Fallow Ground? March 19, 2017 Tom Shannon, Pastor Restored Life Church

Transcription

1 Fallow Ground? March 19, 2017 Tom Shannon, Pastor Restored Life Church

2 Biblical Paradigms Since the fall in the Garden, man has approached God and viewed God in the paradigm of man s world view. What you believe true about God you will find in the Word, whether He is an angry, wrathful, punitive God, or a loving God where mercy triumphs. How do we move away from a self-paradigmed view of God? It is challenging to do so, but through biblical congruence and proper biblical interpretation, looking at context, culture, history, and language.

3 Hebrews 3 Hebrews 3:7-12 (NKJV), 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways. 11 So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest.

4 Hebrews 3 Hebrews 3:12-15 (NKJV), 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, become, Κατέχω, hold on to, perfect The verb tense used by the writer to describe a completed verbal action that occurred in the past but which produced a state of being or a result that exists in the present (in relation to the writer). The emphasis of the perfect is not the past action so much as it is as such but the present state of affairs resulting from the past action. Beginning, 746. ἀρχή archḗ; noun. Denotes the first cause (Col 3.17), End, τέλος télos; noun. An end, term, termination, completion. Jesus, the Alpha and Omega Hebrews 12:2a, (NKJV), looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 15 while it is said: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

5 Harden Not Your Hearts Breaking up the fallow ground

6 Mark 4-The Sower Mark 4:3-12 (NKJV), 3 Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. 9 And He said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.

7 Four Types of Soil Mark 4:13-20 (NKJV), 13 And He said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 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. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

8 Break Up the Fallow Ground Jeremiah 4:3-4 (NKJV), For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.

9 Hosea 10 Hosea 10:12-13 (NKJV), Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. 13 You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.

10 What s Being Planted and What Fruit Grows? The Law, which feeds a distorted self and God image. Sin, invisible and visible, which feeds a distorted self and God image. Offense-exclusion from others, not recognized-luke 4:24, Insecurity-self-image, other image, God image Rebellion, defiance Thinking Feeling Status Quo Pride Set in own ways Fallow ground-resisting entry of living water Stagnant and dry cisterns Impacts one s way of life, relationships, well being

11 It s in There! Proverbs 13:23 (NKJV), Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste.

12 Hosea 10 Hosea 10:1-13 (NKJV), Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars;he will ruin their sacred pillars. 3 For now they say, We have no king, Because we did not fear the LORD. And as for a king, what would he do for us? 4 They have spoken words, Swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. 5 The inhabitants of Samaria fear Because of the calf of Beth Aven. For its people mourn for it, And its priests shriek for it Because its glory has departed from it. 6 The idol also shall be carried to Assyria As a present for King Jareb. Ephraim shall receive shame, And Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. 7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off Like a twig on the water.

13 Hosea 10 Hosea 10:1-13 (NKJV), 8 Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, Cover us! And to the hills, Fall on us! 9 O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah; There they stood. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity Did not overtake them. 10 When it is My desire, I will chasten them. Peoples shall be gathered against them When I bind them for their two transgressions. 11 Ephraim is a trained heifer That loves to thresh grain; But I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break his clods. 12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. 13 You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.