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Amen so Matthew chapter 13 is a long chapter in the Bible and for that reason because there's so many different things in Matthew chapter 13 we are gonna take two weeks to get through Matthew chapter 13 So we're gonna talk about farming a lot for the next two weeks because these are you know the what the parables are based on? You know I never was a farmer You know I grew up in the country and we raised animals and things like this, but I would never was a farmer It was just it was too complicated. It was two. There's too much to it I never got into farming in my adult life But you know Jesus uses farming here as an analogy to describe a lot of more Complicated things than actual farming so what we're gonna do this evening is we're gonna go through Matthew 13 and look at the parable of The sower in Matthew chapter 13, so let's get right into it tonight We're gonna get down through roughly half of Matthew 13 But I don't want to just blast through you know these parables that Jesus is talking about here because there's a lot here There's a lot for us to learn about these parables so in Matthew chapter 13 the first thing that Jesus does is he kind of Explains you know why he talks in parables He kind of explains that to his disciples and in verse number one the Bible starts off in Matthew 13 It says the same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside I'm like a spider here or something crawling all over me all right anyway He sat by the seaside and the great multitudes were gathered unto him so that when he went into the ship and sat the whole multitude stood on the shore And he spake many things unto them in parables saying behold a sower went forth to sow And he sowed some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up some fell into stony places And they had not much earth and forthwith they sprung up because they had no Deepness of earth and when the Sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root They withered away and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them But other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit some in hundredfold Some sixtyfold some thirtyfold who hath ears to hear Let him hear and then of course in verse number 10 the disciples saying the disciples came and said unto him Why speakest thou unto them in parables so Jesus The parable of the sower a lot of people will get sidetracked right away With the parable of the sower and they will think you know which guy is saved and which guy is not Saved and I'll give you my thoughts on that this evening as well, but that's not really the point of the parables That's not really the point especially of the the parable of the sower. It wasn't really to determine the salvation of This of these people that he's talking about in the parable He answered in verse number 11 and said unto them because it is given he tells them he tells them why? He speaks in parables He says because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven But to them it is not given for whosoever hath to him shall be given He shall have more abundance But who shall ever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath So basically Jesus says turn to Matthew chapter 25 Jesus says look I'm speaking to them in parables on purpose, so they don't understand He's basically speaking in code if you could think of it that way so only the disciples Will understand what he's talking about because what does Jesus do after? You know everybody goes away, and the disciples are confused and they come up to him he basically he explains The parables to them right now what he says in verse number 12 I just want to look at very quickly and but but verse number 9 first of all it says he who hath ears to hear Let him hear so Jesus says that because there were just people that just didn't want to hear what Jesus was saying They just didn't believe what he was saying and the Bible says that they could not believe and then after a while You'll see that Jesus said he actually spoke to them in parables because he didn't want them to believe You didn't want them to figure it out look Jesus will go through the parable of the sower tonight Jesus could have explained it in much clearer language than what he did in the parable of the sower Okay, but look at verse number 12 again the verse number 12 talks about whosoever hath to him shall be given So it says people that have they're gonna be given more, and then it says to him You know she'll be he'll have more abundance whosoever hath not has nothing to him shall be taken away even that he hath Alright look at Matthew 25 in verse number 28. I Just want you to notice this philosophy We're gonna really dig deep into it when we get to Matthew chapter 25 But I just wanted you to take note of this philosophy look at Matthew 25 in verse 28 Take therefore. This is the parable of the talents, okay, which I'm not going to explain But basically you have people that did well and had more talents And then he had people that didn't do well and had less talents And then the Bible says in Matthew 28 Matthew 25 28 take therefore the talent from him and give it to him Which hath ten talents for unto everyone that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance But from him that hath not shall be taken away Even that which he hath so the point that I'm trying to make here is that God has this philosophy It's not how much you have it's what you do with it And the Bible says that if you don't do with what you have you do the right things with what you have God's gonna take away what you have and give it to the people that do more with what they have All right, so it's not that oh they have this much and need they don't so we're gonna take this much and give it no That's not how God operates all right We'll dig into that deeper when we get to Matthew chapter 25 But that's what Jesus is talking about in verse number 12 is just this philosophy that What you do with what you have is is what's important, okay now? Look down at Matthew Chapter 25 stay in Matthew chapter 25 look at verse 13 so Jesus here explains in Matthew 25 as well Why in more detail he speaks in parables, okay? Look at verse 13. He says therefore speak I to them in parables because seeing Because they seeing see not so it's they can see him they can physically see him But they're not seeing him is what he's saying They're not spiritually seeing him and hearing they hear not Neither do they understand and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of a science which saith by hearing you shall hear and shall not Understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive For this people's heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes They have closed lest at any time They should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be Converted and I should heal them turn to Acts chapter 28 So this is this this prophecy that's being fulfilled So the Pharisees these people that didn't believe Jesus that didn't believe what he was saying that didn't believe He was the Messiah that didn't believe any of this They that the Bible says that their heart the problem first started because their heart waxed gross their heart was hardened Towards you know the Word of God all right and their ears were dull of hearing so when they heard the Word of God They didn't they didn't understand it as the Word of God. He's saying all right in Acts 28 We see a very similar passage here and the Bible says this is Paul. He's talking to the Romans Paul is in Rome He's in under house arrest in Rome and Paul uses the same scripture the same prophecy in verse 27 of Acts 28 He says for the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be Converted and I should heal them. This is a prophecy being fulfilled from the Old Testament turn to Isaiah chapter 6 So it gets to the point where look it's always that it's always us It's always the people that don't listen that fire the first shot So it's not like God is just choosing to not you know want certain people to understand It's not like you know your dad was a Jewish leader, and he was a bad guy So for that reason, you know I don't want you to understand and I don't want you to hear and I don't want you to see because guess what if they Would have heard what Jesus was saying if they would have believed in Jesus. What would have happened? They would have they would have been converted okay, and it got to the point where Jesus says, you know, the reason I Their ears were their heart waxed gross first. That's why you always see this their heart waxed gross. Their heart was hardened I mean look if you're a soul winner, you know, this is true. You know that there's people there's many people that have a heart That's hard towards the gospel That's hard towards the Lord people that you'll go up to their door and there's nothing you're gonna say to those people That are gonna get them to listen to what the Bible says nothing you can say nothing Their heart has waxed gross their heart has hardened something's happened to them in their life or they've lived such a life Where their heart has waxed gross? but the Bible says here with these specific people that had got to the point where Jesus spoke in parables because He didn't want them to figure out. He didn't even want there to be a chance That they would figure it out and be oh that a light bulb would go on. He's like no, that's it. You're done I mean, it's proof of the reprobate doctrine right there Okay Isaiah chapter 6 look at verse number 9. This is what he's referring to. This is what Paul was referring to as well It says and he said go and tell this people hear ye indeed But understand not and see indeed but perceive not make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes Lest that means unless They see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed. It's judgment It's judgment is what it's talking about. It's because you know, their their heart has they've turned against the Lord in the Old Testament It's a dual prophecy. It's talking about the people in the Old Testament. They turned against the Lord They they just they shun God and God's like you're done Judgments coming but it's also a dual prophecy of what happened and what Jesus was talking about What in Matthew chapter 13 and Matthew chapter 25? All right, and then look at Matthew chapter 25 in verse 16. We see the flip side of this coin It says but blessed are your eyes For they see and your ears for they hear for verily I say unto you that many so he's like he's like Blessed are you to the disciples and the people that believed in Jesus? He's like blessed Are you he's like you are blessed that you are? Not like these people that you don't have hard hearts that you're able to believe on me, right? So first, you know these people's hearts turned on God themselves and then you know, Jesus turned on them is what it says All right, and he says for verily I say to you So, why are they blessed because he says verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things Which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them turn to Hebrews chapter 11 he's saying you are privileged he said many prophets the prophets like Daniel and Isaiah and Jeremiah all these Great men of the Bible. He's like they you know, they desired to see the things that you're seeing right now Look at Hebrews 11 in verse number one The Bible says now faith is the subjects a substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen That's what the prophets had they had, you know faith because they didn't see those things and then look down at verse number 39 and These all now, of course Hebrews 11 is a great chapter talking about many great men and women of the Bible and that they just had faith It's a great chapter of faith that they just had faith and they didn't realize those promises They didn't have those promise realized in their lifetime in verse 39 says and these all having obtained a good report through what through faith received not the promise The prophets yearned to see what the disciples were seeing now is what Jesus was trying to get across To these men and then he explained why you know, he he spoke to them in parables It was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and it was because he didn't want them at that point To understand he didn't want there to be a chance that they would understand So back, let's look at the parable of the sower. Look at verse number 18 The parable of the sower now, first of all, the point of the parable is not to explain Who's saved and who is not? Jesus just explained to the disciples that this parable is for the believer He's telling this parable to them as believers these pair of parables are for the believer Okay, it's it's for us to learn something and take something away From the parable so it's in that context Okay, and you know just this it's for them and the struggles that they will see so look at verse number 18 Where Jesus begins and he says hear ye therefore the parable of the sower now he is going to explain The the parable of the sower to them he went through it He talked about this seed being sowed on the wayside on the stony places you know in that In the thorns and then you know on the good ground right and it's he's now going to explain it to them They're off by themselves. He's going to explain to them what he was talking about turn to Luke chapter 8 we see a parallel passage about the The parable of the sower look at Luke chapter 8 and look at verse number 11. He gives us a great Just beginning of what the whole parable is about it explains You know what the word is first in Luke chapter 11 it Luke chapter 8 in verse number 11 The Bible says this it says now the parable is this the seed is the word of God So we see that the seed that's being sown is the word of God Okay, and then go back to Matthew chapter 13 and look at verse number 19. He talks about The wayside first the seed that goes on the wayside He says when anyone hearth the word of the kingdom and understand if it not Then cometh the wicked one in other places in Luke. It's called the devil You know, this is Satan. Okay and catches the way that which was sown in his heart This is he which received the seed by the wayside so as Far as salvation goes this is really the one person the one group of people where you could really Probably say in the parable of the sower that these are the people that probably you couldn't you know, think that they're saved, right? I mean they they didn't understand somebody snatched it out of their heart before they understood it and You know the devil caught it away right this is the person who maybe you're explaining the gospel to and there's some You know wicked person that says no, you're not talking to my husband or whatever I mean, that's the wayside and then grabs them away and slams the door. I mean, how many times has that happened? So, I mean this is someone who has just never really received the word. They didn't understand it. It wasn't sown in their heart They didn't believe it This is that person. All right, look at Matthew chapter 13 in verse number 20. Let's look at the stony ground The Bible says but he that receiveth the seed into stony places the same as he that hearth the word and anon with joy Receive it Yet he hath no root in himself But doerth for a while for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word by and by he is offended turn to John chapter 16 So the Bible says that this person, you know receives the Word of God with joy, they're happy about it They they understand it and but they just have they do it just for a while because they quickly become Offended. All right. Look at John 16 in verse number 1 John 15 and 16 Jesus is talking to the disciples about you know Persecution and things like that and Jesus says in verse number 1 of chapter 16 of John these things have I spoken unto you that you? Should not be offended They shall put you out of the synagogues yay, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service and These things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me So he's talking about unsaved people doing terrible things and he's telling them these things. So they're not offended. They're not surprised. They're not They're not shaken up by it All right, but the people that have have the seed sown in the stony ground They they receive the word they they walked in the word for a while But you know all sudden tribulation or a little bit of trouble comes their way and right away They're offended turn to Matthew chapter 24 That is one of the reasons by the way for Bible prophecy You know Bible prophecy isn't necessarily so we can just like pretend that we have the end times figured out Bible prophecy is there. One of the reasons it's there is so we are not offended. We're not surprised We're not shaken up. We're prepared when these things happen all right, look at Matthew 24 in verse number 7 and I can only just take a snippet of this because we could go into this and we'll get there in Matthew 24 Okay, but the Bible says in verse number 7 for nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom There shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes and diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you Here's that tribulation again and you shall be hated of all nation for my name's sake and then shall many be what? offended and shall betray one another and Shall hate one another and many false prophets shall rise and deceive Many so look the Bible says when these end times come look there's even going to be saved people who are offended Who are surprised who are not prepared? I mean, this is like pre-tribber right here All right. I mean this is this is the person who's just like, you know, Jesus take me away Right. I mean, this is the person they they don't think they're gonna go through anything So if they go through something they're they're immediately gonna be offended Because they're just not ready for it I knew a guy like this just all these terrible things were happening to him because he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do In his life, he's just laying there going, you know It's one of those people that you just never want to ask him how it's going because it's always worse Every time you ask him and you know when you did ask him he just be like I'm just waiting for Jesus to come get me Seriously, that's what he was waiting for when you should have not been offended And he should have just been in the Bible doing what he was supposed to be doing. Okay, so look Jesus is Telling, you know us not to be offended with Bible prophecy. He's I mean think think of it. He's training these men He's training these disciples. He's training people I mean if you went and you had a training class on you know A new job somebody was gonna go into and you know This job was just really like physically hard and you're just like it's really easy And there's no problems and it's gonna go great and just read these two pieces of paper and sign here And then people go out and it's just I really I mean everyone's just gonna quit Because they didn't know what was coming. And so Jesus is trying to prepare people. He's trying to prepare us He was trying to prepare the disciples. All right, and they had no root the Bible says So, I mean this is the person at first at first the person at the stony ground You know, they were they received it with joy This is your Christian who's who gets saved and they're just fired up for the Lord, you know This is your shooting. I've heard the term shooting star Christian. I've seen it. It's more like bottle rocket Christian, you know Like that, you know we had you know, some of them are like whistlers you ever had whistlers You're not from a free state, but we had whistlers when I was a kid They're like these bottle rockets and they whistle and they go Right there these little rockets like this big it would never be legal here ever in a million years If we shoot them at each other, it was awesome but anyway The point being is, you know You got these whistler Christians out there who are just they're making all this noise and they're all fired up and all of a sudden Just pop and they're done one little thing happens because guess what? Guess what happens when you get done eating all the gummy bears, you know And you just you just pounded all the gummy bears and then you have to go out and do the chores Right, you got to go out and just all sudden all the the excitement wears off and it's just church and it's just soul-winning and it's just your Christian life and You separate and people get upset at you and you start doing things different than the world and people will start criticizing you well, you know what, it's the gummy bear bag is empty and and you're just like There you you're offended. That's these people All right, that's these people and why is it because there's no root There's no root They're just they're just done, right? But these are the people not to just go off on this but these are the people where you know, everything Becomes, you know that the fun wears off and everything becomes a decision You know, should I go to church today becomes a decision. Should I go soul-winning? Should I really do you know what I'm supposed to do in the Bible? Should I should I keep going with this Bible study stuff? Should I keep reading my Bible? Everything's a decision how stressful that must be where everything's a decision or if you just you know Lock your Christian life in start getting it right and just start trucking forward. There's no decisions anymore What decisions are stressful? Right decisions are stressful It's when you start changing and wanting to you know, do things different and all this kind. That's what change is stressful If you just lock it in and go forward, you know, you're gonna have some roots and you're not gonna dry up All right. Look at verse number 22 Let's look at the thorns the thorns Matthew 13 in verse number 22 Jesus continues He said he also that receiveth seed among the thorns is he that hearth the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches Choke the word and he becometh unfruitful So here we have the thorns. What this is the American Christian right here This is the American Christian problem right here if there ever was one It's it's the the cares of this world turn to Matthew chapter 6 You just get you get choked out by the cares of this world you say well, well, why does it happen so much? I mean, why can't people? live a successful life Have a have a successful job Have some money and just still serve the Lord. Why what why can't that be? Why do so many people does that happen to them and then they they get choked out by these thorns? Why is Jesus calling this thorns? Look Jesus. I mean the Bible isn't isn't Necessarily against you, you know having success in your life It's not against it the problem is Matthew chapter 6 in verse number 24 the problem is this The Bible says no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and Despise the other you cannot serve God and mammon turn back to Matthew chapter 12 So the Bible says that if you make those things your master you will begin to hate God and vice versa because you know you your heart can only be in one place at one time and it's funny because That's how God is It's funny because that's exactly the nature of God if you look at Matthew chapter 12 in verse number 30 You know the Bible's talking here and God says this he says he that is not with me Jesus says is against me and he that gathers not with me scattereth abroad well That's pretty extreme wouldn't you say I mean really he that's not with me is against me I mean what about the people that just don't really care that are just in the town that are just like oh There's a some profit or something going through you know that's fine. You can go. I'm not really into that What about those people that's not God God said those people are against me It's like you're either with me or against me. There's no gray There's no gray and look. We're created in the image of God. That's how we are too. That's how our heart is That's how our heart was designed Look our heart is designed. You know God designed it and God tells us how it works He says look your heart can only be in one place and if you you know get sucked into the riches of this world There's the deceitfulness of that He said you will turn against me He's telling us that that is the thorns It's all or nothing with God, and it's all or nothing with your heart It's the same Methodology all right your heart can only be in one place at one time remember how many things you can do well at once one It's the same with your heart you can only be dedicated to God or money not both so Be careful. I mean this is a trap be careful as you follow God's plan for your life as you work as you save as You you know maybe God opens some doors for you Maybe God gives you some success Nothing wrong with that. It's his choice to do that But don't get wrapped up in it It's not look enjoy the fruits of your labor, but it's not the prize It's not the prize don't use God's blessings to stab him in the back think of it And if you allow the things of this world to capture your attention to capture your heart You will be choked out this parable says Jesus says all right look back at Matthew chapter 13 and look at verse number 23 verse number 23 Now Jesus talks about the good ground, and he says, but he that receiveth the seed into the good ground is he that hearth the word and understandeth it which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth and Bringeth forth some in hundredfold some 60 some 30 look. This is the fruitful Christian right here This is the guy or the gal You know that gets saved that gets into church that gets baptized that gets into the Bible that gets their family squared away That gets separated from the world that becomes a soul winner that goes out and just starts getting people saved that just you know Goes and just dedicates themselves to their to their local church and just like lives their life for Christ. This is that person and Becomes a fruit-bearing tree That's this person But look it also implies look the the seed is the word You are the ground Right the person that the person the heart is the ground this implies That there was a lot right before That seed was sown This implies that the ground was good That the seed was sown into Alright, and what do I mean by good? I mean what I mean by good is is that it was it was not corrupted to the point of having that heart waxed gross You see how it all fits together what Jesus was saying once look This is why you know people that get wrapped up in sin They they get a hard heart towards the Lord for some circumstances that that happened in their life or whatever This is why many people you know and guess what as you get older the ground just gets harder That's why you know generally older people are harder to get saved because they get set in their ways You know they get they get firmer in their ways the ground gets harder. It's not it's not as soft They have ruined ground before the scene is the seed is sown see That's why you'll see people like that look and and the more wicked this world gets by the way The less good ground we're gonna find And that that's sad, but that's true. So that's the The parable of the sower in in conclusion looks you see how it's it's not so much about Salvation the parable of the sower is really describing All the different results that we will see from preaching the Word of God. It's really an interesting Parable for the soul winner really I mean it gives you some perspective of what's gonna What's gonna happen out there, and it makes perfect sense that Jesus would give this parable to the disciples I mean he's training soul winners here He's training them to see you know What they're gonna see I? Mean if you think about the percentage of people that we see it's unfortunate to say but probably Most people are in this world are the wayside Most people in this world are unsaved most people in this world do not want to hear the gospel at this point most people the stony places You know the thorns You know the stony places are a lot of Christians the thorns unfortunately Is is going to be a lot of American Christians and a lot of Christians as well the good ground is unfortunately Probably the minority of even saved Christians. I would say So not only are we gonna see these different results But out of these you know these you know the stony places the thorns and the good ground You know you ought to ask yourself. You know which are you? Which are you you know apply it not only to what you're gonna see but to yourself Which are you right now, and you say well? I mean who here wouldn't say I want to be the good ground I want to be the ground you know that that bears fruit who wouldn't say that right but You need to watch for two things if that's the case and that's why this is such a great parable because it just gives you The two things that you need to have and you need to watch for and the first thing is is that you need to root You need a root in your life, so how do you grow a root you know Jacob? We just planted a garden and these plants are these tiny little plants and all this and you're just like how are they gonna? Well they have to grow a root turn to Isaiah chapter 12 Growing a root it takes it takes watering and it takes watering over time Look at Isaiah chapter 12 And I just I don't know I just thought of this this verse in Isaiah chapter 12 And I was thinking about you know this root that you need to have if you don't want to be the stony ground And I just thought this was just it's just interesting the words and the Analogies that the Bible uses and how they all match each other and they all kind of fit together look at Isaiah chapter 12 in verse number 1 and this listen to what the Bible says here It says and in that day thou shalt say oh lord I will praise thee thou wast angry with me thine anger is turned away and thou comforts comforts me Behold God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength that could be like my root and My song he has also become my salvation Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation And in that day say praise the Lord call upon his name declare his doings among the people Make mention that his name is exalted look. This is this is what this person is doing This person is drawing water out of the wells of salvation, and he's praising the Lord He's declaring his doings among the people verse 5. He's singing unto the Lord sing unto the Lord in number verse number 6 cry out and shout He's look draw water out of the wells of it because I mean Is your salvation going anywhere that's a well inside you That's a well that will never leave you and you can draw water out of that well and just you know Immerse yourself in spiritual things Immerse yourself in spiritual things and draw that water out of it You know out of the the well of your salvation that is in you, you know church the Bible your daily life It's not gonna work just once a week You know, it's not gonna work it's got to be every day with consistency look if Especially in Fresno, you know how you know when a sprinkler is not working like immediately. Everything starts dying like immediately I'm like, whoa, what happened there? sprinkler head broke Right. It's very easy to see because if you don't consistently keep watering The plant is gonna die And Especially look, you know why palm trees can can can not have water because they have like really big root systems You know, they have root They have root they have strength Verse number six of Matthew 13 says and when the Sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they withered away So the Bible says you can draw water out of the wells of your salvation you need to water your Christian life The more you water your Christian life the stronger of a root you will grow You say, you know, I just don't like the spiritual things Well, you haven't even started to grow a root if you don't like the spiritual things Okay, if you don't like the things that you know are watering your faith You know, you need to immerse yourself in spiritual things and then that well You know, you'll you'll that well of salvation will will help you and you will grow a root All right The second thing is this for yourself for your own personal reflection from the parable of the sower is you need to avoid thorns You need to avoid thorns. So you're saying, you know, are you not able to enjoy the things of this world? That's not what I'm saying, but you need to be careful Is what I'm saying because look it's easy to get caught up in stuff It's easy to get caught up in Look, we we live in a society where even now look, I mean even now look this these are not hard times I know that financially things might be going on that are difficult but compared to what's happened to other people in the history of the World we're not really having hard times right now. We're in a situation Where you know things have gone downhill, but look there's really no want in our society There's really you know kids today, you know Everybody has this false philosophy that I just need to give my kids everything that I never had. That's a false philosophy Your kids need to know what some want is your kids need to maybe know That things need to be earned and they need to work for things if you the kid the child that is given Everything will be miserable. First of all But it's they will be wrapped up in thorns before they even get saved You know, we grew we've grown up in a culture we all have where everything is available to pretty much Pretty much everyone. There's just new shiny things everywhere and you know Don't chase these squirrels is what I'm trying to tell you don't be this Christian who's like, oh, yeah I'm serving the Lord squirrel and then you're off over here, you know chasing a car Or a house or some other shine. Look we all have ADHD. I don't know what this is all I don't know what this new thing. We all have it. God told us we have it. That's the thorns It's that he's he's trying to warn us. He's like you have ADHD He's like you're gonna get caught up in the deceitfulness of all this riches because you're all like, yeah The Bible let's go on mission trips. Let's get people saved squirrel That's what happens that's why Jesus wrote it down that's why he gave us this parable That you know all these things Look the things that you own will soon own you if you get all wrapped up in this stuff And you will have you will want nothing to do with serving the Lord. So Jesus is telling you It'll steal your heart It'll steal your heart Hey, look, I don't know about you, but I don't want to end up in this cycle. I mean think of this cycle They I mean who wants to get first of all, I used to be this person that thought that my goal in life was to just Be as successful Monetarily as possible that used to be me and I used to just be like plowing and look I mean I can work and I was working towards that goal, but you know what? I Have never been more successful whatever that means sit Since I took my mind off of that stupid goal And just put my mind on the right things Did what I was supposed to do and God just took care of other things God Will just handle those things and you know what? I'm glad that God will never make me rich because it wouldn't have been good for me and it probably won't be good for you and He was protecting me by by holding me back and not allowing Things to work out like I thought they could always work out in my mind. It was a false goal It was a bad goal. It was a prayer that I'm glad wasn't answered But you'll see that that God's protecting you well don't be this person that gets into this vicious cycle in your life where you know, you're doing the right thing and you're living the Christian life and you're separated and you're moving in the right direction and then God opens some doors for you and and things start going right for you and Then you just start chasing squirrels over there and you just leave God You just you just you just totally just you take the blessings of God and you stick them in his back And then and then you know, you could get right and then have it happen again and go through this vicious cycle But you know how it actually happens, you know how it happened to Solomon you know, he you know, you get chastised over here for chasing squirrels, right and Then you go get back right with God and then he chased squirrels again back right with God But you know how it really actually happens It happens usually like it happened with Solomon you chase the squirrels and you waste your whole life chasing squirrels That's what usually happens and God's beating you along the way and you're so busy you're so Wrapped up in the deceit of the riches of this world. You don't even notice God beating you over the head That's how it usually happens That's how it usually goes it usually isn't a cycle but don't even get in the cycle just look Take the blessings Use them for the Lord Thank God for the blessings, you know, that's why it's good to have some bad times by the way So you even I mean so you recognize the blessings because your man like man remember ten years ago. Those those were bad times That's not like that now You know, I can't tell you how many men that I've talked to that are my friends Whether it be you know back in Sacramento or whatever where they're just like they're just like, I don't know why This is going like this. God's taking care of me right now and the next thing they say out of their mouth I just got to keep doing what I'm doing serving the Lord They recognize that they recognize it. Hey, I got some blessings going here better. Keep on the right track Now that's where you need to be that's where you need to be you need to get some roots you need to avoid some thorns Because they're everywhere They're everywhere, especially in our society. So that is the parable of the sower. It's a great parable It's a parable to be viewed from the believers eyes. Let me just end here It's it's not this parable which one which guy was saved. First of all, it's not a guy Right the by the wayside is not a guy it's a It's a theoretical group of people or a theoretical thing that could happen to someone that hears the Word of God Right and you could just as easily I mean I've heard people use the parable of the sower to say you could lose your salvation By you know you dry up and you know, the plant dies It's shown in the stony places and that's losing your salvation Well, look it's certainly not meant for doctrine on salvation It's not meant for that because just as easily as somebody could take you know The parent the stony places and say yeah, they lost their salvation. I could say well, they just have dead faith They're just not doing anything They're just I mean the seeds still in the ground, but they just it's not for a doctrine on salvation That's why you'll hear people say, you know, don't get your doctrine from parables. It's a lesson for you It's so it's training for soul winning for you for your life What you're gonna see out there when you go out and you you share and you sow the seed it's farming instructions for you and Then it's reflection for yourself. It's warning for yourself. Jesus warned us. Jesus was warning us all the time That's what Jesus was doing 90% of the time he was speaking. He was just warning people About what's to come? All right, the parable of the sower will continue Matthew 13 next week. Let's bow our heads and have a prayer Dear Heavenly Father. We thank you for this great parable in the Bible. We ask that you just Just help help us in our lives to apply these lessons that Jesus you've taught us here Lord We ask that you just you know help us to grow that root and to be stronger Christians every single day No matter what comes our way Lord Especially times like this Lord that we just not be offended that no matter what comes our way We just water that root and we keep that root going and we just keep doing what we're supposed to be doing Well, we just be that strong strong tree that bears fruit. Just keep us Safe from all the thorns that are out there trying to distract us Lord. Now. We thank you for your word We thank you for this church and everyone in it in Jesus name we pray You