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["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] ["O Come All Ye Faithful"] Amen. Thank you all for being here this morning. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. We're going to get started with song number 10 there in your hymnal. Song number 10, Near the Cross. Song number 10, Near the Cross. Let's all stand together as we sing our first song. Song number 10. We'll sing it on that first verse. Jesus keep me near the cross There a precious fountain Free to all a healing stream Close from Calvary's mountain In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall die Restless beyond the river Near the cross, a trembling storm Love and mercy found me There the fine and glorious heart Shares a peace around me In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall die Restless beyond the river Near the cross, O Lamb of God Ring it's easy glory Help me walk from day to day Where this shadow glory In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall die Restless beyond the river Near the cross, a washing air Holding trust me never Till I reach my holy strength Just beyond the river In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall die Restless beyond the river Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Dear God, Heavenly Father, how we should do. Thank you so much, Lord God, for just allowing us to be here in your house this morning, Lord God. I do pray that you would please just be with us today as we hear the preaching of your word, Lord. I do pray that you would please just be with Pastor, Lord God. I pray that you would please just fill in with your Holy Spirit. Continue to guide him, Lord God, as he preaches your word. And I pray that you would also just be with us, Lord God, as we listen to the preaching of your word, Lord God, as well, that we would listen with all ears, Lord God, and have open hearts that we might leave here changed today. I pray now these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 187, Jesus Loves Me. Song number 187. Song number 187 in your hymnals is our second song. We'll sing it on that first. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me here who died. Heaven's gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin. Let His little child love Him. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me. He will stay close beside me all the way. Thou hast fled and cried for me. I will henceforth live for Thee. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. And you see the soul winning times and teams there as well. If you'd like to learn how to soul win, how to preach the gospel, you can see me after the service to be placed on a team and receive some training on that. Please continue to pray for the list of expecting mothers there and some important reminders. Please make sure that you are supervising your children in the building. No children should be in a mother baby room alone without their parents. And so just keep that in mind. Obviously, we want everyone to fellowship and hang out and have a good time. But you need to make sure that you're keeping an eye on your children. That they're not alone in this building in any room. Obviously, the building is a lot bigger and so there's a lot more rooms to go into. You want to keep an eye on your children. And then along with that, no men allowed in the mother baby room. If you are taking turns with your spouse, taking care of your children and men, if it's your turn to take care of your children, then make sure you take them into the fellowship hall. But the mother baby room is specifically for mothers and their children. And so just keep that in mind there. You see some of the announcements. Of course, today we have the March birthday breakfast and we have some doughnuts and coffee. And so whose birthday is in March? Raise your hand. Alright, we got one right here. One right there, one right there. Anybody else? Is that it? Alright, do you know Happy Birthday, Glenn? Can you sing a solo? No, I'm just kidding. Alright. Alright, well let's do acapella. Alright, here we go. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Round of applause for all those who have a birthday with March. Happy birthday to you all. Thursday, March 25th, we have Pastor Roger Jimenez preaching for us here. And so make sure you don't miss out on that great service. He's going to be here with his family. Looking forward to hearing him preach, fellowshipping with him. It's going to be great. And then on Saturday, March 27th, we're going to have a soul winning marathon in Santa Ana. And so Santa Ana is a pretty receptive area. And so we'll give you more details as far as where we're going to meet. We're probably going to meet here and then head out, soul winning there. But we'll give you the schedule as that date approaches. So keep that in prayer. Make sure you sign up for that and participate. And then lastly, on Sunday, April 4th, we have a special Easter service and breakfast. There will be an Easter egg hunt along with that for the children. And so it's a great time for you to invite people to church on Easter. Obviously, Easter is on people's minds or churches on people's minds during Easter. You want to take advantage of that. So invite your family, your friends. And if they have children, say, hey, the church is going to have an Easter egg hunt after the service. And so bring them on over so we can get them sugared up and, you know, send them home with you in that condition. Okay. And so we're looking forward to that. It's going to be great. And we're going to have special music on that Sunday as well. And then just as a couple other reminders here, quiet time is from 3 p.m. to 4 15 in the main auditorium and mother baby room. And so just keep that in mind. We're going to have the lights turned off and people want to rest. They want to take a nap or something. They can do it in here or they can do it in the mother baby room. If you want a fellowship and hang out, do that in the fellowship hall or in the other rooms in the building. But make sure you stay clear out of here. And then no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. Okay. And that includes iced coffee. Yes. Okay. I will make that exception. Please silence your phones during the service so as to not be a distraction during the preaching. And that's pretty much it for our announcements. It's going to sing our next song, which will be three hundred and forty nine in your songbooks. Song number three hundred and forty nine. The comforter has come. Song number three hundred and forty nine. Song number three hundred and forty nine. We'll see it on that first. Oh, spread the tidings round. Wherever man is found. Wherever human hearts and human woes abound. And every Christian taught, proclaim the joyful sound. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. Oh, spread the tidings round. Wherever man is found. The comforter has come. The long, long night has passed. The morning breaks at last. And us a dreadful wail and fury of the blast. As for the golden hills, the day advances fast. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The holy ghost of heaven. The father promised him. Oh, spread the tidings round. Wherever man is found. The comforter has come. Oh, the breaking of kings. With healing in his wings. To every captain's soul. Of golden limb frames. And through the faith he tells. The song of dry freeze. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The holy ghost of heaven. The father promised him. Oh, spread the tidings round. Wherever man is found. The comforter has come. Oh, boundless love divine. How shall the song of mine. To what immortal spell. The matchless grace divine. That I, a child of hell, should in his name it shine. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The comforter has come. The holy ghost of heaven. The father promised him. Oh, spread the tidings round. Wherever man is found. The comforter has come. Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time, our sisters will be receiving the offering, and turn your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. The Bible reads, Hearken. Behold, there went out a sower to sow, and it came to pass as he sowed. Some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Another fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased, and brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some one hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him, with the twelve, asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sin should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and sown durbuck for a time. Afterward, when affliction and persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some one hundred. And he said unto them, Is a candle broad to be put under a bushel or under a bed, and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested, neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear, for with what measure ye meet it shall be measured to you, and to you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not, from him shall be taken, even that which he hath. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because a harvest is come. And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. But with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear. But without a parable spake he not unto them, and when they were alone he expounded all things to the disciples. And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship, and there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hindering part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Let's pray, dear God. Just thank you for your word. Just ask that you be with our pastor now as he preaches it. Just ask that you strengthen him. Fill him with your spirit to preach it boldly. And please just open our eyes and ears to hear it. And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. All right, Amen. We are in Mark chapter 4. The title of the sermon this morning is Newborns Among Thorns. Newborns Among Thorns. Mark chapter 4 verse 18 says, And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Now we know this parable as the parable of the sower and the seed. This is a parable that's commonly found in three of the four gospels. Of course we see it here in Mark chapter 4. But then we also see it in Luke chapter 8 and in Matthew chapter 13. And of course we know that when you read a parable, a parable is simply a simple story that is used to illustrate a spiritual truth. And this particular parable is illustrating to us what are the four possible outcomes when we preach the gospel to a certain person and why is it? You know, why is it that certain people don't get saved? Why is it that some people do and they come to church? Why is it that when they come to church they fall away? This explains to us perfectly why that is. And these four outcomes, they're not based upon the seed, right? But rather the type of ground that it falls upon. You see, the seed is not the problem. The seed is the word of God. And we know that the word of God has power. We know that the preaching of the gospel has power. It can save anybody who believes. In fact, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 55 verse 10, For as the rain cometh down in the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, then it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. What is God saying? He's saying the word of God is, it's effective, right? It's powerful. It will accomplish that which He's called it to do. So when we preach it, we need to preach it with faith that it's going to accomplish that which God is sending it to do. You know, when we go out there and preach the gospel, never have this attitude of, oh, I'm not going to see anybody saved. I don't know. We're just, you know, we're just going to go out there. It's going to be a dry day. It's going to be a dry week. No, we ought to go out there with faith, knowing that when we preach the gospel, someone's going to get saved, right? Now, obviously, there's the law of numbers. And the more people you preach the gospel to, the more likely you're going to see more people saved, right? But the reality is, the more people you preach the gospel to, the more likely you're going to get a lot of doors shut in your face. A lot of people who are going to reproach you, a lot of people who are going to reject you. But that's okay. It's part of the job. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Psalm 126 verse 6 says, he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. The Bible is not the problem, obviously, unless it's like a false version of the Bible. But we know that most people who use a false version of the Bible are not even out there preaching the gospel, okay? Most churches and people who use the NIV, NASB, and all these other lame versions, you know, more than likely they're not out there actually doing the work and preaching the gospel. Doing the first works. The problem of whether someone gets saved or not, you know, they go to church or not, or they become fruitful or not, it's really based upon what's going on in that person's life at the time. Okay? And this is important because sometimes, soul owners, they can get frustrated. You know, and I've seen this over the span of, you know, being a Christian for 14 years. I see that people sometimes they get a little disillusioned or they become a little frustrated. Not because they're not getting people saved, but because they want to bring people to church. You know, they want to get the saved people to actually come to church, grow, you know, and get involved and become a soul owner themselves. And then think to themselves, well, you know, is this really working then? You know, I'm like trying to get people saved and I want them to come to church. And, you know, they get a little discouraged when people don't actually start attending the church when they invite them. And I mean, that's happened to every single one of us, right? And that's a natural thing. But you need to realize is that not everyone who gets saved will come to church. We want them to come to church. Some will come to church, but not everyone will. And it's really based upon what is going on in that person's life at that time. Okay? And this is why the sermon is called Newborns Among the Thorns. You see, the parable, although we can definitely apply it to ourselves, really is talking about people who just get saved. You know, right off the bat, you know, excluding the first seed that is sown upon the wayside, the last three get saved. And obviously, we see they just get saved. One gets offended. The second one is choked out. And the fourth one actually remains in church, starts getting people saved, starts to bear fruit. And that's what we want to produce, obviously. Now, let's look at a couple reasons why people, first and foremost, don't get saved, why they don't come to church, or why they don't become fruitful. And by the way, never get this idea that, well, you know, because people are not coming to church, then I'm going to stop doing the work. You know? Folks, the purpose of preaching the gospel is not to build a church. You know, the purpose of soul winning and preaching the Word of God is not so we can build a church and build the attendance. That's a byproduct, but it's not the main purpose of preaching the gospel. And here's the thing. We have a room full of people here of seed that fell on good ground. Because you're here. We've got a bunch of soul winners here. We've got people here that are reading the Bible. We have people here that are leading souls to Christ. We have people here that are discipling others, so it does work. Okay? Now, this parable here explains to us why some of this takes place. Look at verse 13, if you would. Verse 13. It says here, And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? The so are so with the word. So verse 15 says, And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. So we see here that there's an individual that when you sow that seed of the gospel, you preach the Word of God unto them, there comes a time when Satan actually comes, and as Matthew 13 puts it, it's like the fowls of the air, descend upon that individual and removes the seed out of their heart. We see later on in Luke chapter 8, which is a parallel passage, he snatches the word from their heart lest they should understand, believe, and be saved. Okay? Now, what is this like and done to? Well, we can say that this is like a distraction, a hindrance, or even false prophets. I'm going to explain to you why. Luke 18, or excuse me, Luke 8 verse 12, you don't have to turn there, says, Those by the wayside are they that hear, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. And I guarantee you, if you've been sowing for any length of time, you've had this happen to you. Where you're giving the gospel to someone, it's a teenager, they're super receptive, you're like, I got this in the bag. This person's about to get saved, you know? You know it, you can feel it. It's like, they're right there. And then like the Catholic mom comes and is like, that's enough, and just like slaps the door or something. Right? I've had that happen to me multiple times. Or, you know, the cat is crying, or the dog is whining, or, wait, those are babies. You know, the cat is meowing, or the dog is barking, the children are crying, right? There's some sort of distraction that is hindering the word from them understanding the word of God. And I've had multiple times where I'm preaching the gospel to someone, and some individual comes up and says, hey, you know, we're Catholic. Hey, we already go to church. Hey, we don't need this. Hey, come inside, so and so. And they're calling them in, and the person's kind of like stuck between a rock and a hard place. They're just like, I want to listen, but my authority's telling me to come inside, you know? And obviously, we need to plead with that person and try to appeal that, you know, that instruction that their family's given them. Say, hey, can you give me five more minutes? Can I get 10 more minutes? I'm almost done. But sometimes it just doesn't work, right? You know, I was sowing with Moses a couple weeks ago, and that happened to him. The person was very receptive. He's a teenager, and it was in Montclair. We're in Montclair, right? And we're preaching the gospel there, and then I don't know if it was the mom or the grandma. I don't know who came out. And she was just like, come in. We need you to come in. And he's just like, can we get a couple more minutes? And she's like, no, he needs to come in. And it was like right at the moment of explaining, you know, either eternal security or praying. I don't remember exactly which one it was. But, you know, it kind of grieves you at your heart. She's like, man, I put in so much work. This person was so close. But what is that? That's Satan coming immediately to snatch the word out of their heart, lest they should understand, believe, and be saved. Okay? And that's going to happen. But, you know, I believe there's also other instances or other distractions that can come that can stop a person from getting saved. And let me give you an example of this. I remember years ago, I was in Bible college, and I was on my bus route, and we're out there soul winning and signing people up to come to church. And I was with one of my bus workers, and he was preaching the gospel to this teenager. We're on a main street. He's preaching the gospel to some teenager. And the teenager's really receptive. He's listening. He wants to hear it. And my friend, his name is George, he's like really intent and just kind of just really focused and giving him the gospel. And I'm just listening. And then all of a sudden, towards the end, all of a sudden, there's this car accident like right in front of us. Right? Just huge car accident. And it scared the crap out of me. I'll just be honest with you. I was like, whoa. You know? But here's the thing. You know, my soul winning partner didn't even flinch. Now, the guy, the teenager did. I did. And they just, we both kind of like looked. And I remember George snapping his fingers and saying, don't pay attention to that. Look over here. He goes, this is Satan trying to distract you from listening to what I'm trying to tell you right now. This is important. Listen to me. And he like snapped out of it. And then I think like the kid, like when he, when George said that, he thought to himself like, oh, man, this is, he's right. And the kid, he ended up getting saved. But you could see how that could have turned out. If all of them were like, whoa, let's just put a pause on it. Is everyone all right, man? Oh, man, that's going to cost a lot. Or just, you know, you start getting involved in the new subject, the new conversation there. And then we just kind of forget about everything. And he's like, well, here's an invite, you know, and take off. And that's it. He said, do you really think that's like the devil? I believe that was the devil. Because the gospel is being preached. You know, Satan knows that the gospel has power. And he knows that if he can just send one distraction out there, because he can't stop the power of God's word. He can try to hinder it. But he can't stop it. Okay. But how about this? You know, sometimes people come with preconceived ideas when they open the door. You know? And this Satan coming immediately like a foul of the air can be like a false prophet or, you know, some false religion that has put a bad taste in that person's mouth. Right? Because, you know, sometimes you have people who are like, well, they're not interested because of the fact that religion has given them a bad taste. They were done wrong by some Jehovah's Witness or some Mormon, some self-righteous, holier-than-thou Pentecostal who's not even saved. They have some Pentecostal aunt, some Pentecostal uncle or cousin that just condemns them all the time and says all these things about them. And they're going to go to hell if they don't stop, you know, turn from their wicked ways and all these things. And that turns them off to the gospel. So that when they're getting the word of God, they're understanding it, but they're just like, I'd rather not. You know? I have a bad taste in my mouth. All churches are the same. Whatever. Luke 11 52 says, woe unto you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye enter not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. Matthew 23 verse 13 says, but woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer them that are entering to go in. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 1 says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith. I mean, I think about what happened last September or October when we were holding a fundamentalist conference. And really, it was just about fundamental preaching. And not only that, but we had soul winning during those times. We wanted to get a bunch of people saved in the state of Ohio. And we had an unreasonable and wicked person trying to shut us down so we wouldn't get people saved. You know, because they didn't want us to spread our hate speech or whatever. Even though the gospel is not hate speech, it's the most loving message there is. And we just wanted to go out there and preach the gospel. And this individual, you know, just put in an insurmountable amount of effort to try to stop us. Literally shut down our venues three times. We had to move various times, even to the point where we had to move to a different state. Like, you know, the conference started in Ohio and ended in Kentucky. Why? Because Satan came immediately and sought to hinder the work, to snatch the word out of the hearts of the people. But you know what? It didn't work because we still got a bunch of people saved. Still got a ton of people saved. Was it stressful? Yes. Was it, you know, was it annoying? Yes. But we still got the work done because at the end of the day, you can't stop the power of God's word. But you could try to hinder it. Okay. You know, they try to hinder us in Omani. But they're like three years too late. Because we were already there for like three years, preaching the gospel, getting a bunch of people saved. We already, you know, we're already sowing seeds in that area for three years. It's too late, right? Now I'm sure there's new people there that we'd want to get saved, but we're still going to hold a marathon there in the future. Just to kind of, you know, you know, take them off a little bit. But what I'm saying is that when you're out there preaching the gospel, just understand that, you know, there's going to be times when you will be hindered. It's not because the Bible is the problem. You're not the problem. It's because Satan comes immediately to spiritual battle, snatches the word out of their heart. And look, sometimes there's people that like agree with you 100 percent or that at least they say they do. And they don't get saved. Right. Like, so you believe this is like, yeah, I believe that you believe this. Yeah. All right. You know, you want to get saved and you want to call upon the name of the Lord. No, I'm good. Like, what? Do you really understand that? You know, and it could be Satan coming and removing understanding from that person. OK, because, you know, if a person understands, they're going to want to get saved. You know, if they believe these things, they're going to want to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Look at verse 16. So we see that we have the person who receives the seed by the wayside. This individual does not get saved. It happens. Look at verse 16. These and these are they likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness. Now, I believe that this person actually gets saved because it says they receive the word with gladness. This is often terminology used to express someone who is getting saved, becoming born again. We see it in the Book of Acts. They immediately receive the word with gladness and have no root in themselves. And so endure before a time afterward when affliction or persecution arise for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. Now, Matthew 13 basically has the identical phrasing. And as I mentioned, this person gets saved. They receive the word of God with gladness. And I believe this person actually starts going to church. I believe they start going to church. And in fact, I believe that this person who receives the seed on stony ground becomes godly. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, because they're getting persecution. And yea, all they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Persecution comes when you're living a godly life. So they're getting affliction. They're getting persecution because of the word. That means they're going to church. They're hearing the word of God preach or they themselves have started preaching God's word, which has resulted in persecution and affliction, etc. So they endure. They're able to hang on. They come to church. They're a part of the fellowships. They may even go soul winning. They're enduring, but then when persecution comes, they fall away. They are offended. Now, go to Luke chapter 8 if you would. Hold your place there in Mark chapter 4. Go to Luke chapter 8. Let's look at the parallel passage to this. Now, we often think of like an offense or when someone's offended like, oh, you offended me. Like, I'm hurt by what you said, which obviously that is the case. That can be the case sometimes, but it's also referring to the fact that they're stumbling. They are being persecuted. They're being afflicted for their faith. And in turn, it causes them to regress. It causes them to go backwards, to deny the Lord, to get out of church. This is what it means when it says that they got offended. Look at verse 13 of Luke chapter 8. Now, this is different wording here, but it means the same exact thing. Now, let me tell you what this doesn't mean. When it says, which for a while believe, this doesn't mean like they believed they were saved, then they no longer believe that they're saved. Let me just let you know that when the Bible talks about believe, it's not always in reference to salvation. Sometimes it is. Just like salvation is not always in reference to the justification of our soul. When it says, which for a while believe, in other words, they're exercising their faith. They're exercising their faith. They believe that God's going to provide for them. They believe that God's going to protect them. They believe that God is present with them. I mean, they're walking with God. But the problem is that the only reason they believe for a while is because their roots are not down deep. They have no root in themselves. They believe for a while when persecution arises because of the word, then they're just immediately knocked out of the race kind of thing. This doesn't mean like, okay, well, which for a while believe, but then they started believing in oneness modalism or something. If a person says that they believe in the true God and the true gospel, they believe in Jesus Christ, and then they get involved in Mormonism, we wouldn't say like, oh, that person's backslidden. Praying for so-and-so, he's backslidden right now. He's getting baptized. He believed for a while, but now in a time of temptation, he got involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses. He's with that Michael Jackson Prince crowd right now with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Or he's involved in the charismatic movement right now. He's speaking in tongues and doing all kinds of healings and believes you could lose your salvation. Oh, but he's saved, though, because he believed right at one time. Wrong. That individual, you know, the Bible tells us that they went out from us, for they went out of us, that's actually applicable to them. And 1 Corinthians 15 says that they believed in vain. That means that they professed that they knew God, right? But in reality, they didn't really believe the true gospel. They didn't really have the right type of faith. They basically gave lip service to the truth. When it says for a while they believe, it's like they believed in the Bible, that God would provide for their needs, protect them, you know, that they were walking with God. But because their faith was not strong, okay, they were not strong in the Lord and the power of his might. There was no depth to their walk with God. They got offended. They fell away, okay. You know, the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2.11, It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. Now look, if you go through a tough time and you lack faith that God's going to deliver you, you lack faith that God's going to provide for you, it doesn't mean that he's not. It just means you're lacking faith. You know, your lack of faith doesn't change the nature of God, right. He is who he is and he will abide faithful even though you don't believe, okay, even though you don't have faith. And look, there's times when people, when persecution comes and they run. I mean, think about Peter before you start criticizing people who run for, you know, because they got scared or something like that. Now, during our persecution, I'm thankful that we lost nobody. As far as I know, I could be wrong about that. But as far as I know, I don't think we lost anybody because they were afraid, okay. They gave heed to Ice Cube's admonishment, where if you're scared, go to church, okay. Everyone stayed in church and in fact, our church grew because of it. But that's not to say that that doesn't happen. It's not to say that it won't happen in the future. And by the way, that persecution that we experienced is not the last one. It's the beginning. It's just the beginning. Like, well, if they blew up our building last time, what are they going to do this time? I don't know. I guess we'll find out. But here's the thing, you know, Peter backslid to the point where he even denied that he knew the Lord. Think about that. I know not the man. You know, he was following afar off. And by the way, he wasn't saying like, I'm not even saved. He's not saying like, I don't believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. He was just saying like, I just don't know who that is. You know, why? Because he's scared. It's not because he's deceived. He's scared. He had a relapse in faith, okay. And you know, it was a humbling time for Peter because Peter was the one who was just like, I'll be with you until the end, you know, till death. I'll be with you till death. And then he's like running with his tail tucked between his legs. Now, obviously, he redeemed himself to a certain extent. You know, he got right with God and then he was able to serve God thereafter successfully and he prospered. But this happens to people, okay. And, you know, and by the way, it may not happen on a large scale like what we experience, but you could experience some sort of persecution, some form of persecution with your family. You know, you get saved and you're a newborn, but, you know, you're receiving the word of God on a stony place on a rock. You go home and then they find out that, you know, you're going to this independent fundamental Baptist church. They're Catholics. They're whatever. And they start giving you a hard time. Or how about this? They just find out that you're associated with us. They find out that you're associated with the new IFB and all those hate preachers. And, you know, you go to that guy's church, the one that got bombed, you know, it's like, and they're like, hey, you shouldn't be around those people. You know, those people are bad. And, you know, they'd start persecuting you because of it. And this happens. I remember, and I might have told this story before, but I remember when I was on the bus route years ago, I was in the city of Wilmington. And actually, Brother Albert and his family were some of my bus workers in Wilmington. And we had a group of kids that would come from there. And we got them saved and we gave them Bibles and we started teaching them doctrine and just trying to get them rooted. And I remember this one particular teenager, he was a young guy. He loved the Lord and he was loving church. He'd be with us all day at church. I mean, he was there from like 8 o'clock in the morning to like 10 o'clock at night. We'd drop him off and, you know, but he wanted to learn how to read the Bible. We gave him a Bible and he was reading it every single day. We gave him a Bible reading schedule. But he was young and he was, obviously, he's with his family. He's living with his mom and his dad and his brother and his sister. And he was the youngest of the three. And then after a while, he just began to fade away. You know, they begin to miss one's service. And then you follow up on them and you can't find them. And they're just like, the family starts making up excuses why he's not there or he's out. And then after a while, I'm thinking to myself, like, this guy, he's just backslidden. He's done, kind of thing. And obviously, we know that someone who's backslidden is not done completely, but we're saying, like, for this moment, he seems to be done. But I kept following up on him because I really love this kid. And I wanted him to go forward and he just had a tender heart. And so I would keep following up with them and they'd just kind of give me, like, on a wild goose chase and just send me and say, yeah, I think he's around the corner playing. I'll never find him. Finally, I came to his door one day, knocked on his door, and I was like, hey, is so-and-so here? And they're like, no, he's not here. And it was his sister and she was kind of rude. She didn't like the fact that, you know, we were coming to follow up. But he's like, no, he's not here. I don't know where he's at. And I'm like, all right. And I'm walking away and she goes, wait, I got to tell you something. I'm like, all right, what's up? And she's like, I don't really like my brother going to your church or anything like that, but I don't want to stop him from going to your church. You know what I mean? Like, if that's what he wants to do, that's what he wants to do. But I will say this. My brother tried to stop him from going to church. And I'm like, OK, like, what does that mean? He's like, well, you know, he would be reading his Bible in his room, trying to read his Bible. And she said, I specifically remember walking by his room and I can see him on his desk reading his Bible. And there's times when his brother would come and mock him for reading the Bible. And call him names and say, oh, you little bee, you know, reading your Bible again, you little bee. And just mock him and persecute him. And then she says, I remember one particular time when he did that, you know, he looked up and there was tears in his eyes. He closed his Bible and he put it aside and he never opened it again. And I was devastated when I heard that because it devastated me because, you know, the kids trying to grow in the Lord. Like, he has a heart for God. And even thinking about it now, it just angers me that there's people out there like that, you know. And I don't know, I think I told him, like, well, your brother's a piece of crap, right? I'm like, see you later. And I was so mad. I was really mad, you know. And what happened to him? Well, he got persecution because of the word, you know, and it's sad. And obviously, I don't know where he's at today. And, you know, I know he saved. I know he loved it. I hope that, you know, because he saved that maybe he got involved in something bad and God had to chastise him and maybe he found a church and got back into it. That's my hope. But I don't know. But that's an example of someone who, you know, they received the word with joy. This kid was excited that he got saved. He got saved. My father-in-law baptized him. He was going forward. He learned all the songs. I mean, he had a lot of joy in his life. As a young boy, because he just discovered salvation and he understood it. And then he saw us reading the Bible. He's like, I want to read the Bible too. And he disciplined himself to open up the word of God and read it every day. But it became too much for him because his brother, you know, the messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him and he couldn't handle it, you know. And, you know, that's a very extreme example. But that could be something that you experience to a certain extent where, you know, you're really close to your family. Really close to your mom. You're really close to your dad. You're really close to your brothers, your cousins. And they find out that you're a fundamental Baptist. And they're just like, oh, man. They start persecuting you. They start saying all manner of evil against you. They start mocking you, you know. And then you start telling them about the sodomites. You start telling them about the reprobate doctrine. I mean, it's doubly persecution after that. He says, so what's the issue? I mean, like, how do I solve that? Well, you got to get rooted. And really, like, this is the best advice I think I can give when it comes to this aspect right here. Because the Bible tells us, you know, to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I think in order for us to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And I think in order for us not to be moved, we have to really check ourselves as far as why is it that we do the things that we do. Some people come to our church for entertainment. Maybe some might come out of duty. Maybe some might come because they got nothing else to do on Sunday. Or this is the best church in their area. You know, after a while, you got to come for the Lord. That's when your root actually begins to go down deep. Well, I come because I love you, Pastor Mejia. Well, I'm thankful for that, but, you know, that is not going to last very long. Because I'm going to offend you. You know, something's going to happen. You know, you have to make sure that you come because of the Lord. And the way you get your roots down deep, the way you make sure that you endure, not just for a while, but for a lifetime, you got to make sure you're doing it for the Lord. The love of Christ has to constrain you to remain where you're at. Because here's the thing, the Lord will never let you down. I will. Your brothers in Christ will. Hey, your team leaders will. People will let you down. And it's a fallacy for you to think that, oh no, this is a perfect church. It will never happen here. No, it will happen because we're all sinners, no one's perfect, and you should never have that expectation of a human being. Right? You need to come for the Lord because the Lord will never let you down. No matter what happens, no matter who fails you, no matter who offends you, no matter what persecution or affliction comes, you shall not be moved. You know, you need to be like the palm tree, right? Too many Christians are like mushrooms. Mushrooms, they grow overnight. They grow quick, grow overnight. But you know what, you can kick them over as fast as they grew. Right? You can kick them right over, they have no substance. A palm tree or a redwood, try to knock one of those over. You know, the palm tree, you guys ever seen those videos of like the atomic bomb going off and it's blowing up trucks and houses? And the palm trees are just bending to the point where they're almost touching the ground. Some say they can bend like 50 degrees or so and they won't snap. They might lose their leaves, but they will not break. And you know what, that's how God wants us to be. He wants us to be like that redwood, like that palm tree, that when the blast comes, when the bomb is blown up, when the bomb is there, I just keep talking about a bomb, it's on my mind. You know, yeah, it may cause you to bend a little bit, but you won't break. Right? It may cause you to go 50 degrees a little bit, you might even touch the ground, you might even feel a little crack here, but at the end of the day, you don't break. You just remain unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Okay? The Bible says in Psalm 16 verse 8, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Colossians 2 says, as he has therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. So what is it telling us? How do we receive Christ? By faith. So how should we walk in him? By faith. That means we need to continue to believe. Not that we're saved, we need to continue to believe that he can provide for us abundantly above all that we can ask or think. That he can still protect us. If he has the power to save us eternally, he has the power to provide for us temporally. If he has the power to keep us eternally, he has the power to protect us temporally as well. Rooted and built up in him, established in the faith as he had been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Now, go back to Mark chapter 4, if you would. Mark chapter 4. So the person who receives the seed upon the stony places upon the rock gets offended. Okay? That's why it's important that Sunday is not the first time that you open up the Bible, amen? You should be reading the word of God throughout the week. Have your own personal devotions, read the word of God, know what you believe. Get those convictions down deep into your heart. You know, check your motives, why you're serving Christ. Now look, I'm not saying that our love for Christ should be the only reason why. Because we love people, don't we? We love our spouses, we love our children, we love our church. You know, I hope you love me. You know, there's people that we do things for, right? We do because we love them, but the supreme reason, the preeminent reason should be the Lord. So that when those things are knocked out of the way and they fail you, you always have the Lord that you're doing it for. Look at verse 18. Now, let me just be real honest with you as the pastor of this church, okay? I've actually seen more people leave church because of these reasons rather than the stony places. In fact, I'm not really afraid of losing people when persecution comes. I think our church likes persecution. I think you guys are weird. No, I'm just kidding. I think you guys thrive off of those things. There's people who are just like, man, I hope this protest is not going to be a disappointing protest. Like, it better not be a bust. They better try to kill us or something. They thrive off of those things. I thrive off of those things. Persecution draws us closer to each other. Persecution makes us stronger. Persecution gives us something to talk about. It gives us good memories. It does that to the piano. When people come, they're like, what happened? Let me tell you what happened to that. It makes Christianity real to you, right? So really, the stony place really only can happen to a newborn because they don't have enough time to get rooted in the Lord. It might happen to Christians who go to churches who have just really shallow teaching on doctrine. Or they don't talk about those things because they don't encourage Bible reading. They don't encourage walking with God and therefore it can happen to them. But in a church like ours, I don't think it will happen very often. It could, but I don't think it will happen very often. What I've noticed is that Christians often backslide or regress because of this right here. What? The thorns. When you fall among thorns. Sometimes you'll sow seeds out there, you're preaching the gospel, and people get saved but you just don't have time to come to church. Or they have a Mercedes Benz in their front in their driveway. Or they have money. Or they have the lust of other things entering in and it causes them not to go forward in their Christian life. But let me say this, even Christians, people who are in this room can get caught up in this. Because thorns, here's the thing with thorns. The stony place happens kind of immediately. The thorns is a gradual thing when thorns begin to grow. And you know what the problem is with gradual thorns? You just don't really notice them until it's too late. They begin to kind of overtake your life. They begin to encumber you with the cares of this life. And because it's gradual, it's like, well, I'll take care of this later. I'll take care of this later, I'll go back to church later, I'll do this later. But by the time you know it, the thorn has already choked the word of God out of your life and you've become unfromful. They fade away. So what do we see the thorns being? Well it says there, the cares of this life. Now look, we can't avoid the cares of this life. It's part of life, right? Stresses, whether that's bills you have to pay, you're not making money, you get fired from your job, you have a health issue, you have marital problems. These are the cares of this life. These are things that just come upon you and you become full of care. You say, well, if that happens to us, then how come I'm still in church? Or how come I'm still going forward, I'm still producing fruit? Well, because of the fact that maybe you've learned how to cast your care upon Him, for He cares for you. You see, we can't get rid of the problems in our life, but what we can do is pray. What we can do is seek the Lord for His wisdom. The Bible says, be careful for nothing but in all things by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passeth understanding shall keep your hearts and minds to Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, you just don't know my situation. I probably don't, but you know what, there's no new thing under the sun. I'm sure there's people who've gone through your same situation in times past and they still serve God. Now look, sometimes the cares of this life can take us out of church for a short time, right? You know, you get your legs chopped off, can come to church for a little bit. You get a pass. You get coronavirus, right? You get out for a little bit. I was out for like, I don't know, 14 days or seven days. I don't remember how long, it seemed like an eternity when I got coronavirus. And I was just like, this sickness sucks. I hate feeling, I can't even, I can't sleep. I can't get, it's just horrible. And you almost feel like, I don't know about you, but when I get sick, I feel backslitted. Because it's like, I don't even want to read my Bible. The only thing I can do is pray and then even when I'm praying, I'm like angry, I'm like upset, I'm sick. I'm just like, ugh, I just feel like horrible. It's like the cares of this life are overcoming me. You understand? Or how about this, maybe you're just going through a marital issue, you're not getting along with your spouse. Or maybe your spouse is not in church. Any of these things, we can justify why not to come to church, why not to serve, do the things of God. We can justify not coming to church for a lot of these reasons right here. But the cares of this life is one of them. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2. What you need to realize is that you can't avoid the cares of this life. You can't avoid them. And don't ever put the stipulation upon the Christian walk to say, well I'll keep serving God as long as my ducks are in order. I'm going to keep serving God as long as my spouse is still with me. I'm going to keep serving God as long as the bank accounts are up. As long as the bills are paid, as long as everything is going hunky dory, I'm going to keep serving God. That's the wrong attitude to have. That's the wrong attitude to have because you could lose those things overnight. You could lose your spouse overnight, you could lose the respect of your spouse overnight. Your spouse can divorce you. I'm not saying it's right, but that can happen. And then at what point, I mean what are you going to say then? You've got to keep serving God no matter what. And look, if you go through a season where you're full of care and it's taking you out of church, okay, that's fine, but don't let that go unfettered. Right? What do I mean by that? You know, if you miss church one week, okay, you miss church two weeks, okay, but now you've got to really put a hand on that pulse there and recognize, hey, I've been out of church for quite some time, I need to get back in. And let me just share some practical wisdom with you that I learned from my pastor of old. You know, the longer you're out of church, the harder it is to get back in. The longer you are out of church, out of fellowship, the harder it is to get back in. The harder it is for you to wake up on Sunday morning and say, well, I'll go Thursday. For sure, for sure, for sure, for sure, for sure, for sure. Thursday for sure, for sure. It's just going to be harder. Because that's how thorns work. The longer you leave the thorns, the tighter they get, the harder it is to wiggle your way out of it. Look at 2 Timothy 2 verse 1. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou, therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entanglement himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And look, if you're going through a hard time and you're like, I just don't feel like going to church because I've been crying all day. I'm just an emotional wreck right now. Put some eye drops in and just come. Just endure it. Go get a burger. Do what you have to do, but make it here. And I promise you, most of the time, and this is what I've heard multiple times, when people are going through a difficult time and they don't want to come to church, but they come anyways, they leave thinking, I'm glad I came. They get exhorted, they get fellowship. Pastor makes you laugh or you just enjoy the jokes. We go out and hang out and it's just like, man, I'm glad I came. You get exhorted, right? You're like, well, I'm depressed right now. I'm going through just like this severe depression right now. I'm going through severe, just like I'm just going through it, pastor. We'll just keep coming. It'll be worse for you if you stay out. Well, listen online, it's not the same. And look, if you're bedridden, watch online, obviously. But if you have the ability to walk in here, then come in here and be a part because the preaching obviously is a major part, but so is the fellowship. People caring for you, talking to you, having a shoulder to cry on or whatever. I don't want to say whatever, but I'm a prophet, sorry. You know, just like kind of doing the lady stuff, OK? The girl stuff. What I'm saying is this, is that, you know, don't entangle yourself with the affairs of this life. And when you feel yourself getting entangled, you're falling among thorns. You need to, you can't let that go unfettered. You need to remove those thorns and get back into a routine, get back into church, get back into your Bible, get back into prayer and gradually make yourself, you know, what you need to be, whether that's a soul winner, the right type of leader. But don't allow the thorns of this life to choke the word, OK? Hey, look, how about a loss of a family? Those are the cares of this life. A lot of people lost their family this year and last year. And that can cause someone to go into like a really deep depression where they're just going through a hard time. And look, folks, let me just say this. Be sensitive to the people who've lost their family members in our church. You know, tread lightly with them during this time. It's going to be all right, brother. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Don't treat them like that. Why? Because, you know, for you, you just move on, but for them, they're constantly thinking about that. It's constantly on their mind, constantly thinking about their family. It's always on their mind. OK, the cares of this life. And you know what? What we can do as a church is like kind of help them undo the thorns that are wrapping them up. You understand? So it's the cares of this life. How about this? The deceitfulness of riches. Now, how can this choke the world out of your life? Well, if you become covetous, you just get thrown out. That's one way. You know, we'll choke you out. Put a rear naked choke on you and toss you out. I'm just kidding. But you know that that can be the case where you're getting involved in the money of this world. And then your love for you're not delighting in the Bible anymore. You're not delighting in church anymore. You're constantly thinking about money. You're thinking about the next toy that you can buy. And it's not bad to have possessions, but what's bad is when possessions have you. When you can't enjoy possessions and still delight in the Lord, you know, and those possessions are kind of overcoming you. Those thorns are overtaking your heart. Where that's all you think about. That's what you think is most important. That's a danger there. Go to First Timothy, chapter six, if you would. First Timothy, chapter six. The deceitfulness of riches. What is the deceitfulness of riches? It's the thought that riches can buy you happiness or contentment. Right? The deception is to think that money can do something that maybe God can't. It can fulfill you in a way that maybe the Bible can't. Look at First Timothy six, six, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment led us therewith be content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through of many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, you know, get a third job, fifth job, even if you stop coming to church. No, follow, flee these things and follow after righteousness. Godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Now look, if you're struggling to make ends meet, listen to me, if you're struggling to make ends meet, what shouldn't go out the window is church. What should go out the window? Things that you can go without. Let me just say this, I'd rather be poor serving God than have just enough and not be in church or be in the Bible or serving the Lord. It's a fact. I'd rather have a little and have the clear conscience that I'm still coming to church, I'm still serving God, I'm not hindered. The work of God is not hindered because I'm still serving God. You know, it's not being hindered because I have four jobs or something, you know. That can be a danger, folks. Oh, you know, you don't know and you don't know my situation. I do know this is that God's commanded you to provide for your family and He's commanded you to be in church and those never conflict. Right? If God has commanded you to provide for your family but He's commanded you to serve Him, those will never conflict. So you can do both. But here's the thing is that sometimes people make an excuse and they think, well, I need to provide for my family but that provision is referring to like extras, the luxurious things of this life. Hey, a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Proverbs 15 and 16 says, better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Proverbs 16 and 18, better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. And I'm sure what I'm saying right now is not popular right now. I don't care. You're not preaching up here. I am. I remember there was a time when I was not making a whole lot of money and I had my wife and my son and I didn't even have money to like take my wife out on a date. And here's what our date was. I was just telling her this on our way over here. I said, remember when we would have to like look for like change to go buy a bag of fries for our date? Not one for you but for me. No, I'm just kidding. Like for both of us. I said, remember we used to go to, what was that restaurant called? You know those burger joints that have shredded lettuce? It's like, you know what I'm talking about. What is it? Tom's? No, it's not Tom's. What was it Marcos? Dave's Burgers. Not Dave's Burgers. They didn't sell fries. Fantastic Burgers. How did you know that? Oh yeah, your wife knows that. Yeah, Fantastic Burgers. We had just enough money to buy fries and now was our date? But you know what? I was taking my family to church. We were, I was paying the bills. We didn't have all the extras. We were just barely making it with our gas. You know, with the things that we needed. And you know what I did? I grabbed those fries and we went to a park and I whispered, sweet, nothing's into her ear. We were content. You know why we were content? Because we're still serving God. And we were still sowing. And you know what? You know, because we went to a church where they wouldn't necessarily give you Bibles to give out. Look, we're going to go without because we need to buy a box of Bibles to give out when we go sowing. And we couldn't afford it, but we did it. And you know what? We had to scrape by on some things that we wanted so we can provide for those things. But you know what? It's better to have a little and still serve God and be in church and have a clear conscience that you're doing what God wants you to do. And look, God will never let you go without the essentials. And typically, poverty, as we like to call it here in the United States, doesn't last forever, folks. One thing that I've learned when it comes to the Christian life is we go through cycles. Poverty, riches, poverty, riches, poverty, riches, because it teaches us how to be content in both of those conditions. And so don't allow the deceitfulness of riches choke the word out of your life to the point where you're unfruitful. You're not getting people saved. You're not investing in people's lives. You're not coming to church. You're not happy. I thought money was supposed to make you happy. Why aren't you happy? I thought money was supposed to buy you possessions that'll make you happy. Why don't you have joy in your life? Why are you so angry and upset and grumpy and, you know, emotional? I'll tell you why, because it's the deceitfulness of riches. That's why. And then lastly, it's the lust of other things entering in. Luke 8 describes it as the pleasures of this life, where you can get involved in pleasures. And that can be things that are not necessarily sinful, but it can be sinful things. And what does that do? It chokes the word out of your life. The Bible says in Proverbs 15 verse 19, the way of the slothful man, you know, the man who lives in pleasure, is as a hedge of thorns. But the way of the righteous is made plain. Go to John 15 and we'll finish there in John 15. Thorns come up gradually, and so sometimes we just don't notice it until it's too late. But hopefully this sermon helps you look to the left and to the right and say, oh man, I do have some thorns. Oh man, the word of God is being choked out of my life. Oh man, I am being unproofed. Oh man, I don't have joy. I do have thorns in my life. Look what it says in John 15 verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean to the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except that abide in the vine, no more can ye accept ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. You know, when you stop abiding in Christ, it's like you're breaking yourself off. And when you're broken off, when you don't abide in the vine, you land on among thorns. So, the fact that you have thorns in your life should tell you, or should cause you to ask yourself, am I abiding in Christ? Because if I'm abiding in Christ, I would be fruitful. But if I'm among thorns, it could be that I've stopped abiding in Christ. And look what it says in verse 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye should ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. Here's my admonishment to you, my encouragement to you this morning. Get out of the thorns and get yourself on good ground. Right? And don't think, well man, it was a gradual thing, therefore it's a gradual thing to come back to God. Not really. You can do it today. Super easy. Just get right with God. And say, you know what, I'm going to get back on good ground, back to bearing fruit, back to getting my priorities right. That's what it really comes down to, right? Your priorities. And I'm going to get back to the vine. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And Lord, thank you for the instructions you placed within your word, Lord. And I know that even in my personal life, I can land among thorns. Because they're gradual, they come up gradually and slowly, and sometimes we don't notice them. I pray that we would take a sermon like this or a truth like this, Lord, and do some examination of our personal lives. Are we among thorns? Have we allowed the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, or the lust of other things entering in? Choke the word out of our life. Lord, I desire to be fruitful. I know our church here desires to be fruitful. I pray that you'd help us, enlighten us, Lord, and help us to recognize the dangers of not abiding in the vine and being cast forth as a branch and withering away. We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. And with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father's wise bestowments, I no cost for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives up too each day what he deems best. Loving me, it's part of pain and pleasure, being taught with peace and rest. Every day the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour. All my cares he fainted where there cheer me. He who gave his counselor and power, the protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself is laid. As I age, my strength shall be in measure, this a pledge to be made. Help me then in every tribulation, so to trust my God's use, O Lord, that I lose not fixed reconciliation. Offer me within my holy word. Help me, Lord, with toil, trouble, meaning, care to take as from our Father's hand. One by one, the days of Mormon's seeding, till I reach the promised land. Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed. Amen.