Three Signs You are Good Soil | Mark 4:1-20 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

Meet me in the gospel according to Mark, please, in chapter four, and let's draw our attention to one verse, verse eight of Mark chapter four. I know our brother just prayed, and it was a powerful prayer. But if we can just pray one more time as we come to this very important verse, very important text, that'll be a source of great encouragement to many of you and even, perhaps a challenging verse for others, but we need God's help. And so, Lord, we petition and we come before you with a humility, recognizing that we have your voice before us today. And, Lord, we are humbled by the awesome blessing that the fullness of your revelation has been provided to us.

But, oh, God, mighty God, glorious God, incomparable God, Lord, we we need your help for this word to work in us truly. Lord, we are so capable of being hardened. We're so capable of being forgetful, irreverent, careless, distracted. So apprehend us and have your way in our hearts so that it would produce miraculous fruit, phenomenal growth, Lord. We want all that you have reserved for us.

We don't wanna miss out on a drop of your will in our lives. And so, Lord, may today be a glorious turning point in every life. For some, a greater growth. For others, the beginning of a walk with you. We just want all that you have.

Lord, may there be a special empowerment of the Holy Spirit with the delivery of this word and with the reception of it. We ask these things in the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Mark four verse eight reads, and other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. And he said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In the past three weeks, you and I have patiently examined the parable of the sower where Jesus, our lord, gave us wonderful insights about the different ways that hearers like you this afternoon, hearers of God's word embrace and apply God's word in their lives. There are the hardened hearts, and I pray not one of you are them. So hardened and so calloused. Absolutely no interest in divine revelation. And it immediately rejects the word upon impact.

And then there are those who have shallow hearts, who seem to show great interest in the things of God, and even display, erupting emotion upon initial interaction with the truth. But their submission to the gospel is contingent upon a trial free life. And the moment tribulation comes, they abandon the gospel they once profess to hold on to. And there is another type of soil, another type of heart who also is open to welcoming Christ into their lives. But their hearts are also preoccupied with the cares of this life, the ambitions of this life, the goals of this life.

And so that seed that was planted is choked and left fruitless because that heart is already dominated by other lords, other masters. And so it proves to be unfruitful and lacking the genuine result that God intended. But you and I today come to the final words of Jesus in this wonderful teaching, and he will conclude this parable on a hopeful note. He will do so by making mention of a final type of soil that does not share the same tragic end as the first three and what they have in common. No.

The Lord Jesus now informs us that it is possible. It is possible for hearts to take in the truth and to produce a lasting harvest from it. And though this is encouraging, it is also sobering. Can I tell you why it is sobering? It's sobering because out of all the four categories of hearers of truth, there is only one that genuinely receives the gospel.

Just like in the days of Jesus' ministry, good hearted listeners of the truth are far fewer than those who hear the word of God in vain. And I want you to remember now when Jesus taught this parable, there was a massive crowd before him. And here he is pointing out the different ways that people can receive the truth, And it makes me wonder what their reaction was when Jesus is essentially saying that one quarter of the audience of those who hear my message will be responsive to my message. I'm sure that would would have been shocking, at least to the ones who are listening correctly. It it is like me today looking to you and saying, around 25% of you in this room, if that, will actually take the word of God seriously.

75% of you, you're gonna listen here today in vain. Ain't that startling? And Jesus here is not giving exact statistic, he's giving a principle that is true. Unfortunately, a minority of those who are exposed to the truth will actually apply it in a saving way. The rest are headed for a tragic grim end.

I think that's supposed to comfort the preacher to some degree. And I think it's supposed to be a shock and alarm for those who are listening to God's word. And there was other times where Jesus made the same statement in different ways. Do you remember after dealing with a rich young ruler, he walks away sorrowful because there was one thing he would not let go of. And the Lord says out loud, again I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew nineteen twenty four. Now if you think that that is some distant commentary, the average American today is considered rich on the worldwide scale. If you make more than $2 a day and are surviving more than with $2 a day, you are considered rich on the global scale. And Jesus said, it is much easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to step foot into eternal life. And his closest followers heard this and they were startled, and so they respond in Matthew nineteen twenty five, who then can be saved?

Who then can be saved? And maybe you have that question after hearing in the past three weeks of false professors of Christ. Those who will confess Christ who are actually not born again. Perhaps the question has run through your mind, who then will be saved? If only a quarter of the audience here, if only, just a small portion of listeners will actually respond to the truth.

What do we make of this? Well, let me tell you this, there is no doubt that the spectrum of defective faith is diverse with shades of unbelief. But don't mistakenly think that the narrowness of people who will actually be saved is caused by God's unrealistic standards for salvation. It is always because of the stubbornness of men's hearts. Always.

God is not to be blamed for anybody not being saved. And this might sound unnerving, but take hope because today we're going to learn that not all hearts are equally obstinate. But let's not study the subject from afar. Let's not just like look at this mechanically. Bring it home.

Examine your own heart and ask yourself soberly, am I the good soil? Am I the type of heart that the master of the vineyard praises? Am I numbered among the minority? Am I walking on the narrow path? Am I truly engaging with the seed?

Have I truly received it in the way that will savingly produce fruit in my life? And the way you and I will discover that and confirm that is by simply looking at each gospel writer's version of the good soil and see what kind of insights they give us. They say similar things, but you've learned up to this point that they each carry certain details that differ. And so Mark has a commentary of what the good soil looks like. Luke has a commentary of what the good soil looks like.

Matthew has his own interpretation inspired by the spirit that is not contradicting, but also giving a slight different underscore of what it means to be good soil. And if you can confirm with Matthew, if you can amen with Mark, if you can celebrate with Luke, praise God. And so let's look at Matthew first together in Matthew 19 rather Matthew 13, excuse me, verse 23. I wanna speak to you this afternoon about three signs that you are good soil. Three signs that you are good soil.

In Matthew thirteen twenty three, here is Matthew's explanation of what good soil looks like. The soil that receives the gospel, that receives God's word, and the way that God designed it to be received. In verse 23, Matthew says, as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields. In one case, a 100 fold, in another 60, and in another 30, who hears the word and understands it.

Sign number one, that you are fertile ground is that you understand the seed. You understand the word. This is the exact opposite commentary of the wayside soil that we touched on week one. If you scroll up to verse 19 of this chapter, you will quickly remember that the hardened heart hears the word, but what? Does not understand it.

Jesus is not proposing that those who are more intellectually advanced or educated are those who are more likely to be saved. This understanding doesn't deal with comprehension. It doesn't deal with your IQ. It deals with an attitude. It deals with a heart posture.

When Jesus said that the good soil understands the word and he hears it, it means that he is longing to grasp the meaning of what God has revealed. He he is exposed to the truth, but he takes it to the next level. He wants to have a grasp on the truth. He wants to know the implications of the truth. He wants to know the promises.

The everything involved with the truth is what his heart is yearning for. And I think it's important to say upfront that what makes the good soil good is not that he is less sinful, or that he has more moral respectability. That is not what makes the good soil good. It's not because he is a outstanding citizen in society. No.

He is good in the sense that he chooses not to be careless, not to be frivolous, not to be senseless, not to be irreverent about divine revelation. He takes it seriously. He knows that God's word is authoritative. He knows that there's a transcendent being that has rule and reign over creation. And he realizes that the message of God holds personal implications that cannot be ignored.

And so the good heart is attentive. The good heart is alert. He's leaning in. He's inquiring. He is questioning.

And he is concerned about the condition of his soul and he desires to be in the light. And based on what the Lord is teaching here, it is possible for some who are outside of Christ, who have this kind of a disposition. It is possible for those who are outside of Jesus to develop an openness to the truth over time. Not everybody out there is hardened to the point where they won't even listen. That would contradict what Jesus is saying here.

There there are people whose hearts are more open than others, who who go even more than that, who are hungry for truth though they don't know where to go to find it just yet. And I wanna give you a case study of that. A case study that is so inspiring with a man named Cornelius. In acts chapter 10, read this with me, would you? In verse one, look at the description of this man who is a gentile, who is successful, who had status in society, but was a man who said, oh, I really wanna know God.

I really wanna know God. In acts ten one, the holy spirit tells us, at Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God. Now pay attention to this description of this man. A devout man who feared God with all his household gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God. Can I read that one more time?

Verse two. A devout man who feared God with all his household. He was a good father. He was a good husband. He gave alms generously to the people.

He was charitable. And he prayed continually to God. To the first time reader, this man not only sounds like he's a believer, he sounds like he is a fervent, zealous follower. But if you're not a first time reader, you know this about Cornelius. And if you don't know the about this, you perhaps think I'm lying.

Would you believe me if I told you that this man after reading this description was not saved? He's not saved. And that's not my personal interpretation of it. That's what the Holy Spirit tells us in the next chapter. You don't believe me?

Then go to Acts 11 and look at verse thirteen and fourteen after Peter is standing before his Jewish partners in the ministry who are concerned that he went to a gentile to preach the gospel. And he's trying to explain how this happened. And in acts 11 verse 13, we read, and he told us Peter's talking about his experience with Cornelius, And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, send to Joppa and bring Simon who was called Peter. Verse 14. He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved.

You and all your household. So after that description of Cornelius, an angel appears to him and he tells him to send for a man in Joppa who is Peter, and that man is gonna come to your household and he's gonna preach the gospel. And Cornelius, once you hear the gospel that will save you, then you will be saved. Well, hold on. He's a devout man.

He gave alms. He feared God. He prayed continually. That man is not saved and he looks more saved than saved people. How does that work?

Well, I put that with Jesus's commentary about the good soil. There are some people who are soft towards truth, who are prepared to receive the truth, who hunger for the truth, though they don't have saving knowledge. But once they are exposed to it, they are ready to accept it. You see Cornelius had limited light. He had what we would call natural revelation to work with.

In other words, with whatever he saw with his eyes, with whatever God had put his fingerprint on in the universe, in his world, with that light was he able to relate to God. Scripture tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God, Psalm 19. Scripture tells us in Romans two that every man's conscience bears witness to him. That there is right and wrong and that the law has been scribed on each of our hearts. And so with natural revelation with nature and with it with his own internal alarm system, Cornelius was able to realize at least that there is a God.

And he can be communicated to, and he can intervene in life. And he is everywhere, and he is all powerful, and he does see. And so I will fear him and walk in his ways to the best of my knowledge. And here's what I see from this. Because this gentile honored God with the light that he had, God was ready to honor him by granting him the light that would save him.

You know, I think this text is totally permissible to be used to help the struggling soul who has wrestled with the thought of those who are out there, out in the jungles, out in the North, there's very little civilization life, who have never heard about Jesus, and who die without hearing Jesus. Will such people be condemned by God? Will such people be judged by God though they have never even heard the name of Jesus in their lifetime throughout the generations of their tribes? And I look at this and I resist the philosophical pull of trying to come up with ideas of how God would relate to such people and stick to the word of God. And I look at Cornelius and I see something about God as a case study.

Men who are capable to responding to natural revelation. Men who have a heart with a deep sincerity and purity that aches to know the truth. Such men, God will move heaven and earth to make sure they get the gospel. God in his great sovereignty and his providence will do what he can to make sure that the gospel comes to their front door. And in the case of Cornelius, we see the compassion of God.

He sends angels. He grants visions. He raises up missionaries. He performs miracles for the gospel to get to the one who desires to know it, Who doesn't know what steps to take. Who doesn't know how his sins can be forgiven, but he knows he's a sinner.

Don't doubt that about God. And this raises up another interesting point, doesn't it? You read about Cornelius and he's devout and he fears God and he gives alms generously and he prays continually. And one day an angel comes before him. What a privilege.

What an honor. What a miracle. And you know what I what I wonder? You're already there. Why don't you just tell them the gospel?

You know what the gospel is, don't you? You're in the presence of God day and night. You look over the balcony of heaven. You saw when the son of God was crucified. I'm sure you had some knowledge of the eternal plan of salvation, and here you are now entering into the world and you are before a man who is hungry for the truth, unnamed angel.

Why didn't you just tell him the gospel? And we could have saved some time and we didn't have to get another vision to Peter and the Holy Spirit to tell him it's okay. Go with the people who who were sent by Cornelius that you'll be safe. Why do all of that when you could have just told them the truth right there and then? And I'm sure you would have been better at sharing it than Peter.

I'm sure you've been a much more articulate, much more powerful, much more convincing. Do you know why God sent the angel so that he can send for Peter? Because in God's absolute delight, he reserved the privilege of the proclamation of the gospel for forgiven sinners. God in his good pleasure reserve the right for the proclamation of the truth to solely belong to those who have experiences transforming power. Maybe that doesn't move you.

That moves me. And that will move you, I hope, in those days where you are weary or tired or maybe discouraged with your proclamation of the truth, your testimony of what Christ has done in your life. But in those moments where you worked all week and and you know that some friends are coming over and they know you're a Christian and they're just curious about why you believe what you believe and you're bone tired, and you've done this before with your other friends and they just hear it with interest but move on in their sin, in those moments where you think, is this really worth to give my two, three hours of my Friday night too or my Saturday night too, would you remember angels cannot do what you can do? Would you realize that heavenly beings, heavenly creatures can only send for those who have been set apart to preach the gospel? And would you realize the great honor and privilege it is that the Lord has reserved that right for you as a trophy of his grace to go into the trenches of a satanic world and to preach the truth that can save men from eternal hell.

Don't take those moments where you plant a seed for granted. God reserved it for those who are in him. But before I move on about Cornelius, allow me to say one more thing about him. He's not only an example of what God is willing to do for the hungry open heart, but he is also a reminder of the universal depravity of man. What do I mean by that?

This man is devout. He's prayerful. He's respected. He's charitable. And yet, he was just as much in need of salvation as a Matthew the tax collector or Mary Magdalene who was possessed with seven devils.

He was just as much in need of the gospel than the guy in the trenches, than the woman in the gutter. Cornelius is is a wonderful statement after that great description of who he is as a person. That as good as you might seem and look, you're not good enough. And you will never be good enough. No one's goodness is good enough when it is measured by God's goodness.

You will always fall short. You will always have need for a savior. You will never be able to live up to such a degree in which you find yourself in a different category than the other sons or daughters of Adam. You are just as wretched whether you're a Cornelius or the man who is possessed with devils in Mark chapter five chained to a rock because of his filthy habits and his perverted mind. If there's any good in Cornelius, like the good soil that Jesus describes, it is in his realization that he needs saving.

The good soil Jesus speaks of does not does not say to himself like what I know people say about themselves, especially the traditionalist, Especially with those who find great comfort and confidence in ancient religion, ancient history, ancient churches. They hear the gospel and they say, well, what a wonderful message. That guy is really passionate. And he's very convincing. This is perfect for that hopeless neighbor I have who's an alcoholic, who abuses his wife, his children.

Oh, this would be this would be life changing for the the city of Chicago with all the drug dealers and all the gang violence. Surely, they are in need of such a truth. Oh, surely, this is this is good for those who lack purpose or lack guidance in life. Surely, this message that is preached provides some barriers and some framework, so men do not run aimlessly while they live. That's not how the good soil hears the truth.

When the good soil hears the truth, even though he can point to some moral evidence in his life, at the same time he says, I need a savior. I'm wretched. Christ didn't just die for those people out there who are not devout, who are not prayerful, who don't have some kind of relation with religiosity. Oh, he came to die for me. My goodness isn't good enough.

In light of the holiness of God, filthy rags. I need the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. I need it to be imputed to me. I need him to take my place. I need him to look upon me with his favor.

The good soil understands the truth, which transition us perfectly to Mark's commentary. Let's go back to Mark to look at the second sign of good soil. Mark four twenty is the explanation. You and I read Mark four eight, Mark four twenty. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a 100 fold.

Matthew tells us that the good soil, he hears the truth, but he understands it because he seeks to understand it. Mark says, when he hears the truth, he doesn't just hear it. You're hearing it now. He doesn't just understand it. He accepts it.

He accepts it. Hearing the truth, all the soils do that. You can hear sermons until you go to hell. The next step from that is you wanna understand it, but even then, understanding or being curious about it can be temporal. It can be misunderstood.

It could be interpreted subjectively and applied wrongly. The one with the good soil, the minority of those who accept it. What does that mean, accept it? Well, think about it this way. The rocky soil is willing to hear, willing to understand, and willing to accept it as long as it is trial free.

The moment things get tough, the moment you suffer for Christ, I no longer accept it. Then you have the thorny soil. They hear the truth. They accept the truth. But as long as it is subordinate to its other desires and passions and goals in life.

But this is so important. The fertile ground when he hears the truth, he understands the truth, he accepts the truth, he accepts the truth completely on God's terms. That makes all the difference. God's terms. Because when he understands the truth, he realizes that the the good news, the good news of the gospel is also a call to sweet surrender.

Total surrender. And it is a call that is not up for subjective interpretation or negotiation. You hear God's terms and you accept it. And he makes the necessary preparation in his heart so that the seed can abide and thrive the way God designed that seed to to live in a human heart. What do I mean by that?

Well, it's very simple. Did you notice that the good soil is void of rocks? Is void of thorns. There's no description of the realities of the soil other than the fact that it was good. And part of it being good is that it was free of certain things.

This is what you and I call true repentance. True repentance. God help us in America to get back to the message of true repentance. True repentance. A willingness to not be surface level with Christ like the shallow soil.

A willingness to uproot all the cares and all the competitions in your heart. All the things that will challenge the supremacy of the lordship of Jesus Christ over your life. The good soil removes all of this. He accepts all that Christ commands and he submits and welcomes all that discipleship demands. We tell people about Jesus nowadays as though we're doing Jesus a favor.

You know, Jesus is lonely and he's in heaven and he want to populate heaven and you know what? He really wants you to be with him and so he dies and would you just make some room in your life? Pathetic. Pathetic. At the end of the road, my brother and my sister, this may shock your version of Jesus, but there will be a heavenly orchestra when men are judged for rejecting Jesus.

Because they receive their just due. I wanna show you an example of a man who is willing to accept what Christ destined for him. An example of a man who was willing to walk toward anything which the rocky soil refuses to do. I'll I'm willing to Lord, I'm willing to hold your hand until we get there. It was nice knowing you.

This man, I'll walk where you tell me to walk. But not just that, he was also willing to walk away from that which Christ told him to walk away from. Which the thorny soil is not willing to do. Well, I'm willing to hold your hand as long as I can hold these things too. The rocky ground will not worship if he suffers, the good soil will.

The thorny heart will give priority to money and temporal things and comforts, but the good soil cannot fathom it. He accepts it. Let me show you a man. We talked about Cornelius. Can I point you to the man who preached to Cornelius?

And one of one of my favorite chapters in the New Testament when it comes to stories and narratives, in John 21 when Peter was restored by Christ. Oh, he's a restoring God. He's a compassionate God, a forgiving God. And in John 21, I want you to meet me in verse 15. Here's Peter post resurrection.

And Peter here was impatient because there was some delay with further instructions from Jesus, but he wasn't just impatient. I believe he was greatly discouraged. I think he was humiliated because when he professed his devotion to God, he failed miserably. He embarrassed himself. And so here's Peter with his leadership magnetic personality and he tells himself, I'm going fishing.

And the others around him says, we're going with you. Now fishing isn't a sin, but it's a problem when Jesus called you away from fishing to be a fisher of man. Peter is not just doing something while waiting for Christ further instructions. Peter is going back to what Christ called him from. Bad sign.

And so he gets back into that boat and he fishes all night with several other of his friends, and there's Jesus who appears on the shore, and all we can spend the next thirty minutes just looking to those wonderful details. How John was able to perceive that it was the Lord, and how Peter jumps into the wall. All those things are just filled with glorious truths, but let's fast forward. They have this miraculous catch. They pull it onto the shore.

A 153 fish. I mean, this is massive. This is a great profit. And Jesus has a barbecue already set up and he asked for some of that fish to come so that they can have breakfast together. And so they eat.

And once their bellies were full, John twenty one fifteen reads, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, that kinda hurts. That was Peter's name before he was called by Jesus. And unfortunately, Peter, the new name that Christ gave him, was acting more like Simon than he was Peter. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

He said to him, feed my lambs. We know this. This is very familiar to us. There's great debate about what Jesus meant when he says, do you love me more than these? But I think if you just honor the context, it's pretty clear.

Peter is going back fishing. He's going back to his other love. He's going back to what he's familiar with. He's going back to his days BC before Christ. And Christ allows him to make probably one of the greatest catches apart from the one that he knew in the initial call to follow him.

A 153 fish, he can make some good money from that. And once they eat from it, I could picture Jesus just looking over and saying, Peter, knowing that he went back to what he was not supposed to do, abandoning the call of Christ. Peter, do you love me more than these? And Peter says, you know that I love you. You know that I love you.

Sometimes we read the bible so fast, man, we miss so much. Notice Jesus said, do you love me? Do you love me more than these? That is the heart of Christianity. Do you love me?

Not do you love doctrine? Not do you love theology? Not do you love Christians? Not do you love ministry? Not do you love feeding my lambs?

Not do you love feeding my sheep? Do you love me? Do you have a personal desire for me? Not for heaven, not for conservative values, not for law keeping, not for sermons. Do you love Jesus personally as a person, as a relatable being, do you love me?

How many Christians can say, yeah, I love him. I think a lot of professing Christians love things about him or around him. But the question of the Lord is, do you love me? That's the heart of our faith. And it's also the essence of what we do in the name of Christ.

I mentioned this on Wednesday. Jesus could have said and it would have made sense to us. Do you love my sheep? Notice, his sheep. Not the pastor's sheep, his sheep.

You belong to him. We belong to him. He could have said, do you love my sheep? Feed my sheep. Do you love my lambs?

Feed my lambs. He doesn't say that. He says, do you love me? Yes. I love you.

Then serve me. The greatest motivation to to serving the sheep is loving the shepherd. And we got all twisted. Yeah. There's a level of love that has to come to it, but the greatest motivation, the thing that should drive us in all other things is love for the person of Jesus Christ.

So many things can be done if we just come back to the basics of what our faith is all about. Now this is a familiar story and I can go on about Jesus returning the question and Peter answering over and over again. But many people stop it here. So so Jesus asked him, do you love me? Peter confirms his love for him three times.

We know because he denied him three times, and then he's recommissioned now to be the apostle that he was called to be, but Jesus doesn't end there. This is not the final inquiry before Peter starts following Jesus again. He mentioned something else that is not often referred to when we talk about the restoration of Peter back into total and true discipleship. Scroll down to verse 18 of the same chapter. Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted.

But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. Verse 19. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. After that.

What's Jesus doing? It's a prophecy. Peter, before I ask you to follow me, I have to tell you something. One, I'm glad that you love me. I'm glad you confirmed your love for me, but I need to confirm something to you.

There's a time coming in your old age where someone will take a hold of you forcefully and will stretch out your hands. Everything about that imagery speaks about execution and a very specific type of execution, crucifixion. Your hands will be stretched out. At one point, you can go wherever you wanted, but there's gonna come a point where you're gonna be apprehended, you're gonna be arrested, and you're gonna go where your natural man does not wanna go. And history says that when Peter was crucified, he asked to be crucified upside down because he felt like he wasn't worthy to be crucified like his master.

You're gonna die. You're gonna die in a specific way, in a way that will be include much suffering. But in your death, you're gonna glorify me. You're gonna glorify me. That is the essence of discipleship that you and I glorify him until death.

Until death. And even in your death. Now you might not have a prophecy about how you're going to die and how that will glorify. You may not be a martyr. But if you wanna know how you can glorify God in your death, just glorify him in your life.

Just glorify him. Oh, I will die for Jesus. Well, you don't you barely live for him. Just live for him. Glorify him in your life and you will glorify him in your death.

I had dinner with a friend not too long ago and he said something to me and it just like stuck with me ever since. He says, you know what brother? Every Christian has three crusades in their life. What are you talking about three crusades? Not every Christian is gonna have the chance to stand on a great platform and preach to thousands like some who have been called throughout history, but every average believer will have three opportunities to have an above average audience in which they can testify of their relationship to Christ.

Yeah. I'm interested. What is it? He says number one, your baptism. Your baptism.

And that's why I tell people don't waste your baptism. Don't waste your baptism. Use that opportunity to stand before people and to testify of Christ. That's an obvious one. You wanna know the second one he said?

Your wedding. Your wedding. You can have more than the average crowd in that event of your life. You're gonna have the same crowd in your living room. You're gonna have that kind of a crowd uniquely as something as special as a wedding.

So at your wedding, that is another opportunity where you'll be able to testify to Christ in a crusade like manner. And lastly, your funeral. Your funeral. The first two you're able to testify about it. The last one people will testify about you.

And we were just talking about how believers are capable of wasting those opportunities. Peter was not going to. He was gonna glorify God, yes, day by day, but even in his death. And when he said follow me, it encompassed something. This this is the point that I'm driving at here.

When when Jesus said follow me, it included Peter walking away from something, his business, his profit, his success, and also a readiness to walk towards something. Suffering. Suffering that would not be in vain, but suffering that would glorify his Lord. And if you think that that standard is anything less for you, then you're not good soil. Because the good soil accepts the terms of the gospel and that includes walking away from certain things and being willing to walk towards anything if Christ says go.

The terms for Peter are no less for us today. Are you good soil? If you're good soil then you will accept this. If you're not good soil, you will deceive yourself or you will try to negotiate with God when God says, I this is not open for for a deal. Peter, do you love me more than these?

You know that I love you. Peter, you're gonna die. I've ordained for you to die in a way that will glorify me. Now follow me, and Peter followed him. The one who has a good heart, the one who will produce true fruit, the one who will know true saving knowledge understands the truth, accepts the truth.

And thirdly, Luke tells us the final sign. Meet me in Luke eight fifteen. Luke eight fifteen. As for that in the good soil, they are those who hearing the word well, yes. Okay.

We've we've covered that. Hold it fast in an honest and good heart. That goes back to understanding it. Cornelius having an honest and good heart. Not good in that he was better than other sinners.

Good in that he was looking and yearning for the truth. And look at this, and bear fruit with patience. Every gospel writer, when they spoke about the good soil, include the necessity of genuinely bearing fruit. Not one of them omit this detail because it is crucial. It is the core message of the fertile ground that when the seed becomes one with that heart, there will be observable and there will be lasting change.

But Luke does add a detail to the concept of bearing fruit. He tells us in those final words, they will bear fruit with patience. That is meant to help the sower and the soil. Because spiritual new birth is inevitable for the one who truly receives the seed, but the growth is gradual. And the sower needs to know that, less he becomes impatient, and the soil needs to comprehend that, less he also becomes discouraged and both might be tempted to think that this divine transaction was was faulty.

When the seed comes into a heart that is good, we cannot have the expectation of an immediate mega harvest. There is change, but at the the beginning level, things will take time. There's a new there's a new trajectory now. There's a new direction now, and and time will reveal as this the seed now begins to grow, and we have to understand that. You know why?

Because you have some people who think they are good soil, and they are not good soil. And then you have people who are genuinely good soil, but they don't believe that they're good soil, because they're not seeing the growth that they would like at the rate that they desire. So you got peep you got two kind of people who are tricked here. You got people who are really have thorns in their hearts, and I think I'm good. They're deceived.

And you have people who are truly truly receiving the seed, who question who question their status in that parable. Because they are impatient. Good soil does not cancel the reality of unhurried development. This is what it will mean for you as a true believer. You will undergo learning.

You will know supplementation. You will know pruning. You will know protecting. You will know, unfortunately, sometimes failing along the way. And that does not negate the reality that you are good soil.

I mean, let's go back to Matthew thirteen twenty three quickly. Jesus says, as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields. He indeed it's gonna happen. It will happen.

There is no such thing as a person who receives the seed and is fruitless. Impossible. The very DNA of the seed promises that there will be something that will change. Life will come. A fragments will erupt.

There will be there will be results for the person who says, I understand it and I say yes to it. But notice what else Matthew says. In one case, a 100 fold. In another, 60. And in another, 30.

Now some have made that to be that the person who is good soil, who receives the seed, who's fertile ground, will win certain amount of people to Christ. That the the number here of the harvest speaks about the harvest of souls. And some will win this amount, some will win that amount, some will win that amount. I don't lean into that interpretation. And some might even say, well well, this is this is a description of people who, yes, have received the seed, but they will bear fruit differently based on their future obedience and their yielding to the instructions that are in the word of God.

And I think there's more legitimacy there. But then again, I don't see Jesus leaving any room for criticism with the good soil. When we see here that there's different levels of harvest, there's different levels of fruit, it's perhaps because Jesus is just saying that for those who receive the soil will bear fruit differently. It's gonna look different depending on your context and your capacity and your gifting. The fruit will be there.

And notice, 30 fold, 60 fold, a 100 fold, that is not natural growth. That is that is phenomenal. That is awesome. That will that will make any farmer happy. And so there is no there's no shade being thrown here.

There there's nothing like, well, there's gonna be some Christians who are better than others. I don't think that's what the Lord is communicating. I think what the Lord is essentially trying to say is, every believer will generate Christ likeness and character and service differently. So here's the college student who's not married, who doesn't have a job, who's studying, and they accept Christ. They're gonna bear fruit in a certain way.

And here is the the husband, of one wife and has five children, and they came to a meeting, and they understood it, they accepted it, and they are truly good soil, and and they're gonna bear fruit in this way. And here's here's the young lady who hears the gospel, she says yes to it, she accepts it, and in time, she is raised up to be a missionary and she goes overseas. And her friend who was also at the same meeting hears that truth, accepts it, and she grows up, she gets married, and she stays at home, and she raises her three babies, and she'll bear fruit in that way. Here here's the main point in my final verse for you. In second first Thessalonians two thirteen, this will be a good way to end.

One Thessalonians two thirteen. Paul says, and we also thank God constantly for this. What is Paul gonna thank God for? That when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it. Accepted it.

Right? Good soil accepts the word of God. You accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is. Because what? Like the first point, he understands it.

The word of God. So what we have there, they accepted it because they understood it. But look what happens next. Which is at work in you believers. I can thank God for you.

Why? Because when you heard the word you understood it, not as just some guy with a history book telling you some moral lessons. You understood it as that's God's word. That's God's will. And because you understood it in such a way you accepted it, I I want to submit to what God is saying.

And because you truly accepted it, you know what he tells his church? And because you truly accepted it, you know what he tells his church? It's it's at work in you. It's at work in you believers. If this seed really gets in your heart, it's gonna work.

It's gonna it's gonna conform. It's gonna produce. It's gonna overtake. It's gonna yield. It's gonna create.

Things are gonna happen. I refuse to believe. I don't care what's on your Instagram description, And I don't care if you put a verse with your selfie. If this word is not working in your life, if with patience you are not seeing a development as you add to the initial word with more word, something's wrong. And it's not because there's judgment here, it's because the word of God judges.

And so here's my final question as we end this series in the parable of the sower and continue in Mark. Are you good soil? Are you? Look, I try to be like Christ as much as I I can and I wanna think like Christ. I'm fully aware of the reality of what happens in these moments.

Jesus said, one out of the four soils will take you seriously. And so I hope you are in that category. And you know, just check your heart. You know. You know if you do not answer the call of discipleship because you're not willing to walk away for some things and you're not willing to walk towards some things.

Okay. Good. As long as you're honest. May God grant you repentance. And you know in this place, if you are waiting for me to stop because you have more interest in the stock market than the will of God, you know.

And you know if you're hard and soil because as I've been preaching in these past four weeks, you could care less of what I'm saying. God have mercy on you. But if you're good soil, you're taking this in like a sponge. You want it all. You want the blessing, the promises, the rebuke, and the correction.

You want to go where Jesus tells you to go and you will stay where Jesus tells you to stay. You hear this as the word of God. You come here knowing that God is going to speak and you will respond by whatever grace he grants you to respond, and you will bear fruit. Be patient with your growth. Be patient with your development.

Don't lose heart. Don't condemn yourself because Christ does not condemn you. He celebrates over you. Do you wanna tell you about something about the Lord? When you go to Genesis one, this is something that I love about the Lord right from the beginning of the book.

I learned something about God right from the beginning, not just that he created everything. He creates the world in progression, stage by stage, but with every single stage he says it is good. The next day, it is good. The next day, it is good. Well, it's not done yet yet, but it's still good.

It's still good. And he says the same as he is creating Christ likeness in you day by day. Though you may not see a complete picture, God says, it's good. Oh, look at that. It's good.

Another year goes by, it is good. Look at all the lessons from failure, from from losing track, from coming back. It's good. It's good. It's good.

It's good. It's good. Oh, I pray that you're good soil this afternoon. I pray that you understand it, you accept it, and that because of the power of that word in you, you're bearing fruit. Lord, we thank you.

Lord, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts of how accurate your word is. And, Lord, we just we just beg you that we would have ears to hear, not just for the gospel, but for every time we hear your word. And, Lord, we thank you that in this place, we can say what Paul said to the church in first lesson only. That people in this house have received the word not as a word of man, but as the word of God. They accepted it as such and they are seeing the word work in them.

May that only continue. Lord, we rejoice in you. We glorify you. And Lord, for the person in here who is ready to to really be good soil, May they remove and pull out by your power all filthiness, all rampant wickedness, all self righteousness, and with meekness receive the word which is able to save their souls. You are a good God.

Thank you for your word. Thank you for showing us and comforting us and convicting us how we can have the right hearts for you. We sing to you now with gratitude in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together in closing.