Sister Sharron Sunday School 2/22/15

Sister Sharron Sunday School 2/22/15

When I got saved, I was admonished to be good ground.  It was good admonition and part of my foundation.

Mar 4:1  And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

Matthew Henry – Here seems to be a new convenience found out, which had not been used before, though he had before preached by the sea side (Mar_2:13), and that was - his standing in a ship, while his hearers stood upon the land; and that inland sea of Tiberias having no tide, there was no ebbing and flowing of the waters to disturb them.

A parable is a short story that has a moral or a spiritual lesson.  Jesus taught them in a way they could understand.  It is still hidden to those that are not converted.

Mar 4:2  And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,

Mar 4:3  Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

Jesus wants us to get it.  You need to listen so that it will profit you.  It is good not only to hear but that it profit you in your life.  We need to value the Word of God and the work that it will do. 

The sower sows on all the ground and expects a harvest.  The purpose is that it multiply and grow.  It is not always what happens when you sow, but it is expected.

Mar 4:4  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.

The wayside is the part that fell on the road.  It was pushed to the side because those on the road didn’t want it.  The birds came along and devoured it; they also scatter their seed. 

Sometimes that is the way it is.  There is already bad seed sown when you come along.  I had bad seed in my life when I got saved.  Don’t worry about it when you come upon bad seed in an individual that you are reaching out to, because God can remove it. 

Sister Brenda - I remember as a child Babylon reached out to me but I loved the church.  If a soul has an honest heart, they will be drawn to the people of God.  People around us that become injected with whatever, if they really want God, will respond to the Word of God and the saints.  Honest hearts will still come.

Luk 8:12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

See how important it is to value the Word of God?  Don’t let anyone steal it. 

Mar 4:5  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

Mar 4:6  But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

Ground that is on rocks and stones and doesn’t have much earth, you’d have to clear and put in topsoil to make a good area.  You wouldn’t see many beautiful things there unless the ground has been redone. 

Luk 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

We’ve all seen those with the stony ground.  They don’t stay around long enough to get the work in their heart that will sustain them.  This shows that hearing alone will not take us to heaven.  There must be the work. 

They don’t bring fruit to perfection but after a while wither away.  They haven’t had God do a deep enough work in their heart.  That is why they fall away.

Mar 4:7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

Who likes to sit by prickly people?  We are full of discomfort and apprehension and don’t know what is going to come next.  The thorns grew and choked the word.  The cares of life, the worldly cares eat up the vigor of the soul.  We are supposed to be on fire for God.

The deceitfulness of riches, the hearers of the Word and yet they are still in a snare.  We must not put our confidence in riches, they will choke out the Word.

Luk 8:14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

We don’t want any thorns in our life.  We need to find the balance.  If you get involved with stuff that pushes God out, then you need to get back on track.  I noticed that we have to watch what we get involved in. 

Brother Bill - You can have good devotions, endeavor to visit the sick and work with souls, then you find there are things that are time wasters.  For Teri and me it is the computer.  We need to find where the balance is so that we don’t leave out our responsibilities at home, taking care of the lawn or our home.  We need to find the balance.  We need to know and pursue the balance so that we are functioning the best that we can.  Time marches on and we are getting older.  God help me to be the best I can be for you all in the short life that I have.  Pray for Teri and me that we can find what the balance is.

Mar 4:8  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.

The seed of the Word of God should always meet good soil.  Sometimes it is not convenient to be good soil, but we must make a decision.  The bad seed will grow.  We want to make it to heaven.

Mar 4:13  And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

Mar 4:14  The sower soweth the word.

Mar 4:15  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.

Mar 4:16  And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

Mar 4:17  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.

Mar 4:18  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

Mar 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Mar 4:20  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.

Our goal should be a 100%.  We shouldn’t stop way short of what God has for us.  As a true steward we will have afflictions and so on.  Remember we don’t have a right to be offended.  We can immediately give it to him.  Whatever comes He has allowed it. 

Being offended is a danger.  It is not healthy.  “Great peace have they that serve the Lord and nothing shall offend them.”  That doesn’t mean that things won’t be hard, but we must choose to have a right attitude, and not get in a tiff. 

Offend means to entrap, trip up, figuratively to stumble, entice to sin, displeasure, get annoyed, feel displeasure, be indignant, to judge unfavorably and unjustly. 

It can be like the temptations that Sister Dorothy brought out.  Not only to go into obvious sin but things that are closer to home, our everyday life.  The use of our time, our money, our attention… 

People are willing to go to a certain length, go to church on Sunday once, but when it is many times a week or daily devotions, or other things people put limits on what they are willing to do.  We cannot do that.  We are bought with a price.  We belong to God.  The ground needs to be God’s; nothing there to choke out the word of God.

Brother Bill - There is a seed sown in being offended.  At work I feel like a politician, I cannot make everyone happy.  I had someone at the school that really chewed on me.  They felt that I should have done something.  I responded, “We’ll sure take care of that.”  They kept on chewing and I responded the same, “We’ll sure take care of that.”  They kept on.  I went on my way. 

I thought, “It is important that we handle things right not only that we have to keep ourselves clean, but if the saints have worked with them, we don’t want to be a hindrance to them.  There is more involved than just us getting offended.  We are trying to help the lost.

Sister Alice - God will help us as we go.  We are human we are going to get hurt.  If we have a sore foot, we favor it and as others get close to it we tell them to watch out for our foot.  It causes a ripple effect. 

Our goal is to help them get saved.  If we were to do as they did we would feel bad.  It helps us to have that awareness. 

God’s grace can go far beyond what we can even imagine if can access it.  You have to actually die out to it sometimes to get the victory.  The only thing that can be offended is flesh and self.  We must take a look at what is offended.

Mar 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Sometimes it is hard to swallow.  We have to endure.