song for this sermon could have
been sang. I guess you'll see why. I've entitled this message, Where
Are Your Roots? Tonight, I'll bring a message
on grounded He speaks of being rooted and grounded. And this morning, I want to preach
on this subject, where are your roots? I remember when I was
in high school, there was a TV series called Roots from a book
written by Alex Haley. Maybe some of you remember it.
And it was giving the roots of the African-Americans. And your
roots are where you come from. Why you are what you are, your
source, your origin, your cause, your reason, your beginning,
your core, what you were made from. That's your roots. Where are your roots? Now, when I ask that question,
I'm not asking so much what is your family tree or to what gene
pool do you belong, but what is your origin? You personally, what is your
origin? Where are your roots? Now, every
man could accurately say, well, my original origin is God himself. Every man could say that. Do
you remember in Acts chapter 17 when Paul said, we are all,
speaking of all men, we are all the offspring of God. The reason you're here is God. I can say that to every man.
But not every man can say that my roots are in the Lord Jesus
Christ. that my roots, that I've been
rooted in his love. Not every man can say, of him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Not every man
can trace their roots to being in the beloved, but all of the
elect can. all are accepted in the beloved. Now rooted in love is what our
text says in Ephesians 3, rooted in love, rooted in the eternal
love of God. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. The same love that loved Jacob.
Jacob have I loved. You know that scripture. Jacob
have I loved. He saw I behaved, but Jacob have
I loved. This is the sovereign love of
God for whom he did foreknow. That means for love, love beforehand. If you're one of his, that means
he loved you beforehand. Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. I love what David
said in 2 Samuel 2, 2 Samuel 23, verse five, although my house
be not so with God, yet have he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my
salvation and all my desire. Now, where did David find his
roots? In the everlasting covenant that
God made with Christ. Now, most religious people, most religious people, most people
who profess to be Christians, would find their roots, their
origin, the determining factor of their salvation in their will. If you believe in free will,
you believe that your will is the determining factor of your
salvation. And if you believe that, you
find your roots in yourself. your free will. And my dear friend,
if your roots are found in your will, you're in trouble. You're
in trouble. There's no salvation in that. The word rooted is also used
in Colossians 2, 7, rooted and grounded in him. in the Lord Jesus Christ, made
accepted in the beloved. Now, do you find your roots in
Christ? Answer that question. Think about
it and answer that question. Do you find your roots in the
Lord Jesus Christ? If you're one of God's people,
you do. Just as simple as that. You do. You find your roots in
Christ. You know that the only reason
you're saved is God put you in Christ. And he saves you for
Christ's sake. And you find all your roots in
the Lord Jesus Christ in this eternal union with Christ. Now,
when I was thinking of this, what came to my mind was the
parable of the sower. Do you remember What the good
ground here had that the other here didn't. Roots. Roots. Something that you could
not see. Now there was some external evidence
called fruit. That was the good ground here
was the only one who bore fruit. But the reason he bore fruit
was the root. That's the only reason he had
roots. Now would you turn with me for
a moment to Luke chapter 8. And I want to read these verses. Beginning in verse 4. I'm going
to read verses 4 through 15 of Luke chapter 8. And when much people were gathered
together and were coming to him out of every city, he spake by
a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed,
and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trodden
down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon
a rock. And as soon as it was sprung
up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some
fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked
it. And other fell on good ground and sprang up and bear fruit
and hundredfold. And when he had said these things,
he cried, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him saying,
what might this parable be? And he said, unto you, it's given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others
in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they
might not understand. Now the parable is this, the
seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they
that hear, then cometh the devil. and taketh away the word out
of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on
the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with
joy, and these have no root, which for a while believe, and
in time of temptation fall away. And they which fell among thorns
are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked,
strangled, with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and
bring no fruit to perfection. 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 with patience. Now, in that passage of scripture,
we have a description of every single one of us. The Lord gives
an accurate description of everybody in this room. Me and you are
represented by one of these four soils. You've been described
for sure. Now, the sower is the preacher
of the gospel. The seed is the word of God. The seed is the gospel message. Now, this is very important.
All four hearers hear the same message. This is not talking
about people who have not heard the gospel. You know, many people
haven't heard the gospel. Somebody says, well, what about
them? Well, there's no salvation apart from hearing the gospel.
But let me remind you, the gospel isn't addressed to other people.
The gospel is addressed to you. Don't forget that. What about
the other people? We'll deal with that at another
time. What about you? What is your response to the
gospel message, which begs the question, what is the gospel?
What is the gospel? I need to know whether I'm hearing
the gospel. What is the gospel that this
sower goes out and sows the seeds that fall on these four different
grounds? What is the gospel? I heard a
man preaching this week. And he was bringing a message
on what is known as the doctrines of grace, which is a term I really
don't like. It's the doctrine of grace. It's
not the doctrines of grace. It's the doctrine of grace. And
it was, and it's known by the acrostic, total depravity, unconditional
election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance
of the saints. And this fellow said, now that is true, but it's
not the gospel message. The gospel message is that Christ
died for our sins. Do you know that if you hear
the statement, Christ died for our sins, you haven't heard the
gospel? That's not the way Paul put it. Now, am I being nitpicky? No, I'm not. The gospel message
is how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. And to simply say Christ died
for our sins is not to preach the gospel. Who's he are? Who
did he die for? What did he actually accomplish
by that death? That's not gospel preaching. And I thought when
the man made that statement, I thought, why didn't you quote
the verse as it stated? Because he didn't believe it.
That's the only reason. It's how that. Christ died for
our sins according to the Old Testament scriptures. The New
Testament had not yet been written. He was saying Christ died for
our sins according to those types of the Old Testament scriptures.
And there's so many we can go to, but the one I'll madically
want to go to first is the Passover. If you want to know how the Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures, go to the Passover.
There was salvation where? Where there was blood over the
door. Nowhere else. If you didn't have the blood,
if you weren't in a house with the blood over the door, the
firstborn died. Only in the house with the blood
over the door. God passed through the land.
What was he looking for? He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you, not when I see your works, not when I
see your faith, not when I see your repentance, not when I see
your sincerity, not when I see your efforts at not sinning anymore.
When I see the blood, what's the one thing he was looking
for? Blood. Who had to see it? He didn't
say when you see the blood. He said, when I see the blood. And what were the results of
him seeing the blood? When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Now that's the gospel message.
God's looking for one thing, and that better be the only place
me and you are looking to. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
as everything in our salvation. That is the gospel message. And then we're given four types
of hearers. First, there's the stony ground
hearer, the wayside hearer. When he throws out the seed,
it's a hard beaten path. The seed cannot penetrate. It
just lays there on the ground. The fowls of the air come and
gobble it up and it's gone. And then we read of the stony
ground here. This is where the seed is sown,
and the seed falls. It looks like soil, I guess,
but there's rocks just underneath. Maybe it's like moss on a rock.
And the sun comes down, and immediately it springs up, but because it
has no root, it can't get moisture. It's scorched, and it falls away.
And then we have the seed thrown into the weeds. And the weed,
it comes up, but the weeds choke the plant and it doesn't bear
any fruit. It doesn't have any fruit that
demonstrates that there is root. And then we have the seed that
was planted on ground that had been prepared already, previously
tilled, and the rocks were removed. It goes into the ground, takes
root, comes up and bears fruit. Now, everybody that's come into
this room, this describes you, one of these hearers. And let's consider them one at
a time. The wayside hearer. The wayside
hearer. And the Lord tells us what the
wayside here is, verse five. Yeah, verse five, a sower went
out to sow a seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside,
the hard beaten path, and it was trodden down, and the fowls
of the air devoured it. And he tells us what that means,
verse 12, those by the wayside are though when they hear, then
cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their heart,
lest they should believe and be saved. Now let me say this.
The devil, Satan, is unable to cause an elect sinner to not
believe. So don't think that's happening.
He's unable to cause an elect sinner to not believe. So what
is this wayside here and the devil injecting other thoughts
and the fowls of the air coming and gobbling up the sea? Well,
Matthew's account tells us that this man does not understand. When he hears the word, he does
not understand. Now, that's not because he is
less intelligent than the other hearers. It's because he doesn't
hear the message as a sinner. It really is that simple. And
so everything is meaningless to him. It doesn't penetrate
his heart because he's not listening from a point of need. He doesn't
hear as a sinner, therefore just doesn't make any sense to him.
If you don't see yourself as a sinner, and by that I mean
someone who all you do is sin. You cannot not sin. You can't
It's all your fault. You take responsibility for it.
You don't blame the sovereignty of God. It's all your fault.
And you don't have the ability to look down your nose at anybody
about anything. And if God passes you by, just
and holy is His name. That's what a sinner is. If you
don't hear the gospel as a sinner, everything is meaningless. It
just doesn't, you see no need. And this man hears the word and
it's meaningless. And the devil will inject some
other thought and you'll even forget about it. It just meant
nothing to you. You were not moved. You didn't
hear. It didn't come to you as good
news. You don't understand. And that's
it. The wayside here. The word never
penetrates his heart. I've seen people come in here,
I don't know how many times over the years, and just meant nothing
to them, meant nothing to them. Maybe you didn't irritate them.
Then they're gone. Then you have the second ear,
called the stony ground ear. Now, these hear the word, and
they receive it. They think, this is good. This
is the first thing that's ever really made sense to me. I like
what I'm hearing. I agree with it. I even see it's what the
Scripture teaches. I agree with this. It's what the Bible's teaching. But they were sown on a rock.
Maybe a mossy stone. And because of that, when the
sun comes down, heats up the rock, comes up, but because it
has no root, it can't get any moisture and it's scorched and
dies. Now, who is this person, this
stony ground here? Look in verse six, and some fell
upon a rock and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away
because it lacked moisture. Verse 13, they on the rock are
they which when they hear, Receive the word with joy. You know,
I've got to say this. Whenever in the preaching of
the gospel, somebody receives it right away without getting
upset or without getting thinking about what's being said, I'm
always suspicious. I think, eh, I don't think you
really heard anything. They immediately receive the
word with joy. This is good. I like this. And these have no root, which
for a while believe, for just a while. And then in time of
temptation, they fall away. They receive the word with joy,
but in time of trial, when they're being tempted, When they're being
persecuted for the word's sake, they say, we didn't sign up for
this. I didn't know this is going to
be the result of what's taking place. And they fall away. They're not here anymore. They
had no root, no real work of grace in their heart. Now, listen
to this. What is the one evidence of true faith? Perseverance. If somebody doesn't persevere,
why, they had no root, they had no work of grace done in their
heart. The evidence of saving faith is continuing in the faith. I think that passage of scripture
in Colossians 1, 22, it says regarding every believer, and
this describes every believer, holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved from the hope of the gospel." Now that stony
ground here, he hears, he agrees, he sees it's what the Bible teaches,
but he hadn't really heard as a sinner because he doesn't persevere.
He doesn't continue in the faith. This man heard, but it wasn't
worth the cost. It wasn't worth losing friends
and family over. It wasn't worth this, so he leaves. He's gone. He's not here anymore. Verse 7. And some fell among thorns, weeds,
and the thorns sprang up with it. and choked it. Verse 14,
and they which fell among thorns are they which when they have
heard, they have heard, go forth and are choked, strangled. With what? The cares and riches
and pleasures of this life and bring No fruit to perfection. Now the thorn choked here is
not like the stony ground here. He doesn't leave. There he sits. There he sits. There he sits. There he sits. That's it. He heard But the cares of this
life, gotta make a living. The deceitfulness of riches,
the lusts of other things, the desires of other things, strangle
the word. And he does not bring forth any
fruit. There he sits. There he sits,
there she sits, but no fruit. Choked, strangled with awful
things, the cares of this life, getting along, making a living,
the desire for riches. You know, Paul said the love
of money is the root of all evil. Covetousness is the root of all
evil. And there they sit, bearing no
fruit." Now, what is this thing of bearing fruit? Well, it's
called the fruit of the Spirit. Every believer has the fruit of the
Spirit. Love, joy, peace. I'm going to
talk about that a little bit more. Long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. This person has none of that. Why? Because God's never done
a work of grace in his heart. He has become choked and brings
no fruit to perfection. Now, those are the three bad
grounds. No true fruit. But here's what
I want us to consider now. The good ground. Verse eight. And others fell on good ground.
bring up and bear fruit and hundred fold. Verse 15, 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 with patience. Now this ground is ground that
had been previously broken up. The stones were removed. furrows,
plowing, and this represents the work of God, the Holy Spirit. That's why this is good ground. God made it that way. It was
what was previously prepared for this planting. He has a new heart that has as
its roots It's origin, God himself. Is that your origin? Your only
hope, you know this. If this is you, you know it's
so. Your only hope is that you'd
be found in Christ. That's it. And you don't want
to be anywhere else. All your roots, my roots are
in thee, my springs are in thee. All your root. is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know that the only way you
could be saved is if you're eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have to convince any
believer of that. I really don't. This is not something to argue.
I don't agree with that. Well, you don't agree with the
gospel then. This is the only hope any believer has is to be
found in Christ, to be eternally in the Lord Jesus Christ so that
all that God sees when He sees me is He sees the Lord Jesus
Christ and I'm united to Him and I've been eternally in Him.
Somebody says, explain that. I couldn't begin to, but I believe
it with all my heart. That's my roots. My roots aren't
in some action of mine or some decision I've made. to believe
or to know my roots are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Born of God. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. You find your roots in being
born of God. You know, if you have faith,
you know the reason you have it is because God put it in you
as an act of His grace. Born of God. You know you didn't
decide to believe. If you have faith, you know it's
because you've been born of God. It's not because of anything
you've done. Look what verse 15 says. but that on the good ground are
they which in an honest and a good heart." Now, what's that all about? An
honest and a good heart. Doesn't the Bible say the heart's
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked? What's this
talking about an honest and good heart? Well, this is the new
heart he gives. This is the blessing of the pure in heart. A new heart
also will I give thee. This is the heart given in the
new birth when you're birthed into the kingdom of God. It's
honest. It's honest with the word of
God. And this is so important. It's honest with the word of
God. It doesn't use the word of God deceitfully, as Paul says. It doesn't go to the word of
God and pick out things to try to bolster itself and prove itself.
It bows to what God says in his word. It's honest. It's honest about itself. You're
the reason we need a written revelation. If you have any understanding
of yourself, it's because you can't trust yourself or anything
you think. You don't trust your own thoughts. You don't trust
what comes natural to you. All you can trust is what God's
word says. You don't trust yourself at all. That's being honest.
You don't you don't trust yourself. You look only to the word of
God that you're you're honest concerning what God says concerning
salvation. Christ is all in salvation. You really believe that his righteousness
is the only righteousness. It's an honest heart. It's a
good heart. You know what that means? It
works. It works. And what is this good heart?
This good heart doesn't mean you feel like you're morally
good and everything's fine with you. A good heart is the heart
that hears as a sinner and hears in need. Oh, I wish I could say this the
way it ought to be said. I don't just believe in the sovereignty
of God. I need the God who is sovereign
to command my salvation as an act of his sovereign will. I
don't just agree with election. I need God to elect me and choose
me, because if he doesn't, I won't be saved. You see, you're hearing
from a sense of need. I don't merely agree that Christ
died only for the elect. I need Christ to be a successful
Savior and put away my sin and do everything that I need to
be saved. I need that. I need His grace to be irresistible
and invincible or I won't be saved. I need Him to preserve
me. I need, I need the every hour
most precious Lord. No tender voice like Thine can
be supported. Oh, what need? And that's what
it is to hear with an honest and good heart. You need. That's the difference. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need not a physician. But they that are sick. Lord, I'm sick. I need you as
my physician. And that's what this honest and
good heart is. Look what else it says. But that
on the good ground are they which in an honest and a good heart,
having heard the word, the gospel, What do they do? They keep it. They keep it. Mark's account
tells us he receives the word with welcome approval. It comes
as good news. They receive the word. This is good news. I receive,
this is, It's hearing the gospel as gospel. It's hearing the gospel
as good news. And Luke tells us they keep it.
That means they hold it fast. It's of infinite value to them.
He cannot, will not let it go. He holds on for dear life. Why? Because it's got a root. His
root is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why he continues
and will not leave. And what is the difference between
this man who has root and all the rest? What's the result of root? Root. Root. Now, see if you have this. Do you love God as He is? I mean as He is. His sovereignty,
His holiness, His justice, His immutability, His independence,
all of it is revealed. Do you love God as He is or would
you rather Him be some other way? Every believer loves God
as He is. And if it were in my power, I
would not change him. Thank God it's not in my power.
But I wouldn't change him. Neither would any other believer.
And we love his people. Everybody he loves, we love. And we love men enough. And what
is this thing of love? If you really love somebody,
you want them to have what you have. That's what you want when
you love somebody. I want men to have what I have.
the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ. Love, joy. Does it make you happy that everything
God requires of you, he looks to Christ for? Does that give
you joy? Does it give you joy that salvation
really is all of grace? Now, everybody in here thinks
I don't rejoice enough. I know you don't, neither do
I. I'm not even asking you to think about yourself. Are you
thankful that salvation really is all of grace, that it's all
in Christ? What about peace? The peace of justification? Now,
the only time you don't have peace is if you don't think your
sin has been dealt with. But if you see justification,
that Christ put away your sin, and you stand before God without
sin, in absolute perfection, perfectly in Christ, Having his
righteousness. Does that give you peace? Ah,
when you look to yourself, you don't have any peace. But when
you look away from yourself to him, what peace there is. Long
suffering. Long suffering. Patience. Well,
everybody in here thinks, well, I'm not very patient. I know
you're not. But when you believe that God's on the throne, you
are, aren't you? When you realize that he's in control of everything,
you're not worried. You just sit there and listen
to what the Lord's going to do. Let's see what the Lord's going to
do. He's right. Every believer has that. Gentleness. Kindness. That's what that is. Kindness. Man or woman that is
not kind knows nothing of the grace of God. Goodness. That's a capacity for
mercy. And this is the fruit of the
spirit, a capacity for mercy. Blessed are the merciful for
they shall obtain mercy. Faith. Faith. You really believe the gospel.
You really are relying on the Lord Jesus Christ. You have faith. Believers believe. That's what
they do. Faith. Meekness. What is meekness? Meekness is an attitude toward
God. And I think it's most clearly illustrated by David. When that
man was cursing him. You bloody man. You bloody man. And Azariah, I can't remember who
it was, but he said to David, he said, do you want me to go
take his head off? I'm going to go kill him. And you know
what David said? The Lord told him to curse David. Whatever happens, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. That's meekness. Whatever God
does is right. Whether I understand it or not,
he does. temperance, temperance, control
from within by God's grace. I love what Paul said when he
was, when he said it there in Romans 12, he said, prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The first
thing he said, let every man don't think more highly of himself
than he ought to think, but to think soberly. Now that is temperance
before God. It means a lot of things, but
every believer has God the Holy Spirit. Now, do I examine myself? How am I doing with fruit or
examine the fruit? No, you look to Christ. But if
you're rooted, that fruit is there. And if there's no fruit,
there's no root. And if there's no root, God's
never done anything for you. Now, what about that good ground
here? Let me remind you, because I
always, I always get, I think, man, am I trying to tell people
to look at themselves? I hope not. I hope not. I'm not saying look at your fruit.
I'm saying look to Christ. That's the only place to look.
Look to Christ. And when somebody looks to Christ,
there will be fruit. That was the difference. The
one who had the root had the fruit. May the Lord. Cause every
one of us. To be this good ground here,
given a new heart. Prepared previously by the spirit
of God. to where you hear the word and
receive it and keep it and endure to the end. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, we ask
that all of us, by your grace, would be good ground hearers.
That you would give us an honest and a good heart to hear the
word as a sinner. To hear the word in need. And to receive it and embrace
it and believe it. And Lord, cause us to have our
root in thee. Cause us to look to thee as our
only origin, not to our works, not to ourself. Lord, bless your word. In Christ's name we pray, amen.