A sower went out to sow and some seed fell by the wayside, some on rock, some among thorns, and some on good ground.

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Website owner:  James Miller

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Jesus came down to this world and preached that man must repent of his immorality and wickedness, turn to God, and obey God by leading the kind of life God expects each of us to lead — an upright, good, straight, virtuous, morally pure life. In this connection, consider Jesus’ words in the following passage:

Luke 8: 4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

‘Seeing they may not see,

And hearing they may not understand.’

11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

I ask this question: How much of God’s seed (i.e. God’s word— the Bible) falls on good ground in America? How much seed produces a hundred fold in modern day America? How much seed falls by the wayside, or falls on rock, or falls among thorns in our modern day?

Who is that man who produces a hundred fold? It is that man who truly believes the Bible, loves the Bible, reads the Bible, knows the Bible. Why? Because it is that knowledge of holy scripture, love of holy scripture, that is our anchor in this immoral, wicked, foolish world. The Word of God is our shield and protection. If God is with us, what else matters? As the psalmist has said:

Psa 1:1-6 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of

the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in

the seat of the scornful; {2} But his delight is in the law of

the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.

{3} He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also

shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

{4} The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind

drives away. {5} Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the

judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

{6} For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of

the ungodly shall perish.

Psa 18:1-2 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. {2} The

LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my

strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my

salvation, and my high tower.

Psa 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I

fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be

afraid?

Psa 119:127 Therefore I love thy commandments above gold;

yea, above fine gold. {130} The entrance of thy words giveth

light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. {133} Order my

steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over

me. {144} The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting:

give me understanding, and I shall live. {162} I rejoice at thy

word, as one that findeth great spoil. {163} I hate and abhor

lying: but thy law do I love. {165} Great peace have they which

love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. {169} Let my cry

come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according

to thy word.

The true man of God necessarily rejects the ways of the world he lives in. The man of God has one moral authority. That moral authority is God. He has no other. The voices of this world, the opinions of this world, the outlooks and values of the society he lives in, mean absolutely nothing to him. He is only concerned about the opinion of God himself.

What kind of person does God expect a Christian to be? The answer: He is supposed to be a model of integrity, goodness, virtue, and morality. He is supposed to stand out from other people for his exceptional integrity and goodness. He is supposed to be an impressive example of morality and virtue in an immoral, wicked world; a candle of light in a dark world. Consider the following words of Jesus:

Matt 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

As Christians we are supposed to be representatives of God, examples of what God is and represents, in a dark and sinful world. We are supposed to be lights for the world.

I believe that most people in this world who view themselves as Christians are guilty of a great deal of self-deception. Being a member of some Christian church doesn’t make you a Christian. Activity is some church doesn’t make you a Christian. Complying with some magic formula for becoming a Christian doesn’t make you a Christian. You are a Christian because of what you are. True Christianity is about substance — not form, rite and ritual. You are a Christian because you love God and are obedient to him by living in the way he wants you to live (a good, straight, moral life). You are a Christian because you do actually live by the teachings of Jesus Christ (as received through his words and those of his apostles). Man is much disposed towards error. He is naive and gullible. He believes what he is told. Especially if what he is told is what he wants to hear, what he wants to believe. That is a mistake. To find truth you must seek it and you can’t trust other people for it. You must have a mind of your own. You must think. You must question. You must examine. Error is everywhere. It is the rule, not the exception. Satan is into everything. He twists everything to his own purpose. He is a master of deception and deceit. You can’t trust preachers or religious denominations for Biblical truth. You must read the Bible yourself and seek and ferret out the truth on your own. You will find the simple truth in the words and teachings of the Bible. Truth undistorted by tradition or the preset opinions, assumptions and beliefs of biased men.

This country is filled with Christian apostasy, false teaching. Where did it all come from? How about theological seminaries as the origin? Students in the seminaries are indoctrinated into theological falsehoods and they, in turn, pass the falsehoods on to congregations. The entire country thus becomes apostate. Why do theological seminaries get off on the wrong track? Trying to mix traditional belief and teaching with the Bible. Too much trust in the teachings of theologians of ages past. People preferring to let other people (theologians) from the past tell them what the Bible means rather than figuring it out for themselves. Also, many people are just not willing to accept the Bible as it is. They feel a need to modify it. Bad hearts out of tune with God trying to make the Bible say what they want it to say because they are unwilling to accept what they don’t want to believe. The human mind is capable of great sophistry.

Thus false teaching gets passed from seminary professor to student, from minister to congregation, and from person to person. It becomes false assumptions in the minds of common people and leads to spiritual havoc. So don’t trust that church that tells you that you must trust it and it only, that it is the ultimate source of truth. Read the Bible. Seek out the truth from the Bible. Trusting the wrong sources can be a terrible mistake. It could cost you your immortal soul.

Nov 2015