Let us turn to Daniel, the 2nd chapter. I would like to
drop this thought: that little stone which was cut out of
the mountain, which was Christ, was to become a mountain,
a church which became a mountain on the Day of Pentecost,
and it fills the whole earth. It crowded everything else
out. There won't be room for anything else. That's what he
is talking about. But that little stone was to smite the
image.
Millennialists
will agree about that image very well. But let us look and
reason together. That image is past. All those kingdoms
and powers, which were covered in that Image, are past,
yet they tell about the coming kingdom. Let me show you by
God's eternal Word that the stone was to smite the Image.
It is claimed by some to have struck the feet. When you
consider those ten toes, which represent the ten kingdoms,
and they draw those toes out for many hundreds of years,
and they say the Millennium is yet to come, and it Is
going to strike in the toes. But let us study that image
and the smiting of the stone. It smote the Image and it
fell and was ground together. All of them were there when
the stone hit it. It brings us up to the day Christ was
born.
When the
Roman Empire was reaching out and killed the Word of God,
a decree went out from Caesar concerning the taxation of
all the then known world. It was then the rock was cut out
without hands, teaching us of Christ's Immaculate
conception. Man had nothing to do with it. It smote the
image and it fell. I pray God will help us to see these
things are spiritual mysteries and one must have the
Spirit of God to comprehend them.
Now, turn
to the 13th chapter of Matthew. "The same day went
Jesus out of the house, and sat by the seaside. And great
multitudes were gathered 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
sixty fold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let
him hear. 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."
The
understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom is not
attained by study of the subject a certain length of time,
but is given as a gift. "It is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom." We studied the wayside
earth (we've proven by the Word, the wayside earth never
gets an experience with God)…those are Individuals,whose
lives are taken with other things. The Word is sown on
their hearts, but it never takes root because it has no
place to take root. Some of the fowls of the air, (false
prophets) the Revelation tells us, come and pick up the
seed and carry it away.
Let us
discuss the stony places by the Word of God. The sixth
verse says some fell upon stony places, where they had not
much earth and forthwith they sprang up because they had
no depth of earth. When the sun was up they were scorched
because they had no root, they withered away.
We are
living in an age where we see people withering and being
scorched. That is why we must deal with this teaching of
Christ, so men and women may be led to a deep experience
with God. Jesus Christ came to bring everlasting life. He
came to give men and women an experience they could live
with on earth and die with peace in their souls and be
ready to live with Him through the ceaseless ages of
eternity.
Gaining
the experience is far deeper than the average man
realizes. Jesus said in the seventh chapter of Matthew:
"Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Broad is
the way that leadeth unto destruction." Some err in
comprehension. They say, "Straight is the gate and
narrow the way that leadeth unto life and few there be
that find the way. This idea is incorrect. The antecedent
of the word "it," is "Life."
"Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth
unto life and few there be that find it." Find what?
Find life -- Because they won't take the narrow way that
leads to it. You will never convince me that we will never
find the narrow way. He puts it before every man and
woman. That 'thing' has been taught too long. People say
they can't find the way. I'm not serving that kind of God,
who has hidden the light. He said if it's hidden, it is
hidden to those who are lost -- They know they are lost --
They refuse it. Few there be that find it. He means
"life." Because there is a broad way 'here' that
is so much easier to travel, people will choose 'that'
way. I am speaking at this time about the light that
lighteth every man that comes into the world. Don't tell
me people cannot find this way. I mention also, a
stumbling block. Everyone is going to stumble over this
somewhere along his pathway, We receive wrong conceptions
of the scriptures and become confused. The real meaning of
this scripture is: that there be few that find
"life." That is not the way to life, but life
itself. I daresay that there is not a man or woman in the
building, but knows the way to life.
We are
living in a day and age when it is not a situation of
people not knowing what to do. If I were to question
people 'on a street corner,' I would find that ninety-five
per cent know how a Christian should live. It is not that
they don't know…only that they don't do.
Don't
blame the Holy Spirit. He is doing the will of God. He
said He would reprove the world of sin and He did it.
Because servants of God have been faithless in their
ministry -- if they fail, God is able to take any means at
hand and get the truth to the people. Don't be deceived by
thinking that if it is not preached, it won't be done. God
will find a way.
The Bible
message is a light which lights every man who cometh into
the world. Jesus said, "You shall know the
truth," and God is going to get that truth to you.
The reason many people never find life is because of the
way it's presented to them. But it is too narrow, too
straight, too hard, and it costs too much. Because of
that, they never find life. That is what Christ was
dealing with in these parables. He dealt with the wayside
here, the stony ground, the thorny and good ground. He
took the whole world and divided it into four groups. They
all heard the Word, but the first three groups rejected
it. They preferred continuing their lives of folly to
following the way of God. I thank God that this salvation
is not hidden as some wish it were. All are going to hear
it. It depends upon whether you are ready to resign to the
will of God, as to whether you will find this life through
Jesus Christ. You can't sow something besides God's Word
to produce anything but the Kingdom of God. The Word of
God is the Word of the Kingdom.
Leaving
our cities, one sees plastered on bill boards: "Go to
the church of your choice." One has said, "Why
all these hundreds of different churches until man is so
terribly deceived?" But that is just what people are
doing. Perhaps down on the corner there is a big church
building. The people that go there do so because it is the
church of their choice. When they are ready for baptism,
they will ask you, which you choose, sprinkled, poured, or
immersed? Someone has said, "If your religion is
spotted, you ought to be sprinkled, If it is striped you
ought to be poured, and If you are, or have died out to
sin and are ready to be buried, then you should be
immersed."
The
Gospel is very simple. Paul, in the book of Corinthians,
says that just as Satan beguiled Eve he would lead us away
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Jesus came down
here and yielded up His own life on Calvary, that we might
have life. In the 10th chapter of the book of John, He
teaches us that He is the door to the sheepfold or to the
church, saying that the good shepherd lays down His life
for the sheep and that is just what He did. If we will
choose the Christ life, we can live just like He did and
all be one people.
In the
sixth verse of the chapter we see where some of the
precious seed fell on stony places where they had not much
earth. People get a little nervous about the symbols in
the Revelation and some are actually afraid of It. And
then again, there are some who are not afraid of the
Revelation that ought to be. If you possess the Spirit of
God, or rather, if He possesses you, and you are resigned
to God's will, and your heart and mind are unbiased, You
are in good shape to understand the Revelation. There is
no need to be afraid of it. It is God's will to reveal it
unto you.
Symbols
are used all through the Word of God. The prophets used
them in olden time, yet when we begin to preaoh In
Revelation, people begin to get a bit hysterical if we
mention symbols. The parables under consideration are
somewhat symbolical. He speaks of stony places and on
doing so takes the natural things to reveal the spiritual.
There were five prophets that He called 'wolves In sheep's
clothing.' All you have to do is watch those fellows a
bit. Just start them out and they will make a wolf track
or a sheep track. People can be fooled on their clothing,
but they will not on their tracks. God does not want us to
be deceived.
The
Scripture says that Some of this seed fell on stony places
where they had not much earth, taking again, the natural
things to explain the spiritual, Remember that this
kingdom is that which we receive into our heart and life
through a born again experience.
Paul
said, speaking of the kingdom, "We have this treasure
in earthen vessels." Jesus taught us to pray,
"Thy kingdom come" (not, on earth), in earth,
Thy will be done in earth. So what is the kingdom? God's
will being done in our--hearts and lives. That is the
kingdom 'from one end to the other.' Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Whenever we find
people who will do God's will here on earth, even as the
angels do in heaven, we have a heavenly Jerusalem right
here on the earth. It is not hard to see the church. It is
not hard to see the kingdom. It is made up of people who
do God's will here, and when we do God's will here on
earth even as it Is done in heaven, we have a heavenly
atmosphere right here, It is no wonder the Revelation
calls us angels. It is no wonder Paul said in the 12th
chapter of Hebrews, "You come unto the general
assembly and church of the first born, and to an
innumerable company of angels". What is he talking
about? God's will done here, just like the angels are
doing it in heaven. He writes to the angel of the church
at Ephesus. Who was he talking about? He was talking about
a faithful man who was doing God's will down here in the
earth, just like the angels do it in heaven.
This seed
fell on stony places--and It had not much earth. Right
away we begin to know there is a type of individual that
does not give the Word any root. Remember, we receive it
in earthen vessels. When He speaks of having not much
earth, He speaks of the person not giving it much room.
For they had not much earth and forthwith, or because of
It, they sprung up, because they had no depth of earth.
When the sun was up they were scorched and they had no
roots and because they had not roots they withered away.
In the 20th verse He gives us this explanation: "He
that receives the seed in stony places is the same that
heareth the word and with joy receiveth it, yet hath he
not rooted himself. He endureth for awhile." He did
not say beareth. He just said endures it. And when
tribulations arise he is offended because of the Word.
There is a symbol that many people cannot understand, the
symbol of the woman clothed in the sun. Jesus said, (In
the parable) "When the sun was up they were
scorched." What did Jesus mean when He gave the
explanation, "when the Word comes?" This type of
individual never gets a real experience with God. Those
that really are saved, bear fruit. But the one spoken of,
was an enduring fellow and that only for a while. Then,
when tribulation and persecution arise, (not because of
the devil, but because of the Word) he is offended.
Ministers
serving in the time of the sixth seal period, thought that
one had to have a great deal of historical knowledge to be
able to preach Revelation, also that it was necessary to
have some understanding of certain Individuals to
understand the symbols. Let me say, that the answer to
every symbol is in the book. The Sun is a symbol of the
Word. Jesus said so. "When the sun is up it scorches
them."
"When
He, the Spirit of truth is come He will" do the whole
work. People say, 'If we could just get an educated
ministry.' But this is fallacy. A man who had been
preaching for 25 years claimed to see real unity for the
first time. If that was true, then something was certainly
wrong with his education. I was in a certain state holding
a camp meeting where the college dominates the ministers,
runs the state, runs the camp meetings, and all the works
there run just like oiled machinery. But I can't find
scripture that tells me that all must be sent to the same
school to have true unity. But, all must have the same
Holy Spirit to have unity. "When He the Spirit of
truth is come" He will show you all things. If we
have the same Holy Teacher we will have the same lessons
and see eye to eye.
Now,
notice that the Individual received the seed, "and
the same heareth the Word with joy and receiveth it."
He just 'took it down' quickly and failed to swallow It.
God does not ask us just to 'get' the Word and say,
"that is it". God says, "Let us
reason." We are told that the sport of fishing is to
wrestle with the fish for a long time and finally bring
him In. Just so, we need to take time with the Word of
God. It will make room for itself and we must make sure
that we are truly born again.
It is
dangerous to claim salvation in a life that has never been
regenerated. Jesus himself said it was dangerous.
"Don't put new wine in old bottles." Why?
Because there will be an explosion. Now you know why we
have so many blow-ups or explosions in the church. Another
mystery of the kingdom is that some people think the Word
sounds good and they try to take some of it, putting new
wine in old bottles. But the Word begins to grow. If any
room is given for the Word It will grow. If you have not
been rejuvenated by the new birth and have a new flexible
soul that will expand with the Word, there will surely be
a bursting open -- an explosion sooner or later.
Now what
is meant by all this? Simply that to accept the Word
without a real change of heart and a real experience of
old fashioned bed rook salvation and try to go on living
as a Christian will only last so long. For the Word will
find out the lack, as it from day to day works in the
heart and if you are not able to grow thereby, it is not
long until a day of reckoning comes and you must either
get down to bed rook, or be sure, you will fall by the
wayside.
Such an
Individual will move at the time, but have no depth of
experience and Jesus told us why. There are too many
stones in the soil and it sprang up before it reached down
and took root. No plant will ever bear fruit until it
first takes root. One sees a lot of things in the fields
that have just sprung up. Many plants spring up after a
warm rain. What is meant (in the spiritual life) by a warm
rain?
The
warmth and refreshment of the Holy Spirit and old time
powerful preaching of the Gospel, will sometimes warm the
hearts of people and they are actually warmed by it to the
extent that they think they have an experience with God.
But it was something that just sprung up, if they did not
really repent and go to the bed rock and have a change of
heart. And if it didn't take root, there will be no fruit
in that life. It will only be a 'matter of time' until it
withers away. What a great need there is for the Church to
get back to some 'old solid truths' and lead the people,
in their search for eternal life -- to 'more solid
ground.'
