Amen!  Hallelujah! The Lord is surely good, amen?  And His mercies endure forever.  We need to make sure that we’re relying on the integrity of God’s Word, amen?  It’s sure to a thousand generations.  Heaven and earth will pass away; God’s Word will not pass away.  Every promise of God in Christ Jesus is yea and amen to the glory of God by us, amen?  So, we know that the promises are sure.  We need to be reminded that we have not because we ask not, amen?  What are you believing God for?  Let’s realize the assurance of His Word.  And when you ask, the Scripture says, so often we ask amiss, desiring to consume it upon our own lusts.

So, let the Word become that mirror that reveals the motivation behind where we are at this time in our lives.  If, in fact, we’re dealing with one of these areas in our life that’s other than good ground, what do we do to break up that fallow ground?  What do we do to stir up the gift that’s within us?  And we saw that, primarily, the thing that we need to do, is act upon the last time we know we heard from God.  What’s the last thing that God told you to that you haven’t done?  Why don’t we pick up there and obey, amen?  That obedience is what keeps us from that concern of self-deception, because we’re to be doers of the Word, not hearers only.

In the parable of the Sower, we’ve seen that the Word was good, and when it was sown into good ground, it would produce thirty-, sixty-, and one-hundred-fold.  It said to be careful and make sure that when you hear that Word you move upon it quickly.  The obedience factor is something that we’re to choose and allow to express itself as soon as we hear the Word of God.  And if we don’t, then, that in the parable, the enemy, the devil, would come and immediately snatch the Word out of our hearts.

Let me just share this as we get ready to go on: this environment that we’re living in, the reason this parable that we’re choosing to go over is so necessary—these are wicked days that we’re living in.  If they were not shortened, even the very elect, the Lord tells us—in the last days, in the tribulation period, if the time was not shortened, the elect would not even be able to stand.  Well, the principle goes the same in this hour that we’re living in. It said it’s going to be a time where there’s a great falling away.  Many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.  Can I remind us tonight that we are not greater than this hour?  When you think that you stand, (amen?) it’s time to start taking heed.  It’s time to survey ourselves a little bit.

This hour that we’re living in, Jesus referred to as like, and even greater than, the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Men walking in deception because of their wealth, because of their ability to live independently, because of the idleness.  You know, we all think that we’re all so busy, but we’re busy about nothing.  We’re busy about temporal things.  We need to be busy about the kingdom of God.  Our busyness is running to and fro, as the prophet said would take place in the last days.  One of these days—beloved, I want to you to know—thank God, we’ll already be in heaven, and thank God, our works will have already been tried.

Thank God, we will have already received our crown, but I want you to know something.  At that time, we’ll look back and realize and cry like the wise man said, “Vanity, vanity, it was all vanity.”  Anything that is burned in that test and not refined was vanity.  What’s going to stand in our lives?  Who are we really?  So, as we look at this parable, it gives us an opportunity to answer that question.  What fruit am I producing?  By their fruit, you shall know them.  Not by their opinion of themselves or not what your best friends tell you that you are, how great you are.  The self-praise that we have—let another man praise you, amen?  Let your works, as Jesus did, verify who you are.  He said that if you’re not going to believe my words, look at what I’ve produced.  They testify of me, amen?