Matthew 13:1-9
The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
When God gives you the ability to understand who He is and what He’s all about, where do you go from there? Do you take what you’ve learned and go cast it to the wayside? Have you even tried to cast any seeds? Have you even bothered to think about it? The Word of God is very clear. Some of the things you’re going to say are going to fall on good ground, some not on good ground. Some of the words that you start out spreading, everyone is not going to receive or understand. But, you will never know unless you sow the seed. Has that seed been sown in you, has it fallen on good ground in you? Has it even begun to materialize in you? We who are called the people of God, who are looking after our Lord and Savior haven’t begun to witness. Witnessing is not where you go out and go door to door or you go out and you begin to proclaim Christ to every person in the neighborhood…but it is when God gives you the opportunity to present the Word of God to that good seed, to that good soil. A lot of people just want to throw the Word of God out there and throw the cards wherever they lie, but that isn’t what it’s really all about. It’s about sowing the seeds in the correct place, making sure the seed 1st falls upon good ground in you. If the word didn’t fall upon good ground in your heart and mind, then you would be encompassed by the weeds or people who flood your mind with things of the world. You hear it but it isn’t rooted in you and the elements around you, the world type atmosphere around you begins to show you a new way of how to live, and you die. The word is very clear:
Matthew 13:7
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
In other words, you minister and witness to someone and they go back to the same environment where there is no help. Or, the word grows up amongst the mess that is in you, and as it does the mess in you chokes it up and you loose the word and go right back into the world. The understanding is that, when God speaks to our heart, we should say “Lord fill me up, because I know I won’t last and I don’t want the word to leave me, but to stay with me.”
Matthew 13:9
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Let him understand that this word is so true. When you look at the understanding that God is trying to root Himself inside you so that you will not forget you will not fall to the wayside, but grow and produce fruit. In other words, people like you. It is very bad when you say you are a child of God and you haven’t witnessed to anyone during your whole life. The 1st day when you come to salvation, God will open up opportunities for you to speak concerning Him. Not everyone, because the Word of God says everyone will not be saved, but you are not to focus on that, but on the opportunities God gives you to witness to someone. It won’t always come out the way you want to witness to someone.
Matthew 13:10-32
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 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. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
As we have seen and understood that the word is a seed. Your heart is the soil. If you are more in tune to this world, you will have no connection with God. That is the biggest problem we see today with people. People do not understand that it is not about you, but its about God. It is about what you will do as a Child of God in the world. If the very little things that go on in this life cause you to flinch, doubt, or have second thoughts about whom you serve, then you need to “check yourself, before you wreck yourself.” There is a way that seem right unto a man but the end thereof is the way of death. The way of death is everything that leads to your damnation and not your salvation. If you allow this world to become a part of your life, then Christ will not be in you. You can’t serve two masters, you will either hate the one or love the other, or hate them both. You have to make a choice. If you choose God, you have to let go of all the mess in your life, of all the indecision in your life, all the people in your life, family in your life. People will not understand when you say let people go, because you are connected to this world and not to God. As long as you stay connected to this world, God can not connect to you. The Bible says how long halt you between two opinions? If God be God serve Him. You must let go of this world. If you can’t let go of this world then you will never understand who He is. You can’t live half way in the world, and half way out of it. You can’t do the things in this world and go to Church. That is society today. Most people go to Church, they live in the world, doing worldly things, drinking, smoking, cursing, making their own rules, and justify it calling themselves Children of God. That is not true, you aren’t a child of God, you are a child of this world, posing as a Child of God. You’re a tare amongst the wheat, you’re a goat amongst the sheep. You are who you serve. If you walk like a duck, look like a duck, and act like a duck, what are you? A duck. Everything about you is a duck. If you are in the world, dress like the world, talk like the world, look like the world, acat like the world, then you are in the world. You are not in Christ, you are just in a building, in a Church; an edifice. All you are doing is occupying a seat that could be utilized for someone else who really wants to know who God is. God is not calling you to do what you want to do,He is calling you to do what He wants you to do. As long as you’re flesh is involved with you decision making of your growth and walk in Christ, you will never ever be rooted and rounded in God. The words that you speak will be mingled with the words of your own wisdom and this world, and as you mingle, it causes people to sin, fall, and stray away and never come to the full understanding of who God is and His son who has died for our sins.
As you understand, that when seed is sown in you, let it take root in you. If the seed is going to grow, you’ve got to feed it the right nourishment. As a farmer, you feed it water, nutrients, air and sunshine, and the plant will grow. Same with a saint, if you are a new believer, feed them the word, teach them how to pray, keep their surroundings (soil) clean in nature, keep them away from the world, and teach them how to love, they will grow and be a powerful seed rooted and grounded in Him. How long halt you between two opinions? If you’re going to serve God, serve Him. Serving Him does not mean with your mouth, but with your life, heart and mind. You have to pursue God, the one who has created you, whose given you the ability to be alive today. How long will you live in sin, not even noticing you’re walking in your flesh? Sometimes we think we do things thinking are walking in God, when in actuality we are walking in our flesh. (If you FEEL, then its your will and not Gods.) Sometimes we walk through dry places in God, where we can’t feel the spirit of God, and that is that whole spirit thing where as you are not aware, because you are more concerned about feeling God instead of operating. When you can’t feel, continuously do the will of God. We falter in that state and say “I don’t feel the presence of God, I don’t know where I’m going or where I’m at.” Well, when you don’t feel Him, maybe its just that test to see what you can do without having his presence around. Can you still continuously talk about Me, or live holy, or treat everyone with love? Can you still represent? There are many dry places in your life, and you tend to feel them with the word and with the mindset and concept of your flesh hoping that that will sustain you to the next level until you reach and feel God again. It is not like this. The Word says in Matthew 12:44 “Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.”
When you allow yourself to be pulled away, you start doing demonic things. That is because the demons that were in your house, when God came through and wiped them out, say its clean in this place, lets make our home here onece more. He will bring in more demons worse than himself to maintain that territory in you.
Matthew 12:45
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
God came to you and dealt with you. As a seed you started to grow, your house became clean, ready for the Holy Ghost to dwell. Then you go back on what God has shown you, in any aspect of your walk. The seed gets choked out and has no root. That evil spirit that was thrown out comes back to make a mess, and says to maintain that person, it will bring seven demons worse than itself, so it will never hear the word of God again. These are the things we have to be careful of. When the seed, which is the Word of God, is sown in the individual, make sure the seed is rooted, keep it nourished, under prayer, around people who walk in the spirit. You are what you hang around. If you are an alcoholic you will hang around alcoholics. Be around people who are true Children of God. Not people who claim to be children of God with a bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The word of God tells us not to defile our bodies. It is all up to you to live and be holy. The roots of a dandelion, as said before in other sermons, are deep, so very deep, so that no matter what you do to it on the surface, it will still grow back and be robust. As a Child of God, you should be so rooted in Him, that no matter what people say or do, you will still be able to preach, teach, live and converse in totality of a spiritual nature. How long halt you between two opinions? Its easy to talk Christ, but how many people can live it? Can you live for Christ if it concerns your Children? Can you live for Christ if its concerning your parents? Can you live for Christ if it concerns your friends, or job, or neighborhood, bad news, good news? Can you still live for Him, and let your roots sprout out? Can you let yourself be strong and grown in Him, so you can do His will? Do you know what His will is? Search and find out what His will is. Let your roots grown in God, let your surroundings be of a good nature, and around those who are like-minded. Maintain who you are; rooted and grounded in the word of God. He will not withhold any good thing to those who love Him.
Lord I’m Available for You.