Luke 8:11-15, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 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. 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. 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. 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.”
I love The Parable Of The Sower And The Seeds from our text passage. I love this parable which Jesus taught for a few reasons. One of those reasons is that all people fall into one of these four categories:
- Unsaved people whom Satan hinders from hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Saved people who never mature to wins souls because they have shallow roots
- Saved people who never mature to win souls because they are choked by the cares (job, family, work, bills and life itself), riches (money and a career) and pleasures (hobbies, fun, sports and sin) of this world.
- Saved people with an honest and good heart the Bible says, who mature to share the Gospel and win souls to Christ.
The "seed" is the inspired Word of God. This is the inspired King James Bible today. Thank God for the precious gift of His incorruptible Word (1st Peter 1:23). I often ponder this helpful parable about the four different groups of ground upon which the seed fell. Every one gets an opportunity to be saved, according to Titus 2:11, ”For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” Jesus said in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” These clear passages of Scripture prove that the Calvinist heresies of Unconditional Election (i.e., God chooses who will be saved), Limited Atonement (i.e., Christ only died for the chosen), and Irresistible Grace (i.e., God forces those chosen to get saved), are ALL lies of the Devil. CHRIST DIED FOR ALL MEN!!!
Of the four different groups mentioned in Jesus' parable, I think about group three the most, because that is where I humbly believe most believers fit in today. God's goal and desire for every believer is to mature to group four, becoming a faithful soulwinning Christian. If we share the Gospel with the lost, and do it in a clear and concise manner, people WILL get saved. Here is a helpful video presentation by one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, titled: "TWO GOSPEL ILLUSTRATIONS"...
(by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)
The reason why I think about group four so much, is because this is where most believers fall short, not maturing to go soulwinning as they ought. I admit that I am guilty myself of getting caught up so much with the burdens, hassles, routines and things of this temporary earthly life, that I slack off on sharing the Gospel as I should in my personal life. I have come across the path of innumerable people, to whom I could have witnessed and shared the amazing Gospel of free grace, but for one reason or another I didn't. SHAME on all of us!
Dear reader, this world is going to Hell without Christ in their sins. What saith the Scripture? 2nd Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” Every Christian believer has a duty to share the Gospel, as evidenced by the parable of The Sower And The Seeds. God wants us all to reach the maturity spoken of in Luke 8:15, “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.” Notice that the Bible says, “with patience.” I receive many emails from frustrated blog and web visitors, who are trying to win lost loved ones to the Savior, but they don't want to hear about it anymore. So they ask me in desperation what to do. Here is roughly what I tell them:
You cannot force a person to get saved. All we can do is present THE TRUTH of the light of the Gospel to our loved ones, pray for them, love them unconditionally and then wait. We ought not browbeat them with the Gospel. People don't care what you know, until they know that you care. The Bible says in Jude 1:22-23, “And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” That last sentence in verse 23 is so important. It means that we will sometimes win the most ungodly people to Christ, who have no desire to give up their sinful lifestyle, but God will still save them if they'll simply BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior (Acts 16:30-31). The heretical idea that is so popular today, which says that God will not save a person unless they are first willing to turn away from living a lifestyle of sin, is completely false and of the Devil. If a person had to give up anything to be saved, then eternal life would be a trade or an exchange of sorts instead of a free gift. God doesn't even require that we give up our unbelief, just so long as we repent (change our mind) to BELIEVE in despite of any unbelief we may still have. Faith is not the absence of doubt, but the act of BELIEVING despite the doubt. That is why the desperate father of the demon possessed boy said to Jesus in Mark 9:24, “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Faith is not optimism, it is BELIEVING despite your fears and doubts. You may have 99% doubt in your heart about the Scripture, but if you choose to place that 1% of faith in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of your sin and to receive eternal life, you've placed 100% trust in the blessed Savior. If I stand upon a flimsy chair, 99% sure it probably won't support my weight, but I stand upon it anyway, I have place no less than 100% of my trust in that chair. It is the same with getting saved dear friend, just REST completely in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:10-11).
Are you choking dear reader? We've all been choking to some degree. Have you ever shared the Gospel with anyone in your saved life? I sure hope so. Your eternal rewards and happiness depends upon it. I heard this wonderful sermon yesterday by Pastor Yankee Arnold, titled: “YOU Can Win Souls!” ...
(by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)
I encourage you to regularly visit Pastor Yankee Arnold's YouTube ministry. This godly man loves God, loves people, and is one of the most faithful soulwinners I know. I like listening to Pastor Yankee Arnold, because he encourages and inspires me to go soulwinning, which we all need. That is why I am writing this helpful blog, after watching his videos. It is so easy to become sidetracked and leave off preaching the Gospel to the lost. It is our duty. Proverbs 11:20, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Are you wise dear friend? Am I wise? We are if we win souls the Bible says. Of course, only God Himself can GIVE THE INCREASE, but it is guaranteed that there will be NO INCREASE if you don't obey God to do our part to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD PREACHING THE GOSPEL (Matthew 28:19-20). Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Every redeemed child of God has the ability, command and responsibility to share the Gospel with others. Here is another helpful video by Pastor Yankee Arnold called: “SOULWINNING TIPS AND HELPS”...
Dear reader, I hope you will join me to start witnessing to more people. The videos I have shared with you are invaluable. If you know how you got saved, then you can go soulwinning. Simply tell other people how you got saved, so that they too can know the blessed Savior. Getting saved is so easy, free and simple. All God requires is that a person acknowledge that they are a guilty and needy sinner (Romans 3:19). By our sins we have all earned the wages of death and eternal damnation (Romans 5:9, 6:23; Revelation 20:15, 21:8). That is the Bad News!
The Good News (i.e., the Gospel) is that God sent His only begotten Son into the world to DIE on the cross for our sins (John 3:16). Jesus was BURIED. After three days in the grave, Christ RESURRECTED triumphantly, conquering death, sin and the grave (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Anyone who by childlike faith receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins is saved (Galatians 3:26). Nothing more is required or allowed by God, except to take Him at His Word as recorded in the inspired Holy Scriptures.
May we all commit ourselves to spend more time sharing the Gospel. If we don't make it a priority, and if we don't do it intentionally, the work won't get done. Dear friend, God is literally willing to pay you to go soulwinning. John 4:34-36, “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”
In 1st Corinthians 3:8 we read, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” Interestingly, God is going to reward the unsaved and the saved BOTH according to their works. But in opposite ways. At the Judgment Seat of Christ (1st Corinthians 3:11-15; 2nd Corinthians 5:9-11), God will judge the saints according to our works to determine our REWARDS; but at the Great White Throne Of Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), God will judge the unsaved dead to determine their degree of eternal damnation in the horrifying Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8).
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