Let's take a look at
'these stones.' It would be foolish for a farmer to try to
work the areas, which were very stony. A farmer knows
better than to sow in a 'stone patch,' so he picks up the
stones and clears them off before he begins anything else.
The stones are impediments, which would hinder the growth
of the plant. They would take the moisture, which belonged
to the plant. Because of this, Christ said, these
individuals never get an experience. These stones lay on
the surface of the ground as a sign the earth is thin and
that solid rook Is underneath and there is not much earth
to work with.
In this
way, Christ pictures a hard-hearted individual. He is
utterly selfish and has no capacity for self-denial. Let
us mentally picture this type of individual. He has a
quickness of perception. He quickly takes hold of the
Word. This type of individual is often heard 'shouting' in
the service on Sunday, but we seldom see him in prayer
meeting. Why? He has no depth, true root, or love of God
in his heart. His is just a light, 'emotional case.'
Beneath the surface the heart is still hard and 'cold as a
rock.'
In the
11th chapter of Ezekial and the 19th verse, God says, of
the people in the time of Christ's coming, that He will
give them one heart and a new spirit. "I'll take, the
stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of
flesh." Proverbs, the 4th chapter, 23rd verse:
"Out of the heart are the Issues of life." The
heart, is the 'core of the whole.' If we have people with
a new heart, we won't have so many old issues…(smile).
When we have a new heart, we will receive a 'new issue.'
Paul says this, when he explained that, "if any man
be in Christ Jesus he Is a new creature." Old things
are passed away and behold all have become new. When He
gives us 'one heart,' we will 'act alike' -- we'll be
'one.' "…I will take the stony heart out of their
flesh, and give them a heart of flesh: That they may walk
in my statutes…" This new heart will help them to
walk in His statutes and keep his ordinances and to do
them. People who have a new heart will walk in His
statutes and keep His ordinances. He will be their God.
There are
some other stones. In the 63rd chapter of Isaiah, God gave
a commission to the ministry. It takes the love of God in
man to pour out the wrath of God on a false spirit and a
false system and yet have enough love of God so that the
man you are preaching to will know you love him as you are
preaching to him.
One of
the dangers of today Is that the enemy will strive to get
people to compromise, apostacize, and turn from truth, and
then, he'll get other people to dislike them and look down
on them. You must love them. If a brother errs in the
truth, God orders us to work to convert him, not to brush
him off and say we are no longer a brother of his. This 'groupitis'
is the worst affliction that ever hit God's people. They
sometimes come up and say, "what group are you with?'
I am a member of that group in the 14th and 15th chapters
of Revelation; it is the one that follows the Lamb
withersoever He goeth. It is the one standing on the sea
of glass mingled with fire with victory over the beast and
his image and his mark, and the number of his name. That
takes care of any of the devils work that he has come up
with or that he can come up with.
The devil
works today (if we're not careful), in a way that will do
a destructive and terrible thing to the Body of Christ. We
do not need to put any feeling in this. God put enough in
it. If you pour this Word on a man, if he is guilty, he is
hurt badly enough, without us giving him a cold shoulder.
Some people are withering. And it is clear what kind of an
experience they have.
The
divine ploughman, or the ministry, has a big job. In
Isaiah the 62nd chapter, the 10th verse, he said to the
ministers, Here is your commission - "…go through
the gates, prepare ye the way of the people;…" Now,
why can't the people get along without the ministry
preparing the way? Why do we get all of these sects and
divisions? False ministers prepared a way. The prophet
said, "Woe be unto the pastors who have scattered my
flock. Christ said, "There Is one way," and
prepared a ministry to tell of that one way. Any man who
is saved is in the palm of God's hand and is put in
Christ's fold, and unless a false preacher lets the fence
down some place, the people will never get out.
"Prepare a way for the people." Cast up the
highway. If you ever get on 'the highway of holiness,' you
are as sure of Zion as if you were there already because
that is where it ends. The highway of Holiness goes to
Zion. If you get on Route 40 and go west, you will end up
in San Francisco.
God said
there would be a highway and 'a way' to get on it. It's
like the turnpike. Anyone can get on it, but not just any
place. Jesus said, "I am the way." There is only
one way to get on 'the highway of holiness.' That is
through Jesus Christ, the Lord. Isaiah said there will be
a highway above the ground, above the old way you have
traveled. A highway and a way to get on it. The unclean
shall not pass on it. There will be no lion, no ravenous
beast. These are symbols. The different animals are to
show the different dispositions of man. Every animal is
different and has a different disposition. Men are all
made the same, but have different dispositions. So God
went back to the animals to show us the different
dispositions of men. No lion will be there. He's that old
individual that has that bold and evil spirit. The devil
is like a roaring lion. That fellow has a hateful
disposition, and an old hard heart, always growling.
We are
commanded to 'cast up' the highway. People are trying to
pull It down. They would level it to where anyone can get
on. But God called a ministry to 'cast it up.' You cannot
lift it any higher than it is, but just raise it before
the people. Preach the gospel, and cast it up before the
minds of men. My, what beauty -- this 'highway of
holiness!'
Get out
the stones. Lift up the standard for the people. We see
people come and 'sit under the Word,' and God reveals
things in their lives that will be a hindrance to them.
That is what the stones are. The 'ministry' is putting on
a sham. They are trying to find false hiding places. Too
many, even In the 'so-called' Church of God, are hiding
behind the idea -- it Is not my duty to execute the Church
of God, just to preach It. I ask them, "What do your
people pay a good salary for?" God's people love that
kind of man, because they know that kind of man, is being
true to their souls. The true saints love straight
preaching, on the other hand, mere professors will put up
with anyone that preaches to please the people.
Back to
the parable, the 6th verse, "And when the sun was up,
they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away." We have already learned the sun is
the Word of God. The sun is the symbol of God's eternal
Word. Let us refresh our minds with the thought that God
takes natural things to teach the spiritual.
The
Psalmist meant this when he said the sinner cannot stand
in the congregation of the righteous. We need sinners to
attend the services or we'll never win any to be saints.
When the Word of God goes forth, it lets every man know
where he stands. The sinner may know, even though you love
him, that the Word of God comes so close he will be able
to see himself, where he Is. A sinner can't stand. He'll
wither under the preaching of God's Word. God doesn't want
people to think they are right, when they are wrong.
The sower
is the Son of Man. He sowed seeds. That is where the
harvest comes from. He said the fields are white unto
harvest, A harvest does not just come. Someone has to sow
it first. Where was His field? He walked up and down the
shores of Galilee, and over the mountains and sowed the
precious seed in the hearts and lives of mankind. And
while He was sowing the poor Gentile was pushed back and
could not come into the midst, being counted only as a dog
by the Jews.
It was as
though He said: "When the Holy Ghost comes He will
give you the sickle, for you must have a sickle to reap.
When He comes, He will take the things of mine and give
them unto you, and you can go out and start reaping."
Multitudes followed after Him and He fed them. Once a
group of people followed Him for three days. There's
something about the Word of God that gets hold of men.
They followed Him from the city, out into the country
where there were no grocery stores for miles around. They
pressed so close about Him, that He was compelled to get
in a boat and push out a little that all might be able to
hear His message. God stands ready to anoint His followers
today and send the Holy Spirit upon them and cause men to
hunger and to do the same today, when there is real
consecration and dying out to the world.
But,
reading further, we find, that when the sun began to rise
and He began to lay down the facts of discipleship and
what it entailed they turned away and left Him. Then He
turned to His disciples asking them if they too were going
to leave. But they only answered, "To whom shall we
go?"
Today we
see many people getting offended by the Word that they
claim, was the means of their salvation. What causes men
to become offended at the Word of God? They become
offended because they don't understand it. And because
they don't understand it, they get offended. It is
necessary to understand it, or some false prophet will
take it away from us. We, too, if we do not understand it,
may become offended. In the 11th chapter of Matthew, we
read that John, the forerunner of Christ, was greater than
all the other prophets. Why? John came preaching
repentance; he was a good preacher and executed the will
of God and preached the Word. He advised people to confess
their sin; and when those 'old birds' (Scribes and
Pharisees) got in line, He was frank with them and the
true condition of their hearts. He called out to them,
"Who hath warned you of the wrath to come?" This
He said because being filled with the Spirit He could
discern what was In their hearts. Also He bade them to
show forth fruit worthy of repentance.
Once when
He was baptizing, Christ appeared and John said,
"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of
the world. I am not that Christ but am sent before Him. He
that hath the bride, is the bridegroom, but the friend of
the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him rejoiceth
greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy is
fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that
cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is
earthly and speaketh of the earth; he that cometh from
heaven is above all, and what He hath seen and heard that
He testifieth and no man receiveth His testimony. He that
hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God
Is true."
There are
people who want to build a church and name it after John.
A Baptist minister once said that Christ did not call him
John the Methodist, or John the Lutheran, but John, the
Baptist. But Jesus said, He that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than John. John was just an advocate or
advertiser for Christ. When a circus comes to town, people
are sent ahead to post bills and advertise it. John was
the forerunner for Christ. Now we know that any member of
the circus is more Important than the advertiser of it. He
stood and declared the truth to men.
John
preached in the sunrise of the Gospel. He did not have the
light that we have today. For four hundred years there had
been darkness in Israel. Since the last prophecy of the
prophet Malachi, no one had brought a message from above.
If we do not hear from God, we go into darkness. It was
not like turning on the electric. But In that darkened sky
there appeared a star over the Judean hills that led men
who were wise to the Christ.
John
stood in partial darkness just as the light was breaking.
He knew it was coming and he stood in the light he had and
preached the Gospel. But the day never broke until Jesus
appeared, preaching the Gospel, coming as the Lamb of God.
Then when John was put in prison and ready to be beheaded,
he began to have some doubts. Perhaps if you or I were in
his position we too would begin to doubt. When he had his
freedom, eating locust and wild honey, and preaching the
gospel freely, it seemed real and he entertained no
doubts, but down there in prison, with all hope of
opportunity gone to do the beloved work, he became
uncertain and sent some of his disciples to question the
Master, yet this same man had said of Him, "Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world."
The
disciples went to Jesus and said, "Art thou He, or do
we look for another?" To this inquiry Jesus answered
and said, "Go and tell John the works ye do hear and
see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, people are raised up,
and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Tell
him also, Blessed is He that is not offended with me, I am
too busy healing the sick and preaching the gospel to
visit him, Tell him to remember his own words that he must
decrease and I must increase. And things are going along
just as prophesied by him. It is his time to decrease as I
must push forward on the increase.
Why did
John get confused and apparently even a bit offended? The
program was not going as he thought it should. Men and
women today get offended, because the fulfillment of
scripture and especially prophecy, does not turn out as
they had it all settled in their own biased minds. Then
someone comes preaching and throwing light on some
particular part of the Word and when it does not just
exactly dovetail with their own interpretation; instead of
receiving some enlightenment on the Word, they become
offended. Many are still holding on to what little light
they received long ago, and expect to go to judgment
leaning on that little bit. Their spirit is that of the
Pharisee refusing to accept any new message from Christ.
God does
not want people to get saved in a 'Cloudy way.' We are
living today in the 'evening light.' Zechariah said there
would come a time when it would be neither dark nor light,
but in the evening it would be light. God wants people
saved in the light so they will know what is expected of
them. If you do not lift up the standard, the people will
fall short of it and the whole churoh will be just like
that in about ten years.
We
read in the 21st chapter of Revelation and the 27th verse,
"And there shall in no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or
maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb*s
Book of Life." But what happened to that young man
who came to the altar? Well, the Sun came up that Sunday
morning (that is, the truth was preached as to the true
conditions that must be met to receive salvation) and that
fellow withered and has never been seen since. He was
shown by the Word just what it would cost to be a child of
God, a complete turn around and a different purpose in our
lives. One of the tricks of Satan is to get people of the
world to come among the saints and try to make saints
(seemingly) of them. It can't be done. Let the Sun shine
on them at the very beginning and let them know what kind
of heat they are going to have to take If they make a
decision to serve God. Now, we are getting out the stones
when we tell people what it will cost to really be a child
of God.
