Monday, October 02, 2006
ROCKY SOIL
Matt. 13:20-21 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy;
21. yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mark 4:16-17 "And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17. and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
Luke 8:13 "And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
The seed is now presented to the hearer who is represented by the rocky places or rocky soil. In their spontaneity they are emotionally enthralled with this new and wonderful experience. They hear and immediately receive the word with joy. There is a problem with this type of soil in that these have no firm root. We might say that this individual is superficial; he may have been duped by superficial religion that builds megachurches on cheap grace. There is no repentance because sin and God’s wrath is ignored from the pulpit and by the leadership. Therefore here is no counting the cost of being a follower of Christ and His lordship.
Churches have gone too long building their membership roles by encouraging a walk down the aisle to pray a formulaic “sinner’s prayer,” a rising of a hand, or a signing of a card. Euphoria and emotionalism reigns supreme making this disciple in the image of the marketing system but not born again in the image of Christ according to the Bible.
In due time his soil be will evident. His “Christian show” is only temporary in that when temptation, affliction or persecution arises because of the word of God he will immediately fall away. This time of temptation, affliction or persecution has a purifying effect on a local church that is deep rooted. When these difficulties become hard to bear then only those who are strong in the faith will suffer through the storm. Those superficially rooted will never weather the storm and will fall out rather quickly leaving only those strong in the faith to carry on the ministry.
MacArthur writes, “If a person’s profession of Christ does not involve a deep conviction of sin, a genuine sense of lostness, a strong desire for the Lord to cleanse and purify, a hungering and thirsting for righteousness and a love of His Word, along with a genuine willingness to suffer for His sake, there is no root to his spiritual life and it will be only a matter of time before his religious house falls.”
21. yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mark 4:16-17 "And in a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17. and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
Luke 8:13 "And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
The seed is now presented to the hearer who is represented by the rocky places or rocky soil. In their spontaneity they are emotionally enthralled with this new and wonderful experience. They hear and immediately receive the word with joy. There is a problem with this type of soil in that these have no firm root. We might say that this individual is superficial; he may have been duped by superficial religion that builds megachurches on cheap grace. There is no repentance because sin and God’s wrath is ignored from the pulpit and by the leadership. Therefore here is no counting the cost of being a follower of Christ and His lordship.
Churches have gone too long building their membership roles by encouraging a walk down the aisle to pray a formulaic “sinner’s prayer,” a rising of a hand, or a signing of a card. Euphoria and emotionalism reigns supreme making this disciple in the image of the marketing system but not born again in the image of Christ according to the Bible.
In due time his soil be will evident. His “Christian show” is only temporary in that when temptation, affliction or persecution arises because of the word of God he will immediately fall away. This time of temptation, affliction or persecution has a purifying effect on a local church that is deep rooted. When these difficulties become hard to bear then only those who are strong in the faith will suffer through the storm. Those superficially rooted will never weather the storm and will fall out rather quickly leaving only those strong in the faith to carry on the ministry.
MacArthur writes, “If a person’s profession of Christ does not involve a deep conviction of sin, a genuine sense of lostness, a strong desire for the Lord to cleanse and purify, a hungering and thirsting for righteousness and a love of His Word, along with a genuine willingness to suffer for His sake, there is no root to his spiritual life and it will be only a matter of time before his religious house falls.”
# posted by Castusfumus : 7:23 PM
