Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Matthew 13:1-23 | Date: September 4, 2022 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Perseverance of the Saints

We are looking at the perseverance of the saints this morning, and then next week, Lord willing, we’ll look at the preservation of the saints and see what it is. Today, though, we see what it is we are preserved in, and that is in a persevering faith. And to do that, we will look at Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. In this chapter, we have the various parables of the kingdom. We’re going to look at the parable of the sower. Let’s bow for prayer before we read.

Our Father, as we come to your word, we have a sense of excitement, a sense of joy, a sense of the privilege of it. And also today, as we come to this very important practical subject of the perseverance of the saints, Lord, we ask that you’ll give us a right understanding of it, give us a new resolve to faithfulness in Jesus. We pray that you will use this to strengthen our faith, strengthen our service to live for him. We thank you for your grace to us in Christ. Give us now, we ask, an understanding of it. In this respect, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Matthew chapter 13, I’ll begin with verse one:

“That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables, saying, ‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. Since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among the thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil, and produced grain some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.'”

The disciples came then and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. From the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘You will indeed hear, but never understand. You will indeed see, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes have been closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understanding with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Jesus’ parables, of course, are the most memorable of his teaching. And they are simple stories. Usually they are just taken from everyday life. These are scenes that he paints for them in their mind’s eye that are very familiar with each of his hearers. They’re allegories illustrating spiritual truths. In this case, verses 1 to 8, he tells the story, but then in verses 18 to 23, he gives the interpretation of it.

Now, Matthew 13, the whole chapter, is known as the chapter of the parables of the kingdom. Jesus gives several parables here about the kingdom of God. Verses 1 to 23, we have the parable of the sower. Verses 24 and following, we have the parable of the weeds. Verse 31, the mustard seed. Verse 44 and following, we have the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. And then in verse 35, we find that this was Jesus’ regular practice to speak in parables. This was a fulfillment of prophecy cited there from Psalm 78.

Often Jesus’ parables just stand on their own and no interpretation is given. Some of them are more obvious than others what the meaning is, but many of them just stand on their own without interpretation. But here in the parable of the sower, like with the parable of the weeds, Jesus gives some extended attention to it privately—not to the crowds, but privately to his disciples—to interpret the significance of the parable that he has told. So here in verses 1 to 9 again we have the parable of the sower itself, and then verses 18 to 23 we have the interpretation of the parable. By the way, you’ll often hear in popular teaching and preaching that this would be better called the parable of the soils. I get that, and I understand the point that’s being made, but don’t let anyone make you feel that you’ve been upstaged if you call it the parable of the sower, because that, after all, verse 18 is what Jesus called it, and so you’re okay.

In verse 10, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do you speak in parables?” So we have here a brief summary of Jesus’ purpose in telling these stories. In verse 11, he answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” So there’s an element of sovereignty in this. One reason for the giving of the parables is to mask the truth. Another reason for giving the parables is to reveal the truth. They both mask and reveal with their various distinctive audiences. But these parables ultimately are designed to illustrate and reveal truth to the people of God.

In verse 11, he calls them the secrets of the kingdom. The older translation, the mysteries of the kingdom. This term is a familiar one in the New Testament. It’s an important term. It has to do with truth that is being revealed that was not previously revealed. And so it’s called a secret. It’s not something difficult to understand. It’s something impossible to understand unless it’s revealed to us. And so Jesus now is revealing the secrets of the kingdom.

Well, what’s the secret about the kingdom? The kingdom was a big theme in the Old Testament. What’s so secret about the kingdom? Well, what’s secret about it is the way in which the kingdom of God is brought and enters into the world. Reading the Old Testament, you will be left with the impression and you’ll be left with the conviction that there is coming a day when God will break into this world in a great and a glorious way and impose his rule on the entire world. We have that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. What we find in the New Testament that is not so clear in the Old Testament is that that kingdom will not come just all at once. That grand display of God’s kingdom and the in-breaking of his rule into the world will come at the return of Christ, his second coming.

But meanwhile, in Jesus’ first coming, that kingdom has been—and there’s the word you heard me use a lot—it has been inaugurated. It has not come in its consummation, but it has been inaugurated in a secret kind of form. Now this was surprising to the disciples, and this is one of the glorious themes of the New Testament: that the kingdom is here, and yes, it is coming. It’s both now and it’s not yet. But at this point in history, it’s come in its inaugurated form. And so God is ruling, and yet his rule is being contested. And in another respect, his kingdom rule in this world is unnoticed; it’s secret, it’s unobserved by the world.

And we have some of that here in this passage, that God’s great kingdom and its greatness will come, particularly with the parable of the fishnet at the end of this chapter. At the very end of the age, the kingdom of God will come in its greatness and the good and the bad will be sorted out and there’ll be a separation of the righteous and the unrighteous. But before that, we have the parable of the weeds, verse 24 and following, where Jesus says, “Let them both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I’ll tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in the bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'” So at the end, there will be this great separation that you have been expecting. But in the meantime, the kingdom will be marked by this: in the earth, there’ll be a growth of both.

I think this helps us sort out some eschatology. How do we understand the end times? You will hear the question, “Are things going to get better and better? Are things going to get worse and worse until Jesus comes?” And the answer is yes. It will be both. Let them both grow until the end. And then at the harvest, the Lord of the harvest will sort it all out and separate the weeds from the wheat.

We have something of the hiddenness of the kingdom in the next parable, verses 31 and following, the parable of the mustard seed. Though the seed is very small, and the least of all trees, it grows to be this great tree, and it branches out until finally it fills the entire world. The growth of the kingdom. And then, verses 33 and following, we have the parable of the leaven. Like leaven in a loaf of bread, or yeast in a loaf of bread, it grows until it permeates the loaf, and now the kingdom of God grows until it permeates the world. We have in verse 44, the parable of the hidden treasure, where a man just stumbles on the kingdom. It was not so prominent that it was staggering to him and being imposed, but he stumbled on it. It was something of a surprise. This is some of the secrets of the kingdom that Jesus reveals in these parables of the kingdom.

Now in chapter 13, verses 1 to 9, we have the parable of the sower. Then verses 18 and following, the interpretation. As all of Jesus’ parables, this is a very familiar scene to his hearers. The sower that he is talking about here, the farmer, the sower who sows seed, is virtually every person who hears him. In that agrarian world, this is the way you lived. You grew your own food. You grew your own grain. There were some exceptions to that, but this is virtually everyone there. You have your little parcel of ground, and you sow the seed. You walk out with your pouch over your shoulder full of the seed, and you reach in, and you throw the seed, and you throw the seed, and you plant, and you hope that the rain will make it germinate and finally grow.

And as he throws out the seed, Jesus says there are different kinds of soil on which the seed falls. There’s, first of all, the wayside—the hard, beaten-down path of the sower. This is the path they walk on. It’s become so trodden that it’s virtually like cement. And some of the seed inevitably falls on the path. And because it’s so hard, there is nowhere to grow. It can’t penetrate the ground at all. Well, it just lies there until the birds come and take that seed away. And all that seed did was feed the birds.

And then you have stony soil. The stony soil that he speaks of is a shallow ledge of earth under which there is a rocky place. And so you have some ground in which something can sprout and it grows, but underneath it’s rocky. Because of this ledge of rock, the seed will sprout and it’ll germinate because there’s some earth there for it to do that. But because it can’t grow downward, it just shoots up and it’s got this great display of life. This looks promising, but then the sun comes out and it gets hot and it beats down on it, and because there’s no depth of earth underneath and no moisture from the soil that it can gather, it just withers and dies and that was that. And it never produces any fruit.

Well, then there are some others, he says, that seem somewhat better. They begin to show a semblance of life. There’s some growth. They take root. They germinate. But all around them, there are these weeds that are healthier. And the weeds end up choking off the plant. And that plant doesn’t yield anything for the sower either.

But then there’s a fourth soil, and that fourth soil is what he calls the good ground. The seed falls on good ground and the birds don’t snatch it away. It sinks into the earth. It germinates. No weeds choke it off. It yields grain. It feeds the family. And all of this is very familiar to everyone who heard Jesus telling the story. This is life.

Now in verses 18 and following, we have the interpretation. What’s the significance of this allegory, this parable?

First, the Wayside Hearer

Well, first of all, verses 18 and 19, he tells us about the wayside hearer. “Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” So here’s a person who hears the gospel. His friends, his family have witnessed to him, explained it to him. Perhaps he’s been to church, he’s heard it preached. He hears it. But for whatever reason, he’s not interested. It doesn’t sink in. And whatever he’s heard is of no use. And the evil one, Satan, comes and snatches it away before it can germinate and bear fruit. He hears the gospel, but he’s really not interested. Other concerns are more pressing. He’s thinking of other things. As soon as the service is over, he’s going to other interests. He doesn’t have a concern for what it was that he heard. Maybe he didn’t even pay attention enough to be upset over it. He’s not going to argue with you, he just doesn’t get it. This is not for me. Satan comes and snatches away the seed that he had, and it’s gone. The gospel was presented, but it goes nowhere.

Second, the Stony Ground Hearer

And then verses 20 and 21, he gives the interpretation of the stony ground hearer. “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” So here’s a man who hears the gospel preached. He sees the value of it. Initially, there’s a very positive response. He’s baptized. He joins the church. He gets involved. He may take on a position of service. But then more and more, he begins to see what this is going to cost him. The sun comes out, and it beats down. And there’s tribulation of some kind—perhaps it’s general suffering, perhaps it’s persecution, perhaps it’s family making fun of him for this new fad that he’s going through. Perhaps it’s an unwillingness to give up some sin and he realizes, “This is just not for me. This isn’t what I signed on for,” and he falls away. He doesn’t yield real fruit and certainly not in any continuing way. It was a temporary show of fruit only. Notice the statement in verse 21: “He endures for a while.” That’s the stony ground hearer.

Third, the Thorny Ground Hearer

Then verse 22, we have the thorny ground hearer. “As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.” Again, we have here, initially, a promising response to the gospel. There’s an initial show of life. But finally, there are competing cares that win out. Specifically, he says, “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.” The cares of the world—that’s not necessarily sinful things, just the cares of this world. It might be his hobbies, it might be his amusements that he likes to pursue, it might be his work, it might be his financial success, it might be the pursuit of his bank account. All of these concerns come in, which in and of themselves are fine. But they begin to crowd out the word that he has heard. And soon the gospel that he has heard is pushed to the margins. And pretty soon it’s gone. And he really bears no fruit after all, and he just drifts away. Not necessarily an outright rejection; he drifts away.

Fourth, the Good Ground Hearer

And then verse 23, we have the good ground hearer. “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” So here’s a man who hears the gospel, he responds in faith, he responds in repentance, and he begins living for Christ, and it continues. There’s fruit, gospel fruit in his life. His life is transformed, and it stays that way. He continues and he presses on in the service for Christ. He has a sustained interest in hearing and learning the Word of God. He finds himself in the downtime and the evening hours when he has no other responsibilities, he finds his mind wandering to the things of God; he wants to read the Word. He may want to listen to audio recordings of teaching and preaching. He has an interest in the Word of God. He has an interest in spreading the good news of the kingdom with others. He prays for opportunities to do that. He loves the people of God. And it’s this year, and it’s next year, and it’s the year after, and it’s the year after, and it’s the year after, and he continues on, and he continues on, and this man bears fruit. And you know it’s genuine because years later he’s still living for Christ, he’s still interested in the things of God, he’s still pressing on even through opposition and suffering of various kinds. Even if there’s opposition from the family or friends, he’s still faithful, he’s still witnessing, he still loves the people of God, and he still pursues practical godliness.

Now that is what is meant precisely by the perseverance of the saints. We’ll talk more next time about the preservation of the saints. But this time, the perseverance of the saints—the mark of genuine conversion—is that it presses on; it perseveres as it began. Now it’s important to note here that two of these three other hearers initially show some signs of life. Let me say it again. Two of these other three hearers initially show some sign of life, but no fruit. I’m not over-reading the parable here. This is what Jesus stressed in verse 21: “He endures for a while.” The wayside hearer, verses 18 and following, has no time for the gospel and there’s no sign of life. The thorny ground hearer, verses 20 and 21, has some show of interest, but competing interests win out and the gospel that was sown is gone. And then you have the stony ground hearer in verse 22. He has an impressive show initially, but he bears no fruit. Not to God, but to all the rest of us looking on, it looked real. It looks so genuine. He was baptized. He joined the church. He said he was one of us. He came to prayer meeting. But it proves short-lived. That’s not what we had hoped. Only one of these hearers proves to be the real deal. And that’s the one who hears the word, embraces it to the transformation of life. He bears fruit and continues.

Well, there’s the parable in brief. Four hearers, four different responses to the gospel. One that is commended. Now let’s back off and look at this parable again and see what a variety of functions it has practically for us and why it is helpful to understand this parable. And I’ll give you six of these. Don’t worry, I’ll be really quick with almost all of them.

Number One, This Parable Describes the Nature of the Kingdom in This Age

Number one, this parable describes the nature of the kingdom in this age. I’ve mentioned before that this should help us with eschatology. There was a problem in Jesus’ own day when people expected that—we have this in Luke chapter 19, another parable was spoken to this effect. People expected that the kingdom of God should appear immediately, and to disabuse them of that mistaken notion, Jesus speaks his parable. We have that here as well. Here we learn that the kingdom of God is inaugurated in this age. It comes in a secret kind of way, in some ways unnoticeable to the world. And it makes its advance in a measured kind of way.

Now there are some systems of eschatology, looking at the end times and whatnot, that will teach that the kingdom of God is a concept wholly associated with the end times. And here we find that it is inaugurated in this age and comes to its climax and its consummation at the end of the age. Other systems of theology, of eschatology, will so emphasize the kingdom aspect of the church in the church age that they minimize then the importance of it in the future and the significance of it then. But here we have it told to us that the kingdom of God comes in a measured way—it’s inaugurated—and the greatness of its arrival will be seen in the end. So number one, this parable describes for us the nature of the kingdom of God in this age. It is just inaugurated.

Number Two, This Parable Describes the Means of Kingdom Advance

Number two, this parable describes the means of kingdom advance in this age. We find that in verse 19. It’s the word or the message of the kingdom that is spread around by those who have embraced it. So here are people who have come to faith in Christ. By their faith in Christ, they have been rescued out of the kingdom of Satan, they’ve been brought into the kingdom of his dear Son, and now they can’t wait to spread the word of the kingdom so that others will come and join in the kingdom as well. This is why that last verse of the book of Acts is so significant. Paul went about preaching the kingdom of God. This is the message of this age. This gospel is the means by which the kingdom makes its advance in this age. It is just Christians bearing witness to Christ, to their friends, to their family, and a proclamation of the gospel as it goes.

Number Three, This Parable Describes the Various Ways That People Respond to the Message of the Kingdom

Number three. This is getting closer to what we’ll emphasize for the rest of the message. This parable describes the various ways that people respond to the message of the kingdom throughout this age. So as we witness the gospel, as people hear us proclaim the gospel in public or in private, some will pay no attention, some aren’t interested enough to talk about it, some may be polite, some may embrace it for a while, for others it’ll find that it’s just not worth it, and for some there’ll be other concerns that just win out. It looked good, but I’ve got other things to do. And for others, “Yeah, this looks great, I see the value of this, I’m going along, count me in.” And they see it’ll cost them friendships, cost them standing in their community, and this is not what I wanted. But some will embrace it in such a way that their lives are forever transformed. These are the various ways that people respond to the message of the kingdom throughout this age.

Number Four, This Parable Explains by Way of Illustration What We Will See When We Witness the Gospel

Now let me give you a fourth, which is really just another way of saying the third one. This parable explains for us, by way of illustration, what we will see as we witness the gospel. We will see, as we witness to our friends, as we proclaim the gospel, we will see responses of various kinds. Some there’ll be no obvious interest at all. Some will give a polite listening, but other things are more important. Some will embrace it and will be so excited, and then it proves to be nothing. It was a flash in the pan and they wander off. But finally, we see that some will embrace it and their lives will be transformed forever as a result. This is what we see as we proclaim the gospel.

Number Five, This Parable Defines for Us What a Genuine Christian Is

Now with all that said, and here’s what will take a couple of minutes, number five: this parable then defines for us what a genuine Christian is. Let me say it a second time: this parable defines for us what a genuine Christian is. Let me say it a third time: this parable defines for us what a genuine Christian is. This may be its chief value practically for us.

A Christian, a genuine believer, is not one who has merely made a decision. He’s not one who has had a mere flash-in-the-pan kind of response. He’s not one who goes along for a while. A Christian is one who embraces the gospel and he lasts and he bears fruit and he continues. That just lies on the face of the parable. This is part of the definition of what a Christian is. He bears fruit, number one; he bears fruit. There’s real-life evidence that he has come to Christ. You remember what we’ve said so many times here, that the gospel makes this twofold promise of acceptance before God and transformation of life. Acceptance and transformation. Accept us before God, justified. And he transforms us from the inside out. That’s what the gospel does. And this is what’s emphasized here. Part of the definition of what a Christian is, is number one, he bears fruit. There’s real-life evidence that he’s a follower of Christ. And number two, he lasts. He continues. If he doesn’t continue, it wasn’t the real deal. The mark of genuine saving faith is that he bears fruit and he continues for the long run. That’s verse 23. He bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold and another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold. So they bear fruit. Now they’re not all identical. Some bear fruit in a remarkable way. These are those people that—Christians that you meet and you think, “Really a saintly guy. She’s really a saintly woman.” Or there’s one whose service for Christ is exceptional. Hundredfold. Others sixty, others thirty. Some are your more average types. But all bear fruit. And all last and continue.

This is one of those passages that has been so important for us in very recent decades here in our evangelical culture. There was—some of you have heard of it, I’m sure—the so-called lordship controversies that racked so much of evangelicalism for a good number of years. This is part of what divided us in some ways: more reformed types from the vanilla evangelical types. “You’ve made your decision, you’re in.” And if a person has never shown in his life, and he doesn’t continue in his life to show that he belongs to Christ, still, he’s saved because he’s made his decision.

Christian workers are counseled—I remember this as a child. Christian workers are counseled to counsel people this way: “Now, you’ve prayed this prayer. Now, right in your margin of your Bible, here up in the flyleaf, put it up in the corner, the date in which you prayed and asked God to save you. And if you ever doubt, just look back here to this, and you’ll remember now that you’re saved, and that’s it.” Instead of directing people to Christ, they’re directing them to something that they did back on that date because it says there, “I’m saved, I’m saved.” This has been a big issue. It’s calmed down somewhat now in very recent years. But this is one of those passages that helps define the answer for us.

And it’s important for us to understand—if you get nothing else, get this from this passage. It’s important to understand what Jesus is saying here. Not all positive responses to the gospel are saving responses. Let me say it again. Not all positive responses to the gospel are saving responses. There is such a thing as spurious faith, temporary faith. It goes around for a while. It might even go along for a while in a flashy way. And then it fizzles. And it’s over. And we sit back and we think, “It looked so real.” And Jesus is telling us here rather plainly: if it doesn’t last, it’s not the real thing. Salvation by definition entails perseverance.

Now the New Testament writers issue some sobering, somber warnings with regard to apostasy. On the one hand, they offer wonderful promises of preservation—and we’re going to see that next week. A man in Christ, a woman in Christ, is in Christ forever. We’ll see that next time. But the New Testament writers also recognize a falling away, not from genuine saving faith, but from a professed faith that may have seemed very real. So for example, Hebrews chapter 6 is the famous one here. Hebrews 6 verses 4 and 5: here are people who were once enlightened. They tasted of the heavenly gift. They shared in the Holy Spirit. They tasted of the goodness of the word of God. They tasted of the powers of the age to come. So here are people who have a remarkably intimate acquaintance with the privileges associated with the gospel. And yet they fell away. And the writer of Hebrews says it’s impossible to renew them to repentance.

Second Peter chapter two in verse 20, we have those who have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord. Some kind of life-transforming experience, but then we find it didn’t last, they went back. And Peter says it’s like the dog returning to its vomit, the pig going back to its mire. You can clean him up, but he’s going back to the mud. And they show who they are and they go back. They were not converted after all.

Jesus’ parable insists that a genuine believer is one who bears fruit and continues. That’s what a Christian is. As I keep saying, next week we’re going to look at the subject of the preservation of the saints. Let me give you just a taste of that. I want you to look forward to 1 Peter chapter 1. I want you to see a very significant statement here. I don’t have time to look at the passage. We just have to look at one statement here quickly. 1 Peter chapter 1. I’m going to back up. Look at verse 3. Notice the preservation emphasis: “…who by God’s power are being guarded or kept through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” So here are people who are saved and yet they’re kept for salvation for the end time, the consummation of our salvation. But notice verse 5: “…who by God’s power are being guarded through faith.” You see that? They’re not guarded apart from faith. This is not someone who made a decision, no longer believes, but he’s in. They’re guarded, they’re kept by God’s power by means of faith. And here we have both the preservation and the perseverance of the saints.

And if you go forward just a couple of pages more, look at 1 John chapter 2. I don’t know any passage in the Bible that could be any clearer than this. 1 John chapter 2, verse 19: “They went out from us. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” To all of us looking on, it seems so genuine. They’re one of us. And their leaving testifies that they weren’t of us at all. The mark of a genuine saving faith is that it bears fruit and it continues—it perseveres.

There may be persecution. It may cost family relationships. After coming to Christ, life might fall apart. There might be suffering, might lose a job. There might be bereavement. God forbid, someone at church might have hurt his feelings. Someone at church might have disappointed him, let him down, and made him realize he wasn’t quite as saintly as you thought he was. But there he is, serving Christ. And years later, you find him still serving Christ. Continuing on. Still faithful. Still serving. He still loves the word of God. His heart still leaps to hear the gospel preached. He still prays for opportunities to spread the word of the gospel and the word of the kingdom. He still trusts God in adversity. He still pursues godliness. He still mourns over his sin. And he still, in varying measures, is marked by Christian grace, humility. No cost is too great. He’s going to follow Christ no matter what the cost. And nothing is going to shake him. And years down the road, his friends who knew him before are no longer wondering if this is just a passing thing for him. It’s clear he’s in this for the duration. Why? Because that’s what saving faith does. Genuine saving faith perseveres.

Perseverance is part of what salvation itself is. It’s essential to it. And that’s why Jesus can say things like, “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” Or in John 8, “You are my disciples indeed, if—if—you continue in my words.” That’s why Paul can speak like that. Colossians chapter 1: “He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast.” Hebrews 13 verse 14: “We have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence to the end.” Revelation 2 verse 17: it is to the one who conquers that the Lord Jesus promises his new name written on the white stones. This is what a Christian is. He perseveres. He lasts.

Number Six, This Parable Implicitly Challenges Us to Examine Ourselves

And I said there were six things, six functions of this parable for us. Number one, it describes the nature of the kingdom in this age. Number two, it describes for us the means of kingdom advance. Number three, it describes the various ways that people will respond to the gospel in this age. And to say the same thing, number four, it explains by way of illustration what we will see as we witness and proclaim the gospel. Number five, it defines for us what a genuine Christian is.

And now number six: this parable implicitly challenges us to examine ourselves. In all of Jesus’ parables, we are not only obliged, we naturally find ourselves in all of Jesus’ parables wondering, “Where am I in this thing? Which character am I? Which side of the thing am I on?” It’s no different here with the parable of the sower. We read through this, we hear the interpretation, and it drives us to consider: okay, where am I in all of this? Am I the wayside hearer? Am I the thorny ground hearer? The stony ground hearer? Or am I the good ground hearer? Is there kingdom interest? Is there real, genuine gospel fruit? Is it lasting?

Brothers and sisters, we need to hear this. If we can go week after week after week without any interest in the things of God; if we can go week after week and our professed Christianity is just a mere formality; if we can go week after week and our hearts are not stirred by the things of God that we hear; if we go week after week and our hearts do not delight in the praise of God; if we go week after week after week and we’re not interested to serve Christ—we’ve got to wonder, where are we in this parable?

New Testament writers give us some serious exhortations, like in 2 Peter 1, “Make your calling and election sure.” Or in 2 Corinthians 13, “Examine yourselves. Examine yourselves to see if you be in the faith or if you be reprobate.” And these kinds of exhortations are not given to make believers doubt their standing before God, but they are given to serve as a check on our fickle and wayward hearts to see where we are. God’s people bear fruit and they continue. They demonstrate the genuineness of their faith by continuing to bear fruit over the long haul. He who has ears, let him hear. Amen. Let’s pray.