Children are V.I.P. (Psalm 127; Prov 20:5)

Snippet of sermon by Percy Loh on Church School Sunday 2011

INTRODUCTION

African Quote: It takes a whole village to raise a kid. See God in the lives of the children.

1.     God's View: God's Word reveals God’s interest in young children: Samuel, Josiah, Jeremiah; even before they are born. Children are a heritage from the Lord. Arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior.  One commentator on the Psalms, Derek Kidner, made this point, “It is not untypical of God’s gifts that first they are liabilities, or at least responsibilities before they become obvious assets. The greater their promise, the more likely that these sons will be a handful before they are a quiver full.” God intervenes in the lives of the children. How do we receive the children in our midst?  Matt 18:6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

4-14 Window Global Initiative - It's Time To Wake Up!  http://youtu.be/h7eue0iR-aU

2.     Parents' Influence

The Bible affirms the worth of children. V 3-5. Children are arrows that archers need to train in the ways of the Lord.  Children are a sacred trust. burden from the Lord. Arrows can go where the archer warrior cannot reach. We have to take care of our arrows like a good archer. We have to work on them: keeping them straight and strong, sharpened and aimed at the right direction. In the hands of God they can be more than we can ever imagine. They don't come all made, we are called to participate actively in the shaping process. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.“ Only the Word of God can protect children to be sent out as an influence in the world and not to be influenced by it. If we are not careful, they can be influenced by the media most of which are against family values and Christian values. Would we allow our children to be discipled by the world?  Would we allow them to be influenced by the media that promotes abusive behaviour, vulgarities and hold up teen celebrities as role models? When Jesus  was tempted, he stood the test. Timothy stood firm because his mother and grandma taught him the Word of God. We need to do our utmost to train them in the Word of God. The world is changing. Our fathers of faith have lost a generation. Are we willing to raise a generation of world changers? What difference will you make? What are we doing? How can we make a difference in schools?

3.     Church Prepare: There is saying that goes, “Aim at nothing you will hit it every time.” The greatest barrier to us making a difference is that we set such low standards. We need to raise the standard; take God's standards as our guide. We need every adult, parents or not, to assist in building and moulding the lives of the children. Behind every children’s event in Charis MC, there are adults supporting them. Would you come along? Would you avail yourself to influence the neighborhood children to know Jesus Christ? Would you volunteer to chaperon children during our Sunday School outings, our vacation camps, in the Boys’ Brigade. We need you to come around they will make a difference among their peers. A lot of us waste our time away by watching TV.

TV rots the senses in the head!
It kills the imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind.
He can no longer understand a fantasy,
A fairyland!
His brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His powers of thinking rust and freeze!
An excerpt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
By Roald Dahl, 1964

We must read the Bible. We need the Word of God in you.

CONCLUSION

Prov 20:5 says, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” How much did you receive as you were growing up? Ps 127:1-2 "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders  labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to^[a] those he loves." To build without the Lord is to work in vain. The protection of the family and our children cannot be achieved by man's efforts. We need God to be central in our homes; we need the Word of God in our lives. There is an urgent role to disciple the children for Jesus, so that they can make a difference for Jesus in their life-times. If you were to disciple your children, what difference will we make, as parents, as a church? Joel 2:28. What kind of difference can we make?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1.     How do we receive the children in our midst? How do you respond to Jesus’ words in Matt: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”?

2.     Are we willing to raise a generation of world changers? What difference will you make? What are we doing as a church? How can we make a difference in schools?

3.     Who are some of these children that I can influence? How can I build into their lives with the help of the Lord?

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: IN CELEBRATION OF SEX (GENESIS 2:22-25)

Snippet of sermon by Rev Helen Hoe

INTRODUCTION
In many cultures, sex is still taboo to many and it is not unusual to approach it from a secular point of view.  The marketplace promotes the idea that sex makes everything better: it is a panacea for aches and pains. It is also a popular marketing tool for selling just about anything from cars to even children's clothes.

The Church is often seen to avoid talking about sex as well. What is God's intention in creating sex? Sex is invented by God. It is not just the physical union between a male and a female but a spiritual union as well. In Gen 4:1, the word "know" is used to describe two people having sexual relations. This is the same bible term that is used to define our relationship with God. Just as the word describes God’s intimate knowledge of man, it is to also reflect that intimate knowledge of one with another.  Sex has also been created for our enjoyment. Not only does the introduction to the books in the Old Testament refer to sex, you will find an entire book in the Bible dedicated to sexual love in the Song of Songs. In this scroll, sex is described in poetic language and it is the Jewish custom in the ancient days that young men were forbidden to read this book until the age of 20. God included this is because it is a statement that sex is an enjoyment within the proper framework of marriage. Deut 24:5 “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.”

God gives importance of the sexual relationship between husband and wife. The nature of this pleasure involves not just the physical aspect but also the emotional and spiritual. It is not simply for procreation or simply a way to keep human beings from sexual immorality. How do we live our lives as a testimony in this area? Our media makes sex and virginity look cheap. We can rationalize all we want and cross the line that God has drawn to protect us but all sexual relationship outside marriage is displeasing to the Lord. God's instruction on sexuality is not outdated today. It is more relevant than before to remember what the creator of sex said about it.

How then should we respond if we have crossed that line?

1.      The Place of Confession & Repentance: We need to confess, repent and forsake it. We are no different from the rest of the world. We cannot turn back the clock but we can ask for restoration and purity in this area. Come before God to ask for his grace and strength to grow in holiness in this area.

2.      Exercise self-control: This discipline is totally discarded by many today when it comes to sex. The popular idea is when aroused, sexual urges cannot be controlled, just give in to it. It is Iike any other desires e.g. eating when one is hungry.  This has also become widely accepted too that since I have a right to express and fulfill my needs, I may have sex with just about anyone even if they are of the same sex. So we have people promoting the alternative lifestyle of homosexuality. Just because my food tastes good with sugar doesn’t mean that I can eat loads of sugar by itself. When we enjoy it our itself, it can be extremely harmful to the body. Similarly, God does not want us to fulfill all our desires but that we learn to bring them under the lordship of Christ. God can enable us to break this bondage. Without bring our sexual urges under the control of the Holy Spirit, it can become an addiction, it can become perverted or be so absorbing as to become the focus of life. What started out as a gift of God's, can become life destroying when we isolate it from the context that God has prescribed. One of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the virtue of self control and God does expect us to exercise that in this area of sex.

3.      Don't over estimate yourself. Flee from sexual immorality just as Joseph fled from his master's wife. Don’t think that you are invincible to temptations of this nature. Gen 2:25 says, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” That reflected the state of sinlessness when they started out. But as soon as they were inducted into sin, their consciousness of sin was reflected in their need to hide their nakedness from each other and from God. Their eyes could only see their own need rather than their need as a couple. Ever since then, the lust of the flesh has expressed itself in self-centered gratification of sex.  

CONCLUSION

Sex is not something bad. God has created a space where it can be enjoyed. We need always to bring this part under the lordship of Christ. Whoever sin sexually sin against one body. 1 Cor 6:18-20 says, “¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” The question is not who am I, but whose am I. We want to honor God. We cannot misuse sex any way we want or at any time we want.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1.      Have I been tempted to do as I want, whenever I want in this area of sex? Why didn’t I flee from the situation as Joseph did? Pray and ask the Lord for forgiveness if you have offended the Lord in this matter.

2.      What are some contributing factors that strengthen the deception regarding sex that has quite a hold on me? (Movies, pornographic sites, books, on-line games etc.) Who can I be accountable to regarding this area of weakness?

3.      Whose am I? How can these reflections speak to me especially if I am single? How can I respond as a single person to these words?

PARABLE OF THE SEED & OTHERS (MATTHEW 13:31-35; 44-52)

Snippet of sermon by Dr Andrew Peh 

INTRODUCTION Jesus spoke in parables here to unlock different perspectives of the kingdom of heaven. Of the 7 the first 4 were targeted at the multitudes and therefore meant for general consumption. However from v36-43 we realize that the explanation for both parables was given only to the disciples not to wider public. Today as we proceed with the last 3 parables which were targeted at his disciples. Each provides a perspective of what the kingdom of heaven because it cannot be contained in one analogy. So Jesus’ used these parables not merely to illustrate a point, but he used these common examples to make a counterpoint against earthly wisdom, against what we tend to overlook or neglect or negate and forces each one of us to look at it afresh.

THE PARABLES

1.     The Mustard Seed. This is supposed to be the smallest known in Palestine at that time but it then grows into a large plant, a bush that becomes rather invasive causing farmers to eradicate it. If Jesus had used the analogy of the great oak or the mighty cypress to describe the Kingdom, that would make more sense. Why does he say, “”Your faith is a mustard seed”? For Jesus, a mustard seed is an overlooked herb since its beginnings is not a grand one. So what Jesus was saying is that the Kingdom of Heaven is already here but it is often neglected because we don't notice it. It is in the mustard seed of everyday life.

2.     The Leaven in the loaf. The leaven is often used as negative metaphor. It aids the process of fermentation so something with leaven would have gone bad and is corrupted. Why is the Kingdom of heaven like leaven? Here Jesus reversed the negative connotation of the leaven to help us understand the presence of the kingdom. It is to symbolize the positive but inconspicuous permeation of the kingdom of heaven in this world. It will bring about transformation but that is not fully observable. It begins unnoticeably in the inner transformation of the heart, but it permeates slowly and effect transformation.

3.     Treasure Hidden in the Field. From v44 onwards, Jesus spoke in parables to his disciples, using them not to conceal as he did earlier with the crowds, but to reveal more secrets of the kingdom with them. He spoke about a labourer finding a treasure in the field where he was working. Instead of informing his employer, he buries it and sells everything to buy the field. The point that Jesus is making is about the supreme worth of the treasure that is unnoticed by other, which is worth far more than any sacrifice. He is not highlighting the ethical point of the story we must remember. He used the parable to affirm the disciples of their joyful abandonment of everything in order to obtain the treasure, the kingdom of heaven. Nothing is more valuable than possessing the kingdom.

4.     The Costly Pearl: Here the merchant sells everything he has to gain possession of that one pearl. His point is not that Kingdom of heaven may be bought with a price, but that they all understand that there is nothing more valuable than the Kingdom of heaven.

5.       The Dragnet: In this parable he focuses on the choice that people have to make about the kingdom of heaven and the gravity of the consequences of that choice one: following or rejecting Jesus.

Are you confused? Enlightened? We can draw 3 lessons from these 5 parables:

1.     The Inconspicuous Nature of the Kingdom of Heaven: The Mustard seed and Yeast: The inconspicuous nature of the Kingdom is not equal to impotence or inability. True followers need to bring about the Kingdom of heaven quietly. They do this by bringing about transformation in their daily choices. We are to permeate our environment with the Kingdom values and life-style wherever we are. It is far more important that we show how we live rather than shout about them.

2.     The Incalculable Value of the Kingdom of Heaven: Whatever costs you expend is nothing compared to belonging to Jesus. Paul describes this in Phil 3:7-8, “⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage (dog dung), that I may gain Christ.” In knowing Jesus there is this value that is priceless.

3.     The Inescapable Judgment that comes with our response. The onus is on Christians to live righteously. God will put things right and we need to live with this hope. But until the final consummation and reckoning, we will have both good and bad intermingled on this side of heaven. Until he returns, the onus is on us to live out our transformation. Reminder that even though evil continues in this world, Jesus will indeed come to right all wrongs. There is good news for there'll be a judgment when God divides the wheat from the tares.

In summary, Jesus used a variety of parables, a myriad of characters and situations to invite us to take a fresh perspective of the Kingdom of heaven. The key to understanding all of this is in the Parable of Sower: what kind of soil are you? Will you allow the kingdom truths to affect your life? There is this continual urging from Jesus: He who has ears, let him hear. What have you heard these weeks? 

CONCLUSION

Chuck Swindoll the well known American pastor tells this story in his book, “Living on the Rugged Edge”: A Native American was walking in downtown New York City alongside a friend who was a resident of the city. Right in the centre of Manhattan, the Native American seized his friend’s arm and whispered, “Wait! I can hear a cricket.”
His friend replied “Come on! A cricket? Man, this is downtown New York.”
He persisted, “Yo, seriously, I really can hear a cricket.”
“It’s impossible!” the New Yorker replied.
“You can’t hear a cricket! There are taxis going by. Horns are honking. People are screaming at each other. Brakes are screeching. Both sides of the street filled with people. Cash registers are clanging away. Subways roaring beneath us. You can’t possibly hear a cricket!”
The Native American insisted, “Wait a minute!” he said and led his friend, the New Yorker along, slowly.
They stopped, and the Native American walked down to the end of the block, went across the street, looked around, cocked his head to one side, but couldn’t find it.
He went across another street, and there in a large cement planter where a tree was growing, he dug into the mulch and found the cricket.
“See!” he yelled, as he held the insect high above his head.
His friend walked across the street, marvelling,
“How in the world could it be that you heard a cricket in the middle of downtown busy Manhattan?”
The Native American said, “Well, my ears are different from yours. It simply depends on what you’re listening to. Here, let me show you.”

And he reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of change--a couple of quarters, three or four nickels, and some dimes and pennies. Then he said, “Now watch.”

He held the coins waist high and dropped them to the sidewalk.
Every head within a block turned around and looked in the direction of the Native American.

It all depends on what we you’are listening for and who you are listening to. We may hear a handful of change and missed the sound of life. Are yo starting to get a handle on all these?  

Reflection Questions

1.     Do you have ears to hear and respond to the kingdom? What kind of soil are you?

2.     Have you been wanting to hear everything else but not Jesus’ voice?  Take time to sieve out the conflicting voices.

3.     What is the Holy Spirit saying to us and its implications for our lives?

PARABLE OF THE TARES (MATT 13:24-30)

Snippet of sermon by Ms Eunice Low 

INTRODUCTION

Ps 31:2 from the Psalm of lament in Ps 31. The people of God at times find themselves torn between God and the enemy who has the upper hand and all hope of deliverance seems lost. “How long?” goes the agonizing cries which may come from having an abusive spouse, unreasonable boss, rebellious children, jealous colleagues etc. When will all these people be removed from our lives?

In this parable, the Kingdom of heaven is equivalent to the Kingdom of God. Jesus issued the same call as John the Baptist that the people may repent and follow him. But the people who surrounded him were hoping that he will restore the Davidic Kingdom. They wanted him to wrest control from the Romans and fulfill their wish list for the Messiah. But there were no political speeches, no sea of angry protesters. What they saw were that the blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked and even the dead were raised. Astonishing as these were, Jesus’ actions astounded them still further. He told his followers not to resist the enemy, in fact he told them that those who will enter the kingdom need to make a choice between:

1.      To listen, act accordingly and stand firm

2.      Ignore his Words and prepare to collapse when the storms of life come hitting home.

Most of the Jews refuse to repent. In Matt 11, Jesus pronounce future judgment on the Scribes and Pharisees who taught wrong, harden the hearts of the listeners and kept them from entering the Kingdom of God. So Jesus began to speak in parables. Those who refuse Jesus’ words, ‘what little they have will be taken away’, meaning that their ability to understand will diminish. But more and more secrets of the Kingdom will be revealed to the teachable hearts.

Reflection Question: Which group do you belong to? Are you growing and becoming fruitful in the word of God or are you stagnating?

UNPACKING THE PARABLE

Many commentators focus on either one of these interpretations for the tares:

1.      The Tares referring to the Universal World: Why are there so many wicked people in the world? Will the faithful be rewarded? The parable confirms that there will always be a mixture of good and evil people till the end of time. We will have to put up with evil people till Jesus comes again.

2.      The Tares referring to the Church: It is hard to distinguish between the wheat and the tares and so we should not try to isolate them or discipline them until the final judgment of the Lord. The emphasis is on Jesus’ role in the Kingdom of heaven.

In the parable, you will notice how the sower becomes the master of the household and then ends up the Lord of the final judgment.  This is a story about the Son of God and how he has done something to bring about the Kingdom of God. In fact, the parable describes him as doing only 1 thing i.e. to sow good seed while the devil comes at night to sow tares which bears a close resemblance to wheat at the beginning. But when the ears begin to appear, the Master of the household has a ready answer for the workers poised for harvest.  It is at this time that the tares can be identified: the heads of the ripened wheat will be bending over whereas the heads of the tares will be standing upright and prominent. It is then the workers will lop off the light headed tares and collect the wheat. The strategy is to save as much crop as possible so he would let the enemy enjoy temporary victory. His patience will pay off at the final harvest. The tares appear to refer to the Jews who had misunderstood his mission. The crop refers to the faithful believers of Jesus: past, present and future. The leading character in the parable is the wise, loving, long-suffering, humble master who comes to create a community of true believers. Though Satan will frustrate his plans and short-circuit his mission by sowing seeds of unbelief in the hearts of the Jewish leaders and the people.

Jesus did not react and play into the hands of the enemy. With his redemptive power, he allows his seeds to grow and bear fruit waiting for the time of the harvest. So disciples of the Kingdom will have to bear with persecution in the whole world. Many times believers ask, “Why doesn’t God get rid of the enemy? Is God turning away from his children?” God will avenge the thousands of believers who have been persecuted and killed on the last day. While waiting, rejection, hardship, persecution will come upon believers.  She shared about a man who lost his life while trying to evacuate the believers from his village from religious extremists. He didn’t make it although he saved many others. Why does the Lord leave him to struggle in such difficult conditions? Matt 5:10-12 reminds us that “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” He set the example, often anticipated his own death, bearing with insults and persecution and death that the community of heaven might be born, the Kingdom of Heaven might break into the world. Notice how the good seed is in the singular to show us that that one good seed is His own life. He was the first and only good seed that could produce plenty of wheat and bring about a great harvest. But this seed must first die before it can bring life.  John 12:24 says, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” We are the wheat that Jesus multiplied through his death. Through his death, he released the good DNA that his powerful life may be transmitted to us, enabling us to bear fruit and remain faithful in the face of persecution and adversity.  

CONCLUSION

What lessons can we learn living in a place that enjoys religious freedom?

1.      We are beneficiaries and heirs of the life in Christ because of the suffering and endurance of past saints. We have within us the legacies left behind by these faithful ones and we are now the new sowers in the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore we need to go and make disciples in accordance with Jesus’ instructions in Matt 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This command is given not only to the 12 disciples but everyone who has been redeemed by the Son of God.

Reflection Question: Who are those who have suffered and endured in their faith so that you can become an heir of the life of God? How can you emulate his/her life?  How can you be a faithful sower of the Kingdom of heaven today? 

2.      Refrain from judging others. Be patient and leave the final judgment to the Lord. Forgive those who offend us seventy times seven. Our responsibility is to share the attitude of the Lord, to be gracious, showing them the power of God’s redemptive love so that we can truly be a people after God’s heart.

Reflection Question: Can we identify someone whom we secretly identify as a tare? The Lord invites you to exercise his grace to refrain from judging him/her.

The Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23)

Snippet of Sermon by Rev Tan-Yeo Lay Suan:

INTRODUCTION

This is the first of a series of parables Jesus gives to His disciples and He always starts with something they can understand and moves to something they don't understand. He begins with something they see and moves to something they can't see. He starts with something natural and moves to something supernatural. He starts with what is material and moves to what is spiritual. He starts with what is common and moves to what is uncommon. Starts with what is simple and moves to what is profound.

And that's exactly what He did here. They understood sowing, they did it all the time. They were part of an agriculture or agrarian society. They very familiar with the experiences and the activities and the principles and laws of sowing and reaping. What they didn't understand was spiritual truth. And so Jesus began where they were and took them where they've never been. And the language in this story is filled right down to every necessary word with profound spiritual meaning.

In Matthew’s version of the Gospel, he seemed to insert a turn in Jesus’ method of teaching in v 36. Jesus had started his ministry teaching without the use of parables, but later on when he experienced rejection and the misunderstanding of his teaching, Jesus wisely decided to adopt the use of Parables. What was Jesus’ intention? Parables was a way of "encoding" God’s message so the spiritually sensitive could understand, but the hardened would merely hear a story without heaping up additional condemnation for rejecting God’s Word. He used parables so that the hearts of those rejecting would not be hardened further. So in using this new method of teaching, Jesus was exercising God’s mercy towards the hardened. The parables are given in light of Jesus’ rejection by the Jewish leaders, mercy given to the undeserving.

There are only three components here. There is the sower, there is the seed and there is the soil, that's it. The seed represents the word containing the secrets of the Kingdom. The Sower sows the seed in all the field, in all sorts of places with their varying conditions. The parable is not about the sower, but about the condition of soils and how they affect the seed that was sown. The desired outcome is to that the seeds become plants and bear fruit when the great truth is allowed to influence the mind, sway the thoughts, and mold the life. When men turn around and experience the fullness of God’s saving grace. Whether this, in fact, takes place is dependent not on the skill of the sower but on the soil, the condition of our hearts. In the end, it was clear that the secrets of the Kingdom are revealed to the humble, diligent hearers.

There are 2 ways to explore these parables :

1.      introspectively i.e. 1. to practice introspection; consider one's own internal state or feelings OR

2.      extrospectively i.e. examining what is outside ourselves.

From the parable, we learn that the main emphasis of the parable which is the soils...the soils and we want to looking within ourselves i.e. introspectively.

Reflection Question: What sort of soils are we? What’s the state of our hearts when we receive the word of God? And this is where the thing really begins to make important sense to us.

The soil is the heart. The sower is anyone who presents the seed. The results of the hearing of the gospel always depend on the condition of the soil, not the skill of the sower. It's the condition of the heart that determines the effect of the Word on a person.

1.     UNRESPONSIVE HEART

What’s the reason for those whose hearts are like the well trodden ground, so hardened that the seed cannot penetrate? The devil is constantly destroying the effects of the word of God on your life. The Evil One is likened to the birds to rob the heart of the precious seed. Birds look seemingly insignificant and even innocent – and this is also the way Satan goes about his work. Satan wants to make sure it never has a chance to penetrate. He snatches it away through prejudice, stubbornness, procrastination, influence of false teachers, the fear of man, through pride, through doubt and away mostly through the love of sin. Which one of these are you most susceptible to be unresponsive?

The unresponsive heart invites the Evil One to move in. It is visited by the mixed multitude of sins day after day after day. And the fields weren't fenced so those paths lie exposed, they lie unprotected from all the evil stompings of everyone that comes. Never broken up, never softened by conviction, never softened by repentance, never softened by self-searching, the heart grows callous, the terrors of the Lord aren't frightening and the love of the Lord isn't even winsome. The seed is good. The sower's okay. The heart is unplowed. Every time the word of God is revealed to us, we take nothing in, we did not apprehend the soul-penetrating, life-giving words addressed to us.

Reflection Questions: Has your life been hardened by sins that you've constantly tread over your heart so that the powerful, productive seed of God's Word never can penetrate? Does God’s Word bounce off your heart?

2.      SHALLOW HEART: see verses 20 and 21 rocky soil, where the seed readily dies because it cannot put down roots (Argyle 1963:101). Here's the person who has shallow faith...on the surface, easily deceived into thinking that it is possible to be joyful without commitment to the King.

Reflection Question: Does that describe you? You were initially filled with joy receiving the mystery of the Kingdom… how long did it last? Remember the gatecrasher to the wedding feast mentioned in the parable of Matthew 22? When the pressure is placed on us, we couldn't handle it. Our faith in the Lord has never gone any deeper. We bail out, bow out, and we are gone.  There was just no real root there. We never saw it because we were so taken by the initial joy and exuberance of the new believer that we never imagine it could turn out this way. They never counted the cost. They never realized that, you know, to be a Christian could cost you something: a relationship, your own family or friends turning against you. There will be a real price to pay. It's the most joyous life there is but it is a cross bearing. If the law of God has never plowed the stony heart, bruised it small, then you may by receiving the gospel on some temporary superficial sort of soft act think you've obtained your religion very easily, only to find out that when the pressure is on you bail, you're gone. It’s just too much hardship to deal with.

John 6 tells us that Jesus became popular when he provided lunch for 5000 people. The people were so exuberant, so excited. But when He started talking about Himself and His Kingdom, many turned their backs on Him, deserted and were gone. They flourished for a little time, didn't they? But when He started to talk about the cost and the price, and the suffering, they were gone.

Yet trouble and persecution are very helpful. They do two things.

a.      One, they strengthen believers : After you've suffered a while, Peter said, the Lord will make you perfect. So you're going to have those kind of people. I've experienced it, you've experienced it. It's just going to happen, Jesus told us it's going to happen and it's encouraging to know that so we don't get surprised by it.

b.       they manifest non-believers. Trouble and persecution will show you who's real and it will strengthen God's own.

I soberly recall that many friends who became followers of Jesus at the same time I did, including some of my witnessing partners, later abandoned the faith. God is less interested in how quickly we run at the beginning of the race than in whether we truly finish it (compare Jn 8:30-47). Some will fall no matter how plainly we preach the truth, but we definitely set people up for failure when we fail to instruct new believers that suffering comes with following Christ (Acts 14:22; 1 Thess 3:3-4).

3.     PRE-OCCUPIED/ALLOW COMPETITION WITHIN THE HEART:

Third, the soil is well, the seed grows deep, the plant springs up, all is as in the next case (i.e. the fourth type of soil), with but one exception: the bearing of fruit. It is unfruitful. It is so because the seed and the roots of the thorns are in there and they spring up in the heart together. He is the man who hears the Word with a receptive attitude, but the worry of the world...yeah, he's just into the spirit of the age. He's just into his career, his environment, his world. And along with that, and probably the compelling reason he's in it is because of riches that are available to him so the combination of the system itself, the world in which he's found himself, and the deceitful allurement of riches choke the Word and it becomes unfruitful. Our hearts can only hold so much, the ground is limited as to its capability and the thorns drain the soil of its nourishment, it competes for nutrition, for water so that the good seed cannot survive. And by the way, the good seed is not native to your soul, the thorns are. They used to be in there. They live there. But the good seed is alien to you and it has to be protected and cared for and cherished. And as long as thorns live, they grow. You will find in such persons a divided will, a half service which ends in the prevalence of evil over good.

I remembered how a happy I was to have one of the most promising MOT’s was assigned to serve together with me. He made us all very happy because he was diligent yet all these were just on the surface we were to discover later. He had been feeding his thorns (a habit), borrowing money from different people in order to keep his love for football gambling going. He had to lie to cover his tracks borrowing from church members, he spent time building a way to receive the monies in his wife’s name so that he would look clean should anyone ask. It wasn't long before everything snowballed. It was the deceitfulness of riches, winning at the football matches. He never really yanked the roots of the thorns? Deep underneath, he nurtured thorns that took away his focus from his ministry in church… he was always thinking who would be a likely candidate to borrow from. These sucked the resources from keeping his faith life healthy. This is the double-minded man who's not going to receive anything from God, James said. He's trying to serve God and money, the deceitfulness of riches. He needed God has to pull it out and bring him to a place of repentance for it.

Reflection Question: Today are you that person who's gone to Christ, you're gone to hearing the gospel, but you're really into the system: the lifestyle, the path you’ve chosen? What is your priority?  Salvation occurs in a heart where the things of the world have been plowed up.

4.     FALLOW GROUND is BROKEN UP/TENDER HEART:

The last category of soil is the hopeful part of all of this, verse 23, this is the fruitful hearer who understands the Word, accepts it, there's genuine repentance, there's a genuine plowing of the Spirit of God in his heart, plowing out those noxious thorns of his former life. It’s willing to be broken up, softened by conviction, softened by repentance, softened by self-searching, experiencing the grace of turning fully to the worship of God and of being healed from our sins and of coming into full salvation. Now not every Christian produces the same amount of fruit. Different conditions in the soil that cause different levels of fruitfulness in the crop. And the same thing is true of our spiritual lives. We all bear some fruit. Some bear just some fruit, some bear more fruit, some bear much fruit, but we all bear fruit... That's the distinguishing mark of believers.  Are you a fruit-bearing believer?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.      Which one of us has good soil? How do we have good soil? In the intervening section (vv. 10-17) Jesus emphasizes that only his inner circle will understand, because they had chosen to come after him and learn from him. That’s the meaning of the disciple. The learner. They pressed on together with Jesus in all his ministry. They moved from learning from John to Baptist to learn from Jesus… through the days when Jesus was popular… to the days when many no longer followed him because he spoke of hardship. He wanted them to trade their inferior pursuits for the things he spoke about. But these disciples chose to persevere and God rewarded them with more understanding because they prized the kingdom life that Jesus spoke about. Today, prospective disciples have a measure of choice: only those who press into his inner circle, those who persevere to mature discipleship, will prove to be good soil.  What will you choose today? What must you do to persevere to mature discipleship?

2.      We are not solely one type of soil : Perhaps there are those of us at the other end of the spectrum thinking that you belong to the good soil, bearing fruit. We are often tempted to “plong” ourselves into one of these categories. But this morning I would like to say that we are not solely one type of soil? Perhaps you are bearing fruit in the workplace, but God’s word on your family life, you’ve left for the “birds” to pick them off your heart. Over the years you’ve grown numbed to the prompting of the spirit about what’s needed for you to do in your family. You may be bearing fruit as you serve the church, but God’s word regarding the unwholesome habits that impede your growth, you quickly brush aside because you would not make the changes… working ONLY on the parts that bear fruit. Leaving those other parts to wither and stay unfruitful.  Don’t go away complacent that you’ve overcome and there is nothing but maintenance to do. The good seed continues to bear fruit from 10-fold increasing to 100-fold year after year.  Identify the parts of your life that are often picked at by the Evil one, which parts are shallow in your obedience to the Lord, which parts are choked by your misplaced priorities, which parts are growing well. Make a fresh start to allow God to re-arrange your priorities that you can become more fruitful.