1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:03,640 Hey. Good morning. If you have a Bible with you, open with me to 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:07,080 Matthew chapter 13. You can open up or unlock your device and 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,840 meet me there. We'll also have the words of Scripture on screen. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:19,120 We're going to read through Matthew 13:1 through 23. We read 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:24,600 Matthew 13. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,190 beside the sea, and great crowds gathered about him. So that 7 00:00:29,190 --> 00:00:32,830 he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on 8 00:00:32,830 --> 00:00:36,990 the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying, 9 00:00:36,990 --> 00:00:41,230 a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along 10 00:00:41,230 --> 00:00:45,190 the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell 11 00:00:45,190 --> 00:00:48,710 on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately 12 00:00:48,710 --> 00:00:51,830 they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun 13 00:00:51,830 --> 00:00:55,770 rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered 14 00:00:55,770 --> 00:00:59,730 away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and 15 00:00:59,730 --> 00:01:03,890 choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, 16 00:01:03,890 --> 00:01:09,210 some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears, let him 17 00:01:09,210 --> 00:01:13,770 hear. Then the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak 18 00:01:13,770 --> 00:01:17,810 to them in parables? And he answered them to you it has been 19 00:01:17,810 --> 00:01:20,450 given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. But to them 20 00:01:20,450 --> 00:01:23,730 it has not been given. For for to the one who has more will be given, 21 00:01:24,050 --> 00:01:27,290 and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even 22 00:01:27,290 --> 00:01:31,290 what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them 23 00:01:31,290 --> 00:01:34,970 in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they 24 00:01:34,970 --> 00:01:38,930 do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case 25 00:01:38,930 --> 00:01:42,610 the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, you will indeed 26 00:01:42,610 --> 00:01:46,170 hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never 27 00:01:46,170 --> 00:01:50,060 perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their 28 00:01:50,060 --> 00:01:53,860 ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest 29 00:01:53,860 --> 00:01:57,620 they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 30 00:01:57,620 --> 00:02:02,380 understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. 31 00:02:03,259 --> 00:02:08,580 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they 32 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:14,300 hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people 33 00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:18,030 long to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what 34 00:02:18,030 --> 00:02:22,190 you hear and did not hear it. Here then, the parable of the Sower. 35 00:02:22,190 --> 00:02:25,230 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand 36 00:02:25,230 --> 00:02:28,510 it, the evil One comes and snatches away what has been sown 37 00:02:28,590 --> 00:02:32,790 in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. And as for what 38 00:02:32,790 --> 00:02:36,030 was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and 39 00:02:36,030 --> 00:02:39,550 immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, 40 00:02:39,790 --> 00:02:43,910 but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises, 41 00:02:43,910 --> 00:02:48,640 he, on account of the Word, immediately he falls away. As for 42 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,720 what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word. 43 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:56,000 But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,440 the word, and it proves unfruitful as what was sown on good 45 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,160 soil. This is the one who hears the Word and understands it. 46 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,400 He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, 47 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:13,430 in another, 60, and in another 30. You pray with me in response 48 00:03:13,430 --> 00:03:18,270 to the word of God. King Jesus, we turn now to your Word. 49 00:03:18,270 --> 00:03:27,269 We know that you are the Word. Lord, we need more of you. Holy Spirit, 50 00:03:27,269 --> 00:03:31,190 would you be present in this place? Would you give us ears to 51 00:03:31,190 --> 00:03:35,550 hear, open our hearts and souls to receive and be changed by 52 00:03:35,550 --> 00:03:39,800 the Gospel? King Jesus, all scripture points to you. And we read 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:46,600 now your very words, the words of the King of the Universe preserved 54 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:51,560 for us 2000 years later. Would you be as clear in the teaching of 55 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,360 your Word today as you were when you spoke these words 2000 years 56 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:59,320 ago? King Jesus, I have nothing to offer your people other 57 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,090 than you. So would you be present in this time? Take control 58 00:04:04,090 --> 00:04:09,090 of this space. Guide us to you that, Lord, we could be fruitful 59 00:04:09,890 --> 00:04:13,450 as you have called us to be. We give this to you and pray these 60 00:04:13,450 --> 00:04:21,010 things in Jesus name. Amen. Matthew 7. You guys probably heard 61 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:24,010 this a few weeks ago. Jesus said this. He said so. Every healthy 62 00:04:24,010 --> 00:04:27,810 tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. Every 63 00:04:27,810 --> 00:04:30,930 tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into 64 00:04:30,930 --> 00:04:36,010 the fire. And thus you will recognize them by their fruit. By 65 00:04:36,010 --> 00:04:38,370 the way, if some scripture's not on screen, that's my fault, not 66 00:04:38,370 --> 00:04:42,250 their fault. Today I like to go all over the place. I was thinking 67 00:04:42,250 --> 00:04:45,530 about it as I got ready to teach today and it's good to be back 68 00:04:45,530 --> 00:04:48,650 with you. Like Jason said, my name is Charlie Houck. I have served 69 00:04:48,730 --> 00:04:52,130 as pastor and church planter of Mesa Church in San Diego, California 70 00:04:52,130 --> 00:04:54,850 for the last five years. See, some folks who were just there with 71 00:04:54,850 --> 00:04:57,210 me last week, which is awesome. And it's always good to 72 00:04:57,210 --> 00:04:59,930 be back with you every summer as I have the honor of delivering 73 00:04:59,930 --> 00:05:03,090 God's word. And honor I'm not worthy of. And I was thinking about 74 00:05:03,090 --> 00:05:05,770 my experience here last year. See, I was here before you a year 75 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:09,770 ago teaching and I preached a sermon. And honestly, it was a difficult 76 00:05:09,770 --> 00:05:12,890 message for me to preach. Cause I was a time in my life when 77 00:05:12,890 --> 00:05:17,290 I was wrestling with some big Questions, like truthfully big questions 78 00:05:17,290 --> 00:05:21,330 about fruitfulness. I'd been in San Diego for four years and I 79 00:05:21,330 --> 00:05:24,530 would kind of say the party line that every church planner says, 80 00:05:24,530 --> 00:05:27,490 like, hey, it's not about numbers, it's not about success, 81 00:05:27,570 --> 00:05:30,250 it's about faithfulness. But the truth is I was living a life 82 00:05:30,250 --> 00:05:33,630 as a pastor and church planter that, that felt a lot less successful 83 00:05:33,790 --> 00:05:38,710 than what I had imagined. We're struggling financially, struggling 84 00:05:38,710 --> 00:05:41,510 in my family, my family was hurting. Like, we just didn't have 85 00:05:41,510 --> 00:05:44,590 a lot of close friendships in our church. And outside of our church, 86 00:05:44,590 --> 00:05:47,310 I saw my kids struggle from loneliness. Like it was this weird 87 00:05:47,310 --> 00:05:50,150 thing where I have a 7 year old son and no matter what happens, 88 00:05:50,150 --> 00:05:52,390 our church seems to never have seven year olds. We've got middle 89 00:05:52,390 --> 00:05:54,750 schoolers and toddlers and he's just like left alone in the 90 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:57,790 church. And I was, I was struggling with that and I was looking 91 00:05:57,790 --> 00:06:00,230 at my life and I was remembering the words of Jesus about 92 00:06:00,230 --> 00:06:04,880 fruitfulness. And I was just feeling like I wasn't fruitful. And 93 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,160 there were things I was doing to try and be fruitful. I was playing 94 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,160 basketball like four days a week, trying to meet all these guys, 95 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,280 texting people, inviting people to church. And like nothing 96 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:19,120 was working. And there were good things that God would do. God 97 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,880 was growing our family. In fact, I have a picture of our family. 98 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,040 It may be the same one I shared last year. We don't have it 99 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,640 updated this year. But some of you know, like, God has blessed our 100 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,960 family and Sandy. We've been fruitful and multiplied. We've had 101 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,260 two beautiful babies. Our kids are seven, three and two now. God 102 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:34,980 grew my marriage to my lovely wife Audrey. She's in the picture, 103 00:06:34,980 --> 00:06:37,260 but she looks better in person too. She's right here in person if 104 00:06:37,260 --> 00:06:39,900 you want to see her afterwards. Like, not that she looks 105 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:41,980 bad in the photo. I realize that could be taken that way. So 106 00:06:41,980 --> 00:06:43,980 I'm putting my foot in my mouth. So it happens when I go a 107 00:06:43,980 --> 00:06:46,900 little off script. But I was struggling with these things and 108 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:50,340 feeling like, where is the fruit and the fruit in my life that 109 00:06:50,340 --> 00:06:52,580 I could see? It almost felt like I was trying to manufacture 110 00:06:52,580 --> 00:06:55,500 it. The thing about manufactured fruit is it tastes really 111 00:06:55,500 --> 00:06:57,900 bitter. And if you don't believe me, go eat the fake apple 112 00:06:58,180 --> 00:07:02,780 on your grandma's countertop. Fake fruit's no good. I was asking 113 00:07:02,780 --> 00:07:04,900 all of these questions and wrestling with them, and through 114 00:07:04,900 --> 00:07:08,340 all of this, there was kind of this underlying question that was 115 00:07:08,340 --> 00:07:11,740 just always out there. And it's one that I've truthfully wrestled 116 00:07:11,740 --> 00:07:14,780 with for the last year. And God began to answer some of my questions 117 00:07:14,780 --> 00:07:18,100 about fruitfulness. By the way, like, even though through basketball 118 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:20,420 I'd only made one friend, we'll call him Matthew. Cause I wasn't 119 00:07:20,420 --> 00:07:22,820 going to. I didn't tell him I was going to share a story, but I'd 120 00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:25,100 kind of built a little bit of a relationship with Matthew and done 121 00:07:25,100 --> 00:07:28,140 some ministry to him. And he's in a blended family, his wife was 122 00:07:28,140 --> 00:07:30,980 in the Navy. And like he would help us with our landscaping, I would 123 00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:33,980 give him some advice. And God showed me that part of the fruitfulness 124 00:07:33,980 --> 00:07:36,700 was in my family and I had adult siblings who were getting saved. 125 00:07:36,700 --> 00:07:38,940 And then part of the fruitfulness was in receiving missions 126 00:07:38,940 --> 00:07:41,220 teams and we would receive high schoolers and college students 127 00:07:41,300 --> 00:07:43,500 from field of church and partner with even college students 128 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,940 from Resonate church. And there were all these little answers 129 00:07:45,940 --> 00:07:48,580 to the fruitfulness question as I sought God and memorized John 130 00:07:48,580 --> 00:07:51,980 15 and looked to him. But even in that, there was still one question 131 00:07:51,980 --> 00:07:55,510 I'd never received an answer to. And it's one that I believe Jesus 132 00:07:55,510 --> 00:07:57,870 has given the answer to today through this passage. And it's simply 133 00:07:57,870 --> 00:08:00,790 this. I've asked this question, if Jesus. Sorry, if the 134 00:08:00,790 --> 00:08:07,030 gospel is true and Jesus is awesome, then how could the Christian 135 00:08:07,030 --> 00:08:13,630 life ever be miserable? If the gospel is true and Jesus is awesome, 136 00:08:14,190 --> 00:08:18,390 how could the Christian life ever be miserable? Because there 137 00:08:18,390 --> 00:08:21,550 were times in my walk, there were times in San Diego where I found 138 00:08:21,550 --> 00:08:25,790 myself dealing with deep misery. Now, don't hear me say the 139 00:08:25,790 --> 00:08:27,470 wrong thing here. I understand some of you are already thinking 140 00:08:27,470 --> 00:08:30,950 of the teachings of Paul and even of Jesus and the life of Jesus, 141 00:08:30,950 --> 00:08:34,310 that the Christian life can be sorrowful. It can be full of pain 142 00:08:34,310 --> 00:08:38,310 and loss and deep, deep sorrow. But in all of those things, 143 00:08:38,310 --> 00:08:41,830 we can experience joy in Jesus. Yet at least in my life, I 144 00:08:41,830 --> 00:08:44,390 don't believe joy and misery can exist in the same heart. And 145 00:08:44,390 --> 00:08:47,230 so I was asking this question, lord, why is this so hard? Why am 146 00:08:47,230 --> 00:08:53,430 I so miserable? And Lord, where is the fruit? And Jesus chose 147 00:08:53,430 --> 00:08:56,950 this week to at least in part answer this question from Matthew 148 00:08:56,950 --> 00:09:00,350 13. And so what he has shared with me and blessed me with, I would 149 00:09:00,350 --> 00:09:05,230 like now to share with you. So let's look to Matthew 13. Now, it 150 00:09:05,230 --> 00:09:08,550 began as many sections of Matthew begin with Jesus beginning 151 00:09:08,550 --> 00:09:11,430 to teach you. Read in Matthew 13 that the same day Jesus went out 152 00:09:11,430 --> 00:09:14,230 of the house and sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered 153 00:09:14,230 --> 00:09:16,750 about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down and the whole 154 00:09:16,750 --> 00:09:20,840 crowd stood on the beach and and he told them many things in parables. 155 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,840 So as is the case up to this point in Scripture, often in Matthew 156 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,440 we're seeing that Jesus draws a crowd. We've seen him do a lot 157 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,480 of teachings to these crowds. We've already had the Sermon on the 158 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,880 Mount and these great teachings, these really plain teachings 159 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,120 about the kingdom. We've seen in these last few chapters him begin 160 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,560 to grow and scale his ministry, sending the disciples out 161 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,160 on missionary preaching journeys, confronting wrong teachings 162 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,510 and declaring the kingdom. And then we saw last week in Matthew 163 00:09:45,510 --> 00:09:48,070 chapter 12, kind of wrapping that up, that he's reached a point 164 00:09:48,070 --> 00:09:50,790 in his ministry where now there's also resistance and there's 165 00:09:50,790 --> 00:09:53,470 questions being raised and there's people to whom the gospel 166 00:09:53,470 --> 00:09:56,630 has been preached clearly who are rejecting it. And there's questions 167 00:09:56,630 --> 00:09:59,510 even from people like John the Baptist and from his parents and 168 00:09:59,510 --> 00:10:02,630 from his disciples. And so in response to these questions and in 169 00:10:02,630 --> 00:10:05,470 response to the response of the people of Israel to his teachings, 170 00:10:05,710 --> 00:10:10,040 Jesus is now going to shift gears and begin to teach through 171 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,920 these stories called parables. Now, David Platt, much smarter pastor 172 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,080 than I, he's got a simple definition for a parable. A parable, 173 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,000 according to Platt, is a practical story, often framed as 174 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,680 a simile. So saying like, or as that illustrates spiritual truth. 175 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,120 A practical story that illustrates spiritual truth. You're 176 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,320 gonna see throughout this chapter, Jesus is gonna share several 177 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,000 stories. And what you gotta understand is that for their original 178 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,840 audience, so the first century listener is these were very practical, 179 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,920 hands on, they related to things that they do every day. So 180 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,680 we're going to read, we just read a parable of a sower, of someone 181 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:48,640 literally planting seeds that are hopefully going to grow into 182 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,960 grain and grow into crops. This is like if he were to say to 183 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,080 you, hey, a man went out to go to Target. This was something these 184 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:01,160 people did in everyday life. They were practical. We should always 185 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,800 try to listen from the hearer's perspective and look for 186 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,760 the main idea or main ideas that and any parable that we study. 187 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,280 And what's interesting is that this first parable we're gonna see 188 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,200 about today is actually kind of a parable about parables. And 189 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,160 it's explain why Jesus is doing this. And so instead of rereading 190 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,600 that first section of the parable, now what I want to do is 191 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,120 jump down to verse 10 and kind of hear Jesus's explanation of why 192 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,800 he's going to do this. So his disciples in verse 10, they've heard 193 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,080 him teach in a parable, and they say, why do you speak to them 194 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:33,850 in parables. Why are you using these stories? Jesus answers to you. 195 00:11:33,930 --> 00:11:37,330 To his disciples, it has been given to know the secrets of the 196 00:11:37,330 --> 00:11:40,010 kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Remember, 197 00:11:40,010 --> 00:11:43,010 friends, if you're here and you follow Jesus, if you know the 198 00:11:43,010 --> 00:11:45,170 secrets of the kingdom of heaven, if you've received the gospel, 199 00:11:45,170 --> 00:11:48,170 you should ask that question, like, how did you get so lucky? Like 200 00:11:48,170 --> 00:11:52,010 what? How do you know Jesus has given them to you? We can never 201 00:11:52,010 --> 00:11:54,330 deserve to know this. The disciples didn't deserve to know 202 00:11:54,330 --> 00:11:57,250 the secrets of the kingdom or to understand Jesus. Yet in his great 203 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,280 graciousness, he chose to open their hearts to him. He says, you 204 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,920 have been given to know these secrets. Verse 12. For to the one 205 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,800 who has more will be given, and he will have an abundance. From 206 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,680 the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is 207 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,120 kind of a microcosm or a statement of the future when it comes 208 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,120 to the kingdom. If you have received the kingdom, you're going 209 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:19,760 to get more of the kingdom. You're going to have the kingdom 210 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,480 for all of eternity with Jesus in a world made right, where everything 211 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,030 wrong has become untrue. But if you have not received the kingdom, 212 00:12:26,190 --> 00:12:29,110 even the very words of the kingdom and the possibility of the 213 00:12:29,110 --> 00:12:34,630 kingdom will be taken away from you. 13 this is why I speak 214 00:12:34,630 --> 00:12:37,830 to them in parables. Because seeing they do not see and hearing 215 00:12:37,830 --> 00:12:40,830 they do not hear. These people have heard Jesus clearly declare 216 00:12:40,830 --> 00:12:45,550 the truth, and yet they didn't get it, nor do they understand. Indeed, 217 00:12:45,550 --> 00:12:48,310 in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. And this was 218 00:12:48,310 --> 00:12:51,190 a statement in Isaiah of God's coming judgment. He said, you will 219 00:12:51,190 --> 00:12:55,590 indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, 220 00:12:55,750 --> 00:12:59,150 but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull and 221 00:12:59,150 --> 00:13:01,910 with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they 222 00:13:01,910 --> 00:13:04,110 have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with 223 00:13:04,110 --> 00:13:07,030 their ears and understand with their heart and turn. And I would 224 00:13:07,030 --> 00:13:10,030 heal them. Speaking to the disciples, speaking to those of us 225 00:13:10,030 --> 00:13:13,110 who are in the kingdom. But blessed are your eyes for they see, 226 00:13:13,110 --> 00:13:17,630 and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets 227 00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:20,930 and righteous people long to see what you see and do not see it, 228 00:13:20,930 --> 00:13:23,300 and. And to hear what you hear and do not hear it. Friends, I know 229 00:13:23,300 --> 00:13:25,900 if you're part of this church, you may love what is happening in 230 00:13:25,900 --> 00:13:29,620 this church, and I do. But even in addition to that, there are 231 00:13:29,620 --> 00:13:33,820 people who long to see what God is doing in churches, like Fielder 232 00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:37,740 Church, who long to see the kingdom come. And people of different 233 00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:40,820 cultures Gathered together at the throne, being able to worship 234 00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:43,900 freely. Jesus, like people, have longed for this. And if we are 235 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:47,260 in the kingdom, we have received it. And so Jesus gives us 236 00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:51,470 kind of these paradoxical answer for why he's teaching in parables 237 00:13:51,470 --> 00:13:53,350 so that those who have received and who have understand 238 00:13:53,590 --> 00:13:55,910 they're going to get deeper truth. So today, if you're here and 239 00:13:55,910 --> 00:13:59,590 you've received Jesus, this parable should take you into a deeper 240 00:13:59,590 --> 00:14:02,550 understanding of a spiritual truth. But if you have rejected him 241 00:14:03,910 --> 00:14:06,830 in hearing a parable, you run the risk of ending up even further 242 00:14:06,830 --> 00:14:11,510 away because you have hardened yourself to Jesus and he has no responsibility 243 00:14:12,070 --> 00:14:15,360 to soften you, even though, as you're going to see, he's always 244 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,080 willing to. So let's get back to that parable. The parable that 245 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,560 Jesus taught was really simple. He said, a sower went out 246 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,840 to sow. So this is someone who's going to plant crops. For most 247 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,280 of human history, most people ate what they planted. So the audience 248 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,160 listening, they know what it is to plant grain. In fact, in all 249 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,040 of human history, civilization kind of started when people began 250 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,280 planting crops. And it's only very recently that most of us have 251 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,800 eaten crops that others have planted. So a sower, a planter, went 252 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,960 out to plant grain, verse 4. And as he sowed, some seeds fell 253 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,760 along the path. Now this path, in their terms, they really had two 254 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,480 kinds of roads, hard packed dirt and Roman roads. They're probably 255 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,600 picturing his current audience, a hard packed dirt road. 256 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,880 You can imagine dirt that has been walked over for hundreds or 257 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,280 even thousands of years by generations of people to where that 258 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,680 dirt is packed as hard as concrete. This is like he's saying, 259 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,760 hey, some of these seeds fell in the middle of i20. And so they 260 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,320 didn't get into the ground. In fact, the birds came and devoured 261 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,120 them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much 262 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,440 soil, there's no depth. So immediately they sprang up. Since 263 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,960 they had no depth of soil, but the sun rose and they were scorched. 264 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,280 And since they had no root, they withered away. So whatever plant 265 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,960 grew from that seed, it is now dead. Now, other seeds fell among 266 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,920 thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell 267 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,610 on good soil and produce grain, some a hundredfold, some 60, 268 00:15:38,250 --> 00:15:43,810 some 30. He who has ears, let him hear. Now what follows, that 269 00:15:43,810 --> 00:15:46,810 is the explanation we just read of why Jesus is teaching in 270 00:15:46,810 --> 00:15:49,970 parables. And so in case it's not clear to you in a moment, when 271 00:15:49,970 --> 00:15:52,370 Jesus explains this parable, it's going to Be very obvious that 272 00:15:52,370 --> 00:15:57,490 Jesus in this story, he is the sower. He is the one planting the 273 00:15:57,490 --> 00:16:00,850 truth. He is the one sharing the good news of his kingdom, declaring 274 00:16:00,850 --> 00:16:03,690 it far and wide, casting seed, in fact, in a way that's kind of 275 00:16:03,690 --> 00:16:06,960 illogical. I like, why would you waste valuable grain on a path 276 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,480 where it's not gonna grow? Jesus is casting his gospel far and 277 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,760 wide, but the problem is not everyone's heart is ready to receive 278 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,040 it and be fruitful. Look down at verse 18. When Jesus explains 279 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,600 it. He says, hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone 280 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,120 hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil 281 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:33,680 one comes and snatches away what has been sown. And this is what 282 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,760 was sown along the path. Now, maybe you've had friends, or maybe 283 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,560 this is you. Maybe you've known someone who, when they receive 284 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,240 words of the kingdom, it's like you're speaking to a brick wall. 285 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,960 They might have struggles in their life. If you believe in Jesus, 286 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,840 you can believe they have a need for his gospel, but no matter 287 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:52,480 how much you share it, it's like you're speaking to a wall or 288 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:57,040 literally speaking to a road, and it's not responding at all. And 289 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,600 the gospel literally bounces off and they just forget about it. 290 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,120 And it's amazing. And I've seen God soften these people. And 291 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,760 what's amazing is even after they're softened years later and 292 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,120 they receive Christ, they still don't remember about all the 293 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:10,200 things they learned about Christ before because it just bounced 294 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,840 off. Because in their hardened state, their heart wasn't ready to 295 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,520 receive the seed of the gospel. And so they go on living 296 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,560 their hardened life, headed towards destruction. Read in verse 297 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,220 20 that as for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one 298 00:17:27,220 --> 00:17:30,300 who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 299 00:17:30,300 --> 00:17:32,900 So they receive the gospel, they're excited. They're all in for 300 00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:36,060 Jesus. They're fired up. Maybe they're volunteering everywhere. 301 00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:41,500 Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. And 302 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:43,500 when the tribulation or persecution. Remember he told in 303 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:46,780 the story that the sun came up and burned away the plant. When tribulation 304 00:17:46,780 --> 00:17:50,020 or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately 305 00:17:50,020 --> 00:17:53,780 he falls away. The gospel hadn't taken root, hadn't really 306 00:17:53,780 --> 00:17:57,050 changed their heart. And so when the sun came up and when it 307 00:17:57,050 --> 00:17:59,730 became difficult to follow Jesus, when following Jesus wasn't 308 00:17:59,730 --> 00:18:02,570 just something exciting that happened at a camp or happened on 309 00:18:02,570 --> 00:18:04,930 a Sunday morning or something, they wanted to be like because they 310 00:18:04,930 --> 00:18:07,050 loved the community and they loved the teaching when it actually 311 00:18:07,050 --> 00:18:11,050 began to cost them something, they didn't have the roots to pay 312 00:18:11,050 --> 00:18:14,930 that price. And so the seed of the gospel withered in their life, 313 00:18:15,730 --> 00:18:18,370 and they went back to their way of life before Jesus had ever 314 00:18:18,370 --> 00:18:22,130 sown his truth. And then there's the third soil. This is an 315 00:18:22,130 --> 00:18:27,420 interesting one. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the 316 00:18:27,420 --> 00:18:32,780 one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness 317 00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:37,740 of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful. So in this 318 00:18:37,740 --> 00:18:39,980 story, and people always ask, I was talking with Jason about this 319 00:18:39,980 --> 00:18:42,340 this morning, people always ask, like in this part of the story, 320 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:45,540 for this soil, the thorny soil, like, are these people Christians? 321 00:18:46,260 --> 00:18:50,090 Because it doesn't seem super clear, like, they've received the 322 00:18:50,090 --> 00:18:53,530 gospel. And apparently whatever. Whatever plant of the gospel 323 00:18:53,530 --> 00:18:55,730 is growing in the soul of their heart, it has enough roots 324 00:18:55,730 --> 00:18:59,330 that. That it exists, but it's being choked and being suffocated, 325 00:18:59,330 --> 00:19:03,090 and there's. There's cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches, 326 00:19:03,090 --> 00:19:06,370 literally, like, like idols and love for money and love for other 327 00:19:06,370 --> 00:19:09,290 things that are choking out the work of the gospel. So, so however 328 00:19:09,290 --> 00:19:12,650 much of the gospel is there, it is not multiplying. And you can 329 00:19:12,650 --> 00:19:15,650 find yourself, as I was wondering, Jesus, where is the fruit? 330 00:19:16,930 --> 00:19:20,610 And then we have the fourth soil, what everyone hopefully understands 331 00:19:20,690 --> 00:19:25,450 the soil of our heart, what we desire to be. Jesus says, as for 332 00:19:25,450 --> 00:19:29,370 what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word 333 00:19:29,370 --> 00:19:35,250 and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case 334 00:19:35,330 --> 00:19:41,050 a hundredfold, in another, 60 and another 30. Reading through the 335 00:19:41,050 --> 00:19:44,180 New Testament all the time, Jesus talks about fruit is part of 336 00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:47,420 the reason I had kind of this, this personal crisis last year was 337 00:19:47,420 --> 00:19:49,540 asking all these questions, because when you read through the 338 00:19:49,540 --> 00:19:52,060 New Testament, it becomes clear, like, Jesus actually, he really 339 00:19:52,060 --> 00:19:55,700 says, if you abide in him, that if. If the gospel has found 340 00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:59,340 root in your heart, like you are going to bear fruit. And with 341 00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:02,780 fruit comes joy, and with fruit comes this, this, this prosperity 342 00:20:02,780 --> 00:20:05,180 and multiplying in the kingdom, not prosperity, by earthly 343 00:20:05,180 --> 00:20:08,940 terms of prosperity and eternity and seeing the gospel move. 344 00:20:08,940 --> 00:20:12,220 And so I'm left with this question, Jesus, if all of this is 345 00:20:12,220 --> 00:20:16,180 true and the Gospel is true, and you're good and you're awesome, 346 00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:21,500 then why do I often feel miserable and fruitless? And in answer 347 00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:27,300 to that question, this week, Jesus brought me to verse 22 into 348 00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:31,380 the account of what it's like when the seed of the kingdom finds 349 00:20:31,380 --> 00:20:38,190 roots and grows in a heart that is full of thorns. See, I think 350 00:20:38,190 --> 00:20:41,510 when we ask the question, how could we be miserable while pursuing 351 00:20:41,510 --> 00:20:45,270 Jesus? How could we be miserable while going to church? 352 00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:47,870 How could we ever have received the gospel yet still be 353 00:20:47,870 --> 00:20:50,670 miserable? The answer, it's not Jesus. The answer is that there 354 00:20:50,670 --> 00:20:54,270 are other things in our heart that are competing with and fighting 355 00:20:54,270 --> 00:20:58,190 with and choking the root of the gospel. And we're caught in misery 356 00:20:58,190 --> 00:21:01,270 in between. Elsewhere in Matthew, Jesus, talking about this, 357 00:21:01,270 --> 00:21:04,750 said, no man can serve two masters, for you will hate one and 358 00:21:04,750 --> 00:21:08,950 love the other. That you can't serve both God and money. You'll 359 00:21:08,950 --> 00:21:11,430 be devoted to one and love the other. And the problem for us, and 360 00:21:11,430 --> 00:21:14,150 the problem for me all too often is that we've got a love hate 361 00:21:14,150 --> 00:21:17,310 relationship with our thorns. And there are things in our heart 362 00:21:17,310 --> 00:21:21,350 where our heart loves Jesus, yet our actions say we love our thorns. 363 00:21:21,750 --> 00:21:24,590 And then we might hate the thorns in our life and hate the things 364 00:21:24,590 --> 00:21:29,830 that are choking out the gospel, yet our actions say we actually 365 00:21:30,490 --> 00:21:34,770 hate Jesus and his kingdom because we're pursuing all sorts 366 00:21:34,770 --> 00:21:39,010 of things that choke out the very real work that Jesus wants to 367 00:21:39,010 --> 00:21:42,330 do in our heart. In fact, check this out. This word for choke. 368 00:21:42,490 --> 00:21:45,770 When Jesus says that the soil with thorns, that the thorns are 369 00:21:45,770 --> 00:21:49,010 choking out the seed of the gospel, it's the same Greek word 370 00:21:49,010 --> 00:21:51,850 that's used elsewhere for things like suffocate. In fact, there's 371 00:21:51,850 --> 00:21:54,810 a story in scripture where Jesus is so surrounded by a crowd, 372 00:21:54,970 --> 00:21:58,740 it's like a crowd crush. And he's so surrounded by people that 373 00:21:58,740 --> 00:22:05,780 he can't even breathe. He's beginning to get suffocated. Thorns 374 00:22:05,780 --> 00:22:10,660 choke out the gospel, where we can spend our life, our life as a 375 00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:15,100 suffocated Christian, wondering how we could know Jesus 376 00:22:15,100 --> 00:22:18,700 and still be miserable. Like, when's the last time you experienced 377 00:22:18,700 --> 00:22:21,820 choking or suffocation? Like, you really understood that? I was 378 00:22:21,820 --> 00:22:24,870 thinking about it this week. So I do CrossFit. I'm not gonna talk 379 00:22:24,870 --> 00:22:27,110 much about that, which I know breaks the rules of CrossFit, but 380 00:22:27,110 --> 00:22:30,430 I do CrossFit. And part of working out in CrossFit gyms is that 381 00:22:30,430 --> 00:22:33,670 it is inherently competitive. In fact, every week there's a leaderboard, 382 00:22:33,670 --> 00:22:35,910 and you can see every day, leaderboard, you can see how you 383 00:22:35,910 --> 00:22:39,030 performed in relation to the other hundreds of people that go 384 00:22:39,030 --> 00:22:41,510 to your gym. And I know what you're thinking, that's dangerous 385 00:22:41,510 --> 00:22:44,270 for my pride. I'll tell you two things. Number one, I very rarely 386 00:22:44,270 --> 00:22:46,190 enter the top of that leaderboard. And number two, Jesus 387 00:22:46,190 --> 00:22:48,990 has not yet convicted me about that area. Of pride. So back off 388 00:22:48,990 --> 00:22:52,650 and let Jesus handle it. But I've got this little brother, and 389 00:22:52,650 --> 00:22:55,010 he goes to cross it with me, and I say, little brother, actually, 390 00:22:55,170 --> 00:22:58,130 you talk about pride. When we started CrossFit, he was 50 pounds 391 00:22:58,130 --> 00:23:00,330 heavier than me. Now he's 50 pounds lighter than me. So that's 392 00:23:00,330 --> 00:23:02,930 done wonders for my pride. But he's a similar height to me, and 393 00:23:02,930 --> 00:23:05,610 so there's certain workouts that he'll see, and he'll say, man, 394 00:23:05,610 --> 00:23:08,370 this is made for us. So he texts me a couple weeks ago. He's 395 00:23:08,370 --> 00:23:10,730 like, hey, I know we don't usually go to class together, but 396 00:23:10,730 --> 00:23:12,970 today I want to go do this partner workout with you because 397 00:23:12,970 --> 00:23:15,650 I think you and I can win. Like, we can beat the entire gym. 398 00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:18,940 So I show up with him, and the workout seemed really simple. But 399 00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:22,580 put simply, we basically had to take turns rowing on a rower for, 400 00:23:22,580 --> 00:23:25,460 like, 20 minutes. And every so often, we have to go outside and 401 00:23:25,460 --> 00:23:27,820 walk 50 meters each. And so I'm looking at this workout, okay, 402 00:23:27,820 --> 00:23:30,180 we're going to kill ourselves on the rower, and then we get a nice 403 00:23:30,180 --> 00:23:34,580 outside walk to catch our breath. But there's one catch. While 404 00:23:34,580 --> 00:23:39,860 we were walking outside, we had to carry a sandbag. And turns 405 00:23:39,860 --> 00:23:45,030 out that sandbag, for our age and for our gender, was 150 pounds. 406 00:23:45,590 --> 00:23:47,750 So I did the first section of this workout. Several minutes go 407 00:23:47,750 --> 00:23:52,110 by. I get outside, I go and I go to pick up this sandbag, and I 408 00:23:52,110 --> 00:23:54,310 had to hold it this way. Someone asked me that in the first 409 00:23:54,310 --> 00:23:56,070 service. They said, hey, why didn't you hold it in an easier way? 410 00:23:56,070 --> 00:23:58,470 I said, no, they made us hold it this way. They wanted us to suffer. 411 00:23:58,790 --> 00:24:01,830 And so I pick up the sandbag, and I'm starting to walk. And I kid 412 00:24:01,830 --> 00:24:05,510 you not, the first few feet that I walk, I started to see stars, 413 00:24:06,070 --> 00:24:09,650 and I started to, like, get dizzy and lose my balance. And it 414 00:24:09,650 --> 00:24:13,610 became a struggle just to walk 50 meters carrying the sandbag. And 415 00:24:13,610 --> 00:24:17,130 then with every round, it got more and more difficult until finally 416 00:24:17,130 --> 00:24:19,250 the last round, we're finishing the workout. My younger 417 00:24:19,250 --> 00:24:21,810 brother's been carrying me through this thing. I'm, like, about 418 00:24:21,810 --> 00:24:24,450 to black out, and I get halfway through, and I literally 419 00:24:24,450 --> 00:24:28,090 could not walk 50 meters. I had to drop the sandbag and just 420 00:24:28,090 --> 00:24:31,570 sit there and catch my breath. I have never been so close to losing 421 00:24:31,570 --> 00:24:36,090 my lunch in the gym. And what's so amazing, as I looked at 422 00:24:36,090 --> 00:24:39,130 this workout and I thought, man, the rowings, the hard part. 423 00:24:39,130 --> 00:24:42,130 The walking's the easy part. And yet, when I was suffocating with 424 00:24:42,130 --> 00:24:47,610 that weight on my chest. The walking became the hard part. See, 425 00:24:47,610 --> 00:24:52,890 I think for so many of us, we might have met Jesus. The gospel 426 00:24:52,890 --> 00:24:55,850 might have some root in our heart, but we've got these thorns, 427 00:24:56,730 --> 00:25:00,410 and they're choking out the kingdom in our heart and in our life. 428 00:25:00,410 --> 00:25:04,050 And because of these thorns and the suffocation, the very basics 429 00:25:04,050 --> 00:25:09,010 of the Christian walk becomes the hard part. Because Jesus has 430 00:25:09,010 --> 00:25:16,250 a competitor in our soul, in our spirit, and in our heart. And 431 00:25:16,250 --> 00:25:20,810 we find ourselves miserable and suffering and choking our way 432 00:25:20,810 --> 00:25:25,170 through the Christian life, wondering, Jesus, why can I not be 433 00:25:25,650 --> 00:25:31,530 more fruitful? How could my heart become good soil? You know, 434 00:25:31,530 --> 00:25:33,970 I'm a really logical guy. I like to give checklists. I give my 435 00:25:33,970 --> 00:25:36,010 church way too many checklists. It's like a Pharisee, 436 00:25:36,010 --> 00:25:38,250 right? So I was thinking about this, getting ready to teach today, 437 00:25:38,490 --> 00:25:40,650 and I was struggling with how to teach this. Jason knows this. 438 00:25:40,650 --> 00:25:43,450 Like, I've struggled with even how to deliver this message today. 439 00:25:43,930 --> 00:25:46,970 Because when I present a problem and I present, like, what 440 00:25:46,970 --> 00:25:48,490 it is to be a miserable Christian, I just want to give an 441 00:25:48,490 --> 00:25:50,690 answer to that. Like, hey, do these five things and you can be 442 00:25:50,690 --> 00:25:54,410 happy. Like, 10 steps to never experience misery again. That's a 443 00:25:54,410 --> 00:25:56,610 great sermon. And maybe this one's not as good as that, right? 444 00:25:56,610 --> 00:25:59,040 But, like, I couldn't come up with a checklist. And I'm wrestling, 445 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,840 like, Jesus, okay? I see this truth. I see that we got all these 446 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,480 thorns in our soil, but what do we do about it? And what he's 447 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,360 revealed to me is that, you know what I try to do about it? I 448 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:11,280 try to pull the thorns out myself. Like, I look at my life and 449 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:16,960 I see these cares of the world. I see my pride. Like, guys, 450 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,080 I can be up here on stage and exhibit cares of the world because 451 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,920 I care more about how I look on camera or I care more about how 452 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,180 my clip sounds on Facebook and XA than I do when I rightly dividing 453 00:26:26,180 --> 00:26:29,300 the word of God or the deceitfulness of riches. For me, 454 00:26:29,300 --> 00:26:32,300 that I could care more about my family's financial future. The 455 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:34,740 fact that we don't own a home, the fact that I wonder, like, how 456 00:26:34,740 --> 00:26:37,020 are we gonna afford to raise all these kids in a place like San 457 00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:40,980 Diego? Like, I can be so caught up in these thorns, and I 458 00:26:40,980 --> 00:26:42,900 look at them and I see and I say, okay, I gotta get rid of this. 459 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:45,380 I gotta deal with this. I gotta get some roundup and get some. 460 00:26:45,380 --> 00:26:47,780 Some clippers and, like, get the thorns out of my heart so that 461 00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:52,020 I could do something for the kingdom. And this is how I approached 462 00:26:52,020 --> 00:26:54,500 my Christian walk. For years I was convinced, like, if I could just 463 00:26:54,500 --> 00:26:58,110 figure out the right habits to clean up my life, that meant then 464 00:26:58,110 --> 00:27:01,790 I could do something for God. Like maybe then I could be a pastor 465 00:27:01,790 --> 00:27:07,110 like Jason, right? And last year, as I'm asking these questions, 466 00:27:07,830 --> 00:27:11,510 Jesus brought me to John 15. And I spent six months with a guy 467 00:27:11,510 --> 00:27:15,710 that I disciple, memorizing John 15 and sitting in that passion. 468 00:27:15,710 --> 00:27:17,390 If you don't know that passage, that's the passage where 469 00:27:17,390 --> 00:27:20,830 Jesus says he is the vine and his father is the vine dresser, that 470 00:27:20,830 --> 00:27:23,630 we just have to abide in him, that whoever abides in me and I in 471 00:27:23,630 --> 00:27:26,410 him, it is he who bears much fruit. For apart from me, therefore 472 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,600 you can do nothing. And I just began doing little things to try 473 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,960 to abide in Jesus, like memorizing John 15, like writing 474 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,120 out scriptures already memorized, like literally just sitting 475 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:39,040 with Jesus and a cup of coffee saying, jesus, I don't know how to 476 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,200 be fruitful, but would you do something? Would you show me something? 477 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,200 And gradually, little by little over the year, he began to 478 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,360 show fruit in my life. He began to show me the fruit in the 479 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:52,280 life of my kids. I got the baptized my 7 year old son 2 months 480 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:56,230 ago. He showed me fruit in my extended family. I have a lot of 481 00:27:56,230 --> 00:27:59,630 adult siblings. Multiple of my siblings now follow Jesus in a way 482 00:27:59,630 --> 00:28:03,910 they did not before my family came to our church in San Diego a 483 00:28:03,910 --> 00:28:07,470 couple of years ago. He showed me fruit and these missions teams 484 00:28:07,470 --> 00:28:10,190 that we host from places like Fielder, and that by investing to 485 00:28:10,190 --> 00:28:13,030 send and high schoolers and college students and young adults, 486 00:28:13,190 --> 00:28:16,550 that he was using that investment to bear fruit in his kingdom 487 00:28:16,630 --> 00:28:19,240 in Texas and around the world. So he's showing me these trickles 488 00:28:19,470 --> 00:28:22,110 of fruit, but I'm still like, okay, God, that's great. But I see 489 00:28:22,110 --> 00:28:27,950 this like 30, 60, 100, like, isn't there more like, how do I let 490 00:28:27,950 --> 00:28:30,510 go of these thorns? In fact, I'll catch myself remembering that 491 00:28:30,510 --> 00:28:32,630 day I carried that sandbag. And maybe this is like you, maybe 492 00:28:32,630 --> 00:28:35,830 you're suffocating today because of thorns that are choking 493 00:28:35,830 --> 00:28:40,310 up your heart. I found myself saying, like, I wish it was as easy 494 00:28:40,310 --> 00:28:46,080 to drop the thorns in my heart as it was to drop that sandbag. And 495 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:52,800 then I hear Jesus, still small voice, saying, maybe it is the same 496 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:57,280 God who spoke, same God that spoke through Jesus. Like, Jesus 497 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,080 is God and God the Father spoke through the prophets. And in 498 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,240 Ezekiel, we read this incredible prophecy spoken to his 499 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,960 people at a time when his people are far from Him. When God's 500 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,600 people had hard in their heart, when the people of Israel 501 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,920 had thorny hearts and the truth of the kingdom was nowhere 502 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:18,200 to be found. We read this in Ezekiel, chapter 36. God speaks to 503 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,280 his people and says, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit 504 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,119 I will put within you and I will remove your heart of stone from 505 00:29:27,119 --> 00:29:33,960 your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. See, I began to dwell 506 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,560 on verses like this. I didn't really change how I went about being 507 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,960 a pastor, but I just said God, like Jesus, I just want to experience 508 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,320 your fruit. And the older I get, the more I realize it's not 509 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,700 about me. I'm not a very impressive pastor. I'm not a very 510 00:29:45,700 --> 00:29:48,380 impressive speaker. I don't actually dress as cool as I think 511 00:29:48,380 --> 00:29:50,820 I dress. I'm not as good, like, I'm not good at anything as 512 00:29:50,820 --> 00:29:54,580 I think I am. But Jesus is great. I said, jesus, would you move? 513 00:29:55,220 --> 00:29:57,780 And little by little, he started to move. I told you, I spent 514 00:29:57,780 --> 00:30:00,820 three years playing basketball. Just like I say, I had 515 00:30:00,820 --> 00:30:03,060 an outreach, like I was meeting people. Nothing came of it. 516 00:30:03,220 --> 00:30:06,300 And then last year, I had made one friend in three years and he 517 00:30:06,300 --> 00:30:09,380 was like, vaguely, he's one of these guys. Like, vaguely, he liked 518 00:30:09,380 --> 00:30:12,370 the idea of God. And he was married to a Navy nurse. And they 519 00:30:12,370 --> 00:30:15,250 had a blended family. Six kids, two teenage sons that were 520 00:30:15,250 --> 00:30:17,690 hers and not his, who he had a lot of difficulty with, and then 521 00:30:17,690 --> 00:30:20,930 four little kids. And gradually over the year, my family 522 00:30:20,930 --> 00:30:23,770 became friends with his family and my kids became friends with his 523 00:30:23,770 --> 00:30:26,170 kids to the point that, like, whenever he would show up to a church 524 00:30:26,170 --> 00:30:28,170 event, which wasn't much, his kids would ask, hey, are we coming 525 00:30:28,170 --> 00:30:30,850 over to your house? And it became this sweet little relationship. 526 00:30:30,850 --> 00:30:34,490 And it became more than that when a couple of months ago, Field 527 00:30:34,490 --> 00:30:37,090 of Church sent a high school team to do a soccer clinic. And so 528 00:30:37,090 --> 00:30:39,170 part of that fruitfulness and these high schools are ministering 529 00:30:39,170 --> 00:30:42,800 to kids in our community. And that week my son had gotten baptized. 530 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,880 And the seven year old daughter of my buddy Matthew comes 531 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,000 and says she wants to get baptized and she wants to follow 532 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,760 Jesus. And so he tries to get her baptized that day. And I say, 533 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,280 hey man, that's awesome. Like, we have a class for this. We want 534 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,600 to talk with you about what it means and how you can be baptized. 535 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:57,840 And then he comes back a couple weeks later. He's like, yeah, 536 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,840 I don't want her baptized because I've never been. I don't 537 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,960 know about this. Like, should my whole family do it? Or not. Like, 538 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,680 how do we do this? And then we find out this family, this beautiful, 539 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,220 like, sweet military family, is getting unlawfully evicted. And 540 00:31:09,220 --> 00:31:11,940 it just happened that the day they were being unlawfully evicted 541 00:31:11,940 --> 00:31:15,220 or the day they had to move was the same day that Resonate Church 542 00:31:15,220 --> 00:31:18,180 from the Pacific Northwest had asked me if they could serve our 543 00:31:18,180 --> 00:31:21,460 church. And so we got to show up with, like, 30 college students 544 00:31:21,460 --> 00:31:25,380 and move this family across town and their two teenage sons. 545 00:31:25,380 --> 00:31:27,820 My buddy's two teenage stepsons were so impressed with this 546 00:31:27,820 --> 00:31:30,740 and by these college students that they showed up to our youth 547 00:31:30,740 --> 00:31:34,140 group that Friday night. And that Friday night, they got saved. 548 00:31:34,630 --> 00:31:36,910 And then when they asked to get baptized, my buddy Matthew came 549 00:31:36,910 --> 00:31:40,950 to me about baptism, and he got saved. And last Sunday, I got 550 00:31:40,950 --> 00:31:47,030 to see my son's new friends that we prayed for, celebrating death 551 00:31:47,030 --> 00:31:51,430 to life in their family as I baptized the father and both of his 552 00:31:51,830 --> 00:31:59,470 stepsons at the beach with, like, 50 college students from Resonate 553 00:31:59,470 --> 00:32:01,830 and Mesa Church. And. And we're just selling. And I'm seeing, 554 00:32:01,830 --> 00:32:04,870 like, all these different areas where I was trying to manufacture 555 00:32:04,870 --> 00:32:09,070 fruit, and Jesus and his goodness wove it all together and 556 00:32:09,070 --> 00:32:15,070 crafted a story that I could never invent so that someday in my 557 00:32:15,070 --> 00:32:20,110 life, I could see the fruit of the Kingdom go forward 30 fold or 558 00:32:20,110 --> 00:32:26,870 60 fold or a hundredfold. And it wasn't anything that I did. It 559 00:32:26,870 --> 00:32:31,150 was simply abiding in Jesus and allowing him to be the gardener. 560 00:32:31,550 --> 00:32:35,230 See, in so many ways, the parable of the sower is just a parable 561 00:32:35,230 --> 00:32:39,830 of the gospel. Like, we are stuck in our sins. We're stuck in 562 00:32:39,830 --> 00:32:43,390 our hardened soil and our rocks and our thorns, and there's 563 00:32:43,390 --> 00:32:46,270 nothing that can save us. And we don't even have agency. Like, 564 00:32:46,270 --> 00:32:49,790 we cannot become a plant when we're dirt. That's not power that 565 00:32:49,790 --> 00:32:53,000 we have. And yet Jesus does not stay away from us. He draws dirt 566 00:32:53,150 --> 00:32:56,790 near to us, and he comes close to us, and he shares the truth with 567 00:32:56,790 --> 00:32:59,590 us. And he makes good on that truth at the end of Matthew when 568 00:32:59,590 --> 00:33:03,190 he goes to the cross to pay the price for all those sins that 569 00:33:03,190 --> 00:33:06,590 got us so messed up in the first place. Like the sins, both 570 00:33:06,590 --> 00:33:09,550 your sins and others that led you to being hardened. The sins, 571 00:33:09,550 --> 00:33:12,710 both sins you've committed and sins committed against you that led 572 00:33:12,710 --> 00:33:15,230 to you having some rocks in your soil, the sins of your heart 573 00:33:15,230 --> 00:33:17,590 and the sins of others that led to you having these thorns in 574 00:33:17,590 --> 00:33:20,820 your soil suffocating you. And Jesus goes and pays the price for 575 00:33:20,820 --> 00:33:27,340 all of it. And then he comes back and he says, I'm not done because 576 00:33:27,340 --> 00:33:30,700 I've got others I want to share this truth with. I was thinking 577 00:33:30,700 --> 00:33:33,940 of Peter this week. I relate so much to Peter. Issues of pride. 578 00:33:34,260 --> 00:33:36,540 One moment he's swinging a sword, cutting off someone's ear 579 00:33:36,540 --> 00:33:39,740 for Jesus. The next moment, he's denying Jesus three times. Do 580 00:33:39,740 --> 00:33:42,380 you know how Peter came back to Jesus and how his soul became 581 00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:46,080 fruitful? It wasn't anything he did. Jesus drew near to him and 582 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:52,160 restored him that through his tears, Peter could be made fruitful 583 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,400 friends. I want that for you this morning. I want that for you. 584 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,360 You know, I haven't done much planting in my life. I'm not much 585 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,120 of a gardener. This story is a little foreign for me, but I got 586 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,400 to do just a little bit of it. A couple years ago, we got to put 587 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,680 in this beautiful soccer field at our church. And some of you were 588 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,800 part of that. Some folks from Mesa helped to pay for it. We had 589 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,080 a volunteer team build in. Part of putting in a soccer field 590 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,870 for our community to do, to enjoy was building a retaining wall. 591 00:34:16,870 --> 00:34:18,950 And on top of the retaining wall, there was this little flower 592 00:34:18,950 --> 00:34:22,030 bed. And I had a buddy who's a church planter but used to be a landscaper, 593 00:34:22,030 --> 00:34:24,750 and he helped me plan out this flower bed. He had all these beautiful 594 00:34:24,750 --> 00:34:27,390 plants that smelled nice and looked great and would survive in 595 00:34:27,390 --> 00:34:30,630 the desert in California. But we made one really big mistake. See, 596 00:34:30,630 --> 00:34:34,190 as we got close to finishing the retaining wall, we ran out of 597 00:34:34,190 --> 00:34:38,230 soil. And so we had to reuse the topsoil we had removed from the 598 00:34:38,230 --> 00:34:41,470 grass when we first started constructing the soccer field in 599 00:34:41,470 --> 00:34:44,250 order to finish off this retaining wall. And we planted all 600 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:45,930 these beautiful lamps. My friend told me. He said, charlie, 601 00:34:45,930 --> 00:34:48,970 I gotta tell you, I saw that soil before it was removed, and it's 602 00:34:48,970 --> 00:34:52,210 full of weeds and it's full of crabgrass. So you can plant whatever 603 00:34:52,210 --> 00:34:54,330 you want on top of this retaining wall. What you're actually 604 00:34:54,330 --> 00:34:57,890 gonna get is weeds and crabgrass. I said, okay, well, can 605 00:34:57,890 --> 00:34:59,970 we change? Like, is there anything we could plant that would 606 00:34:59,970 --> 00:35:02,490 be stronger than the weeds and stronger than the crabgrass? And 607 00:35:02,490 --> 00:35:05,570 he laughed at me, and he said, brother, nothing is stronger than 608 00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:08,050 crabgrass. That's what you're gonna get. And you know what? He 609 00:35:08,050 --> 00:35:10,290 was right. And six months later, all those beautiful plants 610 00:35:10,290 --> 00:35:13,170 were overgrown with crabgrass. We literally had to rip it all out 611 00:35:13,170 --> 00:35:16,380 and take out all the dirt and. And put down new soil and landscaping 612 00:35:16,380 --> 00:35:19,180 paper just to get the garden the way we wanted it to look. And 613 00:35:19,180 --> 00:35:23,380 look, here's why I share that with you. I don't know the state 614 00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:27,740 of your heart this morning. I don't know if you're in here and 615 00:35:27,740 --> 00:35:32,380 you identify with the hardened soil and you're realizing, hey, I've 616 00:35:32,380 --> 00:35:34,940 heard Jesus over and over and over again, but it's never taken 617 00:35:34,940 --> 00:35:37,540 root. Like, is it hopeless for me? Friends, I got to tell you, if 618 00:35:37,540 --> 00:35:40,770 you're asking that question, the answer is no. Because if you're 619 00:35:40,770 --> 00:35:45,530 asking that question, Jesus is speaking to you and drawing you to 620 00:35:45,530 --> 00:35:48,410 something this morning. Drawing you to a decision to allow 621 00:35:48,410 --> 00:35:52,730 him to soften the soil of your heart, that your eternity could be 622 00:35:52,730 --> 00:35:55,969 changed. Maybe you've got rocky soil. Maybe you've been in 623 00:35:55,969 --> 00:35:58,650 and out of church, you've been excited for Jesus, you've been baptized 624 00:35:58,650 --> 00:36:01,130 in the past, and it didn't go the way you wanted it. You fell away. 625 00:36:01,370 --> 00:36:04,330 And you're like, was it ever real? Like, where am I at? Can I 626 00:36:04,330 --> 00:36:07,080 really? Like, I'm embarrassed to come back. And Jesus is saying, 627 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,360 no, I love you so much that I'm gonna come sow that seed of the 628 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,640 gospel again, and I'll come take the rocks out of your heart 629 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:17,160 so that the roots of my gospel can go deep into you and change you 630 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,960 and give you a purpose in the kingdom. Or maybe you're like I so 631 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,000 often am, and you find yourself even questioning if you 632 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,520 follow Jesus. Cause your heart is so thorny and you find yourself 633 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,240 suffocating and struggling. And just the walking is the hard 634 00:36:30,240 --> 00:36:33,390 part. Because there's so many competing things in your heart. And 635 00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:35,950 you're saying, what do I even do about this? And I'm even afraid. 636 00:36:35,950 --> 00:36:38,230 I'm embarrassed to come forward because I don't want to admit 637 00:36:38,230 --> 00:36:40,750 this because I lead a small group or I preach sermons, I do whatever. 638 00:36:40,750 --> 00:36:43,630 And I just want to tell you, like, Jesus wants you to come lay 639 00:36:43,630 --> 00:36:46,950 it down today. When I asked Jesus why can't letting go of these 640 00:36:46,950 --> 00:36:49,470 thorns be as easy as dropping the sandbag? He gave me an image 641 00:36:49,470 --> 00:36:53,550 that today there would be those in this room that could drop 642 00:36:53,550 --> 00:36:57,750 their thorns at this altar, that could meet with someone to pray 643 00:36:58,370 --> 00:37:01,650 that Jesus would give them a fresh heart, would pull the thorns 644 00:37:01,650 --> 00:37:04,490 out, that they could bear fruit. Friends, I don't know what 645 00:37:04,490 --> 00:37:08,250 your heart is full of when it comes to the seeds in your heart. 646 00:37:08,250 --> 00:37:13,690 Let me tell you, nothing can out compete Jesus. In a moment, I'm 647 00:37:13,690 --> 00:37:16,450 gonna pray. Music's gonna begin. There's gonna be pastors down 648 00:37:16,450 --> 00:37:20,090 front. I wanna encourage you to respond in this moment. If you're 649 00:37:20,090 --> 00:37:23,290 here and you've never before responded to the gospel you've never 650 00:37:23,290 --> 00:37:25,610 received, the kingdom you've rejected. This is a moment you could 651 00:37:25,610 --> 00:37:28,960 choose to lay down your arms and repent and. And receive the kingdom 652 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,920 and have your heart softened and your eternity changed. If you're 653 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,760 one of those who's had a. Had a heart that's rocky or thorny, there's 654 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,480 been cares and concerns of the world that have distracted you from 655 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:41,040 Jesus. You can come and drop those cares and concerns right here 656 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:45,080 at the altar. If there's sin in your heart and desire for riches 657 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,200 that you know you're holding onto and you've tried to fix it, 658 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:49,640 no matter how hard you try, it never goes away. You could let go 659 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,960 of it today. Like, what would it look like if everyone in this 660 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:58,040 room bore fruit 30, 60, 100 times? It would look like the world 661 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:03,360 changing. Like I told you, I have nothing more to offer you than 662 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,480 the message of Jesus. But the message is this, that Jesus is enough 663 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,960 and Jesus is greater than whatever is holding your heart captive. 664 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,840 Let's pray and then respond. King Jesus, I thank you for the chance 665 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,640 to share your word. We thank you for the truth of your gospel. 666 00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:23,700 We thank you that you are enough. For those hearts you've softened. 667 00:38:23,700 --> 00:38:25,860 For those of us that you've given us a heart of flesh and taken 668 00:38:25,860 --> 00:38:29,180 away our heart of stone, we thank you, Lord. We rejoice it has 669 00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:32,020 been given to us to know the kingdom. And our earnest desire and 670 00:38:32,020 --> 00:38:34,620 plea is that it will be given to others. That for those in this 671 00:38:34,620 --> 00:38:36,940 room, for those watching online, that for anyone who has not 672 00:38:36,940 --> 00:38:40,260 received your kingdom, that this could be the moment they could 673 00:38:40,260 --> 00:38:43,580 respond in obedience. They could repent of their sins and be 674 00:38:43,580 --> 00:38:46,710 baptized this very day. That their heart could be changed, that 675 00:38:46,710 --> 00:38:49,950 we could see them bear fruit far beyond anything we've seen in 676 00:38:49,950 --> 00:38:53,510 our day and in our life and in our nation and in our churches. So, 677 00:38:53,510 --> 00:38:57,950 Holy Spirit, you have the room. This is your space. Would you 678 00:38:57,950 --> 00:39:02,430 do your kingdom work? Sow your seed, soften our hearts and grow 679 00:39:02,430 --> 00:39:06,270 your kingdom. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. I'll 680 00:39:06,270 --> 00:39:09,470 be down front. I invite you to respond as the Holy Spirit leads.