The Sower - Part 5
Seed in Good Soil
“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matthew 13:23).
Finally, the seed sown on good soil. The ones who have truly given their heart to Jesus.
They have truly trusted Jesus is God, genuinely believe Jesus died for their sins (Romans 10:8-10). They see their sin in the light of the Law of God and are deeply convinced of their unworthiness as they listen to the demands Jesus makes to deny ourselves, carry our cross and follow Him (John 16:8).
They see they have no righteousness of their own, but like the rich man they don’t want to give all their possessions to the poor and just follow Jesus, and they see their besetting sins and how they daily fail to live up to Jesus’ expectations (Philippians 3:9).
They see they have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). They see they do not love God with all their heart, mind and soul, and they do not truly love their neighbor as themselves.
Like Isaiah they feel ruined because their eyes have been opened and they see God in creation (Isaiah 6), and they see the God of creation is Jesus (John 1). Like the sinner in the temple, they beat their chest and seek mercy because they see they are a sinner (Luke 18:9-14).
They are poor in spirit, and they have been humbled, and now they hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:3-6), and it is all because of a deep realization that God is real, and the God that is real is Jesus.
They see God’s holy demands and see they fall short of His demands. They see they fall short of God’s glory, not only in the past but daily. They fall short now, and daily need salvation and forgiveness.
Then by the grace of God, they see Jesus died for them, they see God’s mercy and grace, and they almost can’t believe it. They think they must not understand the message correctly, their salvation is exclusively and wholly based on what Jesus has done on the cross (Romans 5:6-11).
In the midst of their condemnation of soul, they see, and hear, and understand with great clarity and conviction, that Jesus has paid for all their sins, and as the sacrifice of atonement, Jesus can guarantee their salvation from eternal damnation (Romans 8:1).
Jesus can guarantee their adoption as children of God, their inheritance in the new heaven and new earth, were there will be no more sin or suffering or evil, and they will have new glorified bodies transformed to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29-30).
They see there is no condemnation in Christ. Like Noah they are in the ark safe from the flood of God’s judgement - and the ark is Jesus. Like the Passover, they are in the house with the lambs blood covering the door posts so God’s judgement will not touch them - Jesus is the house and they are covered by His blood.
Like the Israelites in Egypt, they have been taken out of slavery from sin and Satan, and they don’t know how it happened, but they know God is the author of their salvation, their redemption, their deliverance, and they see they have been shown mercy (Hebrews 5:9).
They see and feel they now hate sin (Romans 6:2). They see sin within them which is warring against their souls, and they need to fight but they are weak (Romans 7:14-25). They hunger and thirst for righteousness, they hunger and thirst for God, they have a strong desire to know Him (Psalm 42:1).
They are drawn to the Bible to hear Him speak, like the crowds that came from afar and press in to see Jesus because they wanted healing or just see this man of God.
They want to know Jesus, they want to know God, and they are seeking the kingdom of God, and they are seeking His righteousness by trying to understand who God is and how to please Him (Philippians 3:8-15).
Like Isaiah God has atoned for their sin (Isaiah 6). They see Jesus as; their high priest, their king, their prophet, their shepherd, their light, their daily bread and their well of living water; their resurrection, their guardian and shepherd of their soul.
They see Jesus will never break His promise to them and will never let them go. If they stray, Jesus will seek them out and find them, like a lost sheep and bring them back to the flock. Jesus will protect them from the wolves and the liars, and even protect them from themselves (John 10:27-28).
Jesus will set them free from their sin. He is their comfort and peace and joy and hope. Jesus is working in them to make them holy, and they are working to become more like Jesus because they see Jesus is holy, and He is their example of how to please God and live as a child of God (Philippians 2:12-13).
The essentials of the Christian faith is a response to the call of God in Christ. Jesus is the exact representation of the invisible God. Jesus is God, and the call of the gospel, the good news is a call to turn toward God in trust and obedience.
Faith is trusting in who God is. Who Jesus says God is. What God has announced in the Bible. Trusting that the Bible is fully, totally and absolutely the Word of God is a big part of our response of faith.
And when a person believes in their heart of hearts, trusts with the deepest part of their being, and is committed to the teaching of Jesus to be His disciple; to be His student, and embarks in the journey in which there is no turning back, then that is true faith which bears fruit. It is complete trust in the Jesus of the Bible, and the Bible is the believers absolute rule about all things in heaven and on earth.
Jesus Himself by the Holy Spirit will guide, instruct, teach, and protect the believer, because Jesus is faithful to His promise to completely save all who place their trust in Him (John 16:13).
This is true faith, and this faith will lead to true godly character and action. This is the faith that will bear fruit. No one can truly believe in Jesus and stay the same. They will be compelled like Paul to action because of the overwhelming love of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
They will stop doing certain things and start doing other things because they want to please Jesus. Their thoughts are now on the things of Christ. Their decisions and choices are now based on pleasing Jesus instead of just their own selfish desires. And this causes conflict because they are now in an internal war between their sinful nature and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:10).
This conflict does not occur in the non-believer (Romans 8:9). It is only in the true believer who will experience a conflict of natures because the Holy Spirit is in them and is leading them to make the believer holy like God. And Jesus will be with them as they walk with Him to everlasting life.
They also experience true joy and true peace, regardless of situations, and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as He transforms their character to become more like Jesus.
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“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
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