The Soil and the Seed: Beyond the Decision

• The Parable of the Sower [00:29:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the biblical text (Matthew 13) and the specific parable Jesus told by the Sea of Galilee.
• The Purpose of Parables [00:35:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Jesus' use of parables is not merely for clarity but to reveal truth to disciples and confuse those without faith.
• Faith and Spiritual Revelation [00:40:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the ability to understand scripture to the gift of faith, citing that secrets are given to believers but hidden from non-believers.
• Liturgical Call to Worship [00:05:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to worship the Lord together.
• Faith vs. Intellect [00:45:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that God is a father to be loved, not a math equation to be solved, emphasizing that relationship and trust are primary over rational explanation.
• Grace and Salvation [00:46:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker asserts that believers are blessed not because they cleaned themselves up or figured out God, but because God opened their eyes by grace while they were running away.
• The Role of the Hearer [00:52:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The focus shifts from the preacher's delivery to the condition of the hearer's heart (the soil), using an analogy of football players needing to be ready before kickoff.
• Preparation for Worship [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns against approaching worship casually, urging the congregation to spiritually prepare to meet the living God.
• Preparation for Worship [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a football analogy to argue that congregants must actively prepare their hearts to meet God, rather than arriving casually.
• The Hard Heart [00:53:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > Describes those who hear the word but do not understand it, allowing the evil one to snatch it away; notes that only the Spirit can soften this heart.
• The Shallow Heart [00:54:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > Describes those who receive the word with joy but have no root, falling away when tribulation arises; critiques chasing entertainment and 'goosebumps' rather than God.
• The Divided Heart [00:57:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > Describes those choked by the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches; addresses pride and the fear of man as barriers to true discipleship.
• Baptism and Discipleship [01:02:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Advises against baptism for those with hard, shallow, or divided hearts, warning against performing religious motions without genuine surrender and root in the Word.
• Baptismal Readiness and Repentance [01:03:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that baptism requires a genuine desire to turn away from sin and surrender to God, rejecting those who wish to continue in sin while being baptized.
• The Meaning and Mode of Baptism [01:08:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > He explains that 'baptizo' means to drown or sink, symbolizing burial with the old self and resurrection to new life, distinguishing it from infant sprinkling.
• Addressing Previous Baptisms [01:09:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > He addresses those baptized as infants or without true faith, encouraging them to be baptized again as a personal ratification of their faith in Jesus.
• The Good Soil and Spiritual Fruit [01:12:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Luke 8:15, he describes the 'good soil' as a heart prepared by God to hear the word, bear fruit through the Holy Spirit, and trust in Christ's finished work rather than personal performance.
• Salvation and Faith [01:15:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that salvation is not about 'good works' but 'Christ's finished work,' emphasizing that faith is the object of trust in Jesus rather than a measure of intellectual understanding or effort.
• Sanctification and Fruitfulness [01:15:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > He explains that while sanctification (love, joy, peace, etc.) occurs over time, the 'fruit' produced is for God ('the farmer'), not for the plant's own benefit, highlighting obedience and sharing faith as acts for Him.
• The Parable of the Soils [01:16:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts different responses to the gospel: those who are excited but lack depth ('chasing goosebumps'), those who use it as an 'accessory,' and those with 'ears to hear' who receive the seed of faith.
• Invitation to Salvation [01:17:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > He issues a direct call to those whose hearts have been 'tilled' by the Spirit, urging them to put their faith in Jesus despite having questions, framing the decision as a simple choice to trust Him.

• Sermon Illustration [00:31:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor humorously contrasts the reactions of different congregation members to preaching, noting that while one person might be crying and convicted, the person next to them might be asleep or snorting.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a modern analogy of choosing between different fast-food restaurants (Dick's Wings, Al's Pizza, McDonald's, Chick-fil-a) to illustrate what a 'parable without explanation' would sound like if preached today.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references C.S. Lewis to illustrate the concept of spiritual sight, stating that for a believer, seeing Christ means seeing everything by Him, just as one cannot deny the Son without denying the Father.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares his personal testimony of running hard from God until God spoke loudly to his heart, opening his eyes by grace rather than his own effort.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes his weekly routine of preparing for sermons, including waking up at 4 or 5 AM in the woods to pray and ask God for the message, citing a specific instance with Matthew 12 where he initially didn't know what to say but received clarity through prayer.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > An analogy comparing unprepared churchgoers to football players who wait to get dressed until after the kickoff has started, resulting in them being 'out there in their skivvies' and getting hurt.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts sitting in turkey woods watching the sunrise and hearing birds, leading to a realization from Matthew 12 about the condition of the heart.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > An analogy of a football player waiting to get dressed until the kickoff starts, resulting in being 'killed' by opposing players, to illustrate the danger of unpreparedness in worship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > A reference to a Taylor Swift concert to illustrate chasing 'goosebumps' and feelings rather than God, noting one might feel 'fuzzy' but go to hell.
• Sermon Illustration [01:01:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > A hypothetical scenario about a girlfriend leaving if the speaker stops taking what isn't his to put faith in Jesus, illustrating the fear of man and social consequences of discipleship.
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > A humorous reference to the 'Jews and Crowns in Heaven' teaching, joking that if it's an 'AMWAY scam,' he would be 'loaded' in heaven, to emphasize he doesn't want people to go through the motions of baptism for empty rewards.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story of a young woman (25-30 years old) who confessed her addiction to marijuana. Despite her long-term struggle, her humility and desire for help demonstrated the work of the Spirit, making her a prime candidate for baptism.
• Sermon Illustration [01:13:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > He uses an agricultural analogy comparing the human heart to soil that must be plowed, tilled, and broken up by God's conviction before it can receive the seed of the Word and produce fruit.
• Sermon Illustration [01:10:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references Acts 19, where Paul encounters disciples in Ephesus who had only received John's baptism of repentance but not the baptism in the name of Jesus, illustrating the need for a complete understanding of faith.
• Sermon Illustration [01:16:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the agricultural analogy of the Parable of the Soils to describe spiritual receptivity. He contrasts 'chasing goosebumps' (temporary excitement) with 'using the gospel as an accessory' (superficial engagement) against those who have 'ears to hear' and receive the seed of faith. He also references the mustard seed analogy to illustrate that the size of faith matters less than the object of faith (Jesus).

• Pastoral Charge [00:47:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to participate in a large-scale baptism event to publicly declare Jesus as Lord and Savior.
• Pastoral Charge [00:47:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to welcome the Holy Spirit and expect His work in the service.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for God to soften a hard heart.
• Pastoral Charge [00:52:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > Prepare spiritually to meet with God, hear His word, and worship.
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender to God and change life habits before getting baptized; do not get baptized if maintaining a divided heart.
• Pastoral Charge [01:09:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > To undergo baptism as a public declaration of faith.
• Pastoral Charge [01:11:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > To get baptized again if previously baptized as a child without personal faith.
• Pastoral Charge [01:19:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Lift hand high and verbally pray 'Lord Jesus, save me' to accept salvation

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:02:09] Church 1122 family, we're so glad that you are here. My name is Jay. This is Matt.
[00:02:13] What's up, y'all?
[00:02:13] We have the honor of being some of your pastors. Wherever you're joining us from, we're so pumped that you're here.
[00:02:18] Whether that's here in the Sunshine State or on the other side of the globe, one of our outposts.
[00:02:22] We've got a brand new outpost, Matt.
[00:02:23] Where at?
[00:02:23] Perea, Australia.
[00:02:25] Whoa!
[00:02:25] Come on!
[00:02:26] Australia, let's go!
[00:02:28] So wherever you're joining us from, you're not just watching. You are a part of our church family, and we're glad you're here.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:02:33] Yeah, if it's your first time joining us for worship, we are so excited that you are here.
[00:02:38] We're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ in all means all.
[00:02:43] And we believe God has you here on purpose, and we cannot wait to see what he does in your life.
[00:02:50] Wherever you are in the world, whether you're in Australia, whether you're somewhere in the United States, drop in the chat where you are.
[00:02:55] We would love to welcome you.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:02:57] That's right.
[00:02:57] And this is an exciting weekend.
[00:02:59] We got beach baptism coming up on Sunday.
[00:03:01] Come on.
[00:03:01] Tens of thousands of people will show up at the beach.
[00:03:04] Yes.
[00:03:05] As we celebrate, the numbers almost, check this out, almost 2,000 people have signed up to go public with their faith.
[00:03:12] And so we know this is one of the most joy-filled days for our church.
[00:03:15] It's going to be incredible.
[00:03:16] So, Matt, what we need to know as we get ready for beach baptism.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:03:19] 2,000 people.
[00:03:20] Man, I cannot get over that.
[00:03:22] 2,000 people taking that step, publicly professing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior.
[00:03:27] If you're watching right now and you're like, man, I miss signing up.
[00:03:30] If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, there is still time for you to join us at Beach Baptism.
[00:03:36] You can text the word CLASS to 44-1122.
[00:03:39] You'll receive all the information.
[00:03:41] You'll do a quick baptism class and then all the information you need to be at Hannah Park to be baptized.
[00:03:47] The next thing is we have a big job to do at Beach Baptism.
[00:03:50] And it's to celebrate the 2,000 plus people who are publicly professing their faith.
[00:03:55] So there's going to be about 10,000 folks on the beach celebrating each and every person that is coming out of that water.
[00:04:02] I mean, I cannot wait to see and celebrate all that God's doing.
[00:04:06] So you can park at one of our off-site locations.
[00:04:08] If you're watching online, you're going to park at Mayo, and you'll get on this nice air-conditioned bus, and you'll get dropped off right at the beach.
[00:04:15] That's right.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:04:15] And if you can't be here, listen, we're going to be streaming live, 1.30, on Sunday, so you can be a part of it, and it's going to be special.
[00:04:22] So in just a few seconds, we've got about 40 seconds left, We're going to worship God.
[00:04:25] We do that in many ways through music, through opening up God's word, but as well as generosity.
[00:04:30] We believe in giving God our first and our best because God gave his first and best in Jesus.
[00:04:36] And when you think about the movement that we get to be a part of, 2,000 people go in public with their faith.
[00:04:41] It is special.
[00:04:42] And so what we get to be a part of, we get to give God our first and our best when it comes to generosity.
[00:04:47] Easiest way to do that, right there on the 1122 app.
[00:04:49] You can set up recurring giving.
[00:04:51] 10 seconds.
[00:04:52] Yeah, let's go.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:04:52] Buckle up for a powerful night.
[00:04:54] Grab a pen, grab a Bible, something to write with, and get ready for all that God has in store.
[00:04:58] That's right.
[00:04:59] Let's worship, guys.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:05:00] Let's worship the Lord together.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:05:41] That there's no prayer like you, oh God.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:54] Yet you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
[00:22:58] God, that must mean that there's nobody like you.
[00:23:02] That must mean that there's no love that we can compare yours to.
[00:23:06] There's no power that we could depend on like yours.
[00:23:11] Jesus, that you would be mindful of us.
[00:23:18] The same power that walked out of that grave now lives among us, now lives inside of us.
[00:23:26] That you are the same God of Abraham and Sarah.
[00:23:30] You're still healing, you're still providing.
[00:23:34] Those weary people in the desert, you're still the bread of life today.
[00:23:39] Jesus, there's nobody like you.
[00:23:43] We love you and we need you.
[00:23:46] I pray that you would make us more desperate for your presence, more desperate for your power than ever before.
[00:23:56] It's in that mighty name we pray.
[00:23:57] In Jesus' name we all say, amen.
[00:23:59] Y'all can take a seat.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:24:02] Amen.
[00:24:02] And welcome to the Church of 1122, where we are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[00:24:09] It's a joy to get to worship with all of you here at San Pablo and with all of you joining us online.
[00:24:14] It's here, guys.
[00:24:15] The greatest weekend in the year, every year, Beach Baptism Sunday.
[00:24:23] Listen, I hope you've cleared your calendar on Sunday.
[00:24:28] Because we're going to see thousands of our friends, our family members, people that we have been praying for get into the Atlantic Ocean and publicly declare that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. It's the closest thing to living in the book of Acts I've ever experienced. You're
[00:24:42] going to want to be there. And we're trying to make this the best experience possible, which is why we are all parking off-site this year. Can I get an amen? We've created an incredible experience.
[00:24:55] we, all of us who worship at San Pablo, we are parking at the Mayo Clinic. We're going to have food trucks out there. You can feed your family. Then you can get on an air-conditioned coach
[00:25:04] bus that is going to take you all the way to the beach. And it has storage for all of your things.
[00:25:11] As a father of five kids, there's a lot of things that I take when I go to the beach. There's room for all of us. But you can take all of your beach things. It will drop you off at the sand. It will
[00:25:20] pick you back up at the sand, take you back to your car, and you would say, Pastor Trey, but when is it running? It's running from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., so you can spend the whole day out there with us.
[00:25:29] It's going to be an incredible faith family moment for us, and maybe you hear me talking about beach baptism, and you know the good shepherd has been telling you to take that step, or let me just say this. Maybe you're here right now, and you're asking, is that my next step?
[00:25:44] As soon as the service is over, you can head out to the lobby, to the connect centers, the men and women at those areas with the televisions. They will walk you to a quick baptism class where they
[00:25:54] will answer all the questions you have about baptism. They will help you make that decision and get you signed up to get baptized at Beach Baptism if that's your next step. And let me encourage you, if you are going to the beach, do not go alone. Take someone with you and you should
[00:26:07] ask them in the car on the way there to park at the Mayo Clinic. Have you been baptized? Maybe today's the day for them, right? You have no idea what hangs in the balance. And if you're here and
[00:26:15] you're like, I have no idea what Beach Baptism is. Well, I got a great video for you to watch right now. So grab a Bible, grab a pen and watch this video with me. When you surrender your life

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:26:28] to Jesus, something changes. You're not who you were. You're a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come. Salvation comes by simply believing that what Jesus did on the cross counted for you. That's it. There's nothing special about the water. It's by grace alone,
[00:26:50] through faith alone, and Christ alone. But the first step of obedience for someone who trusted Jesus with their life? Baptism. When you go under the water, it's simply a symbol of you being united with Jesus and his death. And then coming out of the water, you're raised from the
[00:27:09] dead to new life. Your sins are washed clean and the old you is gone. It's an outward sign of an inward spiritual reality. If you've surrendered your life to Jesus, now is the time. Take your
[00:27:26] next step and get baptized. This is your opportunity to walk out into the water and publicly declare to the world, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Join us on Sunday at Hannah Park for
[00:27:40] beach baptism.

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:27:42] Let's go. Who's excited for Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, right? Big day. Who's getting baptized?
[00:27:56] If you're getting baptized this Sunday, right, so keep it up. Look at that. Praise God. Boom.
[00:28:02] All right, I don't ever do this stuff. This ain't my style. I want you to look at the person on one side of you and be like, you come to come watch me get baptized? Go ask them. Ask
[00:28:09] them right now. Ask them. If they say no, they ain't your friend, man. I want you to look at the person you don't like as much on the other side of you. And I want you to say, have you been
[00:28:20] baptized? And if they say no, I want you to do it later after the service. Why not? And if they say because I ain't a Christian, then lead them to Christ after the service, all right? Or I'm gonna
[00:28:31] do my best during the service, so we'll work on this thing together. It's Beach Baptism Weekend, And here's what's even cooler about this, man.
[00:28:38] It actually starts tonight at 7.22 p.m.
[00:28:42] Because at Marion Correctional, we are baptizing 21 inmates right now at Marion Correctional.
[00:28:49] They ain't waiting on us.
[00:28:53] All right.
[00:28:54] We're not primarily talking about baptism because we're in Matthew chapter 13.
[00:28:58] If you've got your Bible, over to Matthew chapter 13.
[00:29:00] If you don't have one, there's one right in front of you.
[00:29:02] Take it home with you.
[00:29:03] If you don't have one of your own, if you've got eight of them at home, bring us seven back.
[00:29:06] Keep one for yourself.
[00:29:09] We're talking about the parable of the sower.
[00:29:10] One of the questions I want you to ask yourself if you've never been baptized as a believer, should I?
[00:29:16] Maybe.
[00:29:17] Maybe not.
[00:29:19] We're going to talk about it.
[00:29:20] If you are a believer, the answer is yes.
[00:29:23] We're going to dig into this.
[00:29:25] Chapter 13, verse 1, that same day.
[00:29:27] That's why you've got to back up a little bit.
[00:29:29] So we're in the same day as Matthew chapter 12, where we were last week.
[00:29:32] The last few weeks, as we've been studying through the book of Matthew, it's been miracles on miracles on miracles, right?
[00:29:39] Everywhere he goes.
[00:29:40] At one point he just said he just healed everybody.
[00:29:42] That he's casting out demons.
[00:29:44] Then you remember at the end of Matthew 11, there's this incredible invitation.
[00:29:47] I can't get over this.
[00:29:48] Jesus says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I'm going to give you rest for your soul, for I am gentle and lowly.
[00:29:56] My burden is easy.
[00:29:58] My yoke is light.
[00:30:00] And the yoke that he's talking about is this.
[00:30:02] Here's what it takes to be a follower of Jesus.
[00:30:04] Just repent and believe.
[00:30:06] You're like, that's it?
[00:30:06] That's it, man.
[00:30:07] Just repent.
[00:30:08] and believe and here's a head scratcher for me we've seen this now for weeks and weeks and weeks Jesus is bringing dead girls back to life and healing the woman that he calls daughter and
[00:30:21] casting out demons and healing people and teaching the gospel and some people get it some people say this is the son of David that's that's the equivalent of saying this is God himself in the
[00:30:34] flesh some people completely get it and with the same evidence other people are like nah we think he's possessed by a demon that he casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub and so maybe the little
[00:30:50] speculation on my part okay this is the like how chosen plays in my head all right maybe some of the disciples they're going to ask it directly here in a second but maybe some of the disciples
[00:31:03] are like hey boss can you help us understand something I mean you would think the people that were rooted in the old covenant that were rooted in the sacrificial system the Jewish people you would think they had been waiting and studying Ezekiel and Elijah and Isaiah and Malachi and then
[00:31:20] you show up on the scene and you go I am him you would think they would grab on to that so help me understand boss why do some people get it and others not get it I asked the same question I
[00:31:34] I mean, I've sat up here week after week after week, and this might shock you.
[00:31:40] I can see you.
[00:31:43] You'd be amazed.
[00:31:45] There are times where I'm up here just doing my best to unpack the word, and there'd be like one brother right here, and he's just like, I mean, he's crying, and he's into it, and the Spirit of God is convicting him.
[00:31:57] And the person next to him is asleep.
[00:32:04] Somebody just snorted on the front row.
[00:32:06] See, somebody's into it.
[00:32:09] I appreciate that.
[00:32:10] That's like amen.
[00:32:11] Just appreciate you.
[00:32:15] Some people get up and leave angry.
[00:32:18] I'm telling you.
[00:32:19] Like, I'll be up there just, like, again, man, I'm the mailman.
[00:32:22] I don't make this stuff up.
[00:32:23] I'm just delivering it, and somebody will be like, amen.
[00:32:26] Another person you see get their things.
[00:32:30] I'm so tempted to be like, hey, I'm not done every time, but I don't do it.
[00:32:35] But you can leave if you want to.
[00:32:38] That's fine.
[00:32:39] So why?
[00:32:40] You ever notice, like, the same message goes out, and some people receive it as solid gold and truth.
[00:32:48] and other people just they just don't get it and this is what's been happening now for chapter after chapter so you remember jesus is in the house in matthew chapter 12 and his mom and
[00:32:59] brothers and sisters i'm gonna jot that down catholics that he had brothers and sisters mary was not a virgin forever somebody made that up they had a meeting on it they just didn't read the bible but that's okay uh it's not okay at all but you know i ain't got time for that i'm already
[00:33:14] picking enough fights. And they said, hey, your mom's here. And he's like, I'm gonna tell you who my mom is. I'm gonna tell you who my brothers and sisters are. It's those who believe. So there were
[00:33:25] insiders and there were outsiders, right? And so that same day, Jesus went out of the house and he sat beside the sea. That's the Sea of Galilee. And great crowds gathered about him so that he got
[00:33:36] into a boat and he sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach. Anybody got a boat? Raise your high praise God Jesus got in a boat I'm not gonna beat you up praise God did a lot of ministry on a
[00:33:46] boat I maybe should do some one-on-one discipleship with all you boat owners out there because this is how it happened in the old in the in the old covenant and into the into the first century when
[00:33:57] the rabbi would teach he would sit when he go to the when he go to the synagogue he would sit on this seat it's called the seat of Moses and he would sit down everybody else will stand up we
[00:34:06] should do that one week you know how tired I get by the end of the weekend good gracious man and So he sits down in the boat, and he pushes out a little bit so he can create like an amphitheater situation
[00:34:19] with the hills there in the Sea of Galilee because there's so many people, verse three.
[00:34:24] And he told them many things in parables.
[00:34:29] So the word parable is actually two Greek words.
[00:34:31] It means to lay aside.
[00:34:33] That's what it does.
[00:34:34] And so Jesus was like the king of the illustration, okay?
[00:34:37] That he would use a common experience, like today he's gonna talk about farming.
[00:34:42] Why?
[00:34:42] because in the first century everybody was a farmer and so he would take a common experience and he would lay it aside a spiritual truth an eternal reality and I used to think it was to
[00:34:56] bring clarity so that people would understand what he's talking about I mean that's what I try to do like you know I tell stories all the time it's just the way I was brought up I'm just a country
[00:35:05] boy that's just from a storytelling family and if I could take you to be with my family people well, I'm not even the top-tier storyteller in my family.
[00:35:13] They tell the same stories all the time.
[00:35:15] They're all funny.
[00:35:16] They got a point.
[00:35:17] And when I do that, I'm just trying to illustrate a point, take something because, you know, what do we know about a first-century sacrificial system?
[00:35:24] And so sometimes I'll be like, it's like I got two dogs and got, you know, all the stories I tell.
[00:35:30] Same ones over and over, whatever.
[00:35:33] And what I'm hoping happens when I tell a story to illustrate a gospel point, that the spirit of God illuminates the revelation of the word in your heart so you're like oh that's what that means and for the longest time that's what I thought Jesus was doing but as you dig
[00:35:47] into this parable he's going to teach a parable about parables and he's not actually doing that he's going to tell us why he teaches in stories and parables and I don't think it's to make it
[00:35:59] clear I think two things are simultaneously happening when Jesus preaches and teaches using parables he is simultaneously revealing and concealing so for some people they will get a a revelation of the truth of God and other people will get more confused that's what he's doing
[00:36:20] he's going to explain it later we'll look at his words and so verse three and he told them many things in parables saying here's this whole parable ready here's this whole sermon this time It's very short.
[00:36:32] A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path.
[00:36:36] And the birds came and devoured them, and other seeds fell on the rocky ground where they did not have much soil.
[00:36:40] And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil.
[00:36:44] But when the sun rose, they were scorched.
[00:36:47] And since they had no root, they withered away.
[00:36:49] Literally in Greek, that means they were offended.
[00:36:53] Some people get offended.
[00:36:55] Did you know that?
[00:36:57] And other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
[00:37:00] other seeds fell on the good soil and produced grain some 100 fold some 60 and some 30 end of the sermon that's the whole sermon can you imagine if i preached the sermon that short
[00:37:14] don't you amen right there you better not don't he doesn't explain a word he just says he who has ears let him hear what was that who doesn't have ears you know what i mean that's a whole sermon
[00:37:28] can you imagine we gather here like you come on a sunday morning and i'm like the kingdom of heaven is like leaving church at San Pablo on a Sunday and some went to Dick's wings because the wings are crispy and some went to Al's pizza because they like pizza others went
[00:37:43] to McDonald's because it has a drive-thru and some went to Chick-fil-a and it was closed he who has ears let him hear be free that's a whole sermon and then the disciples came and said what you're
[00:38:03] talking about why do you speak to them in parables they're confused okay be honest I know this is sure it's no place for honesty, but be honest. You ever have somebody, you hear somebody teaching
[00:38:15] the Bible, me teaching the Bible, or you read something in the Bible, and you don't know what it's talking about? Can we, anybody, anybody, anybody? Okay, me too. Not you, you don't.
[00:38:24] We'll put you in charge. The rest of us, we're like, what? Hey, I got good news. You can make a great disciple. The disciples, they get one-on-one time with Jesus. They're like, hey, boss, you got to run that boss again, man. So there's seeds and there's four. Can you, huh?
[00:38:40] By the way, Jesus is not going to scold them for asking questions.
[00:38:48] Wise people ask questions.
[00:38:51] Fools think they know all the answers.
[00:38:54] And so they say, boss, you've been teaching straight doctrine.
[00:38:59] For 13, 12 chapters now, we've heard every sermon you've spoken, and you have been just teaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[00:39:07] You've just been slinging it straight.
[00:39:09] And now why are you going to switch and teach these stories and we don't know what you're talking about.
[00:39:16] And I think it has to do with the blowback of the scribes and the Pharisees.
[00:39:20] And in Mark's account of this same parable in Mark chapter four, verse 13, what Mark 4, 13 says, Jesus said to them, do you not understand this parable?
[00:39:28] How then will you understand all the parables?
[00:39:31] So the first parable he tells is a parable about parables.
[00:39:34] And he says, this is the one that will unlock the understanding of what all the other parables are about.
[00:39:39] This is what he says.
[00:39:40] This matters a bunch.
[00:39:41] and he answered them so this is why i think jesus isn't just telling common stories to be clear but he is revealing what the bible calls the mysteries of god to the faithful and simultaneously confounding the wise because what they lack is faith keep that in mind he says
[00:40:04] to this he's talking to his disciples in the first century this would apply to you if you are a disciple right now he says to you it has been given to know the secrets the mysterion is
[00:40:17] the greek word like the mysteries to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven who's the you there anybody that believes me trust me not understands everything about god
[00:40:31] but to you who trust me it has been given to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but to them those who do not believe those who do not trust in me it has not been given and then listen
[00:40:44] man if you're into fair jesus ain't fair for to the one who has more will be given and he will have an abundance is what he's talking about for those of you that have put your faith in jesus
[00:40:56] christ you have began a journey that will lead to your eternity and currently the moment you put your faith in Jesus you were justified you are being progressively sanctified and one day you will be glorified and when you get to heaven you will see clearly and understand everything about
[00:41:13] everything about everything that's where faith leads us C.S. Lewis says I can no more deny Christ than I could deny the son it's not just that I see him I see everything by him it's like this this is
[00:41:29] what he's talking about but to the one who has not the one who does not have faith even what he has will be taken away that the person that does not trust Jesus for their salvation that person is
[00:41:41] also on a path and it leads to destruction because you're filled with either religious pride or self-actualization manifested in self-fulfillment that leads to destruction internally this is what he's talking about and then he says this is why I speak to them in parables because now you got
[00:41:59] to stick with me these can be some confusing verses on the on just at face value he says this is why I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear
[00:42:09] nor do they understand he's like they they understand the words that are coming out of my mouth they just don't understand what I'm actually saying indeed in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled he's going to quote Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah chapter 6 is a very famous verse
[00:42:28] chapter where Isaiah sees the manifest presence of the Lord and he has that very famous call where and he says, God, here I am, send me.
[00:42:38] And everybody loves that part of it.
[00:42:40] Nobody keeps going, because God's like, oh, I'm gonna send you, and you're gonna preach the word for the rest of your life, and nobody's gonna listen.
[00:42:50] Good luck, that's just, it's a terrible calling.
[00:42:53] And so he says, this is what's happening.
[00:42:55] He quotes Isaiah six, check this out.
[00:42:59] You will indeed hear, but never understand.
[00:43:01] You will indeed see, but never perceive.
[00:43:03] For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear and with their eyes they've closed.
[00:43:13] Now you remember the thing that I keep bringing up about the teaching ministry of Jesus is the way he started his teaching ministry on the Sermon on the Mount.
[00:43:20] Remember this one, blessed are the poor in spirit.
[00:43:25] And so if you don't have ears to hear and eyes to see, it's because you don't think you need a savior because you think I got this.
[00:43:35] So you think Jesus' stories are like tips and tricks of how to live a better life or be more virtuous and you don't come like an empty beggar with open hands going God I need you
[00:43:45] and if the poor in spirit the people that realize I'm spiritually bankrupt if they're blessed then curse it or the proud in spirit this is what he's saying then he says lest this is like a negative conjunction
[00:44:03] he says for this people's heart has grown dull with their ears they can barely hear and with their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts
[00:44:17] and turn and I would heal them.
[00:44:20] You're like, wait, hold on, Jesus.
[00:44:22] Time out.
[00:44:23] I thought that was the point.
[00:44:26] So you don't want to heal them?
[00:44:28] Is that, like, please explain.
[00:44:30] Like, when you use the word lest, it's so that something, let me write this down, lest I forget.
[00:44:36] You see what I'm saying?
[00:44:39] And you're like, well, I thought the point, Jesus, was that the people would turn to you.
[00:44:43] And he goes, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[00:44:43] the point is that they would trust me not be able to explain me these are very different things like God is not a math equation to be solved he is a father to be loved do you see the difference
[00:45:01] that Jesus primarily wants a relationship with you not a rational argument of why it makes sense and it does make sense and there are rational arguments and there's a significant place for the apologist in the world to help explain all the things that are true because they're true
[00:45:19] but your relationship with God is not simply about truth it is primarily about trust even though all the evidence is there it is perfectly explainable and logical all those things but the Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God that we are saved by grace through faith not because
[00:45:39] you can explain everything I hope this is good news for you not bad news for you he says but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear so like why do you think you're safe
[00:45:52] because you're smarter than everybody else you're holier than everybody else and you figured out how to chase God down is that what you think or do you understand it's by grace and it is a gift of God
[00:46:04] and though you were running as hard as you could he came and got you that's my testimony that I'm blessed not because I opened my eyes but somehow by the grace of God he opened my eyes I didn't
[00:46:16] Know that I had ears to hear.
[00:46:18] I was running as hard as I could and then he spoke so loud to my heart I couldn't deny it.
[00:46:23] Because it's by grace that we are saved.
[00:46:24] Through faith and not because we cleaned ourselves up.
[00:46:27] This is what he's saying in verse 17.
[00:46:28] For truly I say to you.
[00:46:30] Ooh, 11, 22, listen to this.
[00:46:32] I say to you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see.
[00:46:36] And did not see it.
[00:46:37] And to hear what you hear and they did not hear.
[00:46:40] Now to them what he's saying, he was like, Moses begged that he could say the face of God.
[00:46:44] He was not allowed and yet here we are face to face.
[00:46:47] Do you realize what you're seeing?
[00:46:49] That Malachi prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, and now, folks, you get to see what they longed for, what they begged for, what they yearned for.
[00:47:00] And some people are face-to-face with the prayer, the answered prayers of the Jewish people, and the Messiah's on the scene, and you don't even have eyes to see.
[00:47:08] 11, 22, many have longed for what we are seeing, good, faithful men and women of God.
[00:47:17] I have no idea why he's pouring out his spirit on us the way he is I mean bring it on lord. We we want it. We want you the spirit is welcome in this place. Do your thing
[00:47:28] Okay, but we're standing on the shoulders of generations of faithful men and women who have gone before us Listen, you know what? We have the opportunity to witness this sunday More than 2 000 people get out in that water and declare jesus christ as their lord and savior
[00:47:48] Do you know how few times that's ever happened in all of Christian history?
[00:47:51] You know what I'm saying, man?
[00:47:56] And then Jesus, man, he does not explain many of his parables.
[00:48:00] And now what he's going to do is he is about to give a really good example of exegetical preaching.
[00:48:06] He's going to go verse by verse through his parable, and he is going to explain what everything means line by line, verse by verse.
[00:48:14] And by the way, if you're new to 1122, that's what we do.
[00:48:16] if you're like we're gonna spend all year in Matthew uh-huh that's it just every word all right she says hear then the parable of the sword verse 19 when anyone hears the word of the
[00:48:30] kingdom okay that applied when Jesus is preaching this is applying right now too anytime the word of God is preached and preaching is a big deal you know what a big deal preaching is the whole
[00:48:43] world got started with preaching like God spoke into existence the heavens and the earth you realize that this is a really really big deal the Bible has warnings about teachers and preachers of the Bible you realize that the Bible says that if people like me get up in front of folks and
[00:49:03] open the Bible and share on behalf of like with the banner of God's appointing over your life that we will be held to a stricter judgment this is a really big deal now Jesus makes a big deal
[00:49:18] about it and listen what he's going to do now is he is going to talk about not primarily the role of the preacher but the role of the hearer so let me just put my cards on the table I get to preach
[00:49:32] all over the place all over the place I was in where was I I don't know where I was this week I was in Oklahoma Oklahoma City Life Church preaching this week praise God for Craig O'Shea Life Church
[00:49:41] It's awesome.
[00:49:41] I'll be in somewhere tomorrow.
[00:49:43] Denver.
[00:49:43] Denver tomorrow.
[00:49:45] Preaching to Flatiron Church, Jim Berger Church.
[00:49:47] Great.
[00:49:48] This is my favorite place to preach on the planet because of you, okay?
[00:49:51] Because of you.
[00:49:51] That's it.
[00:49:52] Give yourself a hand.
[00:49:52] We're the best.
[00:49:54] We are the best.
[00:49:55] Favorite thing about us is our humility.
[00:49:57] All right, so I take this very seriously.
[00:50:03] And because of your generosity, you pay me to do this.
[00:50:07] This is my full-time job.
[00:50:08] I spend the majority of my week every week getting ready to do the thing I'm doing right now.
[00:50:12] Every Monday morning, I drive up to her.
[00:50:14] Sunday night, I'll usually go up to the retreat center, spend the night.
[00:50:16] I get up early, 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning.
[00:50:19] I go get in the woods about an hour before the sun comes up.
[00:50:21] I want to be there in the dark before I can see my Bible.
[00:50:24] And I can't turn on my Bible on my phone because it's a dual purpose.
[00:50:29] Also, I'm trying to shoot an animal.
[00:50:30] But I'm up there.
[00:50:32] And I just pray every week, every week.
[00:50:34] Lord, they're your sheep.
[00:50:34] They're not my sheep.
[00:50:36] You're the chief shepherd.
[00:50:37] Chief shepherd and senior pastor mean the same thing.
[00:50:39] You're the chief shepherd.
[00:50:41] I'm the under shepherd.
[00:50:43] What do you want to say to your sheep this week?
[00:50:44] That's what I do.
[00:50:45] I open the Word.
[00:50:46] I just start reading through it.
[00:50:47] I beg God, God, would you give me a sermon?
[00:50:48] He does.
[00:50:49] He's so faithful.
[00:50:50] He doesn't owe me a sermon.
[00:50:52] And so far, since we launched the church in 2012, he gives me one every week, okay?
[00:50:59] Sometimes I look at the text, and I'm like, like last week, honest to goodness.
[00:51:03] When I got home last Sunday, I sat down on the couch.
[00:51:06] It was like kind of end of the night, and I opened up to Matthew 12, so like two weeks ago.
[00:51:12] and I read it in my recliner and I was like, what was I thinking?
[00:51:17] How is it gonna be a sermon?
[00:51:18] It's like nine sermons.
[00:51:20] I said, Gretchen, write me a Devo on Matthew 12 so I know what to talk about.
[00:51:24] I had no idea where I was going.
[00:51:25] But yet, Monday morning, when I sat down in the turkey woods and I hear the birds chirping, I watch the sun come up and I'm like, Lord, are your sheep, they're not my sheep.
[00:51:33] And then all of a sudden, I read through Matthew 12 on Monday and I was like, there it is.
[00:51:37] This is what we're gonna talk about, okay?
[00:51:39] I didn't learn anything new.
[00:51:40] I just postured myself under the Lord to receive what he wanted for his people.
[00:51:45] I do it every week, okay?
[00:51:47] And you put up with me.
[00:51:48] Praise God for that.
[00:51:50] And I spend hours, and I give it my all.
[00:51:53] So I am not abdicating my responsibility in this exchange.
[00:51:58] But what Jesus is going to talk about is your part.
[00:52:01] And in Jesus' parable, it's going to be the condition of the soil, not the delivery of the seed, that makes all of the difference.
[00:52:09] that's what he's gonna do so let me ask you this i get ready for this do you do you because some of you just roll in here casually and you don't realize what you're walking into can you imagine
[00:52:26] if you're on a football team and you waited to get ready to play the game once the kickoff started you're a dead man you're gonna be out there in your skivvies and they're gonna kill you with
[00:52:36] their helmets and stuff you're trying to get dressed and the ball's in here like oh some of you don't prepare to meet with the living God, to hear from his word, to worship him, I'm telling
[00:52:46] you, you got to get ready, man. You got to get ready. Then Jesus is going to lay out the four different responses to the preaching of the word. And every one of these four different soil samples
[00:52:56] are in the room right now. The first one is this, verse 19. And when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches it away. What has been sown in
[00:53:09] the heart this is what was sown among the path this is the hard heart and here's the heartbreaking one about the hard heart I can't change it I don't care how much I yell at you I don't care how
[00:53:26] sappy a story I tell at the end and make you cry I cannot change your heart so you gotta ask yourself do you have a hard heart do you do you come expect it to hear the word of God or as
[00:53:45] you're sitting here you get a text from somebody and then the word lands and now you're like oh my gosh we got to change dinner plans and you spend the rest of the time trying to get on open table
[00:53:54] to figure out where you're going to eat or whatever and then I'm just telling you shoot gone and it doesn't matter what I do man I can yell I can cry I can scream I'll do all the things
[00:54:03] but I do not have the ability to penetrate a hard heart only the spirit of God does and if you've got a hard heart I dare you to just pray Lord please soften my heart because he will because you need
[00:54:17] a move of the spirit of God in your life then the second heart is this as for what was sown on the rocky ground this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy and yet he
[00:54:30] has no root in himself but endures for a while but when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately follows away this is the shallow heart and the American church is full of
[00:54:45] shallow-hearted people. I'm afraid 1122's got a bunch of shallow-hearted people, because we respond at first, it's awesome, and you get caught up in all the awesome. Listen, man, our bands are awesome. I mean, they're so good, and the music's so good, and the lighting's so good, and the videos
[00:55:08] are so good, and you can just kind of get caught up in all the momentum of it, and you're like, yay Jesus but then you get offended by the word you're on account of the word
[00:55:21] and you've been there look at this like why do you know that was in there and you're not deeply rooted in God's word and you're not rooted in godly relationships and so you show up to everything at first
[00:55:34] you come to a service you get so excited and you show up and you raise your hand and you pray the prayer and you fill out a card and you join three disciple groups and you serve and you
[00:55:42] sponsor kids and you do all the things man you do all the things and then eight months later be like where'd he go he's gone and the problem is is you're not chasing jesus man you're chasing entertainment you find yourself saying
[00:55:58] things like well i didn't get much out of that well what did you bring to that have you been rooted in the word of god are you just showing up for me to entertain you i'm not in the in
[00:56:09] their entertainment business i don't want to bore you i think that's sinful too but i'm not here to just make you laugh and make you cry and let you have a good time. That's not what we're talking
[00:56:18] about here. There's a lot of folks, too, and you're chasing goosebumps, not God. You just want a feeling. Well, go to a Taylor Swift concert. I mean, you'll go to hell, but boy, you'll feel
[00:56:35] fuzzy on your way. I mean that literally, by the way. And I get it. I get it because the engagement can be so high. So we're not in the crowd business. We're in the disciple-making business.
[00:56:51] we want you we want you to have an experience with God we want you to encounter the living Christ he's real he's here he manifests his presence when the people of God get together and
[00:57:01] worship him and in song and in word it's real man you don't have to doubt those emotions Jesus said that we're supposed to love God with all of our heart that matters you should come to the altar
[00:57:11] and pray your face off but then you got to get rooted in the word of God around the people of God because not if the tribulation comes but when it comes you just can't be blown over because you
[00:57:26] were chasing a feeling that's the shallow heart then he does another one so that one didn't offend you the problem with this one is nobody thinks this one's them nobody so I gotta just talk to
[00:57:43] the wall but here we go as for what was sawn among the thorns this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word and it proves
[00:57:57] unfruitful this is the divided heart that you care more about the world than the word of god and jesus is the word of god you have a divided heart he says the two things will take you out
[00:58:14] the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches you're like oh he's gonna talk about money again by he you mean Jesus yes he talks about it more than everything else because it's deceitful
[00:58:28] it's so tricky and what Jesus is saying here is if you have a divided heart what will happen is you will try to like invite Jesus to join your life while you hang on to the cares of this world
[00:58:43] and hang on to your riches and he's not an accessory he's not an add-on I mean the number of people that say i've surrendered my life to the lordship of jesus christ you've just never
[00:58:57] surrendered anything to jesus you care more about what everybody else thinks and what he thinks i mean jesus is where your treasure is there your heart will be also jesus says no one can serve two
[00:59:09] masters you can't serve god and money jesus says seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things that he's talking about the promises of money satisfaction and security the only way you're going to find it is in him money is deceitful the cares of this world will choke
[00:59:27] you out he who has ears to hear let him hear let me tell you what will stuff up your ears and blind your eyes whether you're a believer or not here's the things that will make you deaf and blind
[00:59:44] to the word of god pride pride bro if you have pride and pride can play itself out in one or two ways one is you think you look at god you look down in a like you stand in authority over
[00:59:58] the word of God and you'd be like who do you think you are to tell me it almost always plays out sexually by the way you're like who do you think you are to tell me who I can sleep with that's
[01:00:10] pride man you just won't have ears to hear or if you're super religious and you think no I'm good I've checked all the religious boxes God I don't need to submit and to surrender to you because
[01:00:24] I'm good then you're full of pride and you won't know that you need need you won't have ears to fear the other one's the fear of man that you know if you actually turn your life over to Christ
[01:00:37] it's gonna change your whole friend group like you just can't do that crazy with this that you've been doing and then and then don't throw this at me either be like well Jesus went to parties
[01:00:47] yeah dude he went to parties people got saved you go to parties people get you get drunk we're not talking about the same ministry what would my girlfriend think if I left to look at her and be
[01:01:00] like, I cannot continue to take what's not mine if I'm going to put my faith in Jesus. She might leave me. She should leave you. What are my parents going to think? They'll think I'm a crazy person.
[01:01:12] Okay, cool. The fear of man will make you blind to the truth of God. Your flesh, you know, you know that if you put your faith in Christ, you just can't do the stuff you used to do, and you know it,
[01:01:29] and you know it.
[01:01:31] And you'll have a divided heart, man.
[01:01:36] You come in here, you sing the songs, you know when to raise your hands, you come down, you say the prayers and then you continue to be the Lord of your own life and the cares of this world
[01:01:44] and the deceitfulness of riches will choke you out.
[01:01:47] And then Jesus says, money.
[01:01:52] You will not truly follow Jesus until your heart has been seized by a greater affection.
[01:01:59] So we're doing beach baptism this weekend and I love it, man, I love it.
[01:02:03] and it would be real easy for me and probably even the right thing like organizationally for me to talk you into getting baptized and so I'm going to tell you why you should not get
[01:02:21] baptized if you have a divided heart or you have a shallow heart you shouldn't get baptized you shouldn't you shouldn't do it if you just got like if it's so exciting you're like I want to
[01:02:39] ride the bus and I want a red shirt and you're getting baptized let's go let's go but you're not ready to root yourself in the word and root yourself into God's family the same for you man
[01:02:57] I hate to tell you and listen I'd like to baptize 10,000 people no problem I mean if the people that teach on the jewels and the crowns in heaven are right dude I'm gonna be loaded you understand if
[01:03:10] this is a big amway scam when I get to heaven cha-ching let's go but I don't want you to go through the motions because that water ain't going to do nothing for you. It's just the Atlantic
[01:03:25] ocean. And even worse, man, if you're, if you have a divided heart, you shouldn't get baptized.
[01:03:33] Now I'm not saying it. I'm not saying you got to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but if you know in your own mind, I'm going to walk out in that water and I'm going to come back
[01:03:43] and I'm going to just be the same. You shouldn't do it. If you've got one foot in the water and one foot on the land, you shouldn't do it. You shouldn't do it. Now I'm not saying that you're
[01:03:55] going to be perfect but if you know God I need some stuff to change in my life I don't want to do these things I hate the sin that's trying to kill me yet I'm still tempted to do it and some
[01:04:05] of it I've been in the habit of it for so long I think it's going to take a minute but God would you please do something in me I give up I surrender God I want you to do something in me then you're
[01:04:15] the prime candidate but if you look at Jesus on the beach and be like I don't care what you say I'm about to go out there and get baptized, and I'm going to keep doing me.
[01:04:25] I'm going to spend money the way the world tells me to spend money.
[01:04:27] I'm going to do sex and sexuality however I want to.
[01:04:30] I'm going to do power however I want to.
[01:04:32] But I think I'm going to go out there and get wet in the water, and somehow I get to go to heaven.
[01:04:35] You shouldn't get baptized.
[01:04:38] And here's why, here's why, here's why.
[01:04:40] I don't want to make you, you're already a liar, but I don't want to contribute to you lying to Jesus.
[01:04:48] Because here's what we're going to ask you in this water, man.
[01:04:51] every single one of us we're gonna you're gonna come out there we're gonna be so happy i ain't gonna yell at you in the water i am a little nicer one-on-one you could have email
[01:05:07] amen there vinky that's fine no that's all you know you missed it we're gonna greet you out there i'm with man i'm so glad you're here tell me your name tell me your story you know we're gonna do
[01:05:17] the thing and then i'm gonna ask you this are you ready to renounce you know what renounce means man turn away from be severed from the sins of your past the ways of this world in anything dark
[01:05:34] or demonic that you've ever been connected to and pledge your allegiance to Christ and Christ alone and if you go no we ain't baptizing you but if you tell me yes but you don't mean it I don't I
[01:05:52] don't want you to lie to Jesus in the act of the ordinance of baptism man and again I'm not saying you got to be perfect. Listen, I didn't ask this girl for permission, so I'm definitely going to
[01:06:02] use this one in the sermon. Dude, last week after the service, I don't know who this girl is. She's little. She's like that tall, but she's like 25 or 30. I forget, and she comes up, and she just
[01:06:11] says to me, I need help. I need help. I'm addicted to marijuana. I love Jesus. I've been praying, and there's so many chains in my life that are broken, but I just don't know how to break this,
[01:06:22] and then I just keep going back to it, and I don't want to, and I say, hey, well, I'm going to pray with you, but you need some more help than that. I'm going to pray with you, but I need to get you
[01:06:31] some professional help. And then she's like, I've just been doing it since I was 15, like so long.
[01:06:36] And it's just got this grip on me. And I said, okay, listen, I'm not going to beat you up. And she went, beat me up. So she said, she's this big, beat me up. And I just, I knew it. You're
[01:06:47] going to have victory right there. Cause you know what she's doing? She's cumbled with a humble heart. She's not justifying something that the enemy's using to kill her in her life. She's just saying i'll do whatever so should she get baptized a hundred percent because she's like the evidence
[01:07:02] of the struggle in her life is the evidence of the work of the spirit in her life discipling her and convicting her that's what we're talking about but if you got the divided heart and you're like
[01:07:15] all my money's mine and i'm gonna claim jesus as lord you can't you can't do that man i'm gonna sleep with whoever i want and jesus is my lord yeah he said you can't do that so which one is it
[01:07:26] That's what I'm saying.
[01:07:29] Because that's what we're going to do.
[01:07:30] We're going to ask you.
[01:07:33] You ready to turn away?
[01:07:35] Renounce the sins of your past, present, and future, man.
[01:07:42] The ways of this world.
[01:07:45] Anything dark or demonic that you've ever been connected to.
[01:07:49] And pledge your allegiance to Christ and Christ alone.
[01:07:52] I am.
[01:07:53] And then we're going to say, who is Jesus?
[01:07:55] And we put it on the shirt so you can answer the thing right.
[01:08:03] Drives me crazy.
[01:08:04] People are like, he's my father.
[01:08:05] That's theologically incorrect.
[01:08:07] The Son is not the Father.
[01:08:08] The Father is not the Son.
[01:08:09] Okay, I don't have time to explain the whole Trinity to you.
[01:08:16] And you declare, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
[01:08:21] And then we will say, upon your public profession of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I baptize you, my Christian brother or sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[01:08:31] And the reason we dunk is because that's what the word means, baptizo.
[01:08:36] It don't mean sprinkle a little bit of water on you from a clamshell.
[01:08:39] That's not what it means.
[01:08:40] it means to drown to sink that's what it means and it's a picture we don't like dunk your head first we bury you that's what we're doing this is like romans five and six man we bury you to
[01:08:59] your old self the water doesn't save you christ finished work on the cross has already saved you you're just declaring it to the world and just like the blood of christ washes away the sin
[01:09:11] of the person that believes in him, that water washes over you and just like Christ was resurrected from the grave as the prototoco from the day of the prototype of the one who came out of the grave,
[01:09:23] then you too will be resurrected to a newness of life and we go wild because heaven goes wild and that's what we're gonna do.
[01:09:34] So should you get baptized?
[01:09:35] Did I talk you out of it yet?
[01:09:38] Should you get baptized?
[01:09:39] It's not for perfect people, it's for forgiven people.
[01:09:41] If you're poor in spirit and you trust Jesus, It's not your performance.
[01:09:44] And he is your Lord and Savior.
[01:09:45] Get baptized.
[01:09:47] And you're like, yeah, but I was baptized as a baby.
[01:09:49] That's not what it means.
[01:09:52] You should get baptized.
[01:09:55] And if your parents are like, what are you doing?
[01:09:58] You say, Mom and Dad, I love you so much.
[01:10:00] I thank you so much.
[01:10:02] I'm just ratifying what you prayed for when you sprinkled me with that water in the clamshell thing.
[01:10:09] That's what you wanted, right?
[01:10:10] You wanted me.
[01:10:12] You wanted me to follow Jesus.
[01:10:14] I'm following Jesus.
[01:10:15] And the plain reading of the text is every single time a person in the New Testament got baptized, it was post-conversion.
[01:10:22] Every single time.
[01:10:24] So, man, when you're trying to hate on your tradition, God bless it.
[01:10:27] You just want to do it this way.
[01:10:29] And then there will be some of you that will be like, should I get baptized again?
[01:10:33] Maybe.
[01:10:36] I'll give you this maybe.
[01:10:37] In Acts 19, Paul goes to, I think it's Ephesus.
[01:10:41] Was it Ephesus?
[01:10:42] I think so.
[01:10:43] Anyway, he shows up in his town.
[01:10:44] I think it's Ephesus.
[01:10:46] And he bumps into these guys.
[01:10:47] and he basically he's like y'all are saved like yeah because do you have the holy spirit they go who's that and they weren't baptists they just didn't know he said and he said well hold on
[01:11:05] did you get baptized and they're like yeah we got baptized by john and they're like oh that was a baptism of repentance but the one that he said was coming the lamb that came to take away the
[01:11:21] sin of everyone that we believe? I don't know if you've been known this because you've been up here in Ephesus this whole time. He came, he lived, he bled, he died, he resurrected. And if you put your
[01:11:30] faith in him, he will send the spirit of God to live in you. They're like, oh, so they dunked him again. So here's what I mean. If you got baptized as not a baby, but you just kind of did it because
[01:11:43] that's what everybody was doing. You know what I mean? Like you were a little kid, you were not following Jesus and now you are go for it man this is not a thing that you do every year this is not
[01:11:53] what you do and if you're like yeah but I know him more now I know him more now than I did last year but I don't get baptized every year you understand that it is a declaration that Jesus
[01:12:02] Christ is my Lord and Savior so let me ask you church how's your heart because there's one more and this is the good one as for what was sown on the good soil Dr. Luke explains it this way in
[01:12:21] Luke 8 15 he says as this is Jesus he records this part of Jesus's sermon that Matthew doesn't Luke is a doctor so sometimes he'll have a few more details because that's what doctors do so Luke
[01:12:30] 8 15 records Jesus saying this about the good soil as for that in the good soil they are those who hearing the word hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience how
[01:12:45] do you have an anybody got an honest and good heart only if he has ripped out your heart of on and giving you a heart of flesh which is his heart this is the saved person who has surrendered
[01:12:56] their life to the lordship of Jesus not the good person because you have done good things but the person that is in good standing with God because you trusted when Jesus died on the cross somehow
[01:13:07] that counted for you that's what that means you know what it takes you ever plant a food plot probably not you have good soil doesn't become good soil just on its own you realize this
[01:13:21] it takes work that one of the things that you have to do is plow and till and add ph and fertilizer you have to prepare the soil in order for it to be good and primarily what you have to do in a hard
[01:13:34] and rocky place is you've got to break that thing and turn it upside down this is the fertile soil of the heart that is ready to hear the word of God that when God gets in there and he begins to
[01:13:46] break up your heart in a positive way, convict you of sin, speak deep into your soul. He's doing what looks like punishment, but it's actually preparation for him to save you, to plant his word in you. As for what is sown on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and
[01:14:05] understands it, not because you're so smart, but because you trust Jesus. Jesus is not a math problem to be figured out he is a savior to be loved and when you love him when you trust him
[01:14:19] when you trust him when jesus died on the cross somehow that counted for me then the understanding begins to follow and follow because he will send you the holy spirit to teach you everything that he has commanded you you know who the real preacher of 11 22 is it ain't me it's the holy
[01:14:39] spirit this is why i've told you a million times when i preach it is moderately delivered and exceptionally received i'm telling you i'll throw out a c-minus sermon and people will get saved and you're like how does that happen i'm telling you it's because when that seed lands on the
[01:14:59] the soil that has been prepped by god to be broken and contrite then he does immeasurably more than any of us ever hoped or imagined he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold this
[01:15:12] would be like a agricultural miracle and another 60 and another 30 that's what i mean by moderately delivered and exceptionally received i don't care how hard i preach i can't make it here and yet some of you right now the spirit's doing that work in you man and i don't know how to
[01:15:35] explain it but you can't deny it it's not about your good works it's about Christ's finished work and the spirit begins to do the miraculous now what is this fruit he's talking about is it the
[01:15:49] fruit of your life that is a part of it that the moment you put your faith in Jesus he plants the seed of salvation in you and over time not overnight you begin to produce not manufacture
[01:16:01] the fruit singular of the spirit love joy peace faith kindness goodness faithfulness general and self-control. So is there sanctification and development in you? But that's not how it works in farming. The fruit is not for the plant. The fruit is for the farmer, right? And this fruit
[01:16:20] that you produce is all for him. Your obedience, you sharing of your faith, it's all for him.
[01:16:31] So Jesus says, farmer goes out and he sows some seed. Some people wouldn't hear it. Some people got really excited. They were chasing goosebumps. So it didn't last. Some people were just trying to used the gospel
[01:16:50] as like an accessory to their life that wouldn't work but there were some people and they had ears to hear and eyes to see and God gave them this little seed of faith later Jesus we're going to get here in a few weeks or months
[01:17:11] Jesus is going to say it's not the amount of faith you have it's the object of your faith that matters and the thing that he uses is a seed like faith of a mustard seed
[01:17:19] and he says you can have the faith of like a tiny mustard seed and say to this mountain get out of here and he ain't got no choice And some of you, right now, today, for the very first time,
[01:17:35] while I've been talking, the Spirit has been preaching to your heart.
[01:17:40] And your eyes are being opened.
[01:17:42] And your ears are being opened.
[01:17:45] And you realize, for the very first time, being a follower of Jesus, it didn't do better, try harder.
[01:17:54] It's not even a theology exam at the end that you've got to get a passing grade on.
[01:17:59] It just comes down to one thing.
[01:18:01] Do I trust Him?
[01:18:05] Do I believe, do I trust that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me?
[01:18:12] And so if that's you, if you know that the Spirit of God has tilled up your heart and the Word of God has landed on good, fertile soil, and for the very first time, you are ready to put your faith, your trust,
[01:18:25] and you're like, yeah, I got about 100 questions.
[01:18:27] Great, you can make a great disciple.
[01:18:30] Stay tuned for the rest of the book of Matthew.
[01:18:31] They ask the dumbest questions you've ever heard of in your life.
[01:18:35] Two weeks at Sunday school would have answered more most of the disciples questions and they're like what and yet they trusted and followed Jesus and so that same invitation is true right now he says come to me
[01:18:50] all you who are weary and heavy burden and I'll give you rest for your soul for my burden is easy and my yoke is light what's your yoke what what what are the conditions to follow you Jesus he
[01:19:03] says this, just repent and believe. I'm going to sever my life from that old dead me, the ways of the world, my own sin, the dark and demonic things of this world. And I'm going to turn to you, Jesus.
[01:19:19] And he goes, I got you. I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes. And if that's you right now, and you don't like, you can't explain it. You just can't deny it. But today for the very first
[01:19:34] time, you have eyes to see and ears to hear, and you know that the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart, and you hear the invitation of Jesus, and He says, come to me with all your questions
[01:19:44] and all your doubts and all your what about this, but you are ready to put your faith in Him for your salvation for the very first time, then I want you right now to lift your hand as high as
[01:19:55] you can, and you just simply tell Him in your own words, Lord Jesus, save me, and He promised that He will do that 100% of the time for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[01:20:06] Our good and gracious heavenly father, God, we love you like crazy because you love us first and you came on a rescue mission not to give us a set of rules that we had to follow
[01:20:14] to declare ourself righteous before you, but God, you live the righteous, perfect life and then you went to the cross, not just for us, but instead of us.
[01:20:22] You paid the full price.
[01:20:25] You endured the full judgment of all of our sin and yet if we would just believe, we receive the right to be credited with your perfect life that the father would look at us and say behold because of your faith in Jesus behold my son my daughter in whom I am well
[01:20:43] pleased and so God I thank you right now for the miraculous it's even better than blind eyes seeing it's even better than deaf hearing God this day this day through the proclamation of your word
[01:20:56] and the work of your spirit God some people who were spiritually dead have been rescued out of the kingdom of darkness and planted in your kingdom of the marvelous light. And so, God, we give you glory because you're the only one worthy of it. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[01:21:15] Church, would you please stand to your feet? And this is preparation for what we're about to do Sunday. Every single one of you that raised your hand, I can't count up here. I can't count that
[01:21:24] good anyway. But no, everybody that said, hey, I'm in. I surrender my life to Jesus. Your next step is go get baptized. Don't wait because the longer you wait, the quicker the enemy is going to try
[01:21:33] to steal that thing away. Okay. And right now we're going to sing, man. We're going to sing.
[01:21:37] We will sing like save people. We're going to get after this. The Bible says that when somebody gets saved, it says all of heaven rejoices. I used to think that was just the angels. Guess who else is
[01:21:47] in heaven? Jesus himself sitting on the throne. He's rejoicing too. Cause somebody lost has just gotten found. Praise God. And we're going to bring our tithes and our offerings because we are going to say the deceitfulness of riches is not going to rob us.
[01:22:02] It's not going to rob us for what God has for us.
[01:22:05] And we're going to pray.
[01:22:06] You got some cares of the world?
[01:22:09] Jesus said, cool, cast them on him because he cares for you.
[01:22:11] Let's sing, let's bring, let's pray.
[01:22:13] Let's respond.

[01:22:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:22:15] As I know who, cause of salvation, has set me, now I am sure, I'm free.

[01:32:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:32:59] With the 40 men and women online at all of our campuses, that tonight was the night.
[01:33:04] Listen, if that was you or you're ready, you know your next step is to get baptized.
[01:33:08] Just head there right now.
[01:33:10] We're excited to see all that God is going to do at Beach Baptism, amen?
[01:33:15] See you at the beach.
[01:33:16] Be free.