The Parable of the Sower, Pt. 2 (02/20/2000) | NOTE: Incomplete tape

Brother Jesse if people start falling off asleep turn the air on for me again.

I like that Story brother Otis told in Sunday school

About the preacher that was preaching and a man got up in the middle of it and walked out and the wife told the preacher

Later, don't worry. He's always walking to sleep So if it gets too warm brother

Jesse fire it back up and let's cool it off It's never the preaching. It's the temperature that puts people to sleep.

You have to know that Matthew chapter 13, we've been in this passage and we'll be here for a while.

We're studying a Few of the parables that our Lord taught especially ones that deal with wheat and tares good fish and bad fish and We had spoken from the

Old Testament about the mixed multitude and that brought us to this passage We'll give a little bit of review this morning.

Not a whole lot, but a little bit to to bring folks up to date why don't we look at Matthew 13 and let's look at the parable itself and follow along with me, please and I'm gonna read the first part of the chapter chapter 13 verse 1 the same day when

Jesus Went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside and great multitudes were gathered together and to him

So that he went into a ship and sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore And he spake many things unto them in parables

So this is we may not be getting everything written for us that he spoke that day because he spoke many many things

But he spoke in parables and they're gonna ask him in a few moments why he did that But he begins to teach one here and it says saying behold a sower went forth to sow and we pointed out last time that before we get into this parable and began to Ask God to teach us everything that he wants to teach us about it today

We need to understand how it starts. It begins with the fact that God exhorts all of us and We know in this place that it doesn't just mean the preachers.

It means everybody who belongs to the Lord to go out and sow

So mark that that's where the parable begins Behold a sower went forth to sow now the thing that is sown the seed that is sown is the

Word of God and You might ask who is the sower? Is this the

Holy Spirit? Is this God himself? I Think this is you and me

That's who I think the sower is because I've noticed in my lifetime I haven't seen God do much skywriting have you

I Haven't seen him put across in the sky. I am here believe in me

But you know what he has done. He has chosen Because of the purpose of his will to work in us and To to have us be part of his work, isn't that wonderful?

Have you ever thought of yourselves that way as Coworkers in God's work

That's what we are You say well, I haven't been called into the ministry, but if you've been saved you're co -workers in God's work

Now that's where we begin. The whole thing starts with this We're supposed to be sowing seeds everywhere

Everywhere we go and you're gonna see that this particular farmer was so Abundant with his seeds that he really didn't even watch too much where he threw him.

He was just throwing seeds everywhere He wanted to make sure he got enough seed out there and So that's where it starts

So our Lord makes it very clear that one of the key

Duties of us as his children is to be sowing the Word of God where we go

So it everywhere you go That doesn't mean you have to quote the Romans road to someone just because you run into him and in fact

I wouldn't advise doing it that way But I think what you should do is be sensitive to the fact

That God has you where you are for a purpose all the time There are no accidents.

Everybody agree with that All right. So the person that you rub shoulders with today and tomorrow is there because God placed them there beside you and That person is

Soil of some kind which we're going to study in a few moments God didn't ask you to figure out what kind he is.

In fact this person who is sowing these seeds Almost seems to be a little bit oblivious as to where he's sowing them

He's not trying to pick good soil or bad soil or better soil or best soil

He's not trying to avoid any of the soil He's just throwing the seeds out the Word of God putting the

Word of God out everywhere he goes You could do that anywhere you go Give a scriptural principle in the conversation

See what the person does with it watch their eyes watch their body language. Some of them will turn right around walk away from you

Sometimes they'll just change the subject to something totally different But sometimes they'll say well, what do you think that means

I've wondered about that too and then guess what you do Give him a lot of seed

So that's where we begin The sower went forth to sow Now verse 4 says and when he sowed some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth and Forthwith they sprung up and because they had no depth of earth

They came up quickly but when the Sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they withered away and Some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them

But other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit Some in hundredfold some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold who hath ears to hear

Let him hear now look at verse 10 The disciples asked him.

Why do you speak in parables? The disciples were very modern

They would at this point in their life anyway Have fit right in to American theology today because American theology says

Put it out there in such a way that that the world will understand it put it in their own language

Throw the seed out there and dress it up like they're dressed so that they can understand it and Be relevant is the key

You can go purchase books in the Christian bookstores about how to build a huge church

You can go pick up some books on how to have a huge following and the answer if you sum the book up and they try to put scriptures in there and make you think the

Bible teaches this but The answer is always be relevant Change everything in your service to fit what the baby boomers want and you can build a huge church

Find out what the theology of the day is get involved with it and do it better than everybody else is doing it

Well, the theology of today is the charismatic movement So let's get involved in that and we can build a huge church

The program of the day is to have less preaching and more plays and musicals in the church and we can fill up a building and build two or three more and These men are asking

Jesus, why don't you do it that way? Why don't you speak in the world's language

So the world can understand you so that they all can be saved well,

Jesus had a very unpopular answer and There was a point when he was having a similar discussion with his very own

Disciples and with some other folks and it says all the other folks walked away from him and he looked at his disciples and he said well you leave also and Peter as if to say well, we'd like to but He said we don't know where else to find the words of life.

So we'll stay I Mean that wasn't like saying. Oh, yeah, we're gonna stay with you I mean it was like barely

We're gonna stay because we think you have the words of life We didn't like too much what you just said either

It's kind of how Peter answered that and in every place where you see this happen to the

Lord It's because he has just spoken one truth that people don't like Because people like to think they're in control and that is he said they're not all gonna be saved

They are not And they're saying well don't say it that way Why do you speak in parables

So that it's not plain for them to understand look at his answer in verse 11 He answered and said unto them because it is given unto you to know

But to them it's not given Well, that's where he began

Now what's interesting is At least I believe he got their attention As he goes in and he talks about Passage in the

Old Testament the book of Isaiah that says the very thing in verse 13 Therefore speak

I to them in parables because they seeing See not and hearing they hear not neither.

Do they understand in any quotes Isaiah? It says there by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive

Well as he speaks of these two groups He says it is given unto you to understand but to them it is not

It's the them that he's referring to in verse 14 and that Isaiah referred to Whoever them is they're not going to get it there are reasons why they don't get it there are human reasons why they don't get it and There are divine reasons why they don't get it but Isaiah says when they hear and That's an interesting word because in the

Greek language the word here means simply to strike the ear So when the gospel strikes their ear

They do not understand and that's a Greek word Which means to hear with understanding and the word itself literally comes from two little

Greek words Which means to put it all together to be able to put it together and make sense out of it.

Oh, yes, they hear it But they can't put any sense to it It doesn't make any sense to them at all

And then Isaiah says and they see but they perceive not now that's interesting because the first word see means to strike the eye but perceive is

The same word that Jesus used in another verse where he's or the where the Bible says they that behold him

Shall be saved. It's to see with the understanding And so the language is interesting here, but he goes in in verse 4 to 4,

I'm sorry 15 That's kind of a mix between 13 14 and 15. Whatever. I just tried to say it says in verse 15 for this people's heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes

And I want you to circle the word they They have closed that brings in the human responsibility

They close their eyes And so therefore they could not perceive

Now Jesus brought this to the disciples attention before he began to teach them

What this parable really means? He says in verse 16 after all of verse 14 and 15 talking about these people who are in darkness

They cannot understand It has not been given to them to understand by the father number one, but number two, they have closed their eyes to it

But look how he closes these thoughts with verse 16 and this is where we ought to spend a day but blessed are your eyes for they see and Your ears for they hear and there's not one bit of congratulations

We can pat ourselves on the backs with in that verse All we can do is fall down on our faces and say blessed be

God. You have given me ears that hear I don't know why I know I didn't deserve it

I know there's nothing in me that does anything better than anyone else

There was no clean thing in me at all in my flesh. There is nothing that is good The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked who can know it.

That's The way I was and for some reason you opened my eyes and I beheld him.

I Didn't just seem I Beheld him. I didn't just hear about him.

I understood Because it was given to me now You have to understand the phrase it is not given where Jesus says it is

Given unto you or he says it is not given to them in the language

I don't know if you remember grammar very much from high school or junior high and even lower than that where they made us get in and tear the sentence apart put it back together again, but When a verb is

Passive it means you did not do the action It means some greater higher power than you did this to you

And that's exactly the word that we find when we say it is given unto you to understand these things

Blessed be his name You can't put a reason to why he did that for you other than he wanted to Now if you go into Deuteronomy chapter 7 and read verses 6 and 7 and 8

God gives you some of the reason you know, how people like talk about well

God chose people. He's got the elect And so God reached down and chose those who would be saved and there are others who say oh, no, he didn't do it that way

He looked out in time and he saw who would believe and he said well since you believe now, I choose you to be mine

You do you want to solve that argument Go into Deuteronomy 7 verses 6 7 and 8 and you'll find out that the choosing was not really a choice

Because it said he set his love upon you Before the foundation of the world and he told them why he didn't choose him

He said I did not choose you because you were the greatest But you were the least of the least

In the next verse he said I chose you because I loved you and it's past tense that love goes back as far as your mind can take it before anything was made and That love was set upon you.

You didn't do any have anything to do with it You weren't even here yet You were nothing more than a very

Crystal clear thought in the mind of God with a name and a personality and a life and He loved you and he knew you and he chose you on the basis of that love

Now fall on your faces and say where would I be if that light hadn't come on?

Where would I be? If my eyes had stayed as blind as they were because I remember them, don't you

I Can look at my wedding pictures and see a lost man's eyes

Why in the world my wife married me? I'll never know it was a foolish chance

But it worked out in God's hands Lost eyes

But they hadn't been that way for some years now. I Remember when

I hated the Word of God my grandmother would take me to church and me and Stevie Schultz Would go up into the attic the fourth floor of the

First Baptist Church building in Mahalia and explore She thought we were sitting on the back row with the other kids we were exploring there was an old black

Janitor that worked there and he'd chase us and that made it twice as fun he never once found us

I Hated the Word of God. I hated church Didn't want to be there when

I turned 24 years old. I was in my car on the way to work one day.

I Don't ever remember anyone witnessing to me other than my mom always telling me about Jesus and what he had done for me

But no one ever showed me the Romans Road But somehow some way in that car on Highway 84 between Waco and Mahalia God saved me and the light came on And since that day

I've put a lot of lines in this book. In fact, this is about the third one I was looking at the first one the other day

I had a preacher that made me stop using it because it wasn't the right version It was marked up worse than this one

I mean, I knew everywhere where everything was I knew what side of the page it was on He made me throw it out. So then

I got this one. This one is the right one but I Have loved the word since that moment why because it was given unto me

Nothing that I did nothing that you did you're not here this morning because you chose to be here

Not in the truest sense of that because I guarantee you where you would be if God hadn't touched you you'd be at the lake

Or shopping depending on if you're a man or a woman Or washing your car, isn't that a great one to do on Sunday morning

Do you ever drive to church you see people out washing your car and you just you say

Lord I Know I'd be doing that right now if you hadn't touched my life Thank you

Wow, that's what this passage is about But he goes on Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear

Now I want to go down to verse 18 and I think this is so wonderful picture yourselves here now here

He's taught this parable and all you know is he's talked about a farmer sowing seeds He talked about some seeds that fell on the hard pathways between the corn and the birds came and ate it immediately

He talked about some seeds that fell on some soil that had rocks under it So there was not much soil and the seed hit and it came up more easily

But it went away as soon as the Sun came out and scorched it and it died away because it had no root and he talked about some seed that fell on some soil that Seemingly was okay

But it was surrounded by thorns and the thorns choked the very life out of it in the

Word of God He didn't say that yet. I can get in the head of myself. All he knows is the thorns choked it.

I Shouldn't read ahead. I'm sorry But you did too so that's okay And then he talked about some that was thrown on some good soil.

Now the interesting thing about the good soil. Is it for fruit? Not all the same though Some 30 fold some 60 some 100 and that's all they knew now

They're sitting there and they don't have the the wonderful hindsight We have having read this having read the

Old Testament portions and studied through here and we have the word I mean, we've got the package We've got the eternal book and it's canonized and is finished and it has a front cover and a back cover and it's in our lap

And it's on the coffee table and it's in the car and it's everywhere and they didn't have that and Isn't it sweet and wonderful and a touching moment in verse 18 when he says?

Here you there for the parable. I'm gonna teach you what I meant when I said this Do you know that the

Lord will do that every day if you'll go in your study or wherever you want to go your closet and sit down with your

Bible and Give him some of your time And read a portion and say

Lord, what did you mean by this? Well, he may first go in and tell you what he didn't mean by it

But he'll come back and he'll say well, why don't you hear this and you'll learn something

So in verse 19, he begins to explain it and we've already covered quite a bit of this. We've talked about the

Part that hits the hard path and the bird comes and get it that represents Satan Coming and taking the very truth out of the mind of a person who it strikes their ear

But they do not let it get into their understanding or in their heart. They don't want to see it They close their eyes to it

Satan comes and plucks that away and we talked about the kind that was on the stony soil and If you remember

I'd like to I'd like you to review this a little bit Look at Mark chapter 4.

Let's go over and look at a couple of the parallel passages of this for a moment Mark chapter 4 verse 16 and these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground

Who when they had heard the word immediately received it and with gladness

We have to be so careful about trusting our eyes, don't we We'll have someone come into the church who just Gets very excited about the

Word of God very zealous They may have a very spiritual atmosphere about them as they walk around But It says they had no root in themselves

And so they endure for but a time and afterward when affliction or persecution comes because of the word they fall away

There are those kinds of people that's one of the soils and So, I think the

Lord gives us that so we won't be discouraged when it happens Don't be discouraged when someone pops up and they're zealous and they may give a glowing testimony of how they got saved and they may

Just act so excited for a week two weeks a month Maybe a little bit longer and all of a sudden you don't see him again

Don't be discouraged by that. Jesus said this is gonna happen. Why does it happen? Because they have no root in Isaiah 11 9 it says that the root is the root of Jesse.

That's the Lord Jesus They don't have the Lord Jesus in Proverbs 12 3. It says that this is the root of commitment

They don't have any commitment in their heart Did you know that the Greek word for faith the Greek word for believe on the

Lord? Jesus Christ is the word peace to all which means not the American English belief. It means to be committed to It's a much stronger word than our common use of belief

They didn't have this commitment and then in Proverbs 12 12 It talks about the fact that this root is the conveyor of the spiritual nutrients that causes the branch to bear the fruit

They don't have that and then in 2nd Kings 19 30, it says that this root represents the root of continuance

Yes, they may not bear fruit all the time, but they will bear fruit in their season It says in 2nd

Kings 19 30 and the remnant is escaped of the house of Judah Shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward

There were times when the nation of Israel were taken captive that pictures being captive to sin again

Perhaps for a moment for a season there were times when they were slaves again

But you know, what's true? They shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward they're gonna bear fruit again and But these people won't because they don't have the root of continuance now look at Luke chapter 8 verse 6

This is one we can easily miss especially if we're staying in the Matthew 13 passage or the one in Mark chapter 4

But in Luke chapter 8, it gives us the same story. It adds a little bit of information From the point of view of a different witness

Talks about the same group the kind that fell upon the rock and in Luke 8 6

It says and some fell upon a rock and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away Because it lacked moisture

Now why did it lack moisture didn't have the root? So it ties in with the other passages.

However, it adds some information. What does water picture in the Bible Ephesians 5 26?

The water of the word John 7 38 the water of the Holy Spirit in Revelation 22 17 the water of life

This person didn't have the root this seed that falls on the rocky soil. They may look excited.

They may talk Religious jargon, they may be more excited than half the people that have been saved for a long time

But they fall away because they have no root and they have no water Dr.

Criswell said this these have instant but only superficial reception when difficult

Circumstances arrives there is no real commitment and they fall away now this morning

I really wanted to ask you this question. Let's go back into Matthew 13 And I want you to look at verse 22

He also that received seed among thorns Is he that heareth the word

Now I might point out that that word here is the type that strikes the ear

They hear the sound waves and the care of this world and The deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful

But he that received seed into good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it

Which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some and hundredfold Some sixty and some thirty we're in verse 22 and I want to ask you the question.

What about this? Thorny soil is this person saved. Is this a person who is saved and then

Allows the things of the world to get involved in his life and it chokes the word or is this person lost

What think ye this morning? Either way you answer it you're gonna be among a group of good theologians

So, what do you think? Does anybody have a strong opinion on it?

If you don't don't you know, don't worry about it lost some people say All right

Are there any like me who for a long time believed that this was a saved person who just had stuff getting in his way

That's what I thought. I used to think that the first two soils were lost The second two were saved and the reason

I thought that is because I'm more often than not fit in the thorny soil category So I was using my experience to interpret this that's not really a safe way to interpret the scriptures

I will say this. I think sometimes a thorn will come up in good soil But I don't think that's what it's talking about in verse 22, let me give you some reasons

I will preface it with this though. I think primarily this parable is talking about fruitfulness not salvation

The primary teaching is why is a person fruitful or why is a person not fruitful?

But I do think there's some information here. That's interesting. Is this person saved? Well, let's look at the word choke here in verse 22 where it says the care of the world the seedfulness of riches choke the word

This word in the Greek language is a very strong word It has a little a little word at the front of the word that just is meant to add strength to the meaning of any

Word, it's the word soom s -u -m and it just adds strength to whatever the next part of the word is that's always the case in the

Greek language and so In soon ego is the is the word it means to choke and the little word in front of it soon means utterly

So it adds strength to the word and it means to utterly choke the word from this person

Now that gives you a little light. You might not get from the English, but that's what the word means Now notice where it says that he becometh unfruitful

I would have to say in the English that would tend to make me think that he used to be fruitful

Would you agree with that that it seems just to read that way? He used to be fruitful and then he becomes unfruitful because of whatever these things are that Jesus is gonna tell us about in a few

Moments, but let me just say this it could mean that but in the Greek language, it doesn't read that way as much

This word where it says becometh where it says he becometh unfruitful I'm looking at the word becometh

It's the word genome a e and 255 times in the

New Testament. It's translated simply into the word be to be Only 69 times is it translated in the word to be made to be and Then it tends to mean to come into existence or To be a certain way

So if you read this in the Greek language, you might tend to read it this way. The word is choked and It comes to pass that he is unfruitful

So it really doesn't say he becomes unfruitful and make you think well, maybe he used to be fruitful and now he's not it

Just says he's unfruitful in the Greek language the sense of it So That's the way

I would tend to to read it with the knowledge of the other scriptures around this that we have

I think it's saying that because of these things They choked the word from him and he is an unfruitful person

All right. Now in Luke chapter 8 verse 14 It adds a little more information

It says and that which fell among the thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and I want us to look at that phrase go forth and Are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection

And I want to look at that phrase. First of all the phrase go forth Means simply to continue on one's journey

Now it is an also an idiomatic expression That can mean to depart from life

It was used back in the Bible days if someone passed away, they say he went forth

So it carries that can carry that connotation So when it says that these people have the because of the cares of the world the riches and pleasures of this life

They go forth. It's almost like they just go on down their journey the same old journey.

They've been going down It's a journey of death, it's as if they're dead already

And it says they bring no fruit to perfection Now that's a little more clear than the one that says and they becometh unfruitful in the

English anyway But this says they bring no fruit to perfection Well to bring to perfection in this word means to ripen or Literally in the word meanings.

It means to carry to the point aimed at so you can picture a target and The target is missed in this case

So this person whoever this person is because of the thorns

He misses the target and the word is completely choked from him and he bears no fruit

Now that seems to me to give a strong leaning towards saying this person is not saved

Let me quote a couple of Bible expositors. One is Matthew Henry And he says about these four soils now remember there are four kinds of soil there's the hard path which we know that's a lost person because soon as the

Word of God strikes the ear Satan comes and plucks it out before they can even think about it And the second one is the stony soil where it falls on there and comes up quickly with gladness

But there's no root and no water that represents Jesus the Holy Spirit the Word of God That's a lost person and the third one is it falls in this soil where there are thorns and thistles and they wind around it

And choke it Completely choke it and then the fourth one is called good soil and it bears fruit different fruit

Everybody's different, but everybody bears fruit. Now. Here's what Matthew Henry said about those four soils

So it is with the hearts of men. So the soil is the heart of men. He says here represented by four sorts of ground of Which three are bad and but one good that kind of tells you what he thinks

There is but one in four that comes to good he says and then he says this many that are not openly

Scandalized so as to throw off their profession as they go on the Sony stony soil do yet have efficacy of Its secretly choked and stifled so that it comes to nothing

So he compares the two as if they're the same He just says one is obviously they just throw out their profession the stony soil

And the other one is the slower more subtle thing Where the efficacy or the power of the word is just choked from them.

He seems to lump them though in the same group J Vernon McGee, how many of you read his commentaries raise your hand?

I'd like to see that We'll pick pick them up sometime or ask someone to give them to you for Christmas because they're refreshing to read

And you'll see why he's refreshing he'll do one of two things he'll just leave it out of his book He doesn't know what it means.

He just doesn't put it in there But if he puts it in there, he has an opinion on it now read this with me

He says the devil got the wayside folk. I finally figured out where Bill Waller got this calling people folk

You know, I've heard folks but with Bill Waller. It's folk Well with J Vernon McGee is the same the devil got the wayside folk

That's the the hard path the bird that came and got the seed the flesh

Took care of the rocky ground folk but the world Chokes out the word of this class of hearers

So McGee parallels the world and the flesh and the devil our three enemies with the pathway the stony soil and the

Thorny soil and then he goes on and says these three Types of soil do not represent three types of believers dash

They are not believers at all So he he just tells you exactly what he thinks

I'm leaning that direction. I really believe that but I do think there are some things for for God's children to learn about these thorns

There's some more information in Matthew chapter 13 verse 23 I think if you take verse 22 and you contrast it with the next verse it gives you some light on verse 22

Because in verse 22 where it says this person hears it never says that he understands and if you remember back in the

Introduction of this story Jesus said they hear but they don't understand they see but they don't behold him

And in verse 22, it never says they understand it says they hear but when you go into verse 23

It seems to contrast that in fact It starts out with the word but as if to contrast this with all the other three

So it says but he that receiveth seed into the good ground is he that does to at least two things he hears and he

Understands he does many things and he bears fruit so It seems to contrast it

So I believe that the first three soils are talking about people who made profession at least two of those soils

They made professions of faith, but it wasn't a real salvation experience. And I think it behooves all of us

From time to time when we hear a teaching like this from the Word of God to examine our own salvation

Doesn't the Bible tell us to do that? Examine our salvation this morning. I mean could it be that we just sprung up quickly?

We're all excited, but we don't have any root this morning. We're trusting on our own works to save us

We're trusting some little prayer. We pray dear Jesus come of a heart and save me. Amen a religious activity

I got baptized when I was 12 years old. We're trusting on that to save us You know what?

There's no root in that and as soon as trouble comes It'll all go be thrown away

And then maybe we're a person who got really excited about the Lord But we notice that in our life we have absolutely zero victory over the over the temptations of this world

Over the allurements of this world that we find that the only thing our mind is own is just things this world has to offer

We better look again We better take another look at our salvation well the other soils

Allowed the gospel to hit the ear but not to penetrate the understanding of the heart

What do the thorns represent? Have you thought about that? These thorns that choke the word what did they represent?

Well in the Matthew section in Matthew chapter 13 verse 22 It gives us some information not all of it, but it gives some it mentions two things.

Look at verse 22 and He that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and The care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.

So there are two items that are represented by these thorns The care of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he the person

Becomes unfruitful and remembering the Greek languages. It says he is unfruitful now

I Want to stop and get on a little rabbit trail just for a second here If you were the disciples and you heard

Jesus tell the story and he says and he sowed some seeds In the ground and the thorns came up and choked the word from them and they bore no fruit

Could you have possibly understood that that had to do with the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches

How would you have known that Only if Jesus comes back and teaches you that that's what he meant by it

Do you understand how it's impossible to sit down and put the Word of God in front of you and just read it like a newspaper in the flesh and Get anything from it.

I Hate to say it because duty counts for something I mean we should get up every morning and read the

Bible, but if that's all we're doing we're learning nothing What where do we stand there this morning brothers and sisters is it a little dry lately are you doing it out of duty now?

Or is your heart warm when you open the Bible and you get into it and do you look up to Jesus and say now

What did you mean by that? I need more information Than just the ink on the paper

Quicken it bring it alive Jesus said my words their life and their spirit

Feed my spirit with your words That's the way to study the Bible Enough of that rabbit trail.

Let's look back at this. So we see two things number one the care of this world and Number two the deceitfulness of riches.

Why are those things that would choke the word from us? It's interesting that this word care where it talks about the care of the world is a

Greek word that means to part or to disunite or to distract

So the cares of the world are not necessarily sins were involved and they may be the day -to -day affairs of our life that we have to take care of because we're supposed to and Yet when we let those things distract us from the things of God Then they become like thorns and thistles that wrap around us and can in fact choke the word

It's interesting that in the book of Proverbs The Bible says in verse chapter 30 verse 9

Lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of God in vain

He's saying don't let me be rich Because I won't feel that I need you and I won't pay attention to you

And I will think that the money will take care of me that gets into the deceitfulness of riches but then he says don't let me be poor or I'll steal and take your name in vain and Isn't it interesting that Satan comes at both directions

The rich person he attacks him through the deceitfulness of riches. It's not the money that kills them

It's the lying of the money that gets them money will lie to you, you know It'll tell you hey,

I'll take care of everything All you need is me Put all your efforts into getting me and all your needs will be met and you don't need

God if you have me That's the deceitfulness of riches and yet on the other hand the poor person spends his time cursing

God because God didn't give him enough sometimes and Satan would tempt in that direction

So here we have the cares of the world now many times. It's true that a person who is very very poor

Thinks in his own heart that he has more cares of the world on his life than anyone else and in some cases he might

So the very poor person Has to deal with the cares of just existing

And that distracts him from the word and can choke it out of his life Now the other hand he mentions the deceitfulness of riches.

That's the other end of the spectrum. I don't have any cares I got all the money in the world. This person says

I can buy anything. I need including happiness and Money's lying to him, isn't it?

So Satan gets you on both ends of the spectrum. The Bible teaches here and those are two of the greatest

Thorns that can come up and choke the word now Turn with me to Luke chapter 8 and let's look at this passage a minute because it gives an added thorn

We have two and after we read Luke 8 14, we will have a third one and That which fell among the thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches now that lists the two we just studied but it adds a new one and Pleasures of this life and they bring no fruit to perfection

Pleasures of this life can choke the word Now I want you to be a little bit careful here, though Let me give you something to think about.

Do you think Jesus is teaching us not to have happiness in our families? Do you think he's teaching us to have no pleasure in our families with our children with our spouses?

Is he teaching us not to enjoy any of the things he placed in this world? I mean even after the curse

Don't you find some beautiful things in this world that God has placed out there for us to see is he saying take no pleasure?

Because it'll make you The word be choked No, not at all.

But sometimes we may have to go to the Greek language to see that It's interesting that this word for pleasures in the

Greek language is hey, don't a it's spell H -e -d -o -n -e if you'd said it in Texan, it would sound like he don't now what

English word does that sound like a Hedonist Jesus is teaching that if you are a hedonist

You will have the word choked from your life. Now. There's a difference between a hedonist and A godly family having joy and pleasure together in God's world

So don't let the legalists and the old fundamental Baptist get you so beaten down That you just look like this all the time

Have you ever seen a missionary or an evangelist come through that? Well God call me

I'm doing God's work, but it sure is painful And I am

NOT having fun And will not because to have fun would be sin And since you're having fun, and you're not a missionary and evangelist you're in sin, and that how you felt before Have you ever felt that that they that that was

Emanating from that person that person hadn't understood what Jesus is saying here, but I will tell you this a hedonistic life

An overemphasis on pleasures of this world will in fact choke the word Now we got to go one more place and then we'll go get some fried chicken here in a minute look at Mark chapter 4 verse 19 and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word and it becometh unfruitful, so now we have four

Thorns First of all, we have the cares of this world and we have the deceitfulness of riches

Then we have the pleasures of this life and now in Mark chapter 4 we have the lusts of other things entering in that just kind of throws in there and says or anything else or things that you get your eyes on in the

New Testament the definition of idolatry is lusting after things