CHAPTER 26
BABY STEPS
(THE FIRST YEAR)
IF YE “ABIDE” IN ME, AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YE SHALL ASK WHAT YE WILL, AND IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU.
JOHN 15:7
ABIDE. 3306. Men’-o; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
We see that Jesus is juxtaposing and comparing two actions. Jesus is stating a basic principal of the kingdom of God. If His Word abides in us, we will abide in Him. We remain in Jesus Christ only as long as His Word remains in us. This is the main reason we must memorize the Word of God, and determine in our hearts that we will diligently absorb God’s Word as our continuous daily responsibility.
You may miss a meal, or you may go without food entirely (fasting), but you should never miss speaking God’s Word to yourself, each and every day.
PARABLE OF THE SOWER
Having the Words of God abiding in our heart is the very foundation of our assurance that God will answer our prayers and petitions. Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
HEARKEN; BEHOLD, THERE WENT OUT A SOWER TO SOW:
AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HE SOWED, SOME FELL BY THE WAY SIDE, AND THE FOWLS OF THE AIR CAME AND DEVOURED IT UP.
AND SOME FELL ON STONY GROUND, WHERE IT HAD NOT MUCH EARTH; AND IMMEDIATELY IT SPRANG UP, BECAUSE IT HAD NO DEPTH OF EARTH:
BUT WHEN THE SUN WAS UP, IT WAS SCORCHED; AND BECAUSE IT HAD NO ROOT, IT WITHERED AWAY.
AND SOME FELL AMONG THORNS, AND THE THORNS GREW UP, AND CHOKED IT, AND IT YIELDED NO FRUIT.
AND OTHER FELL ON GOOD GROUND, AND DID YIELD FRUIT THAT SPRANG UP AND INCREASED; AND BROUGHT FORTH, SOME THIRTY, AND SOME SIXTY, AND SOME AN HUNDRED.
MARK 4:3-8
Jesus in the following verses explains the most basic foundational spiritual law to His disciples: The spiritual law of sowing and reaping. First, you must sow before you can reap. Second, you most sow on good ground if you want a good harvest. Third, and most important, you must sow the right kind of seed. How do we know this is the most basic spiritual law? When the disciples asked Jesus what the above parable meant, His reply was:
KNOW YE NOT HIS PARABLE? AND HOW THEN WILL YE KNOW “ALL” PARABLES?
MARK 4:14
This parable is the key to all the other parables, this parable is the key to every Book in the Bible. This parable is the key to our spiritual growth, maturity, and ministry. It is the key to success, prosperity, good health, long life, wealth, love, and perfect peace. You cannot minister to others without the Word of God growing, working and ministering in your own life. How can you help the sick, if you are sick? How can you help the poor, if you are poor? How can you help the lost, if you are wandering in the wilderness?
THE SOWER SOWETH THE “WORD”.
AND THESE ARE THEY BY THE WAY SIDE, WHERE THE WORD IS SOWN; BUT WHEN THEY HAVE HEARD, SATAN COMETH IMMEDIATELY, AND TAKETH AWAY THE WORD THAT WAS SOWN IN THEIR HEARTS.
MARK 4:14-15
The wayside people hear the Word of God, but it never gets down into their spirit because the Devil steals the Word before it can take root. The wayside people might occasionally go to Church on Sunday, or they may not attend at all, their lives do not conform to God’s Word, they live their lives the same as everybody else in the world. The Word is forgotten and the Word has never been applied to their lives and their circumstances; therefore, they get no benefit from hearing the Word of God. They are never delivered from their sins, or poverty, or sickness, or other bad circumstances in their life because the Word of God is not mixed with faith. They are constantly seeking knowledge but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth.
AND THESE ARE THEY LIKEWISE WHICH ARE SOWN ON STONY GROUND; WHO, WHEN THEY HAVE HEARD THE WORD, IMMEDIATELY RECEIVE IT WITH GLADNESS;
AND HAVE NO ROOT IN THEMSELVES, AND SO ENDURE BUT FOR A TIME: AFTERWARD, WHEN AFFLICTION OR PERSECUTION ARISETH FOR THE WORD’S SAKE, IMMEDIATELY THEY ARE OFFENDED.
MARK 4:16-17
Once again, the stony ground people hear the Word, and they do a little better than those sown by the wayside. Maybe they hear the Word from an acquaintance or an evangelist. The stony ground people get excited, they might even get on the straight and narrow for awhile, they might read the Bible for short awhile, they may even talk to friends and co-workers about Jesus for awhile, but when their circumstances do not change immediately, or they suffer derision and persecution, they fall right back into their old sins and bad habits. The stony ground people are wandering in the wilderness. They never get to experience the blessings of God because they lack patience, endurance, faith, and most of all they lack direction.
AND THESE ARE THEY WHICH ARE SOWN AMONG THORNS, SUCH AS HEAR THE WORD.
AND THE CARES OF THE WORLD, AND THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES, AND THE LUSTS OF OTHER THINGS ENTERING IN, CHOKE THE WORD, AND IT BECOMETH UNFRUITFUL.
MARK 4:18-19
The thorny people do even better than the stony ground people. They begin to apply the Word of God in their lives. The blessings of God begin to manifest in their lives. The thorny people begin to bear spiritual fruit. They start enjoying the finer things in life. They may have a nice home, a good occupation and nice income, loving friends and family. However, all the good things in their life start to crowd out their time with God and His Word. They forget their first love. They are the end time Laodicean Church in the third chapter of the Book of Revelation.
The thorny people start spending more and more time enjoying the blessings and spend less and less time with the Author of their blessings. They begin to believe their success is because of their own hard work, so they begin to work harder. They begin to believe their success is because of their friends, family, and connections, and so they spend more and more time schmoozing with people. They say to themselves, “I have worked so hard, I deserve to relax and enjoy myself.” They begin travelling and socializing and they squander all the blessings of God on enjoying the things of the world. Eventually, after a time, they do not spend any time with God and their fruitfulness and blessing evaporates. These thorny people believe their own salvation is the end all and be all of God’s eternal plan. They do not realize that God’s primary purpose for individual Christians and the Church is to be fruitful and to multiply!
AND THESE ARE THEY WHICH ARE SOWN ON GOOD GROUND; SUCH AS HEAR THE WORD, AND “RECEIVE” IT, AND BRING FORTH FRUIT, SOME THIRTYFOLD, SOME SIXTY, AND SOME AN HUNDRED.
MARK 4:20
See the action verbs. The fruitful people hear the Word, and receive it!