Resistance | Thomas Perkins

Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah, Jesus. You're worthy, Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Well, it is a privilege and an honor to be with you guys, my Union Houston fam. Come on, somebody! Every summer, I get a chance to come and spend some time with you, and it's like a family reunion, y'all. Pastor Rod, as I always say, he makes sure I'm fed good. We ate some sushi last night, y'all. Come on. I'm feeling good, I'm feeling good, and it's good to be with you all this morning. I gotta give honor where honor's due, to the head of this house, Pastor Rod and Pastor Sarah. Can we put our hands together for your leaders, your amazing shepherds, your amazing pastors, my brother, my sister, I love you guys dearly. Y'all mean the absolute world to me, to my Union Houston family, to every pastor and every leader and every servant, every member, every guest, those watching online. I just want to put our hands together for everybody under the sound of my voice, who set aside some time for God's Word on this morning. For those watching online, and let's give a shout out to the Union Prison Campus. Come on, our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated but are still a part of this family, whom the Lord sets free, is free indeed. And to my wife, my ministry partner, my podcast co-host. Come on, that's my boo over there in a jean jacket. I love you, baby. Thank you for everything you do for our family. My oldest son, Liam, I love you, Bubba. I got four kids. Y'all know this by now. We family. They keep us busy. And most often when I come down here, they come with us. And so that is a burden for Mom, because as I'm in the hotel room doing some last-minute prep for today, she's managing the kids. And if you know, being in a hotel room with four kids is chaos. But she does such a great job. I love you. I love you. I love you. For all the fathers, today is Father's Day, y'all. For all the fathers, if you could just stand really quickly. If you're a father, stand up in this place. A spiritual father, a father. Come on, let's put our hands together for every dad and every father. Scripture says the righteous man walks in integrity, and his children are blessed after him. What that means is that, fathers, when we live a life of integrity, when we live a life in subjectivity to God, our children are blessed as a result. So let's give a hand for those fathers one more time. God bless you. God bless you. And God bless you. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Well, it's summertime, and we're in a series called Seeds. Somebody say Seeds. Has it been good? It's been good so far, hasn't it? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Week one, Pastor Andre blessed us on a message about potential. Week two, which is last week, your worship experience director, Brother Kenneth, brought some fire. Come on, as he talked about the process. I love you, bro. I love you. I love you. And this is week three. Amen. And so I got some work to do. So we're going to go ahead and get out our Bibles. Let's get out the Scripture. We're going to go to Matthew chapter 13, and we're going to start at verse 18, and we're going to read through 23. That's Matthew 13, 18 through 23. When you got it, say, got it. Pastor, I cheat. That was fast. I sent him the notes ahead of time. He already knew. Matthew chapter 13, verse 18 to 23. And it says here, then the parable of the sower. Somebody say 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. Somebody say joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, somebody say word. Immediately he falls away. 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 proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, somebody say 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 60 and in another 30. May God add a blessing to the readers and the doers of his word. Father, we thank you for your word on this morning. God, just to be close to you is more than enough for us. And as we spend time in your word on today, God, we ask that our hearts are drawn closer to you. God, may you clear every thought, every distress. distraction God Everything that happened on this week God everything that caused us to have to press our way to get in here this morning We're here and we're ready to receive a word from you and from you alone

How do we thank you and we dedicate this Sunday to you and every Sunday after in Jesus name? We pray church say amen Amen, amen if that that that those verses sound familiar It's because it's the parable of the sower explained now just last week brother Kenneth talked about the parable of the sower and Matthew chapter 13 and a few verses down from the text that we talked about last week is Jesus's further Explanation to the disciples of what the parable of the sower in fact mean if you weren't here last week I'll give you a quick background in context verses 1 through 9. This is a parable and it's not only a parable But this is actually the first parable that teaches that Jesus teaches in Scripture and he teaches us about the parable of the sower now what's important for us to recognize in this being the very first parable that Jesus teaches is that Centuries and centuries ago some really really really smart Bible scholars and theologians people smarter than me They came up with this principle That's called the law of first mention or the principle of first occurrence what that means in a nutshell is anytime something in Scripture It's mentioned for the first time or anytime something happens for the first time we are to give it an interpretive weight that means there's some type of foundational truth or pattern in the first occurrence or in the first mention that we have to pay close attention to Because what it does is it? Establishes us for every time that that thing happens or is mentioned after Amen, and so this is called the law of first mention or the law or principle of first occurrence Now how do we know that this is the first parable that Jesus teaches well because in verses 10 through 17 His disciples look at him and say oh Jesus, and I'm paraphrasing y'all What was that? Like why did you talk in the way that you talk if you're revealing these secrets of the kingdom? Why did you speak in parables and Jesus actually gives them the answer? Jesus says to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven But to them it has not been Given this is the first kingdom parable where Jesus speaks in a way where his truth is revealed to some but yet hidden from others He reinforces why he spoke in parables just a few verses down in verse 13

He said this is why I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see Hearing they do not hear nor do they under Stand this concept of having eyes But not seeing ears, but not hearing this concept is something that we actually see all throughout Scripture It's actually a reoccurring theme in the Bible that generally describes a spiritual blindness or a spiritual deafness When the people of God fail to understand or accept his divine truths In fact, we see it in the Old Testament in the book of Psalm 115 David describes those who worship idols saying they become like the very things that they worship He says they have eyes, but they don't see they have ears, but they don't hear they have mouths, but don't speak the prophet jeremiah in jeremiah 5 and 21 He instructs god instructs the prophet to speak to a foolish and senseless people who have eyes, but do not see ears, but do not hear referring to their willful rebellion Ezekiel in chapter 12 verse 2 We see god described the israelites as a rebellious house that has eyes to seize but see not who have ears to hear but hear not And then we see jesus himself in matthew chapter 13 talk about those who have eyes to see and ears, but but they don't hear The cold part about it is jesus If we're being honest y'all Sometimes we treat jesus like this really just passive person who always says the nice thing who always says the super kind thing But jesus himself in the new testament. He actually uh, what we would say millennials. He charged up his disciples at one point Yeah, he confronted his Disciples, he actually told them in mark chapter 8 verse 18 He confronts them saying having eyes. Do you not see having ears? Do you not hear and do you not? Remember now, why does he ask his own disciples this? Because mark chapter 8 is actually the story of the miracle of jesus feeding the 4 000

People had gathered for three days and they began to get hungry Now some of you are saying that brother don't know how to add. I know that from vacation bible school He didn't feed 4 000. He fed 5 000 men and that don't include women and children the feeding of the 5 000 men was actually two chapters before Mark chapter 8 which means that the same disciples who saw Jesus feed 5,000 men not including women and children with two fish and five loaves of bread now two chapters later when they're faced with a similar challenge of feeding 4,000 people the scripture says that they began to discuss among themselves the fact that they had no bread and that sounds crazy right but if we're being honest we kind of do that sometimes yeah we've seen Jesus move we've seen Jesus respond to our prayers we've seen Jesus heal we've seen Jesus deliver we've seen Jesus come through in the clutch but now all of a sudden we're faced with a challenge and we're sitting there trying to count okay I only got $25 in my account Lord have mercy oh I don't know what we gonna do they said they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread and they said that Jesus aware of this said to them why are you discussing see some of us are talking and discussing too much some of us are thinking too much some of us are worrying too much Jesus says why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread do you not perceive or understand are your hearts hardened again Jesus is drawing this connection that we're gonna see today in Matthew chapter 13 about the parable of the sower this connection between spiritual senses and the condition of our hearts I say all this to say that to observe and to perceive are not the same thing see observation asked the question what is happening you know we are Houston so you know a fight could break out while you eat brunch somewhere in the city of Houston and you might be like what was happening what's going on now some of us who grew up in certain environments understand we don't have to figure out what's going on to know what's really about to go down so observation says what is happening over there I don't know the guys there seem to be upset somebody's they're quarreling I don't know let me go ask him what's going on but some of us who grew up in certain environments we don't need to observe

and ask questions we already perceive we already understand what's about to go down observation and perception are not the same thing and in this parable of the sower Jesus is establishing a few things one how the Word of God the seed is received why our responses to that seed very which pastor Ken what I say pastor Kenneth Lord have mercy I don't know I'm not claiming to be a prophet your worship experience director Kenneth don't share last week and then a third truth that it reveals is the reality of resistance against the seed the peril the sower is most often taught and understood as a lesson about the condition of the hearer's heart because that's what it's primarily meant to be understood as the ground types and the soil types they represent various conditions of the heart and how important it is for our heart to be good soil for God's Word now if you want to learn a little bit more about this go back a few weeks to the rooted series here shameless plug the rooted series is pastor Rod priest a lesson on gardening and if you don't want to go that far back just go back to last week when the worship experience director I fixed it that time Kenneth talked about seeds in week two which if I'm being honest y'all might have been the greatest assist known to Union Houston summer playlist series I appreciate you in fact I appreciate you so much I got something for you this is what Kenneth did for me on this week now y'all didn't know Kenneth had that many tattoos he's always wearing sleeves but else he knew else he knew y'all like those jerseys amen amen what Jesus is explanation in Matthew chapter 13 verses 18 through 23 it reveals something that if we're not careful it can easily be overlooking the parable of this sower explained it not only emphasizes the soil but it also emphasizes and reveals that anywhere seed is sown there's resistance that comes against the seed at every stage of growth regardless of the condition of the soil where seed is sown resistance follows if I had to come up with a title it would be marked for resistance because the moment that God's Word is received we are marked for resistance on account of the word sank which brings us to our first

truth this morning. If you take notes, write this down. The enemy understands the value of the seed better than many of us. It's an unfortunate reality. I have to be honest with you because what the enemy understands is that the seed that comes from the sower is always good. Jesus never emphasizes the quality of the seed in the scripture because the seed which represents God's word concerning his kingdom can only be good because the one who gave it is what? Don't take my word for it. It was David who said, how sweet are your words to my taste? Sweeter than honey to my mouth. He said, the entrance of your words, they give light. It gives understanding to the simple. And his son Solomon, he caught that thing. He said, every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who trust him. And the prophet Jeremiah said, his word is like fire. Shut up in my bones. He says, I try to contain it. I am weary of holding it in, but I simply cannot. And perhaps one of my favorite quotes from Jeremiah, he said, your words were found and I ate them. They were the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Somebody missed that.

He said, your words were what? Found. And I what? Ate them. I love this. You want to know why I love this union family? Because it distinguishes the difference between receiving God's word as information versus consuming God's word as sustenance. Sustenance, if you don't know, is what's required to support life, health, and nourishment. Let's be honest. How many of us, if we're being honest, how many of us view God's word as sustenance? I'm preaching to myself. Jeremiah said, your words were found. And because scripture qualifies scripture, you don't need me to tell you. We actually see consistency in this expression that God's word can be found, not only from the prophet Jeremiah, but also from Solomon in Proverbs four, when he said, your words are life to those who what? Find them. Health, nourishment. It says health to all our flesh. My question for you is, are you treating God's word as valuable information? Or are you treating God's word as sustenance? Again, sustenance is what's required to survive.

It's what's required for life, health, and strength. May I submit to you, union family, if you came looking for a word, I'm confident that God's word can be found. My God, his word can be found. And if you find it, it can be consumed. Can I assure you that it is good to eat? Somebody said, that's good. Thank you, David. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Jeremiah said, I found them and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Now, some of you are saying, man, life must've been going really good for Jeremiah when he said that. Nope. He was actually experiencing severe rejection. Yet he said, your words were found and I ate them. They were the joy and rejoicing of my heart. This truth that the seed is always good. This isn't a new true church. God's word is and has always been good from the very foundation of creation. Everything that God created, the scripture tells us everything he created came into existence by what? His word. And after speaking it, once the word was released, we see God declare that it is good. The enemy recognizes the power of God's word.

We see this all the way back in Genesis chapter three, when the serpent begins to tempt Eve in the garden, his strategy then is the same strategy now. It hasn't changed. His strategy in the garden of Eden was to attack, not Eve or Adam, but to attack the truth that they had been given. What's the first question that Satan asked Eve? Has God indeed said? Satan wasn't after Eve and Adam. He was after the truth that they had been given by God. Fast forward, Matthew chapter 13, verse 19. Jesus says, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and what? Snatches it away. Because the moment it was released, it was good. And the moment we received God's word, we're marked for resistance. Somebody say resistance. Well, we have to understand and your worship experience director, Kenneth, did an amazing job of last week is that he said, Satan, I'm paraphrasing. Cause I, you know, I can't say it like the man to God. Man, what it be? and on purpose, all right? What we have to understand is that Satan loves empty ground. But what I came to tell you is that he loves empty ground, but he only attacks seated ground.

See, I feel someone's perspective getting ready to shift in this place, because somebody, I don't know who you are, somebody came in this morning ready to call the quits, because at this very moment, every turn that you make in life seems like you're constantly being met with resistance. My God. I just need to know, is there two or three people in this place that'll keep it 100 with me this morning? For somebody coming to church this week was your last resort. Somebody tuning in online, this was your last resort. Somebody said, I'm tired. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Everything I do is met with resistance. Something must be wrong with me. Maybe it's the divorce that you didn't plan on, and now you find yourself separated from the person that you thought you would spend the rest of your life with. Maybe it's a diagnosis that you didn't plan on getting at this time that now you have to wrestle with. It's the doctor's appointments. It's the neurology appointments. It's the MRIs. It's the CT scans. It's the blood tests. It's the things that you did not plan for, yet you find yourself experiencing.

Maybe for some of you, it's the depression that you thought was behind you, but it's starting to rear its ugly head. Maybe it's the job layoff you didn't plan for. Maybe it's the betrayal of people who you thought loved you the way that you loved them. I just came to introduce you to hope this morning, church, because the enemy loves empty ground, but he only attacks seeded ground, which means you ought to look to your neighbor. Tell one or two, three people, say, I am seeded ground. The immediacy of the attack reveals the value of the seed. The battle begins the moment the word of God is received. So consider this your warning, which brings us to our second point this morning, that the battlefield is understanding. Jesus says what? He said, the seed is stolen because the person does not what? Understand it. Understanding is not an intellectual comprehension, church. Some of us are too smart for our own good. Some of us can tell you about the Greek and the Hebrew. We can tell you that, oh, this was done in past tense, it's present tense, it's future tense. Some of us are so smart, but the truth of the matter is the understanding that Jesus is talking about here isn't for the intellectuals. It involves spiritual perception.

Now, what does that mean? It means one of the greatest spiritual battles that we face in the church today, despite what some preachers and what some churches preach is not behavior. I'm gonna say it again. I'm real bold. I'm feeling bold this morning. I ate sushi last night. I'm light on my feet, y'all. I'm gonna say it one more time. One of the greatest spiritual battles that we're facing in the church today is not over bad behavior. It's over bad teaching and bad understanding. Yeah. The scripture says in all thy getting, get a what? Understanding. The enemy works overtime to keep us distracted, to keep us confused, and to encourage shallow hearing and not only shallow hearing, but also hollow teaching, empty teaching. Satan doesn't fear good advice. He fears the good news. Jesus said the spirit of the Lord is upon me. I came to bring good news to the poor. The enemy isn't scared of good advice. He fears good news. It's why we have to begin to examine

what it is that we consume. Jeremiah said, I found your words and I ate them. Be careful of what you consume, church. We don't test truth by how good it looks or how good it feels. Don't be like Eve in the garden when the scripture says that she was tempted by Satan, that she looked at the forbidden fruit, the forbidden fruit. Now, I'm not the smartest person in the world, but if something's forbidden, it ain't good. Like, I can read a sign that says forbidden, like, and I'm not gonna go see what's behind the fence. I'm not, I don't, it's good. It's all right, I'll trust the sign. Forbidden fruit, but the scripture says, she knowing it was forbidden fruit, she looked at it and did what? She saw it was good for food. It was pleasant to her eyes. And too many of us, we judge what is good by how it looks and how it makes us feel. And we have to test truth by what God has already spoken in his word. Spiritual discernment requires qualifying scripture with scripture and following the Holy Spirit, who the scripture tells us he bears witness with the truth. If you're walking in a relationship with God, have the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life,

you'll be able to know what is true and what is false. Something to say, I don't care who that came from, that don't sound like my God. Because the enemy loves a church with eyes that do not see, who can praise and shout hallelujah, but can walk right past someone who's hurting. He loves a church with ears that do not hear, who can recite scripture, but have no prayer life. He loves a church with a mouth that does not speak, when we can get a good work every week, but we can't encourage our own neighbor or the lady in the line at Starbucks. Many people hear sermons and tune in weekly and listen to podcasts, I got a podcast, Local Church Podcast, it's not a plug, I'm just saying, I got one. But guess what, you tune into my podcast and that's not enough. We attend Bible studies regularly, but some of us, the word never quite penetrates deeply enough to bring about the transformation it was intended to. Now some of you saying why, why is that? Why, great question, because for too long, churches in America have prioritized energy over efficacy. Efficacy is the ability to produce a desired or intended result. I Googled that, I didn't know that. I'm not that smart, because energized people, church, they make a lot of noise, and noise creates attention,

and attention creates the illusion of impact. And the problem is, is that we've traded transformation for traction. And the scary truth is, I've seen it, I've seen it. Churches all over the country, I've seen it, that spiritual excitement can temporarily mimic spiritual maturity. Somebody say until. Say it like Kenneth, until. Yeah, put some bass in your voice. Until Matthew 13, verse 21, Jesus says, because they have no root in themselves. When tribulation or persecution arises on the count of the word. Let me stop there, side note, you thought the enemy was attacking you. Jesus says that what persecution and tribulation arises on the account of what? The word, it's the seed, it's not you. And immediately they fall away. Hear me out, the problem isn't persecution, the problem is rootlessness. And Jesus describes this rocky soil as someone who received the word with joy, but enthusiasm alone is not evidence of death. Many assume persecution is the problem, and so our prayers sound like this. Lord, take it away. Lord, this can't be you. Lord, I don't know what this is,

but remove it from my life. But the problem is not persecution, the problem is rootlessness. Many assume persecution is the problem, but the truth is, persecution and tribulation, hard times, depressing, it only reveals what is already missing. Root systems develop in the quiet and unseen places, underground. It's the praying without ceasing when there's no audience. It's the obedience to God's word when no one's paying attention or looking. It's the meditating on God's word day and night. His words were found and I ate them. It's the full surrender, not partial surrender of your life, church. It's the enduring well when all hell has broken loose. Fruit is visible, but roots, roots are the unseen. My wife, Brittany, she says this all the time. One time she said it on our podcast, Local Church Podcast. She said, sometimes we as the church, we're more focused on growing wide when we should be focused on growing deep. Because tribulation reveals depth and many believers view hardship as proof that something's wrong with them because for too long, we had friends like Joe who said, man, I don't know what you done did

to piss God off. You done made God mad. What is wrong with you? Because you're going through a lot, but the truth is I thank God and you ought to thank God for some friends like Pastor Rod, for some friends like Pastor Sarah. You ought to thank God for some friends like the Dontas and the Mirandas, for some friends like Pastor Andre and Pastor Susan. You ought to thank God for a church that doesn't point you to your faults, that doesn't point you to your sin, but points you to Jesus. Tribulation reveals depth. And Jesus in this story in verse six, he says, since they had no depth of soil, when the sun rose, they were scorched. Somebody say scorched. I only said that so I could take a breath. Since they had no root, the scripture said they withered away. But church, please don't miss this. Think sun is not the enemy. All it did was rise. That's what suns do. The sun shines on every field and on every plant. The difference is whether you have roots or you don't. Hard times reveal what we actually believe.

Some of us think we believe until tribulation comes, until that diagnosis comes, until that job loss comes, and now we're faced with what do I actually believe about God to be true? Because the same sun that killed the shallow plant supplies a deeply rooted plant with what is needed to grow. See, over a year ago, almost two years ago, my family, we have a garden that was started by my son. Shout out, shameless plug, Liam. He has a green thumb. Every year we have a garden. We have squash, tomatoes, all types of vegetables, and he primarily is the one who cultivates it. God has blessed him, amen? But a little while ago, over a year ago, we planted a blackberry bushel, I guess is what you call it, a plant. We planted some blackberries, and we began to see growth, and it was pretty, the most beautiful leaves that you would ever see, but the problem was, or at least we thought, is that there were beautiful leaves, but know what? Not a single berry. And so the truth of the matter is, we thought, well, that must be it. We did something wrong, it just didn't work out. And summer came, and winter came, and then just maybe two months ago, we go outside, and we're cultivating the soil, we're putting in new squash, new tomatoes,

new green beans, new bell peppers, all the things, we're putting it in the ground, and then we see something coming back up, and we're like, wait, what is that? We didn't plant nothing right there. In spite of what lacked above ground, because the soil was good, the roots continue to develop, even when we didn't know they were still developing. And right now, as we speak, look what God has done. Look what God has done, church. We have blackberries in our backyard. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you. What I didn't know until just like three days ago, when I sent Pastor Rod this picture, I said, Pastor Rod, I'm gonna kill him with this one. Sent him the text. Make sure y'all post that, right? What'd I say? Just post that. Look at the blackberries. But then the Holy Spirit kind of convicted me. He said, what do you know about blackberries? I'm like, ah, ooh. He said, what did you do to make that blackberry come forth? I said, ah, shoot. I'm supposed to show the people a picture. And now you to hit me with this, what do you really know about blackberries? So I said, let me at least do a Google search.

I said, what's the science behind blackberries? I didn't know what was gonna come up. And I'm gonna read it to you. It says a blackberry plant shoots up new green canes called primocanes in year one. Somebody say primocanes. They look lush, healthy, and vibrant, but they cannot bear a single fruit. When we looked at that blackberry bush and we didn't see any fruit, it actually was intentional. It says they only grow leaves, but to actually get fruit, the cane must endure a harsh winter. What? And it says after surviving the freeze, then they emerge, two, as a floricanes. Somebody say floricanes. And it says only floricanes can produce flowers and fruit. See, some of us are so frustrated. We're so discouraged. We're so confused because we see leaves. We see evidence of the new life that we have in Christ Jesus, but we don't see the fruit. We don't see the harvest that we were promised. This is not time to throw in the towel. Can I say, can I speak from experience? It's time to allow the roots to develop. Spiritual fruitfulness requires surviving the resistance.

And this is why it's so important, church. For those of us who have developed roots, for those of us who are seasoned in grace to stand beside those who have roots, but they're undeveloped. Those are surviving on pure energy, hype, and excitement. I'ma tell the world, tell it, I'ma tell it everywhere I go. Like, you know, we get excited when we come to know Jesus. And I'm not saying to put out their fire by no means. I'm saying draw close. Because when tribulation comes, exposure is inevitable. And what they need from us, church, is to bear them up, to bring them closer, to cover them and help them develop root systems that it can endure the harsh winter. Tell two, three people, join a seeds group and get rooted. It's that simple. Which brings me to my third and final point. Growth and fruitfulness are not always synonymous. Write that down. Growth and fruitfulness are not always synonymous, which means the same. Verse 22 said, 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 proves unfruitful. The thorny soil presents to me what is possibly the most sobering warning for a Christian because the language that's used is, the term is choked,

which indicates that there is a presence of life, that something is actively growing. Notice the soil here is not hard and it is not shallow. The seed is actually growing, but it never bears fruit. And the word choked is significant because the plant isn't simply uprooted, it's overcrowded. When destruction of your faith is no longer an option from Satan, what he'll do is he'll opt for constriction. See, the difference is, destruction comes in and just destroys, but constriction restricts movement and limits freedom. That's why Paul said, I no longer try to meet the requirements of the law and I started living for God. Paul would often talk about this liberty that he had in Christ Jesus, but some of us are not experiencing the true freedom to be able to live a life, walking after the spirit and not after the flesh. And the truth is, it's a lot of the reason is because our lives are overcrowded, it's become complicated. It's been so convoluted. Some of us have too much stuff in our house. Sorry, I just had a flashback, I was spraying clean and I was like, we gotta get rid of some of this stuff. But it's true, some of us have so much stuff in life. Life is already filled with opportunities

and responsibilities and entertainment. And then you got ambitions and you got jobs and you got all of these things until there's little room left for fruitfulness. The truth is fruitlessness can exist alongside growth and it'll give you the impression that you're living a faithful life. But in the thorny soil, growth is present, but fruit is absent. And in the modern church, I have to be honest, we do a great job celebrating growth, more activity, more programs, more attendance. But Jesus, Jesus celebrates fruit. The question is not, are we growing? The question is, are we reproducing the life of Christ? Growth and fruitfulness are not always the same thing. Can I be real this morning? Rarely, rarely do we see that more things equate to being more like Christ. Matthew chapter six, the cost of discipleship. Jesus says, a certain scribe came and said to him, teacher, rabbi, I will follow you wherever you go. That sounds like somebody full of excitement. I'll go wherever you go. But Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. More things rarely equate to being more like Christ. And some of us, some of us are grasping so hard to maintain a lifestyle,

grasping so hard to things and to stuff. When Jesus himself, the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians, he said, have this mind in you that was also in who? Christ Jesus, who thought, who though, sorry, was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Jesus himself, who created everything that we see, did not count his equality with God as something to be grasped. And here we are, we're holding on to everything. The car note that we never should have got ourselves into. The loan that we never should have applied for. But it's electric and you can't go nowhere because your lights is out, right? Like so many things that we're grasping to, trying to keep up with the times, trying to keep up with the Joneses. When Jesus himself considered his divinity, nothing to be grasped. He laid his life down for you. In fact, Paul says he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Jesus never grasped onto things. He was willing to let things go. He emptied himself for you and me. He did not count it as something to be grasped. And no, God isn't against success, but he's not here to compete with anyone or anything for your heart and attention.

Not the education, not the business, not your dream house, not your dream car, not the dream job, not your ambition, not your five-year plan, not your finances, church family. The moment that we allow tools to become treasures, we open the door to spiritual blindness, having eyes, but can't see ears, but can't hear. Success only creates resistance when we value the created over the creator. See, my prayer request has changed lately. This is personal for me because I haven't always, can we be honest, we family, right? I haven't always been faithful with the more. And so my prayer has changed. In fact, in preparation for this visit. to Houston I was praying early one morning and there was a point that I was crying out to God lamenting in prayer. I mean talking about snot everything just it just got nasty y'all. I was just crying out to God in prayer and the words come out of your mouth when you're when you're when you're praying like this sometimes words come out but they don't really feel like they were your words you really don't know where they came from. Roman 8 speaks of this it says the spirit helps us in our weakness when we don't know what we ought to pray for it intercedes for God's people all of a sudden my prayer became Lord give me the strength that is needed and nothing more and I said what did I just say and then I just began to rehearse that over myself God give me the strength that is needed and nothing more nothing else will do I just want to be close to you give me what is needed Lord and nothing more because I haven't always been faithful with the more and sometimes Christian maturity y'all is it's actually growing in the realization of what we aren't I understand why Paul in his early letters he would emphasize that he's Paul the apostle of Christ but in his mid ministry letters Paul referred to himself as the least of the apostles and then later on in ministry in the prison epistles he refers to himself not just as the

least of the apostles but as the very least of the saints not just below other apostles but below fellow believers and then as Paul in the pastoral epistles near the end of his life in first Timothy he says this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost or chief now hear me out because this is going to make a lot of Christians uncomfortable Paul wasn't becoming a worse Christian as he got older he wasn't growing in sin it was probably the opposite but what he was growing in is the grace the knowledge of the undeserved favor of God that's why he would often say I pray that you grow in grace and in the knowledge of God he became increasingly aware of what he wasn't that if it had not been for the mercy of Jesus where would I be as I get ready to close the parable of the sower is not only a warning about four types of people and four types of hearts it's also a revelation of the ongoing war surrounding God's word the resistance somebody say resistance a war that began in Eden when he said has God indeed said and the war that continues today the attack comes in the form of deception sometimes it comes in the form of persecution or tribulation sometimes the attack comes in the form of success living a pre-occupied life busy life a crowded life to the point you can't produce the attack comes in these different forms but church I came to tell you this morning that the threat isn't deception it's a lack of understanding and all thy getting get at what understanding if you don't understand ask if you have questions ask the threat isn't persecution or tribulation it's actually rootlessness you have to be connected to a community you have to have brothers and sisters in Christ you have to surround yourself with godly counsel put yourselves in environments that are healthy for you to grow and flourish thank you Jesus oh Jesus I don't normally do this and y'all know that but I feel the Holy Spirit I see a cloud and it's the third row from the front I see a cloud over you three sisters right here four sisters this section right here I don't know you I don't know anything about you but I see a cloud hovering over you and that cloud is the presence of Jesus the Holy Spirit and I just hear him saying and I just hear him saying to continue to press on that he's with you and some of you the enemy has tried to rob you of your smile I don't know what that means I don't know if that even makes sense

to you if it doesn't so be it but I see the enemy try to rob some of you of their smile and I hear God just saying it's okay to smile he's going to return the joy of his salvation thank you Jesus thank you Jesus The threat isn't deception, it's a lack of understanding. The threat isn't persecution, it's rootlessness. The threat isn't success, it's preoccupation. Making tools into treasures as we get ready to stand. And the prayer team is coming up. I just want to say a quick prayer before Pastor Andre and others come up to pray over you. I just want to encourage you this morning that if life don't look the way that you wanted it to, there's good news. That Satan loves empty ground but he only attacks seeded ground. And the mere fact that you're seeded ground means that there's hope. And some of you have been beating yourselves up because of the resistance, because of the trials, because of the persecution, because of the hard times. Seems like every time you take one step forward, you go two steps back. I want to encourage you to be bold enough this morning to come up and ask someone. They're not here to give you good advice. Good advice doesn't scare Satan. Deliverance doesn't come from good advice. You've called your friends, you've called people, you've watched your favorite social media influencer, you've tried the things. The enemy is scared of good news. And every single person at this stage, they have some news to share with you. And that news is the Word of God. And so if that's you, if that's you, I don't want you to hesitate, I don't want you to think, don't overcomplicate it. I want you to, in a minute, come up to the front and allow those words to water you. Allow those words to till the ground of your hearts so that you too can become good soil, that you can survive the resistance. Father, I thank you for your Word on today. I thank you, Lord, that you are faithful to even us who at times are faithless. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you never sleep or slumber. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are watching, that you are guiding, that you are protecting, that you are covering your people. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that on today that we can proclaim that I am not empty ground, I am seated ground. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that right now hearts are stirring, God, that roots are getting ready to be developed, God. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that the harsh winter will no longer discourage us, but what we'll know is that it's just a matter of time before the primocanes become fluoricanes. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that hard times don't mean it's over.

It means that I am seated ground, that there is hope. And if I just cling and if I just grasp onto you and your Word, all will be well. In Jesus' name we pray. Church, say amen.