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We are really entering Matthew chapter 13, as we look at this series called "The Secrets of the Kingdom". This is where Jesus taught His disciples using parables. You say, "What are parables?" The word itself literally means comparisons. So Jesus uses earthly examples, earthly situations and items of life, to compare them to spiritual truths. So parables are earthly stories that teach heavenly truths. And they are a kind of a secret language because only to those who Jesus reveals the interpretation, will they understand the spiritual lesson behind it. Otherwise, it remains a riddle, it remains a mystery, it remains a secret of the Kingdom.

In "The Secrets of the Kingdom", there are seven parables in all, seven daily events or items. Jesus taught using the illustration or the story of a sower. He taught using the story of the weeds. He taught using the story of a mustard seed, and then of leaven, and then of treasures, and then of the pearl of great price, and then finally of the net.

And so today, we see the first of the seven examples or parables. It's "The Parable of the Sower". It's a parable I'm very familiar with, because I remember some 20 years ago, 20 over years ago, I was part of our youth group going to Philippines, the villages, to teach the Bible. And this was the passage I decided to focus on. And I still remember, in those days, I would draw out those stories on a mahjong paper, and roll them up and carry them on my backpack, going to the various villages, unfolding the mahjong paper, and teaching from there. Today, I'm thankful for technology, I don't need to carry around mahjong paper. I hope, however, that the lesson would still be fresh for many of you.

I know many of you have read this passage, heard this message or this passage before, but I still pray that God will give you a new insight and a new application for your life.

The parable of the sower - what is it really about? Well, in summary, the parable of the sower is about how to hear properly.

A story is told of a lady, an elderly lady. She had a very embarrassing problem - she kept passing gas. So she went to the doctor and said, "Doctor, doctor, I got a big problem. A very embarrassing problem. I keep passing gas. But the special thing about my gas, my farting, is that it is odourless and it is soundless. But it troubles me a lot, because I pass a lot of gas. In fact, from the time I walked into your office to the time I got seated, I've passed gas 10 times already."

The doctor looks at her and says, "Ma'am, I know exactly what you need. Take this medicine three times a day for a week, and come back and I'll tell you what to do next." So after a week, she came back, but this time she's very angry. She's very furious. She says, "Doctor, your medicine is useless, bo yong eh (colloquial for useless). Because after taking it for one week, my poot poot (colloquial for passing gas) that used to be odourless and soundless, they now became very smelly." The doctor says, "Cool down ma’am, it's okay. I gave you medicine to clear your sinuses. Now you can smell. The next thing I want to work on is your hearing."

Some people have a problem with their hearing. They do not hear the right way. And the parable of the sower addresses the problem of hearing. But, it's not so direct, because Jesus taught using parables.

And He gives a story like this: A sower went out to sow - familiar scene in agricultural days, back in Jesus's time in Israel. So he goes out to sow, and he casts the seed, and some seeds would fall along the path. This refers to the pathways along very good plots of soil where the farmers will walk on. And so, if he keeps walking these same paths, then the soil the sand will be compacted and it becomes hard, and it becomes difficult for any seed to be well received, deep into the soil. So as a result, they remain on the surface, and soon the birds will come and eat them up. So, this is the first kind of soil.

Jesus then gives us a second kind of soil. This kind of soil is thin. It is on top of some rocks. And because it is thin, the seeds do not get a chance to go real deep. So He speaks of it this way: "Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil". [Matthew 13:5] So it's very quick. You see something growing because there's no soil, there's no depth. But what happens is next, the sun rose, the sun shines, and these little seedlings are scorched. Because "they had no root, they withered away". [Matthew 13:6] So the second kind of soil is a shallow soil. The first kind - hardened; the second kind - shallow.

The third kind - very crowded, very busy, no space to grow. That's why Jesus said, "Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them." [Matthew 13:7] There is no opportunity to grow to full maturity because the thorns compete for the nutrients, for the space, and so on, and the seedlings die. That's the third kind of soil.

And then finally, the fourth kind of soil Jesus speaks about is the good soil. "Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." [Matthew 13:8]

Now, you must understand, that that is all the Jewish people who gathered around Jesus could hear during the times of Jesus. They only heard about this story, but they don't quite understand the moral behind the story. They don't understand the meaning behind the story. Why? Because Jesus didn't interpret for them. Jesus only interpreted His parables to His disciples. That's why it's a secret. It's a coded message only reserved for those who follow Him. To those who reject Him, to those who are hardened in their hearts, He will not tell them as a judgment against them.

So if we are to understand, then we need to peek into - somehow, like watching a movie - join in the scene when Jesus explains the parable to His disciples. To do that easily, I suggest let's try to identify what each item in this parable represents.

So number one, we see the seed. What does the seed represent in this parable? You don't have to be clever. You don't have to be smart. You just need to read the Bible. You just need to listen to what Jesus said. So what does the seed represent? Anybody?

It represents the Word of God. You know that, because in verses 18 onwards in Matthew 13, Jesus gave the explanation. So He said, the seed represents "the Word of the kingdom", in Matthew 13. [Matthew 13:19] Elsewhere, in Luke chapter 8, it is clearer - "The seed is the Word of God." [Luke 8:11] So it's very easy. The parable of the sower is a story of how the Word of God is being cast out.

So then, what is the sower? Who is the sower? What does he represent? Evangelists, alright. Or, it may simply be someone who teaches God's Word, a preacher of God's Word, right? A sower is someone who casts out the Word of God. The sower is a teacher of God's Word; it may be Jesus Christ Himself especially, or it may be the body of Christ - that is, you and I, all the followers of Jesus Christ, we are also to be sowers of God's Word in many other lives.

Alright, so number three, what about the bird? Who is the tweety bird? Actually, it's not tweety bird alright, but who is the bird? Okay, the bird refers to Satan. How do you know that? Did you figure it out yourself? No, I just read it. It is said in Matthew 13: 39 - "the evil one comes and snatches away". And then elsewhere, "the devil comes and takes away the Word" in Luke 8:12. And then, "Satan immediately comes and takes away". [Mark 4:15] So, when you compare Scripture with Scripture, it becomes clearer and clearer what these various items or people or animals represent.

How about the sun? What does the sun represent? Well, the sun represents tribulation or persecution. Again, it is said in Mark 4:17: "when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word". Tribulation means extreme hardship. Persecution means someone out there hunting you down, wanting to harm you and destroy you. Luke 8 tells us it is "in a time of testing", a time of difficulty. [Luke 8:13] So the sun represents hardships, tribulations, persecutions.

How about thorns? What do thorns represent? The cares of the world. So exactly, "the cares and riches and pleasures of life". [Luke 8:14] This is exactly from Luke chapter 8. The thorns represent these things. Elsewhere in Matthew, it says "cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches". [Matthew 13:22] And in Mark, "cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things". [Mark 4:19]

So here is the legend, given by Jesus, to the interpretation of this story. The seed refers to the Word of God. The sower represents the preacher. The bird represents the devil. The sun represents tribulation or persecution, and the thorns represent cares or riches or pleasures or desires.

Understanding these representations, then you get to the gist of it all. The gist of this story is really telling you that there are four kinds of soils. Very simple, alright.

The first kind of soil is the hardened kind of soil where it is trodden upon, the seed of God's Word does not settle in immediately, does not settle in well, and the bird, Satan, comes and takes it away.

The second kind of soil is where there is a thin layer of soil, but it does not allow for deep roots. And so it grows very fast, but when difficulties come in the shape of a sun, it withers away, and it dies. And it proves itself to be unfruitful.

And then the third kind of soil is that which is grown in the midst of lots of thorns, a lot of competition, so that it is ultimately dominated by the thorns, choked up by the thorns. And again, it proves to be ultimately unfruitful.

Only the last kind of soil, which is a good soil, did a seed get implanted, that it could blossom and flourish to amazing fruitfulness. Some 30 fold, some 60 fold, and some 100 fold.

So these four kinds of soils are meant to teach us the four kinds of hearers in this world. And that's why this parable is a parable about hearing. And that's why, at the end of the service today, you will all walk out, and you will all walk out very different, when you compare yourself with one another. Because all of you will walk out with different impact you have received upon hearing God's Word.

Some of you will walk out totally unchanged, as if this whole session did not take place. Some of you may walk out even angry, as if someone has upset you. Some of you may walk out very happy for a while, but ultimately proves no real difference in life. And some of you may walk out, changed, blessed, and the potential for great beauty and honour and Christ's likeness is in you, and will be brought forth at a later stage. You see, we all hear the same preacher today, hear the same sermon, hear the same words, but you will go out very differently, because we all hear very differently.

So the question is - what kind of a hearer are you? Let's look at that.

Number one. The first kind of hearer is the kind that is likened to hardened soil, compacted soil. I call this the "Calloused Hearer".

When I was in the army, we had to, at least in OCS (acronym for Officer Cadet School), we had to do pull-ups before every meal. So it's quite a pain, almost to the point I don't feel like eating, but no choice. So every time you go for a meal, before that, you have to do your pull-ups. And so after a while, I realised that callus begins to form on my palms. This is the part where it has the most friction with the pull-up bar, and upon repeated friction, your body reacts by thickening the skin where there is maximum content. So after a while, I have very calloused hands. I think ladies, you will not like this. But ladies, you may not experience this, because you have not had to do so many pull-ups. But the callous is thickened because it wants to make the structures underneath insensitive or protected.

And there are people today who have developed thickened layers over their heart. They do not want to hear God's Word. They do not want to be impacted by God's Word. They have resolutely kept themselves away from any influence of the Word of God. They rebel, they will not repent, they will not respond.

And there are people who are happy to come to church service because that's part of life, that's part of their routine. But really, they are not here to say, "God, what will you have me to do?" They just are here; maybe to criticise, maybe to find problems, maybe just to fulfil some religious chore. But they don't really say, "God, what will you have me to do?"

Maybe Jesus is using the first kind of soil to refer to the Jewish nation. They seem to be happy hanging around Jesus. They don't mind hearing Him teach. They don't mind hearing or watching Him do miracles, but they don't really want to repent, they don't really want to obey. They are a calloused group of hearers.

Could that be you? Because it is such a waste of time. And it is so counterproductive for you, if you have decided to harden your heart against God. Because what will happen is that you will harden yourself even more, as you hear His Word today. So, there's a first kind of hearer we call the "Calloused Hearer".

The second kind of hearer is exemplified by the thin layer of soil. I will call this the "Careless Hearer". Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, if you are a hardened hearer, the Word of God does not stick with you, does not bless you. Because you can be sure Satan comes along and removes it, alright. Either by distraction or false teaching, he removes the influence of God's Word upon your life, if you harden yourself against God.

Now, second kind of hearer is the "Careless Hearer". So he has a thin layer of soil, but there is no real deep roots. I suppose this refers to someone who has a very superficial understanding of Christian teachings. He has a very superficial understanding of the Gospel, and he is contented with that. So there is no deep roots. There is no deep understanding, no deep consideration - about sin, about God, about Christ, about the Gospel.

And so, what happens is that perhaps on the surface initially, he looks like the real deal. This is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy. I can think of plenty of people who have been to churches, and they are swept along by the emotional experience of being in a worship hall; the music, the people, the preacher, nice things that they hear from the pulpit. And they say, "Okay, I want to be a Christian. It is quite cool to be a Christian. My mom has sickness, I want to be a Christian. I have some family problems, I got some business failings, I want to trust God, I will be a Christian, I immediately receive it."

Now, please understand, I'm not against people who immediately receive the Bible or the Word of God with joy. There are plenty of people in the Bible, who receive the Gospel immediately with joy. That's, that's a great thing. But the problem here is that there is this group of careless hearers, who take things on a very superficial level. They receive it immediately with joy, but the problem is that they have no root in itself. There is no depth of understanding.

I'm not saying you need to be a professor, but you need to have some reasonable understanding of the teachings of the Word of God with respect to important things like sin, God, righteousness, Jesus, faith, grace - you need to understand a few of these things. It is not just a superficial "okay, I come to church. I want to be a Christian, I sign up for it." So there are people who have this superficial, and are contented with this superficial understanding.

Because they have no root, this is what happens next. When the sun comes up, when tribulation comes, when persecution chases after you, immediately, they fall away. "Why? I thought they received God's Word immediately." Well, there is no deep roots; they ultimately fall away. And so elsewhere, Jesus said, "But these have no root; they believe for a while". [Luke 8:13] They look like the real deal, but they are ultimately unfruitful. There is no evidence of life change, even though they seem to believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away. [Luke 8:13]

You see, there can be a kind of believing that is not the real kind of believing. And the Bible tells us so. The Bible tells us the devil also - what? Believes. But he is not a saved person. He's not a child of God. And there is a kind of belief that does not ultimately result in salvation. This is the kind of belief Jesus warns against in the parable of the sower. I think it was John, the apostle, who said, in 1 John 2: They went out from us, because they were not of us; otherwise, they would have remained with us. [1 John 2:19]

The understanding of the apostles is that if it is real, saving faith, it does not stop, it does not quit. It does not fizzle out, but it keeps on believing; it will not be believing for a while only.

I like this phrase that goes: "The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first." Let me say that again. The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first. Now let me say this with you - together, alright? The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first - that's a very important statement.

The faith that fizzles at the finish - "Eh, I thought Ah John, Ah John is a Christian what. How come now he deny God, deny Christ? His faith seems to dissipate, disappear. Oh, I know, because he lost his salvation." Oh no, no, no. The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first - he never really believed. He looked like he believed. He believed for a while, but it's not the life saving kind of belief. It's not that God gave up on him, it’s that he never really believed in the first place. Because the faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first.

You see, real faith is more robust than that. Real faith lasts. Real faith endures, even through adversity. So even when the sun rises, because there is depth, there's real roots, it does not wither away.

I like this verse. It might be a bit complicated, but I think you will come to understand it in a while. Romans 5 tells us: "we rejoice in our sufferings". [Romans 5:3] You say, "Siao ah?" (colloquial for mad). Whoever rejoices in his sufferings? Whoever is happy when he goes through difficulties? Paul says, "we rejoice in our sufferings". Why? Are you a masochist, Paul? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not rejoicing because I am going through pain. Let's get that clear. I'm not happy because I'm going through hardships. No, that's not the point. But I rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces something.

Classic story or example we always use is every mother goes through pain in childbirth. You don't rejoice in that pain of childbirth, but you rejoice in the product of the childbirth. And so, after a few years, ask you: "You want to give birth again or not?" You say, "Yes", even though it is very painful. Because at the end of the painful childbirth, you get a beautiful little baby. So you rejoice.

When you go to the hospital - "Eh wo de lao puo yao sheng le" (colloquial for my wife is in labour). No one ever texts you - "Cham ah you, cham, cham" (colloquial for you are so pitiful). Everybody says, "Congrats, congrats, congrats!" Hey, very painful you know! But congrats, why? Got baby.

So why do you rejoice in your sufferings? Why? Because got baby. What's the baby? The baby is called endurance. You are not very excited about endurance, ah. But suffering produces endurance.

What is endurance? The word "endurance" in Greek is "hupomone", which means "to stay under". What do you mean? Well, suffering produces “stay under”. It means this - suffering produces the ability to hang in there, under the burden of pain and tribulation.

You don't give up on God, you don't quit on God, but suffering works in you the ability to stay under. Real faith means that even when you suffer, you don't give up on God. In fact, it strengthens your faith, strengthens your ability to stay under, because of God.

And when you produce this "hupomone", this ability to stay under, you don't quit on God, this then produces a grandchild. After a while, your baby endurance will produce little girl, little boy, grandchild, called what? Character. Well, what is character? Again, I think the word there is better translated "proven"-ness. You can go back and check the Greek. It is a word that means to be tested, to be proven. So when you stay under trial and don't quit on God, that produces something called “proven"-ness. You see that, that faith in you is the real deal. It's not superficial. It's not something that changes very quickly. It is robust. It's the real deal. It's true.

And then, your grandchild will produce something else. Not something else, the next generation, the next child, and that will be hope. What is hope? Hope is the confident expectation of all that God has promised for us in Jesus Christ. Why can a Christian have great hope that all the promises in the Bible are true for me? You know why you can know?
You know why you can know? Because you have been proven. What do you mean? How, how am I proven? You have been proven in the fiery furnace of affliction, that your faith is the real deal. How do you know your faith is the real deal? Because you have gone through sufferings and you have not quit on God.

And the more you go through those sufferings, the more you hang in there, the more you see that your faith is tested, and the greater your hope of eternal salvation will be. You see, the assurance of a Christian is not based on a static profession you made 20 years ago. The assurance of the Christian is a dynamic reality as you see the authenticity and the robustness of your faith in Jesus Christ.

I say sufferings does not extinguish real faith, but sufferings distinguish real faith. That true, life saving, faith is exalted, is lifted up, is obvious and glorious in the midst of sufferings. And that's why Peter himself says, "so that the tested genuineness of your faith" [1 Peter 1:7] - look at that. Your faith, and its genuineness, needs to be tested. Not for God to see of course, but for us to see, for us to have greater hope.

"So... the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though is tested by fire". [1 Peter 1:7] The real deal needs to be tested by fire. And in Chinese we say "zhen jin bu pa hong ru huo". What is that? Real gold not scared, red fiery furnace fire. Something like that. "Zhen jin bu pa" (colloquial for real gold does not fear) - real faith is not fearful. But real faith will be proven genuine. Because you "hupomone", because you keep on believing. So - "may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ." [1 Peter 1:7]

Now, a careless hearer is the complete opposite. He has no root. He does not really know the Gospel. He has no deeper considerations of the claims of Jesus Christ. And so, when testing comes, they immediately fall away and they believe only for a while.

Do you realise the implication of this? That there can be people who walk into church, there can be children in our families who grow up, they used to say they believe, but now they don't. Maybe its backsliding, we can't rule that out. But maybe Jesus's teaching here in the parable - the second hearer might exactly be who they turned out to be. So there is a kind of belief that is not the real kind of belief, and that belongs to the careless hearer. Sad, but true.They are these kinds of grounds in the world.

So, I have said that there are calloused hearers, and there are careless hearers. Can anyone try to give me the third kind of hearer? Congested - wow, very good. Congested sounds like Singapore roads. I like his word, yeah, I could have used that, but I chose the word "Cluttered Hearer".

These are those who want to believe in God, who want to obey God, but at the same time, they also want the things of this world. They want cares, they want pleasures of life, they want riches. So, for that one space you can have only one, but they want both. And soon one will dominate over the other and the seedling dies.

So the Bible gives us illustrations of this. Demas, for example, he was in love with this present world and deserted Paul. [2 Titus 4:10] So Demas looked like the real deal following Paul in the beginning. I mean, it's not easy to follow Paul; Paul was a hunted man, Paul was a hated man. Demas followed him, but after a while Demas was shown up to be a kind of a cluttered hearer. He initially followed, but soon the cares, the pleasures, the riches of life dominated his thought and life in such a way that he falls away. And deserts Paul.

Didn't Jesus say "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God"? [Matthew 19:24] Matthew 19, humorous illustration. And if you're curious to find out what this really means, come back and join us, six months time. This is six chapters down, roughly there.

It was Paul who said, "But those who desire to be rich" - that is your goal, that is your ambition, that is your drive in life - "fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction". [1 Titus 6:9] I think about Judas Iscariot - followed Jesus for a good two, three years. But sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And what a sad tragedy, and end he ended up with.

Verse 10: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith". [1 Titus 6:10] Hey, I thought they were saved! Well, they looked like they were in the faith. But as John says, they went out from us because they were not of us. Otherwise they would have remained with us. [1 John 2:19] The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first. Some fall away because of hardships, some fall away because of luxuries - but they are ultimately unfruitful. And then they "pierced themselves with many pangs". [1 Titus 6:10]

But perhaps the best explanation of the cluttered heart is given by Jesus. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." [Matthew 6:24]

Now realise today - Jesus didn't say, "You should not serve God and money, money." He did not say, "You must not serve God and money." He did not say "You will not serve God and money." He said: "You cannot." It's impossible. On this one plot of land in your heart there is only space for one. So if you want God and also want money, and pleasures and riches, you will eventually fall away, because you are a cluttered hearer.

How many people there are, who walk into church, who say they came to faith in the early days, but as they grew up, they chased the dreams of the world, are never to be found anymore in the things of God. The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first. It all began with the way they heard the Word of God.

So we have these three kinds of hearts. The fourth kind is the best, the good one, the only one that is fruitful. You want to guess what "C" it is? Well, because Jesus used an agricultural example, I thought the best word I could think of is the "Cultivated Heart".

This is the heart like soil that has been plowed on. This is the heart like soil that is soft, that is raked, that is ridded off of all the weeds. So now this is good soil - soft, deep without thorns. You can imagine when it's cultivated like this, and the seed of the Word falls into it, soon, with the right conditions, it will come forth with grains 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold. So these are those who are sown on the good soil - confirm good, okay can.

"[T]he good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it". [Mark 4:20] They don't reject it. They receive it. The picture is - the seed is well received into the soil. And then in Luke, it is said that "they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast" - retains it, doesn't reject it, but hears it, respects it, regards it, retains it - "in an honest and good heart". [Luke 8:15] The word "honest" is beautiful, the word "good" is good. So it is held in this beautiful, good heart - I believe the heart that God has given - and it will bear fruit with patience. It will bear fruit with endurance, with steadfastness. And the fruit will be quite amazing. 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold. [Mark 4:20] This is the kind of heart that will be blessed richly by the Word of God.

And my friends, that's why I want to be a preacher of God's Word. Yes, I understand that many times when I preach, some of the people will absolutely hate me. Some of the people would totally walk out of this place unchanged. Some of the people here may look like they are the real deal, but soon turn out to be not the real deal. And that can be very discouraging. I mean, you can think of many friends who have been to this church and are now not of this church, not of any church. They have sort of turned back from faith.

And you may as a preacher say, "What's the point?" Hey, but don't forget. That's what a sower has to understand. When he sows the seed, he doesn't expect 100% return. Nobody expects that. But he does know, he does know, for the seed that is sown in good soil, it will pay back handsomely. The harvest will be amazing - 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold; that one little seed received in good soil can bring such glory, and beauty and abundance.

Someone said this well: "You can count the number of seeds in an apple. But you cannot count the number of apples in a seed." Wow, very cheem ah (colloquial for profound). You can count the number of seeds in an apple. But you cannot count the number of apples in a seed. I can never begin to think what God's Word will accomplish in your heart if it is the cultivated heart. I cannot imagine how beautiful, glorious you will be. What a wonderful husband, wife, evangelist, servant of God you will be. I can't imagine what this church will look like.

But you say, "But pastor, not happening leh. Everybody here so carnal. So, so ordinary." Well, a sower understands - it takes what? It takes time. You don't sow a seed expecting the crop tomorrow. You sow a seed and you patiently wait on the right conditions. God is the One who must change lives. But the joy of a parent, the joy of a Sunday school teacher, the joy of a care group leader, the joy of a Bible study leader is to cast that Word out into good soils, that one day, it will be all beautiful and glorious in God's sight.

I'm, I'm excited to know what Gospel Light will become. I'm excited to know what you will become, what your family will be like, if your heart is ready to receive and to retain God's Word. And I pray that will be your attitude each and every time you open the Scriptures, every time you hear the preaching of God's Word. Don't let these Sunday mornings be a waste of time. Don't let this be a time where your heart is continuously hardened and you get more and more hardened. Don't let this be a time where you superficially understand the things of the Bible and never really sink your roots in. Because the world is a hard place to live in, both in adversity and prosperity.

But ask God today to plough your heart. Make it soft. Make it ripe. Make it ready. And may God bless you with wonderful fruitfulness.

So I end with this question: What kind of a heart are you? What kind of a hearer are you? I long to see Gospel Light, I long to see the people of God, bring great glory, 100 fold, to His Name's sake.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

I pray today if you're not a Christian, you will receive this seed of God's Word. This one little seed, very small. But this one little seed has all the potential to change your life. You say, "What's this seed?"

I believe the Bible has a central message. There are many things taught in the Bible. But there is this one central message that Paul says - it is Christ and Him crucified. That one central message is that God has sent His Son to save man from his sins. When we are unable to save ourselves, when we are wretched and sinful, God did not give up on us, but He gave His Son to be the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

And today, this is the seed that if you repent and believe in Jesus, if your heart is open to receive this precious Word, you will be saved. Your life will change, because the Word of God in your life will definitely produce fruit 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold.

If you say you believe in Jesus, but there is no change in your life whatsoever, could it be that you were simply a calloused, a careless, or a cluttered hearer? Oh may God work in our hearts.
May we repent and believe in Jesus that you will be truly saved for His glory.

And maybe as Christians, you may be living in sin, and there is some area God is speaking to you about. Please, don't just cast that seed out. Let it be retained. Let it have its work in you. May you repent and obey.

I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Includes you folks - your life can be dramatically changed, as you humble yourself, repent before God and believe in Jesus, His Son. May the Gospel today bless you. May the Gospel change you. May the Gospel bring glory to our God through you.

Father, thank You for Your Word and thank You for Your people. I pray that these truths would fall on good soil this morning. Save Your people, draw us nearer to You. Speak Oh Lord, till Your Church is built for Your glory. We pray in Jesus Name. Amen.

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