Part 1- The Wayside
In Matthew 13:1-23, the Lord Jesus teaches us the parable of the soil which illustrates the heart of a human being when the seed of the Word of God is sown in their heart. "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) Again the Holy Spirit teaches us, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
The problem is not with the seed, the Word of God. The problem is with the condition of the heart. The first condition we find is described as the wayside in Matthew 13:4. The fowls of the air devour the seed. The Lord Jesus interprets this in Matthew 13:19 when He says the Word of God is heard, but the hearer doesn't consider it. The devil thus is able to steal the seed before it gets deep into the soil of the heart.
This was my own condition until I was almost 30 years of age. I counted one time 7 decisions that I had made in church services. The problem was that I didn't even know that I was lost. In fact, I didn't know that anyone was lost. My philosophy was that if you did more good than bad, one day on God's scale you would make it to Heaven. I didn't know we were in the wrong race, the human race. No one instructed me in the Word of God in these 7 decisions. I left like I came in, lost without God and without hope. Just before my 30th birthday, having attended church all of my life, God in His mercy and grace revealed to me that I was a lost, hellbound sinner. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) "There is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10)
We have broken God's law as revealed to us in the 10 Commandments, and we are guilty. The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, lived a sinless life and He died for our sins on the cross. The Lord Jesus was buried dead and on the third day He was raised from the dead. If we will receive Him as our Savior, Jesus Christ will save us. We will be born into the family of God. All of our sins will be forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be put on our account in Heaven. Has that ever happened to you? You may look on the internet at www.joemurray.org and see God's plan of salvation under the heading, "How to Go to Heaven."
Yes, it is true that in the first type of soil. the sinner doesn't get saved as the devil steals the seed of the Word of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." That is why you hear message after message and even read the Word of God for yourself, yet you still are not saved. As a Pastor, I have seen this time and time again. One "accepts" the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and the next time you visit them or see them, they want nothing to do with Christ, His church or the Bible. The devil stole the seed, my friend. When the Lord Jesus saves us, we are literally born again into God's family and thus we have a new nature. We are little newborn babes in Christ, but we know our sins are forgiven. We have come out of darkness into light. From death to life, from the road to hell to the road to Heaven. We will not be perfect until the Lord Jesus comes again or until we go to Him. We will, however, be a new creation.
Perhaps your testimony is like mine and you desire a relationship with Holy God. Ask God to lead you to someone who can guide you to Jesus Christ through the Word of God. Find a Pastor who is a soul winner and he will spend quality time with you in instruction of the Bible. If you have trouble calling someone, call me at 636-667-8084 and I will be more than grateful for the privilege of helping you.
Part 2- The Shallow Ground
The second type of soil is found in Matthew 13:5,6. This is a stony heart with not much good ground or deepness of earth. The Lord Jesus explains this in verses 20 and 21. This person hears the Word of God and receives it. When tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word (who is the Lord Jesus Christ), he is offended. Only a born again believer gets offended by the Word of God because they are the only ones who know what it says. ("But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14)
This person gets saved and goes to school the next day or goes to work and confesses that Jesus Christ is his or her Savior. People laugh and mock and make fun of them, and this offends them. They will not follow the Lord Jesus, but they are saved as by fire. Another way one gets offended is by the Word of God preached. The preacher preaches on tithing, or soul winning, on assembling together with the saints, or some other passage of scriptural truth. They get offended and stop following the Lord Jesus. Things are not as they expected as they begin to learn that the Christian life is the crucified life. As God says in John 6:66, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Yes, when Jesus Christ comes to live in your heart, your body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and tribulation with the world system, the old sin nature, and the devil begins. The Lord Jesus says to those who have believed on Him and received Him as their Savior, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33b) Yes, a Christian is going to have trouble, but the Lord Jesus Christ is right here in your heart through the Holy Spirit. As we are being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are overcomers. But when His Word offends, we drop by the wayside.
If you are a witness unto the Lord Jesus Christ, you are going to see some that you lead to the Lord Jesus start out well. But some may faint and turn around and follow Him no more. Their only hope of being a disciple again is revival in their heart. They still have relationship with God because they are born into His family. But they do not have fellowship until they repent and get right with God through the Blood of the Lord Jesus.
In one of my pastorates I recall beginning to miss this certain fellow. After a couple of weeks, I went to visit him and he was very cold toward me. In questioning what was troubling him, he said that when I preached on tithing, I called his name out that he was not a tither. Of course, I didn't have any way to know whether or not he was a tither or not. There was no way that I could convince this brother that I didn't call his name out as I was preaching. Evidently he was offended by the commandment in scripture and he may have actually heard his name called out by the Holy Spirit.
I hope you do not let those who get offended and stop following the Lord Jesus stop you from witnessing in the power of the Holy Spirit and laboring for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Part 3- Seed Among Thorns
In verse 7 of Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus teaches us the third type of soil of the heart. It is explained in verse 22. "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
This person begins to bear fruit in his or her Christian life. They start out right, drinking the milk of the Word of God, assembling together with the saints, obeying in baptism, and really following our Lord Jesus. They have a heart for the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Somewhere up the road, possibly after several years; the care of this world take hold in their life that is hid with Christ in God. What is the care of this world? Food, clothing and shelter along with othe things. We are tempted to seek things instead of seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." In our materialistic society, it seems to be easy to get distracted from the work of God which is the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. I understand the gospel is going forth in a rapid powerful way in the third world countries. Most Christians there are full time Christian workers in the harvest of souls because they have no other work to do. You may not be able to be a full time Christian worker so to speak, but you can be a full time Christian. The Lord Jesus came to this world to save sinners. That is the work of the local church, His Body, on this earth today. We are to bring sinners to saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit so that the Lord Jesus can save them. Next, the church baptizes them and then teaches them all things that God has taught us. GO, REACH, BAPTIZE AND TEACH is a never ending cycle until our Lord Jesus comes again to take us out of here.
As a Pastor, I have known folk who loved the Lord God with all of their heart and followed the Lord Jesus in fulfilling the Great Commission who became deceived by the deceitfulness of riches. What is the deceitfulness of riches? Riches have wings on them. Ask folk who came through the great depression. Some were wealthy one day and broke the next. There is no security on this earth other than the eternal security that Blood bought, born again believers have through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The older generation in the wilderness is a Bible illustration of being carried away by the deceitfulness of riches. God brought them out of Egypt, a type of the world, through the Blood of the lamb, symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were in slavery to Pharoah, a type of the devil, and they were delivered one way, through the shedding of Blood. This Blood was a picture of the Cross which would take place several thousand years later.
As the children of God, they could not believe His Word as He took them out of Egypt to take them into Canaan. Canaan is a land to possess by the people of God. The giants in Canaan, however, frightened the saints. They were afraid that the giants would take all of their possessions which had multiplied greatly since Egypt. They had been carried away by the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world. Lest we judge them, notice how we do the same thing today.
Folk get saved and begin a love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are "...dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4) The fruit of the Lord Jesus and a Christian is another Christian. He is the producer and we are the bearer. The Lord Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, longsuffering, kindness, meekness, faith and temperance, but the fruit of Jesus Christ and a Christian are baby Christians. This is the first step of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The step has to be taken before the other two can be completed.
The deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world choke the Word of God in us and we become unfruitful. If this has happened to you, I beg you to repent and renew your love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Once again become fruitful as you bear His fruit. If this has happened to your church as it did to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7, pray that the Holy Spirit will bring her to repentance that she can do the first work she did as when she started. What was this work? "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19,20)
Part 4- Seed in the Good Soil
The fourth type of soil is the good ground that has neither stones nor thorns. These saints bear fruit according to their opportunity in the local church, the Body of Christ. The 100 fold is not elevated above the 30 and 60 fold, it is a matter of obedience in what God has put in our heart and in our hand in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
These fruit bearing Christians want what God wants here on this earth. The Lord Jesus came to save sinners and the great heart of God is that we preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit to every creature or person on this earth. God wills "...all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:4) God is "...not willing that any perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) "And he (the Lord Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2) Whosoever will may come. This is the good news that we have to tell every human being on the face of the earth. The price has been paid by the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are thousands who will repent to God of self righteousness and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The whosoever wont's will have to spend eternity separated from Holy God in hell because the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to God. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
This is a heart issue for the saint, beloved. Discipleship is not a requirement for salvation. Discipleship is a requirement for fruit bearing. The Lord Jesus is talking to saved people in Matthew 16:24 when He says, "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Again He states this in Mark 8:34 and Luke 8:23 and the context is obviously to Christians. If this were to lost folk, it would be a works salvation. We are "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Do you desire to bear the Lord's spiritual children? Then the 'if'' is to you in Luke 9:23-26 "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's and of the holy angels." This self denial must be done on a daily basis. I encourage you to study these passages. Whatever your ministry is in the local church, if your heart is in what God wants; which is the fulfillment of the Great Commission, then you are a fruit bearing Christian.
Now notice in these devotions of the four types of soil that only one fourth of those who confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ bear fruit. The first fourth does not get saved because the devil steals the seed. This doesn't mean that they won't get saved at a later date, but at that time their heart was not prepared through prayer. I believe that I was in this catagory until I was almost 30 years old.
The second type of soil shows us that the person gets saved and then gets offended by the Word of God and they are not fruitbearing.
The third type of soil gets saved, begins to bear fruit and then becomes unfruitful.
The fourth type of soil bears fruit according to their opportunity because they have a daily love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The objective of these devotionals is that the devil will not get you discouraged in seeking to bring folk to the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our part is to be seed sowers. In some people's lives we plant, some we water and in some we see the actual harvest of salvation. As we witness, the Holy Spirit witnesses and draws them to the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus saves them as they repent and receive Him as their Savior.
How is the soil of your heart, dear friend? If it is the first type, may the Holy Spirit reveal to you that you are not saved. I pray God will convict you of sin and grant you repentance and faith that you may receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. If you need help in doing this, either call me at 636-667-8084 or e-mail me at joemurray@yhti.net. The Lord Jesus will save you and you will know it by the Word of God.
Perhaps you are the second or third type of soil. Have you been saved, but become offended by the Word of God? Or were you saved and then carried away by the deceitfulness of riches and the care of this world? I urge you to repent, agree with God about your sins and and be filled again with the Holy Spirit. (You can get help on the filling of the Holy Spirit at J.M.E.F. bookstore at www.joemurray.org and also receive full messages on these devotionals.) Tell God that you desire to be a fruit bearing Christian according to St. John chapter 15 where you will find that the Lord Jesus is the Vine and you are one of the branches. We are to bear fruit, much fruit, and fruit that remains. Glory to God! You may also get that message from the online bookstore.
Remember, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30) "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:5,6)
So Great Salvation
In Luke chapter 17, verses 11-19, the Lord Jesus meets ten lepers. Like leaven, leprosy in the Bible is a symbol of sin. These lepers recognized the Lord Jesus because they cried out to Him, "Master." Their cry was for mercy.
Judgment is giving us exactly what we deserve. Mercy is not giving us what we deserve. Grace is giving us what we do not deserve. The lepers were crying out to the Lord Jesus not to give them what they deserved, but to give them what they didn't deserve.
We have all earned one thing from God. The wages of sin is death. If we got the judgment of God, we would all get eternal death. This means eternal separation from Holy God forever and ever in hell. That is what we have earned and what we have coming to us. Because of what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross, the Lord God offers us mercy and grace. ("The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23b)
These lepers knew and recognized the Lord Jesus Christ. Since they called Jesus, "Master," I believe they had already received Him as their Savior. They could have heard the gospel through John the Baptist or some other witness that Jesus was the Christ. Have you repented to God and received Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you have, you may be a baby Christian, but you know that your sins are forgiven. (1 John 2:12)
If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, go to www.joemurray.org and read "How to Go to Heaven". If you have any questions e-mail me at joemurray@yhti.net or call me at 636-667-8084.
In verse 14, the Lord Jesus told them what to do. As they obeyed, they were cleansed of leprosy. When they saw they were healed, one of them turned and glorified God. One out of ten. All ten were healed, but only one praised God and gave Him glory and honor. The other nine took that more than wonderful blessing for granted. As the Lord God gives us His unmerited favor on a daily basis, let's acknowledge that these things are a gift from God and give Him praise and glory.
In Hebrews 2:3a, the Holy Spirit teaches us this truth. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" In this context, God is not talking to those who are still lost, He is talking to those who have been saved. He is talking about judgement or chastening in the lives of His children, and He is saying to us that when affliction, hardship, trials and testing come into our life. If we have been neglecting our Savior and that great salvation, we are not likely to make it through the test. Many turned around and followed the Lord Jesus no more. They still belonged to Him, but they stopped following Him. We do not lose our relationship to God because we have been born into His family when we repented and put all of our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We will, however, lose our fellowship and lose our faith in His faithfulness to us. The one constant in the Christian life is this so great salvation. Everything else changes. One day we have wealth, the next day we don't. One day we have health, the next day, we don't. One day we see, hear, taste, touch and feel God. The next day we don't. The Lord Jesus says that our main point of rejoicing should be that our name is written in Heaven. Praise the Lord God our Savior each and everyday and throughout the day for that "So Great Salvation" that He bought for us on the cross. 1 John 3:16 says, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us..."
Copyrights © 2006 Evangelist Joe Murray