Sound Doctrine: The Scriptures

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 13. For all of our children in the worship center: those who take notes get a sticker at the end of the service, just come and see me and I would love to reward you with a sticker on your notes. I'm always amazed at the pages and pages of notes that the children take on their bulletins and in their Bibles during the message. Isn't it good to see our children learning here in worship? I love our family worship services, so thank you to our kiddos and thank you to our parents who have the value of worshiping together.

Matthew chapter 13 is a very well-known parable and I'd like to talk to you today about this subject: seeing. And I pose the question — can you see? Can you see? And so that is the question, and "seeing" is metaphoric for perceiving. So in Matthew chapter 13, before we read the text, I'd like to ask you not only can you see with your eyes, but can you see with your mind? And not only seeing with your eyes and your mind, but think about with me if you would the idea of seeing. How does the eye see? You might say, well, there's lenses, there's a retina, there's a brain that reflects the images, and I still would press them just a little bit deeper and say: how do these things actually see? Tell me, explain that to me. And I'll go ahead and say that mankind and all of our intellect combined truly cannot explain how the eye sees and how the mind perceives. We do not know how we understand. And so I would ask the question then: can a blind man see? Hmm. I would ask the question again: can a blind man be made to perceive? Do you see — the word "see" has a dual understanding. And if you could understand that, then you'll understand the parable today.

So the seeing eye is a mystery. When you think about how the eye sees and how we are able to comprehend, it's a mystery. The Scriptures have mysteries, and mysteries are truly impossibilities. Mysteries are impossibilities that, however, can only be understood through the enlightenment of the Lord Jesus Christ in His mysterious ways. And so Christ has the ability to open eyes so that we can see. This information I would want you to know that I extracted from Reverend Basil Manly. He pastored Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in 1849, and I appreciated reading his sermon and seeing what he had to say about the seeing eye.

Now as we go to the parable in Matthew chapter 13, I'll read to you — it's rather lengthy — but verses 1 through 23 are the verses that we'll read today, and I'll kind of explain things a little bit as we go. So bear with me. In Matthew chapter 13 verse 1 — I think, by the way, that He sent a big mail out to the entire Galilean community to get this crowd to come. I think that He rented a billboard. I think Jesus had some pragmatism here. Yeah, you're laughing — good. You get my humor here. A large crowd came to Jesus, and He did none of that. I don't know how the large crowd came to Jesus, but just look in verse 1 and 2 with me — they came.

Chapter 13 verse 1: "That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. A large crowd gathered to Him." Hmm. And so He got into His pulpit. Yeah, the boat was His pulpit that day. So He got into a boat and He sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. "And He spoke many things to them in parables." Now, parables — in their Hebraic mind, "mashal" is how you pronounce it in Hebrew — is a figure of speech. It's a figure of speech. And parables did this to people: they frustrated them, or they enlightened them. So parables did one of two things for the listeners: they made them consternated and frustrated and they walked away kind of thinking, "What did He even say that for?" Or they walked away saying, "Wow."

All right, verse 3 again: "And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, 'Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road.'" Okay, this is the first seed, and those seeds fell beside the road, "and the birds came and ate them up." The second seed, in verse 5: "Others fell on the rocky places where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away." And then in verse 7 you have the third seed: "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out." And then finally you have the fourth seed: "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." "He who has ears, let him hear." How many of you have ears? Yes, everybody has ears — hear this.

Verse 10: "And the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?' And Jesus answered them, 'To you it has been granted to know'" — the ability to know, to perceive, to see has been granted to some — "'to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.'" True insight, information that leads to salvation, is granted here. Okay, so Jesus answered them: "'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.'" Guys, verse 11 is undeniably predestinarian.

Ephesians 1:5 says, "He predestined us to the adoption of sons," and so the doctrine of predestination is very clear here in verse 11 — to some God has granted the understanding, and then to others it has not been granted. Then in verse 12: "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance." You're going to get to the point where you'll see many things multiplied. The end of verse 12 says, "But whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

In verse 13 and following: "Therefore I speak to them in parables because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled." You see Jesus saying right now: this is happening — what Isaiah spoke of is happening right now — "which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but you will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but you will not perceive. For the heart of these people has become dull; with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they would see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.'"

Verse 16: "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men" — this is interesting, guys, this is context here. All right, you've got prophets and righteous men — "desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it." "Hear then the parable of the sower." This is explained, which is rare.

Verse 19: "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom the seed was sown beside the road." That is beside the road where the hard soil is — that is the hard soil heart. A heart that is hard towards God, a heart that rejects God.

In verse 20: "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places — the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no firm root in himself but is only temporary. And when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." This is the shallow heart that responds fast, and as soon as life's circumstances get a little bit hot, a little bit heated — when persecution comes home, when a little bit of pushback comes in their life — they may have sprouted quickly and accepted, or made a profession to Christ quickly, and they look like a Christian, but the circumstances prove otherwise because they fall away.

And then in verse 22: "And the one on whom the seed was sown among the thorns" — so this is the thorny heart, or the distracted heart. "Among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." So this is the distracted heart that just simply loves the world way more than they love the Word of God. They love the things of the world more than they love Jesus Christ.

And then in verse 23: "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word" — and circle the word "and" — "he hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and brings forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for this passage. Thank You for this parable. I pray, Lord, that You would help us to understand it, help us to see, help us to hear as You have intended us to. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

Now, leading up to this passage of Scripture, Jesus is becoming clearer and clearer with His gospel message, and as He is becoming clearer and clearer, He is being rejected more and more. So the clearer the doctrine, the more you see rejection. The clearer the preaching, the more there is a clear-cut divide between what's right and wrong. So this parabolic story of the farmer and his broadcasting method of sowing seed in all directions by hand — may I add — illustrates the responses of the masses to the preaching of the gospel. And so you see that the broadcasting of seed illustrates the gospel going out to all the nations, to all of the Jews, all the Gentiles, all the nationalities. And yet there are responses that are recorded here in the Word of God. And may I say that most responses are superficial, according to the text.

A superficial response — so out of the responses, out of those who have responded to the gospel, you have a superficial response. The agrarian culture to whom Jesus was speaking fully understood that most of the seed that they broadcasted by hand would not sprout. Only a small percentage of the seed that this community would plant would actually grow, and they were okay with that. They knew that, and so they would buy a bag of seed fully knowing that only a small percentage of this bag of seed would actually take. They knew about this, and so they fully understood this parable. They knew that not all the seeds that were sown or planted would take root. So we see superficial responses here in the text appear as if they are true disciples.

Now Jesus had previously clarified that there are only two categories. Turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter 7 — I want you to see how Jesus establishes two categories of people. There are only two responses to the gospel. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13, it talks about the narrow gate, and we know this, but I want to read it to you so that you see it really clearly, because obviously the truth that Jesus has been preaching is building and becoming clearer and clearer. In verse 13 of Matthew chapter 7: "Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit." Well, He's really going to a long extent here to clarify the two categories. Verse 19: "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." That's problematic — that's speaking of eternal destination there. And in verse 20: "So then you will know them by their fruits." "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'" You see the religious crowd here. I mean, of the responses that actually respond to the gospel — out of those responses, there are few who find it — the road is really narrow.

And in verse 23: "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you doers of iniquity'" — or those who practice lawlessness. Now in verse 24: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And then the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and it slammed against the house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house in the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against the house, and it fell, and great was its fall." "When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching."

Now here you are able to see that there's a wise man and the foolish man, and you're able to see even within what we would call church — you have false prophets and religious people who responded to the gospel, but they're part of what Jesus would clarify, as in the parable of the sower and the seeds: many responses are not genuine. Now if you fast forward with me to chapter 10 verse 32, the case is built even more. Chapter 10 and verse 32, again, I just want you to see that there are two categories of people, two categories of responses. Chapter 10 verse 32 in Matthew: "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven." Verse 33: "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before the Father in heaven." You see the two categories are real clear right there.

In verse 34: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth." Folks, hold on just from there — is it the pastor's job to keep everything in harmony? Or is it the pastor's job to preach the Word of God? Amen. And what does the Word of God do? It divides the sheep from the goats. It separates what's right from wrong. It clarifies. And if you preach the Word of God, it will help people to understand exactly where they're at. Shallow preaching allows shallow people to see that they are shallow, and shallow people, according to the text, do not go to heaven. And so in fact the most loving thing that you could possibly do is to dive deep doctrinally, to dive deep into the text, and to clarify — and in love and with compassion, plead for people to be reconciled unto God, and to show them where they actually are at. Shallow preaching lulls people to sleep, and as they are spiritually asleep, thinking that they are good, they go where they do not think they are going.

In verse 34: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set" — and this is a hard teaching right here, guys, I told you it gets more and more intense — "I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother." How hard would it be to be in opposition to your mother who raised you, spiritually? "And a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his own household." Because of this verse, I often say that our church family is closer and more united even than our own family members. We have more joy and more fellowship amongst ourselves because of the fellowship that is a byproduct of Jesus Christ, and for those in our family who are not saved, they do not have the depth of fellowship — koinonia — that we enjoy.

And so "a man's enemies will be the members of his own household." In verse 37: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." And so if you're going to keep the peace between your family and not be clear about Jesus Christ, the Bible is saying here that you are not worthy of Him. You're not standing up for the gospel. And so it is our obligation to clarify truth for people. It is the most loving thing that you could possibly do — to share truth with your family and friends. "He who loves father or mother more than Me" is basically saying: if you love your parents more than Jesus, then you're not worthy of Jesus. "And he who loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

I have had this old line thrown at me over and over and over through the years from parents who say, "Well, I'm just going to let my child figure out their own way. We're not going to try and force religion on them. We're not going to try and lead them to one direction or the other — the mom's Catholic and the mother's Methodist." Whatever the case might have been, as they grow up, now neither one of them are anything. It's your job to show your children the truth. Read Deuteronomy chapter 6. It's your job. That's what you've been qualified as a godly parent to do: to lead them to Christ and show them the way, the truth, and the life, and clarify for them what is right and what is wrong.

And so "he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." And he who does not take his cross — Christ here is saying that what He is saying is difficult. He is saying that you have to take up your cross. A painful, torturous path — that is hard conversations, difficult conversations to be had about sin — but that leads to the necessity of a Savior. You see how in the end the end result is good, but if you avoid what is hard, then you never get to what is truly good, which is Christ. "He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."

"And he who has found his life will lose it." There are many who would say to themselves, "I got a good life, I don't want to put anything in jeopardy. I got harmony between all of the family right now, and that's more important to me than clarifying who Jesus is." Or, "I got a good job now, I don't want to ruffle the feathers, I don't want to risk getting fired." You see how it really gets clarified here. What does it mean to take up your cross, except that you are willing to be crucified for the sake of Jesus Christ? And you will have a heap amount of treasure in heaven if you suffer any type of persecution here on earth, like losing your job, or like becoming at odds with a dear family member because of the name of Jesus.

If you take up your cross and truly — through pain and through tears and through pleading — do all that you possibly can to clarify, I don't care how many dinners you've got to pay for to try and just get some time, I don't care how many phone calls you've got to make and be denied, I don't care how many emails get rejected, I don't care how many years of prayer go by — it's worth it to be a true Christian and to follow Christ. But if you think, "Oh, my life is good and I want to protect it," you're going to actually lose it. The Bible says in verse 39: "He who has found his life" — if this is your best life now, then go to Joel Osteen's church. This is not your best life — those who are Christians — "and so he who has found his life will actually lose it, and he who has lost his life for My name's sake will find it." That is where life more abundant and free is — heading towards eternity with Christ, and you get both here. So it's wonderful.

Now, back to Matthew chapter 13. Turn the page here, get back to the parable.

Here we see that there's a comparison. You have two different reactions: hard, shallow, and distracted, versus a receptive heart. And in this passage, some seeds will sprout and become plants, but those plants, even though they are plants, may just look like they are true gospel seeds that have responded, but in fact they may not be. And so even though some plants look okay, it's the fruit that they bear that matters. The fruit of a plant will tell you what that plant really is. There are some weeds and there are some tares that really are close to a fruit-bearing plant, especially when it comes to wheat — it's very minute differences. And even though people see this dual train of thought — right and wrong, receptive or not receptive — even though some people look okay, it's the fruit that they bear that counts.

Matthew 7:16 says, "You will know them by their fruit." And so it's not the profession that they make, it's actually the production that they're producing. It's not the profession that they have made early in life, it's the perseverance of the saints that matters. And so if you're tracking with me, I think you're probably understanding this parable well. But let's see if you have perceived this parable correctly and ask you again: are you able to see? Are you able to understand?

So — parables, a little bit more — parables have a two-pronged purpose: to reveal or conceal. Parables are going to enlighten or they're going to frighten. All right, they're going to reveal or conceal truth about Jesus Christ to you. And so a parable — it means a placing of side by side for the purpose of comparing. There's a division here, and a parable is placing two truths side by side so that you can compare. And therefore, comparing — generally, parables are lengthy, they're in a narrative form, and they're proverbial. They're stories that generally are from nature or from circumstances, and you see that is true as we've read this passage already.

And then, after this passage, in Matthew chapter 15 verse 10, Peter asked Jesus to explain the parable to them, and Jesus said, "Are you dull and not understanding yet?" Read that with me if you would in Matthew 15:10. Peter said to Him, "Explain the parable to us." And Jesus' response: "Are you still lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart." You see — coming out of the mouth, that is almost like bearing fruit. What you are producing — that is what defiles a man.

And in verse 19: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, and murders and adulteries and fornications and thefts and false witnesses, slanders. These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the districts of Tyre and Sidon. And so again — another parable, Peter saying, "Explain this to us," and I think Jesus was like, "Peter, you should know this by now." And then He went away from there. So He didn't take great pains to explain, but He just simply said, "You should hear and understand."

So hearing a parable does not mean that you understand what the parable is saying. So those who hear and perceive the analogy — there are two comparisons going on, and if you get the comparison, then you understand what the parable is all about. You actually hear and you perceive. So spiritual understanding is both — it's both hearing and perceiving. Comprehending a parable means that you are able to have a dual train of thought. It's almost like you're speaking in cryptic language, and then at the end of that parable or that story you're saying to them: "You get what I'm laying down? You hear what I'm saying?" You're saying it in one way, but there's a deeper truth to it. So there's a bigger and a deeper lesson being described — a story. The illustration, or the parable, it may be fictitious in itself, but it is telling you some real truth about the Scriptures. Maybe a fictitious story, but it reveals the facts from the Scripture.

So, do you hear and understand? Do you hear? Let me explain the parable again to you. So there are four kinds of soil. The first one lands by the road — it's a hard heart and it rejects the Word of God. The second is the rocky soil, which is a shallow heart that reacted but it wasn't real. And then the next seed was among the thorns — that's a distracted heart, because it's getting choked out by the worries of the world. And then the fourth soil is the good soil, the receptive heart. And the text says: hear and understand, then it produces either a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or a thirtyfold. And we see one out of four actually makes it through the gate — the narrow gate. Everyone else goes through the broad gate. Matthew 7:14: "For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:24: "Everyone who hears and acts is wise." Matthew 7:26: we read it already — "Everyone who hears and does not act is foolish." And then the psalmist said it best when he said the fool says in his heart that there is no God, and he said that in Psalm 14:1.

And so he who has an ear, let him hear. Let him yield to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him subject his heart and his mind to Jesus to see what is truly true. So hearing — this is comprehending. Hearing is ascertaining, it's perceiving. Jesus said to Peter after stating the parable, "Are you still lacking in understanding?" So the parable was taught, and then the question was: do you still lack understanding? Notice the meaning of parables are mysterious. In verse 11, Matthew chapter 13 verse 11 assigns this word "mysterious" — "Jesus answered them, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.'" And then these mysteries — the secrets — are then granted by God for you to understand. And so if you understand what this parable is saying, God gave you that understanding.

We started the message talking about seeing and perceiving and understanding. It's hardly comprehensible how the eye sees and how the mind understands — you can't even describe it, hardly. But it is Jesus who enlightens the mind and gives you the ability to understand. So those who fully hear, or fully see — that's being said. And of this large crowd, which the verse the parable starts off with, in verse 2, Jesus spoke in a parable and He knew that some would see and some would not see. And so "seeing" means to discern, to perceive, to discover — and metaphorically, the Jews would understand the word "seeing" as seeing with the mind's eye, as if your mind had the ability to see.

So notice how many times "seeing" and "perceiving with the eye" is mentioned in verses 13 through 16: "Therefore I speak to them in parables: while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but you will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but you will not perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it." Well over ten times seeing is being mentioned here, and so those who fully see fully perceive what Jesus is saying.

Now in the book of Revelation, chapter 3 is where it really talks about this in terms where circumstances are heated up. In Revelation 2:29 it says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." And then in chapter 3 verse 6: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." And then in chapter 3 verse 13: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." And then in verse 20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me." So you have to hear His voice here in order to be able to understand.

Now in chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, in verses 13 through 19, I want you to listen to this: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the angel" — or the pastor — "of the church in Laodicea, write: 'The Amen, the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, says this: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments.'" See how metaphorical this is — this is beautiful. "'And garments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.'" Interesting. And in case you're confused about verse 20, verse 19 clarifies: "'Those whom I love I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.'"

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me." Jesus is on the outside of His own church. This is a passage on church discipline, and they don't see it. They're stuck in their sin and they love the world, and they're in the church — they're in the religious activity of what we call church, coming and singing and listening and serving and all of that. These folks, by and large, it looks to me as if they are not genuine believers. It's sad to say, but it looks to me like they would fall underneath one of the first three seeds and that their heart has not truly repented and been united with Christ.

And so of the masses Jesus spoke to, only a fraction truly understood what He was saying. What about today? What about today, of the masses? So that was the "then," right — Jesus spoke to the crowds and only a few understood. What about today? Do you think that things have changed? Do you think, by and large, America is a Christian country?

Do you think that this world is experiencing revival, and do you think revival is sweeping through Africa? Folks, it's the NAR that's sweeping through Africa — the New Apostolic Reformation. It is getting a false gospel. The false gospel and many false prophets are alive and well today. And through history you will have certain epochs or times where more people respond well to the gospel and more people do not respond to the gospel. You could simply look to the flood to see that at that time it was only Noah and his family who responded well to the gospel, and the masses did not.

I want to encourage you from Colossians chapter 2 as we start to wrap up. Colossians 2:8 says, "See to it." Okay — the responsibility now lies with you to see clearly, that you are not deceived. And the reason why I passionately bring this up is because there is more on TV that is false than is true, and there are more pastors and preachers that I see and listen to that are not preaching a true gospel — at the very least, not preaching the full counsel of God. And this is actually scary.

And so in Colossians 2:8 it says, "See" — okay, perceive — "it's your job to see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men." And this tradition of men could be the regular routine of your life — whatever routine, whatever religious activity. It could be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. You can actually grow up in church, especially in the churches today, and think you are a Christian and adopt the characteristics, and you can talk the Christianese and you can say the right things and you can look like the real thing. But I'm telling you, the fruit is where it's at. If you are not making disciples, if you are not making Christians, if you are not producing and making Christians — if you cannot see this text in what it says, that true Christians produce thirty, sixty, a hundredfold — if you are not actively working to spread the gospel, then there's a really good chance that maybe you have not truly been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.

By way of admonishment, by way of warning, by way of concern — and I say to us all — we need to be right here at the feet of the Scriptures, analyzing ourselves and examining ourselves. Not only for ourselves, but also for our families and for everyone. If we give folks a false sense of security and say to them, "Oh, no, you're good, you go to church," or "Oh, no, no, you're good, you're a member" — I don't even care if you've got your plot ready, that stuff doesn't matter. What Jesus makes the point to matter is the fruit of the believer, and it's narrow.

And there are all kinds of things that will take you and distract you. Look at this verse again: "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy" — there's a lot of different philosophies — "and empty deceptions" — there's a lot of different deceptions — "but there's only one gospel, according to the tradition of men and according to the elementary principles of the world." There are a lot of basic principles of the world that can take you away from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, "rather than according to Christ." And so it's Christ, and Christ alone.

Notice in verse 2 of Colossians chapter 2 again what the mystery is. We talked about the parable and that this parable is a mystery. What is the mystery? What is the mystery that is being exposed to the people? Why does Jesus bring up the parable of the sower and the seeds and that we're broadcasting the gospel everywhere and that true seeds produce fruit? The mystery — what does it lead to? That true believers produce the fruit that we see in the Bible. But here in Colossians 2:2 it says, "That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance and understanding" — they get it — "resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery." What is the mystery?

That is Christ Himself. When you are able to obtain the mystery, when that secret is revealed to you, it is God who has granted that to you, and you are able to truly perceive. You're able to see. You can be saved.

And now He says, "He who has an ear, let him hear." And everybody has ears, so listen. Listen to the gospel message. The gospel message is that sin entered and corrupted everything — not just some, but all. All of our will, all of our perception and our mind, all of the world — even the world is groaning from the curse. The curse corrupted everything. It left nothing uncorrupted. It's kind of like if you put poison into a cup — it's all corrupted, right? Just a drop of poison, just a drop of the curse in the cup, and it's all poisonous now. And so we're all corrupted. When sin corrupted the posterity through Adam, we are all now corrupted. And now Jesus, knowing this, paid the price for the corruption, for the sin, removing the sin for those who would repent and believe.

And so if you truly understand the cross, it is the fact that Jesus is putting Himself as a substitute for you. And when you recognize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, you cry out to Him, and you cry out to be reconciled to Him. "He who has an ear, let him hear." Respond to the Lord. In John 10:27, the Bible says, "My sheep hear My voice."

Jesus has His gospel seeds being broadcasted, and those who hear the true gospel — He knows them, and then they follow Him. They don't say to themselves, "I'm so glad Jesus died for my sin, now I can go live the life that I want to live, because I'm good — I've got fire insurance." They don't say to themselves, "How convenient for me that Christ paid for all of my sin — I'm good now, I can go and do what I want to do." No. "I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life." "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand."

Folks, this is not a verse on hearing some mystical spiritual voice in your head and then going and doing something that Jesus told you to do at the last moment. That's not what this verse is saying. This verse is salvific — it is about salvation. And so don't spiritualize your life, and don't tell people that God told you, because God has spoken — past tense, started, done — and what He says is true. And we follow Christ based upon His principles, that which He has already done, which He's already said.

And so He gives them eternal life. In context: "My sheep hear My voice." And I'm saying to us today, I don't want you to miss heaven because of having a hard heart, a shallow heart, or a non-receptive heart. In fact, Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." And Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest." And Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, "He who is not with Me is against Me."

And so now — this parable, by the way, in chapter 13, is just a string of parables. And the string of parables is very simple: it's a sower and a seed, and then you have the tares and the wheat, and then you have hidden treasure, a costly pearl, and then a dragnet for fishing. After these things, He follows up — in chapter 13 verse 53: "When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there." And so He gives parables, throws out the truth, and he who's going to hear is going to hear, and he who's not going to hear is not going to hear, and He leaves. He's done.

So overall, this view of Jesus's ministry is this: His teachings are rejected more and more as He gets clearer and clearer and closer to the cross. And so these parables may be cryptic, but at the same time they are crystal clear for those who will hear. And Jesus had compassion on the crowds — in Matthew 15:32 He said, "I feel compassion." And so in this passage we see that the word is proclaimed, it's broadcasted out there, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And the Word causes divisions — people hear or reject it. And we also see that enthusiasm for Christianity doesn't always mean that there's genuine faith there. We also see that true believers are revealed over time through perseverance of the faith, and they produce fruit. And that believers produce believers. But the main point is this: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Now if you have never been saved, I say to you with a genuine heart that if you confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He died and rose again for your sins, you can be saved, according to the Scriptures. But in our culture, that has been cheapened. That has been cheapened to a sinner's prayer — just say something to be saved. But I want you to know that in context, that is no cheap thing. There was what you call the cult of Caesar in this time. And if the Roman soldier showed up at your house and they drew the sword and put it at your heart, you would say "Caesar is Lord," and they would not kill you. But if you said "Jesus is Lord," you might not live.

And so within this Roman culture, you have people whom Paul is saying: confess Jesus as Lord, not in a cheap way, but as if your life could be ended if you said it. Confess Jesus is Lord. Not Caesar, not this world. The Lord — the world is not my master, money is not my master, I'm not a slave to anybody but Christ, and Christ alone. He has bought me. Jesus is Lord.

And so if you've never confessed, if you've never repented, if you've never been saved, I plead with you today to be reconciled with Christ — not in a cheap way, but in a sincere way. Pray with me if you would. Father, thank You for today. Thank You for this parable. Thank You for the time that You took to explain this parable, which You did not do always. Thank You for the fact that we can perceive and see because You have granted us the ability to see Your truth, dear God. And I pray if there's anyone here that has never cried out to You and been saved, that they would be saved, that they would be reconciled to You, that they would embrace the sorrowfulness of the sin that has been committed in their life against You, and that they would repent of their sin, dear God, and that they would cry out to You and be saved. Father, I pray that Your Holy Spirit would continue to draw souls to salvation here at this dear church. May many souls be baptized, may many souls belong to this dear church and become members, and may many souls develop the ability to be able to study Your Word and know it, and then to make disciples. Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.