In the eighth chapter of Luke, Jesus told of the Sowers seeds that fell, some by the way side, and was trodden down. And some of the seed fell on a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture and had no root. There was also some seed which fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Then there was also seed which fell on good ground, and they in an honest and good heart, keep(hold fast to) it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
The seed that fell on the rock and the seed that fell among thorns: did they not receive the Gospel at the beginning of this experience? In other words these represent people who heard the Gospel of Christ Crucified and believed it but like a seed on a rock they had no root and withered. And those who received it among thorns would also be people who believed the Gospel of Christ, but they basically had too much competition from the thorns which were growing in the dirt with them that they were unable to draw enough nutrition from the earth in which they were growing, so their life was choked from them.
This is just a rough diagram of that which took place and I'm sure that it could be explained a little better and more precisely, but I think we get the ideal.
Now this is what I wonder about.
These seeds, (the ones on a rock and the ones that fell among thorns) are they not likely representative of some people who are attending our churches today?
Let's think about it. The one who represents the seed which fell on a rock, sprang up quickly. That would be someone who hears the Gospel and springs up quickly, I would think that there is a very real probability that when they first heard the gospel, because of their ready acceptance of the Gospel, may very well have confessed the Lord Jesus Christ and they also believe that God has actually raised Him from the dead. The problem really is that they withered as soon as temptation came. Why did they wither? Because they had no root.
So here is the question. How many people in our churches of today are seeds upon the rock. They have at some point confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, and they still believe in the historical event of Jesus being raised from the dead, but they are not rooted in Christ as being their Lord or in what He has accomplished for them on the Cross.
They have long since given more heed to their temptations than to the Blood of Christ and the price paid by Jesus to remove their sin debt, and to supply them with His Righteousness, but because they remember that at one time they said, "I confess the Lord Jesus Christ" and they still believe the historical fact of Jesus being raised from the dead, so they think everything is fine. At least they are sitting there in some church week after week trying to convince themselves that everything is fine.
Pretty much the same thing can be said for those who are seeds which fell among thorns.
If this be the case, and I have no reason to doubt that it is, then should we not be interested in attempting to make sure these people get grounded in the knowledge of what Christ has done for us, and how that we receive all the benefits of what He has done for us by Faith in His Finished Work and not by the works of our hands. Perhaps this is why it is written in Heb. 3:13 that we are to "exhort one another daily." That exhortation is to be toward confidence (in what Christ has done for us and in the resurrection of the just) and holding that confidence fast. In other words holding tightly to the truth which we first accepted when we first believed. This would be sort of like throwing so dirt on the rock, so that the seeds would have something to take root in.
In Revelation 12:11, we are told that those who escaped the accuser of the Brethren did so by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. I can't help believe that this word of our testimony is something which encourages both ourselves and those who hear us to hold fast to the trust which we have in all that Christ has given to us through the sacrificing of His Own Flesh and Blood.
