The Soils
Notes
Transcript
The Parable
The Parable
Jesus tells stories of everyday life to illustrate a point
He also tells stories to hide a truth from unwanted ears
this is the parable that he told
V 4-8
V 8 those who have ears let them hear
V 10 there are those who Jesus does not want to understand
He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not know.’
many of Jesus followers are people who want to trap him
many just want to be healed of diseases
many are there for the entertainment purposes
and some are there who really are a believers
this parable is about different soils and what they produce
the meaning of this parable is hidden from all who were listening
so Jesus interprets this to anyone who wants to ask
V 9
the disciples ask what does it mean?
11 of these men had ears to hear
1 Judas faked it for 3 years
lets read the definition starting in V 11
Pray
3 Soils
3 Soils
the first three are not saved people
the first three are not true believers
they are not someone who was coerced into saying a prayer
then live like the devil
there was a unbiblical trend that was introduced into this country by a man named Charles Finney in the early 1800s
this trend is alive and well today
evangelists come into a city and stir the people up to come down front and proclaim your loyalty to God and be saved
people would be all worked up by the sermon and come to the front row which was called the mourners bench
and mourn over your sin again they would say a prayer giving their lives to Jesus.
they would act christian like for a while and then right back to the world
Finney believed that the sin problem resided in the will of man and not the heart a sin nature. so salvation is to aimed at the will of man to change himself. thus the will of man is paramount to anything the Holy Spirit can do.
Dr John Cereghin Nettleton Vs Finney Shift in American Evangelism 1820-1830
A modern "revival meeting" is when a pastor brings in an evangelist or a special speaker in the hopes that the preacher will revive the congregation and that large number of sinners will be converted. The revival meeting in this context becomes a man-centered effort for revival that can be brought about with proper organization and advertising. It is full of gimmicks and tricks to get people to attend meetings, like "pack a pew day", representing absentees as black sheep, using thermometers to gage attendance. Yet would they not be justified in revivalism? Since conversion is the work of man, then every effort must be made to get the sinner to change his mind and any such work would be justified if it resulted in conversions. The sinner must be convinced of the rightness of the gospel and be brought to a point where he is willing to make a positive “decision” for Christ. Any means or technique which accomplishes this must be considered good or God honored as it helped bring the sinner to salvation. Never mind if it was Biblical, it worked! Hence, Bozo the Clown, bus routes that cover three time zones and "hit the-pastor-in-the-face-with-a-cream-pie" day are judged as good and honored by God if they are tools that result in conversions.
a revival cannot be scheduled
a revival come from the Holy Spirit
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
“That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”
the Holy Spirit is like the wind
man cannot Change the wind
Man cannot schedule the Holy Spirit to be at certain church on the 27th of next month
are there people saved in spite of these techniques?
yes but very few
and many who think they are saved
at the end of Finney’s revivals there is an area in western New York that is called the burned over district
because the people would not listen to a Christian Preacher because they tried Jesus and it did not work
how many people do you know that was so-called saved who is now not
lets look at these 3 soils
V 12 satan has blinded the eye
V 13 soil on a rock the only growth is up no Root
they look good for a short time their faith is something that they conjurered up
What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.
But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
V 14 Among the thorns
this faith is also choked out
their faith is in themselves
they are like the people in the burnt over district
relying on themselves to work up to God’s standards
Judas for 3 years listened to Jesus, was considered an apostle but the whole time he was a thief, in the end it choked him out
lets look now at the
Good Soil
Good Soil
V 15
let me tell you of a real Holy spirit revival
about 1975 the church my dad pastored
there was an unscheduled out of the blue revival
people came to the house saying I don’t know what is going on in that church but I need it
every week there were people being saved
it lasted about 3 weeks to an month
out of that revival there were pastors, missionaries
christian school principals
the tender heart , the good soil comes from God
we plant the seeds, or water the seeds that are already planted
this is done with the Word of God
at the same time as Finney there was a man named Nettleton
he wanted to go to the foreign mission field
in fact he and another man made plans to go at the same time
but God had other plans for Nettleton
Nettleton was asked to come preach one Sunday at a church that’s numbers were way down. so he came to preach as a favor to the church.
a revival started and when it ended there was 75 -100 saved
this man did not have an alter call, did not have the people say a prayer
he sent them home. weeping and troubled over their sin
the Holy Spirit worked on the heart for up to a month on individuals
when the time was right they were saved by God
J__ B__, son of E__ B__, aged nearly 13 years. On the last Sabbath in May, or the first Sabbath in June, his mother went to meeting, and charged him and her other child to be good children, and not to play, but read their books. His father went to a distant field to see about his cattle. Before noon, this J__ was struck with a deep conviction of sin. He continued in a distressed state about 24 hours, without food or sleep. His mind seemed to be overwhelmed with a sense of the dreadful nature of sin, as committed against God. Something happened to him at the end of 24 hours, which caused him to wipe away his tears, to wash himself, and cheerfully to partake of some food. It is now about two months since this happened. He has been, from that time to this, remarkably calm and serene in his mind. He answers questions rationally — says that he loves God and hates sin. He does not fail in his daily devotions and reading the Bible, and has altogether a“change of deportment. He appears to have a sense of the evil nature of sin. The duties of the Sabbath and the sanctuary appear to be his delight. It is apparent to all who know this youth, that a great change has taken place in him. From being passionate, petulant, perverse, and stubborn, he is now humble, meek, patient, forbearing, and forgiving.”
Excerpt From
Nettleton - Memoir
Asahel Nettleton
God through the power of the gospel changes lives
The Holy Spirit makes the soil of the heart to receive the seed that you plant take root spring up and produce fruit
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
plant the seed of the gospel
pray for the seed
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
or maybe water the seed
allow God to cause the increase
allow God to prepare the heart
Allow God to save