Sermon Central
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Redeeming Stony Ground Series
Contributed by Troy Campbell on Mar 10, 2016 (message contributor)
Summary: The Parable of the Sower
The Parable of the Sower – 6
“Redeeming Stony Ground”
“These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.”
Last week we talked about the Stony Ground person. This is the person who is easily offended. They are offended by affliction, most of the time, because they are blaming the wrong guy for the cause of the offense. And they are offended at persecution.
➢ Affliction and persecution are very similar. The big difference is afflictions are circumstance related and persecution is people related.
So, if we recognized ourselves as the Stony Ground person last week, then the question is how do we overcome that? How do we become good ground?
I. REDEEMING STONY GROUND: MEDITATING
Once again, for every attack Satan brings, there is always an answer. What is the answer to having no depth, to being the stony ground individual? In order for us to be rooted and grounded in the word and be good ground, we need to water the ground on a regular basis. To do that, we need to meditate on it. The word meditation often makes us think of eastern mysticism; when some of hear the word meditation, we think of sitting on the ground, with our legs folded and repeated some chant over and over again. But meditation is a biblical word and a biblical practice. Remember, Satan is a counterfeiter; he can’t come up with anything original. He doesn’t create anything; he just mimics what’s already there.
In the book of Joshua we read that Joshua needed to be good ground. Even though it was God’s will for them to take the Promised Land, they could only do that by watering the seed God gave to Moses when He told him that the land was theirs. If they had no root, they would have been easily defeated.
This is what God told Joshua, which was the leader at the time:
Joshua 1:6-9, “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
➢ Meditate: “1. To dwell on any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study to turn or revolve any subject in the mind; a consideration of the great truths of religion. 2. To plan by revolving in the mind. (1828 Websters Dictionary)
If you only hear the Word of God on Sundays, it will be very difficult for the Word to take root, because you will not have watered it enough. The Word must be watered if you want to have good ground. The shallow, stony ground Christian does not meditate on the Word. David said, “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Remember, he didn’t go around shouting praise all day long as king and in the middle of major decisions, but he did make it a constant habit to meditate on the good things of the Lord.
Remember, Satan’s goal is to get you offended. We have to know throughout this series that God is a planter, Satan is a planter, and you are a planter. Your mouth is a planting tool, and we need to make sure that we are planting the right seeds in the right ground. Overcoming offense happens when we meditate on the Word.
➢ I can’t stress this enough, “You are the one who controls what happens, not Satan.”
Don’t go to church and shout, “I am good ground! I receive 30, 60, 100 fold supernatural power of the Word!!” when you have been too busy to plant or when you have been operating in offense. God will say, “You haven’t planted, and you haven’t watered.” With some of us, the little bit of harvest that we have been getting is simply from the hour a week that we spend planting and that’s why there isn’t much harvesting in our life.
