to our Bible reading, to Mark's Gospel, chapter four. We're continuing our little series on the parables. I don't know how long this series will last, but I'm sure I'll not be able to cover every parable, but we're gonna look at the main ones anyway. Jesus said, if you don't understand this parable, you can't understand any parable. the parable of the sower and the seed, so that's a good place to start off with. Verse five and six, we've been looking in the past weeks about some of the ground on which the seed fell, and we're going to look today on the stony ground, the stony ground listener. So verse five, six, and 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. Now the interpretation of that is given by Jesus in verse 16 and 17. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground. Who? when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." I don't think any parable shows us the responses to the gospel that every gospel preacher meets. every gospel preaching church experiences so clearly as this parable, the parable of the sower on the seed. Each ground mansion, as we've intimated over the past few weeks, represents a different heart response to the gospel. And we can say with great assurance that there are only four different types of hearers to the gospel. according to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're all represented here in Anna Lung every week. In our previous study, we considered the category of the wayside hearer. The wayside hearer, those who hear the gospel often, those who are close to even the preacher who sows the seed of the gospel, but that gospel seed makes no impression inwardly on the heart and life. The seed is sown but it's snatched away as soon as it is sown by the devil who sends those demonic files of the air to snatch away the seed of everlasting life. It is quite amazing that everywhere where the gospel is preached and where the seed of the word of life is sown, there is demonic activity. The devil is at work. Sometimes we underestimate all of that power. We fight against principalities and powers and rulers of wickedness in dark places. The second group on the focus of our study today is represented under this image of the stony ground. In your mind and mine, when we think of stony ground, we think of some of these fields around Mourne of which stones have been harvested over the years and they have been made into arable ground. We would say that is stony ground. But the seed would grow in that type of ground. So that's not the type of ground that Jesus is referring to. Instead he refers to soil that was so tiny, that was so minute, so thin on the surface because there was a hard layer of rock underneath. So at the bottom of this very thin layer of soil that was just hard rock. It was hidden maybe by the moss on the top, maybe by the mould on the top, but what was on the top was just enough to catch the seed and for the seed to germinate and for it to give for some shoot, some little sapling that would come to the top. And of course the shoots spring up very quickly And everybody says it's such a great success. It's such great blessing. And yet we can't see from the top that underneath there are no roots. And because there's no roots to the seed that is sown, it doesn't go down to receive the nourishment, the nutriments that are in the soil. And so it soon dies and dries up. The seed on this type of rocky ground will not produce a harvest. It does not endure, and it soon falls away. And those shallow first shoots soon weather under the scorching sun. And we've seen this lived out many times before, and worked out many times before. Here we have a picture of the stony ground hearer of the gospel. Those who respond quickly to what they're told, and nearly immediately to the gospel. and nearly as soon they fall away. Verse 16 emphasizes that they hear the word and they immediately receive it with joy. You nearly look at that and take great encouragement and say it's a great sign of blessing. Initially it all seems so encouraging that there are immediate conversions. I believe in immediate conversion. I believe in dramatic conversions. I believe that God does that work, and I believe it with all my heart. But that's not the only work that happens. That's the vital point to make here. The immediate response is mirrored by the fact that when affliction and persecution arises, they immediately are offended, Why? Because they're so shallow, and they fall away. Shallow professors even of evangelical Christianity do not endure. You can make a shallow profession of faith in Christ, and it can seem as genuine, it can seem as real as anybody else's, but if it has no root, it will not endure, it will soon fall away. I believe the Lord has a handful on purpose for the stony ground here and on along today. He has warned us in his word and here he doubly emphasizes it, that false professions and conversions will always arise when the seed falls on stony ground. Hard ground made no impression. Stony ground made an immediate impression, but not lasting one. I think it's an up passage for us to consider because there are so many over the years who have made superficial professions of faith and they do not endure. They do not endure and they won't sat in gospel preaching pews where you sit today. And today they're cynical and they're cold and they're hardened. And they're blaming this one and that one and this happened and that happened. But you know what really happened? What really happened was that they never had any root of faith in their lives, and that's why they couldn't endure. This is the stony, rocky ground here. So what did the Savior teach concerning such listeners in the parable? That's what we want to get to today. We want to identify who they are, and I want you to see how best they can be helped to have a faith that shall endure. on that last harvest day to bring forth fruit that is unto life eternal. So first of all, let me suggest to you, the stony ground hearers are those who make a profession of salvation, but who don't possess it. Professors, but not possessors. They hear the word. Verse 16 tells us that. They hear the word. What a blessing to hear the word. There are many across the world today who will not hear the word, and who will not have an opportunity of hearing the word. But these people, they hear the word. So once again, as we've been emphasizing over the past few weeks, this is within the pale of the visible church. They're blessed to hear the word. But just as that seed fell on the stony ground, So the word of God is preached to those who just have a shallow understanding of its message. And the fault does not lie in the seed, the fault lies in the ground which receives the seed. The fault lies in the ground which receives the seed. The sower did not sow tares, he did not sow wheat, he sowed seed. But it didn't grow, and it didn't grow because there was no depth of faith in those that had received the saint. And there's no message, brethren and sisters, that can be compared in the whole world to the gospel. The gospel is good news. It's good news to proclaim that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We thought just of that simple definition last week, believe and be saved. as all there was to it. And Christ Jesus came into the world that souls might be saved and he fulfilled all righteousness for his people and opened up the doorway to heaven for them. You do well in coming to hear the word. I want to encourage everyone to come and to hear the word. But hearing alone will not bring you to heaven. You need to believe in the heart. In Romans 9, in Romans 10 verse 9 and 10, those famous couplet, it says, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, hearing, confessing, believing in the heart. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. And so I want to ask all of you today, from the youngest to the oldest, Has the word of God touched and transformed your heart? That's where the key is. You can hear the greatest preachers, the greatest evangelical preachers of the day, and oh, even with all of the access that men and women now have to the internet, you can listen to the mightiest preachers from all over the world. But if it hasn't touched and transformed your heart, it means nothing except your further judgment on damnation. Verse 16 emphasizes that the word was immediately received with great enthusiasm. We love enthusiasm, don't we? And these people who heard, they were outwardly impressed. The seed that fell on the stony ground, it sprung up quicker than any of the other seed that fell on the areas that are mentioned in the parable. And it is so because shallow soil warms up quickly. And it provides a very good environment for quick germination. And the stony ground hearers were very quick in their decision. They swallowed the word, but they never chewed it. They never sat down and counted the cost of what it takes to be a child of God. And I would urge you today Not just to swallow the word, but I would urge you to meditate on the word. I would urge you to chew the word, because the day will come when what you profess will be tested and tried. In Luke's gospel, chapter 14, verse 26, We read that Jesus said, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Discipleship is costly business. For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost? whether he has sufficient to finish it. Lest, happily, after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. You'll never be able to finish the course. You'll never be able to finish the pilgrimage if you haven't counted the cost. There is a cost of discipleship. there's a cost for not being a disciple. The devil would tell you that the cost for being a disciple is too great, but the cost for not being a disciple will be a lost eternity. There are many who initially are very enthusiastic, and I would not, as I say, want to put water in anybody's fire, but initial enthusiasm is not enough. People come to church for all types of reasons. For all types of reasons. Over the years, people have come to Anna Logan and said, as a very friendly wee church, we'll go back there again. But they don't endure. It takes more than friendship. People have said, oh, there's good fraternity there. Some even have said to me, there's great food there. but they don't endure. These are all external circumstances. Nothing wrong with them in and of themselves. God forbid that people would say we're unfriendly and we serve bad food. That would be a different story entirely, wouldn't it? But what is needed most is for the word to change hearts and to change lives. That's the difference between profession and possession. Verse 16 informs us that the word was received with gladness. Received with gladness. So the initial impact of receiving this word was happiness. Happiness. And there are many who believe that being happy is a true sign of being converted. And if you come to Jesus, you'll be happy for all of your lives. You'll never be unhappy again. We think of some of the hymns that we sing. And sometimes I think they're misleading, though even the words in them are lovely. If I come to Jesus, happy shall I be. I'm not saying inversely that being unhappy is a sign that you are saved. No doubt, I have no doubt that the gospel of grace brings with it joy and it brings with it peace when it's truly believed. but external mirth and happiness in and of itself is a dubious sign. I always feel uneasy in meetings where the main thrust is your happiness. This meeting house was not opened to make you happy. Remember the rich man who went to hell He was happy. That man died happy. He fared sumptuously every day. The rich farmer was happy. The night before he died, he surveyed his goods. He thought to himself, he's led up for years to come. He thought he had done so well, but he had to leave it all behind. We live in a very superficial age, men and women, and feelings, even the happy ones, and I'm not trying to make you unhappy today, don't go and think that, but even the happy ones are not enough to get you to heaven. Those who truly receive the word of salvation in a manner that they understand will be unhappy, and I tell you why they will be unhappy. They'll be unhappy because of conviction of sin. I've never seen anybody under conviction of sin that was smiling and happy and laughing and just having such a great time. I saw souls broken under Holy Spirit conviction. I saw people plunged into despair and they couldn't get peace. My go-to book for all the illustrations, of course, is John Bunyan. And when I was going through this, I was thinking of his famous allegory again, which in reality was the spiritual pilgrimage of John Bunyan himself. And we're introduced to that famous character that he wrote about, Pilgrim. At the start of the book, as a man clothed in rags, and he was reading a book, and he was called Graceless. Later he is to be called Christian. And he wasn't happy. He had a real burden upon his back. And the place where he was found is very symbolic of where God finds all sinners. He was found in the city of destruction. How could you be happy living in the place that's going to be destroyed with eternal wrath? And that's the dreadful, sinful state into which we're all born. We're born in a place called the city of destruction. A place that's doomed, a place that one day will be destroyed in the fires of God's wrath. And if we don't get out and we don't escape from this place called the city of destruction, we'll be destroyed for all of God's eternity. And graceless as he stood before God and as he read the book and as he understood the book, he saw that he was lost. You have to see that you're lost first. before you'll ever see how you can be saved. And as he stood before God, he knew that his righteousness, all his righteousness, was as filthy rags. The book that he read was the Bible, of course. And what did it do? Well, it awoke in him, it awoke in him a sense of his need. He stood as a man, in need of salvation and of deliverance from damnation, the damnation that awaited his soul. And as he understood the book, the more he read it, the more it caused him to cry out, how can I escape? How can I escape the judgment? How can I escape the damnation? And of course, as he read it, that burden just was so heavy upon his back. John Bunyan describes his own testimony, playing games on a Sunday outside the very house of God. The thought came to him, wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or wilt thou have thy sins and go to hell? Same question comes to you today. You can have your sin and go to hell, or leave your sin and go to heaven. He got a burden. Here's a man under conviction. Here's a man reading his Bible, and the Bible showed him that he was undone. He knows he's not right with God. He knows that he's lost. He knows that he's without hope in the world. He knows that he's a great burden on his back, and it's weighing him down. And the burden is more than sin. It's the guilt of sin. It's the realization that the guilt of the sin that he carries is going to carry him out into a lost eternity. Bunyan is telling us how to answer the question, really, how can I get right with God? You'll never be right with God if you just rest in the superficiality of the stony hearer. There has to be what Bunyan was describing here, that realization or that conviction of our own sinfulness, of our own wretchedness. And Bunyan in his own testimony was able to say after he came to the Lord that he was in that state for 18 months. Was he a happy man? No. There are some who would short circuit this work of conviction. But John Bunyan didn't do it with graceless and God doesn't do it with you or I either. We need to understand, you, you need to understand what sin is, what sin deserves. And there's no point, men and women, in applying superficial remedies to deep heart matters. It'll not work. I was listening to Sinclair Ferguson in the past week and he gave this great quote from John Owen. And he said, if a boil can be lanced with a pen, you don't usually do it with a sword. What a statement. If a boil can be lanced with a pen, you don't usually do it with a sword. This boil of sin, it needs to be lanced. It needs to be broken. Good seed sown on stony ground will not endure The heart needs to be broken, burdened, and where there's no sorrow and repentance over sin, there'll be no roots that go down and the profession will not last. Let's teach our children that. Let's teach the children and the young people the depth of conviction. Let us make sure they understand what they are before God. and the great need that God and Christ has supplied for their soul. Let's move on. Look at verse 17, Mark 4, 17. Here we see how the initial promising response was just short-lived. And have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. They endure, but for a time, the seed which made such a promising start, it was only there just for a little time, it fell away, and sadly in the church we've seen all of this lived out in their own experience, and the early encouragement soon turns disappointment, and those shallow, superficial hearers of the gospel, they can't endure because they've got no root, no root of faith. and how many there are like that in their own day and generation. They endure for a while and then they fall away. Why? I'll tell you why, because there's no principle of grace that will enable them to persevere and to endure. One of the saddest aspects of the ministry, I think, is to see those who promise so much just after a little time fall away. because in due course comes the trial of every profession. The seed came up and soon the sun was up too and it began to scorch the little sapling seeds that had broken through the shallow soil. And with no root, we know what happened, it soon wilted and it died. And in the interpretation of the parable, Jesus said that the trials come The trials come, if you're a disciple of Christ, the trials will come. Afflictions, he makes mention of afflictions, are defined as things that don't happen by chance. Well, we don't believe anything happens by chance. Those afflictions can't be sickness. I don't think there's a household here, over the years that I have been a man alone, that has not been afflicted with sickness in some way or the other. Those afflictions can also include death. There's no affliction like losing a loved one. And all of our households will have to face it. This is a picture, it's taken out, as we look up the word, it's taken out of the treading out of grapes. Those grips are taken out and they're put under such pressure that the juice is squeezed out of them. That's what is referred to here, the afflictions. Peter spoke of this in 1 Peter 1 and 7, 1 Peter 4 and 12. It talked about the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Again, in chapter four, verse 12, he said, concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. None of us go out looking for afflictions. A lot of us go out looking for persecutions. But when they come, don't be discouraged. A wrong look from someone, an unkind remark, an unintended oversight, and many enthusiastic professors are no longer present. How many have failed the test? Because I'll tell you why. The profession which was a convenience at one time, under affliction and persecution, is no longer convenient, and is forsaken. And if your religion is only for convenience, you're a stony ground hearer, and there'll never be fruit unto life eternal in your life. What we believe is not given to us for our convenience, it is for God's glory and for his honor. How fickle are these stony ground listeners? I want to suggest early to you the remedy for such stony ground listeners. We need to emphasize depth. I think that is what is lacking today in the broad evangelical church. We lack depth. We lack depth in our teaching of the gospel of Christ. It is a come to Jesus gospel only. And it lacks depth. The stony ground here was all surface. It was all to do with superficiality. The rock had never been broken underneath. There was no depth in the earth. that it could be plied through and the dominant characteristic of the stony ground hearer was just lack of depth. Is that not where we are today in the broad evangelical church? It lacks depth. People nowadays talk about having the worship at the start of the service and what do they mean by that? They'll have 45, 50 minutes of somebody, praise band up at the front singing and strumming along and singing songs that nobody knows and nobody can sing along with and everybody says it's all great, hallelujah. And then with 15 minutes at the end, somebody giving a motivational talk. There's no depth. Matthew Henry said, it is possible that there may be the green blade of profession whilst there's not the root of grace. Beware of a lack of depth. And I think the church has to be indicted for encouraging a ministry that has no depth. We need to stress the importance, not of the external, but of the internal side of profession. Not of the open, but of the secret side of profession. The seed that fell on the stony ground, it produced those little shoots, those green shoots of profession, even though it had no proper root of grace. And I just want to reaffirm again today, it's in the secret place of profession where you learn to stand and to grow and go on with God. It's not in the externals. It's not even in the externals of how you look. Oh, they must be converted because they have ticked all the boxes in how they look, and yet underneath their heart could be completely unregenerate and away from God. It's in the ear, it's in this sacred place in the heart before God. A true profession is tested and made. The account of Luke's gospel tells us also in Luke 8, verse 6, that the stony ground lacked moisture. Well, how could it have moisture? It was so shallow. And whatever dew was there in the morning, once the sun came up, it was dried. It was all surface. It was all just surface. And once the sun came up, the overnight dew and moisture that lay on top of that little shallow piece of soil quickly evaporated and went away. I've thought about that. This seed needs dew to grow. It needs moisture in the soil. This speaks to me of the dew of the Holy Spirit. The seed needs the Holy Spirit to make it thrive and to bear fruit. Souls need to know the inward searching, renewing work of the Holy Ghost within their lives. If you haven't known that, you don't know what true salvation is. Psalm 44, 21. Shall not God search this out? He knoweth the secrets of the heart. Psalm 139, verse 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. Jeremiah 17 and 10. I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins. And in the light of all of that, Jeremiah, as he watched Jerusalem sacked and ruined, in the book of Lamentations 3, he said, let us search our ways and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord. If you really search your heart today, even the most adamant Mature Christian, if you even search your heart today, what will be the consequence? You'll turn afresh unto the Lord. Lord, take me back. Sometimes as free Presbyterians, we love the external religious niceties. But those external religious niceties will not get any of you to heaven. As God the Spirit searches the heart, as we see what we are before Almighty God, inwardly and before Almighty Holy God, we will then turn to the Lord in conviction and seek his grace and seek his pardon. And maybe there's somebody here today If you're honest, if you've searched your heart and you've searched your life, before Almighty God, you see a life that has a profession without a possession of Christ. I want you to be honest before God. I want you to face up to it. The Lord's word has not been sown in vain, if you realize that today. Come to Christ. Don't bring anything in your hand. Just come to him. Nothing, nothing. Top lady could say nothing in my hand. simply to thy cross-cycling. Has he brought you thus far? If he's brought you thus far, you're not far from the kingdom. You're not far from entering in. I'm glad stony hearers, stony hearers can be made fruitful hearers if they acknowledge and realize who they are. and turn to the Lord in faith and repentance. May you be such even.