The
Wise Agronomist
A Reflection on The Lord’s Parable
A
sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way
side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it
withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among
thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other
fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.
And when he [Christ] had said these things, he cried, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-10.
Agronomist: -n.
An expert in soil management and field-crop production.
– beedictionary.com
In
the parable of the Sower (Mark 4:2-20), the “ground” is
used to symbolize the heart of man. Our Master says, in verse 15,
that it is here that the Word of God and divine truth are sown. See
also Luke 8:12. This is further demonstrated by Christ’s
identification of “good ground” as an “honest and
good heart.” Luke 8:15. In contrast, “stony ground”
therefore is representative of a hardened and calloused heart. In
the book of Ezekiel we find that
God says,
“A new heart
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony
heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.
Notice
the similarity between this verse and that of Christ’s
parable. As God had spoken to Ezekiel of “stony hearts”
and His desire to replace it with a “heart of flesh,” so
the Master chose the same language for His parable to re-establish
the principle of the need for a tender and submissive heart before
God. Without such a heart, we are not going to receive the things
our Father would teach us or the righteousness He wills to implant.
The heart that is hardened and un-submissive will not fully
come to the Master. This is the reason that only in “good
ground”—a submissive heart—fruit will be “brought
forth.” Mark 4:20. Once again, Christ’s word in
describing the heart that allows divine truth to exercise its
sanctifying influence was particular in choice so as would
re-establish old truth, for God had revealed many years earlier that
it is a humble heart before Him that is “good.”
“He [God]
hath shewed thee, O man, what
is good;
and what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God.”
Micah 6:8.
The
divine Teacher warns of “other lusts” “entering
in.” This refers to the entering in of sensual and earthly
desires upon the environs of the heart’s affections, and which
differ from what the Spirit of God inspires in an individual in the
Spirit’s quest to redeem and sanctify. Christ made it clear
that all such desires cause disruption in God’s work upon the
heart, and hinders the transformation He wills to be brought forth.
“Seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” Matthew
6:33.
When
we are persuaded to care for a thing of this earth—taking the
place in our heart of the desire for Christ-likeness—it will
“grow up” alongside the righteousness that is being
tenderly cultivated there by God, and casts an unholy influence over
our mind. This influence causes us to lose attraction for godliness.
The more we partake of the things of earth, the more we indulge in
ungodly practices, the less will be our desire for God and for His
righteousness. In this way, that righteousness which God has planted
in our heart becomes “choked,” strangled, and that which
God has taught becomes barren and “unfruitful” in our
life as we are persuaded to walk in variance to it by the lusts and
practices of earth. Satan is also seeking to work upon the human
mind as God does, and this is accomplished through the practices of
the fallen age which have been formulated to lead man astray. It is
not that worldly practice has arisen from a gradual progression of
the intellect and morality of humanity; or that they, as new
discoveries, have been handed down to our generation out of errors
learned from those that have preceded us. Nor are they mere
happenstance. None of these account for the reason that they are
unfit for God’s people to adopt. It is because Satan, the “god
of this world,” is he who has invented them, and promulgates
through co-partnership with lost souls. Hence is written that the
ways of the world, and the things characteristic of the fallen age,
are “not of the Father.” 1 John 2:16. Paul wrote to the
Ephesians,
“…in
time past ye walked according to the
course of this world, [which
is] according
to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
Ephesians 2:2.
So
we find that the course of the present age is according to the
pleasure and inspiration of this dark foe. Notice it is one of
“disobedience” towards God. Notice it states that we had
conducted our lives according to this very course with its
rebellious practices “in time past,” before being
regenerated in Christ through the Holy Spirit. From this have all
who have chosen Christ been turned away by the gracious workings of
God. Man is turned “from darkness to light,…from the
power of Satan unto God.” Acts 26:18. Perhaps it is wondered
why man is so naturally drawn to the unrighteous pattern. It is
because Satan is aware of man’s fallen nature and has invented
practices specific to
that
nature
and the gratification of its lusts. See Ephesians 2:3. Who better
knows how to accomplish this than Satan—the very originator of
sin rebellion against the divine Sovereign, and the evil nature?
Being fallen himself, with his debased morality, the foe of man is
well acquainted with the knowledge of how to gratify the longings of
sin and those manners which act contrary to the will of God.
Therefore, to follow earthly rationale and practice—when it is
to be Christ’s humility, gentleness and purity that molds the
spirit—will cause a dual growth of righteous seed and the
thistles of apostasy and corruption, to take place within. Though
this conflict in cultivation may exist for a time, we must consider
that one will eventually dominate and choke out the other. Both God
and Satan have seed they wish to sow in you. These are but offered
varieties at market, and we the agronomist, who exercises his
volition and decides which is to be chosen and purchased for
production. What fruit, do you suppose, will issue forth if our
lives and conscience are dictated by earthly practice instead of
God’s revealed will? Shall a Christ-like character be
cultivated from earthly seed? Will not sensual, carnal characters
come forth from those practices designed to pacify carnal lusts?
This is true, for we are taught of Scripture that whatsoever is
sown, the same will be reaped. Galatians 6:7. We must do away with
an earth-like estimation for life and practice, and “the sin
which doth so easily beset us,” molding our lives by truth and
by a bond to Christ instead. It is the difference between life and
death.
“Wherefore…let
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with
patience
the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1.
The
work of God upon us is brought to fruition “with patience.”
Luke 8:15. This means “endurance, constancy” (Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance). If complete
transformation of character into the image of Christ—the
“fruit” of God’s seed—was immediate, we
would have no reason to be concerned with the possibility of
interruption. But because our transformation is not immediate, but
progressive (2 Corinthians 3:18), the process must “endure”
and be “constant” until the end if it is to come to full
fruition and not be halted before the time. Not only was this stated
in the Gospels, but also in the above verse in Hebrews, and Romans,
where it declares that only to those who by “patient
continuance
in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality” will
“eternal life” be given. Romans 2:6, 7. This is why we
are instructed to “lay aside every weight”—all
that should hinder our transformation. It is true that we are “born
again” (John 3:5-7). But it does not stop there; we must go on
to the next stage in our transformation, for we start out as
“newborn babes” (1 Peter 2:2), and then must continue to
“grow up into” Christ (Ephesians 4:15) “till”
we reach “the measure of the stature” of the Lord Jesus
Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Clearly, we see a progression in godliness,
not in that which God possesses, but in that which man acquires. Yet
even if one unconsciously wanders from the paths of truth, and
worldly customs are adopted, becoming somewhat halted in his
spiritual growth, a tender and submissive heart would receive the
alerts and corrections that are sent from Him who is the Author of
salvation, and which will restore the believer’s unity with
Himself and progress in the way. As the Master said, they whose
hearts remain tender and submitted to Him will
“bring forth fruit.” Mark 4:20. But a heart that is
hardened would refuse the correction; refuse to turn from the
worldly way, even though the correction had been sent him, as was
the continual behavior of the children of Israel. And so is
demonstrated the significance of walking humbly with God. We see the
importance for the heart to be completely yielded to Christ. There
is no fulfillment in bearing the image of this earth. The earth is
an untrustworthy candidate in the role for leadership; deceitful in
evaluating worth; deceived by the old serpent. Revelation 12:9.
After tasting of its patterns and practices our spirit feels
molested, and the longing of the heart for security remains
unfulfilled. Is this not so? Fuller surrender to Christ, and seeking
greater communion with Him who came to save man, will educate our
minds on the unseen beauty of this communion, on righteousness, on
the deceitfulness and emptiness of that worldly thing which before
used to bring us pleasure. This the wisdom from above can alone
teach (James 3:17), which we have only in Christ; and by seeing into
the truth of righteousness and sin, we would no longer look for
fulfillment in the wrong places but now in our unity with Him. “He
that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians
6:17. And we will find ourselves there, in drawing nearer to Him who
is true, for His invitation is, “Come
unto me…and I will give you rest.”
With a “good and honest heart” we will experience the
truest intimacy with the Teacher sent from God and learn liberating
truths.
Additional Study
Materials Available
The
New Covenant and The Law
The
Spirit of God
The
Importance of Understanding and Keeping God’s Commandments
(According to the
Scriptures)*
Enter
His Rest
Sunday
(the first day) in the New Testament*
A
treatise on God’s Sabbath
The
Law before Sinai
The
True Israel of God**
The
Rusty Woomer Story (Bill Stringfellow)*
What
Denomination Should I join? (Lynnford Beachy)
Christ
In You (Lynnford Beachy)
What
Must I Do To Be Saved…?
By
Beholding We Become Changed
Christ
Reflected (Alonzo T. Jones)
The
Faith of Jesus (Alonzo T. Jones)
The
Hour of His Judgment Is Come (Alonzo T. Jones)
Let
Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Changed
By The Spirit
A
Need for Heavenly Enlightenment
The
Dangers of the Cares of Life
Living
for Christ and Keeping His Work
Take
Your Stand and Fight
An
Investigation of the Scriptures on Truth and Its Importance
Hidden
Truth
Anathema
Maranatha
The
God of Our Fathers
Baalmass
and Pagan Easter (L.B. Brunk)
*Available in Polish **Available in Spanish
Our efforts are to
encourage individuals to develop a close, intimate relationship with
our Heavenly Father and His only begotten Son, by the power of God’s
Holy Spirit. The law cannot save, but only condemns those who
transgress it (Rom. 7:7). The law rather points us to Christ who then
gives us the power to walk in obedience to God’s commandments
after receiving salvation—which is only through faith in
Christ. An inward conversion means change. Christian reform means to
repent, abandon errors, false doctrines & traditions of men, and
embrace and live according to Biblical truth.
We provide all our materials free of charge, simply for the asking. We deeply
appreciate your prayers. If you have a burden to share these
materials with others, or if you feel led to help support this work,
please contact us. May our God richly bless you along paths of righteousness and truth.
~ 1 John 4:1-4 ~
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Revelation Messengers
P O Box 3204
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
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