Mark: Thankful for the presence of the Lord. He's just here. He's just here. In fact, could we just one more time just put your hands up before you and just say, Holy Spirit, we welcome you. We just we welcome you to come and speak to us. In fact, before I even begin today, Lord, I just ask that that your word would just penetrate my heart, our hearts, everyone in this place. I pray for ears to hear. I pray for eyes to be opened. I pray that even right now that you would begin to speak on all kinds of levels all over this room because that's what your word does. I pray that over this whole place today, people that came in here that needed something from you, other than even what I'm gonna say, I thank you that you are going to say the things that need to be said. And we welcome your voice, we welcome the anointing of the Lord, and we just say, We are yours and we are here and we are open. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, we're gonna we're gonna continue in the parables of Jesus today, and we're gonna look at the parable of the sower, the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter 13. And it's it's just such a power all the parables are powerful, but this one, man, it's been burning in me this week. And up until this point, Jesus had been going about all the cities and he'd been going to all the villages, he'd been preaching, he'd been teaching the message of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom, he's healing the sick, he's seeing people set free. How many thankful that Jesus still heals the sick and heals the oppressed? Sets people free. He still does. And Jesus is proclaiming as he goes this message. This was his message. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent. What does that mean? Repent means to turn, it means to change your mind. It means to go a different way. And he he was preaching this message of the kingdom. And he said, Repent and believe in the gospel. Believe in the gospel. And I believe that that is still the message today, church. Believe in the gospel, repent. It's not just a message for the world. I actually think it's a message for the church as well. It's a message for us, for the people of God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn, return. In other words, come back to the Lord with all your heart. Come back to him with all your heart. And Matthew 13 begins an extended teaching of Jesus about the kingdom. And it appears to be the first recorded parable. This one does. Most of the parables that Jesus preaches and teaches with begin with the words, the kingdom of heaven is like. We talked about that last week a little bit. Kingdom of heaven is like treasure in a field. The kingdom is the kingdom of heaven is like the a pearl of great price. This one is different. It doesn't begin with those words. And I believe it doesn't because before Jesus teaches us what life in the kingdom looks like, he teaches us how the kingdom gets into us. How the kingdom gets into us. And as it turns out, it gets into us through hearing. Through hearing. That's what he's telling us. Paul says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Luke. In his account of this parable, Jesus says, take care then how you hear. Take care how you hear. This I believe this is the issue of today. How are you hearing? How are you hearing? Turn to somebody and say, How's your hearing? How's your hearing? Could be a loaded question in some homes. You know, I I know as my kids were growing up, you know, you know, you can have your kids in a room and they can be looking at you and they look like they're hearing you. But you know they are not. Right? Has any parents ever had that experience before? I mean, yeah, we all know what that's like. People heard Jesus very differently. Very differently. Many people received his words, loved his words. Many couldn't, many wouldn't receive his words, wouldn't hear them. Many people whose hearts were were set against him were actually hardened even more by the message of the kingdom of God. He had some people say, You're the Messiah, and he had some people say, You have a demon. Some people were like, we love this. We love you, we love this. Some people are like, we want you dead. I've had that experience in pastoring. Just kidding. Some people walked away healed and and restored and full of hope. Many did. Others walked away angry and hardened. Some people got it, some people didn't. Some people were ready to hear, and some just weren't able to hear. They didn't want to hear. You think about this: the same Jesus, the same word that's going out, different responses. And this parable lets us into why this is. It tells us why this happens. So we're gonna jump in in verse one of Matthew 13. And Jesus says, or Jesus didn't say this, but this is setting it up. It says that same day, Jesus went out to the house, and it says he sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. I want you just I want you to picture this for a minute, okay? Jesus, he's surrounded by so many people that he he's teaching and he's sharing that he actually has to go get into a boat and sail out into the Sea of Galilee. The shoreline is just rising around him, and it's almost created this like natural amphitheater. And there's hundreds and there's thousands of people that are right there, and they're leaning in to hear Jesus. And somehow, in this setting, his voice kind of carries on the water, and hundreds and thousands of people are hearing without a microphone. It's incredible. They want to hear, they're there to listen to Jesus. And in verse three it says, And he told them many things in parables, saying, A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Others other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. And Jesus says this He says, He who has ears, let him hear. And then the disciples came to him and they said to him, They said this, they said, Why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus answered them. So apparently the disciples pulled Jesus aside after he's given that message. Now that was quite a short message. I mean, that was the sermon. How many wish the sermons here were that short? Course you don't. So the disciples step aside, they say, Jesus, tell us why why are you talking like that? And Jesus answers them. And it and so he's speaking to his disciples, and I and I believe he's speaking now to believers. He's speaking to us. And he says, This to you it has been given, to you, it's been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, those who believe in me, those who trust in me. But to them who are who is them? To them. People who do not trust in him, it has not been given. For to the one who has, get this more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has, will be taken away. So what's he talking about here? Here's what he's talking about. For those of you who have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you begun a journey with him, right? And the moment you put your faith in Jesus, you are justified in that moment. And you are being then progressively sanctified, and one day you're going to be glorified. In other words, one more will be given. The ones who have a yes to me, their ears are open, their eyes are open, and progressively there is more and more and more. But for the one who has not, the one who doesn't have faith, even what he has will be taken away. If don't have eyes to see and you don't have ears to hear, I'd like to suggest it's because you actually don't think you need a savior. He's saying if you don't put your your faith and your trust in me, you're actually on the road to destruction. That's what he's talking about here. Okay? Jesus is, you know, he's just giving him some fluffy messages. It's great. Verse 13, this is, Jesus goes on, he says, 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. In other words, what the scriptures have been talking about is right in front of them. I'm here, and yet they can't see me. They don't want to hear. They don't want to see. Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah 6 is fulfilled that says this this is what Isaiah prophesied. He said, you'll indeed hear, but never understand. And you'll indeed see, but never perceive. For the people's heart has grown dull. And with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and get this. I would heal them. I would heal them. Love that. But blessed are your eyes, he says. For they see, and your ears, for they hear, for truly I say to you, many prophets, many righteous people long to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Here's what I want you to hear in that last little section. I want you to hear what Jesus said. I would heal them. I would heal them. I would heal them. I would, I would let them see. I would let them hear. If they would respond, if they would repent, if they would turn. Do you know what it is to have ears to hear and eyes to see? I believe it's what Jesus calls poor in spirit. He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are people that have their ears and their eyes opened. And their hands open that say, God, I need you. God, I need you. Help me. There's a there's a humility in them. Would you let me see? I want to hear. Jesus says, theirs is the kingdom. Do we have any people like that here this morning? They said, theirs is the kingdom. Jesus saying, Do you know how many faithful, godly prophets and people wish they could hear what you're hearing today, see what you're seeing today? Moses begged to see the face of God. And here is the face of God. I'm standing here. Verse 18, he goes on, he says this, he says, Hear then the parable of the sower. Hear then the parable of the sower. Look at those two words. Hear then. Turn to somebody and say, Hear then. That's different than hear ye. Hear then. Hear then. You know what hear then means? Pay attention. Pay attention. I'm about to give you the mysteries of the kingdom. Jesus is saying, pay attention to the preaching and the teaching of the word of God. How many know that we need this in our day? He's teaching his disciples and he's teaching us. He's saying, lean in and focus. Focus in. And this is something that's really been burning in my heart for us as a church that when the word of God is being proclaimed, when we gather like this, or when anyone is preaching on this stage, we need to pay attention. We need to lean in. I sat on I sat on Wednesday night and in the equip session with Dene, and Danae just absolutely presented the gospel and and brought forth the word of God so beautifully and so powerfully. And you know what? There I was, I was ready to receive. I had my notebook open. I was taking notes. I had my Bible. Why? Because I wanted to hear what God wanted to say. I would, I, I, you know, she's carrying something so beautiful that opens the heart of for the lost and a heart of evangelism, a heart for the city. And I came knowing that, and I and I thought, I want my heart to expand in this. Jesus, would you speak to me tonight? Jesus, would you speak to me tonight? a couple weeks ago, Pastor Aaron, he's here, he's preaching on forgiveness. I'm in the front row, my first Sunday back, and you know what? My notebook's open, my Bible's open, I'm listening to the word of God, and I'm saying, God, I want to hear what you have to say to me today. I took two two pages of notes, it was powerful, wasn't it? But it's not that Aaron or Danae are that great, it's they are. It's that the word of God is so great. And sometimes I think we get casual with the word of God. You know who else I see doing that? Pastor Gary, a seasoned pastor, decades and decades and decades in the Word of God. There he is every Sunday morning with his notebook, his pen, leaning in, saying, I want to get what God has for me today. How many know that if if if someone like that is doing that, maybe we should all take a cue and say, God, what are you saying? I want to be ready for it. I want to exhort you in this today. We get casual with the things of God. Sunday morning isn't just another thing. Sunday morning is a sacred moment for the public proclaiming of the word of God. And if we have ears to hear, God will speak something to us that will transform our lives. I'm telling you, it's deep and it's good and it's it's big. I want to encourage you in this. When I come in here, I I encourage you to just ask the Lord. Lord, speak to me. Lord, correct me. Lord, Lord, convict me. Lord, encourage me. I want to hear from you. Why? Point number one because the seed has power. The seed has power. And Jesus, he goes then line by line and he explains, he explains the parable. Verse 19. He explains this to the disciples. He says, When anybody hears the word of the kingdom. And does not understand it, this is what happens. Says the evil one comes and snatches away what's been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but he endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He inde indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and another thirty. I love that Jesus explains things to us. And I love that sometimes he doesn't. And we have to lean into him to understand what it is he's saying. But Jesus calls this the parable of the sower. I think we could also call it the parable of the soils. Jesus describes four soils here, right? What's he doing? He's describing, he's describing four responses. He's he's describing four hearts, four kinds of dirt. Turn to somebody and tell you are dirt. You are the dirt in the story. You are the dirt in the story. And I just say this with with hundreds of people here this morning in the family center. Many are watching online today. All four soils are represented here today. All four of these soils are here. I believe they're actually in the room. And the question we need to ask from the text is really this, what soil am I? What soil am I? What person am I? What kind of soil is my heart right now? Jesus, of course, is the sower in the parable. The word of God is the seed, and my heart is the dirt. And so I want you just to imagine this as Jesus is preaching and teaching, and he's going about declaring the kingdom of God. The sower, Jesus, he's he's reaching into that bag of seed and he's scattering it. He's scattering it. He's he's reaching in again and he and he scatters it. Four handfuls of seed in this story, what he's talking about. And every handful, guess what, is the same. Same grain thrown by the same hand. Guess what? The sower never changes and the seed never changes. So whatever changes the outcome of the stories, it can't be the sower and it can't be the seed. There's only one thing that can change, and that's the soil. That's the dirt. That's your heart. He's trying to reveal the heart. Do you know Jesus always is going for the heart? He's always going for the heart. There's only one thing that can change, and it's the soil. The parable is about the ground that the seed lands in. It's about the heart that the word of God lands on. And the point number two is this, the the soil determines the response. Seed is the word of God. How many know the seed, the word of God has the power to bring transforming life? It has, it has, it has power. It's it's it has power, it has potential to transform anything that it hits. Tell you what, when the word of God gets dropped in your spirit, it has the potential to radically change everything about your life. It's living, the Bible says, right? It's active. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It's piercing. I love that. It's piercing. The word of God pierces us. It's piercing to the division of soul and spirit. And guess guess what else? It's discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So when you are deceived by your own heart, guess what won't be deceived? The word of God. When you are drawn here or drawn there. and your heart is deceived, guess what isn't deceived? The word of God. And it when it's when it's dropped into you, it will actually set you on course if your soil can receive it. If if your heart can receive it. That's why the Bible says out of the heart, out of the heart flows the wellspring of life. Psalm 119, I've I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Do you know that the greatest antidote for sin? Obviously the blood of Jesus and what he's done, but it's the word of God inside of us. But here's the thing: you can have scripture memorized, you can have it in your mind, but if it does not get into your heart, if it doesn't get planted into your heart, it won't bear fruit. That was the case with the religious people. I mean The Pharisees and the and the religious community, they they had the word of God memorized, right? They had it memorized here, but you know what? It hadn't made that journey from the head to the heart. It didn't get planted in the heart. Jesus is talking about the heart. I was reading the way that they farmed in Middle Eastern culture, and it's not the way we farm today. I was reading first the farmer would actually go out to the different soils and just would begin to scatter the seed before he plowed it. And it would land on hard ground. So what they did is they actually sowed generously first. On the hard ground, and then they would come back and they would till the ground. So the seed went everywhere. Get this. You sowed generously first and then dealt with the ground. How many are thankful that Jesus is generous? He is the generous sower. He he releases seed all over, and then he comes back and he and he and he deals with the ground. Some of it always lands where it cannot grow, but that's the risk. And we you see this all through Jesus' ministry. Like he's sowing seeds generously. You know, sometimes we blame pastors and we blame churches for things that that are not their fault. Sometimes it's the heart of the person that will not receive what God is saying. Are you with me? He's generous. Why? Because he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life. I always think about Jesus preaching, Jesus teaching, and I think about God in the flesh is preaching the word of God. Don't you think everybody should be slain in the spirit every time he opens his mouth? That's not what happens. Like this is God preaching and he's not received. Like, as a pastor, this encourages me. It's not me, it's you. No, I'm just kidding. I'm joking, I'm joking. I'm glad you can laugh with me. Some of you are offended, but it's okay. But you know what I've what I've realized? Like I can be preaching a message, and one person, I'll look out, has tears flowing. And another person is snoozing. I know who you are. It's okay. If you needed sleep, maybe that was the best thing for you. I mean, I don't encourage it, but next week everybody just come take a nap. No, that's not what I'm talking about. You know, there's times I I'm preaching and I can I can see the lights on. I can see the lights on in somebody. I mean somebody is like a sponge absorbing it. And they just have this posture of leaning in. You have this. Another person might be scrolling on their phone and making plans for lunch. Right? I don't know what you're doing. I just if you have your phone, I just assume you're on the Bible, taking notes. But here's the thing all the while, seed is being scattered. Seed is being scattered. One person comes hungry, open to what God is saying. Another person leaves. I didn't get much out of that today. I didn't care for the preaching today. That's what I say to that. If the word of God was preached, who cares what you think? I that's a strong word, but I mean that because I'm not the only preacher here. I'd say that for the other people here. This isn't about me. I'm saying if the word of God is being proclaimed and you walk out as a consumer and say that wasn't that great, give me a break. What did God want to speak to you today that you were turned off to? Maybe I need another hip replacement. I don't know. I feel that in my bone my bones. Do guys break that off of your life. Our city is so filled with that kind of crap. That's a religious spirit. Somebody's preaching the word of God. If it's coming forth, you take what God has for you. But if you come in like wow me or show me or whatever, do your tricks, you're not gonna get what He has for you. He might want to say something to you that that preacher, that person has not even said, but if you're open to it. It will get in your heart, it will get planted and it will grow. I had some pent up something there. I want to shoot you straight. The word of God is being preached. He will always be speaking to you. Regardless of how great or not great the preacher is or the delivery is. I'm giving myself all week long to prepare, to preach on this stage each week, to be ready to stand here. I will never stand here, not pursuing the presence of God in prayer. in the scriptures doing the work. But here's what I want to ask you. Are you preparing to come? Are you preparing when you come? To hear, do you get ready to receive? Because the word does not fail. Preacher might fail. The word does not fail. The failure is never seen in the seed. It's always in the soil. The difference between a wasted life and a fruitful one is determined by where the word, where the seed lands. Look at these four soils. We're gonna touch on each of them real quick. The first one is this the hard soil, right? The path. The path. This is the person, I think we got the graphic, right? We could put the path one up there, Jeff. The hard soil. They hear the word, the seed lands, but the path was so hard and it was so packed down that the seed couldn't get in. What is this? This is the hardened heart. You can hear God's word without allowing it to change you. You actually can. If you have a desire for it to change you, it will change you every time. But you can actually hear it and it not change you. Now hardness can be blatant, it can be belligerent, it can be flat out rebellious, but hardness doesn't always look overtly rebellious. Sometimes it sounds like this, I've heard this before. Sometimes it sounds like I'll deal with that later. Sometimes it just it just looks like casualness. Sometimes it looks like, hey, no, no, no, thank you. Some of us say we love Jesus, but we have a hardened area of our heart. Like I'll give you this part, but that part's mine. Do you know what that is? That's a hardened heart. That's a hardened part of your heart. I'll come to church, but but my money is mine. Right, my my sexuality, that's mine. Like that that that's a hardened area of your heart. I want to shoot straight with you today, guys. A hardened heart doesn't want to hear I should love. A hardened heart doesn't want to hear that I need to forgive. When when when the word of God, the message comes about forgiveness, the hardened heart has an opportunity to say, I wanna let that word come in now, or it can be hardened, say, I don't wanna forgive. Here's the thing, the place that the place that convicts you most is the place you need to listen to the most. Because eventually what once convicted us will no longer bother us. This is the process of what happens in the hardening. The hardening of that ground. Not because the word of God changed, but because the soil did. Right? Heard it said like this before some of us love him as savior, but we don't love him as Lord. We need the conviction of his word. And when that seed gets in you, guess what it'll do? It'll convict you. It will bring conviction. It will cause repentance. It'll cause repentance to actually come forth from your heart. His conviction, church, is his love. Right? Like his discipline is his love. You want this. I want this. The worst thing is Romans chapter one, where he gives us over to what we want. Let me tell you, you don't want to be given over to what you want. You want that word to come in and have that work in you. Jesus says, this hard soil, this hard heart, the enemy comes, snatches the word, takes it off. I want to tell you, this morning, even as the word of God's being proclaimed, there's spiritual warfare going on. Because there's a fight for the heart of people in this room today. And as the word is going forth, there there's an opportunity for hardness to soften or hardness to get harder. Be aware of your heart right now. And I'd encourage you, even if you're a you know a prayer, if you're an intercessor, pray when the word of God is being preached. Because you know what? The enemy wants to come and snatch the seed. Here's the thing I've realized over the years I don't have the power to penetrate a heart. Only the Spirit of God can penetrate a heart. And if you're here today and you have a hard heart, I just dare you to ask the Lord one thing. I dare you to pray this Lord, please soften my heart. Lord, please soften my heart. Soften my heart. Awaken my sensitivity to you. I've grown calloused and I've grown hard. And I've given myself to other things. And but I need you to come and do what only you can do. I feel hard, but I don't want to feel hard. How many know that that's the prayer to pray? Like I don't, this is what's happening, but I don't want this. Come and soften my heart, because guess what? He will. He will do it. He will do it. All right, the second soil is this the rocky soil. The rocky soil. And Jesus says this in verse 20 says, The one who, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. We can say this is the shallow heart, okay? This is the person who is pumped, who is excited, who is like, I'm showing up for everything. It's awesome, but guess what? There's no root. Because the rock prevents the root from growing deep. And the heart, it fails to sink a deep root. They endure for a while, but when the emotions and the moment wear off and the difficulties of being faithful arrive, they fall away. How many know that it is difficult to be faithful? There's difficulties in being faithful. There's tons of grace with it, but there are moments. Of difficulty, there is pushback. When the storms come, when the disappointments of life push in, the pushbacks of life show up. When when what he's talking about here is a tribulation and the persecutions arise on account of the word, meaning like you actually have to go a different direction than where you were going because of the word of God. Notice he didn't say if they come, he said, when they come. When they come. You've got to be rooted in the Word of God and around the people of God because if you're not, when they come, you'll you'll be you'll be blown over. You'll be blown over because you were chasing a feeling. problem with this soil is that when the heat showed up, the problem came. Problem came when the heat showed up. I ask you to, what happens to you when the heat shows up? I mean, it is a hundred today. What happens to you? You know, you think about our air conditioners. Like weeks of hundreds, I've seen the more air conditioning trucks in my neighborhood than ever. The heat showed up. It it produced some problems. What happens to you when the heat shows up? Because what he's saying is what happens with his soil is that then they fall away. There was nothing wrong with their enthusiasm, it's what was under the enthusiasm. Right? Church, we can't ignore the rocks and the stones. We have to deal with them. We have to repent of them. We have to turn. Here's what I tell you the gardener will work the soil. Rocks can be places in our hearts where there's disappointment, where there's pain, where there's regrets, where there's unforgiveness, where there's all kinds of things. And these things mess up the soil and they hinder our harvest. If that stony heart is offense or it's unforgiveness, I want to just encourage you today. Don't wait for somebody else to do what's right. Refuse to let the condition of the soil of your heart be determined by somebody else. Guess what? When you stand before the Lord, like they're not gonna be there. When you stand before the Lord and give account for your life, it's not gonna be about what they did, it's gonna be about what you did. And I'll tell you what, that'll set you free today. That will set you free. Get it out, invite the Lord to heal it. Amen. All right, the third soil, the thorny soil. Thorny soil. I think. biggest problem with this one is that no one thinks this is them. Nobody. I ain't got thorns. This is the one, Jesus says, verse 22. This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and proves unfruitful. This is the this is the divided heart. Okay? Are you guys with me today? We too serious? Okay. It's all right. We could say like this that they they worship God and things. This is the heart that worships God and things. We got into that a little bit last week in that last parable. And the word gets choked out. He says, these two things will take you out if you have thorny soil. It's the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. You know, Jesus talks about money more than anything else. Why? Because it's deceitful. Because money is tricky. How many know money is tricky? It's tricky. The love of it, the Bible says, is the root of all evil. First Timothy 6 10. We always quote that part, but the next part is so amazing. The love of money is the root of all evil. It is through this craving, get this, that some have wandered from the faith. And get this, and pierced themselves with many pangs. That's not good. Some of us might want to put that scripture up on our mirror and just meditate on it and let the Lord do it, do his work in it. Let him speak to your heart about what does that mean. Jesus says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. He says, No one can serve two masters. You can't serve God in money. So money is deceitful, and the cares of this world will choke you out. And I think this is the most dangerous soil of the three that failed because here's the deal. It it often doesn't look like failure when it's happening. The word takes root, it begins to rise up, but the but the but the thorns were already in the ground too. And and they grow with the seed, and the plant doesn't die all of a sudden, it just gets squeezed quietly over a season. It uses up all its strength, surviving instead of producing for the kingdom of God. Thorns, cares, anxieties of this life, worries of this life, misplaced affections. Things that are good that that we've turned into things that are ultimate. Often the thorns choked. The the the thorn the the horn I can't speak. Often the thorn-choked heart isn't the heart running from God. It's actually the heart of someone who said yes to God and then let the cares and the worries and the false promises of things of this world choke out the life. It's the weighed down heart. Have you ever had this kind of soil? I have. Maybe some of you are experiencing it today. The thorns work very subtly to make you deaf. To make you blind to the word of God. Cause all of a sudden life has become too much and you can't even pay attention to it. It's just too much. I can't even go there, Jesus. Here's a couple ways it shows up. I think, I think this thorns at the root show up in pride. They show up in pride, like pride of life. And and pride'll show up, and it'll cause you to think that you have authority over the Word of God. Now, of course, we would never say it, but it shows up in life, right? Are you with me? It'll show up. You can't tell me what I can do with my life. Right? Where I spend my money, where where where who I sleep with, what I can drink, and how much I can drink. What I do with my body. I'm telling you, friends, the false promises that Jesus is talking about here are just that. They're false. They're false. They promise a lot, but they will leave you choked out of life and wore out and miserable because they're competing with the word of God. Luke's Section on this, he says this, it does not mature. It does not mature. The cares of this life, the loves of this world are like thorns that want to choke out the very life of the word that got planted in you, so you'll be unfruitful and keep you from maturity. We gotta pay attention to our soil. The thorns show up as the fear of man. They show up as pride shows up as the fear of man. The fear of man over the fear of God. What does that mean? It means I the the cares of this world over your care of what God thinks. Pleasing God over pleasing people. What will people think if I if I respond to that word of the Lord? What will they think if I do this radical thing that Jesus is calling me to? What will people think if I break this relationship off or this friendship off? Because it's literally choking the word of God out of my life. Right? Like like we're afraid of what people think. Church, we need the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord will break off the fear of man. What what will they think if I end that business deal or Or I this financial pursuit I'm in. What will people think if if I don't have the nicest car and the nicest house because we want to live a life of generosity? Instead of being consumed by anxiety of keeping up with the Joneses and I don't even know who the Joneses are. The fear of man will rob you of your ears to hear and your eyes to see. Jesus says, be careful how you listen. Hear this. But the fear of the Lord, it actually opens our eyes and opens our ears. I just close this soil out with this. I believe the actual antidote to the thorns is this seek first the kingdom of heaven. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Making money isn't bad. Doing well at work isn't bad. It could be very much God's call, part of God's call in your life, but it cannot be the ultimate. If it's the ultimate, it'll choke you out. For soil. How many ready for some good soil? Hear about something good. This is the good soil. I think we have a lot of good soil in this room. I think we got some good, good soil here at Hope Church. Jesus says, This is what you're like. Verse 23. The one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case, a hundredfold, in another, sixty, and in another, thirty. So, in this soil, this heart, the seed goes in, the roots go down, and they bear fruit. And here's what's to understand about this: a normal harvest would have produced a handful of grain for a handful of seed. A return of tenfold would have been like, wow. Farmers would have been like, that is an unbelievably strong harvest. So when Jesus is talking to them, In this agriculture language, and he says, some are gonna have a hundredfold. He's talking about a harvest here, guys. Get this that would have been staggering. It would have been ridiculous. It would have been miraculous. An abundance that would have seemed impossible in the natural. It would have made a farmer leap for joy to hear that that kind of harvest was coming. In other words, nobody could make it happen. How many know what the word of God and the spirit of God do, no one else can make happen? Not your will, not your trying. It is the Spirit of God. It is the Word of God. This is what He's trying to show us happens in the kingdom of God when the Word of God gets in you. And it gets planted in you and it springs up. It's what it does in good soil. One plants, another waters. But God causes all things to grow. last point as I close is this, the third thing. The goal is fruitfulness. The goal is fruitfulness. Good soil bears good fruit. So here's what I ask you today. Do you bear fruit? Do you bear fruit? And this should be encouraging. Jesus, he isn't grading us against the most fruitful person we know. How many thankful for that today? He doesn't compare the percentages. Jesus is asking, is anything growing? Is the word doing its work in you? If not, then why? Why? Here's what I just even ask you today, just between you and the Lord, is is Jesus changing you? Not not like last year did he change you. Not like ten years ago. Not like, you know, when you raised your hand and said yes to him. But like, is Jesus actually changing you? Are you becoming more like him? Are you more and more progressively becoming like him? Do you have let me ask you this, do you have an increasing love for the Word of God? You have an increasing love for the presence of Jesus. You have a decreasing love for sin. Decreasing desire for the world. Because here's the truth. This is what he shows us here. Good soil bears good fruit. This look like Like, you know, I take the word of God on my own and I'm reading it, and I let Him speak to me. Sometimes it's not that exciting. Can we be real? It's not about being exciting because we're not growing roots that are moved by excitement. We're growing, we want to have soil that that's moved by depth. So we're planting. And I heard somebody say this: like, do you know what you you ate two Tuesdays ago for dinner? No. But you know what? It nourished you and it sustained you and it gave you the energy you needed. You don't remember what it was. I think it's oftentimes like that with the word of God. I'm putting it in me, and all of a sudden it's in there, it's growing, it's growing, it's growing. And then all of a sudden, before I know it, my gosh, there's fruit, there's a harvest. All of a sudden, when I'm facing this temptation that comes, all of a sudden I realize, my gosh, I put 1 Corinthians 10, 13 in me. No temptation is overtaking you. Such is common to man that God is faithful, right? And He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. He will provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. my goodness, if I don't have that promise and that thing growing up in me, do you know what's gonna happen? When that temptation comes, I'm gonna think, I've got to give into that. But do you know what happens when I got the word of God in me? When the word of God in me is in there and it's growing up, guess what? That thing doesn't it pales in comparison to what the word of God has done inside of me. That's just how this works. So when that word gets in us, it grows. And all of a sudden, progressively, more and more and more sanctification, I start looking more like Jesus. We have a part in tending the soil of our heart. One person, they wake up, they give God the first of their day. Just with this, many people spend time with the Lord at different times of the day, but they go into their secret room like Jesus says, they close the door and they meet with Him. They let His word wash over them. They let the seed go deep. Another person, they wake up in the morning and man, they grab the phone, they start scrolling, they're answering, they're rushing, and they wonder why their heart is the way that it is. Why is it you didn't get the seed in you? Some of you say, that sounds like religious condemnation. It's not actually what it's called is cultivation. Cultivating. Someone might say, you know, I tried that. Try it again. So here's the question, and I close with this, that Jesus puts before us today. What kind of soil are you? What's the soil of your heart? Is it hard? Is it shallow? Is it crowded with thorns? Or is it open and surrendered to the Word of God? Would you stand with me this morning? How many thankful that soil can change? Guess who doesn't change? The sower. Guess what doesn't change? The seed. He's generously sowing, generously drawing us in. And here's the good news: hard ground can be broken up. Rocks can get pulled out. Thorns can get yanked. The question is, how will you receive what he's saying? Invite our ministry team, would you come? Would you just close your eyes? I just want to pray over us right now as we close. Just would love for just some of the ministry team to come, because I want to open up the front in just a minute for anybody that wants prayer. But would you close your eyes? Maybe if you just feel a posture of surrender, maybe just put your hands before the Lord. And I just want to invite the chief gardener. The chief gardener to come this morning to just do a work. Just to do a work in hearts right now. I just say this, if there are rocks in your heart, just say, Jesus, come and pull those rocks out. He might say, hey, you need to pull that one out. And you do it together. If you got thorns in your life, man, surrender those thorns. Pull them out. Say, I've got this misplaced thing in my life. It's it's sucking the life out of me and I don't want it anymore. I want to tell you, right now, in a moment, in the presence of the Lord, those thorns can get yanked out and you can walk out of here with soil that is good for growing. If the grounds become hard and hardened, I want to just ask him, just say, Lord Jesus, would you soften my heart today? Would you soften my heart? Would you make me receptive to your word? Would you make me receptive to your voice? Because this is what I want to declare over you today. There's a harvest that God desires to bring out of your life that you could never produce on your own. I pray you'd give us ears to hear and eyes to see. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. With every eye closed, I'm going to close this way. I want to give an invitation to receive Jesus. And if you're here and you do not know him, we think it'd be the best thing you could ever do. And this team at the front here, we're here and we'd love to pray with you. But here's what I'll say to you: just with every eye closed, just be praying if you're a believer. Jesus lived a life that you you could never live. He died a death that you deserve to die. He rose. He rose from the grave to give you the life you could never earn. You don't clean yourself up and then come to Jesus. You just come to Jesus and He makes you new and He gives you a new heart and He starts working in your heart. You don't have to be perfect. You just come to Him and you just say, Here I am. I I don't even know what I'm doing, but I want you. Today I want to I want to ask if that's you and you say, I want to turn from my sin. I want to repent. I want to I want to enter into the kingdom of God and I want to put my faith in Jesus today. If that's you today, Would you raise your hand so I could see it? I'm not gonna embarrass you, but I think that there's something to making a decision like this: a public decision. If you're here today and that's you, lift your hand. Maybe you've been away from the Lord and you'd say, Today, I need to return to the Lord. I need to return to the Lord. I want to give you an opportunity. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. This team would love to pray with you in a few minutes. I pray as we walk out of this place, I pray we wouldn't have just Read a parable, but I pray that we would let this parable and the Spirit of God examine our hearts. And we would say, Jesus, do the work that only you can do. Because we want to be fruitful, a fruitful people in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. Amen. Can we end this way? Could you give someone around you a hug before you leave? And if you want some prayer, come on up here. Come on up for prayer. God bless you. We love you.