A Lineup of Listeners

Good morning. For those of you
who don’t know me, I am Larry Helmuth, a member here at Providence
Bible Church, and it’s a great privilege to bring you the Word
of God this morning. I’m even especially honored that Ron has
given me the pulpit in his absence. Last time he was sitting on the
front row with his big tablet taking notes of me, so I’m especially
honored today. Our passage for this morning
is Mark Chapter 4, so if you would turn there with me. Mark
Chapter 4. I intend to draw from the parable
alone, but I will begin reading in verse one of chapter four,
so please join me. He, that is Jesus, began to teach
again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered
to him that he got into a boat in the sea and sat down. And
the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And he was teaching
them many things in parables and was saying to them in his
teaching, listen to this. Behold, the sower went out to
sow. As he was sowing, some seed fell
beside the road and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed
fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil. And
immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And
after the sun had risen, it was scorched, and because it had
no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns,
and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other
seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased,
they yielded a crop and produced a 30, 60, and 100-fold. And he was saying, he who has
ears to hear, let him hear. When we look at the teaching
style of our Lord in his ministry, we observed that he taught many
things in parables, but that wasn’t so in the beginning of
his ministry. Although there was some. Even in the Sermon on the Mount,
he did slip in a few, such as, you are the salt of the earth,
and again, you are the light of the world. It was a proverbial
saying, which is parabolic. He also ended that sermon, as
you’re all familiar with, another parable. Therefore, everyone
who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared
to a wise man who builds his house on the rock. It was a short
parable. Those are two of the small handfuls
in the beginning of his ministry. And it wasn’t uncommon for teachers
of that day and the centuries before to use parables in their
teaching. It was nothing uncommon. Although we do see that there
did come a point in time in his ministry where he really increased
the use of his parables. And I want to look into why that
might be the case or why it is the case, at least in my understanding. And I think that it’s clear in
Matthew 13 why he did. If you would, please turn to
Matthew 13 with me. Verse one, he starts with, that
day, Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And
large crowds gathered to him. So he got into a boat and sat
down. And the whole crowd was standing
on the beach. And he spoke many things to them in parables. This
should sound very familiar. We just read this in Mark’s account.
It’s the same account. But he begins that with the words,
that day. which stood out to me and made
me look back what was going on that day. This is the point in
time where he really increased the use of parables. So I go
back to chapter 12 to see what was going on. And you see in
verse 22 that he healed a demon possessed man who was blind and
mute. This led to him being accused
by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the leader of demons,
Beelzebub. He then showed them the absurdity
in that, as you know, it’s a ridiculous claim, and he ended his rebuke
by saying, you’ve just blasphemed the Holy Spirit. What the Holy
Spirit had done through Jesus, they attributed to Satan, which
was blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He said there was no forgiveness
for that. That was the same day that he really increased his
use of parables. And I believe there were other
events going on around him at that time, but I believe this
would be the most significant. And in his own words, why he
increased the use of parables or why he was teaching in that
way, he tells his disciples in verse 10, chapter 13, verse 10. And the disciples came and said
to him, why do you speak to them in parables? Jesus answered them,
to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. They had a
twofold purpose. One was to hide the truth from
some and to reveal these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to others.
If it would be solely to hide truth, he could have done that
just by keeping silent, right? But the reality is that some
are expected to understand these, and his disciples were among
those. This is evident in Jesus’ words
in Mark. Would you turn back there with
me? Back in Mark 4, verse 13. where he says to them, do you
not understand this parable? How will you understand all the
parables? They were expected to understand them, while others
were not. So you may still be wondering,
why would Jesus hide the truth? I’ve alluded to it. But just
to touch on that more, you might recall the account I just mentioned
about the demon-possessed man that he healed, and the Pharisees’
reaction to that. They were being, as you could
say, swinish. He was being very compassionate
by healing these people, and no one else has shown more compassion
than Him. And their response was that He
was functioning by the power of the devil, which was blasphemy. But He also, in this, does exactly
what He taught His disciples earlier. where he says, Do not
give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before
swine. He ceased to give them these precious truths. They had
heard the call to repent. They had heard John the Baptist
and Jesus himself in this ministry for quite some time, but their
antagonistic attitude was getting worse, and they had crossed the
point of no return. They had blasphemed the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, Jesus was justified in his words there
in Mark 4 verse 11 and 12. And he was saying to them, To
you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But those
who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing,
they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear
and not understand. Otherwise, they might return
and be forgiven. Remember, he had said that there
is no forgiveness for what you’ve done. And now, he’s saying, I’m
doing this, lest they turn and be forgiven. They had had their
opportunity to repent, but it was gone now. So that was the
background leading up to the passage we want to look at. And
I want to start in the third verse of Mark 4 there, the parable
of the soils, as it’s called. where Jesus starts with these
words, listen to this. You know, when Jesus said, truly,
truly, his listeners should have paid full attention. He was about
to say something very important. So how much more when he actually
explicitly says, listen to this, he has something important to
say. And in fact, it’s all about listening. In fact, he tells
us there are four classes of listeners who hear the word of
God. There are four classes of listeners who hear the word of
God. Did you hear that? You’re in there somewhere. We’re
all in there somewhere because you have heard the word of God.
And if you haven’t, you are hearing it now. So I’m begging you to examine your
own hearts as we go through this to see where you are at. It is
an eternal, will have an eternal impact on your examination, so
I just pray that you would be honest with yourself as we go
through this. Again, the third verse, listen
to this. Behold, the sower went out to
sow. Who’s the sower here and what
is he sowing? I have good news. We don’t have
to speculate about this. He gives us the answers later,
where his apostles come and ask him what he’s saying. In verse
14, he gives us the answer to who the sower is. The sower sows
the word. More more plainly, he shares
what the word, what the seed is, that is the word. But the
implication is that the sower is anyone who’s sharing the word
of God to another person. We could go further on that,
but contrary to what some commentators believe, I do not believe that
the sowing, the sower is the main focus of this. It’s those
who are hearing. It’s the listeners. So I won’t
go in depth on, I won’t go any further on the sower. I want
to look at those who are hearing. Verse four, as he was sowing,
some seed fell beside the road. And the birds came and ate it
up. For those of you who have manually broadcast seed, maybe
you’re in your yard, you’ve come to realize that the seed doesn’t
always land where you want it to, especially on a windy day.
It crosses that line that we’re trying to reach. And in my case,
it lands on the sidewalks in the driveway. Well, in this case,
they had hardened paths around their field. So it was the seed
he was scattering was landing on these hardened paths. and
not penetrating the dirt, and the birds would come and eat
them up. But what does this all mean? Again, he provides the
answer in verse 15, where he says, These are the ones who
are beside the road where the word is sown. And when they hear,
immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been
sown in them. Matthew, in his account, adds
here that they do not understand. They don’t understand the words
that’s spoken. They don’t have ears to hear. Before he can even
consider what he heard, the devil comes and takes it out of his
memory. Why does he do that? Luke says
it’s so that they will not believe and be saved. He’s under their
power, or they are under his power. This is the man on the street
who scoffs. Evangelists run into this man
all the time. They scoff when they hear the
word. But he’s not only outside the church. This person is also
inside the church who comes week after week only to soothe the
religious conscience and doesn’t care what is spoken, doesn’t
remember, is only here for appearance or some other reason. The word means nothing to this
person. There’s no conviction of sin. And they just go about their
daily lives as if there is no eternity lying before them. So
if you’re listening to this and the devil hasn’t taken it from
you and you have never repented of your sins, then I plead with
you to do so now. because you don’t need to despond.
If this describes you, you don’t need to despond. This isn’t a,
this dire state is not one in which you are stuck in. You don’t
have to remain here. I was there once. But what we must do is we must
flee to Christ before the wrath of God falls on us. If this was
a class from which a person could not be removed, the Lord would
not have emphasized the need to hear. In Luke’s account, he
says that the Lord said, take care how you listen. There was
a need to change our listening if necessary. So this isn’t a
position you need to be stuck in. But only Christ can help you
out of it. At verse five, we see a second
class of listener. I’ve called them listeners who
are turned temporarily. Listeners who are turned temporarily.
Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have
much soil. And immediately it sprang up
because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen,
it was scorched. And because it had no root, it
withered away. This rocky ground, it isn’t like
we might imagine, as we have here in the Rocky Mountains.
It was this stratum that was underneath the soil, just below
the surface, a solid layer of rock. And the planter, the farmer,
couldn’t see it, so he’d scatter seed there. And as the root would
go down, And the plant would grow quickly because this rock
would absorb heat, as one commentator says, and I’m not a farmer, but
I see it as being reasonable, would cause the plant to grow
quicker. And as the plant would shoot
upwards, the root would shoot downwards, but it would run into
this rock, and it was looking for moisture, and it couldn’t
find any. So, because of a lack of moisture, the sun would wither
this plant, and it would die. But you know by now that Jesus
is not giving wisdom on farming. And you know where to look for
the answer to what he’s trying to say. Verse 16. In a similar way, these are the
ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they
hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no
firm root in themselves, but are only temporary. Then, when
affliction or persecution arises because of the word, Immediately,
they fall away. These listeners hear the word.
They understand it. They believe it. They receive
it with joy, he says. They become believers as quickly
as the aforementioned plant shoots upward. And they, by all appearances,
are Christians. They hear of the blessings of
Christ. that he has to offer and they’re all in. Or are they? Are they? Time will tell. The one thing they forgot to
consider was the cost of discipleship. Our Lord tells us to consider
that. Discipleship is costly. It will come with difficulty. So, do they really want these
blessings? Do they want Christ himself?
Well, in time they proved they want neither Christ nor the blessings
as much as they want a trouble-free life now. The reason is, for when affliction
or persecution arises because of the Word, they fall away. Friends, apostasy is a real thing.
It’s a real thing. It’s a terrifying thing. And there’s no good news for
this one. The other one I mentioned, I told you no need to stay in
that position, no need to stay in that dire state. But this
case is different. And the book of Hebrews, the
whole book is written about this, a warning against apostasy. Hebrews
six, it’s written for in the case of those who have once been
enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been
made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word
of God and the powers of the age to come. and then have fallen
away. It is impossible to renew them
again to repentance, since they again crucified to themselves
the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.” This person has believed. He
was a partaker of the Holy Spirit. He had faith in Christ. But when
affliction and persecution arose as it does in the life of every
believer. He fell away and he cannot return. So he who has
ears to hear today, I plead with you to take heed to this warning.
And it was regarding this very warning that the writer of Hebrews
also wrote this. See to it that you do not refuse
him who is speaking that is Christ. For if those did not escape when
they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape
who turn away from him who warns from heaven. There’s a third class. This class
I’ve titled listeners who are self-preserving. Not that the
others aren’t, but this one, just bear with me in my titles,
would you? Listeners who are self-preserving. A third class
is found in the seventh verse. Other seed fell among the thorns,
and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. This also appeared to be good
soil. The farmer didn’t realize this time of year the thorns
hadn’t come up yet necessarily. But there was thorn seeds in
the soil. There was maybe old roots of
the thorns from last year. So the farmer plants there. But
the thorns, as you all know, grow up quicker than the crop
we want, and they shoot up above this plant, they block out the
sunlight, and they don’t kill the plant, but they cause no
fruit to come from this plant. So for its spiritual significance,
look at verse 18. And others are the ones on whom
seed was sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard
the word, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness
of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke
the word and it becomes unfruitful. Churches are filled today with
these people. Maybe that’s a little too much. Every church, I should say, has
these in them for the most part. So if you would, please listen
extra close to this one as you examine yourself by the help
of God. It’s quite evident that this one is a professing believer. Notice that the plant didn’t
grow. Notice that the plant did grow up, unlike class one. Notice how it did not wither
and die, unlike class two. This plant remained until harvest. It was only, as the text says,
unfruitful. This is the man who professes
to be a Christian, but he never shows or he has ceased to show
commitment to the Lord. We’re not the Pharisees of this
class. You know them well. They were self-deceived in thinking
they were in a right relationship with their maker. But they were
deceived. They were hypocrites. They were
just as wicked as the rest of the world. This class even likes
sound doctrine. Take the Pharisees or those in,
was it Galilee, where Jesus was teaching at his hometown. They
affirmed God’s sovereignty. But as soon as he made it personal
with them, they wanted to throw him over the cliff. You remember
the story? Where in Elijah’s day, where
there was a drought for three years, and Jesus points out that
God, in his sovereignty, sends Elijah to a Gentile widow, in
spite of all the widows that were in Israel. He was bringing
out God’s sovereignty, a doctrine they would have affirmed. But
as soon as you make it personal, it’s a different story. This
class becomes angry when convicted of sin. And much of that comes through
faithful preaching of the word. This class will not like faithful
preaching. This person has faith, but it’s a dead faith. It’s a
dead faith. There’s no fruit. It’s the dead
faith James speaks of. So what then are the thorn bushes
in this? At our first glance, we might
conclude that the thorn bushes are the world, riches, and other
things. But if we take a closer look,
we’ll see that it’s not these things at all. To explain this,
I want to take them one at a time. First one, the worries of the
world. Notice that it isn’t the world per se that is the thorns,
but it is the worries of the world. A literal translation
is the worries of this age, or the cares of this age. So what
age is Mark referring to? Well, the answer is rather simple. It’s not the age to come, but
it’s this temporal age in which we live, the temporal age that
remains until Christ returns. What are the cares or the worries
of this age? I’m sure you’re thinking of some now. We’ve all
struggled with these. But one commentator describes
it as that which causes one to be drawn in different directions.
Causes one to be drawn in different directions. This person hears
the word, believes it to a degree, but he’s drawn in different direction.
The cares of the world draw him away from his service to Christ. So I wanted to give you some
application on this, and a few universal points of worry came
to mind. And the first one is politics.
Does not every generation in every country worry about politics? So my question this morning is,
does your care, what goes on in politics, cause you to neglect
serving Christ? Does it cause you to neglect
studying the Word of God? Do you spend the precious time
you could be spending in His Word and in service to Him instead
to be given to keeping up with politics all the time instead
of serving Him? Now, I don’t want anybody to
understand me as saying that you shouldn’t listen to politics
at all or pay any attention to that. I’m not saying that. I’m
just asking, is it causing you to neglect in service to Christ? Do you stress about these things?
If the answer is yes, then I urge you to cast all your anxiety
upon Him, for He cares for you. The second one, a universal worry,
is economics. It’s closely related. Do you worry about what the future
holds for your income? Does your concern in this area
cause you to languish in your service to Christ? Does your
care about building up your bank account cause you to languish
in serving in the church? If yes, you’re in danger of being
in this class. I just wanted to remind you of
the words of Jesus in Matthew six. And what I’m quoting is
simple sentences for the most part, skipping a lot, but simple
sentences. So I’m not taking this out of
context. where he says, do not store up
for yourselves treasures on earth. Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven. No one can serve two masters. For either you will hate the
one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise
the other. You cannot, cannot, cannot serve
God and wealth. It’s impossible. For this reason,
I say to you, do not be worried about your life as to what you
will eat or what you will drink, nor for your body as to what
you will put on. Is not life more than food and
the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air.
Observe how the lilies of the field grow. You’re familiar with
this. You know where he goes with that. where he talks about
how the lilies are clothed better than Solomon, and the birds of
the air, the Father knows them all, and not one falls without
Him seeing that. He takes care of all these things.
How much more will He take care of you? There’s no need to worry. He’ll take care of us. So what are we to do? Well, I
already said it, not worry, but there’s something else. He ends that passage by saying,
but seek first his kingdom and all his righteousness. That’s
what we’re to do. Seek his kingdom and all his righteousness. Then
all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own. Are you anxious about tomorrow,
finances, the degradation of our political realm? Are you
anxious about anything? Please don’t be. For your anxiety
will change nothing for the better, only for the worse. He says here
in this parable, it will cause you to become unfruitful. And
that has a far worse effect and result than a bad economy. The
second thing that this thorn bush represents is deceitfulness
of riches. Here also, it’s not the riches
that choke the word, but rather it’s the deceitfulness of them.
Just as money is not the root of all evil, but the love of
money is the root of all evil. One doesn’t have to have any
money at all to fit into this category. You understand that? A rich man Many times, in many
cases, is deceived in how secure his wealth makes him. You’ve
heard the proverb, a rich man’s wealth is his strong city and
like a high wall in his own imagination. But a poor man may be deceived
as well in how secure wealth would make him if he only had
it and how much joy it would bring if he only had it. He could
be deceived just as well. Both are deceived, and neither
one will bring forth any fruit. The word deceitfulness should
call to our attention that we should carefully examine ourselves.
I’ve heard the question, would you know it if you were deceived? I mean, we can, with the Lord’s
help, we can know whether we’re deceived or not, but those who
are deceived do not know it. So what motivates us to work
hard, assuming that you do? And I know most of you do. About
this verse, D.A. Carson writes, and I quote, if
deceit is understood, there is an added warning that these thorns
are so subtle that one may not be aware of the choking that’s
going on. They’re so subtle that one may not be aware of the choking
that’s going on. Is anyone here being deceived
by wealth? Is your primary preoccupation in building up your bank account,
investments, retirement plan? Is that your primary preoccupation? If so, you’re not living the
Christian life. You’re not bearing any fruit
and proving yourself to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. The third thing that this thorn
bush represents is the desires for other things. Here also, it is not the things
that choke the word, but the desire for them. The implication
is that these are temporal things that we do not have, but we want
them. Is there anything temporal that
you long after, regardless of how good it is? And here’s a good test. What’s
the first thing that comes into your mind morning after morning
after morning? What’s the first thing? If there’s
that temporal thing that comes to your mind morning after morning
after month after month, that should come as a red flag to
us to say, stop, check your devotion to Christ. Again, I’m talking
temporal things. I’m not talking about concern
for a loved one’s spiritual state or anything like that. Remember, it’s not the things
that are bad. It’s our preoccupation with them.
That’s what gets us in trouble. Ask me how I know this. If we become preoccupied in our
pursuit of temporal things, it threatens our relationship with
Christ. He likens it to thorn bushes that shoot up over the
plant and cause it to stun its growth and bring forth no fruit. It yields no crop, he says in
Mark. The Lord Jesus is coming for
a harvest, and he has no use for unfruitful people any more
than we have use for, say, a pod without peas. Now, I don’t know,
some of you might use those, but that’s useless to me. By fruit here, we mean good works. Good works done for the glory
of Christ. We can be benevolent. We can be philanthropic, without
giving Christ the glory, that wouldn’t make it good works then.
These must be done for the glory of Christ. This fruit is what’s
produced by an active faith, an active faith, or an active
obedience. But this person in the third
class is self-preserving. He never lays down his life for
Christ. This might blow some of you away.
Some of these are even Calvinists. They hold to reform doctrine. Don’t put your trust in your
doctrine. Put your trust in Christ. The devil has a better theology
than anyone in this room. The man that this soil represents
is essentially the same one found in many other parables, And I
chose Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. We have plenty
of time, so turn there with me, would you? Matthew 25. The man that this soil represents
here in Mark, in this parable, is the same one who was an unfaithful
steward here. You know the story. where a man
goes on a journey and he, before he leaves, entrusts certain talents
to his slaves. He expected them to work for
him and bring forth fruit, bring something out of this. One of
them, as you know, went and buried the talent. What was the master’s
response in all this? In verse 26, you’ll see his response. You wicked, lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I
did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you
ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival,
I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore,
take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has
the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more
shall be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one
who does not have, Even what he does have shall be taken away.
Throw out that worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that
place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” As I mentioned, there’s many
other parables in which this person is found in, this unfruitful
believer. But I’ll just close this point
with the words of Chrysostom when he’s talking about the three
soils we’ve already covered. Quote, mark this, I pray thee,
that the way of destruction is not one only, but there are differing
ways, and wide and apart from one another. Let us not then soothe ourselves
upon our not perishing in all these ways, but let it be our
grief in whichever way we are perishing. Let it be our grief
in whichever way we are perishing. So he who has ears to hear, let
him hear this morning. The fourth and final kind of
listener I have titled listeners who become saints. They become
saints. Verse eight back in Mark. Other seeds fell into the good
soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop
and produced 30, 60 and 100 fold. This soil looked identical to
that which had the stratum underneath it and the thorn seeds in it. It looked no different. It looked
good, just like the rest, and it proved to be good, proved
to be different than these in every regard in the end. It wasn’t
full of thorns, nor was there a layer of rock under it. The
seed germinated, it took root, and over time it brought forth
fruit. Look at verse 20. And those are the ones on whom
seed was sown on the good soil. And they hear the word and accept
it and bear fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. What’s different about how these
listened from the other three? In answering that, I want to
look at him one at a time, comparing this fourth good soil to the
one who actually listened to start with the first one. He’s
different from the first class in that he’s not under the power
of the evil one any longer. But he didn’t do this by his
own strength. God has opened his ears. He’s given him ears
to hear. The psalmist, David in particular,
in the 40th Psalm writes, my ears you have opened. And for
that reason, this class hears the word and they accept it.
They accept it. Generally speaking, the good
soil hears and understands and accepts it. But they don’t always understand
immediately. Not necessarily. Often. But look at even the disciples’
response here. What are you telling us, Lord?
Please tell us. Explain these things. Were they
not of the good soil, save one? They were. But they didn’t immediately
comprehend this. But here’s the difference. They
wanted to know the truth. So what did they do? They sought
out the Lord to tell them what He’s conveying. And he will, he will tell us
if we do that as he did them. Luke accurately describes this
listener as one with an honest and good heart, not by his own
merit, but because God had done a work in him. So if today is
the first time you’ve been given ears to hear by God, There’s
still something to do. You must plead for His mercy.
You must look to Christ and trust in Him and submit yourself to
His Lordship. A difference in this fourth class
with number two, that is the rocky ground, I’ve given two. The first one, the work of God
in the good listener has a slower response. There’s a slower response
to Him but it has a lasting effect, a lasting effect. Isn’t this
typical of how God works? He seems to be working slow,
at least on our impatient standard of measure, but the effect of
his work is good and everlasting. You see that in this good soil. Another difference between these
two, that is the rocky soil and And this fourth one is how they
react to trials or discipline, which the two are often one and
the same, not always, but often. Luke writes about these of the
good soil that when they hear the word, they hold it fast and
bring forth fruit with perseverance. They bring forth fruit with perseverance
by holding fast to the word that they heard. The former falls away from the
faith when he encounters trials and difficulties that befall
every believer, but the latter perseveres to the end. He endures
hardship. He continues to hear. This is
important. He continues to hear what God
has to say, and he continues to accept it. The former is among the wicked
men of whom God says this about in Psalm 50. You hate discipline
and you cast my words behind you. They ceased to listen. They listened to a point until
too much difficulty. They cast the words of the Lord
behind him because they hated discipline. Comparing him with number three,
his fourth soil. the thorny soil is number three. But before I get into the more
black and white, I wanted to clarify this. And if you’re a
believer, if you have the good soil, if you’re a maturing Christian,
bringing forth fruit, you will know exactly what I’m talking
about. We also struggle with these thorn bushes. And they
threaten our spiritual life. We also still have our fallen
nature. We become distracted, but the Good Shepherd will come
for us. And given that we’re in a farming analogy here, you
could say that he cuts these thorns down. He cultivates it. He prunes us, as John 15 writes. Consider the parable of Luke
13. Would you turn there with me, please? Luke 13. Verse six, And he, that is Jesus
again, began telling this parable. A man had a fig tree which had
been planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit
on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard keeper,
Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this
fig tree without finding any. Cut it down. Why does it even
use up the ground? And he answered him and said
to him, let it alone, sir, for this year, too, until I dig around
it and put it in fertilizer. And if it bears fruit next year,
fine. But if not, cut it down. Do you
realize that if if you are a believer, but you’re not bearing fruit
and you haven’t been cast away yet, it is only because Christ
is advocating on your behalf. But you’re not promised another
day. And if we are bearing fruit,
it’s because of Him. Fruit, again, well, it’s that
which is produced by the believer. It’s produced. And as I’ve mentioned
before, it’s good works. Bearing fruit is simply good
works done for the glory of Christ. It’s that which is produced by
faith in action. Those who have received the word
in an honest and good heart will do good works. To put that in
the Lord’s words, quoting from Luke, my mother and my brothers
are these who hear the words of God and do it. Again, in Matthew
7, the Lord speaking again, he says, not everyone who says to
me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of my father, who is in heaven. will enter. It’s
those who are obedient to Him, not justified by them, not justified
by the good works. The good works is only fruit.
It isn’t the root. It’s that which is produced by
a true faith and complete submission, total surrender, as Eric Little
would say. Those of the good soil deny themselves,
take up their cross and follow Christ, unlike those among the
thorns who pursue their own desires and do their own will. Those who lay down their life
for Christ will bear fruit, some more than others. As he says
here, some 30, some 60, some 100 fold, but they will all bear
fruit. I pray that you’ve been honest
in your evaluation of yourself today. It can be very painful,
but it has an eternal impact. If you need to continue to evaluate
yourself, I pray that God wouldn’t give you rest until you know
where you’re at. I know that some of you, and I know this,
I can say it by the words of the Apostle Paul. I don’t know
all of you. I haven’t even met all of you.
Some of you I know very well, and I know I see the fruit in
your life. I can say with the Apostle Paul, I know God’s choice
of you. Why? Because of your work of
faith, your labor of love, and your steadfastness of hope in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s how. That’s how John could
stand up here and pray of his security in Christ and how Christ
will not let him go. Christ doesn’t let go of any
of his elect. But how do we know who’s the
elect? It’s only proven through these good works. There are believers
who fall away. There are believers who don’t
bear fruit. Those who bear good fruit are proving themselves
to be in Christ and therefore can have an assurance. And that’s
what Peter calls us to, right? So this isn’t about me knowing
where you’re at. This is about you knowing for
yourself. It’s our calling. We’re all called to this to make
our calling and election sure. Are there things in your life
that cause you to neglect serving Christ? If the answer is yes,
your only hope is found in Christ. I’ll close with his words. I am the vine, he says. You,
speaking to us, are the branches. He who abides in me and I in
him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do
nothing. You can do nothing apart from
Christ. Elsewhere, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a
grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much
fruit. He who loves his life loses it. And he who hates his life in
this world will keep it to eternal life. Would you join me in prayer,
please? Our father in heaven, we are grateful for what you
have done in Christ and in many of us the work that you’ve done
in us. We hated you without a cause. Some of us scoffed when we heard.
Lord, I pray that those whom are of this hardened path where
before the seed never penetrated But today the word penetrated
their hearts. I pray that you would grant them
repentance and that you would show them the same mercy that
you’ve shown many of us. I pray that those whom are facing
difficulty in trials and have been tempted to cast the words
of our Lord behind them, that they would fear you, that these
words would make them turn from such evil thoughts. and to continue
to look to you for help and to persevere to the end. I pray
that those of us who have made a profession of faith but have
shown no fruit that we would repent of that, that we would become zealous
for love and good deeds. Lord, I thank you for those of
us, many in this body whom you have done a good work in and
whom are showing that good fruit. I thank you for that work in
our lives. I thank you for the love that
you’ve given us for one another. Lord, we thank you for this work
of redemption, these great miracles that you have done, and we pray
for you to continue to do them through us. To you, Father, be
all the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to every generation
forever and ever. Amen.