ALCFNow - What is your response to the Gospel?

On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ² And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ “And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵ “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ “But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

⁷ “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

~Matthew 13:1-9

¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

~1Corinthians 15:1-4

³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ “And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

~Matthew 13:3-4

1. The hardened response

¹⁸ Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

~Matthew 13:18-19

5 “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ “But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

~Matthew 13:5-6

2. The superficial response

²⁰ “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ “yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

~Matthew 13:20-21

⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

~Matthew 13:7

3. The divided response

²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

~Matthew 13:22

⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

~Matthew 13:8

4. The genuine response

²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

~Matthew 13:23

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

~Matthew 7:21-23

¹⁹They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

~1John 2:19

⁴⁴ For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

~John 6:44

³⁷ However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

~John 6:37