Are You Sowing the Seed?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Mark 4:3-8

 

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In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus gave a parable of a sower. And as he scattered the seed out of his basket, some fell by the wayside; that is, the soil was hard, and the seed couldn’t get in. Other seed fell on stony ground. It got in but it couldn’t get down because beneath the soil in the subsurface was a rocky ledge. Other seed fell among thorns and it sprouted, but then the weeds and the briars came and choked it out. But some seed fell on good ground and brought forth fruit. It’s not our job to analyze the soil; it’s our job to sow the seed. In this parable, the sower was Jesus Christ Himself. And He didn’t say, “Well, that’s bad soil. I won’t put any seed on it,” or, “that’s rocky soil,” or, “there are thorns.” He just sowed the seed.

Likewise, we are called to just sow the seed. Everywhere we go, just sow the seed. It is God that gives the increase. We can’t make the seed grow, but we can sow the seed.

CONSIDER THIS

How faithful are you to sow the seed of the Gospel?

What are some ways you are prone to judge whether a person will receive the seed or not? How does today’s passage challenge that idea?

DO THIS

Sow the seed of the Gospel by sharing about Jesus with one person this week.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Something to Boast About

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The New Testament correlates faith and grace to make sure that we do not boast in what grace alone achieves.

One of the most familiar examples is Ephesians 2:8. By grace, through faith. There’s the correlation that guards the freedom of grace. By grace, through faith.

Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God. Faith focuses on the freedom of God to dispense grace to the unworthy. It banks on the bounty of God.

Therefore faith, by its very nature, nullifies boasting and fits with grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord. The author of grace.

So Paul, after saying that salvation is by grace through faith, says, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith cannot boast in human goodness or competence or wisdom, because faith focuses on the free, all-supplying grace of God. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace.

When it looks at our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” it says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Revelation 5:12-14

[12] saying with a loud voice, 

    “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

    and honor and glory and blessing!”

    [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 

    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

    be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    [14] And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Psalm 145:21

    [21] My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,

        and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 150:6

    [6] Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

    Praise the LORD!

All Souls Are Valuable

PRAY OVER THIS

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Mark 8:36

 

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A soul is valuable not only because of desirability, but it’s valuable because of durability. What is going to last forever? Buildings are not going to last forever. The clothes we wear are going to disintegrate. Gold and silver will not last. What will last forever? A soul! When God made the human soul, God made it in His own image, and our souls could never cease to exist, any more than God could cease to exist. Our souls will go on—endless, timeless, dateless, and measureless. When the sun, moon, and stars have grown cold, our souls will still be in existence. There was a time when we were not. There never will be a time when we are not. Our souls will exist forever, either in Heaven or in Hell.

The people around us are the most sacred things we will ever see on this Earth apart from the face of Jesus when He comes. There’s nothing more sacred than a soul made in the image and the likeness of God. Think that the person next to you has the potential of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, or the horrible potential of spending an eternity in the very pits of Hell.

CONSIDER THIS

How often do you take time to consider the value of a soul—yours or those around you?

How might you seek a more godly perspective on the value of the souls of those you meet each day?

DO THIS

Work to memorize today’s verse to use as a daily reminder of the worth of a soul.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

When God Goes Against His Will

But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. (1 Samuel 2:25)

The sons of Eli the priest would not obey their father when he rebuked them for their sin. There are three implications of this text for our lives.

1) It is possible to sin so long and so grievously that the Lord will not grant repentance.

That is why Paul said that after all our pleading and teaching, “God may perhaps grant them repentance” — not, “will grant them repentance” (2 Timothy 2:25). There is a “too late” in the life of sin. As it says of Esau in Hebrews 12:17, “He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” He was forsaken; he could not repent.

This does not mean that those who truly repent even after a whole lifetime of sinning cannot be saved. They certainly can be, and will be! God is staggeringly merciful. Remember the thief on the cross. Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

2) Sometimes God does not permit a sinning person to do what is right.

“But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” Listening to the voice of their father was the right thing to do. But they would not. Why? “For it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.”

The reason given for why they did not obey their father was that God had other purposes for them, and had given them up to sinning and death. This shows that there are times when the will of God’s decree is different from the revealed will of God’s command.

3) Sometimes our prayers for God’s revealed will to be done will not be done because God has decreed something different for holy and wise purposes.

I suppose that Eli prayed for his sons to be changed. That is how he should have prayed. But God had decreed that Hophni and Phinehas not obey, but rather be slain.

When something like this happens (which we do not ordinarily know ahead of time) while we are crying out to God for change, the answer of God is not: “I don’t love you.” Rather the answer is: “I have wise and holy purposes in not overcoming this sin and not granting repentance. You do not see these purposes now. Trust me. I know what I am doing. I love you.”

John Piper 

Bible Study

Mark 9:40

[40] For the one who is not against us is for us.

Matthew 12:30

[30] Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Luke 11:23

[23] Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Matthew 12:31-32

[31] Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. [32] And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Evil Is the Absence of God

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

[7] and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels [8] in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. [9] They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Matthew 10:28

[28] And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 25:46

[46] And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 14:9-11

[9] And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, [10] he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. [11] And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

Mark 9:43-48

[43] And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. [45] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. [47] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, [48] ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’