 Calvary Chapel, hey, if you're here for the very first time, you must come back and hear Pastor David Rosales give the word of God with such a tenderness, such a love. And we're so thankful every time we have the opportunity to come. My beautiful wife and I, we're just so thankful to be here. And so I'm saying all that to say this, don't judge this church by me. Hey, I'm going back to Virginia. You got to come back and hear the pastor of this great church. And so we're always honored, always honored to be here. And we had a great time with the men yesterday, and it's going to be a tremendous time today. Alrighty, let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. We're going to be looking at verses 13 through 20. Father, thank you so much for this tremendous opportunity to speak your heart to the hearts of your precious people. Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit will come down and give us ears to hear the spirit of God speak through the word of God. Oh God, I pray, hide me behind the cross that I may speak your heart to your people that you love so dearly in Jesus' name, amen. Mark chapter 4, we're going to be looking at verses 13 through 20. And the title of this message is True or False Christian. True or False Christian. Now, according to a Gallup poll done some years ago, 78% of Americans identified themselves as Christians. And as we look at our country and it's evil, it is hard to see Christianity lived out among us. So what is wrong? I will tell you, there are a lot of people who are claiming to be Christians who are not. They are false Christians. How can I be sure? Jesus will tell us in a variety of stories called parables to confirm this statement. Now let me just say this. You know, I told the guys yesterday and whenever you hear me, you know that I am a words person. I like words, I like going and seeing what the original language has to say because I know that our English language is somewhat limited. For example, we have one word for love, one word. But we know there's a variety of loves. The love I have for my wife is different from the love that I have for my children. And the love that I have for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is different from the love of either one of them. But we only have the one word for love. The Greeks had five words for love because they understand and they understood that there's more than one kind of love. And so that's why I'm a words person. So I can expand your understanding on the English words that we have, expand your understanding by going back into the original language and telling you what it means and that way it expands your understanding so you can see the intention of the author when he wrote what he wrote in the pages of scripture. So Jesus is gonna confirm the statement. I'm going back what I just said. He's gonna confirm the statement that I just made about how there are true and false Christians. There are many people, especially here in America, who think that there are Christians and are not. I mean, with 78% of Americans saying that there are Christians and I'm looking around at America and I'm saying really, we don't see Christianity lived out according to the pages of scripture. So Jesus is gonna give a variety of stories called parables to confirm this statement. Now parable comes from the Greek word parabolic and this is the Greek word that is a combination of two words, para, which means beside and ballo, which means to cast. So the word parabolic means to cast or to lay aside of. So Jesus will take lessons about the kingdom of God and here it is, and lay them aside of things of this earth. He would do this for two reasons. Number one, for believers to reveal truth. For believers to reveal truth. And number two, for unbelievers to conceal truth. And we need to study these stories, especially the one before us, because you need to know without a shadow of a doubt whether you are a true and false Christian. We had the altar filled with people first service because of the truth of the word of God that came forth and I believe the same thing is gonna happen here. Now by way of review, verses one through 12, in these verses we see Jesus uses the natural acoustics of the water to speak to the multitude of people. As the people were gathering together they were starting to crowd him out. So he took Peter's boat, another Gospel tells us, and he took it a little bit out to the sea so the water will act as an amplifier and it will be like a stadium effect as he is speaking, his voice bouncing off of the water, speaking to 15 to 20,000 people. And maybe as he's about to teach these particular lessons he saw someone in the distance scattering seed and he uses this familiar scene to give them what is commonly called the parable of the sore. After this teaching verse 10 says that Jesus was gathered together with the 12 disciples and they began to ask him about the parable. It must have really blew them away when they heard this particular story. Jesus tells them in verse 11 that to them it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Remember to believers parables reveal truth. Then he says in verse 12 that for those who are unbelievers the parables will conceal or hide the truth from them. Why? Because Jesus wanted those who wanted to hear to hear and those who wanted to see to see. In other words, Jesus never wanted anyone to be forced to believe in him. If you want to see and hear then the parables will reveal the truth to you. If you're here today and you don't want to see or hear then the parables will conceal or hide the truth from you. Or I love what he said in verse nine. He says he who has ears to hear let him hear. My question for you today is do you have ears to hear what Jesus is about to say? If you do then these parables will reveal some sweet beautiful truth about God and his kingdom to you. But if you don't then you will leave it. You will leave here should I say and this parable will conceal or hide the truth from you. Now what's so beautiful is that Jesus doesn't leave it up to us to figure out the meaning of this parable. He tells us clearly in these following verses what this parable is all about because this parable is a very important parable that Jesus is about to tell us. Look what it says in verse 13. And he said to them do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? Now did you catch what Jesus said? He said the meaning of this parable is the key to unlocking the meaning of all of the following parables. See if you mess up or misinterpret the meaning of this parable then we will mess up or misinterpret the meaning of all of the other parables. To make sure that we don't mess it up Jesus tells us the meaning of this parable. Watch this piece by piece. Look what he says in verses 14 and 15. He says the sword sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown when they hear Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. Now the sword is the one scattering the seed and Jesus tells us that the seed is what? The seed is the word of God. And the first place the seed is scattered is by the wayside. The Greek word for wayside is hondas and it refers to the hardened surface adjacent to the road or to a path. Because the wayside was hardened the seed remained on the top of the soil. Now in other words there are people who come to church with a hardened heart. Hardened towards a family member, a coworker, a boss or watch this, hardened towards an ex-spouse. And when you come and hear the word of God the seed of the word lays on the surface of your heart. And so Satan comes, watch this and immediately removes it easily like verse 15 says. And I believe that there are some of you here today that you're the hardened heart here. You came here with a hardened heart. Hardened over life circumstances, hardened over what people or ex-spouse or ex-boyfriend or girlfriend has done to you. And you came here hardened and every time you come with that hardened heart the word of God, the seed of the word is sown and it just lays on the top surface of your heart. And when you leave here Satan snatches that seed from your heart. And you say things like this, well I didn't get anything out of that message or I'm not getting anything out of that. Let's go to another church. You go there the same thing happens. Let's go to another church. And if you would notice the only common denominator out of all those churches are you. You the common denominator because you are coming to church with a hard heart. God is speaking to some people here today and the word of God is just laying on the surface of your heart. Not penetrating, not going in but it's right on the surface because it is hardened. This is called the hard hearted person. Look at verses 16 and 17. It says these likewise are the ones sown on stony ground. When they hear the word immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time. And afterwards when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they stumble. Now this part of this parable is the shallow heart. And there are those who have a shallow relationship with the Lord. Now keep in mind this stony ground here is not talking about a mixture of dirt and small stones but it speaks of a huge rock that is over in the area of Palestine. A huge rock with a thin layer of dirt on it. Notice how verse 16 says that when they hear the word notice they receive it with gladness. In other words they have had an emotional experience. Tears might have flown, music was played but notice how verse 16 says they have no root in themselves, no roots in Christ and they notice endure for a time. Or it looks like they are walking with the Lord for a period of time. But when the trials and tribulations and persecution arises for the word's sake notice how verse 17 says immediately they stumble. I want to draw your attention to the word stumble. The Greek word is scandalizo. It's where we get our English word scandalized from and it means to be offended, to stumble, to fall away. You see these people they fall away no longer at church, things got too hot for them. They are bitter and we say, watch this, this is what we say when we see these people or talk about them, we say they back slid. But I would tell you they never slid forward from the start. They didn't come through the door of repentance. They had just an emotional experience. They came to church, something was going on in their lives. The music was playing, it touched them in an emotional way and tears were flowing and they had an emotional experience. They didn't come through the door of repentance and so when trials and tribulations and persecution come for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. It said after a period of time. So it may look like they're walking with the Lord. It gives the appearance that they're walking with Him but they just had an emotional experience. I just want you to look at your own life. And ask yourself, is this you? Do you have a shallow relationship with the Lord? Maybe you're hearing you're about to throw in the towel on Christianity because things have been hot. Things have gotten hard lately. Trials and tribulations and persecution has caused you to want to give up. You said when I was out in the world, when I was out drinking and partying and clubbing and doing those types of things, things were great. Now since I started watch this quote unquote going to church, now things are falling apart. And you're thinking about throwing in the towel. This is the stony ground here or mindset. And I'm here to tell you really need a true relationship with the Lord. One that comes through the door of repentance and not just have an emotional experience. This is the stony ground here and I believe that churches across America are filled with stony ground here's. They had an emotional experience at church and they come to church for a little while and then when Satan sees that you're starting to come to church before the word of God can penetrate your heart in a true way and you have your roots in Christ, he calls his all kind of havoc, wreak havoc in your life and immediately you're stumbled, you're offended for the word's sake. It's a maintenance thing. And I believe that there are stony ground here's in here today. I believe that. Look at verses 18 and 19. It says, now these are the ones sown among the thorns. They are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter it in and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Now this speaks not of the heart heart or the shallow heart but of a crowded heart. You have heard the word but you have allowed three things to crowd that word out of your life. Number one, the cares of this world. The Greek word is maribna and it speaks of the worries of this world. This person has a preoccupation with becoming rich always wanting more and more never content always want more. It speaks of a fracturing of a person being in several parts. You're divided. You divide with trying to walk with the Lord and the worries and the cares and what they have and what they have it speaks of a divided heart. I'm amazed that he talks about the cares of this world and how many people are so concerned and preoccupied with the cares of this world trying to get more and more and being satisfied less and less. Then number two, there's the deceitfulness of riches. The word deceitful is apate and it means a false impression made to deceive. A false impression made to deceive. Notice riches, they're called the deceitfulness of riches because they deceive us into thinking that money and the things money can buy will bring us happiness. But it's deceitful. It's deceitful. Now if God has blessed you financially and you have the right to enjoy the blessings that he has poured into your life and I told this to first servant, I'm gonna tell it to you because when I said if you have been blessed financially and many of you, you're thinking about your struggle let me tell you something, I'm your friend. I came all the way from Virginia to tell you this. If you live in Southern California, you have been blessed financially. I'm here to tell you that. We were walking around, we were at a shopping center and there was a real estate agent who had some pictures of homes in the window there. There was nothing under a half million dollars for a house here. You have been blessed financially if you live here. I don't care if you got one of the half million dollar homes and there's 10 of y'all in there. I don't care. You have been blessed financially by living in Southern California. You got this weather, them palm trees. You can drive to some beaches in Caranoa. You don't have anything to complain about. I'm here to tell you that. Well, you don't know about the journey. I'm just struggling. You live in California. Southern California at that. I can tell you it was Northern California. They got weather like we have in Virginia. No, you live in Southern California. You have been blessed financially. I am here to tell you about your blessings. Maybe you didn't know. Maybe it's the first time you've heard it. I'm here to tell you, you've been blessed and you have a right to enjoy the blessings of being out here. Amen, God bless you. But the Bible makes very clear in Psalm 62 verse 10, if riches increase, don't set your heart on them. Because riches make for themselves wings. They'll fly away like a bird towards the heavens, the book of Proverbs says. Don't set your heart on them. Meaning don't get caught up with the mindset. The more I have or one more thing, then I will be happy. That is the thorny, ground mindset. So maybe it's not the cares of this world. Maybe it's not the deceitfulness of riches. Maybe it's number three, the desire for other things. The desires for other things. Other things, other hobbies and habits and recreations and sports and TV and vacations. It's just other things. You see these people all the time. I haven't seen you at church lately. Where you been? Well, you know, just been into some other things. Other things have become more important than the things of God. They can choke the word of God out of your life. The Greek word for choke is sum nigo, sum nigo. And it means to strangle completely. It means to drown or to crowd. The idea is how we crowd out a plant and keep it from maturing because it's soaking up the ground and the nutrients all around it and choking the real plant out. This is what these things, these other things are doing in your life. They're like weeds. They're choking the word of God out of your life. I just have to ask you what or who is choking, strangling, crowding the word of God out of your life? Have you noticed single ladies? Have you noticed when you started dating him that it started choking the things of God out of your life? Men, ever since you single men, ever since you got that girl, no longer that fire for the things of God. Notice how you're reading your Bible less and less because you want to spend more time with them. It's not the wrong with being single and wanting to be married and all that kind of stuff. But I want you to notice how the idea is this particular person or thing is choking the word of God out of your life. It's not necessarily what you bring it into your life but it's what is being choked out of your life and that is the word of God and the things of God. This is key because it's nothing wrong with sports and TV and dating and all that. It's nothing wrong with that. But see, this is where what I said at the very beginning is about to come true. Remember I said that I want to expand your English understanding of certain words. Notice it says the desire for other things. The Greek word is epithomea and it's amazing word. Yes, it means desire but watch this. It means to long or to lust for that which is forbidden. See that, now that gives us a deeper understanding of what it means beyond just oh, I desire this person or I desire this. No, it means to desire or lust for that which is forbidden. Why is it forbidden? Because that particular thing or person is choking the word of God and the things of God out of your life. That's why it's forbidden. That's why it's forbidden. Why is it that we always want that which we cannot have? Why? That goes all the way back to the beginning. God said, hey, Adam and Eve, God bless you. Look at the garden I've given you. All the trees of the garden you may eat of it but there's one, you shall not eat of it. For the day you eat of it, you shall surely die or as the Hebrew says in dying you shall die. Where do you think Adam and Eve went to that one tree? The tree that was forbidden, we have always wanted that which we can't have. You're like, oh boy, I'm single but I want that woman right there which I can have her, woo. Then you get her, you're like, but look at her over there. Now you want that which is forbidden. That's what the word actually means and it's choking these things, the word of God out of your life. Now look at verse 20. Says, but these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word accepted and bear fruit some 34, some 60 and some 100 fold. Oh, verse 20, this verse is so important because there is a phrase that is mentioned for this person that is not mentioned with the other three. And that is this person, notice, bears fruit and the other three doesn't hate the moon. This one bears fruit. When this person heard the word of God, verse 20 says they accepted it or they received it and then they bore fruit some 30, some 60 and some even 100 times. Now this shows us that not everyone, all of us, we're not gonna bear the same amount of fruit, we're not but we will bear some fruit. These people are the true Christians where the other three, watch this, the other three were false Christians. Remember this parable from verse 13 is the key to unlocking all of the other parables. So if this is talking about true and false Christians, which it is, then when we read in Matthew 13 about the parable of, watch this, the wheat and the tares, the parable of the good fish, bad fish, the parable of the treasures new and old, now they make sense. Because this parable unlocks the meaning of all of the other parables. The question is what is fruit? It said that this person bears fruit some 30, some 60, some 100, for what is fruit? This is an important question because you want to know if you are a good ground hearer or a true Christian. Well, we see from Galatians 5, 22 and 23, we know number one is the fruit of the spirit. Now I know many of you when you say, what, you know the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you say it real quick. I know, I understand. No, the fruit singular of the spirit is love, agape love, God's love, divine love, a love that gives and expects nothing in return. And out of that love comes joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, long suffering and self control. See, the question is, are you growing in these areas? Don't judge how mature you are in your walk with Christ about how many times you come and sit in these very nice pews. You need to judge your Christian walk and just say, hey, am I growing in agape love and God's love? Am I more joyful today than I was yesterday? Am I experiencing more peace, peace with God and peace with my fellow man? Am I more in long suffering? Am I more patient this month than I was last month? Am I exercising gentleness? Am I kinder this week than I was last week? And here's a big one. Am I more self-controlled this year than I was last year? See, this is how you judge whether you're growing, whether you're seeing these particular things in your life. Are you growing in these areas? That's fruit. That's number one. Number two, the fruit of worship. Hebrews 13 verse 15 talks about the fruit of our lips and worship given thanks to his name. Are you growing in your worship of God? Do you find yourself giving thanks to him? Or do you look at the worship of God as though that's the time I can come late as long as I'm there to get that word, you know, that's all that matters. Y'all come get that word. You know, they just doing that singing. You know, they just singing. I ain't into all that singing. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Pump your brakes, laycomer. Pump your brakes. You don't understand the importance of worship. You don't understand it. See, our relationship with God is a dialogue, not a monologue. We talk to God, he speaks to us. Here's the thing, doing worship, God who is called light and in him is no darkness at all. God who's called light. He shines the spotlight of his holiness upon those dark sinful areas of our lives. He convicts us of attitudes and tempers and things that we have done wrong to people and others and all that kind of stuff. He convicts us. We speak back to him in confession. Lord, forgive me, I'm sorry. And we worship the one who revealed that to us. We expose ourselves to the one who is light and he reveals darkness in our lives and we're talking to God through worship. And then when the person gets up here, then he shares the word of God with us and then God is speaking to us through the word. We have talked to him through worship. He speaks to us through the word and we leave here and we have had a dialogue with our God. But what happens when you come late and you miss that exposure before the Lord? Then what happens is this. You come and all of a sudden you hear the word spoken and you do this. I don't believe that. I don't accept that. Honey, did you hear what he just said? I don't believe it. That's the kind of mess. See, but what happens is you come in with that critical kind of judgmental spirit and what happens is doing worship. God exposes that and humbles you in his presence and humbles you to hear his word. So when his word comes forth, you can receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your soul. But without that, you come critical. Judgmental. Well, I don't believe. Well, I think the word says this and what about the end, you know? Mm-mm. That's what worship does. It clears all that mess out and it humbles us. It brings us all on level ground at the foot of the cross. That's what worship does. That's what worship does. It brings us into the presence of God and then he speaks to us through the word. So are you growing in your worship of God? For some of you, let me put it this way. Are you coming earlier to church to get into the worship of God? Now we all know worship is a lifestyle. We know worship, it continues even when the music stopped. We understand that. Well, we're talking about the worship where we gather together as a company of believers to worship our God. Are you growing in worship? Number three, are you growing in the fruit of holiness? Romans 622, is your life becoming more like Jesus Christ or is it going in the opposite direction? Number four, the fruit of soul winning. Romans 113 talks about this. Do you even talk to people about Jesus Christ? Do you care that there are people who are lost, going to hell? Do you care about that? Or has the world and its super-offensiveness silenced your voice? This is what true Christians do. We talk to people about their eternal soul. We're one beggar telling another beggar where we found bread. That's who we are. It's what we do. So true Christians will have these things in their lives, some 30, some 60, and some 100 times as much. Now, let me conclude with this. True or false Christian, which are you? How did the soil of your heart receive the word of God today? Or is your heart hardened? And the word is just laying on the surface of your heart. If so, Satan will come and snatch it away. If you're the stony ground here, you received the word of gladness, but when your faith is tested this week, or should I say tested as soon as you leave these doors? When it is tested, you're ready to toss Jesus Christ and Christianity away. Or maybe you're the thorny ground here. You have allowed the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches or just the desires for other things to choke the word of God out of your life. If any of these things are you, I wanna say with all the love and all the gentleness I can that you are a false Christian, like a lot of Americans. But if you're a true Christian, your life will bear fruit, some 30, some 60, or some 100 fold. Fruit is the evidence that you are a true Christian. Fruit is. Now how many times your wife had to beg and plead and drag you to church? I'm gonna tell you right now, if that's you, I'm gonna tell you when the invitation is given, you need to run down here because you're not a Christian. I'm gonna tell you right now, when Christ came into my life, August 26th, 1985, he so rocked my life and I was so thankful and blown away. I almost ran to church. I wanted to be there every time the doors were open. I couldn't get enough. If folks gotta drag you here and beg and plead with you, you're not a Christian. I'm gonna tell you that, you're not. I couldn't wait to this day. I still can't wait to get, David said I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Are you glad today? If coming to church is a drag, a bummer, I'm telling you, you're not a Christian, but you can be. You can be. This time you can come and not just have an emotional experience. You can come through the door of repentance because why? Why? Because we with our sin has offended a holy God and we need to ask his forgiveness. It's just like you offend somebody, your spouse or your children, you say I'm sorry, you ask for forgiveness and relationship is restored. We were in the car just yesterday, I was talking to my wife and all of a sudden, she said I'm not talking to you. That lets me know, I offended her. I immediately said, oh my, I said, oh, I said, honey, I'm sorry for snapping. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm so sorry. And she was like, okay. And then we kept talking. Relationship was restored. That's how it is. You offended a holy God and you need to ask for forgiveness. Repent. Repent metanoia. It's a Greek word that means to walk in one direction doing about face and walk in the other direction. Those with a military background, you understand an about face. And walk in one direction doing about face and walk in the other direction. That's what we need. Some of you need that today. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that there are some hard-hearted hearers in here which were false Christians. There are those who are stony ground hearers meaning you just have an emotional experience with Christ. You didn't have no roots in Christ. That was a false Christian. And the ones among the thorns where the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and desires, the other things have choked the word of God to keep it from maturing in your life. All three of those were false Christians. It was only one that was true. The good ground here because he bore fruit. Do you see the fruit of holiness in your life? But we're gonna give you a chance, give you an opportunity. God brought you here today to get right with God, to get right with him. You want to leave here knowing that your heart is right with God. So as we pray, we'll give you this tremendous opportunity today that God ordained for you to be here today to get right with him. Father, I pray.