FaithWalk Radio

Ron Susek: Having a sense of control is very important to everyone. But did you know that there's only really one area of life over which you have been given control? There are many things in life you want to control, but there's only one area. Do you know what it is? And do you know how to control it? We'll talk about that in just a moment. Stay with me.

Finding and knowing God is a faithwalk. The Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Our hope lies in the coming Messiah, who will establish God's peaceful Kingdom on earth.

This is FaithWalk with Ron Susek. Dr. Ron is an evangelist committed to encourage and equip your faithwalk as we pass through these turbulent end time days, awaiting that soon coming Kingdom. Here again, is Ron Susek.

The Bible is very clear and gives us powerful insight into ourselves, particularly in a parable that Jesus gave about the four conditions of the heart. I call it the four soils of the heart. And you, you have no control ultimately over anything other than God has partitioned your heart and He has said to you, "Guard your heart."

In Proverbs chapter 4, verse 24, "Guard your heart, because out of it flows the issues of life." It's like there's a barricade around your heart and you have got to put soldiers on command as to what you're going to let in, and what you're going to give out, and how you're going to govern your heart. We're going to talk about that today because it is so critical to your wellbeing, psychologically, emotionally, physically, relationally, and above all, spiritually.

Very interesting, the ESV commentators spoke about the heart and the life, and I need to read to you what they wrote, it's so insightful. Here's what they wrote: "The center," talking about your heart, "the center of one's inner life and orientation to God, from which a person does all thinking, feeling, and choosing."

And regarding life, they went on to say, "Wisdom's presence in the heart is worth guarding because out of the heart flow all the thoughts and words and choices of a person's life. From it flows the springs of life."

Now, think about this. Every day of your life, things will happen to try to disrupt your heart. My wife was at a a drive-through window not too long ago, and there were two speakers, one in front of her and then hers. And the voice came over the box saying, "What is your order?"

And the car in front of her had pulled away, and that box was also open. But now the speaker was talking to her on this microphone. And the man behind her in a pickup truck lost total control, leaned out of his window, shook his fist and cursed at her, called her horrible names. Even after they had gone through the window, he was passing her on the highway, swearing and cursing. A horrible thing, a man totally out of control of his heart.

And my wife now had to make a decision. How would she control her heart? Would she react to him the same way? How would what should she do to govern her heart? Let's talk about that in a very practical way in this parable. Now, a parable is a story with a literal application. Mark that down, don't ever forget that. A parable is a story with a literal application.

And I want to read for you the parable and then we'll take it apart one bit at a time. Luke chapter 8, verses 14 to 15, Jesus told this parable with a literal application.

"While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path." Now, lock that in your mind: a path, a hardness in the mind. "It is trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up."

"Some fell on rock." Now we have a hard path. Now we have another kind of heart, a heart full of rocks. "And when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture."

"On other seed fell among thorns." Now we have a hard path, we have a rocky heart, now we have a thorny heart. "Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants." Now the fourth kind. "Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop a hundred times more than was sown."

"And when he said this, he called out, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'" Now, what did he mean by that? Well, if he were speaking in today's vernacular, he may say something like this: Did you get it? Do you understand what I'm saying? Is it connecting with you? Let's read on, verse 9.

"His disciples asked him what this parable meant." They they didn't get it. "He said, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables so that those seeing they may not see, and though hearing they may not understand.'"

Now, pause there for a moment. Why would Jesus speak in parables so that one person understands and the other person doesn't get it? For this reason: you may say that sounds unfair. Well, it's not.

If you have chosen to sin against God, and you've hardened your heart, and you've hardened your heart over and over and over again, and every time you're confronted with truth, you reject it, that opposition of God will can reach a point whereby you could listen to 10,000 telecasts like this. You could listen to a million sermons and none of them would affect you. Why? Because God is done speaking to you. He'll speak in a parable to another person, they get it, they light up, they respond, they grow. You remain spiritually dead.

That's a serious state to be in, my friend. And I would encourage you to be very careful to make sure that your heart is open to hear truth and to hear what God is saying to you.

Then Jesus went on to say this, "His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables so that those seeing they may not see, and though hearing they may not understand.'"

Years ago there was a an individual named Loren Lindsey. And Loren Lindsey got into a pyramid in Egypt. And this pyramid had not been penetrated in 3,000 years. And when he got inside, he came into a room and there he saw a mummy.

And in the hand of that mummy were beautiful roses. And when the fresh air hit them, they powdered immediately. Loren Lindsey picked up the seeds that fell on the floor, and he took them away and he put them in good soil and nourished them with water and a little bit of fertilizer. And after 3,000 years of lying dormant in the hands of that mummy, they grew.

And what grew? It was the Dahlia Rose. It had been lost and it was now refound, and you may have one in your yard. That all began when Loren Lindsey found the seed, the seeds in the hand of the mummy in the pyramid in Egypt, planted them and they grew. Listen carefully. What am I saying?

The seeds of the Dahlia Rose were powerless in the hand of a mummy. And the seed of the word of God is powerless in a dead heart. If your heart is dead toward God, you don't want to hear.

You have refused over and over again. When you hear truth, you have rebuffed it and throw it off and got cynical and sarcastic, even tried to create arguments against it saying, "I'm an atheist, I'm a deist, I'm a theist. I I'm I'm a skeptic, I'm this, I'm that." All these mechanisms to throw off truth. My friend, the seed of God's word cannot and will not grow in your heart.

Now Jesus went on to explain this parable to his disciples. And he said in verse 11, "This is the meaning of the parables, the seed is the word of God." Now, pause there. The Holy Spirit of God is spreading the seed of the word of God worldwide. It's lighting upon Islamic people, Christian people, non-Christian people, people of every background of faith, even atheist have the seeds falling upon them.

It's what we do with that seed in our hearts that determines the outcome. The word of God is being spread by television. I remember one night I was called by a good friend named Bobby Richardson, a former baseball star with the New York Yankees, played with Mickey Mantle.

And when Mickey Mantle died, Bobby Richardson was asked to speak at his funeral. And Bobby the next day we were praying for him and he got up and he presented the gospel so clearly, so simply, so powerfully. And cameras from around the world were on him because of the fame Mickey Mantle who had died. And Bobby shared the gospel with millions of people. The seed of the word of God was going out.

And that didn't cost the church a thing. That was done by the news media. God is seeing to it that his word is being spread around the world. There were three missionaries martyred in Turkey. And uh that was in 2007. And one of the widows of one of the martyred men said this: "I only want to forgive the killers." People saw a heart that was nourished in the power of the gospel, ready to forgive.

Now, Jesus went on to say this about the path. He began to analyze this parable. In verse 12 he said, "Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved." What is he saying? What is a heart? Or what is a path? A path is packed dirt.

And packed by the trampling of feet. And I'm going to ask you the question: Who has trampled on your heart to make it a hard path so that the word of God cannot penetrate? The seed cannot get in there and germinate and grow. Who trampled on you? Or did you actually trample on your own heart? Let's talk about that, these things for just a moment.

If you hear the word of God, and your heart is hard, then there's a good chance that you may have been violated as a child. You may have been violated physically, sexually, emotionally, physically. All kinds of ways that a child can be violated. Jesus said, "Woe to anyone who causes one of these little ones to sin." Don't you dare harden the heart of a child by abuse. You could be in deep trouble with the Almighty.

So, that kind of walking on your heart could have hardened your heart until now you hate men, hate women, hate this, hate that. You're ashamed of your body, you hate your body. And you're all crippled by a hard heart in a hard path in your heart. Or unbelief can harden the heart. You choose to not believe.

Listen, all people have faith. The choice is in what do I have faith? Do I have faith in God? Do I have faith in myself? Do I have faith in nothing? That's the atheist. "I have faith in nothing." Well, you choose what you're going to believe. And unbelief toward God can harden the heart.

Or sin will harden the heart. If you perpetually sin and you just refuse to give it up, you're not going to give it up. You've you've come to love sin. You've come to love the pleasures of this world. Well, you're going to have a hard heart. When you hear the gospel, it's not going to penetrate.

It's your responsibility and mine. It's not God's responsibility. It's your responsibility and mine: Grab a pick and loosen that heart. Loosen the soil of the heart so that when the seed of God's word falls upon your heart, it can now germinate and give birth to fruit. We'll talk about that in a moment.

But then Jesus went from the hard path to the rocky path, a path that is covered with rocks. In verse 13 he said, "Those on the rock are the ones who are who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in time of testing, they fall away."

Years ago, I was pastoring a a small church in a little tiny town called Clymer, Pennsylvania. And I was just beginning in the ministry, we won't talk about how long ago that was. And um people came to me and said, "Ron, so and so in town was once the pastor of the Methodist church. But something happened, he turned bitter, he quit the ministry. He's now a cursing all the time and just a vile man." It just flows out of him with anger and rage.

Well, I wanted to meet this man. And so I called him and I said, "Could we have dinner together?" Well, we did. We went over to Indiana, Pennsylvania, and I can still see the evening, as many years ago as it was. Beautiful sunset on that college town where Jimmy Stewart, by the way, has his museum and was born and raised.

And as we sat there over dinner, I said, "I'm only entering the ministry. Would you mind telling me what drove you out of the ministry?" And he leaned back, he was so affable and warm and friendly, and he he patted me on the shoulder and he said, "I'll tell you, son." He said, "I was married, and I loved this woman, and she died."

He said, "I had a hard time getting over that. And eventually I remarried. And in one year my second wife died of cancer. And that's when I said, 'That's it. I'm done with God, I'm out of here. I'm finished.'"

The time of testing came. He had rocks in his heart. The roots were not deep enough to overcome the testing. Listen, people have suffered far greater things than that man and yet stood firm in their faith. You have to choose. Am I going to believe God even when it appears as though he's walked out of the universe, locked the door behind him and forgot my name? I'm going to believe him and trust him. Like Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him."

Well, you have to do something. If your heart is hard, grab a pick and loosen the soil. If you find rocks in your heart, clear them out. That's your job, not God's job.

I come from a farming background. My dad was a landscaper. We lived on the edge of country, and I saw the farms, love horses, I'm a horse fanatic. And every spring I would see the farmers out in the field collecting rocks and bringing them to the side of the field. And there were rock piles along the side of the field where they were clearing the rocks.

Well, if they cleared them last year, why do they have to clear them this year? The answer is very simple. Freezing and frost breaks up the rocks under the ground and forces them to the surface. So clearing rocks out of a field is a regular process. For you and me, clearing rocks out of our hearts is a daily process. Make sure you do it. Clear your heart of all rocks.

Then thirdly, Jesus talked about the thorns. Here's what he said in verse 14: "The seed that fell among thorns stands as those who hear, but they do not but they go their way and they and they are choked by three things." Watch this, mark them down: "worries, riches, and pleasures. And they do not mature."

Worry? Worry. What is that? Jesus told us over and over again, "Worry not, worry not." No matter what the situation, "Worry not, I'm in command, I'm with you all the way to the end." How do we lose sight of that? Worry is actually you trying to play God, and it's not working.

It's when something's out of control, you begin to churn inside and stir inside and lose sleep because it's out of control. Only God is in control. He commands the universe, he commands the air at your nostrils, he commands everything that's going on. You have to decide: Am I going to believe him? Or am I going to churn inside because I'm trying to do his part? I I I want to be my own God. Worry is a danger to the body, the mind, the spirit. In every way, it's a dangerous thing.

Get in there and burn the thorns of worry. Riches. Be careful what you own. Don't be lustful for the things of this world. Here's why: What you possess will possess you. Did you mark that down? What you possess will possess you.

You have to make sure that you only possess those things that are helping you accomplish the vital things of life and not things that just soak you into pleasure and eventually they control and own you. And then Jesus said a third thing. Not only are worries thorns, but riches are thorns and pleasures are thorns. You may be addicted to the pleasures of the body.

Pornography, eating, all kinds of pleasures that we become addicted to. They are deadly, they are dangerous, they are thorns, and they are choking the word of God, is what Jesus is saying. So you and I must do three things constantly. Grab a pick and loosen the hardened soil of the heart.

Get out in that field of your heart and clear the rocks constantly by getting before God, confessing sin, repenting and turning away from things, and responding to God, get rid of the rocks. And thirdly, tear the thorns out of the the your heart and throw them on a fire and burn them and get rid of them.

Listen, a rich man came to Jesus, and he wanted to know how to enter the Kingdom. Jesus said, "Sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. Get disentangled from this world. Then you can follow me." So be very careful that you're not so bound up in the things of this world that you're not able to follow the Lord.

Then Jesus said, there is good soil. Verse 15: "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart who hear," three things now, four things actually, "they hear the word, they retain it, and by persevering," that's the third thing, "they produce a crop." So, they hear, they retain, they persevere, and they produce.

Now, what does that mean? Well, when you hear the word of God, you have got to decide, am I going to retain this? Or am I just going to let that blow right on by? Great idea, great thought, but I'm going to go about my life. Or are you taking time to meditate and absorb and consume the word of God? What is knowing? Ginosko in the Greek. It means to internalize and reproduce. Are you internalizing and reproducing the word of God in your life?

Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:9, "How can a young man keep his way? By living according to your word." King David as a boy would lie in his bed and meditate on the laws of God, he loved them.

And then, when you have heard and you have now internalized and you're reproducing, persevere in the hard times and good times, staying true to the truth, staying true to the Lord. Loosen the the hard ground, clear the rocks, burn the thorns, and persevere in faith, endure to the end. And then, when you persevere, you will produce a crop. A crop of what? Well, first of all, the spirit of God will begin to produce in that rich, wonderful soil of your heart his fruit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, faithfulness, self-control.

These are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the makeup of God. This is his nature that he's building in you. And that begins to grow and take command of your thought life, and take command of your emotions, take command of your heart in every way. And now God is able to flow through you to the world because you guarded your heart and you prepared your heart for the seed of the word of God.

My dad was a landscaper. And every time we put in a yard, we would plow it, we would disc it, we would rake it. We would then we would put lime on it, rake it again, fertilize it, rake it again. And when all the soil was so very fine and powdery on top, we would then put the seed on. And we would roll that to pack it in. We would put straw on top of that.

And then my dad would say to the owner of the house, "Now keep this watered every morning and every night for six weeks and you'll have a beautiful lawn." Then I would see him go and stand by the truck and fold his arms and just look at that lawn, which was not yet grass. And I often wonder, "What is he doing?" And one day he was speaking at a men's fellowship and he shared the story and I discovered: He would step back then to pray, "God, I've done everything I can do humanly. Now you grow the grass."

That's what you're doing when you take care of your heart. You are saying, "God, I've done all that I can. Now, my Father, I'm trusting you to build in me that which only you can do." Now, think about something. God so loves you that he cleared his heart of the wrath that he has against you and all the people of the world ever since Adam's fall into sin. He cleared his heart by pouring his wrath out upon his son on the cross, to take your sins and mine as far as the east is from the west, and to cleanse us before God.

If God was willing to clear his heart toward you to receive you, will you not take time right now to clear your heart before God and receive him? If so, pray this prayer with me. Dear God, on the basis that Jesus died for me, I'm trusting your forgiveness for all my sins. I'm asking you for the power to live committed to you from now until I meet you in heaven. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.

This has been FaithWalk with best-selling author, pastor, and evangelist Ron Susek. If you would like to know more about Dr. Ron and our mission, visit our website at faithwalk.org. We're certain you appreciate Dr. Ron's straightforward teaching of God's word, along with his strong invitation to find salvation through Christ. But he needs your help in spreading the gospel to the far reaches of the world. Join our team by going to faithwalk.org and clicking on 'Partner With Us'.

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