Which Of The Four Types Of Christians Are You?
Let Jesus Reveal Your Christian Faith Reality At This Moment
The Parable of the Sower Introduction
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The Parable of the Sower is one of the most famous parables of Jesus Christ. It is found in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and is a powerful lesson on the importance of faith and the consequences of not having faith. In the parable, a sower goes out to sow his seed. Some of the seed falls on the path and is eaten by birds, some falls on rocky ground and is scorched by the sun, some falls among thorns and is choked, and some falls on good soil and produces a plentiful harvest. |
Keep reading to find out which category of believer you are in this moment. This lesson can gauge your faith status to know where to begin with Christ. Your Christian renewal begins with this knowledge.
Jesus Clarifies His Spiritual Reference of “The Seed”
Jesus explains that the seed is the word of God and the different types of soil represent different types of people who are exposed to God’s Word.
The 4 Types Of Christians:
- People who hear the word of God but do not understand it are like the seed that fell on the path and was eaten by birds.
- Those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but have no root and so wither away are like the seed that fell on rocky ground and was scorched by the sun.
- Another type of person hears the word, but they are choked by the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth. They are like the seed that fell among thorns.
- Finally, those who hear the word and understand it and bear fruit are like the seed that fell on good soil and produced a plentiful harvest.
The Parable of the Sower is a powerful reminder of the importance of faith. It teaches us that those who have faith and understand the word of God will bear much fruit, while those who do not have faith will not understand the word and will not bear fruit. It also teaches us that we must be careful not to let the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out our faith. The Parable of the Sower is a timeless reminder of the importance of faith and the consequences of not having faith.
The Parable of the Sower
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 out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.
2. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
3. “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”
9. Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10. When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that, ” ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!” 13. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
14..The farmer sows the word.
15. 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 sown in them.
16. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
17. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
18. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
19. but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
20. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”
In verse 10 Jesus makes clear the fact that the Word is a secret (not the popular “Secret” as shown on Oprah that many follow) to the world without kingdom living.
The world has made a few scriptures “the secret” (The one from Oprah and others) for living, but for the Christian, the secret is the fullness of God’s Word in his or her life through the salvation experience and it’s made known to them. Without that transformation, the Word in it’s entirety is only a mystery.
Let me make clear that when I say “standard of Christianity” this doesn’t mean that we must go through each one to get to the top. The unproductive standards are due to ignorance of God’s Word, stubbornness, having a negative nature, lack of trust in God, living on the fence Christianity-wise, or having a disregard for the salvation experience because of putting the word of others before the Word of God.
We can go straight from a new Christian to a standard of receiving God’s blessings just by having the desire to learn God’s wisdom and following it as we receive it.
Find your standard of Christianity below and move forward with thankfulness straight to the fourth level (more on that below).
- The Word is sewn within the Christian’s heart, but Satan steals it immediately before it can take root. In this experience the Word never reaches the heart. It goes into one ear and out the other.
- The Word is sewn within the believer’s heart joyfully, but their foundation is rocky and shallow. It has no root. When hard times come because of the Word to test them, they quickly reject God by rejecting His Word. These are the people shaking their heads in agreement with their pastor’s sermon on Sundays, but the rest of the week, they turn away from the very truth they heard. They are not bad people, they are afraid to trust God.
- The Word comes to this believer but it is unfruitful due to the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and desire for things. Greed and pride caused by a severely insecure nature must be overcome to move forward here.
Wow! Do you see how we have to be careful what we listen to and what programs we adhere to? That last reason for falling away from God’s word is what programs like the “secret” or any church teaching false doctrine about the faith message can create in a person. It’s all about having and being “grateful,” giving to get, and loving from our own experience of love to get others to do what we want.
Perhaps this isn’t the intend of those who teach with the use of partial scripture not founded upon Jesus Christ, but without a foundation that is solid, the monster of selfishness will corrupt those who don’t know better and are desperate for money and things.
It’s like using a recipe for an amazing chicken dish, but only using part of the ingredients. It’s not going to taste as it’s supposed to, and it will probably be quite a disappointment.
Yes, there is good in some of the wealth programs that are popular, but they will cause a Christian to fall away from the Word instead of encouraging the fourth standard of Christianity which is so eloquently described by Jesus:
- Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”
What more is there to say about the fourth standard? Not much other than to proclaim it as the perfect instruction on how to accept God’s Word in order to produce a crop of whatever you desire.
This is why it’s so important to follow God’s wealth program with a strong commitment. You’ll have all the right motives as well as motivation because the parable of the sower proves that God has provided you with all the wealth you desire, and He also shows you how to have it.
Jesus breaks it down in a manner so simple you can’t help but get the truth of it here if you didn’t understand it previously. If anything, it will deeply reinforce in you how to receive from God with the right motives.
Here is a paraphrase of Mark 4:20:
- hear the Word (most affective method: personal affirmations)
- accept it (believe/trust God)
- produce a crop (receive!)
That matches what I taught you from Mark 11: 23-24 at the beginning of this course. Speak what you want (hearing it), believe you have it, and receive it.
Our desires being met will actually bring us closer To God by having good soil for the Word of God to be sown.
Raise The Bar Scriptural Standards CHRISTIANITY STANDARDS ONE THROUGH THREE
Understanding how to have instruction for the fourth standard is a bit easier and less complicated than the reasons for falling into the cracks of the first through third standards.
In verse 11 we’re brought back to Kingdom living. We’ve already discussed what that’s about in a previous lesson. Jesus isn’t telling us in verse 19 that we can’t desire wealth because it will cause the Word to be unfruitful in our lives, He’s saying to put the kingdom first, not our desires. This way what we get will always be in our best interest so that it will produce a hundred times what was sown.
But what if we are putting our desires first or the cares of this world? How do we overcome this?
Here’s a breakdown.
Standard One
If the first standard causes Satan to steal the WORD from us, are we powerless? What do we do?
- learn the Word (start with basic principles from the New Testament),
- identify with Christ,
- and then take the power He gave you in Jesus’ name to have authority over Satan.
Satan has already been defeated. So you don’t need to try and defeat Him. Jesus did that for you. It’s done! So all you need to do is act like it’s so because it is. Don’t act like a whipped puppy, and feel sorry for yourself. This is letting Satan defeat you.
Instead, use Jesus’ name in the face of trials and disappointments by saying, “thank you Lord for blessing me with victory! I have it this moment.” This is building your house (your being) on a firm foundation of Jesus Christ.
Just take your authority and do what Jesus did (always copy success). Use the Word of God to move past Satan and upwards toward Christ. Once again, take your eyes off evil and put them onto Jesus. If you feel as if you have no power over Satan, make a specific affirmation to get you out of the moment of fear and helplessness.
Here’s one to follow for finances:
“The Word says that I have power over all the power of the enemy in Jesus’ name, therefore I am financially wealthy no matter what circumstances are presented to me. I AM FINANCIALLY WEALTHY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!”
More important, here’s one about changing one’s desires from “me” first to building a solid foundation of Jesus Christ:
“Thank you Heavenly Father for re-creating me through the regenerative power of Jesus Christ. I have been redeemed and blood bought from the curse of the law and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I put the Kingdom first in all things!.”
If one is a fairly new Christian who hasn’t been taught the Word by their pastor or those who have helped them get saved, they need to find a source of instruction on their own.
I always find that it’s best not to look to others for what we want from God, but to look within. If this is your situation, ask for guidance to find the best source for your Biblical training.
Standard Two:
Many Christians have the desire to trust God, but they’re afraid to rely upon Him when things go wrong.
For seasoned Christians who have had the opportunity to seek after the truth but refuse to do so, it’s more serious and doubtful they will ever obey God’s truth except for an incident that gives them a new reality through an experience of suffering.
Such people refuse to trust God first because they do not want to change their thinking and perhaps admit they were wrong in some areas.
Others may fear looking foolish. This is because of pride and self-centeredness (putting their comfort zone before God’s truth). Also, some people honestly believe they know everything and find it difficult to believe God knows more.
God asks us to judge ourselves. That’s all we have to do. Life can be difficult at times and it can make us hard hearted. But if we forgive ourselves for our mistakes, it becomes easy and exciting to work with God for our transformation.
God is loving and so good! By His grace we are saved!
Standard Three:
Greed, power and pride will always separate us from God. When we allow those qualities to dominate our lives, we lose our balance and stumble because there is no foundation with temporal things. There is no trust built up to develop a foundation of Jesus Christ, because trust is put in riches and material goods.
Is this attitude helpless?
Of course not! Everyone can change if they want to. We can all turn around a 180 degrees.
If you fit into any of the first three standards, just remember that if you want to change you can. It’s never to late with God, so it shouldn’t be with you either.
Just remember to do what God does. Love yourself according to 1Corinthians 13:1-8. Do it God’s way and then it will be easy to forgive yourself and all others. More forward with God and don’t look back.
We’ve come to the end of this lesson. Thank you for joining me.
Margaret Lukasik
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