Turn in our Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13. And last week, we began to look at the four soils, the parable of the four soils, and we only looked at two. So this evening, we're going to look at the second two types of soil that the Lord Jesus described. So let's look in Matthew 13 and verse 7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for this time to open it together and to meditate upon it. And Lord, just teach us, help us, Father, to grow in our understanding of the things that hinder men from the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Lord, that it might be profitable for us as we share the good news with others. Just teach us now and help us to apply it to our lives. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. We saw the Lord describe different kinds of soils. One kind of soil was the hard, compressed, compacted soil around a cultivated field where the farmer would trample it down and the seed couldn't penetrate in that and the birds came and it was gone. Then he mentions another kind of soil where some of the seeds fell in a rocky soil and evidently it was more like a bedrock Long flat rock with just a thin layer of soil so the seed was able to germinate But the end result was as soon as the Sun came up and the rock heated up that dried out and that was no fruit It was no fruit in the wayside. There was no fruit in the rocky soil and tonight We want to see that there is no fruit in the thorny soil either So here Jesus describes a seed or some of the seed that fell among thorns. Thorns, we all know what they are, briars or some kind of a thistle. They're strong weeds that have pricks on the end and they get very strong. They absorb all the moisture and sort of choke the good seed out and they can sometimes, Frickly things are like vines that can wrap around a plant that has been sown in the soil and choke it. Isn't it amazing how easy it is for weeds to grow and how hard it is to grow a nice tomato plant? Weeds will grow right through your hot tub in your driveway, but not so with the good seed and the good soil here. And so that's what the Lord is describing here. He's describing seeds that fell in a patch of briars. And everybody that heard Jesus talk that day understood exactly what he was getting at. This was more of an agrarian society. They were all familiar with growing. This wasn't a metropolitan area. They were all familiar with what it meant to grow seeds. And they all knew that if you put a seed in a thorn patch, it wasn't going to grow and be strong and produce fruit. So nobody that heard this part of the parable would have had any argument with what Jesus said about the seed sown in thorny soil. And we don't have to worry or wonder as to what the interpretation of this is, because if you skip down to verse 22, we have a divinely inspired commentary on verse seven. The Lord Jesus himself interprets it. So we know exactly what those thorns represent. And Jesus says in verse 22, he that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word And the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, just like those thorns, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. So here we see in verse 7 that the thorns, these weeds, choked out the good plant. In the interpretation, Jesus said that that seed sown is like a man who hears the gospel, and the cares of this life And the deceitfulness of riches choke out that plant. And the end result is there is no fruit. Now, let's consider what the Lord means by these two expressions. First of all, the cares of this world. Now, we've seen this word cares in our studies in the not too distant past. Paul used it in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 when he said he had the care of all the churches on his heart and what he meant was that was a burden. Paul was concerned about all the issues and problems that were going on in all the local churches in the known world in the first century. And as the apostle who was responsible for all those churches, he had a heavy heart. He had a burden. He had all of these responsibilities, these cares. And this particular word for care that's used by the Lord Jesus, the cares of this life, Paul used it of the cares of the churches, all that responsibility, it kind of got a hold of Paul. And it's the same word that we read in the gospel of Luke. Remember Martha? Jesus said to Martha, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. So here the Lord came to her house and Martha was all full of anxiety. She was full of worry. She was anxious. She was full of distracted kind of a care to take care of the Lord Jesus. And she was so distracted by these anxieties that she lashed out at her sister for not helping her. Then she had the audacity to blame the Lord for not caring for her. So that kind of care, that kind of distracted care, that kind of worry and anxiety is the same word that the Lord uses here. The cares of this world. You know, the Apostle Paul tells us that as believers, we're to be anxious for nothing. That's the same word for care. Be careful or anxious for nothing. But rather, we're to take our burdens and our cares and anxieties and cast them to the Lord, and he changes those anxieties and worries and cares into a peace that passes understanding. So we have a means of dealing with those anxieties as those who have been born again. Now, there are some kind of cares and concerns that are perfectly legitimate. There are cares of this life that are perfectly legitimate. We have to go to work. We have responsibilities there. We have to care for our house and our property. We have to care for our family. There are cares of this life that are perfectly legitimate, and we need to pay attention to them. But what the Lord is getting at here is a distracting kind of a care. the kind of care that pulls us in different directions. And in this parable, in Jesus' interpretation of the parable, in verse 22, when he says, the cares of this world choke out that seed, he's talking about the kind of cares that an unsaved man has that prevents him from coming to Christ and getting saved. And so this thorny soil represents the way some men respond to hearing the gospel message. For example, in Jesus day, he was out preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And some men were so busy, so distracted with all the things of this life that they really didn't give the message of the Lord Jesus all that much attention. And even though they heard the message, this man was so distracted in all the busyness of life that that busyness, those cares of this life, choked out the gospel and he ended up not getting saved. Not because he didn't hear the gospel, not even because he didn't understand the message, it's because there were other cares that kept him from getting saved. And you think about some of the cares of this life. Now, we mentioned this morning our family. Jesus told his disciples, he told his his students, and remember, not all of those disciples on the hillside, they weren't all born again, they weren't all saved, but they heard the message and some wanted to hear more. But Jesus warned them. That if you put your family before me, you're not worthy of me. If that earthly care, the care of your kindred, your family, that has the potential to keep some people who genuinely want to get saved. It keeps them away from Christ. And Jesus said. A man's foe shall be they of his own household. Some don't come to Christ because they're afraid what their parents will think of them or what their siblings will think of them. And the pressure that their family puts on them not to convert to Christianity, and you especially see that in Muslim countries, but also in heavily Catholic families, in Greek Orthodox families. There is pressure in that family tradition on every member in that family. Don't you dare step outside our tradition. don't become a Christian. And friends, the cares of this life include our friends out there in the world. Sometimes folks are full of anxiety. They know if they accept Christ as their Savior, their friends are going to leave them. They're going to mock them. They're going to be ridiculed. They'll be the brunt of jokes. Or maybe the cares of this life include our work. Some men fear that if they receive Christ as their Savior, they'll get fired. That can happen. Or maybe they'll become the laughingstock around the bubbler, and who wants that? Another care of this life, another care of this world, is marriage. Some hear the gospel, and might want to get saved, they might want to receive Christ, but they're afraid that their spouse will get really angry and maybe even leave them, because they know their spouse hates those old Bible thumpers. Or maybe they're afraid, maybe they're full of anxiety that if they become a Christian, they might not find a mate. You know, there is no end of the things, the cares of this life that go on in the mind and the heart of an unsaved person that prevent him from becoming a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what's represented here by the thorny soil. This person is too concerned about himself, too concerned about the here and now, too concerned about earthly things in this world, and not concerned enough about eternal things and the life to come. And as a result, the earthly things, like thorns Choke out what little interest he had in spiritual things and in the Bible. Now notice also in verse 22, something else Jesus said chokes out the word. He says, or the deceitfulness of riches. The deceitfulness of riches and this word for riches isn't just money, literally it means plenty or an abundance. It's someone who has in an abundance, whether it's an abundance of property or money or stockpile of grain or a flock of camels in the first century, he had an abundance of earthly material things. And Jesus says material things deceive us. They lead us to believe something that really isn't true. And let's look at an example. Turn to the gospel of Luke, chapter 18. Luke, chapter 18 and beginning in verse 18, and a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do? What shall I do to inherit eternal life? So here's a man, a rich young man. a rich ruler, and he wanted eternal life. He says, what do I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good save one, and that is God. So Jesus was kind of probing the thinking of this man, and he wanted this man to think about that, yes, he's asking Jesus these questions, and Jesus is God. And so here was his question. What do I do to inherit eternal life? And what did Jesus say? Verse 20. You know, the commandments do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. Now, why would Jesus tell a man who wants eternal life, what do I have to do to to inherit eternal life? Why would Jesus tell him? You know, the commandments. Well, Jesus was using the law in the way that it was designed to be used. The law was designed not to save anybody. The law condemns. The law points out our sin. The law makes sin exceedingly sinful, and it shows us how desperately we need a savior. But after having heard the commandments, what should that man have said? He should have said, Lord, have mercy on me. I'll never be able to live up to that standard. But no, that's not what he said in verse 21. And he said, all these things have I kept from my youth up. I'm really good, Jesus. I've obeyed the law perfectly ever since I was a kid. Now, that's a lie. We already saw in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said that It's possible to obey the letter of the law and violate the spirit of the law. And some men said, well, I've kept the Ten Commandments. I've never committed adultery. And then Jesus said, well, if a man looks at a woman to lust at her, he's committed adultery in his heart. Or a man might say, well, I've never stolen. The commandment says thou shalt not steal. But have you ever wished you had something that someone else had? It's the same kind of sin. So here was a man, he read the Ten Commandments, and out of self-righteousness assumed that he was good, he had kept all those commandments. But then Jesus says to him in verse 22, Now when Jesus heard these things, how proud and arrogant and self-righteous this young ruler was, he said unto him, Yet thou lackest just one thing, Sell all that thou hast. Now, here's a rich man. Sell all that you have and distribute it unto the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. We'll talk about it later. Now, why did Jesus say that? It's not because you get to heaven by selling all your earthly goods and giving it to the poor. That's not his point. Jesus knew this man's heart. Jesus knew his real problem. He was greedy and selfish and covetous. And so Jesus used the law to convict this man of sin. Jesus put his finger on the guilt deep inside this man's heart. And what was the man's response to that? In verse 23, and when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom. And this man walked away. He walked away because he heard the options. He got convicted of sin. But he chose his riches over the Lord. His riches choked out any interest he had in proceeding any further in this conversation. His riches deceived this man. And how does money deceive us? This man's love of money hindered him from coming to Christ for salvation. And think of this man, he had an affection for God. He wanted eternal life. He said he kept the law. He believed in God. He was very religious. But Jesus knew that a real problem in his heart, he loved money. And that love for money choked out any desire that he had to keep on thinking about the gospel. You know, Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, no man can serve two masters. Either you'll hate the one and love the other or love one and hate the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or money. In other words, you cannot be a slave to God and to money at the same time. And so money is one of those things that hinders people from coming to the Lord and being saved. Now, there's nothing wrong with being rich. There's nothing wrong with being wealthy, unless it chokes out spiritual things. And that's what it did to this rich young ruler. And that's what the Lord is getting at in our parable. Riches are deceitful. They trick us. And they trick us into believing that we are secure because we're wealthy. I'm all set for tomorrow because I've got a huge amount of money in the bank and I can trust in that for the future. And that's deceptive. Money deceives people into thinking that they can trust in their money for their security. And we see this all throughout the Bible. In Psalm 49, David speaks about they that trust in their wealth, and they boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. They're trusting that they're rich, and therefore, they're going to be safe for the future. They've got everything they need. In Psalm 52, David says, Lo, the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches. There, it wasn't God he was trusting in, he trusted in his riches. And Paul writes in 1 Timothy chapter 6, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. Don't trust in riches, trust in God. So this is not lordship salvation. This is not, I have to give up my wealth in order to become a Christian. Rather, salvation is based on faith in the Lord. And these rich men that the Lord was describing, their faith was in their money. They were trusting in their riches. They were assuming that because they had money, they had plenty for the future, they were all set, they didn't have to worry about tomorrow or the after. They were all set. And instead of trusting in God, they were trusting in their riches. They needed to repent. They needed to stop believing or trusting in their riches and start believing or trusting in the Lord. And riches are deceitful, because as Solomon wrote in the book of Proverbs, he says, don't labor to be rich. And he goes on to say, for riches certainly make themselves wings and they fly away like eagles into the heavens. In other words, riches deceive us because we think once we get a lot of money that we're going to be rich forever. This will last us forever. Riches promise security, but they don't always provide it. And some men that are exceptionally wealthy in no time at all can be broke. War can break out, stock market can change, his business can go belly up, or he can just blow it. And how many wealthy young athletes become multi-millionaires at 20 years old, and by the time they're 30, they're dead broke. Turn to the Gospel of Luke in chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. And verse 16, here's another parable. The Lord spoke about the deceitfulness of riches and he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself. So here is just thinking, saying to himself, what shall I do? Because I have no room to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I'll pull down my bonds, my little ones, and I'll build greater, much larger bonds. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. This man was deceived by his riches. He had a really good year. He got an abundance of crops. And what was his first thought? This is going to go on forever and ever. I need bigger barns to store all my goods. He assumed that this will be the case next year. It could be a drought next year. He didn't know that. So he tears down his little barns, he fills up his big barn. And he thinks to himself, now that I've got a whole big barn full of grain, I'm all set for the future, I can live it up now. Because after all, I've made it, I've arrived, and now it's my time to enjoy life and enjoy the things of this world. And then we read in verse 7, But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. So the Lord says, you're going to die tonight. He didn't know how long he was going to live, but God did. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Here God called this rich man a fool. Not because he was hardworking and he got a good crop, but rather because he was trusting in that. And he assumed that things were going to go on like this forever. And he didn't realize that the grains would outlast him. And that night was going to be his last night on Earth, and he was going to have to stand before the Lord. And while he was trusting he's on Earth, while he was on Earth, he said, I'm rich, I've got all I need. But when he stood before God that night, he realized he was a pauper. He was not rich towards God. And he realized how deceived he was by his riches. How foolish he was to think the thoughts that he did. He failed to realize that though he had food for his body that would last maybe several years, his soul was not secure. The deceitfulness of riches choked out any interest in eternal things in the life of this man. And he died and faced God without salvation. Now, Matthew adds in a parallel passage to our passage in Matthew 13, in the same parable, Mark adds not just the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, but Mark adds and the lust of other things. So Mark kind of broadens the description or the interpretation of the thorns. So it isn't just riches. It could be grains, it could be cattle, it could be real estate, it could be fame, it could be power. There are lots of things that men lust after, things that they desire in this world that can choke out any interest in putting his faith in Christ and getting saved. And some men, because they're looking, they're lusting, they're desiring all these other things and they're pursuing those other things, they keep putting Christ off and off and off. And before you know it, they die and they breathe their last breath. And then where will they be? Luke also adds another description of the Lord's interpretation in the same parallel passage, the same parable, And he says, he includes, and the pleasures of this life. There are some men who hear the gospel and they like it, they're intrigued by it, they're interested in it. Maybe they have a desire to come to the Lord and be saved, but they don't want to stop living their life of pleasure. They're having too much fun. We're told in the last days that men will be lovers of themselves. they will take thousands and thousands of pictures of themselves. There are many things that choke out the gospel. And back in Matthew chapter 13 in verse 22, he that receiveth seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, he hears God's word, And the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness of riches, and to add what Mark and Luke say, and the lusts of other things, and the pleasures of this life, all of these things are the thorns that choke out any interest in spiritual things. And notice the end result of that choking out. He becomes unfruitful. He becomes unfruitful. Just like the seed that was sown In the wayside, there was no fruit there. And just like the seed that was sown in the rocky soil, there was no fruit. It looked promising. It started to sprout out, but it never bore any fruit. And the same thing is true in the thorny soil. It's choked out by the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. And the end result is this man became unfruitful. Now all through the gospel, keep in mind, I keep hammering away at this because we've seen it so many times, the Lord is speaking about salvation not so much in the sense of what a person has to do in order to become saved, but rather the evidence of salvation. And all the way through, his point is that by their fruit, ye shall know them. By their fruit, ye shall know them. We just read earlier that a good tree brings forth good fruit, and an evil tree brings forth evil fruit. And so you can know what kind of a tree it is by the fruit that it bears, good or evil. And the same thing is true with these soils. If there's no fruit, that's evidence that that person was not saved. There was no life there. And it really shouldn't be hard to distinguish. A plant that has no fruit on it from a plant that is full of fruit. It's very easy to tell the difference between the two, and that's what the Lord is warning the disciples on the hill that day. And he also wanted his 12. He was sending them out to preach the gospel also. And he didn't want the 12 to be discouraged when they came back from preaching in this village or that city or over in that country when they were preaching wherever they were. The Lord didn't want them to be discouraged when so many people rejected the message. And that's the point of these parables. Three out of four soils became were unfruitful. They did not represent someone who received God's word and became fruitful. In other words, they weren't saved. And these have always been the reactions of the gospel in any dispensation, Old Testament, the gospel period, the tribulation period in the future kingdom. That's always the case. that where there's life, there should be evidence of life and fruit. And these are always the reactions to the gospel message, and nobody should ever be surprised. This person, who is likened unto the seed that was planted in thorny soil, proves that he is not receptive to the word, not receptive to the gospel, because The thorns choked out his interest in spiritual things and all the cares of this life and the fun and the pleasure and the riches and the entertainment and all the good things of this life had so intoxicated him that he was choked out for any more interest in things above or eternal things or heavenly things. This man allowed the thorns to choke him. And I say aloud because anybody can come to Christ if they choose to do so. If they're willing, whosoever will may come. That's the gospel message. It's offered to anybody. And those who don't come to Christ, regardless of what kind of soil they're like, whether their heart is hard and compacted like the soil, the wayside soil, or whether it's rocky, And there's no depth to the root in that plant and it dies or whether it's the thorny patch. It doesn't matter what the distraction was or what the reason was for not coming to Christ. He allowed the things of this earth to prevent him from coming to the Lord. Those who don't come to Christ in genuine faith don't come because they chose not to. They really didn't want to come. They were having too much fun, they were getting too wealthy, they had too many material things, and they were happy with life down here. And so this type of soil preferred earthly riches to heavenly riches. It preferred to focus on the cares of this life rather than eternal things. And it was his own choice. Now back in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 23. You know, that's not fair. We only have five minutes left to do the good seed. Well, verse 23, and he that receives seed in the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit. And it brings forth, brings forth some in hundredfold, some 60 and some 30. So in spite of all the soil types where no fruit was able to be born or produced, there was one soil that was good. There was only one out of four that produced a good plant, a healthy plant and good fruit. And Jesus interprets that for us. That good soil is like the person who hears the gospel and his heart is ready to receive it. He wants what he hears. And he's not going to put it off. He's going to allow that seed to sink into his mind and into his heart, and he's going to receive it and embrace it in genuine faith. And the end result, later on in his life, it produces fruit for the rest of his days on earth. And so this person receives the seed and produces fruit, not because he's smarter than the other soil types, because salvation isn't based on one's IQ. The difference really is in his willingness to receive the seed. He was willing to listen to what God had to say and take it in. He didn't have a closed mind like we saw earlier in this chapter. He was willing to hear the message and say, yes, Lord, I'm a sinner. I need that Savior. I need to come to Christ and be born again. Because he was willing to respond in faith, he understood and was able to respond in faith. His heart had been prepared by the Holy Spirit, not mentioned here, but the Lord mentions it in John chapter 16. And there we're told about the ministry of the Holy Spirit for the whole world. Tracy has gone to Zambia to help preach the gospel. So pray for her for the next few weeks. The passage in John 16, where the Lord Jesus said, that the Spirit will convict the whole world of sin and righteousness and judgment to come. So God's Holy Spirit will convict men in Salem, in Zambia, in Haiti, in Uruguay, in Canada, in every other part of the world. God gives light to every man that comes into the world. The Holy Spirit convicts the whole world of sin. And the Holy Spirit convicts men worldwide of righteousness, which they're not able to produce, and judgment to come, which is theirs if they don't repent. And this soil was convicted by the Holy Spirit. This soil heard the message, was convicted, and realized that he needed a Savior, and he cried out for the Lord to save him. And as a result, God saved him. This is a true believer. And what Jesus says in verse 23 is that every true believer, this good soil, every true believer will produce good fruit, but not to the same degree. Some will produce a hundredfold, some will produce sixtyfold, some will produce thirtyfold, but they will all produce good fruit. Now, why is it that there's such a disparity between the amount of fruit that different believers produce? It's because some believers are more faithful than others. Some believers are more yielded to the Lord than others. Some believers waste their time on vain pursuits. And this is the folly of it all. Yes, even as believers today, we can pursue the cares of this life and the pleasures of this life, in the same way that unsaved men allow those pleasures and cares of this life to choke out them coming to Christ, we can allow those same cares to choke out our relationship to Christ. And as a result, we waste God's time. I could reword this. Some believers give their whole lives to the Lord and bear fruit 100%. Some believers waste 40% of their life. And if my math's right, check me a mile, some believers waste 70% of their life. They only bear fruit 30 fold. And that's because while some believers are selfless and generous, others might be selfish and stingy. While some believers walk in the spirit, others may spend a lot of time walking in the flesh. Yes, true believers come in all different sizes and shapes and colors and stripes, all different varieties. And sometimes the believer that's serving the Lord 100%, he's giving his all to the Lord, and he works or she works their fingers to the bone for Christ. And sometimes we can get a little upset. How come the other people aren't putting their all into it? And how come only a few in the church are doing most of the work? Well, leave that all in God's hands. At the Bema seat, it's all going to be leveled out. And the one that gave himself 100% will receive 100% of the rewards that he could have earned. The one who gave only 30% will get only 30% of the rewards that he could have had. The Lord will level that all out in the Bema seat. But knowing this, let's not waste our lives. on vain pursuits and the cares and the pleasures and the riches of this life that deceive us into thinking that that's a successful life when it's a failure in God's sight. If we use that in exchange of trusting in God and walking with him. And so for the unsaved person, this parable. Of the Lord is a challenge. Don't let anything keep you from coming to Christ. And for the believer, don't let the cares of this life hinder us from giving our all to the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him with all that we have. Because at the Bema Seat, some will regret having lived a carnal, selfish life. And as a really good coach often says, don't be that guy. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for the truth that the Lord Jesus expressed that day to the disciples. Father, help us to learn from it, to apply it to our lives. And Father, we pray for any that have never put their faith in Christ that even today would be the day of salvation for them. And Lord, for those who are saved, we pray, Lord, that we would not allow the cares of this life and the pleasures of this life and the deceitfulness of riches rob us of our eternal rewards in heaven. And we'll thank and praise you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.