Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
This is a conversational podcast that brings powerful moments from the Inspirational Media sermon library into fresh, engaging dialogue. Hosted by voices who care deeply about sharing timeless biblical truth, each episode unpacks key ideas from sermons, devotionals, and real-life stories — helping listeners reflect, relate, and rediscover hope in today’s world.
Whether you're exploring faith, seeking encouragement, or simply curious about spiritual truth, this podcast is designed to stir the heart and spark interest in the deeper resources available in our library.
🎧 Dive into the conversation and discover what’s waiting for you at inspirational.org.nz.
1308--Listening to God--HearingGodSeries_128k
00:00:00 Speaker: Well, tonight, as part of our Listening to God or Hearing God series, um, we're coming to to a particular parable which, uh, I believe Jesus sets as a standard, uh, to help us learn how to listen. And, uh, it's the parable of the sower and the seed. And it's a funny it's a parable in the sense that I think everybody at least knows about it. Uh, but I found that when I asked people, uh, what what the soils are, for example, what are the four kinds of soil that most people can name one or two, but they can't they can't get them all. And when I say, what are those soils? They can usually pick one or two, but they don't get the rest. And, um, so what I want to do is I think this parable is so important that I want to make sure we cover it really properly from three of the Gospels. So we're looking at it in Mark's gospel for a start. And then we'll turn to Matthew, and then we'll turn to Luke. And the reason I want to do it in such depth is one is because I want to make sure we really understand this parable properly. And what's lovely about getting it from three different sources is that we find each one gives a slightly different emphasis and adds extra information. And, uh, it's all good. One of those wonderful things. It's all good. Now, can I also explain to you that for me, uh, it always seems slightly odd when I've heard people say, ah, yes, but they contradict each other. And, um, I've often thought what a bizarre understanding that is. Uh, simply because there are three different versions in the scriptures, uh, as if somehow there's some sort of problem. Because, uh, when Jesus taught, he was teaching for three and a half years. So when the scriptures are recording what he taught, they're distilling down for us. Um, what would have been for the disciples hundreds of occasions when they would have heard these things? I mean, it says, for example, when Jesus went to a tour of Galilee, uh, these are the things he'd be teaching when he got up to speak in every synagogue. So he might go to, uh, the various towns around Galilee, or he might go up to a mountain and to the public, or he might go down by the lake. But he's teaching, uh, many, many times. So, of course, the disciples would have heard these things hundreds of times. It's not. It's not a hard thing for them to remember. I mean, people often say, well, how could they remember it when I only heard it once? And I'm thinking, well, yes, if you if you have such an idea of, of the Bible that they only got to hear it once, but in reality they would have heard it so many times and they would have, um, so that's what I love about these parables, is that to me, uh, we're going to look at it from three different, uh, gospels particularly, and we'll find each one has got marvelous stuff to add. And we need to hear we need to hear all of them. So we're going to start from Mark chapter four. And we've been looking at discipleship. Uh, we saw last uh, in previous times how a disciple is someone who can hear the voice of the Lord and walk in his ways. Jesus defined, defined discipleship as, uh, those who abide or those who live or dwell or remain or stay in his words. And he says, if you abide in my words, you are truly my disciples, and the truth will, uh, you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So, uh, there's a particular emphasis on discipleship that we aren't just hearing words like we get educated, but we're hearing words that we're willing to apply to our lives and be disciplined by them. So, uh, and Jesus, many times when he spoke to large crowds, often began telling them the conditions they needed to keep in order to be disciples. So he was unashamed to thin the crowds out. Uh, there were times when he spoke to thousands of people, but then he'd say something was so offensive that people would turn away. And he was quite unashamed about something, speaking things that were truthful but were easily, easily understood. And that often meant that only those who really meant business would press on to hear what he had to say further. And that's what comes through very clearly in this particular parable, as we'll hear. So we're looking for Mark chapter four, verse one. He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, listen to this. Behold, the sower went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. And other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and one hundred fold. And he was saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now that expression, he who has ears to hear, let him hear, is obviously a way of saying, this is a very, very important thing to get a hold of. And if you and I have become the Christian walk, we've been born again. We've got ears to hear. Now it's saying, okay, you've got the ability. Now, do you have the attention? Because that's what we need to apply. We need to actually apply our attention because yes, we've got the ability, but we need to action. We need to. It's an act of will to listen. So, uh, as soon as he was alone, though. But that's and that's what he said. But as soon as he was alone, his followers, along with the twelve, began asking him about the parables, and he was saying to them, to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those who are outside, uh, but those who are outside get everything in parables. So we see then that, uh, this was a deliberate technique that Jesus used, and he's trying to he's trying to pass on the mystery of the kingdom of God. That's the intention of this parable. It's to explain or to to help them understand the mystery. Mysteries are things that aren't easily grasped. Um, and he's saying to you it's been given. Run. But to those who are outside, those who are unwilling to press on in, to engage with him, to talk with him, to dialogue with him, all they get is the story. So just remember this, that, that the those that very large crowd, all they got to hear was Jesus standing up and saying, remember not to throw some seeds. He stirred up in four different kinds of soil and got four different kinds of crop. Listen carefully. And that's it. That's all I heard. So now that's no new story in the sense that these people let's remember that the Jews were primarily an agricultural people. So they would they would have been used to seeing sowers, even if they were fishermen, even if they were housewives or, or rabbis, they lived in the middle of the fields. Uh, and of course, in Galilee, by the Sea of Galilee. Galilee is very fertile soil. And it's it's also very rocky soil. So there's lots of rocks everywhere. so they would have been used to seeing the farmers out there sowing seeds. And I have to say, my own personal experience. I love this story because my dad was a horticulturalist and he used to sew up lawns around our own houses, but sometimes to help friends and I. So I often saw him sowing seed like this. And he prided himself on how he scattered the seeds so broadly to cover the lawn and cover the ground in an even spread, just as just as the ancient ancients must have done. And of course, some would fall on our concrete path, and and the birds would come and eat it, you know? And, um. So I've always loved this parable. It's reminded me of my father. But, uh, the point I want to make, though, is notice the only ones who are going to understand it, though, are those who are willing to become inside, those who are outside, those who simply come along and listen to Jesus speak and then walk away. That's all they get, is that story. But as soon as he was alone, the others went after him. These followers, along with the twelve, went after him and said, wait, wait wait wait. Don't stop. What does this mean? What's this about? And, uh, so then he goes on to say verse twelve, so that seeing while seeing they may see and not perceive, and while hearing they may not they, they may hear but not understand. Otherwise they might turn and return and be forgiven. So he actually says that the reason he does it is because Israel has become hard of hearing. And he's quoting from Isaiah, and he's saying the problem is Israel has become so familiar with the words, they no longer press on, they no longer understand, they no longer get to apply it. So as a result, I'm not going to tell them anything. I'm only going to give them the stories and that hopefully will awaken the interest. And they'll go, wait a minute, I didn't get that. And that sense of not being complete may be enough to start pressing in to actually hear what he's saying. So I love this because this is this is pointing to an attitude of my heart just as surely as in their hearts, that sometimes I can read the Bible and go, oh yeah, I read it, I read it, yeah, I've got it, I've got it. And actually I'm actually reading it, but I'm not understanding it. I'm seeing it, but I'm not really perceiving it because. So this is for all of us as well. We can all do this, make the same mistake. All right. But let's not get sidetracked on the reason the parables. I want to actually go into this parable, particularly as to what it means. So look in verse thirteen, he says this. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? So notice he's giving this one a particular emphasis, a particular, uh, importance, I believe. And he's saying, if you don't understand this one, you won't get the rest. Uh, now, I think that's why this is such an important parable to get a hold of and to understand it properly. And as you'll see as we go on, uh, this parable has wonderful applications through through every area of our lives. Uh, for example, um, my friend Marcus, who's Messianic Jewish man, uh, when I first became a believer, I was traveling with him, and he often would talk to me about the Holocaust. And, uh, so I got to hear firsthand from a man who really had searched out Hitler and and how Hitler worked. And one of the things he he pointed out to was the fact that Hitler was able to delude an entire nation, that Hitler turned Germany around from being a dysfunctional society where everything was falling apart, and Germany in nineteen thirties was in total chaos. But by nineteen thirty nine, Hitler had so unified and nation. He had so turned the nation around that they were able to take on the entire, uh, all the armies of Europe and win. It was a spectacular turnaround. And how did Hitler do that? He did it by speaking to them. He did it by speaking to them. And and and, uh, as Marcus pointed out, his minister of propaganda was a man called Goebbels, Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels was a doctor. He literally had a doctorate in philology, which means literally, the love of words. So, uh, Goebbels wasn't just, uh, anyone. He wasn't just a man who had a few bright ideas. He was a man who'd studied the impact and effect of words. And so when I first began to understand this parable, I began thinking, if only we understood this. If only the Lutheran Christians in the nineteen thirties had understood what Jesus was teaching here, about how to listen and how to weigh up what you're hearing. They could have avoided Hitler because Hitler was unashamedly sowing seeds in their hearts, unashamedly doing it. And they were swallowing them. And those seeds bore a very, very bitter fruit in terms of leading into World War two. So to me, this is not just for the church, as is often taught. It's not just talking about evangelism as it's often taught. It's actually talking about every human heart, every day of the week and every situation in every culture, everywhere on the planet. So this parable has extraordinary application. And as an evangelist, when I was first learning how to communicate the gospel, I used to apply this to think, okay, that means when I'm speaking, then, uh, I don't have to get too alarmed if not everyone becomes a believer, because I was very keen and very zealous, and I wanted to save the world. And I thought, if I just get up and preach, everyone's going to go, ah, yes, that's great, and all become believers. And, um, of course it never happened. Uh, some did, but many didn't, and some were quite scornful and mocked and scoffed. And so I began to see this seed, this parable of the sower and the seed really, really helped me get used to the idea that sometimes people aren't very keen to hear, just as I wasn't in my non-Christian days. So, um, so this parable is is a foundational parable on how to hear. And let's be clear on this too. The Scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So if you want to have faith, you want to learn how to increase your faith. Then one of the best things you can do is to learn how to hear. Because faith comes by hearing. And if you learn how to hear more effectively, your faith will grow and grow and grow. And this parable is one of the, I think, one of the most spectacular, uh, encouragements to all of us as Christians on how to grow in our faith. So it's not just on how to avoid, uh, satanic counterfeits. It's not just about how to avoid the propaganda of political demagogues. It's not just about how to become a Christian in the first place. It's about actually how to become fruitful in every area of your life. Alright, so so that's the that's the introduction to this parable. Okay. So let's come into it then. Why? What does it mean. Verse verse fourteen Jesus says the sower sows the word. At this point they see that this is not, um, a man with ordinary seed planted in the garden. It's actually talking about in the spiritual realm where somebody is out there sowing words and the seeds are falling. These words are falling into four different kinds of soil. And verse fifteen, these are the ones who are beside the road when the word is sown, and when they hear immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. Now when he says, these are the ones, uh, I don't know this, but I like to think that Have that there because they're sitting. Jesus, just going to have a boat. They've gone back on land again. I think when he's saying, these are the ones who beside the road, I think they're walking along a road when they're talking. So he's saying, look, guys, just put it on a setting. If you sow seeds on a road, what happens to them? Well, the birds come and take them away. He says in the same way, there are some people who are like that, that they're like a road. And when the when the word is sown on them, Satan comes, the devil comes, and he takes away the word which has been sown in them. But because their hearts are like that road that's rocky or that's hard, that doesn't even get a toehold. It doesn't even get started on the road before the birds come and eat it. Uh, now we'll come back to that one in much more detail in the other, in the other gospels, because Jesus gives much more detail than the others. But verse sixteen, in a similar way. Uh, these are the ones on whom the seed was sown on rocky places. So we see this. The first kind of, uh, soil is beside the road. The second is where the seeds have been sown on rocky places. Who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no firm or no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary. Then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. So we see there there's a problem with the the rocky places because the soil is very shallow. It's better than a road because there's some soil, but the soil isn't very deep because there's a rock underneath it. Now, if you if you, you may be looking at me, but strangely and thinking, well, hang on, where do you get that from? I'm actually cheating because I'm also quoting from Luke for Luke eight, excuse me, and Matthew thirteen. So I'm actually adding to it. But, uh, as, as you've seen in a few minutes, all I'm saying is though, there are some soil. There is some soil in those places where it's rocky, there is some soil, and they actually do grow briefly. This is they they, uh, they immediately receive the word with joy when they first hear it. They go, ah, that's so good. And the soil, though, doesn't let the root go down because there's a rock underneath it. So the the roots grow down till they hit a rock, and then they don't, they don't go any further. So when things get rough, when the sun comes up and begins to scorch them immediately a persecution or affliction arises because of the word. They fall away. So Jesus is saying that the second kind of soil are those who only hear and and only superficially, and then they will believe for a while, but then they'll drop away. Uh, then the third one in verse eighteen. Others are those other ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. So the third kind. This time there's no problem with the soil at all. The soil is really, really good. But there's other things growing in the soil beside the good seed. There's thorns. And Jesus describes the thorns or or interprets the symbol of the thorns and says, these thorns are worries and they're trickery. The deceitfulness of riches. And they're also the desires for other things. And if we allow these seeds to grow alongside the Word of God, they will actually choke up, choke out the word so it doesn't become fruitful in our lives. Now I'll keep I'll keep moving quite quickly on this because, as you can hear, I'm having to quote from the other gospels to establish some of these points. So we will move very quickly to Matthew thirteen in a minute. But verse twenty, Luke four, verse twenty. Uh, the the fourth kind of soil. These are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil, and they hear the word, and they accept it, and they allow the seed, obviously, to go down deeper into the roots, to go down deeper. And so they become fruitful. And as you see, with any seed of corn or grain or wheat, when you sow one, you get back thirty or sixty or one hundred in the head of and the head of grain. So, uh, that's the parable, as Jesus tells it in, in Mark. And at this point all you hear is the briefest of outlines. He's given no details. He simply said, right, this is what it is. The four kinds of soil. A four kind of attitude of heart. And we get different effects from them. And then he finishes this whole teaching by saying in verse twenty one, he was and he was saying to them, A lamp is not brought to be put under a bushel, a bushel basket. Is it? We're under a belt. Under a bed. Excuse me? Under a bed. Is it not brought to be put on a lamp stand? For nothing is hidden except to be revealed. Nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he was saying to them, take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given to you by science. For whoever has to him, more shall be given, and whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him. So notice he hasn't finished the explanation until we get to verse twenty five. At that point, up until that point, he's still talking about listening. He's still talking about the words that we hear. So let's look back in verse twenty one again. Uh, having given the explanation of the sower and the seed in verse twenty one, he then says, he changes the metaphor, doesn't he? And he moves away now from Sara and his seed. And he says, well, guys, just think about your own house when you've got an oil lamp. Uh, you don't, uh, light the lamp and then put it under something, it covers it up, or you don't put it under your bed, do you? Instead, when you've got some light, you've got an olive oil lamp. You put it on a lamp stand so that it lights up your whole house. And he says, well, that's the way it's supposed to be with truth. When I'm speaking stuff to you, when I'm giving you light, don't just tuck it away. Don't just say, oh, that's really nice. And and put it away in a notebook somewhere and forget about it. He's saying lift it up inside your own heart. If you think of your own heart as being like a dwelling, like a house, put it on a lampstand. So it begins to inform everything you see, and it begins to shed light on everything you're listening to. Now, I love this because it's teaching me, uh, once I've got the Word of God inside me, it now gives me a standard for everything else I hear that's being spoken to me, for example. Every time I go to church and I'm listening to the preacher. Whenever I hear what the preacher is saying, that's good to listen to speakers. But Jesus also said, false teachers are going to come. False preachers are going to come, false apostles are going to come, false prophets are going to come. How are you going to tell which is which? Well, here's the great joy, the simplest Christian, the most baby Christian. If all they're doing is listening to the Word of God from the scriptures for themselves when they read it, and they get it and they understand it and they go, oh, that's right, I got it. Now they can put it on a lampstand in their house, and all of a sudden they've now got the ability to listen and judge everything that's coming at them in the name of the Lord. Every preacher, every teacher, every apostle, every prophet, every. And this is inside the church. Let's be clear. Not just inside the world. Inside the church. So we now have the ability, if we're following Jesus to weigh up the truth or otherwise of everything we're hearing. So we see there's a wonderful benefit if we'll just apply ourselves properly to the Word of God, because it gives us the ability to judge every other word that we hear. All right. Uh, then he finishes by saying, verse twenty two, for nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. So what he's saying is, in this dark world we live in, God is forever going to be revealing stuff to us and to be hidden truths that he's going to reveal to us so that we keep getting fresh light. We keep getting fresh understanding because he wants us to find the truth. He wants us to find it, but we've got to be willing to receive it when we hear it. So then he says, if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And now here's the point of this whole thing. Verse twenty four, take care what you listen to. I hadn't really paid much attention to that summary, but that's actually the point of everything he's been saying till now. Take care what you listen to. Well, why would he say that? Well, because if you look back in verse eighteen, some of those were the seeds of sin among the thorns and as well as the word of God, they're receiving into very good soil, along in that soil are coming also the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things. And if we're not careful as to what we're listening to, those things will choke out the Word of God, which we've received. In other words, the wonderful word which could have been enlightening to us, which could have kept us safe, which could have helped us growing in our faith that can actually become choked out. So it's no longer fruitful. The Word of God, the Word of God, can become unfruitful in our hearts if we are not discerning as to what we're listening to now. Uh, can I just give a personal testimony here? Uh, in my zeal as a brand new Christian, I've explained before that I. I went from one extreme to the other, uh, as a, as a as a non-Christian. I was very hedonistic. I was very given to pleasures. Uh, I was very given to just doing whatever my heart desired. And, uh, so I ate Crankin was merry because I thought, tomorrow I'm going to die. And as an atheist, there's no hope for anything. So you got to make the most of this world because you're out of it soon. So I devoted myself to the pleasures and the enjoyment of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches was very much. And the desires for other things was very much in there. But then I became a Christian, and I thought, right, that's it. I'm not going to listen to anything now except the scriptures. So I went on an. At the time, I thought it was a permanent state where I stopped listening to the radio. I stopped listening to the television. I stopped reading newspapers, magazines, articles of any kind, and I simply shut my whole world down to just the Bible. And I began. I got a job washing dishes. I dropped out of my student. I was a student, uh, doing electronics engineering, engineering. So I dropped out of my electronics and I began instead to wash dishes to pay my rent. Uh, just while I read the Bible. And I got a good translation, uh, the Amplified Bible, which was overwhelming at times. And I just began to read it from cover to cover. And, um, I would go to church on Sundays, uh, twice on Sundays. I'd go to every house where I could during the week, and all I wanted to do was hear the Word of God through preachers, through teachers, through, uh, my friends, through complete strangers. Anybody I could meet who could help me find more about Jesus. So I went to endless meetings. I read my Bible and I shut down and listened to anything from outside. And, um, I told the story, like, last week about, uh, how the Lord led me to go to a movie and how I thought I was sinful and going to a movie. But it was Fiddler on the Roof and Fiddler on the roof. I received an understanding of how the Jews saw the Sabbath, and that was actually an answer to my prayer. So I was extreme. I freely admit I was extreme in shutting down everything, but I needed to for a while. I'm not. I'm not ashamed of it. I think it's a wonderful thing to have done, because I think sometimes we do need to go on a fast, uh, it's okay to read newspapers. It's okay to, uh, watch television, it's okay to go to movies. But if that's all you're doing, then you're actually sowing so many seeds. And until you've learned how to weed out what you're hearing, sometimes all you're doing is sowing stuff that's going to choke out the the Word of God in your heart. And so I had to, uh, first of all, shut down on everything. And then as I slowly opened up, I slowly appreciated and began to get a bit more confident in what God was saying. And, um, and so I could relax a little bit. But I just want to say, though, that even here, forty years later, verse nineteen, the first one in this still gets to me at verse nineteen. Uh, Jesus says, the thorn that can choke out the word is, first of all, the worries of the world, the worries of the world. And I, I have to say that as an evangelist and I'm also into end time teaching, one of the things I love to do now is to watch the news, because I want to know what's happening in Israel. I want to know what's happening in the Middle East. I want to I want to understand what the nations are doing, because I believe we're living in the end times. And so I desperately want to keep up with whatever's the latest development in Iran is These are really going to try and bomb Israel with an atomic bomb, or are they really going to disarm? Uh, what's happening with Iran or what's happening in Syria? There's this great civil war that could flow over the boundary into Israel. And and because I love, uh, to know what's happening in Israel. So I turn the news on avidly. What's the latest? What's the latest? And here's the problem. When you turn the news on, uh, probably ninety percent of the news you hear is bad news. It's not good news. It's bad news. It's. There's been a disastrous flood in, uh, in China, and ten thousand have been homeless and two thousand have been washed away and drowned or or there's been this terrible earthquake in the Philippines, and there's so many people dead, and there's people homeless, and. And then there's been this, this terrible famine in Africa. And, and I have to say that, uh, after a while, all you're hearing is bad news. All you're hearing is loss of life and homelessness and misery. And and it just goes on and on and on every night. It's endless headlines and stories of terrible things going on in the world. And what's worse, there's not very much you can do about it. I mean, I can't help anybody in China. I can't help anybody in Africa. I can't help anybody in any of these places immediately. Now, what I can do is I can go to a group like World Vision or Tearfund or these children charities, and I can support, um, Christian workers in those places to try and do something to help. And I'm utterly committed to helping the poor. I'm committed to that as a lifestyle and in my giving, and I don't want to talk about that too much. But I just want to say there are things we can do. But when you're watching this onslaught night after night on television, there's nothing you can do about those headlines. So, uh, there are some times when I find myself just having to say, look, I've had I've had enough worries of the world. Turn the television off. Because the temptation to me is to keep watching, keep watching, keep watching. And I've got to go. No, enough. Enough's enough. And I turn it off. Um, I tell you one, actually, that breaks my heart is, uh, child abuse. And, um, every time I hear the news and I hear about one, one child at the first moment, I hear the news about one more child, that's it goes off because I can't bear to hear one more story. But I because I know my limit. I know that the Lord has given me a softer heart. Now, I used to have a very hard heart. Now I've got a soft heart. And there's some things that I simply can't help and I can't change. So I need to shut down and stop the worries of the world coming into my heart. And go back and say yes, okay, all these terrible things are happening. There's no doubt these things are terrible. But as for me, I want to be fruitful. I've got to make a conscious choice to be fruitful. I want to be loving. I want to be peaceful. I want to be joyful. I want to be patient. I want to be kind. I want to be generous. And I can't do it. I can't cope in this world. I can't do this stuff if I'm not trusting in the Word of God, letting it grow deeper and deeper in my heart to make me fruitful and the things he wants me to be fruitful in. So that's just one testimony regarding the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches. What do you see on television every night except how much you need to have money so you can buy the latest car, or the latest Apple iPhone, or the latest computer, or the latest house, or the latest fashions, or the latest whatever it is, and the desires for other things they do enter in. And again, there's nothing wrong with any of these things in themselves. God is not anti money. He's anti the love of money. It's the deceitfulness of riches that we've got to watch. And if we're not careful, we can start thinking, well, it doesn't matter how I spend my money. See, that's the other thing. God doesn't want us to become so careless with our money that we. Because money can become deceitful. And you can get people saying, well, you know, I've got so much money I can afford to, uh, buy this car and then throw it away and buy another one. And you think, well, yes, maybe you can afford to, but you're deceived if you think it's helpful. You deceived if you think anybody's going to benefit from you just buying mass cars. That is deceptive. That is deception. So, uh, all of these things, instead of becoming generous with your money, you start saying, well, I've got so much money, I can waste it. Actually, I think every every penny that's wasted on the final day, God will hold us accountable for and say, what did you do with the money I gave you? And if all we can say is, well, I had a great time, Lord. And I bought lots of cars and houses and had a fantastic time. He's going to say yes. And how did you care for the poor? So there's no doubt at all that that riches deceive us. And, um, sometimes we've got to learn how to shut them off. And so the whole point of this parable, according to verse twenty four, take care what you listen to, what you listen to, what the content is of what you're hearing. And then to finish this, he says, by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you and more will be given to you besides. In other words, you set the standard and the measure you receive is how much attention are you willing to give to it? So can I just say and commend you in choosing to come here tonight and saying, I want to devote the next hour, as was said in the prayer tonight, devote the next hour to hearing the Word of God. That's the measure that you're giving. That's the measure you're applying. So with all my heart, I'm praying that God is going to give you a whole hour of full measure because you've you've put the effort in, you've made the commitment to be here. You've made the effort to listen. And my prayer and hope is that you will indeed get what you deserve, because you've been generous in receiving this time and setting aside this time. If, on the other hand, you say, look, I have five minutes, a day's enough for me, well, that's all you'll get from it. And if you devote five minutes to the Word of God a day, well, fine. That's what you'll get. So that's not to say five minutes is bad, but if that's all you're doing, I mean, let's be. Let me be clear. Sometimes I only get five minutes a day. I'm not into this, um, two hours a day. Quiet time. I can't do it. I've tried it and I've failed. I just can't do it. Sometimes all I can bear is five minutes, and then I'm distracted and go and do something else. But if that's all I'm doing every day, that's different, right? And for whoever has to him shall more be given. In other words, if it's as much as you're receiving now, as long as you hang on to it, the Lord will keep giving you more and more. But you've got to have it. You've gotta, you've gotta, you gotta have it. You've got to actually hold on to it. So if you're willing to have it, to have means to, to to retain, means to keep. So whatever God gives you that you keep, you'll get more. Whatever God gives you that you let go, even what you think you have will be taken away from you. Whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him. So the importance is not that we hear the Word of God. The importance is that we hear it and we hold it. We we have it. We retain it. So it really matters what we listen to. We're now into Matthew chapter thirteen and we see, um, this seems to be describing the same day. And it could be, um, just as that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea and large crowds gathered to him. This is verse two, chapter thirteen of Matthew. Uh, so he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying. So I just wanted to point here that, yes, it could be the same day, but there's no requirement for this because I'm sure it happened many, many times. And even getting to a boat so he can speak to a large crowd. But I'm sure they happened more than once. Anyway, this is this is how Matthew records it, and I want you to notice that Matthew adds in quite some detail. So, um, uh, behold, he says in verse three, behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Now there was no mention of birds and Mark in Mark chapter. Chapter four, he simply says, Satan came and takes it away. Takes him away, doesn't he? Doesn't actually mention birds. Actually double check on that. Having said it. So. Oh no it doesn't. Birds. Sorry. It's birds. Excuse me, it is birds. Excuse me, I've got it wrong. Um, the birds came and ate them up, but others fell on rocky places where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. Now notice that this is the bit that matters. It is that rocky places. It's the depth of soil that's the issue. So before, when I assured you that the rocky soil was because there was no dirt, I was actually relying on Matthew telling me there wasn't. So the rocky places, there is some soil, but it's not deep. It's not deep enough. And then it says, uh, actually, what's different this time is what causes the seeds to not grow. Uh, it says the sun has risen and they were scorched. And, uh, because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. Others fell into good soil and yielded the crop some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty. So that's all similar at this point. He who has ears, let him hear. Then the explanation as to why he speaks in parables. but Matthew adds in verse sixteen where Jesus says to the disciples, blessed are your ears. Oh, blessed your eyes. Sorry, because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Now, again, we need to understand that the wonderful privilege that you and I have, because here, here we are in the twenty first century, and we've got these words recorded for us in a book that we can actually buy from a shop and take home and read. And in the first century they had no such privilege. There was nobody writing this down for them and giving it to a piece of paper so they could take it home and think about it. All they could do is listen, grasp it, and go and think, now what did he say? And then ask their friends, what did he say? I thought he said this. Do you think he said that? Oh, or at least can listen to them again till we get it right. But the Lord makes the point, though, that there were many prophets and righteous men. Speaking of all the ones through one and a half thousand years of Jewish history, who long to see what they could see then which was Messiah standing in their midst, and they long to hear what you're hearing. And they didn't get to hear it. So he's reminding us of the privilege we have even being able to hear these words. And while it was true in the first century for them, uh, and they could see him face to face and listen to his words coming out of his mouth. Uh, we actually have even a better deal. We actually have a the Bible recorded these words, so we don't forget them. We take them home and think about them. And we have the Holy Spirit living with us now also, who can remind us of these words? So we do live in a very, very privileged society. Alright. Now here's the explanation that Jesus gives again though Matthew thirteen, verse eighteen hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the words of the kingdom and doesn't understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. So we see then that verse nineteen that the what's gone wrong is that have heard the words of the kingdom, but they don't understand it. So, uh, in the, um, in Matthew, I'm sorry, in Mark's version, uh, he simply says, uh, when they hear Satan comes and takes it away in Matthew, he adds in, they hear, but they don't understand it. And you see, if we if we only hear stuff and we don't understand it, it can be easily taken away from us. And that's why I'm delighted when you're when you're asking questions and I'm sorry for the, for those, um, uh, for the reasons of taping the message, we can't afford to have the, the question and answer, uh, so much in these sessions. But to me, it's wonderful when we can have questions and answers because we need to be able to ask questions. We need to be able to say, no, hang on, what does that mean? And if you don't understand, don't ever, ever be afraid to say I don't understand. What does that mean? Um, if somebody said once, I've always loved it, that, uh. If you hide your ignorance, don't worry. No one will ever take it from you. But if you don't understand something and you ask, then. Then that lack of understanding can be taken away and you can actually get understanding. Alright, so understanding is the way is certainly important. We need to hear the word but we need to understand it. Uh, we also see that the, the sower of the seed, excuse me, is the word of the kingdom. These are the words that describe, in other words, or the message that describes the supernatural realm where God Himself is king. So in this world we live in, God isn't king. Uh, the Bible says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So this world we live in is not the world where God's will is being done. And in fact, that's why Jesus taught us to pray. Pray this way. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So in the world we live in, we've got to actually ask and invite God's kingdom to come. We invite God to come into our lives as the King. That's how the kingdom comes. But we do have to ask it to come. And if we want the kingdom of heaven to come, we need to hear the message of the kingdom and the words of the kingdom, so that we know what we can ask for, so that we know what we can expect from God. So it's important we get a right understanding of that. Uh, can I just give a quick example of this? Sadly, in the churches in recent years, there's been a lot of misunderstanding regarding prosperity and even healing and health. And we've been told in many churches that God will always heal. He will always resolve every issue. Now, I do believe God always will, ultimately. So I'm utterly convinced, and God's trusting in God's faithfulness. He does want us to prosper. He does want us to be in health even as our souls prosper. However, there are times as there was in job when job lost his health. There are times when the good die young. Most of the early church leaders would died young. Let's be clear on that. They were martyred. Peter was martyred. James was martyred. John lived a long life, but he lived on on the Isle of Patmos in exile. Was he not prospering? Of course he was. The soul prospered. Those ones who were killed, were they out of the will of God? They were right in the will of God. They were persecuted for the Word of God. So we need to get a better understanding. I think of some of these issues of prosperity and health and healing, because if we don't get a right understanding, the devil has got the right to come and take away what we've had sown in our hearts. Alright, so never be afraid to press in for understanding and to ask questions. You're allowed to ask questions. Okay. Verse twenty. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places. This is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no firm root for himself, but is only temporary. And when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. So notice this time it's, uh, the the soil is there. There's a bit of soil, the rocky soil, uh, rocky places. The rock is underneath the soil so that the roots can only go to a certain distance down, but then they can't go any further down to where the moisture is. So when the sun comes up, the very sun which should cause it to grow actually becomes a means of destruction. And uh, so he falls away. Verse twenty two. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns. This is the one who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Notice he doesn't mention the pleasure of or desire for other things. Excuse me in the last bit. Verse twenty three. The one on whom the seed was sown on the good soil. This is the man who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty or some thirty. So again, Matthew Majors on the fact of hearing and understanding, doesn't he? And, uh, and that's, that's as far as Jesus goes in speaking about this particular parable in Matthew thirteen. So now let's turn to Luke four. And I have to say, if I could only have one of these records, uh, Luke, Luke four is the one I'd want to keep. Because to me, Luke four is the most helpful of all of them. Is the most covers the most information? Uh, Luke chapter eight. Excuse me. Luke eight. Luke chapter eight was was marked for before, wasn't it? So in Luke chapter eight. Verse four, when a large crowd was coming together and those from the various cities were journeying to him, he spoke by way of a parable of the sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road. And look what it says here. And it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up. Now I love this, because Luke's eating in a whole nother dimension to the whole story. Now, whereas Matthew and Mark were saying, the sower sow seed beside the road, and Satan or the birds come and take it away. But Luke adds in this one more word, this one more concept, he says, some of these seeds fell beside the road and was trampled underfoot. Now that means it's walked on. And, uh, that may not sound like a great deal until you understand that in Jewish thinking, when you trample something underfoot, it means you despise it. So you, for example, you find that in Hebrews when it says about anyone who will trample underfoot, the blood of Christ is in serious danger, serious trouble. Uh, Luke twenty four twenty twenty four twenty one uh, he says Jerusalem will be treading underfoot by the Gentiles. Uh, in other words, they'll despise the Jerusalem. They'll they'll they'll rule over it, but they'll despise it. Well, what Luke's telling us there for is that the this first kind of soil is, uh, where people actually do hear the word, but they despise it. Their attitude of heart is they trample underfoot. And those people who will get no benefit whatsoever, they can't because they despise it. So, uh, that's the first seed, the first soil. Verse six. Luke describes the second kind of soil. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture. So we see the issue is actually the roots don't get down to where the water is, where the moisture is at. Verse seven, other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. That's pretty straightforward. And verse eight, other seed fell into the good soil, the fourth kind of soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great. So Luke doesn't worry about the thirty sixty. He goes straight to the hundred, and as he said these things, he would call out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. His disciples began questioning him as to what this parable meant. And notice, when Luke records it, he doesn't bother about the explanation as to why Jesus used parables as both Mark and Matthew did. He just goes straight to the interpretation. So verse nine, uh, his disciples began questioning him as to what this parable meant. And he said to them, to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but for the rest it is in parables. So he does cover it very briefly, so they might see and may not see. Hearing the men understand. But now the parable is this. So? It's very brief explanation, isn't it? And Jesus explains here now in more detail each of the conditions of the soil. And these are the ones for you and I to focus on tonight. Now the parable is this the seed is the Word of God. So whereas Matthew referred to it as being the message or the word of the kingdom. Uh, Luke saying this seed is actually the word of God regarding anything. And this is what I love these parables, because we now begin to see that this is therefore true regarding anything God says to you about anything. Uh, for example, uh, I've been a man of walking with the Lord for forty years. But I got married and I've had children, so my life is dramatically changed over those forty years, and I've had to work through a number of issues in church leadership and, uh, on the mission field. And so God has spoken many times to me in many areas of my life where I've needed to be sorted out, uh, sometimes, and how I've been as a husband sometimes, how I've been as a father, uh, sometimes how I've been as a brother, or to my sister and brother. Sometimes how I've been as a son towards my, towards my parents. And, uh, what I'm saying is that because God loves us and loves everything about us, he is trying to speak to us at all times about anything at all that we're we need help with. So these parables we see is not just about salvation. It's about anything. God's talking to us And what? I'm suggesting this. I'm not suggesting. I'm saying it. I'm saying that you and I, every time God speaks to us in any opportunity we have, we are one of these four kinds of soil. Either we are like this seed that gets on or the sorry, we're like the soil where the seed gets sown and we trample on it. We go, oh, that's not for me, and say, God says to me, uh, Graham, you need to treat your children better. And I go, nah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. And I despise that word. Then that word that I could have heard if I'd listened is totally useless to me because I've despised it. Uh, then verse twelve. Uh, sorry. Verse. Um, um, uh, where am I saying here? Uh um uh, verse twelve. Sorry. Verse twelve. Those beside the road are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that will not they will not believe and be saved. Now, like I say, as an evangelist, I love that because I wanted people to get saved, meaning converted. As I grew up in the faith, I began to find that there's more to salvation than just conversion. Because the word salvation biblically means wholeness. It means save from everything. It means changed regarding everything. So I need to be saved in how I am as a father. I need to be redeemed and how I am as a husband. I need to be redeemed, and how I am as an employee, or how I am as a church leader and all these areas of my life. I need to be transformed to become like Jesus. So as long as I'm willing to believe whatever God says to me regarding those things, I will grow in those areas. If I neglect them, I won't grow in those areas. Alright. And the devil has got the right to take it away if I despise it. He's allowed to do that. Verse thirteen. Those on rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. And these have no firm root. They believe for a while, but in time of temptation they fall away. And notice with Mark and Matthew it says, during time of affliction or persecution. So, uh, let's be clear on what that means. Sorry for those for whom English is a second language. Uh, the word affliction. Affliction means hard times. Affliction simply means when times get rough, when times get hard, and when you get afflicted, it simply means that maybe because of, uh, you're short of money, it may be because you are. Ah. Ah. The economy goes bad. It can be something your your external circumstances are hard. Persecution, however, is when people are after you and they're giving you a hard time. Uh, temptation, on the other hand, is quite different. Temptation is where you're being drawn away rather than chased away. Temptation is often to do with pleasures too. But, um, whatever it is, if we don't hold fast to the word because we don't go down deep enough, then temptation, affliction, or persecution can actually cause us to be scorched like these seeds and will be no fruit. Uh, of course the converse is true. The opposite is true. Because remember the sun, the whole point of the sun is not to scorch seed. If you don't have any sun, the plants die anyway. We need to have some sunlight. The point is, we need to have sunlight and water or sunlight and moisture. So persecution and affliction and temptation are not bad in themselves, as hard as they may be. If we are trusting in God, those very things cause us to drop our roots down to our roots, down deeper. In my own case, as a brand new Christian, I put a sign on my window saying I was now a follower of Jesus. And, uh, straight away there were knocks on the door and the Mormons were there and Jehovah's Witnesses were there. And are the children of God came and and they are witness. Lee people came, all these various cults and sects came to claim me. Now that I was a follower of Jesus. And, uh, and I have to say that at first I was a bit scared, thinking, oh, how do I cope with all these people getting at me? And, um, but actually that affliction really worked for me because I began to find that these people who were trying to tempt me to join their groups, they would say, well, you need to join us because we've got the best doctrine regarding Jesus, for example. And I'd say, okay, what do you think about Jesus? And they'd tell me and I'd go, no, no, no, the Bible's much better than that. And so I had to go digging deeper, though. So for me, my understanding of the Scripture actually came from being challenged in my belief by all sorts of cults and sects. So what could have been a bad thing actually, was what helped me get my roots down deeper. So we need to, I think, look for the good things that can come out of even affliction and persecution and temptation. Verse fourteen. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard. And as they go on their way, they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. So again, we see a similar thing in terms of the other seeds get planted in the good soil. You see, a good thorns can be growing in good soil. There's nothing wrong with the soil. It's just that we need to watch out. What else gets sold on the soil? So if we allow in our good heart worries, riches and pleasures to be sown, then that will choke out the seed. Alright, now verse fifteen. Now this is the one I want to major on tonight, verse fifteen. This is the one that's burned on my heart. But the seed in the good soil. These are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart. And hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance. Now, when I read that verse, I thought, that's that's my goal in life. That's one of the main verses I cling to in the scriptures is I want to hear the Word of God. Well, that's step one. But if I want it to be fruitful, I've got to avoid being like the beside the roadside and trampling underfoot. I've got to avoid letting it go on rocky soil where the seed doesn't go down very deep. I've got to avoid letting other seeds choke it out. That's all the avoidance issues. But here's the real issue. I've got to hear the word in an honest and good heart. And that's what makes all the difference. I've got to be willing to let my heart become good and honest. Now, what do these things mean? Well, uh, firstly, honest means truthful. It means, uh, dealing honestly with people. You don't lie to people. You don't steal from people. So for me, when I first became a Christian, I had heard the message of the gospel was give your life to Jesus and then put things right. And I was thinking, well, what does that mean? And they said, well, if you lied to people, you go and apologize and you put it right. And if you've stolen from people, you take things back. And uh, I'm thinking, oh, that sounds pretty rough. I can't do that too much for me to do. Uh, but then I became a Christian, and I realized that now I was going to follow Jesus. I had to start doing those things. So I began praying, saying, Lord, I've got so many things wrong in my life, so many things I've got to put right. How do I even start? And I just thought, Lord said to me, just relax. I'm with you, mate. Come on, we can sort this out. And it reminded me of a time when I was a young man. I, um, I did lots of foolish things as a kid. One of the worst things I ever did was playing with my friend Bill, and, um, Billy and I were playing at his house, playing cricket on the lawn, and, um, I bowled the ball to him, and he whacked it over the top of the garage. And next thing was a smash of window breaking, and I thought, oh. So we raced around the site and sure enough, the ball had gone straight to the top of a glass house that was around the back of his father's garage. But the glass house looked pretty neglected. Lots of cobwebs, no plants, lots of empty pots and and just a mess. So we went, oh, no harm then. It's an abandoned glass house. So we went back to playing cricket, but soon after it was my turn to bat and so I whacked the ball over the garage and next thing, smash. Oh, that was great. So then we thought, well, that's really funny. So we started picking up stones and anything we could find and throwing them over the top of the garage until we could hear the smash, tinkle, tinkle of the glass. And we were having a wonderful time. And finally we went around to have a look at it, and we managed to get quite a few bits of glass, but there were lots we'd missed. So we began thinking, well, that's a lot of fun. So we began picking up stones from right close and throwing them into the glass. And in the end, we'd trashed most of this glass house, and Bill was saying, it's fine. It's fine because, you know, dad doesn't want it. I went home thinking, well, that's been a lot of very fun. Afternoon. We have lots of smashed glass. That was so much fun. And, uh, next thing was a phone call, and my dad said, uh, he did what? And I thought, oops, I'm in trouble. What have I done? What have I done? And he said, oh, we'll come round right away. And so next thing my dad said, what have you been doing this afternoon? And I said, oh, well, I was at Bill's playing cricket. Why what's the problem? And he was saying, his father said, you smashed up their glass house. And I thought, but Bill said it was okay. So my dad, my dad and I had to walk around and we went into his house and sure enough, his father had just been about to refurbish the glass house and all the bits of glass that we thought wouldn't matter. He was about to, uh, fix up, and he was going to clean the whole thing up. And instead he came home and found the whole thing trashed. So we had to put in our pocket money for the next ten months. I've forgotten how long it took to replace the glass. I'm not sure we paid for very much of it, but I'm sure our fathers subsidized it. But we had to put that right. But I guess the thing that's always stuck in my brain, though, was that my dad came with me. He didn't just say, off you go, son. You sort it out. He went round and he was negotiating with Bill's father, who was the offended party, the angry one. And if I'd go by myself, I don't know what he would have done. But my dad was with me. And that's how I see God. I see that when God says, I want you to put something right. He comes with us and he says, okay, come on, we can do this. You can do this. Come on. And he walks it through with us and he helps us put things right. And I have to say that as I began to put things right, wonderful things began to happen. When I apologize to my parents, for example, I found they were always loving and always said going, and I was restored my relationship with them when I lied to people that when I confess to people I'd lied to, I found they started to trust me because they used to think they knew I was lying before. For goodness sake, they saw it. When I confessed to it, they started to trust me. So far from losing their friendship, they actually gained their friendship back. So there was unexpected goodness that came out of it for me. So I still love this word though, because I think it's still true for me. I still have to work at keeping my heart honest and good every month. Every two months I have to do my GST return, for example, and I have to explain every receipt that I'm going to claim on my GST receipt. And sometimes I think, well, now what does that actually work? Or is that pleasure? Was that for me? Oh, I could sneak that in. What are you doing? That wasn't work. Throw it out and I've got to know myself again. After forty years of walking with the Lord. There's still a little part of my heart that still wants to cheat the tax department of some tax, and I still want to get more back, maybe, than I should. It's still here. It's still in me. The old man is still alive in me. And when Paul says, lay aside the old man, he's not joking. It's not poetry. He's not saying, you know, it'll be gone forever. What he's saying. Pick up your cross daily and follow me, Jesus said. It's a daily thing, alright? So if I want to bear fruit, I've got to be willing to stay. Keep my heart honest and good. And here's the point. I've got to hold the Word of God fast. I've got to hold it fast. Now, I don't know if you know. And, um, for those with English as a second language, but to hold something just means you hold it like that. You grasp it when you hold it fast, you put more effort into it and you hold it fast. That's what you do. You're saying I'm never going to let it go? Hold just means to hang on. To hold it fast means you won't ever let it go. And that's what the Lord's saying. He's saying you need to hear the word and never let it go. And that's how the fruit will start coming. If you persevere, you ought to bear fruit with perseverance. So there is an ongoing period of testing, and it may be a while sometimes before you see the benefit of it. But it is worth the effort. Alright, now we now come to just these last three verses of this passage. Uh, now no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it over with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light. Now, of course, we covered that before. Uh, Jesus. Simply changing the metaphor. And he's gone from talking about seeds. We've got to hang on to to light that. We've got to give a special place to. But it's the same word of God we're talking about here. So when the Lord gives us light regarding anything he's saying, don't cover it over with a container or put it under your bed. Instead, make sure it gives. It sheds light on everything that comes into your house, for nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be, will not be known and come to light. Now look at verse eighteen. So take care how you listen. Remember Luke chapter. Sorry, Mark chapter four. It was take care what you listen to in Luke chapter eight verse eighteen. It's saying, take care how you listen. So we find that these parables haven't just been teaching us to watch out for the content of what we're hearing. He's saying, you need to be careful even the way in which you listen, because how you listen will affect your fruitfulness. So can you hear why I love these parables so much? Because they're not just telling us, uh, weed out the Hitlers and hang on to the words of Jesus. He's saying it's true regarding every area of your life, regarding your parenting, regarding your work practices, uh, regarding your discipleship. And you need to be careful how you listen, for whoever has to him shall more be given. And whoever does not have even what he thinks he has shall be taken away. And so we find that unusual paradox that we read before in Mark four is explained a bit more carefully in Luke eight, even when he thinks he has will be taken away from him. So it's not just a, uh, a one off event here. It's a process that if we're careful about how we'll listen then and we hang on to what we've been given for whoever has, we've got to hang on to it. If we hang on to it to him, more will be given. And whoever does not have another. If we don't retain the Word of God and we let it go, even what we think we have will be taken away from us. And I believe that can apply in many different areas. But an obvious one to me is we may think we don't need to have the Word of God in our hearts, which is what the average non-Christian thinks. We don't need to have the Word of God in our hearts. And I don't need Jesus because I've got lots of other stuff. I've got lots of money, I've got a good wife, I've got kids, I've got everything. And Jesus is saying, actually, even what you think you have, you're going to lose it. You may think you don't need me because you've got a good wife, you've got good children, you've got a nice house, but actually death's going to rob you of all of those things. So even what you think you have will be taken away from you. So it's actually quite a stern warning, isn't it? Lastly, just to wrap up this, this session, we have five minutes. Let's just turn back to Luke chapter three from because I want to just draw your attention to something that John the Baptist said that I'd never understood until I understood this parable in Luke chapter three. We just there's just this very quick summary of, of John the Baptist and, uh, when, when he came in verse Luke chapter three, verse three, when John the Baptist came into all the district around the Jordan, he preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. So John came to prepare the way of the Lord. He came to, to to, uh, help people find God for themselves. That's what the God was, wasn't it? But look how he did it. This is what John was doing. Every ravine will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight. And the rough roads smooth and all flesh will see the salvation of God. Now that's the goal, isn't it? The goal is that we all get to see the salvation of God. We get to see his holiness, his forgiveness, his blessing, his strengthening, his provision. We want to see all the goodness of God. Well, here's how we get there. We need to have our hearts prepared because look what John does in verse five. Every ravine shall be filled. In other words, every part in a human heart that's too low has got to be raised up. Where people have been humiliated. They need to be encouraged and encouraged and encouraged until they get up to a normal level. On the other hand, every mountain and hill will be brought low. In other words, everybody who's too proud has got to be brought down and they've got to come down until they're normal. So those have been humiliated, have been raised up. Those who are too proud have got to be lowered, brought down On and the crooked will become straight. Crooked was what I was describing before when I used to like lying and cheating. That's what crookedness is. And the Lord wants me to walk a straight path. Well, if I'm willing to become straight. If I'm willing to let my crooked ways be dealt with, that will help me to see the salvation of God. And of course, the rough roads. Smooth. That means I'm getting rid of the things that I stumble over. Normally, that's a whole nother issue. But look at the application of this in verse ten. The crowds were questioning him, saying, what then shall we do? What shall we do? And he answered, say to them. And he would answer and say to them, the man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none. And he who has food is to do likewise. In other words, if you want to see the salvation of God, be generous. That's what he's saying. If you've got two and you're somebody who's got none, give them one share. Just share. Urine changes your attitude of heart and it makes your heart a good heart. That's the point I'm making. Some tax collectors also came to him to be baptized and they said to him, teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, collect no more than what you've been ordered to. In other words, the temptation for the tax collectors was to take a cut of what they took. And John the Baptist says he didn't say, stop doing it. He didn't say, leave this government. He said, no, someone's got to do it. You've got to collect taxes. Just make sure you're honest. Because if you've got a good and honest heart, when Jesus comes with His Word, you're actually able to grow something. Verse fourteen. Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, what about us? What shall we do? He said to them, do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages. So for the policemen of their day, remember the soldiers here are those men who are keeping the peace. They're policemen. They're saying, what should we do? And he's saying, you make sure that you don't take money from anyone by force or by bribery or by false accusation, so you can get more money off them. You be content with your wages. Don't be greedy. So all they had to do was actually, when you think about it, in order to prepare the way of the Lord, John was simply saying to them, you make sure you've got a good and honest heart. That's all he was saying. And then he says, and when? When Messiah comes, trust in him, because he goes on to say, now verse sixteen, as for me, I baptize you with water, but one is coming who is mightier than I, and I'm not fit to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. So he came to prepare the way of the Lord. But he did it by helping them get their hearts right. So when you put that in line with the parable, you suddenly realize, oh, wait a minute. John did a wonderful thing because he made sure they had good soil. Now they still had a part to play. They still had to hear the word that Jesus spoke. They still had to put their trust in it by hanging on to it and understanding it. And they started to persevere. They started to hold on to it. So that's it for tonight, folks. That's all I wanted to cover. Remember, the goal has been to hear the voice of God. Uh, how do we hear him? We see that, actually, we all do hear the voice of God. That's never at stake. It's never. Never a question, really. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they will not follow another. Uh, we see that the Son of Man, when he comes sows seeds, and he sows, and he sows into every kind of soil. He doesn't even care what the soil is like. That's not his. That's not his worry. That's our worry. As for Jesus, he just keeps sowing the seed. That means that he's forever speaking to the whole human race, and the whole human race is responding one of those four ways. But it also means for us as Christians, as he keeps speaking to us, our hearts are also like and can be like any one of those four kinds of soils. So if we want to keep hearing them, we need to be careful how we listen and the and the the amount of attention we give to it. Uh, the attitude we have to it, whether we're willing to retain it and live by it. Are we willing to let it go down deep into our hearts? Are we willing to, uh, persevere and hold it fast? Because if we do, we will. We will be fruitful. We will be more loving. We will be more joyful. We will be more patient. We will be kinder. We will be more loving. We will have more self control. And surely that's that's our goal, isn't it? Become more like Jesus. And it's not our effort. It's simply holding fast to what he said and letting the seed produce that fruitfulness.