Well, everyone keeps asking me when we're going to Exodus to get them out. You have to wait a little bit longer. That'll be after the first of the year. But we are going to, this morning, turn to Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's Gospel, the first book of the New Testament. And consider Matthew chapter 13. This really is an overview of this chapter. So I'm going to be reading, there's two parables we're considering together here. The parable of the sower and the parable of the wheat and the tares. So we will be reading together the first 30 verses and then we'll just read through verse 43 this morning. So let's give our attention this morning to the word of the Lord, Matthew 13. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach and he told them many things in parables saying a sower went out to sow and as he sowed some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil but when the sun rose they were scorched and since they had no root they withered away other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked them other seeds fell on good soil and produced grains some a hundredfold some sixty some thirty he who has ears let him hear then the disciples came and said to him why do you speak to them in parables he answered them to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven but to them it's not been given for to the one who has more will be given and he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away this is why i speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand indeed in their case the prophecy of isaiah is fulfilled that says you will indeed hear but never understand you will indeed see but never perceive for this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they can barely hear and their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and i would heal them but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear for truly i say to you many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it and hear what you hear and did not hear it here then the parable of the sower when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart this is what was sown along the path as for what was sown on rocky ground this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately he falls away as for what was sown among thorns this is the one who hears the word but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choked the word and prove it it proves unfruitful as for what was sown on good soil this is the one who hears the word and understands it he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold in another 60 and in another 30. he put another parable before them saying the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. And when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, the enemy has done this. So the servants said to him, then do you want us to go and gather them up? But he said, no, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the weed into my barn. Look down at verse 36. Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. he answered the one who sows the good seed is the son of man the field is the world and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom the weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are angels just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire so it will be at the end of the age the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law breakers and throw them into a fiery furnace in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father he who has ears let him hear may the lord bless the hearing of his word one of the things that has perplexed me about gospel ministry is how common it is that people don't respond to it. That they don't respond to the gospel. You think about what the Lord is offering to this sad world. He's offering so many wonderful blessings and benefits. He's offering peace. He's extending His arm and He's saying, Come to Me and I will give you life and forgiveness and deliverance from death. He who believes in me, though he dies, he shall live. He says all these things in the gospel over and over and over, assuring that there is eternal happiness and bliss beyond this life with him. Where are the floods? Where are the people? I mean, have you ever been stuck by that and troubled by that? How many people reside in Escondido today? 150,000. How many do you think will be worshiping this morning? Well, we've got about 30 churches in Escondido. You have 100 people per church. Maybe 3,000 or 5,000. How many will be responding when they sit there and listen? And what did they get? That is massively confusing for me. Troubles me, bothers me. I mean, think about it. There will be more interest tonight in the chargers than Christ. Average attendance, 64,000. There's more excitement about throwing around a ball and watch people hit each other than to come hear words that will save you from eternal hellfire. Does that trouble you? At times, the lack of response can become so discouraging. You begin to ask the question about gospel ministry, does it even work? I mean, does it even work? Is it doing anything right now? You ever question that? Why does it have to be this way? Why all of the opposition? Why all the struggle? I mean, it was great. For the past few weeks, we had two old veterans come up here and preach. They were old veterans, and it was fantastic. I loved listening to them preach. But both of them told you how much the times have changed. Did you hear it? And how the opposition is coming on unprecedented levels. Both of them said it. And you stand back from that. I'm sitting there listening, thinking, couldn't it have been different? Couldn't God have done this differently? Why so little response? And then this struggle is all the more confusing because, I mean, come on. There are stadiums today that are called churches that are filled with 50,000. And man, I could tell you that if you come to Jesus, you're going to be rich. You're going to have everything you ever want. You're going to be happy. He'll heal your cancer. And I would get really paid. Come on. Why does that? it aloud. You see, that can all be very disillusioning. You enter into ministry. You want to be an effective preacher. We're all concerned about reaching people. I want everyone saved. I can say that genuinely. I want everyone saved. Here's the reality. If you look at the state of the church and you talk to the average pastor, most of them are greatly discouraged just by the spiritual state of people. Do you know, as the stats go, at any given time, 75% of pastors want to quit over severe stress, over depression, over fear, over bewilderment, over alienation, among other things, and their spouse is the same. Tough business. any of this work does any of this work why do i raise that this morning because that's the struggle of matthew chapter 13 that is what jesus is answering for you in matthew 13 and you all have felt it you all have felt it when you have convictions about things today and you say i'm going to be reformed in my convictions all the more you feel alienated because you simply have convictions that's all it takes today to feel alienated conviction because there isn't much of it well Matthew 13 has two goals this morning as I was trying to summarize this and and beat it down into one statement so that you could take something with you I believe it's this Jesus is giving his disciples who are very perplexed about the nature of the kingdom and how it works he's giving his disciples hope in explaining what they can expect about the kingdom and he's explaining for them how they are to look at these kind of disappointments hope and help for the disappointments and we need to understand this because if you don't at some point you all are going to feel like giving up you're all going to feel disillusioned about this all you all even in the course of your own christianity are going to feel is anything even happening and jesus's words are designed to give that kind of hope and help in this struggle that i just described to not lose sight of the fact that there is a goal ahead of us that there is something ahead of us that is laid out in front of us that there is at the end a great harvest of souls that is coming that that's how these two parables end didn't it but you need to understand on the way you need to understand on the way the nature of the conflict in the interim and in this section what Jesus is doing is helping his disciples with an issue they have not been able to figure out specifically what is it is this Jesus has been doing signs no one can dispute. I mean, it's been remarkable. He has raised the dead. He has healed the sick. I mean, what kind of following would that get today? If Pastor Gordon was able to heal all of your diseases, I'd be a pretty popular guy in Escondido, wouldn't I? What's happened to Jesus? This is what he's doing. He's healing. He's raising the dead. Nobody has ever seen anything like that. No one, when they even heard him preach, everyone said, what in the world is that? We've never heard anyone teach like that. We've never heard anyone teach like that. He teaches with authority. Prophets all wanted to see his day. But here was the dilemma. Jesus had piles of admirers, but few followers. where are the followers of him imagine the disciples they're in training going to be apostles where are the followers this makes no sense and the key to understanding why then jesus begins to tell the parable is seen in the events that surround he's going to tell seven kingdom parables here and to understand why he's doing this is to look at what happened around it what happened around it well notice here the disciples have been discouraged about what in chapter 12 he had healed a man and what kind of response did that get well pharisees come along and they charge him with something that is just unbelievable this man does not heal except by bells above the ruler of demons he healed a man what an awful response i mean you're standing there as disciples these are the religious leaders of the day you're standing there thinking what why what would garner what would earn that kind of rage now everyone look down at the end of chapter 13 this morning and you'll notice there at the very end of chapter 13 in verse 53 that it came to pass after he finished these parables he comes to his hometown they're astonished at his wisdom and his teaching and his mighty works but he comes to verse 57 notice verse 57 so they were all offended at him you know john 6 you remember that he has 5 000 gather around him and by the time he's done they're so mad jesus says have i offended you how many times do you hear people say you've offended me you offended did i offend you and then he steps it up it was all unreasonable of course the rejection and the rage that he got but it's confusing for the disciples it's confusing for the disciples they they don't really understand this they don't get this why in the world is this happening well chapter 13 is jesus's response to all of this rejection and if you understand that then it will make some sense for you why he's doing what he's doing as the disciples are perplexed here we come to chapter 13 and here's the scene as it opens up in chapter 13 we read that he gets into a boat and he has to he has to get into a boat and he goes out into the water a little ways i mean you can kind of imagine it like this imagine that i'm on a lake the masses have gathered all around jesus he's on a little pulpit floating he has to because the masses are so great he has to have distance this is fantastic you know if you're a disciple standing there you've never seen a rabbi draw this kind of attention you've never seen a teacher get this kind of attention i mean this is what the disciples wanted to see you remember in john 7 look if you're going to do something you got to get out there and show yourself to the world you've got to do these things in front of people so you'll get a following. So imagine the excitement now. Rejection just comes out of it. The masses are all around him. You would look at this today and you'd think that's great. It's a crusade. They're listening to Jesus himself. This is exciting. Don't ever criticize that. Here's the opportunity. What do you think the disciples are thinking? you've taught us to be fishers of men you know here you are in a boat here i'll cast the net go get them we're fishers of men well it's at this point that jesus does something confusing he begins to speak in parables he tells a parable of the sower a sower went out and sowed in his field he wanted to grow crops some landed on the path the birds come and devour it Some landed on these stony places here. The earth sprung up. The seeds sprung up quick. But because they had no depth of earth, it was scorched by the sun and it withered away. Some grew up, but the thorns choked it so that it didn't produce any fruit. Then there's this one that produced much fruit. Gets off the boat. Walks away. Now that should startle you. You ever notice how the explanation is given down the way a little bit in the Scriptures? He gets off the boat, gives that parable, walks away. And you're saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. That doesn't make sense. I mean, why would you do that? His disciples come to him. Jesus, we don't understand what you're doing. Why are you speaking to them in parables? You haven't done this. You've changed the tactics. Why are you all of a sudden teaching in parables? That is so perplexing. We're a bit wrong about parables, by the way. We're a bit wrong. We think parables are given to make it nicer and easier for the people and the children. Nuh-uh. Nope. Easy listening. Nope. Parables coded the teaching. He just coded it. He said, why would you code your teaching? Why would you put it in code? Why would you not just say it? He hid it from them right then and there. This is a great teaching moment for his disciples, of course. Remember, it really is a training chapter, and that helps us to understand this. It's a training chapter. Why are you speaking in parables? They don't know what you're talking about, Jesus. Why are you doing that? And listen to verse 11. because it's been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them, it's not been given. That's a remarkable statement. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand. That's why I am doing this. Here were all these multitudes. He doesn't give them meaning. He lets them walk away. And He walks up to His disciples. They want to know why. He then begins to explain to them why He's doing it and He says something remarkable in verse 16. Blessed are your eyes. for they see, and your ears, for they hear. I've done something for you. Have you figured this out yet? I've done something overwhelming for you, dear disciples. Now, I want you again to think a little bit about where the disciples are at this moment. It's probably right where you are right now, trying to figure this out. Why is Jesus doing this? This doesn't seem to make any sense. Why is Jesus responding like this? And then Jesus says something remarkable. I'm fulfilling the prophet Isaiah. And you're seeing it in these people. You're fulfilling that ministry. That seeing they will not see and hearing they will not hear, lest I should heal them. What has happened to cause that? That's my question. why is he doing that well you can look all over the gospels and understand this you can see it everyone was following him for the signs everyone was coming to him he was getting all sorts of responses and here was the problem where were the genuine followers so they're coming out to listen to a a great preacher a preacher like they had never heard before a preacher that was powerful and nothing but opposition why he's offering grace he's offering strength he's saying come to me and i'll give you help for your lives and they would still even though they're there they'd still rather be down at the charger game does that bother you sure it bothers you it bothered jesus why are people responding like this to him i'm now fulfilling isaiah they heard nothing happened they wouldn't come to him now you would all agree at some point you you just keep casting it you can't you don't cast your pearls anymore that's that's a biblical principle at some point you know that you're told to turn away at some point jesus turns away and what we've had in the gospels are people following him for all the wrong reasons some calling him a demon i mean calling jesus the son of god a demon but the puzzle for us here is this is jesus this is the king where's the sovereignty why is he doing this the disciples are perplexed and so at this point what jesus does and this is where it will come together, I hope, for you this morning. What Jesus does is He begins to open up the kingdom of heaven for them so that with heavenly understanding, they can understand what is going on in the hearts of multitudes of people in the ministry. The parable will be a blessing for them. To him who has more will be given. It will actually reveal more to them. It has a concealing and a revealing function. So here it is. he begins to explain this parable of the sower. This parable was told for them to understand the phenomenon that they had just witnessed, that they had just had an object lesson about with all these people around Jesus and very few responding. So Jesus explains it. Let me help you with your understanding about what's going on in the kingdom, in my kingdom rule, in my sovereignty as the king of kings and Lord of Lords. He begins to explain this. Here are the parable of the sower. What we find in the parable of the sower is that this was a word picture, if you will, in a parable form, of the earthly preaching of the gospel and the word going out into the earth. The soils represent the heart. The seed is the word of God. and this gets to the issue the word is going to have an effect in people's hearts depending on upon the state of people's hearts when they receive it that's what's going to happen how is the word going to have an effect on people's hearts the word today god is sending out on his this day around the world today well he starts and he explains this when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart this is what was sown along the path so the first kind of response jesus says to my ministry to my casting the word on this dry soil of the earth is this there are a whole bunch who are totally unresponsive totally unresponsive that's the first type of here he raises here when a farmer would cast his seed, some inevitably would fall on dirt that was so matted down. You've seen this. Or on a path. And the dirt was so matted down, it had no place for the seed to break into the soil and begin to grow. Jesus says, there are multitudes of hearts just like that. Notice he says, when they hear it, there's no understanding. What kind of heart is Jesus describing? It's a callous. It's a critical. It's a very hard heart that translates to no interest really to this at all. It doesn't have the ability to. and i believe what jesus is saying here is that there are those in the kingdom when they hear my word their hearts are so incredibly hard to anything spiritual so hard absolutely right out of the gates it's rejected they're gone no response you've seen this all your life you realize how people hear the word jesus was talking about it over and over take heed how you hear take heed what you hear you're used to talking about the preacher and how the preacher did that day. But you should also equally talk about how you heard that day. And I believe that Jesus here is pressing and showing them what he's been facing in his own ministry. Now, this is not surprising to you. Secular songwriters write about this stuff all the time. In fact, my guess is you drove down in your car and you've sung this song, and this secular writer has called you a fool. Did you know that? Listen to this. Simon and Garfunkel's song, The Sound of Silence, for all you oldies but goodies. In the naked light, I saw 10,000 people, maybe more, people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never share, and no one dared disturb the sound of silence. Fool, said I. You've been in your car singing that, by the way. You do not know silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you. But my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence. And the people bowed and prayed to the neon God they made. Unreal. And the sign flashed out its warning in the words that it was forming. and the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence. You know what he said the meaning of that song was? His own words? The inability of people to listen and communicate so that they can't love one another. Well, that's what the disciples have been seeing the whole time with Jesus. He's been speaking heavenly speech. He's been speaking saving speech. Who's listening? Who's listening today in the world to Jesus? People hearing without mass opposition. He has a demon. You can be so hard. Listen, you can be so hard. You could walk out of here today you took nothing it didn't affect you it won't change you in fact you probably hate me because I'm exposing things trust me I preach this to me that kind of hearer says Jesus is so hard under the sway of the devil that you know what happens when the light is given and maybe there's a moment of a little bit of conviction, the devil comes and he grabs it. Takes it. So they'll never meditate upon it. They'll never ask any questions about it. They're gone. At least with Paul and Acts, there was some kind of response when they said, well, we'll hear you again on this matter. That's another kind of hearer. We'll hear you again. We'll hear you again. This kind of hearer wreaks havoc in the kingdom. Never forget a man so hardened when he was taking the supper. And when it came by, he went like this and stared at the elder who was handing him bread. God was extending his hand. Jesus then describes what I call the enthusiasts. As for what was sown on rocky ground, verse 20, this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately he falls away picture here is the topsoil is good and moist and the seed goes in and it springs up quickly but the roots can't set because it's full of rocks you know this kind of soil and and he explains that that's the kind of heart that immediately will receive the word with joy they get really excited the enthusiasts about the word they're really excited about the word but then he says but since it's not rooted when the sun comes up it scorches the plant and it dies immediately and jesus explains that by saying when the first sign of hardship comes when the first sign of tribulation come they're gone that excitement is wiped out well that's the multitude sitting there in chapter 13 they're all excited they're enthusiasts about jesus they're enthusiasts about his preaching and jesus is saying dear disciples remember this is training ground you've got to look deeper than this you've got to think deeper than this this is surface i'm getting you into heavenly realities about the human heart i'm not looking outwardly at only those kind of superficial results we're not tallying up the numbers here of those who are coming in. In the kingdom, there are going to be many who get really excited, and as soon as some affliction comes, they're gone. And Jesus says that here. Well, that's a common response I've seen in the ministry. I don't know how many times pastors have described newcomers come into church, and when they first come into a church, the first thing they say, wow, we love it here. We love the preaching. We love what's going on here. Doesn't take long until that's settled down. No stability. No stability. No stability. Enthusiasts. Third kind. The distracted. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke it, and it proves unfruitful. These people are so distracted with life. Worried, worried, worried, worried. That anything that they're hearing, that the thorns come up and they just choke the life out. The world has gotten into the heart. And they don't hear a thing. They don't grow. They don't grow. They don't grow. Then Jesus encourages them. But there is a good soil. This is a heart prepared by the Lord. Notice what he says about the good soil there. One who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding 160. Notice this. 30 times what was sown. These love the word of God. These, they come in, they love God's word. They're eager to hear the preaching of God's word because they understand. They understand they're getting it. It's changing their lives. It's really changing their lives. They love to hear it proclaimed. They can't get enough. I love Dr. Berksma's comment on Thanksgiving that worship and hearing and receiving the word is a real gauge of where you are. That is absolutely correct. That is a gauge of where you are. and that's the challenge here then that initially you could say you could stop and say well what kind of hearer am I? that is a challenge and all of us need to evaluate how the word is having an effect how we're hearing it but here's the primary intention this morning I get massively discouraged by all this sometimes sick with my own heart feels powerless it seems like we're just in this battle as a church and is anything working rc sprall just had a ligonier a big survey of the state of evangelical theology and people's theology and most people in this country don't even believe they're sinners anymore it's gotten that bad you're in a new dark ages my grandmother used to say oh chris it's getting so bad it's getting so bad he's going to come in this generation he's going to come in this generation every generation and said that. But that doesn't make me just a doomer and a gloomer. I agreed with Reverend Camminga the other day. We live in the best of times because of what the Lord is explaining here. Why do I say that? Because the last parable is the thrust of the encouragement. These two are coupled together. I believe that. They're always told together. And what he's saying in this last parable this morning here, the weed and the tares, is be patient. This struggle is permitted to go on so that all the sheep would be saved. That's the encouragement. So notice here in verse 24, he put forth another parable to them saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore again, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? See the struggle? What are you doing? What are all these weeds doing here? An enemy has done this. So his servants said, well, then do you want us to go gather those enemies up? You want me to go get those weeds? He said, no, less than gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest. And in harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds, first bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Then come. Notice what he says. They will come again in verse 36, and he'll explain it. But then the end will come. Disciples hear this. Explain that. I have many sons here. The devil does too. His sons are like an obnoxious weed in our nice field. And he's trying to mingle it all up. He's trying to get in and mingle it up into the church. This is why the church has been full of struggles from the beginning, brothers and sisters. Well, why don't you stop this, Jesus? Why don't you put an end to this? Well, you see, with that obnoxious weed, you can't tell in the early stages of growth. You can't tell either with the good grain in the early stages of growth. It's not until they start filling out and growing up and then you'll notice a major difference. One buds and the other doesn't. Jesus is saying, I'm allowing this. Here's the joy. Because you need time. Do you feel that? I'm allowing this so that you grow and you bud my good soil you need to know i have an earth full of wheat dear christians many of them have not yet budded but since i have not taken out the bad soils that's why there's so much conflict that's why there's so much struggle that's why this world is such a mess it's because satan has sons here wreaking havoc but listen listen listen i have wheat and they're not where i want them yet the whole thrust of this is you've got to be patient because God is saving all of his sheep his good soil I'm going to close with this thought here my father, I may have told this story was a basketball coach for years successful basketball coach devoted a lot of time to basketball every week we came and sat in the Reformed Church. We were there. One day, he budded. 55 years old. He would tell you, basketball is his God. I have seen people sit in our churches for years, no life. If they're here, no life. all of a sudden. And that has been the greatest encouragement to me as a pastor. It's like they heard the word for the first time in their life. And they're not just enthusiasts. They're understanding it. That's the point. They're getting it. The Bible's being opened up to them. And they're longing, and they're looking to Christ, and they're seeing the gospel all throughout Scripture. And here's the whole point this morning. The disciples were so discouraged by all of this opposition. You're discouraged by all of this opposition. They didn't understand it at times. You're not going to understand it at times. And it seems like, very clearly, boys and girls, Jesus is losing. But I'm telling you, he's going to win. Don't think that I'm letting all this opposition go, says Jesus. Here's the other thing. I am a prophet of judgment, too. Don't be caught off guard by the struggle. On Satan's children, I'm exercising judgment now so that seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear. And you need to understand that's going on in the world. But be patient because I am budding my children. Be patient because I am saving my children. And you know, aren't you thankful for that this morning? You may have a loved one right now who needs to bud. You may have a daughter or son. And that's why you're here. And do you see how wonderful verse 16 is? But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. What have I done for you? Well, let me ask this question. You say, well, I don't know what kind of hearer I am. You may struggle with all of those very types of hearers I outlined. All of us do. We confess those sins. Confess the sins of being stiff-necked. We confess the sins of being hard. the sins of being worldly. Yeah, sure we do. Do you understand the word? Do you understand his gospel? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? What does he say? You will be saved. And you should walk out of here today and say, what has the Lord done for me? He's blessed me. And I didn't deserve it. Every true child of God says that I don't know why he did it, but he did it for me. and I see. I once was blind, said the blind man, but now I see. What kind of love do you have for his word? So I hope this helps this morning to be not caught off guard by what's happening in our sad world or even in the church at times, but to be encouraged and not discouraged. You're here for a reason. You're here because not all the elect have come in. And that means, as Paul said, I will endure all things for the sake of the elect even when he was getting beat up by the tear. So must we. We must endure the opposition and it's fascinating to me how chapter 13 ends. That Jesus walks away from telling these parables and is himself rejected so that everyone would be able to look back and say our Lord faced the same thing. Where Christ is preached, his kingdom ears are popping up all over wheat. And I see the fruit in you. I love that about this church. I see so much fruit in you. But you can be sure, tares will pop up too. Tares will pop up too. But I pray that every last one in the Escondido URC will be good hearers of the word. That you would labor to not be critical of it. Hey, pastors can preach bad sermons. I'll be the first to say it. But to not be critical of it, but understand it and bear fruit and demonstrate the same kind of patience that you have received to your brethren. Demonstrate to them from the Lord because maybe the one you're most troubled about needs to bud. Verse 43, he says, very soon I'll put an end to this and that's the encouragement. The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Heavenly Father, we confess this morning that we have nothing without You. And that unless You open up our understanding, unless You give us the kind of grace that is here displayed, we will go forward with hard hearts and stiffen our necks and complain against the word and be frustrated with your church and ultimately reject, even wanting to be here, even though we sit here. Forgive us for those terrible sins and bless us this day. Make us good hearers of your word so that we would understand it and that every last person in this body would bud would flower would produce much fruit 30 60 and 100 fold all according to the grace since those works are prepared beforehand that we should walk in them thank you for encouraging us with your word and let us not lose heart in the opposition to be a blessing to those who have not yet budded in jesus name amen