10 Feb Pillow (Resting on the Promises of God) Part 7
Last week, we began discussing Resting in the Power of a seed (Mark 4:26-28). This week, let’s continue…
The key to our seeds (promises) successfully growing up can be found in Mark 4:15-20. Here the Bible says, “And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown: but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time; afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
Please allow me to break Jesus’ teaching down into four grounds all found in Mark 4:1-20:
1. The wayside…this ground is where the devil steals the Word.
2. The stony ground…this is where affliction (the Greek word is “thlipsis” which means pressures) and persecution arises to steal the Word from you.
3. The thorny ground…this is where the cares of the world (the Amplified Bible calls this the “distractions of the age”), the deceitfulness of riches (this is when you think that money is the answer to all of life’s problems. Having money is not evil…it having you is) and the lusts (the Greek word is “epithumia” which means “an inordinate longing”) come to steal the Word from you.
4. The good ground…this is where we have a good, honest, and patient heart that holds on to the Word of God through all of the above (see also Luke 8:15).
Therefore, the key to seeing the promises of God spring up and grow in your life is not having more…but less! There is nothing wrong with the seed…the seed has the life of God contained within it (see John 6:63). It is imperative that we don’t let all the “stuff” of life squeeze the life out of our seed!
Let me also share with you a very common mistake I see so many people make in life that hinders production in their life. They try through prayer and fasting to do what only a seed can do. The Bible tells us, “And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables?”
Here the Bible tells us that the entire kingdom of God revolves around seed…the Word of God! Thank God for praying but our praying will be ineffective if it doesn’t revolve around God’s Word (see John 15:7)! Thank God for fasting but our fasting will be ineffective if it doesn’t revolve around God’s Word (see Matthew 6:1-18). You can fast and pray all you want, but until you sow a seed you will never have a baby!
Decades ago, not too long after I gave my heart to Jesus, my pastor asked me if I wanted to go down to the campus of the University of Tennessee to share the gospel with students. I was honored and excited to do so! When we arrived, I was eager to impress my pastor. I went right over to the first person sitting outside a bar on the campus strip. He happened to be a huge bouncer. I then proceeded to fumble through some ineffective gospel presentation. My pastor graciously said, “Jim, let me take the next one and I’ll show you how to be more effective.”
I listened closely as my pastor shared the gospel in a very effective methodical way through the book of Romans. Now I was really excited as I was able to emulate him and that night I led five students to Jesus Christ! It simply caught fire in me and I began to take my friends down to the campus to share Jesus. I showed them the same thing my pastor showed me. We led many people to Jesus.
My pastor noticed my zeal and asked me if I wanted to head up a summer evangelistic outreach out of our church. I new was able to lead many people from our church and they in turn, led hundreds of people to Jesus! Later, I became a youth pastor and taught our teens this same method of soul-winning. We took them to Guatemala and they led over 3,000 to Jesus in two trips!
Later, I was invited to teach at a conference in Mexico. I was one of the main speakers but in the day they had workshops. When I went to see one of the workshops, to my surprise, it was one of the guys that I took with me to win souls at the University of Tennessee all those years ago! He was teaching the same soul-winning principles to those in attendance and they in turn went out and led over 1,500 people to Jesus!
Later we added a course in soul-winning and evangelism into our WCBI curriculum and taught those very same biblical principles, and to date our teams have led over 9,000 people to Jesus Christ!
Never underestimate the power of a seed…you can rest in it! Next week we’ll continue our series.