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Why
People Reject Jesus |
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Seed
Lands Where? |
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They
do not understand because they are open to Satan's deception. |
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Beside
The Road |
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They
fear persecutions such as rejection, slander, insults, and trials. |
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Rocky
Places |
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They
care more for this life and the wealth it offers. |
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Thorny
Soil |
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They
want God more than anything else. There is nothing that keeps
them from coming! |
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Good
Soil |
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In
the parable, Jesus tells us about four types of soil: soil on the
side of the road, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil. The soil
by the road side is symbolic of people who hear the Word of God and
do not understand it. The
rocky soil represents the person who hears the Word of God joyfully
but because of persecutions and trials does not continue. This person
cannot accept rejection, slander, insults, and trials as a Christian.
This person was never real because he or she “immediately”
fell away. The
third soil - soil with thorns - symbolizes people who are not really
Christians. Money, possessions, and worries of the world cause them
to leave. This person is described as becoming “unfruitful.”
The
last soil is good soil. This person hears the Word and “ bears
fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some
thirty” (Matt. 13:23). This person is the true Christian. The
true Christian continues and produces fruit in his/her life. Riches,
persecution and the trials of life may impact the true Christian,
but true Christians continue in the faith. This is the message of
1 John 2:19.
It
is easy to miss the point of Jesus' illustration. Jesus is not saying
that we must be willing to suffer: that may occur however. He is not
saying that we must give up our homes, food, clothes, or money. The
common problem that each person had in His illustration is having
something else that was more important than Jesus. You are considering
another reason for NOT coming to Him: "Should I not turn to Jesus
when I am centered and sure, rather than turn to Him as a "crutch"?
The answer to the question is no! Why? From God's perspective you
are ready now. Jesus is looking for those need help.
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And
Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are
well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not
come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
(NASB) Luke 5:31-32 |
He
is not waiting for us to clean up ourselves. He came to save sinners
and that is what I am. That is how He saved me. I will be a sinner
until I get to heaven. If you a sinner, then you are ready. If you
wait until you think you are ready, then you will not be saved.
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Two
men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the
other a tax-gatherer [considered by Jews to be a sinner]. The
Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I
thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer . . . But the tax-gatherer,
standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his
eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God,
be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you [Jesus said],
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other
. . . (NASB) Luke 18:10-14 |
Jesus is
looking at your heart. He is looking for hearts that want to be cleaned
up by God. Here is a great illustration of a sinner trying to get
ready.
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Suppose
there was a gas leak in your house sometime in the night. You
are awakened by the smell and instead of getting up and fixing
the problem, you decide to put on some cologne and go back to
bed. You think the cologne will help overcome the smell of the
poison of the gas and decide to fix the problem - maybe in the
morning. If this really happened, you would have another tomorrow.
When we come to Jesus, there is no time for cologne. We need
to "fix" our sins - to be forgiven. |
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