 Luke chapter 8 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 3 Luke writes it came to pass afterward that he went through every city and village preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the twelve were with him and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene out of whom had come seven demons and Joanna the wife of Cousa, Herod Steward and Susanna and many others who provided for him from their substance. So what we have here as we begin in chapter 8 very simply is that Jesus is in the region of Galilee and he's moving now from place to place from from city to village from village to city and he's proclaiming his message the message of the gospel which has been described as a message of love and of grace. Now that's his purpose that's what he's been called to do that's his passion that's what he was intended to do he had already said in chapter 4 verse 43 I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent. So the Lord Jesus Christ is going from city to village preaching the kingdom of God and ministering. Now as he does so notice with me Luke points out that the twelve were with him that simply points out the fact that the twelve are now following him full-time and he's continuing mentoring these men in ministry as they are following him but it's not just the twelve who are with him he also mentions in verse 2 here that there were certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities and he names some of these women and so he begins to speak concerning the women who are following him. These are women who are following him throughout his ministry some of these women actually followed Jesus Christ throughout his ministry up to his crucifixion and into the time of his resurrection and Luke speaks concerning them because they are women he says who have been healed healed of evil spirits as well as sicknesses. Now when you study the gospel of Luke you might find this interesting in Luke's gospel he uniquely elevates the status of women. He of all the gospel writers makes most reference to women and the way that they love Jesus Christ. He speaks concerning Mary the mother of Jesus in a very precious way and we saw that already. We see that he made mention of Elizabeth. He spoke of the prophetess by the name of Anna. He speaks of Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha. He gave to us insight concerning the widow of Nain and he also spoke in a tender way concerning that unnamed sinner that we saw in chapter 7. So this is a man who took time to give to us insight into how the Lord Jesus Christ would minister to women. Here he speaks of Mary Magdalene, he speaks of Joanna and Susanna. These are all mentioned by Nain. Now as you look at them briefly I'll note with you here that in verse 3 Joanna is referred to as being the wife of Kuzah, a steward of Herod. That simply means he was a household manager. This would tell us that she was more than likely one of the sources of Luke's gospel because only Luke mentions Jesus when he was before Herod as is recorded in chapter 23. She's also present at the tomb when they found the stone to be rolled away. A second person is mentioned here is Susanna. She's mentioned here and only here in the Bible. She's one of those anonymous saints who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, had her name mentioned but nothing much is said about her other than the fact that she supported him financially. You also have unnamed women, other women who were there, but you also have a woman by the name of Mary Magdalene. Now we have a brother in our fellowship who's from England and he told me, you know the way you pronounce her name Mary Magdalene, he said in England we don't call her Mary Magdalene, we call her Mary Madeleine. Now I don't know what her name really is because her name Magdalene or Madeleine if you will, is really taken in from the city that she was from. She was from a village called Magdala and that particular village is on the western coast of the sea of Galilee. We've gone by the ruins numerous times and I think that of all the women that we study in Scripture, Mary has gotten a pretty raw deal to be honest with you because even as I was growing up I was told that Mary Magdalene was actually a prostitute. Now the reason that some believe that she was a prostitute is two-fold. One is because she was from Magdala. Magdala was a city that didn't have a high reputation during the time of Christ. It was known for sexual promiscuity. But secondly, note with me, she was a woman out of whom had come seven demons and so because she was demon-possessed there are those commentators over the centuries who have said that this is a woman who more than likely had unclean spirits that drove her into sexually impure acts and the problem with that is it's not found in Scripture. That is an assumption that people have made concerning her and perhaps have given to her a bad deal. She really hasn't spoken of in that way. What we do know about her is she loved the Lord Jesus Christ. That's something we know about her for sure, for certain. She loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all of her heart. We know that she was delivered of these seven demons and that caused her to love him very deeply. We know that as we study Scripture that she saw him crucified. We know that Mary saw where his body had been entombed. We also can study the Bible and find that she came early Sunday morning to anoint his body and she was the first person that Jesus appeared to after his resurrection and John gives us a tremendously tender picture a portrait of her in his gospel. If you'd like to turn there for a moment with me, John chapter 20, I want to show you something concerning Mary called the Madeleine. In John chapter 20 verses 11 through 15 this is that Easter Sunday morning where Jesus Christ has been resurrected and according to John chapter 20 beginning at verse 11 the Bible says Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting one on the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain and then they said to her woman why are you weeping she said to them because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him now when she said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her woman why are you weeping whom are you seeking now notice this she's opposing him to be the gardener said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Now that may not speak much to you at the moment but you have to consider the fact that she was a small woman there she is weeping in the dark because she doesn't know where the body of Jesus Christ is and the only thing that she has on her mind is I have to locate him and I'm willing to do anything that is necessary to be able to once again have his body with me she's not believing at the moment in the resurrection by the way she thinks that he's been taken away that his body has been moved but the thing about her that I think is really touching beyond the fact that that she's there blinded by her tears weeping and all is the fact that she says to the Lord Jesus Christ if you've carried him away tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away this little woman is saying I am willing to do anything I can to pick this body this body of a dead man up place him on my back and carry him out of this place just so that I can secure his body now that would take an awful lot of strength beyond a few other things I mean some of us as parents or grandparents when our our kids or grandkids are asleep and they're laying down on a bed or on the floor and we want to pick them up and carry them out perhaps their mom and dad are leaving and we're gonna you know help them get into the car those little bodies even though the only way 40 or 50 pounds are kind of tough to pick up they're kind of heavy and awkward well this woman is saying listen I'm going I'm willing to pick up the body of a dead man a man who probably weighed anywhere from 160 to 180 pounds at least I'm willing to pick up the body of this dead man put him on my own back and carry him out of this place all you have to do is show me where he is and so this is a tender loving woman who is absolutely absolutely in love with Jesus Christ and so as you turn on back to Luke chapter 8 those are the kinds of people who follow him apostles who are following him who gave up everything in their life in order that they might pursue him and women these women who had been delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ you see Jesus had delivered her from her tormented life and as a result of that out of her gratefulness and love for him she was willing to do anything for him and according to verse 3 it simply says again Joana the wife of Cusa, Herod Stewart, Susanna, and many others who provided for him from their substance she was also willing along with others to supply him of her possessions that word substance speaks of goods wealth or property these are people who were supporting Jesus Christ out of their finances in other words he was supported by those whom he had touched and by those who loved him and I've discovered something you know so many times you'll see these Christian telethons and you'll see these these these ways to get finances where churches will do almost anything to get people to give money I've discovered something when you fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ you give to him that's just the way it is when you're in love with the Lord you give to him and you don't have to be prompted to do that I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago that we have an opportunity to help purchase a house in the Philippines to do ministry I mentioned that to you and I said if you want to give towards that we need to come up with $27,000 I mentioned that I think it was two Wednesdays ago and do you want to know something we have the money now $27,000 so that we can put it down and and we didn't have to beg for it we didn't we didn't have to do that we didn't have to stand up and say you know I know that there are 50 people here with $500 we didn't have to do that all we needed to do was say listen you see the need and if the Lord places it on your heart bless God go for it and that's how it works when the Holy Spirit works in people's hearts they become generous to the Lord Jesus Christ and that's that's just Christianity you know the Bible tells us in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich Jesus Christ he knew the splendors of heaven left those so that he might come to us dwell amongst us and live in an impoverished state cared for by those who loved him enough to support him that's how it worked and as a result of that we who have embraced him have spiritually been enriched by him we have been made rich in Jesus Christ that we might serve him and serve serve our father our God and that's how it works and so these people provided for him from their substance now moving on he begins to give a couple of parables we're only going to be looking at verses 4 through 15 so we'll look today at the parable of the soils now in verse 4 it says when a great multitude had gathered and others had come to him from every city he spoke by a parable a sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trampled down and the birds of the air devoured it some fell on rock and as soon as it sprang up it withered away because it lacked moisture some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it but others fell on good ground to sprang up and yielded a crop a hundred full when he had said these things he cried he who has ears to hear let him hear then his disciples asked him saying what does this parable mean and he said to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of god but to the rest it is given in parables that seeing they may see and hearing they may not understand now the parable is this the seed is the word of god those by the wayside are the ones who hear then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved but the ones on the rock are those who when they hear receive the word with joy and these have no root who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away and the ones that fell among thorns are those who when they have heard go out and are choked with cares riches and pleasures of life and bring no fruit to maturity but the ones that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the word with noble and good heart keep it and bear fruit with patience and so the Lord Jesus Christ is beginning once again to teach with parables now why would he teach with parables well one they're interesting two they're easy to remember and three they're easy to apply and and as he would teach these parables they had a two-fold reason for being given one is they would conceal from those who were not interested or hungry because these were lazy listeners who lived in unbelief and therefore wouldn't pursue him once he said something that was difficult to understand there are people like that you know when you're when you go to church and you hear a bible study if it's not real easy to understand they lose interest immediately well parables would do that you actually had to invest some time and understanding you had to pursue the meaning of it and so one it would conceal but secondly it would reveal because truth would be revealed to those who were hungry for the kingdom of God the bible says blessed are those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness they're going to be filled so when you have a hunger and a thirst after the things of God if you seek him you shall find him after that you have sought for him with your whole heart and so when you're listening to the parable or the teaching there are some who would listen and say i don't i don't get it and i'm really not interested there were others who would listen and say i can see and i have insight into what is being said here and so jesus would speak with parables as he speaks here he speaks concerning a sore it says in verse five a sore went out to sow his seed and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trampled down and the birds of the air devoured it and so this is a picture of a man who was walking with a bag of seed that slung over his shoulder and he's moving through a field and as he does so he's beginning to spread the seed and as he's spreading the seed out some has fallen on what is called the wayside the wayside is that hardened path that borders the field it's been hardened by foot traffic all of us who've been around fields will see that you've seen that before there if there it's the it's the ground that that might have been plowed up but if you keep walking over it it just hardens and that's called the wayside in verse six some fell on rock now the rock that it falls on is what you call bedrock it's an underlying bedrock that's covered with a shallow blanket of dirt it's deeper it's deeper than a plow could reach but it didn't have a depth to it so the seed would germinate quickly the roots could not penetrate the rock and they ended up springing above ground faster than normal and and as they're growing they look healthy but because they don't have a mature root system they ultimately wither and die in verse seven he says some fell among thorns the thorns that he's speaking about are the thistle-bearing weeds that choke out good seed weeds take up space they take up moisture they take nourishment and sunlight from the healthy plants and then he goes on he says some fell on good ground and it sprang up and it yielded a crop a hundred fold so the ground that he speaks of the fourth ground is fertile it's receptive it's able to produce and it produces not just an average harvest you see during that time a good crop would be a ratio of eight to one this speaks about a hundred fold kind of crop so it speaks concerning a spectacular harvest and as he says that finally in verse eight he says he who has ears to hear let him hear if you have an ability to hear then you ought to listen listen closely because if you desire to understand you will understand if you have a hunger to know you will discover so he who has ears to hear let him hear now as he speaks in verse nine his disciples ask him saying what does this parable mean can you give to us an explanation we would like to know exactly what it is that you're trying to communicate and that's why in verse 10 he says to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of god but to the rest it is given in parables that seen they may not see hearing they may not understand now i want to develop this for just a moment notice how he says to you it has been given that word given there to you has been granted you have been given or granted the ability to see things concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of god when paul was writing to the Corinthians in first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 he said the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned the natural man receive it not the things of the spirit of god the natural man in scripture is the individual who hasn't been born again when you're born you are not born again you're born simply in a natural way and so as a natural person without the spirit of god in dwelling you you'll hear truth you'll hear the bible as the bible is preached you'll hear the gospel as it is presented and as you listen to it some of it may make some sense and some of it may not but you're not necessarily embracing it it's not something that you're living by it's something that you're hearing a natural man when he hears that gospel message doesn't receive the things of the spirit of god that word received speaks of welcoming it's a picture of somebody standing at a door knocking at the door and somebody on the inside of the house refusing to allow them entrance so you know someone standing there you've got the little people they're knocking on the door and you're looking through the people and you're telling your wife be quiet don't they you know they're they don't know we're here be quiet and he's standing there and that person keeps knocking on the door well the natural man is on the inside Jesus Christ his truth the message of the gospel is on the outside knocking on the door of the heart if you will but the natural man doesn't want to welcome the truth in the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god they're not hungry for them they don't desire them it's boring doesn't make any sense i don't want anything to do with it this is something that other people may believe but frankly i don't so the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god why they're foolishness to him that word foolish is where we get the word moronic or imbecilic they may it makes absolutely no sense are you telling me that there was a man who two thousand years ago you say walked the face of the earth was god in the flesh died on a cross was buried three days later was resurrected from the dead that he was seen by many witnesses for 40 days ascended into heaven sent a holy spirit to end while those who believe him and and these people went throughout the earth promoting this message called the gospel are you telling me that you really believe that that you really believe that there was a god man in someone named Jesus Christ the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness to him so he says that doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever i don't believe in that and that's what the scripture says you see it's because these things are spiritually discerned because it takes a holy spirit take to take the word of god and to cause us to be convicted so that we by faith will embrace that message and be transformed and so when Jesus is speaking here he says to you it has been granted to you it has been given these things god has made possible for you you see if god were not to reveal himself to us we would never be able to know him if god were not revealing himself to us there's no way in the world that we would have a chance to know this god who is so incredible so beyond any thought that we could ever have any imagination that we that we might possess he is so beyond anything there's just no way that he could communicate to us in such a way that that we would understand unless he did something spectacular to cause us to be able to hear and understand him you know having raised four children and now enjoying being a grandfather to my Josiah my he'll be four years old next month i'm finding that out to be true because Josiah is at this age right now where he's asking a lot of questions he's asking a lot of how comes how come how come this and how come that i mean i hear this all the time i was walking with him today and he will he will do that papa how come when you throw the ice on the ground how come the ice melts how come and i'll say because honey it evaporates evaporates what is evaporate and i'll say good question i don't know ask your grandma i mean you know so he's asking questions constantly how come how come how come why why why you know and and there are words you and i use that are natural for us the word evaporate we understand try and explain that to a three-year-old and and now magnify it infinitely god's mind being communicated to us how can we know the mind of god unless he reveals his mind to us how could i know him unless he reveals himself to me he truly is a god who hides himself and unless he reveals himself somehow there's no way that we by searching can find him out it doesn't work that way the bible tells us in isaac 558 and 9 my thoughts are not your thoughts nor your ways my ways sayeth the lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways my thoughts than your thoughts and so how can we know these things unless you tell us we need you to tell us these things so jesus does in verse 11 the parable is this the seed is the word of god so he gives now four responses to god's word the seed is the word of god now in matthew 1337 matthew identifies the sower as jesus so the sower being jesus the word of god is his message by application through history it would also be those of us who sow his word into the world but as he's given us this illustration here the seed is the word of god jesus is the sower and so he goes on and says in verse 12 those by the wayside are the ones who hear then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved matthew 1319 adds the words and does not understand so it'd be those by the wayside are those who hear and do not understand this person that has spoken of as being on the wayside it's the seed the seed is fine the seed is good it's a good seed but the person is callous is hardened by life their life is hardened like that wayside it has been hardened by all kinds of things they are callous and he says and the devil comes and takes away well how does he do this how does the enemy work in that way how do how do people remain callous and not responsive to the message of the gospel there are a variety of ways that the enemy works the enemy can can can use stereotypes stereotypical christians there are times that you might be sharing with somebody your faith in christ and you're sharing how the lord has transformed your life and and somebody may say to you on wait a minute are you saying you're born again yes that's exactly what i'm saying i'm a born again believer you're born again listen i've known a lot of people call themselves born again and all they want and then they start telling you the things that they've heard about born again christians and they've been hardened by that sometimes the enemy might work in a in a simple way like a distraction where where the word is being preached and and somebody sitting next to you is fidgeting and upset or bothered or ready to go and he can use those as distractions and sometimes he can use your pride because in order to come to christ you actually have to humble yourself sometimes he can use a religious belief that you have perhaps you were raised in a certain way and and you say um i really don't need what you have to offer because my religions just fine with me you hear the message and you might even bear witness to it but you say no my my religions fine with me i had a friend of mine his name is rich we were in the military together and uh and i was sharing with him concerning the gospel and all and and i'll never forget what rich told me he said listen david he said my mom raised me in my religion and um and i just cannot believe that my mother would lie to me and he said are you telling me that you think your mom had you know can give you perfect information that your mom could not have been mistaken he said my mom could not have been mistaken when it relates to eternity in heaven and how to get there and and i was very close friends with him for the the year and a half or so that we knew one another and in all of that time rich would not listen to me as i shared the gospel with him and and i loved him he was called big rich he's he's a he's a big guy and and he told me my name is big rich and therefore i called him big rich because he told me to but he was uh he was a good friend of mine and and all and and and i would try to witness to him and i did so for the the time that i knew him the time that we were roommates and i can still remember i was memorizing scripture using the navigator system of memorization and and i can still remember i'd say rich you know the bible says god so loved and i'd quote a scripture to him and he'd say well that's interesting i can still remember that he'd be on his monk and i'd be mine and then i'd quote another scripture and then finally he'd say uh david you want to hear something and i'd say yes and he'd say uh and he'd say it like this he'd say shut thy mouth or i'll punch it it and then he'd go the book of big rich chapter one verse three you know and that's that's how he was with me we're very dear friends and all of that and he could get away with saying that but that's how he was and and for him it was his religious upbringing he just did not want to embrace that which i was presenting to him because he said my mother wouldn't lie to me there are some people who who when they hear the gospel a gospel of forgiveness will say i don't believe so because they're bitter i don't want a relationship with with his god because how could he have done this and that and allowed this to happen in my life and there's a bitterness that has taken place sometimes it's simply the love of the world sometimes it's simply because their life is so filled with sin and it's been so so messed up by it that they become hardened what happens is they hear the message but they completely reject it they do so immediately and they have no desire to listen to anything then he gives to us the second in verse 13 the ones on the rock they're the ones who hear and receive the word with joy that represents an immediate but a shallow reception of the gospel this one responds without resistance it may be that they have received what we would call a soft sell gospel a gospel that doesn't carry with it a cost a gospel that doesn't have a price in sense of like a sacrifice of any sort that i might make or any affliction or trouble that i might encounter they hear a message where the person is promising them to have a great day to day for the rest of the life and then go to heaven perhaps even become rich and always be healthy and as they listen to that it makes sense to them so they raise their hand or they come forward at an invitation and at first they're kind of happy things are going well for a while but later on he takes offense when he's put to the trip to the test the fact is there's no true conversion it may take some time for this to show but there's no true conversion they never truly embraced jesus christ it's been said if a person's profession of christ does not involve a deep conviction of sin a genuine sense of being lost a strong desire for the lord to cleanse and purify a hungry and thirsting for righteousness and a love for his word along with the genuine willingness to suffer for his sake there is no root to his spiritual life and it will be only a matter of time before his religious house falls so this is a person who initially seems to respond but because there's no root they fall away in a time of trying and temptation in verse 14 the ones that fell among thorns are those who when they have heard go out and are choked with cares riches and pleasures of life and bring no fruit to maturity these are the kind of people who hear and it may be that they have a semblance of some kind of interest in christ perhaps even for some time but eventually because they've never really been converted it shows at the end that they don't have a relationship with god i got saved in that revolution here in the united states that was called the jesus movement the jesus movement when young people 16 17 18 19 20 21 years old when a lot of them a lot of us we're hearing this message coming out of drugs and coming out of alcohol coming out of promiscuity coming out of a variety of things and we're being saved in spectacular ways tremendous ways unbelievable ways a lot of the people that you hear on the radio or perhaps have been in their church or visited them are people from that time that period in history where where we were i was part of a group of people that we would do our drugs we you know i've talked to guys you know sometimes i'll talk to them and and it's been so long and thank god since i've taken any of those things but i can still talk about magic mushroom and psilocybin i can i can still talk about thc i can still speak about mescaline and and acid and and and all of that i can still talk about mixing up your your your spagnata with your beer and i used to start out my friday night with a half gallon of wine and a quart of beer i understand that i understand lives like that and i had a lot of friends like that a lot of friends like that and then the lord jesus christ began to just move in a tremendous way and and multitudes of people were getting saved and and the calvary chapel there in costa mesa that was a small hippie church began to explode and god began to do unbelievable things and hundreds of kids would show up hundreds and it went into the thousands of kids would show up and would be seated on the floor and would be listening to the music and and all of that and i and i can look back at my history and i can remember that because i was part of that but you know when i got saved and my friends and i were in this Volkswagen van and it was full so it must have been at least eight of us i can only tell you that there's one besides myself that is still walking with the lord the others i have no clue whatever happened to them one of my friends police officer in los angeles was talking to me a few years ago now and he listened to me on the radio his name is bill and bill said to me he said dave he goes i heard you on the radio talk about me because my friend bill was the guy who told me to turn the car off that i had i was in my car and i had started it he said turn it off god says you have to go with us and so i thought well if god says i have to go with them i should so i turned my car off and i climbed in his Volkswagen van he's the one who drove me to the hollywood palladium i was the only unsaved person in that van they're all singing these christian songs these jesus songs and i was mad and i was hating every second of it and i was thinking man you know what am i doing in here but i came back from that meeting saved transformed completely bill used to have a home um i forget if it was in i think it was lahabra that we used to go to and have bible studies and fellowship after we would go to the uh to bible study in calvary chapel costa mason and and bill was the guy who who taught me how to pray bill was the guy who said dave you have to read the word of god and get to know it and understand it david you need to have christian friends david you need to to share your faith it was bill when we went into the military he and i went in together it's a long story very short he and i went into the military military together we went in on the same day in what is called a buddy plan and he told me bring your bible and bring a commentary and and bring christian books and he and i together in basic training led people to christ and then he ended up going off to one place i went off to another i didn't see him for two years he came back out of the military he was a sergeant stationed in germany he came back out of the military had walked away from god and so i'm talking to him a few years ago on the on the phone and he says i was listening to you he said on k-wave he said i've actually told some of our guys our friends that you're on and so they listen to you he says i was listening to you and he goes david you mentioned my name and i have to tell you something i don't remember any of that any of it it was so far from him he he walked away from god so long ago but this is the guy who told me to pray this is the guy who told me share your faith this is the guy who said you got to have fellowship with people this is the guy who said read the word of god i used to stay at his house and and i had a bible and i would read it every night he's the guy who took me to the to a christian bookstore to buy my first bible and he's telling me i don't remember anything like that it is possible it is definitely possible to have heard the gospel to actually hope to appear to hold fast to it but over time the the cares of the world the riches of this life the pleasures of this life are just too strong and the word never really takes root in them this person's love his first love is his pride his position his material possession his personal reputation this is a person who's destroyed by the cares and riches and pleasures of life they're like that rich young ruler who came to jesus and said good master what should i do that i might have eternal life jesus said well you know the commandments and keep them and so all these things i've done since i was a child to this moment what am i still lacking and that's when jesus said to him if you want to be perfect go sell what you have and give to the poor you'll have treasure in heaven come follow me but when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions those are the things that choke the word you see the love of the world and the love for jesus christ cannot coexist jesus said no one can serve two masters either he'll hate the one and love the other or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve both god and money and so this is a person who may have heard might have even gone to church for a long time but ultimately he walks away because the cares of this world the things that are important to him choked off that seed and then finally verse 15 but the ones that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the word with the noble and good heart keep it and bear fruit with patience this soil is good because it is prepared to receive this soil isn't filled with unbelief and therefore is productive and it produces something because there's a noble and a good heart a good heart and a noble heart a pure heart that will keep the word of god and as a result of that they bear fruit over time you see the bottom line is according to 1st Corinthians 4 2 the bottom line is it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful we can answer to any of these four soils the parable relates to the condition of the soil the seed is the same seed that's thrown in every one of these soils the seed has power but it's the condition of the soil that matters so obviously by way of application what kind of soil do i have in my heart am i receiving the word of god and am i saying lord i wanted to sink deeply into me and transform my life or am i one of the others that say i really don't have an interest in this i ultimately will fall away because the seed never really found a place that it could produce good question to ask of ourselves is what kind of soil do we have