John K. Jenkins Sr - The Challenges of Living a Consistent Victorious Life

I want to talk about the challenges of living a consistent, victorious life. Look at your neighbor and say, «The pastor is going to challenge us and talk to us about the challenges of living a consistent, victorious life.» Amen, you can be seated. It’s quarter to 11, and I’m a little behind. I' ll do my best to finish up quickly. I want to discuss this passage where Jesus gives a parable. A parable is a story that unveils and unpacks some spiritual truth. He shares a parable with a multitude, unveiling a very important truth in their midst. After giving the parable, he goes on to explain to his disciples what it actually means.

The parable is about a sower who gathers seeds and goes out to begin sowing them. The text says that the seeds land on various types of soil, resulting in different outcomes. Walk with me through these first few verses and take a look at what happens.

Number one, in verse five, he talks about a sower who went out to sow his seed, and some fell by the wayside. Somebody say «by the wayside.» Some of the seeds fell on what he called wayside soil. In verse five, it says, «It was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.» He planted the seeds and, as Scripture shows, they got trampled down, and the birds ate them up. Therefore, the seed was never able to produce or accomplish anything because it got trampled down and eaten by the birds.

In verse six, he mentions that some fell on rock, which is the second type of soil-rocky soil. As soon as the seeds sprang up, they withered away because they lacked moisture. This is significant-it says that the seeds fell on rocky soil, sprang up, but withered away due to a lack of moisture.

The third kind of soil he discusses is thorny soil in verse seven. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with them and choked them. He planted his seed among thorns; it grew, but alongside it, thorns also grew, choking the crop so that it couldn 't survive. Finally, in verse eight, he states, «But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.» Some seeds he planted fell on good ground and produced a healthy crop capable of reproducing.

Now let me elaborate on this for just a few moments. I want to bring clarity to this point because it has significantly helped me in my life. As the pastor of this church, I have served for 22, coming on 23 years, as of November. Thousands of people have come through this church; thousands upon thousands have passed through. We have far more people on the rolls than actually attend church. Amen? Many churches cite their member count based on the names on the roll, and that number is always larger than those who physically come.

However, it has become discouraging for me to think about the people who’ve come through this church who are no longer involved, who no longer come or are here. Many who once attended wormed their way into our hearts and then disappeared without explanation-no letter, no phone call, no goodbye hug-just gone. Please don’t do that; I’ll be very unhappy if you do.

I stumbled across this passage that provided me with great insight into a question some of you may have been pondering: Why is it that some people who used to be here, who once walked with God, who loved the things of God, and participated in the Kingdom, suddenly seem to vanish? How is it that someone who was once on fire for God, carrying their Bible and wearing a cross around their neck, now wants nothing to do with the church?

Perhaps you haven’t thought about it much, but I have reflected on it extensively. It is in this passage that Jesus provided me with an explanation through a profound principle. In essence, he explains that not everyone who comes forward or has the seed planted in their lives will survive. As a matter of fact, in verses 11-15, he gives an explanation of each type of soil, detailing what keeps the seed from reproducing and growing.

Allow me to walk you through these verses 11-15. Verse 11 begins, «The parable is this: The seed is the word of God.» Oh, let me back up; I’m running ahead of myself. I want you to recognize that with each one of these types of soil, it’s a sower who sows the seed. So, somebody say, «The sower who sows the seed .»