Turn in your Bibles tonight to
the 13th chapter of Matthew. We've been in the 12th, and we've
come to the conclusion of the 12th, so we'll begin tonight
with the 13th chapter. And I've titled tonight's study,
Teaching in Parables. In this 13th chapter, this is
the top of page 1, of the handout. In the 13th chapter of Matthew,
our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us the gospel by seven distinct
illustrations called parables. Illustrations of divine truths
drawn from the natural elements of his creation. He calls the
teachings of these parables the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven
over there in Matthew 13 verse 11. And we'll get to that a little
deeper on down the road. But I wanted you to understand
that the Lord has a reason for these. And this reason is the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Now, look with me, if you would,
in your Bible, verses 1 through 3 of Matthew chapter 13. The
same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside,
and great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
went into a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on
the shore. And he spake many things unto
them, in parables saying, behold, a sower went forth to sow. And
we'll get to the rest of that in just a moment. But I want
to start with this, back in our handout, mid-page. First, we
must ask this question, why teach in a parable? Why? And I want
you to look in your Bibles again now, verse 10 and 11. And the
disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them
in parables? That's a good question. Good
question for us to ask the Lord. Why? And in verse 11, he gives
us that answer. He said unto them, because it
is given unto you. to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Now, this is very, very important
as we go through this chapter. And I'll probably refer back
to this verse many times throughout this chapter as we go through
these seven different parables. It's very important to understand
it is given unto you. This is why he teaches using
parables. It is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
not given. Now back in, again, mid-page,
I repeat again. Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given. Again, our Lord makes a distinction between men. There are some the mysteries
of Kingdom Heaven are given to know and others not. hidden,
as it were. Remember what we read back in
chapter 11? And I've got it for you here,
Matthew 11, verse 25 through 26. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father. The Lord Jesus Christ, praying
unto the Father, says, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and the prudent. and hath revealed them unto babes,
even so, father, for it seemed good in thy sight." Now folks,
our salvation is of the Lord. All of it. I'm going to repeat
that. Our salvation is of the Lord,
all of it. Not one thing can be added nor
taken away. We who belong to God, the people
of God, the church, the sanctified, sanctified by the calling of
the Holy Spirit, set apart, made holy by the righteousness of
Christ, justified by his blood, we are saved by grace through
faith. That means belief, through believing.
A gift of God, not of works, lest man should boast. And that's
just me quoting off my mind the scriptures of Ephesians chapter
2. Last sentence of page one, and
the doctrine of election is so important as to teach us what
grace is. Now, I want to stop there for
a moment before we go to page two. The doctrine, the teaching
of election, is so important because that's the doctrine that
the world, the religious of this world, are abusing and throwing
out. We don't believe that we're chosen
in Christ. We don't believe God's word when
he says he chose us from before the world was. We believe that
means he looked down through time and saw what we would do
in making a decision for him. Jesus loves everybody. That's
absolute baloney. Truck driver almost came out
of me there. Thank you for stopping me, Lord. Some of you might be
smiling about that, but it's not funny. I still fight those
things, folks. I still fight that very thing
that I grew up with. And that's why you're laughing
about it, huh? Because you do, too. Folks, election. is the
thing most hated by this current world. It was hated by the world
then as well. The Pharisees, they hated the
fact that God said, I have chosen you. I have loved you. They hated
the Old Testament words that said in Jeremiah, I have loved
you with an everlasting love, therefore in loving kindness,
I draw thee. They hated that. They thought
they had done everything right. I put on the right clothes today.
I walked the walk of a Christian. I made a decision when to follow
my Lord. Back in our handout, top of page
two, when we see God choosing to, by grace, reveal his truths
to some, we can take no glory for ourselves and do nothing
but praise him. And that's the whole point of
grace. It takes everything out of the
hands of men. It takes everything out, including
us choosing God. And he puts it in Christ's hands,
and it gives him all the glory. The Old Testament is all about
this very kind of teaching. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets. In sundry times, in different
times, and in different ways, pictures and types. That's in
Hebrews 1, verse 1. Jonah was a type of, in the Old
Testament, a picture of our Christ and Messiah. I put this in here
so that you could see this. And they said everyone to his
fellow. Now, they're on the ship. Remember,
Jonah was told to go to Nineveh. And he didn't want to go to Nineveh.
He ran from the Lord. And the Lord allowed him. The
Lord had purposed him to run. so that he would learn a lesson,
so these very events would happen. Listen now, let's go on. And
they said everyone to his fellow, he got on his ship, the storm
had raised up, they were afraid they were going to sink, and
they said unto one to his fellow, come and let us cast lots, that
we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us." They were afraid
the ship was going to sink. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon Jonah. Now, do you think that was an
accident? Folks, there is no accident with God. God is the
first purpose of all things. If I roll a set of dice and I
get a certain number, it's because God has determined that dice
to show that number, no matter what it is. Every single molecule
that we have is controlled and purposed by God to be exactly
where it's at. So the lot fell on Jonah. Then
said they unto him, tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause
this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation, and
whence comest thou? What is thy country, and of what
people art thou? And he said unto them, I am a
Hebrew, and I fear the Lord. the God of heaven, which hath
made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly
afraid, and they said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he had
fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee, that the
sea may be calm unto us? Now look, for the sea wrought
and was sensuous. Now here's the picture of Christ.
And he said unto them, take me up, and cast me forth, into the
sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you." You see how small
that little picture is of Christ? That's what a parable does. It
takes a picture. We may look at a whole barn and
trees and all those things in a painted picture in the background,
and the whole picture may have had one thing to be its focus,
the door on the barn. That door is Christ. He is the
door and the only way. He is the way. The truth. Let's go on. Moses was a type
as well. He was a picture of the deliverer. He was actually called the deliverer.
They had looked for a deliverer for 400 years. They were encamped
in Egypt. And for most of that 400 years,
they were enslaved to the Egyptians under the bondage, a picture,
a type, a parable of what sin is. And they would look for a
deliverer. And here comes Moses, the one
who was appointed by God. And the same is a picture of
Christ, our deliverer, the one who was appointed and anointed
by God himself to deliver his people out of the bondage of
sin. So we see that Moses was a picture
of the deliverance of God's people as well. But let us not make
a picture more than it is. Pastor Gene and I were talking
about this this morning. Here's a statement that he made
to me this morning. He says, I'll give you an illustration
that I've given before many a times. When I was in the Navy, he said,
I carried a picture of my wife and son with me when I was deployed. And he would look upon this picture
and feel the love he had for them swell up inside of him.
But when he returned home, he held them in his arms and had
no need to look at the picture. That picture was good, but reality
was better. God. who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son."
Brother Don Fortner wrote this, page three, top of page three.
When we study the parables, several things need to be kept in mind.
We do not build our doctrine, our teaching, upon parables. Parables illustrate teaching. They do not establish teaching
or doctrine. Our doctrine must be built upon
the plain statements of Holy Scripture contextually interpreted. Second, parables are earthly
stories or illustrations of heavenly truths. They are earthly pictures
of spiritual things. When the Lord Jesus preached
the gospel, he gave people pictures and illustrations of his doctrine
to fix it in their minds. Yet he never gave a picture or
an illustration that was debasing to the gospel, or one that lowered
the message of the gospel to make it more palatable to men. is it is not necessary, thirdly,
it's not necessary for everything in the parable to mean something,
or to even be compatible with the doctrine of the gospel. Like
the types of the Old Testament, the parables of the New Testament
were never intended to be perfect illustrations of gospel truths. They are just illustrations,
and nothing more than illustrations. Yet they are beautiful, instructive
illustrations. Then lastly, he states this.
He says, each parable is designed to illustrate and enforce only
one thing. If we try to make the parables
teach many things, we misuse them. Just as a preacher today
uses a story only to illustrate one thing, so our Lord used his
parables to illustrate, enforce, and drive home one particular
thing, not two or three or twenty. So as we go into this chapter,
let us keep Christ before us. and hold fast the graciousness
of our Lord in revealing the things concerning Himself to
us through His Word. That's what He did with the two
men on the Word to Emmaus. He preached to them. He revealed.
He expounded. He expounded. That's teaching.
He brought out. He brought out the things concerning
Himself. So let the Lord, may He Teach
us the things concerning himself through his word tonight. May
our hearts burn within us at the hearing of his word. The
Lord teaches us through this parable, the sower, in Matthew
13, verses 1 through 23, the necessity of hearing the word
of the gospel with a believing heart. Now, that's important.
Folks, the gospel is a heart matter. That's the spirit. That's our spirit. I'm not talking
about the muscle that pumps the blood. I'm talking about our
spirit, the inward man, the conscience, private thought we produce when
we think. It's a heart matter. It is a
fact that this verified continually in Matthew 13 through 9. It's
a fact. Now what did I do? I got ahead
of myself. The necessity of hearing the word of the gospel with a
believing heart, who hath ears to hear, let him hear. That's
Matthew 13 verse 9. It is a fact that is verified continually
before our eyes wherever men and women gather to hear the
word of God preached and expounded upon. The sayings of our Lord
in this parable are manifest to be true, and it describes
what goes on as a general rule in all congregations where the
gospel is preached, here in Rescue, over in Yuba City, down in San
Diego, wherever God's ministers are. These very things in this
parable go on. But before we go and look a little
deeper, let's consider the ministry of our Savior, shall we? Let
me read verses 1 through 3 again. It's there in your handout if
you'd like. The same day went Jesus out of the house and sat
by the seaside, And great multitudes were gathered together unto him,
so that he went into a ship, and sat. And the whole multitude
stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto
them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. Now
our Lord came to do his Father's will. He came to save his people,
to preach his gospel, to bring good tidings to the poor. He
came to do the Father's will, and he was relentless in preaching
the gospel. This is the same day. That's
what it's saying there. The same day when Jesus out of
the house. Now remember, back in chapter
12, he was in a house And he was preaching, and there were
people surrounded, so much so that his family couldn't even
get in to meet him, his mother. And that was what we studied
last week, was the family of God. It's not just his mother
Mary and his brothers. The family of God are all those,
as it says in verse 12, all those who do. For whosoever shall do
the will of my Father, which is in heaven, the same as my
brother, and the sister, and mother." That was what we closed
with last week. So this is the same day that the Lord's doing
that. That's what it says there in verse 1 of chapter 13. He
says, it's the same day that he was relentlessly preaching
the gospel, in which he had preached the message contained in chapter
12. He took no rest, folks. He took
no rest. Though he was as weary as any
other man would be after such labor, our Lord continued relentlessly. All who are called and sent of
God into the field of harvest should devote themselves completely
to their work." Now, I'm not talking about that pastors and
gospel preachers should never take a rest. No, that's not what
I mean at all. Our Savior did, and so must we.
But faithful men give themselves wholly. I've canceled services
one time because I was in the hospital with COVID. And this
congregation came together afterwards and said, we're gonna worship
anyway. I'm thankful my Lord has put
me here in this position. And I'm thankful he's given me
a desire to make this my life. I wanna spend time with my wife
when I can. I want to take trips with her
and go places. But this, this is what God has
given me to do, to wholly give my life to the work of the gospel.
As the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy, back in our handout
again, mid-page, Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4.15, our master said
this, he says, I must work the works of him that sent me, while
it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. John chapter 9, verse 4. Let
all who are called of him to preach the gospel follow his
example. Notice as well the place where
he preached. He was not now in a temple or
a synagogue. No, he was out on the seashore. It was the seaside. Robert Hawker
wrote this. He said, all places are sanctified when the Holy
Ghost makes them so. And great multitudes were gathered
to hear him, goes on Robert Hawker. How anxiously they gathered to
hear the Lord Jesus preach the gospel. As we read in Matthew
7, verse 29, for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes. Let every man who stands to speak
to eternity-bound sinners seek that authority that only God
the Holy Spirit can give to deliver God's message to the hearts of
those who hear Him. Luke tells us this, bottom of
page 4, the seed of the Word of God, the seed is the Word
of God. That's what Luke tells us over
in chapter 8 verse 11. In Matthew 13 verses 4 through
9, we read this. And I have it in your handout
for you. And when he sowed some seeds, fell by the wayside, and
fowls came and devoured them up, some fell upon stony places
where they had not much earth. And forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness. And forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth. Page 5. And when the sun was up, they
were scorched. And because they had no root, they withered away,
and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked
them. But others fell into good ground and brought forth fruit,
some 100-fold, some 60-fold, some 30-fold. Who hath ears to
hear, let him hear. The word of God is the seed of
life, being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. By the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever, for all flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and
the flower thereof falls away. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word by which
the gospel is preached unto you." That's 1 Peter chapter 1, verses
23 through 25. The word of God is the seed of
life, as we just saw there. Or next, of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creatures. That's James 1, verse 18. Or
how about this? For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believe it. That's Roman 1. Verse 16. Or here's another one if you
would. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word
of God. We're talking about the Word
of God being a seed of life. That was in Romans 10, verse
17. But that's not the least. Listen to these words. In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. That's Ephesians
1 verse 13. We see the Word of God is the
seed of life. That's where life comes from.
It's from the preaching of His Word. I know this. A sinner cannot be born again
without the Word of God. I don't care what people say,
you're not going to go out into the woods and find God sitting
under some tree in the shade, thinking to yourself about God.
You're going to find God under the preaching of His Word. Bill
Silva, a great friend of mine, who's gone on to be with the
Lord now, thought he was some kind of a Christian for years,
many, many years, before he heard the truth preached again here
at Rescue. He had actually been to Rescue.
He had actually sat under the ministry of Gene Harmon for a
short period of time. The church went through a split
and Bill went with the people at Split. And then one day he
rode his motorcycle by and he saw mine parked out here and
he stopped and he started listening to Gene Harmon again. And he
started hearing the gospel again where he had not heard it. And
he came to me once and he said, you know something? I'm not sure,
but I think the Lord just saved me. He says, all this time I
had been thinking I was a saved Christian. I'd been listening
to Harold Camping. I'd been listening to these other men. He said,
but I didn't know the gospel. I knew the teachings of God. But I didn't know Christ personally
as my Savior. The Lord Jesus saves His people
under the preaching of the Gospel. A sinner cannot be born again
without the Word of God. Why? Because God has ordained
it. Listen to these words of Romans 10. Verse 13-14. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then? shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed." How are you going to call on somebody
if you haven't believed on him? Then it says, how shall they
believe in whom they have not heard? If all you're hearing
is about a Jesus of people's own imagination, one that's not
even in any relation at all to this book, we call the scriptures,
except for by name, one who loves the world but couldn't save the
world if it won't let him, That's not the one of scriptures. You've got to hear a preacher
preach. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Romans 10 verse 13 through 14. We preach the word. Christ and
Him crucified. But God must be the teacher.
That's what we were reading in the Psalms. Lord, teach me. Lord,
guide me. Lord, make me to hear Your Word. Only He can speak to the heart.
Only He can give life to hear. 1 Corinthians 3, 6-7, I have
planted, Apollos has watered, but God gave the increase. So
then neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth,
but God that giveth the increase." You see how wondrous His grace
is? Everything about salvation is
of the Lord, page 6. Salvation is the sovereign prerogative
of God alone. Matthew 13 10 through 17 cannot
possibly be read without concluding that there is such a thing as
sovereign distinguishing grace. God gives life and faith and
understanding to his elect, and he does not give it to others.
We read these words in Matthew 13 10 through 11, and the disciples
came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? He
answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you. And we've already been over that.
Election. It is given unto you. It's not something you went out
and learned. It's not something you went out and studied God's
word and was given it to. It was given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them It is
not given. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
when people refuse to walk in the light God gives them, the
light that is in them becomes darkness. Look with me back in
your Bibles again if you would at verses 12 through 16. Matthew
13, 12 through 16. For whosoever hath to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. but whosoever hath
not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." They hear
the same gospel you and I hear, folks. And then in them, and
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Back in our handout, Luke puts
it this way, mid-page. He puts it this way. He says,
take heed how you hear, in Luke 8, verses 18. The seeing eye,
the hearing ear, and the believing heart are gifts of God, folks.
Again, I repeat, salvation is of the Lord. For verily I say
unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired
to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them,
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
That's verse 17, the next one there in line after what we just
read. Consider the similarities of
these verses, if you would. And I've given several of them.
Here they are. So then it is not of him that willeth, it's
not your will, nor of him that runneth, it's not your works,
but of God that showeth mercy. That's Romans 9, verse 16. Or
what about this? And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward, who believe according to the working of his
mighty power? Doesn't that decry that of God
showeth mercy? That's in Ephesians 1.19. Or
what about this? For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. That's Ephesians
2.8. Or how about this? Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God. who hath raised him from the
dead." One more that's not in there. What shall we do to do
the works of God? And Christ answered, this is
the work of God that you should believe. on his only begotten
son, that you should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the work of God. That goes right along with that
as well. Here is grace magnified at the bottom of page six here.
Most people who hear the gospel preached receive no saving benefit
from it at all. According to this passage before
us, the vast majority of people who hear the true gospel, the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ, receive no spiritual,
everlasting benefit from it all. Listen to these words in Hebrews
4.2, For unto us was the gospel preached as well unto them But
the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith. Now I want to give you an example
of that off the top of my head before we go to page 7. Remember
when Israel had wandered through the desert, the Lord had fed
them first with manna from heaven, and then he gave them water from
a rock that still don't ask me how to explain it, but that rock
went wherever they went. Gave them water. That might have
been after. Actually, those things might
have been after. But they went through the wilderness. And they came to Canaan, the
land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey. And he instructed
Moses to send some spies over to look upon the land. Every
one of those spies that went but two, they all heard the same
word of God. That's what this is talking about.
They all heard the same word of God. But only two came back
trusting the Lord to deliver what he said he would deliver.
The others came back and, oh no, we can't do that. There's
giants in the land. There's people that are going
to take us apart. We can't do that. What did the
Lord do? He turned the whole of Israel around and led them
through the wilderness for 40 years. top of page seven, are described
as seed cast by the wayside. And I've got it here in the handout
already for you, Matthew 13, verses 18 and 19. Hear ye therefore. Now this is just after, just
after he told us, Verily I say unto you, that many prophets
and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye
see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which
ye hear, and have not heard them. Many do. Listen to these next
words. Hear ye therefore the parable
of the sower. When any one heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is
he which received seed by the wayside. That's Matthew 13, 18
through 19. The gospel has no more effect
on their hearts than water has upon a rock. It just rolls right
off. As fast as the word falls off their ears, the devil plucks
it away. They go out just like they came
in, unaffected. Christ crucified means nothing
to them. These are those who spend a day
in their own religious imagination thinking, I came to Christ. I'm
the one who decided to follow God. Look at me now. It is nothing
to you that we read in Lamentations 112. Is it nothing to you, all
ye that pass by? When the Lord Jesus speaks of
the devil under the figure of the fowls in the air, catching
away that which was sown in the heart, he's talking about man's
preaching of the word, not the grace of God and the gracious
operations of God the Holy Spirit. His operations are always effectual
and irresistible. Satan does not and cannot take
away what is sown by the sovereign grace in the hearts of God's
people. When the Lord gives life, when he gave life to Lazarus,
did he give Lazarus an opportunity? Did he offer it to Lazarus? Hey,
you know, do you want to come out of that grave? Are you happy
in there? Do you want to stay? No. God
does not do that to those that he loves. He calls us under the
power of God. We were just reading about that
a moment ago, about how the Word of God is the seed of life. When
the Lord Jesus, His operations are always effectual, irresistible,
Satan does not and cannot take away the sovereign grace of God
and the hearts of God's people. Going on, mid-page seven, that
grace implanted by the Lord can never be taken away. Satan causes
graceless, those that the gospel is hid from, graceless hearers. Seed that is cast to the side.
to the wayside. He causes them to forget what
they heard. In them, Isaiah's prophecy in
Isaiah 6, 9 through 10, which, by the way, is quoted no less
than six times in the New Testament, and I've given you those times.
We just read one of them in Matthew 13, again in Mark 4, Luke 8,
John 12, Acts 28, and Romans 11. That prophecy is fulfilled
in this very parable. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah. That's what we read there. That's
what we read in Mark 14 through 15. And in them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah. We say it by hearing, ye shall
hear and shall not understand. And seeing, ye shall see and
shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed,
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. And their eyes they
have closed, lest any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. Others are
called stony ground hearers. We read in Matthew 13, 20 through
21, but he that received the seed into stony places the same
as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it,
yet hath he not root in himself? But dureth for a while, for when
tribulation and persecution or persecution arises because of
the word, by and by he is offended. Page 8. These hear the sermon
with pleasure. They are quickly excited. Oh,
I've seen several of these folks come through rescue over the
25 years I've been here, several. They are quickly excited. The message brings forth a plentiful
crop of warm feelings and good resolutions. But the stony ground
here is religion is a religion without depth. Brother Don again
writes, and I'm not ashamed to quote from him. He's a good writer. As soon as the cold blast of
opposition or the hot sun of temptation and persecution comes,
their religion withers away. Many love to hear a gifted preacher
preach good sermons who have no interest at all in that which
is preached. The mere love of good sermons
and good preaching is not a sign of grace. And Don refers us to
these words in Ezekiel 33, 32. And lo, thou art unto them as
a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can
play well on an instrument. For they hear thy words, but
they do them not. The rising sun upon the stony
ground here is not Christ, not the son of righteousness who
rises with healings in his wings. but the scorching, drying sun
of opposition and persecution. In the song of Solomon, look
not upon me because I am black, because the sun, not the sun,
S-O-N, but the sun, the S-U-N, hath looked upon me and scorched
him. I am black because the sun hath
looked upon me. The stony ground here was never
rooted in Christ. The seed did not fall into the
ground. This is what I was talking about
with Bill Sova. He had been around the preaching of Christ through
Harold Campering. He had been around the preaching
of Christ even sitting here in Rescue, California. But it was
not at his time to be saved of God and to be brought into the
truths of God's word in a personal salvation. Up to that point,
he was a stony ground hearer. He was never rooted in Christ.
The seed did not fall into the ground, but upon stony ground,
because they were never rooted in Christ, and Christ was never
in them. They fell away in time. Then
our Lord speaks of a thorny ground here. He also that received seed
among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Choke the word, and
ye becometh unfruitful. That's in Matthew 13.22. These people appear to be more
hopeful than others. They hang around much longer.
They seem to really love the gospel. It appears that they
really want to honor God and do his will, but other things
constantly claim their affections. They know the truth. They hope
one day to be decided and devoted followers of Christ, but they
love the world. How many thorny ground hearers
sit in the pews of our churches today? They never make up their
minds to seek first the kingdom of God with their hearts. They have real struggles trying
to have both Christ and the world not willing to give up either.
But in time, the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of
riches will destroy them. Yet by the grace of God, he declares,
there is seed that becomes the fruitful here as well. Wherever
the Word of God produces life, it brings forth fruit. But he
that received the seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the word and understandeth it. Now that word understand means
to believe. It means to understand that Jesus
Christ is God Almighty in the flesh. It means to understand
that Jesus Christ came to this world for a purpose. His name
is Jesus for He shall save His people. Not maybe, not might,
but shall. To understand it with your heart. To know that you are a sinner
deserving nothing but the wrath of God. to not even to be able
to trust what you think is your love for God, but to believe
that there is a people. Maybe I'm one. If I'm not, I
know this. I receive what is my just reward. But maybe I'm one. I believe
God. Lord, help me with my unbelief. Help me in my weaknesses. That
whole psalm that we read tonight was a psalm of, Lord, teach me. Lord, guide me. Because of thy
lovingkindness, not for any reason of me, but because of thy lovingkindness,
because of thy convictions on thy side. The good ground is
he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also
beareth fruit. and bring us forth some hundredfold
and some 60, some 30. Now, the churches of this world,
that's Matthew 13, 23, but before we go further, the churches of
this world will say, see, now if you're not doing this, you
see those words right there? If you're not producing fruit,
the problem is they're trying to make fruit something that
they interpret of their own eyes. Oh, we saw John drinking a beer
last week. It was, I know, I know it was
100 degrees outside and he had just mowed the lawn. He was sweating,
sitting out on the porch. But man, that sinner was drinking
a beer. How could he be saved? That's
what religion does to you. Makes you the judge of others.
I would never tell anybody those kinds of things. Look, that person
over there, look at them. They're talking about another
person. They're gossiping. You can't
do that when you're saved. That's not fruit of the sin.
That's a bunch of malarkey. Back in our handout, because
every human heart by nature is evil, we know that the good ground
into which the seed is cast is meant a heart renewed and made
good by God's sovereign saving grace in His Son, the Lord Jesus,
I should have put. Folks, that's our only confidence.
That's our only righteousness. That's our only goodness is what
the Lord Jesus has done and is doing right now on His throne. God's method. Again, mid-page
9. God's method and order of grace
is set before us in this parable just as it is throughout the
Scriptures. First, He causes the chosen,
redeemed sinner to hear the Gospel. We have to be given ears. Lazarus
had to hear Christ say, Come forth. And the only reason he
heard it, the only reason is because God gave him life to
hear. Just as He gave me life to hear
the first day I heard the truth. Just as He gave each and every
one of you life to hear. Then, by the hearing of the gospel,
the sinner is born again by incorruptible seed as we saw. The seed of life. The seed of Christ. The Word
of God. And being born again, the believing
sinner brings forth fruit unto God. We do not all bear fruit
to the same degree, but all believers bear fruit. And the fruit they
bear is the same. Listen to this, what the fruit
of the Spirit is. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy. Folks, I love God, but I love
Him because He first loved me. in sending His begotten Son.
Joy! I know I'm that sinner over against
the wall of the church crying out, Lord have mercy on me, but
here's the joy! He has mercy! He has mercy! That's our joy! It's love, joy,
it's peace. I hate my sins. They trouble
me greatly, but folks, I have peace that they're paid for.
They're paid for by my Savior. He perfected all those who are
sanctified by the one offering of His Son, the Lord Jesus. He's
long-suffering. Aren't you thankful He's long-suffering
to you? He's so long-suffering, He's
going to put up with me until that day that's marked for my
death, and He'll take me out of this world, and I'll be with
Him in paradise forever. Gentleness. Oh, how I wished
I wish there were more that heard the Word of God. I want so desperately
for my brethren, my loved ones, to hear the Word of God. I don't
beat them over the head with Bibles. I don't sit at the table
and say, see what a sinner you are. I invite them to hear Christ
with gentleness, goodness, faith. I believe. Lord, help my unbelief. But I believe. Meekness. I'm
unworthy. And I know it. Temperance. Against
such there is no law. That's Galatians 5, 22-23. And this from John 15-16. You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that
you should go and bring forth fruit. And that your fruit should
remain. All the fruit of grace is the
same quality. Christ, that's our fruit of grace. That's my Savior. That's my God. If that's your God, it's the
same quality. Perfect. The perfect, sinless
Lamb of God who sacrificed Himself. He who knew no sin was made sin. that I would be made the righteousness
of God in Him. All the fruit of grace is the
same quality. Though not in the same quantity,
grace is grace, be it small or great. It is all of Christ and
from Christ and to Christ. Grace in the heart produces heart
fruit. It produces repentance. We turn
from the things of this world and we turn to Christ and it
produces faith. We believe. It produces love,
joy, peace. God the Holy Spirit causes the
believing sinner to bring forth the lip fruit of prayer. We pray to God. We thank Him
for all things. Confession. We confess our sins
before God and praise. We praise Him for His goodness. And Christ formed in the chosen
sinner, being made partaker of the divine nature, causes the
believing sinner to bring forth the fruit of love and consecration
to Christ. Listen to these words of Luke
8, verse 18, once again. Take heed. Examine yourselves. Am I in the faith? Or am I a
reprobate? Take heed, therefore, how you
hear. For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and whosoever
hath not from him shall be taken, even that which he seemeth to
have. I pray the Lord bless you folks
tonight.