WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.000 Do you ever find yourself wondering if this Christian message, if this news about Jesus is true, how come so many people reject it? 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:20.000 ! Or do you ever wonder if Jesus did these amazing miracles when he was on earth, healing the blind, causing the lame to walk again. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:32.000 If he did those things then, then how come there was still so much pain and suffering in the world? If Jesus really was God's appointed king, how come that kingdom hasn't yet come? 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:43.000 Do you ever wonder things like that? They're all good questions. I think they're probably the questions, or like the questions, the disciples were asking on this day. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:49.000 Look at verse 1. The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the sea. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.000 Now that should make us ask, well what was this day? What has happened on this day? 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:00.000 You can see what's happened on this day if you turn back to chapter 12. It had been a very busy day in the life of Jesus and his disciples. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.000 So for example, it was a Sabbath day, he'd been in the synagogue, verses 9 to 14, he healed a man with a withered hand. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:19.000 That had caused some controversy. Then, verses 22 onwards, he'd cast a demon out of a blind and mute man, so the man could speak and see. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Then it got the crowds wondering, who is this man? Is he the son of David? Is he God's promised king? 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:36.000 But it also caused controversy. So while some were wondering if he was God's messenger, the chief priests and the Pharisees said, no, no. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:41.000 He's on Satan's side. By the prince of demons, he casts out demons. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:45.000 So there was controversy about who Jesus is and what he was doing. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:51.000 So if Jesus' message was true, how come it was going to be hard following him? 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:59.000 How come even the experts, the really religious people, were rejecting him and concluding he was on the devil's side? 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.000 So these are the questions in the disciples' minds. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.000 Perhaps they have the questions in our minds. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.000 If Jesus is real, how could it be so hard following him? 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.000 How come so many people reject? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.000 And these are the kind of questions that Jesus answers throughout the whole of this chapter. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.000 At least we get part of the answers here as we look at this first parable he tells. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.000 So look what he does on this day. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:29.000 He goes out of his house, sat down by the sea and what happens? Verse 2. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Great crowds gathered about him. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.000 So he got into a boat and sat down. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.000 And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.000 It was the other way around to the way it is today in Jesus' time. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:45.000 In Jesus' time the person teaching would sit down and everyone else would stand up. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.000 And now we do it the other way around. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:48.000 That's what's going on. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 As Jesus sits down in the boat, there's a crowd gather around standing there listening to him. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.000 They've come to listen to what he's going to say. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.000 Now can you imagine yourself for a moment in that crowd, the sea of Galilee, glistening blue behind you. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Why would you have come to hear this man? 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.000 It could be you'd heard his teaching before. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.000 At the end of chapter 7 the crowd said, who is this guy? 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.000 He teaches with such authority. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.000 Maybe you've come because you've heard or even seen some of the miracles. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.000 Perhaps you've come to see another miracle. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.000 I wonder what would have brought you there. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.000 I don't wonder what you'd expect as Jesus sitting down starts to teach. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.000 And he starts to tell a story. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.000 We've got that story there in verses 3 to 9. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.000 And it's a kind of funny story, isn't it? 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.000 A guy goes out to sow some seed. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000 Well that's how he did it in those days. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.000 He throws some seed around and some of it lands on a path. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:41.000 And some of it lands in thorns. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000 And some of it lands in rocks. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.000 And some of it lands on good soil. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.000 He who has ears, let him hear. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.000 What would you feel? 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:54.000 I've got to be honest, I feel pretty short-changed. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.000 If I pay a lot of money to go and see a movie, and that's all that happens. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.000 I say, where's the plot? 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:00.000 Where's the drama? 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.000 Where's the tension? 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000 What's this about? 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.000 And I wonder if the crowd felt a bit let down. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.000 That raises a question, doesn't it? 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:11.000 What does this mean, Jesus? 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:12.000 Why are you telling us this story? 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.000 Where's it going? 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 And why are you telling these stories anyway? 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.000 We came to hear some great teaching. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.000 Why the storytelling? 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 That is exactly the stupid questions the disciples ask. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.000 So two things we're going to look at. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.000 What does this story mean? 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 But first of all, why is Jesus telling parables in the first place? 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 Because that's the question the disciples ask down there in verse 10. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Then the disciples came, as you will later on in the day, 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.000 and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:43.000 I'm sure I remember hearing in Sunday school that Jesus told parables 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:47.000 because they were immemorable stories that people could remember. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Yet that's not the answer Jesus gives. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 Look at what Jesus says about why he uses parables. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:54.000 Verse 13. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.000 This is why I speak to them in parables. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:03.000 Because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:06.000 This great crowd says Jesus, they've been following me around, 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:10.000 they've been looking at the signs, they've been wanting to hear some wise words. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.000 But they don't really see what's going on. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.000 They're not seeing the full picture. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.000 They don't understand who I am. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.000 And he goes on, indeed in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 Isaiah had lived 700 years before Jesus. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Now Isaiah had lived in a time where most people in Judah were turning away from God's word. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 Where even the king of his day had not listened to God's message through Isaiah. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.000 This is what the Lord had said through Isaiah. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.000 You will indeed hear, but never understand. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.000 You will indeed see, but never perceive. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:48.000 For this people's heart, the hearts of the people in Isaiah's day and now in Jesus' day, 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:49.000 have grown dull. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.000 Their ears can barely hear. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.000 And their eyes they have closed. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000 and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:06.000 The people in Isaiah's day were blind to spiritual truth. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:11.000 If they'd opened their eyes and seen it, they would have turned to God for rescue, but they didn't. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.000 The word of God is just like background noise in their eyes. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.000 They just ignored it. 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Maybe you're one of these people who has a television on all the time at home. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000 We have friends like that. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.000 It drives me nuts, I have to say. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.000 So they have the television on, or the radio on, and you say, 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.000 well, what was that they just said? 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.000 What was that you just heard? 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Oh, I have no idea! 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.000 That was just noise. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000 I just ignore it. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.000 I just cut it out. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.000 Well, that's what these people were like with the word of God. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.000 It was just the background noise of their eyes. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.000 They didn't really listen. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.000 They didn't really have eyes open. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.000 And Jesus says, that's true of this crowd. 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:50.000 There were remarkable things happening. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.000 But they're not really paying attention. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.000 It's always like elevator music to them. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Now remember, Jesus is speaking at a time of conflict. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:01.000 He's speaking at a time of a huge crowd following, 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:04.000 but when the religious leaders are getting very upset by what Jesus is doing. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.000 And so now, rather than speaking plainly and clearly, 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.000 he's speaking in parables. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.000 In fact, if you look down to verse 34 for a moment, 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.000 you'll see he's now doing all his teaching in parables. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.000 All these things Jesus said to the crowd in parables. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:24.000 He's changed his style of teaching now. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.000 That's the way he's doing it. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.000 Why is he doing it? 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:33.000 Surprisingly, he says, I'm using parables 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.000 because this people will not perceive spiritual truth. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.000 They only want to hear what they want to hear. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:43.000 So Jesus is telling us first, he's using parables 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.000 as a means of judgment. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.000 He's actually taking away from people. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.000 Some people will not get it. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.000 That's the message, isn't it? 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.000 In verses 13, 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.000 This is why I speak to the parables, 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.000 because seeing they do not see. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.000 Does that surprise you? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Does it shock us that Jesus would actually, 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.000 in a sense, take away clear-fetching from us? 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.000 Say things so people don't understand. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.000 I guess it might make us worried. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.000 If Jesus isn't trying to make it clear to us, 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.000 then what's the point trying? 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.000 Maybe we just can't know God at all. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:25.000 Well, parables are not only a means of judgment. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.000 They're also a means of engagement. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 If we look back to verse 11 for a moment. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:30.000 Remember, the disciples asked Jesus, 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Why are you using parables? 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 And he says this to them, 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.000 To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.000 but to them it has not been given. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.000 And then in verse 18, he starts to explain the meaning. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.000 As the disciples ask, as the disciples are hungry, 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.000 as the disciples have had their eyes at least partially opened to truth, 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.000 so they want to hear more, so they want to find out more, 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.000 so they ask more. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:00.000 So for them, the parables are a means of engaging them, 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.000 not judging them. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 They're a means of making them ask, 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 making them seek, making them want to find out more. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 And remember who Jesus is talking to back in verse 2. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.000 He's talking to the crowds, 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 talking to the crowds that have gathered. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:22.000 And so for them, he's not just giving them information, 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 but an invitation. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.000 If they want to find out more, 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.000 if they want to learn, if they want to be able to see, 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:31.000 they will be able to. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.000 Back in chapter 7, when Jesus had finished the Sermon on the Mount, 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.000 as he was finishing the Sermon on the Mount, 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.000 in chapter 7 verse 7, he said, 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:41.000 Ask, and it will be given to you. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:42.000 Seek, and you will find. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:44.000 Knock, and it will be opened to you. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.000 For everyone who asks, receives. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:48.000 The one who seeks, finds. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.000 And for the one who knocks, it will be opened. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:54.000 See, for those who want to engage with the parables, 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 for those who want to understand, 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.000 as they pray, as they seek, 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 they too can receive the kingdom, 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.000 the secrets of the kingdom. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.000 And so Jesus wants to encourage his disciples in that as well. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.000 You see down to what he says to them in verse 16. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.000 Blessed are your eyes, for they see, 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 and your ears, for they hear. 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.000 Truly I say to you, many prophets, 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:21.000 and righteous people, long to see what you see, 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.000 and did not see it. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.000 And to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.000 In other words, Jesus is saying to them, 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 Look, the whole Old Testament, these prophets, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:33.000 these righteous people who looked for the day of God's promised King coming, 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.000 they will long to see and hear these things. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 You've got the privilege of living in these times. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.000 Now, what do you think? 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.000 Are we less privileged or more privileged? 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.000 What have you had to do today to come and hear the word of God? 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.000 We had to come to this room, 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.000 or you could have opened up a Bible, I suppose, 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.000 you could read the word of God, it's in our own hands. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.000 We didn't have to go down to a lake to hear the one person preaching it, did we? 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.000 You get to sit down, the crowd's here, you have to stand up. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.000 We're in an enlightened position. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.000 We have a greater privilege. 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:15.000 Surely that should cause us to want to hear, to want to know, to ask, to knock, to seek. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.000 So why does Jesus use parables? 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.000 Well, partly as a means of judgement. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:25.000 For those who really are not interested in spiritual things, 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:30.000 those who do not want to perceive, do not want to see, will not see, will not hear. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.000 But partly as a means of engagement, to make us think, what is that about? 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:37.000 To cause us to pray. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.000 To cause us to seek the kingdom of God. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.000 So that's why Jesus uses parables. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.000 But then what does this parable mean? 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 Well, the great thing about preaching on this is that Jesus tells us what it means. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.000 So this is where I know I cannot go wrong. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Look down to verse 18. Let's look briefly at Jesus' explanation of this parable. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:00.000 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand it, 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000 the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.000 This is what was sown along the path. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.000 Just those birds come and take the seed away from the hard soil. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:17.000 So the message of the kingdom of God, the message of Jesus, God's King, is just taken away from them. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:20.000 See, Jesus is the sower. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.000 He's been preaching, spreading the good news of the kingdom since chapter 4. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.000 The word of the kingdom is the message he's been preaching. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.000 And this is how God's work is done in the world. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.000 God's word is preached. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:36.000 And it goes out and does its work. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:42.000 Yet for some it has apparently no effect as the message is taken away. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:47.000 So the invitation for us is to listen to the parable as Jesus says at the end. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.000 So who is the soil? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.000 The people on the path, or the soil, 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:56.000 the people represented by the soil on the path, 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:02.000 are the people who were told the message just gets snatched away from their heart. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.000 Never impacts their heart at all. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.000 Like falling on deaf ears. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:12.000 The heart in Jewish thought was not just the emotions as we often use the heart. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 But it was the whole control centre of the body, the whole control centre of the person. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.000 It was mind as well as emotions. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Rational thought as well as affections. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.000 So the people here are the people who just never really register the message at all. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.000 And so Satan snatches it away. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:33.000 Do you notice it's a spiritual battle here as well? 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:36.000 It's not a neutral world where the message of God goes out. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.000 Rather there is an enemy represented by the birds here. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.000 He snatched away the message. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:45.000 As I was preparing for this, I was thinking about a man I know well. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.000 He comes to church sometimes. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.000 We exchange many emails. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:56.000 And he will often tell me that he is a follower of the Lord Jesus and a follower of the Lord Buddha. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:00.000 And he has his spirit guide and he doesn't want to read the Bible with me. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:05.000 In other words, he is not actually listening to what Jesus says at all. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.000 And in fact, he doesn't really want to listen. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:11.000 All my invitations that open up the scriptures to him, he turns down. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.000 Why? 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.000 He just doesn't really want to know. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:17.000 He only wants to hear what he wants to hear. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.000 He doesn't want to be challenged by anything that is outside what he believes. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.000 His heart is hardened. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.000 You see there is an enemy there snatching away the message. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.000 And that's what's happening. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.000 So there is the path. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.000 There is also the rocky ground. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:34.000 Look at verse 20. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.000 As for what was sown on the rocky ground, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:49.000 When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.000 This is the kind of person who is desperate for good news. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.000 They hear the good news that God loves them in Christ. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:00.000 They hear the good news that there is hope of a new creation one day. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.000 That every tear will be wiped away. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.000 They think, that's great, that's what I need. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:06.000 I need to feel loved. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.000 I need to feel this hope. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.000 Yes! 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.000 They have instant joy. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.000 And yet, they don't last. 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:16.000 Why? 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.000 Verse 21. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 Yet he has no root in himself. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:24.000 In other words, that seed, the message, hasn't got down deep into the soil. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.000 It hasn't really affected their lives. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.000 They don't own him, or shape him, or change him. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.000 It's just there on the surface. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.000 And so when hard times come, he gives up and looks for another quick fix. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:39.000 Look at what Jesus says. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:45.000 When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.000 I think of a young lad named Hamish, who I knew 14 years ago. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:50.000 Great guy. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.000 He came to a couple of Christian camps I ran. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.000 He came with a friend of his from school. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.000 He was ever so excited about the message. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.000 He enjoyed the meetings. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.000 He enjoyed singing praises to God. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.000 He professed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.000 And then, he left school and went to university. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:15.000 And on his own, living in Dundee, away from his old friends, away from his own church, 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.000 standing up as a Christian was too hard. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:22.000 It was easier to get drunk in the bar like everyone else. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.000 It was easier to fall into what everyone else was doing. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.000 See, he liked the good news. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.000 But Jesus doesn't just make his good promises. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.000 He also promises his persecution. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.000 He also promises his life will be hard. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:41.000 And for my dear friend, that message had never sunk into his heart. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.000 It didn't control him. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.000 It didn't shape his identity and who he was. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:48.000 And so, judging by his Facebook posts, he fell away. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.000 There's the path, there's the rocky soil. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000 And thirdly, there's the thorns. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:57.000 As for what was sowing among the thorns, verse 22, 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:01.000 This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world, 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:05.000 and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:11.000 Notice there was no joy in these people's lives when they heard the word. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.000 They didn't go, yes, this is good. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.000 Rather, they thought, okay, let's get on with life then. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.000 And so they did. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.000 But the message never bore fruit. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.000 The message was choked out. Why? 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.000 Because they were too absorbed with the cares of the world. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:31.000 Literally in the original, the cares of the age, this present age. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:35.000 The cares of the things that were right about them, material things. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.000 The worries they had. 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:39.000 Now, what are the cares of this world? 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:42.000 Well, they may not be bad things necessarily. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.000 It could be finding a new job because you need a new job. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.000 It could be worries about your health because you're not feeling well. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:56.000 It could be worries about family, elderly parents or young children. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:01.000 There are all kinds of things that can rightly take some of our attention and some of our energy. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:08.000 But the problem with these people, as Jesus describes them, is that the message was just choked by that. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.000 Just like the flowers in our garden. 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:14.000 They do not grow. Why? Because of all the weeds. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:17.000 It's just impossible for the flowers to grow. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.000 And so it is with these people. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:28.000 The message of the kingdom of God doesn't bear fruit in their lives because they're, it gets choked and swamped by these material matters. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.000 These practical everyday things that just choke out the message. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:39.000 To occupy the spiritual, with material matters, to consider things of spiritual importance. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.000 But it's not just the cares and worries that preoccupy them. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.000 What else does Jesus say in verse 22? 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:51.000 The deceitfulness of riches choke the word. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:54.000 Money and wealth are deceitful, aren't they? 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.000 Proverbs 23 verse 4 says this, 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:01.000 Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.000 When your eyes light on it, it is gone. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:07.000 For suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:08.000 It's deceitful. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000 It's deceitful because it promises so much, doesn't it? 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.000 Think of all the adverts we see. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:15.000 If you have this car, you'll be happy. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.000 If you wear this makeup, you'll be loved. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:21.000 If you do this, if you have the nice house, you'll have an easier life. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.000 It's all lies, it's all deceit, isn't it? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Yet the deceitfulness of wealth so easily creeps up on us. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.000 About eight years ago, I was preaching on this parable in Mark's Gospel in my old church. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.000 And at that time we were trying to sell one house and try and buy another house. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:40.000 And it really struck me as I was preparing 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.000 how the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:49.000 had been occupying my heart, were choking out God's message. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Suddenly the desire to, oh we could get this kind of house, 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.000 ooh we could have this sort of place. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:59.000 It was all just taking up my brain space and therefore taking up my heart space. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.000 Wealth is deceitful, isn't it? 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Wealth is deceitful. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000 When material matters, when the cares of this life 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.000 and the deceitfulness of wealth control our desires, 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.000 now thinking the word of God gets changed. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:17.000 So that's all the bad news, isn't it? 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:21.000 The seed on the path, the seed on the rocks, the seed among the thorns, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:24.000 they all represent people who hear the word of God 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.000 but for some reason, or for various reasons, it doesn't bear fruit in their lives. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000 It doesn't actually change their lives or bring them salvation. 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:37.000 John Chrysostom, who was a great preacher in the early church, around 400 AD, 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.000 said this, preaching on this passage. 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:42.000 Mark this, the way of destruction is not only one, 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:46.000 there are differing ones and wide apart from one another. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.000 That's his warning, and it's a good warning. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.000 But what's the way of life then? 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:54.000 Well, let's look at verse 23, the good soil. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:00.000 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:07.000 He indeed bears fruit, and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, in another thirty. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:13.000 In a normal harvest in those days, seeds would produce between five and fifteenfold a harvest. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:18.000 So this is a supernatural harvest, thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:25.000 This isn't natural, this is God's work in people's lives, causing this abundant harvest, this great crop. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.000 There's a picture for us of the transforming power of God's work. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:34.000 That as God's word, as we accept it in our hearts, as it gets rooted in our hearts, 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:41.000 as it controls our thinking, our affections, our identity, our desires, our hopes and our ambitions. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:46.000 So God causes fruit to grow in our lives. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.000 It's the fruit of a transformed life now. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.000 And the fruit of eternal life to come in God's kingdom. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 So what is the good soil? 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:03.000 Well, as we look at the parable, it's a heart that's uncluttered by being obsessed with the things of this world, 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.000 with the cares and worries. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:12.000 It's a heart that doesn't fear tribulation, but holds on to God's promises, even in the face of persecution. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:17.000 It's a heart that will receive spiritual truth, not just let the truth bounce off. 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:22.000 It's a heart unlike the people Jesus describes in verse 15. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:27.000 With their ears they can barely hear, with their eyes they have closed, 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:32.000 lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000 And turn and I would heal them. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:43.000 See, ultimately good soil, the hearts represented by good soil, the hearts that are ready to receive God's message, 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:46.000 that we need to turn and be healed. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:51.000 A message that's so counter to what we hear about human beings today in the media. 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:58.000 It says, oh, you're all you need, you can build your own self, you can build your own life, you're a good person really. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.000 No. 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:04.000 Good soil is ready to receive God's message and turn to God to be healed. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:10.000 In short, good soil is a heart that's been touched by God's grace and so will bear fruit. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:16.000 So the big question for us, for you and for me as we close, is what soil am I? 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:21.000 So this is a message for preachers, not just the people having to listen. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:25.000 How do I listen to the word of God? 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.000 Is my heart ready to receive God's word? 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.000 Or is my heart only ready to receive what I want to hear? 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:36.000 What soil are you? 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.000 What soil am I? 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.000 He who has ears, so Jesus, let him hear. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.000 Let's pray.