Matthew 13. This is actually part two of a message I started on Wednesday night. I just have two points today. Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. Verse 22, Jesus says, he also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becometh unfruitful. But he that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. In Matthew chapter 13, the Lord Jesus Christ gives a number of parables. He calls them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. He's telling us what to expect during this present dispensation, the church age. Between his first coming and his second coming, There's a long period of time, or we think it's long. It's been about 2,000 years now. And the Lord shows us in these parables what's gonna happen, what to expect. And in this first parable of the sower, the Lord tells us about four souls representing four different types of people who hear. And the Lord says, there'll be one group like the seed that falls by the wayside. They're not saved. They don't even pretend to be saved. Not everybody's gonna get saved. Then Jesus said, there's another kind of listener. And that's the one where the seed fell on stony places. That's the one he says who claims to be saved, but really is not, and eventually falls away because he or she is offended, he said, by tribulation or persecution. Then Jesus said, there's several other types of listeners, two more, and that's the two we're looking at today. Both of these are Christians, both of these types of soul represent Christians. The first two, non-Christians. The second two, Christians. But how different these two are, as we shall notice. So first of all, I read to us about the thorny ground here. Jesus said, verse 22, he also that received seed among the thorns. is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. So Jesus says, there'll be some, there'll be some who just will not listen. There'll be some who will be imposters. Then Jesus said, there'll be some though, they'll be genuinely saved. But sadly, for a number of reasons, they'll be unproductive. They'll be like seed that's trying to thrive among thorns. And usually that does not work at all because the thorns, the weeds are stealing away that nutrition that the plant needs. Kind of like ivy. Ivy may look nice, but it's killing that tree. It's killing that tree. So Jesus said there are going to be thorny ground hearers. And the Lord in talking about thorns is referring to anything that would hinder your Christian life. And he mentioned several things. And if you read it in Mark's account and Luke's as well, the Lord mentions the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and then in these other gospels, he talks about pleasures and lust. All these do to the soul what thorns do to a seed and to a plant. Some of these things are not bad in themselves, cares of this world, things you got to do. but you can become so preoccupied. You can become so consumed with things that are good, that could be good, but they become bad when they take the place of what's best. And that can happen and happen sadly, very easily. So the thorny ground here is the Christian who is so so preoccupied with the things of this world, his Christian life suffers. His Christian life is choked. Is he saved? Oh, he's saved. It's just his priorities are not quite right. His heart is divided and he can't really keep Jesus at the top. He's got success to think about, hobbies, relationships, money, business, possessions, all these things that are all right in their place, but not all right out of their place. This fellow say, but he just doesn't seem to have much time left for the Bible, church, the lost, or even God. Sadly, he's a failure. He's unproductive. He's unproductive. So Jesus is saying, be careful, be careful. Folks, you will not be a good Christian automatically. It will require your concentration. It will require your daily decision because we still have the old nature that pulls us in the wrong direction. And I think our Lord spoke these words with sadness, realizing that most Christians are not gonna amount to much. That's hard for me to say, but that's what this parable's saying. Not gonna amount to much. Their priorities have got out of order. Little fruit, little harvest, Unfruitful. Saved? Yeah, saved, going to heaven. Blood-bought, redeemed, justified, but unfruitful. If you're saved, you're saved. Okay? But it's very easy. It's very easy to get things out of order. Well, there's another type here. the good ground hearer. Jesus said, but in contrast, some are gonna be like seed that falls in good ground. The one who hears, understands and bears fruit and brings forth a hundred fold, some 60, some 30. Here's the good ground listener. This is the Christian that amounts to something. that hears the Bible and obeys it. Keeps it, obeys it, it says in another place. And keeps the weeds out. Weeds grow on their own, don't they? You ever had to plant a weed? No, you gotta yank them up, they grow right up through cement. Yeah. Well, I remember growing up. Get that hoe boy, go kill, hoe the corn. kill a weed and another to come up, a brower, you never get done. And you think, who planted all this? I thought I... No, it's just the ground is curved. And there's weeds. So our Lord says, not everybody's going to get saved. Don't let that bother you. Don't let that, let me rephrase that, don't let that discourage you, okay? Remember when you first got saved, you thought everybody's gonna wanna get saved. And you didn't understand why you told them at work you got saved and that somebody left and somebody just walked away and you thought, hey, what's the matter here? Doesn't everybody wanna go to heaven? And you found out they don't. And the reason is they figured out if they go, they can't cuss no more. So they don't want to go. They'd rather cuss than go to heaven. And a lot of other things. But Jesus said, even though some are going to be imposters and some are going to be unbelievers and some are not going to amount to much. He said, you just keep sowing because there's going to be some that get saved and they're going to learn, they're going to grow, they're going to glow, they're going to go, they're going to serve and they're going to bring forth fruit and be a blessing and an encouragement and an example. Thank God, Not everybody is going to be a failure. Amen. Some will be good ground. Some are more willing than others. Some are more faithful than others. I don't have to convince you that not all Christians are the same. We all know that. We all know that. And lest I forget it, I want to tell you the good news. If you're in the wrong category, thank God you can leave here today in the right category. If you're in category one, lost, you can leave here today saved. If you're in category two, an imposter, you can leave here today saved. If you're in category three, where you put Jesus way down to the bottom of your list, thank God you can get in the right category. Number four, the good ground, you don't have to stay. If you're in the wrong box, you can get in the right box. Amen. There's no excuses. So not everybody loves Jesus the same. We all know that. So the Lord said, you're sowing the seed and here's what's going to happen. And He says, some will be saved, some will bear fruit, some will do well. I was talking to a fellow one time, he laughed at me. I said, according to your testimony, you're lost, you're going to hell. Your religion is taking you to hell." He didn't like that a bit. He came to church to argue. He said on the back, he said, after the service, I'm coming, I'm going to argue with you and I'll show you. He didn't realize the Holy Ghost convicts. After the service, everybody went and had a cup of tea and I talked to him and his wife. They both got saved. God called him to preach. Brother Stan, he's a great fellow and Christian and preacher. Turned out to be good ground. Amen. I like what he said one time. He said, I just read the Bible. He said, I don't know anything. I just read. And I say, well, I need to do that and keep reading. Well, I need to do that. Isn't that the right attitude? Lord, you show me and I'll do it. Whatever you say, I'll do it. Amen. I was reading Percy Ray's biography. and there was a family he met and the mother came up to him and said, hey, you know what? Said, brother Percy, since you preached to us and loved us and helped us, she said, all five of my boys are preachers, all five of them. I said, hallelujah, hallelujah. I said, Lord, would you do that for me? Would you do that for me? I walked in Walmart years ago and met this fellow. He said, Brother Allen, many years ago you came to our house and invited us to church that we treated you wrong. But I want to tell you, all five of my boys are preachers. Amen. Lord, you remember. Amen. Amen. God's still in business. God ain't lost no power. God's not wore out. Amen. But the failure is us. The failure is our hearts. We got too many weeds in there. Too many rocks in there. Choking. You know what chokes you as a Christian. You know what you just can't seem to get over. You know what you love. And the Lord's saying, you're going to have to get rid of that if you're going to be fruitful. and be the Christian you need to be. Good ground. Good ground. I remember in vacation Bible school years ago, this fellow wanted to get saved, was in the class during vacation Bible school. He's brought up in a home where his dad was a drunk and his mother was in a cult. And he said, Al, can I get saved right here in this Sunday school room? I said, you can get saved right here, right now. Amen. And he got down on his knees and got saved. And he'd been in church ever since. Amen. 40 years later, I bet he hadn't missed a Sunday. Good ground. Amen. Some people's going to turn out to be Judas's and Demas's and all kinds. That ain't up to you. Amen. The sower is not responsible for the response of the hearer. The one who hears is responsible for how they respond to the word. Amen. You can't make people do anything. You just give it to them and say, there it is. You can believe that and be saved or rejected and be lost. Amen. That's what Jesus did. So you just give them the message. Give them the message and it'll work. Jesus said, some, thank God, will be saved. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall come again with rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. Amen. Somebody will be saved. If you keep living right and inviting them to church and praying for them and giving out Bibles and tracts, somebody, somewhere is going to get saved. Amen. That's God's promise. Psalm 126, verse 6. So don't be weary. Don't be weary. And the gospel will work and nothing else will work. Most people have just got enough religion to make them mad. But if you get saved, hallelujah, you can have a little joy and amen. Charles Darwin went to an island. and said the people were so uncivilized. He said they're more uncivilized than animals. He said they make sounds that not even animals make. And he went everywhere for the next 30 plus years saying that proved his theory of evolution. But he didn't realize that a missionary went to that island. And when Mr. Darwin revisited that island, Guess what? The gospel had come and people got civilized. Amen. And got saved. They got saved first. Then they got civilized and built churches and businesses. Amen. And Mr. Darwin was astonished at the power of the gospel to turn beast into a civilization. And that old heathen, Mr. Charles Darwin, made a contribution to the London Missionary Society. Amen. Jesus can change you, but nothing else can. Everything else will make you in worse shape than you already was. We'll confirm you as a sinner. So this parable is saying that there are four types of listeners. And some, thank God, will hit the ground running and grow and love and serve. Thank God, like some here today. It's worth it to sow the seed. It's worth it. It's worth it all for a few. It's worth it all for one. One little boy was quite unpromising. His Sunday school teacher said, I'm gonna give up on him. He's so much trouble, comes to church, leaves here with his clothes tore and dirty, and I'll just give up on little Robert. But Sunday school superintendent said, no, invite him again. You know his background. He needs to be saved. Don't give up. She invited him again. That little boy got saved, amen. God called him to preach, Robert. It was Robert Morrison, the man that translated the Bible into Chinese. Oh, it's worth it for one. You just never know what Jesus can do with that little boy. Amen. Just put Jesus in the equation. They said to a preacher one time, they said, don't you think you ought to quit? You only had one saved last year. Only one saved for the whole year. But that little boy grew up and called to preach and was also a missionary. Amen. Robert Moffat. And when he was in the presence of the king of England, the king took off his crown to that man. Amen. Just one. I know that last person you tried to help, I know they became an imposter, but you never know what God might do with that next one. Amen. They might be good ground. Amen. Kind of like the seeds in an apple. Our Lord talks about a hundredfold, thirtyfold, sixtyfold. Some are going to be thirtyfold, some are going to be sixtyfold, but thank God, some are going to be a hundredfold. Amen. Did you know anybody can count the seeds in an apple, but God can count the apples in a seed. Amen. Amen. God can look at a seed and say, that's going to be a tree and it's going to have a hundred apples. Amen. That's what God can do. Look around you. Every one of these youngins around here today, they're not all going to turn out to be hypocrites and backsliders. Hallelujah. Some of them is going to be such good Christians. It's going to make you and me look bad. Amen. God has a plan. It's a good plan. So which group are you in today? Which group are you in today? God sees our potential. I said to this man one time, I said, I'd like to invite you to church. He said, I ain't never been in my life, never been to church in my life. I said, good. He said, what? I said, yeah. I said, we won't have to unlearn you anything. Amen. So you can just start right where you are and learn it all right the first time. Hallelujah. Yeah. He came to church the next Sunday. So wanted to get saved. He got to our hour before everybody else. And he finally went home before anybody else got there. I said to him a few days later, where was you? He said, I was there. I said, man, you came too early. I mean, something's going on when you at that church an hour early. Huh? He came the next Sunday. It was Easter. He got saved. Amen. He wrote me a text the other day. I can't read it cause it's in Hebrew. Yeah. He got saved. Now he knows Greek. He knows Hebrew. He wrote me something one time in Greek. I don't know what it said. He's just common fellow. He was in French Foreign Legion. I ain't talking about no linguist. I'm talking about somebody that got saved and said, you know, the Bible's written in Greek and Hebrew. I believe I can study that. And he had. Give God some good ground and see what He can do with it. Just give God a chance. That's all I'm saying. Give God a chance. Give Him an honest heart and He'll do something for you and through you.