In this sermon, the preacher discusses the parable of the sower from Matthew 13:3-9. He explains that the seed represents the word of God and the different types of soil represent different responses to the word. Some people receive the word but quickly lose it due to external influences, while others receive it with joy but lack depth and wither away when faced with challenges. Still, others allow the cares of the world to choke out the word, but those who receive it with a good heart bear fruit abundantly. The preacher emphasizes the importance of allowing the word of God to dwell richly in one's life and lead to a transformation of the heart.

And straight away, I want to take up one of the questions that has been written in. Whether we'll get through them all, I don't know. I propose to take one or two of the questions in this afternoon's session, because they're related to family matters. And I believe you all know that for this afternoon we have a sort of a, I don't quite know what to call it, alfresco or infradig or whatever it is, coming together of married people. I happen to be married, so I'm allowed. And people, husbands and wives, or wives or husbands, that's the sort of explanation of Paul's conundrum that he puts out every time. If you have children, then you're allowed, indeed, welcome and invited to come. All sorts of meetings are arranged for me before I get here, and I sort of fit in. I'm just a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, but we hope that it works out all right. But for this morning, then, I want to take up something which I'm quite sure that in the past, in this same room, we have dwelt upon. And some of you may be surprised that the question should be asked, but the persons asked it need not at all feel that they're at the bottom of the class because they've asked it. But again and again, these sorts of questions come up. This one is, why the difference 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold in the parable of the sower? Now, you will know that if you turn to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 13, you have this great truth set before us. I hope you know, too, that the same is told in the Gospel according to Mark, and the same is told in the Gospel according to Luke. Mark and Matthew pretty well run parallel. In fact, the story runs the same in Luke's Gospel, too. But Luke brings in a point that is the great thing for us to look at, I think, at one period as we're answering the question. But in Matthew 13, I said, Luke 8, if you pop your finger into there, if you were following my remarks at that period, and put your finger into Luke chapter 8 for further reference. In Matthew chapter 13, the parable is told right at the beginning. You see that it says that Jesus goes out of the house and he sits by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat. And the whole multitude stood on the shore. Rather different teaching in those days. The teacher all was set, and the crowd stood. Sometimes I snatch a seat whilst you're standing up singing, because I do the standing. I suppose I'm doing you an honor. You did the teacher honor in the past days, you see. But I'm doing you the honor, if that's what it's all about. Or perhaps it's because you're all very tired, and all your corns hurt you or something. All right. And in verse 3, he spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. When he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and divided them up. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth. And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. When the sun was up, they were scorched. And because they had no root, they withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But other fell into good ground, brought forth fruit. Some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And you know that the disciples, they wanted to know why the Lord spoke to the people in parables. It's in the next verse. He gives his lengthy explanation. As I was saying, I sometimes find great encouragement from Jesus, because he didn't say, the answer to your question is so and so. He went round and laid the scriptural ground before he gave his answer. And I do that, or seek to, generally, so that you can know how the conclusion is arrived at. And that's very important, you know. So Jesus does that. He shows you the background from which he approaches his parable. He tells his story as upon the background of scripture. And, alright, in verse 18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, against this whole background of Old Testament prophecy I'm speaking. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the wayside. And I suppose practically every one of us have been in that position at some time or other in our lives. We didn't understand what was said, and so the devil just snatched away what could have become rooted in your life. Because Jesus is aiming at your understanding. You didn't understand what was being said, and so the word didn't profit you one little bit. And the devil snatched it away before it began to sink in and take root. Anybody in the room been like that in their lives? Oh, I can see some heads nodding, yeah. Don't all like to admit it, we like to think we start in the top class instead of at the bottom. But Jesus never thinks so. He that receiveth seed into stony places, the same is he which heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. Yet he hath no root in himself, but dureth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended. That person was never a born again person. There are lots of people like that. They hear the word, they receive it with joy. But they're too shallow to let God get right down into their lives. They're just shallow people. They'd do anything, you know. They see somebody standing on their head in the street, they'd think that was marvelous, you see. Or anything like that. This sort of shallow kind of person. They're naturally shallow. What a disadvantage that is, when you come to hear the gospel. Never really serious minded. Never really want to get to grips with anything. Think that it's all playing tambourines and plucking banjo strings and this sort of thing. Wants to live on waffles and fish and chips. That sort of thing, you know. Never really got anywhere with God. They're never serious enough. They never do anything in life. Leave alone with things of the spirit. Never. And that's tragic. No root in yourself. Amen. That's the next one. He also that receiveth seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that receiveth seed into good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it. There's your difference between the last two. You see, people that receive seed among thorns, they are they that hear the word. Generally, these kinds of people are introverts. Like the other person is an extrovert. He's sort of shallow. And on the surface, this one's pretty deep. He's a very careful person. He's an introvert. He's usually a perfectionist. And so on and so on. Jesus has included all the psychological types here in this parable. And in it goes, mulling around inside, cares, worries, and I don't know what. And they get all shut up. And sometimes they finish in the hand of a psychiatrist. Everything gets them all tied up inside. And the Lord says, just get choked. Anything you say to them is choked by these other things. Their own deep cares, worries, doubts, all sorts of things like that. All right. But he that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, understandeth it, and brings forth fruit. I suppose that everybody that's truly born again of God this morning has understood what the word's all about. The introvert or the extrovert understands that the word of God comes to you to do all the things, all your trouble inside, to do it for you. That's what God's telling you. So you see, in the end, it's a matter of whether or not you will come to faith in the word that's preached to you. The person, for instance, from whom the word is snatched away by the devil is because they never exercise any kind of faith at all. It just lies upon the surface. You heard it, and that's all there was in it. But you've got to receive the word with faith and understand the word, that when God talks about salvation, that's what he's proposing to do. Happily. He's going to save you. As we were thinking last night, he saves his people from their sins. That's the great meaning of the name Jesus. But Jesus doesn't only save us from our sins, he saves us from the causes of those sins. He saves us from the rootage of habits in the life. He roots out the thorns and the thistles. He's come to do it. He's come to take away the hard stones underneath that makes you a shallow, bubbling brook, and everybody thinks everything's lovely with you, and underneath you're as hard, and as you're as adamant, and as you're as stubborn, and as self-willed, and shallow as you like, and to hear your laughter when you think you're enjoying yourself is just the giveaway. People only have to hear your voice. That's all they ever need to hear if they know what they're listening for. And God moves in this way. You're to understand the word when you receive it. Jesus is proposing to take away my deep-seated lusts for this. These things that choke every time. These things that stop me being a Christian, if you like, or stop me being what I want to be. Jesus is saying he's going to take those away. Then comes the tussle. Will I let him, despite all my great show that I stand up in meetings and wave my arms about and say hallelujah and so on, but am I willing when I'm not in a meeting? And there's nobody to see whether I'm saying hallelujah in the right place or not. Am I willing to let him root out those secret things that rage in me when I'm alone? That's the thing. That's what it's all about. You do understand that, don't you? Have you understood that? The Lord said to them in this set of parables, he said, have you understood what I said? That's what he said. When you nod your head and say you understand, you've reached the age of responsibility. You may be 95 before you reach it, but that doesn't matter. Amen. Glory. Now we're going to come to the thing, the question really that was asked. And I would like you to see that in the talking, in the expounding of this, every time, whether you look in verse 8 of this parable, or whether you look in verse 23, you will find the order is not 30, 60, 100, it's 100, 60, 30. There's a significance in it. Oh, God always puts the highest and the best first. Hallelujah. That's what I'm aiming at. And that's why when you turn to Luke chapter 8, you find this, verse 15, that on the good ground are they which in an honest, oh, when you come to understanding, beloved, you've got to be honest. When you say you understand, that's when you've got to honestly face up. That's where your responsibility comes. Will I now be honest with this thing that I understand? And if you'll be honest, ask yourself the next question. Will I be good? Amen. Will I be good, wholesome ground? Will I hand over my life for Jesus to do this and that? Will I? Honesty always makes for openness. You remember that in resurrection this is what Jesus did to his apostles. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. That then came their moral responsibility. So you can put your fingers in your inward ears this morning, though you may listen to me for speaking for two hours and say I'm not, I'm going to refuse to understand this. But don't think you've refused, that you've dodged the responsibility of having had the opportunity to understand. Anybody can plug up their spirits inside, making out some excuse or another about it, but not when you stand in the presence of Jesus. He opened their understandings that they might understand the scripture. Then they got to be honest from then on. They got a face right bang up to the truth. And what an awful moment that can be unless you've got a spirit in you which beyond words says I'm going through with you. But don't at that moment fall back into your own psyche about it. Your own powers, I'm going to plug through, drop back into your great sentimental inward vows. And all that, and up come the tears and the sobs. And one thing, because you're struggling wonderfully in your soul, come out of that and believe God. It isn't done by you putting on the pressure. It's by you then inviting God in to do it all deeply and staying with him till he's done it. It isn't those who immediately they hear the word say oh wonderful, wonderful, wonderful you see. And if you're one of these people who look at your life and say well I don't know I seem to have been a long time coming to this that's fine, that's fine. If you started off by not understanding and nothing seemed to get in for about six months and you were tempted to give up because it was all, it was sort of a wearisome round and you look around and you say how does they seem to be jumping up in the air and you wonder whenever they're going to pull them down to earth again and so on and so on. Don't worry about that even if you've been a good many months if you like coming in. I'm not saying prolong the process. What I'm saying is it is no criterion that somebody comes in and jumps for joy and leaps all over the room first hearing and that's it. It's the heart that understands that it's got to understand and moves in and wants God to to deal with it on every level and is honest about it and doesn't cover up and let pride stop the Lord working or anything like that or doesn't try and keep up a face before someone else at all because they hold position or something like that or people, they think that people think that they're alright or something like this you don't want to worry about that. It's whether you face up to God. You realize that this vain show in which people are living is all going to be destroyed. You understand that, don't you? It's coming into all that God wants us to be. Alright then. In an honest and good heart Luke 8.15 Having heard the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Alright? Alright? Are you ready to see what God wants you to have? In verse 8 That which fell on good ground in Luke's record forbears a hundredfold. There's no talk of sixty or thirty here. Hundredfold is what God is expecting from His seed. His seed brings forth a hundredfold. You say, well why does it say sixty and thirty in Matthew's account? Well, it's because that even in people that are rarely included in the good ground you get these these sort of people that won't let God have them entirely to bring forth His fruit a hundredfold. They won't let Him do it. There are very few people who bring forth a hundredfold. I hope every one of them in Liverpool is in this room this morning. A hundredfold. Do you remember that famous statement by Jesus? He's laid the foundation for His stories in His own life. Did you know that? Matthew chapter 4 The first temptation that came to Jesus He's led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil When he'd fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterward and hungered and when the tempter came to him he said If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread but he answered and said this is the background from which the story came it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God that's it now that was written I told you earlier that He told these parables out of the background of prophetic statement that was written in scripture and here He's done it again He comes to the devil it doesn't matter if He's talking to the devil or talking to man or talking to God He never moves off this tremendous position the person that is going to bring forth fruit a hundredfold and only this kind of person will succeed is the person that doesn't try and live on about a half a dozen words from the mouth of God but lives on every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God you must not think of one seed falling into one ground into a square yard of earth when a sower is sowing seed there may fall hundreds of seeds and into an acreage say of a hundred acres of a field there must be thousands upon thousands upon thousands nobody wants one seed to bring forth a hundredfold and that's it what farmer sows his field for that let's have some common sense Jesus speaks on a common sense background your life if you like is a field into which God will sow words sow His word almost 24 hours a day if you like we do sleep sometimes I hope you don't sleep too often or too much it's good to stay conscious you can talk with God and He can talk with you it's a bad thing to call hours and hours days, half days half weeks of sleep bad you're being lulled by the devil it's unnatural you've got to get the liver from it discipline yourself how can you walk in communion with God when you're asleep He'll keep you when you're asleep if you're His own that's another matter but God doesn't want to be charged with keeping you all the time the next question or one of the other temptations comes up on that He'll give His angels charge to keep thee you see but your charge is to hear the word and keep it what He says to you so that it will bring forth fruit on the first day you heard say on the 26th of April 1245 was it brother? when was it? 1966 sorry you see brother got born again have you kept that? yes he says he's kept that I'll tell you about that you see he's kept it I'll tell you about it he's rather anxious to forget the 1810 occasion he would have been two years old when the famous Tchaikovsky but Hallelujah I thought when he was speaking if he was born of God in 1966 how many years old are you? I'm catching you you can't keep a spiritual birthday doesn't go year by year doesn't go year by year you can't say I'm one year old you've got eternal life you've just come into that which took place in eternity you were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world you've just come to God's presentation of the truth to you and his presentation of you to himself in truth when you're born again you cannot keep a spiritual birthday you know you can't have an annual present upon it I would have had a lot more than you but here then beloved is the tremendous thing you hear you keep it but that's not the only thing you hear every word of God this is the hundredfold person whatever God speaks to them keeps producing all the time this is it you say something else you say something else that's it that's your hundredfold life that's why there aren't many that get it though that's what God is after and then there are these peculiar people they like to get alone in a sort of a dark room to try and induce the voice of God to talk to them about something or somebody they're really going in for transcendental meditation they concentrate upon this person's circumstance or this person's this, that, and the other and they think they get a word from God from them and they're away in fantasy and they're trying to live their lives on that then they wonder why they get depressed, distressed nobody understands them elders aren't well they're not elders really they're only boys you're far away ahead of them and all this nonsense beloved, you only live on what God speaks to you the rest is fantasy you are to bring forth fruit one hundredfold now you know what one hundredfold is, don't you? ten thousand percent he didn't say one percent ten thousand percent interest God wants on everything he's spoken to you you're rather like that man that said I knew that thou wert an austere man reaping where thou didst not sow and the Lord said you wicked servant talking like that God's expecting ten thousand percent return for everything he speaks to you I hope that I'm speaking as a hundredfold man to you and not a mere sixtyfolder or a dreadful thirtyfolder I hope so this is this life of abundance that Jesus speaks about out of an honest and a good heart brings forth fruit with patience hallelujah do you know why I told you that little story? not really, I mean I didn't think of all this background of it last night about this, the loss of that sort of wallet that money and how just sort of mentioned it to the Lord and that was that do you know why that was true? that was part of the truth when it all came back God told me years ago that if I sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness everything else would be added so we don't ask him for money we don't, as my wife you can check up on I have to bring her with me sometimes I've got evidence you see she tags along really to see that you people don't kill me that's right she comes to look after me to see that these terrible Evans's and that suck the lifeblood out of me now you know what you said to me Paul? what? everybody in here gets afraid sending to me because it comes out when I'm preaching he said shall I whisper to you? no you won't no he said if you get some time so and so and so and so would like to flirt with you yeah that's right time is the shortest commodity you haven't got time you've only got opportunity you understand that don't you? time belongs to God time is not yours if you think time is on your side the devil has already deceived you the glorious thing about it beloved is that God told us this years ago there are scriptures that come to me that God gave me oh 30, 40 years ago still producing fruit I believe that's true I believe I can honestly say that in my life now I'm not always digging them up to examine the roots they're there and you can whatever there is in a person's life beloved has come because it has taken root in that person's life whatever it is you only need to look at one another not critically if you've got one of these eyes you think you've got discernment most people that I know think they've got discernment they think they've got a clairvoyant spirit most people that I know that's right or shall I say when I first met them they had it yeah it's blessed beloved to let God put something in your heart that's going to take root there it grows up so innocently so sweetly so naive so marvellously lovely nothing hard there's nothing of this world superficiality about it nothing of that it's lovely it's fresh it's marvellous it's never cynical it's never condemnatory it's never bitter never turns against anyone never defends itself never justifies or vindicates itself never turns into a dragon never becomes like a fox or a serpent never not what God puts in your life in the end it never does anything except let itself be slain of course it has learned the secret that it all comes up out of death didn't the first seed fall into the ground that's what Jesus is talking about everything comes up out of death all this glorious life you've got to bring forth 100 fold Amen and in every stage of your life now this parable permits of so many precious interpretation if I'm not careful I'm going to preach on it instead of answer the question what's the time? 20 to 12 alright I might preach for half an hour at the end or something like that permits of so many many different approaches the Lord Jesus Christ was an absolute genius in the way he faced things now you will find this in your spiritual experience you will find in your spiritual experience that you'll go through phases when a thing didn't bring forth quite so much fruit in your life as it say does now aren't you finding this? aren't you finding this? that's right don't look all so surprised you'll recognize this that as you go on with God your heart becomes better and better isn't that true? the good crown becomes you can't say it's gooder and gooder or goodlier and goodlier that's a good old English word Amen and we can go on with the Lord and he'll keep bringing forth his abundance out of it all he needs is to get rooted in your life let it all come in when he speaks to you don't get offended at the word that's what it says people get offended they get offended and often when you engage in counselling that's where people they get offended that's right do you know I thought I thought about this a little earlier you'd be surprised at things that go through my mind wouldn't you? not really I hope you're not but when dear Peter came down here and gave that prophet to his that present to his dad you'd be surprised what went through my mind wouldn't you? and I tell you this I thought now if Peter was to stand up and give a testimony about his father I'm going to give it for him it's alright it's nothing to do with washing your feet not this time I if he stood up and gave his testimony he would testify that his dad has loved him and loved him and loved him that's right I know that because he loves me you see and I'm more awkward than Peter I am you know because he could deal with Peter as a little boy he's got to deal with me as an elder and I'm more awkward bless him he can't spank me and put me in the corner I can't but you must have done and that's what I want to come to Peter the prophet would tell you that his father is a man of love but his father's had to be severe with him at times and he felt like stamping out of the room I don't know, I've never talked with Peter but I'm absolutely certain and some of you think that because elders are severe with you at times they don't love you well they don't love me I remember a time when I thought the only thing in the world that loved me and I've been absolutely serious now was a little sandy cat that I had and if I got put right by my parents at times I'd go and get my old sandy cat and I'd go and sit up in a corner and it never scratched me and it never hurt me and it yielded to me and as I knew it purred, it loved me but it's little animal mind and heart some of you are wanting little animal stuff you don't want a father you don't want anybody to be severe with you you think you know but dad does know and I mean a true elder dad not referring to one man but you won't take it then you wonder why you don't bring forth fruit you get offended you're like these people that says when persecution or something comes from the world's sake you get offended you don't bring forth fruit then you think so you let off steam you even go and pray you rant at God and call it prayer nobody's told me to say these things this morning except the spirit I listen to him the tremendous thing is that you're to bring forth fruit one hundred fold you know that if you're going to bring forth fruit first you've had to be plowed like anything you've had to have the share bite deep down into you and then after that you had to be disked and ground to powder then they came and drilled you then the seed went in and then to crown it all they run a great big roller over your face or else you don't know anything about bringing forth fruit from seed and then if you're if you're showing too much greenery if a farmer knows what he's doing you know during the war I worked on the land at some time I know what I'm talking about they turn the sheep in to eat off the place so you've got feet stumping into your face too after that and sheep nibbling it all off then they'll roll you again and all that then some of you come and I won't tell you they'll shut the gate on you and they'll just leave you say well thanks God they left me alone at last that's the way that the hundred folds brought forth the first shoot got nibbled off because in the end if God can he'll have two stalks from one seed and God is wanting you to see see but you won't see you've got to bring forth a hundred fold I keep on telling you this a hundred fold and that's what God's expecting from you nothing wrong with the seed the seed's genuine same seed why does it only bring forth thirty fold in some people's lives because their people won't let God do what he wants that's right oh they'll make every excuse every excuse under the sun all you've got to do beloved is let God have his own way in your life what you want is your own way in God's life and you can't have it isn't that a marvellous thing that God says no you can't have it ha I think that's marvellous and as I said Pete would have got up in the corner sometimes and thought I won't say any more than that yeah but your father loves you he's going to have the fruit there listen if it costs him his life he's going to have it there you can kill him if you like but he's going to have the fruit there I'll send my son kill him if you like you're going to have the fruit always this way with God so beloved isn't that a marvellous thing then and that I trust is something of an answer to the question not thirty, sixty, a hundred but a hundred I'm sorry if it has to be sixty broken hearted if it has to be thirty shattered if it's nothing if you've let the devil snatch it away you didn't understand you didn't want to understand is that right won't give yourself up to the understanding of what God says I think perhaps we'd better read back into Deuteronomy about this one where the Lord took the quotation from you all know the chapter without me telling you don't you oh dear thought you'd all be shouting this one out it's Deuteronomy chapter eight Deuteronomy all the commandments which I command thee this day shall you observe to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers and thou shalt remember all the way in which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee and to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no and he humbled thee he's very keen on his humbling isn't he to humble thee and he humbled thee that's what he's going to do and I'll tell you this he'll bring you down to the dust of death that's what he'll do he'll humble you haven't you ever heard of this one who humbled himself and became obedient unto death wherefore God also hath highly exalted him given him the name who? the one who humbled himself being found in the form of a slave humbled himself and became obedient and God's very keen on humbling you he'll have you humbled till you're so humble you can never be humiliated you can only humiliate proud people nobody else if you voluntarily humble yourself you'll never be humiliated and never be ashamed he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manner which thou knewest not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live cause all this time thy raiment wax not old upon thee are very good to you he's saying neither did thy feet swell these forty years the children of Israel never had corns in the wilderness God saw to that they had too far to walk he's good he was ever so good to them he's been ever so good to you you know he's humbled you and humbled you why? does he take delight in humiliating people? I said humbling you not humiliating you teaching you the way to be humble nobody knows how to be humble until God gets hold of them nobody nobody ever lets God get hold of them till they humble themselves to let him do it get down there on their hands and knees before God not just admitting things letting God do something there he suffered thee to hunger you know why he suffered them to hunger? that they may appreciate manna they were hungry enough to eat it they never liked it you say really? no you read in the Old Testament you'll find that they wanted the leeks and the garlic they wanted all these things they'd left behind in Egypt you read it our soul loatheth this food they said they loathed it God made them eat what they loathed oh this way he's going to go with you he's not going to give you epsom salts and nasty pills he's going to make you eat what you loath when you start coming to God humble pie for instance they had to humble themselves to get it hands and knees picking it up off the surface of the wilderness nothing off a tree they'd gone wrong in the first place by taking fruit from a tree that was forbidden them they had to get down there if they'd have stuck with their noses in the air they wouldn't have seen it he suffered them to hunger and said now eat this manna I don't like it eat this manna see but it says man did eat angels food but angels didn't have human bodies yeah real trouble this flesh isn't it he said and you didn't know what it was and didn't your fathers didn't know what it was that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone or only but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live he said well I thought that man lived by new birth he got eternal life that's it that's the original depositum of God amen but that life will only live that's funny doesn't it how does life live by feeding isn't that right by what you eat that's how life lives and that's why people keep shouting about they were born again 25 years ago and they're about as dead as mutton life hasn't lived in them they haven't lived by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord it's so lovely this you know this is how God has really forced you into a position well nobody's going to force me ah he has as a matter of fact he's forced you to breathe he's forced you to breathe and that's it stop being so silly and stubborn you ass God's forced you to do things say well I wasn't aware of compulsion no no the tremendous thing about it is that you're under power now and you're kicking against it if you don't go through spiritually you're kicking against what is basic in nature and that's why Paul keeps on saying in the New Testament why don't you let nature teach you parables from nature if only you'd let nature itself teach you the way of God and this is why some people are so ridiculous they're these hyper spiritual people who are in a fantastic world they've made Jesus Christ into a sort of fairy prince and they sort of sublimate all their inward yearnings and they marry him and they live in a fantasy world and they think this is all part of the bride it's all part of fleshy nonsense it's real, it's glorious and it's marvellous and you go through with God and you live by the words that proceed out of his mouth and don't think you're kissing them out of his lips he speaks you obey you don't get yourself wrapped up in a cloud floating about up there spirituality is very down to earth and very human did you know that? and God wants us to move in this glorious realm we live by these precious words and when he speaks, listen some of you in this room perhaps are not yet 20 years old quite a lot of you are not yet 30 I'd better go too high you are not yet 40 years old or 50 years old we'll go as high as that that's what they said to Jesus hast thou seen Abraham? quoting from John 8 now now the tremendous thing is this if God has spoken to you and you're only 15 and you live to be as old as a little lady I saw this morning that's over 100 years old you're still expecting that thing to be producing fruit in your life having heard the word, you keep it I don't want to have to tell you again my father used to say that to me I don't want to have to speak to you again I don't know whether Dad Moff ever said that to Peter all right I knew that was it don't let me have to speak to you again he meant about that particular thing of course that's right, I kept it what did I do? behave myself wisely on account of it I shaped my conduct on it he spoke to me that was it and if I made too much noise at the lunch table perhaps I ought to have saved this up for this afternoon if I made too much noise at the table one word little boys should be seen and not heard that was it the only noise I made after that was chink chink when I was eating my meal then I was told to eat with my mouth shut please that's right, so I wasn't even allowed to make that no slurping you read too many comics that's your trouble but the gospel life is not comic you are learning a new culture amen but that was it of course because I had a wicked heart if my father caught me kicking one of my sisters he stopped me then but I did it tomorrow because my heart was wicked but after God changed my wicked heart I didn't want to kick my sister I wanted to lead her into all the fullness of the glory of God and she entered in I hope she's still living it in Australia where she is now you see this is the whole thing oh beloved to let the word of God dwell in you richly richly fruitfully is that what it's doing you'd better check up on your life now, wouldn't you but that's what it's all about God leads you into all its fullness and as my clock says it's twelve o'clock I'd better end the question time that's been an hour on a question alright, something like that