Parable of Seeds

Well, good afternoon again, brethren. Good to see everybody together. That's always wonderful to be able to get as many as we can here in the local area to be able to get together. I know that here over the last couple of weeks we've been attending, and of course in many ways we covered the same material two different weeks as we did with our Bible seminars.

And yet, the thing that I think about is what it was that we were going over, and knowing that it surely is familiar to you and is familiar to me.

But it really is wonderful. It's wonderful and uplifting, and I hope encouraging, for us to focus on the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Because that was not only the focus, but that's what each of the lessons are about as we go through these Bible seminars that people don't really understand the Kingdom of God. They don't understand. Even though that terminology is pretty clearly written in the Bible, people don't understand exactly what that's referring to.

And yet, thankfully, we can understand about the Kingdom of God, we can understand about the inevitability of Jesus' return and His establishment of a government on earth that will rule over all the kingdoms of men, and that will rule forever.

That's what we're looking forward to, and that's what not only are we looking forward to, but we are preparing for. We're in the process of being trained. We're in the process of being prepared to be a part of that kingdom, to be servants. And as someone mentioned at the feast, we're all lining up to be government servants. We're all going to be working for the King.

We'll be working as servants in helping others, in a sense, to learn the same thing.

And as I thought about that, I know that we covered some material in Matthew 13 during the seminars that was specific about why Jesus spoke the parables the way He did.

Why did He talk in what seems to be unclear, what seems to be somewhat vague terms? Now, many people think He wasn't vague. They think He's very clear. He was talking about agricultural stuff. He was talking about fishing. He was talking about numerous other things that you find in many of the parables. And yet, that's not what Jesus said.

What He said was that He was talking in parables for a reason. He was doing that on purpose.

And, of course, there's something that we want to be able to focus on as we think about how it is or why it is that He did that.

I wanted to start off here with this sermon today with a little bit of a memory that I have. Actually, this has been some years ago when our boys, Pat and I, have two boys. It seems strange to me that they're mid-30s now. They're still little boys to me. They might not like the way that I think that, but that's what it looks like to me. That's what it seems like to me. But I would guess 25 years ago, maybe 30, closer to 30, at that time we lived in Lake Ozark and we were living right there on the feast site where the feast was held for many years.

I'm sure many of you have been at least once or maybe many times.

We lived in the house that was right there. Of course, what we tried to do as far as the boys, when they were small, five, eight, and five, they were three years apart. Eight, five, seven, and four, that's when they were some of the smallest when we first moved there.

We were always trying to put together a certain number of feast gifts. Think about little things that we could give them. A lot of times we'd try to be figuring out how to dole this out throughout the week to be able to give them something each day. I know some of you may be working with your children in a similar way to make the feast a special thing and to have it something to look forward to. I know Pat and I were discussing. We were in the living room and we were discussing what it was we were either going to get or we were wrapping some stuff so that we could have it available where we would be able to give it to them.

We'd already put the boys to bed. There was an upstairs and they were in their beds upstairs. We were talking about this and talking about it and doing some wrapping. Then all of a sudden we hear this, pssssp, pssssp, pssssp. We'd go over out from the living room and see up the stairs.

There were two little boys sitting here straining to here. They didn't want to come down to see yet, but straining to hear what's been said. The thing that Brett said, he was the older one, the thing that he told us was that, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. I always remember that and how much are our kids really learning? They learn a lot more in church than we might actually think.

But he who has ears to hear, let him hear. They thought they were fully justified with this transgression of sneaking down the stairs and listening to whatever it is that we were going to be talking about. You find this statement in Matthew 13, and I want to cover some information here. I think it's important as we not only have our seminars, but as we think about how it is that God has allowed us to hear.

How is it that He has allowed us to hear, and then of course what He wants to see from us? It's interesting to see how Jesus describes this. Of course, what we read last time was in Matthew 13, starting in verse 10, where the disciples asked Him, Well, why are You speaking in parables? And He answered that question by saying, Well, to You it's been given to know the secrets or mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

So what did He say? Well, what He did say was that I'm speaking in parables so that some will understand, and so that some won't. So in part, speaking in parables was to conceal a certain meaning, but then on the other hand, it was also to reveal.

As He would do with His disciples, and as it says over in Mark, He would actually take them aside and privately explain to them what the parable was about. But He pointed out on down in verse 16, after describing and actually quoting Isaiah 6, where He said, Well, the people would listen but not understand.

They would look but not perceive. Part of what Ken was talking about in the sermon at about certainly Israel, they just didn't listen. They didn't pay attention. Their ears were dull. Of hearing, their eyes were not open. They just didn't respond.

And yet in verse 16, Jesus said, Blessed are your eyes. Now, He was talking to His disciples. He was talking to those who would be His disciples. Blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears for they hear. See, that's a wonderful privilege that God has bestowed upon us to be able to understand what Jesus was talking about in His parables. To be able to understand what it was that He is teaching about the Kingdom of God.

And actually, you see many of the parables, not all of them, but many of the parables have to do with the Kingdom of God. They have to do with examples that illustrate things about the Kingdom of God, or they have to do with how we are going to grow toward that Kingdom.

So, I'd like for us as we think about what it is that we see in this chapter that we focus on the parables that Jesus was actually explaining. Now, in your Bible, here in the first part of Matthew 13, it might call it the parable of the sower. That's a legitimate name for it, I guess. I think you could also call it the parable of the seed, because what was it about?

Well, it was about scattering seed, and the seed falling everywhere. And, of course, that is an analogy of the way that we, in a sense, scatter the seed of the Word of God. We can do that in a number of different ways. I know that I, growing up on a farm, used to be planting. I used to know a little bit about farming. I don't know anything about it today.

I pretty well forgot anything I knew. But, you know about planting things. You can drill. If you drill a field, like a wheat field, you've got seed that's planted in a bunch of little rows, and they all grow up in that little row. And if you broadcast seed, it just goes anywhere. It goes everywhere. It almost sounds like Jesus was broadcasting.

He was broadcasting the seed because it wasn't going in a line of a drill, but it was going in just many different directions. But, what I'd like for us to think about, and maybe perhaps even view this parable, it could also be called the parable of the four soils. Because, you know, there's four categories here, four different either types of soil or conditions that He is revealing. And so, now, all of you know what the four categories are. There are four categories on the path, in the rocks, in the weeds, or in the good soil. Now, which one are you in? Which one do we want to be in?

Well, I think we all want to be in the fourth category. We want to be in the good soil. We want to be in the one who is growing and producing fruit. That's what we want to do. But, I'm going to say that I think it's good for us to read the entirety of the parable and think about each of these categories so that we actually are in the good category, the category of the good soil, and that we avoid the pitfalls of the others.

Because, you know, there are some distinct descriptions here of things that could tear us down that we can be aware of. So, let's go to Matthew 13, and I'll tell you that, you know, that this particular parable is one that's recorded in Mark, and it's recorded in Luke as well.

The descriptions that you find there are similar, but then vary a little bit. They vary a little bit, and that's what I want to point out to you, because there is, I think, more that we can gain from this, just simply by the different ways that God inspired this to be written down. But here in Matthew 13, verse 1, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat there while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

Now, obviously, he must have thought that was a good way to reach everyone. Maybe, you know, acoustically, that was better. I don't know. I've heard numerous descriptions about how this would come about, but at least, you know, he'd be able to reach the people in that way. And he told them many things. But he said, verse 3, listen! Listen! This is what Ken was talking about. You know, how are we listening? How should we listen? But here it says, listen! A sower went out to sow. In verse 4, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

Some of them fell on the wayside. And I guess a path, or if I was thinking about my lawn, which, you know, is looking worse and worse right now. I'm glad to have the rain, but it should just start over. That's the only thing I can say about my lawn. It should just start over.

But I would assume this first category would be the sidewalk. You know, the path. The wayside. Not hardly in the soil at all. But what it says about the seed that fell on the path was that the birds came and ate it up. So it disappeared.

Verse 5, other seed fell on rocky or stony ground, where they did not have much soil. And they sprang up quickly since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun came, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

So another category. Seed that starts to grow in a rocky place where you can't, you know, you can't, roots can't thrive. They can't grow down into the ground. They can't be firmly rooted or firmly grounded in the soil. And that reminds me of some very bad carrots that I grew back when we lived in Oregon. I thought I would grow a few carrots. Being a few years away from the farm, I thought, I'm going to grow a few carrots right here on the side of our little apartment, probably complexes, some type. And I worked and worked and worked trying to get those carrots to grow, and finally figured out that this soil is not going to allow carrots to grow. You might get a bush, but you didn't get any carrots. You didn't get any root. There was nothing there on the bottom. And I would guess that may be the type of thing you would see here with the seed that falls on the rocky or the stony ground. They did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly. But because of no depth of soil, when the sun came, they were scorched with no root. They withered away. Not a good way to be able to get much produce from the seed. Verse 7, other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Now, that one is pretty straightforward. Seed growing among weeds or thorns, the thorns grow up and choke them out. And then finally, other seeds fell on the good ground, and they brought forth grain or fruit, some 100, some 60, some 30. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. See, that's why Jesus spoke to the people in the boat. That's what He told the masses. He was in the boat. They were on the land. That's what He told them. And I guess they could take from that whatever they happened to want. Some of them might have been perplexed by it. Some of them might have been confused. Some of them certainly may have learned a little bit and thought we've got to learn more. You see then His description about the parables. And in verse 18, He starts describing what this is about. And so, He really has to tell the disciples what it is that it's saying, what it is that it's meaning.

So if we drop down to verse 18, we can start seeing these four types of soil, these four types of conditions that the seed falls into. And I think it's good for us to think about this as we are sowing seeds. We're sowing the seeds of the Kingdom of God as we have seminars, as we involve ourselves, not only with the telecast, not only with the print media and the booklets and the things that the church can send out if people want them, if we are making them available, if they see them, if they want them. You know, that's certainly wonderful, but our Bible seminars allow all of us to be somewhat engaged in reaching out with the message of the Kingdom of God to others. And yet, what we will find is that as that seed is sown, you're often going to fall in these type of categories. And of course, we're here because we want to be those who are producing fruit. We're here because we want to be growing. And yet, I think it also is important to see these other categories. In verse 18, he says here that parable of the sower. Verse 19, when anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and so here he's now explaining what it is that the seed is about. Earlier, he just said the sower sowed the seed. He threw it out there. He broadcasted it. He put it wherever it went.

He didn't directly say what that was about. But when he was talking to his disciples, he said, whenever anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand that the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart, this is what was sown on the wayside. This is what was sown on the path. And so, here he's describing what it is to be in the first category.

I hope that as we maybe analyze what it is that this says, it's very clear, and all of us know, well, the seed indicates it's the message. It's the Word of God. It's the Word, as he says here in verse 19, of the Kingdom. Over in Mark 4, verse 14, I'll make these references, and you can either look them up or write them down if you want. But the two parables that are parallel with this in Mark and Luke, they give similar descriptions, but they all vary in certain of their wording. What Mark says in Mark 4, verse 14 is, the sower sows the Word. He doesn't say more than that. He just says, the sower sows the Word.

And in Luke 8, verse 11, it says, the seed is the Word of God. And so even though it says it's the Word of the Kingdom here, it talks about and describes it in a little different format. And I think making it more and more clear that, well, this is the preaching of the Gospel. The preaching of the Word of God that includes information about the Kingdom that God is going to bring to the earth.

It's not enough to just know something about Jesus Christ that's important and that's actually very foundational. But a message of the Kingdom of God is imperative. It's imperative to be sown as we sow the seed. And in Luke 8, verse 12, it says, in describing what happens, the devil takes away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

See, that's what, as we reach out to new people, as we cultivate, as we yearn to see others accept and know about the message of the Kingdom of God, what ultimately has to happen is that they have to gain some understanding. And they have to have that cultivated to where they come to believe. And as it says in Luke 8, 12, that they believe and then can seek salvation. They can be saved. So it gives a little more information as you add these together. So that's the first category. I'll talk about that a little more as we get through the rest of these.

But this first category is one that I think all of us would think of as, well, those would be, who could that be? Well, thousands of people, at least several hundred thousand, get the Good News magazine. I don't know how many thousands listen to the telecast. And whether they intently listen, whether they skeptically listen, whether they sporadically listen, whether they get the magazine and use it to start the fire. I don't know. I don't know what. You find it's always interesting as you see reports from other parts of the world where stuff is not so available like it is here, where we throw away way more than many folks would be glad to have. Some of the stuff that we're throwing away, I'm sure. But yet in many parts of the world, you've got magazines that are valuable property, a valuable piece of information. Like the Good News. That's a magazine that's given away free, yes.

And yet they often see reports of people passing those around and going to many different people and then actually be later given to someone else in a session of trying to give them information in passing it on. So that's something that I think we could analyze when we think about this first category.

The seed being sown on a path that really obviously doesn't produce any fruit, but it's snatched away where people don't even come to believe. And yet that belief is clearly a part of every one of our conversions. It goes on in verse 20, the next category, the second category, as for those who were sown on the stony or rocky ground. This is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet, in verse 21, such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arise on account of the Word, that person immediately falls away.

Now that description, I think, is pretty clear. It's pretty obvious. Someone might become aware of something about the Kingdom of God. They might become excited about it. They might be moved by it. They might be thrilled. Then they might realize what that means. You know, what I'm going to need to do in order to respond to that. They might be excited initially, but then whenever, as it mentions, whenever trouble arises, whenever any kind of persecution comes up, well then they would leave. The parallel verses in Mark and Luke point out that without any depth, and one in Mark says without depth, they stumble. It doesn't directly use the term fall away, but they stumble, and they don't continue in their Christian walk. See, this obviously is someone who initially starts but then doesn't continue. And in Luke 8 verse 13, with no root, they believe only in a while and in a time of temptation, or in a time of testing. You know, they fall away. So again, a category I think that we can understand a good amount about. Someone who receives it, someone who is excited about it initially and yet doesn't find the need, or doesn't find the time, or doesn't find the effort, or take the effort to have the conviction and the depth of the root system that would keep them, you know, from running into trouble whenever problems arise. The third category, verse 22, is that as for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but... So here's someone who hears the word of the kingdom. This is actually, I think, a very important category.

A category that we could slip into. Not that we might want to, but if we didn't pay attention to what it says, then we could slip into that, because there's a statement here in chapter...

...in the third section here, where it talks about not growing. It talks about not yielding any fruit, or not maturing. And in the fourth category, it is talking about maturing and yielding some fruit. But, of course, it talks about varying amounts of fruit that are listed here. So I think the third category certainly is a very important one.

Those among forns, this is the one who hears the word. You would assume response to that word is starting to pursue the truth of God, starting to pursue a way of life that God calls us to. And starting to understand something about the kingdom of God. As I think back, I'm pretty sure I understood something about the kingdom of God, but not near what I hope I've learned. Since then, that I know more about it, I know more about what it is that God is going to do. But then he gives some warnings here in verse 22, because he says, even though that seed that is among forns, someone hears the word, but it says, the cares of the world and the lure or the deceitfulness of riches, the lure of wealth, choke the word, and then it yields nothing. Here's talking about seed that is planted, and it seems like it starts to grow. It starts to grow. It starts to be developing. Maybe a certain amount of plant grows, but no head on the wheat actually starts growing. And why? Well, the reasons that are given here, the cares of the world and the lure of wealth. Those are the two that are stated here in Matthew. When you look over in Mark, Mark says in verse 18, Mark 4, But the cares of the world and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come and choke the word, and so it yields nothing. He actually adds a little bit more to the description of what is this talking about. It's talking about things to avoid. It's talking about things that we want to be sure that we are not allowing into our lives. And of course, there's a very good reason why this is stated this way. In Luke 8, verse 14, it says, Those in the thorns are those who are choked by the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. See there, again, it goes through some description there of what those are and why it is that we wouldn't want to be choked in that way. And so, I just mentioned this so that we don't fall into that category. And of course, the last category, verse 23, as for that which is sown in the good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.

Here's the word and understands it. Who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundred fold in another sixty and in another thirty. See there, what's the difference with that category and the other categories? Well, in some ways, a part of what Jesus emphasizes is individuals in that category understand the message. They understand what the seed is, the message of the kingdom, the word of the kingdom. And so, they understand that kingdom and you would say that undoubtedly they've kind of put aside the other things that are mentioned here as far as being choked and being of little depth that they've started to really take root and grow and develop and then produce fruit. And there's again some more than others, but ultimately all of them producing fruit. Mark, verse 20 of chapter 4 says, In the good soil they hear the word and then they accept it. It doesn't use the word to understand it, but it uses accept it. And so, I would say that not only would it have a certain amount of understanding of what the message of the kingdom is, but we accept that, we grasp that, we see that in our mind's eye, we see that in our future, we see that as our hope, we see that as what we have accepted. And in Luke 8, verse 15, he elaborates on this a little more in good soil. It says, the individuals in the category, Hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

Now, here it talks about not only accepting it and understanding what it is, but starting to bear fruit and then continuing to bear fruit. Continuing to bear fruit. It seems like in an ever-growing way, continuing to bear fruit as it says, bearing fruit with patient endurance. See, those are all, you know, those categories are categories that I know we're familiar with, and I've gone through these simply to point out, as we examine these type of soils, the good soil, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, you know, the rocks on the path even, as we examine those and how they describe, you know, different categories that could apply to different people, I think if we look through those or think about them, we can see what it is that we should pray about regarding each of these categories, because all of these categories are individuals that we will run into.

All of these are individuals that we might have contact with, people who will have in exchange with us as we share a message of the kingdom of God, a message about the king of the kingdom and the kingdom that's coming, individuals that we might know or that we might share this with, that we might see at seminars like we're having, we want to be able to pray.

I think in many ways we pray. I know as I think about it, I pray that people will want to come. I pray that people will want to hear. I pray that God will open their mind and call them, which we certainly know that that is what's going to be required.

But see, I think more specifically, if we read this first category, the seed that fell on the path, if what it says about that is Satan comes and takes away what is sown before they can believe and be saved. And of course, our prayer, I guess, in that regard, our prayer regarding people in that category as they initially are in contact with the message of the kingdom of God, would be that God would limit Satan's ability to minimize people's interest and that he would take that influence away.

That would clearly be something to pray for because this is one of the descriptions that Jesus Himself gives. He says the evil one here in Matthew, but in other ones, He mentions the devil comes by and takes away that out of their hearts so that they can't believe, so that they don't perceive. And so I think that could be our prayer about certain people. Let's think about the rocky category of people. These are individuals who receive the Word of God with joy.

They're excited about it. They're interested in it. They have a certain, you know, maybe it's even a cursory interest. Maybe it would be more you could describe as somewhat of a religious hobbyist. Someone who likes to talk church or talk Bible or talk religion because there are many people who can do that. And yet it's stunning to talk to someone who talks Bible and who doesn't know anything about the Bible. Doesn't know anything about the Kingdom of God or the message that Christ is making available.

And what the description is is that individuals may receive a certain amount of information about the Word of God. They may receive that with joy, but they don't endure. They actually stumble and they fall away. Well, what could we pray about them? Well, I would think that we should pray that God would cause people not only to receive the information, but that He would give them a depth of understanding that God would help them to be strengthened, to be enduring, that God would help them to have a conviction, and that they would be grounded in the Word of God and have a strong foundation.

Now, that's what we want for everybody. Of course, that's what we also should be sure that we have. Sure that we are grounded in the Word of God, so that we don't wither and we don't dry up, but that we have a deep conviction and a deep root. But that, again, as we think of others and as we think of ourselves, I think we can pray that God would provide that, and that would be of help to individuals that might fall into that category.

And like I mentioned, the third category, the one in thorns, is really one to be concerned about, because this appears to be someone who begins to follow the way of God. It appears to be someone who would, in a sense, kind of grasp in the thorns. It seems like they're heading down the right path. It seems like they're following the way of God. And yet, what happens? Well, what happens is the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things become more important.

They become more important than the message of the kingdom of God. Any of these categories, what is it as far as the cares of the world? Well, in many ways, just living can become laborious. In many ways, the stresses and the strife that we have in this world today, and even in our, in a sense, somewhat calm and civilized countries, people are strained in many ways. People are pulled apart just by living.

And with the work schedules and with younger folks, you've got work, and then you've got children to try to take care of, and probably having to provide care for them in one or two places, and trying to scramble a schedule, which I know is very difficult. It is very stressful to do. And yet, that's something that certainly we can think of as far as the cares of this world. And yet, whenever this is describing the choking by the weeds, the choking by the thorns, you know, it's talking about being unprepared.

Unprepared for what is going to be faced here in the future, and distracted from what is truly important. That would be the way I would describe or summarize what this category is of being choked. If we are not prepared, and of course we can be prepared, we can be preparing as far as growing close to God, and as far as studying the Word of God, as far as being inspired by what God says, and about how He is, how He describes Himself.

But, you know, being prepared and then trying to ensure that we are not distracted from the goal. You know, that's what this choking in the weeds is about. We want to be sure that we don't fall into that category. You know, it talks about the deceitfulness or the lure of riches. And I would think in this country we have a higher likelihood of that occurring than we would have in a lot of places where there may not be very much to be had. And yet it could still affect people, but what it's talking about is diverting our attention again, as far as wealth and all the things that money can buy.

And in some ways, when you see the deceitfulness or the lure of riches, it could also just be talking about a self-sufficiency, or we don't see how much we need God. Where we rely on whatever wealth we have and are not looking to God. Over in 1 Timothy 6, you find a few statements that Paul makes in regard to instruction that he gave to Timothy. And of course, he was encouraging him and uplifting him. In 1 Timothy 6, verse 9, he says, But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in this eagerness to be rich, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows, with many pains. This description that Paul is giving here to Timothy is again a warning, and it falls into this category of being sure that we are not among the thorns and that we don't allow the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches to distract us.

To distract us from the real job, the real pursuit that we're going to find in the next category. This pursuit of the kingdom of God, the pursuit of growing in a divine nature. Down in verse 17, Paul kind of concludes telling Timothy, as for those who in this present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to be set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to be good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may lay hold in the life that really is life. See, riches can be very deceitful. So all of you rich folks out there, all of you who fall into that category, I'm surely not going to include myself in that. But it warns us against that as far as that is one of the things to avoid. And then the final one, as far as Luke was mentioning, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, but just the desire for other things. If any other thing, if other things become more important to us than our pursuit of the kingdom of God, then we need to consider that we might get choked.

In Galatians 5, verse 17, again, this is diverting our minds away from the things that God wants us to have our mind on. In Galatians 5, you find a description of the fruits of the Spirit, but the works of the flesh. And in verse 17, it says, For what the Spirit desires is opposite to the Spirit.

For what the Spirit desires is opposite to the flesh. For those are opposed to each other and prevent you from doing what you want. See, this is talking about a focus on spiritual development, a focus on spiritual growth. That's what all these categories talk about here as far as the thorns. We want to avoid the pitfalls that are described here in the third category, in the third group of soil, because those take us away.

They cause us to be unfruitful. They cause us not to produce fruit. And actually, I guess, what we could say we could pray about that for ourselves and for others would be that we could keep our eye on the goal. We talked often, certainly in the past, about keeping our eye on the trunk of the tree. Keeping our eye on the sound foundation, not out on some twig somewhere where we can fall off, but keeping our eye on the trunk of the tree. Keeping our eye on the kingdom of God. And then the final category, what can we pray about regarding being a part of the good soil?

Well, that description is given where we accept, we understand the Word of the kingdom of God. That we are embracing that, we are enjoying that, we are appreciative of that. That's a part of our thinking and a part of our life every day. And the descriptions that you find are that we hold fast in an honest and good heart. I think this, again, ties in with what Ken mentioned earlier. The type of listening, the type of a responsiveness that we are to have is going to come from an honest and a good heart.

Actually, it's coming from a transformed heart. Because the old heart that we've had is what we've needed to have replaced, and we need a new heart. We want a new heart, that actually a heart that is willing to listen. A heart that is willing to learn. That's what's going to allow us to be able to be in a category of a good soil where we can bear fruit with patient endurance.

Where we're bearing fruit, and bearing fruit, and bearing fruit, and bearing fruit, and continue to bear fruit. See, that's what it talks about when it mentions that we're patiently enduring and bearing fruit until we arrive at the gold. And that gold, of course, is the Kingdom of God. And so I would hope that we could all pray that we could accept the Word of God and that we could produce fruit.

And yet, I'm not going to go through the things that we might be producing because there are many different things stated in the Bible about the fruit that God wants us to be producing. He wants us to bear the fruit of the Kingdom. Now, that's one of the descriptions that He gives. But whenever you determine what that is, growing in the fruit of the Spirit, growing in the divine nature, growing in good works... We read that a little bit ago.

What type of good works are we growing in? Those are all things to think about. Are we growing in serving? Are we growing in loving one another? Are we growing in sharing material things? Are we growing in thankfulness? There are many different things, and you could talk many other sermons about how it is that we are to bear fruit. How it is that God expects. And of course, Jesus parable. And His example was to show that different people might do different things. And certainly, the categories that are described here in Matthew 13 point out that our prayers for others should be that Satan will not be allowed to limit people's understanding.

And that people will see the importance, that they'll see the significance, that they see the value of the information of the Kingdom of God. And then they'll do whatever they need to to focus themselves so they don't get choked. And they're actually then producing fruit. See, that's where we want to be. That's the category we want to be in, but I think we need to understand the other categories as well.

Well, maybe just as readily in order to be sure that we are in a category that you could describe as being in good fruit and actually producing the fruit that God wants us to produce. So I thought it would be good to just review this parable that Jesus was talking about where He described why it was He spoke in parables. Why it was that He talked in a way that people did or didn't understand. And yet, for those of us who do have that understanding, for those of us who are striving to grow and develop and bear fruit.

Now, there are actually different ways to do that. And we not only want to know what the types are, but we need to know how to do that. And I hope to be able to cover some of that here in the next few weeks. So, I hope that covering this is helpful. It helps us to be able to focus our prayers for others, but that it also helps us individually that we are striving to bear as much fruit.

Not just 30 oranges, but 60 oranges, or even 100 oranges, or more, I guess. But that, at least, is the type of thing that God wants us to be focused on. And so, as Jesus finished His parable as He was talking from the water, I can say to all of you, He who has ears to hear, let Him hear.