MISPLACED CONCERN

PROCLAMATION

“Saul said to his armor-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.’  But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.”  1 Samuel 31:4 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

While David was attacking the Amalekites for looting and burning his town of Ziklag, (1 Samuel 30:1-19) the Philistines were attacking the Israelites. (1 Samuel 31:1-3)  King Saul was critically wounded during the battle and he told his armor-bearer to kill him so that the Philistines would not have the pleasure of killing him.  Saul was also concerned that the Philistines would torture him, and he did not want that to happen.

APPLICATION

At the end of his life, Saul was more concerned about being humiliated and physically abused than he was about his soul.  He was concerned about his worldly image and physical pain and dying with some sense of honor.  There was no concern expressed for his soul which would spend the rest of eternity suffering because he died outside of the will of God due to his sinful refusal to accept and obey The Word of God. (1 Samuel 15:17-24)  He denied and defied The Lord God before men and now The Lord God was denying him. (Matthew 10:33)  Let us get our priorities straight and in the proper order.  Let us not get so caught up in and concerned about our worldly human existence until we forget about the salvation of our soul.

NON-BELIEF IN JESUS THE CHRIST IS A PROBLEM OF THE HEART

Proclamation:

“… Jesus … told this parable: ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path … some fell on rocky ground … Other seed fell among thorns … Still other seed fell on good soil …’”  Luke 8:4-8 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Luke, the physician and frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul.  In this chapter Luke begins by stating that as Jesus was travelling one town and village to another, a large crowd was gathering (Luke 8:1) and Jesus told them this parable, the parable of the sower.  Afterwards His disciples asked Him what this parable meant and He explained it to them. (Luke 8:9-15)  Later in this chapter Luke records the events around the calming of the storm by Jesus, (Luke 8:22-25) His healing and  restoring a demon-possessed man containing a Legion of demons, (Luke 8:26-38) His healing of a woman who had a twelve-year-long bleeding disorder, and raising the twelve year old daughter of Jarius from the dead. (Luke 8:40-53)

Application:

The “seed” here is The Word of God.  The “path,” the hard packed ground represents the hard hearts of the non-believers who hear The Word of God but refuse to accept it.  The “rocky ground” represents the hearts of those superficial folk who receive The Word of God with joy but it does not take root in their lives and they quickly fall away.  The “thorns” represents the hearts of those who receive The Word of God but are so caught up in and chocked by their concerns for things of this world that they produce no fruit.  The “good soil” represents the hearts of those who hear The Word of God, retain it, live it, and produce fruit because of it.  All of us fall into one of these groups.  Group one, the hard-hearted folk, believe in anything but Jesus.  Group two, the fair-weather folk, celebrate during the worship service but there is no evidence of Christ in their life outside of church.  Group three, the worldly concerned folk, care more about everything else than they do The Word of God and they cannot be productive Christians because of their outside influences, cares, and pleasures.  Group four, the productive believers, these are the ones who hear The Word of God, believe it, keep it in their hearts, live by it, and who let their light shine for the glory of God.