What Kind of Soil Are You?

That word from the Lord directs us to read in Mark, chapter 4. I want to ask you what kind of soil you are. That is the subject of this sermon. What kind of soil, what kind of ground are you? This parable of the sower inspires us and calls us to consider the process of evangelization. It says here in verse 1:

“The Lord began to teach beside the sea, and a great crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea.”

Do you remember Peter’s boat from last Sunday? Here is the boat again, or perhaps it was at that time that the Lord preached this message. The Bible is very beautiful. A little while ago I smiled because it was as though I were seeing for the first time a verse found in chapter 3, verse 9, which says that the Lord told his disciples to always have the boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. An interesting detail: Jesus and the boats. That is a subject for a good sermon, but I do not want to distract you.

He sat in the boat, and the people were on the shore beside the sea, “and the Lord taught them many things in parables, and said to them in his teaching, ‘Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, it happened that some fell beside the path—some of what? Of the seed that he scattered—and the birds of the air came and ate it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had no root—mark that there in your Bible—it withered away.”

We have two types of seed: one falls beside the path, and another falls on rocky ground. “And a third portion of the seed fell among thorns, verse 7, and the thorns grew up and choked it, overwhelmed it, and it did not bear fruit. But another part, the fourth portion of the seed, fell on good soil and bore fruit, for it sprang up and grew and produced thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Then he said to them, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’”

That is what the Lord says to you: if you have ears to hear, listen to the word of the Lord right now. This is one of Jesus Christ’s most famous parables. In fact, we have a picture that we put up a few weeks ago in front of the sanctuary, where you exit, which depicts this parable of the sower. I can see it from here right now. And we put it there by the exit because when you go out through that door, you return to your community, and I want that picture to serve as a reminder that when you leave here, you go out to sow the seed of the Gospel.

We go out to serve the kingdom; we go out to share what we have freely received. We come in to be fed, and we go out to feed others and to sow the word of the Lord. But this parable is certainly one of the best known in all history. And I like this parable for several reasons. I like it for its insight. How many of you can explain what the word “insight” means? It is a fancy Sunday word. Insight means your profound capacity for analysis, your accurate, incisive analytical ability, we might say—your spiritual and psychological insight, your understanding of human processes and, above all, of the spiritual process of evangelization.

Here we see a very profound understanding of the processes that affect the proclamation of the Gospel. It shows us the complexity involved in preaching the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel is something tremendously complex, and many factors affect what happens to the word of God when it comes from the mouth of a male or female preacher.

How many of you know that God is not the only actor in the process of evangelization? This parable makes us aware that there are many different actors, many different elements that affect the process of preaching. For example, in this parable we see that, first, the sower is involved; there is also a seed that plays a role; and the type of soil on which the seed falls is also important. There are thorns, there are stones, there are feet that trample, there are birds that eat the seed, and there is a sun that affects the seed. There are many different factors.

Satan is involved in the process because later the Lord himself explains it—this is one of the few parables in which the Lord explains the meaning of each of the symbols he uses. How wonderful it is to have Jesus himself interpreting his word, isn’t it? One wishes one could always have that privilege. But here the Lord himself explains what he meant by his parable.

And he says that the birds appearing with the first type of seed are Satan, who affects the fate of the seed. And there are a number of other additional factors that determine whether the act of scattering the seed prospers and succeeds or not. So one of the first things this parable teaches us is the complexity, the diversity of factors that affect the proclamation of the Gospel.

It shows us the dynamic and complex nature of the Gospel and its proclamation. And in this season in which we are continually reflecting on evangelism, these sermons are designed to be a compendium of teaching on different aspects. It is like one extended presentation with different aspects, all of which has to do with a complete—or more or less complete, but at least comprehensive—education concerning the different factors that affect evangelism.

So, in this time of reflection, one of the things we need to understand is that when we proclaim the Gospel, not everything depends on us alone. And I am going to tell you why that is so important. But this teaches me that we—the church, you and I—are like the sowers. Yet you can see that it is not only the sower; there are other factors here that play an important role.

And do you know what one of the most interesting factors affecting the outcome of preaching the Gospel is? The will of God. And why do I say this? Because there are people for whom God has no purposes and who, for some reason, are not destined to be saved. This is tremendously mysterious, but the Word tells us that. That is to say, there are people who, no matter how hard we strive and do everything in our power, are not destined to be saved. And God has no purposes for them. And the Bible says that unless God activates his call in a person’s life, that person remains inert.

You know that there must be divine intervention for people to come to the Gospel. The Word says that no one comes to Christ unless the Holy Spirit draws him to him. And there are people whom God simply... do not ask me why, but if you look in Romans, chapter 9, you will see something about that there. The whole of Romans chapter 9 is designed to shed some light on that aspect.

For example, the Hebrew people: why is it that, despite having received the Abrahamic revelation, the covenants, and all of that, the Hebrew people still have, as the Bible says, something like a veil covering their understanding? Imagine that. Centuries and centuries have passed since Christ came to earth from the lineage of Judah, and the understanding of that Jewish Israelite people still remains dulled, although they are the people of God and God has them, as it were, in parentheses. While he completes his work among us Gentiles, the non-Hebrews, those people remain there in a state of spiritual suspended animation.

And you speak to the Jews about Christ, and it is as though they are shut tight like the walls of Jericho. And the Bible says that one day the Lord will remove their veil, and they will understand and weep for Christ as one weeps for a lost son. But in the meantime, the Lord has them in parentheses, because God is a God of order: he first works among us, and when the fullness of the Gentiles has been completed, then the Lord will turn his gaze once again toward the Hebrews.

There are even people to whom you preach the Gospel whose understanding is dulled. This very weekend I read an article in The New York Times written, incidentally, by a Jewish novelist, which is interesting. She has suffered from insomnia practically all her life—debilitating insomnia, anxiety, and depression—and she has sought a solution to her clinical problem among shamans. At the time she wrote the article, she was visiting a Mexican shaman named Rafael to see whether he had the solution, but she is an unbeliever. And I think she was really looking for another paragraph for the article she was writing.

But it is fascinating nonetheless. And she speaks about how it is impossible for her to believe. Her father is an American Jewish scientist, and she herself has had a privileged, highly rational education. No matter how much she wants to, she cannot believe. It is as though she has a metal helmet covering her understanding, and she cannot believe.

I have had experiences with people like that. I remember someone very dear to me who told me over dinner, “I have tried, but I simply...” I felt sorry because it was like an admission of defeat; this person was telling me, “I cannot believe.” And there are people like that. It is as though God has no purpose for them, and this often affects the outcome of our preaching.

Verse 14 of Romans 9 says, “What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God?” Because you may say, “Well, how can it be that a person is born and God has no purpose for that person, and then that person is lost? How is that their fault?” These are mysteries I cannot resolve, but they are there in the Word. God is sovereign. God does what he wants.

“What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? By no means. For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I please’—in other words, on whomever I have compassion. So then, it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God, who has mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh”—the writer of Romans is making his argument—“‘For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout all the earth.’ Therefore, he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”

What a mystery. That is why we must be very careful about how we pray. At this time, here in this nation, you know that I no longer pray that Hillary will not win or that Trump will not win. I am saying, “Lord, simply let your will be done.” Why? Because perhaps God wants things to get even worse in this nation. Perhaps God wants Pharaoh to resist Moses a little longer before the visitation of God’s power comes upon this nation.

Do you know that God sometimes takes things to a dark, dark point and allows people to become corrupt? The wickedness of men must reach its peak, it says, before God intervenes. And sometimes we are praying, “Lord, let this person be converted, and that one too.” Yes, we can ask for rain, because we want the visitation, and ultimately God will do his will. But I do not know how much time it will take for God to intervene while we wait and cry out.

You know what? I sleep peacefully. Why? Because I know that whether Hillary comes to power, or Trump comes to power, or whoever comes to power, the Lord is on his throne; as we say, he is in control. And he is the one bringing things to their proper place, and sometimes he causes Pharaoh to rise up in order to display his glory at that time. Sometimes he allows a person to suffer and resist because he has to bring that person to maturity before that person finally bows his head before the Lord.

Perhaps you are praying for your son: “Lord, convert him, convert him.” And you should keep praying, but perhaps the Lord still has a few more years in which he must keep banging his head against the wall before he comes to the ways of the Lord. Your part is to keep praying, keep crying out to the Lord, and leave the outcome to the Lord.

There are people to whom we will proclaim the Gospel; there are nations and generations for which our part is simply to sow the seed. Sometimes we do not know what purpose God has for people or how long it will take. But I know one thing: God is faithful, and the Word does promise that the Lord is coming soon, that a harvest of souls is coming, and we must be crying out to the Lord, “Give us anointing, give us understanding, give us power, so that we may be prepared when the visitation of your power comes.”

But there are people to whom you are going to preach; do not worry. Let the Lord do the work. He will know what he has in store for those people. It is suggested here that God has plans and purposes for some people and not for others. And this perhaps explains why some ultimately are not saved while others are. This is very complex, and I suggest that you not torment yourself too much over it. The important thing, as I say, is to preach the Gospel. There is no point in tormenting ourselves or feeling guilty, for there is a part that belongs solely to the mysteries of the Lord.

Do you know why I am teaching all of this? Because right now in this nation I often see a sector of the evangelical church that is tormented because people accuse the church of being Pharisaical, of not understanding homosexuals, transvestites, and transgender people, and of thinking that we are better than everyone else. And there are many Christians tormenting themselves because they want the church to be popular; they want the church to be accepted. They are distressed by the criticism people direct toward the church, and they are continually experimenting and trying to find a way to remove every offense from the Gospel so that people will stop thinking that Christians are bad people.

And you see that they remove the cross, because the cross offends some people. Campus Crusade, a Christian university ministry, changed its name from Campus Crusade to Cru, because crusade offends Muslims and other people, so let’s remove the word crusade. Others remove the word Christian from the church’s name and put something about community, community church. Others call the church Grace Church, because people like grace; no one is going to call it Condemnation Church, of course. But they use grace because that will show people that these are good people, that they can go to that church.

Look, you can change the name to whatever you want; you can hide whatever you want. Souls are saved when the Holy Spirit touches the heart and people respond positively to God’s work. Our part is not to change the Gospel; our part is not to put makeup and more deodorant on the Gospel. Our part is to preach the Word, be faithful, and leave the rest to the Lord. Because ultimately, the Lord is the one who will see to it that the work is done, not us.

I do not know what plans God has for this generation. Of course, we want to help in every possible way, improve the way we preach the Gospel, provide people with the right environment, preach a balanced Gospel, and all the rest. But I know that ultimately, when everything has been done, the only thing I can do is rest and leave the outcome to the Lord. Let us not change the message. Let us not change the proclamation of the Word, because there are processes, and God is the one who has absolute control.

And that is why reading this parable gives me peace. It allows me to preach the Gospel freely, without anxiety, leaving the outcome to the Lord. My part, your part, is to proclaim the Word at every opportunity and then rest. Do not preach the Gospel anxiously: you want that person to be converted, and you are there insisting and pestering them and calling them on the phone and handing out tracts and all that. No—preach the Word and then let the Lord work.

People want to receive the Gospel message from people who are confident in their material. If you have a salesperson… You know, when I go to buy something, what bothers me most is when I have not even walked through the door and I already see the salesperson over there starting to move toward me. Leave me alone; if I need you, I will call you. “Come, tell me—I'm at your service here; if you need anything, I’ll be over there.” Thank you. Now leave me alone, because I know very well what I am looking for.

In other words, we have to preach the Gospel calmly, with elegance, with grace, and with confidence. No one likes a salesperson who lacks confidence in the merchandise he sells. And I believe that the timidity so many evangelicals in this nation have today—wanting to justify themselves, wanting people to think we are good people, removing all the distinctive features of the Gospel—is more counterproductive than anything else.

People want you to present them with a clear, firm, forceful Gospel and to preach it confidently, and that has great power to persuade. Do not preach the Gospel anxiously, feeling guilty. There are parts that only the Lord understands, and ultimately, He is in control.

Notice here that only one seed is preached. There are not many different seeds, only one seed. The Gospel says it is the Word once delivered to the saints. And the church has no power to change the seed. The seed is always the same. The Gospel does not change; it is the same message. The difference lies in the soil and the context. And that soil is the person, the individual’s heart, the sensitivity with which the message is received. The context in which the Word is preached.

Let us look at the first seed. It says here that this first seed is received by a person, an individual who simply does not understand the sublime nature or the life-and-death importance of the Gospel. In another version of this parable found in Matthew, the Lord explains that the first person who receives the Gospel does not understand the message, and that is why the enemy takes the message away from him.

So when you preach the Gospel to this person, he thinks that what you are preaching to him is a denomination, a congregation; that what you want is his money; that he has already heard the same thing 20,000 times; that you belong to that group that shows up around there, those crazy evangelicals on television, and so on. He does not understand that you are presenting him with the opportunity for eternal life, a frame of reference for his existence, an understanding of his origins, and all these things. It is not church; it is not religion; it is the eternal salvation of his soul.

But these people do not understand the Gospel message. Yet we are told something more: it is the devil who removes the seed from their understanding. Since this person does not value it or understand it and his understanding is blind, the enemy can then snatch away the seed of the Gospel. Here the Lord clearly suggests diabolical and demonic opposition, and I am glad that He Himself is interpreting His own parable, because there is no doubt that what He meant is that sometimes there is interference.

Another important actor in the proclamation of the Gospel is Satan. Many times, demonic, diabolical influence prevents many people from receiving the Gospel. Did you know that there is spiritual warfare in evangelism too? And that the devil is extremely interested in ensuring that no one is converted to the Gospel.

Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Verse 3 says: “But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, in whom the god of this age—who is the god of this age? Satan. Age does not refer to this century of 100 years; it refers to this age, this era, this time, this dispensation, this human system in which we are involved—has blinded the understanding of the unbelievers…”

In other words, when a person stubbornly refuses to believe, it is because that person is also being affected in some way by a demonic influence that prevents him from believing.

“…lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.—Verse 6 is interesting—For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Why did you come to know Christ and accept Christ? Because God’s light shone upon you. It was not because, being the naturally good person you are, you decided to believe in Christ. God enlightened you, illuminated you, so that you could see. Meanwhile, the enemy was trying to blind your understanding so that you would not receive the Word.

You have to ask yourself: Could there be a spiritual struggle? Why do I not accept Christ? Why have I not given my life to Jesus Christ? Could spiritual warfare be part of it? I have to ask, “Lord, give me understanding; open my eyes so that I may know You.”

So we see that Satan often blinds people’s understanding so that the light of the Gospel will not shine on them. He comes and takes away the seed. On the one hand, someone is preaching the Gospel to the person while his mind is thinking about other things, or a distraction comes, or a problem arises, or whatever it may be, and the person continues on his way and forgets what he heard. That is why it is important to pray for the people whom we want to come to know Jesus Christ, so that the Lord will remove the veil covering their understanding and they may receive the Lord.

A church seeking to be effective in evangelism has to pray, and that is why I believe the Lord has sovereignly imposed these times of prayer upon us. I did not set out to hold times of prayer this insistently—once, on Friday—but as for the others, it is the Lord Himself who has… and that is why one has to learn from things. God teaches you as you go. And I believe we are going to continue until the Lord gives us freedom; we will see how. We do not want to turn it into a routine either, but if a church wants to be effective, it has to pray.

If you want to be effective in your life, you have to pray. If you want people to know Christ, put them on a list and pray persistently for them, so that the devil may be defeated in them and they may receive the Word of God neutrally.

You know that the Bible says that the strong man must first be bound before people can believe. Look at what Mark chapter 3, verse 27 says—I am giving you material, but you can listen to the recording again later—it says here, “No one can enter a strong man’s house—who is that strong man? Satan, the demonic spirits—and plunder his goods unless he first binds him, and then he will be able to plunder his house.”

And He is speaking specifically in the context of preaching the Gospel and of the demonic kingdom that opposes the Kingdom of God. And first there has to be binding; sometimes we have to pray in the form of spiritual warfare so that our children may come to know the Lord. And it is important for people to understand that there is a battle for every soul. This is not simple; this is not easy. There is spiritual warfare behind the scenes for every soul. Every soul that is converted is a miracle of God, because there are powers devoted to preventing it, because the devil wants to cause the Lord pain through the loss of His children. And we have to cry out to the Lord, and you yourself must help the Lord by crying out for God to open your eyes so that you can understand the importance of the Gospel.

Sometimes we first have to dispossess the devil so that there can be a harvest of souls. We have to pray for this city of Boston, that the Lord may open people’s understanding so they can receive the Gospel. A church involved in evangelism has to be strong in prayer and holiness; otherwise, there can be no effectiveness in the Christian life.

In other words, the devil is involved in preventing the first seed from prospering. We are told that the second seed fell on rocky ground; that portion of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and since it was not deeply rooted, it had no way to feed itself or receive water from the moisture beneath the ground.

This portion of the seed falls and prematurely bears fruit—or rather, a little plant simply sprouts—but that seed has not had time to grow downward and penetrate the soil. Because what happens? When a plant has roots, it can drink from the moisture beneath the ground; it can feed on the nutrients in the soil. But if it does not have deep roots, it withers easily. And paradoxically, there are people like that who believe in Christ, receive the Word, and are converted. You see them begin to come to church, but because they lack good formation, good teaching, good roots, and good spiritual habits, when problems and difficulties come, you immediately stop seeing them at church.

And two or three very important things follow from this. One of them is this: my brothers and sisters who have recently come to know the Lord, you who are young in the faith, nourish yourselves spiritually; read the Word, study the Word, and develop good devotional habits. That is why we do different things. One of the things we offer is that after a person is converted, we encourage them to take three or four classes that we regularly offer, so that they may have at least some knowledge of what happened in their spirit when they accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. And we encourage them to develop good habits of prayer, reading the Word, gathering with the church, serving the Lord, and other devotional habits so that they may be healthy people.

If your heart is not educated in the Word of the Lord, your Christian experience will be deficient. We also offer discipleship classes. All these things you hear about—workshops and retreats—are designed so that this plant, this seed that has fallen into the soil, can grow downward. Cultivate your spiritual life, because for you to be a plant capable of withstanding life’s attacks, it is important that you put down roots. Since this plant has not put down roots, it is fragile and weak, and that is why, when the sun comes out, it is easily scorched and dies. I encourage new believers to take the Christian life seriously and do everything possible to mature in the things of faith.

Now, it says that trials—when a person does not have a solid Christian life, he is at the mercy of any trial that may come. It is like a baby. You know that babies are fragile, and any cold can turn into pneumonia; any fall can affect their brain in a devastating way. That is why we care for babies so carefully and give them so much attention, because any trial—that is, any trauma to their system—can be fatal or very harmful.

And when people are in that initial stage of the Christian life, trials may come. It says that when a trial comes, the person turns away from the Gospel. And one might think, well, we know what trials are, but there are two types of trials that I want to tell you it is very important for us always to keep in mind. Do you know what the first trial new believers experience is? Sometimes it is right here in the church. Ironically, one of the most dangerous trials for new believers is church life itself.

In the church there are many imperfect people; they are still being formed, and some are not very mature. And when people receive Jesus Christ and come to church, they think everyone is a little saint, that everyone is sanctified, that everyone is a paragon of virtue. And when they realize that this is not so, they are scandalized. When the gossipy person appears, the person who gives them dirty looks, the person who criticizes them; when they see 2 Christians whom they assumed were very mature fighting with each other; when they see that the church is also made up of sick people who need the Lord’s grace, they take off and leave. And sometimes the devil uses the brothers and sisters within the church itself to hurt others.

And that is why I say, brothers and sisters, that the church has to be a place where the little ones can find a good environment in which to be nurtured. Be careful: I no longer have any tolerance for gossipy people in the church, brothers and sisters—zero tolerance. Rebuke all murmuring, all gossip, all carnality in the name of Jesus Christ. If you see a gossipy person, report that person to me, and I will deal with them. Now, don’t all come to me at the end of the service, but sincerely, brothers and sisters, this hurts my heart, because that is a trial designed by the devil to cause the little ones to stumble.

And the Bible says very clearly, look, it would be better for you to tie a millstone around yourself and throw yourself into the depths of the sea than to cause one of the little ones to stumble. And sometimes we cause one another to stumble, brothers and sisters. I believe that so many trials come. Look, where do you sometimes encounter the greatest temptation? Inside the church, not out there.

I tell my sisters—and I am going to repeat it for the sake of integrity—my sisters, do you know one of the things I love about the Catholic Church in its best days? It was when those sisters dressed as though they were going to church. I understand very well that… but I believe the church should be a place where we men do not have unnecessary distractions. Amen. Sisters, please understand clearly what I am trying to tell you. I do not consider myself holier-than-thou, because even if I wanted to be, I could not be; what’s more, sisters, this is a place where you—and I say the same thing to the men—if by chance God has given you a body that also provokes improper thoughts, dress as you should.

I believe Christians should dress appropriately, at least when coming to the house of the Lord. It is so lovely when I see my sisters dressing with that modesty, with that awareness that they are in the house of God. That makes me feel blessed. Out there, do whatever you want, but I beg you—and I believe this will be a blessing to you, I promise—because that is a message you send to your spirit.

I want you to do whatever you want with that. But I am speaking to you with my pastoral heart in my hand, with all love. I am not saying that you should buy yourself a flour sack and put it on Muslim-style, with only your [inaudible] showing there; no, you can dress well, but pray to the Lord and ask the Lord about it. That is all. Because many times this is a stumbling block; it causes some brothers to stumble, along with other brothers whose flesh is still fresh and new. And if you play a public role in any way, ask yourself: Am I carrying out my task in an inspiring way rather than a tempting one? Do you understand what I mean? A word to the wise is enough.

The thing is that the church can be a place of problems; it can be a place of temptation and complexity and unnecessary complications. And that is all, and we have to be careful… to look out for one another, to have mercy on one another. The church can be a place… and trials can come in other ways too; they can come through suffering.

You know that many times, when we begin to serve the Lord, the devil’s attacks also come into our lives, and the devil wants to see whether we will run away when the problems, trials, and difficulties come. What you have to do is resist in the name of the Lord. Stand firm; understand and discern that the devil sometimes wants to destroy your life, and the Bible says that we should simply resist the devil and he will flee from us.

Do not stumble because, on the Sunday after you were converted, your car broke down, or because the IRS wrote you a letter saying there is money you have owed them for 4 years and you are only finding out now. Resist; be faithful unto death. God will give you the crown of life.

The Gospel is for the determined and the strong, and it says that sometimes we must enter the kingdom of heaven through many trials and difficulties. But I can promise you one thing: in the name of Jesus Christ, if you stand firm, God will give you victory in all your tribulations, and God will use all your suffering, all your trials, to make you a powerful man or woman of God and a more effective Christian.

Christians take the devil’s pitches and hit home runs off them one hundred percent of the time. As for trials, do not allow… send your roots deep into a devotional life, into the practices of the Christian devotional life; gather with the church, serve, stay close to two or three people who are mature in the faith, read the Word, and the Lord will give you the crown of life.

The third seed is the one that falls among thorns, which then grow around the seed, choke it, and leave it fruitless. What does this correspond to? The Lord explains it in verse 19. He says that the cares of this age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things—you can write in whatever you want there—enter in and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful; that is, it bears no fruit.

Those thorns are the cares of life, the vanity of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, greed, and sensuality. This is one of the great obstacles. I believe it is number 1 on people’s list when they want to enter the ways of the Lord.

For example, the Bible tells about the rich young man. He came before the Lord with great anxiety: “Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And in the end the Lord tells him, “Look, take your money, give it to the poor, distribute it, and then come and follow me.” What does the Bible say? The man went away sad because he had a lot of money, a lot of fame, and a lot of social influence. And the Lord said, “Wow, how difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

And do you know what? You do not have to be rich in money to have difficulty entering the Kingdom of God. Sometimes you can be rich in looks, rich in friendships, rich in your profession, rich in social influence, rich in prestige, rich in youth, rich in vitality and health—and you have to be willing to surrender all those things to the Lord so that the Lord may do his work in your life.

If you love anything in this world more than Christ, you are not worthy to be a disciple of the Lord. The Word says that we must despise our lives even unto death. And when many people hear the preaching, they like the Gospel, but then they begin to count the cost and realize: In this business practice, I steal from my customers; I sell them cars that do not work and tell them it is the best car they have ever bought in their lives. I will have to leave this young man whom I am dating and with whom I have an illicit relationship for the sake of the Gospel. This habit, this mouth, this social influence—they are going to call me a fanatical evangelical; I am going to lose prestige; they are going to call me holier-than-thou, call me a Pharisee, ask why I reject people, and so on. And there are any number of things that become obstacles preventing people from coming to know Jesus Christ.

And many people, like this rich young man, say, “You know what? No, this is not for me.” They love people’s opinion more, and they say, “No, I do not want it.” Many people make this kind of mental transaction and deceive themselves into thinking that somehow God did not notice. But do you know what? Whenever you say no to the Gospel, that is an active no, and it is as though there were a camera capturing the moment when you said no to the Gospel. And one day we will have to give an account. When we come before the throne of God, the Bible says, each person will have to give an account of their decisions. And God is going to ask you, “Why did you love the world more than me?” And we have to be able to give an answer.

God grant that, while there is still time, we may say, “No, Lord, I surrender to you whatever you want. I love eternal life more than anything in this world.” But we have to preach to people simply: we preach, and each person has to make their decision according to the kind of seed they are.

And that brings me to the last seed. The Bible says that the fourth portion of seed fell on good soil, and the parable tells us that this person is the one who hears the Gospel, understands it, receives it, and bears fruit at different levels and according to different capacities. Not everyone is going to be a Billy Graham who has preached to millions of people, but when you enter into the Gospel, God calls you to serve him, to prosper, to bear fruit, to grow, to do something positive, and to help others come to know Jesus Christ.

God has a plan for your life. What kind of soil are you? Of those 4 portions there, which one do you belong to? May the Lord grant that you be like that good soil.