May 7, 2023

The following transcript has been electronically transcribed. Any errors in spelling, syntax, or grammar should be attributed to the electronic method of transcription and its inherent limitations. We're all together here in Mark's Gospel, chapter four, let's just set the stage in our minds just a little bit. So just imagine with me that you are one of these that are sitting on this ground, this soil on the side of the Sea of Galilee. And so last week we made note of the fact that, that Jesus, We're told that he is often this boat sitting in the boat, but the people are sitting on the land. And the word used there for the land is the same word that's used for the soil. So the people are sitting on the soil and while they're sitting on the soil, they're hearing a parable about the soils of their heart. They're sitting on the soil listening to a parable of the soil of their own heart. And as they're listening to this parable, you can just imagine yourself sitting on this bank on the side of the Sea of Galilee and the sun is bright overhead and you're looking out at this little boat and this little cove. And on this boat you can barely see. There's Jesus sitting. And as he's sitting on this boat, he's teaching with authority. But as he's sitting here teaching, the sun is high overhead. Perhaps it's, it's being reflected off the water of the sea of Galilee there. And you're having to squint as you are trying to see him. You can hear him just fine, but you're having to squint to see him. And as you're having to do this, he's also telling. A section of the parable that has to do with the sun and the withering, blistering, scorching aspects of the sun. So all of that is playing upon your mind as you're listening to these words from Jesus. These are the most powerful words you've ever heard. He's teaching you. You are. You are a person of an eastern culture, and so you are accustomed to being taught into learning by means of stories. And so he's teaching you in the way that you understand best, which is by stories and by these stories, he's teaching you of these earthly realities that parallel a spiritual reality. You can see the earthly, earthly real, real realities, but you can't see the spiritual reality. And so Jesus is laying alongside this spiritual reality, an earthly reality that you do understand, that you do see, and by parallel, he's teaching you of the spiritual reality that corresponds to that. And so he's teaching you this. This parable of these soils about your own heart, and you sense that he's speaking directly to your heart, directly into your soul. You sense that somehow this man, although you can barely see him down there, he sees into your soul, he knows your very thoughts and he's teaching you in ways that you've never heard before. And so as you're listening to these stories, story after story, a story of wineskins and stories of new patches on old garments and stories of Levin and flower and different things. He also tells this one story that you somehow sense that this is the story of stories. This is the foundational story, the gateway story. And it's a story about soils and a sower and seed and a crop and a harvest. And you somehow sense the spiritual reality that this story's teaching you, yet you don't fully grasp it. And so fortunately, you are one of the many. Whom Jesus has earlier called unto himself on that day when he called up the mountain, those whom he desired, and that was the, the birth of the church, so to speak. He calls him unto himself. You were one of those. And then later you were one of the ones that were inside the house, sitting around Jesus' feet listening to his teaching. And so, although you understand some things of what he's saying, you get the physical reality and you get something of the spiritual reality that corresponds to it. Nevertheless, there's much that you don't understand. So you find yourself maybe the next day or the following day, once again in a house with Jesus. And Jesus is furthering his teaching. And somebody asks him, perhaps it's you, somebody asks him, master the soils. Can you help us? Can you teach us of the soils? What did you mean with the soils? And so he begins to explain the soils, and as he explains, you once again have the distinct sensation that this man sees directly into your heart. And so with that bit of context having been set in our mind, let's now turn, once again, we won't read the entire parable, but we'll read the relevant verses from verse three. Jesus begins to parable, listen. Behold, a sower went out to sow, and as he sewed, some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it. Then verse five, other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and immediately it's spraying up since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Now, Jesus's interpretation will drop down to verse 16, and these are the ones sewn on rocky ground. The ones who, when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themself, but endure for a while. Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately, they fall away. So if the parable dissection from the parable from last week, the hardened soil of the path was the soil that represented the callous hardened heart upon which the seed of the word simply lands and has no opportunity to germinate into life and has quickly snatched away by the birds and lost. If that represents the heart, that here's the word. And then immediately forgets. It makes no impact whatsoever. If that's what that represents, then this today represents the polar opposite of that, rather than the soil upon which the seed has no impact whatsoever. This soil represents the, this rep represents the heart upon which the word has maximum initial impact. We noticed from the story that Mark's going to give us a couple of clues that he wants us to understand that the seed impacted this soil much more rapidly and with much more fervor, shall we say, at least at the beginning, than any of the other soils. We're told this in a couple of ways. First of all, we're told that it's received with joy, with gladness. Reminds me of a little bit later in Mark chapter six, we're going to hear about Herod. Herod, who we're told, receives the word of John with gladness. He's perplexed by it, but he receives it gladly. Now, Herod is never described to us in the scriptures as anything like a convert or a follower of Christ, but yet he receives this word with some amount of joy or some amount of gladness. But we're also told that as this sower goes back, or as the sower goes around scattering seed, some fell on this rocky ground. So that's a phrase that that mark comes back to over and over in the parable. Some fell here. Some fell here. Some fell here. So that reminds us. But what that's saying to us is that the word was heard. The word has been preached. It's been proclaimed. It's been taught, and it's been heard. Some fell here. Some fell on the rocky path. And as it falls on this rocky section, one thing that we often think of, we think about rocky ground. We need to sort of modify how we think of rocky ground because this is not what Jesus is talking about. We think of a rocky ground. Something like a, a type of ground or a section of the earth, in which if we were to take a volume, a certain volume of that earth, and we were to measure what percentage of it is dirt and which, what percentage is rocked, they have a high percentage of rock in it. Maybe large rocks, maybe some pebbles, maybe some larger boulders, but it would be some type of dirt that would have a high degree or high percentage of rocks inside it. We're all familiar with that type of soil because that's, that's a native soil to. For where we live here in North Carolina. So we're well familiar with that, but that's not what Jesus is describing. Jesus is not describing a type of soil that's rocky in its content. Rather he's describing a type of soil that would've been very familiar to his heroes. His heroes would've understood the rocky soil, not as a type of soil that's a mixture of rock and dirt, but instead a type of soil that had a thin tops top soil layer with underneath something close to a monolithic, consistent bedrock underneath it, like a limestone layer underneath it. We're probably familiar back from high school geography classes. You remember those where you, where we learned how the soil is in layers and you can take a cross section of, of soil and you can see the different layers of it. So we can imagine what this would be like, this thin, top layer of soil, maybe a few inches or a foot or maybe two or three feet at most. And then underneath that would be a. Consistent layer of limestone or some sort of hard surface. So in essence, what this is is something of a fertile soil above something that's even harder than the soil from last week, the hardened path soil. This is even harder underneath. So metaphorically, this is speaking to us of a heart that has some type of fertile to the seed initially. However, it has a hard layer underneath the surface that allows an initial spurt of growth that appears to be very much lifelike. However, just underneath the surface, there's something very, very hard that will allow nothing past it, that will not allow any type of sustained growth. This is what Jesus is getting at here. And so this is the type of soil he's describing, this rocky soil. And so he says, as the seed is landed on this, that it springs up immediately life. Now what Mark is wanting to communicate to us is this idea that the, the soil, this type of soil sprang forth a type of growth that was much more rapid and much more quickly visible than any of the other types of soil, even the good soil. This would've been the first soil of all the four soils of which the seeds sprang up unto life. Now, we know that in a couple of ways. First of all, we know it by Jesus' use of how it received, it was received with joy. It was received with gladness. It was an enthusiastic reception, so to speak, as Jesus interprets the parable. It's an enthusiastic, joyful reception of the word. But we also know this by mark's use of the word. Immediately, immediately it sprung up. Now we probably all remember how we have seen so far that immediately is Mark's favorite word. He uses this word with great, great frequency. He loves. This is the, this is the gospel of movement. Mark portrays Jesus as moving. He's going here, he's going there, he's teaching over here, he's healing over here. He is going here and everything is immediately. So it is definitely his favorite word. So we might write this off when he says immediately it's spraying up to life. We might write it off as just another usage of Mark's favorite word. However, we should stop just a minute and ask yourself is really, that's what's happening, and it's not, mark is not just putting in his favorite word immediately here, he wants us to understand that this immediately came up to life. And the reason we know that is for, first of all, none of the other soils use that word immediately to describe anything either in the telling of the parable or the interpretation of the parable. This is the only soil which is said to produce immediate reaction. Furthermore, three times we read that word immediately, once in the telling of the parable, twice more in Jesus' interpretation of the parable. So immediately, immediately, immediately. But then lastly, If we were to look at Matthew's telling of the same parable, we would see that Matthew uses the same word and immediately is not Matthew's favorite word. So what Jesus is communicating here is something about a reaction of the seed in this soil that's fast, that's quick, it's joyful, it’s a joyous, immediate receiving and almost an ins, instantaneous showing of some type of life. Again, to put it back into the context of the spiritual reality that Jesus is teaching, it's an immediate show of a possible rebirth or a regeneration or a recreation of a sinner into a saint. And so what this parable is speaking to us about is speaking to us about the phenomenon that we're all very much familiar with, and that's the phenomenon of one who perhaps has been outside of the context of the preaching of God's word for a very, very long time, perhaps. Perhaps decades, maybe for their entire life. Maybe this is the first time that they have heard the word preached. Maybe this is the first time that this is the word has been preached and they have heard it for two or three or four decades, and then we all have seen this type of thing happen. That it's received with such enthusiastic joy, such incredible reception that it seems as though there is an immediate springing to life. I can think of so many examples of this. We have seen examples of this here in our context. I can think of just within the last 12 months, four or five instances in which this same sort of thing happens. Someone comes, a visitor comes and, and their story is that they haven't been in church in 25 years. And then by the conclusion of the service, they're in tears and they're so enthusiastic about what they've heard, and they're asking about how can they volunteer? And, and they're asking, well which bi I'm going to go tomorrow and buy a Bible. Which Bible should I buy? And, and what what's teaching should I listen to and when can I come back? And how can I volunteer in the church? And these sorts of things. And this is the, this is the reception that Jesus is describing, a reception by someone who hears the word proclaimed, and their reaction to that is so lifelike, so enthusiastic, so quick to spring up into a joyful reception. That's what Jesus is getting at here. So what's heard is received. It's believed this is not the heart pack soil which rejects instead, this is the soil that receives immediately unto life. So what he, what we read here from, again, from verse four, and he sewed, some fell, some seed fell along the path. Verse five, other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. And immediately it sprung up since it had no depth of soil. So it we're told here that it springs up and it springs up immediately in the, the, the reason for springing up immediately is the lack of a depth of soil. So while the seed on the good ground is busy growing downward to establish some root systems, this seed cannot grow downward. It must grow upward. So that sort of gives us a reason for the springing up quickly. Now, if we were to turn to Luke's gospel, mark tells us here that they endured for a while, but if we were to turn to Luke's gospel, Luke chapter eight, verse 13, in your notes, we would read this. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it once again with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. So here we're faced with a doctrine of the scriptures that we, quite frankly, we've just got to face this head on. And what we got to face head on is that we were just told that they believed. And yet within the context of the parable, clearly they did not believe unto salvation. All right, so within evangelical Christianity, we are very, very quick to say this sort of thing. Salvation comes by believing upon Christ, believe upon the Lord. Just like Paul says to the Philippian jailer, believe upon the Lord and you'll be saved. All that's needed for salvation is to believe upon the Lord. However, here we come across a scripture that says to us, here are some seeds as representing people who believe upon the Lord. And clearly within this context, they are not saved. So how are we to understand this type of belief that doesn't lead to salvation? The way that we are to understand this is that the scriptures teach us that there is a type of belief that does not result in salvation. There is a type of faith, there is a belief that is not a belief under salvation. Now, this is a truth that's brought to us in at least a half a dozen places in the New Testament. This idea that there, there is a way in which we can believe we can receive the message, we can receive the seed, we can believe it. We can know it to be the message that gives life. We can accept it, we can profess belief in it, and yet salvation does not result from that. We see it here from this passage. We also see it in places like Acts 13. Remember the fellow, Simon the magician, Simon the magician in Acts chapter eight, we're told very plainly that he hears this gospel preached to him from Philip and we're told verse 13, even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized. So he not only believed, he's baptized, but not only is he baptized, he continued with Philip. Now that's a phrase there that indicates to us discipleship. He submitted himself to discipleship. He continued with Philip. In other words, he walked with them. So this fellas Simon, the magician. As the story goes on, he just, a little bit later, he's going to see the apostles pray and lay hands on people and they receive the Holy Spirit. And then he says, ah, I want that. How can I get that? Can I pay you for this? At which point, Peter then says, hang on a second. You haven't understood anything. And then we see this declaration from verse , 21, you have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Clearly Simon Peter is saying to Simon, the magician, you are not one of God's people. But yet we're told that he believed. Furthermore, we could look in John's gospel. John's gospel has this as, as a theme through much, especially the first half of John's gospel. For example, if we were to turn to John chapter eight, we would see in verse 30, as Jesus was saying, these things, many believed in him. Verse 31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, and then Jesus is going to say, if my words abide in you, then you are truly my disciple. And from that point in John's, John's Gospel, John chapter eight begins a long, drawn out confrontation between Jesus and these Jews who had believed during that confrontation. Jesus is going to say things like, before Abraham was, I am. And they are going to absolutely get angrier and angrier and angrier at Jesus until finally they're going to say something like this. In verse 40, the Jews answered him. Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, so clearly they're no longer believing? And then all that's going to culminate John chapter nine. When J, when Jesus heals the man born blind, and they're so angry about that, they want Jesus drug before them. They want to kick the guy out of the synagogue and everything. So what we see in that long interchange is that we're told that Jews believed in him, and then that belief did not lead unto salvation. Instead, they fall away into unbelief and accusing Jesus of having a demon. Earlier in chapter six, we see the same sort of thing where many are following Jesus until he gives that hard teaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. And then were told many who had believed in him no longer followed him. We could see the same sort of thing if we were to look in Galatians one verse six, Paul says to the Galatians, I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you into the grace of Christ and you're turning to a different gospel. And then he goes on later in chapter five to say, what happened? You were doing so well. So the scriptures present to us a truth, that there is a belief unto salvation and there is a belief not under salvation. So we might think, well, I know what's going on. I know where he is leading with all this. It's a nuance in the Greek, isn't it? It's there's two different Greek words, and one word means belief under salvation, and another means belief, not under salvation, right? No, it's not that easy. Same word. There's one word. So what is this showing us? This is showing us not the heresy that salvation can be gained and lost and gained and lost, and we can believe under salvation, receive life in his name, and then lose life in his name. And then believe again and receive it again. I, in fact, just this Friday, literally two days ago, I kid you not, I kid you not. I was sitting with a man who, a brother in Christ. I consider him and he is , one of the type of doctrine that would believe just what I just said, that you can believe under salvation and then stop believing and lose salvation. Believe again, and receive salvation again. And as we were talking, he mentions this. And you know what he brings up as his defense. I kid you not the parable of the sow. He said, the parable of the sower is proof because there's the rocky soul that believes and then doesn't believe. So is this what the scriptures are teaching us? It can't be because this would stand in contradiction to so much other scripture that teaches us that salvation is a work of God and a work of God alone. It is a gift from God. If you are in Christ, that means that he chose you, that he saved you. And so if God saves us, then we are not powerful enough within ourself to unsave us. So this is not teaching us that there is a, a saving belief that can be lost. Instead, what this is showing us is that there is a way, there is a, a type of belief that affirms the truth of the scriptures, believes the truth of the scriptures, believes that the scriptures are the words of life, receives it with joy and yet falls away. Why? Because the salvation wasn't as the point of the parable is going to be genuine. Thus is the whole point of this section of the parable is that there is a belief that is a disingenuous belief, that is a rocky soil belief, a belief that springs up not out of good soil, but out of rocky soil. It doesn't reject a message like the heart pack path. It receives the message, yet it receives it in such a way that life is still not possible. And that is a type of belief that quickly falls away. So let's begin unpacking these words of Jesus. And I think that will, we'll see very plainly that this is what Jesus is teaching. This is the point of the parable, not that one can believe and receive life in His name and then lose it, but that one can actually respond in such a way that those around would say, wow, what a demonstration of new life. And yet, as quickly as they respond with joy, Jesus says, just that quickly, they can fall away. So the first thing for us to notice here is the role of the sun in the passage, the sun, s u n, the role of the sun in the passage. Notice with me what it is that causes the death of the plant. It's very important that we see that the death of the plant. Is not brought upon by the son. The son is not the cause of death of the plant. Jesus says it very plainly, the plant died. Why? Because it had no root in itself. That was the cause of death of the plant. We talk about, you know, something dies and you want to know what was the cause of death? The cause of death of the dead withered up plant was the fact that the plant had no roots. It had no root because of the soil in which it grew. The sun is the occasion for that. The sun brings it about, but the sun didn't cause the death of the plant. The sun was the occasion that the plant died. In other words, the plant was doomed from the start. It didn't matter how gentle the sun would've been, it didn't matter how much water the plant got. It didn't matter how much care the plant got. If somebody came and pulled out all the weeds around it, put a little steak up to hold it up, right? None of that mattered. The plant was going to die. It was simply the sun that brought about the death of the plant. So the plant dies because of a lack within itself. And the lack is the lack of root, and the lack of root is due to the type of soil. So the sun is the occasion for the death of the rootless plant now. So from this point, let's begin thinking about the plant as a profession of faith, because that's why, how Mark wants us to see the plants. Each plant represents something like a profession of a faith, a declaration of a faith. So three of the four soils are going to have a plant. One soil has no plant at all. That was the heart pack soil from last week. No plant, no profession didn't receive it whatsoever, but three of the soils received the seed sufficiently to have a plant and that plant that springs forth, we can think of it as a receiving of the word and a professing of the faith, of the belief of the word that is received. So this profession of faith is going to die a death that is not due to anything outside of it, but it is due to its own lack of root. So now notice with me how the sun is going to play a certain role for us in the story. And that role is that the sun is a very accurate revealer of the plant. It's a very accurate revealer of the nature of the soil. Or to put it another way, it's a very accurate revealer of a profession of faith. So the sun we're going to see in the parable represents Jesus has already explained it to us. It's going to represent. Tribulation and persecution and that tribulation, that persecution or to, to use it in the words of the parable, the son reveals the character of the profession of faith, or reveals the nature of the faith. It's a very accurate revealer of that. So think with just how often we see this sort of thing, not only in the, in our life around us, but think how often we see this in the scriptures, how it is that the son of someone's life reveals the faith that's already present or not present at all. Think about, for example, Ruth Story of Ruth. Ruth chapter one. Remember Naomi? Naomi who has left her home of Bethlehem because of the famine, and she goes to Moab. And in Moab she loses her husband and her two sons. And how does Naomi respond to that? She responds by saying, when she comes back to Bethlehem, you know, don't call me Naomi anymore. Call me Mira. Why? Because the Lord has been very bitter to me. My mouth is full of the bitterness of how God has treated me. Now compare that by comparison to the response of Job who experiences similar son in his life. In fact, we could say much stronger son. He not only loses his children, he loses his home, he loses his crops, he loses his flocks, he loses health and compare his response. His response is one to say, naked I came into this world. Naked I'll leave the Lord gives the Lord takes away blessed me the name of the Lord. So you see how the same son, or at least a very similar son, brings out or draws out of two different people, two different reactions. And by so doing it reveals the faith or the nature of the faith or the nature of the profession, of faith that's present in the person. Think with me of so many other examples. Think of Abraham. We're told in Genesis chapter 22 that God tested Abraham. How did he test Abraham? Abraham? You know that child of promise? You know the one that you've been waiting for more than a decade. You know the one on whom all of my promises to you hinge. Take him up to the mountain and kill him. And we're told specifically that God is testing Abraham there. The writer to the Hebrews says this, by faith Abraham, when he was tested, what did he do? Offered up his son Isaac, thereby proving the nature of the character of the faith that was in his heart. Or one Peter, chapter one and verse seven, Peter says, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, More precious than gold. The parishes, though it's are tested by fire, may be found. You see, the showing may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see there's a testing of faith and then there's a result. The result is that you see, you perceive, you understand the nature of the character, of the faith that's present, or James chapter one, verses two and three, count all joy, my brothers. When you encounter trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, there is a type of faith. That's when it's, when it's tested, when the sun comes up, it produces steadfastness. There's another type of faith, so to speak, air quotes, that when it's tested, it doesn't produce steadfastness, it produces something else. Or later on in verse 12, James says, bless is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he hast stood the test, he'll receive the crown of life. You see how there's a, a demonstration there, a revealing of the nature of the faith that's within the person. So the first takeaway is this, our Lord. Desires for every professor of faith and by professor. Don't think college professor, think one who professes. Everyone who professes every professor of faith. Our Lord desires that everyone knows the genuineness or the disingenuousness of the faith they profess. God is the one who causes the sun to rise. The literal sun and the metaphorical sun tr right the metaphorical sun, which represents the tribulation and the persecution, as well as the literal sun that's lighting the sky right now. God is the one who causes that to rise. And so God is the one who causes to rise the metaphorical son in the parable that serves the purpose of revealing the nature or the character of the profession, of faith that the plant or the person is making and God does that. Because he doesn't. D, desire for anyone who professes faith to not clearly understand the nature of the profe of the faith that they profess. Three soils in the passage are professing a type of faith and God is going to cause his son to shine on all three of them. Clearly revealing to them and to everyone else the nature of that faith. God does not want anyone to stand before him on that day and say to him, you know, I really thought all those years, I really thought that faith that I had was genuine. I'm just now learning that that faith wasn't real. God doesn't want that. So his son will expose. S u n will expose, will demonstrate reveal the character or the nature of the faith of everyone who professes that faith. Once you profess faith, the son's coming up. As soon as you profess that faith, the sun is coming up and that sun is coming up to show you the genuineness or the disingenuousness of that faith. So the second thing to see is now this the same sun, notice this, the same sun is going to bring both death and life. Isn't that amazing? The same sun is going to shine on all the plants. There's nothing in the parable that leads us to believe that some of the plants are over here and other plants are over in this more shady area. They're all receiving the same sun, and the same sun is going to both kill and give life. The same son will take life from those professors of faith that are shown to be disingenuous, as well as give life as we're going to see in the good soil to those whose profession is genuine. Notice with me in your notes. Well, we just saw from James chapter one, verse two and three, right where. James says, counter all joy. When you encounter testings of your, of your faith because it produces dead fastness. You see how the testing, the time of testing produces life. But look at me in your notes of Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17 is a wonderful little section that, that God gives to us that's going to par. In fact, I think that Jesus had this in mind when he's giving the, the parable of the soils from James chapter, I'm sorry, Jeremiah chapter 17. We read this, thus says the Lord curses the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. So God is making a comparison in this passage, in the comparison is one between one who puts faith or trust in the Lord, and one who puts faith or trust in man, or earthly things or manmade things. And the comparison is, is between these two. So the soils, the parable of the soils is making a comparison between something else, between the soils of the heart. So God is making a little bit of a different comparison, but he is using the same analogy. Look at what he says. He says verse six, he meaning the man who trusts in man, he is like a shrub in the desert and he shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness in an uninhabited salt land. So that's a picture of death. That's a picture of a, of a shrub that's struggling to survive. The scorching sun comes out, it's struggling to get enough water, it's struggling to live. But look at the comparison, verse seven. But blessed is the man who trusts not in man, but trusts in the Lord whose trust is the Lord. He, verse eight is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots into the stream and does not fear when the heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. You see the contrast? One is a tree that regardless of the conditions in the atmosphere, Is going to bring life. The leaves are green, fruit is on the tree. It's abundant. Why? Because of its root. Because its root is planted by the water. And so the root has a constant source of water. So drought can come, heat can come clouds can come. Whatever can come, that tree will produce life. By comparison, the other tree struggles to even survive because if it's root, it's root is not in the water. So you see the comparison between the two is why I think Jesus sort of had this in mind. So the comparison between the two parallels, the par comparison of the soils, it is the soil that determines the harvest. It's the soil that determines the life, but the same sun comes out. And for the one tree that's planted by the water, the sun only produces more life. For the tree that's planted, not by the water. The sun is an agent of death. Notice how the sun brings both life to the rooted plant and death to the rootless plant. So now let's think now for just the next few moments about how this is going to work. How, what is, what is it about the sun? The sun is going to be the agent that brings about the revealing of the nature of the faith that's going to bring life to those who are in the good soil, those whose roots are in the good soil. It brings life, but then it brings death to those who are in the rocky soil. But how does it do this? How is this working? What about the sun causes this to happen? So in the parable, in Jesus' explanation again, verse 16, he says this, and those are the ones sewn on rocky ground. The ones who, when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. It, and they have no root in themselves, but they endure for a while. Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately, they fall away. So Jesus uses these two words here, tribulation and persecution. Matthew uses the same two words, tribulation and persecution. So let's, let's get a little bit at what Jesus is talking about here by the Son representing the agent of tribulation and persecution. So first that word tribulation. The word tribulation literally means a pressing a, pressing upon a hemming in a pressure exerted upon. In fact, we use the, we see the word used in its regular, normal, secular type of, of usage with with frequency. In the New Testament, we, in chapter three, we saw Jesus use this word. Remember when the crowds were pressing upon him and Jesus said, you know, get this little boat and have this little boat just in case the crowds crushed me. Jesus said, just in case the, the crowds tri me. Have a boat that I can escape in. So it can mean this literal pressing upon, like think of, think of a, a gr, a wine press or a grape press that's pressing out of those grapes, every ounce of juice. So the New Testament writers take this word that just means pressing or pressure, and they adapt it to have a spiritual meaning, which is to say not just pressure, but pressure exerted upon the believer by forces outside the believer, such as culture, society, friends, family, loved ones, acquaintances job health, sickness. We could go on and on pressure exerted upon the believer by something outside the believer. So notice how the New Testament's going to use it in this sense. First Thessalonians three, verse four. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction. Just as, as it has come to pass. Now that word tribulation is often translated. Affliction means the same thing, affliction or tribulation pressing down. So you get the idea here. There's pressure. We know what pressure is like feeling this great pressure. It may be pressure from, from family or spouse. It may be pressure from kids. It may be pressure from a job. It may be pressure from health problems. It may be pressure from financial problems. It may be any kind of pressure, but this is what the scriptures are getting at this pressure that's exerted upon us. And Jesus says on account of the word. So in think, think with me for example. Of how often we see that this tribulation or this pressure is a result of, as Jesus says, on account of the word. Think about Joseph chapter chapter seven of Acts. We read of Joseph there that how he suffered many afflictions and we think about the life of Joseph if the pressures that were brought upon him, the pressures of being this, this young teenage boy who is gifted with these dreams and these, these visions from God and how that got him sideways with first his brothers and then sideways with his father. And then his father, of course, made it a lot worse with the, with the coat. Sometimes we say the coat of many colors, but it's actually much better translated the coat of long sleeves. And those days, if, if you were a person that did not work with your hands, then you would sometimes wear a coat with long sleeves to show everybody, Hey, I don't have to work with my hands. So these long sleeve, so you can see why Joseph's, Joseph's brothers resented that he was given this coat that showed he's the child, he's the son that doesn't have to work. So that brought more pressure upon him. And then more pressure comes as his, as his brothers finally have enough of him and his dreams and they throw him in the pit and sell him into slavery. And then the whole pressure of his, of his owner's wife trying to sexually assault him, and then the pressure of being thrown into jail again, and then the dreams and how he's left in jail for years and years. All that pressure Luke describes as afflictions or tribulations. But Jesus says that these pressures come upon them as a result are on account of the word. What does Jesus mean by tribulations on account of the word. So what I think the meaning there is that these pressures that brought are brought upon him. Think of it this way. So back to this parable. The seed lands on a soil that receives it joyfully springs up to life. So here's this person who has not placed himself under the preaching or the teaching of God's word under the ministry of God's word for decades. Now, they hear it and it strikes a chord, and that chord that it strikes tells them very plainly, there are things in your life that you need to bring into alignment to the word of God. There are, there are things in your thought patterns, in your attitude patterns, in your behavior patterns that you need to bring into alignment to the word of God. And so in your joyful, immediate reaction, you begin attempting to align your life to the word of God, which brings it immediately and automatically into confrontation with the world. Understand that very clearly, the word of God stands in conflict with the world. And so the more you bring your life into alignment of the word of God, the more you are automatically necessarily bringing it into conflict or pressure. From the world. The world will pressure the one who brings their life into alignment of the word. Because the word stands in contrast to the world. This is why Romans 12, verses one and two will tell us, don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed. The two stand in opposition. So the seed has sprung up to quick and vibrant app, apparently vibrant life, and immediately there begins this process of trying to bring the life in reality into conforming to the world, which automatically brings it into conflict with the world. I hope I said that right. Con into conformity with the word, but conflict with the world. Those two words are easy to mix up there, but the concepts aren't easy to mix up, are they? So to bring it into conflict with the world is bringing this tribulation. This is why the scriptures tell us that we will only enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation. This is why the scriptures tell us that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. You haven't talk about that word yet, but will be persecuted. So the scriptures aren't teaching us that everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ should expect to be fired from their job because their boss hates Christians. But instead, it is to say to us that everyone who brings their life into conformity of the word will find themself under pressure from the world because the two are opposed to one another. So on account of the word pressure is being received, but also the other word is persecution. That word persecution literally means to chase down or to pursue. It. That's why Paul will say to the Corinthians to pursue love. Literally he says persecute love, because that's the literal meaning of persecute to chase down or to pursue. So the writers of scripture take that word to pursue or to chase down, and they give it a spiritual meaning, which is to say, to chase down or to pursue with a view towards applying pressure with a view towards tribulation, with a view towards affliction. So tribulation is the pressure. Persecution is the chasing down to apply pressure. And those are the two things that Jesus says are represented by the sun. So there's a profession. There's the re, the seed that recce or the, the soil receives the word springs to life. There's a profession. Then the sun comes up and the sun is the tribulation, is the persecution, is the pressure. It's the chasing down to exert even more pressure. So this is how the sun brings both life and death. So how is that, how, how is this tribulation? How is this pressure? How does it bring, first of all, death to the one plant, but how does it also bring life to the other plant? How does that work? Well, what we see here is that this rising sun we're told is this time of testing. In fact, in loose gospel, chapter eight, verse 13, we are told that the ones who landed on the rocky soil, they hear the word receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a while, and then time of testing, they fall away. So as the profession is made, the word is received. I believe it. I repent. I believe sun comes up. Son is the time of testing. I'm thinking of Jesus'. Time of te. Remember chapter one, as Jesus goes into the wilderness for that scorching hot son, for the pressure, the pressure exerted upon him in those 40 days in the wilderness. So the, the profession is made, the confession is made, the repentance is made. I believe I will follow. Jesus son comes up and that son begins to do its work, which is to kill the false profession and strengthen the true profession. The same son does both. How does this work? How does, first of all, the son, the tribulation, the persecution, how does that kill the false profession? It works like this. The seed, the soil that receives the seed springs to life, I believe, I confess, I repent. I will follow Jesus. I will abandon this other way of life. I will follow Jesus. I believe upon this Jesus of the scriptures. I believe upon his promises. I believe that the scriptures teach me that, that without holiness, I will not see the Lord. But I also believe the promises of the scriptures that tell me about my God. And they tell me that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that those who are believing should not perish but receive eternal life. I believe the promises of his word that tell me that he will never leave me and he will never forsake me. I believe the promises of his word that that tell me I go away to prepare a place for you, but but free or not for I will come again and receive you under myself that where I am there you will be also. And I believe his word that tells me, come under me all ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. I believe those promises. And here comes the sun, and the sun gets hot and the pressure gets intense. In fact, the sun comes up because of the profession, and those pressures get real and very quickly, the plant with no root begins to say, God, how could you leave me in this? My life is worse since I believed upon you. How could you let this conflict continue? God, almost as soon as I professed your name, I heard about this sickness in my body. God, almost before I got home from church, my life was falling apart. How could you let this continue? And the pressure begins to cause that plant to think harsh thoughts of the maker and low thoughts of God and mean thoughts of God. How could you leave me here? And the one under that pressure without the root will quickly begin to think of God, not as a loving God of grace, but as a hard God, as a harsh God. A vindictive God, a God who chooses favorites, and I'm not one. And that plant quickly dies. Naomi, my mouth is full of bitterness because God has been so bitter to me. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 19, that is a very instructive parable. Wish we had time to go through the parable in in depth, but we won't. But you know, the parable is the parable of the 10 minus. And in that story, Jesus tells a story of a rich ruler, a rich master who goes away and he is going to be gone a long time. And so he gathers three servants together. He gives each of them 10 minus. And he says, put this to use while I'm gone. After a long time, the master comes back and two of the servants have put their 10 minus to use and they're praised and rewarded by the ruler. But then the third servant, instead of putting the minus to use, he buried it and then the master ca calls him to account and do you remember his words from Luke 19? Master, here's your 10 minus. I kept him for you because I know you to be a hard man. I know you to be a severe man. I know you to be a man who collects where he has not deposited. I know you to be a man who reaps where he does not sow. So I kept your 10 minus for you. Jesus ends that parable by saying that that servant was cast into outer darkness and the whole point was he did not know the master. That was the whole point because the parable plainly shows that the master was not a hard man. He was not a severe man. He was not a man who reaped, where he did not sow or collected where he did not deposit. And so the servant shows his ignorance of the master by saying, I know you to be a severe man. So here's your mind is back you wicked servant. You didn't know me at all. The son beats down upon the rootless plant revealing for the plant and everyone around you never knew your God. You never knew him. You sprung up so quick to life and everyone celebrated this quick springing up to life, but you never knew him. Now the same son brings not only death to the false professor, but life to the true professor. So again, think of job. And all this job did not sin by accusing God of wrong. Think of Acts chapter five in verse 41. When Peter and John leave the Sanhedrin, and what are they doing as they leave after they've been beaten? They leave rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for his name. The same son will take the rootless professor of faith and twist and beat down and dry up their false profession to show them there's no salvation there. Meanwhile, the same son will take others with the true profession and drive them deeper into the Lord. So the same person, every professor of faith, the son comes up and for one person that will cause them to become bitter. And distrusting and maligning of God. God, how could you? How could you not? How could you withhold good things from me? How could you make me go through this? How could you not hear my prayer for deliverance? But for another believer, the same son will cause them to say, oh God, how could I do this without you? How could I ever endure this without you? What a blessing to know you in the midst of this trial. What a blessing to feel. You carry me through this. What a blessing to know. You'll never leave me. What a blessing to know that all of this tribulation and persecution are making for me an eternity. That's better. What a blessing. What a blessing to know that because the sun is shining on me like this is showing me that I'm yours. Because the tribulation beats down upon me and I don't see myself running from you. I see myself going further into you, retreating further into your name, into your grace, and into your character. The same son produces death and produces life. So why does this tribulation produce death for the rootless plan? I think there's at least two reasons for that. First, the one that quickly sprung up to life with no root failed to understand that the blessings of the kingdom and this life are spiritual. And we say this all the time, but we can't say it enough, just how easy it is to confuse the blessings of the kingdom between spiritual blessings and physical blessings. Every spiritual blessing in Christ is ours. But we have no promises of physical blessings. We have none. Yes, all good things come from God. And yes, God is often pleased to bless us physically with healings, with health, with strength, with employment, with friends, with family, with food on the table, and a roof over our head. God is often pleased to bless us physically, but there are no promises of that. Instead, there is every promise for every spiritual blessing. The physical blessings starred at the resurrection. Mark that on your calendar when you're resurrected, that's when your physical blessings are promised and they last for eternity. Your spiritual blessings are what have begun in this life, and when we confuse the two of those, we will be tempted to see the one who caused the son to rise on our life to be hard. That's the first thing. The second thing is a failure to count the cost. The scriptures teach us this with regularity, don't they? Jesus tells us in Luke 14, this long extended parrot passage about counting the cost. In the passage we're told that a great crowd started to follow Jesus, but Jesus stopped and turned to them and he said to them, you better count the cost of following me. You better stop and assess the costs because following me comes with a high cost. And it gives the examples of the king going to war and how he's got to assess the cost or the builder that's preparing to build and how, how he has to assess the cost. And he ends that whole section of verse 33 by saying, therefore, any of you who does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple. Any who does not renounce all that you have. Any who would say to the Lord, there is something that's not yours. If you in your heart cannot say to your Lord, it is all yours, there is nothing of mind that I withhold from you. You have every right to every part of me. If any part of you would say, Lord, you do not have a right to tell me what to do in this or what not to do in this, if any part of you has that sentimentality, you cannot be his disciple. Those are not my words. Those are his. Now, that does not mean that in reality you actually put everything of your life on the altar, that you really do follow through perfectly. But that is to say, if you have a heart that intentionally says to your Lord, Lord, I can't love you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength in that area, or this thing over here, I'm not willing to give up for you. If that's your heart, Jesus, not me. Jesus says to you, you cannot be my disciple. Jesus never conned anyone into following him. In fact, Jesus went to great extremes to do the opposite. People would come to Jesus, Jesus, let me follow you. And Jesus would say, hang on a minute. Look over there. You see that fox run across the running, across the prairie over there. See that fox? That fox has a hole somewhere, and he goes and he climb in that hole at night. Neither me nor those who follow me even have that or another would come to Jesus. Jesus, I'm ready to follow you. J. Just let me go say goodbye to my parents first. No one who puts the hand of the plow and looks back is worthy of my kingdom. You see how Jesus, rather than conning anyone would say to them, you must forsake all. There must be nothing of your old life that you clinging to. Rich young ruler comes to him. Lord, I've, I've obeyed in every way. Okay? Give away everything you got. Can't do it, Lord. Not that everything, but that. If you are not willing to renounce all that you have, you cannot be his disciple. Those are his words, not mine. And when we fail to count the cost, you will quickly begin to see God as a harsh, exacting, overly demanding God. And that will give rise to this son who brings death, not life unto you. The same son brings both life and death. Finally, thank with me just the testimony of Paul. Think of Paul. Remember in two Corinthians 12, Paul goes through some of the, the things of his life, all the beatings, all the, the starvings, the shipwrecks, all the deprivations of Paul's life. And remember how he says earlier in the, in the letter to the Corinthians, there, he says, these slight momentary affliction, they're just making my eternity better. They're slight. They don't last long. They're no big deal. Yeah, I was almost beaten to death about six times. Yeah, I, I've nearly starved in prison. I don't, I can't remember how many times I've nearly starved in prison. I can't remember how many times I have. I've been abused, I've been hungry. I've been cold one time I was stoned and killed. But you know, none of that matters. Only my lord matters. That's the, that is the good soil talking. That's a Christian talking. That is one who has a heart that has said to his Lord, it's all yours. It's all yours. So now just in conclusion, what can we do each of these soils? We want to ask ourselves, what can we do? First of all, here's the first thing. I think the first takeaway from this, we must endeavor to be very, very, very careful never to give assurance to rocky ground. And that is something that has happened with extreme regularity. An extreme number of times within the context of the western evangelical church is to give assurance to the rocky ground. I mean, why not when there's one who comes among you and there's a reaction that's so enthusiastic and so joyful. In fact, the reaction of the rocky soil would put most of the good soil to shame. You ever feel like that you, you ever been in a, in a church context, and then someone comes who hasn't been in a church context for a long time and they are so moved. To tears and so moved to joy by what they've heard. You're almost like, what's wrong with me? And then we're quick to give that assurance. Alright brother, okay sister, you are guaranteed eternal life forever. Can't lose it. And then we have that phrase that in which we try to articulate a doctrine of the church, but we do it poorly with words that are easy to misunderstand. And we all know the phrase, the phrase is once saved, what always saved. That's communicating a truth, but it's doing it so poorly that is so very easily misunderstood. Because how that's often understood is my profession when I was nine years old, guarantees me heaven. The time I got wet when I was 11 in front of a whole bunch of people watching guarantees me heaven, my faithful church attendance guarantees me heaven. Or we could go on and on and on. The point is, it is far more precise and far more helpful to say. Not once all, once saved, always saved. But if God has saved you, you will persevere in your belief. Only those who are believing will be saved. And if your soil is the good soul, you will believe you will persevere in your belief and your belief will save you. But such great harm is done with that vibrant, enthusiastic reaction and everyone's so excited. And there comes the assurance stacking up for that rocky soil person, a false assurance of life. They don't have. Be very careful not to give false assurance to rocky soil. Number two, count the cost and count them again. Count the cost and count them again. All of us have hearts that have some rocky soil in them, and so all of us have hearts that when the sun gets hot, we're prone to to think of God in hard ways. We're prone to think of him as withholding something good or withholding some comfort, or withholding some comfort from us. All of us have that propensity the way we can fight, that remind ourself, remind ourself, remind ourself his kingdom comes completely free of charge. He did it all for me, but it requires all of me. It comes with a great cost. Count the cost, count the cost, and count the cost again. Number three, remind yourself that the blessings of his kingdom are spiritual and not physical. Remind yourself regularly that the blessings of his kingdom are spiritual and not physical. The physical blessings will be beyond all description, but they begin at the resurrection. The spiritual blessings likewise, are beyond all description, but if you allow yourself, if you allow your heart, and all of us have hearts that want to drift in that direction, if you allow your heart to begin to think that as his child, I should expect something of a physical blessing, maybe a deliverance from a really difficult SI sickness or a deliverance from a really difficult financial situation, or God wouldn't let this happen to me. If you allow yourself to think that, then you are opening yourself up for rocky ground and thinking of God as a harsh mean God. Remind yourself that the blessing of his, of his kingdom are spiritual and not physical in this life. And then lastly, I perhaps most importantly, never, never, never allow your heart to malign God. Teach your heart how to truly measure his love. When the sun comes out and it's baking down upon your life, it is perfectly fine to ask God why. It is perfectly fine to tell God you don't understand. It is perfectly fine to ask God for mercy. It is perfectly fine to ask God to give you some shade. What's not okay is to malign him in your heart. Never allow your heart to malign him. How do we do that? How do we combat that in our hearts? By teaching your heart the only way to properly understand the measure of his love. The only way that we understand the measure of his love is by one thing. The cross. The cross is what shows you clearly and plainly the, the length, the depth, the width, and the height of God's love for you. Nothing else. All of us have a strong tendency to let our circumstances begin to teach us of how God loves us, and you can never, never do that because when your circumstances are unfavorable, well that's that. What that does is speaks lies to you about God. If the circumstances of your life are a measurement of his love for you, well then you just reduced his love down, infinitely lower than it really is. Even if you let the good circumstances of your life teach you of how much you, you can't even do that when God is blessing you in this life. Even then, don't let your circumstances tell you how much he loves you. Why God could give you every dollar in existence. He could heal your body of every affliction. And I still won't compare to the cross because on the cross he showed you the only true and accurate measurement of his love for his people. When he bled for you, when he died for you, when he became your sin for you, teach your heart and do it every day. When my circumstances want to tell me that God is not being good to me or that God is being good to me, instead teach your heart. No, the cross. The cross is the only thing that tells me rightly of God's love for me.