Parable of the Soils-Understanding Spiritual Warfare-Part 1

orm read as follows when I got to the building I found the hurricane had knocked off some bricks around the top so I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks when I had fixed the damaged area there were a lot of bricks left over then I went to the bottom and began releasing the line with the remaining bricks unfortunately the barrel was much heavier than me and before I knew it the

barrel started coming down jerking me up I decided in having in in to hang on since I was already too far off the ground and the barrel as it went past me blew up my shoulder I then continued to the top banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers pinched in the pulley when the barrel hit the ground it burst open now I was heavier than in the barrel and I started going back down I started down at a high rate of speed halfway

down I met the barrel coming up fast and received severe injuries to my shin when I hit the ground I landed on a pile of spilled bricks getting several painful cuts and deep bruises at this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of my grip on the line the barrel then came down fast giving me another blow on my head and putting me in the hospital h I respectfully request leave that is even a worse day than Alexander is no

good very bad day for sure but it’s really not just common to the vicissitudes of life it has to do with the events of the disciples lives during their following of Jesus because the disciples were men under siege you know sometimes we go to the Bible and we go to a passage like today in a parable of the soils and we say ‘w let’s we’re kind of in a book club that’s cool we’re going to sit around and we’re going to listen to the parable and

we’ll discuss it then we’ll leave not at all the way it was these were hard times and these disciples were worried about their lives we find in John chapter six that as Jesus taught about I’m the bread of life many of the disciples who were following Jesus found that to be a hard teaching and they deserted him so the disciples looked around and said hey are are numbers are thinning down we get to John chapter 12 chapter 11 around the context of Lazarus and his death

and after Jesus instructs that in fact they were going to go to the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha Thomas said oh well we might as well go with him and die with him and those were not idle words those are words that these men knew that moving from one region to another could be the last of their days and in that context Jesus pulled together a whole range of teachings that he’ been doing for three years this being the third year and taught what

we’ve called the parable of the soils the parable of the soils is also mentioned in Matthew Chapter 13 we’re in Matthew we’re in Mark 4 and verse 1 again Jesus began to teach by the lake the crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it on the lake and you should know of course that Jesus used different venues to teach he taught in the synagogue he taught in the temple he taught from boats to crowds that were

on the shore listening to him he taught on mountain tops he T taught in valleys in this context he’s in a boat and the crowd has gathered around him at the edge of the shore all the people were along the shore at the waters Edge he taught them many things by Parables and in his teaching said listen that’s not an Idle Word that’s a word that says heads up I want you to turn your ears on really carefully because what we’re going to talk about now

is going to have a significant impact on you in the future he said a farmer went out to sew his seed and as he scattering his seed some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up now the planting of seed in the first century was done by hand and you reached into a bag of seed and you spread the seed with your hand and of course as you do that some went only not into the field that was intended for but along

the road and Jesus said some fell among the rocks in places where it did not have much soil it sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow but when the sun came up the plants were scorched and they withered and they had no root other seed fell among Thorns which grew up and choked the plants so they did not bear grain and other seed fell on good soil it came up grew produced a crop multitudes 30 60 and even 100 fold then Jesus said kind of

a sequel on the word listen he said he who has ears to hear Let Him hear so this is a common analogy it was something that the disciples had seen and from this story this Parable Jesus is going to make spiritual application that’s not an uncommon pattern for the way he taught but here it’s Unique in that he sandwiches the diff telling of the parable and the interpreting of the Parable with explaining exactly what his what his explanation is going to mean he said when he

was alone the 12 and the others around him asked him about The Parables now apparently Jesus left the boat and then traveled away with the disciples and now he’s in a small group just among them and they said we don’t really understand that Lord and he said the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you but to those on the outside everything is said in Parables so they may ever see but never be perceiving ever hear but never understanding otherwise they might turn

and be forgiven wow what is going on with a parable parables are not truth on the lowest shelf parables are the truth of God told in story form applied in Eternal perspective to those who have ears to hear and Jesus in this last year of his ministry is among a nation a captured Nation among the Jews who were not entirely in favor of his message they were not looking for a messiah in part some were some won’t were not but they were gathering others of the

Jews were gathering with the Romans and plotting how to kill him and to that Jesus said watch out because what I’m going to tell you if you don’t listen to it carefully it won’t turn for your good it’ll turn for your bad it won’t turn for a blessing and promise it’ll turn for judgment so okay we we gear up and we say all right I’m sober minded Lord this Parable is meant to be something something that we seriously consider now what does it mean verse 12

then Jesus said to them don’t you understand the parable how then will you understand any Parable the farmer SWS the word some people are like seed along the path where the word is sown as soon as they hear it Satan comes and takes away the word that was among them boom right out of the blocks Jesus is talking talking not about Earthly matters but Heavenly matters he’s talking about one who is called Satan Satan in the scriptures is a established reality the word Satan appears 53

times in our Bible and the word devil appears 37 times the disciples knew something of the history and tradition of Satan but the scriptures teach us in Isaiah 14 and E Ezekiel 28 that Satan was originally some of the greatest of God’s creation in heaven he was a magnificent creature he was had a legion of followers around him he had all the opportunities that came with a high and exalted position in heaven apparently just below Michael the Archangel we’ll see that in a minute but as

God did for his created being both for those in the heavens as well as Adam and Eve he gave them the capacity to choose and in choosing they chose to obey or Rebel Satan at some point plotted and said I want to be like God I’m not satisfied being in a lower tier below below God the father and in Revelation 12 in the seventh trumpet but we kind of get a blowby blow of what happened in heaven it goes like this a great and wonderful sign

appeared in heaven a woman clothed with a sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head she was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth then another sign appeared in heaven an enormous red dragon which is another title for Satan in the scriptures with seven heads and 10 horns and seven crowns on his head his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and fell down to earth with them so

we know that of all the millions of spirit beings that God has created onethird of them were sided with Satan in Rebellion against God and it says the tale of Satan meaning the Judgment of God swept them out of heaven and they became not good and and obedient servants to the most high God they became the evil servants and the demons and everyone who with Satan became the battlefield which was Earth and the battle people which was men and women so the text goes on to

say the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so he might devour her child the moment it was born we’ll see that in Genesis 3 in a minute she gave birth to a son a male child who went rule all the nations with an iron scepter and her child was snatched up to God and in his throne the woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God and there was a war in heaven I want to

see this Replay in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back but he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven the Great Dragon was hurled down the ancient serpent called by De by the devil or Satan so all of a sudden everything that we know about the created order exploded in heaven and we see that followed up by the serpent by Satan appearing in Genesis chter 3 he’s been condemned to lose his place

and position in heaven but he now takes Plan B which is I’m going to take those made in the image and likeness of God Adam and Eve and I’m going to win the battle with their hearts if not in heaven and you know the story in Genesis three that Adam and Eve were told that they could enjoy all the garden except for the knowledge of the tree and good and evil they partook of it and God came back and they pointed fingers to each other saying

wasn’t me there’s the woman who gave it to me it’s about the most IMM mascul unmasculine thing that a man can say and U and the woman said well the serpent deceived me so everybody had somebody else to blame besides them and God said so the Lord said to the serpent because you’ve done this cursed are you above all the livestock the word cursed is really in the Hebrew the word impotent and so God said you’re you’re not going to have any more progeny your Rebellion

against me is going to seal you and those who are with you in the numbers and forces that you have now and all the wild animals you’ll crawl on your belly you realize that this being Lucifer or Satan as a magnificent creature probably did not crawl on his belly until Genesis 3 he was a likely a magnificent creature as Isaiah says but because of his Rebellion against God in the garden the Judgment was you’ll crawl on your belly and you’ll eat dust in other words you’re

going to be humiliated Satan and you’re going to be kept in that form of humiliation all the days of your life and I’ll put enmity between you and the woman between your Offspring and hers and then comes this cataclysmic verse in Genesis 3 which defines everything we know about good and bad right and wrong God and Evil God said he will crush your head and you will strike his heel Satan’s Doom was sealed in Genesis 3 that eventually he would suffer a wound which would become

a fatal wound to him meanwhile The Offspring of the woman would also suffer a wound a heal wound which would not be fatal but would impact her and her progyny forever and that’s sin that came into the human race in Genesis chapter 3 so as Jesus talks about Satan here the history is this is a force of evil that in fact God has already defeated but he’s still given a certain latitude and recourse and that’s what we have to talk about today what is that in

my second or third year of being on the faculty at MoMA I was teaching in Genesis chapter 6 on that remarkable passage where the sons of men went in with the daughters with the sons of God went in with the daughters of men and produce an offspring a mighty men group called Nephilim and while there are various interpretations that come out of Genesis 6 the likely interpret a in my judgment was this was evil spirits that somehow took over the bodies of men cohabited with women

and produce an offspring again for the purpose of contaminating and defeating the the warning that God had given Satan that the seed of woman would crush his head so I’m in the middle of teaching that and a guy comes just in the middle class comes walking down into the classroom and sits down on one of the desks I don’t think I’ve told this story to this body before and I think okay just keep it going John don’t don’t lose any don’t lose any beat in terms

of what you’re doing I’m not sure why he’s here he sat down in a seat with the rest of the class and I went through teaching a little more in Genesis 6 and he kind of looked up at the ceiling and he started to twist around in his seat I thought okay we’re doing something a little different here this is Plan B in terms of this classroom and his gyration and conduct in relation to Genesis 6 we just stopped the class and a few of us

went over and began to talk to him find out what’s going on he said I was in my car driving to kill myself I don’t know why but something told me to stop at this school and come into this classroom well I think it was God’s final preserving act to try and redeem him and we spent a few hours with him and he drove off I don’t know I don’t know what happened to him but I do know that God in his grace provided for him

another chance and so you have to ask the question if you’re a believer in the spirit world is that something I should expect in terms of the the battle between God and Satan in my world and I would suggest to you no you shouldn’t necessarily expect it I think that was a one-off I think it was unique within the passage that we were going through in Genesis 6 and for most of us except maybe the missionaries that come back from some of the third world countries

we don’t see the abrupt visible manifestation of evil spirits among us but they’re there and they’re there in different ways that Jesus is warning about in this parable of the soils now the parable of soils has three features to it it has a farmer it has the seed and it has the soil the farmer is God the seed is the word of God and the soil are the disciples are more specifically the hearts of the Disciples of those three parts of the parable two are constant

and only one changes God is who he is he is constant in our life and he superintends our life with the provisions for us he’s provided to us the word and that word has been given to us and that’s why when I ask you to raise your Bible and show it it’s more than just just an exercise I want you to get used to going back to the scriptures in terms of working through the scriptures as you hear teaching and instruction and in fact the only

variable in the parable of soils is the third it’s the soil and the soil is variable because it measures the heart of the believer and the Heart of the believer is something that as we’re going to find in the next three weeks both today and next week in the subject of hard times and a week after that in the subject of possessions and money and how we handle that those are the obstacles that Satan uses to challenge our commitment to God what do we think of

the spiritual warfare and Satan how do we understand hard times when they come to us and what do we do with the possessions and money that God has given to us this Parable then has two parts to it stage one is clearly that the seed is spread on the ground it’s stage two where we start to see the Warfare between Satan and God take place and the scriptures teach us that spiritual warfare is an open Warfare Matthew 12 says to us but when the Pharisees heard

that they said it’s only by be elub the prince of demons that this follow this fellow drives out demons in fact they were crediting the fact that he must be be above himself if he had the control over the demons interestingly that led soon thereafter to the warning about the unforgivable sin which I think is attributing the work of Jesus to the work of Satan but that passage in Matthew 12 says we are at War and the mistake we will make in this spiritual warfare is

to make too little are too much of this Warfare the fundamental truth that we find is that for these disciples there was no middle ground there was no Sidelines there was no fence sitting you either are with Jesus and going his purposes and way or you’re against it and we’re going to find out in the next few weeks that the promises of Jesus also carry a warning and that’s because as disciples we can gain or lose in our spiritual journey based on how we respond to

the truth the scriptures also teach in Matthew chapter 4 that when Jesus was confronted by the demon the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him the kingdom of the of the worlds and of their Splendor all that I all that I give you he said if you Bow Down and Worship me now this is really the third Temptation first one Jesus was hungry and he said turn the stones into bread said don’t temp me second one he said the demons the Satan

said throw yourself down and because the scriptures say your angels are going to catch you and he says you shall not tempt the Lord your God and this third Temptation in the section is one that says hey I’ll give you all of the kingdoms of the earth it’s interesting to me there in Matthew chapter 4 that Jesus doesn’t say right you haven’t got that power he didn’t say that in Matthew chap 4 he said in fact quite the opposite it said the devil took him to

the to the holy city and had him stand on the highest excuse me on the third Temptation the devil took him to a high place on the mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their Splendor all this I’ll give you he said if you Bow Down and Worship me Jesus said away from me Satan for it’s written Worship the Lord your God and serve him only now I don’t quite know how to put all four feet on the ground on this section

of scripture I asked myself the question did Satan really have the power to give him all the kingdoms of the world I don’t know that he did I think he was throwing out something that was a taunt a almost a challenge to what Jesus had which was the powers of the Kingdom of the world but Jesus directly at him said do not do not Worship the Lord your God and serve him only now the reason that’s an important kind of a confrontation between Jesus and Satan

is it begins to address the issue of the power of Satan and while I don’t think we should make too little of Satan I think that the scriptures teach that he is a creature that is clever and intelligent and has Supernatural powers that are limited we see that limitation for example in we see the limitation as as it came in terms of that with job and chapter one and one of my favorite Old Testament passages having to do with the subject and there you remember that

job who who God allowed to go through a horrific series of losses in his life and then his health as well in Job chapter 1 the scriptures teach that the Angels Came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came with them the Lord said to Satan where have you come from Satan answered the Lord from roaming through the Earth and going back and forth in it the Lord said to Satan have you considered my servant BR job there is no one on earth like him

he’s blameless and upright a man who fears God and shuns evil and there’s a whole range of lessons we learn in the Book of Job next week when we’re dealing with hard times we’re going to finish out these lessons but the next verse says does job fear God for nothing Satan snarled have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has that should give you a great sense of comfort in terms of the spiritual warfare does God allow Satan to have

certain things happen in our life the answer is yes it’s certainly within God’s plan and purpose as we’ll see next week but clearly God allowed Satan to touch job and affect his life in substantial ways but and this is the only place in the Bible this appears he says and Satan says complains you put a hedge around him in his household and everything he has so as you’re going through your own walk with the Lord and as you’re challenged with things that come up in life

and as you’re trying to figure out Lord is this from you is this a Temptation from Satan where does it all come out I think you can go back with confidence and say thank you for your hedge thank you for your angels that surround me and protect me as is your purpose for my life in other words while Satan is powerful he’s not all powerful in other words he has certain limits that he’s allowed but God has a hedge around him around us he’s not not

omniscient God is omniscient he knows everything Satan is not omniscient but he’s a student of the world and he watches you and me and he knows full well what causes us to stumble because he watches us and that job passage says he roams about the world to and fro and while he’s a defeated foe ultimately if he can do something that can orchestrate events in your life to trip you up based on what he’s seen he will do it he’s not all powerful he’s not all

knowing and he’s not omnipotent he’s not everywhere at once the way God is he is structured in a place and a domain and his evil spirits are as well and so he p fa es back and forth on the earth to try and accomplish his evil purposes so we as the disciples are warned about this first seed this soil this one who is Satan and having the word plucked away we find that Satan is open in his Warfare against us he’s battled Jesus on Earth and

God in heaven and he has also has had a fatal w wound at the cross we learn in Colossians 2: 13-1 15 Paul writes when you were dead in your sins and trespasses and uncircumcision of your faith God Made You Alive with Christ he forgave all our sins he having canceled our CH charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned Us in other words he has taken it away nailed it to the cross and have having disarmed the powers and authorities he made

a public spectacle spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross this goes farther than we can go today but between jesus’ death and his resurrection he in part the scriptures tells us went down and proclaimed the victory Of God over Satan to the evil forces and whether it was in sight unseen or whether it was in the demonstration of Jesus as he as he came back to life after his resurrection the scriptures said he’s a defeated foe he’s one who has been crushed his head

has been crushed the sentence has been made on him execution has just not been finished yet the sting of death is defeated death is not defeated we learn also in First Peter 5: 8 and N the enemy be on alert and sound mind the enemy the devil prows around like a roaring lion looking at someone to devour resist him stand firm in the faith because you know that the family of Believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings it seems like Believers are

uniquely vulnerable to being vulnerable to Satan when we go through suffering we’re weak we’re troubled we’re confused we’re we don’t understand what’s going on we’re grappling with the realities of Life as we run into them and in that context Peter says other believers are doing the same thing but resist the devil James 4 verse 7 says James right resist resist the devil and he will flee from you so you should know that while Satan is a powerful Foe and his evil forces would do what they

can to get through God’s hedge to us we have the capacity and the ability to resist him Satan is also one who is Limited in his ability ultimately to affect the believer col Hebrew Ephesians chapter 6 veres 10-2 says that in fact it is God who is at work in US finally be strong in the Lord and his mighty power put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but

against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of the Dark World and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly Realms there’s no better description of spiritual warfare in those passages they tell us that in fact we are equipped with the word of God and the armor of God to protect us against the Ws of Satan but the battle is there we’re not exempt from it and it will be continuing until he comes back and puts the world in order you know the the

way in which authors have addressed this subject with Satan and his forces is summed up pretty well by aw toer toer said the only safe place for a sheep is by the shepherd because the devil doesn’t fear the Sheep but he does Fear the the shepherd so what do you do here’s what you do Rob started it last week he said your responsibility is to read it do it regularly if you don’t know where to start start in Psalms and Proverbs and the Gospel of John

you read it and the spirit of God will work in your heart and will work toward your personal spiritual protection because because that is the whole point the seed is the word of God and Satan wants what he can to snatch it out of your heart to take it away from you to make it so that you’re vulnerable to his intention to disrupt your spiritual walk and toer was right in fact as he wrote that he ended that saying was said that is all in other

words we stay close to the shepherd ultimately John chapter 16 for Jesus in the last week of disciples life they were confused he was leaving them they said can we go where you’re going and they said no but he said I’m going to leave you the spirit of God who is called the counselor and the counselor is going to do a couple of things but one of the things he’s going to do for sure is he’s going to convict the world of righteousness and sin and

judgment and judgment because the evil one stands condemned if we had the eyes to see it this morning we would see Satan with limited ability to move to this Earth but on his being would stamp the word condemned he has been defeated the head wound has been applied by the death and burial and resurrection of Christ and it only remains for the finishing off with Jesus return so we do have a spiritual war we do have to put on the armor of God but in the

context of that we stay close to the shepherd ultimately I I think back to a time I had in my undergraduate studies where I was in a class called religious studies I thought well that’s good I’m interested in that and had a fairly esteemed Professor who said look I’m going to give you the story of the Bible I’m sitting in class listening to this story of the Bible is that God in his power took the rebellion of angels in heaven and Adam and Eve on the

earth and he ultimately through Promises to the prophets brought the person of Jesus who called himself the son of God to the earth and the promise was made by Jesus that he would die and he would be buried and he would rise from the dead and in doing that he would become the life and the resurrection for those that followed him and in fact those who that die would not die but they would live in him and as he explained the story of the Bible in

about 20 minutes and the gospel and the Epistles and the finishing off my heart just jumped with joy I thought this is wonderful I love hearing this he finished it and he said well that’s the story of the Bible doesn’t mean a thing to me that’s the difference between a heart that’s hardened who has the word of God and knows the word of God and says and Satan’s devices I don’t want anything to do with it and those of us who say that is life and

that is life eternal let’s pray father we we take with a sober Spirit the inst

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,506 words.