Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I’ve spoken many times about how fortunate I feel to be part of Grace Church St. Louis, a grace-oriented church led by pastor Ron Tucker. He is indeed anointed for bringing to life the Gospel of Grace in today’s culture. Week after week, he IS ON, and I keep experiencing more “a-ha” moments! Even Scriptures I have read numerous times have come to life with a new radiance. For instance, yesterday’s message was built around the Parable of the Soils, but as I heard Ron present it, it clarified some ideas I had been nurturing for awhile about the resistance of our culture to the truth of God’s word.
So many times I see the scenario that took place in the Garden of Eden playing out in today’s culture. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (worldly teaching and worldly philosophies) is exalted, and Man still falls for the same lie that seduced Eve at that fateful encounter. Genesis 3:1-6 presents this picture: “Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. ‘Really?’, he asked the woman. ‘Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?’ ‘Of course we may eat it’, the woman told him. ‘It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.’ ‘You won’t die!’ the serpent hissed. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.’ The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it too.”
Let’s examine the above scenario. Satan, “the father of lies” (John 8:44), immediately cast doubt by asking Eve a question that misstated what God had actually said. Then he went on to discredit God’s motive for directing them away from the tree in the center of the garden, while at the same time offering the hook that is irresistible to our human nature: you won’t need God, you can be your own god. Now equally important is this VERY IMPORTANT observation: satan always wraps the temptation in an alluring manner, making it virtually impossible to resist: “The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!” And also notice how quickly Eve was willing to pass on to Adam the pleasurable experience of submitting to “self”. He couldn’t resist either. So as this clearly portrays, nothing is more appealing to our human nature (sin nature) then believing that we can be self-sufficient…that we can be our own god!
Remember…when God created Adam and Eve, they were spiritually connected to Him. They wanted for nothing. God was their provider; He gave them dominion over the earth, and it was Paradise. But that spiritual connection was severed when they became disobedient to His directive, “do not eat from the tree at the center of the garden.” That directive was not to keep something from them (as satan insinuated), but it was for their own well being. As long as they ate from the Tree of Life (God), perfection continued. But by choosing to partake of the of the forbidden tree, they chose spiritual death over spiritual life. That, unfortunately, is the condition of Mankind today.
As heirs of Adam, we are born spiritually separated from God. “And why is that?” you might ask. Well, Adam could only pass on to future generations what was in his own spiritual DNA. When he sinned (became disobedient), that spiritual connection with God was severed, and therefore could not be passed down to future generations. Now as dire as that sounds, there is still hope. That connection can be restored any time we want to restore it, but remember…man severed the connection, so man has to initiate that restoration. “And how do we do that?” you might ask. It’s as simple as saying, “God help me. I can’t do this without you!” It’s admitting our own insufficiency, and being willing to turn to Him as our source of strength. That’s how I did it on April 21, 2000, and my life has been forever changed.
Being separated from God (the result of the “original sin”) is the chasm that has existed between Man and God since the fall. When we’re in charge of our own show, (when we’re our own god), nothing strokes our pride more than that. If given the choice – and after all, God gave us free will – Man will always choose independence over submission, which translates into “my will” over “His will.” Apostle Paul is very clear in Galatians 5:19-21 when he tells us what we can expect when we follow our own human desires: “sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will never inherit the Kingdom of God.” (How many of those qualities have you exhibited?)
Unfortunately, our culture today is becoming darker and darker because we have exalted human wisdom and teaching over God’s Word. To believe in Jesus’ teaching, and to stand on our faith, often puts us at peril, because many times we become the subject of mockery, ridicule and even legal action. To the intellectual minds, we are laughed at as being naïve, boxed in, or brainwashed by religion. They look at the Scriptural truths on which we stand as being outdated and too confining. After all, this is the age of freedom, tolerance and acceptance: “Who are you to tell me what is right or wrong?”
Unfortunately again, the hearts of the people who have bought into the teachings and philosophies of the world have been hardened to the truth of God’s Word, as stated in Isaiah 6:9-10: “You will hear My words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened (by satan), and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see. Their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to Me and let Me heal them.”
Now let’s turn to Jesus’ parable of the soils as found in Matthew 13:4-8. “As a farmer scattered seeds across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly but they soon wilted and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. Other seeds fell among the thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades. But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted.” This is Jesus’ explanation of that parable: (vs19-23): “The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. The evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don’t go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they will wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the Word. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth or status, so no crop is produced. And the good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept god’s message and produce a huge harvest, thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as was planted.”
This is a profound parable and it alerts us to the reality of the obstacles that stand in the way of the seeds (God’s Word; God’s truth) taking root. Not only are we called to carry the message of the Good News, but it is also vitally important that we stress the importance of “watering the seeds” through staying in the Word, discipleship, participating in Bible studies, and becoming a member of a church. This is how we keep the impact of the Word alive, and how we keep satan from stealing the Good News from the listener. And equally important is our commitment to turn away from the sources of worldly pollution, and our commitment to focus on anything that contributes to spiritual growth.
Let me close with three Scriptures. Philippians 4:8-9: “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” 1 Corinthians 18: “I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God!” Romans 12:2: “Do not confirm to the patterns of this world but be transformed into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” Unfortunately, these three Scriptures are contrary to our culture’s way of thinking and behaving today, but the truth found in these Scriptures will lead to our desired transformation.
The more we stay connected to the truth of His Word, the more confidence, strength, courage, peace, serenity and joy will define our lives. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Feel free to respond to this post, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.
May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave, (a;k.a. Pastor Dan)
Leave a Comment