This sermon emphasizes the importance of truly hearing and obeying the word of God, likening different responses to the message to different types of soil in the parable of the sower. It challenges listeners to examine their hearts and ensure they are not hindered by fear, distractions, or love for worldly things, but to be the good soil that hears, holds fast to the word, and bears fruit with patience. The ultimate call is to be those who not only hear the word of God but actively live it out.

So last week, I shared that passage out of Acts chapter 20 when Paul was saying goodbye to his church and to the elders there in Ephesus. And we came upon that one phrase that he said that really hit me, where Paul, as he's leaving, says to them, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Remember that? Paul says, as I leave, I leave with a clear conscience. I leave with a peace. I leave in a sense that, look, I know at the end, I'm not going to be guilty. You can't look at me at the end and say, hey, why didn't you tell us this? Why didn't you tell us that about God? Because as we described who God is last week, remember that? We talked about that person on the throne, that being. Now, you know, that's so important to me because I don't want people, when they face that God, to go, Francis, you didn't tell me he was like that. You were so casual about him. You were this. You didn't tell me about his power. You didn't tell me about his holiness. You didn't tell me that he had the freedom to just judge and do whatever he wanted to. And so Paul says, look, I've shared all those things so that I'm innocent of your blood. Because you know how a lot of times we get scared to say things to people we care about? Because we don't want to be rejected by them. And we care more about our friendships than we care about our friends. You know, we want them to like us. We want to be accepted. And so you won't tell someone certain things because you want to keep that relationship going. And Paul says, look, I didn't hold anything back. I told you the whole counsel. I told you the truth. So I'm innocent of your blood. And so it got me thinking, okay, what are those things? Are there things I have not said yet or things that I need to repeat again? Because I just want to make sure I've said everything as I go on to wherever the Lord's leading me. And as I prayed about that, and even as I was reading this morning, obviously the most important thing to me, once you understand who this God is, the thing I care about is I want you to hear those words, well done, at the end of your life. I want to know that, okay, yeah, we may be apart for a few years here on this little planet if we even live through the year. I don't really care about that stuff a whole lot. I care about what comes after that. I want to know that you and I will be looking at each other 50 years from now, 100 years from now. That's what matters to me. This morning, I was reading Revelation and Revelation 20, talking about the judgment. And I don't know, it hit me again. Revelation 20, verse 11, where it says, then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it, you know, the throne we were talking about. I saw this great white throne and him seated on it. And from his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Later on in chapter 21, verse eight, it says, as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. That's what burns in me. And that's why, you know, there's no secret through the years we've discovered that I'm a terrible counselor. People come in and they go, I want to talk about my marriage. Some of you guys are nodding your head. So, you know, I want to talk about this. This hurts me. That hurts me. And a lot of times I'll look at you. I looked at a guy this week. I go, you know what, honestly, I really don't care that you and your wife aren't getting along. That stuff doesn't matter to me. I go, so what? Let's say you fight for the next five, 10 years. This life is so short. I'm worried about what comes after that. The bigger problem here is the fact that neither of you have submitted yourself to the kingship of Jesus Christ. Neither of you look at him and say he is Lord. Because the truth is, is if both of you said we'll do whatever Jesus wants us to do, you're not going to fight. It's at those moments when you're selfish and you're not thinking about what God wants you to say, how he wants you to live, that, oh yeah, you're going to have fights all your life. I go, but honestly, again, I don't care about that stuff. This is what I care about. And then just looking at this friend of mine, I go, I want to see you 50 years from now. I don't want to see you sent somewhere else to, you know, in this torture forever. And somebody goes, wait a second, you still believe in that? Yeah, it's here. I mean, do we cross these verses out? This is the stuff that keeps me awake at night. This is stuff that wakes me up early in the morning, every day this week, just going, God, but what can I do? What can I say? Because I've said it so many times in this room, and I'm so concerned, you know, that some of you, you still haven't just said, okay, I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to do it. I'm going to give my life to him. I want his spirit in me. I want to start walking this way. I say it over and over again. Look, look, you are a sinner. You have sinned against this God. He has the right to punish you. He has a right to punish me. I deserve it. I deserve it. I don't know if you believe in your mind you've done things worthy of punishment, but I believe I have, okay? And I do believe that God sent his son to pay the punishment, pay the penalty for those crimes. He made him become sin, who knew no sin, so that I could become the righteousness of God, so that I could, I could kind of switch places with him, and I could be this child of God, and I want to be that. I want to follow him. I want to live like him, and so I get baptized. I repent. I turn from that old life, and I ask him to put his spirit in me, because I want to follow you now the rest of my life. Now, I can say it over and over and over again, but the thing is, as I was praying about this week, and I'm going, Lord, this is what I want. I just want to know if I never see your face again here on this earth, that I will see you in the next life. That's what matters to me. Now, how much fun you have on earth, how much tragedy you go through, I'm not saying I'm completely, I don't care, but not that much. You know, it just, really, I'm just being honest with you. Life is short. Man, what a joke. Life is short. It just ends, man. I mean, how many, every week we're doing funerals in here, so why care so much about the things of this earth? It's going to be over before we know it, and so I'm praying. I'm going, God, how do I get it across? And all the scriptures flood my mind that tell me, I can't do anything for you, because Jesus would give the message, and there's a phrase that Jesus uses in scripture over and over again, and only Jesus says it. He says, he who has ears, let him hear. He who has ears, let him hear. See, he didn't sit there and beg and beg and beg, which I want to do. He didn't think, okay, maybe if I say it this way, maybe if I say it this way, maybe if I say it this way, they'll get it. See, sometimes I rack my brain thinking, maybe if I say it just the right way, some of you that have just been sitting and kind of dating God, and checking him out, and wondering, you know, do I want to follow him? Do I want to commit to him? Do I want to marry him? Do I want to be with him forever? Do I want him as my king? I go, maybe if I say it just the right way, you'll get it. And what the Bible says is, no, he who has ears, let him hear. Like, either you'll get it, or you won't. It's like the other day, the other day I was, okay, I was driving, and I had some music going on in the car, and so I'm singing with it. Now, when I've been singing, I've been trying to harmonize. How many of you know how to not sing the melody along with the singer, but actually harmonize? How many know how to harmonize? Okay, yeah, it's like one in 50 or so that can do it, or think they can, and then probably one in 100 that can't. And it's, I'm not saying who can or can't, but it's funny because I can't hear a harmony, okay, like a harmony line. Do you guys, do some of you just not even know what I'm talking about? Because I didn't know what this was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. Some of you don't even know what I'm talking about. Okay, like, like, like that song that we just sang, uh, our, our God is, okay, that's the melody line, right? And we can all do that. I mean, good or bad, we can pretty much do it. It's in our head. Now, a harmony, see, I didn't know when two people were up here, I said, oh, they sound good together. You know, I used to always think that as a kid, oh, that's kind of cool. So, I just thought they're both singing the same thing. They're not singing the same thing. One's singing the melody line, some, the other one's singing something totally different. It's called the harmony, right? Okay, and there's different kinds of harmony. See, because, and so, I've been trying to hear that. And so, in, in the songs, you know, like if that's playing in my car, I'll go, um, like a harmony line would be like, you know, like it's, it's completely different. It's completely different. And so, I'll get home, and you see my wife and my oldest daughter, they can harmonize, and my 10-year-old daughter too. So, the three of them, they all hear it. And so, I come home, I go, I heard it today. Listen. You know, and my wife will go, no, that's the, that's the melody. You're singing an octave lower. And they'll, like, the three of them are just laughing, like, oh, that's so stupid. And I'm just like, ah, I don't hear it. I don't hear it. Like, honey, can you come up? Can you sing it? Okay, like, I don't know. Okay, just, um, can you turn on her mic? Okay, okay. What's, uh, what, what's a good song? No, I'll, I'll just sing the melody. And you, you, what's, uh, what's, what's a song that, okay, what, where's this words? Okay, okay, listen to this. Okay, now see if you hear, okay, what, what's it called? The, the third step or the fourth? The third harmony. Okay, the easiest to hear. Duh. So, so if you're, so what is it exactly, though? You're, you're, you're singing it a third. Okay, okay. So, so, so, so see if you hear it. I'm like, why don't you sing it first? Like, uh, why don't you sing the melody? Yeah, yeah. Well, here, here, why don't you sing, sing the melody line of just, our God is whatever. Sorry. Okay. Our God is greater. Oh, I can do that part. Okay. Now, okay. Just, can we do just that line? Okay. Okay. So, so if, if that were the melody, I want to see how many of you hear the harmony of, can you do? Okay. What would you think the harmony is? Okay. Wait, wait, wait. Let me, let me see if I can figure it out. Oh, my God is greater. Is that, is that, it is. I got a harmony. I got a harmony. Okay. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So what is the harmony? Uh, if, if, if our God is greater, what would you, see, could you hear that? You could hear that. So some of you guys could hear that while you're doing the other one. That's pretty cool. Okay. Thanks. All right. Um, see, if I tried to figure it out. So if I did the next line, you would be able to do that or hear that in your head. Some of you could, some of you can't. See, isn't that weird? Like, like some people can hear it. That's what God says about the gospel. Like, I'll give that message. Hey, God loves you, but he's a great God and he can punish you. He's free to do whatever he wants to do. And, uh, and he's free to forgive you through his son. He's free to put a spirit in you to change your life. He's free to accept you for all of eternity or reject you for all of eternity. And all that's based upon Jesus. Now, some of you guys will hear it and go, I hear that. That's great. Others are just like, I just, I don't get it. The Bible says that in first Corinthians two, it says there's a spiritual man at a time. The Holy spirit opens your ears to hear it. And other times you just won't hear it. Some of you heard that message your whole life, but it was like nothing to you. And then, and suddenly you heard it. See, that's what I believe about harmony. I think one day, I think one day it's going to click. I do. I do. That's why I get home every once in a while. I go, I think I got it. I think I got it. And she's like, no, no, that's not it. You know? And, uh, oh man, you know, and, and I, and I watched my 10 year old, she got harmony at one point, she figured it out. I'm like, man, you heard it, you know? Cause she was like me. I thought we were, you know, my kid, you know? And, uh, but then she got it. And it's the same thing with the gospel with some of you, right? It's like, you didn't get, you didn't get, he didn't get it. Then one day you're like, I get this. And you walk up here, you get baptized and you go, I'm gonna give my whole life to this. This is all that matters now. It's like it hit. It's kind of, do you remember those, you remember those pictures they used to have? Those posters where it's just a big fuzz and you're just like, what is that? And people are looking at it and go, no, I see it. You remember those? Like we're gonna put one on the screen. I don't know if it's going to work on the screen. We haven't even tested it cause I was just came up with this back. Okay. Do you guys see anything up there? Do you see the picture? Okay. Wait, don't say what it is if you see it. I don't even know if I see them. Does anyone see it? Is it working? You see it? Anyone, you see it? You see it. Anyone else see it? Okay. Okay. So more people see it. See more and more people catching it. Yeah, it's a horse. Yeah. Okay. You guys don't see a horse. I don't see the horse. Can you, did you see the horse? How many saw the horse? Everyone that saw it, raise your hand. Man. Okay. See, there's like a dozen people who see the horse. Now you see it? An owl? No, not like that. Those aren't owls. You're looking at just the fuzz. No, you're supposed to like, owls. Those are not supposed to be a row of owls. I see what you see. That's, that's not what we're talking about. Like you're supposed to blur your eyes out and you'll see a horse. Like I can't see it. Like a whole horse. You see the whole horse. What is it, what kind of horse is it? What's the horse doing? It's just standing like facing forward, heads up on that side. Isn't that the most frustrating thing in the world? It's like these people are saying, oh yeah, yeah, the top's right there and it's so obvious. All right, turn it off. Okay, because it's going to drive us all nuts. Turn it off, please. It's killing me. Isn't that the weirdest thing? Now you see it. Now you close your eyes and you see it. No, it's just, okay, okay. But that's, you know how it's, it's just so weird. But remember when those first came out and sometimes I could see it, sometimes I couldn't. And I just remember the first time I thought everyone was playing a trick on me. It's like, this is a joke. This is a joke. There's no way you see anything. You guys, that is exactly what Jesus is talking about in the scriptures. He says, look, I'll give a message and I don't know how to teach you to, how to see that. You know, and then like, like how to try, how did you see it? Did you, you just cross your eyes and let it come out. Okay. All right. I'll try that next service. That is so crazy. Now you guys want to try that, don't you? Okay. Okay. No, no, no. Okay. If you're good at the end, we'll try again. Um, but, but, but that's, it's, it's such a crazy thing because in my heart, when it's, uh, it's, it's in explaining this truth about God, the Bible just says certain people won't see it. Certain people can't hear it. And yet by the grace of God at a certain time, God may open your eyes and you go, okay, now I see what you're talking about. Man, I was talking to someone in the gym this week. She says, man, I used to, I came to your church a couple of times and every time I'd leave angry and just go, man, I can't stand that guy. And, uh, and she just goes, I just want you to know, you know, I get it now. I got baptized last week and now it kills me. You know, that you're leaving, you know, but I would have been easier when you hated me. It's just the whole, it's, it's just that I don't know for all the, that time I've heard that so many times, I hated your message, hated your message, hated your message. Then I got it. And now it's everything. That's the way it is with the gospel. I mean, many of us, how many of us in this room heard that message over and over again? It's one in one ear and out the other. See, Jesus said he gives this parable. He gives this parable, the soil. Remember that parable in, uh, in, in Luke chapter eight, uh, starting in verse four. He says when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, a sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on the rock and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. Some fell among thorns and thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundred fold. As he said these things, he called out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said to you, it's been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. Then he starts to describe the parable. He says the ones along the path are those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so they cannot or may not believe and be saved. So he gives this parable, right? He talks to this crowd, these masses of people, and he just tells a story. It's like a guy is throwing seed out. He goes, some landed on the ground and got trampled on. Some landed on rocky soil. It sprung up, but there was no moisture, so it just died. Others grew up in thorns and it got choked out. And then there was a good soil. Some of the seed landed on good soil and disciples go, what does that mean? He goes, I speak in parables so that seeing they may not see, hearing they may not understand. It's like he goes, I kind of blurred it out a little bit through that parable, didn't I? And yet some people will be able to see it. Their eyes will see it. They'll hear this message of the sower and it'll sink into them. And others go, he's just talking about farming. I don't know what he was talking about. I don't get it. And he uses the parable to explain exactly what he meant by this phrase, he who has ears, let him hear. He goes, some, it's like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, can we go back to verse 12, that last verse you showed about the one that went on the path on the PowerPoint? Okay, yeah. The ones along the path are those who have heard, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so they may not believe and be saved. Okay, some of you, what I said about you having done things that are offensive to God and deserving of punishment, I'll say that and right immediately you'll just go, that's garbage. I'm a good person. I don't deserve punishment. I've lived a good life. I've done, I, I, I, I, I'll tell you who deserves punishments. This guy, this guy, this guy, I know this one girl, oh my gosh, you know, and you're going on and on, and you've got this list of all these people, and you're just going, nope, I don't, I don't need to be saved. I, I, I'll tell you, but no, look at your, your adultery, look at your, you know, your hatred, look at your, your covetousness, your deception. You're going, yeah, but those are little things, and I've done so many good, like, it's just not even there. You don't even hear the word. It's like the guy that's throwing seed, and some lands on the sidewalk. He goes, it's, it's, nothing's going to grow out of the sidewalk like that. I don't know, maybe in those cracks, but you know what I mean, like, like the path. It's, people are going to step on it. It's just, it's just pointless, and in the same way as I give these messages for some of you, it's just, it's just not even there. Satan is so in control of your life right now that you can't even hear. You're completely blinded to it. You can't hear. You can't see, and that's why Jesus says, I can't change that. That's the soil. That's, that's who you are. The seed's the same. The word of God's the same. It's just that the response to it is different in each person, but then he goes, some of it, then the next verse, verse 13, and on the PowerPoint, there we go, and the ones on the rock. See, here's a different group, okay, and this might describe you. Some of you go, no, that's not me. Okay, maybe this is you then. It's the one who on the rock are those when they hear the word, they receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a while, then in time of testing, it falls away. See, see, the rocky soil, the idea was that it was a, it was, it was raw. It wasn't really soil, but, but you know, like some topsoil, you know, like, like stuff will, will, you know, just come over here, and you know, like the wind will blow a little soil on top of the rock. That was the idea here. Now, if a seed fell on there, it could possibly grow a little bit, okay, but the root itself is not penetrating, okay. It's not really getting into the heart, so it's not getting the moisture, and the moment, you know, so, so if there was a little, little plant on here, and so something, you know, sprouts up because there's a little bit of a soil on it, the moment it gets hot, or the moment it gets windy, it's like, it just, it's just, it's gone, you know, it, it just, it dies, you know, you know what I'm talking about? Okay, all right, um, that's, that's, but that's, that's the way the Bible says some people will be. This could be you. This could be your heart, okay. Evaluate your heart. Some of you will hear what I say and go, yeah, that's me, that's me, I get it, I want it, I want it, I want Jesus, I want Jesus, and then something difficult happens in life. Let's say you get sick. Let's say you lose your job. Let's say you lose your home. Let's say you lose a family member. Let's, let's say someone comes along that tempts you, and now suddenly you've got a choice between God and this person, or holding on to God through those hard times, or just running from him in anger because those things happen to you. He says some of you are going to be like that. You'll say you get it, but wait till life gets difficult. Wait till a temptation, the right temptation comes your way. You'll ditch God so fast, and that could be some of you that you go, no, I hear that message, and you'll come up here. You'll get baptized. You'll pray a prayer. You'll cry, shake on the ground, whatever you want to do, and, but the moment something difficult happens, you're done with God. I can't believe God would let that happen to me. So he goes, at a time of testing, they'll fall away. You'll believe it to a point until the temptation gets too great. Then you'll say, forget it. I want this more than I want God, and I've seen this happen so many times during my years here. Someone, you know, gets so excited they got saved. You know, it looks like they really believe, and then they just hadn't been tested yet, and when the test came, they walked away, and it broke my heart. I mean, how many times do we have to come up here and talk about people that, you know, look like, but then they got tested, and no, no, it wasn't for real. I had lunch a couple days ago with a pastor out in Carpentaria, a guy named Britt Merrick. Love this guy. Reality church. Just love the guy. You know how you meet certain guys, and you just see Jesus in them, and it's not, oh, what a great speaker. I just go, man of God, I like this guy. I love this guy, and a couple months ago, his five-year-old daughter was playing in the playground and fell in the playground at school and had to go to the hospital because there were some complications with the fall for some reason. When they got in the hospital, they found out the reason why there were so many complications. There was a tumor in her the size of a football. Five years old, you are the size of a football. I mean, it was her whole body, and when she fell, the tumor ruptured, and so it was just this shock of, what? My daughter has a tumor? What? It just ruptured, and he was just walking me through this whole process, and she's been through surgery now. She's had chemo. She's had radiation. This is just from a few months ago, and they find out the results this week, so if you remember him, Britt Merrick. I just love this guy, and I love his ministry, doing great things, stands for the Word of God, but he said something to me that was so powerful during our lunch. He says, you know, that was the one thing that he just couldn't say, God, my kids, my kids, my kids, though, you know, and he said, he just looked at me with all his heart. He goes, Francis, I was able to look at God. I was able to just pray to God and say to him, God, I love you, and regardless of what happens to my daughter, nothing changes between you and I. I will still love you, and he said, I said it, and I really meant it. You know, I can just look in someone's eyes and go, he really meant it. He dealt with the whole thing of, well, what about when the test comes, and through the test, when you hear his message of the week after he found out about his daughter having that tumor and the rupture and everything, and I'm hearing this guy talk, I go, here's a guy that knows God, the real thing, but others, I've met so many others, at the moment it got difficult, a test like that, or the right person came along to tempt them, they were gone. Maybe that's you. He says, there's another soil, and that's verse 14. If we can go to the next verse, verse 14, it says, as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they're choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. He says, there's another type of person, and he kind of, okay, he's, it lands on like thorny soil, so there's soil, but there's also thorns, and he says, what happens is, it looks like they hear it, they start going, but what happens is, everything else around them starts choking it out, so they never grow. It would be like, if this plant were there, and it just looked like something was going to happen, and he says, but some of us, we have so many other things in our lives, these are the thorns that grow up along with it. While we desire the word, we also desire a lot of other things, and we won't let go of those other things, so they start taking all of the nutrients. It's like, if you threw a seed in a thorn briar, I don't plant anything, patch, whatever, just a bunch of weeds that is sucking all the nutrients, there's going to be nothing left for that, and the Bible says, there's going to be some people that they're so into these pleasures of life, and the riches, and just the things of life, but for some of you, it's literally money, so it's like, this plant is here, and you want the word of God, but then you got to have your money also, you got to drive a certain car, you got to, you know, your entertainment, your movies, you know, your job, you know, you got to have certain clothes, and so it's a whole idea of all of those things now that you won't let go of in your life. You got to have it all, and the Bible says what happens is, it ends up choking it all out. That's why some of you, you still have the same belief in God, and you in your maturity level, and your relationship with God, the same as it was 10 years ago, because you never grew, because you wouldn't let go of all those other things, and I'm not saying that all those other things, of course, you need some money to live, but I'm talking how much? You know, of course, you know, for some of you, in order to get the money, you got to have a car, but come on, what kind of car do you got to have? Of course, you know, job, yeah, work, but really, why? Why is it for the kingdom? And clothes, of course, you got to wear clothes. Some of you don't wear enough clothes. You know, it's just, it's this whole idea, especially if summer's going, it's another morning. Come on, you guys, girls, and it's just this whole idea of, but I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this, and he says, and I believe this is a lot of people. I think this is a lot of America, and a lot of people that are sitting in church buildings this morning, that I believe you want Jesus, but you want everything else too, and you're not going to let go of those things. Nothing's going to pry you away from those things, and you'll spend your time defending yourself, but God's okay if I, and God's okay if I have this, and God's okay if I spend this time with my family, and God's, and you're always defending yourself, because you will not let go of those things, and I'm not saying God doesn't want you to eat. Of course, I'm not saying those things, but you just, you love them so much, and you like, you can't let go, and so you're at the same place you've always been, but then in verse 15, and I hope there's some of you like this, as for that in the good soil, they are those who hear, there are those who hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. These are other people who hear the message, and it says it multiplies. It's like you throw one seed in there, and these are the people who I give you a message. You take it, and you go, I got to do that. I got to do that, and then you do it. Okay, like you give a message. You hear the expression, it fell on deaf ears. It comes from Jesus. He's a, he who has ears, let him hear. Some of you, I give you a message, and you don't just neglect it. You don't just nod your head in church, and go, that was good. Amen. You know, and then, and then you do nothing with it. It's about doing. That's why in a few verses later, I didn't put it up there, but a few verses later, it says in verse 18, it says, take care how you hear, for the one who has more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away. He goes, be careful how you listen. Don't just come to church, and hear a message, and go, oh, I got it. Oh, I got it. Amen. Shake my hand, walk away, and do nothing about it. The good soil is the person who soaks it in, and you see the results in their life. It's not the one that got too busy, and just, it just gets buried, and everything else. It's not the person who will accept it, and you'll see something until life gets difficult, or they get tempted. It's a person who, with great patience, they heard it, they soaked it in, and they start living it out, and you start seeing. And the Bible says, so be very careful how you hear. Be careful how you listen, because if you listen well, and you actually obey it, God will give you more knowledge. But if you don't listen the right way, he goes, even what knowledge you think you have, he'll take it away from you. And then right after that, right after that, it says that Jesus is, in verse 19, his mother, his brothers came to him, but they couldn't reach him because of the crowd. So Jesus' mother and brothers are trying to get to Jesus. The crowd's in the way, and then so someone says, hey, your mother, your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you, and he answers them, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Very strong statement. See, so he gives this parable, the soils, and he goes, if you get it, you get it. He who has ears, let him hear. Some of you, you're not even going to hear a thing I say. Others of you, you'll hear it, it'll spring up, but then the moment it gets difficult, you're done. Others, you'll hear it, but you love so many other things, you're not going to grow. Then others will hear it, and man, it's going to change your life. You're going to be a different person. We're going to see the fruit in your life. And he goes, so be careful how you listen, because if you listen well, I'll give you more, and there'll be more fruit in your life. And then Jesus's brother and mothers are like, hey, they're right outside. I go, and Jesus says something so profound. He goes, who's my mother? Who's my brother? Who's my sisters? Because it's you guys who hear the word of God and do it, and do it. It's those who hear the word of God and do it. I look at that, and I go, okay, God, I'm looking at my life, and it looks like it's me. I feel good about that. I look at my life, I go, man, I heard this, and I went and did this. I heard this. It's a great way to live. You just go, I got peace. God, thank you, and there's nothing of me. It's God changed the soil of my heart. He changed who I was. There was a time when I didn't hear it. There was a time when I loved stuff too much. There was a time when I wondered about tragedies and questioned God, and then there was a time when it's like, I saw it on the picture. I got eyes to see now. I can hear that harmony. I hear it now, and I've just been praying this week. I go, God, I can't change anyone, but maybe this is the week you supernaturally just changed the soil, where suddenly someone who's been sitting in this room for weeks, maybe even years, goes, I can see it now. Jesus is worth it to me, and I will give everything to follow him. I hear the message now. I get it now. I know I feel that guilt. I know I'm not ready to see God yet, but I get it now. I want to be forgiven by Jesus, and that's what I pray for, and if that's you, I'm not going to stand here and beg you. Like when Peter preached his message, the people's response was, it says, they were cut to the heart, and they said, what do we need to do? What do I have to do to be saved? And he says, repent and be baptized, and you'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. He says, turn from all of that old life, all that stuff, all the stuff you believe, all the stuff you did, and go, I get it now. I don't want that. I'm turning. That's the repentance. I want Jesus now. Get baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and you'll receive that Holy Spirit of God. I've been praying for that, because again, this life is so short, and please hear me out. I am sorry. I've gone through pain in life, and it's just when I read scripture, I go, it's really not about this life. This in a lot of ways is a test. This is a lot of ways finding out what kind of soil we are, and then comes eternity, and that's going to come really quickly.