While you're turning there, tonight
we're going to observe the Lord's Table together, and Gina Keynes
will confess Christ in Believer's Baptism also. And if you have
not confessed Christ in Believer's Baptism, let me know, and you
can be baptized as well tonight. Baptism is the Believer's public
confession of Christ. And tonight I'm going to be preaching
on the subject, Worry, Stress, and Anxiety. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Four Types of Hearers. And I will be describing everybody
in this room, myself included, because we fall into one of these
categories of the four types of hearers. And I want to see
what kind of hearer I am. This is what is known as the
parable of the sower, It's given in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Lord, give me ears to hear. That's my prayer right now for
myself and for you. Give me ears to hear. Verse 4, And when much people
were gathered together, and will come to him out of every city,
he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed,
Luke 8 verse 5, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he
sowed, some fell by the wayside. The hard beaten path that had
not been broken up, And it was trodden down, stepped on, and
the fowls of the air devoured it. This seed was gone. And some
seed, and some fell upon a rock. Very shallow soil with a rock
right underneath it that heated up quickly. And as soon as it
was sprung up, it withered away. It died. because it lacked moisture. It couldn't get moisture in that
shallow soil, nor could it derive nutrients. It had no root. Verse 7, And some fell among
thorns or weeds, and the weeds sprang up with it. and choked
it. Have you ever looked at a garden
that was not weeded? It's one of the ugliest sights
you'll ever see. The way the weeds overcome everything and
you can't even see whatever fruit that had been there. Verse 8,
and other fell on good ground, ground that had been previously
broken up and prepared to receive the seed 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." Now, if we didn't have the Lord's
comments on this later on, would you have any idea what this meant?
I wouldn't. I would hear the parable and
I would have absolutely no idea what it meant. Verse 9, the disciples
felt the same way. And his disciples asked him,
saying, what might this parable be? What's this mean? What are we supposed to learn
from this? What are we supposed to hear? But our Lord says something very
unusual. He says in verse 10, and he said
unto you, the disciples, it is given to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of God. and to others in parables, that
seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."
Now here we have the absolute sovereignty of God. He gives
some the ability to know and to understand the mysteries of
the kingdom of God, and others, He doesn't give them that. God
is sovereign. If you have ears to hear, it's
because He gave you those ears. If you have an understanding,
He gave you that understanding. To some people, He does not give
this understanding to, and whatever He does is right, holy, just,
good, and true. He's God. Now the Lord begins
to expound the parable. Now the parable is this, verse
11, the seed is the word of God. The word of God, not man's word. The Word of God. God's Gospel. The truth concerning God. The truth concerning man. The truth concerning salvation. The Word of God. Now all four
hearers heard the same message. They didn't hear a false message.
They heard the truth, the Word of God. Now let me say this about
the Word of God. It's not man's word. It's God's
word. Man doesn't invent this. This
is the Word of God. It's the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That message that tells the truth
concerning the true character of God. And that's what the Gospel
does. It tells who God is. That's what
I want to know. I want to know who God is. In
His holiness, in His righteousness, in His absolute sovereignty,
this is who He is. In His grace, in His wisdom,
in His power, all the most excellent attributes of God are brought
to light in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to
know who God is, don't you? The Living God. The Gospel, the
Word of God, tells the truth regarding man. Who man really
is in his fallen, sinful state and his utter inability to save
himself or do anything to contribute to his salvation. If God doesn't
do something for me, I'll go to hell. There's nothing I can
do. I have no control in this because
I'm sinful according to the Scriptures. The truth concerning salvation. Salvation! is of the Lord. It's not of man. It's of the
Lord. Salvations of the Father in eternal
election when He chose who would be saved. Salvations of the Son
in eternal redemption when He redeemed those the Father gave
Him. Salvation of the Spirit in regeneration when He gives
life. He gives those people the grace
to believe the Gospel. Salvations of the Lord. That's
the Word of God. That's the Word which by the
Gospel is preached to you. All these people heard the same
message. Now, if the Word of God is not
preached, if it's man's Word, no one is saved. The only way
anyone will be saved is if the truth, the Gospel, the Word of
God is preached, and if it's not preached clearly, it's not
God's Word, it's man's Word. Now, all of the hearers in the
parable heard the truth. Right now, you just heard the
truth. You heard the truth of God. It's not a false message,
but the Word of God. Now, our Lord gives the four
types of hearers. Verse 11, now the parable is
this, the seed is the Word of God. Now, here's the first type
of hearer. 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." Now, question. Does that mean the devil, Satan,
has power to prevent a man from being saved? If it does, then you will not
be saved. We need to write that down. We
won't be saved. He's got the power to prevent
a man's salvation. Ain't nobody going to be saved.
So what does it mean? Matthew's account tells us, when
they heard, they understood not. These people on the wayside,
the seed was sown on the hard path, trampled down, birds They
wired them up, and this is Satan taking the word out of their
heart. Matthew's account tells us they understood it not. The message was meaningless to
them. They were among that number that
were whole and needed not a physician. Now, that doesn't mean they were
less intelligent than the others. They had no point of reference.
When they heard of human sinfulness, they didn't think they were like
that. They heard these descriptions of God, and they were meaningless.
That's not the way my God is. They had no point of reference. They didn't understand. They
felt no need. When they heard of God electing
a people, they didn't need to be elected. They could choose
God anytime they wanted to. When they heard of Christ's effectual
redemption, how He completely put away sin, it meant nothing
to them. They didn't need that. When they
heard of the work of the Holy Spirit, sovereignly giving life,
they heard that, but they didn't hear it as a sinner. There was
no need. No need. It didn't come as gospel
to them. It was just religious talk. They
heard it, but they didn't understand. They had no understanding of
what was taking place. And it wasn't an intellectual
problem. It's not that they weren't smart as the other fellas. They
just had no need. What's he talking about people
being totally depraved and totally unable to be... Why? Why, that's
just morose. That's morose. That's just negative.
I mean, you know, come on, give us something more positive than
that. They didn't understand. They didn't hear, as a sinner,
And they trampled underfoot what they heard. It wasn't valuable
to them. Then Satan came and interjected
thoughts, made them think of something else, and they just
went off and that's it. They didn't even think about
it again. Now that's the way most hearers are when they hear
the gospel. They hear, they don't understand,
They just leave. It just is not that important. The beaten path is the natural
man's heart. It has not been plowed up by
the Spirit of God. The seed does not penetrate and
along comes the devil and takes away the Word out of his heart.
He forgets. He never considers. The Word
is trampled on. I wonder if we have any wayside
hearers this morning. Verse 13. Lay on the rock. Now this is
shallow soil. Root was not able to come down
and grab this because there was a rock right underneath. Very
shallow soil. And so when the sun came up,
it scorched it because it didn't have any root, it lacked moisture,
it was on that hot rock. Now, the rocky soil here are they which
when they hear, verse 13, they which when they hear, they receive
the word. They don't reject it. This is
the first thing that's ever made sense to me. I mean, religion
has been so confusing to me, and now this makes sense. I hear what's being said. I agree
with this. I can see the Bible teaches this.
I agree with this. They hear the Word and they receive
it with joy. But there was no stripping, there
was no conviction, They never dealt with the implications of
what was being said. There was a man that was sitting
in my study just two days ago, and he was talking to me. And he said, if what you're saying
is so to me, then nobody's saved in Lexington but the people that
go to your church. And I replied, Nobody say that
doesn't believe the gospel I believe. I don't know what people preach
in other churches. I haven't been in every church, but I'm talking
about this. Somebody that doesn't believe the gospel that I preach,
they're not. He said, well, you're making
the way awfully narrow. Didn't the Lord say, narrow is
the way that leads to life? Broad is the way that leads to
destruction? But he thought of the implications
of what was being said. Some folks, when they start thinking
of the implications, well, that means mom's not saved, and dad's
not saved, and grandma's not saved, and I know they were saved
even though they didn't believe. I know they were. Nobody's going
to tell me that. I'm not... or persecutions because of the
Word. We didn't sign up for this. Maybe
they come and tell their family what they've been hearing and,
wow, that's a cult. That's foolish. That's weird.
You shouldn't believe something like that and maybe even persecute
them for it. We didn't sign up for this. We're not going that
direction. They hear the word with joy,
verse 13, they receive the word with joys, and these have no
root, no grace, which for a while believe, they do believe, temporarily. They receive the word with joy,
they like what they're hearing, but it's temporary, and in time
of temptation, They fall away. That faith that is temporary
is not saving faith. How many hundreds of people have
I seen over the years come into this place and receive the Word
with joy? And they're excited. And they're
not here now. How many hundreds of people? Verse 14, "...and they which fell among
thorns, or they which when they have
heard, go forth and are choked with cares, and Richards, and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." Now
these hear the Word of God as well as the ones who left. They
hear the Word of God and they receive it. And they agree with
what they hear. They become Calvinists. They're
no longer Arminians, they're Calvinists. They agree that the
Bible teaches total depravity and unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. They
agree with that. They see the fallacy of works,
free will, religion. You don't have to convince them
of that. They see the wrongness of it.
But they do not bring forth fruit. The weeds choke them. They become immersed with the
cares of this life. The deceitfulness in one of the
accounts of riches. The lusts of other things. The weeds have choked them. They're immersed in making a
living. Providing for the family. Giving the kids opportunities
to succeed. They become taken up with the
deceitfulness of riches. The love of money is the root,
the scripture says, of all evil. Now it's not just talking about
money, it's talking about the love of money and what that money
provides. Pleasure, popularity, power. The three Ps. The love of money
is the root of all evil, which some have coveted after, and
have erred from the faith, and have pierced themselves through
with many sorrows. Mark's account says the lusts
of other things. Anything that comes into competition
with Christ. Luke speaks of the pleasures
of this life, and there are pleasures in this life. Anything that comes
into competition with Christ. Now let me tell you the difference
between the thorn choked here and the stony ground here. The stony ground here leaves.
He's gone. The thorn choked here is still
here. He just sits. He's still here. He doesn't leave. He's still
here. He still hears the Gospel. And He doesn't disagree with
the Gospel. That's what I believe. But He doesn't bring forth fruit. He knows what the fruit of the
Spirit is. He can quote it. He can talk about love and joy
and peace and long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and
faith and meekness and temperance. He can give you the definition
of all those things. But it's really not in his heart. He's become choked with the cares
and the pleasures and the riches of this life. Something comes
into competition. Now remember that thorn choked
hearer. The weeds are competing for his
affections. They're competing for his affections.
He can't get nutrients. It's competing for the nutrients
in the soil, and he becomes overcome with this world. He still shows up, albeit not
as often, but he bears no fruit. He does not grow in grace. He
does not grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ in his heart. He may talk of love, but in his
heart there's no true love for God. He's just going to what
he agrees with. There's no real joy in the gospel. He just agrees with it. He doesn't
know what it is to truly feel peace by believing. There's no
true gentleness or kindness or goodness or graciousness, no
meekness, no temperance, no... He doesn't have really the fruit
of the Spirit. Now he agrees with what he hears. But the thorns, the weeds have
choked the fruit, and no fruit, no grace. He's not concerned
with fellowship with Christ or fellowship with his people. He
shows up. There he is. He doesn't leave. Hardened, choked, and bringing
forth no fruit to maturity. Now when I hear that, that scares
me to death. I don't want to be a thorn-choked
hearer. No fruit. So these three first
grounds are not good grounds, are they? There's the hardened
path, not broken up by the Spirit of God, no understanding. The person hears it, no point
of reference. Who needs that? I'm going to
do something else. The stony ground here, he hears
the word and understands it and receives it with joy. But if
it's going to cost him something, it's not that valuable to him.
He leaves. The thorn choked here, he's the
one who scares me the most. He doesn't leave. He's still
here. But he's immersed with the cares
and pleasures and riches of this life. And he brings forth no
fruit to maturity. And look in verse 15. Put that on the good ground. That's what I want to be. In
His holiness, in His righteousness, in His absolute sovereignty,
this is who He is. In His grace, in His wisdom,
in His power, all the most excellent attributes of God are brought
to light in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to
know who God is, don't you? The Living God. The Gospel, the
Word of God, tells the truth regarding man. who man really
is in his fallen, sinful state and his utter inability to save
himself or do anything to contribute to his salvation. If God doesn't
do something for me, I'll go to hell. There's nothing I can
do. I have no control in this because
I'm sinful according to the Scriptures. The truth concerning salvation. Salvation! is of the Lord. It's not of man. It's of the
Lord. Salvations of the Father in eternal
election when He chose who would be saved. Salvations of the Son
in eternal redemption when He redeemed those the Father gave
Him. Salvation of the Spirit in regeneration when He gives
life. He gives those people the grace
to believe the Gospel. Salvations of the Lord. That's
the Word of God. That's the word which by the
gospel is preached to you. All these people heard the same
message. Now, if the word of God is not
preached, if it's man's word, no one is saved. The only way
anyone will be saved is if the truth, the gospel, the Word of
God is preached. And if it's not preached clearly,
it's not God's Word, it's man's Word. Now all of the hearers
in the parable heard the truth. Right now, you just heard the
truth. You heard the truth of God. It's not a false message,
but the Word of God. Now our Lord gives the four types
of hearers. Verse 11. Now the parable is
this. The seed is the word of God. Now here's the first type
of hearer. 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." Now, question. Does that mean the devil, Satan,
has power to prevent a man from being saved? If it does, then you will not
be saved. We need to write that down. We
won't be saved. He's got the power to prevent
a man's salvation. Ain't nobody going to be saved.
So what does it mean? Matthew's account tells us, when
they heard, they understood not. These people on the wayside,
the seed was sown on the hard path, trampled down, birds They've
ironed them up, and this is Satan taking the word out of their
heart. Matthew's account tells us they understood it not. The message was meaningless to
them. They were among that number that
were whole and needed not a physician. Now, that doesn't mean they were
less intelligent than the others. They had no point of reference.
When they heard of human sinfulness, they didn't think they were like
that. They heard these descriptions of God, and they were meaningless.
That's not the way my God is. They had no point of reference. They didn't understand. They
felt no need. When they heard of God electing
a people, they didn't need to be elected. They could choose
God anytime they wanted to. When they heard of Christ's effectual
redemption, how He completely put away sin, it meant nothing
to them. They didn't need that. When they
heard of the work of the Holy Spirit, sovereignly giving life,
they heard that, but they didn't hear it as a sinner. There was
no need. No need. It didn't come as gospel
to them. It was just religious talk. They
heard it, but they didn't understand. They had no understanding of
what was taking place. And it wasn't an intellectual
problem. It's not that they weren't as smart as the other fellas.
They just had no need. What's he talking about people
being totally depraved and totally unable to be... Why? Why, that's
just morose. That's morose. That's just negative.
I mean, you know, come on, give us something more positive than
that. They didn't understand. They didn't hear as a sinner. And they trampled underfoot what
they heard. It wasn't valuable to them. Then Satan came and interjected
thoughts, made them think of something else, and they just
went off and that's it. They didn't even think about
it again. Now that's the way most hearers are when they hear
the gospel. They hear, they don't understand,
They just leave. It just is not that important. The beaten path is the natural
man's heart. It has not been plowed up by
the Spirit of God. The seed does not penetrate and
along comes the devil and takes away the Word out of his heart.
He forgets. He never considers. The Word
is trampled on. I wonder if we have any wayside
hearers this morning. Verse 13. Day on the rock. Now this is
shallow soil. Root was not able to come down
and grab this because there was a rock right underneath. Very
shallow soil. And so when the sun came up,
it scorched it because it didn't have any root, it lacked moisture,
it was on that hot rock. Now, the rocky soil here are they which
when they hear, verse 13, they which when they hear, they receive
the word. They don't reject it. This is
the first thing that's ever made sense to me. I mean, religion
has been so confusing to me, and now this makes sense. I hear what's being said. I agree
with this. I can see the Bible teaches this.
I agree with this. They hear the Word and they receive
it with joy. But there was no stripping, there
was no conviction, They never dealt with the implications of
what was being said. There was a man that was sitting
in my study just two days ago, and he was talking to me. And he said, if what you're saying
is so to me, then nobody's saved in Lexington but the people who
go to your church. And I replied, Nobody said he
doesn't believe the gospel I believe. I don't know what people preach
in other churches. I haven't been in every church, but I'm talking
about this. Somebody that doesn't believe the gospel that I preach,
they're not. He said, well, you're making
the way awfully narrow. Didn't the Lord say, narrow is
the way that leads to life? Broad is the way that leads to
destruction? But he thought of the implications
of what was being said. Some folks, when they start thinking
of the implications, well, that means mom's not saved, and dad's
not saved, and grandma's not saved, and I know they were saved
even though they didn't believe. I know they were. Nobody's going
to tell me that. I'm not... or persecutions because of the
Word. We didn't sign up for this. Maybe
they come and tell their family what they've been hearing and,
wow, that's a cult. That's foolish. That's weird.
You shouldn't believe something like that and maybe even persecute
them for it. We didn't sign up for this. We're not going that
direction. They hear the Word with joy,
verse 13, they receive the Word with joys, and these have no
root, no grace, which for a while believe, they do believe, temporarily. They receive the Word with joy,
they like what they're hearing, but it's temporary, and in time
of temptation, They fall away. That faith that is temporary
is not saving faith. How many hundreds of people have
I seen over the years come into this place and receive the Word
with joy? And they're excited. And they're not here now. How
many hundreds of people? Verse 14, "...and they which fell among
thorns, or they which, when they have
heard, go forth and are choked with cares, and Richards, and
pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." Now
these hear the Word of God as well as the ones who left. They
hear the Word of God and they receive it. And they agree with
what they hear. They become Calvinists. They're
no longer Arminians, they're Calvinists. They agree that the
Bible teaches total depravity and unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. They
agree with that. They see the fallacy of works,
free will, religion. You don't have to convince them
of that. They see the wrongness of it.
But they do not bring forth fruit. The weeds choke them. They become immersed with the
cares of this life. The deceitfulness in one of the
accounts of riches. The loss of other things. The weeds have choked them. They're immersed in making a
living. Providing for the family. Giving the kids opportunities
to succeed. They become taken up with the
deceitfulness of riches. The love of money is the root,
the scripture says, of all evil. Now it's not just talking about
money, it's talking about the love of money and what that money
provides. Pleasure, popularity, power. The three Ps. The love of money
is the root of all evil which some have coveted after and have
erred from the faith and have pierced themselves through with
many sorrows. Mark's account says the lusts
of other things. Anything that comes into competition
with Christ. Luke speaks of the pleasures
of this life and there are pleasures in this life. Anything that comes
into competition with Christ. Now let me tell you the difference
between the thorn choked here and the stony ground here. The stony ground here leaves.
He's gone. The thorn choked here is still
here. He just sits. He's still here. He doesn't leave. He's still
here. He still hears the Gospel. And He doesn't disagree with
the Gospel. It's what I believe. But He doesn't bring forth fruit. He knows what the fruit of the
Spirit is. He can quote it. He can talk about love, and joy,
and peace, and long-suffering, and gentleness, and goodness,
and faith, and meekness, and temperance. He can give you the
definition of all those things. But it's really not in his heart. He's become choked with the cares
and the pleasures and the riches of this life. Something comes
into competition. Now remember that thorn-choked
hearer. The weeds are competing for his
affections. They're competing for his affections.
He can't get nutrients. It's competing for the nutrients
in the soil, and he becomes overcome with this world. He still shows up, albeit not
as often, but he bears no fruit. He does not grow in grace. He
does not grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. In his heart, he may talk of love, but in his heart
there's no true love for God. He's just going to what he agrees
with. There's no real joy in the gospel. He just agrees with
it. He doesn't know what it is to
truly feel peace by believing. There's no true gentleness or
kindness. no goodness or graciousness,
no meekness, no temperance, no... He doesn't have really the fruit
of the Spirit. Now, He agrees with what He hears,
but the thorns, the weeds have choked the fruit, and no fruit,
no grace. He's not concerned with fellowship
with Christ or fellowship with His people. He shows up. There He is. He doesn't leave. hardened, choked, and bringing
forth no fruit to maturity. Now when I hear that, that scares
me to death. I don't want to be a thorn-choked
hearer. No fruit. So these three first
grounds are not good grounds, are they? There's the hardened,
Path not broken up by the Spirit of God. No understanding. The person hears it, no point
of reference. Who needs that? I'm going to
do something else. The stony ground here, he hears
the Word and understands it and receives it with joy. But if
it's going to cost him something, it's not that valuable to him.
He leaves. The thorn choked here. He's the
one who scares me the most. He doesn't leave. He's still
here. But he's immersed with the cares
and pleasures and riches of this life. And he brings forth no
fruit to maturity. Now look in verse 15. Put that on the good ground. That's what I want to be. I want
to be this hearer. "...but that on the good ground
are they which in an honest and good heart." Something those
other three hearers did not possess. An honest and a good heart. Having heard the word, keep it,
and bring forth fruit with patience." Now what is this honest and good
heart? I remember when God said, a new
heart also will I give thee. A new heart. It's the heart God
gives. It's a heart the natural man
does not possess. None of these first three here's
had this honest and good heart. It's what's given in the new
birth. It's what's given in regeneration. It's the heart that a man believes
with. With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness. And with
the mouth, confession is made to salvation. It's the heart
given in the new birth. It's that heart that David cried
for when he said, Create! in me a clean heart, O God. I don't have anything but a filthy
one in and of myself, and I need you to give me a new one. Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,
an honest and a good heart. Look in Psalm 32 for just a moment. Verse 1, Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity. And look at the fourth description,
and in whose spirit There is no guile. No deceit. This is the honest heart our
Lord is speaking of. Not a deceitful heart. An honest
heart. Honest before God. Honest with
the Word. It bows to what God says. It doesn't just have religious
talk. Whatever God says, it bows. Honest with the character of
God. Honest before God. Honest about self. Do you know
it's the good heart that sees the evil heart? If you have a good heart and
an honest heart, you see that your heart, your natural heart,
is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, as the Scripture
says. And you don't even trust your
heart. If you have a good heart, if you have an honest heart,
You're honest before God about your sin. You don't come to Him
pretending to be something you're not. You come into His presence
realizing that in and of yourself, you are nothing but sin and don't
have the potential to be anything better than that. You really
believe that. That is the honest and good heart. Honest about yourself. I love
what Barnard used to say, honest people don't go to hell. It is the broken heart and contrite
spirit that God does not despise. Remember when David said, a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. Oh Lord, thou wilt not despise.
What's a broken heart? It doesn't work. It's no good. It's broken. What do you do with
broken stuff? You throw it away. It's no good. It's shattered,
contrite, broken heart. Scripture says, A broken heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise. And this heart is good. It's
the good heart that perceives there's none good, no, not one.
It takes the good heart to see the bad heart, and if you don't
see it, it's because all you got's a bad heart. If you don't
see this about yourself, let me assure you, if you don't see
this about yourself, It's because all you have is a bad heart.
You've never been given this good and honest heart. Mark's account tells us that
these people receive the word. They receive the word, but it's
a different word used. They welcome it as good news. That's how they receive the Word.
They welcome it. It is good news. It's news. That means it's fresh. It's not yesterday's news. It
comes as today. You know, when you hear the Gospel,
this is one of the glorious things about the Gospel, when you hear
the Gospel, you hear it the way you did the first time. And you
hear it that way over and over and over and over again. That's
the way you hear the Gospel. It comes as news. news, and it
comes as good news. If you or I have no ability to
save ourselves, it's good news to hear that salvation is of
the Lord. That's good news. It's glorious
news. It's not just a whole Calvinistic
doctrine. It's the Gospel. It's good news. I tell you what, when you have
no righteousness at all, it's good news to hear that Jesus
Christ's righteousness is the only righteousness there is and
that's all God requires of you. He can ask for nothing more and
He can accept nothing less. That's good news, isn't it? The
very righteousness of Christ is my righteousness before God.
It's good news to know that when Christ said it is finished, my
sin was wiped out, washed away. I bear it no more. My sin, oh
the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole,
has been nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. That's good news. They welcome
the Word. approve of it. In other words,
they hear the gospel as gospel. Now, you hear the gospel, same
message somebody else hears, I mean the same message somebody,
it's good news to a thirsty soul and to somebody else, meaningless
to somebody else, boring. It depends on the state you're
in when you hear it. Luke tells us in verse 15, but
that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, Mark told us they receive it, they keep
it. They hold it firmly because of
their value of this message. The word here is they hold on
to it and they won't let it go. I, by the grace of God, will
not let go of this, that Christ is all in salvation and I'm nothing.
I won't let that go. I won't let go of any doctrine
of the Gospel, of any truth of the Gospel, because it's precious
to my soul. I find my salvation in what this
book says. I hear the Word of God. I won't
let it go Look what it says next in verse 15. They hear the word,
and keep it, and bring forth fruit. Now here's what none of
the other hearers did. They bring forth fruit. Now the Lord knows whether I'm
telling the truth or not. But I love Him. I love Him as He's revealed in
His Word. I love everything about Him. And I wouldn't change Him if
I could. And you know what? His Gospel gives me joy. The Kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. And the Gospel of Christ gives
me peace. Love, joy, peace. Long-suffering. Well, the gospel of God will
make it to where someone's long-suffering towards somebody else. Even when
they're being mistreated, even when they're being abused, they're
going to be long-suffering by the grace of God in the midst
of provocation. And they're going to be gentle. You know what that means? They're
going to be kind. They're going to be kind. And when the fruit
of the Spirit is goodness, they're going to be gracious. They're
going to be gracious people. And they're going to believe.
They're going to have faith. And they're going to be meek
before God. They believe whatever God sends their way is right.
They know He's the first cause behind everything. And whatever
He sends their way is right. They bow before God. And they're
temperate. Control from within. They're not overcome. They have
control from within. God the Holy Spirit won't let
them leave and depart from Christ. They are temperate. Now, if somebody
is now examining themselves to see how you look with fruit,
I can guarantee you, if you think, I passed the test, I make the
grade, you don't got any fruit. I'm sure of that, you don't have
any fruit. Really, it's others who see the fruit, not you. If you can look at yourself and
say, man, I'm a real temperate person, I'm real meek, I'm real
all those things, I don't believe it. But others see it. Others see it. And notice it
says, they bring forth fruit with patience. Now that word
patience means abiding under. Abiding under. They abide under
the gospel. They don't want to leave. They
abide in Christ. I think of that passage of scripture
where it says, now children, abide in Christ. Stay in Christ.
It's an abiding under. You know why you abide in Christ?
Because you don't want to be anywhere else. That's why you
abide in Christ. Now, if I said all of God's favor
is in this room and there's nothing but wrath outside of this room,
what room would you want to stay in and abide in? You'd want to
abide right here, wouldn't you? You wouldn't want to be anywhere
else. If you believe that. Because patience is in abiding
under. You're patient if you believe.
That's what it takes. I'm going to patiently wait for
somebody to get here if I believe they will. It's an abiding under. So these are the four types of
hearers. And I've described myself. I've
described you. I've described everybody in this
room. May God give us the grace to
be good ground hearers. And I pray that everybody in
this room, beginning right here, will be a good ground here. Let's pray together.