you remain rooted in Christ firm able to withstand all those

Difficulties that come your way and so my prayer for you is that you would not be shalloe hearted but that you would be good soil for the Gospel to work in thirdly Christ describes another kind of soil that receives the word but things creep in and they choke out any fruit of the Gospel we'll call this the worldly heart the worldly heart the first thing that Creeps in and Jesus identifies is these cares these cares come in that Greek word is Marna it's a negative kind of caring meaning worry or anxiety because cares they will eat away that joy that you have in your heart they will take control of your life if you let them Jesus uses the same word to talk about anxiety in Matthew 6 he says therefore I tell you do not be anxious do not be I think that's mimna do not be mimna about your life what you will eat what you will drink about your body what you will put on is not life more than food in the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air they neither sew nor reap nor gather into Barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them are you not of more value than they and which of you by being mimna anxious can add a single hour to his span of Life why are you anxious about clothing consider the lies of the field how they grow they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not AR raay like one of these but if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith therefore do not be anxious saying what shall we eat what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentile seek after these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will

Be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is its own trouble amen this other worry this other worldly thing that creeps up in our lives could be deceit that Greek word is apete which means to cause someone to believe in a deception the very first thing that Satan did isn't it he used his persuasive words to deceive say you know this is the way that you ought to be living your life and here Christ he directly ties it to riches to wealth how we either rule our money or our money rules us according to the British Broadcasting channel the world's average salary is $188,000 a year so if you make more than that you're wealthy there you go you know we live in the wealthiest civilization with some of the most abundant Comforts in all of history with more disposable income than you know literally thousands of previous generations and yet for many people life just simply becomes about getting more having more doing more experiencing more but Jesus he says that's a deception I'm not saying that's a bad thing to have nice things I'm not saying that at all okay I want you to hear that very clearly it's not a bad thing to have nice things or to have money or anything like that but if your whole life is about getting more then your whole life is about something other than God if riches is your goal then your riches is God but if God is the goal then wealth becomes a tool for the ministry and God He blesses that the third thing that he points to here is the desires that's the Greek word epithemia which is a combination of EP which means over and Thia which means the condition of the mind and so it's about what dominates your thoughts what dominates your desires it's in reference to lust and Cravings these desires come from the

Heart where the Gospel it has planted and it starts to grow but then these different desires come in and they choke out the Gospel because your heart becomes divided and it's devastating when we see that happening in people's hearts it's like the heart of a of a young girl that was once proposed to this man he gets down on his knee and he says darling I love you so much I love you so much and I know that I'm not the wealthiest man like old Johnny Brown and I won't ever have a yacht or a place at Martha's Vineyard for the summer or a cabin in Aspen Colorado like Johnny Brown I you know I don't have all of the these wonderful things I don't have a rollsroyce or a mansion or anything like Johnny Brown but I just want you to know that I love you so much with all of my heart and she says oh darling I love you with all of my heart too can you tell me more about Johnny Brown but in seriousness we have to be aware of those things that Vive for our attention these things are given to us as an instruction and as a warning for what to look for I mean just that we would fall in love with the Lord and that we would say yes to the Lord and we would just be obedient to the Lord and that we would just grow in the Lord and his commands and walk in his way my prayer for you is that you wouldn't be given to these cares and these deceptions and the these desires for the world but that you would be good soil for the truth of the Gospel and fourthly and finally the fruitful heart the fruitful heart is the good soil and the evidence of being good soil is not profession of belief it's not speeding Speedy growth it's not even looking healthy what does Christ say is the evidence bearing

Fruit see no one is saved by asking Christ into their heart we don't see that language anywhere in Scripture repentance and belief that's what we see we aren't saved by a profession of Faith but by possession of Faith big difference because the we must possess the faith that we possess if we are to be justified you see the seed of the Gospel has to take root in our hearts if we are to enter the kingdom of God tears and vows are not the H the work of the Holy Spirit repentance and obedience to the Gospel is it's an Act of Faith it's simply saying I believe Lord please work in me help me to walk with you wherever you would have me to go in Christ you talk about this extensively in John chapter 15 every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit skipping down to verses four and five abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me I am the vine you are the branches whoever abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing going to verse eight by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples professing Christian are you bearing fruit are you walking by faith are you abiding in Christ or do you identify with a hard heart did you make a profession years ago but you cave when things get hard do you have so many worries and desires that you're chasing every anything but Christ Jesus I can't help you with that I can't I'm not the Holy Spirit but Jesus can Jesus is the one that can radically take a hard heart a shallow heart a thorny

Heart and create something new and my prayer for you is that you would ask the Lord to make you good soil so that the kingdom of God would flourish in your life and that you would bear good fruit I love I love the fact that he says you know some 30 some 60 some 100 because there's some Christians that we look at and we go man that is just amazing what God is doing in them and then we kind of do that comparison thing you know we're not to compare ourselves to others we're to rest and abide in Christ we're to rely on him to do that work Paul he wrote this in Philippians chapter 1 verses 9-10 and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge in all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God it's as simple as that dealing with Jesus going to him he's the mediator you say God can you work on my heart can you change my heart can you move me to be more obedient to you because I'm struggling in this area God and he might He'll work on you he always does and so what's the big Point big point is this receive God's word with joy and obedience and share it with others so that you may bear fruit now there's many way other ways that you can apply this passage because that's how I applied it to my life this week that we may bear fruit head heart hand head I want you to know that this Parable it serves as a judgment for those that reject Christ as the Messiah and as hope for those that receive the Gospel so receive the Gospel walk in that abide in Christ and live for his glory heart I want you to believe that we are to receive the word with faith and respond with obedience you know that's how it works in the kingdom

Of God it's not obedience and then faith and then salvation no it's it's you know God work okay and we respond in faith to the Gospel and then our lives become obedient more and more and you know God he's still working on me and he's still working on you and we're all at different stages in that process of sanctification so bearing with one another is very important in hand I want you to deeply examine your life we're talking about this morning in community group about examining ourselves to see if we're in the faith to deeply examine your life and see if you bearing fruit in the kingdom of God let's pray and so Lord we do thank you so much for this day that you've given to us Lord your teachings can be difficult and sometimes very hard to hear Lord I just pray that you would just help us to conform Our Lives to the image that you want for us help us to not go to the left or to the right but to walk on that narrow path and Lord if we do wander Lord correct us that we might be pleasing and obedient and bearing fruit Lord we can be so dull sometimes I know in my own life U Lord I can see that so I just pray that you would just work on me and also in the lives of my brothers and sisters here help us father to respond by faith and to recommit ourselves to walking with you in Jesus name amen let's all stand and let's worship [Music] together what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow

No other found I know nothing but the blood of [Music] Jesus for my Parton this I see nothing but the blood BL of Jesus therefore my cleansing this might ple nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me white as no other found I know nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my hope this is All My Hope and peace nothing but the blood of Jesus this is all my rightousness nothing but the blood of Jesus oh precious is the flow that makes me wide as no other found I know nothing but the blood of Jesus [Music] Lord we thank you for this day of given us for this opportunity that we've had to worship together and Lord now we pray that you would help us to go from here and to worship you in spirit and in truth wherever we are even to the ends of the Earth God we pray that you would make us humble that you would help us to submit to your word in to your will even as we seek to sew that seed among all the people in our paths it's in Jesus name we pray amen e