I'm going to read three verses
as my text this morning. I'll read one verse from Matthew
chapter 13, one from Mark chapter 4, and one from Luke chapter
8. So if you're following along, turn to Mark, Matthew 13 first.
For the sake of time, I'm just reading these three verses. They
basically say the same thing. And remember, while there's different
wording, There is no contradiction in these three writers. The fact
is, when it comes to this and this parable, we don't know exactly
the words that the Lord used. But we know exactly what He meant
with the words that He used. Because you can't take all three
of these writers and use every word and place it in some order
and make it sound legible. You see, what the Holy Spirit
of God did was not simply dictate to men what had been said before. But probably in a truer sense,
what is recorded in this book, because it's recorded for us,
for God's people, gets more to the heart of the matter than
the very words that Christ used when He spoke them. I hope you understand what I'm
saying there. Now look at it, Matthew 13 and verse 23. But
he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it. Matthew's the only one that records
that. Hears the word and understandeth it. Remember, well, some don't
understand, and what happens when you don't understand the
word? The devil comes along and snatches the seed away. That's
just the way it is. That's the way it is. And understandeth
it, which also beareth fruit, And bringeth forth some an hundredfold,
some sixty, and some thirty. Now listen to the way Mark records
it in Mark chapter 4 and verse 20. And these are they
which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word and receive
it. Bring forth fruit, some thirty,
some sixty, Some 100 fold they've said the same thing different
wording even a different order, but that doesn't matter here The detractors says it matters
those who believe God say doesn't matter. It's the same exact truth
Now look at Luke chapter 8 and listen how Luke records it Luke
chapter 8 verse 15 but that on the good ground, are they.
Which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it. That's why this, I said before,
and the word itself testifies to it. They receive, it's not
about, we hear a command of Jesus, then we go do what Jesus says.
That's not what this is talking about. We receive it. We bring
it in, we keep it. Pull it in close to your soul.
And you adore it. You worship Him in it. But that on the good ground are
they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit, and Luke's the only one that
says this, with patience. There are reasons why we have
this. I don't have time to deal with
it all in detail. I'm not going to take the time
to deal with it all in detail. But remember, although the whole
world is set to fight against a person's salvation, And this
parable is talking about salvation. In particular, it's talking about
conversion. Not talking about justification
by blood. That's a related subject, and
it's a foundation subject, but that's not what he's talking
about here. In the parable, he's talking about conversion. What
most people think of when they think of being saved. That's
what he's talking about here. And although the whole world
is set to fight against the person of salvation, yet God Almighty
in His wise, immutable, infinite, and almighty power, God has purposed
to unite a people to Himself in sovereign saving grace. It
will be done. That's what this parable teaches.
Now even if you took it strictly from a technical thing, out of
every four people, one's going to be saved. That's not what's
taught here. That's not what's meant here.
But even if you took it in that sense, it tells us at least this,
at least one's going to be saved. Is that not true? Somebody's
going to be united to God. Somebody will be converted. Is
that not true? It's not about percentages. It's
about the promise of God as testified to by the Son of God. God's eternal
purpose in Christ. And everything that happens in
time, God purposed it to happen before the foundation of the
world. How do I know if this or that is God's purpose? Did
it happen? If it happened, it was God's
purpose. I don't care what it was. No matter what kind of ground
it is. God ordained it all like it is.
But God's eternal purpose in Christ issues forth in time. And it issues forth in time and
it infallibly gives spiritual life. It infallibly gives spiritual
hearing. It infallibly gives spiritual
understanding or perception. God gives a good and honest heart
to some. That's in the context. Remember,
he gave the parable. They said, why do you speak in
parables? And then they also asked, what is the parable? What
might the parable be? Well, he didn't tell them at
first what the parable be. He told them, here's why. Here's
the reason. Because it's given to you. Given
to you, not offered to you. It was offered to you and you
accepted it. You received what you received because something
was already given to you. And we'll see that in a moment.
God gives a good and honest heart to some never to all God doesn't
offer man anything Nowhere in this book do you find God offering
man anything man read the command reads the commands of God and
talks about it as an offer God doesn't offer anything he either
commands to be done or he does one of the other He commands
to be done or he does one or the other God gives a good and
honest heart to some and on them and them only the gospel preached
falls as seed and it converts and Heals now turn back to Matthew
13 again listen to what he says Matthew 13 starting verse 11 He answered and said unto them,
because, here's why I speak to them in parables, because it
is given to you to know. So which has to come first, the
gift or the knowing? Knowing is the very thing you
have to be given. You don't know and then God gives
you something. He must give and then you know.
And 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. Now there it is clearly and plainly. This is what the natural man
doesn't want. He doesn't want the word clearly
and plainly. He wants you to give it in opaque language. Now let me decide what I think
about it. Look, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given. Isn't that amazing? Think about
that, whosoever hath. Now one thing they do not have
is they don't have this intrinsically as we will also see. They don't
have this by nature because it has to be given. But they have
to have before there's even a giving, right? For whosoever hath, to
him shall be given. But then look, and he shall have
more abundance. But whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away even that he hath. That almost sounds
like a contradiction, but it's not when you know who's speaking.
This is God Almighty speaking. He knows exactly what He's saying. In other words, let me say it
again, God gives a good and honest heart to some, and on them the
gospel preached falls as seed, and it converts and heals, for
He goes on and says, therefore, speak out of them in parables,
because they seen Because they seeing see not, and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, 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 wax
gross. Whose is it? Huh? Whose is it? But God's sovereign. I have mercy on whom I have mercy,
whom I will, I harden. We're all dead in trespasses
and sins by nature. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Why did He say, He
that hath ears to hear, let him hear? You don't have those by
nature though. And their eyes have they 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. See, that's why we know. He talked about conversion. Should
be converted, and I should heal them. Let me tell you, the most
important thing is not whether you've had a few ribs fixed up.
It's whether God Almighty has healed you through His converting
power. That's the most important thing.
It's better to enter into life maimed than to be whole and miss
life altogether. I will say this, and I don't
say this to embarrass him or anything like that, but Jack,
God Almighty performed a miracle on you before you ever had your
heart surgery, or you'd have been dead. But that means nothing
apart from Him healing your soul in Christ Jesus. You could live
a long life with all kinds of miracles. You die without Christ,
you'll perish. Not only that, Luke tells us
that it also brings experienced forgiveness of sin. I say Luke,
I mean Mark. Look at Mark chapter 4. Listen
to how Mark records that part of it. Mark chapter 4 and verse
11. And he said unto them, Unto you
it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. but unto
them that are without. Mark has even defined it to them
that are without. So in other words, you have a
group as a whole, but you have some that are without and some
that are then clearly what? Within. Right? But unto them that are without,
all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may
see and not perceive. Now notice how He, He knew exactly
now, the Spirit of God moving Him to right, He knew exactly
now what Christ meant when He said those words back yonder
a few years ago. You see it? that seeing they may see and
not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand,
lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins
should be forgiven them. Now granted, this is in the negative. He's talking about those who
wouldn't be converted, and sins would not be forgiven. But what
is the opposite of those who were then? To those who have,
and other would be given, and they have much abundance. What
is it? Their sins are forgiven. Amen. Let me tell you something. There is a sense in which there
is no experience of the forgiveness of sins apart from the preaching
of the gospel and the experience of that through receiving the
gospel and bowing down to the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why I said this God Almighty
gives a good and honest heart to some and on them the gospel
preached falls as seed and it converts. It will convert because
they're good ground. They're good ground. And they
will be forgiven of sins. Imagine that. Most people don't
care about forgiveness of sins. They want God to overlook their
sins. I don't need my sins overlooked.
I need my sins purged. I need forgiveness. Joe, I need
some of that peace of mind. That peace that passeth understanding. Because I say, we say, the book
even says our sins are forgiven and yet I see them right before
my very eyes. They're still right here within
me. I will walk out of this building, and at some time or another before
too long, I will fall. I will fall. Oh, what's he talking
about going and doing, huh? You don't know what I'm talking
about. You don't get it. I will fall. I see my sin all
around me. It's a part of me. I could taste
it and yet He says some people sins are what? Forgiven he actually
talks about it in this metaphorical language I will cast them into
the sea of forgetfulness put them behind his back Where the
all-seeing God? Yeah, his purpose not to say
that's amazing thing any and all spiritual ability has
God as its source. Otherwise, you'll be one of the
other three grounds. That's just the way it is. There's
only four kinds. Any and all spiritual ability
has God as its source. When He gives, it's so. He doesn't dangle it out there
for us to receive. He gives it, and then we receive. Right? The seed falls on good
ground. The seed falls into a good and
honest heart, and then the good and honest heart does what? Receives
it. Isn't that what he taught? That's
his explanation, not my explanation. That's his explanation of the
parable of the fourth ground. Oh, this lets me take heart.
There is and there will be some good ground. Amen. Isn't that heartening? Yes, sir. Because granted, when I see this,
no matter how much I know it doesn't mean that, I see it by
percentages. Because I see all around me mostly
trodden down ground. the wayside, stony ground, thorny
ground. Don't you? Even when I see myself,
especially when I see myself, I very often see good ground. But I can take heart, you know
why? Because there has been and there will be good ground. Oh
to be good ground. Oh, to be good ground. But if
you are, God is the source, not your will,
not your work, and not your worth. But not only that, oh, to see
others made good ground. Don't you long for that? Don't
you? to see others make good ground. I mean, if you're a sower, that's
what you're looking for. It's that sowing in the confident
expectation, that means hope, of the promise of God that there's
some good ground out there somewhere, right? Oh, to see others made good ground.
But then I thought about this. How in the world can I ever see
such as that? There's only one way to see good
ground. You know how to see good ground? You know the only one.
Does anybody know? Anybody want to give it to me?
How's the only way to see good ground? You know how the only
way is? Sow good seed. Because apart from good seed,
good ground looks just like the rest of it. As a matter of fact,
good ground without seed ain't nothing but something you gotta
pay taxes on. That's dirty. Now listen to me,
don't think that I'm belittling anything here. Other than this,
those who emphasize one part of God's truth to the de-emphasizing
of another part of God's truth. And the most important thing
for the sower is not the good ground. That's God's business
absolutely and completely and you've got nothing whatsoever
to do with something or someone being good ground. But the sower
does have a responsibility. Go forth and sow good seed. And if you sow good seed, you'll
eventually see good ground. Somewhere along the line, good
ground will come up. All to see others made good ground. There's only one way to see good
ground. That's sow good seed and then to sit back and wait
for the results. If it gets choked out, What do
you do? Well, I'm going to quit. No,
keep sowing and seeding. Right? There's something planted
under the foot, and the devil comes and snatches it right out
of their heart. They could care less about religion or anything,
Armenian religion or Calvinistic religion. It doesn't matter.
You know what? Keep on sowing and seeding. That's
it. Keep on sowing and seeding. Because
that's the only way you're ever going to find out where good
ground's at. This has nothing to do with tilling. I've heard
men talk about tilling. This has nothing to do with tilling.
This is talking about just walking out there and start throwing
seed down. Indiscriminately back wherever. Some fell here, some
fell there. But there will be some good ground
somewhere. But if you never sow a seed, you ain't gonna see no
good ground. Although the seed don't make
good ground, you still ain't gonna see good ground unless
you sow seed. Do you get it? Do you see it? Think about it, listen to what
I'm saying here. Any result prior to seed being sown is suspect. I didn't say it's all bad, but
any result prior to seed being sown has to be held suspect. It's only after seed is sown
that you're going to be able to see the reality of whatever
kind of ground it is. I've heard men say, well, God
sovereignly regenerates. So just kind of look and see
if you see anybody that's concerned about their sins. I guarantee
you some of these other girls, at least two of them were concerned
about their sins, or at least one of them, they with joy received
it immediately. They had no root. That's right. Don't go looking for results
before you sow seed. Yeah, that's it. It's not going
to happen. It's not going to happen. Three things right here, quickly.
God has determined who will be good ground. Romans chapter 9. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God
determines who is good ground. Secondly, according to Paul writing
to Titus, in Titus 3 verses 1 through 7, and be 30 there, Not only did God, did God, past
tense, determine who would be good ground, God Almighty must
create one as good ground. Chapter 3 of Titus, put them
in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates,
to be ready to every good work. To speak evil of no man, that
means to lie about people. I don't mean tell the truth about
man. Somebody said don't say anything
bad about anybody then you will have to be a mutant But we're
all corrupt Now let's look at look at what I'm saying to be
no brawlers But gentle showing all meekness and all men and
you know what the human heart says I mean somebody's got to
be different Walter Pendleton is He sure ain't meek Do you
remember what the book says about Moses? About Moses, he was the
meekest man on earth. And yet that man, because of
his calling, walked into the very throne room of Pharaoh in
Egypt and looked that man in the eyes and said, let my people
go. There's gentleness and meekness.
He could have kind of been like, remember, who was it, James and
John said, let's just call fire down from God out of heaven.
Huh? This world is so stupid when
it comes to true humility and meekness. The humility and meekness
is before God Almighty, not cowering down and compromising the truth
before men. You remember Nathan? He walks
into God's King. God's King! And I remember Henry
Mahan saying this, he probably pointed his bony finger in David's
face. Now, it doesn't say he did that,
but he said, David, you're the man. That's right. But let me tell you, that's still
meekness and gentleness and love and compassion. People think
you're being mean when you tell them the truth. You know why?
Because you're offended by it. And remember what kind of ground
is offended by? Exactly. Watch it! Don't think you can malk the
seed and everything will just be fine. And let me tell you
something, because of even David's sin, after that the sword never
left his house. Right? The sword never left his
house after that. Whatsoever a man sows, I don't
care who you are, Christian or not, whatsoever a man sows, that
shall he also reap. God has determined this. Now
look, I didn't even get anywhere. To speak evil of no man, not
to be brawlers. In other words, you can't beat
the truth into somebody. There are times when I wish I
could. I mean, just yesterday I mentioned
to Penny there was one person on the fender nose sideways.
Like a swell up. But you know what? All that would
do is bring shame to my Lord. You know why? Because you know
what he uses? His seed. His gospel. His word. That's what he uses to bring
men and women down. And if that won't do it, the
sword or the fist will be nothing but temporary. It will cause a bunch of apostates
to arise. Now look, here's why. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish. Remember, they are now where
you used to be. They are now where I used to
be. That's the attitude that we're
to do this in. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving different lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But,
oh, thank God for that. But after that the kindness and
love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of
righteousness Which we have done but according to his mercy he
saved us by the washing of regeneration Yes, sir, but also what else?
the renewing of the Holy Ghost One is meant to usher in the
other One is never enough But do you hear what I say? I believe
in sovereign regeneration. That's all well and good. But
if you deny the renewing of the Holy Ghost, you've missed the
whole point. Regeneration is not an end in itself. It's a
cause to an effect. That's conversion. And conversion
happens by the Gospel. You don't just wake up in one
morning and convert. You are converted. Not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly. That ain't
an offer, is it? That ain't an offer. Which he
shed on us like a downpour, like a cloudburst out of heaven. Which
he shed on us abundantly. Through what? Jesus Christ, our
Savior. Now Paul's bringing up that cross
part. Huh? That redemption part. That blood shedding part. That
substitute part. That surety part. That being
justified by His grace, we should be what? Made heirs. I said God's got to create good
ground, don't He? We should be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. Here's the third point. The first
two are primer. They are the first principles
of salvation. They're the basics when it comes
to conversion. If you actually get a grasp of
those, if God gives you, I should better say, a grasp of those,
you'll start to understand everything else. Do I have a right to say
that? Go back to our parable of the
seed and the sower. Look at Mark's account, chapter
4 and verse Where am I at? 13. And he said unto them, know ye
not this parable? Now he puts it in the negative,
but what would be the opposite of it? Know ye not this parable? How and how then will ye know
all parables? In other words, this is the basics.
These are the fundamentals of conversion. If you don't get
this, you're not going to get the rest of it. And this is why
religion tries to prove that more than one of these grounds
is really saved. Because they don't get it. They
don't get it. And that's why when they come
to all the other parables, they're off in left field somewhere.
You can't put new wine in old bottles. They have no idea what
that means. Did you know that? Jesus ain't talking about starting
up a winery. He ain't worried about that. He can create it
from water no matter of fact he created from nothing Back
he wasn't worried about that He said God almighty don't work
with the old nature God almighty don't deal with the old nature
God almighty don't put any spiritual blessing in the old nature. He
puts it in a new bottle New wine always goes in new bottles God
knows that because God ordained it that way You see, if you're starting to
get, let me put it that way, if you're starting to get a little
grasp of this one, the others will fall in place. Yeah, they
will. They'll fall in place. But you
miss this one, you don't know this one, you ain't gonna really
get none of the rest of them. Isn't that right there? Now Mark's
the only one that mentions that. But you know why? I don't care. I don't care. You thought I was
gonna give you an answer, didn't you? Because he's the one God chose to reveal
that part of it. That's why, like you were talking
about, that's the only way to know what it is to it. But let me tell
you, even if one of the three witnesses is the only one to
mention it, it's what he said. So, here I want to give you five
observations in perspective concerning good ground is my summary. It's going to be the rest of
the message, but it's going to be my summary as well. Number
one, according to both the Old Testament and Paul in the New,
none of us are good ground by nature. He says it's given to you to
know. Why did it have to be given if they already had it by nature? It had to be given. Did it not? See it? There is none righteous,
no not one, the book says, Old Testament and New. None. There's none that understandeth. There's none that doeth good. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together. If you lumped
us all together, we're still what? Unprofitable. There's no fear of God before
our what? Some of the very same things
Christ is talking about that's absolutely necessary, right?
There's none that seeketh after God That's not a good honest
heart is it and Paul says that's true of all of us Jew or Gentile.
Yes, sir. Good None are good ground by nature
If you don't get that You don't understand what salvation is
all about. Yeah God Almighty saves sinners. And that be the
only kind He saves. Number two, good ground. Listen to me now. Good ground
is never the end result. Fruit is the end result. No fruit,
no salvation. You hear me? No fruit, not no
good ground. Of course you got to have good
ground. But no what? No fruit, no salvation. But here's number three, good
ground plus good seed equals fruit. Good ground never produces
fruit without a seed. Again, I tell you, it's just
dirt. It's something you gotta pay taxes on. I'm being a little
smart aleck, I know that, but I'm not as meek as I should be.
I'm not as gentle as I should be. Now I'm trying to liven it
up because some people, they hear me and it's just like, you
know? You know why that's the problem?
They're hearing me and they're not hearing the seed. They're
not hearing the word. They're looking at the messenger.
They're looking at the sower rather than the seed. And I preached about that. It
doesn't matter what kind of sower it is. Remember you got Christ
and John the Baptist. Two totally opposite kinds of
ministries, wasn't it? But nobody would hear either
one of them, other than God's people. Other than those God
gave grace to. So again, none are good ground
by nature. Number two, good ground is never
the end result. Fruit is the end result. No fruit,
no salvation. Good ground plus good seed equals
fruit. No seed, no salvation. Men can
talk about regeneration, being sovereign all day long. I agree
with them. I won't argue with them. But if you think that's
the end result, you've missed it. You've missed it. Good seed that is the gospel
is the source of fruit. The fruit comes from the seed.
The plant and all that fruit that comes out of a mason comes
from the seed, not the ground. The ground is just the receptacle
where the seed grows and flourishes. Now granted you must have both. Granted good ground must be there
first before seed will produce the fruit. But there ain't gonna
be no fruit apart from the seed. Listen to Proverbs. Chapter 10 verse 11. The mouth of a righteous man
is a well of life. But violence covereth the mouth
of the wicked. What in the world is he talking
about? A good neighbor's really nice, but going to have a mean
one is rough. Well, that's certainly true, but that ain't what he's
talking about. He's talking about a person that preaches, that
gives testimony to, that witnesses to the person and work of Jesus
Christ in truth. That's a well of life to a man's
soul. But a violent man, a man who
would snatch, try to snatch away God's glory, rob God of his glory
by lying about his son. What is that man? Violent Violent that's what he's
talking about when you read these Old Testament passages And you
read about Israel talks about the sword and murder and blood
don't try to think of it simply on the line of killing someone
They were mixing the worship of Jehovah God with the worship
of this world. And that slays men. It kills
men. It's a violent religion. Wait
a minute. Turn back another proverb or
turn to, let me see, chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4. Listen
to these words. I may have even said at times, The preaching
of the gospel doesn't give life. You know what? That is not so.
I got so caught up in doctrinal
accuracy, I was doctrinally inaccurate. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. The Word of God does give life.
When there's good ground. You had life when you was conceived
in the womb. And you were born. And you didn't
have to have a lick of food to be brought into existence, did
you? But how much food do you got to have to live? Does food
give you life? You better believe it does. It's
life. Listen. Listen to what Proverbs
says. And I must move along. Proverbs
chapter 4 verse 11. I have taught thee in the way
of wisdom I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest,
thy steps shall not be straightened. That means it's not going to
be so tight you can't get through it. And look, and when thou runnest,
thou shall not stumble. Whatever mode you're in, it's
going to be all right. Do you see it? Now look, take
fast hold of instruction. Let her not go. Keep her, for
she is thy what? life Instruction is your what
life if you think you can survive without the preaching of the
gospel you're dead wrong You're dealing God regenerated me sovereignly
I Don't need his word preached. I don't need the testimony of
his word. I don't need I'm all right I'm one of God's you are
deceived You are deceived For she is thy what? Life. Look at verse 20. My son, attend
to my words. Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine
eyes. Keep them in the midst of thy
heart. See it? Now compare that to where
we're at. For they are life unto those
that find them, and health to all their flesh. Do you remember
what Christ said? He said, you are going to have
to eat my flesh and drink my blood, for there is no life in
you. And he said basically in John 6, go back and read it sometime,
and you are going to have to do that without me being here,
because I am going to send back up to the Father. That's what he said. He says,
the flesh profiteth you nothing, my words, not even my voice.
His voice is life. He must sovereignly, personally
give life initially, but that life is sustained and manifested
only in the life-giving principle of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he said, the flesh profiteth
nothing, my words. My words, their spirit, and they
are what? Life. So who do you believe?
What he said or what anybody else has said? We believe what
he said. And that's why when many of them
left, remember many of the disciples from that, they went back and
walked no more with him. And God manifested the flesh,
looked at those disciples, and said, will you also go away?
And what did Peter say? To the Lord whom shall we go,
thou hast the what? the words. It doesn't matter
Lord, where we go, you regenerated us. Is that his attitude? Was
it? Doesn't matter to me, I'll just
go to whatever denomination there is. I'll go with everyone, whatever. No. To whom, Joe? To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words. And you know the only way you're
going to get the words of Christ today? He's going to send the
Mary Magdalene. Now Joe, Let me tell you, let
me give you a piece here. You know why God sent Mary Magdalene
to those disciples? Because those disciples were
going to be the beginning mouthpiece for God Almighty. Were they not? Many of them, some of them at
least, were going to write the very inspired words of Scripture.
Were they not? But God sent an old X7 deviled
whore to them to give them the message. You're going to hear
it from her before you go preach it to anybody else. Now there's
you a lesson. There's me a lesson. As I've
said, I've emphasized this lately. Why? Because it's dawned on my
heart. The emphasis for any sower is
what? Sow seed. That's what it's about. but I don't see much results.
Yeah, you see results all the time. You just don't like the
results you get, maybe. But you see results. Sometimes
they trot it down as a result. Right? Sometimes the thorns come
up, choke it to death. That's a result, is it not? Sometimes
some make a start, and just as quickly as they start it seems
like, they fall right away. That's a result, but oh thank
God there is going to be some good ground. And look, here we
got a little handful of good grounds here. Don't we? Isn't
that glorious? Noah for 120 years had less than
that. This is like a megachurch for
Noah. Thou hast the words so much so
listen to me bear with me now just a few more minutes Good
seed is vouchsafed under human instrumentality It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching. There's only one person I know
of in Scripture that God personally preached the gospel to that was
Abram and Now there may be, if there are a few others, you let
me know. But they're very few. You know, God's ordained way
is what? He will send one sinner that
He has converted to another sinner that He's going to convert. That
first sinner will preach the gospel to the second sinner,
and that second sinner will believe just like the first sinner did.
And that's just the way God's ordained it. So much so that
in 2 Corinthians 2, and let us read these words. Turn to 2 Corinthians
2. Remember what I said. Good seed
is vouchsafed under human instrumentality. And listen to the way Paul records
this. 2 Corinthians 2, let's begin in verse 12. Furthermore,
When I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and the door
was opened unto me of the Lord. Now, I think about that and I
think, whoo, yeah, I'll be excited. What'd he say? I had no rest.
Wait, what? A door was opened to you and
you had no rest? Now look, I had no rest in my
spirit because I found not Titus my brother. You know, So in seed
is something God always sent His people out to do more than
one at a time. Now there may be times by His
providence you may be all alone. But remember, you ain't really
all alone. Just like the one prophet said, Lord, I'm all alone.
They seek my life to kill me. God said, I got 7,000 more. You
know? Even Max, the great apostle Paul,
felt downtrodden because Titus wasn't there. Jason if you don't
like the fellowship of God you might in God's people you might
as well go somewhere else and stay there Because if that man
wanted Titus along Joe I need 15 or 20 Titus as I feel huh
But now look that's not the end of it, but taking my leave of
them I went from Vincent to Macedonia you take things from God's hand
though as they come don't you sir? Thanks look look now now. Thanks being the God which always
calls us What? us The church is not the poor
little victim get that mentality out of your head If they tie
me to the stake and like faggots alike and burn me to the ground
Ellen I am not a victim Do you hear me? If they beat you to
a pulp because of the truth of Jesus Christ, you are not a victim.
The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds, and we need to start having that mentality.
Rather than this poor little well, I've got to throw out a
little seed. That seed is going to conquer some good ground.
That seed's going to go in there, and it's going to burst forth,
Joe, into a plant, and fruit's going to come forth, some 100,
some 60, some 30, and with patience, but it's going to happen. That's
victorious. Now thanks be unto God which
always causes us to triumph. You see it? In Christ. And maketh
manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. Do you see that? For we are unto
God. Why? Because He's vouchsafed
this message to us. The church, and who is the church?
What is the church? It's the people. It's the grounded
pillar of the truth, Mac. That's the only place you will
find the truth in this world. You cannot just read it by yourself,
by nature, and come up with the truth of God. He's got to make
you good ground that He will send a sower to you. And even
if you're reading this Bible, guess what? That was seed sowing. Was it not? Every message, and
here's a message preached by somebody else, some other man.
Was it not? Now look, for we, for we are
unto God a sweet savior of Christ. Unto God. The Old Testament talks
about God being in heaven singing over us. Have you ever thought
about that? Remember that he said as a shepherd
that goes out and finds the lost sheep, and when he finds him
and puts him on his shoulder and carries the lost sheep all
the way home, what does the shepherd say to his friends at home? Rejoice with me. Isn't that what he says? I found
my lost sheep. For we are unto God a sweet saver
of Christ in them that are saved. We kind of understand that, don't
we? But it's also in them that perish. Yes, sir. To the one, we're a saver of
death unto death. So the gospel is death, too.
As a matter of fact, even we are. He says, we're the ones.
Why? Because the message is vouchsafed to us. To the one, we're a saver
of death unto death. And to the other, a saver of
what? Life unto life. Amen. And then look at what he says.
And who is sufficient for these things? Folks, let me tell you, this
poor little old me mentality, I am so ashamed of it, of myself
in the past, and I so much hate it now for myself in the present. And I do not want it to be the
mode for me in the future. There you go. That's right. Poor little church. Got just a handful or two. Have
you ever read the book of the Revelation? There you go. A number
of which no man can number? That's what it says. Our problem
is we try to see it with these. Yeah. Rather seeing it through
this and faith. That's right. Good seed. Good seed is not confined
to a 45 minute message. You hear what I'm saying? It's
not all about what the pastor does on Sunday mornings for his
45 minutes to an hour or whatever. When you meet somebody at Walmart
and God opens up that door and you sow just a little bit of
seed. that's sowing the seed as much
as I'm doing right here this morning. The whole point is this. Here's number four. Sowers are
ordained of God. What's the two things sowers
are to do? One, go forth. Don't sit back and wait for something
to come to you. Go out there and sow the seed.
I'm not talking about make your own way. You go out there. And
when you're out there, you go out there with the expectation
to say something concerning the personal work of your Lord, it'll
happen. It'll happen when you wasn't
even really expecting it to happen, Joe. But not only go forth, sow
good seed. Good seed is the gospel of the
kingdom. We have a king and he reigns. That's the message. It ain't about no thousand years
to come. anymore than it's about ten kings who give their heart
to the beast. Is it? It's about the person
and work of Jesus Christ and what he did at Calvary. His death,
burial, and resurrection. That's the gospel of the kingdom.
And number five. Bear with me just a few more
minutes. Fruit varies in... I put this down wrong. I noticed
before I even said it. Fruit never varies in... See, I've lost it now. Fruit
varies in quantity. But it never varies in quality. You hear what I'm saying? I just
want to give you... I said it last week. Oh, if I
could believe like so and so. You do. You got the same faith
that they got. You might not have as much of
it as they got. But you got the same kind of
faith. Why? It's all the fruit of what? The
seed. If you sow an apple seed, how many grapes do you get out
of it? Do it. Come on. I dare any of you to
go do it. Find you any kind of seed and
get it to bring forth something else. You might sow this seed
and this seed. If they're both apple seeds,
one may yield more apples, but they're both going to yield what?
Apples. And this is fruit, singular.
Now notice, I know we all automatically run to Galatians 5, the fruit
of the Spirit. Remember, we bring forth fruit
with patience. Patience is one of the fruit
of the Spirit. What is the fruit of the seed? There are three
main things and you can look at it Acts 20 21 Paul says here's
our message. Here's what we testify to every
man Repentance toward God there's number one and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. There's number two There's the two facets of the
one fruit that's what happens when you sow seed and it falls
on good ground it'll bring forth these two things first and repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's
one more thing that it brings forth that is a part of this
fruit, love. Love for God, love for Christ,
love for His gospel, love for His people. And what's the one
major mode of that fruit? Patience. You cannot rush God. How many times have we said,
well I want to see it now. It ain't going to happen now.
I planted my seeds for my cucumbers and at first they didn't even
come up. I couldn't make them come up.
They just didn't come up. I replanted them. Guess what?
They come up. But you know what? I could go out there and eat a little
piece of green nub or I could what? Be patient and wait. Whether you're a sower or whether
you're good ground, if the seed's been sown on, it's going to happen
through patience. God will make you wait. Yeah. He'll make you wait. Because
they bring forth, all of them bring forth fruit. How? It didn't
say some of them. Now some bring forth a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty. The quantity may vary, but never
the quality. Your love is just as much real
love if your love is from God. as the Apostle Paul himself.
You may not have as much of it. And remember, love's in proportion
to what you've been forgiven of. Isn't that what Christ taught? The two major facets of fruit
is this, faith and repentance, and these culminate in love.
You love God, you love God's Christ, you love God's gospel,
you love God's people. If you don't, you're one of the
other kinds of ground. Because faith and repentance
cannot go anywhere but to love. Faith what? Worketh by what?
What? Love. In other words, there is
and will be fruitful believing. Right? There will be fruitful
believing. Now it's easy to wish you had
more. And I think more often we really
wish everybody else had as much as we think we got. But bless
God if you got it. He gave it to you. Did he not? And listen, honor God, honor
His Christ, honor His gospel, and let me tell you, honor His
people too. By being thankful to God for
it. Right? That's what it's all about. That's
where it's at. Father, teach us these things. Make them more than doctrine
to us, Lord. Make them life to us, real to
us. I'm thanking Christ. Amen.