Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: — 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth! Even so, it is the voice of the Spirit — blessed in resting from their toils; for what they have done goes with them.'"
and this is why I am suffering. Still, I am not ashamed of it; I know whom I have trusted and I am certain he is able to keep what I have put into his hands till the great Day.
strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to hold by the faith, and telling them that "we have to get into the Realm of God through many a trouble."
Take heed to yourselves in case your hearts get overpowered by dissipation and drunkenness and worldly anxieties, and so that Day catches you suddenly like a trap.
As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen.