“That day Jesus went out of the house . . .”
Matthew 13:1-9, “That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
The parable of the sower, is the perfect analogy of the way some people respond to the gospel and what we should expect as we proclaim the Gospel message. I believe this parable is really very critical so that we don’t become discouraged and begin to think the Gospel is somehow inadequate enough to penetrate the sinners heart, or that we might have had a greater impact on sinners, if we were only more skilled, more articulate, leading many pastors to reinvent the method or attempt to reinvent the message.
I find it interesting that it’s called the parable of the sower, when it’s really not about the sower, it’s not even about the seed, it’s about the spiritual condition of a person’s heart, and the way people understand and respond to the Truth.
Because the hearts of some are hardened, they immediately become offended and reject the truth. Others, because their hearts are not as hardened, it will make sense, they’ll make a profession of faith, but there are rocks beneath the surface, their sin, the message never really takes root in their hearts enough to bring them to true saving faith. It’s superficial, they keep indulging themselves in the same sin as they did before, with no genuine change in their lives.
Because others’ hearts have been broken up, the rocks have been removed, their hearts are properly prepared, the message of salvation takes root deep in their hearts and they’re willingly let go of anything that separates them from Christ, keeping them from obtaining eternal life.
It the responsibility of every pastor to proclaim the message of the Gospel to everyone, in Truth, to bear upon the heart of hearer to bring conviction, recognition of their true spiritual condition, leading to repentance, in hope they might believe savingly in Jesus Christ and receive the precious gift of salvation and eternal life.
The true Gospel is a hard message that prepares the heart for repentance and the faith that leads to salvation. Quite frankly, the church today is filled with disillusioned Christians, unredeemed, flaunting their sinful lives. God is love, but do not minimize His other qualities; He is equally Holy, Righteous and relentlessly Just.
Brian Monzón grew up attending church with his grandmother. Through her actions, she impressed upon him the power of the prayers of the righteous, as she herself spent many hours kneeling before God, praying for her family and the needs of others. Besides being a pastor, Brian has been studying and teaching the Word of God for many years. He has devoted his life to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, praying with and for others, especially the unsaved. Brian is also a proud father of four children. He challenges them to be their best and has strived to raise his family up in church and on the Word of God. To discover more about Brian and his ministry please visit Brian Monzón Ministries.
Photo by Scripture-Images
Brian: you are right: living the Gospel ISN’T easy, it is A CHALLENGE, a DAILY challenge.
I have faltered MANY MANY times in my 74 years of life, and probably will until the day I die. But thanks be to God for his mercy and acceptance of us as we are.