Praying Your Friends & Family To Christ Series
Heart Under Attack (1 of 5) Luke 8.15
October 10, 2004 Chester FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
(The "HEART" acronym that is being used for this series is taken from
Chris Schofield, Praying Your Friends to Christ (Alpharetta, Ga.: North American Mission Board, 1997)
1 Introduction: (Alternate opening introduction at end of sermon)
A Purchase four disposable containers to put various soil types in.
a One with hard, packed soil, dry & cracked by heat.
b One with weeds growing in it.
c One with rock & gravel with some small plants sticking out of it
d One with fertile soil with some healthy plants sticking out of it.
B Jesus told a parable about a farmer who cast seed on various types of soil.
a Each soil type saw various levels of receptivity.
aa Hard Soil: Devil takes it and it never takes root.
bb Weeds: Takes root but choked out by money, worry, pleasure
cc Rock: Take off like a house of fire and then. . . @ the first sign of trouble they give up just as quick. Faith was more of a fad than a fixed way of living.
b The good soil took off and produced!
2 Today’s message starts a brand new series of lessons on Praying Your Friends and Family to Christ.
A The message is Heart Under Attack.
a In the story the seed wasn’t the problem, sower wasn’t the problem . . . the human heart was the problem. (Unwilling to submit, repent, and receive the Word and be saved.)
b Luke 8.15 NASB
15 "But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
B Jesus described the heart of a person who was receptive to the Gospel. (ETS)
a Pray for nonbelievers to have a receptive heart to the gospel. (ESS)
b I hope that today you will begin to pray for God give the unbelievers in your life receptive hearts. (Objective)
3 When will you begin to pray for the unbelievers in your life to have receptive hearts towards the Gospel? (Probing Question)
A Let’s look at two qualities that define a heart that is receptive to the gospel. (Transitional Sentence)
B Pray
I The first quality that defines a heart that is receptive to the Gospel is they HEAR IT.
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who HEARD the word in an honest and good heart . . . Luke 8.15a NASB
1 Jesus described a two-fold approach to hearing the gospel.
A The first fold was physically hearing the gospel with their ears.
a The gospel was told, wrote about and read, or some other method, but the gospel was fully exposed.
b Jesus, Peter, John, Paul, . . . told the gospel to be heard. Super Stars!
*IL. Un-named Ethiopian in Acts 8 that got it, too!
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Acts 8:37 (KJV)
aa Philip said (Physically spoke) & the Ethiopian physically listened. (Got saved and went back to Northern Africa.)
bb The first great church was not in Jerusalem or Asia minor, but rather in northern Africa. (J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible; Acts) Why? This un-named went back home and people HEARD!!
B The second fold was intellectually hearing the gospel with their hearts.
a honest? Honestly admit they are sinners, lost, fixed on God.
b Good Heart? Moldable, want to do good in the deepest recess of the human heart. *Heart was the center of reason, conscience, volitional center of person’s being.
2 Our unbelieving family/friends must HEAR the gospel to accept it.
A Pray that God would physically put the Gospel in front of them to hear.
a Personal witness, invite them to church, event, tract . . . anything that would fully expose the gospel to them physically.
b "Faith comes first to the hearing ear not to the cogitating mind." -A.W. Tozer
14 But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? -Romans 10:14 (MSG)
B Pray that once God puts the Gospel in front of them they are honestly listen with their heart.
a Understand that Jesus is the Way, Truth, Life, & no one comes to the Father but by Him.
b They WANT to be saved!! Live for Jesus!! Walk by Faith!!
3 When Marco Polo returned from his visit with Kublai Khan in 1296, he wrote the Pope and told him about Khan’s request. (Send 100 priests to teach Christianity & he would get baptized, all of his nobility, subjects. In the end, the Christians of these parts would exceed in number those who inhabit your own country.
a Pope sent two friars for the evangelization of China and both turned back long before having arrived because of the difficult journey. Polo wrote later, "From this discourse it must be evident that if the Pope had sent out persons duly qualified to preach the gospel, the Great Khan would have embraced Christianity, for which, it is certainly known, he had a strong predilection."
b Chinese history would be far different today had that simple request been granted!
c People do not come to a Jesus they don’t hear about....don’t respond to a Gospel they don’t know about!!
T.S.: Hearing the gospel does alone does not make a heart receptive.
II The second quality that defines a heart that is receptive to the Gospel is they HOLD IT.
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who HEARD the word in an honest and good heart, and HOLD FAST . . . Luke 8.15b NASB
1 Jesus emphasized the receptive hearts possession of the Gospel.
A They had a death grip on the Gospel the way death once gripped them.
a The Message translates this section of the verse like this, " . . . hold on no matter what."
b No matter how many (thorns or weeds crop up/ rocky the road gets/ dry the deserts are). . . I’m not letting go.
B Hold Fast also described when a fisherman brought their ship into shore.
a Their journey was over and they had came home!
b The receptive heart HELD on to the gospel, anchored.
2 Our unbelieving friends must HOLD the gospel to accept it.
A Hearing the gospel does not make our friends saved.
a A person can hear thousands of sermons, read the bible cover-to-cover, and still be lost.
b The gospel must take root in heart before a person can really get saved.
*Don’t have to understand end times, theology, church history, know all the books of the Bible . . . they need fully understand that the old gospel story is now their story too!
B If you are a believer, you are not letting go of the Gospel.
a Your unbelieving friends must anchor their entire lives in rock of Christ Jesus . . . just like you have.
b Irregardless of life’s thorns, worries, anxieties, stresses . . . they hold on to Jesus.
3 Billy Graham said: "Many people argue, "I do believe in Christ. I believe in the Church, and I believe in the Bible. Isn’t that enough? No! You must RECEIVE Christ.
A I may go to the airport. I have a reservation. I have a ticket in my pocket. The plane is one the ramp. It is a big, powerful plane. I am certain that it will take me to my destination. a They call the flight three times. I neglect to get on board. They close the door. The plane taxis down the runway and takes off. I am not on the plane.
a Why? I "believed" in the plane, but I neglected to get on board.
b That’s just it!
B Your friends/family may believe in God, Christ, the Bible, and the Church - but you they have neglected to actually receive Him in their heart.
a Their belief has been an impersonal, speculative thing, and they have not entrusted themselves to Him.
b Pray that they HOLD FAST!!!
Conclusion:
1 Jesus described the heart of a person who was receptive to the Gospel. (ETS)Pray for nonbelievers to have a receptive heart to the gospel. (ESS)
A We’ve looked at two qualities that define a heart that is receptive to the gospel.
a HEAR IT (Physically hear the Gospel)
b HOLD IT (The Gospel takes root in the heart)
B I hope that today you will begin to pray for God give the unbelievers in your life receptive hearts. (Objective)
a OPTIONS: Getting the word out becomes a passion instead of being passive.
b OPTIONS: Pray your friends/family hearts take the gospel seriously or the devil will make sure the gospel is snuffed out.
2 When will you begin to pray for the unbelievers in your life to have receptive hearts towards the Gospel? (Probing Question)
A "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God ’Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then have it your way.’
a Tragically, many people will have to endure eternity without God because they chose to live without him here on earth." Warren adds "When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently.
b You will start living in light of eternity, and that will color how you handle every relationship, task and circumstance’.
C.S. Lewis and Rick Warren pg. 37 from Purpose Driven Life:
B When will you begin to pray for the unbelievers in your life to have receptive hearts towards the Gospel?
a Maybe today . . . you’ve never HEARD until today.
Maybe today . . . you’ve never HELD until today.
b Would you come today either to 1) Pray for the heart of a friend/family to hear/hold or 2) Come to Christ yourself or 3) Repent or 4) Spend time in prayer of Thanksgiving for your own salvation.
(The following physical illustration is taken from "Heno Head’s Simple Science Object Talks." If you decide use it, take note that you need to carefully measure out how much baking soda you use, and how much vinegar you place in each jar.
Since we have "Power Point" capability, we focused a video camera on the jars so that the audience could see the display overhead. I also acknowledge that my interpretation of Jesus’ parable isn’t as strict as it could be).
Now, let’s just pretend that these 4 jars represent the 4 soils Jesus talks about.
The 1st Jar (put no liquid in the jar - "the soil" - and put in as much baking soda "the seed" as you like) represents the stony path. This is the type of person that you try to talk to about Jesus and all they do is turn a deaf ear to you. They don’t want to hear about it. They may be polite, but their hearts are hardened. But the farmer doesn’t care, he casts his seed there anyway. You never know when this type of person will change and turn to Christ.
The 2nd Jar (fill 1/3 water + little vinegar and put in a measured amount of baking soda. The reaction you’re looking for is a little fizz but not much more) represents the rocky ground. The soil reacts with the seed. But because there’s not much top soil, the seed dies out quickly. This type of person is the one that will listen to what you have to say. They’ll even ask questions. Maybe they’ll come to church, but that’s as much you’ll see from them. But the farmer doesn’t care, he casts his seed here as well. You never know when this type of person will turn their lives over to Jesus.
This 3rd jar (fill jar to 1/3 with vinegar and put in a measured amount of baking soda. The result you’re looking for is for the vinegar to boil up almost to the top of the jar and then die down) represents the Weedy soil. This is the type of person who gets all excited about Jesus, comes to church, may even become a Christian. But their faith gets choked out. They never took the weeds of out of lives. They become distracted by something else and Jesus suddenly is choked out of their lives.
The 4th jar (fill jar to ½ with vinegar and put in a goodly amount of baking soda. The result you’re seeking is for the vinegar to boil over abundantly – you’ll want a tray underneath to catch the overflow) is the Good ground yielded a crop 100 times more than was sown. This is what the farmer’s looking for. And that’s what God is looking for. He’s looking for a believer who is more than just a casual acquaintance. A convert who takes their faith seriously and produces a crop.
Now, I didn’t have to be particularly skilled to get the reaction you just saw (in fact my 7 year old son put the baking soda in the jar for me – this added to the "unskilled" part of my illustration). The reaction (the harvest, if you will) depended on the interaction between the "seed" and the "soil." It was the same "seed" in each case – but the soil was different.
