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00:00:01
The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15)
11 Plays17 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 01 June 2025
by Associate Pastor Josh Shell
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Gratitude and Reverence for God's Word
00:00:06
Speaker
Well, good morning, everyone. is great to be with you guys. I know I say this every time. i feel like I say this every time i get up here, but it is truly an honor and it's humbling every time I get the privilege to be able to come up here and share God's Word.
00:00:20
Speaker
And I hope you know that the Word of God is living, it's active, and we should not take it for granted.
00:00:33
Speaker
this is the life source for all of us who believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so I hope you know that as Victor and I, we get up here every week with this, that we don't take it flippantly, that we take it very seriously. And that is my prayer that if I ever say anything that you're like, dude, that may seem out of line, come hold me accountable.
00:00:51
Speaker
Okay. Because I honor, i want to honor the word of God very seriously. And i want to uphold it to the way we're supposed to as believers. So, But it is good to be with you guys. so I hope you guys had a great weekend. I know the Shell household was a little bit quieter this weekend.
Family and Introduction of Guest Speaker
00:01:06
Speaker
We had our three-year-old.
00:01:07
Speaker
She went home with Grana and Pop Pop last Thursday. And so it's been very quiet. You kind of forget how... peaceful it is when you don't have a toddler running around. but But it is exciting though, because we did, we lost a toddler, but we gained an adult in our household. My buddy, Jordan Thames, he flew in from Memphis to come down to travel up to Fort Worth with us to go to camp.
00:01:30
Speaker
I know you guys may have heard that name before. He's gone with us the last few years to camp and he has chosen to come with us again. So it's a great honor to have him. So if you guys want to hear any of my college stories, He's probably the one to go to. he knew me back when I had hair.
00:01:46
Speaker
So, uh, so it's good to be with him. It's good to have him. Um, but, uh, yeah. And it's, uh, I mean, again, I'm excited for what the Lord's going to do this next week. And I hope, I just want to say thank you guys for everything that you've done to support us so far with the fundraising and and us preparing to go to camp. And as Victor just beautifully prayed earlier, uh, in the beginning, I pray you continue to pray for us as we, uh,
00:02:09
Speaker
Prepare to leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, to drive up. It's going to great week up there. Looking forward to it. And the Lord's going to do some
Introduction to Parables and Their Significance
00:02:17
Speaker
amazing things. so But if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to the book of Luke, the gospel of Luke. We're going to in chapter 8. Luke chapter 8.
00:02:30
Speaker
Luke chapter 8. We're going to be looking at a passage of scripture that many of us have probably studied quite often. Really, this whole section of of scripture that we're about to jump into in this gospel is is called the the the corner of the parables. right It's called this this is it all about the parables that Jesus is about to introduce us into within the Gospel Luke. And you also find them in the other Gospels of Matthew and Mark.
00:02:58
Speaker
But these are incredible, incredible words that Jesus delivers to his audience. And for all the students in the room, they're probably going man, we've got to study this again. Because we are actually walking through the parables of Jesus in our Wednesday night study.
00:03:11
Speaker
So students, if y'all want to, y'all can actually come up and take over if you want. Let's see how many you guys actually listen on Wednesday night. But this is an incredible, incredible passage. It's the parable the sower.
00:03:23
Speaker
How many you guys, by raising your hand, yeah, I'm going ask you to do that. How many you guys have ever studied the parable of the sower before? Anybody? Okay, handful of you guys. If you have not studied this, well, we're to study this morning, but I highly encourage you to go home and study it.
00:03:38
Speaker
This is
Evaluating Commitment to Christ
00:03:39
Speaker
a very challenging and powerful section of scripture and and a lesson that Jesus teaches his audience, okay? And so, but while we're walking through this passage this morning, this is what i want us to have in our minds as we work through it.
00:03:54
Speaker
This simple question. I want us to stop and think for a moment. How would you rate your commitment level to Christ right now?
00:04:04
Speaker
How would you rate your commitment level to Christ right now? I'm pretty sure if we took a poll in this room today, it took a poll. Many of us, if we ah if we were asked the question, hey, do you follow Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe he's Savior? Do you believe he's Lord?
00:04:22
Speaker
Many of us in this room would be like, yeah, absolutely. I followed to the ends of the earth and back.
00:04:28
Speaker
but the reality is is that there's a lot of people out there who say that who would never actually fulfill it and up to this point in the gospel of luke and jesus ministry what we're seeing here is as jesus began his ministry his public uh ministry became more profound people started to hearing more about his miracles about the lessons the the authority that he was teaching in he was rebuking and rebuttaling the fair or the pharisees the religious leaders And so the Jews were curious. The Gentiles are hearing of how this gospel message is not just for the Jews, but it's also for the Gentile as well. So they're getting curious.
00:05:02
Speaker
And so these masses of people are starting to come around. Wherever Jesus goes, there is a large crowd. And that's exactly what we're going to see at this point. Jesus is still continuing his ministry. And if you look at the other gospels of Matthew Mark in the context, he actually just goes back to his hometown and and he's there with all these people. And while he's meeting with them, his mother comes up. He's like hey, can you tell Jesus I'm here? And he's like, hey, I have no mother. I have no brother. I have no sister. i have just those who follow me.
00:05:35
Speaker
Right? And as he's doing that, he then gets up and he goes about his way and he begins teaching again. And I want you to just hear the words that Jesus says here
Understanding the Parable of the Sower
00:05:45
Speaker
in this parable because if we're all honest, these are these should strike us to the core.
00:05:51
Speaker
This should cause us to stop and evaluate. Okay, where am I? Why am I here today? Why am I in these pews? Because what we're gonna see is the heart behind Jesus' teaching this morning is gonna be exactly that. he's gonna be addressing his audience, those who are amassing around him, why are you here?
00:06:11
Speaker
Why are you following me? Why are you here to listen to my teachings today? so if you guys don't mind, I would love for you guys to stand with me in honor of God's word. We'll read through these verses and then we'll jump in together and pick them apart, if we will.
00:06:29
Speaker
So picking up in verse four chapter eight, this is what is said by Luke. And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable,
00:06:41
Speaker
a sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path. It was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture.
00:06:57
Speaker
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things these things, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
00:07:14
Speaker
Verse 9. When his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. But for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. 9.
00:07:33
Speaker
Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. The ones um ah along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved.
00:07:47
Speaker
the ones among the ah The ones on the rock are those who, when they hurt when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while and in time of testing fall away.
00:08:00
Speaker
And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go in their way, they are choked by the cares and riches of pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
00:08:14
Speaker
As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast and honest in honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
00:08:27
Speaker
Will you guys pray with me real quick? Father God, we just commit this time to you. Holy Spirit, we know you are here. ah pray, Father, in this time that you will increase and we will decrease, that we will soften our hearts to your message, that we will really evaluate our commitment level to you.
00:08:45
Speaker
Are we truly living for you or are we being swayed by the things of this world? ah God, we love you, we praise you, we thank you for this time. It's in Jesus' name. Amen. y'll may be seated.
00:09:03
Speaker
So just to give you a little bit more of ah of a background or context to this particular parable. okay So in this section, this particular parable can be found not only in Luke chapter 8, but it can also be found in Matthew 13 and also Mark chapter 4, which also brings different unique perspectives and insights to this particular moment of Jesus' ministry. So i highly encourage you guys to go and read those.
00:09:27
Speaker
But also in this parable, we see Jesus' explanation and purpose for using parables in his teachings. Because again, when we encounter passages like this, it's like, why is Jesus always teaching stories?
00:09:38
Speaker
right And in this moment, it's actually interesting because he he has a moment where he goes from teaching very strategically, very methodically, very pointedly, where now he's teaching parabolically. He's using this allegorical language or this metaphorical language to bring about a point to his audience.
00:09:57
Speaker
And so why is that? Why is he doing that, right? But listen to this definition of what a parable is for those of you guys do not know. It's a definition brought to you Robert Kinney. But it says, it says, a parable is a simple and usually merit to story grounded in the real world and used to provoke the audience on a spiritual or moral matter or even to make a spiritual or moral point So that's exactly what we're going to see in this passage, that Jesus is doing that.
00:10:25
Speaker
This particular section of the parables of Jesus um are used to provoke his disciples and his audience on what the kingdom of God is like. Did y'all catch that?
00:10:41
Speaker
It's not about what the kingdom of God will be like. or what we imagine it to be, but rather, we are seeing that these parables are, the sole purpose of these parables is to engage with the audience, to teach them, and to reveal them what the kingdom of God is like.
00:10:58
Speaker
Because if, this is just a side note, if we are in Christ today, we bring heaven to earth. Heaven is now. And if we are truly followers of Christ, then we will be emulating the things of heaven.
00:11:13
Speaker
And for many people on this earth, that will be the closest glimpse that they'll ever receive of what heaven
Challenges and Commands in Sharing the Gospel
00:11:18
Speaker
will be like through our interactions with them. So again, throughout these parables, Jesus' point, he's provoking his audience. he's He's trying to address his eyes or reconfigure the brains of his disciples and those who are hearing and saying, hey, if you're truly following after me, you've got to reorient your brain.
00:11:38
Speaker
The things that you once knew about your Jewish tradition or things that you once knew or the things that you've been taught about what the kingdom of God is like, I'm going to need you to be flexible because I want you to hear me. That's what Jesus is saying. He says, this is what the kingdom of God is like.
00:11:53
Speaker
Live it out now. Right? That's what he's doing. But first, as Jesus is doing this, though, this particular parable, though, is going to encourage and inform his disciples and his audience of how people will receive and or reject the gospel message in the kingdom of God.
00:12:15
Speaker
You see, Jesus, right before he ascended into heaven, he he told all of his disciples and ultimately us as well, one final command. Go, make disciples of all nations.
00:12:28
Speaker
Go and make disciples of all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And he says, behold, I will be with you always to the end of the age. And you know, for us, it's like, yes, that's an easy message. Like, let's just go share the gospel.
00:12:42
Speaker
But for anybody who in this room has ever gone to share the gospel, how easy is it?
00:12:48
Speaker
It's pretty intimidating, actually, right? And most times, often than not, you're going a lot of pushback. The gospel message is offensive. It's what scripture tells us. gospel message reveals a lot about our sin that we don't want to recognize that we would rather live comfortably in rather than get rid of. And so people reject it.
00:13:10
Speaker
And so we have to be ready for this. We have to understand that when we share the gospel, we may face pushback. People may get ugly with us, right?
00:13:23
Speaker
But again, what is the command? What's Jesus' command? Go. He says, go share the good news. he doesn't say He doesn't say, go and share the good news and worry about what's coming back. He says, no, just go and share it And that's exactly what we see here within the first few lines of this parable with the sower who went out to sow his seed.
00:13:45
Speaker
This farmer goes out and begins sowing the seed and it doesn't matter where he's at, it doesn't matter what soil is at, all we see is that he's out there and he's just taking the seed and he's just broadcasting it. Doesn't matter where it lands, he's just doing it.
00:14:00
Speaker
So, I mean, that's that's the first point that we could stop at and look at if you really wanted to. It's like, okay, how willing are you just to go and share the good news of the gospel? Are you truly doing that as believers? And I know you're probably thinking yourself Josh, man, like, why is all this pressure on us to share the gospel? It's like, well, if you experienced and tasted that the Lord is good, why would you not share the gospel?
00:14:21
Speaker
If you've tasted the remedy of your sin, why how and why, if you truly get transformed by the gospel of Jesus and the love of God, how can you let your brothers and sisters and those around you who don't have the love of God suffer in their sin knowing that you have the remedy for it?
00:14:38
Speaker
Pretty powerful, huh? This should be convicting for all of us, myself included. I know there's times where I fall short with that, where I don't go and share the gospel when I know I need to.
00:14:50
Speaker
But going back to the parable, though, I want us to see just a few key things that Jesus ultimately setting up the parable with here. And one of them in verse 4, right? Where he says, And when a great crowd was gathering, and people from town to town came to him, he said, in a parable, right? So again, going back to what we were talking about earlier, with Jesus' fame growing, more and more people are coming to hear him.
00:15:12
Speaker
And, you know, for us, we we have a tendency of... of of saying that things are successful based upon the audience, right?
00:15:24
Speaker
Man, our church is really healthy because we have a lot of members. Man, no offense to Pine Cove, right? But Pine Cove, man, every week camp is full. That's incredible. right or Or we're taking 38 total people to camp and that's a lot for our church. you know like we gain we we We gauge our success upon numbers and upon who is there. right Maybe it's not just about numbers, maybe it's about who's in the audience. Like, man, did you see so-and-so? He's in the audience.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yes. right But the reality is, is that is that really how we should be gauging our success? Because here in this moment, even though this great crowd was amassing around Jesus, he saw through the crowd.
00:16:08
Speaker
He understood that, yes, there's a great crowd coming to me, but not everybody who was coming to hear him was coming with genuine, sincere hearts to hear his message.
00:16:19
Speaker
Only a small portion of them were actually genuine about it. You gotta remember, who all was in the audience at this time? It was his disciples or his followers, right?
00:16:29
Speaker
the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes. You had these Jewish people who may have been questioning the intent and the character of Jesus. You're like, who is this guy? Why is he speaking with speaking with such authority?
00:16:43
Speaker
Then you have the Gentiles who are coming in and they're probably questioning the same thing. So just because the numbers and the crowd was great doesn't mean that it was all hunky-dory for Jesus. Jesus saw through that.
00:16:55
Speaker
And because of that, he spoke this parable. And again, why did he speak this parable? To reveal to his audience their true intent of why they're there.
00:17:07
Speaker
So I pray as we walk through this, that what's your intent of being here today? Again, what's your commitment level to Christ? Right? But the other thing I want to see here is in the last part of verse 8. So not only does he notice the crowd and doesn't give in to the sides because he knows the conditions and the genuineness of their hearts, but rather in verse 8, there at the end, he says, in He said these things, talking about the parable, and as he called out, He who has ears to hear, let them
Identifying True Followers Through Parables
00:17:38
Speaker
hear.
00:17:38
Speaker
So again, going back to the heart condition, he knew that many of the people who are there were coming on their own agenda, who were coming on their own accord, who were trying to come with their own intention trying to either to to prove that Jesus wasn't who he said he was, or maybe that his message was false, or maybe his message was whacked out.
00:17:57
Speaker
Who knows? But Jesus, in this moment, he is literally casting, he's he's making a dividing line here. He said, through this parable, you're going to really find out who of you are truly, genuinely following me, and then who of you here are actually being led astray.
00:18:16
Speaker
Y'all ready for that? Y'all ready to walk through this a little bit more? Because that's what he does in the ensuing verses.
00:18:25
Speaker
So verses 9 and 10, one thing I do want to point out here by Charles Swindoll, when Jesus uses this parable, okay, I know that he said, I said that he is using this parable to kind of separate the crowd here of people who are genuinely following him and people who are not following him.
00:18:40
Speaker
But I love Charles Swindoll said about this. He said, Jesus did not use parables to deliberately obscure his message, right? but rather he did it to make his teachings less interesting to those not genuinely interested.
00:18:57
Speaker
so in other words, again, he is trying to sort out those who are genuinely wanting to follow him and those who are seeking to understand him from those who are just trying to make it about themselves or those who didn't actually care. Does this make sense?
00:19:14
Speaker
I was really insightful when I read that. And when you read here in verse 9, it can be kind of misleading because it says when the disciples asked him what this parable meant, you'd be like, see, not even his disciples understood what Jesus was talking about.
00:19:26
Speaker
Is this a bad sign? It's like, no. This is actually a really interesting sign, a really good sign, because if you're here today with a genuine heart of wanting to understand the Word of God, that's a healthy thing. right And the disciples see that. You see, it's all about the heart condition by which you approach it.
00:19:42
Speaker
If you're here because you've been impacted by the gospel of Jesus, and you're seeking to wanting to grow in him and to walk in him and to put on the character and likeness of Jesus, that's an honorable thing. And that shows genuine faith in your relationship with Jesus.
00:19:58
Speaker
But if you're here just because you want to fill the pew or or check off a box or because your parents made you come or because this is something you've done for 40 years of your life, like these are things, these are flags that should be raised up.
00:20:12
Speaker
But for the disciples, hearing this parable, they asked him, So the disciples didn't, it wasn't, although the disciples did not necessarily understand the parable first, the key thing is that they still accepted Jesus at face value and pursued understanding, demonstrating their genuine faith.
00:20:32
Speaker
Unlike those who doubted. Unlike all the rest of them in the crowd. So the difference between the two groups is that the disciples sought genuine understanding while those who had interest turned away or rejected teaching Jesus' teaching.
00:20:49
Speaker
And so we see this as Jesus explains, right? So the disciples come up and they're like, hey, you gave this parable, but can you explain it to us? We want to understand. We know that you are Jesus, the son of God. We know who you are. We want to understand more. Can you explain it? And Jesus says, absolutely. And he goes on, verse 10. To you has been given a secret so that the kingdom of God may be revealed. For but others in parables so that they may see and not see and hear may not understand.
00:21:20
Speaker
Now this is the parable. The seed. is the word of God. And the sower in this, okay, so the seed, if the seed is the word of God, then who is the sower?
00:21:34
Speaker
Jesus. God. It's not just Jesus or God, but the sower also represents you and I as followers of Christ. Anybody who has the message of God and who is sharing the good news, this is the sower.
00:21:50
Speaker
And as we sow, again, going back to the picture, it's not that we need to be particularly worried about a particular audience that we're sowing the seed to. We don't need to be like, oh these people look like I'm going go over there and share the gospel with them. Like, no, it doesn't matter. Like, we should be sharing the gospel with anybody who has ears to hear and anybody who is
00:22:13
Speaker
Because now we are in this time of great grace, this period of great grace, where we have the privilege of sharing the good news of the gospel. And while we have today, we must share it. There will be a day where that time is taken away.
00:22:28
Speaker
We do not need to to neglect the time that we have. So it goes on. So this is the parable. So who does this represent? and the ones along the path are those who have heard but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may believe or that way they may not believe and b safe so who did this represent So this represents those who have heard but have hardened their hearts. These are individuals who no matter what avenue of hearing God's message refuse to hear God's word.
00:23:01
Speaker
Nothing in the word of God stirs their hearts.
00:23:08
Speaker
So this is the hard-hearted individual. Now again, there's some people out there when you look at them from the outside, you're like, yeah, there ain't no way. They're a lost cause.
00:23:21
Speaker
But is that enough of a reason for us not to share the gospel with them? No, wanna make that point very clear. We should not pick and choose who we share the gospel with.
00:23:33
Speaker
But this is the reality. Whether they look lost or confused or hard on the outside or whether they look all put together on the inside, the hard heart resides in both bodies.
00:23:46
Speaker
Some of you in this room today have a hard heart.
00:23:52
Speaker
Some of you in this room have experienced pain, suffering, hardship, broken relationships, whether it's somebody within the church or not within the church, and your heart is as hard as it could ever be.
00:24:04
Speaker
And this could be you. That even upon the seed falling upon your heart, it doesn't even have a chance of taking root because of how hard it is. And guess what happens? Satan comes he takes that seed away. it never even gives you a chance.
00:24:18
Speaker
You're going to need, that's you today and you know it, You're gonna need some serious plows to break up that ground, right?
00:24:28
Speaker
But the good news is this, no one's too far gone. No one's too far gone.
00:24:35
Speaker
It just takes the initiative on your end to soften the soil, to soften the heart, to receive that seed, the implanted seed, the word of God. And so that's what Jesus is addressing here. And and that's what he's saying, that many of those in his eyes at this time,
00:24:52
Speaker
They had hard hearts. They heard the word of God, and upon hearing the word, they rejected it. Who does that sound like? The Pharisees, the religious leaders.
00:25:03
Speaker
No matter how many times they interacted with Jesus and saw his miracles, they constantly rejected They constantly pushed back. But Jesus never gave up on them. He continued to share, continued to so to sow that seed,
00:25:17
Speaker
in hopes that it would be implanted. We actually find out some of those Pharisees actually receive the word of God, like Nicodemus and a couple others. But it goes on to the second thing, right?
00:25:31
Speaker
says, and the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time testing, they fall
Superficial Faith and Worldly Distractions
00:25:42
Speaker
away. this is These next two, I want you guys to hear me. These next two should be very worrisome for many of us in this room.
00:25:52
Speaker
I feel like I'm stepping on toes this morning, if that's okay in this case. Don't hate me, okay? These next two should be ones that really challenge us. Because many of us fall into these next two categories. We think we're good, but really we're just as lost as the hard-hearted individual.
00:26:12
Speaker
Because just like the hard-hearted ones, the ones on the rock, they're the ones who receive a withdrawal. They're the ones who experience the goodness of God and they react to it. They respond to it like, man, this is absolutely incredible.
00:26:24
Speaker
Whether they go to camp and experience the camp high, or whether it's they go to a retreat or a conference or X, Y, or Z, and they come back ready and fueled for the gospel. But yet one thing happens in their life.
00:26:38
Speaker
Maybe it's a loss of a loved one, a broken relationship, your boyfriend, your girlfriend dumps you, or ah you know something happens in the church, or X, Y, or Z, right? so One thing happens, and then immediately fall away. Like, man, I told you this thing about God isn't real.
00:26:56
Speaker
If God was truly real and he truly loved me like everybody said he was, like I thought he did, then none of this would happen. I would have that girlfriend. Praise God that sometimes those relationships don't work, right?
00:27:09
Speaker
But that's this individual. The seed falls on the rock. They receive the implanted word of God and it gives them excitement. It gives them joy and they taste the goodness of God. But yet the soil is so shallow.
00:27:23
Speaker
There's like this bedrock underneath it that the plant cannot take actual root. And when this when the heat comes, when the sun comes, it burns it away.
00:27:34
Speaker
Again, Is there a difference between this individual versus the hard-hearted one?
00:27:41
Speaker
At the end of the day, no. Because their heart is still just as hard as this guy or this individual.
00:27:50
Speaker
Some you in this room can be can be in that way. You experience the goodness of God, but yet there's something that is just holding you back from truly surrendering everything that you have to him.
00:28:02
Speaker
And again, I pray that you allow the plow of God's word to come through and just destroy that bedrock underneath that fresh soil. So that way the root can truly take place.
00:28:13
Speaker
Then he goes on to a third illustration. And as for the one that fell among the thorns, there are those who hear, get this, this one was convicting even for me.
00:28:25
Speaker
But as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
00:28:36
Speaker
In the same way as the one of the rock, this individual receives the implanted seed in the word of God and they receive it joyfully. They get excited. And guess what? This time the the fruit actually takes root and it starts to grow and fruit starts to be produced.
00:28:51
Speaker
But yet along the way, what happens? Things of the world get in their way. Money, status, your job, relationships.
00:29:06
Speaker
gossip, I don't know, whatever it is, it grows with you. And because you're not focusing truly on the fullness of who God is and allowing the implanted word of God to take resident in your heart the way it needs to, the cares and the riches and the joys of this life choke out that goodness.
00:29:27
Speaker
And you find yourself places like this or or wherever you
00:29:36
Speaker
Something comes up, whether it's drama or money or something like that, and it just chokes you out. You get so distracted to where you lose the effectiveness of the gospel.
00:29:47
Speaker
And the reason why i say the the reason why I say these last two really should convict us, because again, I have to be careful these two.
00:29:56
Speaker
I'm not perfect. I know Victor would agree with me on that as well. Like, I'm sure he's the same way. and sense of, we have to be on guard against these things. Because the gospel message is too important for us to not let it take full root in our hearts or to be distracted by the things of this world.
00:30:15
Speaker
The gospel message is not just a temporary thing, it's an eternal thing. The gospel message is what brings us from death into life. The gospel message is what renews us from the inside out.
00:30:27
Speaker
And if it's truly implanted in us, ah should have no ah should it should have full effect in us.
00:30:36
Speaker
Granted, we're not perfect in this life. We're going to fall short. So please hear me say this. I'm not here banging the hammer and saying like, hey, you're not a true believer because you're allowing the distractions of the world to take you.
00:30:49
Speaker
That's not what I'm saying. Because at the end of the day if you're allowing the distractions of the world to take you and to lead you away, but yet you recognize it, you repent of it, confess it, surrender it back to the Lord, guess what?
00:31:02
Speaker
The Lord is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and to bring you back into right standing before him. Through that confession and repentance, that's the true sign of a believer. So maybe you do have something in your life that's truly distracting you from doing God's will today.
00:31:19
Speaker
Confess. Repent. Allow God to come in. Allow the spirit to come in to renew your spirit, to bring you back into right standing. So that way you can be exactly what Jesus says about the last soil.
Producing Fruit as True Believers
00:31:32
Speaker
The good soil. As for the good soil, they are those who hear who hearing the word hold fast and honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. These these are the true believers.
00:31:46
Speaker
These are those who hear the word and they take full residence in their heart. And let me tell you something. when you're When you truly experience the goodness of God and allow him to take full hold of your life, it is evident.
00:32:02
Speaker
It is absolutely evident. I don't care if you're the worst sinful human being over here who may have ah committed adultery on your spouse, or maybe you've done drugs your whole life, or X, or It can be as dramatic of a testimony as it can be, or maybe you're all way over here and you've been as innocent and sweet your entire life, but yet you're still lost.
00:32:24
Speaker
It doesn't matter. When the Holy Spirit comes into your life and takes hold of you, there is a dramatic transformation.
00:32:33
Speaker
The things that you once cared about in the world, they fa they they fade away. And there's this newness, this freshness of the spirit that dwells inside of you that just cannot be contained.
00:32:45
Speaker
And it becomes contagious. People see and they're like, man, did y'all see so-and-so?
00:32:53
Speaker
Dude, last week he was just over in the drug corner. Now look at him. You know what saying? Like, what is this? Sorry, that was really random example. But... But you get my point.
00:33:05
Speaker
And we see testimonies like this. I live, I mean, my in my own personal life, I didn't ask my brother if I can use this as a testimony, so I hope he forgives me if you he listens. But my brother, had been struggling for many years with with drugs and with things like that.
00:33:21
Speaker
And he at one point said he was a confessed believer, but the the evidence wasn't there. The fruit wasn't there. The lifestyle wasn't there. He was saying was a believer, but yet yeah on the other side, he was still doing the things of the world.
00:33:34
Speaker
until the Lord finally brought him to his rock bottom and he surrendered his life to Christ. And now every time I talk to him, like, hey, who is this guy? Like, who are you? You know? And so like the Lord can do incredible things and it's evident in the lives of true, honest believers.
00:33:53
Speaker
And this whole parable is Jesus trying to communicate this to his audience.
00:34:02
Speaker
He says, hey, Many guys are here to hear me speak. Great. But only several of you are truly following And that's what he was talking about there in verse 8 when he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
00:34:20
Speaker
Because if you're genuinely seeking the goodness of God, you will hear of the goodness of God and you'll experience it. But if you're not, gonna fall on deaf ears. It's gonna fall on the rocky soil, the hard path, or the thorns.
00:34:35
Speaker
And it's gonna get choked out. So here's my challenge to you guys this morning. If you find yourself in one of those three categories, the path, the rock, or the thorns, I pray this morning that you truly do some soul searching.
00:34:51
Speaker
That you really do some evaluation.
00:34:56
Speaker
And that you will allow the Holy Spirit to reveal these things in your life so that way you can truly plow that field in your heart and allow the seed to take residence in your life.
00:35:07
Speaker
So that you can truly know the goodness of God for what it is.
00:35:11
Speaker
Because there's a passage that constantly humbles me. And it's out of Matthew 7. You guys know this passage.
00:35:23
Speaker
Verse 21 to 23 says this, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
00:35:33
Speaker
But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, or you know, except sorry, but the one who does will my father who is in heaven on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?
00:35:53
Speaker
This is what Jesus says. And then I will declare to them, i never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. It's very sobering passage.
00:36:10
Speaker
I would love to believe in everything in my heart today that all of us in this room are going to heaven. I'm going to step on some toes real quick. But the reality is...
00:36:23
Speaker
So some of us have just been playing the game.
00:36:28
Speaker
Some of us have been just convinced ourselves that we are in right standing before the Lord. But yet we are allowing the culture, we are allowing personal preference, we're allowing
Living Fully for the Gospel Despite Challenges
00:36:40
Speaker
all these outside noises dictate how we live rather than allowing this book right here
00:36:49
Speaker
to guide us, to lead us, and to show us how we are to live.
00:36:54
Speaker
And if that's you today, I pray with everything in me that you'll allow the Holy Spirit to come into your life and to completely clean house, to renew you, to restore you, to transform you so that way you can truly live on mission and on purpose for the gospel and for Jesus.
00:37:13
Speaker
Because there's nothing greater in this life to live for than the gospel and the kingdom of God. It's not easy. It's not always going to be perfect. It's not always going to be the most beautifully joyful thing in the world.
00:37:28
Speaker
If anything, Jesus actually tells us the opposite, that for those of you who follow me, you're going to face persecution. you're gonna lett You're going to face hardships. you're going to face uncomfortable times.
00:37:40
Speaker
But in those moments, God is sufficient and gracious, and he is sustaining. And he will be with you to the end of the age. That's where, as Christians, that's where our hope lies.
00:37:53
Speaker
In the eternal things, not the things of this earth.
00:38:04
Speaker
So again, my challenge us this morning is, which soil are you?
00:38:08
Speaker
Which soil are you?
00:38:15
Speaker
And not only what soil are you, but are you ready and willing to cultivate your heart to allow the gospel seed to truly consume you?
00:38:26
Speaker
To give everything you have to the Lord, to live faithfully to him. i mean, again, that's the whole point of why Jesus was coming, right? To reveal the kingdom of God to the people on earth.
00:38:39
Speaker
To reveal the good news. And that was the whole point of why Luke wrote this gospel, if y'all remember back in the beginning. To reveal certainty in the uncertainty.
00:38:52
Speaker
To show us what it means to live for God in a time where godlessness is still around.
00:39:05
Speaker
So whether you're an old, an older senior adult in here, maybe you're a college staffer at Pine Cove, maybe you're a student fixing to go into camp, this message is for all of us.
00:39:18
Speaker
Which soil are you? And are you ready to allow the Spirit to come in to cultivate your heart, to plant the Word of God, and allow you to live on fire for Him today?
00:39:29
Speaker
So we're going to go to this time of invitation. And as we go into this time of invitation, if you need to come down and talk to me, great. I would love to come. I would love to talk with you about the gospel. Maybe you need to come down here and pray. Please come down here and pray. Pray in your seats.
00:39:43
Speaker
But most importantly, though, during this time of invitation, I really do pray that you will take time to just stop and assess where you're at in your commitment level to the Lord. Because can you all imagine?
00:39:56
Speaker
Okay, Pine Coast staffers. if y'all were If all of you guys were 100% committed the Lord, can y'all imagine the the the power and the and the work that y'all would do out there Pine Cove to see all those students go home on fire for the gospel and how that would take root and they spread like a wildfire in their community?
00:40:16
Speaker
That'd be absolutely incredible. Church, if that was our hearts, if we were all 100, right, all in for the gospel, can you imagine what our community would look like?
00:40:29
Speaker
don't I don't care. I mean, i wait, let me say it. I care about this church. But I'm saying like, I don't care about the numbers of our church. I mean, more importantly, I care about what the god what God is doing in our community. We have experienced such loss and and and pain in our community.
00:40:44
Speaker
And if we were at truly 100 for the Lord right now,
00:40:50
Speaker
can you imagine the effects of that?
00:40:55
Speaker
So are we ready to do that? If you're a believer in this room today and you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, are you ready to live all out, sold out for the gospel? So that way the fruit of God can be evident not only in our lives, but in the lives of others.
00:41:11
Speaker
Will you pray with me?
00:41:14
Speaker
Father, we come before you and Lord, weard I'm greatly humbled. I can't speak for everybody. I'm greatly humbled by your word every single day. I'm humbled by the fact that a holy, righteous, perfect God can look down on a broken, selfish individual like me and still love me and still give me the gospel message and allow the implanted word of God to grow in me.
00:41:43
Speaker
And I pray for every believer in this room that that is their heart as well. That we are honestly and daily amazed by your goodness. And how you choose to love us and how you choose to use us.
00:41:57
Speaker
And I pray, God, though, for those in this room and that who are not 100% sure where they're at. God, you will make it sure that you'll reveal it to them. So that way they need to surrender their heart to you that they can today. And if not today, when the time is right, while they still have time.
00:42:19
Speaker
But God, again, we thank you for your great grace. We thank you for your great mercy and for the work that you're doing in and out of every single one of us. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus' name we pray.
00:42:30
Speaker
Amen.
00:42:36
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.