Prayer, Prayer Requests

Does Your Faith Have Roots? Decoding the Parable of the Sower

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Why do scandals rock the church? Why does Christianity seem to struggle to stay relevant? Why do church members seem so apathetic?

The state of 21st century Christianity does not surprise the Lord, Who not only foresaw it, but planned for it, and foretold it to us so that we would understand it and be able to function within it. That’s why Christ gave us the Kingdom parables in Matthew 13.

The Kingdom parables present the spread, rapid growth of, and far-reaching impact of Christianity, but they also chronicle the struggles that would accompany the growth of the faith. To paint the picture of this growth, and the growing pains that would come with it, He gave us the parables.

As with anything regarding the Christian faith, we must first begin with examining ourselves. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount that before we try to remove the speck from our brother’s eye, we should first remove the beam from our own.

In 1 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul instructed each man to examine himself to see whether he were observing the Lord’s supper properly and for the right reasons, adding that if we judge ourselves, we should not be judged (1 Corinthians 11:28, 31).

The premise is that instead of being preoccupied with what everyone else is doing, we should be focusing on what we’re doing, and examining our own hearts and motivations. Only through that exercise can we find the sin from which we need repentance, and align ourselves with the Lord’s will.

Thus, it’s fitting that the Lord began His series of Kingdom parables with the Parable of the Sower, for the Parable of the Sower is a warning to pay attention to how we receive the Gospel, and whether we have truly allowed the Gospel to take root in our hearts.

In the Parable of the Sower, as recorded in Matthew 13, Jesus told of a man who went forth to sow seed in his field. As he sowed, some of the seed fell by the wayside, and the birds (fowl of the air) came and devoured them up. Some fell on stony places, and sprung up quickly, but withered when the sun came up because they had no root.

Some fell among thorns, which choked the seed out before it could grow. Still, others fell on the good ground, spring up, grew, and bore fruit.

The trick to understanding this parable, and all parables, is to understand the imagery, and where we fit in the story. In Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8, Jesus gives us the key to interpret the Parable of the Sower. For a full look at the Kingdom Parable Decoder Ring, click here.

In interpreting this parable, Jesus tells us that the sower is the Son of Man. The seed is the word of God (the Gospel). The field is the world. And by necessary inference, we understand that the different types of ground are the different people who hear the Gospel.

The seed sown by the wayside that is devoured by the birds is the seed that is intercepted by Satan’s messengers. As we will learn in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, where the Gospel is being spread, Satan will send his messengers to disrupt things. That’s also a lesson learned from the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Basically, the seed (the word, the Gospel) is sown, but before the hearers can let it take root, Satan (the birds) steals it away so that it doesn’t convert the soul.

The seed sown on the stony ground are those who gladly receive the Gospel, and show a great amount of enthusiasm early after professing faith, but they never allow the faith to truly take root in their heart. They possess a surface-level faith only, and it never really attains any depth in their heart.

The rising of the sun in this parable symbolizes trial, tribulation and persecution that arise as part of the Christian life, and when that happens, the surface-level believer withers, because he lacks the deep-rooted faith needed to endure.

The seed sown among the thorns are those who hear the word, but are so preoccupied with the cares of the world, that the Gospel never takes root in their lives. These are those that are too busy, have other priorities, and seem to always be overwhelmed with responsibility. Because of their busyness, they miss out on the Gospel.

But when the seed is sown on the good ground, the ground that is prepared to receive the Gospel, it bears fruit. These are people who have opened their hearts to the Gospel, are ready to receive it, and allow it to take root in their hearts and their lives. These are the ones who have a great impact on the Kingdom.

In demonstrating the results of the sowing, Jesus has warned us to look within ourselves to see if we have allowed the Gospel to take root. Have we truly listened to it? Have we truly believed in it?

As He explains in His parables, there’s nothing wrong with the seed. The same seed that produced nothing among the stones or the thorns is the same seed that produced much fruit in the good ground. The issue isn’t with the seed, it’s with the soil.

Likewise, there’s nothing wrong with the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and it has the power to convert the soul. The effectiveness of the Gospel has more to do with the hearer than it does with the message itself.

Furthermore, we find that the sower sowed the seed throughout the field, to the good ground and to the bad. He sowed the seed indiscriminately.

Likewise, Christ sowed the Gospel to everyone, to those who would hear, and those who would not. He sowed it to the believer and the one who would not believe. He spread the Gospel indiscriminately.

With that, we understand that the responsibility for how we receive the Gospel falls completely upon us, and if we leave this world without having believed the Gospel, then we “are without excuse” (Romans 1).

Therefore, before we examine the big picture surrounding the Christian faith, we must first examine the small one of our hearts. We must begin with a self-assessment. This is what Christ was teaching us in the Parable of the Sower.

So, before we continue further into our studies into the Kingdom Parables, ask yourself….

“When and How did I hear the Word?”

“How did I receive it?”

“Have I allowed the Gospel to take root in my life?”

Or, as Peter wrote, we need to make our “calling and election sure.”

So, heed the Lord’s warning. Assess your Spirituality. Believe the Gospel and let it take root. And watch how the Lord works wonders in your life.

The Hour is Come

In John 17, Jesus is with His disciples in the upper room following their observance of the Passover, and the institution of The Lord’s Supper. Judas has been sent away to betray Christ, and our Lord spent chapters 14-16 preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, and their lives after His ascension into Heaven.

At the conclusion of his discussion with His disciples, Jesus lifts up His eyes to God and says the most epic prayer ever recorded. In opening the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus says, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

This word, “glorify,” is translated from the Greek word doxoza, which means to honor, to make renown, to make to be well-thought of. Basically, to be made famous in a good way for great things you’ve done. It is from this word comes the title of the hymn, “Doxology,” which is simply referred to in many Christian denominations as “The Doxology.”

Indeed, God’s name has been made great throughout all of human history, from the creation, to redeeming Adam and Eve, to His raising up of Israel, to His chastisement of Israel, to His reconstruction of Israel, to bringing forth Jesus, born of a virgin, and giving Him to be the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. God’s glorification continues with the resurrection of Jesus, His victory over sin, and will come to full fruition when He establishes His Kingdom on Earth.

Jesus prays that God would glorify Him, to make Him great and renown, so that Christ, in turn, can do the same for the Father.

But first, He says, “The hour is come.”

The hour is this moment, when Christ would fulfill the Gospel and redeem His people. God’s entire plan with mankind centered around this moment. This is the moment that Jesus Christ would undo the inherent sin and death brought by Satan into the world. He would undo the damage done by Adam and Eve in the garden.

In this hour, Christ would pay for the sins of the world, bringing forgiveness and redemption to mankind, and saving all those who believe to the eternal life God originally intended back in the beginning. For Jesus, it’s time!

In this hour, mankind had a decision to make. In Luke 19:42 Jesus said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.”

Jesus had come to Jerusalem to complete God’s plan of salvation, but the Pharisees only saw a threat to their personal prestige, power and desires. So, they had Him crucified, and sealed their judgment. Hence, Jesus says in Luke 22:53, as He was being arrested, “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

To complete the Gospel and pay for the sins of mankind, Christ handed Himself over to sinful man. And man was told He had one hour, to do unto God (who was in the flesh in Jesus) what He wished. Man treated our Lord as shamefully as he could.

No compassion.

No mercy.

The compassion and mercy we desire was denied to Christ, both by man, and by God.

Thus, Isaiah 53:4-6 says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The punishment Christ endured on the cross settled the sin-debt for all mankind. Man’s rebellion against God came to full fruition on Christ as He was beaten and tortured prior to the crucifixion.

And God’s need for justice was satisfied on the cross, as Isaiah 53:11 says, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

Now, with the hour of salvation complete, it’s now your hour, and you have the same choice to make.

Will you see Christ as a threat to your happiness, pleasure, fun, prosperity, autonomy over your life. Is He a buzzkill?

Or will you see Him as salvation, the source of life, and the One to whom you will give your faith and trust?

What is your decision?

Having proclaimed that the hour has come, Jesus then prayed that God would glorify Him so that the glory could be returned to God. God answered that prayer by resurrecting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of the resurrection, the Gospel was spread throughout the world, and the name of Jesus Christ has been remembered throughout the centuries.

Because of the resurrection, we have a confident expectation of salvation, of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, and a life without pain, sin or adversity in His Heaven.

Because of the resurrection, we can comfort each other at funerals.

Again, there is a choice to be made here. To believe, or to reject. What is yours?

Praying for Glory, How Jesus Opened the Most Epic Prayer

As Jesus prepared for His arrest and crucifixion, He lifted up His eyes to God and prayed the most epic prayer. Recorded in John 17, this is often referred to as “The High Priestly Prayer.” In it, Jesus prays for the glorification of God and Himself through the crucifixion, and He prays for His disciples that God would protect and maintain them in His absence.

It is really profound that our Lord, Who was God in flesh, lifted up such a prayer. It teaches us of the role prayer plays in our faith. It is an exercise of faith, and it is an alignment of our thoughts, desires and plans with God’s. To see Christ, Himself, do it is truly powerful.

Jesus opens this prayer in John 17:1 by saying, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”

He prays that the plan of salvation, our redemption through the cross, would truly be glorifying to God. And when you discuss the glory of God, truly you must discuss the cross, because it is in the cross that the full righteousness of God is on full display (Romans 1:16-17), and in the cross that God obtains final victory over Satan.

It is in the cross that our hope lies, for without the cross, we have nothing beyond this life to look forward to. Without the cross, we are left as enemies to God, living a life of frustrated divine conflict before a death leading to eternal punishment. However, with the cross, we are redeemed and reconciled to God, made friends of God, blessed to live life in His presence with His provision and guidance, before a death that leads to eternal blessings in His Kingdom.

The glory of the Lord is ubiquitous in scripture, and throughout all of human history. God was glorified in the creation. He was glorified in the creation of man. He was glorified in ejecting Satan from heaven following his revolution there. He was glorified in providing man a way of salvation after man joined Satan in that rebellion. He was glorified in raising up a nation after Himself, then using the enemies of that nation to refine them into the people He intended on them being. He was glorified in how He led them out of Egypt, and how He led them into the promised land.

God was glorified in the birth of Jesus Christ, the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His glory is such that, even non-believers have to acknowledge the incredible events that He performed, from the darkness on the earth when Jesus was on the cross, to the resurrection, to the impact Christ had on human history, even from a secular point of view.

And in the Gospel of John, we’ll see that glory come to it’s apex when Jesus pays for our sins on the cross. The glory of the Lord will come full circle when He returns and establishes His Kingdom on earth. This is deliverance for us, which should have us all praying for the glory of God. For it’s only in that glory that we have any hope.

National Day of Prayer Observance Set For Noon-1pm May 5 at Depot Center Plaza in Brownwood

The Annual Brown County National Day of Prayer Observance has been set for Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Margaret and Stuart Coleman Plaza at the Depot Center, 600 E. Depot Street in Brownwood, TX. The event will feature a meet-and-greet from Noon-12:15, a community prayer service from 12:15-12:45, and individual prayer groups from 12:45 until finished. The community prayer service will feature prayers for rain, our local community, our state and our nation led by local community leaders. For more information, contact Leland Acker at (325) 200-8531.

Why Would We Be Ashamed?

When you pray, what are you really asking for?

Every Sunday, members and visitors to Life Point Baptist Church request prayer for a variety of circumstances. (We take prayer requests during Sunday School and morning worship, and each request is prayed for specifically). These requests range from healing, to financial provision, to reconciliation within the family, to a revival in our nation, to comfort from grief.

Each and every one of these requests is borne of a fear, a concern, a pain, or other turbulence in life. At the root of each of these requests is a desire to be delivered from the torment of the situation. In essence, each prayer request is a request for peace in the congregant’s life. This is a request we pray for, and a request we sincerely hope God grants.

If it is peace you seek in life, scripture says that God freely offers that peace. Romans 5:1 says “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

To be justified means to be declared not guilty because the punishment has already been paid. Scripture teaches that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Each of us has broken God’s law, the 10 commandments which instruct us not to put anything before God, not to take God’s name in vain, to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, to honor our parents, not to kill, lie, steal, commit adultery or covet.

Scripture also says the consequence of sin is death and eternal damnation under God’s judgment (Romans 6:23). Yet, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ went to the cross where He suffered God’s wrath for our sin on our behalf. He paid the penalty for our sin. Therefore, all who believe that He died for their sin, and trust Him to receive them into Heaven are saved from God’s wrath, and have a future in Heaven with the Lord.

Since this salvation comes by believing in the Lord, the Bible tells us we are “justified by faith.”

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“Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:1

This peace that the Bible references is two-fold. First, we have peace with God in that we are no longer enemies to God, but rather have been made friends with God, and are adopted as children into His family. Secondly, having been justified by faith, we experience a peace with God that surpasses understanding, that allows us to be in good spirits even when life around us is crashing.

This peace allows us to rejoice and praise the Lord when times are good, and enables us to rejoice and praise the Lord when times are bad. That peace cultivates a hope that, as we endure what life throws at us, we continue to look forward to that day that the Lord rescues us from this world and welcomes us into His eternal peace.

It is our prayer that you find that peace. Should you have any prayer requests, you can submit them below:

All Hands on Deck!

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With a number of Life Point’s members and friends facing serious situations this week, we’d like to call all of our members and friends to prayer.

There are specific prayer requests being lifted up to us for those who have lost loved ones, those battling serious illnesses, and those facing serious problems in life. We plan on praying for each and every one. If you have a prayer request to add to this list, email it to our pastor, Leland Acker, at LelandAcker@gmail.com.

If you would like to pray with us, you can do so in person at 6 p.m. Wednesday, at Life Point Baptist Church, 599 Sunrise Dr., Early, TX, or you can do so where you are.

May God hear your prayers, heal your hurt, and comfort your heart.

The Point…

The official blog of Life Point Baptist Church