The Four Corners Of My Heart
11/29/2020 Matthew 24:36-51 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means the “coming.” The Bible is divided into two parts. The Old Testament and the New Testament. The books of the Old Testament points to One who is going to come to put things right in the world in regards to our relationship to God. The advent they were looking forward to was the birth of Jesus Christ who would save them from their sin. We celebrate the first Advent every time we celebrate Christmas.
The New Testament looks forward to a second Advent. The second Advent involves one who is going to come who will both claim His people as His own, and will judge the nations. He will also judge those who have refused to yield their lives to Jesus. This is commonly called the second coming of Christ. Some may refer to it as the rapture.
If I were to tell you, that I heard from someone, that tomorrow you are going to receive a million dollars, what’s one of the things you would want to know? Most of us would want to know who it was that told me, that you were going to get a million dollars.
We know that if the person was not reliable, or was a liar, or was a lunatic, we could keep on doing whatever we were doing before we got the news. No matter how good the news might seem, if the source is unreliable, then the news just might be something they made up in their own head.
When you hear that Jesus is coming back, what comes to your mind? Unbelief-“I think that was just something the church made up.” Doubt-“If he was coming, he would surely have come by now.” Hope—"As bad as things are today, I hope He comes real soon”. Joy-“I’m doing all I can to have him say well done.”
Whether or not we should believe “Jesus is coming back” should hinge on who said this was going to happen. Was the person reliable who told us to expect it to happen? The person who introduced the doctrine of the Second Coming of Jesus, was none other than Jesus Himself.
Even before he was crucified, Jesus told his enemies and his followers that he was going to die and be raised again after three days. Sure enough, Jesus was killed and three days later both his enemies and his followers acknowledged that he had risen from the dead.
If nothing else, Jesus proved that His words were reliable. If he told you that something was going to happen, you could be certain that it was going to happen. In our New Testament reading, Jesus stated plainly that he was going to return. He even tells us what signs to look for and what the world would be like prior to His return.
The only thing he does not tell us, is the moment at which it is going to happen. He lets us know that everyday people will be going about their business as usual. He gives us an accurate description of what will be taking place in our society.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV2011) 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
Why does Jesus go through with telling us that He is coming back? Why not just do it, in secret and get it over with?
Do you remember when you were a kid and your mother or father had to go to work or grocery shopping or somewhere. They told you, make sure you have the house clean, or the lawn cut, or the dishes washed before I get home. They told you that because they wanted the reunion that was going to take back to be a happy one.
Your parents were not thinking, “I sure hope they don’t do what I told them, because I can’t wait to get me a switch.” You were not thinking,” it doesn’t matter whether I do the chores or not, my parents love me and everything is cool whether I listen or not.”
You actually appreciated them telling you what was expected upon their arrival back at the house. You knew what it took to be in a good standing upon their arrival.
Jesus took the time to tell us about His second coming because He loves us and wants the second coming to be a time of joy and hope for us. He wants it to be the best of reunions. It’s like seeing someone you love, and you haven’t seen them for a long time.
Jesus’ second time ushers in the end of all pain and suffering for disciples of Christ. It is the establishment of a new order. It’s the kind of society the world seeks for and longs after but never can have, because of the sin in this world.
Before Jesus left to go on his journey, he gave some specific orders to his followers that they were to carry out until his second return. But we would rather talk about the signs of the second coming, rather than orders we were given concerning our lives.
We can get excited about the Mark of the Beast, the anti-Christ, 666, and the coming one world government. Some would want me to show how Covid-19 is going to help the Anti-Christ to rise to power and indicate how it relates to the plagues coming upon the earth. I could talk about the new chip technology which tracks our every move and the cameras that are constantly upon us.
I could even speak of how the bible predicted a cashless society is coming so that no one can buy or sell anything without the mark of the beast. But would a knowledge of those things help you with the transformation that God wants to do in your life? Would it really make you more open to becoming more like Jesus?
One of the most difficult commands that Jesus gave to us, applies to all of us no matter what age or stage of life that we are in. It is such a harsh command that we write it off as being impossible to carry it out. We think to ourselves, nobody is doing this. Doesn’t Jesus know my weaknesses. Matthew 5:48 tells us 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Some of us are ready to say, “nobody is perfect and I’m doing the best I can.” True nobody is perfect, but it’s probably not true that we are doing the best we can, we are probably doing the best we want to. This verse is not talking about never sinning again.
The verse is about maturing in Christ so that we are measuring ourselves by what’s expected of God and not of others. The statement forces us to acknowledge our need for God. Is God truly going to hold us to a level of perfection. Yes if we want to be saved apart from Jesus Christ.
One of the problems we have as believers is that we come to Jesus, hoping that Jesus will solve one problem or another, and after that problem is taken care of we are okay. For instance the person who has a problem with drug addiction, seeks only freedom from the drugs or the person who has a problem with stealing, seeks freedom from stealing, or the person sexual addiction only seeks relief from the addiction.
C.S. Lewis,a noted theologian, says that Jesus is not interested in leaving us alone once we get what we want. He’s going to want to meddle around in our lives far more than we want Him to do.
That is why Jesus demands that we not stop the transformation process after this one thing is removed. Jesus is planning on turning us inside out into something we never were before. He tells us about his second coming to let us know we have a certain time period in which this changing process is to take place.
Last week Pastor Kellie preached a message on giving God our hearts. I think at the root of our problem is that we are only willing to give God certain areas of our hearts. Even then, we limit God as to how much He is allowed to go around digging and planting things in our hearts.
This past week, I saw the parable of the sower in a different light. We find the story in Matthew 13:3-9 (NIV2011) .
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As 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. 6 But 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. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
When the people heard this parable by Jesus, they had no idea of what he was talking about. The disciples also had no idea. So Jesus explained the parable to them in Matthew 13:18-23 (NIV2011) .
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 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.
22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Can we all agree that there is nothing wrong with the seed in the farmer’s hand. All the seeds have potential for a great harvest. All the seeds could have led to a blessing for a lot of people. The difference maker is what happened to the seed once it landed on the soil.
For years I have read this passage simply as an evangelistic passage. I’ve believed that if I shared the word, with somebody, I could expect one of four results. The first is that the person would not accept it all. The second is that the person would accept it as long as it was easy but would leave the moment things got hard.
The third is the person would accept it, but would try to hold on to the things of this world making the person unfruitful. The fourth is the person who hears the word of God and goes all out for Jesus.
But this past week, the Lord opened eyes to something new. This passage may be more about how I receive the word of God on a regular basis, just as much as about how I give out the word. We have the word of God in the Scriptures. Each day God sprinkles the seeds of the word of God on our hearts. What’s the condition of the soil in our hearts when it lands upon it.
We should all be aware that the soil of our hearts does not remain constant. It changes based on what’s happening around us and to us. Our receptivity to the Word comes and goes.
This is why when we come to Jesus, he will not leave us to stay at the same spot spiritually we have always been. This is why he told us to strive for perfection or maturity.
Do you know why Psalm 23 is the favorite passage of Scripture for many people. Well for many, it’s the only passage of Scripture they know. But for most it’s because the passage does not require a transformation in our lives. It’s mostly about the faithfulness of God in our times of trouble and difficulty. It talks about what God wants to do for us.
But what about those parts of the word of God that requires the beginning of a transformation process in our lives through the yielding of ourselves to the obedience of Christ. Jesus emphasized that when he comes back, he wanted us to be ready, eagerly looking forward to his return.
The second coming is not going to be like the first coming which was hidden in a cave in a tiny town called Bethlehem. Very few people actually took notice of the event other than a group of shepherds.
Jesus makes it clear that the second coming will be a world-wide event seen all over the world. Paul tells us in Thessalonians that Jesus will be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Do you remember getting Pop Quizzes in school. The purpose of the pop quiz was not to make sure you got an F. The purpose of the quiz was to make sure that you were doing your assignment all along. The second coming is like a pop quiz for believers. Jesus is making sure we are doing our assignment as we pass through life by sowing his word on our hearts.
How many times have we made up our minds to do wrong no matter what the word of God says? What is it that you know you need to change, but you’re insisting God is going to have to accept you just as you are.
Your heart is like ground that was hard and the seed could not penetrate it, so the devil snatches away any desire on your part to let that part of you go. You will not even consider those parts of the Bible to actually apply to you. You won’t allow the Holy Spirit to begin the transformation process. You can only see what you might lose and not what Jesus wants to give to you.
Has the Holy Spirit, ever shown you something in your life about how you can walk closer to God, and you got excited. You ordered a book, you laid out a devotional plan, you committed yourself to study the word or to get in a Life Connect group. Or you realized, a group you were a part of was not helping your spiritual walk and you decided to leave them behind.
You realized the language coming out of your mouth did not help your witness for Christ and you decided to stop using it. At first it was easy to do these things, but then you realized there was a price to pay and you didn’t want to pay it.
Just like the seed could not grow in shallow soil, you have limited how deep the word of God can grow in your life. You agree that the word is good and will even shout amen. But you will not allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in this area of your life.
You will call yourself a believer but only so long as it does not cost you much of anything. You didn’t sign up for Jesus to pay a price, You signed up for a blessing.
One of the more dangerous places to be is when the word of God hits our hearts and we allow it to soak in, but other things have an equal footing with it. This is the seed that is sown among the weeds and thorns. The danger is the self deception which takes place.
We are absolutely sure we are okay with the Lord, but we don’t allow the word to show us the things that are competing against God for our allegiance. We really do want to serve God, but the word of God is reduced to becoming an opinion among other opinions.
It is no longer the supreme value that we hold, but rather it’s a good value among others. Those other values begin to choke it out. We start worrying about the things in this life, we start to pursue a comfortable life-style rather than God, we allow ourselves to be influenced by those around us who are not walking with the Lord.
The world’s agenda has a greater claim on our lives than Jesus does. We don’t take the time to go and pull out the weeds even though we can see they are in conflict with the word. We assume the word will outgrow the others but it won’t.
We are not allowing ourselves to be transformed because it means letting go of things that have become a part of us. Instead of fighting the good fight of faith, we are now content just sitting in the corner of the ring with our gloves on. The other things have choked the fight out of us.
Whether or not I’m actually loving others with my attitudes and my actions has become a minor issue in my walk with the Lord. This is when we know that our spiritual life is being choked out of us. When we are no longer convicted when we hurt another person with our words or actions.
If we find ourselves saying, they got what they deserved or they shouldn’t have done that to me as an excuse for acting unloving, our weeds are choking the word. If we find it easier and easier to harbor resentment, envy, jealousy or unforgiveness, then the weeds are choking the word attempting to grow in our hearts.
But when we pull out the weeds, the word can implant itself and grow throughout our hearts. We don’t put a limit on where the seed can grow or how much deeper the roots can grow. We allow God’s word to begin to permeate all areas of our lives and nothing is off limits to the transformation process that God wants to accomplish.
We can look forward to the second coming of Christ because our spirit is working in connection with the Holy Spirit in becoming perfect or mature as Jesus commanded us to do.
Jesus wants all of us to come to him no matter what sin or thing has gripped our lives. But if you invite Him in, He’s not going to stop at the thing you want him to deliver you from. He has a full scale plan for your life that is going to take you through a process that you’re not always going to like.
The only way Jesus can truly give you life, is to kill you in the process. He’s not trying to make a better you. He wants to make a new you in Him.
Are you aware of what’s happening when the seed of God word lands on the top of your heart? Are you aware of when you reject it, when you receive it, when you let it go, when you let other things compete with it, and when Jesus is having his way totally and completely.
Jesus is coming back. Are you turning your whole heart into an area ready to produce a harvest.
