Wayside Christians, Stony Christians, Thorny Christians, and Grounded Christians

Text: Matthew 13:3-9

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

a.       Here Jesus speaks about a sower, that wasn’t sowing ordinary seed. He is speaking about the condition of the heart.

b.      It is not the will of God for any of us to be unfruitful.

                   i.            The Word of god strictly speaks about us being supposed to bring forth fruit.

                  ii.            For us to say that we are exempt from some of these things is not realistic.

1.       First let's talk about the wayside Christians.

a.       Verse 4 - This represent the field that was tramped through hard. This represent a hard hearted Christian.

b.      A lot of times hardships and pain can make us bitter against God.

                   i.            This can affect EVERY Christian.

c.       When you come to church and god pricks your heart about something, if you don't respond right away, you will find it hard to respond to later.

                   i.            If God pricks your heart, He will give you the strength to get away from it.

d.      Unresponsive people will think of every excuse why they can't stop doing things that keep them from God.

                   i.            This won't allow them to respond to the Word of God the way they should.

e.      God never commands you to do something that He hasn't first given you the power to do.

                   i.            If God begins to lay on your heart to do something, just do it.

f.        If we step out in faith, God can deliver us from things that have been a part of us all of our lives.

g.       Ephesians 4:27, 32

Neither give place to the devil. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

                   i.        When you give place to the devil, you grieve the Holy Spirit.

                  ii.        When the Word of God is being preached, you have to have a heart that is responsive.

h.            Matthew 13:4, 19

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

19  When 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.

                   i.        You cannot truly receive the Word of God when your heart is hardened.

                  ii.        Your heart can be so hardened that you will not respond to the Word of God because, at that point, it is foolishness to you.

2.       Stony Christians - Matthew 13:6-7

 i.            These are impulsive Christians. They can never do something and stick with it.

ii.            This represents shallow Christians. Shallow Christians are dangerous because you don't know how shallow they are until tribulation comes.

iii.            The sun represents fiery trials. In the beginning, they are ready, but their roots are not strong.

                   i.            It is a dangerous thing for a person to be excited without having a strong relationship with God. As soon as something happens you will see another side to that individual.

iv.            Excitement is not enough. There is nothing wrong with excitement, but if your whole things based on excitement, you will falter as soon as the excitement fades.

v.            The Word in you allows you to overcome the enemy's temptations.

vi.            No matter how much you try to control the outcome of any given situation, you have no power to. You have to allow God to have the control, because God knows best.

vii.            Trusting God is a lifestyle. It is not something that you just do when something bad happens.

                   i.            If you don't trust Him through the good times, then you won't trust Him when the bad times come.

                  ii.            Struggles don't have the power to make you trust God, they have the power to expose you to yourself. They can make you see that you don't trust God like you're supposed to.

                iii.            Struggles will force you to realize that you need to trust God more, they can bring you to a place of real trust.

viii.            The thing that excites the pastor is to see people going through trials and STILL come to church.

3.       Thorny Christians.

 i.            Matthew 13:7, 22

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

22  He 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.

ii.            These are preoccupied Christians, so preoccupied that they can't even allow God to come in.

                   i.            These are those that hear the Word, but they are so caught up in this life that the Word gets choked.

iii.            When we get caught up in the present, our priorities get all messed up.

iv.            2 Timothy 4:10

For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

                   i.        Demas' name will be forever synonymous with quickening.

                  ii.        We must live our lives to please Christ and not ourselves.

                                     i.            We must please Him who have chosen up to be a soldier, that no soldier may get caught up in the affairs of this life.

4.       The Grounded Christians.

 i.            Fruit producing Christians know what it's like to cry, be broken, and be worked on by the lord.

ii.            These are then that take what God says, and endeavor to live the Word.

iii.            When the Word of God falls onto good ground, it brings death.

                   i.            There is no life without death.

                  ii.            Many things that we go through are God trying to show us how to die to self.

iv.            The Bible says to present our bodies a living sacrifice, then we feel ourselves beginning to die, we start trying to get off the altar.

                   i.            Getting up off the altar, we are not fighting for life, we are really dying. When we allow ourselves to die, then we begin to truly live,.

v.            John 12:24

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

                   i.        The Word of God must be put into good soil, so that it can produce fruit.

vi.            John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

                   i.        Lord let your desires begin to increase in my life, and my own desires begin to decrease.

                  ii.        As we grow, our desires begin to fit His will for us.

                iii.        If God isn't answering our prayers, maybe our desires aren't in line with His will.

5.       God doesn't need to ask anybody's permission to do what He has to do in your life.

I thank God that He was too wise to allow anybody else to have providence over my life.