Being Fertile Ground for Seeds

Well, happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see all of you. We had a wonderful trip to the conference, as I'm sure all the ministers did. Enjoyable flight coming back, just a little bit hectic.

We had to run through the airport at Cincinnati, I think, the fastest clip I've ever run, and then through Chicago, too. In order to make it back here, I think we got back here about 11 o'clock on Monday night, so otherwise we would have had to wait till the next day. So that, you know, the airlines, of course, are sometimes difficult to deal with. We went on United, but came back on Delta. So anyway, I don't know how exactly that works. I guess they reimburse each other, you know, and get their money back, but it was an interesting trip, to say the least.

But we had a wonderful, you know, enjoyable time visiting with the ministry. You know, one thing I, you know, it always, I don't know whether the word enjoy would be the word I would choose, but I guess I'm sobered by when I go to the conference, is when I hear about those elders and their wives who have passed away in the previous year. It seems always, when they read about the lives of those men and women who have served, many of them for, you know, a long time, you know, some of them over 50 years, you know, serving in the ministry of the church.

I'm always, you know, struck by that in a very emotional way of how filled their lives are, and how productive their lives have been. You know, sometimes we don't think we accomplish very much in life, but, you know, frankly, I'd rather not anybody read about my obituary, because I'd like to, you know, survive it. But when you start hearing about what people do in their lives, you know, we've been in the church for a long time and serving in the ministry, and in the church, it is remarkable.

It shows that their lives are quite filled, and it relates to what I'm going to talk to you about in the sermon of the day. You know, as Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, he did not always find the audiences, the scribes and the Pharisees, and very receptive to him. Some listen to Jesus Christ accuse him. You know, it's like they only stood nearby so that they could come up with some accusation to level against Jesus Christ.

And Jesus, therefore, began to teach publicly in parables so that they would not really understand what he was saying. You know, of course, people had many interpretations of what those parables meant. But as you know, when Christ spoke in these parables, they simply did not understand. Let's go over to Mark chapter four. I'd like to focus in on one of the parables that Christ spoke. But let's notice here in Mark chapter four and verse one, and it says that again, he began to teach by the sea, and a great multitude was gathered to him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea.

And the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. And then he taught them many things by parables and said to them in his doctrine. Or if you have the King James Version, this is doctrine, or teaching, the teaching of Jesus Christ. Down in verse 10, and it says, but when he was alone, those around him, with the twelve, asked him about the parable, because they obviously did not understand. It had to be explained to them, in fact, what it meant to them.

Down in verse 33, and with many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable, he did not speak to them. And when they were alone, he explained all things to his disciples. So he did privately explain it to his disciples so that they would understand. And he did that in a manner that was in a personal manner, you know, with his disciples. And the main reason that Jesus Christ did this is because, again, there were those that were there to accuse him.

And you can also look at other passages that say it's because they were hard of hearing.

He spoke, you know, in a way to them such that they were able to bear it. Another place that says that they were dull of hearing. And so they weren't listening anyway, and they weren't responding to what Jesus Christ was saying. Now let's go back up here to verse 11. Verse 11.

And it says, and he said to them, You have been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things come in parables. And so there are mysteries to the world and to those of Jesus' day, so that seeing they may see and not perceive. And hearing them may hear and not understand, lest they should turn, and their sins would be forgiven them. And so Christ spoke in those parables so that they would really not understand. And Christ spoke one of the, probably the best known, parables of all. And probably if I asked you, what were some of the parables of Jesus Christ, you would be able to tell me just like that. You know, the one I'm going to talk about here in the course of the sermon today. All of us, of course, are familiar with the parable of the sower. You know, the parable of the sower could be called something else. Let's go to verse 3 up here. And let's go through here. It says, Listen, Behold, a sower went out to sow, and it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it. And some fell on sony ground, where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. And when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had to be, had no root, it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground, and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred. And he said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Now, this parable, like I say, is probably the best known of all the parables that Jesus Christ spoke. But, you know, it could be called by a different name than the parable of the sower. It could also be called the parable of fertile ground.

The parable of fertile ground. Now, there are two ways I can conceive of. Maybe there are more, if we gave thought to it, but there are two ways this parable can be understood.

Number one way is how fertile is your mind to receive the truth, the seeds of the truth? How fertile is your mind? You know, you can do, you know, some analogies here. Is your mind a stony ground? You know, where nothing can really grow that is going to sink the roots down?

You know, again, you could look at a number of analogies with regard to the human mind.

You know, of course, the idea of a hard heart and not being receptive would fit certainly with a stony ground, wouldn't it? So how fertile, brethren, are our minds, each of us individually, to the seeds of the gospel, the seeds of the truth? A second way, brethren, and this will be more the focus that I want to give today, is how fertile is the church?

How fertile is this congregation, if I can put it in a more personal manner, dealing not with just you, but the whole congregation? And that is all of us together, brethren, to cultivate those that are called and planted within our congregation.

How fertile of a ground, brethren, are we? You know, the most important thing that we can do as God's church is to provide a growth-oriented atmosphere for those new people that God is calling.

And all of us are part of that, brethren. All of us are part of this fertile ground of the congregation.

And what kind of fertility do we have, brethren, as a soil, as it were, or ground upon which a new person is going to be planted and begin to spring up? You know, what will they become?

What will they become? You know, from the standpoint of growing a physical garden, I would not claim any ability. I don't have a green thumb. You know, I don't know what kind of thumb you have to have to do what I do, but the way I look at it, you probably wouldn't have to have any thumbs. But the way I garden. But from the standpoint of the local congregation, brethren, you know, how fertile is the ground? Do we provide a growth-oriented atmosphere for the new seed that falls on our congregation? And also, brethren, are we individually? Because we cannot be any more than we are individually if we collect all of us together, can we? We can't be any more than that, but if we can all individually be fertile ground, our minds are receptive, brethren, to the truth and put that all together, then you've got something. You have something. But are we individually and collectively, as a congregation, providing a fertile ground for planted seeds to come up?

Brethren, we must strive to receive the truth individually and allow it to spring up and mature within us so that we are growing as God's people. I think we all know that as God's children. Also, we must strive as a congregation to provide an atmosphere for growth within the church.

You might say our websites that we have as a church are like the front porch of the church.

It's like the Motel 6 advertisement. We'll leave the light on for you.

If you've heard the sort of the down-home, hokey-type advertisement they used to do for Motel 6. But our websites are like the front porch of the church of God at large. And certainly we want a welcoming approach in our websites. We want a welcoming approach to our congregation as well. This is why we have greeters outside, by the way. You know, some churches I have been in, brethren, you walk in and you sort of wander around, you sit down, and you may not have a solitary soul talk to you.

This is not the kind of welcoming you want at a congregation.

Now, thankfully, brethren, this congregation is not that way, but a very welcoming congregation in that way, in that manner. But like I say, the website is like the front porch of the church. We have really, brethren, endeavored to improve our websites. And, you know, I appreciate, by the way, Mr. Karamijian's work on that locally.

Also, Jimmy and Jessica Goss down in the San Jose area and others who have contributed to improve our websites. It is remarkable how much profile is given us in the community just to have a good website. And I want to, during the Bible study, say a little bit more about what we're doing online, brethren, and the things that we were told about when we went to the conference this year. I want to share those things with you, because to me, they're encouraging, very encouraging. If you've been praying for the work of God, brethren, keep doing it, because it's working. No, so we're improving our websites. We're trying to do a better job with that. We're working on our youth education program and process. At the GCE, by the way, we had a presentation by Randy and Katie Scriber. Remember, they came up here and they did a marriage seminar, but they did a presentation on the Deuteronomy model of teaching our children. And that's something, by the way, we're going to be rolling out locally very soon. But we're going to start working with our children from the biblical model of Deuteronomy chapter 6. And, you know, I won't say a lot about that at this point, but we're going to begin to do that as soon as possible.

Also, we're working always to improve our Good News magazine. And it is one of the, I think, the top quality magazines that is produced in this country today. We're working hard to improve our beyond today. Telecast, you know, you have the BT Daily. We have so many things going on in the United Church of God. It is so amazing, brethren. We are even talking, when I was in February into the Cincinnati, we're talking about improving how we do the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, the fundamentals will still be there, certainly, brethren, but we're working at it to improve what we're doing and try to grow as a people. And, you know, so you know, again, that we are making effort to improve the quality, to improve the atmosphere, so that if God calls somebody, if they walk through the door, brethren, that they are going to have a good impression. They're going to appreciate God's people. And, you know, they're going to like you and love you as much as I love you, and as much as you love one another. And that God wants us to, in fact, to share that love and that joy and that excitement so much that people are amazed by it. They're amazed by what the Church is doing. The excitement is there, and they're amazed by the love. Brethren, we have one for another. You know, again, it is important that the atmosphere for growth be there. You know, if it's not there, you know, you can plant all the seeds you want, and the seeds simply cannot live very long. I've known of congregations, not the United Church of God, by the way. I heard one statement by, in fact, Garnetton Armstrong.

You know, in his particular church, of course, Garnetton Armstrong died some years ago, but he said that they had 50,000 people go through their particular church. 50,000! But the problem is they didn't stay. They did not remain. Now, I'm not here to try to speculate on why that was. But I think it really, again, the point is, brethren, no matter what we do, unless there's an atmosphere of growth, unless there's a welcoming of people in, and we're doing what we need to be doing as God's people, there just is not going to be any growth.

You know, we could bring all kinds of people into the church, but if we're not ready, if we have not prepared ourselves, you know, basically the seeds will wither and die. They will not begin to flourish and develop and grow and increase. You know, like many of us did when we were first called into the church, you know, if you go back to those years when you first came to the church, there's a reason why you're here today. If you were here, you know, 40 years ago, and you're still here. Somehow you made some roots here, and you're continuing to grow, and you're continuing to increase. You know, for a long time, brethren, we've recognized a need to have a well-trained ministry who can make contact with those people that God is bringing along. We had that within the United Church of God. We have the most trained ministry that, in fact, in the history of the church. You know, think about this, brethren. They were showing these statistics, you know, I think it was Mr. Kubik was showing these statistics, that there are 65 full-time ministers now, you know, that are serving the congregations. I'm not sure whether that's worldwide or just in the United States. Forgive me for not knowing that.

But of the 65 that are serving full-time in the ministry, you know, he was mentioning that something like over 50 of them are above 60 years old. Now, think about that. I mean, if we get much more experience, brethren, we're all going to be dead. But, you know, what I'm saying is we have the most experience, probably, in the history of the church.

And I say that from the standpoint of the Church of God as far as we in this modern era. I'm sure there have been other times, maybe, where things have been different. But I wonder, in fact, it's in the history of the Church of God since 31 A.D.

You know, who knows? But God is, of course, the judge of that. But we have a well-trained ministry.

And not only that, we have a well-trained membership. You know, you guys are not 90-day wonders. You know, you're not... you didn't come along yesterday. I remember when I first came in the church, if you... you've been in the church for five years, you were ancient back in the 60s. How many of you remember that, by the way? Okay, just a few of us, some of you old-timers, have been around, you know, what I'm talking about. Well, you know, we have these pluses on our sides.

But, you know, it's important also, brethren, that we be alive, that we be excited.

Dr. Ward gave a two-part lecture on how basically to light your fire, how you can, you know, become a flame of fire, as the Bible talks about. You know, a minister is supposed to be like a flame of fire. And he talked about how that, you know, you sort of light yourself off.

I guess we... of course, we don't want to be a Roman candle. We want to be able to keep going, you know, after we light ourselves off. And he talked about how to light your congregation.

And so anyway, you know, he spoke about those things, but brethren, I think it really goes to show, too, that as a congregation, that we have to be spiritually alive.

And we have to be growing as a people, overcoming as a people. That's why, in fact, the Bible reading program is so important. We're always learning. We're always growing. And we're going from where we are to something better in our lives. You know, Jesus Christ, when He spoke this parable, though, He spoke of four types of ground for seeds to fall in. Four types of ground. Let's go to Mark 4 down in verse 14.

Because here, when Jesus was explaining these things to His disciples in verse 14, it says, The sower sows the word, and these are the ones by the wayside, where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. So He speaks about this wayside ground. And again, we look at it from an individual standpoint or the congregational standpoint. You know, are we just a wayside here along the way?

Well, brethren, if we're not growth-oriented, if we're not excited, if we're not alive, brethren, we are a wayside, aren't we? We're this stop-off for somebody on the way somewhere else.

No, we want to be more than that.

And hopefully, brethren, for us, our minds are not wayside either.

Just a place along the way where the seed got brought.

But, brethren, these receive the truth in the world, and they, you know, the thing that can happen about people, another way to understand this wayside seed that is sown.

These receive the truth, and they stay on the fringes of the church.

They don't get involved in the church.

You know, the seed, of course, then is snatched from their hearts by Satan. And, brethren, if we stay on the fringes of the church too long, let me tell you, Satan will take advantage. Remember, he's like a roaring lion, seeking whom he made of our. And he's on the edges looking for somebody that is sort of lollygagging and not involved. You know, if you're looking for a loose brick, brethren, eventually, he'll, Satan will show you one.

He will, he will show you one.

And, of course, here with the wayside ground, Satan snatches away that seed that is sown in their hearts. Matthew records that they did not understand. They didn't, you know, it's seed, it's seed is sown, but they didn't understand it. They didn't grasp it.

And, of course, the condition of all of us in the world when we're, before we're called, is we're blinded by Satan. And Satan is always trying to put the blindfold on us. He never ceases to want to do that. He wants to blind us to what is the reality of the truth.

But, you know, the message is for anyone on the fringes to be involved in the local congregation.

Get right smack dab, brethren, in the middle of the church, and be involved as God's people. And that means that all of us, brethren, need to be involved in some way within the church. We try to do that in Oakland, but I know sometimes somebody, for whatever reason, chooses not to get involved. You know, we always need some help somewhere in the church. And, frankly, there's no reason why everyone within this congregation can't be doing something to contribute in some way or some manner. Let's go to Matthew 13. Matthew 13.

You know, we talk about how Satan actually blinds people's minds, but oftentimes people are easily blinded because of their own stubbornness, too. But, Satan doesn't have to do a lot of blinding because we're pretty good at it ourselves, aren't we?

You know, sometimes in this life we are all going down the river of denial, you know, as they say.

Many people, of course, they see the truth, maybe a little bit understand it, and maybe it even knocks them down. But they pick themselves up and throw the truth aside and head on down their merry way, avoiding the reality of the truth. But Matthew 13 and down in verse 15. But here, it says, The hearts of this people have grown dull. You know, this describes the world right now, that you and I come from. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts, so that I should heal them. You know, I should heal them spiritually, he's talking about here. People are dull of hearing, like you say, we can be pretty stubborn, and stubbornness contributes sometimes to our lack of response. You know, I imagine even sometimes, rather, when you hear things from the pulpit, we're stubborn. We may see it, yeah, that's truth. That's really truth. But our own stubbornness causes us to resist changing and accepting it, and making a transformation in our own lives, brethren. Well, brethren, we cannot allow ourselves to be of a hard-hearted, resistant-to-change attitude.

Always be mindful of your example, also, to someone else. You know, if somebody comes to the church, I've heard people do it, say it, before, where somebody new is found out of a gym of truth. And unfortunately, the member, because of whatever reason, relays that person with their own ideas, causes them to have doubt. You know, visions of the old millstone around the neck come to mind when people do that type of thing. We want to be very careful. You know, many people have hardened their hearts to the gospel for various reasons, some because they love darkness for the light. You know, we probably, most of us stayed in the world as long as we did because we didn't necessarily dislike the world. You know, we maybe enjoyed what we were doing out there.

Some stay there because they still love the darkness more than the light. They may see a little bit of it, but you know, the little glimmer of light, but their doubts, their stubbornness, and all the different problems that people have caused them to resist changing.

John 3. John chapter 3. John 3 and verse 19 over here.

It says, and this is the condemnation that the light is coming to the world, and then love darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

Now, if this was the way people were living, if they were living righteously, they would love the light, wouldn't they? They would love what they were hearing, but because their deeds are evil, they don't want to come near the light. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. And people don't want to be exposed for what they're doing. Another thing, brethren, people again love the darkness.

Some people just love the praise of them as well. They can't tear themselves away from whatever church they may be a part of, you know, whatever Protestant church or Catholic church they may be a part of. Maybe they've attained a certain level of respect, you know, and appreciation from those that they're surrounded by, and they love the praise of men more than they do the praise of God. And they're not going to give up. Some people are that way. Some, in fact, stayed in our former denomination and affiliation for that very reason, you know. And incredibly, it was amazing to me to see how people who made certain promises were willing to throw their eternal life to the side for the praise of men. So Christ spoke about that ground that is the way side ground. Well, let's go to verse 16. Mark chapter 4 and verse 16. But again, think about your own mind, brethren. Are you receptive to the truth? Do you have a fertile mind?

If your mind was a garden, could you grow anything? Or would it wither and die? Or would it flourish? Would a tiny seedling become a mass of free over time? And by that, I mean the impact of your life is incredible. And like you say, when I was they were reading, Mr. Ken Martin did the, you know, those who had passed away in the year before, you know, the ministers and their wives that had passed away. And it was amazing some of the stories. And not just that, that others spoke about the things that they did and the things that they represented. I think it's pretty hard, by the way, to go through and listen to those that have are no longer on the scene serving in the church, to not have, you know, tears at the end.

And it sort of builds all the way through with every person. You see all the things they did. But Mark chapter 4 verse 16, verse 16 on down here, it says, These likewise are the ones who are sown on stony ground, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness.

And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. And afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises, for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. You know, they stumble out of the church. And there are those, by the way, that they receive the truth with such exuberance. I know that over the years I have sat in the homes of many, many people and explained the truth. And as you were talking about the basic things that many of us take for granted, I'm talking the resurrections, I'm talking, you know, the basics, you know, they're in the Bible. People just, the tears start coming down their eyes of what they're hearing. And you think, you know, this person really gets this.

This person really understands this. And I really do think that they do.

But for what a reason they don't endure. You know, and maybe it's because of the stony ground. You know, the no depth to it.

But they're glad when they hear it to the point of tears. They're excited by it. But they have no root. And they don't endure. And they stumble when they face trials and persecution and difficulty and temptation that comes along. They believe and they obey, but it doesn't last long.

Doesn't last long. You know why that is, brethren?

It's because even though they're on fire for the truth for a short period of time, the reality is their joy is a result of emotion. It's an emotional thing.

Not something they've proven to themselves. And they're not grounded in the truth. They don't send down those those deep roots that causes a man or a woman to be willing to give their life for what they believe. Or to be able to say to somebody, look, I've come to understand these things and I can't throw them aside.

It's what I believe from the depths of my being. And so when troubles arise, when people do things as a result of emotion, there's no endurance and they stumble. They're ruled by their emotions more than the truth that has been revealed to them. The lesson for us, brethren, as a congregation is how deeply do we understand? How deeply do we grasp, brethren, the truth? What if, by the way, there was no minister?

Would the truth be safe with you? What would you do with it?

You men, you ladies, what would you do? What would you do with that truth?

Would you say, well, I guess the church is finished, you know?

Or would you continue to go forward? Would you say, well, look, I'll just talk to other people about what I know when I have opportunity and maybe they will come to see it, too?

You know, whole churches is sprung up because of one person, one person. So, brethren, how about us, again, how deep is our understanding? How deep is our conviction? And imagine, brethren, how much of an example this is to other people, how much benefit it is to the new person that is coming into the church. And frankly, sometimes a congregation can be shallow, even within the church of God. I mean, look at Laodicea.

There's a shallowness there. You know, they thought somehow and another because they were rich, physically, that they were rich spiritually. Not so. And we have to be, again, warned about that, brethren. In this modern age that we're living in, we've always felt in this time we're living in, we're living in the time of Laodicea, when men are bent on materialism.

And, of course, the problem we had back in 1995 probably came because of materialism and not enough depth. Though spirituality proves spirituality. Now, let's go to verse 18 down here. Verse 18.

Now these are the ones, these seeds, are sown among the thorns, and they are the ones who hear the truth and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. So here is a thorny ground.

You know, what are you growing up in your mind, brethren, right now?

Do you have a lot of thorns and thistles in your garden?

Or, brethren, have you plowed the ground and kept it so the seed could be sown, kept the turtle open, excited, ready to receive the truth, having proved all things, as it says in 1st C. 521, and holding fast that which is good and building upon what you already have, and growing in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. You know, so here Christ said, hear the thorny ground of those who hear the word and have the ability to bear fruit, but it's choked out by the cares of the world, and by the deceitfulness of riches. I think Laodicea would also fit in here, wouldn't it? Very, very nicely into the thorny ground because of worldliness. They believe, in other words, and they obey, but they stagnate.

They become nominally Christian, but they never mature. They remain babes and they're carnal. And, brethren, again, I don't like to go back to 1995, but I think we had a lot of people that were babes, maybe not even babes. And some have been around a long, long time.

Well, brethren, how mature are we? The purpose of the church is to cause us to mature, to become men and women, and no longer boys and girls. But men and women spiritually mature and ready to help others. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. You know, when a child is born, they have to begin a lot of help, don't they? And, frankly, when we come back, come into the church, we need a lot of help. A lot more than we realize. We need, oftentimes, a little kid, even, who will say, I want to do it myself. You know, how many of us have not seen a little child that you try to show them something and say, no, I want to do it myself. Well, sometimes people think they know more than they really do. And people need the help when they come into the church. But let's notice here in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 1, and I, brethren, here Paul was talking to a congregation to just show you, brethren, how this relates to a congregation. I, brethren, could not speak to you as two spiritual people, but as the carnal asked of babes and Christ. He had to start from scratch. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you're still not able. Apparently, Paul felt that they had grown at least a little bit, and now he could begin to broach these important topics with him so that they would understand. What's a lesson for us, brethren? A congregation can be worldly. It can be stuck spiritually in time as an infant, or as a babe, and not mature.

And if we're not mature as a congregation, brethren, we're not ready to help people coming through the door, because all we would do is teach them to be babes and not to mature. So, brethren, we've got to mature, as Ephesians 4 talks about, in the purpose of the ministry, is to cause us to mature to the measure and the stature of Jesus Christ.

And, you know, over a period of time this should happen.

You know, Paul, in writing in the book of Hebrews, I won't go over there to Hebrews 5 and verses 12 through 14, but it's the same general idea that Paul covers in 1 Corinthians 3.

He said, for the time, he says to the Hebrews, you ought to be teachers.

But he says, you're not. He said, you need to be fed like babies. And, of course, an evidence of maturity is to be able to discern between right and wrong, good and evil, to be able to perceive and to understand, in a deeper manner, the truths of God, the mysteries of God that have been hid from the foundation of the world. Let's go to 1 Timothy 6, but sometimes people get caught up in materialism.

Now, physical, material things are not bad, by the way, but when we begin to think somehow that we don't need anything but that.

Like sometimes we have had people that have come to the church and they've had a little money, and they think they know a lot just because they have a lot of money.

And, you know, sometimes God has to humble people that can have a certain idea about themselves of thinking they're much greater than they really are.

But certainly we can have that attitude. We don't have to be worth a lot of money to have that attitude. We can, people can have a pride about themselves that causes them to want themselves, but wealth and riches could cause people to have a higher opinion of themselves. And somebody who has a lot, maybe from a physical standpoint, maybe somebody who's very wise, at least in the financial affairs of this world, certainly know a whole lot more than I do about those kinds of things, but the spiritual, maybe not so much.

Now, the best combination, brethren, is to be wise in those things and to be wise spiritually, too.

But oftentimes we can't handle that, can't we?

And that's why you're probably not going to ever win the lottery.

You know, God's not going to give that to you because you couldn't handle it.

But I know you probably think you could handle it. But, but God is not going to allow that because you probably could not handle it. It would go to your head. First Timothy, First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17. It says, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy, and let them do good, and that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, and storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. I think another aspect of where people can begin to vaunt themselves and be a bit hottie is education. Again, education is a wonderful thing. And someone having a PhD is a wonderful thing. It really is. But it does not make you an expert in all things. It does not make one an expert in the spiritual domain. Again, the best combination would be to be able to do well in both. All of us need to be striving for that no matter what, in fact, we have in our lives.

But, you know, there's no guarantee of that. And, you know, when in fact somebody gets a PhD and they begin to get hottie about it, you know, a PhD becomes a piled higher and deeper. Have you ever heard that phraseology? That's what it becomes. It's not no longer a PhD, it's just piled higher and deeper than what you and I have in our lives. But with wisdom, with a spiritual, it's meaningful. It's very meaningful having, again, the education. You say that about anybody with any kind of education. People can get a lot of vanity because they have a BA. They get a good vanity, you know, about having a high school diploma. You know, I guess you could have vanity about many things. I've been so poor in my life, people get even vanity about that. Amazing.

You have vanity about rich people and vanity for poor people. I'm poor and I'm proud of it. I'm dumb and poor and I'm proud of it. No, usually people gain knowledge, you know, in whatever they're walking life. But sometimes, again, that which we know can be pretty dumb if we don't grow in wisdom from a spiritual standpoint. So pleasures, brethren, divert our minds from the things that are spiritual. And this kind of ground of the mind or congregation will render both fruitless.

You know, we think we know too much. We think we are too much. That's what Paul, I think, time and again tried to tell, you know, the Philippians and he told others, you know, don't think above yourselves about yourself, above what you should.

Keep that humility about yourself because you get into the thorny ground and, you know, in the mind. Again, think about your mind. Again, what's up there? Got a lot of thorns and thistle scrolling? Or do we have big tomatoes that are growing up there and other fruit that is beginning to flourish in a great way within your mind? First, let's go back to Mark 4, Mark 4, in verse 20. Mark 4 and verse 20.

In Mark chapter 4, you know, Jesus Christ, again, continued on this parable of the sower in talking to his disciples about what this meant.

And it says, but these are the ones, talking about, again, the seeds that are sown on good ground. Those that hear the word accepted and bear fruit. Some 30 fold, some 60, and some 100.

And so this is the fertile ground. This is what our mind should be, brethren. This is what the church of God ought to be as well.

In this situation, brethren, the attitude of the person is right. And the works are right. And so you have, it's all done correctly, in this case, and they're going to grow and they're going to develop. And, you know, congregation can really bring these things together, brethren, is going to flourish, it's going to grow, and there's going to be great growth that is going to occur. You know, if I planted a seed and it produced 30 or 60 or 100, that's pretty productive, isn't it?

That's not just productive, that's miraculous. Now, think about, brethren, if each one of you was able to contribute to the growth of 30 other people within, you know, those that God has called. See how productive that would be? How big would the church here be?

Why, I think we'd have to move, you know, and that's just for 30, 30-fold.

And, of course, we grow more than just numerical, don't we? We grow in quality as well. We improve and help other people, and it multiplies that way. Imagine, again, growing by 100-fold. That's like the difference between light speed and warp speed, isn't it? When God begins to work with the church powerfully, I think we're going to see some of this astronomical growth that's going to come, that God is going to give to us. You know, why is it the case, by the way, that He gives this part called the fertile ground or the fertile soil?

You know, why is it the case that it grows? It's because in Matthew's account of this, he says the new person understands the truth and the gospel, and Luke says that they hear the word with a noble and a good heart, and they keep it, and they bear fruit with patience. In other words, they're not in it for the the short haul. They know it's a long haul, a marathon, and they're going to bear fruit. They're going to be around in a hundred years, or they're going to be around, you know, as long as it takes to do what it is that God has called them to do.

And so they have a noble heart and a good heart. Let's examine your heart.

Do you have a noble heart, a good heart? Are you wanting to obey God? Is that why you're here?

Or is it just because you want to keep the Sabbath?

Are you here to grow? Are you here to develop, to change, to transform? To magnify that which is sown in you. And of course, with God's help and with God's Holy Spirit, we can't do it on our own, can we? That's another part of it. It's not a bootstrap kind of thing.

But rather, we have to, each of us individually, take the bull by the horns too, don't we? We've got to do something with what we've been given. We've got to respond with a good and noble heart and keep it and bear fruit. Something's got to come out of this, in other words.

And you do it patiently.

You know, many do come into the church with noble and good hearts, and it makes them do incredible things. It really does. I remember back in the 70s, when we went up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, we had people driving, you know, they were clear up, and we didn't support Pennsylvania, you know, where they had the baseball for the little guys.

You know, they had the World Series up there, but they drive all the way down. It was along a windy river. By the way, they would be there every Sabbath. This is what happens when people have noble hearts. They want to obey God. They want to do what God commands them to do. And, you know, they produce fruit. It's like the Bereans. They were commended because they were fair-minded, and they manifested in this, in that they received the Word of God with all readiness.

They weren't sitting in their chairs judging what was being said. They were trying to see it within the Scriptures themselves. They were trying to understand it. They were trying to comprehend it. They were ready to receive it. They were of that mind.

And, consequently, they did receive it. And they searched the Scriptures daily, as the Bible says, Acts 17, to find out whether these things were so.

So we see, brethren, the importance of understanding, coming to understand and having a depth of understanding, and bearing fruit. Jesus made the connection between the two in this parable here of the sower. The Apostle Paul connects the two when he writes of the gospel, producing fruit among the Colossians. Because he says to them, since the day they heard, or they understood, the grace of God in truth. They'd begun to grow. They'd begun to develop.

And when one understands, you know what, brethren, they're more inclined to bear fruit. And our job, brethren, is not to be a stumbling block for anyone. Our job is to help others understand and to help them along the way, as they grow within the Church of God.

And some, let's face it, are going to grow more than others may. Because, you know, I'm not going to go over there, but in Matthew 25, about those who are given according to their several ability. You know, some inherit incredible physical abilities. We understand that.

You know, you and I will never be able to play on a professional basketball team. We don't have that gift, right? Some are given natural gifts, you know, that can really cause them to grow at incredible rates once they understand it. They have the right attitude and everything's right. But our job, brethren, is to help people to come to understand it. You know, one of the things that I know for me that gives me the greatest joy is if I were able, you know, to help one person.

And they went on in the Church to accomplish 50 times more, or a hundred times more, than I ever thought to do. That would give me the greatest joy, to have had a small part in that person's life. And, brethren, that should be the desire for all of us to help people as much as we humanly can along the way. Because we have no idea what God may have in mind for them. I'll tell you, when I came through the door back in 1968 in the old schoolhouse in jail, and I had no idea of ever becoming a pastor, was in my mind at all. I was a teeth-holder.

You know what a teeth-holder is, don't you? Somebody doesn't drink alcohol. I mean, I didn't even drink coffee. There were things I, you know, I'd never been much of any place I'd traveled to California. You know, I came from the great city of Roland, Oklahoma. I know I don't need to even tell you where that is, because it's a culture-capital world, you know? You know, Plum and Polk Town? I think I've told you about that before. That you, you know, you poke your head out the window and your plum out of town. It's one of those kind of towns. They have the entering and leaving sign on the same post. So, so small. But I had no idea then what the future would bring. Now, again, not that I've accomplished all that much. I don't believe I have. Very frustrated sometimes about that myself. But, you know, those people that helped me there in that old Jimmy Lynn schoolhouse helped along the way. Of course, if I'd known what the result was going to be, I'd have turned tail and run back then. But God doesn't reveal that to us. And, brother, we don't know what God is going to do. I was talking to Bill Cowan, by the way, at the conference and out of the GCE. And actually, Mr. Bill Cowan was the pastor in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at that old Jimmy Lynn schoolhouse. And back when I, the first day I entered, and I was telling him this, and by the way, this is, this is, what, how many years later? 44 years later, I told him, I said, you know, when I came in and heard you speak, it was like I was listening to the voice of God. But you have to know what I'm talking about. He had a voice that was, is one of these boom, booming type of deep voice. You know, for me, I'm, it's like I'm always standing on a chair, you know, when I'm speaking. But, but with him, it's like he's in the basement. I mean, when it comes to voice, bass, and all that. But he, he was the first minister I ever heard. And there were others that were there as well. I remember Burt McNair was the district superintendent of all the churches.

I remember listening to him back in those days, as before I ever thought to go off to Ambassador College. My pre-Joni days, by the way, before I ever thought to get married. My wife's known as Joni, by the way, at college. But, so anyway, these are the things, brethren, we have an opportunity to do, helping someone. So, brethren, how can we best serve those whom God is calling? Let me give you a few more points here to conclude. Number one, show forth love one for another. I'm not going to go over to John 1335, but, you know, Christ said, by this all men shall know you are my disciples, if you have love, one for another. Number two, demonstrate and live the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5.22, over there, you can read again in verse 23, it says that there's no prohibition or law ever, anywhere against these fruits of the Spirit. So, use them liberally in your life. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, you know, all nine of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Number three, show dedication in serving God and your fellow brethren. And the brethren. And by that means, brethren, you will lead others to be disciples.

But, you know, we have to be good disciples to help others become good disciples.

Show dedication. Number four, receive those being called without doubtful disputations. When somebody walks through the door, brethren, it's important if they don't understand something that we correct them right away. Give them opportunity, first to hear, and to prove things for themselves. If they ask a question, that's a different story. My encouragement, too, brethren, is to stick with the trunk of the tree.

I always used to say, don't get out there on the limbs or the twigs, because that is where the nuts are. Mr. Armstrong always said, stick with the trunk of the tree. Sometimes, you know, we need to be reminded of that fact. Don't receive them to doubtful dispositions. Romans 14.1 closes that. I'm not going to go there, but... And number five here, is to demonstrate faith through trials with peace of mind. In other words, we as God's people need to be showing the faith during our trials, and others will again see that example. I think if I added one more, is do not share too much with somebody's brand new. Don't share too much with them.

Again, give opportunity for whatever seeds that are planted to begin to spring up a little bit.

We don't want to overload.

Brother, we have a job ahead of us to make sure we are fertile ground individually, and to make sure we are fertile ground as a congregation for those whom God is calling.

Let's make sure, brethren, we are growing, that we're maturing, that we are a congregation, brethren, that are ready because of what we're striving to do to receive whatever God decides to call in this present age within the church here in the Bay Area. And we know that if we're growing, that God will indeed do that.

You know, we can't grow faster than certainly God allows us to grow.

And He's the one that grants the growth to us individually and collectively as a congregation. Let's pray also, brethren, for the work of God to go forward. And let's be enthusiastic about the work that God is doing, not only in the church at large, brethren, but in your own personal life of what God is doing in you.