From this brief story, included in three Gospels, we learn vital truths: - The purpose of God. God will establish His kingdom on earth (Matthew 6:10; 16:18). Nothing will thwart His intention. - The priority of proclamation. The kingdom comes in this age first by preaching. Jesus proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heave [God] is at hand” (4:17), and promised, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (24:14). - The presence of opposition. The gospel message will be opposed by Satan, trouble and persecution, the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches (13:19-22). - The proportion of productivity. Most hearers will either misunderstand the message, or fail to produce the crops of faith-filled living (13:19-22). There are few who enter the “gate which leads to life” (7:14). “Many are called [by the public preaching of the Gospel] but few are chosen (22:14). - The power of the Word of God. The “seed” of God’s Good News will transform the lives of those who heed it, making them powerful and productive “doers” of the truth and witnesses of Christ (13:8, 23, 31-33; 5:16; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). - The preciousness of the Gospel message. Fruitfulness and futility; satisfaction and frustration; life and death – all depend upon the sharing, believing, and obeying the Word of Christ. Friends, shall we not expend every effort, pay any price, overcome every obstacle, and discard every distraction, in order to spread abroad the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation, to the glory of our King Jesus?