Hold Fast and Bear Fruit

Luke’s Theme of the Good News and the Kingdom of God

Father, we do come before you this morning asking that you'd grant us thy spirit and good measure to receive instruction that is sound from thy word. Father, lead us in the way that we should go and help us, Father, in this moment to lay aside every earthly care, every pleasure, every riches that may consume our minds and let us hold fast even now to the good word which is able to make us strong unto salvation.

We pray, Lord, that you'd help us to hold fast and to bear fruit according to your word and the good pleasure of your will. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, church, if you have not noticed yet, Luke's gospel has a theme.

And this theme shows up every so often in the narrative of Luke's gospel, primarily what we find in verse 1 of chapter 8 of Luke's gospel, where again it says,. And soon afterward he, that is Christ, went on through the cities and villages proclaiming and bringing, what?

Good news. Friends, I don't know about you, but I think we could all use some good news today, amen? Some of our lives are up and down. We have got troubles in our families, in our marriages, in our relationships, in our finances, school, work, in every aspect of life there's a challenge.

But in the midst of challenges, I want you to know this morning that there's good news. There's good news for me, there's good news for you. And Jesus is the bearer of good news. He and his ministry as he goes throughout Israel is bringing with him a message, a message of hope, a message of redemption, a message of reconciliation.

It is the message of the good news of the kingdom of God. If you're following along, this is what I want you to write, the theme of Luke is the good news. You can write that in the notes, that is in the bulletin, the insert in your bulletin.

Again Luke's gospel, Luke's narrative of the life of Jesus centers around this theme, the good news of the kingdom of God. In fact, a subtitle of this entire series in Luke can be summed up in that as well, that Luke's gospel is about the ushering in, the breaking in into the world of God's kingdom.

That God's kingdom is making an impact, making a debut through the life ministry of Jesus. Is again the central theme of Jesus' message is the kingdom of God. In Luke chapter eight, we see the groundwork for the kingdom as Jesus preaches and teaches it.

What have we seen thus far in the life and ministry of Jesus? Obviously we retell in the first two chapters the story of his birth, the narrative of his first advent. Then we have Jesus being tempted, being baptized, tempted in the wilderness.

He then goes forth out of the wilderness and he begins to preach the kingdom of God to those who are sick, to those who are poor, to those who are desperate. He begins also to heal the sick. He begins to raise the dead.

He begins to do the work of the kingdom. All the works of Christ are a microcosm of what he will eventually do in a grand scale. When he raises the dead and he heals the sick, it is a picture of what he will eventually do in the new world.

Yes, friends, there's a new world to look forward to. There's a new world in which there will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more sin. This all starts in the life, advent, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is the gospel, friends. This is the good news that God in his son and through his kingdom will establish a new day and a new dawn in this world. It's all through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There's a new day coming and there's good news coming because there's a kingdom that is breaking into the world. Did you know that you and I are subjects and members of this kingdom? So central is the kingdom of God to the ministry of Jesus Christ that it is the main thing that he speaks of.

If you do a survey of the New Testament, in particular of the gospels, you'll find that the three things, the subjects that Jesus preaches on most often will be first and foremost the kingdom of God. Sometimes he refers to it as the kingdom of heaven.

Second would be money, and the third would be the teaching on hell, on the afterlife. These are the three things that Jesus focused on, these subjects that he focused on so much in his ministry while he was on the earth.

It is, again, the main message of Luke's gospel and it's the main message of Jesus Christ himself. And notice what it says in Luke chapter 8, verse 1 and 2, again, soon afterward, he went on through the cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.

Women in the Ministry of Jesus and Complementarian Order

What is of note, what's of interest here is that Jesus, not only is he accompanied by his twelve, not only is he accompanied by men, but he is also being accompanied by women. Now, that might not sound strange to you, you 21st century folks who are accustomed to egalitarian society, but this is really earth-shattering stuff here, brothers and sisters.

The Messiah has come into the world. He's bringing good news, and it says, and the twelve were with him, the twelve apostles, the twelve men, but also accompanying Jesus were these women, and not just any women.

These are not women who were necessarily of great reputation. These are women who, like Mary Magdalene, had seven demons gone out of her and was delivered by Jesus. Again, someone who you may not anticipate to be around Jesus.

Yes, last week when we heard the word of God preached, we focused on the sinful woman that was forgiven when she approached Jesus at the table of the Pharisees, and she comes to him with gifts, with oil, with ointment, blessing Jesus, anointing his feet with oil, and the Lord Jesus forgives her of her sins, and tells her, your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace.

It is those people who are radical sinners, who have been radically transformed through this good news of the kingdom, are the ones that he is looking to use so that this message of the kingdom of God may advance even further to other sinners.

Jesus is in the business of saving sinners and using and transforming those very sinners as messengers of this good news, so that this good news isn't just a message that is preached by those who are of high piety, who are of a pharisaical class, who are exalted amongst all the other folks, but instead, no, this message is for the common people of the world, and it is to be proclaimed also by the common people of the world, by those who are sinners saved by grace, including women, men, children, all those whom the Lord God would call by his grace, and so God is in the business of using even the unlikely to proclaim the grandeur of his grace, so I want you to write this in the notes, women play an important part of the kingdom work of Jesus.

Now, I used that term earlier, it might send a shiver down your spine, egalitarianism, but we here are not egalitarian, we don't hold to an egalitarian view of the sexes, which means that we believe that we are equal in every way, but no, instead, we believe what the Bible teaches, that God has instituted in creation, not just in the family, but in creation itself, an order, and that order is that God made Adam first, and he made the woman from the side of man to be a complement, not that we are not equal as to our humanity, for the Bible teaches that both man and woman were equal created in God's image in Genesis chapter one and two, but what we also recognize is that there is a distinction in roles between the sexes, in today's society, in today's culture, the lines have been blurred, so that it is made to appear as if there are no lines, and yet, the Bible is clear, God's Word, God's wisdom reigns supreme over the culture, because the culture and its edicts and its beliefs and its values change like the shifting sands of a shoreline, and yet, what we have been called to is not that which shifts like the sand, but instead, that which is eternal and that which is what God has spoken to be true, and yet, even in a worldview, in a time and place like where Jesus was living and inhabiting, where women did not have a proper place in society, women's view and women's place in society in the time of Jesus was that women were not even adequate enough to give testimony in court, and Jesus comes in, and he elevates womankind to its rightful place, and so, a complementarian view of the sexes isn't to denigrate womankind, but instead, to elevate it to its proper place and put it in the place of honor that God has instituted for women, and where do women belong?

Women belong alongside men in this kingdom. This kingdom isn't only for men, it's for women also. It's for children also, and all those whom the Lord God calls, even those whom we have maybe even written off, men or women.

Jesus, again, tears down some of the societal prejudices against women by allowing women to learn and to walk with him as rabbi. Back in the time of Jesus, rabbis only called men, and only men could associate with the rabbis, but here you have the grand rabbi himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he calls even women to his side.

This is earth-shattering stuff. You're, again, accustomed to the way that we do things in society today, but look at the lens by which Jesus lived here. He calls even women into this radical call to be kingdom proclaimers, to preach this good news, to be witnesses of him to others.

This is a seismic shift in society. This is a seismic shift in the economy of God's kingdom. Jesus, again, is breaking down barriers, and Jesus even delivered some of these women from evil spirits so they can be used by the Holy Spirit for this work of the kingdom.

And it's interesting that it was women who also helped in supporting Jesus in his ministry, for it says in verse 3 that some of those who were the household manager, and Susanne and many others who provided for them out of their means, that means that the women were helping sustain the kingdom work of Jesus.

The women were giving of themselves, of their time, of their efforts, of their talents to sustain this kingdom work. Similarly, today we see it is many of the women in our church who give so sacrificially of themselves, of their time, of their efforts, of their cooking, of all the wonderful traits and blessings that they bring to this church.

And I want all the women in this church to know that you are greatly valued and loved by our Lord, and you're loved by the pastors of this church. You are of great value for the kingdom of God, amen? Men should say it even louder, amen?

That's right. Let our women know that they are loved and cherished and cared for. This is our duty, and we're so thankful to have a church, men, women, and children who come together for this purpose, to proclaim the excellencies of God's kingdom, that God's kingdom rules, and that this kingdom offers things that the world could never offer.

And that is even demonstrated in the way that there's peace amongst the sexes, amongst this people here, this church. In the world, it's so fragmented that you have men and women fighting against each other, arguing against each other for a place, for a place of honor, for a place of dignity.

Yet Christ is the one who gives us that place of honor, that place of dignity. Jesus is the one who grants us a proper view of the roles of gender, and so we can trust in Him. And He is the one who leads us in level ground, not like the shifting sands of the culture would change so often.

The Parable of the Sower and the Meaning of Hearing

Jesus, in the midst of inviting women into His kingdom work, He begins to preach this parable. And in chapter 8, verse 4, I want you to turn your attention to that. Notice what it says. It says, when a great crowd was gathering, and people from town after town came to Him, He said in a parable.

So first and foremost, let's set the stage, Christ with His 12, and with women also, tending to the ministry. As Jesus is gearing up, you see these crowds gathering before Him, and people from town after town after town are coming to hear what He has to say.

Now I'm a preacher. I've preached in many different settings, and if there's a buzz about the preacher, you know, that gets the preacher pretty excited. He starts to work hard on preaching a message, on working on a sermon that's going to be impactful, that's going to be clear, that it's going to be concise, that everyone will be able to understand and comprehend this to at least some degree.

And what does Jesus decide to do when He starts gathering the crowds? It says He begins to speak to them in a parable. Well, what is a parable? A parable is a story or a… uses story building in order to denote or to communicate ethics, teaching, morality, a message, but it's often used in connection with stories.

And parables are notorious for at times being difficult to comprehend or to understand. And so what does Jesus do? He begins to speak to these crowds in parables, and He says in verse 5, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on their foot.

The birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it, and it choked it.

And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. He said these things, and He called out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And to no surprise, in verse 9, when His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.

So you have even the 12, even His most closest associates, hearing Jesus after He's in front of this great crowd, and they begin to ask Him, so what are you talking about, Jesus? What's the meaning of what you just said?

Because clearly, they weren't getting it. And if the 12 were not getting it, then guess who else wasn't going to get it? The crowds that were gathered to Him. They certainly weren't going to understand what Jesus was talking about.

And so as a preacher, sometimes when I see Jesus do these things, I scratch my head. I'm like, it's not the sermon I would have preached. And it's so common even today, more so in other circles, that preachers are so quick to preach a message that is simple and that is sensitive.

Maybe you've heard of this before. There's a term for it, seeker sensitive. Preachers want to preach a seeker sensitive message because many of them believe that there are people out there in the pews who are seeking, and they want to be sensitive and give them a word that is palpable and that is easy for them to digest so they can get it and hopefully get saved and become a Christian.

And there's nothing wrong with that heart, but notice what Jesus does. He doesn't preach a message that is simple. Rather, He puts a shroud over it. He clouds it with a parable. Why? Why does Jesus do this, and what is this parable teaching us, and what is this parable all about?

Well, again, let's re-examine this parable for a quick moment. In verse 5, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

So, I want you to write this in the notes, in the parable of the sower. Some seeds fell and were trampled, and the birds devoured it. So, you have one class here. You have one sort of soil that is being used here, that is being pictured.

Again, the sower went out to sow seeds. The imagery here is that of essentially agriculture, farming. You have a farmer, a sower, who has his seeds, and as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.

Verse 6, and some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. Verse 7, and some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. I want you to write this in the notes.

Some fell on the rock and withered away, while others fell on the thorns and choked up. So again, we have these different soils, the seed that's interacting with the soil, and different results happening as a result of this.

But, in verse 8, and some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. As he said these things, he called out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. I want you to write this in the notes as well.

Some seed fell into good soil and yielded a hundredfold. Indeed, brothers and sisters, let he who has ears hear. Hearing means more than just listening in this context. You ever been in a conversation with someone, you're listening to them, but you're not really hearing them?

Usually it goes like this, you're usually nodding your head, uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah? No way. You know, you've had this conversation before, right? You're listening, but you're not really hearing. I'm ashamed to admit this as a pastor, I probably do this more often than I should, where I'm listening, but am I really hearing?

In this context, it's more than just listening. It's more than just hearing words come out of someone's mouth. Rather, there's an intention here. When Jesus says, let he who has ears, let him hear. Because everyone has ears to hear, but not everyone has a heart or a spirit that can truly hear the Word of God.

Truly then, in this context, we're to listen with spiritual understanding and with spiritual reception. What kind of soil will you fall into? What soil are you? And what does it mean exactly by this soil?

I want you to know, first and foremost, beloved, don't lose heart. Don't lose heart. If you find yourself in a season of being discouraged, regardless of the trials, I want you to hold fast to the promises of Christ today, so that you may know that there's a king and a kingdom that we belong to by faith, where we too can reap the blessing up to a hundredfold.

That's our inheritance as God's people, as children of the Word. But there is a mystery here to unpack. And Jesus unpacks that mystery for us when his disciples in verse 9 says, ask them what his parable meant.

He said, Jesus said this, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. But for others, they are imparable so that seeing, they may not see. And hearing, they may not understand.

Here's the secret. There is a secret to be known. Now, sometimes in the Christian church, we get a little bit nervous when we hear the term mystery. We're not talking about a mystery novel. We're not talking about a mystery like the Da Vinci Code, but rather we're talking about the secrets, the divine secrets of the kingdom of God.

Isn't it always exciting when someone gives you a secret and you hear something that you may have wondered about becomes revealed or manifested? And here, Christ is revealing the very secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

And this is what it is. He's saying for this purpose so that others who are hearing this in parables may see but not truly see, may hear but not truly receive. There's a purpose for this. That he who has ears, let him hear.

And here what's of great interest as well, beloved, is that Jesus says, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. God's secrets are not meant to be kept locked and hidden. They are meant to be made known unto God's people.

And so that which is once secret can now be manifested. And we see this language also used by the Apostle Paul. For instance, he speaks of the great mystery of godliness, that God, he, Christ, was manifested in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, proclaimed in the world, was received up in glory.

This divine mystery centers around the person and work of Christ. And here we have this revelation, this unveiling of the mystery of the kingdom of God. And he says in verse 11, now the parable is this, the seed is the Word of God.

The seed is the Word of God. And so the parable begins with the sower and the seeds, the seeds being the Word of God, and then you have soil that's accompanied by it. What does this reveal? What does this mean?

Verse 12, the ones along the path are those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. So let's take these things one at a time.

First and foremost, beloved, I want you to write this in the notes. The secret of the kingdom of God is that the seed is the Word of God. And the soil represents the condition of the hearer's heart. Notice the intentionality behind the imagery that Jesus is using here.

Without a seed, there is no potential for life. A seed is required for life to abound. Without a seed, there is no potential for life, no worldview or foundation apart from the Word of God can produce eternal life.

No foundation, no worldview, no secularism, no nation, no government, no religion apart from the Word of God can bring forth true and lasting spiritual life. Only the Word of God can produce that. Therefore, the Word must be central to our lives as Christians.

The Word of God is also not something abstract or theoretical. It is very real and literal and must be applied and proclaimed in the life of the believer. Now, if the Word of God is the only means to eternal life and bearing true spiritual fruit, then the world is damned without it.

Now, what responsibility then do we share as proclaimers of God's kingdom if we fail to share this very seed, this very Word which produces life? Because salvation comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

It's by the Word. So, beloved, know this. You bear responsibility in bringing this seed, this Word to the world that is so in desperate need of it. Remember what we see in the first opening verses of chapter 8, Christ proclaiming from village to village, town to town, the kingdom of God, men and women accompanying Him, also joining in with this proclamation work.

It is our responsibility. It is our duty to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, to proclaim the Word of God. And so, beloved, are you sharing this Word? You know, we're still a couple months away from Christmas, but you know why I love Christmas so much?

It's because it's one of the few times in the 12 months that we have in a year where you can walk into a secular shop and hear music exalting Christ sounding from the radio or from the sound system of a Walmart, for instance.

It's the only time of the year where you can hear these words, Christ is the Lord. What an opportunity we have during those times. But even now, even outside the holiday season, we have an opportunity to preach Christ as Lord.

The Word of God does not wait for seasons, but it is something that should be preached in season and out of season. It should be something that is on our lips and should be prepared. We should, as Christians, be prepared to preach and to teach in times that are convenient and even times which are not convenient.

It is our duty to preach this Word to a secular world. And God wants you to know the secret of eternal life. And do you know what the secret is? It's the Word of God. Want to know the secret of how to make disciples?

It's the Word of God. Want to know how to grow a church and see many saved and transformed? It's the Word of God. Want to learn and grow in your most precious faith in Jesus Christ? It's the Word of God.

Do you want to know the secret to a happy family life? It's the Word of God. Do you want to know the secret to a happy marriage? It's the Word of God. Do you want to know the secret to eternal life itself?

It's the Word of God. This is where you'll find life. It's the seed which produces life in the believer. So in this parable, the seed is the Word, and the soil represents types of hearts and the condition of the hearer's hearts.

And we see again in verses 12 to 14, the one along the path are those who have heard. These are the ones who have been choked up. Then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts so they may not believe and be saved.

Verse 13, the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, they receive it with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing, fall away. The soils represent, again, different types of heart conditions.

They're those who hear the Word, and it never takes root in any shape or form. They have heard it, and they have rejected it. They have no eternal life in them. Yet there are others, and this is where it kind of gets tricky as Christians, right?

We see people who hear the Word, and maybe you've seen this before in your life, in your ministry, in your church context, where you see someone hear the Gospel, and they receive it with gladness. They're like, yes, I want this.

I have seen this so many times, brothers and sisters. Someone hears the Word, and they know they're a sinner, they know they have a need of this, and they receive it seemingly with joy and gladness. And yet, whether it's a couple of days, weeks, months, maybe even years, what happens is that that initial joy doesn't materialize to true and lasting faith.

And that initial excitement of this new shiny object called Christianity begins to wear off, and that excitement turns into apathy, and that apathy leads to spiritual cutting off and death, because no roots have taken place.

I, as a person who has worked in various ministry contexts, I'm reminded in Edmonton, where I worked in Canada, in an addiction recovery program, so many of these guys were desperate for change in their lives, and they would come to us begging for help, saying, I'm an alcoholic, I'm a drug addict, I've lost my kids, I've lost my family, I've lost my house, I've lost everything.

Something has to give. And oftentimes when the gospel is presented, they receive it with gladness, only so that they can get cleaned up just long enough, and then four months, six months, a year later, return right back to the drugs and alcohol that so enslaved them.

Brothers and sisters, the true test of a Christian is not when we initially confess faith in Jesus, but it is when we, even under trial, even under stress, even under duress, we continue to proclaim him as our only Lord and Savior.

The true test of a Christian is not the one who walks down the aisle or raises a hand in a service, but rather it's the one who continually walks down the aisle, the one who continually raises the hand, who continually raises the banner for King Jesus, amen?

It's not that just we repent one time a long time ago, but that is that we are daily repenting and turning to Christ in our day-to-day life. That's the true mark of a Christian. That is the one who is like the one who has received the seed of the Word of God with good soil and reaps forth even a hundred full times in this life and also eternal life in the life to come.

This is how we know a true Christian, that when the going gets tough, that person endures under persecution. Many of you have been tried and tested, not once, not twice, but many times, and yet here you are still faithfully proclaiming the blessed Savior.

You see, the Christian life is not one devoid of hardship. It's not one devoid of difficulty, but it's in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of trial, we hold fast because Christ is first and foremost holding fast to you.

If you are in Him this morning, you can testify of His goodness. Even in times of great trial, He always promises to see you through the other end. And the fact that you're here today is a testimony and witness that Jesus is faithful in every way, amen?

He's faithful. He's brought you out of many trials, and many more trials He'll continue to deliver you because He's good. He's delivered you into good soil. And so, beloved, notice again what it says in verse 13.

The ones in the rock are those who, when they hear the word, are receivers of joy, but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing, fall away. The question arises, were these people ever saved?

The answer is no. These are people who have the appearance of salvation, the appearance of belief, and yet it is overtly recognizable that they, because they had no root in themselves, were never truly born again, regenerated in Christ.

Therefore, what a responsibility we have as members of this church when we hear the testimony of others, that we weigh it biblically, and that we weigh the person, we weigh the matter, as we grant an entrance into our church, into church membership, affirming their story of salvation, affirming their repentance and faith.

We have a responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ to even walk alongside each other in daily repentance because if not, when time of testing comes, many will fall away. Verse 14 says, and as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Here you have another segment of individuals, another soil type of individuals who hear the word of God, they receive it seemingly with joy and gladness, but instead what happens along the way is they get choked by the cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and that too happens so often in the Christian church, where you have individuals who give their life to Christ, they come to church, even members of a church, maybe even active, semi-active, but over time, the stress and the cares of this world becomes more of a priority than the kingdom of God, and here's the mark of the Christian, beloved.

The mark of a Christian is this, one who puts first the kingdom and its righteousness, so that all other things fall into place. God promises to care for all of our other needs, all of our other cares, should we put first the kingdom and its righteousness.

So beloved, guard your heart, examine yourself this morning before we come to this table. Examine your hearts to see truly whether you are in the faith, or do you not recognize this about yourselves, Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, he has taken root in your heart, he has planted that good seed of the word of God, unless, Paul says, indeed, you fail the test.

Here's the test for you today, to know whether you are in Christ, is whether Jesus lives in you, and you abide in him. That's the Christian, abiding in him, even in times of difficulty, even in times of great challenge, even in times of adversity, are you abiding in him?

Is he in you, and are you in him? This is the fruit of salvation. Jesus describes four kinds of hearts. Three, I want you to write this in the notes, do not produce fruit. Again, the evidence of salvation is fruit.

The majority of those who hear the gospel fall into the first three types of soils. Some hear it, but the devil swiftly comes and takes away the good word from their hearts and they become hardened or inoculated against the word of Christ, and therefore are not saved.

The ones on the rock hear and receive, yet they make a profession of faith, they even make a profession of faith in Christ, yet maybe when they prayed to receive Christ, but no root took place when trials and testings came quickly and they withered away.

For the seed that fell on the thorns are the ones who are so busy and wrapped up in day-to-day life, the cares of this world like their jobs, their businesses, their income, their children, extracurricular activities, relationships, that they never put God first and never bear fruit.

Be careful of this, and this is something I've seen in many churches. Even people who take great liberties on the Lord's Day to do extracurricular activities, and people who prioritize worldly things, even on the Lord's Day, these are things that should not be prioritized.

We need to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Things that would keep our hearts away from the Lord, particularly on the Lord's Day, are things that we should guard our hearts against, beloved. Similarly, as we see those with the good soil, in verse 15, ask for that in the good soil.

They are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. The good soil, beloved, I want you to write this in the last part of the notes, the good soil is those who hear the word of God and hold fast, and they hold fast to it with a good heart, and they're the ones who bear fruit with patience.

You see, the difference between a true born-again Christian and a professing Christian is that a born-again believer who received the word of God by faith is one who puts it into practice by living out the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.

This season in life, I want you to be reminded of this testing. Be reminded and called to your recollection and test yourself to see whether you are truly in the faith this morning. Examine yourself in the life that you live to see if you are doing the will of God by believing, receiving, and sharing God's seed, that is the word of God, with the world.

And by so doing, we bear good fruit, fruit that lasts, fruit unto the glory of God. Beloved, be of good cheer. The Lord loves you. The Lord cares for you. May you bear fruit with much patience. Let's pray.

Blessed Savior, we come before you acknowledging our fault and our sin, acknowledging our depravity before you, and we ask, Lord, that you would even now help us to search our hearts, that you, Lord, would search our hearts, our most inner thoughts, for you're the God who searches the heart, even the deep things of man.

And we pray, Lord, even as we come before this table, that we would do so with a sense of gravity, a sense of holiness, a sense of grandeur. As we know, yes, we are sinners, even rightly so, sinners in the hands of an angry God, but we are also sinners in the hands of a merciful Savior.

We thank you, Lord Jesus, for the work of redemption that you have accomplished, that through your life, your perfect obedience, by means of your death, your burial, and your resurrection from the dead, you have won for the people of God, for the elect of Christ, people from every tribe, nation, and tongue to be saved, be born again, regenerated into this most precious and holy faith.

And we have, even now, this hope of the glory of God in which we now rejoice and we stand with confidence before your throne of mercy. And even now, Lord, we beg the pardon of our sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, through his perfect obedience, and through his exaltation to the right hand of God the Father, where he now lives, interceding on our behalf as our great and mighty high priest.

Lord Jesus, send us even now the gift of thy Holy Spirit to ensure in us that which is pleasing in your sight. And Father, may you bring to repentance all those who are of the elect. And Father, may you also bring forth this message of good news to those who are so desperately in need of it, so that they may know that there is a Savior and he reigns.