The Sower
Matthew 13:19-23(KJV) 19When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew 13:11-15(KJV) 11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
2 Thessalonians 2:3(KJV) 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
1 Timothy 4:1-2(KJV) 1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
2 Timothy 4:3-4(KJV) 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Mark 4:13(KJV) And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
Foolish virgins - false converts / wise virgins - true converts / good fish - true converts / bad fish - false converts / tears - false converts /wheat - true converts / the man who built his house on the rock - true convert / man who built his house on sand - false convert /
Matthew 7:26(KJV) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: The world does not hear the words of Jesus. Those who go to church and ignore what they've learned are the false converts playing church.
Characteristics of a false convert:
The stony ground hearer does not comprehend what he or she has been told about the word of God. They do not grasp the true gospel message.
Secondly the stony ground hearer lacks moisture.
Luke 8:6(KJV) And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. He or she has not allowed the spirit of God into his or her life, therefore there is no drinking from the Spirit of God. Also because the Spirit of God is not dwelling in them their eyes are not open to the Word of God, so it is dry and tedious.
Matthew 13:6(KJV) And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. They have not become grounded and rooted in the loving word of God. Their faith dries up when persecution and trouble comes. Colossians 2:6-7(KJV) 6As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Mark 4:16(KJV) And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; but again, when tests, trials and persecution fall upon him or her they quickly run from God and the church.
Matthew 13:20(NKJV) But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
Luke 8:13(NKJV) But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. They believe in their mind, but have never accepted in their heart;
Romans 10:9-11(KJV) 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Tribulation, trials, problems, difficulties. Temptation, following the lusts of the flesh for the pleasure it brings, or the temptation of not doing what's right because it's inconvenient. Persecution, being tormented, threatened for professing Jesus Christ. These things will reveal the true spiritual makeup of a person.
Matthew 7:15-21(KJV) 15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15(NKJV) 13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Jesus knew that people would come into the church pretending to be Christ like but would not be truly saved. Our job as leaders is two fold.
1. We are to love them and try to help them find true salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
2. We are to protect the sheep and pastor from them. They should not be aloud to dictate how the church is to be run, nor work in a leadership roll. A wolf should not be put in charge of the sheep.
Matthew 13:28 - 30 (NKJV) 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
He knows that they are with us and wants us to know who they are.
Jesus has taught us how to know the difference between them that are not truly born of Christ and those that are. We can know who has truly been transfigured in spirit and who is pretending, by their fruit, or lack of it.
And yes you can know if you are one of those that Jesus is going to say “depart from me I never knew you”!
I want us all to take a serious look into our selves as we look to see who is, and who is not a true convert of Christ.
God has told us that a true convert will have the fruit of the Spirit springing up in their lives.
Galatians 5:22 - 26 (KJV) 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
First there is a true repentance, A 180 degree turn around from the sinful life style and a determined walk towards a godly life style. You truly no longer desire the nightclubs, the alcohol, cigarettes. There is no longer a love for the drugs, these things must release their hold on any one who lets go of their love for it and truly lets Christ reign in their life.
I want to make something clear, any one who lets go of their LOVE for the thing. God will not rip something from you that you aren’t willing to let go of.
James 4:4 (NKJV) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Next we see a thankful grateful heart for what God has done for them.
Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV) giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Good works will start to appear, they will be other centered not self centered.
John 15:8 (NKJV) By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
They will start bearing fruit for God. This will be fruit of words and deeds.
James 2:24, 26 (NKJV) 24You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
This dramatic change of behavior will help to attract others.
Matthew 5:41 - 42 (NKJV) 41And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Matthew 5:44 (KJV) But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
A true Christ like person will be hungry for God’s Word. They will ask questions and the Word will start to become clear to them.
Psalms 119:140 (NKJV) Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
Psalms 119:162 (NKJV) I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great treasure.
They will desire to be with people of like mind. When in the world they wanted to fellowship with those of the world, now they should have a heart for other Christ like people. Church and church functions should not be a bore or bother to them.
Hebrews 10:24 - 25 (NKJV) 24And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
The goal of a true convert will be to strive toward that mark of righteousness, because they long to please God, the one that saved them.
Philippians 3:13 - 14 (NKJV) 13Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV) 1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Our spirit is made new in Christ Jesus not our flesh. We will fight the flesh and some times we will willingly give in.
Since I have become an adult in the Lord I can not remember a time that I “accidently sinned”. A true Christ like person will fill guilt and remorse for what they did and strive to stop doing it. A false convert will make excuses and find reasons to keep sinning.
Jesus is not talking about the world in the parable of the sower. He is speaking of those that have come to church for a time and heard the Word of God even to the extent of having joy for a short time.
Jesus tells us what to expect. There are some that will hear his word and immediately scoff at it and walk away.
There are a great many that raise their right hand and do the repeat after me thing, but never believe in their heart and never allow the Spirit of God to renew them.
Romans 10:9 (KJV) 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
James 2:19 (NKJV) 19You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
There are some that believe just as the demons do but still refuse to allow the Spirit of God to renew their heart.
Then there are those that will receive it with gladness but only endure for a short time. When tribulation, persecution and temptation, which is the desire for the things of this world, grow, they fall away because they were never truly changed.
It is these that receive the word of God for a time that end up causing the most trouble for the church.
Now lets see what we are to look for in a false convert.
Romans 1:29 - 32 (NASB) 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Here God tells us that these know the ordinances of God but do not live by them. The world does not know the ordinances of God. Only those that have been around the church and its people.
2 Timothy gives us more to look for in a false convert.
2 Timothy 3:2 - 5 (NKJV) 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Here is where God’s wisdom comes in, we need to discern between those that are truly seeking God and those that are putting on a form of godliness but dening true life changing repentance. Those that are working for satan and his demons. From such turn away.
