Could the future be here?

By Pastor Doug Cox

In Mark chapter 4 Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower. It is a story of a man scattering seed on the ground. The seed landed on different kinds of ground including pathways, stony, rocky, thorny and fertile ground. Jesus went on to describe how three quarters of the crop failed and the reasons why.

The problem wasn’t with the seed it was with the soil. The seed represents God’s Word and the soil represents the human heart. Getting the word into human hearts is God’s main concern while most people think learning His Word is an option.

Reading through the parable you see that Satan steals the Word. It’s as easy as a bird plucking seed off a hard surface. So, Satan steals the word landing on hardened hearts. Then there are the people who get offended by someone and that offense keeps them from focusing on the Word and they do not get rooted in it like they should. They easily judge others saying, “and they call themselves a Christian” and yet fail to see their own shortcomings.

Probably the most obvious of hinderances to spiritual fruit are the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. Jesus said these choke the Word, making it unfruitful. We must ask ourselves, what do I really care about? How important is money to me? What is my greatest desire? How many of these things get in the way of the attention I should be giving God? How many get in the way of what the Spirit wants for my life?

Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) He also said about the parable of the Sower, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? Mark 4:13

Proper understanding of this parable is that we can’t be indifferent, hard, offended, controlled by our flesh and be controlled by the Word of God at the same time. Paul says to do that is to “have a form of godliness denying the power thereof.”

That brings us to ask why the title, could the future be here? Interestingly 2 Thessalonians tells us the day is coming at the end of the age, right before the antichrist comes into power that deception will have not only flooded the world but the church. The tragedy of that deception is the church will fall away from what God intended. Verse 3 says “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

If you are not aware, there are churches operating right now who accept drag queen pastors, endorse abortion, homosexuality and on goes the list. How did all that happen? All it took was a little time given to indifference, hardness, offense, yielding to the flesh and things like that. One individual at a time lets the soil of their heart go bad. They dismiss the importance of church attendance and reading God’s Word. The altar of sacrifice is replaced with the altar of pleasure. Grace becomes an excuse to dismiss responsibility and God’s desires are only considered options.

Beloved the future is here. Let’s produce the fruits of righteousness. The whirlpool of apostasy is swirling. Don’t be one of those who gets sucked away.

THIS SUNDAY
Don’t miss Pastor Doug’s message from Romans chapter 6 this coming Sunday titled – “Putting sin in it’s place”.