WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:06.480 There's something about a mystery that captivates us all. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:14.800 Whether it's a novel, a crime documentary, or a headline that hints at hidden motives. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:17.359 We're drawn to the unknown. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:19.440 We want inside information. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:24.879 We want to know who done it, why they did it, and how it all fits together. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:33.359 There's something inside us that longs to uncover what's hidden, to know life's greatest secrets. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.079 This craving for hidden knowledge is nothing new. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:54.000 In the ancient world, this desire for hidden knowledge gave rise to Gnosticism, a heresy that claims salvation came through secret mystical insight available only to a select few. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:07.760 Even today, people love to chase conspiracies, secret societies, and encrypted truths, hoping to feel special, to be on the inside. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:16.640 As we will see in our passage today, the kingdom of God is filled with mysteries of its own. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:30.079 Jesus speaks in parables to hide the kingdom from some, but he also graciously reveals the mysteries of the kingdom to those who draw near. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:38.319 He gives away the secrets of the kingdom, not to the proud or the privileged, but to the receptive. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.959 In this way, the kingdom of God is both hidden and revealed. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:50.879 Some hear the gospel, yet it leaves no lasting mark. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:59.200 They remain unchanged, and their lives are no different than the broken, corrupt world around them. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:04.239 But others hear the gospel, and everything changes. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:16.800 Their hearts are transformed, their priorities realigned, and they become instruments in the hands of God for the advancement of his kingdom. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:18.879 Why is that? 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:26.639 The reality that some are saved and others are not is a mystery of its own. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:32.560 After all, only God knows a person's heart and their ultimate destiny. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:45.919 But that doesn't mean that we can't know the mysteries of the kingdom, nor does it mean that we can't know how to stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to life everlasting. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:54.479 And so as we open our Bibles today, we are opening these mysteries to be revealed and applied. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.400 So let's open to Mark chapter 4. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.560 We will begin by reading verses 1 through 23. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:12.960 And before we begin reading, let's go before the Lord in prayer, the one who reveals the secrets of the kingdom. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.479 Let's pray. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:34.319 Father in heaven, you gave your son Jesus, who took on flesh, and who came to reveal the secrets of your kingdom to those who had ears to hear. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:57.360 And God, we pray that as we open up our Bibles today and we look at this account where Jesus speaks in parables and even explains it to his disciples, we pray that you would help us understand your word. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:07.520 We pray for your Holy Spirit to open our eyes and hearts to understand in ways that only a true insider can. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:52.959 And he was teaching them many things and parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, listen to this behold, the sower went out to sow, and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:11.920 An other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil, and after the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:21.759 And an other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:33.839 And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:39.360 And he was saying, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:47.839 And when he was alone, his followers, along with the twelve, began asking him about the parables. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:06:12.079 And he was saying to them, To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything comes in parables, so that while seeing they may see and not perceive, and while hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:16.160 And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.439 How will you understand all the parables? 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:26.879 The sower sows the word, and these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:33.680 When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:50.480 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places, those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:58.879 Then when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.920 And others are those being sown among the thorns. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:20.319 These are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:32.399 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil, they who hear the word and accept it, and are bearing fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:38.959 And he was saying to them, Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.319 Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:53.279 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:58.399 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:12.079 As Jesus addresses a very large crowd of people, he begins to teach them, not with straightforward instruction, but in parables. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:18.319 And if you've been following along in Mark's gospel, this won't come as a surprise. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:26.560 Mark doesn't just give us a glimpse, he gives us the full parable and its explanation. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:39.679 This is a moment to lean in because Jesus is about to reveal something essential about the kingdom of God and about the condition of our own hearts. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.759 Jesus tells a story that would have felt familiar to every ear in the crowd. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:51.840 It's a simple story on the surface, but beneath it lies a powerful truth. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.200 The seed is the same in every case. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.399 The difference is in the soil. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.600 Many of you love to garden. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.120 As you know, seeds don't just grow anywhere. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:14.480 No matter how good the seed, it won't produce anything worthwhile in soil that's hard, shallow, or crowded by weeds. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:16.799 The seed isn't the problem. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:22.000 It's the soil that determines whether its life takes root. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:28.399 Jesus uses this simple truth to confront us with a spiritual reality. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:36.080 The seed of God's word is perfect, powerful, and full of potential. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:42.320 But the condition of the soil, our hearts, makes all the difference. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.320 When Jesus told this parable, it wasn't that people didn't understand what he was talking about. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:58.080 They knew the ins and outs of agriculture quite well and could follow the details of his parable with little effort. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:07.840 Rather, it was that people knew that this parable was pointing to something more, something deeper in meaning. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:15.200 They couldn't figure out what that deeper meaning was or why Jesus was giving this parable in the first place. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.679 It was frustrating. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.000 Jesus essentially leaves the crowd on a cliffhanger. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:33.600 It would be like watching most of a murder mystery only to have it end abruptly without disclosing the key details that solved the case and brought resolution. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:40.879 Even Jesus' own disciples were left feeling confused and frustrated. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:47.279 They had to ask him for an explanation once they were in a more private setting. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:55.519 You can imagine the look on their faces as Jesus rebukes them for not already understanding the parable. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.320 As Jesus says in verse 13, do you not understand this parable? 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.200 How will you understand all the parables? 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:09.039 Clearly, there were expectations that came with being an insider. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:16.320 And failing to understand this parable meant failing to understand all the mysteries of God's kingdom. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:23.600 This insider-outsider distinction continues to be a theme as we work through Mark's gospel. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:34.559 As Jesus responds to his disciples, turning from the parable to its meaning, he begins by saying something that is profound. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:55.840 To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything comes in parables, so that while seeing they may see and not perceive, and while hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:08.559 The word translated as mystery is equivalent to how we would understand the word secret, meaning something that is hidden, not that it can't be understood. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:19.840 We often think of God as being unknowable, considering that his ways are vastly higher than our ways, and that his thoughts are equally higher than our thoughts. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:31.759 And yet we know that God is knowable because he chose to reveal himself to us through creation, his word, and his son, Jesus Christ. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:40.960 The subject of this mystery is the kingdom of God, which Jesus communicates in the form of parables. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:51.279 Jesus quotes the prophets of the Old Testament to describe the spiritual condition of those who were coming to him for all the wrong reasons. 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:59.759 Though they saw his miracles, they didn't see him as the Son of God or understand the coming of his kingdom. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:09.759 Though they heard him teach with authority, they failed to truly understand his teachings and follow him as his disciples. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:20.320 And so they remain on the outside looking in, as Jesus uses parables to keep the kingdom of God hidden to them. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:41.200 As we see later on in verses 33 and 34, and with many such parables he was speaking the word to them as they were able to hear it, and he was not speaking to them without a parable, but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:55.039 One of the first mysteries Jesus reveals to his disciples is that they are the recipients of his revelation for all the mysteries of the kingdom of God. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:04.159 This revelation is intentionally and freely given to those who are inside and truly with him. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:16.320 But to those who remain on the outside, his parables are intentionally designed to keep the kingdom of God hidden to those whose hearts are hardened. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:26.240 God is the keeper of the great mysteries of the kingdom, and he's the one who gets to decide its recipients. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.120 This revealed mystery is like a divulged secret. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.240 It can be made known and understood. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:40.879 To the disciples, Jesus' teaching is intended to be revealed and made known. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:15:01.440 This is quite different from esoteric belief systems like Gnosticism or secret societies like Freemasonry, which teaches that in order to obtain hidden knowledge, one must seek them through the world of the occult, drawn from ancient mystery religions, like Kabbalah, Gnosticism. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:10.799 In this type of worldview, truth is for the few who earn it through advancement, not the many who humbly receive it. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.559 This stands in direct contrast to the biblical doctrine of mystery. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:25.759 In Scripture, a mystery is something once hidden, but now revealed by God's grace to his people. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:39.919 The gospel is not veiled in layers of elitism or esoteric rituals, it's proclaimed openly and received by those with humble, receptive hearts. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:56.639 Unlike Gnosticism or Freemasonry, which promotes secrecy and spiritual hierarchy, Jesus reveals the mysteries of the kingdom to the lowly, not the elite, and that makes all the difference. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:03.759 Jesus says to his disciples, To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:11.600 While it is declarative, it is also indicative of those who are already insiders. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:28.159 As one commentator notes, the parables, like Jesus' healing and preaching ministry in general, do not force people outside or pull people inside, they simply reveal the type of ground already present. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:36.480 As we see in verses 14 through 20, Jesus reveals the mystery of this parable to his disciples. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:46.720 As we read Jesus' explanation of the parable of the sower, we should read it through the lens that it was also intended for us. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.519 Let's read those verses again, verses 14 through 20. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:59.279 The sower sows the word, and these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:06.319 When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:22.880 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places, those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:30.960 Then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.039 And others are those being sown among the thorns. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:50.079 These are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:18:02.720 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil, they who hear the word and accept it, and are bearing fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:15.839 While this parable has a lot to say about salvation, it also has a great deal to say about sanctification in our daily walk with the Lord. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.400 Salvation has to do with whether or not we are saved. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:28.960 Sanctification has to do with God's will for us to become more like Christ as we grow in our faith. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:40.240 Let's consider the first kind of soil, the one where the seed is sown beside the hard road, never getting planted, and immediately snatched away by Satan. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:46.240 A hardened heart is a lot like this hardened road. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.759 No seed of the gospel can take root. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:56.000 It's an easy target for Satan because he has to do the least amount of work. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:11.839 Even for a Christian, a heart that begins to harden becomes an easy target for the enemy, to draw us away from the truth, and to deflect correction and resist repentance. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:21.599 Now let's consider the rocky soil, the one where the seed is unable to develop strong roots and withers away under the heat. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:29.680 At first, it looks promising, like a person who, upon hearing the word, seems to respond favorably. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:41.839 But when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, their faith fails and they fall away because they didn't have deep roots. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:59.680 This happens a lot with people who had an emotional experience with God, but never took the time to root themselves in his word, never joined a healthy church, and had faith that was shallow and weak. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:07.920 The moment that their faith was genuinely tested, it failed and they inevitably fell away. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:16.640 Not because Christ or the gospel is insufficient, but because their faith wasn't authentic and true. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:20.559 It was a knockoff representation of the real thing. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:36.000 And for the Christian, we are tempted to abandon our faith when it could cost us something significant a job, a relationship, or in some cases, our own lives. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:52.960 Maybe it doesn't cost us our salvation, but compromising on things that God causes us, calls us to stand firm, can seriously stunt our spiritual growth and put us at risk of slipping further into sin. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:01.680 Then there's the thorny soil, the one where the seed is choked out, unable to bear any good fruit. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:16.240 These are the people who hear the gospel, but the cares of this world and deceitfulness of what it has to offer get in the way from living a life that is completely devoted to Christ. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:28.559 People would rather live a carnal life expressing their fleshly desires than to sacrifice and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:43.039 Such people say things like, I would become a Christian, but or maybe I'll confess my sins and follow Jesus before I die, but I'm just not ready yet. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.640 The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:58.640 We are to turn to God and receive forgiveness and Jesus Christ turning away from our sins, we are to do it now. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:08.319 Later, now, while today is still today, and our fate is not yet sealed. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:20.559 Even for the Christian, anything that hinders us from being fully devoted to Christ is choking out our faith and hurting us. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:38.720 Whether it's love of money, seeking status, addiction, you name it, all these things are thorns that are stealing our time, effort, and energy away from pursuing things that are actually valuable to the kingdom of God. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:45.519 Our pet sins may very well be keeping us out of the kingdom of heaven. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.720 So let us be warned this morning. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:54.640 Finally, there is the good soil. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.039 We heard a lot about bad news, but thank God there's also good news. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:01.920 Amen? 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:10.079 Finally, there is the good soil, the one that yields fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:17.920 These are the people who hear the gospel and respond in genuine faith and repentance. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:26.000 Believers, in contrast to unbelievers, hear God's word because he allows them to hear it. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:37.039 They accept it, understand it, and obey it on a daily basis because God opens their mind and heart and transforms their lives. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:43.759 The result is that they produce spiritual fruit in exponential numbers. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:53.359 It would be like investing a dollar and getting back thirty dollars or sixty dollars or even a hundred dollars. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:01.599 That's the type of return on investment that Jesus is talking about when he says 30, 60, or 100fold. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:09.039 And that's the power of the gospel when paired with the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of people. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:14.799 God only needs a little to accomplish much. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:19.680 For the Christian, this is also the expectation. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:30.480 Now that we are saved, our lives should reflect a spiritual harvest as bountiful and generous as our God. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:37.920 If not, we need to ask ourselves why we're not producing this kind of spiritual fruit. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:44.799 And let me remind you what that spiritual fruit looks like in the life of a believer. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:25:00.640 Paul writes in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 23, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:03.920 Against such things there is no law. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:13.039 We were made as Christians to bear fruit by living lives that are characterized by these things. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:20.160 The seed is the word, the gospel, unchanging and powerful. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:25.839 The variable is the soil, which is the human heart. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:40.160 The fruitful heart hears, accepts, and bears good fruit, holiness, perseverance, and obedient service in the kingdom of God. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:50.240 Jesus continues to express the mysteries of the kingdom of God through two more short parables. 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:54.559 Let's take a look at verses twenty-six through thirty-two. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:11.039 And he was saying, The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil, and he sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:12.000 How? 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:14.160 He himself does not know. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:23.839 The soil produces crops by itself, first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:30.640 But when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.920 And he was saying, How shall we compare the kingdom of God? 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:39.440 Or by what parable shall we present it? 00:26:40.079 --> 00:27:04.319 It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the soil, though it is smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes largest of all the garden plants, and forms large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:28.559 While there is certainly human responsibility for whether or not a seed takes root and grows, Jesus reveals in these parables that God operates in ways that go beyond our understanding, giving growth in ways that do not depend on human hands. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:40.400 This balances our understanding of human responsibility in salvation and sanctification under the complete sovereignty of God. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:51.200 We learn that like a seed that grows while the sower sleeps, the kingdom continues to grow beyond our comprehension. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:59.200 Outside of the initial sowing and the final harvesting, the sower does nothing but wait. 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:07.200 The disciple is responsible to sow, God is responsible to produce. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:16.799 As with the mustard seed, even the smallest acts have great significance for all eternity. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:27.119 God transforms the humblest offering from the disciple into something of eternal value in the kingdom of God. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.640 If you don't believe me, think back to how you became a Christian. 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:40.000 Think about the person or people who were most instrumental in your life during this time. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:53.200 Every conversation, every event that occurred, every detail in the process was meticulously and sovereignly ordained by God to bring about your faith. 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:59.119 And the same is true for those who are part of your testimony. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:13.119 If all it took was one man and a boat full of disciples to change the world forever, imagine what God will continue to do as his gospel continues to go out and his church grows. 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:23.279 We can take heart, knowing that God's sovereign design and purpose is for his people to be abundantly fruitful. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:28.960 Don't measure your impact by size or visibility. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:40.960 Trust that God is using your obedience to advance his kingdom, even through quiet faithfulness in small congregations like this one. 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:50.400 Finally, let's take a look at the warning Jesus gives about those who reject his word and bear no fruit. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:53.119 Verses twenty-four and twenty-five. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:57.759 And he was saying to them, Beware what you listen to. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:03.359 By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:13.599 For whoever has to him more shall be given, and whoever does not have, even what he has, shall be taken away from him. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:29.920 For those who were unreceptive to God's revealed and open word, the visible lamp, Jesus spoke about back in verse 21, there were real consequences for their rejection. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:39.519 Where those who receive truth will receive more, those who reject truth will lose even what they had. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:45.440 In a very real sense, a person reaps what they sow. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:58.079 Fruitfulness and fruitlessness are reflective of whether or not a person receives or rejects the truth of Jesus Christ. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:05.279 Some people don't look at fruitlessness with the same severity that the Bible treats it. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:14.640 If a person isn't bearing fruit, it's a sign of spiritual decline, decay, and divine judgment. 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:22.640 Apathy, distraction, and compromise lead to spiritual hardening. 00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:31.920 Therefore, we must repent of dull hearing and pursue fruitfulness with urgency. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:39.599 Take a moment to examine your receptivity this morning. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:45.680 Are you bearing fruit in word, character, and witness? 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:51.279 Is your heart soft toward correction and truth? 00:31:53.039 --> 00:32:11.599 Does your life reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:19.119 If not, or if you're unsure, I urge you to talk about it with somebody today. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:29.519 Talk to me, talk to the person you came to church with today, whoever it is, just make sure to address it while today is still today. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:41.440 We began today by talking about mystery, that human hunger to possess secret knowledge, to be on the inside. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:47.920 And maybe that longing isn't entirely wrong, but it can be misplaced. 00:32:48.799 --> 00:33:07.680 Jesus offers us a better mystery, not the kind that flatters the ego or feeds conspiracy, but a revealed mystery, a holy secret made known to those who are simply willing to listen, receive, and obey. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:21.680 Jesus says to anyone who truly follows him, to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, not because you're clever, but because he is gracious. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:28.559 But remember this: to receive the word is to be changed by it. 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:32.960 To truly hear Jesus is to bear fruit. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:40.319 This is the calling of every disciple, not just to believe, but to produce. 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:55.599 And though we labor and sow, striving to obey, the true growth, the lasting, kingdom-advancing, mustard seed miracle kind of growth is God's doing. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.759 You are not alone in your discipleship. 00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:07.440 The same God who calls you to fruitfulness is the God who causes the seed to grow even when you sleep. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:21.519 May we as a congregation be known not for big numbers or flashy events, but for soft hearts, deep roots, and lasting fruit. 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:30.960 Let us be the good soil in whom the mystery of the kingdom is not only heard, but made visible. 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:32.480 Let's pray. 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:41.280 Gracious Father in Heaven, your will for us is our sanctification. 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:52.159 It's hard to take inventory of our hearts and be reminded of sin that is still present. 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:57.360 Maybe there are sins that we've been battling for years. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:17.119 But God, you have the power to not only deliver us from these sins, but to use your people, though flawed, to carry out your mission through the power of your gospel. 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:29.039 We pray, as your people, that we would pursue Christ-likeness daily. 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:33.119 We can't do this on our own. 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:36.239 We need your Holy Spirit's help. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:51.599 And so would you help us give us the courage to even confess sin in our life to somebody who will come alongside us and pray for us daily? 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:58.480 And the goal is not to try and be this perfect person. 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:01.599 We're not perfect. 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:03.599 We need your forgiveness. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:08.239 And Jesus, you died so that our sins would be forgiven. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:10.320 You died once and for all. 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:29.920 And so we can come at the foot of your cross, knowing that though we are sinners, you are a God of grace who forgives us and who makes us into something new, something beautiful. 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:39.039 God, we give you praise, we give you all the glory, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:40.000 Amen.