And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke 8: 4-15

According to our Master only a fraction of the people who hear the Word hold on to it long enough … follow it far enough in order to bear fruit.

Vast numbers of people respond to the Word with what appears to be faith, but in time that faith either dies or gets choked out by other things.

Only a fraction of the people who hear the Word ignite into the kind of blazing faith that can't be quenched by trial, or choked by the cares and the riches and pleasures of life.

So, who are these people who have the kind of driving faith that keeps them going far enough that they do indeed bear fruit? Who can't be sidetracked? Who are they that don't get discouraged…who don't become bitter…who don't burn out? Who are they that keep right on going, and nothing seems to be able to choke it out of them?

They are those whose eyes have been opened to see God. They have received a compelling vision which keeps driving them on – a vision so clear that all the delights and pleasures of this world are pale by comparison. They cling to this one clear good thing: Vision.

The man who finds treasure hidden in a field, then covers it up, sells everything he has and buys the field---this man is driven by a vision.

He has seen the treasure!

When we see the treasure – really see it, how can anything in this world ever satisfy us again?

Consider Abraham:

Abraham is called to leave his country, his kindred, his father's land and go to a land that God will show him. And Abraham leaves on the strength of a word spoken. He hasn't seen any visions; experienced anything supernatural. He just goes on the strength of that word.

When he gets to Canaan, the Lord appears to him. Now he has vision. Now he sees. He builds an altar and offers his life back as a sacrifice to God.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:7

It is from this point on that Abraham has vision. It's a compelling vision, driving him on in the purpose of God the rest of his life.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Consider Peter:

One morning Peter is washing his nets, when along comes Jesus surrounded by throngs of people. "May I teach the people from your boat Peter?" Peter gets in and rows the boat out a short distance from the land so that Jesus can teach, keeps it steady while Jesus speaks to the people.

While Peter listens to the teaching, the word Peter hears becomes more and more personal, until finally Jesus turns around and looks him in the eye and says, "Now, put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

"Master, we've toiled all night and taken nothing. Nevertheless at your word, I'll let down the nets."

The nets come up loaded. And in this sign -- Peter sees God.

"Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"

"Don't be afraid. From now on you're going to be

catching men."

And when they brought their boats to land they forsook everything and followed him.

In this sign of the fish, Jesus manifested himself to Peter as Lord, and Peter's eyes were opened. He received vision. Compelling vision that drove him forward in the purpose of God the rest of his life.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Consider Saul of Tarsus, soon to be the apostle Paul:

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Trembling and astonished he said to him, "Lord, what will you have me do?" And he answered, "Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men traveling with him were speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. Acts 9: 1- 9

Saul has been lashing out violently against the purposes of God, not really understanding what he's doing. But the instant Saul hears a call from Jesus, he stops, turns, and yields himself totally.

For three days all the lights are out and then his eyes are opened again.

So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened. Acts 9:17,18

The scales fall from Saul's eyes, he sees again, and is filled with the Holy Spirit, he has vision – compelling vision that drives him on in the purposes of God for the rest of his life.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Now the question we need to ask, as we think about our own lives is, "Who of us can make it through the storms, through the confusion, the dry places of this world – without a burning vision?"

If we don't somehow see God, see him so clearly that the other things in our lives begin to dull by comparison, we are bound to be sidetracked, choked by the cares and the riches of this life.

Now the vision that I'm talking about is not something we see through these eyes -- it's an inner vision --- a light that comes on inside and enables us to see the hand of God moving in the midst of the absurdities of life in this world.

Jesus promises that we are to have such a vision.

Every child of God is to have this vision.

"I am the light of the world," he says. "He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

Inner vision.

Abraham followed the call, and soon the light came on for him. Peter heard the call, answered it, and the light came on for him.

But many of us are dangling somewhere between the call we have heard and the vision that awaits us. We know that God has called us by name, and yet, we're still stumbling in the dark.

We can't handle trials.

We are forever sucked down by the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life.

Somehow we have to be able to press on to the place where God appears to us as he appeared to Abraham. So that we see light, build an altar to our holy God, and offer our lives back to him as a living sacrifice.

A vision, which causes our hearts to catch fire, sweeping out of the way all the things that interfere and distract. So that we move forward in God's purpose, driven by the light of a compelling vision.

But how do we get to the place where God appears to us – where we see his light, and offer ourselves back to him in thanksgiving and praise?

We do it by acting on the word we have already heard.

By acting on that word with a pure heart.

By doing it.

The only difference between Abraham and us is that Abraham, when he was called, left Haran and went to Canaan …whereas we are still dangling in the outskirts of Haran.

We cannot seem to pull ourselves away.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

To be pure in heart means that you leave Haran and go to Canaan.

To be pure in heart means to be single-minded.

To be so caught up, so obsessed with seeing what God wants

us to do, so earnestly hungry for knowing and doing his will,

that we push all other things aside and act.

It doesn't take a hundred years to become pure in heart.

There was a critical moment in the life of Abraham when Abraham says to himself, "Let's go", and starts packing his things. And at that moment Abraham begins to become pure in heart.

For Peter, it was when he said, "Nevertheless, Lord, at your word I'll let down the nets."

And for us, that critical moment is the point at which we give up our reservations and say, "I will follow you, Lord", burn our bridges, and go.

Most of us are still busy trying to say, "Goodbye", to our friends – trying to take our leave.

Trying to work through our reservations.

Trying to work a "deal" with Him. "I'll go, if you'll make some

concessions."

"Lord, I will follow you but why can't I take my cat along?

Or my husband?"

"My wife might not fully understand."

"I can often run a bit late. That won't get in the way, will it?"

"I have this hobby. It's a minor thing, but it means a lot to me,

Lord."

"I'm accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Surely you won't interfere

with that, Lord."

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Are we ready to sell all that we have and buy the treasure?

Notice that Abraham didn't get the vision within the first hour after leaving Haran. Abraham had to travel hundreds of miles on foot from Haran until he got to Canaan. Then the vision came.

But the instant Abraham began to move, he knew within himself that it was only a matter of time – he knew the vision was on its way.

And the minute we take the crucial step of giving up our reservations, putting ourselves totally in the hands of Jesus, to let things go His way instead of our own --- we are on our way.

Once we make that decision, the vision is bound to follow. Nothing can hinder it. The vision will come.

The issue for us is simple: "Am I willing to do what Abraham did? To do what Peter did? To do what Paul did?"

- To give up my reservations and start moving.

- To let go of the thing I'm still hanging on to and say, "It's

yours, Lord."

Once we do that, it is only a matter of time until our eyes open, and we see God. We will have a compelling vision, a vision that will drive us forward in the purpose of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.