Mark 4:1-20

Shall we just briefly pray?

Father, we do pray that you would give us receptive hearts, make us good soil.

! This morning we pray as we hear your word.

! Help us to respond to your word in the way that Jesus expected people to respond to his words,

with repentance and with faith, with obedience.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, it's lovely to be here, and thank you for those words of introduction, Paul.

I have to tell you that I haven't really preached to a congregation like this anyway for about 18 months.

So I'm a bit out of practice, so I hope you'll bear that in mind.

And I really feel dependent upon God this morning.

And I hope that you'll pray for me, and I hope that you'll pray for our church in Kendall.

We're actually meeting in the town hall this morning.

Since lockdown, we've been meeting as two congregations in our building, one at 9.30 and one at 11.15.

And both congregations are growing.

And we'd love to continue to meet together as one congregation like we used to before lockdown.

And one possible solution to this is to meet sometimes at least, even every week possibly,

in the town hall in Kendall, which is the only place we can think of that's any bigger than our church building.

So they're meeting there this morning.

So please pray for guidance for the elders that they'll make the right decision about that.

Okay, I want to speak this morning about this really important parable.

It's an important parable because it occurs in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

And it's one of my favorite parables.

I love these parables about sowing and reaping.

It's a picture that Jesus often used in his ministry.

And it's about a sower.

And we were talking about this in Sunday school this morning.

The boys and girls will remember it.

It's about a sower who sows his seed.

And in those days, they didn't have nice cultivated fields like we do.

Well, maybe you don't in the evening.

I don't know.

But we have nice cultivated fields in the Lake District.

And nearly all the seed that's sown grows well.

But there they would scatter the seed.

And some of the seed would fall on the path.

Some of the seed would fall in shallow soil where there wasn't much depth of soil.

And some of the seed would fall amongst the thistles and the thorns.

And it would get choked.

And it wouldn't bring forth fruit.

And some seed would fall on really good, fertile soil and bring forth fruit.

So, I think that this parable has two ways, two applications, two ways we can think about it.

And the first is that it's an encouragement to preachers.

It's an encouragement to those who proclaim God's kingdom, who preach God's word.

And the second, and the one I want to particularly stress this morning, in a little while,

is there is a warning to those who hear the message of the kingdom, to those who hear the word of God.

So, sowing the seed is a bit like preaching the word, proclaiming God's word.

And Jesus was the great sower.

And he began to preach.

You can read about this in Mark chapter 1.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

And he began to preach.

And his message, right at the beginning, was the time has come.

The time that God's people have been waiting for for so long, all through the Old Testament period.

God's kingdom.

That time has come.

God's kingdom.

The king is here.

So, repent and believe the good news.

And that's the response he wanted.

He wanted people to repent, which means to turn from everything that's wrong,

everything that God doesn't like, everything that isn't like Jesus.

He wants us to repent.

And he wants us to believe the good news.

I'm going to say more about that this evening.

We're going to be looking at that this evening in more detail.

What it means to repent and believe.

So, that was Jesus' message.

That's the response that he wanted from the crowd.

Like this crowd gathered on the beach by the Sea of Galilee when he first preached this parable.

The response he wanted was repentance and faith in himself.

And the parable shows us the different kinds of responses that were in that crowd.

And I've got no doubt at all that in this congregation this morning,

all four of these responses to God's word will be here.

They will be present this morning as I'm preaching.

And you need to ask yourself, what kind of soil am I?

How am I responding to Jesus?

How am I responding to his word?

What kind of soil am I?

So, as I've said, this is an encouragement, first of all, to proclaim,

an encouragement to those who preach the kingdom of God, who preach God's word.

And Jesus wanted this response of repentance and faith.

What response did Jesus, the great sower, get from the crowd?

Well, if you read through Mark, you get to chapter 2.

As early as chapter 2, you find that there's opposition.

There's opposition from the scribes and the Pharisees to Jesus and his message.

By the time you get to chapter 3, they're plotting to kill him.

Chapter 3, beginning of chapter 3, they're plotting to kill him.

By the time you get further on in chapter 3,

they're saying that he's possessed by Beelzebul, who was an evil spirit.

Later on after that, Jesus' own family come and try to stop him preaching.

They're embarrassed by it.

He goes to the synagogue at Nazareth, his hometown, and he preaches there.

And the response is, this is just the carpenter, the carpenter's son.

We know his mother.

We know his brothers.

We know his sister.

And they were offended by it.

So, Jesus preached God's word.

Jesus preached the kingdom.

He wanted repentance.

And he wanted faith.

And what did he get?

He got all kinds of responses.

He got a negative response, as we've just seen.

He got a shallow response from the crowd.

They followed him.

As long as he was performing miracles, the crowd followed him.

But he didn't last for very long.

And then, very, very sadly, he would preach the word.

And some people would claim to have become disciples.

And they would last a few months, a few weeks, a few months, maybe a year or two.

And after that, they would stop following.

I was reading earlier this week in John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

John chapter 6 starts with 5,000 people being fed by Jesus in the wilderness.

John 6 · chapter mention

He then goes on to the synagogue at Capernaum.

There's a crowd in the synagogue.

He's preaching there.

And after the sermon in the synagogue, in John chapter 6, verse 66, it says that many, many of his disciples, that's the word that's used, many of his disciples no longer followed him.

John 6:66

Now, Jesus got all those responses that I've just been going through with you.

And if Jesus, and he was the greatest preacher ever, he was by far the greatest ever preacher.

No one ever spoke like Jesus did.

No one ever spoke like this man.

He was the spirit-filled preacher.

And when Jesus preached, those are the responses he got.

He got the hard response.

Some people, no impression at all.

He got the shallow response.

Some people followed him for a bit.

The crowd.

He got the overcrowded response.

They claimed to be disciples, but other things came in and became more important than Jesus.

And Jesus became less and less important.

And they gave it all up.

The word the Bible uses for that is apostasy.

They apostatized.

They gave up the faith that they once professed.

And some seed fell on good soil.

That's the good news.

Not all the seed was lost.

Some of it fell on good soil.

Now, if Jesus got the response like that.

If those were the responses to God's word that Jesus got.

The greatest preacher who ever lived.

Then, it's the kind of response that we should expect as well.

And I just want to encourage preachers this morning to keep on preaching.

And not to think that just because they're getting these different kinds of responses.

They're not preaching properly.

Jesus was the greatest preacher ever.

And this is the kind of response or non-response that he got.

Well, this is how people are going to respond to God's word.

But keep on preaching.

Because there's going to be some seed that falls on good soil.

And there's going to be seed that's fertile.

There's going to be ground that's fertile.

And the seed is going to sprout in that ground.

And there's going to be a harvest.

And it's not just going to be a little harvest.

There's another parable in Mark chapter 4 about the mustard seed.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Which is a tiny little seed.

And yet, it grows into a big garden shrub.

In which the birds of the air can roost at night time.

Build their nests and so on.

And that's Jesus' picture of the growth of the kingdom.

And it is growing.

It's growing all over the world.

It's wonderful to hear about the work here amongst the Japanese people.

It's wonderful to see people from other countries as well.

It's the same in Kendall.

I mean, nobody comes to Kendall from abroad.

But we're getting more and more Eastern Europeans in our congregation.

We're getting people from Russia.

We're getting people from the Ukraine.

We're getting people from Poland, Romania.

Coming to church on Sunday.

It's wonderful what God is doing in this world.

There is going to be a harvest.

There is a harvest.

It's coming.

It's developing even now as we speak.

Yes, there are terrible, terribly hard places like Britain.

Really, really hard ground.

But some of the seed will always fall on good soil.

So keep preaching.

You're going to get exactly the same kind of response that Jesus got.

There are going to be people who oppose you.

There are going to be people who reject what you say.

We're not going to listen to you.

There are going to be people who you're quite encouraged about.

And then you're terribly disappointed by.

Your heart breaks because they walk out on Jesus.

They walk out on the church.

You don't see them again.

They give it all up.

It's going to happen.

It happened to Jesus, as we've just seen.

And it's going to happen to you.

But don't give up.

Keep on sowing that seed.

It's the only way that God's kingdom will grow.

Through the preaching of God's word.

So if you stop preaching, that kingdom won't grow.

And if you preach it, will.

So keep on preaching.

That's my first message for this morning.

Okay?

Have you got that?

Good, good, great.

So that's the first point.

There's only two points.

Second point, this is an encouragement.

This is a warning to those who hear the message of God's kingdom.

The point of the parable of the sower is there in verse 9.

If you look at verse 9.

Jesus said,

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

This is a parable about hearing the word of God.

Now, I've just been explaining that when Jesus preached,

he expected repentance and faith,

or he wanted repentance and faith,

leading to a life of obedience.

And yet, he warns us here that there are those who hear his words

who will never understand it.

That's in verse 12.

People who hear and who never understand.

That doesn't mean they don't understand it with their minds.

They understand it with their minds,

but they don't understand it in the sense that they don't stand under it.

That's what the word understand means here.

They don't stand under what they hear.

You can hear the word of Jesus without really hearing it.

And this is the message of this parable.

It's possible to hear the words of Jesus,

and it's possible to hear the words that's preached here every week,

to be here,

and for the sound to impinge upon our eardrums,

and even into our brains,

but never to really hear

what's being said.

Never to stand under it.

Never to understand it.

Never to understand it.

To stand under it.

And these different soils represent different ways

in which we can hear without hearing.

When Jesus preached,

he expected us to hear and to heed,

to listen to what he was saying,

and to act on what we heard.

In the Second World War,

there was a lot of bombing of cities

in this country,

in Germany,

in Japan.

Bombing of cities.

And there were air raid warnings.

The siren would go off.

And people,

when they heard that siren,

they wouldn't just stand there

or sit there.

They'd find the nearest

air raid shelter.

If they were in London,

some of them would go down

into the tube station

for the night.

They didn't just say,

ah, yeah,

an air raid shelter.

They didn't just say,

ah,

an air raid.

They would find a shelter.

That's when they really heard

the warning,

the siren.

They would find a shelter.

They'd do something about it.

They would respond.

And,

there may have been people,

I'm sure there were,

who heard the siren

and they thought,

well,

I've heard that before.

I won't bother to do anything

about that this time.

Nothing much happened last time.

And they don't do anything about it

or they didn't do anything about it.

And the result was disaster for them.

You should listen to Jesus

like people listened to air raid warnings

during the Second World War.

When Jesus speaks,

you should really listen.

You must listen to Jesus.

You know,

there's a verse in Chapter 6

of Mark

about Herod,

King Herod.

And,

he had

John the Baptist

in prison.

And,

he was very reluctant

to execute

John the Baptist.

Why?

Well,

Mark says,

he liked

to listen

to John the Baptist.

King Herod

liked

to listen

to John the Baptist.

He liked

his sermon.

He liked

his preaching.

I don't know

what he liked

about them.

But,

there was something

about John the Baptist's

sermons

that attracted

King Herod.

But,

he never

really

listened.

And,

when he came to it,

when he had to choose

between

his wife,

his wife's will,

and

John the Baptist,

he chose

to obey

his wife.

But,

he liked

to listen

to Jesus.

And,

Jesus

ends his

sermon on the

mount

with a

parable

about two

men,

a foolish

man

and a wise

man.

And,

the wise

man builds

his house

on a rock.

And,

the rain

comes,

and the floods

ascend.

And,

the wind

blows

against the

house he

builds,

but it's

built on a

rock,

so it

stands,

it's secure.

there's a

foolish man,

he builds

his house

on sand,

and the

same winds

blow,

and the

same rain

falls,

and the

same floods

come,

and his

house

falls

down.

Some of you

children probably

know a song

about that.

The wise man

built his

house upon a

rock,

the foolish

man built

his house

upon the

sand,

and the rain

came,

and the floods

came,

and the

house on

the sand

fell flat.

You've heard

that one.

Is it just me?

You do think

it sometimes,

yes.

And,

Jesus said,

the foolish

man is a

man who

listens to

his word,

who hears

his word,

and doesn't

do anything

about it.

It's possible

to hear the

words of

Jesus,

and not do

anything

about it.

James says

in his

letter,

that we

should be

doers of

the word,

not hearers

only,

and if that

isn't true

of us,

if we just

hear the

word,

and don't

do it,

James says

we are

deceiving

ourselves.

We're

actually

deceiving

ourselves.

We may

be good

attenders

of church,

we may

listen to

good

sermon,

but if we

don't actually

do anything,

James says,

we are

deceiving

ourselves.

Jesus took

three of his

disciples onto

a mountain,

and on that

mountain he

was transfigured

before them.

His appearance

changed.

They saw a

glimpse of his

future glory,

and a cloud

came, and he

was joined

by Elijah,

the prophet,

and by Moses,

the lawgiver,

two representatives

of the Old

Testament, the

law and the

prophet.

Moses and

Elijah, the

Old Testament,

the law and

the prophet.

Peter said,

let's build

three huts,

or dens,

you would call

them boys and

girls, let's

build three

dens.

One for

Jesus, one

for Abraham,

and one for

Isaac.

And there

was a voice

from heaven

that Moses

and Elijah

disappeared.

And there

was a voice

from heaven,

and the

voice from

heaven said,

this is my

son whom I

love.

Listen.

Listen to

him.

You must

listen to

Jesus.

And if you

hear sermons

and even read

the gospel and

don't do anything

about it,

you are

deceiving

yourselves.

so you

must listen

to Jesus.

And these

four soils

are different

ways in

which we

can listen

or not

listen to

Jesus.

I'm dealing

particularly with

the first

three.

This morning

and then this

evening I want

to look at the

last one, the

good soil, in

more detail.

Some of the

seed falls on

the footpath,

on the path,

behind the

soil, and

it's trodden

underfoot.

Or it's

gobbled up

immediately by

the birds.

And these

are people who

hear the

word of God

and it

makes no

real impression

on them

at all.

They don't

stand under

it.

They may

reject it.

They may

say they

don't believe

it.

They're

hostile to

it sometimes.

but they

may not be

hostile to

it.

They may

actually, in

a sense,

believe it,

i.e.

believe that

it's true.

But they

don't really

listen.

They're just

sermon

tasters.

It's

possible to

be a

sermon

taster.

It's

possible to

get used

to hearing

sermons.

You may

even like

a good

preacher.

You may

be a

connoisseur

of sermon.

You may

be able to

give preachers

points.

Eight out

of ten for

content.

Seven out

of ten for

presentation.

And go

away and

not do a

thing about

what you've

heard.

You're just

a sermon

taster.

I think

this is a

real danger

in churches

where there's

an emphasis

on the

preaching of

the word

of God

as there

should be

in every

decent

church.

The real

danger is

that people

get used

to hearing

people who

handle the

Bible well

and familiarity

breeds contempt.

And they

just, it's a

habit they get

into of

listening to

good sermons.

And do you

know what they

do when they

go on holiday?

They go to

Kesech for

more sermons.

Or they go

to Word

Alive for

more sermons.

They may

even go to

both if

they're really,

really keen.

Their whole

life is

listening to

sermons.

How many

sermons have

you heard in

your lifetime?

How many

sermons have I

heard?

How many

sermons have I

preached in

my lifetime?

Hundreds and

hundreds, not

just heard, but

preached.

I've actually

probably preached

more than I

heard.

And yet it's

possible to

do that and

never really to

listen to

Jesus.

Never really to

repent.

Never really to

believe.

And James

says that if

that is true of

us, we are

deceived people.

We may be

well-informed

people, but we

are deceived

people.

And I've no

doubt there are

people like that

here this

morning.

This soil would

have been in

that crowd on

the beach at

Galilee, and I've

no doubt that

it's here this

morning.

There are people

who are familiar

with God's

word.

They are familiar

with Jesus.

They're familiar

with the gospel,

but it has never

actually made much

of a difference

to their lives.

They're not

living lives of

repentance,

turning from

everything that

is against what

Jesus is like,

or what Jesus

taught.

And lives of

faith and trust

in him, and

humble obedience

to him, out of

love for what

he's done for

us.

I wonder if

there's anybody

like that here

this morning.

I'm sure there

is people like

that here this

morning.

And it's Satan,

you know, who

snatches the word

away.

it's the

activity of

Satan that

causes us to

hear God's

word and not

do anything

about it.

And then

there's the

shallow soil.

The shallow

soil is soil

that's over

hard rock,

limestone or

something.

And it's

only a thin

layer of

soil.

And so the

shoots emerge

very quickly.

And they

emerge quickly

because there's

no depth of

root underneath.

there's nothing

underneath.

It's all

surface.

Nothing

underneath.

And then

when there's a

dry period,

it shrivels

up.

It shrivels

up as quickly

as it shoots

up.

And Jesus

says these are

the people on

whom God's

word seems to

make initially

some impression.

It says here

that they

receive the

word with

joy.

They receive

the word

with joy.

Now in the

book of Acts,

that word

receiving,

that phrase

receiving the

word means

that they

became Christian.

I don't think

it means that

here.

But in the

book of Acts,

they would have

been welcomed

into the

church,

they would have

been baptized,

they would have

been welcomed

into the

church,

they'd receive

the word.

And Luke

says in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

those who

received the

word were

baptized and

added to

the church.

So these

people look

like Christians.

They probably

think they're

Christians to

begin with,

and other

people think

they're Christians

to begin with.

And then the

tests come.

Then the

persecution

comes,

that's Jesus.

The difficulties,

the pressures,

persecution on

account of the

word, trouble

on account of

the word.

So these are

professing believers.

But when

they're

persecuted,

the persecution

reveals that

there's no

depth at all.

They're

shallow.

They're

superficial.

And after

that promising

start, they

drop out.

So what is

one of God's

purposes in

persecution?

Why does he

allow Christians

to be persecuted?

We've been

praying for them

this morning,

all over the

world,

increasingly.

Persecution is

a fact for

Christians.

And the

New Testament

says it will

be.

The New

Testament says

it's part of

the package.

unto us it

has been

given on

behalf of

Christ,

not only to

believe in

him,

but also to

be persecuted

for his

sake.

That's just

it.

It's part of

the package.

If you become

a Christian,

you're going to

be persecuted.

We've done

very well in

this country.

We haven't

been persecuted

properly for a

long time.

That means we

haven't been

tested.

We haven't been

tested by

persecution.

one of the

reasons that

God allows

his church to

be persecuted

is to test

the depth

of their

faith in

Jesus,

the reality

of their

faith in

Jesus.

Now, the

problem with

becoming a

Christian in

Britain is

that it

actually starts

you off,

gets you

started on

quite a nice

life really,

doesn't it?

And church is

quite a nice

place, isn't it?

And you

quite like

coming here,

don't you?

It's quite a

nice place to

come on a

Sunday morning.

Nice people.

Nice people from

all over the

world.

I bet the

coffee,

Josh said that.

I should

imagine that

the coffee is

quite good as

well.

I'm not even

sure that you

have coffee on

the Sunday

morning.

I'm sure the

coffee is good

as well.

It's a nice

place to be.

Nice people.

And you

become part of

a kind of

evangelical

subculture

enjoyable

meetings,

somewhere to

go.

So our

life after

conversion is

probably in

some ways

better than

it was before.

Easier than

it was before.

And it's

never been

tested.

Will we

still choose

Jesus when

the storm

comes?

Will our

house stand

when the

storm comes?

You know,

when I was

a child,

my dad

and mum

used to

like listening

to George

Beverly

Shea,

America's

beloved gospel

singer.

He died

two or three

years ago,

aged about

103.

I think he

was still

singing.

And he

sang a

hymn

called,

I'd

Rather Have

Jesus

Than

Silver or

Gold.

I'd

rather be

his than

have

riches

untold.

I'd

rather have

Jesus

than

houses

or

lands.

I'd

rather be

led by

his nail

pierced

hands

than to

be the

king of

a vast

domain

and be

held in

sin's

dread sway.

I'd

rather have

Jesus

than

anything

this

world

affords

today.

great.

Great.

Great.

But let

me ask you

a question.

How do

you know?

How do

you know?

If you've

got Jesus

and silver

and gold,

if you've

got Jesus

and houses

and land,

if you've

got Jesus

and the

wolves

applaud,

how do

you actually

know that

you'd rather

have Jesus

than any

of those

other things?

Unless

the point

comes,

the time

comes,

when you

have to

choose

between

the two.

And all

over the

world today

there are

Christians

who are

having to

choose

between

the two.

If you

become a

Christian

in,

let's say,

Egypt

or Pakistan,

just your

ordinary big

Muslim

country,

you'll be

treated as

a second

class citizen.

You will

almost certainly

not get a

decent job.

You may

end up

working on

the brick

kilns in

Pakistan for

the rest of

your life.

And you'll

never get

out of them.

Would you

be happy

with that?

If you

had to

choose either

that or

Jesus Christ?

What would

you choose?

Your children

were probably

not going

to university.

You'd never

have been to

university

yourself.

There are

increasingly,

an increasing

number of

places in

the world

today where

you have to

choose between

Christ and

prosperity.

Christ and

your freedom.

Christ and

your popularity.

And

increasingly,

even, as in

Nigeria, as we've

been praying this

morning, Christ

and life

itself.

Will you

choose

Jesus?

One reason

why God

allows

persecution

like that

is as a

test to

know whether

you really

would rather

have Jesus

than anything

this world

affords

today.

That's why

God allows

persecution.

So there's the

shallow soil.

Then there's the

overcrowded soil.

soil.

And this

seems even

more promising

than the

shallow soil.

It seems to

take root.

It lasts

longer than

the seed that

has been

sown in that

thin soil.

It begins to

grow, seems to

grow, and

gradually the

thorns and the

thistles that

share the soil

take over and

they choke

the seed.

And Jesus

identifies these

thorns and

thistles with

the worries or

the anxieties of

this life and

he mentions this

specifically, the

deceitfulness of

wealth, the

deceitfulness of

riches.

So it's the

distractions linked

with wealth and

success.

And the

anxieties, the

worries that

wealth, pursuing

wealth and

success bring.

If you read

chapter 6 of

Matthew in the

Sermon on the

Mount, there's a

link between

wealth and

worry, wealth

and anxiety.

Jesus talks about

laying treasure up

in heaven, not

on earth.

And then he

talks about people

who are crippled

by anxiety, by

worry, about what

to eat and what

to drink and what

to wear.

And the

pursuit of

wealth, and

Jesus calls it

the deceitfulness,

the deceitfulness

of wealth, is

one of the

thorns that

chokes the

seed.

Spurgeon is

supposed to have

said this.

I hope he did

say it.

I sometimes

think that

Spurgeon is a

bit like

Churchill.

he's always

been quoted

as having

said this.

And I can't

believe that he

said all these

things that he's

supposed to have

said.

But he's

supposed to have

said,

persecution has

slain its

thousands.

Prosperity has

slain its tens

of thousands.

been

done.

And I think I

know more

people who

have given

up the

Christian faith

that they

once professed

because of

prosperity

than because of

any persecution

that has

threatened them.

Prosperity is

as big a test

of the reality

of your faith

than

persecution.

as persecution.

We pray for

the persecuted

church and

rightly so.

Do we pray for

the prosperous

church?

Because I'm

telling you this,

there are

thousands and

thousands of

Christians who

are nowhere

today who

once professed

Christ.

Well, I'm

calling them

Christians because

they profess to

be Christians.

There are

thousands of

people today who

once professed

Christ and who

are nowhere

spiritually today

because the

pursuit of

prosperity and

success and

all the other

things that

they want in

their lives have

choked the

seed of God's

word.

It can be all

kinds of things.

The other

things can be all

kinds of things.

It can be a

relationship with

somebody.

It takes over.

It can be a

sport, a

pastime, an

activity.

I know a

number of

people.

who used to

go to

church.

I can think

of one

person in

particular in

Kendall,

actually, who

used to go

to church and

who stopped

coming to

church because

they did a

lot of

mountain running

and that sort

of thing.

And all

these runs

were on a

Sunday.

So they

would go

running instead

of going to

church.

And it

begins with

maybe one

Sunday and

then maybe

twice a month

and gradually

it takes over.

all that

running, which

is probably

just ruining

their knees

probably.

All that

running up

and down

mountains,

wonderful,

isn't it?

But it's not

as good as

Jesus, I'm

telling you.

There are

people for

whom something

is unimportant

as running,

although I

know some

of you think

it's really

important.

And your

pastor actually

did the park

run yesterday

with his

children.

So I must be

careful what I

say.

Running is

important, but

he doesn't do

it on a

Sunday.

At least I

don't think

he does.

And he

must be

careful and

you must be

careful not to

allow anything

to become more

important than

Jesus, more

important than

church in

your life.

Okay, so

there are

these people

who seem to

be doing well

and then

heartbreakingly

there comes a

time when you

don't see them

anymore.

And there'll be

people like that

in this

congregation.

Some of you

young people in

particular,

brought up in

Christian home.

You're here

now.

Will you be

here in 20,

30 years'

time?

I hope so.

But I'm sure

that there will

be people who

hear God's

word regularly,

week by week,

from Paul here

and from

others.

And 20 or

30 years from

now, you may

not profess to

be a Christian.

Be very, very

careful.

Jesus wants us

to hear God's

word with

repentance and

with faith.

He wants us

to be good

soil.

And the good

soil are those

who hear his

word with

repentance and

with faith.

They hear

Jesus'

words and

they realize

that they're

going in the

wrong direction

and they turn

around.

They turn

around really,

really,

in their hearts,

they turn to

Jesus.

That's what

repentance means.

and they

believe,

which means

they trust,

they depend

on,

they rely

on totally

on Jesus.

They repent

and they

believe.

And that

gives rise to

a life of

obedience to

Jesus.

If you don't

live a life of

obedience to

Jesus after

you've repented

and believed,

well, you've

stopped repenting

and you've

stopped believing.

repentance and

faith are not

something you do

just at the

beginning of the

Christian life

and say,

yeah, well,

I've done that.

That's the

repentance and

faith.

Repentance and

faith get you

started on a

life of

repentance and

faith.

And if you're

not obeying

Jesus, you've

stopped repenting

and you've

stopped believing.

Repentance and

faith.

Trusting Jesus.

Trusting that

he died for

your sins.

Trusting his

words.

Trusting his

wonderful

invitation.

Come unto me,

all you who

weary and

heavy laden,

burdened, and

I will give

you rest.

This is the

cup of the

covenant.

Shed for

many.

For the

forgiveness of

sins.

What wonderful

things Jesus

said.

It isn't all

just moral

instruction.

It's gospel.

It is

wonderful

invitation.

Wonderful

promises.

And when we

believe, we

believe the

promises of

Jesus and we

accept the

invitations of

Jesus.

And we also

heed the

warnings of

Jesus and we

follow the

teachings of

Jesus.

That's what it

means to

believe in

Jesus.

Repent and

believe.

Every person in

this congregation

fits into one of

these categories

this morning.

Hard,

shallow,

overcrowded,

or fertile.

Which one are

you?

I'll be saying

more about the

fourth category

this evening.

So I hope you'll

come along and

hear more about

repenting and

believing.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.