THE ISSUES THAT CHOKE THE WORD OF GOD IN PEOPLE’S LIVES

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Matthew 13:18-23 (AMPC) 

 

“18 Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower:

 

19 While anyone is hearing the Word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the roadside.

 

20 As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy;

 

21 Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away.

 

22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

 

23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Word and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundred times as much as was sown, in another sixty times as much, and in another thirty.

 

 

Dear people of God, the Parable of the Sower the Lord Jesus told as recorded in Matthew 13:1-9 is a profound summary of all human beings and how they respond to God’s Word in the Holy Bible.

 

Today and over the next series of posts, we will consider the hearts or minds of the 4 categories of persons represented by the soil types on which the Sower’s seed fell.

 

For avoidance of doubt, the sower is any believer or Christian who preaches the Gospel of Christ Jesus while the seed is the infallible Word of God.

 

Now, let us consider the seeds that fell along the pathway as the sower went along in Matthew 13:19, “While anyone is hearing the Word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the roadside.”

 

This category of persons is the heart of all unbelievers or non-Christians and some backslidden Christians who hear God’s Word but do not grasp and comprehend.

 

As a result of this inability to grasp the Light of God’s Word shining into their hearts as the preachers give it by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, the devil or the evil one comes to snatch the little they have heard and they are back to their old state of unbelief and confusion.

 

So how does the devil do this? The devil uses subtle means by sowing seeds of negative thoughts into such persons’ minds. Demons come in the spirit to whisper negative words in the ears of such people and once they entertain the negative thoughts, they have given satan a legal right to enter their lives and satan immediately comes in to possess them through all means to ensure they do not believe God’s Word.

 

This is why the Word of God tells us concerning such folks in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “For the god of this world (satan) has blinded the unbelievers' minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.”

 

This is why Christians should obey God’s command to go and preach the Gospel to all creature of the whole human race in Mark 16:15.

 

Before you go out to preach the Gospel, you must pray for the Lord to pour His Holy Spirit into the minds of such unbelieving folks, to send labourers or preachers into the harvest and to confirm His Word with signs and wonders following.

 

Though not in all cases, but it is not ideal to start the Gospel message with a miracle rather than preaching the Word first. Remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing, the Word of God – Romans 10:17.

 

So the ideal is to preach God’s Word and then God ministers to the unbeliever and then God confirms His Word with signs and wonders following to prove the Truth of His Word.

 

We will continue with the next heart (soil type) in my next post.

 

May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Powerful Name, Amen.


Gabriel Ama.

 

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