Take Care How You Hear

Back to the Big Question: I Want to Be Soil Number Four

Well, like I said, we're continuing in the Gospel of Luke. You remember last week — or if you weren't here with us — we were on the parable of the sower, a famous parable where Jesus talks about this guy throwing seed, seeds landing on all kinds of soil. All the soils are there, but only one soil actually makes it. Only one plant actually makes it.

And the question I was thinking about all week — maybe you were too as you meditated on the parable of the sower — is this: a lot of people hear the word. Everybody in that parable hears the word. Four different people, they all hear it. They hear sermons. They read their Bibles. They know what the Bible says. They go to small group. They've heard the message. But only one of those four people makes it. Only one of those four people actually gets it. Only one of those four people grows and bears fruit and makes it to the end as a Christian.

So my question is, how can I make sure I'm number four? I wanna be soil four. I wanna make sure that even though I come to church every week, even though I read my Bible all the time, even though I go to small groups, how do I know I'm not two or three? If you're sitting in here this morning, you're probably not soil one — the one who hears it and goes, eh, and rejects it. But two through four, man, all those people, they hear the word of God, they believe it, they do something with it, but two fall away and one remains. So I wanna know, I wanna be soil four. Let me make sure that I'm hearing correctly so that I can be soil four.

And that's exactly where Jesus goes in this next section, right on the heels of what he just said. He's going to show us and continue to teach on the same theme: how can you make sure you're soil number four? How can you make sure you're hearing it but actually growing and actually persevering in what you've heard? That's what we're going to get to as we go through this passage. But in order to get us there — to understand how to be soil number four — Jesus is first going to give us another parable that's parallel to the parable of the sower on the same theme, to teach us about God's word.

What God's word is like, what God's word does — so that we can make sure we're hearing that word rightly and are, in fact, soil number four. So Jesus begins by unpacking, in a new parable, a new example, what God's word is actually doing. What's happening with God's word, such that four people can hear it and three of them fall away? What's the very nature of God's word? When you're hearing a sermon, when you're reading your Bible, when you're discussing God's word together in your growth groups, what are we talking about here? What is God's word and what does it do for us?

And that's what we need to figure out first, so we can know: all right, I'm getting it right. I am soil number four. That's what we're doing this morning.

So please turn to Luke 8 if you're not already there. We're picking up right where we left off, starting in verse 16. And I just want to emphasize, right as I read this, we're still in the same scene. Jesus told this parable, and then there's still a crowd around him, but the disciples are like, "Jesus, what's going on, man? What are you talking about? What is this parable? " And Jesus is explaining the parable to them. Then we pick up in verse 16 — that's still where we're at. Jesus is still explaining the parable. Jesus is still talking to a crowd, but he's talking specifically to his disciples who are following him. He's still explaining the parable of the sower. We're in the same scene as we pick up this morning in verse 16. So look at verse 16. We're going to read these first three verses, where Jesus is going to unpack more about what the word of God is, so we can know that we're hearing it the right way.

God's Word Is Like a Lamp (verse 16)

So Jesus has just told his parable, he's talking about the word of God, and then it seems like he just shifts gears. I read this this week, you know, I'm preparing for the sermon. I read the parable of the sower, verse 15, the good soil, it's bearing fruit, okay.

Verse 16: no one after lighting a lamp covers it. I'm like, what? We're switching to lamps? I didn't know what was happening. But what I think is happening here is Jesus is giving another example, another parable — like the parable of the sower, now we're hearing the parable of the lamp — and it's still related to the same theme. I think that in this passage, in talking about a lamp in verse 16, Jesus is still talking about God's word. Here's why I think that. Again, I already mentioned there's no change of scene, there's no change of recipient — he's just still talking in the same scene after explaining the parable. And when you're ever confused about a part of the Bible — what does this mean? — this is exactly what I did this week. No one after lighting a lamp. What's he talking about? What is the lamp here? What is he trying to get at? I read before it and I read after it.

Before it, he's talking about the word of God. The seed is the word. It goes out. Everyone hears it. Some people stay. Then if you keep going after the lamp, verse 18: "Take care how you hear. " He's still talking about hearing, actually. Whatever the lamp is, it still has to do with hearing. And then the kicker, I think, is in verse 21 — which is where we're going to end this morning eventually. Still in the same scene, this is how he ends the whole thing: "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. " So right in the middle of a passage about the word of God, and then a whole other scene where Jesus is talking about the word of God, he's got this lamp thing — and what the lamp is about is the word of God. It's still the same topic. Jesus is giving us — it's not even a parable, it's one statement, sort of a proverb almost — where something about this lamp is going to teach us about God's word. That's what's happening here.

So what's happening? Let's just look at verse 16. This is where Jesus gives this statement — kind of a parable, kind of just an analogy that we all understand from real life — of a person who lights a lamp. A lamp is supposed to give light to your house. The point of the lamp is to light it up so people can see. The person lights the lamp, covers it so it's not giving light. The person lights the lamp, sticks it under a bed.

The point of this analogy is, no one does that, guys. That's ridiculous. That's absurd. Obviously, no one does that. He's using a scenario they would all understand perfectly well. What is the purpose of a lamp? What do you do with a lamp if you're lighting it? If you don't put it on a stand so you can see, it'd be ridiculous to light it and cover it. That would defeat the whole purpose. We understand that's ridiculous. Obviously, we wouldn't light a lamp and cover it.

I think they get it even more than us, because they didn't have electricity. They couldn't just flip a switch and light up their house. When the sun went down, their house was pitch black unless they lit a lamp. It was not as easy as just flipping a switch. We have this whole electrical grid and we don't even think about it — flip a switch, light, and we don't think about it. The lamp was most likely a little bowl with oil in it that had a wick coming out of it. So if you forgot to get oil that day, you can't light your lamp. You're in the dark. You're eating dinner in the dark. You can't see what you're eating. Your guests come over. They're tripping. They can't see what's happening. This was something you had to do if you wanted to see at all. You had to make sure you had the oil, make sure the wick was long enough, light it, and set it up — if you want to see what you're eating tonight, or if you want your guests to be able to get in the door without tripping over your kids who are all over the place. They're like, "Yeah, obviously, man. " It would be way more crazy to them to light a lamp — you got the oil, you got it ready — and then cover it, and now you're just sitting there eating dinner in the dark? No, that's stupid. So that's the point of it.

I think the closest we could get is if you're camping, maybe, and you get in the tent, and your spouse is like, "Turn on the flashlight so we can see. " You turn on the flashlight, and then you just shove it in your sleeping bag and sit there in the dark. You would get kicked out of the tent. You'd be sleeping outside. So it's ridiculous. That's the point.

So whatever Jesus is saying about the lamp, the purpose of a lamp is to light a room. What do you do with a lamp? You put it out where it illuminates everything. You do not take it and hide it somewhere. That would be ridiculous. That's exactly what Jesus is saying about God's word. In this scenario, following the parable of the sower, the lamp is God's word. And he's saying the purpose of God's word is like the purpose of a lamp — it's to light up the whole room — and it would be ridiculous to hide God's word in a place where it can't be used for its intended purpose.

Just by way of reminder, what do we mean when we say God's word? It's in the parable — they hear the word of God. It's in verse 21 — they hear the word of God. The word of God is the message of redemption. It is the message of the gospel. It's the words that are able to save us — when we hear them and understand them and believe them, they're the words that save us. For us, they are first and foremost found in the Bible.

You can look outside and know that there's a God, but you cannot look outside and know which God he is, what he's like, or what he has to do with you. I should fear him, right, but what's our relationship? Well, God has revealed himself in his word — specially, specifically, breathed out, inspired by the Holy Spirit. He has given us his word. The word of God we have today is in the Bible. But I think in this context, it's talking not just about random Bible verses, but the message of the Bible from beginning to end — the message that God has revealed: that he created everything good, that he created us in his image, that we sinned against him, that we broke this world with sin, but that he didn't leave us in our sin. He sent his Son to save us, and one day he will make all things right. It's the word of God found in the Bible, the message of salvation that people hear.

So somehow, the word of God is like a lamp. And this analogy is telling us: what should you do with the word of God? You've got a Bible, you know the message, you know what it says — what are you supposed to do with it? Like a lamp, you're supposed to let it illuminate the room. You're not supposed to hide it. It would be ridiculous — this is the analogy — to have the word of God, to know God, to know his word, to have a Bible, and just let it collect dust on a shelf somewhere, and not let it do its work. It would be ridiculous to not proclaim it boldly and openly and honestly. If you know the story, you should have it out in the open where people can see it, where no one can be confused about it, where they can see where they're going, right? It's supposed to be obvious and helpful.

So I think for us that means, again, actually reading it and knowing it, but also not being ashamed of it. You can't hide the lamp over in a corner and expect it to do its job. So if someone's like, "Hey, what about this verse? What about what the Bible says here? " and you're like, "Well, I don't know, we'll just forget about that, just leave it over here" — it's saying the word of God is there to be out in the open, doing its job, doing what it's supposed to do.

Just like in the parable of the sower, if you've got a bag of seeds and you just leave the seeds in your shed, they sit there and rot, you never put them in the ground — you're never going to get a plant. Similarly, with God's word, it's like a lamp. If you have a lamp and you never light it, or you hide it under a basket, or you put it on a shelf and never use it, it's never going to do what it's supposed to do.

Light, Secrets, and the Final Judgment (verse 17)

And what is it supposed to do? That's what Jesus tells us in verse 17. So the word's like a lamp. It'd be ridiculous to not use it for its intended purpose. What is its intended purpose? Verse 17: "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. " At first you're like, "All right, hidden, secret, come to light — what's happening here? "

I think what Jesus does here is strengthen the same point he's just made. He's still talking about this lamp analogy, strengthening the point that we should use the word for its intended purpose. And what he's saying in verse 17 is that the intended purpose of the word is to change darkness to light — before it's too late. That's sort of the emphasis he puts on it. So here's what I mean.

All of a sudden he starts talking about hidden things, secret things, and things coming to light. So I think we can immediately see: the lamp is the word, the light, and it brings things to light. But what's Jesus talking about with hidden things, secret things?

When you're reading the Bible — the more you read it and go through it — you realize there's this theme in Scripture that at the final day, at the final judgment, God will reveal all secrets. There won't be any secrets anymore. Man will be laid bare before him, and he will judge based on what that man has done. Secrets gone, no more.

This is a theme all throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, you read it in Ecclesiastes 12: 14: "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. " It's a theme in Jesus' ministry. We're seeing it here. We're going to see it multiple times again before the end of Luke. It's all over the Gospels. But here I think Paul puts it really clearly in 1 Corinthians 4: 5.

So that's just a quick survey — you can go do more research on your own. But in the Bible, when it starts talking about secrets being revealed and hidden things being brought to light, that kind of clues you in: we're talking about the end here, the final judgment, the day when Christ returns and shines a light into every heart, reveals their deeds, what they've done, and some receive a commendation and some do not.

The point Jesus is making — why is he going to future eschatology, to the final judgment? I thought we were talking about the word of God. The point Jesus is making is this: just like the light will shine at the end, just like Jesus will shine a light on secrets at the end, God's word functions like a lamp right now to shine light on secrets, on hidden things, on darkness now.

Just like a lamp lights a house — you put it on a stand and now you can see the house — the word of God lights up our darkness, our secrets, the hidden things in our heart. God's word is able to dispel the darkness and illuminate what's actually in there. So the word of God functions like a lamp not just in the way you should use it — openly, proclaim it boldly, don't be ashamed of it, put it out where people can see it — but also in what it's doing while it's out there. The word goes out and dispels darkness, just like light dispels darkness.

When the gospel is preached to someone and they hear — maybe for the first time ever — that they've sinned against a holy God, that they're in trouble if not for somebody saving them, and they realize, "I can't save myself. " And then they hear the good news that Christ can save them, that Christ died for them, that Christ rose again, that they could be reconciled to God — that message is like a lamp lighting up the darkness. They go, "Yes. That. That's what I need. Jesus, come in here and save me. " They go from being blind, unable to see, not knowing how far they are from God, completely lost — to the light opening their eyes. They're now in a lit room. They can see. They see the mess, they see their sin, and they cling to Christ for salvation.

This works for us as well, who are already saved. Scripture works like a light to shine into the darkest corners of our heart. If you've ever been reading the Bible and come across a verse, and you go, "Whoa, what did that say? " — and it just cuts to the heart. You're like, "Man, I've read Luke before, but I've never been this convicted that I actually don't love my enemies. Man, God just showed me that in this deep corner of my heart, I was trying to keep it dark. " Scripture shines a light there to show you: yeah, I'm not loving this guy who's my enemy. I'm actually hating him.

The word of God has the power to unblind the blind eyes of our hearts, to unstop our ears. Like a light in a dark room, it can dispel the darkness and make clear what is there already and what can come in there. And amazingly, it's even better than a lamp. If you're lighting your house with an actual lamp, it can run out of oil, the wick can run out, and it's dark again. When the word of God actually shines in someone's heart, it doesn't just illuminate what's there already — it changes the heart. It's almost like you have a dark room that gets lit up and it never goes off again. You go from having a lamp that burns to a power grid that just keeps the light on.

The light comes in, dispels the darkness, changes your heart. When you believe in Christ — you hear the gospel, you believe — the lights get turned on for you. You can see now. You can see the truth of Scripture. There's no going back from that. When you've truly understood it, when you've truly grasped it, the light changes your heart into a new creation. Jesus takes a heart of stone that was dark, full of cobwebs, full of gross stuff, and gives you a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh that still battles with sin, but the light has changed you.

God's word, Jesus says, acts like a lamp. Proclaim it boldly, and when you do, the light will shine and change people. The word will do what it's supposed to do. Just like the seed is supposed to grow, the lamp is supposed to light up dark hearts and change them into light for Christ. And the reason Jesus gives for why we should be putting it on a lampstand, why we should be using it as intended, why we should be letting the word light up darkness, is because one day, everything will be light — whether you want it to be or not.

That's why he's talking about the secret stuff. One day, God's going to kick down the door and shine a floodlight in there, whether you want it or not, and it's going to show what's in there. So you can let the word do that now. The word can change you now. You can go from having a dark heart to letting the light shine in there, to being saved, clinging to Christ. And then on that final day, when you're standing before judgment and all your deeds come to light, you're like, "Yeah, they were in the light. I've been growing. Christ has changed me. I no longer have a dark heart. I'm there. " Or you can show up to the final judgment and God will shine the light on a heart that's never seen it — a heart that does not trust him, that hates him, that sins against him — and at that point, it's too late.

So Jesus is saying, look, guys, just like in the parable of the sower where you go out chucking seed everywhere so that it'll grow and do what it's supposed to do — grow and produce fruit — similarly, we should take God's word, proclaim it boldly, unashamedly, and let it do what it's supposed to do: convict people, change people, take the blinders off people's eyes, light up their world so they can see that they need to cling to Christ now, before it's too late. I think that's what Jesus is doing with the lighting and the secrets and everything happening right here.

It's a little bit like going to the doctor now. You have a little pain, and you go, "All right, I should just get checked out. " They look, they find something, and they fix it now. Versus you've been hurting for years, and finally somebody takes you against your will to the doctor, they show you the scan — and you're done for. It's too late, far too late. If they had shined that light earlier, it would have fixed it. Now it's too late.

That's what Jesus is saying the word is supposed to do now. So we're thinking about the parable of the sower, thinking I wanna be soil number four, and now Jesus is doing all this stuff about light and secrets to teach us more about God's word — that it functions like a light, that we should use it like a light, that it can light up the darkness. So if that's what God's word is like, if it's like a light, like a lamp, what should we do in light of that?

Take Care How You Hear (verse 18)

This is the command of this passage. This is the takeaway — I think it's like the command at the end of the parable of the sower.

What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to take care how you hear the word of God. I think the "then" in verse 18 — if you're reading the ESV with me — could also be translated "therefore. " Verse 18 is the result of everything that's come before. If God's word is like a lamp that changes hearts, what should you do about it? Because of all that, you should take care how you listen to it.

And I think this command is amazing, because I would have thought the command would be, "Well, listen to it. " If the word's like a lamp, it's like a light, it'll change you — well, put it on the stand and listen to what it says. Let it shine. But Jesus says, "No — take care how you listen to it. " Don't just listen to it. You have to listen to it the right way.

And that's exactly the same as the parable of the sower, right? We're back at the same place where we started. Everybody hears it in the parable of the sower. Four people hear it, one person makes it. So it's not enough to just listen. It's not enough — if God's word is like a light that can change you — to just come to church and sing songs and hear sermons. It's not enough to just read the Bible. Lots of people read the Bible. It's not enough to just go to small groups and talk about God's word. You have to listen to it the right way. There's a right way and a wrong way. Three people listen the wrong way. One person listens the right way.

What is the right way? Verse 18 tells us it has to do with whether you're taking something away from what you're hearing or not. Whether you have something — you hear it and you have it — or whether you hear it and you don't have it.

This is exactly what Jesus said in verse 15, right before our passage. The seed in the good soil — they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart. So all the other soils, they're doing something. But the one who's actually hearing it — soil number four, the one we're aiming to be — they take the word and hold it fast. And that phrase "hold it fast" in verse 15, which Lucas talked about last week, connects to the "one who has" in verse 18 — same root word in Greek. So the person in verse 15 has grabbed it, held it fast. The person in verse 18 is possessing that. They're possessing the thing they grabbed. They have it. They've taken something away from it.

The command of this passage, based on the parable of the sower and based on the light, is: make sure you're hearing the right way. And hearing the right way means hearing to hold onto it, hearing to grab it, hearing to not just understand it in your head but push it down into your heart — hearing to let it change your heart, hearing so that it does something in you. Something's different in you than the person who hears it, maybe even understands it, but doesn't do anything with it. They don't keep it. They don't have it.

I'm going to try and use the lamp analogy to explain this. I might break the analogy, but we'll try. Using the four people from the parable of the sower, I'm going to combine the two.

So the first person — the seed that lands on the road and just bounces off. You go, "Hey man, here's a lamp. " And he goes, "I don't need a lamp. I'm fine with my dark house. " Walks on. That's one guy.

The second guy — in the parable of the sower, the seed hits rocky soil. It starts to grow, but it can't get any depth, and then trials come and it burns away. This person is like someone who gets a lamp. They hear it. They go, "A lamp? My house is dark. My house is dark. I need a lamp. " They go in, they light it, they put it in their house. But they don't actually put it in a place where it's reaching all the corners. There are still some dark spots. They placed it strategically so that the word is not fully doing its whole work in there. The light's not reaching all the corners. And then when somebody presses them on it — "Hey man, doesn't the Bible say this? What's in that corner? Doesn't the Bible say this? Put that light in that corner. " They go, "Nah, nevermind. I don't need a lamp. I'm fine with the darkness. I'll just stay in the darkness. " So they start with the lamp, they hear it, they hear the sermons, but then some pressure comes and they cave. They go, "I don't need the word, actually. "

The third person — that's the seed growing among thorns that gets choked out. This is a person who grabs the lamp. They're like, "Yes! A lamp. My house is dark. I need it. " They set it, even on the right stand, at first. It lights up the house. They're on the right track. But then it says in verse 14 that the cares and worries of life choke that person out. It's like they kind of forget about the lamp. The oil's burning lower. The wick's burning lower. It's getting dimmer in the house. The edges are getting dimmer. And you're like, "Hey man, you need to refill your lamp over there. You need to keep the light hitting all the corners. " They're like, "I'm not into lamps that much anymore. I'm really excited about — whatever. My Pokémon cards. Something ridiculous. Some care, something in life. Man, I don't have time to take care of a lamp. I gotta take care of this thing over here, man. I gotta make dinner. I can't do the lamp. " That's the person who starts with the lamp, and then the cares and worries of life take over. They forget about it. It burns out, they're back in the dark, and they're like, "Ah, okay, I don't need the lamp. I'm doing other stuff now. "

The fourth person — the person who hears the word. They go, "Yes, I need that, " and they hold it fast in a good and honest heart. They bear fruit with patience. They take the lamp, they put it in the house, it lights up every corner, and they maintain the lamp. When something tries to distract them, they make sure the lamp is still lit. When they find a dark closet with no light, they put the lamp in there to see what's in there. They keep the lamp going. Over time, they persevere, they keep with it, and the lamp becomes something they cannot live without. They need it to light up the darkness of life, and they know it. Anytime things start to encroach, anytime they find darkness, they let the lamp do its work. Hopefully that doesn't break the whole analogy too much.

The idea is there's a way to hear where you actually take it, grab onto it, and do it. You have it. It's in your heart. You don't let it stay in your head. It works out into your heart. It works out into your life. It changes you. That's what we're aiming for. That's the fourth soil. It's not just hearing. It's not just coming to church. It's not just reading your Bible. It's reading it and grabbing it.

How Do You Know You're Soil Number Four? (verses 19–21)

Jesus sort of caps off this section starting in verse 19.

How do you know you've listened the right way? How do you know you're actually hearing what the word says the right way and not just letting it pass through your ears? Whether or not you obey it. It's actually that simple.

It should not come as a surprise to us if you've been going through the book of Luke. Luke has been hitting this theme over and over again. I think this theme is in the parable of the sower. I think this theme is in the lamp passage we just talked about. But Jesus just makes it clear. He takes this opportunity. His family shows up — the other Gospels tell us Jesus is in a house here, his disciples are crowding around him, they can't get in. They're like, "Jesus, your family's here. " And without really addressing his family, he turns to the crowd. Here's his chance to put a final point on what he's been saying this whole time — same theme the whole time, still talking about the word of God. Let me just say it straight up, Jesus says here: "Guess who my real family is? The ones who hear the word of God and do it" — and do it. That's the difference between the four soils. That's the difference between the guy who has it and the guy who doesn't have it. It's hearing the word of God, and then actually doing what it says, actually obeying what it says.

This is how you can test yourself, check yourself to know: did I actually hear that sermon? Did it change me? Did I do anything different? Was I actually paying attention in Aaron's class this morning? Well, did I look at my finances? Was I paying attention in growth group? Well, this guy said he was going to pray for me all week. Have I prayed for him at all?

When you're encountering the word of God, does it change you? Do you do what it says? Do you care what it says? Do you want to obey it? Or do you come in and out every week and, yeah, I heard a sermon, yeah, I read my Bible this week. You could even say, "Oh, it was about this — here's the outline. " But if it doesn't do anything, if you don't care to change anything you're doing, then you might be soil two or three. You might be hearing, but not hearing rightly, like verse 18 tells us.

The Gospel Changes Everything

This is how the gospel works when you actually understand it, when you fully grasp it. When the light shines, it reveals who you are as a sinner, and you go, "Yeah, I can't save myself. Christ, save me. Forgive me for my sins. Please save me. " Then a lot of things happen at that point — like we already talked about: your heart changes from dark to light, your heart changes from stone to flesh, you're a new creation, you're now with Christ.

But even more than that changes. Like Aaron told us in communion earlier, we're reconciled to God. We go from being sinners, enemies of God, far from him, to being now with him, his people. And more than that — and this is amazing, what Jesus says here: "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. "

Do you know that if you believe the word, if you hear the word and believe it, if you hear the word and cling to Christ by faith, you're not just going to make it into heaven one day — you will — but you're also not just going to be like some street sweeper on the golden streets while everybody else is partying with God, going, "I'm just glad to be here. " You are now a son or daughter of God. You can call God Father.

He has not just reconciled you — he's adopted you as one of his children. You can now call Christ your brother, your friend. He walks beside you. He doesn't engage with you as a Lord from above. He walks beside you as your friend because you've been brought into his family. That's what he's done through his blood on the cross. He's brought us in.

And the point is, when you've actually understood that, it changes everything, man. Your heart has no chance to be the same way it was before. You can't hear the words of the Bible the same way you did before, because you know what Christ has done for you. You know you didn't deserve any of it, and now you live in a way that is to please your Heavenly Father. You're not slavishly afraid of God, like, "Oh, if I mess up, he's going to get me, I need to obey him. " You're going, "I get to obey God. I get to obey my dad. My dad wants me to do this, and I wanna do it for him. Christ tells me to do this. This is my brother who cares about me, who died for me, and he wants me to do this — I'm going to do this. "

What I'm trying to say is, I think Jesus sums it up well in John 14: 15: "If you love me, " Jesus says, "you will keep my commandments. " That's what it's about. Christ has loved us so much that he died for us, so much that he took our punishment. And the more we realize how much Christ loved us, the more we will love him. And the more we love him, the more we want to do what he says, the more we want to do as much as we can for him.

So when this passage says, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it, " if you take that to mean, I hear a sermon and I have to do it — if I want to get saved, I better do what it says — wrong. You missed it. I've ruined it, okay? We've missed the whole point. The works themselves are not what save you. The works show that you understand what God has done for you. If you're truly saved, you can't help but want to serve him.

You're not going to do it perfectly. You're going to mess up. You're going to go, "Well, the Bible says that. I've never done that. " But you're going to want to start doing that. And when you mess it up, you're going to want to do it. You're going to repent. You're going to go back and do it again.

So you shouldn't look at your life and go, "All right, I want to be the fourth soil. I want to make sure I'm hearing rightly. Let me get to work this week. Let me make sure I'm doing it. " No, you should look at your life and go, "I have been doing stuff. I do actually care about sin. I hate my sin. When I sinned this week, I was devastated. I cried out to the Lord to save me. I asked my wife for forgiveness. When I met my friend this week, the one I don't like that much, I made an effort to love him. " Why? Because Christ told you to.

Your comfort is not in the fact that you did the good thing. That's not where your comfort is. Your comfort is that you know Christ has changed you. You know you've heard the word. You know that he has redeemed you, and that when God shines that light on your life — at the end of time, when the secrets are made manifest, when things are going to be given and taken away — when God shines that light, you can know he's going to see what Christ did. He's going to see Christ's works on your behalf. He's not going to look at how you didn't quite do exactly what Christ said — you told a little lie again, you're working on it, I read my Bible but fell asleep, whatever. He's going to see, "Christ has done this for this person. " And the way you know he's done that is by your works.

I just don't want to see you confused. Don't go home and try to work harder to be saved. Go home and go, "I'm reading the Bible. Yes, I do this. Yes, I want to do this. Yes, actually, this is convicting me — I'm going to change. " And that's how you know something's happened in your heart. What's happened is the light has shone in there, and it's gone from being a dark mess of sin to being a new creation heart full of light. Still battling sin — the light's still going to shine into a crevice over here in your house and go, "Hey, what's in this corner, man? " You're going to go, "Ah, another one — another sin. " But the light's going to keep doing that. The lamp's going to keep burning. And that's how you know that you're soil number four.