This is Daniel Cox, and I want to welcome you to this episode of Grace and Truth. The following sermon was preached from the pulpit of Space Coast Baptist Church in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. For more information, please visit spacecoastbaptistchurch.com or pastordanielcox.com. It is my prayer that this sermon will be a great help to your Christian life. For more information about our ministry or if we can be a blessing to you, please write us at spacecoastbaptistchurch at gmail.com or give us a call at 386. Our Father, we thank you for this evening and your blessings to us. Guide and direct us, we pray, in the message from your word tonight. Strengthen us and help us to receive from you all that you have for us. We'll thank you and praise you for it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen, and amen. Take your Bibles with me tonight to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, please. We'll look in God's Word in just a moment. There's a county in California, I don't know if you saw this on the news, where the mayor said that in the online streaming sector, they could only have, churches could only have four people in the sanctuary, and among the four there could be no singing. and no playing of woodwind instruments. I did a little research in the Bible discussing when Christians tell the government no. And I just found it interesting. I'm not espousing or suggesting anything. I just find it interesting in the Bible what Christians in the Bible were asked not to do. Just asked not to do. For example, Pharaoh says, I don't care who you worship. You can worship whomever you want to. Just don't go very far with it. You can't take your children with you. You can't take your cattle or possessions with you. Nebuchadnezzar says, I don't really care who you worship. Just eat the meat and drink the wine. I don't really care who you worship. But when you hear the sound of the music, bow down your knees and worship Nebuchadnezzar. We live in interesting times, don't we? These are the most interesting days to be alive. Science has failed us. I just want you to know that. Science has failed us. We received projections of two and a half million people dying in our country, and then they said, well, we got the models wrong. There might be 100,000 people die in our country. Well, we missed that, and maybe there'll be 60,000 that die in our country. You know, one of the things that took people's ears away from the Holy Spirit is the scientist, because the scientist is always right. It's faith versus reason, right? The Bible can't be right. Darwin has to be right. The scientist has to be right. And now I think God's just reminding us once again that there is science falsely so-called. God is always true. The Bible's always true. And these are the same folks telling us that We're destroying the planet, and we need to trash the economy to bring in a new deal and all that kind of thing. Aren't you glad we have the truth of God's Word? The truth of God's Word. And I think there's some good reminders for us if we'll pay attention. The Lord introduces a thought here in Mark chapter 4. It's the first time in the gospel record He says this, and it permeates the New Testament. He that hath an ear, let him hear. We know that Hearing is an act of the physical ear, listening is an act of the soul. So you have to bring your soul to worship, not just your ear. Do you hear what I'm saying? Do you hear what I'm saying? Well, you might hear what I'm saying, but are you listening? And Jesus Christ wants us to listen. What does He have for us tonight? I'm going to read just a few verses. We're actually going to, believe it or not, in the next 34 minutes, we're going to get through 25 verses. We've not taken that swath of Scripture since the beginning of the year, but I'm going to finish that in due time tonight. Chapter 4 of Mark, verse 1. And he began to teach by the seaside, and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea, and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow. came to pass as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And the fowls of the air came and devoured it up, and some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth. And immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Another fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth some thirty and some sixty and some and hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. I'm talking tonight on this subject, Money Matters from the Master. Money matters from the master. Now, you're looking at me right now and saying, Pastor, the word money is not mentioned one time in this passage. Well, I'll show it to you here in just a moment. Nearly a half millennium ago, Martin Luther noted that there are three conversions a person needs to experience. The conversion of the head, the conversion of the heart, and the conversion of the pocketbook. As we read the Bible, we understand that our pocketbook says more about us than any other thing that identifies us. How do I know? Well, Jesus said so. It's interesting when we read the words of Jesus that our Lord had much to say about money in the gospel records. Did you know that nearly half of the parables weren't about judgment, they weren't about sin or hell or sexuality or heaven or prayer, but half of the parables of Jesus were about money? has been noted that one out of seven verses in the New Testament has a financial interpretation. Whereas the Bible offers 500 verses on prayer and 500 verses on faith, God speaks over 2,000 times in relation to money. Jesus taught us that there is an instability and fragility to earthly investments, Matthew 6, 19. He taught us that our earthly investments are to be made with heaven and eternity in view. Luke chapter 16, verse 9. He taught us that our heart will follow our treasure. Matthew 6, 21. Finally, he taught us that there is no reason to build bigger barns to hold our earthly gains if our soul is not prepared to meet our God. Luke chapter 12, verse number 20. So upon this background of money, we enter into Mark chapter 4. What will Jesus' friends, we are introduced to at the end of chapter 3, what will Jesus' friends do with their resources? So I want to talk to you about investment. And then we're going to talk about intention. And finally, we're going to talk about interest. So let's look at investment. Look at the first three verses again. He began to teach by the seaside. And there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship and sat in the sea. And the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables. Now, we might well know that our Lord did not own a boat. Foxes had holes and birds had nests, but Jesus did not even have a bed upon which to lay his head. We know from the Gospels that Jesus pretty much borrowed everything that he ever possessed. He borrowed a donkey upon which to ride into Jerusalem. He borrowed a room in which to partake of the Last Supper. He borrowed a tomb in which to borrow for the weekend. And then he borrows this boat from which to preach the Gospel. So the boat from which Jesus is preaching ranks among those things that our Lord has borrowed. Jesus is in a boat, the people are on the land. I said to Brother Robert on Sunday, I didn't have a tractor upon which or a trailer upon which to preach and I was borrowing his boat for the weekend and I appreciated That's so very much. So here's the question. Jesus is borrowing a boat upon which to preach because he was pressed off the land by the people. The question is, can he use the boat of your life? Can he use the boat of your life? Now, if you're thinking about this as the boat owner that is lending this boat for this aquatic sermon of Jesus, the question is this. If he made the sea the son of God, If He made the sea and He made the wood upon which to make the boat, He made the pitch that would waterproof the boat, He made the water on which the boat would float, He made the land upon which the people would sit, how can He make so much and give us so much and we not allow Him to borrow our boat? If He created the sky, if He created the land, if He created the water, if He created the wood, if He created everything we have, how can we say you can't have what I think belongs to me? Because we've talked about this. Life is not about ownership. Life is about stewardship. It all belongs to God. I mean, it was His long before we got here. And if He tarries His coming, it'll be His again long after we are gone from this world. It's like Haggai says to the people, when he's trying to take up an offering for rebuilding the temple, and God says to the people, just keep this in mind, that the silver and the gold belongs to me. Well, the Egyptians thought it belonged to them until their kingdom was destroyed. And then we get into the Bible record and we discover that the Jews had all of the gold and silver. And they said, well, it belongs to us. And then they sinned against God, sacked by the Babylonians. And the Babylonians said, well, all the silver and the gold belongs to us. And they had it for a while until their kingdom fell apart and the Medes and Persians they took over the Babylonian Empire, and they could say the silver and the gold, it all belongs to us, and they had possession of it for a while, and then their kingdom was destroyed by the Greeks, and the Greeks said all the silver and the gold belongs to us, and then the Romans, they took the silver and the gold, but it never belongs to anybody permanently, it always belongs to God. The Bible says that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He owns the wealth in every mine. He not only owns the cattle on the hill, He owns the hill itself. It all belongs to God. So as we come to this passage and see Jesus using this portable sermon to preach, we're asking this owner the question, can he borrow the boat of your life? Notice, if you will, in Luke chapter 8, I want you to see the setting of our story because Matthew, Mark, and Luke all speak of this parable that Jesus gives in Mark chapter 4, but the exception is there's different details suggested for us leading up into this story. In Luke chapter 8, I want you to notice what your Bible says here. We're talking about the same parable. Luke is going to begin in chapter 8 and verse 5 telling us again this parable of the soil. So begin in verse 5 and then I'll go back to verse number 1 so you know we're talking about the same parable from the lips of our Lord. Verse 5, a sower went out to sow a seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. So we're talking about the same story, the same event. Now, notice the first couple of verses of this passage, Luke chapter 8, verse 1. It came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him. And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, We know Mary, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils. And Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna. Can you finish reading verse 3 with me? And many others which ministered unto him of their substance. They ministered unto him of their substance. And when much people were gathered together and were come to him out of every city, he spake a parable and said a sower went out to sow his seed. So this parable is started by the story of women whose lives were revolutionized by the power of Jesus. We're introduced to Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven devils had been cast out. And Jesus becomes very, very, very meaningful to her and these other women, and Jesus has no doubt done great, great, wonderful, awesome things in their lives. Let's take Mary, for example, out of whom Jesus had cast seven demon spirits. Think about her life before she came to know Jesus as her Messiah. the ravaging of these demon spirits, the emotional, psychological, spiritual draining of these seven spirits as they were afflicting her. And then Jesus came. Think about this. Then Jesus comes and he sets her free by his power and his love. He revolutionizes her life. And what does she do? What's the signal that she's grateful for what Christ has done in her life? Luke says that she did something with her substance. She ministered to Jesus' ministry. Now, I don't know what special offerings or honorariums or hallelujah handshakes were given to our Lord. We know he was given some things to borrow, but there were some women that got a hold of something, that Jesus has done something so great for me and my life that money could not buy. Did you ever think about that? Did you ever calculate in your life all the things that your money could buy? Money can buy a lot. We say it can buy a lot of things, but it can't buy happiness. No, but it can buy suits and cufflinks. I'm joking. It can buy some really nice things, but it can't buy happiness. But maybe on the other side of the sheet you write down there are some things that money can't buy, and maybe you want to fill some of those things in. Money can't buy peace with God. Money can't buy peace of mind. Money can't buy the truth revealed to you by the Holy Spirit of God. Money can't buy those things. Money can't buy the love of your spouse, the love, true love, the love of your children, the love of a friend. Oh, we ought to think not just about the things that we need money to buy. We ought to think about the things God gives us freely of His grace that we can never afford. He's built us a mansion in heaven, and we'll be with Him for all of eternity. Praise God for things that money cannot buy. But here in our passage tonight, we see, leading up into this parable, the idea that there's something that what you do with your substance, it says something about our heart. And this is why Jesus preaches so much about. So we know these women have given the substance to Christ, and they have sponsored him. And now we come into chapter 4, back to Mark chapter 4, and we have a boat owner that says, Jesus, if you need a portable pulpit for this occasion, I'll happily let you use my possessions. My possessions. Now, I said all that to say this. I love when preachers say that. I said all that to say this and you're sitting there thinking, well, why don't you just say this? Because I didn't want to. I wanted to say this so I could tell you that. So we talked about the investment, the investment. It all belongs to God. It all belongs to God. But what is God really speaking about here? Not just about investment. Number two, he's talking about our intention or our heart. That's the crux of this passage. He's talking about our intention, our motive, our heart. And he uses this illustration of soil. I was so grateful that God sent the rain because I'm trying to grow some new grass in my front yard and I needed that rain. I've been focused on the soil this particular time of year. And Jesus says, notice carefully verse 3, there went out a person, a sower to sow. That's what sowers do. Some sow in some water, but God gives the increase. So the sower is just casting seed. He's throwing out seed. And he says here it falls in four different conditions. Number one, verse four, it came to pass as he sowed some fell by the wayside and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And then the second condition is verse five, some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. And when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Then the third condition, some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And then the fourth condition, verse 8, and other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth some thirty and some sixty and some and hundred. So he's talking about the intention of the heart, the intention of the heart. Let me ask you a question tonight. How receptive is your heart to receiving the truth of God? Now, may I just make a quick notation here? Verse number 3, notice carefully, you might circle the word sow. A sower went out to sow. And what did he sow? What did he sow? Look at verse 14. The Bible says, the sower soweth the word. Can I just stop for a moment and just tell you, there is nothing wrong with the seed of the word of God. It's good seed. Oh, it's good seed. I've heard of people saying that's bad seed. That was unfruitful seed. There's nothing wrong with the seed because the seed is the word of God. So if we're not fruitful in our Christian lives, if we're not fruitful in our faith, it's not the seed that has lost its power in our lives. It's not the seed's fault. We have a perfect, inerrant, preserved, infallible, perfect, without exaggeration, without omission. We have the mind of God on paper. There's nothing wrong with the seed of God's Word. So if there's nothing wrong with the seed, like what Lester Oloff used to say, he said the Bible doesn't need to be rewritten, it needs to be reread. Nothing wrong with the seed given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit preserved for us through the power of God and the courage of God's people throughout history. There's nothing wrong with the seed of God's Word. If you were a Christian in the Roman Empire in the first century or a Christian in America in the 21st century, the word has not changed. The seed has not lost its power. That's not the problem. Not the problem. The problem or the The effect of the seed is the condition of the heart, the condition of the soul, the soil of man's heart. Let's walk through these very quickly. I've given you the information here so we can move through it quickly. In verse number four, he talks about the wayside. Some fell by the wayside. And what happened to it? Well, the fowls of the air came and devoured it. So in a parabolic sense, this is the first parable. This is the easiest parable. This one needs very little interpretation. There aren't dark and very difficult to understand interpretations. So Jesus says, I'm going to start easy on you like a riddler. I'm going to give you an easy riddle. This is the easiest riddle, but there's some principles about the other ones that become more difficult. I'm going to lay them down for you here. So in the passage, he gives us the story and then he gives us the interpretation. and then the application. So he says, some fell by the wayside. That's the message. What's the interpretation? Look at verse 15. These are they by the wayside where the word is sown, but when they have heard Satan cometh immediately, taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. How many times have you done your devotions in the morning and God's Spirit met you there? How many times have you been seated on a pew and God's Spirit met you there powerfully and you no sooner got in the car or in your devotions, you sipped your coffee and you got in the car to head to work and the seed stealer, the devil, came and he tried to steal every great thing that God had just done in your heart. If you're with me, say amen. He's a thief of God's seed. So it falls by the wayside. Now, the wayside's an interesting expression here. It's the place of travel and commerce. It's the place where things are unsettled. It's the place of passers-by. And I just wonder, how many messages do we miss from God in the passing-by moments of our lives, in the unsettled, traveling places of our life? And by the way, maybe you want to write in your margin, Deuteronomy chapter 6, God says there's some golden moments in the day when we're to teach our children. And one of them is, He says, when you're walking by the way, When you're walking by the way, how many lessons have we sought to teach our children not to sit them down at the table, not to sit them down in the church or the Sunday school class or the Christian school room, but as we're walking by the way, and they hear something, and, Dad, let me ask you a question, or do you see that? Let's talk about that. That's the idea. Just along the way in life, you cast that seed out, And it doesn't bring forth fruit. Why? Because he says the devil comes immediately. He snatches the seed out of our hearts. Then he said it might fall on stony ground. That's verses 5 and 6. So the interpretation is given in verses 16 and 17. Notice them carefully. These are they likewise which are sown on stony ground. who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness. So, their intention is wonderful. Praise God for His word. Thank you, God, for speaking to my heart. But they have no root in themselves. And so endure, but for a time, and afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth, for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." I like the word our Lord uses in verses 5 and 6. He says it springs up, but it doesn't last very long because it has no depth of earth. I like that. Has no depth of earth. Has no depth of earth. One of the problems of our pre-corona society, have I just coined a term? One of the problems of our pre-corona society is we were spread out a mile wide and many places just an inch thick. No depth. And God says, I want to lead you by still waters. There's some real depth there. Still waters, you know what still waters are. The still waters are the deep waters. God says, I want to give you some depth because the dry seasons will come, won't they? And the dry seasons of life will come. And the winds will blow upon what you've tried to build for God. I heard a preacher say a couple years ago, if God wants to grow a morning glory, he can build it overnight. But when God plants and grows a mighty oak tree, it takes him 100 years. Man, that's the kind of Christian we want to be. We want some depth to us. But what happens? Well, many times our life becomes hard. And because we're shallow, the growth of God's Word is short-lived. And then what happens? It's ruined by the heat of affliction and trials. And then the Word becomes a stumbling block and not a stepping stone to spiritual growth. That's the stony ground. Then he says there are times it falls among the thorns. Verse 7, but then he gives interpretation in verse 18. These are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Now if I was going to grow this seed in my garden, If I was going to grow this seed in my garden, this is the one that gives me the most hope that fruitful season is coming. Why? Notice what he says. He says in verse 7, it fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no fruit. Now, the seed that fell by the wayside, it never grew at all. And the one that grew on the stony ground, it popped up quickly, but it withered quickly because it had no depth. This is the seed that we're becoming increasingly closer to spiritual fruit in the Christian heart. Now it begins to grow, but what happens? The thorns of life, and he identifies them for us. He says, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things entering in and they choke the word. It becomes unfruitful. It's not the idea that it doesn't grow. It just never becomes fruitful. Now, nobody looks at an orange tree without oranges and says, oh, what beautiful wood and beautiful foliage. Right? I have a bougainvillea at home right now and I've got to figure out the place I'm going to put it. When I bought it at Home Depot, it has this like glowing, like battery operated glowing blossoms on it. Well, it doesn't have them anymore. Nobody says, what a beautiful bush, what a beautiful, beautiful plant. Why? It's not bearing fruit. It's still alive. But there's no fruit. This is what God wants to bring forth in our lives. So in this case, the seed has but one option. It must outgrow the potential of weeds and vines and thistles that would make it to become unfruitful, but the cares of life. Man, can we talk about the cares of life? Nothing evil going on here. You ever notice that? There's nothing evil going on here. I mean, spiritual maturity doesn't just have to do with just the evil things that are not part of your Christian life. I'm not saying this to brag in any way, just not a part of my life. It was not a part of my childhood. It's just not been a part of my married life. There was no drugs, alcohol, tobacco. None of those things have ever been in my life. They've never been a part of my life. But I'm not a good Christian because those things are absent from my experience. A Christian life is not defined by the things we've taken out of it. A Christian life is defined by our nearness to Christ. Our fruitfulness comes by how near Jesus is to us. And guess what happens? When he swells, when Jesus looms larger in our life, guess what happens? The thorns and thistles get pushed out of our lives. Is this not what He says on the Mount of Beatitudes when He speaks in Matthew 5, 6, and 7? He says, you can give money, but if you do it to be seen of men, you lose your rewards. It's not about what you give to God. It's the intention, the motivation through which you give it. Motive matters with God. Not how long you pray. It's the motive of your heart when you pray. It's not how many good things you do for God. It's the motivation. It's the reason you do what you do. And by the way, only God knows the true character of our motivation. She speaks about the heart. God says, I want you to do the right thing, but I want someone who desires to do the will of God. And forgive me if you have more of a pharisaical persuasion when I say this, I'm sorry. But I think God has more respect for people that have a pure heart who maybe don't have it all figured out than those that have it all figured out and look down their condescending nose at others that don't. Because God's looking at our heart, our intention. Why are we doing what we're doing? He speaks about our hearts. So we see investment, we see the intention, that good ground of the seed, and He ends this passage talking about interest. Now, we all like interest. We all like interest. Now, we're going to skip ahead a bit in the passage. So notice carefully, he ends this text in verse 20, and then he gives them this other story about the candle being put under a bushel, verses 21, 22, 23. Go to verse 24. It ends this passage of Scripture, verse 24, and he said unto them, he said unto them, Now, I don't know if this happened in Magdala. We were in Magdala last year. It's on the Sea of Galilee. This is where Mary has been delivered of these demons. We're somewhere in the Sea of Galilee area. There's a boat that's being used by Jesus to preach the gospel to thousands that are on the seashore. He talks to them about giving our possessions to him. He talks about the intention of our heart. And then he closes this passage in verse 24, and look what he says. Take heed what ye hear. Why does he say that? I've been pastoring long enough to know something. Let me give you the secret. People hear what they want to hear. And they make interpretations through what they thought they heard someone say. That's why the heart matters, because if Christ is living in our hearts, He helps us to hear what He was saying, not what we wanted to hear. Because God won't tell you what you want to hear. He tells us what we need to hear. Take heed what you hear. Are you listening? Are you listening? With what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you. and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken, even that which he hath." Now have we yet to reckon with the idea that the bank of heaven always yields the best interest? And that our money is not guaranteed by the FDIC, but it's guaranteed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He cannot invest with right intentions and not see God's interest on his investment. You can invest in spiritual things with a pure heart and not see the blessing of God meted out in your life. He says in another place, give and it shall be given unto you. good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men deliver into your bosom. Hear it carefully. For with the same measure ye meet with all, it shall be measured unto you again. God says you get an interest to the proportion of that which you're willing to give. Now, most of our church family will get a stimulus check. If you haven't gotten it already, it's probably on its way. You know what I see taking place? It's very interesting. What I see taking place is when people feel like, oh, the economy's down, what happens? We begin to become very greedy. Very self-isolated, very self-interested. But you know, God's economy is not defined by our economy. If we'll trust God, He can bless His children. He's always taking care of His children. Mark it down. You know, I've talked to several pastors this week. You know what every pastor is telling me? Now, I'm sure there's others that wouldn't be grouped in what I'm about to say, but every pastor I've talked to has said this. You know what? I'm amazed. God's meeting our needs. God's taking care of us. God is blessing us. What a great God we have. What a great God we have. And so when we give to God, when we trust God, when we believe God, he says, if you'll meet it out, God will measure it back to you. This is God's promise. This is God's word. Now, I want you to go with me very quickly to the book of Mark, chapter 10, very quickly, very quickly. And I want you to see what the disciples said, how they felt. We are not living in a day and time. We're not living in a day and time where we can't be intentional about supporting the work of God. We just can't. We can't be anything but intentional about it. Do you feel and maybe we don't talk about this enough, but do we feel the idea that God's work is supported by God's people? It's always been that way. It will always be that way. We could have Chinese churches that churches owned by the government. And what do they do? They come in and they tear the crosses down and they tell the churches what they can preach and what they can't preach. We don't want that. We don't want that. I'll tell you this off subject. I'll get back real quick. Church doesn't have to look like this for us to be the people of God and fulfill the Great Commission. Now I agree with you, church is not a building. I like this one a lot, but I agree with that. Church is not a building, but church is an assembly of people. We can meet at my house or your house, but we can have church. We can go down to the riverside somewhere. We can go down to the ocean somewhere, but it is an assembly of God's people. It may not look like this, but God's work is supported by God's people. That's what Jesus depended on. And so Peter has given his life to follow Christ. He sold out for God. Now he had a little situation there. where he walked away when he's denied the Lord, and he's fishing on the sea, and Jesus appears to him, and Peter's been fishing all night, and he can't catch anything. What a great, great story that is. He says, I'll just go back to fishing, and he goes out there, and now he can't even catch fish. What a failure. Well, it's because without me, you can't even catch fish anymore, Peter. I'm going to give you the power to live your life, and you can only have power when you do life my way, when you serve me with your life. How many of us said, Lord, I'll do it my own way. I'll do it my own way only to find absolute failure outside of God's will. And by the way, you can be the greatest failure in life by being a great success in this world if our success in the world is outside God's will for our life. So here goes Peter. He's with Jesus, Mark chapter 10. And there's a rich young ruler that comes to Jesus. And he wants to know what he can do to inherit eternal life. What good thing can I do to inherit eternal life? Well, you know the story Jesus gives him. He gives him a story. And he says, well, keep the Ten Commandments. Well, I've kept all of those. And by implication, well, if you've kept all of those, then you really don't need a Savior because if you've never broken the Ten Commandments, you're not a sinner. That's the implication. So to prove he's a sinner, Jesus says, go sell what you have, sell your possessions, give them to the poor, and thou would have treasure in heaven. Notice his reaction beginning in verse 22. And he was sad at that saying. And he went away grieved, for he had great possessions. By the way, possessions are not the problem. Joseph of Arimathea understood that. He had great possessions, but he goes to petition for the body of Christ when they needed a place to put Jesus' body in the grave before the holy Sabbath day came and they'd have to leave Jesus on the cross for 24 hours. Joseph said, I can be a wealthy person, but I can give my resources to God. He went away. And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words. Jesus answered, and again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that... Before I read this, can I just tell you what's happened here? From the moment that young man walked away, Peter's head began to spin. He doesn't hear anything Jesus is saying. Everything I'm going to read to you here for the next few moments, Peter doesn't hear, because he's watching that rich young ruler in that Italian-made suit. walk away from Jesus. He watches him get in his Corvette and squill back to Jerusalem, and all Peter does is watch this guy and think about that rickety old boat he gave up, that fishing business he had, everything he gave up to follow Christ. So Jesus continues speaking. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. They were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved? Who then can be saved? Well, with men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, here he goes, open mouth and serve foot. Then Peter began to say unto him, lo, lo, we have left all and followed thee. Do you see the spirit and the attitude? Have you ever talked to Jesus that way? You ever said that to him? Oh, Lord, I could be something really big in this world. I could be really something big in this world if I hadn't given my life to you. You get your tithing report at the end of the year and you start thinking about all the things you could have purchased that year if you wouldn't have given that money to God. Lord, we've left everything we have and followed thee. What a question. What is Peter really asking? What's he really asking? We've left all to follow thee. Well, you know what he's saying? He's saying he came close to it and he walked away. We came close to it and we walked with you all the way. What's in it for me? What's in it for me? I gave up a business to follow you. I gave up something I love to follow you. I don't see my family every night to follow you. I'm a pariah to my own people because I chose what's in it for me. What's in it for me? And Jesus understands the intention of his statement and he answers him. Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, and the Gospels, but he shall receive an hundredfold," what's the word? Now. In this time. houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life. Now, I read that because I want you to circle back in verse 20 of our passage. These are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word and receive it, and bring forth some thirtyfold." How many of you like that kind of interest? It's pretty good, right? Some bring sixtyfold. Oh boy, that'd be awesome. Sixtyfold. and some an hundred. That's peak interest. That's peak payout. That's cream of the crop. That's primo el primo. That's the best it could possibly get. That's the one Jesus promises to Peter. Nobody ever left their possessions and relationships, lives behind to follow me that won't receive an hundredfold now in this time. Now in this time. Can we just praise God for what He's done for us now in this time? Wow. Think about what God's done for you now in this time. Can you praise Him for a moment? If you're at home tonight watching, just stop what you're doing. Get on your knees, put your hands towards heaven and just look around and thank Him for what He's done now in this time. How good has God been? in this time. You thought if you served him, you'd get everything back when you got to heaven. That's not what Jesus said. You get it now in this time. And oh, by the way, when it's all said and done, when it's all said and done, when your life is over, when your last investment is made, when you preach your last sermon, you sing your last song, You tell your last person about Christ, you pray your last time. You leave this time. And in the world to come, eternal life. And what will you say for all of eternity? Man, I shouldn't have let him borrow my boat. What will you say for all of eternity? Yeah, I know he saved me, but I should have kept back a little from him. No, for all of eternity we'll say worthy, is the lamb that was slain. So when we come to this passage, Jesus is not just talking about the heart. He's talking about the thing that lays deepest in our heart. And that's relation to what God has given us and what we're doing for God for eternity.