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When the Word Is Choked by Other Things- the Thorny Ground (Matthew 13) · (Un) Common thoughts of Christ

• 0:00
  Welcome back to our series He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
• 0:06
  We are walking through the parable of the sower in Matthew thirteen and Mark four.
• 0:12
  So far we have seen why the Lord began speaking in parables.
• 0:17
  The king had been rejected.
• 0:19
  Israel had seen his works, heard his words, and yet refused him.
• 0:25
  So the Lord does not yet establish the kingdom in visible power.
• 0:29
  Instead, he goes forth as the sour, sowing the word of the kingdom into hearts.
• 0:37
  We understand thus far that the issue in this parable is not the seed.
• 0:43
  The seed is perfect, the word is living and powerful.
• 0:48
  The issue is the soil.
• 0:50
  What kind of heart receives the word?
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  In the wayside soil the heart was hardened, the seed remained on the surface, and the fowls came and took it away.
• 1:04
  And then in the stony ground there was quick joy, quick growth, and quick profession, but no root.
• 1:12
  When affliction or persecution came for the word's sake, the plant withered.
• 1:19
  Today we come to the third soil, the thorny ground.
• 1:24
  This soil is different again.
• 1:26
  It is not the hard path where the seed never enters.
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  It is not the shallow ground, where the seed springs up quickly, and then withers.
• 1:36
  Here the word is heard, but something else is already growing in the heart.
• 1:42
  The Lord says in Matthew 13, verse 7, And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them.
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  Then he explains in the twenty-second verse, He also that receives seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
• 2:09
  Mark gives the same warning with even more detail in the fourth chapter.
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  And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
• 2:33
  That phrase is very searching.
• 2:35
  The lusts of other things entering in.
• 2:39
  The problem here is not open rejection of the word.
• 2:43
  The problem is competition.
• 2:45
  The word is heard, but it is crowded.
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  The heart is already occupied.
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  The thorns were not planted after the seed.
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  The roots were already there.
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  The seed falls into ground, where something else has prior claim.
• 3:03
  That is what makes this soil so searching.
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  There may be interest in the word, there may be respect for the word, there may even be some response to the word.
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  But the heart has other masters.
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  Cares of life are growing there.
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  Riches of this life are growing there.
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  The world has roots in the heart, and over time those thorns spring up and choke the word of God.
• 3:33
  This is especially relevant in today's culture, where we live in a world designed to occupy the heart.
• 3:40
  Everything calls for attention.
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  Everything presses for urgency.
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  The calendar is full.
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  The phone is beeping with texts.
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  Work presses in.
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  All the pleasures of wealth we have in this country press in.
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  And the heart can become so crowded that the word of God has no room to breathe.
• 4:09
  The thorny ground hearer does not necessarily say, I reject Christ.
• 4:15
  The thorny ground may simply say, I am busy, I have responsibilities, I have pressures, I have goals, I have worries, I have things to manage.
• 4:29
  And slowly, quietly, the word of God is choked.
• 4:34
  That is the nature of thorns.
• 4:37
  They do not need to uproot the seed in one dramatic moment.
• 4:41
  They only need to grow alongside it until they take the strength, the space, the moisture, and the light.
• 4:50
  The Lord Jesus translates these thorns for us.
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  The first thorn he identifies is the cares of this world.
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  These are not always sinful things in themselves.
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  Work is not sinful.
• 5:08
  Family responsibility is not sinful.
• 5:11
  Planning is not sinful.
• 5:14
  Daily needs are not sinful, but when the cares of this life take possession of the heart, they begin to choke the word.
• 5:23
  The Lord warned about this in Luke twenty one.
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  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with cares of this life.
• 5:37
  That word overcharged is important.
• 5:41
  The heart becomes weighed down, loaded and pressed and occupied, and a weighed down heart may still hear the word, but it cannot receive it freely.
• 5:54
  Then the Lord mentions the second attribute of these thorns, the deceitfulness of riches.
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  Riches are not merely dangerous because they can be lost, they are dangerous because they deceive, they promise security and freedom, they promise importance and control, but they cannot give life, they cannot satisfy the soul, they cannot produce fruit for God.
• 6:24
  Paul writes in his first epicital to Timothy in the sixth chapter.
• 6:30
  They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, for the love of money is the root of all evil.
• 6:39
  Notice it is a snare and a trap, a thing that catches the heart while promising to help it.
• 6:47
  The danger is not merely having possessions, but the danger is possessions owning the heart.
• 6:54
  Then Mark adds another attribute of this thorny ground, the lusts of other things, not merely wicked things, just other things.
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  That is what makes the phrase so searching.
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  Things besides Christ, things besides the Word of God.
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  Comfort can become a thorn.
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  Success can become a thorn.
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  Reputation can become a thorn.
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  Entertainment can become a thorn.
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  Retirement plans can become a thorn.
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  Even ministry activity, if it displaces communion with Christ, can become a thorn.
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  The issue is not merely, is this thing allowed?
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  The deeper question is, has the thorn taken room in my heart that belongs to Christ?
• 7:48
  The Lord Jesus gave a living example of this in the rich young ruler.
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  He came with seriousness and he asked about eternal life.
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  This young, rich ruler was moral, earnest, and outwardly upright.
• 8:04
  But when the Lord touched his possessions, the root was exposed, when he stated in Matthew 19, but when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
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  He did not go away angry, he went away sorrowful.
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  That is thorny ground.
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  The word had reached the place of competition, and the heart chose what it already loved.
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  This is not just a warning to the wealthy.
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  A poor man can be choked by riches he does not yet have.
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  A comfortable man can be choked by preserving what he already has.
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  A worried man can be choked by fear of losing what he needs.
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  Apostle John writes in his first epistle, in the second chapter, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
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  The world is not only outward corruption, it is a system that offers the heart satisfaction apart from Christ, and the thorny ground hearer is vulnerable because the heart has not been cleared.
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  The word is heard, but Christ does not have the whole field.
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  This is why Luke 14 presses us so deeply.
• 9:28
  The Lord does not present discipleship as a small addition to an already crowded life.
• 9:35
  He does not say, Make room for me if there is space left.
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  He says in Luke 14, 33, Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
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  That is a searching word.
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  The Lord is not teaching carelessness with earthly responsibility.
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  He is demanding supremacy in the heart.
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  Nothing may be allowed to rival him, nothing may be allowed to sit higher than him, nothing may be allowed to choke his word.
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  This is the answer to the thorny ground.
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  Christ must not merely be added to the heart, he must possess the heart.
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  And Paul gives us the living answer in Philippians three.
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  He had many things that could have been counted gain, religious standing, natural advantage, reputation, zeal, a place of honor among men.
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  But when Christ was revealed to him, everything changed.
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  Philippians three, seven to eight.
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  But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
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  Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, that I may win Christ.
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  That is the delivered heart.
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  Paul is not merely giving up wicked things, he is counting even former gains as loss in comparison with Christ.
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  Thorns are not always visibly evil things.
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  Sometimes they are gains, advantages, comforts, positions in life, plans, achievements, things that can appear good, but still compete with Christ.
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  Paul says, in effect, I have seen Christ, and everything else has been revalued.
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  That is how the thorns lose their power.
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  Not merely by trying harder to detach from the world, but by seeing the surpassing worth of Christ.
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  The thorny heart is crowded because many things seem valuable.
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  The delivered heart is freed because Christ becomes supreme.
• 12:00
  This is why the kingdom of heaven is so important in this series.
• 12:05
  The king is still rejected.
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  His authority is not publicly honored by the world, and in the time of his rejection, the heart is tested.
• 12:17
  Will it make room for the word of the rejected king, or will it be filled with present things?
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  In 2026, this is a searching question.
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  We may not openly deny Christ, but we may live so full of present things that the word becomes unfruitful.
• 12:36
  We may still listen to Scripture, still attend meetings with other believers, but if the heart is dominated by care, gain, pleasure, and self-preservation, the word is being choked.
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  And the tragic result is this, as our Lord Jesus states in Mark 4, it becometh unfruitful, not merely distracted, unfruitful.
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  That is the sorrow of the thorny ground.
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  There may be leaves, there may be profession, there may be religious language, but no fruit for God.
• 13:14
  The Lord is looking for fruit for his pleasure.
• 13:17
  Fruit that comes from the Word, received into a heart, where Christ has room.
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  So what is the answer?
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  The answer is not to become careless about responsibilities.
• 13:31
  The answer is not to pretend life has no pressures.
• 13:35
  The answer is to bring every care under the authority of Christ.
• 13:41
  Peter writes in his fifth chapter of his first epistle, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.
• 13:51
  That is the opposite of being choked by care.
• 13:55
  The care does not disappear by denial, it is cast upon him.
• 14:00
  The heart is relieved by trusting the one who cares for us.
• 14:06
  And author to the Hebrews gives another necessary word.
• 14:16
  Notice, not only sin every weight.
• 14:20
  There are things that may not appear openly sinful, but they weigh down the soul, they hinder running, they occupy the heart, they consume spiritual energy.
• 14:32
  The thorny ground hearer needs discernment not only about evil things, but about crowding things, things that crowd out prayer, things that crowd out meditation of God's thoughts, things that crowd out obedience, things that crowd out Christ?
• 14:51
  The question is not merely, have I heard the word?
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  The thorny ground hearer has heard.
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  The question is, what else is growing in my heart?
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  Are cares growing there?
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  Is the love of money growing there?
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  Are pleasures growing there?
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  Is self-preservation growing there?
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  Is fear growing there?
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  Is the desire for comfort growing there?
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  And are these things choking the word?
• 15:20
  The Lord's warning is not given to discourage us, it is given to awaken us.
• 15:27
  He exposes the thorns, so they may be judged, before they choke all fruitfulness.
• 15:33
  He shows us the danger of a crowded heart, so that we may make room for himself.
• 15:40
  David prayed in the twenty seventh Psalm.
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  That is the answer to the crowded heart.
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  God is requests of us to seek ye my face.
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  And the exercised heart answers, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
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  The thorny heart is divided by many desires, but the delivered heart says, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
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  So as we close this episode, let this third parable about the weeds and thorns search us.
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  The king is still rejected, and the sour is still sowing.
• 16:29
  The word is still good, but the thorns are still growing.
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  And the question each child of God must answer for himself is Is the word of God bearing fruit in my life?
• 16:43
  Or is it being slowly choked by the cares, riches, and desires of this present world?