In these two verses, Matthew tells us something about Jesus using parables that he has not already told us in chapter 13. He tells us that the mystery of the gospel was hidden from the foundation of the world. This implies a number of other truths that are explored in this sermon as God reveals the mystery of the good news of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In these two short parables, we can see that God works from small beginnings and in small ways to bring about great results. In the face of what sometimes seems to be overwhelming change in our world today, and in the face of what seems to be a great opposition to God's kingdom and its advancement, God is reminding us that His plans, His purpose, His working in this world today are unstoppable. There is nothing that the culture, the government, the God-hating world system can do to stop God from doing everything that He purposes to do. From small beginnings and in small ways, God is doing great and eternal things through people like you and me.

A man being raised from the dead must mean something. The Scriptures tell us clearly what the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ means for everyone who believes. God grants us new life through faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

The value of women who focus on ministering to their family and who choose not to work outside the home is often called into question in our culture. But God declares the surpassing spiritual value of mothers in their role of raising their children in godliness.

Of the five songs in Revelation chapters 4 and 5, two songs lead up to the song of the crucifixion and the two songs that follow reflect the results of the crucifixion. The crucifixion of Christ is central to every part of the Christian life. It is central to our hope of salvation and this truth should be emphasized in our lives now just as it will be in heaven.

God grants that the saved and unsaved should live together in this world until judgment comes. The enemy is working against God's kingdom at every turn, but it is not our place as believers to condemn the world. God will take care of that in due time. Our response as believers is never to try to force the gospel on anyone but instead to be faithful in taking the gospel to everyone that we can, calling people to faith in Christ as we are living in the age of evangelism, the age of the gospel.

In the last part of the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus describes for us that person who is a genuine believer, that one in whom the gospel has taken root and produces genuine spiritual life. And the one thing that sets this person apart from all the others in the parable is this- fruit. Spiritual fruit. This passage tells us that God always produces fruit through the life of the one who truly believes.

Our Lord gives us a stern warning in these verses. He warns us of the danger of a heart that loves the world. Idolatry or the setting of the heart upon things other than Christ, is common in the institution of the church. And God calls us to beware of such idolatry because it betrays a heart that is full of thorns that choke out the gospel so that it never takes root and never bears the fruit of salvation.

In this part of the Parable of the Sower, the Lord Jesus presents the rocky soil, the superficial heart. God warns us of the very real danger of a superficial faith that on the surface may look like the real thing, but it is not saving faith.

In this passage, we consider the first of the four soils Jesus describes in the parable, which includes verses 3 - 4 and verse 19. In these verses, God warns us of the spiritual disaster of the unresponsive heart. He warns us of a heart that is hardened to the gospel.