Who this message is for, if indeed it is for someone,
I hope it is. It's been a long time on it today,
but I still feel a little bit uncomfortable with it. But this is one of those messages
that is can be very convicting, should
be, I hope it is, I hope it is for me. We need it. We need to be convicted
by this book to search our hearts, to try ourselves, to examine
ourselves, to see whether we truly be of the faith or not.
This is not a message where I'll get many amens. That's
not the object. I thought about that before I
came up here. The Lord's preaching was not
such that he got many amens either. It got him killed is what got
him. But we need, we need all of God's Word. We need to be
both comforted and convicted. And if we hear God's voice and
it convicts us, then know assuredly that he which hath begun a work
in us will perform it, will finish it, and will comfort us after
the conviction come. But the parable we have before
us in Matthew 13 could easily be studied in several parts,
but our Lord told this very simply, very quickly, and very forthrightly,
and this is what I want to do. There's so very much here I'd
like to dwell upon. I've read many writers upon it.
I've heard many messages upon it, and I'd like to bring out
a lot of things from this, but I just want us to see the whole
scope of it, and I want to deal with each hearer that we see
in this parable. And I strongly urge you, in the
words of our Lord here in verse 18, look at it with me, to hear
ye, therefore, the parable. Matthew 13, verse 18, he says,
Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower. Did you notice
back there where the disciples said in verse 10, they came to
him and they said, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And then he gave them an answer.
But in verse 18, he's speaking to them. He says, hear you, you
hear it. You hear, therefore, the parable
of the sower. So for our own good. Well, you're
good to see, I know you're tired, you've worked today. I ask you
to gather yourselves. And let's listen to this. The
sower, this is the parable of the sower. The sower, principally
and chiefly, the chief sower is the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the one that effectually and successfully sows the word. He's
the only one that can bring forth a harvest. He's the one that
sows it. And when it's all said and done,
being the author and finisher of our faith, he sows it, he
waters it, he brings forth life. He does it all. But this is also
speaking of God's preachers, Christ's messengers, and the
seed simply is the word of God, the gospel, and the ground is
the heart of the hearer, or the soul of the hearer. So look at
it with me, beginning, look up at verse 4, back to verse 4.
Our Lord says, the stower went forth to stow, and when he stowed,
some seeds fell by the wayside, the wayside, and the fowls came
and devoured them up. And then down in verse 19, he
goes to explain this. He says, when one heareth the
word of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel concerning
the dominion of the king, and understands it not. But then
comes the wicked one, that being Satan, and catches away that
which was sown in his heart, what little there was. Now, this
seed, or this type of person, is he which receives the seed
by the wayside. This is the first hearer we run
across. Now, you are going to find yourself
somewhere in this group of hearers here, these four The first hearer
is called a wayside hearer. Now, I believe there are two
types of wayside hearers. The first one is the one who
is in the way of sin, and the second is the one in the way
of religion. They're both equally, as in,
in a bad shape, equally. But the one that's in the way
of sin, it's a hard way. His heart is sin-hardened. You know some people that are
in this way. You've run across them. You see
them on television. You see them out there in the
world. They're sin-hardened. They're
reprobate. Obviously, they're void of any
spiritual understanding or any judgment whatsoever. They're
just steeped and rooted in sin. And it's a common path, this
way. This way of sin is a very common
road that many men travel. Many people go this way because
it's the way of flesh, it's the way of all flesh by nature. And
the scripture says, the wicked one comes and catches away the
seed. Now, somewhere along the line,
as we read back in Romans 10, 18 the other day, Paul said,
have they not heard? Yes, verily, they have heard
the voice of the sound of God's glory his creation and even his
word the gospel has gone out in all the world, so that all
men are without excuse. Everyone at some time, some point,
has heard some verse of scripture. You can't turn on the TV now
without seeing some nut with it written on a shirt or something.
Everybody has seen or heard some verse of scripture. No one in
the world, I believe, is totally ignorant of the Bible and of
a man named Jesus Christ. But Satan comes, so everyone
has some sort of word within their heart. And I'm not just
talking about the conscience. But the openly wicked, when Satan
comes upon hearing the Word, they don't understand it. They
don't understand the Word of God. They don't see any worth
in it. They don't see any wisdom in it. And they refuse it. This
is out of a natural hatred for God and all authority. This is
a natural man. All natural men hate any form
of authority, especially the Godhead. God being absolute authority. And out of love for sin, these
type of people, they refuse the word. They don't want to hear
it. You have friends, you have former friends or are friends
now that that are in this state. They don't want to hear the word,
they don't want to hear what you have to say about it. They're happy, they're
doing just fine, thank you, and they're alive. But Satan comes
along and he catches away the word from these people, what
little bit they have, by making them question it. They ask all
sorts of endless questions that don't apply to anything. of any
value. They ask questions just like
Eve started asking questions, or Satan asked questions with
Eve. He creates unbelief in them.
And then Satan makes some prejudice against the preacher, against
the people. They call the preacher and the people in the church
hypocrites. And then Satan does this. He adds to it or he takes
away from the Word itself, questions it. Now, it's quite obvious. It's quite obvious that the Word
of God has no place in people that are living in open sin and
rebellion. That's quite obvious. But there's
another type of wayside hearer, I believe. That's the religious
hearer. He's in the way of religion,
and his heart is equally as hard as the sin-hardened person. He
talks about this wayside. It's kind of like the highway.
the ground over by the highway. If you threw some seed over there's
no way it's going to come up. It's just hard as a rock. It's
not going to come up. And that's the man who's hardened
in sin. He's living in wickedness and sin. He's not going to hear
it in and of himself. And the man who's steeped in
religion, he's got him a refuge. And the plainest of scriptures
can come, he's not going to hear it. He knows what he believes,
and he's just not going to hear it. This is the wayside religious
here. He's in a way of self-righteousness.
Scripture says there's a way that seems right unto a man.
He thinks he's in the right way, but it's the way of death and
destruction, Scripture also says. It was the way of Cain. Cain
heard the same thing Abel did, didn't he, from his daddy Adam.
He heard the same word with these ears only. It didn't go down
to his heart. Abel, and we know this is by
God's grace and his mercy, Abel heard the word. But Cain didn't
hear. And this way of Cain is the works
of the flesh, a refusal of God's way. Now, you know good and well
that Adam explained equally as well to both those boys. He loved
both those boys the same. He explained the same gospel
to both of those boys equally. Cain just refused it, didn't
he? He'd rather bring his own works. And that's many people
in this day and age, isn't it? They had not submitted themselves
to God's righteousness, to Christ's righteousness. They would rather
establish their own. In other words, they think what
they're doing, they won't say it, but what they're saying by
doing this is that their way is better. Their way is more
sufficient. Their way is better than Christ's
way. Christ is not enough. I must bring something. And it's
a hard way, just like the way of the sinner. It's a hard way. These religious people are obstinate
when it comes to hearing the gospel. They become obstinate.
They're unbending. They're prejudiced toward seemingly
simple scriptures, seemingly clear scriptures. They're totally
prejudiced against them. It makes you say, why can't they
see this? It's so clear. They're hardened
religious religious hardened. And it's a common way. Many walk in this way also. It's
a very common way, just like the way of sin. And Satan comes
along with these people also, in the same way as the sin-hardened
people. He comes along and he questions
God's Word. I know what it says, but he questions
God's Word. And he prejudices these people
against God's preacher, against God's gospel. Well, there's a
bunch of hypocrites down there, so I couldn't believe that gospel.
Prejudice them in that way, and they fabricate lies and come
up with all sorts of excuses. And Satan prejudices these people
by adding to or taking away from the Word, just like the sin-hardened
people. Now, Satan, we've said this before.
Now, you'll pardon me if this comes across as just a discourse. I told you I struggled with this,
but please. Please bear with me. There's
something here for somebody. We know that Satan knows the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It's his grand design
to keep people from hearing this gospel. And he's cunning and
he's crafty and he knows how to do it. And we're going to
see some ways that he does so. And he does so in some of our
hearts in these ways. Now, this could also apply to
these wayside hearers. Christ said, this seed fell by
the wayside. This could also apply to some
nominal hearers. Now, there may be somebody in
here like that. Somebody who's a nominal hearer,
who's right beside the way, yet they're not in it. Right beside
it. The gospel's close by. Every
Wednesday night, every Sunday morning, Sunday night, the gospel's
right there, but they're not in it. They're not in Christ.
They're right beside it, but not in it, by the wayside. Well,
that's the first type of here. Look at the second type here
in verse 5. Now, some, Christ said, fell upon stony places,
stony places, where they had not much earth. And forthwith
they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. When
the sun was up, they were scorched, because they had no root, they
withered away. Now look down at verse 20. He explains this,
and he says, Well, he that receiveth the speed into stony places,
the same is he that hears the word, and anon, or that is, right
away, with joy, receives it. With joy he receives the word. But yet he hath no root in himself,
but he endureth for a while. But when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. Stony ground hearers, another
type of hearer here. This person's heart, like the
sin-hardened person, is hard like a rock. And I see some of
these. Unbroken. Never really seeing
themselves for what they are. This is the first mark. We say
this over and over again. But if you'll study the scriptures,
if you'll study scriptural conversions, you'll see that the first thing
God does to a person is break their heart. Break this old stony
heart. Break it up. So that they see
themselves for what they are. God shows them their sin, shows
them who he is, and in light of that, they see who they are. And their hearts are broken because
of what they are. In a stony ground here, there's
also someone who's told. Brother Donnie Bell and I went
up on the peaks of Otter. on a real cold and windy day,
snowy day, and we sat up on those rocks and there were ice cold,
those big rocks. Cold, there's nothing quite as
cold as stone, you know. And that's the heart of some
people, some of these people, of some of these hearers. No
emotion. No tears. No tears, no joy. Not affected either way. Christ
said that about some people, didn't he? You're not cold or
hot. I would that you were cold or hot. You're lukewarm. And I said it before, but I wouldn't
give you a plug nickel for somebody's religion whose message didn't
affect. And yet, I see some people like
that. Stone faces. Unmoved. No tears, no laughter. Like Christ said about the children
in the marketplace, he said, we've piped on you two and you
don't dance. We've wept, we've cried it on
more. Stony ground. And it's heavy,
unbending, unmoving. It's dense, stony ground. Have
you ever plowed up a field and it's full of stones? I mean,
full of stone. Me and you and I, a house we
used to own. back in the back of the lot had
never been gardened before, and evidently there was some kind
of building that had been there before. And I began plowing it up, and
all I ran into was broken bricks and glass and stone and so forth.
And I'm telling you, I spent more time getting that ground
prepared to sow than I did the whole season in planting and
weeding and so forth. There's so many rocks there.
It didn't seem like I was ever going to get through to some
good ground. And this is the same with some
people's hearts. Nothing seems to penetrate. Nothing seems to
penetrate. You know, the scriptures speaks
in one place, says that God shall send the former and the latter
reign. Well, that's the word of God.
It's the spirit of God. God sends the former to to soften
the heart and germinate the seed of his word and bring forth salvation,
bring forth faith in Christ. Then he brings forth the latter
rain. It keeps raining, keeps showering this person with the
gospel, with blessing, and that really makes that seed to grow.
It really makes that person to grow in maturity and faith, grow
up in Christ in all things. But stony ground here is not
affected by either one. Not the former rain or the latter
rain. Hard as a rock. Lord help us. We'll look back
at verse 5 again. They sprung up, sprung up. Verse 20, Christ said, They hear
the word, and with joy receive it. With joy. There's a whole lot of people
that start out real well. They seem to be believers. You've
seen some. There have been some in here, I know. You've seen
them come, you've seen them go. And you thought at the time,
This man's got to be a disciple. I saw 13th Street, a church of
average Sunday attendance over 300 or so. And over the past
30 or so years, there have probably been that many leave. Haven't
you seen that? There's been at least that many
come and go. And there's a lot of people that spring up. How
many times have you seen somebody like that? They look real good
at first. spring up, they seem to be so
zealous and all, so in love with the gospel and the truth. You
know, somebody asked Barnard, he said, Brother Barnard, do
you think I'm saved? And he said, I don't know. He said, you've
seen me about 30 years. Seen me about 30 years. But some
do hear the gospel. They seem to hear anyway, and
they seem to believe it. This is hard to explain. John
explained, he said, they were not of us, or they no doubt would
have continued with us. No doubt. But still, it's hard
to explain, isn't it? They seem like they hear it, and they seem
to be affected by it. They don't scoff at it, they
don't refuse it, but they seem to be affected by it. And they're
zealously affected by it. They come at every opportunity.
I've seen people like this. I mean, they're every service. And they seemed to hear with
gladness. But, you know, Herod heard John with gladness, didn't
he? He did. That's what it said.
It said he heard John with gladness. Explain that. And Festus? Festus wanted to hear Paul. Agrippa? I want to hear this man. They
all wanted to hear him for various reasons. Who knows? Like I said,
you could go into these things for various reasons. They hear
with joy. And someone said this. that these
stony ground hearers, they spring up quickly. They hear it with
joy, yes. When they hear the word, they
hear the gospel preached, they do rejoice in it. But it's some
sort of affection being affected by what is going on. Just like
a religious and emotional experience that people go through when they
walk the aisle and so forth. They're affected by it. I was
twelve years old. when I made a profession of faith
and was baptized. Something happened to me. I remember
it distinctly. I remember practically running
down front, weeping, crying. I remember my father just sitting
there expecting me to say something to him. And then I said, I'm
a sinner and I know I need a Savior and Christ is my only hope. I
said the right things, didn't I? Twelve years old. But it wasn't short after that,
I was on down the road jacked, you know. I wasn't saved. I didn't know Christ. But I heard
something. It affected me. You see what
I mean? It affected me. But it didn't really affect me
down in here and change me. You see, the gospel we studied
one day. Christ said, which of you intending
to build a tower does not sit down. The gospel is a thinking
man's religion. That's the reason I won't give
you I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for unemotional religion.
I won't give you a wooden nickel for these professions where a man
doesn't know much scripture or have to think about things. This
gospel causes a man to sit down and carefully study the scriptures. And let me see now, like the
noble Bereans, go home. I want to see if what this man's
telling me is true. And go home and study carefully
to see if that's the truth. It causes a man to strut up.
For one thing, you've seen these type of heroes right here. Oh,
praise the Lord. Brother, you know, let's do something.
Rise up. Spring up. They look so good,
you know. And here you've been sitting
here for 20 years and you think, man, I don't have that. I wish I had that. But they're
gone. Gone down the road. But it causes
a man or woman to sit down and think, and to count the cost,
and consider, and to understand some things. Salvation has something
to do with understanding now. We don't deny that. I continually
talk about an abiding relationship with Christ. It's the heart of
salvation. Yes, a person. But you've got
to come to know and understand this person. I believe it does
start here somehow. I can't explain it. You've had
to experience it, don't you? It starts here with the understanding
and works its way into the affection. I know a young man, if Mindy
knows him well. He used to go to Brother Don
Fortner's church up in Lookout, West Virginia. No, Danville.
And when we first met this young fellow, oh, we were so... He
seemed to be so on fire for the gospel, and we were just delighted.
He had a young wife. They were close to our age, and
here this young couple was. We didn't have any children.
They didn't have any children. We seemed to have a lot in common, and
we were just glad to meet them. And they were on fire, and eventually
they moved from Don's place down to Ashland. Now, we didn't know
why at the time. We do now, but I remember hearing
Brother Don. I was a young believer at the
time. I remember saying something to
Brother Don. Boy, oh, so-and-so, he's a fine fella, and you must
enjoy having him. And I remember hearing Don say,
well, yeah. And I thought, later on, I knew
who he was talking about. But they came to Ashland, and
oh, they were just, he started preaching. This young man started
preaching even. Brought some good messages, didn't
he? You know who I'm talking about? Fine, fine people, it seemed
like. Loved with the gospel. Came over
to our house, we came over to their house. They're gone. Nobody knows where
they are. I don't even know if they're
going to church or not. But I remember, you know, somebody saying, well,
what it was, was he found some new doctrine. He was religious
at one time, and he got a hold of this Calvinism, and he got
excited about that. It's like a new toy to play with,
and that's the way it is for some people, a new toy. It's
people to hear with the head, not the heart. Well, look back
at verse 5 again. He says, these stony ground hearers,
there's not much earth in them, and they spring up because they
had no deepness of earth. When the sun was up, that hot,
scorching sun, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they
withered away. And then down in verse 20, he explains, verse
21, he said, they received it. Yet they had no root in himself,
but endures for a while. But when tribulation and persecution
arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. He is
offended. Trials, tribulations, and persecutions
come up, and they're never easy. The Lord
never said they would be. And never easy. Wouldn't be a
trial if it was easy, would it? It just be a little, I don't
know, a little passing event. A person may lose a job and leave
the gospel. That's a trial. Prove your faith.
A person may lose a loved one, a husband, a wife, a child, and
leave the gospel. It's a trial. It's a hard one,
but it's a trial. Persecution from family, family
pressure, they succumb, leave the gospel. Friends, friends
pressure them for afraid of losing their friends, their relationship
with their friends, leave the gospel. They fall out with a
member of the church. They become mad at somebody in
the church for whatever reason. They have an argument or whatever.
Leave the gospel. These things just reveal that
there was no gospel there to begin with in the heart. They
become offended by the message and this is it chiefly, what
it was foremost and chiefly, is that they're offended by the
Word. You know, the Word, such as this message tonight. It's not smooth. It's not smooth
things. It's hard, pressing, trying things. Make you try yourself. Make you
examine yourself. And somebody may hear something,
and it appears that it's pointed directly at them. He's talking
to me. Well, he prepared this message just for me. No, I've
tried that, and generally that person is never there. It's ironic. It's uncanny how
that works. The Lord, he does that. That's
what he does. I'll not go into that. But the thing's directed
directly at them. Well, maybe God did. Maybe he
did. It's like somebody said, he stepped
on my toes. Well, that's not really where the message is being
aimed. at the toes. It's supposed to
hit the heart. That's where it's supposed to
go. But Christ said it had no root, no earth. Now, we need to quit making excuses.
Not we, per se. Now, understand me. I look out
here in the faces of people, I have a great deal of, humanly
speaking, I have a good deal of confidence that you know Christ.
You give every evidence of it. But some people, the only reason,
the only reason someone can go very long without hearing the
gospel, the only reason that somebody can go very long without
hearing the gospel or without worshiping Christ or else miss
this hearing the gospel at the slightest excuse, the only reason
they don't Let's just quit making excuses, okay? I mean, if this
convicts us, Lord, make it convict us. But if we can miss worshiping
God and hearing the gospel, which is the believer's bread and supposed
to feed upon it, if we can miss it at the drop of a hat, without
even thinking about it, without even, you know, almost looking
for an excuse. Or someone who rarely comes.
Let's just drop the excuses, okay? A person doesn't know Christ and
doesn't love Christ. Yes, they'd be there. Yes, they'd
be there. The only reason, outside of sickness
now, that some people are unable to come. They're just sick. Ruth is terribly sick. I understand. There are many reasons. We don't
know the law here. Not at all. I'm just saying, for our own
benefit, whoever may hear this on tape or whatever, let's just
drop the excuses. We need to come to grips with
this thing, whether or not we really know and love Christ and
whether or not the gospel, how valuable the gospel is to us.
It's obvious that some of you want to hear the gospel, and
I thank God for that. You know, true love, true love
begets a love for the gospel. True love for Christ begets a
love for the gospel and His people. That time we had, Brother Donnie,
every time I get together with you and whoever at your houses,
it's just the most enjoyable time I know of. There's nothing
I'd rather do, really, sincerely, from the heart. Whoever comes
to our house, It's enjoyable. There's no place I'd rather be,
nobody I'd rather be with. That's a good sign. It's a good mark. By this, you'll
all men know, you're my disciples, didn't Christ say? You have love
for one another. Love for one another. These stony
ground hearers, they look good, maybe, but they soon wither. They soon wither away. Let me
hurry through this. Let me say this, first of all. I've outlined it in yellow. Outward
religion can talk much of doctrine, but very little of Christ. We've
discussed this before, about some people. Not that we're talking
about anybody here. We're talking about some people
that we've run into. Without religion, you can talk
much of doctrine, much of practicalities in religion, and this and that
and the other, even prophecies, whatever. You can talk much of
the Bible and Scripture and so forth. When it comes down to
talking about a personal relationship with the living Lord, talking
about that, what do you think of Christ? Tell me how the Lord
saved you. What is your relationship with
Him? Then it's tough on that mere
formalist. Christ said they endure for a
while. They endure for a while, but then finally wither away.
Now listen to this. There was a man at 13th Street
who was practically raised under the preaching of the gospel. He attended there for about 30
years. He was my teacher as a child.
He became an elder. He preached from the pulpit.
He attended for over 30 years. He's gone. He doesn't even attend
church anymore. He doesn't even go to church.
He was an elder, a preacher, 30 years. Now, Christ said they
endured for a while. It didn't say how long, does
it? He doesn't say a couple of months. A while could be thirty
years. Lord, God help us. If we're not
kept by the power of God, we're gone. We're gone. But he says
they wither away. Now listen, here's some signs
of withering away. We need this. Here's some signs of withering
away. First of all, there's no heart
searching. But a presumption, mere presumption
based on head knowledge. There's no real heart searching.
And they become uncomfortable upon hearing trying doctrine. Trying messages become quite
uncomfortable. I don't hear that. You know,
the conscience becomes hardened. There's a lack of prayer. That's
a definite sign. The showers of God's blessing
in the gospel and so forth causes no growth. There's no outward
signs of any growth. There's a deadness of spirit.
Like I said before, they're unmoved by anything, by any message.
I don't care how powerful it could be or whatever. Unmoved. Sleepiness. I tell you. Sleepiness. Beware of drowsiness
in hearing people. Serious. Let us not sleep as
do others. The scripture says this I don't
know how many times. Let us not sleep as do others. Weak or thick notions. There's
some people who seem to remain weak in knowledge.
Don't seem to come to any grounded confirmation of the truth. We've
discussed this, haven't we, Jeanette? Don't seem to be, to come to
any firm conviction of anything, but rather, carried about with
every wind of doctrine that comes along. Well, this, you know,
he's saying something, but what about these people? I don't know
about those people. I know the gospel, though. I'm
persuaded that this is the gospel. It's the only way man's going
to be. I don't know about those people. I don't know about that
preacher down the road. Yeah, he's saying some good thing.
I don't know about him. That's not my concern. I know
what the gospel, the gospel that saves a man, the gospel that
this book contains. I know that. I've come to conviction
of that. I hope it's by God's Spirit. And then there's contention. Contention sets in as someone
is withering away. Bitterness of spirit. Become
bitter with people. Become bitter with a preacher,
whatever. Jealousy. Divisions, gossiping starts,
neglect of worship finally. These are some things that show
a withering away, that that person eventually is going to be gone,
unless God does something. Well, look at the third type
of here, real fast. I've got to hurry here. Look at verse
7 with me. It says, Some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprung up and choked them. thorny ground here. Verse 22, he explains, he says,
he also that receives speed among the thorns is he that hears the
word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. These world's goods and these
cares of the world are lacking the thorns for several reasons.
Like I said, I'd really like to get into all this, Thorns
come from the ground, and that's where all our troubles and trials
come from, this earth and all of its possessions in it, this
worldly problem. Thorns will wound and tear anyone
that messes with them. The Scripture says, they that
will be rich in this world fall into hurtful lusts which drown
men in destruction and perdition and pierce themselves through
with many sorrows. If you try to make a bed of thorns,
it's never comfortable. A rich man's bed, he never sleeps
well. David Atkins once told me of his former boss who ran
into a pile of money from coal. He had large deposits of coal.
He said the man came in one day and told him that he hadn't slept
for four days. He was trying to decide how he was
going to spend that money. But a bed of thorns and worldly
care is never comfortable, never a sweet rest. He gives his beloved
sleep. He giveth his beloved sleep,
the psalm says. Sweet rest. Rest in Christ. And
thorns can quickly cover the ground. Quickly. Now, two things
he says here. The care of this world and the
sleepfulness of riches. I've got it well on this. I've got
to. Cares of this world. It'll kill many professors of
religion. Bear with me. Cares about what we're going
to eat, what we're going to wear, what we're going to do. Christ
said, the people of this world, they're taking up with those
things. Don't you be taking up with those things. He cares about
the times. Oh, did you hear about Russia?
What's going over in Iraq? I'm not worried about Russia.
My soul. Well, I'm just worried about
me. You know, I'm not worried. Well, the King's heart's in the
hands of the Lord. I'm not worried about world affairs.
I'm not saying we shouldn't necessarily vote. By all means, do your civic
duty, vote, and so forth. But I don't think we should get
involved in politics and all of this. I just don't think there's
any place for it. Let the potsherds of the earth
strive with the potsherds of the earth about broken potsherds.
I don't want anything to do with that stuff. Overly care about the times,
concerned about these things, distraught The cares of this
world can be being distraught and troubled and distressed by
events that happen in your life. What am I going to do? That's the cares of this world.
That's being taken up with, the cares of this world. Now, we
should manage our affairs wisely and we should And the enjoyment
of these things and concern over our troubles, that's not necessarily
evil, it's its flesh. It's not necessarily evil, it's
natural to it. But I'm talking about excessive
care, excessive worry and excessive concern. It'll make you sick. Excessive worry, it'll make you
sick. It causes heart disease and trouble
and so forth. And so all it is, is unbelief.
That's just all it is, worry and concern. Why don't we worry
about tomorrow? We don't know what tomorrow's
going to bring. We might die tonight. Well, here's some signs
of a thorny ground heart. Listen to this, some signs of
this. When your mind is wholly taken up with this world, I mean
wholly taken up with it, and boy, it's a struggle, isn't it?
When your thoughts are always filled by the world, especially
during the worship service, when you can't come in to worship
God ever without just being with the world coming in, something
bad wrong, you better get on your knees in the closet real
fast. Every time you come in to worship,
if your mind is bombarded with this world, you better settle
this thing. You better get before God and
ask Him to remove this problem from you. He'll choke the Word. It's what we're talking about
here. Worldly care is going to choke the word out. When the
cares of this world overly vex us, when we become overly distraught
and worried and almost suicidal or whatever, when whatever comes
our way, we just lose it. How could that person have any
faith in Christ? He gives peace. I thought Christ
gave peace and comfort and rest and joy. To be sure, we don't
have that all the time. But it's got to be there in principle,
or Christ isn't there, right? He's got to be in there and give
you some peace and some joy and some contentment and some submission
to what comes about in our life. Study the scriptures. Sure, these
men lost it at times. But there were times when they
said, well, the Lord gave and the Lord takes away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. I know that's grace, but if His
grace is unto you through knowing Christ, then that'll be there
with you too, to a degree, to a degree. And in the speakfulness
of riches, now it goes without saying that a mind that's more
concerned with the riches of this world rather than the riches
of Christ is a thorny ground here. And in the speakfulness
of riches, he says, he'll choke the Word. And by filling the
thoughts full of this world, give a false security and false
happiness, you know, many people think that they, many people
are looking forward to retirement just so they can step back and
take it easy and they just maybe die the next week. You know,
how many times do you hear that? It's like the man that's going
to tear down his barn and build bigger ones. He's a fool. Fool. Well, many fall away because
of care for this world. Care for family, job, possessions.
Scripture says where your treasure is, that's where your heart is.
That's where your heart is. So make sure. Lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven where Christ sits at the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above where Christ sits at the
right hand of God. Lastly, the fourth here, we're
here. And we need this badly. Look at verse 8. He says, But
others' feed fell into good ground, good ground, and brought forth
fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who
hath the ears to hear, let him hear. And verse 23 explains this. He says, He that receives feed
into good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it,
and which also bear fruit. and brings forth some hundredfold,
some sixty, and some thirty. Now, there were four hearers
mentioned. We've mentioned four hearers. One out of the four. That's about
the ratio. Christ sent many. Many are called,
few are chosen. One out of these four is the
true disciple of Christ. Only one in four. Only one proves
to be true. What's the difference? Is it
in the ground? Oh, no. It's in the preparer
of the ground. Notice I said it at the very
outset, that Christ is the sower. He's the one. He plows, He sows,
He waters, He plants, He waters, He brings the income. He does
it all. He's the author and finisher. Who makes the feet of difference?
That's, there's the key. What's the difference? Not what,
it's who. It's who makes the difference. The difference is
not in the ground, but in the preparer of it. It's according
to the good pleasure of his will. Now, this is just strictly a—this
is another confirmation of salvation by God's sovereign grace. That's what this is, that he'll
save who he will. He'll take four plots of ground
there, and he'll cause the seed to grow in the one he wants to.
It's just that it's up to him. He takes his word, he breaks
the hard heart, he convicts of sin. The goodness of God leads
you to repentance now. We don't even, my soul, God has
to turn us around, doesn't he? Repentance is a turning, a turning
from sin to God. How can a man who's dead and
trespassing sin be turned around, be made to look? Only God comes
to him and does this work. And God reveals the gospel. The
Holy Spirit has to do this. God gives ears to hear, eyes
to see, a heart to receive. He gives an understanding of
who God is, who we are, who Christ is. He gives faith in Christ.
He gives the fruit of the Spirit. He perfects. He matures. He nurtures what he starts. It's
all of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Listen
to a heart prepared by God. Here's some marks of a heart
prepared by God, and I'm just about finished. A heart prepared
by God is, first of all, like I said before, a broken heart. A broken heart. A broken and
a contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise. A broken heart. Broken over sin. God loves brokenness. You know who He'll have for His
companions? Broken-hearted people. Despaireth the high and lofty
one who inhabiteth eternity, who dwells in the heavens. He
said, I dwell with him as of a broken contrite heart and trembles
at my word. That's the person I'll dwell
with. Can two walk together except they be agreed? The man that
thinks he's something, he ain't going to walk with God, because
God knows he's nothing. And the man that doesn't think
much of God, God's not going to walk with him either, because
God's everything. God is all. He said, I'm from
above, you're from beneath. The only man God will have any
dealings with is a broken-hearted man. The only way a man will
be broken-hearted is if God breaks him. A broken-hearted man. Humble
before God and man. And man. A regenerated heart
is a heart prepared by God. New thoughts, new opinions. We
studied this one Sunday. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, a new creation. You're not the same person you
used to be. If God touches somebody, they're
not the same. God doesn't do things halfway. My soul. God doesn't save a man's
life and not his heart. My soul. A heart prepared by
God is a new heart, new thoughts, new opinions, new principles,
new affection, new desires. Yeah, there's a law that wars
in his member, but it'll not have dominion over him. That's
what Scripture says. It won't. New goals, he's not
pursuing this world. New attitudes, new actions. A new, a new creation in Christ,
a new heart, a new man. A heart prepared by God is a
believing heart. A believing heart, a wholehearted
faith that really trusts Christ. Not just worshiping with the
mouth, not just being here in body only, but here to worship,
to know, to understand. Rest in Christ, too. He's not
looking to his own works, but resting in Christ, in his person,
in his work alone. It's a believing heart. A double-minded man, a double
heart, it's a deceptive thing. The heart is deceitful above
all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? But a true heart
prepared by God is wholehearted faith. Now, it's a person, and
you've got to know you, not your own self. It's a person who is
resting in Christ alone. And you've got to know now. To
be sure, self-righteousness crops up all the time. It always does.
It always will. But chiefly and foremost, that
person is looking to Christ to say, Lord, save me or I'll perish.
Yes, he is. Believe in wholehearted faith.
Heart prepared by God is a loving heart. Loves God, loves Christ,
loves his gospel, loves his people. It's a submissive heart. It's
unoffended by whatever God says. Oh, preacher, you cut me. That
cut me. Oh, but I need it. I hear some
of you say that. I go out of here feeling bad
because I brought a convicting message. Somebody come up. I
sure needed that. Man, that's a good heart. That's
good ground there. Good ground. I'm working on that
ground. Submissive, not contentious or
fault finding. The fault that that heart finds
is with himself. It doesn't find too much fault
with anybody else. Most of the fault they find is
right here. I'm the problem. A tender heart,
tender towards sin, moved by the gospel. An understanding
heart, a spiritual man, one who understands his one great need,
Christ. And he said finally here, it's
a fruitful heart. A fruitful heart. Some brings forth fruit a hundredfold,
some sixty and some thirty. It's not in the same degree in
everybody. Some people seem to have so much
more faith. You know how it is, and you envy
these people. You think, oh, I wish I... Could be you think
that way about me. I think that way about some of
you. Oh, my. Some people appear to have a
lot of faith, some people appear to have a lot of love for Christ
and the gospel, some people appear to be very useful and you feel
like you don't have any of these things. But he says a hundred,
sixty, and thirty for our sake, and they could go on with that,
fifteen, ten, and five, or one point three. You may feel like
that. It's there. It's there. And thank God for it. And I do. I bless God's name because I
see, I see this good ground out there right in front of my eyes
right now. I see some of them. We need to bless God for it.
And ask Him to plow it up even more. Plow it up. Keep planting
this seed. See the gospel. cause it to grow. Stand with me and I'll dismiss
this in prayer. We need every part of it before we can actually make a
submissive decision about who is going to do what.