Sept. 5, 2024

The Soils and Bible Study

The Soils and Bible Study

Does the parable of the soils give us the secret to effective Bible?

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Does the parable of the soils give us the secret to effective Bible?

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective.

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This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central.

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Good morning, Good morning, Good morning to everyone. It is Thursday,

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September the fifth, twenty twenty four. It is currently ten

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forty three am Central time, and I am coming to

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you live from the Theology Central studio located right here

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in Abilene, Texas. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem.

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We have a problem. My intention was not to find

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myself in this problem, but we have a problem. And

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I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know

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if we're going to come up with a very good answer.

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In fact, I don't even know what's getting ready to

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happen in this episode because we have one of the

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situations where we're going to be reviewing something that, as

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always I haven't listened to, which makes it more fun,

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but it can also lead to lots of frustration. So

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I don't know where things are going to go. But

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I will remind you of the problem. Oh, it was

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such a simple idea. I have a study Bible here

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and whenever I have a book anywhere in the studio,

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at my church, in my home, it doesn't matter where

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If I look at the book and go, I haven't

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really done a lot with it, right, I need to

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do something with it. I either need to take some

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extensive notes on the book. I need to read it again.

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I need to turn it into a something I can teach,

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maybe a Sunday School lesson, a sermon, or I use

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it for a podcast because I want to get the

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most out of every single book I've ever purchased. I

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want to make sure I've used it as many times

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as possible to get everything I can from it. Well,

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I have this KJV Study Bible that was at the church.

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I kind of used it in the library because I

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use study Bibles more as a reference tool that I

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will when I'm studying something. After I've studied something, that

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I'll grab the study Bible to see if there's any

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notes or any information to see how they approach it,

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to challenge or test my my conclusion or my hypotheses

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or my interpretation of the text. So I understand that's

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why I typically use it for. But for some reason,

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it made it its its way from the church to

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the studio and I look down one day, I'm like,

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why is that here? I opened it up and I'm like, well,

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let's do something with it. So I started flipping through

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the pages and I came to an essay to an

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article before you actually get to Genesis entitled how to

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Read and Study the Bible, and I'm like, well, there's

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a podcast mini series right there, how to Read and

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Study the Bible, because I absolutely love teaching people how

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to actually study the Bible by teaching specific Bible study

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methods twelve of them to be exact, all right, and

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I've been teaching them forever, all the way. It doesn't

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matter where I found myself, it doesn't matter the state

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the country. If I could find anyone who listen, I'll

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teach them the Bible study methods because I think they're

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absolutely essential, because you need actual steps how to study

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the Bible other than these just a vague, kind of

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vague well read it and highlight it and do a

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cross reference. It doesn't even talk about how cross references

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should work versus how they shouldn't work. Sometimes it's just

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so vague it drives me crazy. You need specific methods.

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So I was like, Okay, this will be fun. I'll

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go through it. I'll be able to give their perspective.

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I'll offer my analysis, my critique. It should be fun. Well,

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it started off somewhat interesting. They kind of gave their introduction.

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They talked about why we should spend time in the

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Bible because it is God's word. Okay, and then the

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next section instead of beginning in a sense with the mind, right,

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here are the things you need to know. Here are

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the concepts you need to know. Here are the basic

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rules of reading interpretation. Here's the basic rules of context syntext.

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Here's the basic rules of you know, like laying down

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those foundational ideas that you can oh those ideas and

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use those ideas. The author of this article decided not

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to start with the mind, but decided to start with

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the heart. Now that sounds that sounds very spiritual. Right.

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If you're going to be an effective Bible student, if

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the Bible is going to actually produce fruit in your life,

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and if the Bible's actually going to be effectual in

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your life, the issue is not what you know. The

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issue is the condition of your heart. Now you can

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preach that everyone in the pew will be saying amen,

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and you may get applause, and everybody may say it's

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a great sermon, and they'll post a comment under your

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sermon that it's amazing, Yes, the heart, I was convicted

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about the condition of my heart, and everybody will think

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it's great. But for me, as usual, I'm the one

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sitting in the back of the classroom raising the hand, going,

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Am I the only one who thinks this makes absolutely

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no sense? Am I the only one who thinks that

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this is just circular reasoning? Logical fallacy? Like? Do we

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have a problem? I think we have a problem. I

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know I'm the only one who ever lifts up my

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hand to point out the problems, and I don't. I

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never intended that to kind of be the lane I

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found myself, but I guess I've always been there. It

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doesn't matter what the subject is. I'm always the one going.

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But wait a minute. I know it's like everyone seems

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to be in agreement, but isn't there a problem here?

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So let me explain. The article basically asserts at the beginning,

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and I will read I will read some of the

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paragraphs here. The article basically asserts this principle if you

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if studying the Bible is going to be effectual at

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all in your life. If it's going to be effective,

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then it's got to start with the condition of your heart.

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So you have to ensure that your heart is in

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the right condition before you ever study the Bible, because

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if it's not, then well, basically the word of God

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will not penetrate, it will not really produce fruit. It

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will just it'll just lay there on the top of

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your heart and be taken away by Satan. Or it

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may spring up a little bit of fruit, but it

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will immediately go away. It won't be effective, effectual unless

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your heart is right. Well, here's where I begin to

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have a problem. So if I want the Bible to

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be able to do work in my life, I have

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to make my heart right. But typically Christians are the

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ones who say, it's the Bible that makes your heart right.

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It's the study of the Bible, the reading of the Bible,

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it's the memorization of scripture that changes your heart. Your

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heart is changed through the study of God's word. But

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this is telling me my heart has to be right

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before I study God's word. So something makes absolutely no

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sense to me. I have major issues with this kind

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of circular rea, like I don't get it. So this

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is how the article began. I'm just gonna I'm going

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to just try to go through this quickly so that

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we are all on the same page. It says, begin

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with the heart. Now again, it does not begin with

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the mind. It begins with the heart. And it says

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this and the parable of the seeds and soils. Jesus

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used a word picture to describe the different levels of

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receptivity people have towards God's word. He tells it of

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a farmer who basically, you know, they use the word

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broadcasting seed, you know, spreading seed along the edge of

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a field. Some seeds fall on the hard packed path

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beside the field, Some fall on rocky ground that has

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little top soil, Some fall into the weeds, and some

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fall into fertile soil that offers a good environment for growth.

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The various places they fall provide an image of the

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human heart as it is confronted with God's word. Some

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people have hearts that are hard packed, like a frequented footpath.

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God's word does not get through to these hearts. Others

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have shallow hearts that seem open to God's word. The

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word comes and they respond, But the moment things get tough,

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the pressure of life override the principles of God's word,

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and the spiritual life withers. A third type of person

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engages God's word at a deeper level, but worries and

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desires of worldly things squeeze out the word, choking it

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from the person's life. Finally, there are those who receive

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the Word with a heart like a well tilled filled

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This is the picture of a person fully receptive to

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God's word, and God's word brings exponential growth to their

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spiritual life. So hey, so the Matthew or Mark chapter

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four three through twenty is what they reference. This is

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the parable of the soil. So the seed and the

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soil right. And the idea is, Hey, if we're I'm

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getting ready to teach you how to read and study

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the Bible, but it doesn't matter unless your heart is right.

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And if your heart isn't right, then all the Bible

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study methods in the world, all the reading in the world,

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all of the study in the world is not going

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to be effective. So get your heart right before you read. Well,

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then how do I get my heart right? Because I'm

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going to obviously be doing it without God's word, because

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God's word is not effective until I'll get my heart right.

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This to me becomes really, how does this work. So

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I did a little bit of work. I did a

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little bit of talking to AI about the problem. And

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here's some things that I came up with. Right, here's

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just some basic things, and I'll tell you what we're

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going to do here. The parable of the sower, or

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the parable of the seed and soils, is found in

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three of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew thirteen one through twenty three,

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Mark four one through twenty and Luke eight four through fifteen.

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The common interpretation of the soils as different conditions of

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the heart is based on jesus explanation of the parable,

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where he describes how the seed the Word of God

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falls on different types of ground, each representing each representing

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different response to the Gospel message. All right, so that's

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kind of a common interpretation. All right, that's a common interpretation.

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So then I was like, well, wait a minute, seems

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to be some circular reasoning happening in Christianity when it

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comes to the soils parable. Many approach it and say,

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the condition of the soil, which represents the condition of

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the heart, determines that the Word of God will be

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effectual in our lives. So we must say, sure, a

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heart is in the right condition as the first step

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for being a good Bible student. However, it is also

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taught that the word of God is the very thing

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that changes the heart. If I have to have my

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heart right before the word of God can be effective.

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But it's the word of God that changes the heart.

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This seems contradictory and almost a circular type of reasoning.

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So this is how AI responded. You've identified a common

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tension in Christian thought regarding the parable of the soils

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and the role of the heart in receiving God's word.

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The issue can indeed seem like circular reasoning. Primis number one,

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the condition of the heart, represented by the soil, determines

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whether the word of God is effective. Primis number two,

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the Word of God is what changes transforms the heart.

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If both of these premises are true, it raises the question,

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how can one have a receptive heart good soil to

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receive the word if it is the Word itself that

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that is needed to transform and prepare the heart. The

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apparent contradiction can be addressed from several philological perspectives. Okay,

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so the AI is going to offer me some possible

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solutions to our riddle. Some possible solutions to our problem. Now,

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I think Christianity spends its constant I think Christianity spends

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most of its time speaking and logical fallacies, circular reasoning,

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contradictory statements. Let me just give you the classic example.

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You'll hear this inserments. When you became a Christian, you

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become a new creature and Christ all things are passed away.

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Everything has become new. That is what you are, that

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is who you are practically, and everyone in the church

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will say, Amen, Praise God. I'm a new creature, the

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oldest gone, everything is new. And then literally, like almost

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in the same breath, the pastor will say, but we

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still have to fight against sin. We still gotta battle

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the flesh and the sin that's in us. We still struggle,

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we still are tempted, we still sin, We're still not perfect.

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And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, if I'm a

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new creature, the oldest gone in everything is new, then

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there's no sin in me. Because if sin is still

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in me, then the old is still present. Don't you

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hear the contradiction? And everyone in the congregation will just

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be like, Amen, Praise God, Praise Jesus. And I'm like,

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do you not hear yourselves? Now? For that one, there's

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an easy solution. In Christ, I'm a new creature. That means, positionally,

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I'm a new creature, the oldest gone. Everything is new

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because in Christ and perfect and holy, because of imputed

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righteousness and credited to my account. Practically, I'm not new anything.

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I'm the same old sinner that I was of the

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I've changed my mind, but my nature is still just

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as to pray. And I know many Christians try to

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argue against that, but it does really kind of explain

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the reality of two thousand years of Christian history and sin, sin, sin, sin,

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and if you're even honest, it explains your life. But

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Christians don't hear themselves. You'll hear this and reform circles.

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Everything that happens happens because of God's eternal decree, and

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he works it out and his divine providence. God's God's

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decrees are eternal, They're unchangeable. But we're gonna be praying

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for God to change this. Wait a minute, if if

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why am I praying for God to change anything when

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everything that happens it's God's eternal decree. What doit Wait,

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we're gonna pray about this. But God, God's the one

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who allowed it to happen, to create it to happen,

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and then worked for it to happen. Now I'm going

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to pray that God changes what And so we talked

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about how many times our prayer understanding contradicts are very theology.

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And even if you don't believe in God's eternal decree,

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you're praying to the very God who allowed it to

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happen and did nothing to stop it from happening. So

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obviously God wanted it to happen. Right, Okay, Well we

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can get in all those discussions. There's all these like

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circular contradictory things that Christians do, and I think this, Hey,

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I'm going to teach you how to study the Bible.

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Now listen, studying the Bible is not going to be

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of any value to you until you get your heart right. Well,

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then how do I get my heart right? I'm going

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to be I've got to get my heart right apart

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from God's word. And if my heart's already right, I

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guess I could learn. I could study God's word to

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know something, but I don't really need it to do

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anything in me. Because my heart's already right, and if

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your heart's already right, wouldn't the result be perfection? Or

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is the heart only have to be kind of right?

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I don't know.

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So the AI tries to provide some solutions. None of

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the solutions really to me make much sense. The first

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one is divine sovereignty and human responsibility. One way this

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tension is often approached is through the lens of divine

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sovereignty and human responsibility, and this view ultimately God. It

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is ultimately God who prepares and changes the heart, enabling

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it to be receptive to his word. While humans are

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called to respond and repent and believe, it is God

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who initiates and enables their response through grace. Thus, the

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Word of God itself, though through preaching or our personal study,

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can begin to work in any type of soil, gradually

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preparing the heart. The good soil is not the result

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of human effort, but of divine work. All right, So

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this one seems to say, Okay, the way this works

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is it is God who changes the heart. God changes

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the heart through the study of the Word, So you

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don't have to change your heart in order to study

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the Word. You study the Word and then it begins

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to change the condition of the soil. All right, that

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kind of makes sense. Hey, hey, you no, no, no,

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you don't get your heart right before you study. You study,

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and through the preaching and teaching and study of God's word,

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slowly but surely, your heart becomes changed, little by little

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by little, never going to get to perfection. But it's

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through the preaching of the Word that will, it will

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bring conviction, it will it will do this. And so

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all right, I guess that makes at I guess that

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one makes a little sense. So that by this concept,

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this entire idea that is being presented in this article,

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in this study Bible, and in the book that is

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entitled Reading the Bible Better, they would call that this

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is wrong. You don't have to fix your heart before

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you study. You study, and that's how God starts working

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on your heart. The second off, so the first one

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they refer to it as divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

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I don't like the way they kind of summarize that.

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I think what they're saying is study and that's what

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through that God sovereignly and begins to work and initiate

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change and the heart. It's through the process of study.

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The more you read, the more you study, the more

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you memorize, the more it begins to do some work

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on your heart. Obviously, you're never going to get to perfection,

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but that's where you're You're going to be confronted with truth.

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You're going to be confronted with your own sin. You're

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going to be confronted with the reality of God. You're

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going to be confronted with wrong and right. So I

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can I can see that a little bit better. The

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second one is the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit.

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Another perspective emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit and regeneration.

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According to this view, the Holy Spirit works in tandem

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with the Word of God to transform a person's heart,

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making it good soil. The Spirit may use the Word

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to bring about conviction, repentance, and faith, ultimately resulting and

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a heart that is open and receptive. And this view,

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the transform transformation is a synergistic work involving both the

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Spirit and the world. The human heart is not expected

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to naturally be receptive, but it becomes so that the

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Spirit's regenerative power. So this idea is when we become

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saved and regeneration now it begins to make the heart

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more receptive. But even that seems to be like, it's

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just not overnight. Now again, some people will take the

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parable and just say the only person is saved is

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the last one. Everyone else is lost. But we know

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that even so, how receptive do you have to be

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to God's word? Because I know people who would say, well,

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I'm very receptive to God's words, but the words seem

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to just be bouncing off them because I don't get it,

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they don't understand it. They don't seem to be very

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good effectual Bible students. But I wouldn't claim they're not saved,

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So I think that's a whole nother issue. But all right,

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it's the spirit and the word that changes the soil,

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So then that would mean you don't have to change

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the soil before you start studying. You study in order

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to change the soil. Right next, some traditions emphasize the

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ongoing process of sanctification. They argue that Christians should actively

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seek to cultivate their hearts through spiritual discipline such as prayer, study,

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and obedience, which can make them more receptive to God's words.

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This is not necessarily a contradiction, but rather a recognition

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that spiritual growth is an on going process where one's

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receptivity to the word can fluctuate and require ongoing effort.

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All right, So then again this would say, hey, you

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don't need to fix your heart before you study. You

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need to study in order to fix your art. Okay, well,

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that to me makes far more sense. Now, the next

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thing they offer is the parable more as a diagnostic tool,

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rather than prescribing how to change one's heart. The parable

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of the soil may function primarily as a diagnostic tool.

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Now I think that. See, I think a lot of

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people of taking these parables, and this is always the problem. Remember,

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a parable just has basically one idea, just one idea,

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and we take it and we start trying to well,

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this represents this, and this represents this, and this means

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this and this, and I think in many cases we

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destroy the parable. The AI argues, maybe maybe we should

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just see the parable as a diagnostic tool. It's not

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telling you to change your heart. It's not even telling

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you how to change your heart. It's not doing anything

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along with that. What it's doing is it simply shows

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that different responses to the Gospel are possible. It highlights

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the reality that some hearts are hardened, some are distracted,

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others are ready to receive. This might prompt listeners to

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examine their own hearts, recognize their current state, and seek

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God's help in becoming a more receptive It may also

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be intended to comfort, to comfort those who sow the

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Word by acknowledging that not all soil will bear fruit

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and that outcomes are not entirely within human control. Maybe

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it just says, hey, when you go preach, you're gonna

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get different results. D D like, just be prepared for that.

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Maybe that's all the Parables trying to do. They say.

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The next thing they say is the mystery, the mysterious

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work of God. Finally, some Christians accept that there is

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a mystery involved in how God's Word and human hearts interact.

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They recognize the tension and choose to trust in the

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mystery of God's working without trying to resolve every logical problem. Okay,

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well that's probably good. I'm not very good at doing that, Okay.

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Faith for them involves accepting that human elements of divine

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interaction with humanity may remain beyond human contrehension comprehension, and

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then Ai says this, the tension you've noted is real. Okay,

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so they at least acknowledge that I'm not looking at

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something that's made up, and different theological traditions attempt to

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reconcile it in various ways. Well, it may seem circular.

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It reflects the complex relationship between divine grace, human will,

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and the transformative power of God's word. The key takeaway

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may be that while human beings are called to be receptive,

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it is ultimately God who enables and cultivates that receptivity

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through his word and spirit. Now again, now that drives

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me crazy, that last statement. Hey, ultimately it's God who

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enables and cultivates receptivity. Well then wait a minute. If

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there's someone whose heart's not in the right condition, well

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then it's God's fault. Okay, Well nope, Now how do

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you what do you do with that? So then I

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asked Ai the question, Well, if God is the one

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who changes the heart, then every Christian you would think

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would have a perfect heart. He I responded, This is

403
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a thoughtful question, and it gets to the heart of

404
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some important theological discussions about God's role in changing the

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human heart and the nature of Christian transformation. If God

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is the one who changes the heart, it might seem

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logical to conclude that every Christian should have a perfect heart,

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free from sin, doubt, or hardness. However, several theological perspectives

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can help to try to explain this, and then they

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kind of go through the base position versus practice, the

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role of human agency and cooperation, the presence of sin

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in a believer's life. So in other words, it's going

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to be there even if God is the one doing

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the work. Clearly it's going to be there, and that

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ultimately the fulfillment of basically having a perfect heart and

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no more sin doesn't happen n till glorification, which I

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know it's true. I think the issue is we. On

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one hand, Christians want to talk like, no, we have

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the power of God. Dun dun, dun duh. We're basically superheroes.

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We can do it. We can say noicein and yes

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to God, and then five seconds letter say, well, we

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can't be perfect. Well, if I can't be perfect, that

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means there's something stronger than God, because God, you think,

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would want me to be perfect. But if I can't

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get to perfection, then there's something holding it back, and

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whatever's holding it back obviously is dominant and has control.

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But again, this just leads you into circles. So I

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in rejecting this idea. Then when it comes to the Bible,

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you start with the heart. I just I just think

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that there. I just don't think that's where. I think

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you have to start with learning the basic principles, reading comprehension, context,

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and then you dive in and then let God's word

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do its work. I don't think you say you have

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to start with the heart. No, you start with the

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mind and learn the principles, and then you just dig in.

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I don't care what the condition of your heart is.

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Study the Bible and it will show you the condition

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of your heart. It will convict you about the condition

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of the heart. That's my perspective. So I wanted to

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talk a little bit more about that. I wanted to

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go ahead and at least challenge the concept because I

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kind of set it up yesterday. But then you know

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what I want to do. Right. In fact, I think

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I challenged you to do this shift. I told you

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to go ahead and grab the sermon's two point oh

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app and let's start looking up sermons about Mark chapter

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four verses three through twenty, and I found one entitled

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the parable of the Sower. In fact, I think this

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is the very first one I found. I don't know

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if it's good. I don't know if it's bad. I

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don't know how they're going to approach the parable. But

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let's just see, this is a random message pulled from

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the sermons two point zero app let's just start listening

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to how churches typically handle this parable, what they do

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with it, and then we can see whether we agree

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or disagree, and how does it fit in too. Should

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this be a first principle of Bible study or how

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should we understand this? So we're going to listen. I

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don't even I don't have the name of the church.

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I just literally just did a search for Mark four

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three through twenty. First one showed up. I clicked on

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00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.079
it and downloaded it, and here we are. So I

463
00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.920
don't have any information. That's okay. You can look for

464
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.559
your own and see what you find. But let's just

465
00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:54.519
jump in and see. All right, this is not a

466
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:58.160
long sermon. It's only about thirty minutes, so we probably

467
00:25:58.200 --> 00:25:59.599
we may not review the whole thing. What we're going

468
00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.200
to be doing is just reviewing to try to get

469
00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:04.559
their basic thesis, their basic approach to the text. That's

470
00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:06.400
what we want to hear. And of course I'll be

471
00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:09.279
offering my analysis and my critique and we'll see where

472
00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.200
this goes. Here we go, Good morning, Church.

473
00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:19.880
I'm really excited to be here this morning. Really just

474
00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:23.880
love growing closer to this church and getting the opportunity

475
00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:27.400
to come every Sunday and worship together. I love worshiping

476
00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:30.720
just through all the ways that we do that. We

477
00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:34.640
worship through song, which is a beautiful have some beautiful voices,

478
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.599
and worship through our fellowship, and I've just been really

479
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.240
blessed by this church. I just want to thank you

480
00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:44.920
guys for being a congregation that worships the Lord regularly

481
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:48.039
and does that well. I think this morning we'll be

482
00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:50.559
in March chapter four. We're gonna be looking at the

483
00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:54.599
parable of the Sewer, as is commonly called. Before we

484
00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:59.960
do that, though, we're going to go ahead to end pray. Jesus,

485
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.599
we come before you this morning just thankful for who

486
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:08.279
you are. We're thankful that you are a God who

487
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:14.440
is so big and so powerful, created everything, and yet

488
00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:18.319
are so personal and loving. It's a paradox. It's hard

489
00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:20.640
for us to comprehend, but we're thankful for it anyway.

490
00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:24.319
And Jesus, we are thankful for your word as well.

491
00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:30.759
Pray that you just are just present with us this

492
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:35.720
morning as we go through this word. And Jesus, we

493
00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.200
asked that you help me to speak your truth only

494
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:43.519
this morning. And Lord, for anyone who's listening, we pray

495
00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:50.119
that you help them to hear your truth only. We

496
00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:51.839
pray this in your name. Amen.

497
00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:57.519
A lot of times I criticize opening prayers that one

498
00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:59.640
sounds like he's actually talking to God and not just

499
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.960
preach his sermons. So I really appreciate that. But did

500
00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:10.839
you hear it? Did you hear it? God, help me

501
00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:18.119
only speak your truth. Help me only speak your truth. Now,

502
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.960
similar prayers are prayed in almost every church. Lord, hide

503
00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:25.880
me behind the cross, and let me only speak that

504
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:29.960
which is you know true, speak Lord. And it's always

505
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.640
this is this is prayed over and over in church

506
00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:36.599
after church, some variation of it. Now, here's the problem.

507
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.640
That's prayed in a Pentecostal church, that denies the Trinity,

508
00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:46.720
that's prayed in Lutheran churches, that's prayed in Greek Orthodox churches.

509
00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:51.519
That's prayed in charismatic, whacked out charismatic churches. It's prayed

510
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:54.920
in Church of Christ. It's prayed in from everything from

511
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:59.559
free will Baptist to reform Baptist to Presbyterian, and listen,

512
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.720
none of them agree on anything. So we're if God's

513
00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:06.440
helping us only speak his truth, then you're saying his

514
00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.240
truth is just inevitably contradictory. There can only be one

515
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:14.880
truth about baptism, there can only be one truth about

516
00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:21.079
you name it salvation, you can go on in on eschatology, ecclesiology,

517
00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:26.559
you name it. I want to believe that God will

518
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:30.640
only let me speak one truth, but clearly God does

519
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:37.799
not do that in any way, shape or form. Wouldn't

520
00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:40.440
it be great, hey, God, let us all find truth

521
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:44.960
and then it would all be. There'd be You think

522
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.000
there would just be one church then, or maybe not

523
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:50.519
one church, but I mean one ultimate church with just well,

524
00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:54.519
then various local congregations of that one true church. But

525
00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:58.559
that's not the way it works. You just drive around

526
00:29:58.599 --> 00:30:03.559
your town around and note the churches. Lutherans, they believe

527
00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:05.640
you take a baby, put water on it, you know,

528
00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:08.920
becomes a magic Christian Sins washed away. You got others

529
00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:11.960
who may baptized, not to necessarily for regeneration, but to

530
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:14.039
put the mark of the Covenant. Okay, you've got some

531
00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:17.000
who believe, but how baptize a baby. You got others

532
00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:19.440
won't baptize the baby, believe it's not biblical. You've got

533
00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:23.480
others beliefs believe that baptism is essential for salvation. You

534
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.480
got others who believe baptism is not essential for salvation.

535
00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:29.200
But you only baptize professing believe. We can go on

536
00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:31.759
and all just all the differences Lord's Supper. You got

537
00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.960
those who believe in closed communion, close communion. You've got

538
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:37.680
an open communion. You got to believe those who You've

539
00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:42.079
got the Lutheran belief of Christ being present, his body

540
00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:47.039
and blood present under the bread and wine. I know

541
00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.440
I'm not being articulate in how I describe their view.

542
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:53.319
You got others like it's just simply a it's a symbol,

543
00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.559
it's a memorial, it's an ordinance. Others will call it

544
00:30:56.599 --> 00:30:59.079
a sacrament, a means of grace. And I can just

545
00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:05.079
go on, and the difference is a forever. God is

546
00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:06.799
obviously not saying no, no, no, no no, no no no no

547
00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:08.880
no no no no no. You can only speak this.

548
00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:16.200
You can only speak this. Obviously, truth and error can

549
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.519
be spoken in every sermon at any time.

550
00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:26.680
All right, mark chapter four. We're going to start in

551
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:30.599
verse three before we do that, though, this is a parable,

552
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:31.880
So I'm going to give just a little bit of

553
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:34.240
teaching on what a parable is. The way we're all

554
00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.160
on the same page. Most of us are familiar with

555
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:40.480
parables at some level. There's stories that Jesus told. It's

556
00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:43.400
one of his most common ways that he taught crowds

557
00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:45.559
was through parables. And a lot of times we think

558
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:48.799
that the reason that he did this. You've may heard

559
00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:51.119
people say this before, the reason is because they're so simple.

560
00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:54.200
The stories are that it makes the teaching really understandable.

561
00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.559
And we'll see in today's teaching that that's actually not

562
00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:58.640
what Jesus says the reason he used parables for he

563
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.160
says almost the opposite.

564
00:32:02.119 --> 00:32:08.319
That's I agree with that. People always say, well, Jesus

565
00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:11.680
told these parables so that we could understand. No, that

566
00:32:11.799 --> 00:32:14.039
doesn't appear to be the case. And look at all

567
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:17.400
the difficulties in interpreting parables. I mean, we're already seeing

568
00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:20.119
it right here. See this parable teaches you that you

569
00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:21.880
have to get your heart right before you can study

570
00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:24.839
the Bible, or the Bible won't be effectual. Where did

571
00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:27.160
that come from? The parable? Others will be like, that's

572
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:32.519
not what the parable is saying. So obviously, parables don't

573
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:34.400
make it easy since nobody knows how to interpret the

574
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:35.519
parables in the first place.

575
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.119
Parables are actually meant to be used in a way

576
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:44.039
to make things a little bit unclear for most people. Actually,

577
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:45.960
and so we're going to look at that this morning.

578
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:49.200
But a parable, what it is is a short story

579
00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:54.799
with a single, specific spiritual meaning. These are similar to

580
00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:57.519
maybe Aesop's fables. You guys are familiar with these. There's

581
00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:00.920
a famous one that has a specific meaning. It's a

582
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:03.559
short story with the specific meaning the tortoise and the hair.

583
00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:05.559
And if I at the end, there's kind of this

584
00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:11.039
little phrase. It says that slow and steady wins the race. Yeah,

585
00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:14.440
everyone knows this that that Aesop's fabled towurtis in the hair.

586
00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:19.920
I agree with this. It has a single meaning, a

587
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.880
single and so so many Again, what I get bothered

588
00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:25.319
about parables is pastors like, well, this represents this and

589
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:28.240
this represents this, and this represents this, and this represents this,

590
00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.440
and then there's this and this and this and you know,

591
00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:33.480
who whoa, whoa whoa? What is this single meaning of

592
00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:39.759
the parable? Because sometimes we find a single meaning we

593
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:42.640
we we stay out of some of these like circular

594
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.240
contradictory issues.

595
00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:48.680
It has one single meaning. And if someone tried to

596
00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:51.960
convince you that the meaning of that fable the tortoise

597
00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:54.599
in the hair, that story was that you shouldn't sleep

598
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:57.839
in a foot race, you would say, that's not the meaning.

599
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:00.640
That's true and from the story you could draw that

600
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:04.799
truth out, but that's not the meaning of that fable. Right,

601
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.200
does everyone understand that we all know what the meaning is.

602
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:09.679
Slow and steady wins the race. It's not that we

603
00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:11.920
shouldn't sleep on a foot race, or that you shouldn't

604
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:14.559
be cocky or that. Right, there are other things you

605
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:17.320
could draw out of that story, but that's not the

606
00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:20.679
meaning of it. Jesus tells us a story this morning,

607
00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:24.119
the parable of the sewer, and it has a specific,

608
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:26.840
one specific meaning. There are other truths that we can

609
00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:29.760
pull from this, but that's not what Jesus is trying

610
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:32.199
to teach us. Okay, and so it's important as we

611
00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:35.079
read this text that we understand there's one specific meaning

612
00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:36.480
that Jesus is trying to teach us, and that's what

613
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:38.719
we're going to focus on this morning. Although there are

614
00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:41.079
other truths we could potentially draw from the story, that's

615
00:34:41.079 --> 00:34:43.199
not what Jesus is trying to teach us through the story.

616
00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:44.920
Does that make sense? So I just want to make

617
00:34:44.920 --> 00:34:46.480
sure we're clear on parables. That's why we're going to

618
00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:48.320
draw one meaning out of this. And there are other

619
00:34:48.360 --> 00:34:50.039
things that could come out, but that's not what we're

620
00:34:50.039 --> 00:34:50.920
focusing on this morning.

621
00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:59.599
Okay, Wow, I love this. I love this approach because

622
00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:05.800
this immediately gets us to the to the heart of this, right,

623
00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:12.880
this really gets us to a correct approach to parables.

624
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:17.840
The correct approach to parables is, Hey, there's one meaning.

625
00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:20.880
So I am gonna I cannot wait to hear what

626
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:24.599
he finds as the one meaning. I cannot wait. All right, now,

627
00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:29.000
I gotta do something really quick here. My software where

628
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:33.599
I record just crashed, so I'm gonna have to force

629
00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:37.239
the I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to make

630
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:40.800
this close. Okay, all right, now, I'm gonna have to

631
00:35:40.840 --> 00:35:42.559
reopen it, and we're gonna have to find out where

632
00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:45.440
we just stopped. So my recording is now gone, but

633
00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:48.599
we'll continue on. Hopefully I can grab the recording from

634
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.880
sermon audio hopefully here, and uh, we can see what

635
00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:53.559
we can do.

636
00:35:54.519 --> 00:35:54.880
All right.

637
00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:57.159
I don't want the draft. I want this. Okay, here

638
00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:00.400
we go, all right, So I'm going and hang on.

639
00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:04.280
I got to reload the sermon. Everything crashed here, everything crushed,

640
00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:07.239
all right. I think we have the sermon ready to go.

641
00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:11.760
All right, so we've kind of we've kind of well,

642
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:14.000
the recording is messed up, but that's okay. That's okay.

643
00:36:14.119 --> 00:36:18.559
Hopefully the recording will work from the sermon audio platform.

644
00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:20.800
That's one of the reasons we use two different things

645
00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:23.920
is to ensure But let me now, I'm gonna have

646
00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:25.760
to kind of fast forward here and see if I

647
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:28.199
can find it, So just be patient with me. Here

648
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:28.480
we go.

649
00:36:29.239 --> 00:36:32.079
Then it makes the teaching really understandable, and we'll see

650
00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:36.039
in today's teaching that's actually no spiritual meaning. These are

651
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:39.679
similar to maybe Aesop's fables. You guys are familiar with these, race, Yeah,

652
00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:43.440
everyone knows this that Aesop's fabled towards and does everyone

653
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.760
understand that we all know what the meaning is? Slow

654
00:36:45.800 --> 00:36:48.159
and steady wins the race. It's not that we shouldn't

655
00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:50.039
sleep on a foot race, or that you shouldn't be

656
00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:52.840
cocky or that right, there are other things you could

657
00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:55.800
draw out of that story, but that's not the meaning

658
00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:59.400
of it. Jesus tells us a story this morning, the

659
00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:03.440
Parable of the and it has a specific, one specific meaning.

660
00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:05.639
There are other truths that we can pull from this,

661
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:09.199
but that's not what Jesus is trying to teach us, okay,

662
00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:11.239
And so it's important as we read this text that

663
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.840
we understand there's one specific meaning that Jesus is trying

664
00:37:13.880 --> 00:37:15.280
to teach us, and that's what we're going to focus

665
00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:17.800
on this morning. Although there are other truths we could

666
00:37:17.800 --> 00:37:19.840
potentially draw from the story, that's not what Jesus is

667
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.079
trying to teach us through the story. Does that make sense?

668
00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:23.960
So I just want to make sure we're clear on parables.

669
00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:25.639
That's why we're going to draw one meaning out of this.

670
00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:27.599
And there are other things that could come out, but

671
00:37:27.639 --> 00:37:29.960
that's not what we're focusing on this morning, all.

672
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.800
Right, So he's going to find one meaning. So let's

673
00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:37.159
listen and figure out what that one meaning is, and

674
00:37:37.239 --> 00:37:41.679
does that one meaning agree with again this article and

675
00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:44.920
this book that Hey, if you're going to be an

676
00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:47.760
effectual Bible student, you have to get your heart right,

677
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.559
because if your heart's not right, But what are God's

678
00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:53.559
just going to bounce off? Is that the meaning of

679
00:37:53.559 --> 00:37:55.920
the parable? Let's see what he thinks the meaning of

680
00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:58.599
the parable is. Let's find out together.

681
00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:01.440
Okay, we're going to start in verse three, and we're

682
00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:03.400
going to read this text in three sections. So I'll

683
00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:05.719
read a section, we'll talk about it, read a section

684
00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:07.559
and talk about it. So we'll start in three and

685
00:38:07.559 --> 00:38:15.039
we'll go through nine. Listen, Behold, a sower went out

686
00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:19.679
to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell along

687
00:38:19.719 --> 00:38:24.760
the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other

688
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.840
seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have

689
00:38:27.960 --> 00:38:31.599
much soil, and immediately it sprang up since it had

690
00:38:31.639 --> 00:38:35.639
no depth of soil. When the sun rose, it was scorched,

691
00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:39.719
and since it had no root, it withered away. Other

692
00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:42.559
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and

693
00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:47.039
choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds

694
00:38:47.079 --> 00:38:50.599
fell into good soil. And produced grain, growing up and

695
00:38:50.679 --> 00:38:56.000
increasing and yielding thirtyfold, and sixtyfold and one hundredfold. And

696
00:38:56.079 --> 00:39:00.440
he said, he who has ears to hear, let him here.

697
00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:06.039
This teaching from Jesus is a teaching that the people

698
00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:08.440
of the day, the large crowd is focused that's around him,

699
00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:12.199
focused on him, would have understood really clearly. Many of

700
00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:14.440
them would be farmers, and they would have sown seed

701
00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:17.840
in exactly this way. If they weren't farmers, they almost

702
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:20.199
certainly would have seen someone or know someone who does

703
00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:23.679
sow seed in exactly this way. For a modern reader,

704
00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:26.480
it is not exactly the way we think about sowing seed.

705
00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.400
We tend to imagine tractors that are tilling up the

706
00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:32.000
ground behind them and disking it, and then we'd think

707
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:34.599
of rows, lots of rows of seeds. Even if for

708
00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:36.840
gardeners and we're not thinking about machines, we still think

709
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.239
about taking a seed and placing it in a very

710
00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:42.239
specific place. A lot of us will get out our

711
00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.679
tape measures and make sure that our spacing exactly right

712
00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:47.559
in our rows right. Some of us are less careful,

713
00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:49.760
but we're still in rows. We tend to be rose

714
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:51.960
and place the seed in the ground and cover it up.

715
00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.360
But the picture that we're seeing here is of a sewer.

716
00:39:55.599 --> 00:39:57.599
What they would do in these days is they had

717
00:39:57.639 --> 00:39:59.800
kind of this satchel that would go around their body

718
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:02.239
was just full of seed, and they would reach in

719
00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:04.800
with their hands and grab a handful of it and

720
00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:09.480
kind of scatter it around. It's called broadcast seeding. And

721
00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:13.159
what they would do they had a chilling, you know,

722
00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:17.880
they'd have a all.

723
00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:18.199
Right, well, that that's cool. Now. I know why the

724
00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:21.880
article used the word broadcasting. It's called broadcast seating. Had

725
00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:24.840
no idea. I was like, why is the article referring

726
00:40:24.840 --> 00:40:27.800
to it as broadcasting? Because I think of broadcasting, Well,

727
00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:29.360
I think of what I'm doing. I'm like, what is

728
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:33.000
that so but so broadcast seeding? Okay, So I've looked.

729
00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:35.639
See this is why we listened to sermons. I've already

730
00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:38.760
learned something I so far. I I Other than that

731
00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:40.679
that one thing about the prayer, which of course is

732
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:43.079
so common, that's the only thing I've disagreed with. I'm

733
00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:46.360
really liking this. This is taking us, possibly in a

734
00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:49.559
good direction. I'm just curious, what is the one meaning?

735
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:51.079
What is the one meaning?

736
00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:55.599
Or a horse or oxen that would till up the ground,

737
00:40:55.639 --> 00:40:57.719
but they would actually do that after they threw out

738
00:40:57.719 --> 00:41:00.599
the seed, so they weren't sure where necessarily the rockiest

739
00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:02.639
parts of the soil were, where the thorny parts were.

740
00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:04.639
They weren't sure exactly how this is all going to go,

741
00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:07.480
because when they threw out this seed, they would till

742
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:13.400
it afterwards. And so this is very This picture that

743
00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:16.159
he's painted is of a sower, and he's saying that

744
00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:19.880
the seed is being broadcast out like this, and the

745
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:23.039
seed lands in some different places. You may think, actually

746
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:26.199
that this is not very effective methodology, because some of

747
00:41:26.239 --> 00:41:27.960
the seed's going on the path and it's getting taken

748
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:30.360
by birds, and some of it's not growing because of

749
00:41:30.360 --> 00:41:32.039
the rocky soil, and some is not growing because of

750
00:41:32.039 --> 00:41:34.400
the weeds. But then at the end it says that

751
00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:38.559
the yield here is thirty and sixty and one hundredfold,

752
00:41:39.320 --> 00:41:42.559
which is pretty good yield. Actually, some people are suggesting

753
00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:45.400
this in the commentaries. They're suggesting that this yield is

754
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:49.039
an exaggeration or more than what would be typical of

755
00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:51.719
the day. Others are actually suggesting that this is what

756
00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:54.159
would be a typical yield for a field. They're saying actually,

757
00:41:54.239 --> 00:41:56.559
in some ways, maybe the agriculture was better then than

758
00:41:56.599 --> 00:41:58.599
it is now, and that the yield that they're getting

759
00:41:58.599 --> 00:42:01.960
from these fields was just higher than what we would expect.

760
00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:07.920
I think that that's irrelevant to me. I think it's

761
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.199
just the point is this one grew, whether thirty sixty

762
00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:14.599
one hundred. I think it just throws out different numbers.

763
00:42:14.599 --> 00:42:16.760
It's not like, well, was that the way the yield's

764
00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.920
supposed to work? Is this exaggerated? See? I think sometimes

765
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:23.480
again with the parables, I think we get so lost

766
00:42:23.519 --> 00:42:28.159
in the details. What is the basic message here? Not well,

767
00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:31.280
is the yield more? Is it normal? Is it a

768
00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:33.320
little bit of normal? But I mean it gives a

769
00:42:33.320 --> 00:42:36.440
wide range thirty sixty one hundred. I think it's just

770
00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:42.639
saying this is the soil where the seed actually grew.

771
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:49.039
What's interesting for me is verse three. Right at the beginning,

772
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:51.960
there's this word that starts the beginning of this teaching.

773
00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:56.559
Jesus says listen. As if the crowd wasn't already listening,

774
00:42:57.519 --> 00:42:59.840
they're gathered around him to hear him, and he starts

775
00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:05.400
with listen. This is important. Most of those other teachings

776
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:08.360
don't start this way. There's a reason the author included this.

777
00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:10.360
It's not like, hey, let me get your attention everybody.

778
00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:13.800
That's not what Jesus is doing here. This word is

779
00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:17.159
important because the author includes it when he writes this.

780
00:43:18.400 --> 00:43:21.760
And what's really interesting is he book ends the teaching

781
00:43:22.079 --> 00:43:25.239
with another phrase in verse nine that often gets overlooked.

782
00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:28.960
He says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

783
00:43:30.679 --> 00:43:32.679
I want you to pay attention to this theme because

784
00:43:32.719 --> 00:43:35.920
as we go through this text this morning, it is common.

785
00:43:36.519 --> 00:43:40.119
It is off repeated. He starts with, listen, there's something

786
00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:42.719
important about this parable, and I need you to listen

787
00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:45.320
to it. And he ends this parable with you, if

788
00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:49.639
you have ears to hear, then hear this because it's important.

789
00:43:50.920 --> 00:43:53.400
Something about the way that we listen to this parable

790
00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:56.000
is important, and we need to focus on that. This

791
00:43:56.079 --> 00:43:58.599
theme is throughout this teaching and I want you, guys

792
00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:04.320
to pay attention to that's go and read the next

793
00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:09.599
section here starts in verse ten and says when he

794
00:44:09.679 --> 00:44:14.079
was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him

795
00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:18.159
about the parables, and he said to them, to you

796
00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:22.079
has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God,

797
00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:27.360
But for those outside everything is in parables. So that

798
00:44:27.400 --> 00:44:31.840
they may indeed see but not perceive. They may indeed hear,

799
00:44:32.079 --> 00:44:36.760
but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.

800
00:44:38.519 --> 00:44:40.679
So this crowd that's in front of Jesus has heard

801
00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:46.800
the parable, and they don't know what it's about. Okay,

802
00:44:46.840 --> 00:44:48.559
So it says in it right in the beginning where

803
00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:50.599
I started reading, that's a very large crowd that's actually

804
00:44:50.639 --> 00:44:53.960
gathered around him, and they don't know what the parable

805
00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.360
is about. They may be taking some guesses. Maybe some

806
00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:59.000
of them believe that this is some kind of instruction

807
00:44:59.199 --> 00:45:03.199
for plantings seed. It's not very likely. We don't think that,

808
00:45:03.280 --> 00:45:05.760
and it's very evidently a story meant for teaching something.

809
00:45:05.880 --> 00:45:08.239
That's what Jesus did, is he taught using these parables.

810
00:45:09.679 --> 00:45:11.719
But many of them are just guessing at what this

811
00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:14.559
could be. Maybe it's about love, Maybe that's what the

812
00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:18.559
seed represents. Maybe it's about how we're supposed to to

813
00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:21.119
love our neighbor, or maybe it's supposed to there's a

814
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:24.719
maybe guesses going on, and the crowd has kind of

815
00:45:24.760 --> 00:45:27.440
a choice about what to believe about the parable and

816
00:45:27.480 --> 00:45:31.199
how to kind of find out what we see here

817
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:34.199
in verse ten. This is really important. The phrasing of

818
00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:37.360
this sentence is very interesting. It says, when he was alone,

819
00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:42.920
meaning Jesus, those around him with the twelve asked him

820
00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:45.119
about the parables. Anyone recognized that that's a little bit

821
00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:48.440
of a strange phrasing. Those around him with the twelve

822
00:45:48.880 --> 00:45:52.920
asked him about the parables. The author could have said

823
00:45:53.480 --> 00:45:56.679
those around him asked about the parables, but he actually

824
00:45:56.760 --> 00:45:59.280
wants to point out he's making it very clear here

825
00:45:59.320 --> 00:46:01.880
that it's not just us, the twelve disciples, right, Jesus

826
00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:04.360
often explains things to his twelve disciples when he's alone,

827
00:46:05.079 --> 00:46:07.119
but this is saying it's not just the twelve disciples.

828
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:10.000
There's also more who have come from the crowd who

829
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:12.440
heard their parables, and those are the ones who are

830
00:46:12.440 --> 00:46:17.159
coming and asking Jesus about the parables. This is important

831
00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:20.920
because the author has made an aside. Verses three through

832
00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:25.400
nine are the parable, and verses thirteen through twenty are

833
00:46:25.440 --> 00:46:28.320
the explanation of the parable. And these two verses sit

834
00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:31.119
in between, and they're meant to show us a couple

835
00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:33.320
of things. One is meant to make a little bit

836
00:46:33.320 --> 00:46:36.039
of a comparison between the crowd that was there before

837
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:38.480
the very large crowd who heard the parables. And now

838
00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:42.880
the smaller crowd that's stuck around and is asking about

839
00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:43.440
the parable.

840
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:50.079
This is very good observational work on the text. He's

841
00:46:50.079 --> 00:46:53.239
observing the interesting things about the text of things that

842
00:46:53.280 --> 00:46:56.840
should stand out because of doing an observational reading, an

843
00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:01.599
observational approach. So I'm I'm I'm loving all of this.

844
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:04.199
I'm loving all of this. But the question is what

845
00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:09.599
is the main lesson? Is it going to be in

846
00:47:09.679 --> 00:47:12.880
agreement with this article about how to study the Bible?

847
00:47:13.239 --> 00:47:16.400
Is it going to be contradictory to that? Am I

848
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:18.440
going to agree with it? Are you going to agree

849
00:47:18.480 --> 00:47:22.920
with it? What is the one lesson do you want

850
00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:26.760
to know? Should we stop now I'm building up the anticipation.

851
00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:29.880
Let's let's find out.

852
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:36.360
And Jesus says this to that smaller crowd. This is

853
00:47:36.400 --> 00:47:39.159
specifically director of those people who are asking about the parable.

854
00:47:40.239 --> 00:47:43.199
He says to you, has been given the secret of

855
00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:47.559
the Kingdom of God. To the smaller crowd who stuck

856
00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:49.960
around was asking, has been given the secret of the

857
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.119
Kingdom of God? And who does not have the secret

858
00:47:53.119 --> 00:47:55.920
of the Kingdom of God? Those who are on the outside,

859
00:47:56.159 --> 00:47:58.320
the ones who heard the parables. That's right there in

860
00:47:58.400 --> 00:48:01.760
verse eleven, to those to whos been given the secret

861
00:48:01.760 --> 00:48:03.760
of the Kingdom of God, but those on the outside,

862
00:48:03.920 --> 00:48:08.639
everything is in parables, he says. The reason I do

863
00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:10.880
it in parables this is a quote from Isaiah Isaiah

864
00:48:10.920 --> 00:48:14.079
six ' nine. That they may indeed see but not perceive,

865
00:48:14.679 --> 00:48:19.119
and they may indeed hear but not understand. The reason

866
00:48:19.159 --> 00:48:21.400
he speaks in parables is that way they don't quite

867
00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:23.719
get it. The parable is a little bit of a

868
00:48:23.800 --> 00:48:28.519
sifting situation. They hear the parable, they don't understand it.

869
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:35.800
And what do they do? Either they leave or they

870
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:39.119
come and ask Jesus about the parable. And if they

871
00:48:39.119 --> 00:48:41.320
come and ask Jesus about the parable, this was his

872
00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:44.119
message to them, to you has been given the secret

873
00:48:44.360 --> 00:48:49.679
of the Kingdom of God. So you see that there's

874
00:48:49.719 --> 00:48:52.599
something here about the way that they heard the message

875
00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:55.480
of the parable and what they did with that message

876
00:48:55.519 --> 00:48:58.880
of the parable. Okay, And we're going to get into

877
00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:00.519
the meaning of it, because this is an easy one

878
00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:02.239
to figure out what the meaning is because Jesus tells

879
00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:07.400
us that's pretty cool, okay. Verse thirteen says this, He

880
00:49:07.519 --> 00:49:12.840
said to them, do you not understand this parable? How

881
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:17.800
then will you understand all the parables. The sower sows

882
00:49:17.840 --> 00:49:21.360
the word, and these are the ones along the path

883
00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:25.400
where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately

884
00:49:25.440 --> 00:49:28.880
comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

885
00:49:29.199 --> 00:49:32.320
And those are the ones sown on rocky ground. I'm sorry.

886
00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:34.920
These are the ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who,

887
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:37.599
when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy.

888
00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:41.159
They have no root in themselves, but endure for a while.

889
00:49:41.400 --> 00:49:45.159
Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word,

890
00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:50.280
immediately they fall away. The others are the ones sown

891
00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:53.639
among thorns. They are those who hear the word, But

892
00:49:53.719 --> 00:49:57.159
the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches,

893
00:49:57.719 --> 00:50:00.440
and the desires for other things enter in and choke

894
00:50:00.559 --> 00:50:05.119
out the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that

895
00:50:05.159 --> 00:50:07.480
were sown on the good soil are the ones who

896
00:50:07.559 --> 00:50:11.679
hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirtyfold

897
00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:15.800
and sixtyfold and one hundredfold. I forgot to point out

898
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:18.559
in that passage from Isaiah, again Jesus brings up hearing

899
00:50:18.800 --> 00:50:23.159
and not understanding. That theme is there again in verse thirteen.

900
00:50:23.519 --> 00:50:26.800
Jesus starts explaining the parable, and he says this, do

901
00:50:26.880 --> 00:50:30.480
you not understand this parable, then how can you understand

902
00:50:30.599 --> 00:50:33.960
all the other parables. What Jesus is saying is that

903
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:36.159
if you don't understand the message of this parable, if

904
00:50:36.159 --> 00:50:39.000
you don't get this parable, this is kind of a

905
00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:41.519
bedrock parable. This is a foundation parable. If you don't

906
00:50:41.559 --> 00:50:43.760
understand this one, you're not going to understand any of

907
00:50:43.800 --> 00:50:48.320
the others. This one is vital for the understanding of

908
00:50:48.360 --> 00:50:51.320
the other parables, for understanding other things that Jesus has

909
00:50:51.360 --> 00:50:53.000
to say.

910
00:50:54.159 --> 00:50:57.960
That's really and we mentioned this, I think yesterday when

911
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.320
I was reading through it. That's a really powerful concept. Hey,

912
00:51:02.800 --> 00:51:04.679
if you want to know if you can understand the

913
00:51:04.719 --> 00:51:07.280
other parables, you've got to be able to understand this one.

914
00:51:07.639 --> 00:51:11.159
You can't understand this one. You can literally not understand

915
00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:13.639
any other parable. So if you're ever going to do

916
00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:16.519
this teaching on the parables, you have to start with

917
00:51:16.599 --> 00:51:20.000
this one, because this is the test. If you can't

918
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:23.079
figure this out, you can't figure out any of the others.

919
00:51:23.760 --> 00:51:26.159
So I think that's pretty interesting.

920
00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:32.599
The way that we take in this parable, the way

921
00:51:32.639 --> 00:51:35.199
we hear this parable, and what we do with this parable,

922
00:51:35.639 --> 00:51:39.599
affects the way we hear the other messages of the word. Okay,

923
00:51:40.360 --> 00:51:42.639
so this is a very very important one. Now I

924
00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:47.559
want to show you, just to be full understanding, I

925
00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:49.800
guess the other way you could read those two sentences

926
00:51:50.159 --> 00:51:52.320
is that the message of this parable is so simple

927
00:51:53.159 --> 00:51:55.400
that if you can't even understand a very simple message,

928
00:51:55.400 --> 00:51:58.280
how could you understand more complex messages of the other parables.

929
00:51:58.599 --> 00:52:00.760
I don't think that's what it is, because we've discussed

930
00:52:00.880 --> 00:52:03.599
already a parable has one simple meaning. The point of

931
00:52:03.639 --> 00:52:05.480
the parable is a little bit that it drives towards

932
00:52:05.480 --> 00:52:08.639
one simple meaning, not just this parable, but all parables.

933
00:52:09.039 --> 00:52:11.159
And so I don't think Jesus saying this message is

934
00:52:11.199 --> 00:52:13.320
so simple the others are more complicated. If you can't

935
00:52:13.360 --> 00:52:15.760
understand a simple one, how can you understand a complicated one?

936
00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:17.679
I think what he's saying. And when we get into this,

937
00:52:17.679 --> 00:52:19.400
I think you'll understand this a little better as well.

938
00:52:19.719 --> 00:52:23.000
If you can't understand this foundational parable about how you

939
00:52:23.039 --> 00:52:25.480
take in the word, because that's what he says, the

940
00:52:25.519 --> 00:52:28.280
seed is, then how could you understand the other messages

941
00:52:28.360 --> 00:52:32.320
about the word. This is a foundational parable, And so

942
00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:35.000
the way you hear this parable affects the way that

943
00:52:35.079 --> 00:52:40.440
you hear all the other parables. Okay, so do not

944
00:52:40.559 --> 00:52:43.639
understand this parable, then how will you understand all the parables?

945
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:47.519
Verse fourteen is kind of the key to understanding what

946
00:52:47.599 --> 00:52:50.239
this parable is about. He says that the sower sows

947
00:52:50.639 --> 00:52:53.599
the word. So the seed doesn't represent love, The seed

948
00:52:53.599 --> 00:52:56.840
doesn't represent whatever else you might think it represents. The

949
00:52:56.880 --> 00:53:00.000
seed represents the word. These are the words that Jesus

950
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:04.039
uses here. Now, as a modern reader, we want to

951
00:53:04.079 --> 00:53:08.039
read the word, the word, the words the word. We

952
00:53:08.079 --> 00:53:10.000
want to see those phrases. And what we tend to

953
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:12.079
think of is we think of what we call the word,

954
00:53:12.239 --> 00:53:13.760
which is the Bible as I have it in my

955
00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:17.400
hand right here. And I think we can do a

956
00:53:17.440 --> 00:53:19.239
little bit of work to get there and say, yeah,

957
00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:22.679
that is probably fair, But that is absolutely not what

958
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:25.719
Jesus meant when he said the word. There are a

959
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:27.880
couple of reasons we know that. The first reason is

960
00:53:27.880 --> 00:53:29.480
because the Bible as I have it in my hand

961
00:53:29.559 --> 00:53:32.719
right now did not exist when Jesus said these things.

962
00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:36.559
In fact, none of the New Testament existed. And it's

963
00:53:36.760 --> 00:53:39.559
in any way when he said this word right, So

964
00:53:39.599 --> 00:53:42.119
he's not talking about the word meaning the Bible, because

965
00:53:42.119 --> 00:53:44.159
the Bible didn't exist like this. Now, could he have

966
00:53:44.159 --> 00:53:46.639
been talking about Old Testament scriptures. We'll get there. That

967
00:53:46.679 --> 00:53:52.480
could be an interpretation that we take another thing. Another reason.

968
00:53:52.559 --> 00:53:55.079
We know that just because you see the word in

969
00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.599
scripture doesn't mean that we want to interpret it necessarily

970
00:53:58.960 --> 00:54:02.760
as just the Bible. For instance, at the beginning of

971
00:54:02.840 --> 00:54:06.360
John chapter one, we see that the Word was with God,

972
00:54:06.440 --> 00:54:08.920
and the Word was God in the beginning. And if

973
00:54:08.920 --> 00:54:12.039
we interpreted that as the Bible, we have certainly elevated

974
00:54:12.039 --> 00:54:14.280
the Bible to a place that it does not belong right,

975
00:54:14.800 --> 00:54:17.159
because the Bible was not with God in the beginning,

976
00:54:17.159 --> 00:54:19.199
and the Bible was not God at the beginning. The

977
00:54:19.199 --> 00:54:22.199
Bible has never been God. These are the words of God. Okay.

978
00:54:23.519 --> 00:54:26.519
The apostle Paul often uses the phrase the word to

979
00:54:26.880 --> 00:54:30.760
represent the Gospel message of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.

980
00:54:31.440 --> 00:54:33.840
Of course, at this point Christ has not death and

981
00:54:33.880 --> 00:54:36.440
resurrection yet, so he's not talking about that here.

982
00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:43.519
This is interesting. So the word here, if it's not scripture,

983
00:54:44.159 --> 00:54:49.000
what is it? This may destroy the entire concept that

984
00:54:49.039 --> 00:54:51.639
this teaches us how to be an effectual Bibles to

985
00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:56.079
this may utterly annihilate that. So so now we want

986
00:54:56.119 --> 00:54:58.199
to know what is the main lesson? But now the

987
00:54:58.280 --> 00:55:00.000
question you must be You've got to be a movie

988
00:55:00.079 --> 00:55:02.800
to the edge of your sea. Now what is the word?

989
00:55:03.559 --> 00:55:05.239
Right now? You need to be probably jumping up and

990
00:55:05.239 --> 00:55:07.480
pacing around the house. Hey, everyone coming, We got to

991
00:55:07.480 --> 00:55:09.519
figure that what is the meaning of this parable and

992
00:55:09.559 --> 00:55:13.719
what is the word? Okay, let's find out. Let's find out.

993
00:55:15.159 --> 00:55:17.199
In the Old Testament, we see the phrase the word

994
00:55:17.239 --> 00:55:19.239
of the Lord a lot of times after a message

995
00:55:19.280 --> 00:55:22.159
from a prophet, and so we need to be careful

996
00:55:22.199 --> 00:55:25.039
as modern readers. Just because the Bible somewhere says the

997
00:55:25.079 --> 00:55:28.239
word does not necessarily mean that it's talking about the

998
00:55:28.280 --> 00:55:31.639
word in our hands the Bible as we see it today.

999
00:55:32.639 --> 00:55:34.039
Now we're going to do a little bit of work.

1000
00:55:34.360 --> 00:55:35.719
What I want to do is I'm about to start

1001
00:55:35.760 --> 00:55:41.760
working some application and some interpretation together as I walk

1002
00:55:41.840 --> 00:55:43.199
through this next section. This will be kind of the

1003
00:55:43.239 --> 00:55:48.440
longer section of this text, and I want you to

1004
00:55:48.840 --> 00:55:51.679
kind of have several definitions of what the word could

1005
00:55:51.719 --> 00:55:55.159
be for a modern reader, what that means. What Jesus

1006
00:55:55.199 --> 00:55:58.480
probably meant was the message that he oft repeated through

1007
00:55:58.519 --> 00:56:00.480
all of the gospels, which is that the Kingdom of

1008
00:56:00.519 --> 00:56:03.000
God is upon us, The Kingdom of God is here,

1009
00:56:03.039 --> 00:56:05.480
the Kingdom of God is new. That was his good news,

1010
00:56:05.760 --> 00:56:07.800
was that the Kingdom of God is here. He's saying

1011
00:56:07.880 --> 00:56:11.039
I'm here, I'm coming, and I'm bringing the Kingdom with me.

1012
00:56:13.239 --> 00:56:17.719
But for us, so there the word would just be

1013
00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:22.880
reduced to basically one concept. Hey, the Kingdom of God

1014
00:56:23.199 --> 00:56:27.880
is here. And when you tell people the Kingdom of

1015
00:56:27.920 --> 00:56:34.920
God is here, there's going to be different responses. So

1016
00:56:35.320 --> 00:56:39.719
this would just be, hey, just one concept. It's not

1017
00:56:39.960 --> 00:56:45.199
the Bible. It's just one concept. Okay, all right, let's see.

1018
00:56:45.320 --> 00:56:47.639
I think I know how to possibly use that. Let's

1019
00:56:47.639 --> 00:56:48.599
see where he goes with this.

1020
00:56:49.719 --> 00:56:52.679
We have the opportunity to hear the message from God,

1021
00:56:53.239 --> 00:56:55.599
the words of the Lord, in a few different ways

1022
00:56:55.679 --> 00:56:58.400
as modern readers. One of those ways, and perhaps the

1023
00:56:58.400 --> 00:57:01.360
most important, is the Bible. And so I think, while

1024
00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:03.920
that's not specifically what Jesus meant when he said this

1025
00:57:04.039 --> 00:57:07.280
to that audience, to that crowd at that time, when

1026
00:57:07.320 --> 00:57:10.480
we hear this message today, we can absolutely imagine that

1027
00:57:10.559 --> 00:57:12.440
the Bible is one of the things, one of the

1028
00:57:12.440 --> 00:57:14.519
ways that we hear the word of the Lord, and

1029
00:57:14.639 --> 00:57:17.960
maybe the most important one. This is the least likely

1030
00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:20.199
to air, the least likely to have an issue. Even

1031
00:57:20.239 --> 00:57:23.280
small translation issues over the ears have not changed the

1032
00:57:23.400 --> 00:57:27.280
message of the Bible. And so when you see the

1033
00:57:27.320 --> 00:57:31.559
word in verse fourteen, you can say, yes, part of

1034
00:57:31.559 --> 00:57:34.760
this is how do I hear the Bible? How do

1035
00:57:34.840 --> 00:57:39.239
I read the Bible? How do I take in the Bible? Now,

1036
00:57:39.239 --> 00:57:42.559
as I've mentioned the word hearing specifically as an oft

1037
00:57:42.599 --> 00:57:45.679
repreated theme throughout these verses, and so it's really important

1038
00:57:45.960 --> 00:57:49.280
that we understand one of the most regular ways that

1039
00:57:49.320 --> 00:57:52.000
we hear the word of God, or we hear messages

1040
00:57:52.039 --> 00:57:58.320
from God, is through Nate's preaching every Sunday, Right every Sunday,

1041
00:57:58.360 --> 00:58:01.920
we hear a word from the Lord. And Jesus is

1042
00:58:01.960 --> 00:58:05.119
about to show us four different soil types or four

1043
00:58:05.159 --> 00:58:10.199
different ways that we can hear those words, and and

1044
00:58:10.199 --> 00:58:13.079
and and kind of present some different ways that we

1045
00:58:13.159 --> 00:58:18.199
can hear them and take them take them with us. Okay,

1046
00:58:18.480 --> 00:58:20.039
So here's the challenge I have for you, is we're

1047
00:58:20.039 --> 00:58:22.280
about mixing a little bit of application in as we're

1048
00:58:22.280 --> 00:58:25.800
interpreting these next sections. The challenge I have is I

1049
00:58:25.840 --> 00:58:30.239
want you to be a little bit introspective. Okay, I

1050
00:58:30.280 --> 00:58:36.440
want you to to search your heart and understand which

1051
00:58:36.440 --> 00:58:42.360
of these soil tart types do you tend to be? Oh?

1052
00:58:42.440 --> 00:58:45.199
Boy, I think right now it seems like we're circuling,

1053
00:58:45.480 --> 00:58:48.880
circuling right back to the problem. See is this going

1054
00:58:48.920 --> 00:58:51.360
to be? Hey, every Sunday when you come to church,

1055
00:58:51.920 --> 00:58:56.000
what soil type are you? So is this going to

1056
00:58:56.079 --> 00:58:59.039
Are we not inevitably going to walk right back into Hey?

1057
00:58:59.480 --> 00:59:02.079
You can come to church, but unless your heart is right,

1058
00:59:02.280 --> 00:59:04.840
the sermon is not going to be of any value.

1059
00:59:04.920 --> 00:59:07.000
So you've got to fix the heart. Well, then is

1060
00:59:07.039 --> 00:59:09.320
it me fixing the heart or is it the preaching

1061
00:59:09.360 --> 00:59:11.840
of God's word that fixes the heart? Is it the

1062
00:59:11.880 --> 00:59:14.199
study of God's word that fixes the heart? Or do

1063
00:59:14.239 --> 00:59:16.719
I have to fix my heart prior to studying the word?

1064
00:59:16.760 --> 00:59:20.119
Are we not inevitably going right back to And I

1065
00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:23.000
remember he said there's just one main lesson? What is

1066
00:59:23.039 --> 00:59:28.400
that main lesson? All right? So I did do a

1067
00:59:28.400 --> 00:59:31.719
little work. I was asking AI here all right? So

1068
00:59:32.280 --> 00:59:35.639
in Mark four fourteen, because he called into question what

1069
00:59:35.719 --> 00:59:39.079
the word could be, Jesus explains the parable of the sower,

1070
00:59:39.159 --> 00:59:41.360
saying the so or sows the word. The word in

1071
00:59:41.400 --> 00:59:44.639
Greek lagos, is a key concept in this parable, and

1072
00:59:44.719 --> 00:59:47.079
different interpretations of what the word refers to has been

1073
00:59:47.079 --> 00:59:50.039
proposed within Christian theology. Here are some of the most

1074
00:59:50.119 --> 00:59:56.400
common interpretations. Number One, the Gospel message. The most straightforward

1075
00:59:56.400 --> 00:59:59.119
and widely accepted interpretation is that the word refers to

1076
00:59:59.159 --> 01:00:02.880
the Gospel message, the good news of Jesus Christ, life, death, resurrection,

1077
01:00:03.039 --> 01:00:06.519
or the salvation of humanity. This is understood. This understanding

1078
01:00:06.559 --> 01:00:09.360
is supported by the broader context of Jesus ministry, where

1079
01:00:09.440 --> 01:00:12.280
teaching in parables is often centered on the announcement of

1080
01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:14.480
the Kingdom of God and a call to repentance of

1081
01:00:14.480 --> 01:00:17.559
faith in Him. Now, this one is to me, this

1082
01:00:17.639 --> 01:00:19.920
may be a key to some of them. This is

1083
01:00:19.960 --> 01:00:25.280
not about Bible study. This is when the seed, the Word,

1084
01:00:25.639 --> 01:00:29.360
the basically the Gospel or the news that the Kingdom

1085
01:00:29.400 --> 01:00:33.559
of God has come. Repent and believe that basic message.

1086
01:00:34.079 --> 01:00:38.199
That when that basic message is presented, there's going to

1087
01:00:38.239 --> 01:00:44.199
be different responses. Those different responses indicate the condition of

1088
01:00:44.239 --> 01:00:48.840
the heart. Now, it's only one that will ultimately believe

1089
01:00:49.800 --> 01:00:53.920
and then grow. Why is that one different? Because that

1090
01:00:54.239 --> 01:00:57.679
is the one which is saved and God has to

1091
01:00:57.719 --> 01:01:00.480
be the one to make the heart receptive to the

1092
01:01:00.519 --> 01:01:04.159
gospel message. It is you can go preach. Many will

1093
01:01:04.199 --> 01:01:07.639
not believe because well, God has not changed the heart.

1094
01:01:07.679 --> 01:01:09.480
This is not about you changing your heart so that

1095
01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:12.679
you'll be a good Bible student. This is about God

1096
01:01:12.719 --> 01:01:15.480
has to make your heart ready to be able to believe.

1097
01:01:15.840 --> 01:01:19.480
Only one, only one of soil will ultimately believe in

1098
01:01:19.559 --> 01:01:24.280
accept the gospel message. See so AI went in and

1099
01:01:24.280 --> 01:01:26.960
gave me this and this interpretation the seed that the

1100
01:01:27.000 --> 01:01:30.719
sower scatter represents the proclamation of this message. The different

1101
01:01:30.719 --> 01:01:34.519
types of soil what reflects various responses to the gospel.

1102
01:01:34.719 --> 01:01:38.199
Some receive it, some reject it. Others accept it but

1103
01:01:38.239 --> 01:01:41.760
then fall away. Do the hardship, persecution or worldly distortions

1104
01:01:42.320 --> 01:01:47.840
right or distractions? I should say, so now they give

1105
01:01:48.360 --> 01:01:52.239
a bunch of other interpretations, but I think the gospel message,

1106
01:01:52.400 --> 01:01:55.360
or now they do offer the one he did, which

1107
01:01:55.440 --> 01:01:59.239
is God's Kingdom message and Mark's gospel. Jesus often speaks

1108
01:01:59.239 --> 01:02:02.239
of the Word and connection with the Kingdom of God. Therefore,

1109
01:02:02.280 --> 01:02:05.119
another interpretation is that the Word represents the message about

1110
01:02:05.159 --> 01:02:08.679
the coming of God's Kingdom, a central theme in Jesus preaching.

1111
01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:11.679
This view focuses on the proclamation of God's reign breaking

1112
01:02:11.719 --> 01:02:14.880
into human history through Jesus, and this interpretation of the

1113
01:02:14.880 --> 01:02:17.639
different types of solar represents how various people respond to

1114
01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:20.920
the news of God's kingdom. Now, if we go with

1115
01:02:21.079 --> 01:02:24.960
a more hardcore s a dispensational view, this is simply

1116
01:02:25.599 --> 01:02:29.320
a parable about how the Jews are going to respond

1117
01:02:29.639 --> 01:02:33.079
to the idea that the kingdom, the kingdom was present,

1118
01:02:33.440 --> 01:02:39.199
the king had arrived. So I don't know if this

1119
01:02:39.280 --> 01:02:42.280
has anything to do with the way many preachers handle it.

1120
01:02:42.360 --> 01:02:44.320
Let's see where else he goes with this, because now

1121
01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:46.679
I think he's kind of falling right back into the

1122
01:02:46.719 --> 01:02:49.840
same trap. Hey, when you come to church, you've got

1123
01:02:49.840 --> 01:02:51.599
to figure out the condition of your heart. Well wait

1124
01:02:51.599 --> 01:02:53.039
a minute, wait a minute, are you telling me I've

1125
01:02:53.039 --> 01:02:55.440
got to change the condition of my heart? Like, well,

1126
01:02:55.480 --> 01:02:56.519
how is he going to handle this?

1127
01:02:58.639 --> 01:03:00.480
Jesus about to give this for soil types, and he's

1128
01:03:00.480 --> 01:03:02.119
going to tell us what those four types are, what

1129
01:03:02.159 --> 01:03:05.400
they represented. And I want you to pray to God

1130
01:03:05.440 --> 01:03:09.639
and ask him to reveal your heart to you. Your

1131
01:03:09.639 --> 01:03:12.559
heart is very deceitful, it's wicked above all else. Who

1132
01:03:12.639 --> 01:03:15.440
can know it. It's a rhetorical question, means God can

1133
01:03:15.480 --> 01:03:18.800
know it, and David praise. This praise has revealed my

1134
01:03:18.920 --> 01:03:22.960
heart to me, reveal the wicked ways, the wicked bents

1135
01:03:23.000 --> 01:03:24.559
that all right.

1136
01:03:24.599 --> 01:03:27.000
Now, now we're kind of stumbling into the idea God

1137
01:03:27.039 --> 01:03:31.239
can reveal to you something outside of scripture. And when

1138
01:03:31.280 --> 01:03:34.400
I say, God, God reveal my heart to me, isn't

1139
01:03:34.400 --> 01:03:36.719
it my study of the Word that will reveal my

1140
01:03:36.760 --> 01:03:39.480
heart to me? Or is God going to do this

1141
01:03:39.719 --> 01:03:42.840
outside of scripture? Well, if God's going to reveal the

1142
01:03:42.840 --> 01:03:47.400
condition of my heart, what else can God reveal? So

1143
01:03:47.519 --> 01:03:50.679
now we do we have God giving revelation outside of scripture.

1144
01:03:50.960 --> 01:03:54.719
See how I think the study of the Word reveals

1145
01:03:54.760 --> 01:03:58.039
my heart because I'm confronted with my sin. I think

1146
01:03:58.039 --> 01:04:00.719
it's through the scriptures where this curves.

1147
01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:04.119
I have in my heart. And so I would like

1148
01:04:04.159 --> 01:04:05.880
you to do that as I'm as I'm kind of

1149
01:04:05.880 --> 01:04:08.519
talking through these four soil types, ask God to reveal

1150
01:04:08.559 --> 01:04:11.440
which of these four soil types do I tend towards?

1151
01:04:11.960 --> 01:04:13.960
Which ones do I need to work on? What wicked

1152
01:04:13.960 --> 01:04:15.800
ways do I have in my heart that I need

1153
01:04:16.000 --> 01:04:17.880
to ask for help with?

1154
01:04:18.320 --> 01:04:22.880
Okay, now he's going with the approach that obviously any

1155
01:04:23.039 --> 01:04:27.320
Christians can have any one of these four soil conditions,

1156
01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:31.360
that it doesn't represent that only one set that is

1157
01:04:31.400 --> 01:04:33.519
the saved one, that all of us can have all

1158
01:04:33.559 --> 01:04:35.039
of these. See now I think this is making the

1159
01:04:35.079 --> 01:04:37.880
parable now much more complex. Remember he started that it

1160
01:04:37.920 --> 01:04:42.599
only has one meaning. So now any of us can

1161
01:04:42.679 --> 01:04:45.440
have any of these soil conditions at any time. And

1162
01:04:45.480 --> 01:04:47.159
now we have to pray for God to reveal it.

1163
01:04:47.280 --> 01:04:49.599
Now what's God reveals it? Is it God going to

1164
01:04:49.599 --> 01:04:51.000
be the one to fix it? Or do I have

1165
01:04:51.079 --> 01:04:53.159
to fix it? And if I don't fix it, then

1166
01:04:53.239 --> 01:04:57.000
are you telling me the Bible? Are we not going

1167
01:04:57.039 --> 01:05:00.119
to fall right back into the problem we started this

1168
01:05:00.239 --> 01:05:01.039
entire thing with.

1169
01:05:04.840 --> 01:05:08.840
The first soil type is Verse fifteen says there are

1170
01:05:08.880 --> 01:05:12.159
those on the path that's where the seed lands, on

1171
01:05:12.199 --> 01:05:15.760
the path where the word is sown. When they hear

1172
01:05:16.639 --> 01:05:20.159
they hear the word, Satan immediately comes and takes away

1173
01:05:20.199 --> 01:05:25.159
the word that is sown in them. There's some people

1174
01:05:25.639 --> 01:05:28.519
who are sitting in church every Sunday, and they're hearing

1175
01:05:28.559 --> 01:05:32.360
the word every Sunday, And before they have a chance

1176
01:05:32.400 --> 01:05:35.840
to do anything with that message, it has already left.

1177
01:05:35.960 --> 01:05:40.079
They're certainly hearing the word, but the message is gone

1178
01:05:40.320 --> 01:05:42.239
by the time they've walked out the door. They can't

1179
01:05:42.280 --> 01:05:44.440
even remember what the sermon's about. These are people who

1180
01:05:44.599 --> 01:05:48.679
are saying spirituality is not actually particularly important. Maybe I'm here.

1181
01:05:49.760 --> 01:05:50.440
Oh now that.

1182
01:05:52.400 --> 01:05:52.679
Lady.

1183
01:05:53.119 --> 01:05:57.239
We got to be careful there, Okay, if we're going

1184
01:05:57.320 --> 01:05:59.920
to if we're gonna say, people who walk out of

1185
01:06:00.119 --> 01:06:04.119
church and can't remember the message are the people who

1186
01:06:04.719 --> 01:06:08.239
their heart is like the path. Well, then, ladies and gentlemen,

1187
01:06:08.440 --> 01:06:13.360
I've been preaching forever. That is ninety percent of American Christianity.

1188
01:06:13.960 --> 01:06:17.039
I mean, like, look, every study says that most Christians

1189
01:06:17.079 --> 01:06:21.360
cannot remember what was preached by Sunday night. For crying

1190
01:06:21.360 --> 01:06:24.199
out loud, they can't remember by the time they get home.

1191
01:06:26.320 --> 01:06:29.400
So you're gonna see that the reason people don't remember

1192
01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:34.599
the sermon is because they have this first soil condition

1193
01:06:34.679 --> 01:06:39.079
though by the wayside, on the path, that's their heart condition.

1194
01:06:39.480 --> 01:06:42.880
That's the reason. Hey, So the next up, pastors, just

1195
01:06:42.920 --> 01:06:45.920
get up there on Sunday night, give a test about

1196
01:06:45.920 --> 01:06:48.360
your sermon on Sunday morning, and those who can't remember,

1197
01:06:48.519 --> 01:06:51.960
like your hearts are like that of the path, your

1198
01:06:52.000 --> 01:06:54.760
heartened heart. Satan is taking the message away from you.

1199
01:06:55.079 --> 01:06:58.280
That's why you can't remember it. I'm not saying that's

1200
01:06:58.320 --> 01:07:00.840
what he's trying to say, but that be a logical

1201
01:07:00.920 --> 01:07:04.920
inference from what you say. Come on, what was preached

1202
01:07:05.000 --> 01:07:08.440
last Sunday your church? What was preached? Come on? Don't

1203
01:07:08.440 --> 01:07:13.559
look at you notes. Do you know how many people

1204
01:07:13.639 --> 01:07:17.159
can't remember? I know it because I do. I used

1205
01:07:17.199 --> 01:07:20.159
to get. You've heard me many times in my sermons.

1206
01:07:20.199 --> 01:07:24.360
Get almost just want to scream when I'm doing a review,

1207
01:07:24.360 --> 01:07:27.920
I'm like, why can't you? I literally covered this fifty

1208
01:07:28.039 --> 01:07:31.360
thousand times? Like, what is this problem?

1209
01:07:32.480 --> 01:07:33.519
Do I do?

1210
01:07:33.599 --> 01:07:37.079
I argue that it's a spiritual condition, So I think

1211
01:07:37.119 --> 01:07:39.800
we got to be really careful with that. I don't know.

1212
01:07:40.079 --> 01:07:42.320
I don't know if we judged this based on your

1213
01:07:42.360 --> 01:07:46.000
ability to remember the sermon. Yeah, I think there's a

1214
01:07:46.000 --> 01:07:47.800
lot of other factors.

1215
01:07:49.039 --> 01:07:51.760
Because my parents have always been here. Maybe I'm here

1216
01:07:52.000 --> 01:07:54.559
because this is what we do is we come to

1217
01:07:54.639 --> 01:07:57.920
church on Sunday morning. But I go back to living

1218
01:07:57.920 --> 01:08:00.360
my life exactly the way it was before as soon

1219
01:08:00.360 --> 01:08:02.119
as I'm out the door. Maybe I'm not really even

1220
01:08:02.159 --> 01:08:05.960
fully listening to the message. Maybe As I think back

1221
01:08:06.000 --> 01:08:08.800
on the last eight months of message, I don't know

1222
01:08:08.800 --> 01:08:10.199
how long we've been in the Ten Commandment. It feels

1223
01:08:10.199 --> 01:08:12.760
like a long time. As I think back on all

1224
01:08:12.800 --> 01:08:15.599
those weeks of the Ten Commandments, I go, I don't

1225
01:08:15.599 --> 01:08:17.960
know if there's anything that has actually changed in my life,

1226
01:08:18.119 --> 01:08:23.760
literally at all, because of those messaging. Some of us

1227
01:08:24.079 --> 01:08:27.279
have access to the Word. It's in our house. Maybe

1228
01:08:27.279 --> 01:08:28.960
we have several Bibles in our house.

1229
01:08:30.399 --> 01:08:32.920
Now, see, are we going to judge this by how

1230
01:08:33.000 --> 01:08:40.880
much you change? Hey, it's September. Think of all the sermon.

1231
01:08:41.000 --> 01:08:43.000
If you've been a part of the If you have

1232
01:08:43.039 --> 01:08:44.960
been a part of the Sermon's two point oh app

1233
01:08:45.000 --> 01:08:49.279
sermon challenge, you've listened to one sermon every single day

1234
01:08:49.680 --> 01:08:52.039
for all of twenty twenty four. Look at how many

1235
01:08:52.079 --> 01:08:55.359
sermons you've listened to. What has changed? Is that the

1236
01:08:55.359 --> 01:09:00.239
way you're going to judge this, Hey, the word your

1237
01:09:00.319 --> 01:09:04.720
heart condition is like the wayside, the path hard and

1238
01:09:04.760 --> 01:09:07.039
Satan has taking the message away from you because you

1239
01:09:07.079 --> 01:09:10.720
haven't changed. How do you measure that? How much change? Well?

1240
01:09:10.760 --> 01:09:12.600
As long as there's some change, Well, how do you

1241
01:09:12.680 --> 01:09:16.119
measure that change? An external change or an internal change?

1242
01:09:16.640 --> 01:09:19.680
What if the external change happens, but the internal hasn't changed.

1243
01:09:20.079 --> 01:09:24.159
Then See this is right back to the idea that

1244
01:09:24.359 --> 01:09:27.039
unless your heart is right, none of this is gonna

1245
01:09:27.079 --> 01:09:29.279
do any good. Well, then how do you get your

1246
01:09:29.319 --> 01:09:32.239
heart changed? Is it through the reading and study of

1247
01:09:32.279 --> 01:09:34.439
God's word? Or are you saying that we're just got

1248
01:09:34.439 --> 01:09:36.880
to sit there and like, well I till God changes

1249
01:09:36.920 --> 01:09:39.039
my heart. There's no point in going to church, There's

1250
01:09:39.039 --> 01:09:41.079
no point in reading the Bible because there's not going

1251
01:09:41.159 --> 01:09:41.960
to do any good.

1252
01:09:45.039 --> 01:09:46.920
Maybe I bring one back and forth with me to church,

1253
01:09:46.960 --> 01:09:49.000
but when I'm at home, I don't even crack it open.

1254
01:09:49.640 --> 01:09:51.399
I have total access to it. I can hear the

1255
01:09:51.399 --> 01:09:55.520
word anytime I want to. But I'm so busy with

1256
01:09:55.560 --> 01:09:57.319
all the other things that are going on that I

1257
01:09:57.359 --> 01:09:59.039
don't even open my Bible when I'm in.

1258
01:10:00.359 --> 01:10:02.680
So now we're going to judge the condition of the

1259
01:10:02.680 --> 01:10:06.520
heart based on how much you read your Bible. Do

1260
01:10:06.560 --> 01:10:09.640
you realize is one of the biggest issues within Christiandom

1261
01:10:09.840 --> 01:10:14.560
is that it's very difficult to get Christians to consistently

1262
01:10:14.880 --> 01:10:27.119
read and study their Bibles. So, now again, what so

1263
01:10:28.439 --> 01:10:32.039
so the soil here if you don't read your Bible

1264
01:10:32.159 --> 01:10:35.079
is because your heart is hardened, or you have this

1265
01:10:35.199 --> 01:10:39.000
hardened soil of a heart. But wait a minute, it

1266
01:10:39.000 --> 01:10:43.119
wouldn't matter if they were reading the Bible because it

1267
01:10:43.119 --> 01:10:47.399
wouldn't do any good. Right, so going to church doesn't

1268
01:10:47.399 --> 01:10:49.319
do any good. But you're saying that the one of

1269
01:10:49.319 --> 01:10:51.319
the ways to prove that they have a hard heart

1270
01:10:51.399 --> 01:10:53.600
is because they're not reading their Bible. But wouldn't matter

1271
01:10:53.640 --> 01:10:55.520
if they were reading their Bible because they have a

1272
01:10:55.520 --> 01:10:57.680
hard heart. So what difference does it make if they're

1273
01:10:57.720 --> 01:11:00.840
reading it or not reading. Well, I'm not reading it.

1274
01:11:00.840 --> 01:11:02.640
This shows my heart is hard. But if your heart

1275
01:11:02.680 --> 01:11:05.119
is hard reading, it's not going to matter anyway. So

1276
01:11:05.159 --> 01:11:06.760
then how do you fix the problem?

1277
01:11:09.520 --> 01:11:14.560
Home? Satan has taken the Word and it's gone before

1278
01:11:14.600 --> 01:11:20.600
I even have a chance to take it in the

1279
01:11:20.640 --> 01:11:25.239
Word of God is very available to us, but how

1280
01:11:25.319 --> 01:11:27.520
much are we actually taking this in. It's like seed

1281
01:11:27.520 --> 01:11:30.760
put out on the sidewalk that's never going to plant,

1282
01:11:32.000 --> 01:11:34.880
will never turn into a plant. The birds will absolutely

1283
01:11:34.920 --> 01:11:36.840
come take that seed before you have a chance for

1284
01:11:36.920 --> 01:11:42.359
it to even think about turning into a plant. If

1285
01:11:42.359 --> 01:11:44.640
this is you, I what I pray for you is

1286
01:11:44.680 --> 01:11:46.640
that you maybe you're aware of this, and you say, man,

1287
01:11:46.760 --> 01:11:48.439
I kind of know this isn't me already, I don't

1288
01:11:48.439 --> 01:11:53.479
need to hear the others. Jesus can turn your heart

1289
01:11:53.520 --> 01:11:56.319
of stone into a heart of flesh.

1290
01:11:56.600 --> 01:11:59.680
And that, oh, the heart of stone into a heart

1291
01:11:59.680 --> 01:12:03.439
of flesh is from Ezekiel. That is about Israel. Okay,

1292
01:12:03.600 --> 01:12:06.720
this started so good. Now I'm getting frustrated. So then

1293
01:12:06.920 --> 01:12:09.560
Jesus has to change the heart. Okay, Well, then if

1294
01:12:09.640 --> 01:12:11.680
Jesus is the one that changes the heart, well then

1295
01:12:11.720 --> 01:12:14.079
everyone should have the right heart and then there should

1296
01:12:14.119 --> 01:12:17.119
be no problem. Is the problem is you just haven't

1297
01:12:17.119 --> 01:12:19.640
asked Jesus to change your heart. Hey, everyone, right now,

1298
01:12:19.800 --> 01:12:21.880
ask Jesus to change your heart. Will all have a

1299
01:12:21.920 --> 01:12:25.920
perfect heart? Well, then there should be no more sin.

1300
01:12:28.399 --> 01:12:30.880
So unless your heart is right, then the word of

1301
01:12:30.920 --> 01:12:33.119
God is not going to do any good. Preaching is

1302
01:12:33.159 --> 01:12:35.600
not going to do any good. It's useless. But God

1303
01:12:35.640 --> 01:12:39.359
is the one who has to change the heart. So

1304
01:12:39.439 --> 01:12:42.720
there's nothing you can do. Hey, God, if you don't

1305
01:12:42.800 --> 01:12:45.479
change my heart, there's no point in listening discermons, are

1306
01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:47.760
going to church or reading my Bible because it won't

1307
01:12:47.760 --> 01:12:51.600
do any good. I can't do anything because nothing will work.

1308
01:12:51.760 --> 01:12:53.840
You have to change my heart. If God doesn't change

1309
01:12:54.119 --> 01:12:57.159
my heart, then there's nothing I can do.

1310
01:13:00.159 --> 01:13:02.199
My prayer for you. I hope that you're earnestly praying

1311
01:13:02.239 --> 01:13:04.880
that for yourself. This isn't something you can try harder

1312
01:13:05.199 --> 01:13:08.520
to become better at. This isn't something where you need

1313
01:13:08.560 --> 01:13:10.760
to work a little harder try to earn a love

1314
01:13:10.800 --> 01:13:13.039
for the Word. This is something you need to fervently

1315
01:13:13.079 --> 01:13:16.279
pray about that God changes your heart from a heart

1316
01:13:16.279 --> 01:13:18.359
of flesh, from a heart of stone into a heart

1317
01:13:18.399 --> 01:13:20.159
of flesh, so.

1318
01:13:20.119 --> 01:13:23.880
That nothing you can do. Nothing, you can do nothing.

1319
01:13:25.079 --> 01:13:27.199
All you can do is just say, God, change my heart.

1320
01:13:28.319 --> 01:13:36.199
So the condition of your heart is God's fault, or

1321
01:13:36.239 --> 01:13:38.640
you have to believe that when everyone becomes so you

1322
01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:43.319
can become a Christian and God doesn't change your heart. Typically,

1323
01:13:43.680 --> 01:13:45.920
the way this is understood is that when you become

1324
01:13:45.960 --> 01:13:49.279
a Christian, typically people run to Ezekiel again. That is

1325
01:13:49.319 --> 01:13:52.039
a part that is directly to Israel. We've covered it

1326
01:13:52.079 --> 01:13:54.479
a million times. We covered it in our study of Eschatology.

1327
01:13:54.680 --> 01:13:57.079
I get so tired of people taking that out of context.

1328
01:13:58.159 --> 01:14:00.880
But usually the way this works is when you become

1329
01:14:00.920 --> 01:14:04.359
a Christian, your heart is completely transformed. However, you still

1330
01:14:04.399 --> 01:14:06.479
can't be perfect, so you have a sin nature. So

1331
01:14:06.520 --> 01:14:08.039
you have a you have a new heart, but a

1332
01:14:08.079 --> 01:14:10.800
sin nature. It gets really complicated. We've talked about how

1333
01:14:11.000 --> 01:14:14.479
utterly just convoluted it becomes. But this is even more

1334
01:14:14.520 --> 01:14:16.920
maddening because he is saying that you can be a

1335
01:14:17.039 --> 01:14:20.479
Christian and not have a new heart. So then as

1336
01:14:20.479 --> 01:14:23.439
a Christian, so salvation doesn't change your heart. But then

1337
01:14:23.439 --> 01:14:25.760
when you become a Christian, then you pray for God

1338
01:14:25.760 --> 01:14:28.239
to then change your heart. And then when God changes

1339
01:14:28.279 --> 01:14:31.840
your heart, then the preaching of God's word can be effective,

1340
01:14:31.920 --> 01:14:33.800
and the study of the Bible can be effective. But

1341
01:14:33.960 --> 01:14:37.840
until then, I've got a pencil. I'm going to bounce

1342
01:14:37.840 --> 01:14:40.119
it off the table. It's just going to bounce off.

1343
01:14:41.199 --> 01:14:43.239
It's not good. It's not going to do anything. It's

1344
01:14:43.279 --> 01:14:45.119
not going to do anything. It's just going to hit

1345
01:14:45.159 --> 01:14:53.880
the hard ground. Okay, well that I don't understand. Let's

1346
01:14:53.920 --> 01:14:55.079
let's go a little further.

1347
01:14:56.079 --> 01:14:57.920
Because that's what this is. This is the seed is

1348
01:14:58.079 --> 01:15:02.159
landing on a hard, hard heart. And even though you've

1349
01:15:02.159 --> 01:15:05.039
got more availability of the Word than anyone in all

1350
01:15:05.079 --> 01:15:08.840
of human history has had. Thirty years ago, the greatest librarians,

1351
01:15:08.840 --> 01:15:11.199
who had all of the resources at their disposal, do

1352
01:15:11.279 --> 01:15:14.119
not have the same resources you have today in your pocket.

1353
01:15:14.159 --> 01:15:16.560
It's glass and metal, and you have access to commentaries,

1354
01:15:16.600 --> 01:15:21.600
world class commentaries in many languages translated into yours. It's

1355
01:15:21.640 --> 01:15:26.840
incredible the resources we have, and yet do we access

1356
01:15:26.880 --> 01:15:34.680
the word the way we should. There's a second soil

1357
01:15:34.760 --> 01:15:38.159
type says that there are those who are sown on

1358
01:15:38.399 --> 01:15:42.920
rocky ground, the ones who when they hear the word again,

1359
01:15:42.920 --> 01:15:46.479
they're hearing the word, but they and they immediately receive

1360
01:15:46.560 --> 01:15:51.039
it with joy. That's good, let's stop there. No, they

1361
01:15:51.079 --> 01:15:53.560
don't stop there, and they have no root in themselves.

1362
01:15:54.039 --> 01:15:57.439
They endure for a while, and then when tribulation or

1363
01:15:57.520 --> 01:16:01.800
persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

1364
01:16:02.680 --> 01:16:06.159
I have often found myself in this category, especially when

1365
01:16:06.199 --> 01:16:10.800
listening to a message that is convicting, or when reading

1366
01:16:10.800 --> 01:16:13.079
a passage that is convicting, and I go, man, I'm

1367
01:16:13.079 --> 01:16:15.760
really excited about this. This one's going to spark a

1368
01:16:15.800 --> 01:16:17.840
lot of life change in me. I'm going to go

1369
01:16:17.880 --> 01:16:21.720
home and do something really different. May this is you

1370
01:16:21.800 --> 01:16:23.479
with some of the ten commandments we just walked out

1371
01:16:23.520 --> 01:16:25.319
of You said, he I'm gonna actually, we're gonna try

1372
01:16:25.319 --> 01:16:27.239
really hard. We're gonna do Sabbath different. Now.

1373
01:16:29.279 --> 01:16:32.640
Now, wait a minute. If God's given you a new heart,

1374
01:16:33.039 --> 01:16:35.640
then why are you not then struggling for life change.

1375
01:16:39.720 --> 01:16:43.119
If God's now giving you a new heart, then where

1376
01:16:43.239 --> 01:16:46.920
is the problem. I don't get it. So we have

1377
01:16:46.920 --> 01:16:48.880
a new heart, but in old nature, this we're right

1378
01:16:48.920 --> 01:16:52.439
back into. Oh this started off so promising. This, I'm

1379
01:16:52.520 --> 01:16:56.600
so confused. I still we're right. We don't have an answer,

1380
01:16:56.680 --> 01:16:58.560
ladies and gentle and I just noticed that we've been

1381
01:16:58.600 --> 01:17:00.680
on the air for one hour and twenty minutes. And

1382
01:17:00.720 --> 01:17:04.640
I apologize because when the when my recording software crashed

1383
01:17:06.680 --> 01:17:08.880
that my clock went my clock because right now, if

1384
01:17:08.880 --> 01:17:11.399
I look at my clock, it says zero zero zero zero,

1385
01:17:11.880 --> 01:17:15.359
meaning I've been on I've been broadcasting for zero amounts

1386
01:17:15.359 --> 01:17:19.239
of minutes. So because when it crashed, So, uh, I apologize.

1387
01:17:19.319 --> 01:17:21.760
We've gone so long. But this is we're right back

1388
01:17:21.760 --> 01:17:25.520
to where we started. Remember he said this has one meaning.

1389
01:17:26.560 --> 01:17:29.600
He's now not giving the what is the one meaning

1390
01:17:29.600 --> 01:17:35.760
of the parable? This has turned into? All right, if

1391
01:17:35.840 --> 01:17:38.560
church is gonna have any impact, if the preaching of

1392
01:17:38.600 --> 01:17:41.319
God's word is gonna have any impact. If the study

1393
01:17:41.319 --> 01:17:43.119
of the Bible's gonna have any impact, You've got to

1394
01:17:43.119 --> 01:17:44.640
get your heart right. But you can't do anything to

1395
01:17:44.680 --> 01:17:46.439
get your heart right. You got to pray that God

1396
01:17:46.479 --> 01:17:48.800
will give you your heart right. So if you'll pray,

1397
01:17:48.960 --> 01:17:51.439
then you'll no longer have a heart like on the path.

1398
01:17:51.560 --> 01:17:54.239
You'll have a brand new heart. But even if you

1399
01:17:54.279 --> 01:17:57.079
have a brand new heart, it appears that well, you

1400
01:17:57.119 --> 01:17:59.920
could still struggle with the Word of God actually doing anything,

1401
01:18:00.399 --> 01:18:06.640
actually bringing about any change. What do I have to

1402
01:18:06.680 --> 01:18:11.159
get on my mind? I don't understand. I don't understand.

1403
01:18:13.439 --> 01:18:15.960
Maybe you're convicted by the Sabbath message. You say, I'm

1404
01:18:15.960 --> 01:18:18.000
not gonna eat out anymore. I'm not gonna do these things.

1405
01:18:18.039 --> 01:18:19.800
I really feel like I'm gonna try to honor that

1406
01:18:19.840 --> 01:18:23.119
as a holy day. That's different. And then the next

1407
01:18:23.119 --> 01:18:25.439
week it was like, well, I didn't really have anything prepared,

1408
01:18:25.479 --> 01:18:26.920
so I'm actually gonna go out to eat just like

1409
01:18:26.960 --> 01:18:36.760
I always did. This is the seed is planted. You

1410
01:18:36.840 --> 01:18:40.159
hear the word and it sparks joy. You say, yes,

1411
01:18:40.279 --> 01:18:42.560
I want to change, I want to do something with

1412
01:18:42.600 --> 01:18:46.159
this word. I heard some people this is actually the

1413
01:18:46.199 --> 01:18:48.760
gospel message itself to some of you know people like this.

1414
01:18:48.840 --> 01:18:50.760
I know a lot of them. I went to Bible school.

1415
01:18:53.479 --> 01:19:02.000
But what's being changed? If all I gotta do is

1416
01:19:02.000 --> 01:19:03.880
say God give me a new heart, and God will

1417
01:19:03.880 --> 01:19:07.000
give me a new heart, then what then needs to

1418
01:19:07.039 --> 01:19:10.079
be changed? From that point forward? The heart's already been

1419
01:19:10.159 --> 01:19:12.319
changed and you can't do anything to change your heart.

1420
01:19:12.359 --> 01:19:14.359
You just pray God give me a new heart. Bloom,

1421
01:19:14.479 --> 01:19:16.800
he gives you a new heart. Well, then what needs

1422
01:19:16.840 --> 01:19:19.640
to be changed after that? The heart's already been changed.

1423
01:19:19.800 --> 01:19:22.800
And if the heart's been completely transformed, then should that

1424
01:19:22.920 --> 01:19:26.880
need logically mean you should be basically perfect? So then

1425
01:19:26.920 --> 01:19:30.119
what needs to be changed? It's the we're right back

1426
01:19:30.159 --> 01:19:35.359
to the same convoluted circular reasoning that is so evident

1427
01:19:35.439 --> 01:19:37.800
in most churches, where they will say, if you're in Christ,

1428
01:19:37.880 --> 01:19:40.560
you're a new creature. Old things have passed away, all

1429
01:19:40.560 --> 01:19:43.800
things have become new, but you still struggle with sin.

1430
01:19:44.159 --> 01:19:47.600
That's because I'm only become a new creature and new

1431
01:19:47.720 --> 01:19:51.000
in my position, not in my practice. Why do you

1432
01:19:51.079 --> 01:19:54.039
say it's true of my practice and then acknowledge that

1433
01:19:54.239 --> 01:19:56.199
I haven't changed. It's the same thing when you become

1434
01:19:56.199 --> 01:19:59.239
a Christian you get a brand new heart. Okay, Well

1435
01:19:59.279 --> 01:20:01.439
then and that means there's no more sin in my heart.

1436
01:20:01.800 --> 01:20:04.760
Heart's no longer deceptive, there's no longer sin in my heart. Well,

1437
01:20:04.800 --> 01:20:07.079
then where does all the sin arise from? Because Jesus

1438
01:20:07.119 --> 01:20:13.560
seemed to say sin arises from the heart, right, fornication, lust, greed, conveteousness.

1439
01:20:14.680 --> 01:20:16.359
Where is it coming from? If I have a new heart,

1440
01:20:16.359 --> 01:20:17.960
the only thing that should be coming out of me

1441
01:20:18.720 --> 01:20:23.079
should be perfect, because I have a new heart. If

1442
01:20:23.119 --> 01:20:25.039
that's in me, then what should come out of me

1443
01:20:25.199 --> 01:20:27.279
should be the things flowing from the new heart. But

1444
01:20:27.399 --> 01:20:29.760
sin continues to flow out of us. So then I

1445
01:20:29.800 --> 01:20:33.920
don't understand. Well, this is like, hey, you know we

1446
01:20:34.319 --> 01:20:37.680
sometimes struggle and we're not really changed by the message.

1447
01:20:37.680 --> 01:20:40.399
Well wait a minute. You just said in the previous one,

1448
01:20:40.399 --> 01:20:41.960
all I got to do is ask for a new heart.

1449
01:20:42.000 --> 01:20:45.039
I guess maybe this one, this one needs a new

1450
01:20:45.119 --> 01:20:47.680
so I guess the answer is all you need is

1451
01:20:47.720 --> 01:20:50.640
a new heart. So maybe maybe he's going to see

1452
01:20:50.640 --> 01:20:53.439
this about this soil as well, That all the soils

1453
01:20:53.479 --> 01:20:56.079
except the last one, the problem is they don't have

1454
01:20:56.119 --> 01:20:58.640
a new heart. So then you would have to argue, Well,

1455
01:20:58.680 --> 01:21:01.720
then these people aren't saved, but he's making an argument

1456
01:21:01.840 --> 01:21:05.399
that you can be saved and experience these soils. So

1457
01:21:05.479 --> 01:21:07.840
then I don't get it.

1458
01:21:09.279 --> 01:21:11.720
A lot of these people I know who ministered alongside

1459
01:21:11.760 --> 01:21:15.079
me were speaking the Gospel of people and preaching and

1460
01:21:15.119 --> 01:21:17.279
doing all these things together. And now I look at

1461
01:21:17.279 --> 01:21:20.560
their Facebook posts and I see, oh, actually they aren't

1462
01:21:20.640 --> 01:21:24.039
even close to walking out what they were doing before.

1463
01:21:24.039 --> 01:21:28.199
They've totally renounced the faith. For a short time, they

1464
01:21:28.279 --> 01:21:30.239
looked like they were excited about the word, and they

1465
01:21:30.399 --> 01:21:32.720
looked like the word had taken but there wasn't enough route.

1466
01:21:32.760 --> 01:21:42.760
The smallest persecution turns these people away. A third soil type,

1467
01:21:43.640 --> 01:21:45.359
this is the one that worries me the most in

1468
01:21:45.399 --> 01:21:46.239
the American church.

1469
01:21:47.399 --> 01:21:49.560
Okay, he didn't give a solution for the second one.

1470
01:21:50.840 --> 01:21:52.640
I'm assuming the solution for the second one is the

1471
01:21:52.640 --> 01:21:55.000
first one. Get I think logically he would only have

1472
01:21:55.039 --> 01:21:56.720
to agree that all these people are lost and the

1473
01:21:56.720 --> 01:22:02.279
only ones are saved is the last one. So God,

1474
01:22:02.560 --> 01:22:09.600
so is that the only way to approach.

1475
01:22:09.239 --> 01:22:15.680
This third soil type? Says, others are the ones sown

1476
01:22:15.880 --> 01:22:20.079
among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but

1477
01:22:20.199 --> 01:22:23.119
the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches

1478
01:22:23.560 --> 01:22:26.399
and the desires for other things enter in and choke

1479
01:22:26.479 --> 01:22:32.199
out the word, and it proves unfruitful. Have you ever

1480
01:22:32.239 --> 01:22:34.800
tried to plant something where there's a bunch of weeds already?

1481
01:22:36.039 --> 01:22:40.640
Sometimes you even get that to come up right. The

1482
01:22:40.680 --> 01:22:44.079
issue is if you plant a tomato amongst a bunch

1483
01:22:44.119 --> 01:22:46.720
of other plants that are also planted, you may get

1484
01:22:46.720 --> 01:22:48.640
a tomato plant, but it's not going to do as

1485
01:22:48.640 --> 01:22:53.760
well as if there weren't all the weeds there. This

1486
01:22:53.880 --> 01:22:57.319
is a picture of a seed that's fallen in among

1487
01:22:57.399 --> 01:22:59.840
thorns in this area. You guys are familiar with, you

1488
01:22:59.840 --> 01:23:01.800
know some of that like multi floor rows and different

1489
01:23:01.800 --> 01:23:04.840
things that will literally like swirl up the trunk of

1490
01:23:04.840 --> 01:23:07.439
a tree and choke it out. This is the picture

1491
01:23:07.439 --> 01:23:11.760
it's painting here is of thorns that exist around the seed,

1492
01:23:13.479 --> 01:23:15.199
and Jesus is saying, this is what a lot of

1493
01:23:15.279 --> 01:23:18.319
us are like. We hear the word again, We're hearing

1494
01:23:18.359 --> 01:23:22.279
it every week. We look like Christians, we look like

1495
01:23:22.359 --> 01:23:24.560
the right thing. We look like a tomato plant that's

1496
01:23:24.560 --> 01:23:27.840
supposed to be doing the right tomato plant things. There's

1497
01:23:27.880 --> 01:23:30.720
no fruit. What's the point of a tomato fruit and

1498
01:23:30.800 --> 01:23:35.279
a tomato plant. If you don't have any tomatoes, these

1499
01:23:35.439 --> 01:23:37.640
weeds that are planted in and amongst us. They're the

1500
01:23:37.640 --> 01:23:40.000
things he puts out here. Is the cares of the

1501
01:23:40.000 --> 01:23:42.439
world is the first one. What are the cares of

1502
01:23:42.479 --> 01:23:45.359
the world? Jesus says in another place that these are

1503
01:23:45.359 --> 01:23:47.479
things like the clothes that we wear and the food

1504
01:23:47.479 --> 01:23:49.920
that we eat, or we're not supposed to care about

1505
01:23:50.279 --> 01:23:54.359
those things. We are those are important, but God's going

1506
01:23:54.399 --> 01:23:59.760
to provide those things for us. These are things like

1507
01:23:59.760 --> 01:24:03.720
our families and things like our jobs, which again these

1508
01:24:03.720 --> 01:24:05.960
are very important things. We should have families and we

1509
01:24:06.000 --> 01:24:09.039
should have jobs, But what place of priority do they

1510
01:24:09.079 --> 01:24:14.920
take in our lives. Francis Chan has an interesting idea.

1511
01:24:15.079 --> 01:24:16.439
I'm not going to quote him, but I'm going to

1512
01:24:16.439 --> 01:24:19.600
give you the idea. Roughly. He says that most people,

1513
01:24:19.600 --> 01:24:21.760
most Christians in the American Church, would say that their

1514
01:24:21.800 --> 01:24:24.239
priority list goes something like this, God is number one,

1515
01:24:25.720 --> 01:24:29.600
below that as family. Third might be career or hobbies

1516
01:24:29.680 --> 01:24:32.079
or whatever. You know, I'm going to serve my community

1517
01:24:32.159 --> 01:24:33.960
or you know whatever. Those things come after that. But

1518
01:24:34.000 --> 01:24:35.920
he wants to directs us to the look at those

1519
01:24:35.960 --> 01:24:39.199
first two priorities are God and then our families. And

1520
01:24:39.239 --> 01:24:41.960
he asks a hypothetical that I just consider this for

1521
01:24:41.960 --> 01:24:45.079
a second. What would it look like for you if

1522
01:24:45.119 --> 01:24:48.359
you reverse them? What would change in your life if

1523
01:24:48.399 --> 01:24:50.159
you actually said, you know what, I'm going to just

1524
01:24:50.439 --> 01:24:53.000
pretend like families number one and God is number two.

1525
01:24:56.439 --> 01:24:59.159
This challenge hit me probably six years ago when I

1526
01:24:59.199 --> 01:25:02.520
read it, and I went, man, nothing at all would change,

1527
01:25:02.840 --> 01:25:05.199
because that probably is the way that I'm actually prioritizing

1528
01:25:05.279 --> 01:25:07.600
right now. The cares of the world are taking priority

1529
01:25:07.880 --> 01:25:09.239
over God in my life.

1530
01:25:10.680 --> 01:25:16.399
So he's acknowledging this. This can happen to Christians. So

1531
01:25:16.520 --> 01:25:19.199
even if you get a new heart, then all of

1532
01:25:19.199 --> 01:25:21.520
this is true. Well, then what does the new heart

1533
01:25:21.600 --> 01:25:28.079
do now? Oh, and we're right back to until you

1534
01:25:28.119 --> 01:25:30.279
get the new heart, then the word of God is

1535
01:25:30.319 --> 01:25:32.560
not going to be effectual. But you can have a

1536
01:25:32.600 --> 01:25:35.399
new heart, and I guess the word of God can

1537
01:25:35.399 --> 01:25:40.159
still not be effectual. So then how do I get

1538
01:25:40.199 --> 01:25:42.680
the heart? How do I fix this problem? Is it

1539
01:25:42.800 --> 01:25:45.359
me or is it God's word that fixes the problem.

1540
01:25:45.439 --> 01:25:48.760
But God's word can't fix the problem because God's word

1541
01:25:48.800 --> 01:25:51.479
can't be effectual unless I get the heart. Truck. I

1542
01:25:51.640 --> 01:25:52.600
don't I.

1543
01:25:57.319 --> 01:26:02.760
And it's choking out the fruit of God. What about

1544
01:26:02.760 --> 01:26:06.560
this second one, the deceitfulness of riches. He's not saying

1545
01:26:06.640 --> 01:26:08.720
riches are the problem. Most of us in here are

1546
01:26:08.800 --> 01:26:13.319
not rich by any standard, But it's actually the deceitfulness

1547
01:26:13.359 --> 01:26:15.720
of riches. It's interesting about this is he's not saying

1548
01:26:15.760 --> 01:26:18.079
something we every single person in here goes, yeah, riches

1549
01:26:18.119 --> 01:26:22.039
are absolutely deceitful. No one's like saying like, no, I

1550
01:26:22.039 --> 01:26:25.319
don't think I believe that. But yet we live our

1551
01:26:25.399 --> 01:26:30.359
lives pursuing riches. We make decisions based on the careers

1552
01:26:30.359 --> 01:26:31.399
that we want to make and how are we going

1553
01:26:31.479 --> 01:26:34.079
to make more money? So many of us focus on

1554
01:26:34.159 --> 01:26:38.760
finances constantly. Either we're worried about him or we're excited

1555
01:26:38.760 --> 01:26:42.680
about them, but either way, we're constantly focusing on them. Again,

1556
01:26:42.720 --> 01:26:44.560
this is the truth everyone knows. No one is sitting

1557
01:26:44.560 --> 01:26:46.600
at their deathbed saying, man, I just wish I made

1558
01:26:46.600 --> 01:26:51.279
a few more dollars last week. I just wish I

1559
01:26:51.279 --> 01:26:52.800
had more. When I'm leaving, you know, I just wish

1560
01:26:52.880 --> 01:26:54.640
I was As I'm dying, I just wish I had

1561
01:26:54.680 --> 01:26:56.920
a little bit more money. No one is saying that

1562
01:26:58.439 --> 01:27:01.720
riches are absolutely deceitful, and we know it, and it

1563
01:27:01.800 --> 01:27:05.680
is absolutely distracting us from being able to bear fruit

1564
01:27:05.720 --> 01:27:12.359
for God. Again, what is the points of a tomato

1565
01:27:12.439 --> 01:27:18.439
plant if it doesn't have any tomatoes on it? This

1566
01:27:18.680 --> 01:27:24.159
is this is the soil type that Jesus says that

1567
01:27:24.520 --> 01:27:27.600
we'd all like to be this. But I want you again,

1568
01:27:27.720 --> 01:27:32.840
introspectively searching your heart? Is this? You let God reveal

1569
01:27:33.119 --> 01:27:38.800
your heart to you Verse twenty. But those that were

1570
01:27:38.800 --> 01:27:41.680
sown on the good soil are the ones who hear

1571
01:27:41.760 --> 01:27:48.960
the word and accept it and bear fruit thirtyfold and

1572
01:27:49.000 --> 01:27:53.159
sixtyfold and one hundredfold. Look back at any length of

1573
01:27:53.159 --> 01:27:55.279
time in the past, maybe the past five years. Let's

1574
01:27:55.279 --> 01:27:59.079
give you plenty of time. What's your fruit? What's your

1575
01:27:59.079 --> 01:28:02.880
thirtyfold and sixtyfold and one hundredfold fruit? How many people

1576
01:28:02.880 --> 01:28:05.960
have we evangelized to? How many people have we talked

1577
01:28:05.960 --> 01:28:08.520
to about the gospel? How many people are you discipling

1578
01:28:08.600 --> 01:28:09.039
right now?

1579
01:28:12.399 --> 01:28:16.000
What is your Is that? What that's supposed to represent

1580
01:28:16.119 --> 01:28:17.960
is how many people you talk to or how many

1581
01:28:18.000 --> 01:28:21.439
people you evangelize, how many people you disciple? I don't

1582
01:28:21.439 --> 01:28:21.920
know about that.

1583
01:28:23.560 --> 01:28:25.720
Fruit? Is your heart?

1584
01:28:25.800 --> 01:28:26.359
Good soil?

1585
01:28:26.479 --> 01:28:28.439
Or is your heart one of these others? Do you

1586
01:28:28.520 --> 01:28:35.359
look like a Christian but you're not bearing fruit? Now

1587
01:28:35.399 --> 01:28:37.479
asking the question to be mean, I'm asking it because

1588
01:28:37.520 --> 01:28:40.439
I think it's really important that we search ourselves in

1589
01:28:40.680 --> 01:28:43.479
and really look for How are our hearts wicked and

1590
01:28:43.560 --> 01:28:46.359
leading us astray by making us believe that we're doing

1591
01:28:46.359 --> 01:28:46.880
the right thing.

1592
01:28:48.279 --> 01:28:50.840
How is our heart wicked? You said i'd get a

1593
01:28:50.880 --> 01:28:58.119
new heart. It's the never ending circle.

1594
01:29:00.119 --> 01:29:12.560
One of these other soil types. If you're recognizing wickedness

1595
01:29:12.560 --> 01:29:15.039
in your own heart now and seeing you're not one

1596
01:29:15.039 --> 01:29:17.520
of the good soil types, these these first three soil types,

1597
01:29:17.520 --> 01:29:20.560
they're not Christians. These are not people who are actually

1598
01:29:20.600 --> 01:29:22.119
seeking after Christ.

1599
01:29:22.439 --> 01:29:24.920
Okay, so now he's going with they're not Christians. But

1600
01:29:24.920 --> 01:29:31.800
he just said we can all be like this. So

1601
01:29:31.920 --> 01:29:33.800
now he's going with the idea, no no, no, no no no.

1602
01:29:34.159 --> 01:29:36.920
If you're a Christian, those three won't be like you.

1603
01:29:37.000 --> 01:29:39.600
But he just said that even he's like that sometimes,

1604
01:29:39.600 --> 01:29:43.600
so we can be like it, but not like it. No, no,

1605
01:29:44.159 --> 01:29:46.920
they're not Christians. So the first three then they're just

1606
01:29:47.319 --> 01:29:50.439
they're not Christians. Even though he made it sound like that,

1607
01:29:50.520 --> 01:29:51.079
it is.

1608
01:29:54.079 --> 01:29:56.159
These are people who have their heart has deceived them

1609
01:29:56.640 --> 01:29:59.119
and they're hearing the word. They're hearing it maybe regularly,

1610
01:30:00.359 --> 01:30:03.439
but they're not taking that word and doing something with it.

1611
01:30:05.680 --> 01:30:08.039
If this is you, I do earnestly pray that you

1612
01:30:08.520 --> 01:30:10.960
pray to God and ask him to change your heart,

1613
01:30:12.239 --> 01:30:14.720
to give you a good soil that seed will land

1614
01:30:14.760 --> 01:30:21.279
on and change your life. Jesus, thank you again for

1615
01:30:21.359 --> 01:30:22.479
this hard message for them.

1616
01:30:23.239 --> 01:30:25.239
And that's that's the message we made it to. So

1617
01:30:25.279 --> 01:30:27.119
he never really told us what the one I guess

1618
01:30:27.159 --> 01:30:29.720
what he is. I guess this is the one message,

1619
01:30:30.199 --> 01:30:32.079
the one point of the parable. Remember he said there

1620
01:30:32.119 --> 01:30:33.840
was one point. He never really gave us the one point.

1621
01:30:33.880 --> 01:30:37.720
He never really articulated it, gave it, summarized it, put

1622
01:30:37.760 --> 01:30:40.600
it in a like a thesis statement. Basically, what he

1623
01:30:40.680 --> 01:30:44.399
is saying is this parable. The point of this parable

1624
01:30:44.479 --> 01:30:48.520
is to prove who's saved. There are only one group

1625
01:30:48.560 --> 01:30:53.640
of people save with the right soil, they end and

1626
01:30:53.960 --> 01:30:55.680
the right soul minds you now you have a new heart.

1627
01:30:57.000 --> 01:30:59.079
Well again, if you have a new heart, then why

1628
01:30:59.119 --> 01:31:02.439
did he then art articulate that we struggle with these things?

1629
01:31:02.439 --> 01:31:04.119
Why are we struggling with them? If we have a

1630
01:31:04.159 --> 01:31:13.199
new heart. So I guess if we take it from

1631
01:31:13.239 --> 01:31:16.600
that perspective, the only people who the Word of God

1632
01:31:16.600 --> 01:31:20.359
will be of any value to are Christians, and they're

1633
01:31:20.359 --> 01:31:22.399
the ones who will receive the Word, and then we'll

1634
01:31:22.399 --> 01:31:27.159
produce you know, thirty sixty one hundredfold fruit and all

1635
01:31:27.199 --> 01:31:29.600
that other description. If that's you, you're not a Christian.

1636
01:31:33.600 --> 01:31:37.439
But then he articulated that that he even acknowledged that

1637
01:31:37.439 --> 01:31:41.319
that's I don't know, we're well over an hour and

1638
01:31:41.359 --> 01:31:48.840
thirty minutes now that So I guess if we took

1639
01:31:48.880 --> 01:31:51.119
this back to the article that's in the Study Bible,

1640
01:31:51.159 --> 01:31:53.199
then I guess the way that article should read is this,

1641
01:31:54.680 --> 01:31:56.439
forget the parable. I guess we're going to use the

1642
01:31:56.439 --> 01:31:59.520
parable the solers to demonstrate this. You cannot be an

1643
01:31:59.520 --> 01:32:02.800
effect your Bible student unless you're a Christian. And if

1644
01:32:02.800 --> 01:32:05.000
you're a Christian, you're going to be a perfect Bible student,

1645
01:32:05.199 --> 01:32:07.119
and the Word of God's going to be perfect and great,

1646
01:32:07.119 --> 01:32:11.039
and everything's going to be wonderful because the other soils

1647
01:32:11.079 --> 01:32:14.399
represent lost people. I guess you could go with that,

1648
01:32:15.079 --> 01:32:17.359
but then you can't then be a Christian and then

1649
01:32:17.439 --> 01:32:21.680
demonstrate any of those things mentioned where well, sometimes the

1650
01:32:21.680 --> 01:32:23.680
word just kind of bounces off of you. Satan takes it,

1651
01:32:23.720 --> 01:32:26.439
and sometimes things get choked out. None of you wouldn't

1652
01:32:26.439 --> 01:32:28.560
be able to relate to any of that, because none

1653
01:32:28.560 --> 01:32:30.199
of that is true of you as a Christian, even

1654
01:32:30.239 --> 01:32:33.039
though he made it sound like he related to it.

1655
01:32:33.159 --> 01:32:38.960
So I don't really know. There we go. It started

1656
01:32:39.000 --> 01:32:41.000
out so good. I was so much agreement. I just

1657
01:32:41.039 --> 01:32:43.039
wish you would have summarized I think, I guess so,

1658
01:32:43.279 --> 01:32:45.119
I guess I will have to offer the ones. The

1659
01:32:45.159 --> 01:32:48.800
one principle, according to him is there's only one group

1660
01:32:48.800 --> 01:32:51.239
of people who are saved, and that's the last soil,

1661
01:32:51.359 --> 01:32:53.840
every other soil. If that's your experience, you're not saved,

1662
01:32:53.880 --> 01:32:56.920
you're not a Christian. And once you become a Christian, boom,

1663
01:32:57.119 --> 01:32:58.680
you get a heart. You don't struggle with any of

1664
01:32:58.680 --> 01:33:06.079
that other stuff ever. Again, thanks for listening. Sorry it

1665
01:33:06.119 --> 01:33:09.640
took so long, but we had to. Well that's one

1666
01:33:09.680 --> 01:33:11.680
of those that we had to finish because they kept

1667
01:33:11.680 --> 01:33:13.680
telling us that there was one point, and we kept

1668
01:33:13.680 --> 01:33:16.039
waiting for the one point, and we never really got

1669
01:33:16.039 --> 01:33:18.399
the one point other than I guess the way I'm

1670
01:33:18.439 --> 01:33:20.319
summarizing it, But that's really not fair for me. To

1671
01:33:20.359 --> 01:33:24.199
summarize it, but because I don't know if that's the

1672
01:33:24.239 --> 01:33:26.479
point he wanted to get across. But that's where we

1673
01:33:26.600 --> 01:33:31.159
ultimately ended. All right, thanks for listening. Well, we'll keep

1674
01:33:31.199 --> 01:33:38.640
working on the parable. Yeah. I think I think I

1675
01:33:39.039 --> 01:33:42.359
know how to now rewrite the article that's in the

1676
01:33:42.359 --> 01:33:44.359
Study Bible because of now I think I know what

1677
01:33:44.399 --> 01:33:48.319
they're saying. So I think it would just be easier

1678
01:33:48.359 --> 01:33:51.600
to say salvation is a prerequisite. And now we could

1679
01:33:51.600 --> 01:33:54.039
get into if salvation is a prerequisite to be an

1680
01:33:54.039 --> 01:33:57.760
effectual Bible student, and then salvation somehow makes us ready

1681
01:33:57.760 --> 01:34:00.279
to study the Bible and understand it. Then I do

1682
01:34:00.399 --> 01:34:03.520
Christians never agree on it? And there's so many different interpretations,

1683
01:34:04.680 --> 01:34:07.199
And why is it that you can I guess I see,

1684
01:34:07.399 --> 01:34:09.560
if you're not careful, you'll just start throwing everyone out

1685
01:34:09.560 --> 01:34:12.760
of the Kingdom of God. That all right, I'll stop

1686
01:34:12.800 --> 01:34:15.159
right there. Everyone, have a great day, God bless