Greg Laurie - The Parable of Spiritual Growth (10/01/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie teaches the Parable of the Sower from Luke 8, showing four responses to God's Word. Only one soil produces lasting fruit through a receptive heart hungry for Scripture. Spiritual growth depends on our choice to desire and nurture the Word daily, with God's help.
The Parable of Spiritual Growth
Have you ever lost something and searched endlessly for it? I lost my iPhone the other day. How many of you have an iPhone? Raise up your hand. How many of you have an Android type phone? Get out. Get out. No. I don't care. I don't care. They are all good. How many of you don't even have a smart phone? It is just a regular phone. That is good. How many of you don't have a cell phone at all? You don't have a cell phone. You may be the smartest people here? But anyway, I lost my iPhone. And I looked everywhere for it. I could not find it. So there is this thing, a feature called Find My Phone, right? So I went to it and I, you know, set it up. And then this little screen appears. And it shows you right where it is. And I hit the little thing so it would ping. And it was eight feet from where I was sitting. I dropped it in the cushion of the chair. So that was kind of embarrassing.
But I mentioned that to my son Jonathan. He said, Oh, I have been even worse than that. I did it and it was in my shirt pocket. Yeah. But I also find, by the way, guys, a little tip for you. Find My Phone is also good as a feature Find My Wife. Because, now I don't know if this is true of all women, but my wife tends to leave her phone on mute. Now she always has a good reason. Kathy, why is your phone never on? Well, it was on mute from church last night. Okay, good. And that, by the way, it is a good thing to mute your phones. But, so, if you hit that iPhone feature, Find My Phone, it will go off, chiming. She can't stop it. It is going to beep no matter where it is. So we could change that to Find My Wife. Wow, you are a little sensitive. It is just the way you reacted was a little hostile, frankly. I kind of felt that.
All right. Well, we have all lost something. We have certainly lost our car on the mall. I mean, all those alarm buttons are good for us finding your car on the mall. And so we have lost things. Well, guess what? When you lose something, you search for it until you find it. And God searches too. Now, God doesn't lose things like we do. Of course, He knows where everything is, where everyone is. But yet He is searching for people who want to grow spiritually. He is looking for fertile, receptive soil where He can plant the seed of the Word of God, soil in which His Word can take root. Because, listen, God is not going to force His truth into your life. God doesn't force feed us. He wants us to desire it. Over in Peter, it says, as newborn babes earnestly desire the Word of God. Listen, healthy children are hungry children. If you are in good health, you will be hungry. And a spiritual appetite is a good sign of a mature Christian that you are hungry for the Word of God.
I mean, look at you guys. Where are you? You are here in church. You are here for a Bible study. And I think that says a lot about you. God is looking for soil like you. He is looking for people that want to hear the Word of God. Now, this is part of this series, as I said, the greatest stories ever told because this may be the most well-known parable Jesus ever told. And then secondly, it is also a parable that helps us to understand other parables that He told as well. This is the parable of spiritual growth. It addresses the issue of why some succeed and others fail in the spiritual life. Have you ever wondered about that? Why is it that some people will make an alleged commitment to Christ and just be transformed seemingly overnight? They go on and buy the biggest Bible you can purchase. It is not even really for personal use. It is to put on a mantle. They carry it around. They show up at every church service, every midweek service. They sing louder than anyone. They lift their hands higher than anyone. And they are talking to everyone they know about Jesus. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere it would appear, they just throw on the towel and say, well, I am not into this anymore. Why does that happen?
Why Some Grow and Others Fall Away
Well, that is addressed here in the parable of spiritual growth. But listen to this. We are the ones who decide what kind of soil our hearts will be. We decide if we are going to move forward spiritually or if we are going to go backwards spiritually. It is really up to us. God wants us to grow, but we must want to grow as well. See, there is God's part and there is our part. Philippians 2:12 says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now that verse is often misunderstood. It doesn't say work for your own salvation because you can't work for it. It is a gift of God. It says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That phrase, work out, it better be translated, carry it to the goal and complete. And the idea that it is conveying is sort of like going into a mine for gold. Go into that mine and get all the gold out of it you can. Carry it out. Complete it. So God has saved us, but now carry it out and complete it. But then it goes on to say, for it is God that works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So there, it is all there. Human responsibility and divine sovereignty. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Carry it to the goal. Complete it. But it is God that is working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
So again, there is God's part and there is our part. The only way we can make it as Christians is by the daily help of the Holy Spirit. You know what you need every day? You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You say, well, Greg, I have already been filled. Okay, good. But that would be like saying, well, Greg, I already put gas in my car six months ago. Why should I put more in? Because your car won't move if you don't. Unless you have one of those electric cars. So you have to keep refilling your car over and over. And to the point, even if you have an electric car, you have to plug it in, right? And recharge it. And God wants to fill you over and over with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5 says, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs or from the Greek, be constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Alexander McLaren said, quote, he who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the scripture in his hands has all that he needs. Having a biblical worldview means looking at life through the lens of the Bible. Do you have a biblical worldview? It's how you see your world and impacts everything you are, morality, money, marriage, even how you vote in the next election. The objective is not to conform the Bible to the changing culture, but to conform the changing culture to what the Bible teaches. It's the belief that an all-knowing, all-powerful God is in control of the universe and has a plan for your life. Greg Laurie's latest book, Worldview, is our gift to you in appreciation of your gift of any amount to harvest this month. Make sure your worldview is the right view. Call 1-800-821-3300 or visit greglaurie.tv to receive your copy today. This is the day, the day when life begins. Welcome back. Here again is Greg Laurie.
So with that in mind, let's find out how we can grow spiritually. Look now at Luke chapter 8, starting in verse 4. And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to him from every city, he spoke by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. So it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock, and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold. When he said these things, he said, He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
Then his disciples asked him, saying, What does this parable mean? And he said, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now Jesus goes on to explain the parable of the sower. Verse 11. Now here is the parable. The seed is the Word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes, and takes away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who when they hear receive the Word with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a while, and in a time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who when they have heard go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones. We will stop there.
I love this parable. Now here we have four categories or reactions to God's Word represented by four different types of soil. It would appear that only one of these categories speaks of the truly converted person. So in other words only one out of four made it. Listen, not everyone is going to respond to the gospel. Our job as Christians, my job as a pastor and as an evangelist is to take the seed of the Word of God and throw it out as far as I can. Actually the word sowing and broadcasting are effectively the same concept to sow seed, to fling it out, or to broadcast a message. And so that is how they sowed seed in this time. They didn't have their carefully prepared crops and sophisticated machinery. No. They just went out. The sower would have his bag wrapped around his shoulder. He would have a little hole cut in it. And they would just reach out and throw the seed out. And some of that seed would fall on the roadside, the street. Some of it would fall on ground embedded with rock. Some would fall on receptive soil. Etc. So that is the idea that is being conveyed here. And the actual plowing was done later. And after the plowing began the farmer would see what kind of soil he was dealing with.
That is what we do in our crusades. We try to reach as many people as we possibly can. And then we use technology like we have used the last few years with Harvest America. Did you know that with these Harvest America events where we are taking what we are doing in a live venue. Year one, Angel Stadium. Year two, Philadelphia. Year three, that is this year, Dallas, Texas. You know, we are doing this event but then we are having people gathering in churches or in front rooms or wherever they are in theaters in some occasions or a civic building or something like that. And we have already reached in live attendance. These are not people just watching on the Internet or whatever. These are people in seats in venues. The last two years we have reached 500,000 people.
See that is fantastic. That is a lot of people. And then in addition to that it is recorded and aired on television later. And then it goes out on radio later. And of course there is a live Webcast which means it is out there on the Internet and now you don't have to access it merely in a computer. You can use your tablet device or your smart phone. So we have this huge audience and you say, well really, does that reach people? Well, yes it really does. And you never know who you are going to reach. A lady emailed me recently and told me her husband, whom she had been praying for for 17 years, watched the crusade on the computer and when the invitation was given, he kneeled down in front of his computer, he kneeled down in front of his computer and prayed to receive Christ. So I just rejoice in that. That is just one story.
So our job, our responsibility is to reach as many as we can. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3, my job was to plant the seed in your heart. Apollos watered it. Apollos was another preacher. But Paul says, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. The ones who do the planting and watering aren't important, but God is important because He is the one that makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose.
Now coming back to this parable, only one in four makes it. Now, that kind of addresses the whole issue of, well, how many of these people stay with the Lord in your crusades? Well, not all of them, clearly. I mean, in the parable of the sower, one out of four made it. But listen, if we only in all of our years knew we had a thousand legitimate converts, I would have done it for a thousand. If there were only a hundred real converts we could point to, I would have done it for a hundred. But I believe there are many more than that. Many, many more. But that is not my job, you see. That is the Holy Spirit's job. My job is to get the gospel out, and that is what we are all called to do. And if a person doesn't make it, well, that is their choice. Because God does give us a free will in the matter.
You know, when someone appears to have made a commitment to Christ and then walks away, sometimes we ask the question, well, did they lose their salvation? My response would be, were they really saved to begin with? Because the way to determine that is not how you start, but it is also how you finish. If a person makes a profession of faith and walks away from the Lord, the question must be asked, were they ever really converted to start with? Listen to what 1 John 2:19 says, these people left our churches because they never really belonged with us. Otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us it proved they did not belong with us. So we may not be able to determine this until much later in life, you see. Because right now we all look like freshly scrubbed, wonderful Christians, don't we? And I pray we all are. But you know, 30 years from now, some of us will be in heaven. Some of us will still be here on earth. And time will determine if we are real Christians.
See, sometimes people go astray and they come back. That is called a prodigal. The way to know if you are a prodigal or not is a prodigal will always come home. It may take them a while, but they will come home. Let me give you an example of someone that did not look like a Christian at first and ended up really strong later. And someone who looked like a Christian at first and went way off later. Nicodemus and Judas Iscariot. So Nic comes to Jesus at night in John 3. Why did he come at night? Because Nicodemus was a national figure. He was a religious leader. And it was kind of unusual for a man who was supposed to lead others to come to Jesus asking how to be right with God. So he came kind of undercover. Now we don't read about Nicodemus being converted there in John chapter 3. We just read of him coming to Jesus by night. And Christ says to the great religious leader, you must be born again. But in the end Nicodemus turned out to be one of the most courageous followers of Christ. See in everything there must be a beginning. Some have a great beginning and a poor ending.
So think about this. Judas Iscariot was an apostle in good standing while Nicodemus was still finding his way in. But at the end of our Lord's ministry, Judas betrayed Jesus. When it hung himself, an old Nicodemus stepped forward. When all the disciples forsook him and fled along with Joseph of Arimathea and claimed the body of Christ. John 19:39. And Nicodemus who had first came to Jesus by night also came. So he made his public stand later putting it all on the line for Christ. Listen. Some have a people beginning but a strong finish. Better that than a strong beginning and no finish. Right?
My wife likes to ride road bikes. And I like to ride a bike too. With a throttle. I like this. But anyway, she likes to ride the road bike, you know. And so she was telling me, Greg, you should get into it. So I went out and got a nice road bike. And I got the little outfit with the padding which feels like you are wearing a diaper. And the little shoes that go click, click, click when you walk in them, you know, so you can click in. And so I got on my bike and I was very excited about it. And I went out on a ride with all the other seasoned riders. And as we went from Newport to Huntington and I passed them all. I had all this energy. This is easy. We got to Huntington. I was pretty tired. On the way back one of the guys had to push me on the bike. It was really humiliating. See, I started strong but I didn't finish strong. Some people I like that in the Christian life. Okay.
The Four Soils and Our Response to God's Word
So with this in mind now let's look at these categories. Category number one. I am going to call them the highway hearers. Verse 11 of Luke 8. Now the parable is this. The seed is the Word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved. Now this is the idea of the seed going to the ground and the birds just swoop down and eat it. You have seen this, right? How the birds love to steal our food. You go to a McDonald's or an In-N-Out burger. They have an outdoor patio and you drop a fry. It doesn't even hit the ground. Some bird is just waiting for his moment. Then there, of course, are the seagulls. They are just outright thieves. I mean they will fly off with your lunch. Maybe even with one of your children if you don't watch them. They are very aggressive. And that is the idea. Just like this in biblical times. The seed would hit the ground. Here come the birds. Okay. What is that a picture of? Someone hears the Word of God and Satan comes immediately. Notice this phrase. The devil comes. Then the devil comes. Listen. Whenever you are sharing the gospel, someone know this. The devil will come. He will come and try to confuse the person listening. He will come with his distractions. And if there is any responsiveness he will certainly oppose that as well.
But this is speaking of people that just don't get it. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, Satan, the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those that don't believe so they are unable to see the glorious light of the good news that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach to them about the glory of Christ. And listen. There is nothing you can say to fix this. God needs to open their eyes. One thing I like to pray for a non-believer is, Lord, open their spiritual eyes to see their personal need for Jesus Christ. They just don't get it. Because their hearts are hard.