It’s good to be in His presence; amen?  That great parable that Jesus gave describing the sower sowing the Word.  He said, “If you don’t understand this parable, how can you understand any of the parables I bring to you?”  In Matthews’s gospel this is in that line of the seven great parables that Jesus brought forth.  We realize that the great truth of this parable in John 4 has to do with the need for each of us to prepare our hearts to hear spiritual truth.  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”; amen?  There are many doctrines going forth today; in these last days false prophets will arise, and there will be many teachers seducing the church for their own personal gain and just in satanic malice.  Satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy—everything that you have.  Satan hates you personally, and would love to make your life a disaster; but Jesus has come that we might have life, and have it more abundantly; amen?

You see, we are caught up in this great conflict between good and evil, between light and darkness.  The kingdoms of this world, beloved, shall become the kingdoms of our God.  So, we realize that this great conflict (and we are in the midst of it) is not just a general conflict: the devil personally hates you and God personally loves you:  the hairs of your head are numbered and your days have already been determined from the foundations of the earth.  The devil cannot do anything to you that God has not permitted (amen?), and everything that appears bad, God will turn to good for all of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  Can you say, “Praise God!” for that?

So here we are, coming down the stretch called the Last Days.  Do you really believe Jesus is coming soon?  Do you really believe in the imminent return of the Lord:  that, at any moment, the trumpet of God could sound?  Hallelujah!  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!  I don’t know about you, but this world has nothing I desire:  there is nothing I desire that would cause me to stick around.  I long to see His face:  to see Him and to be like Him, praise God!  And then we shall know as we are known.  Hallelujah!  Aren’t you looking forward to that time, when every tear will be wiped away and all of the burdens will finally be laid aside and we will no longer have this body of sin and the daily conflict with it?  Thank God that we have been given all power and authority over all the power of the enemy; thank God that sin no longer has dominion over us; but the reality is that we still war with it in our members daily; amen?  That is why we each need to come daily, deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, praise God!  It’s the only way we can come into His presence.  He says, “Come unto me…and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.”  He wants to be the bearer of our burdens.  Hallelujah!

We have been reading Mark, Chapter 4, in which He taught them the parable about the sower sowing the seed and, as Jesus explains this parable to us, we see that the seed is the Word of God.  Aren’t you glad that we are born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible seed, by the Word of God; amen?  Hallelujah!  Many people approach this from an evangelistic perspective because we so often equate the seed with spreading the gospel.  But He is not referring to evangelism here:  this is not necessarily a parable about the proclamation of the gospel; this is a teaching that says that you and I, as we survey our own hearts, need to continually receive the Word of God that brings about transformation in our lives toward Christlikeness so that we ultimately will bring forth fruit to the glory of God.  So, this parable is about God being glorified through your fruit‑bearing; and there will be no fruit‑bearing if each of us does not prepare the “ground” of his heart so that this Seed can produce what it was sent forth to do.