weekly sermon
3-2-08
Living The Good Life...Both
I have often looked at my adult life and what I have made of it. I look at the
possessions I have obtain throughout this great life and I also look at what I
have donated or just given away. Often times when I would purchase something,
that was just something I wanted, I would feel guilty thinking that, you know I
could have given this to the ministry of God somewhere. Well I felt this way for
a long period of time and guilt was really eating away at me when God spoke and
said, "go read the story on the soil".
I turned to the book of Luke and this is what it said.
Turn with me to Luke 8:5-15, "A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed,
some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air
devoured it. (6)And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung 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)And other fell on good ground,
and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things,
he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (9)And his disciples asked
him, saying, What might this parable be? (10)And he said, Unto you it is given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that
seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (11)Now the
parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (12)Those by the way side are they
that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved. (13)They on the rock [are they], which,
when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a
while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. (14)And that which fell
among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked
with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to
perfection. (15)But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and
good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with
patience."
This is a time told story, that was told by three of the four Gospels. There are
a couple of things we can get from reading and understanding this story.
The first and most important message this story brings is something we see in
everyday life. If we replace the word "seeds" with the word "souls", and we
notice where the souls were cast, then we would be able to understand the many
different conditions of man today. Let me explain in a more simple way. The
souls that have fallen by the way side, or in this case, into the sins of the
world with no wanting to change, they have been devoured by satan and are simply
bound for an afterlife of burning hell. The souls that fell upon the rocks are
the souls that knew the word of God to be true but for one reason or another in
their lives they gained a hatred for God and their hearts were hardened, again
to be devoured by satan. The souls that fell in the thorns are souls that knew
and stood by the word of God until they wanted more in this life than in the
life we are to have after this one, once again they decided to give up an
everlasting life with God just to have riches in this life. Finally the souls
that fell on good ground are the souls that found their roots deep in the word
of God and stood strong against the warfare of sin that is in this world that
they might have the abundant life God promised them at the end time.
Now we could stop here and really make a great message out of just what we have
discussed. We were talking there about the conditions of different souls. Making
the condition of a persons soul into a saved soul, that they might spend their
afterlife with God, is our main goal and what we should always strive to
achieve. But I wanted to talk about one more thing this passage of scripture
shows us.
Look one more time at the 15th verse in the above passage of scripture. "But
that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience." This scripture
is saying that if we sow our souls on good ground, have a good and honest heart,
and keep the word of God, those souls will bring forth fruit. This is a promise
from God to us. This is a promise that we will receive fruit for our use as
well. Not only does God supply us with enough mentally, physically, spiritually,
and financially to do His work, but also enough to keep us in a good life of our
own here on earth.
Let us look at two scriptures that will show us exactly what it is that I am
trying to say. This first verse that I want to look at with you is one of my
favorite verses. From this verse we can show folks how much power our God has
really given us. Some non-Christians often mouth off saying you are a holy
roller, you act like you can walk on water or something. My response to that is,
I can. I know that sounds pretty arrogant, but it is true fact. I believe I can
walk on water, heal the sick, make the blind see, or even raise the dead. How
can I make such a bold statement? Turn with me to John 14:12 and I can show you.
John 14:12 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because
I go unto my Father."
Jesus told us here that He was going back to His Father and needed someone to
continue the works until He would come again. It states in that verse, the works
that Jesus did we are to do also and even greater works. Is it possible that we
can do greater works than Christ Himself? He states here that that is exactly
what we are to do. He also knew in future times of doing His works it would take
more than it did back in His day. In order for us to do those works we would
need the tools to be able to perform those works. We know the normal tools we
need like, the understanding of scripture, the ability to speak to others, and a
good heart. But there is also a financial burden in this day and time to get the
message out to as many as possible.
This is where my actual conflict with myself comes into play. If I would spend
money on myself then I felt as though I was taking it away from the ministries
that needed it to spread the gospel. So I read about the promise from God on the
fruits that we would bear, and also on the things I would need to do greater
works than Christ performed. But I needed more. So I dug further into the
scriptures and God showed me Deuteronomy 8:18. "But thou shalt remember the LORD
thy God: for [it is] He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may
establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day."
This verse here says that it is ok for us to have wealth in this life. You hear
often that many state that money is the root to evil and we should not have it,
well they are wrong and they have misquoted the verse they are attempting to
quote. 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which
while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves
through with many sorrows."
Notice it says "the LOVE of money". It is not money that is evil, nor is it evil
to have money. It is the love of that money that is evil. Once you allow money
to control your life then you do not have a true life with Christ.
From this I made a decision that it was ok for me to have money and it was ok
for me not to feel guilty about having money because God gave us the power to
gain wealth. This does not mean that we should not give to the ministry to reach
lost souls. Our ministry has never asked for and never will ask for money, we
are in the soul business NOT the money business. We want only to reach the lost
for Christ.
If you have never received Christ as your saviour and understood that your soul
is no longer lost, then please say a simple prayer with me to receive a gift
beyond any gift or any amount of money, the true gift from God.
Dear Lord, take over my life and forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of
everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received
salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our
link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few
things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ,
Pastor Stone