[0:00] Please find Matthew 13. I would like some help in reading the portion of Scripture that we're going to be in tonight.
[0:16] It's verse 1 all the way to verse 23. And I don't want to just stand here and read 23 verses and have people zone out on me. So, I've thought of a few ways of having readers here, but I'll just not demand anything.
[0:33] If anybody wants to join or be a participant, I have one. I need a few more. I've got two. I've got three. Samuel, you're four.
[0:43] Good. And I just want one more. One more. Noelle.
[0:54] Okay, Noelle's number five. So, we'll go Gary, Lisa, and just take five verses each. Gary, Lisa, Greg, Samuel, then Noelle.
[1:06] You'll finish it off. Matthew chapter 13, verse 1 through 5 is yours. And so, please read loud enough for everybody to hear. Samuel, don't be bearing your face behind the sound booth or we can't hear you.
[1:19] Might have to stand up. Okay, go ahead when you're ready. The same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat.
[1:33] And the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, his soul went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up.
[1:48] Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much hurt. And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun went up, they were scorched.
[2:00] And because they had no roots, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, where the thorns sprung up and choked them. But others fell into the ground, and brought forty people. Some a hundred foals.
[2:12] Some a hundred foals. Some a hundred foals. Who had years to hear and one of years. And the disciples came and said unto him, What do you do thou with them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you, to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
[2:29] But to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath.
[2:44] Therefore speak I to them in parables. Because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not. Neither do they understand.
[2:55] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of the science, which sayeth, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see.
[3:09] And seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.
[3:21] Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
[3:31] But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things that you see, and have not seen them.
[3:46] And to hear those things will you hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore a parable of the soul? When anyone heareth the work of the kingdom, and understandeth not, then cometh their wicked ones.
[4:01] That's, that's it, that's it, that's it? That which was done in the heart. This is he which received thee by the wayside.
[4:14] Let ye that receive thee, and be said, and playeth the same, and be that hear the word, and among the spirit of the soul? Amen. Let's pray.
[4:53] Father, thank you for the word of God. And as we read and consider these 23 verses, this parable that you put forth while here on earth, help us to be able to make some application, and to understand it, and to, God, get something out of this.
[5:07] And the Lord, may it give peace in our hearts, may it also give conviction, and may your words do a work. And God, just bless our time together, we pray to now in Jesus' name. And amen.
[5:18] Amen. So I want to preach to you from this thought here, from this parable, and kind of draw out a thought here. Why some grow, and some don't. And it's a thought that you've been faced with.
[5:31] If you've been around the word of God, or around church, for any amount of time, some grow, and some don't grow at all. This parable that we're reading is about fruit bearing.
[5:43] It's about fruit bearing. It's not about salvation. And everybody wants to make this about salvation, because that's what they always want to do, is make everything in the Bible about the gospel and salvation. And it's not.
[5:54] It's not at all. If we, and I'm not, I don't want to get down into this thing, but we're going to draw out a devotional or a spiritual application that we can apply, clearly, to the church age, to you and me today.
[6:08] And if it's about salvation, and I've heard it taught that way so many times, then where do you draw the line? People want to say the first one is the lost one, because nothing happened but two, three, and four.
[6:22] The stony places, and the thorn among thorns, and then the good ground. Those are saved because something comes up. But then some say no, because the one doesn't have any root in himself.
[6:32] He's not really saved. And that's a common statement there. That's a good place to place that little dumb line of he's not truly saved, because there's no root, but he withers away. And so that guy wasn't really saved.
[6:44] So one and two aren't saved. Three and four are saved. And I despise it all. Some will even say the first three aren't really saved because of the end. Only the one that's bearing fruit is the one that's saved.
[6:56] And by their fruit she shall know them, and all the nonsense. So I hope that we can just ignore that. I may have to comment on it as we go because it's so prevalent, that thought.
[7:07] But what is apparent here in this reading is the different results which are all dependent or contingent upon the types of ground or soil that the seed is sown upon.
[7:19] I want to notice three things before we even get into this. Three things that will help us know where we're at. Verse number 19. Notice this, that the interpretation of this parable is to individuals.
[7:33] Look at verse 19. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom. The end of that verse says this is he, an individual. Verse 20. But he that received the seed into stony places.
[7:46] The same is he. All the way to the end. 21, 22, 23. The interpretation is to individuals. And that's going to help explain to us why some people grow and why others don't.
[8:00] They attend the same church service. They hear the same message. They can be seated right beside each other. And yet one will grow and the other won't.
[8:11] And I'm going to show you why that is here in this passage. It could be even the case of two siblings growing up in the same household. The same household, the same rules, the same environment, and yet they turn out so differently.
[8:25] Why? Why does one grow? Why does one not grow? I want you to notice this interpretation first is dealing with individuals. Secondly, notice that it's dealing with the responses to the word of God.
[8:42] It's not a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a response to the seed being sown. Notice in verse 19. Again, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, and then come the wiggeth one.
[8:57] In verse 20, it says it again later in that middle verse, the same as he that heareth the word. That's the same phrase used in verse 22. He that heareth the word.
[9:09] And again in verse 23, he that heareth the word. We're dealing with somebody's response to the word of God. We're not dealing with their differences in personalities. Why one grows and why the other doesn't grow.
[9:23] It's not about one being shy and quiet and the other one being loud and boisterous. And the loud ones, you know, has more potential to grow up and be rebellious, but the shy one's going to be more compliant.
[9:35] Those things have nothing to do with spirituality. Not at all. Not a bit. And so we're not dealing with people's personalities. We're not dealing with people that have different means or different talents or abilities.
[9:49] We're not talking about people that come from different ethnicities or different educations. Those kind of things, they can have an impact, we know that, on the lives, where they go in life.
[10:00] Surely somebody that's educated has a head start versus another. But that's not at all what we're dealing with here. We're dealing with their response to the word of God. And that has nothing to do with their ethnicity or rich or poor or educated or not.
[10:15] God is not going to hold somebody responsible because they didn't have access to education, although someone else did. Now, so we're dealing with individuals.
[10:26] We're dealing with their response to the word of God. And then thirdly, in verse 19 again, notice that the ground that we're reading about, they're typifying or symbolizing the heart of that individual.
[10:40] In verse 19, he says, When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. Didn't say anything about a heart anywhere else, but then there it is.
[10:54] Matter of fact, earlier in verse 15, this people's heart is waxed gross. Later at that verse, it says, Lest they should understand with their heart and be converted. Now, we're dealing with a heart situation.
[11:06] The ground obviously represents the heart of the individual, not their home environment. Notice that. Make sure you get that. Not their age. Not their race.
[11:17] On one hand, you've got somebody that is bringing forth abundant fruit, glorifying God. On the other hand, you've got the devil all over somebody. That's what we're looking at here.
[11:28] So let's take a closer look at the ground. I'm calling that the heart of the matter. The ground. And first of all, I think we can move quickly because you know this passage.
[11:39] I'm sure all of us are familiar with this. The first kind is the wayside in verse number four. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside. The wayside.
[11:50] That's the way. That's a path. That's a road. In Luke, it says that the seed fell by the wayside and it was trodden down. So you're dealing with a hardened, compacted path where seed lands.
[12:05] It falls by the wayside and it says that the fowls came and devoured them up. But I want you to notice something clearly here. Come to the interpretation of that in verse 19.
[12:18] And notice when the fowls came and devoured it up. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.
[12:36] When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then is when that wicked one shows up. Then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.
[12:51] The word of God was sown in his heart. And the wicked one was able to show up when he didn't understand it. Why didn't he understand it? Look at verse 23. This guy understands it.
[13:03] He that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it. Why did the one not and the other did? The answer is in the passage. I've never noticed this before this week and getting into this, but this is right here in the passage.
[13:19] Verse number, I'll start all the way back in verse 13 and come back through that little portion. The answer of why they didn't understand. Verse 13 says, Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not.
[13:35] Neither do they understand. He's saying, seeing they see not. They're choosing not to. They're choosing not to hear. Verse 14, And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.
[13:51] For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut, or have closed, lest that any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart.
[14:08] So why don't they understand? It's because they have closed their eyes. It's not this teaching that Satan, the God of this world, has blinded the minds of them which believe not. That's not what's happening here at all.
[14:19] They have closed their eyes to this truth, to the word of God. And what can we say about this, about them not understanding? They could see it, but they don't.
[14:32] They could hear it, but they won't. The truth is just as available to them as it is to the one that does receive and understand, but they're not interested. They have a heart problem.
[14:45] That's why they don't understand. They hear, they see and hear the same thing as the others, but it doesn't take with them, and there's no response to the word of God. Why not? Because their heart is waxed gross.
[14:58] Verse number 15. Their heart is waxed gross. What does that mean? It waxed, that is it's becoming gradually, it's building to a position of what he calls gross.
[15:09] Now it doesn't mean it's yucky, or something like filthy, like we might use that term nowadays, but the word, as far as I can tell, and understand from the Bible, is that what Isaiah says, here's the quote from Isaiah, he says, make the heart of this people fat.
[15:29] Make the heart of this people fat. And that comes out here in Matthew as this people's heart is waxed gross. Paul does the same thing in Acts chapter 28. The only other time it says that their heart is waxed gross.
[15:43] He's quoting Isaiah, and he uses the same way that Matthew does. And so what can we determine from that, or get an understanding of it at least, to wax gross? You know, to get a paycheck, to get the gross income, is the full amount.
[15:58] And that's before taxes, and then it, there's some room that's made when the taxes come out. The gross salary is the full amount. The heart is waxed gross, or filled, or it's to the point, I don't want to say it's incapable of receiving, but in Deuteronomy 32, Moses is prophesying, and he says, Jeshurun is waxed fat.
[16:22] And he's filled with fatness. And he describes how God blessed them, and blessed them, and then they've got to this abundantness, to that they just lose interest, and then he says, and he forsook the Lord.
[16:34] And so he loses sight, and gets disinterested with God, because he's content where he is. And he gets happy with his fatness. I'm saying this, that a gross, or a fattened heart, is one that's disinterested in the word.
[16:51] It's like they've closed their eyes. It's not saying that they can't see, it's that they don't want to see it. They've closed their eyes. Their ears are heavy, it says in another place.
[17:03] This Isaiah line here, from verses 14 and 15, that's quoted four times. Four different times in the Bible, Bible writers quote that one on Israel.
[17:14] It's a pretty powerful, and a very popular one. And so I'm getting at, that they're disinterested, in the word. Their heart is disinterested.
[17:24] Their heart is also hardened, like a wayside is compacted and dense. It repels the word. You could grow something on it, and you could even water it, but it repels the water, because of its compactness.
[17:40] It's not impossible, but that heart's not interested in the word. That heart is fattened up. It's waxed gross. They're not interested in growing fruit.
[17:52] This heart here has the traffic of this world, running all over it. Men from everywhere, coming and going constantly. They're filled with what's going, and what's coming in the world.
[18:03] And their eyes, they've closed, to the word of God. Their ears, have become dull. Now when this hardened, and disinterested heart, walks into church, and sits down, they may hear the word of God, just like somebody right beside them, but they're not interested.
[18:22] It bounces right off of them. It doesn't get in. It has no effect. You may think, and you may hope in your heart, oh, if they would just come to church, there's a possibility, and yes, there's a possibility.
[18:36] And yes, they'll be exposed to something, that's a good thing, and in a good environment. But when their heart, is this heart, it's not getting in, because they're not interested.
[18:49] They shut their eyes, when they walk in, and sit down. This is an easy attitude, for a kid growing up in church, to pick up. Guilty.
[19:00] You walk in, it's every service, it's every Wednesday, it's all your life, and you just tune it out. And you're not hearing, and not receiving, the word of God.
[19:12] It's just bouncing right off of you, and when they don't get it, Satan shows up, and rips that away, and they're not going to get it. And they're not going to be interested.
[19:24] And so it can happen here. And I've been guilty of it, I've seen it happen, and witnessed it, in the years I've been involved, in the ministry. We hope that somebody gets exposed, to some truth, but in this soil, nothing grows.
[19:40] Not in this ground. And if you tried to, it'd just get trodden down, because it's the wrong place. So that's the wayside. Why do some grow, and others don't?
[19:50] Because some people's hearts, are just like the wayside. But there's another place, look at verse number 20. This one's the stony places, and in the interpretation, verse 20, he that received the seed, into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy, receiveth it.
[20:08] Now this guy hears the word, receives it, there's joy. That's a little different, than it just bouncing right off, and Satan's showing up, and it's gone. This guy's getting something from it.
[20:20] But the trouble is, it doesn't last. It's an emotional response, and it yields no fruit. And this is where these morons, get off saying, oh he's not truly saved.
[20:32] But forget that, that has nothing to do with this, in the application to the body of Christ. This is exciting, that they showed up, and they received the word, and there's, there's visible evidence, that God's word, is doing something.
[20:49] It says in verse, back in the, in the parable of it, it said in verse 5, some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth, so they're scorched, but they sprung up.
[21:05] There's something that happened. And he receives the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. That's incredible. That's a blessing, when someone receives the word of God, and there's actual evidence, there's a springing up, something you can see, that that seed is taking, has taken in their heart, and is growing up.
[21:27] And yes, sadly it didn't last, but it is exciting to see the evidence, isn't it? Sadly though, it's short lived. It's just a flash of spirituality, and it's gone.
[21:39] And we've seen that. We've seen it here in this church. Um, there's a reason, and the reason's explained in verse 21. Yet, hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while.
[21:53] For when tribulation or persecution ariseth, because of the word, by and by, he is offended. Now he's not, taking offense, like we use it today.
[22:04] He's offended, meaning he, he offends, like offends the law, or the word. He transgresses, or violates, is the idea. He's guilty. Why?
[22:15] Because, time's got a little tough. Tribulation, and persecution arose, in his life, because of the word. And he's not really programmed, to be able to handle that.
[22:29] The reason that he, uh, just is, what's the word, uh, scorched. The reason in verse 6, that he just withers away, is because he wasn't prepared for it.
[22:40] There was no root. So, the idea, the seed of the word got in, and it began to grow. And the seed of the word of God, inside a, a believer, it wants to grow, it wants to start witnessing, it wants to read the word of God, it wants to attend church, it wants to remove sin from its life, and the heat comes.
[23:00] The heat, the sun shows up, and scorches it. And it gives in, it caves in. There's no roots, that were established. There's, too many stones.
[23:13] This is a stony place. And the word of God, as it grows, it calls for change. It's not a fan of stony ground. And that change, is hard to deal with, for a weak and new believer.
[23:28] In the Bible, we're told, that, those that are strong, are to bear, or to help, help the weak. And this weak thing, is just off by itself, in a stony place, and it needs help.
[23:41] And, the, it takes work, and it takes effort, to get to this, to grow. It's not used to that kind of work, and that kind of effort.
[23:54] And so, what was permitted to grow, withers, becomes, and becomes, unfruitful. In this emotional response, to the word of God, and the joy that comes, with receiving it, the emotions wear off.
[24:08] And you're left, with the reality, of the sun beating on you, and no deepness of earth, where you're at, you're not in a good place. I'll give you a few examples, of this thing, how it plays out, and how you can witness this.
[24:21] Following a tragedy, people tend to return to church, return to their, to their roots, to where they came from. Something bad happens in their life, they show up on Sunday.
[24:33] Have you seen this? I don't want to pick out, some people by name, but I could call some names, of people I know, and people I've seen even here, that something goes down, they show up, and dureth for a while, but they never get rooted.
[24:47] They never get anything going, in their own life, and heart, where they're walking with God, and by and by, out. We're looking at, why some grow, and some don't.
[24:59] Because some, it's stony ground, is what their heart is. It's stony ground. You know when the, years ago, when those planes flew, into the Twin Towers, and into, what happened in America?
[25:13] I mean, they thought it was revival, because everybody showed up to church. I imagine here, it probably happened here as well. It happened all over the nation, where people flooding to the churches, to here.
[25:24] I mean, they didn't care what movie, was coming out that weekend anymore. That stuff didn't matter a bit. Their lives were changed, they were rocked, their minds were awakened, to what really matters here.
[25:36] What's happening? And they came to church. They sought something. And that emotional response wore off. They didn't, they shot up, there was a little growth, there was a little excitement, and then it just, withered away.
[25:49] When teens go to camp, I've been in this situation, I've witnessed it, year after year after year. And, just because this happens, doesn't mean you don't send them to camp. They need this.
[26:00] I needed it. When they go to camp, they get around an environment, that softens their hard heart. Their, their heart, that's probably more comparable, to the wayside. And it softens it, into ground, that can receive the word.
[26:14] And they receive it, and by the end of the week, with joy, they're receiving the word. And there's evidence, and it's exciting, and then it's gone. Why?
[26:24] Because this is all they ever were. It's stony ground. They never got the stones out. They never got into deepness of earth. They never got rooted. And they just caught on, to the emotions of it.
[26:37] And it was very real, and there was growth, and evidence, and then, the persecution, and tribulation came, because of the word. And they were gone. Didn't have the guts, to stick it out, or to fight.
[26:51] There's a lot of Christians, that have hearts, that resemble, the stony places. A lot of Christians, they'll respond, to a revival meeting, get a little excited, and then, fizzle, to nothing.
[27:04] And disappear. They'll show up, when there's a tragedy. They'll respond to something, but it doesn't stick. And it doesn't last. Are they saved? Yes. If they've been born again, they're saved for eternity, just like you and I.
[27:18] But their heart, resembles stony ground. Why do some grow, and others don't? It's the heart. Their heart's not interested, or there's potential, but the stones of sin, won't allow, the word of God, to take root, after the emotions, wear off.
[27:36] Then there's a third group, we saw, in verse 22, he also that received, seed among the thorns, as he that heareth the word, the care of this world, and the deceitfulness, of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
[27:50] Unfruitful. There's a third group, that received the seed, among thorns. Notice that, the thorns are already there, before the word of God, came and came after them.
[28:01] It could be like, the word of God, being put forth, from the pulpit, and there you are, in your life, and your heart, the thorns are already there, and it's going to stop, the word of God. It's a preoccupied heart.
[28:14] The seed has found, some ground, that is suitable, for growth. The problem is, this heart is already, preoccupied with things, that don't matter, and that won't help, the word of God.
[28:27] I think this might represent, the majority, of American Christians, right here. They're Christians, they love the Lord, they're thankful, to be saved, and they've got, some ground, that is suitable, for growth.
[28:42] The problem is, it's filled, with things, that don't matter, and that won't bring, glory to God. This is another case, where there's, visible evidence, even I believe, signs of fruit, by the end of it, it says it chokes the word, so it's growing, for those thorns, there's something growing, it's a whole lot more, than what was before, this is definitely, getting better, but at the end of the verse, it says, he becometh unfruitful, it seems to me, like he was, trying to put out, some fruit, maybe some signs, of some fruit, were coming out here, there was real growth, there was real potential, but there was, something already there, something already, occupied this ground, and it doesn't, want to be pushed out, by the new growth, from the word, so what does the, what does it do, it attacks the word, it wraps itself around it, it grows over it, and under it, and through it, and chokes it, there's people, in churches, that are addicted, to sports, and to hobbies, and to work, and to relationships, and they have real trouble, giving their hearts to God, and making their heart, a place that God can work in, because they hear the word, and they want, they want it to have a place, but they won't give up, the other things, and not realize, they think there's nothing wrong, with these things,
[30:05] I mean look at the, the verse that says, the care of this world, as a for instance, that's not evil, the cross reference, is first Corinthians, seven verse thirty three, that he that is married, careth, for the things of this world, how he may please his wife, the idea, just, a married man, a family man, he has responsibilities, those are the right things, to do as well, the care of this world, doesn't mean it's a bad thing, but there's things, that can distract, and can choke out, what God is seeking to do, inside of that person's heart, there's things, that call for your time, and they call for your attention, and it could be like, first Corinthians, a spouse, or a family, it could be work, it could be relationships, but whatever the thing is, let me say it like this, if there's something, that you do, that takes you away, from what you ought to do, those are thorns, those are thorns, in your heart, if you say, well there's nothing wrong with it, but is it keeping you, from doing what God wants you to do, if so, those are thorns, and they're choking the word, in the verse, it says the care of this world, then it says, the deceitfulness, of riches, people make so many mistakes, making decisions, based on money, they make decisions, all the time, based on money, and how often, do they make it on, whether it pleases God, or not, first, my dad mentioned it Sunday, about somebody, taking a job, getting, thinking money, that's an improvement,
[31:48] I'm supposed to be going up, and that's a way up, and talking about, making the decision, wait a minute, what's God getting out of this, if there's no local church there, if there's no place, for you to please the Lord, or serve God, what do you, why would you go that way, there's tons of stories, of Bible believing Christians, that have moved on, from a good church, for whatever reason, and fizzled out, and are doing nothing, and a lot of it, had to do with money, and the money tells you, one thing, but you read it in your Bible, it's the deceitfulness, of riches, tells you that it'll be good, and better, and it turns out, it's not better at all, if it's choking the word, and if it's stopping growth, and if it's making you unfruitful, it's thorns, I don't care if it's a relationship, or a job, or anything, it's not blessed by God, those thorns, are the result of a curse, Genesis chapter 3, God's not going to bless stuff, like that in your life, if it's going to keep you from him, so why don't, why do some grow, and others don't, because some have things, in their heart, that they won't give up, that take away their time, they take away their affections, and their energy, and they just give God, what's left, and that's not enough, to produce fruit, you can look at two people, sitting beside each other, in a church, and see one grow, and see the other not, maybe the one grows, a little bit, that's why, because in their heart, is things, that don't matter to God, and it's keeping the word, from bringing forth fruit, and then finally, you know the close here, the good ground, in verse 23, there's something worth pointing out, in verse 23, he that received the seed, into the good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, now this guy heareth, and understandeth it, why, because he's not like, the one on the wayside, his eyes are opened, his ears are opened, his heart is desiring the word, so he's receiving it, that first guy, that understood it, understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and snatcheth it away, he didn't want to understand it, he didn't want to hear it, so there's a difference, we can see that playing, the good ground, is somebody who wants to, he's prepared, to receive the word of God, and somebody, that walks in these doors, looking for the word of God, they'll get it, they'll get it every Sunday, and sometimes, it may not even matter, who's up here preaching, if they're giving you a bible, they'll get it, if you come hungry, you'll get fed, and that's good ground, but that guy at the beginning, he came in, doesn't matter who's up here, he's not getting anything, he doesn't want to get anything, and he doesn't want to change anything, now notice this, as we close in verse 23, that there's, that it beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty, and there's three degrees here, that are given of fruit bearing, and you might ask why, and I can't answer, why these three exactly, we could try to make sense, of it somewhere, but I don't know, that I could really tie it together, in any actual way, but I'll just say, maybe it's because, they're not the same, maybe some, are more capable than others, of bearing fruit, is that so hard to believe, the Bible says,
[35:13] God giveth the increase, and there, you look at men and women, some are talented, and if they give God everything, boy he'd use them, and others, don't have a whole lot, but if they give God everything, he'll use them too, and they won't be the same, and one may bring forth a hundredfold, if he gives himself to God to do so, one may be only thirty, if God fits you, to bring forth thirty, then do it, bring forth thirty, and if God fits you, to bring forth a hundred, then don't you ever be satisfied, bringing forth thirty, so that you can keep, some of those thorns in your life, and enjoying that, you'll be judged, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous judge, and he knows, what you should be bringing forth, I also think on this, the longer that a plant is alive, the more it can bring forth, and so year after year, season after season, you ought to be bringing forth, something more and more, in conclusion, we think about these, types of hearts here, these four different types of hearts,
[36:18] I feel like I've exhibited, all of them, in my lifetime, I think I've been the first, the second, the third, and the fourth, there's been times in my life, I told you already, I could care less, I didn't come to church, because I wanted anything, I just came because I had to come, and all I wanted to do, was cut up and goof around, with guys in the pew, I just filled the time, we didn't have cell phones back then, but if we did, that'd probably be where I'd be, or some of you like to be, if you could, amen, there you go, I think also, there's been times in my life, where I just, only thing I wanted, was the word of God, just help me, just, I moved all the way up, to the front, I didn't want anything, to be in between me, and the altar, I didn't want anybody, to distract me, I didn't want to be seeing, anybody else in the church, I just wanted the preacher, and me, and my Bible opened, and give it to me, feed me, I've been there, and those are good days, and I think I've, and so my point here with this, is that just because a heart is hard, or just because a heart is disinterested, doesn't mean that it'll stay that way, or that it has to stay that way, and the Lord can get along, and the word of God is like a hammer, which breaketh a rock in pieces, and he can go to work, on a heart, and he can soften a heart, and the God has access to a hard heart, and to a disinterested heart, and the Lord, he's not going to force the heart, in any direction, but he can at least create opportunities, for a better response, but it doesn't always happen that way, sometimes the soft heart, and the good ground, doesn't stay that way, and in the next, very next parable, there's good ground, that's bringing forth, all this wheat, and the devil, sows in a bunch of tears in there, and now there's a problem, and so the thing can go both ways, they say this, they say the same sun, that melts the ice, bakes the clay, and it just is dependent, upon your response, to the word of God, now why do some grow, and others don't, it's because it's a heart issue, the problem is not with the seed, it's not the word of God, it's not the preacher, it's not the church, it's not other Christians, if you hear that, that's baloney, that's somebody trying to cover their tracks, and lie through their teeth, and justify their own sin, the problem is with their heart, that's the problem, and there's four kinds of hearts here, that we see, four types of ground, why do some grow, and others don't, there's why, there's why right there, all right, let's just dismiss with that, we're a little over, and Father,