And this is such an instructive revelation from our Lord, because I can't tell good ground from bad ground. But Christ tells us what happens when the seed is sown in these different types of ground. First of all, some fell by the wayside. ones that our Lord said they understand not, verse 19. They hear it, they know it, but they don't understand it. They hear the word, but not with spiritual understanding. The Word never gets into the heart. It's snatched away before it gets into the heart. It never gets into the ground. And these are also described in 1 Corinthians 2.14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them. It's not that he just chooses not to know them. He does do that. He deliberately chooses not to know them, because he knows them in a sense. He knows them intellectually. But the situation, when it comes to understanding spiritually, it's not possible. He can't know them. Why? Because they're spiritually discerned. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and cannot understand. He can't know them. He cannot know them. He don't receive them. He doesn't receive them into his heart because he cannot. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. And when you're born of the spirit, you're able to spiritually discern the truth of God. You receive it into your heart. It's just like the law of God. People know what it says. They understand in their head, thou shalt not kill. It's not life is not yours to take. You can't just murder somebody in cold blood. God kills and God makes alive. Now, there are causes in which there is killing and that's scriptural. That's. That's not what it's talking about. It's talking about you claiming the prerogative to take someone's life. It's not your prerogative. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. All these things, people know what that means. But the Lord said in his covenant of grace, I will put my law in your heart. And you're gonna, you're gonna desire The last thing you want to do is that which displeases God. You understand spiritually that it's not just something that can be maybe observed outwardly. It's got to be embraced in the heart. And it's got to be understood spiritually. The spiritual aspect of the law says you're already guilty of all these things because you've done them where? In your heart. Paul said that he was alive once without the law. Wait a minute, he was a Pharisee. He knew everything about the law. But he said, then the commandment came in such a way that sin revived. I understood what I was before the law, where I stood with regard to the law. I saw my guilt in the eyes of God's law. And I died. The old me died. The old me that could trust in my own works and my own heritage that he described before in that chapter Philippians 3, he died. That old man died in that regard. That he couldn't trust it anymore. He couldn't look to his own works anymore. But they can't understand. This is the hard ground that is the human heart by nature. And again, It's not that some people have this heart that it's not taken in at all. And then some people take it in, but then there's no root. And then some people are the other one that falls among thorns and thistles. This describes all of us. Every one of these describes all of us. There's been no plowing. There's been no breaking up of the natural soil. The way the soil is found naturally, it cannot receive the seed. You might as well sow seeds in the Sahara Desert. So it's never understood spiritually. There's no understanding. And then there's stony ground. And those that receive, that are by the wayside, that are described in the beginning, if Satan snatches away the word before it even enters the heart, then they're cold and indifferent. They have no use for God at all, whatsoever. But there's some that are cast upon stony ground. And the word seems to be received It's received shallowly, though, because it strikes stone eventually, because our hearts are stone. But there may be a surface powder that is cultivated by people's just tendency to be religious, right? They seem to receive the seed. There's a springing up, there's a certain kind of joy, there's a certain kind of excitement, but it's all flesh. There's no root. If there's no root, there's no life. There's a temporary joy, there seems to be life, but the Lord said, there is no, and this is significant the way He said it, I believe it's in verse 21, there's no root in them. There's no root in them. He's identifying what's in us and what ain't in us. And what ain't in us is any root to draw up the nutrients, the truth of the word of God and take them in. That's just not in us. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God. It's just not in us to do that. What they do in reaction to the word they're doing in themselves. but there's no root in themselves. You see that? A true believer has no strength in himself. What's in man's self can produce, again, religious outward activity and appearance, but there's no root in themselves. A believer has no root in himself either. The Lord said, I'm the vine and you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. The root is Christ, and in the different parable that we're looking at in our text, there is root, but that's the product of Christ. That's Christ in me. That's the new nature that is able to receive the Word of God and be strengthened by the Word of God and be nourished by the Word of God, be strong. But what did Paul say? It's not I but Christ. He's all of our strength, He's all of our nourishment. He abideth in me and He brings forth fruit. That's how God is glorified, that we bring forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. So that which is in Himself, in the case of the stony ground, it withers away because there's nothing to it. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. They are burned. What are roots looking for? They're looking for soil that has some nutrient in it. They're looking for water. They're looking for what they need. It's the nutrients that give life, and it's the water that carries the nutrients. Listen to Psalm 1. Let's turn over there together, Psalm 1. Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, the word, the gospel. And in his law doth he meditate day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, because the water, the river of the water of life, is Christ. and he's able, because it's good ground, the seed takes root in his heart, and that root is able to draw the water, and within the water is everything that the plant needs. It's all in the water. You can have the best soil in the world if there's no water to draw those nutrients up into the plant. It's gonna die. So we're planted by the rivers of water, by Christ and his life-giving water, the water of life and the nutrients that he provides, which is righteousness, sanctification, redemption, forgiveness of sins, peace, peace with God, that which the soul requires. It requires it. but the one trying to sustain life in himself those are key words there i believe it was let me look back and make sure it was verse 21 because i want you to remember this yeah verse 21 yet hath he not root in himself that which is in us by nature It may look good for a while. It may look good for a while. But it withers. Persecution arises. The heat of the sun. The sun, as long as there's water, the sun is great. You want your plants to be in the sun, but they got to have water. Strong winds, a storm, hail, things arise. If the plant is Receiving the nutrients and it's strong it'll survive but not If it has no root and we have no root in ourselves He withers when his faith is tried It proves to be false faith it proves to be man-made faith He's a look what it says he's offended and By and by, he is offended. You know what offends people? The offense of the cross. Yeah, when it comes to the place where his religion is laid bare, the religion of man's works and man's will is destroyed by the word of God. And once it is, the one that doesn't have root, the one that doesn't have life from God, The one whose heart is stony, he's offended by it. He's offended by it because he doesn't get any glory out of it. Because Christ gets all the glory. We're saved by his will and choice, not your will and choice. And that's offensive. And then there's ground that has thorns. And this is so also so just such a a teaching that we need so much it has brambles it has thorny weeds that's what the description the definition is these hear the word but the cares of this world choke them and again It's not that this guy's heart is not stony. You know, he's good ground, but there's stuff around. No, no, no. All of us are all three of the other ones. We're cast, the seed is cast, and we are the wayside. We're the place that doesn't give a hoot whether you throw seed on us or not. We're in no condition to produce anything for God and don't care. And then we're also the stony heart hearers that we can get excited about religion for a little while, but we burn out because there's no root in us. There's nothing in us. And we're also these ones who are susceptible to this world. Thorny weeds, the care of this world, We think of the word care as, you know, we could think of that as like the worries of the world, or that type of thing, but the true meaning of the word cares there is concerns. All that the world comes around, wraps itself around us and attracts us with, and it pulls and steals that which is priceless and necessary from us. And our Lord here, he's showing reasons why those who are not blessed to hear and know, verse 11, blessed are your eyes, He answered and 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. If you're going to be good ground, it's got to be given to you to know. It's got to be given to you to receive. This is part of the same parable. It's got to be given unto you to accept and receive the word of God with faith given by God. It's got to be given. And he's explaining in these three other types of ground why those do not receive the word and bear fruit, to whom it is not given to do that. And as I said, all of these are true of all people. It's true of every sinner who does not know Christ, that he cannot receive the things of Christ. He cannot. He is the wayside. He is the wilderness. He is the desert. by nature, and he cannot receive the things of Christ. It's true of every unregenerate sinner that they have no root in themselves. And everybody's religious and put on a show, and they say we're a live plant, you know, we're gonna produce some fruit here, but they can't bear fruit unto God. They might please themselves and impress themselves, but not for God, they have nothing that God will accept. And every sinner who knows not Christ is going to be taken up with the things of this world. You're going to serve God or what? Success, mammon, money, all that the flesh craves. You're going to serve that. and you're gonna serve one or the other, one or the other. Now, some sinners may manifest one or the other of these conditions more than another outwardly. Demas was a thorny ground here, predominantly. All of these things were true of him as everybody else. But you know why I say that? Because Paul said, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. thorns and the thistles and the briars grew up around Demas. He was predominantly a stony ground hearer. And as I said, the word care, the word care, here's the literal meaning of the word care, to be drawn in different directions, to be drawn away, to slip away, don't let them slip. Scripture said, don't let them slip. Don't drift away. Don't be unanchored. Be drawn in a different direction. That and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things, Mark 4, 19, are what choke out the Word. That's the way the care of the world is described in Mark 4, 19. They choke out the Word. And it's the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things. That's the Word. Word for word in Mark 4.19. That's what chokes out the word. Judas was a stony ground here. Predominantly. The cares of this world clearly wrapped around his heart, too, and he was he was a desert ground, too. But why do I say he was predominantly stony ground? Well, he seemed to have faith. He fooled all the disciples, all the all the other apostles. Only the Lord knew him for what he was, a devil from the beginning, the Lord called him. But when he was tried, he withered. He withered, he put on a show. Felix reminds us of the seed that fell by the wayside. Because when Paul preached the gospel to him, he said, go thy way for this time. And when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. In other words, no interest. No interest whatsoever. But these are true of all ground that's not good ground. Then there is good ground. Where does good ground come from? How does it get to be good ground? If you've ever planted a garden, you know how it happens, as far as the parable, the earthly parable, that teaches spiritual truth. The bad ground didn't have to be made bad. It just is. It just is. All of the things that describe the bad ground are natural conditions that exist in this world. Why do we have to fight birds? It hasn't been so bad the last couple of years, but birds were the bane of my existence for several years when it comes to gardening. As soon as something would just start to turn a little bit pink, here they come. Why do we have to fight them? Why is Satan able to do anything to harm us in the spiritual sense of that? It says Satan comes and snatches away. Why is there stony ground? Why was there stony ground in the Garden of Eden? Even in God's paradise, there was stony ground. Did God's ground bring forth plants that withered and died? Why are there thorns and briars? We all know the answer to this, sin. We're all bad ground by nature because of sin.

Genesis 3.17, unto Adam God said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and into dust shalt thou return."

So a beautiful earthly illustration there also of our spiritual condition by nature. Thorns and thistles are gonna grow up. It's gonna be of the sweat of that faith. We will labor and we'll toil and we'll sweat and still the end result will be death and not life. Except there's one hope. There's one door back into paradise. And not just back to the paradise of Eden, but to the paradise that our Savior told the thief of when he said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise.

Man sinned and fell, and the very earth is cursed as a result of our sin. But God in this sin-cursed earth has a garden. And let me make this statement. Call your attention to it if you forget everything else. And you know this is true in earthly things. And this is the parable. This is the type. This is the picture. The difference between all other types of ground and good ground is the gardener. The gardener. If there's not a garden, there's all this other stuff. But once somebody plants a garden, It's different. The ground is different. The results are different. The produce is different. Everything's different.

Listen to John, I should have you turn to these, but I don't want to be too long. John 20, 11. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping. She stood outside the grave of the Lord Jesus, the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they've laid him. And when she had thus said, She turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And she, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus saith unto her, Mary, Mary. And she turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.

What a beautiful scene. She supposed that he was the gardener. She was right. She didn't understand in what sense she was saying that, but she was absolutely right. He is the gardener. He is the reason there's good ground. And think about it, when the gardener does what he does, he doesn't just throw seed by the wayside. And what's he going to do when thorns and thistles spring up? He's going to rip them out. He's going to take them away. He may let them come up for a while. He may let the garden be distressed for a little bit, but he's going to take them away. He's going to take care of his garden. If a storm comes, he's gonna cover them. If the birds come, like it says Satan comes to take away the seed, he's gonna cover them. He's gonna hedge them about so no predators can come and take away his fruit. He's not gonna give his glory to another.

Song of Solomon 4. Let me look at Song of Solomon 4 and read it to you if I can here. I'm all thumbs. I'm gonna, for the sake of time, mark this down. Song of Solomon 4, 12 through 16. And listen to this, Isaiah 58, 11.

And the Lord shall guide thee continually. The gardener is gonna take care of his garden. He shall guide thee continually. If you're looking a little wilty, he's gonna give you strength. If it seems to be a little bit dry, he's gonna pour himself upon you. The Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought. This world is a desert. This world is bad ground. Our hearts are bad ground. But even in drought, he shall satisfy thy soul in drought. and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

You know, one thing I have learned about gardening, I've been doing it since I was about 12, in some form or another, and I'm still horrible at it. I'm still horrible at it. I can't make anything grow to save my life. But one thing I have learned, and I think one of the big reasons why I fail so much is I know they need water, and I got plenty of water coming out of the faucet. But it'll get hot, and I'll forget for a couple of days. The next thing I know, it ain't looking good.

But the Lord is a spring of water whose waters fail not. He doesn't neglect his garden. He doesn't forget his garden. And we're continually thriving because of him. We keep throwing out seed as witnesses to our children and to maybe even our parents, maybe a loved one, maybe a spouse. We throw out seed and we do so with joy and with expectation. knowing that God's word will not return unto him void. It won't return unto him void. It's like the rain that comes down, he said in Jeremiah, and it waters the ground and the tender herb springs forth and it grows up and it brings forth fruit. And he said, my word is like that. It'll prosper in the thing where to I sent it.

His garden doesn't fail. And it's because of the gardener. because of the gardener. The good ground comes from him, the seed, the water, the sunshine, and Christ is all. Paul wasn't exaggerating, was he? We see in every parable, in every phrase, in every passage of Scripture, Christ is all. May God teach us that simple. Instead of making us, you know, learn a bunch of stuff that we don't know yet, We don't need to learn the stuff we don't know yet. We just need to learn that Christ is all. And by His grace, rest in Him. Amen.