Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter number 8, the Gospel of Luke chapter number 8. Find, if you would please, verse number 4. God's doing amazing things at Calvary Baptist Church, amazing things. We're gathering in the summer. Some people think that God can't do anything in the summertime. I'm amazed at what God's done this summer. Come back tonight. You'll see some of that next Sunday night as folk are following the Lord in believers' baptism, identifying their selves with Him. Verse number 4, the Bible said, Luke chapter 8, And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." You know what that means? That means there were some that they weren't going to hear. You know, every Sunday there are those who hear, and there are those who don't. Oh, they may hear the sound of my voice, but they never hear God speaking to them. God's speaking today. He is. I'm just a conduit, a channel, an instrument. I tell my preachers in my preaching class, we are God's megaphone. as God speaks into our lives from His Word. Look at verse 9, And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Why unto them? Because they were interested. that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Was God trying to hide the truth? No, He was opening up the truth. What He's saying is, you're going to see it because you're interested, you want it, but there are those that they see, but they're not going to see. They hear, but they're not going to understand. It's not that God doesn't want them to see or God doesn't want them to understand. He wants everybody to see. He wants everybody to understand. They are the uninterested. You remember He said, He that hath ears to hear. Those that want to hear God will hear Him. Those that don't, won't. That's why each and every week there are people that will walk into churches and they'll walk out unchanged. It's up to us. Look at verse number 11. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Let's pray. Lord, we love you today. We thank you for your word. I pray that we'll have ears to hear. Lord, that every person in this building this morning would want to hear what God, the God who created them, the God who sent his Son for them, The God who has written a book to them, a love letter, would want to hear, Lord, what You have to say. Father, I pray You'll guide my thoughts, my lips. Help me to speak Your truth, Lord, that You might speak through me to Your people. And Lord, that You would bring life change. For some, that would mean salvation today. For others, Lord, there would be other decisions made in their lives that would bring them in alignment with Your will to be who You would have them to be in this world. And Father, I'll thank You for what You do in our lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Everyone loves a good story. But no one told stories the way Jesus did. He's the Master Teacher. The world was His classroom. You read the stories of Jesus. He speaks of fields and seed and sowers and soils and birds and sheep and plants and flowers and bread and oxen and donkeys and coins and candlesticks, sons and servants. Multitudes stood in awe of the wondrous words that would fall from the lips of the Son of God. It's no wonder that when the leaders that hated Him sent officers, they sent those that would arrest Him, and they came back empty-handed, and they said, Where's He at? Why didn't you bring Him? And they had been held captive by His words, and they said, Never a man spake like This man. Nobody has ever spoken the way Jesus speaks. And nobody ever told stories the way Jesus told stories. Now Jesus didn't tell a story just to be telling a story. The Bible said He spake by a parable. That word parable means to place one thing by another, okay? It has the idea of take. It means to cast or throw alongside of. You take something and you place something else beside of it. And Jesus would tell a story to His listeners from the world around Him, like we talked about sheep and oxen, donkeys, coins, candlesticks, sons, servants, all of these different things. He would take something around them and tell a story. But He would also place alongside of it a truth that was from the world above them. Somebody said a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It was designed to drive truth home to the hearts of those who heard Him. God wants to drive His truth home in our hearts this morning. There are 35 recorded parables. Some 35 recorded parables are stories of Jesus in the Gospels. 24 of them are found in the Gospel of Luke. More than any other Gospel, Luke records his stories. 18 of them are unique to Luke's Gospel. We find that I believe we can say that these are the greatest stories ever told. What about you? I believe we can say that. That nobody told greater stories than Jesus did. Now here's what I want you to get. What I'm getting ready to share with you this morning is the most important story that Jesus ever told. He said so himself. He said, there's no more important story than the one I'm getting ready to tell you right now. It's called the parable of the sower, or some label it the parable of the soils. He said back in Mark, the parallel passage, we will turn there, verse 13. He was talking to his disciples as they said to him about what was this parable about, and here's what he said. He said, know you not this parable, do you not understand the story, the parable? How then, if you don't understand this one, How then will you know all parables? He's saying if you don't get this story, you're not going to get any of the rest of them. Can I help you to understand something this morning? If you don't get this truth, you won't get any of the other truths. It's foundational. This story is the key that unlocks all the other stories. God said, I want you to understand this story that you might understand all the other truths that I want you to understand. We're going to begin, first of all, by understanding this parable, and Jesus is going to talk about a seed. Notice, if you would please, in verse number 5. A sower went out to sow his seed. He tells us we wonder what is the seed. Well, we don't have to wonder very long because as you continue to read, we understand exactly what the seed is because the Lord tells us. Look down at verse number 11. Now the parable is this. Here's the story. is the Word of God. God is describing, the Lord Jesus is comparing His Word, the truths that He would speak to a seed. I want you to understand something this morning. It is a powerful seed. This is seed like no other seed. You know, a seed that you planted in the ground this summer in your garden, it is small, but it's powerful. When you put it beneath the soil, God the Creator has placed within that little seed the power to germinate, to spring forth, to make a plant, to bear fruit. Researchers tell us this, that inside each seed is a genetic code. That seed is planted, and within that genetic code, that seed is the potential of life. You plant a tomato seed, and within that tomato seed is the genetic code of tomato life. You plant a corn seed, and within that corn seed, as you plant it, is the genetic code of corn life, bean seed, pea seed, whatever seed it might be. Within it is a life-giving power. Can I tell you the same is true of the Word of God? The Bible says in Hebrews 4 and verse 12, for the Word of God is quick, it's living and powerful. Can I tell you there's no other book in the world that you can say of that a book, that it is a living book, that it is alive. Can I help you to understand today, this book is not a dead book, it is a living book and it can penetrate into the very heart of who we are. God said it's a discerner. It knows us of the thoughts and even the intents. The intents, the motivations and the intentions of the heart. It's the preserved, inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the living God. Inside of it is the genetic code of eternal life. The Gospel is life-giving seed. Billions are spent in our world to stay young. Billions. any kind of cream, lotion, whatever it is that we think that can keep us young. We want to hang on to it. We want to extend our life. Billions are made off of different little powder drinks, turnip drinks, beet drinks, this drink, that drink. You drink this drink and you're going to live a long time. I hope Mountain Dew makes you live a long time, because I sure like it. I don't know if it does or not, but I sure hope it does. I probably spent a small fortune drinking it. But I can tell you this, there's one place that you can go and live a long time, and it's called the Bible, that God can give you eternal life. Life that lasts forever. I may grow old in this life, but friend, there may come a day that I lay this body down, but I will not cease to exist. I'm going to live forever with God. The Bible said 1 Peter 1.23, being born again. I had a new birth 39 years ago. I'm 57, but really I'm only 39. Try that on for size. being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." When you receive Jesus Christ, when you receive the truth of the Gospel, there is within it a genetic code of eternal life. And dear friend, when you receive it, you live forever. It's living. It's eternal. It's productive seed. I hope we get through point one, don't you? When you come to this particular seed, it's the only seed that guarantees a harvest. You know, of all the seeds you plant this summer, not all of them come up. Some of them don't germinate. They don't give any life. But can I tell you, every time the Bible goes forth, it's a harvest. What do you mean by that, preacher? God says so. I want you to jot down Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55 verse number 10. In verse number 11, Here's what he said, For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, that means it doesn't go back, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. Yes, as the rain and snow comes down from heaven, waters the earth, enables that seed within that ground to germinate, give forth life. Listen to what he says. So shall my word be. Every time the Word of God is preached, taught, read, spoken, memorized, it's bringing forth harvests. God said, social my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me void. It's not going to fail. It shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. I'm here to tell you today, this book will never fail, and it will never fail you. It always brings a harvest. It's productive. You sow the gospel seed anywhere, any place, any climate, any culture. You sow it in the heart of Africa, in the depths of the regions of the Amazon, in the iced lands of the Arctic. It doesn't matter where you sow it. At some time, it will bring forth a harvest. There's people, you're sitting in this room because somebody sowed the good seed of the Word of God in your heart and you're saved today. Somebody sowed in your life. It's powerful. It's productive. It's precious. He that goeth forth, the Bible said, and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing you sheaves with him. Now, while that may not be a soul-winning verse, it's a different verse. I'll share it in our study of the Psalms when we get there. I believe it's an application. Whenever we sow the seed, any time we give God's truth, it is precious. Can I tell you there is nothing like this book? It is rare. It is of great worth or value. The most expensive, the most greatest treasure that you own today outside your relationship with Jesus Christ is a Bible. But yet we throw it in a corner. We treat it with disrespect. If you had a large diamond, in your house, and you set it out on the coffee table, you would do everything in your power not to break it. Right? Something of value. You don't own anything more valuable than this. You know, half the world doesn't have this. You have it. What do you do with it? It's precious. Do you know in the world of literature it's estimated that the lifespan of the average book is approximately five years? It lives and it dies, so to speak. It comes into being, it's printed, it's circulated, and then it sort of goes away. If a book lasts beyond five years, that means it's widely read and talked about beyond five years. It's considered a classic and is a remarkable work in the field of literature. You realize the Bible, on the other hand, is an ancient book. It's lasted over 2,000 years from its completion. Some of the books of the Bible date back 4,000 years. It is ancient, yet it's ageless. It is timeless, yet it's revelant. Its words are as powerful and pertinent today as when God first gave them. The books that men write are dead. But Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are Our life. It is a living book. It's powerful. It's productive. It's precious. It's the only book that can change our lives, our families, our future, our nation, our eternity. It's a book that can change the world. That's the seed. But I want you to notice there's a sower. Look back if you would please in verse number 5. A sower. See, seed does you no good in the barn. Seed does you no good in the sack. For seed to give life, it has to be sown. God doesn't expect us to keep the seed in the sack of our lives. He wants us to sow it. He's identified the seed. Now, who is the sower? Well, we're told in the parallel passage of Matthew 13 verse 37, He answered and said unto them, talking about the Lord, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the Lord's favorite title for Himself. It's a messianic title. It reminds us that Jesus is not just any man. He's the God-man. He's the Lord. And He identifies Himself as sowing. Jesus is telling His disciples that He's going about sowing truth. He's implanting truth like a farmer would seed in the hearts of people. I want you to see that. Look back at chapter 8 verse number 1. Look what the Bible says. And 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. Did you see that? So he's going about throughout every city and village preaching and showing glad tidings of the kingdom of God. He's sowing seed. By the way, if you've received the seed, you ought to sow the seed. Wouldn't we agree with that? Church, I'm just going to say this and move on to the next point because I want to finish the message. We can't reap if we don't sow. Sowing is just not on Wednesday night during care time. We ought to be sowing everywhere all the time. That means we need to continually. leaving tracks and handing them out, inviting people to church, taking opportunities to witness, and not just to witness, but also to encourage Christians with truth and to share the truth. Everywhere we go, every place we go, we ought to be sowing the seed of the Word of God. We can't reap if we don't sow. Some churches are lamenting that they're not reaping. The reason they're not reaping is because they quit sowing. Seed does no good in the sack. Let's move on quickly because this is the crux of the story. The soils. I haven't shared in the outline one thing you didn't know, most of you, because you've heard this before. But see, here's what the danger is. I've read this before. I've been saved for 50 years. I've heard the parable of the sower preached many, many times. That's not the point. Have you heard it? That's the point. Not that you can quote my outline because it's right there in the text. But have you heard it? Has God spoken to you and you heard it? Because that's what Jesus is getting ready to say to them. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. That means if you walk away today and God didn't speak to you, you weren't listening. Oh, you heard the echo of my voice, but you didn't hear God. The soil is the heart. We know that. There's going to be some responses, conditions of the soil. The problem is never the seed. The issue is the soil into which the seed falls. He's going to give four kinds of soil. He talks about it beginning in verse number 5. Yes, it's verse number 5. The wayside ground. Look what he says. And a sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trodden down. That means it was walked on and the fowls, the birds of the air devoured it. They snatched it up. The wayside is the hard beaten path. The fields in Jesus' day were wide open. They were not marked off by fences or ditches. Often there were thoroughfares or footpaths going through them where people walked, where animals walked. And as the sower scattered the seeds, some of that seed would by default fall on that hard-beaten, hard-packed, trampled-on path, and it would lay on the surface of the ground. And Jesus said, because it would not penetrate that ground, the birds would gather and they would snatch up those seeds. He's going to tell us exactly what that is. We don't have to guess. When we go over to verse number 12, He explains to us what it is. Look what He says. Those by the wayside are they that hear. They hear. They hear the echo. They hear the words. They hear the echo of a voice. But they don't understand. They don't take it in. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Let me just stop and address our church for a second. From the very first song, we're going somewhere on a Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. Preacher, where are we going? The invitation time. The invitation time doesn't mean the service is over. It doesn't mean pack up and go home. It means bow your head and start praying. It's not time to go to dinner. It's time to go to the Lord. Not time to zip my Bible. It's time to open my lips. and ask God to work. Much seed is snatched away because we in a hurry want to get out the door. Well, preacher, you don't know how long it gets out of the parking lot. Hang around a while and then you don't have to worry about it. I didn't come to get out. I came to get in. We're working for almost an hour for one moment when God is going to speak to hearts. And you can be the cause of the good seed of the Word of God snatched away by distraction. I know there's times that people have to get out and go to work. I understand that. I realize there's times we get sick. There's times that we're humans and we have to go to men's and ladies'. I get all that. Oh, but how we ought to be sensitive to the Spirit of God. God's at work. How do you know God's working, preacher? His Word went forth. That's how I know. Now let's come back to this. That was a sideline. Lest they should believe and be saved. Oh, that I distracted a heart that may be only heard one time, but they were distracted at the most crucial moment when God the Holy Spirit was drawing them, and the good seed of the Word of God was snatched out of the heart, and they go away and never hear again. And I was the cause. Do you think there might be some time that the Lord asks us about that moment? The wayside soil, the hard heart is the uninterested heart. It's hard. It's unresponsive. Matthew said they understood it not. They understood it not. It means that they didn't have the ability to understand. It means they didn't want to understand. Then cometh the devil, Jesus said, the wicked one, one of his emissaries. Do you know that birds are a picture of Satan when they're used in a negative sense? Not in every sense, but in a negative sense. In this instance, they're a picture of Satan. His name's Beelzebub. Death did fly. The Word is sown in hearts, and then the devil or one of his emissaries, like a bird, sweeps in and snatches the seed of the Word of God right out of a heart. Oh, they're moved, but they make no move. And they go out the door, and it's gone. They rejected the truth. The heart is hard, and the seed cannot penetrate. You know, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. There will be people on a given Sunday morning that will say no to Jesus Christ, and they'll harden their heart. Let me just say, the more times you say no to God, the easier it becomes to say no to God. Why don't you make today the day you'll say yes? Then he moves on from there, the wayside soil, to rocky or what's called stony places. Look at verse 6, "...and some fell upon a rock." And as soon as it was sprung up, he's talking about a path of rock, a section of rock, it's stony ground. As soon as it was sprung up it withered away because it lacked moisture. He tells us exactly what this rocky ground is over in verse 13. They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy. They like it. They're glad. These have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away. Now you need to tune in lest you misunderstand what this verse is saying. As the seed is sown, it will fall into some what would be considered rocky ground that would be covered by a thin layer of soil. Rocks hidden from view. Sounds like Pilot Mountain to me. They sow in my yard. There's more rocks than dirt. I didn't know this. I thought out of a gravel pit. I was going to open up, have trucks come in and start hauling gravel out. Just everywhere. The seeds would easily penetrate that shallow soil. They would be warmed by the rocks. It would quickly germinate, but there was no depth to the soil, no place for the young plant to become rooted. It has no root, Jesus said. The hot sun would scorch it and tender plant would wither away as quickly as it sprang up. Look what verse 13 says. They said they heard with joy. They were glad. But someone wrote, On no ground did the seed spring up faster or die quicker. Shallow hearer, no root. Are you rooted? Are you rooted? Are you rooted in the things of God? No, listen, listen. God never, God never does a surface work. God wants to do a deep work in our lives. He wants us to be rooted. We had a theme in our church a couple of years ago being rooted. They for a while believed in a time of temptation, trial, difficulty, hardship, or whatever. It doesn't mean that they suddenly stopped believing. It doesn't mean they lost their salvation. No, it means that after they were saved, they faced a time of adversity, or a struggle, or a hardship, or whatever it might be, and their faith wilted. They weren't rooted. They weren't rooted in God. They weren't rooted in Christ. They weren't rooted in His Word. They weren't rooted in His church. And they melted away and you never see them again. They fail to be fruitful for God. You say, preacher, what are those rocks? Those are the stubborn places, the stubborn areas of our lives that hinders God working in us and prevents us from bearing much fruit for God. How about that there's times that you and I have the rock or the stone of self-will in our lives. We want what we want rather than what God wants. I'm going to go my way rather than God's way. I'm going to do what makes me happy rather than what pleases God. Maybe it's unforgiveness or bitterness or anger or pride. Or maybe it's, and we come back and it's criticism. Maybe it's gossip. It could be anything. And our heart becomes hard. And we never grow in Christ. Or excuse me, our heart becomes rocky or stony grounded. And what happens, there's these stubborn areas of our lives. And the seed goes in and we like it. We hear it. It's a good sermon. But we never change. We never change. We never respond. You say, preacher, what's the answer to that rocky heart? Repentance. You say, oh God, I'm not rooted. Maybe you're in and out, up and down. Here you're in it and then you're gone. You're rocky. You've got rocky ground in your heart. In the Word of God, there's no root. And you need to be rooted. It takes some repentance to do that. God, I'm wrong. God, I confess it. Seek forgiveness. Thorny ground. Look at verse 7. I must hasten. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it. That means you couldn't see it when you sowed it. You ever notice that when you first plant your garden, it's just beautiful, clean dirt? But you know sooner you get the seed in the ground, it starts coming up the thorns and thistles. Oh Adam. If old Adam just hadn't ate of the tree, there wouldn't be any thorns and thistles in the ground. But then we might need to back up and say, oh me. Oh me. Here, look over at verse 14. And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. The thorns are the bramble bush, the briars, that chokes the tender plant and prevents a harvest. It's a crowded heart. It's a whirly heart. It chokes out. The world will choke out what God wants to do in your life. I want you to look at verse 14. This is so important. Middle part of the verse. When they have heard, they've heard it, they've understood it, they've received it, they go forth. It's the idea of a journey, of taking a journey. But instead of pursuing what God wants and going God's way, they go their own way. That's the picture here. It's journeying away from God rather than with God. He talks about what the thorns are. He names them. Cares, worldly pursuits, what the world has to offer. Riches. By the way, you don't have to be rich to want it. There's a whole lot of people that want riches that don't have it. That's why they're running to lottery tickets and they want to build casinos in North Carolina. Because they're finding some way to get rich rather than being content. God said contentment with godliness is great gain. God help you if you're living your life for a lottery ticket. God help you. You're not trusting God. You're not content with where God's placed you in life. You're pursuing something greater. Listen, if God wants you to get wealth, He'll enable it. Stuff. You know, that's what America is made for is stuff. That's what we vote for is stuff. That's what we spend our lives and neglect our families for is stuff. More stuff. Because stuff makes us feel good. But it never reaches into the depths of our heart and satisfies us. And the sad part of it is there's Christians just like the world living for stuff. And the pleasures of this life, what it has to offer, the happiness that the world gives, the pleasures that the world gives. The world's full of pleasures. But remember, it's only for a season. It doesn't last. They're living for the world around them rather than the world above them. so caught up and distracted by this world that when God's Word goes into the heart, they respond to it for a moment, but then they go forth, they leave, and instead of going God's way, they go their way. And listen, they bring no fruit to perfection. There's no maturity. They never blossom. They never bloom for God. They live their entire lives for self. And then if there's anything left at the end, they give God the leftovers. I just want to go on record, God doesn't want your leftovers. And God doesn't want my leftovers. He deserves the very best of our lives. Young people, you listen to the preacher. God, don't you live for you on the front end and give God the back end of your life. You're going to come up short every time. Oh, if I could record the testimonies of people in meetings that have come forward and gotten right with God in the waning years of life, in the sunset years of life, and say, oh preacher, if I'd have just lived for God early in life, I've wasted it all. Thank God for people who get saved in the midnight hour. Thank God for people that get saved at the end in the sunset years of life. Thank God for people that decide they're going to live for God. But what could have been in your life? What could have been? And then miss out on what God has. Because you were doing it your way. And you come up, and at the end of life, and you're empty and dissatisfied, and you feel like you've lived for nothing. God speaking are we hearing. You say, preacher, is there an answer for that? I'm glad there is. It's called Matthew 6.33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. God's no man's debtor. Many people have far more after they get saved than before they get saved because God, He just asked for some. The devil takes it all. The devil takes it all. I remember working at a place called Jiffy Packaging. We didn't make peanut butter. We made furniture pads. I lived in a furniture town. I'd been saved about a year. I'd been called to preach. I remember working with guys, and that night we'd get paid on Thursday. We only worked four and a half days a week. We'd get paid on Thursday. They'd come in on Friday morning broke, hanging over garbage cans. How was last night? It was wonderful. And then they would want to borrow money from me at break time because they didn't have any, they just got paid. Because they spent an all night long partying. Let me just tell you something. Somebody says, well, I can't afford to give to God. We talk about how we can't afford not to. Let me just remind you, God said, God owns it all, He's given you some. And He's asked for us to give some back to Him. But I'm going to tell you what, we gave the devil everything and never complained. But if the preacher says one thing about giving to God, I can't believe it's all about money at that church. God help us. Because it's not all about money. Very seldom do we even preach on the subject. Very seldom. But we should. Because Jesus is going to talk about it a whole lot in His stories. Because how I spend my money and my time says a whole lot about where my heart is. Because He said where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I don't know about you, but that really drives an error. We must hasten. We're going to go to the fourth soil and it's called good soil. Look what he says in verse number 8. And other fell on good ground and sprang up and bare fruit and hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried. I believe at this point the Lord really lifted His voice. He shouted. He wanted everybody to hear. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. You know what He's saying? That the most important thing that you will ever learn in life fell from His lips. It's His truth. We'll never hear anything more important than what God has to say to us. Isn't that right? Good ground. Look over at verse 15. But that on the good ground, that, talking about seed, on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it. and bring forth fruit with patience." Good ground. It's not like the hard or the rocky or the thorny ground. This is soft. It's fertile. It's receptive. It's capable of producing a harvest. God's looking for what we would understand as good ground or good soil here is those who are eager to receive the truth and then live it out in their lives. Let me explain to you. How do I know if I have good soil, preacher? I'm going to give you something real quickly and we'll be done. Number one, it's hungry. It's a hungry heart. good ground or a good ground heart, good soil is hungry. It receives it. That word heard in that verse is more than just I hear the voice. No, I understand it. But I don't just understand it, I receive it. It has the idea of being in tune with God. We want God to speak into our lives. We desire that. The point of the parable is not just telling, but hearing. Jesus said He that hath ears to hear. Look down at verse 18. Take heed therefore how ye hear. God said it's important to have a heart that's in tune with Me. Not just hear the truth, but receive it. Listen, there can be no life change apart from hearing and receiving the message that God has given us in His Word. You know what we're living in today? When more truth has been preached. You say, preacher, did anything good come out of COVID? Absolutely. There have been more gospel preached around the world on the internet and social media. More gospel preached around the world than ever before. But yet, there's less life change ever before. Why is that? The problem is not the seed. The Bible said there's coming a day when there'll be a famine, not of the Word of God, but of hearing the Word of God. I just don't have time for that. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. That means that anything preached from this pulpit in a right way from the Word of God should never offend us. Never. It should bring peace to our lives because we want it. Not only hungry, but receptive. They keep it. That's what Jesus said. Unlike the hard heart where it's snatched away, or the rocky soil where it wilts and withers, or the thorny ground where it's choked out. No, it secures it. It holds on to it. It makes it its own. The Bible said, James 1.21, Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. He's talking about the wickedness of the heart. And receive with meekness the engrafted Word, the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. soft, fertile, receptive, good ground. It allows the Word to go deep and bring change. It's not just a hungry heart. It's not just a receptive heart. It is a blessed heart. Look what He says in verse number 15. He said, None of the others brought forth any lasting fruit, but this one does. That's why the Bible says, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Jesus said, It's not the forgetful here, but the doer of the work that shall be blessed of God in His deed. That's where the blessing comes. And the blessed heart is the fruitful heart. We hear it. We receive it. We secure it. We let it get down in us and we live it. We let it bring life change. Hundredfold in our verse. That's the maximum potential of fruit bearing. Every Christian has the potential of bearing maximum fruit. to be all that God wants us to be, to live our lives in alignment with His will. And the Bible, I love this little phrase. Look at it, verse 15, we're almost done. Look what he says, with patience. That word means to go on. It has the idea of moving forward. It means to bear up under. It speaks of steadfast and constant and endurance. There's never a time in our lives as Christians where we stop bearing fruit. You say, Preacher, I've been saved forever. I've been saved for 50 years. I've been saved for 60 years. I've been saved for 7 years. Hey, the good news is you can still be bearing fruit for God. Never get to a point, Christian, even in the sunset years of our lives, that we can't bear fruit for Him. Maximum potential. But Jesus tells us, according to Mark, that there's actually three different categories there. 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. Luke just mentions maximum because that's what God wants from our lives. But there's 30-fold Christians, 60-fold Christians, 100-fold Christians. You know what he just said? How much fruit we produce in our lives is up to us. God doesn't determine the fruitfulness of our lives. We do. And everyone in this room is exactly who we want to be for God. That's why Hosea said this, so to yourselves in righteousness and reap in mercy. Break up the fallow ground. There's areas of my life that's rocky. There's areas of my life that's hard. There's areas of my life that's thorny and chokes out the Word of God. And I need to plow up the ground. For it's time to seek the Lord. till He come and reign righteousness upon you. You know what he's saying? I need to plow up those areas of my heart that's not soft and fertile and good and be ready to receive the blessing from God. That's what he's saying in this verse. But God doesn't plow it up. We plow it up. We have to deal with the rocks and the thorns and the hardness of our hearts. Oh, we do, so that our hearts can be soft and fertile and receptive, so that we hear, hey, it's the most important story that Jesus ever told, because none of the rest of the stories will make any impact in our lives if our hearts are not the right kind of soil to receive the truth and respond. How's your heart? How's your heart? Maybe you're here today You're not sure you're saved. You're not sure if you died you'd go to heaven. God's been dealing with your heart and you've been saying no to God. No to God. You know you need to be saved. Listen, listen, listen. The greatest lie of the devil is you have plenty of time. You don't know how much time you have. You don't know when the seed will be snatched away for the very last time because you never come in contact with the truth again. You don't know that you have tomorrow. You don't know. Don't let Satan swoop in and snitch the good seed. No, say yes to Jesus this morning. Come to Him. Oh, He wants to save you today. He does. And you know what? There's some, you're away from God, you're saved, but you know you haven't been living for God. You know it. And God's been dealing with your heart. And you've been holding on to the back of those chairs. And you've not been moving. You've not been responding. You know what? Christian, you have a hard heart. You have a hard heart. And you feel a moment of conviction, and you know you need to get right with God, and then you don't, and you go out those doors, and it's snatched away, and you go back living for self, and doing your thing, and maybe go out into the world, and God's saying, no, it's time to seek the Lord. Christian, Christian, how's your heart this morning? Is it hard? Are you been saying no to God? Is it rocky? You got stubborn areas of your life that God's been dealing with and you're not responding? Is it thorny? Are you so busy living for this life that you've crowded out what God wants to do in your life and the life of your family? He that hath ears to hear, Jesus said, let him hear. Let's bow our heads in prayer.