Tuesday, October 03, 2006
AMONG THE THORNS
Matt. 13:22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 4:18-19 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19. and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Luke 8:14 "And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity
The third soil finds the seed sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word but are too involved with the worries of the world to bring any fruit to maturity. We have already heard that man cannot serve two masters and nor can God’s child love the world’s corrupt riches and pleasures. John tells us in 1John 2:15-17 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
So when we analyze this type of man we see that he heard the word and weighed the cost but has fallen for the world and the deceitfulness of its riches which are temporary. He goes for all the gusto of today and never thinks where it all ends. He lets the word get choked out with the so called riches and pleasures of this life as his goal. Paul tells us about this kind in 1Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
The seed has a purpose of production and reproduction. In the case of the thorny soil it never has an opportunity to grow to maturity because the thorns, which are the worries or concerns of the world, overshadow it. The overpowering thorns choke the seed from life, hindering it from any production let alone reproduction.
Mark 4:18-19 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19. and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Luke 8:14 "And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity
The third soil finds the seed sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word but are too involved with the worries of the world to bring any fruit to maturity. We have already heard that man cannot serve two masters and nor can God’s child love the world’s corrupt riches and pleasures. John tells us in 1John 2:15-17 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
So when we analyze this type of man we see that he heard the word and weighed the cost but has fallen for the world and the deceitfulness of its riches which are temporary. He goes for all the gusto of today and never thinks where it all ends. He lets the word get choked out with the so called riches and pleasures of this life as his goal. Paul tells us about this kind in 1Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
The seed has a purpose of production and reproduction. In the case of the thorny soil it never has an opportunity to grow to maturity because the thorns, which are the worries or concerns of the world, overshadow it. The overpowering thorns choke the seed from life, hindering it from any production let alone reproduction.
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.”
Sunday, October 01, 2006
SOWN BESIDE THE ROAD
Matt. 13:19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
Mark. 4:15 "And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
Luke 8:12 "And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.
Jesus now begins His explanation of the soils in private with the twelve and a few others (Mark 4:10). These are those whom it was granted eyes to see and ears to hear that which the unbeliever hears only as an unintelligible riddle.
Jesus begins His explanation in private with the twelve and a few others who were granted understanding as seen in Mark 4:10-11a And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11. And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God.
We now observe the factors of this parable. The first soil is described as that sown beside the road. This soil is hard packed to the point that it is nearly impossible for the seed/the word of the kingdom to make penetration into it. The seed has been presented, or heard but the hard soil is impervious to the seed’s effectiveness. This would describe one who had a heart of stone and does not care the least bit about spiritual matters. This soil is the person who thoroughly rejects God’s truth as foolishness. 1Cor. 1:18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. There is nothing wrong with the seed but there is something very wrong with the soil.
This soil has another problem other than being hard packed. The seed is recognized as a threat immediately by Satan thus he snatches away the seed that was sown beside the road. The seed has no possibility of germination in the heart of this person. This person will never have any sense of guilt or shame because the soil of his heart is so hard packed that it will never be broken up by conviction of sin. This is Satan’s work of removing any truth so this soil will remain sealed in darkness without hope. Mark describes the work of the devil in that he takes away the word from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved.
Scripture describes this kind of soil as a fool Prov. 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Ps.14:1a The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." This person is a determined unbeliever and in love with the world.
Mark. 4:15 "And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
Luke 8:12 "And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.
Jesus now begins His explanation of the soils in private with the twelve and a few others (Mark 4:10). These are those whom it was granted eyes to see and ears to hear that which the unbeliever hears only as an unintelligible riddle.
Jesus begins His explanation in private with the twelve and a few others who were granted understanding as seen in Mark 4:10-11a And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11. And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God.
We now observe the factors of this parable. The first soil is described as that sown beside the road. This soil is hard packed to the point that it is nearly impossible for the seed/the word of the kingdom to make penetration into it. The seed has been presented, or heard but the hard soil is impervious to the seed’s effectiveness. This would describe one who had a heart of stone and does not care the least bit about spiritual matters. This soil is the person who thoroughly rejects God’s truth as foolishness. 1Cor. 1:18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. There is nothing wrong with the seed but there is something very wrong with the soil.
This soil has another problem other than being hard packed. The seed is recognized as a threat immediately by Satan thus he snatches away the seed that was sown beside the road. The seed has no possibility of germination in the heart of this person. This person will never have any sense of guilt or shame because the soil of his heart is so hard packed that it will never be broken up by conviction of sin. This is Satan’s work of removing any truth so this soil will remain sealed in darkness without hope. Mark describes the work of the devil in that he takes away the word from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved.
Scripture describes this kind of soil as a fool Prov. 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Ps.14:1a The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." This person is a determined unbeliever and in love with the world.
