1st Spirit, Soul, Body (4)
2003-10-05 | Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee | 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Today, we are going to look at the four types of heart fields in relation to the human heart and how to create good wrongs.
- The degree of sprouting and bearing fruit varies depending on the heart field, so soil has a very important meaning from the farmer’s point of view. This is because, even if the same seeds are sown, watered and fertilized in the same way, the yield varies greatly depending on the type of soil. When the seed of God’s word falls into our heart, some things bear fruit, others do not bear fruit, and we can see that the degree of fruiting is different. This is because, depending on what kind of heart you have, the word of God will fall into your heart and bear fruit differently.
As we have seen in the last time, the human mind is created by combining the innate qi from parents and what is input through seeing, hearing, and feeling while growing up. Through this process, good and evil are built up in the heart, and as something is contained in the heart like this, a person becomes able to discern what is right or wrong, or good or bad.
However, when you put something in your heart like this, the degree of sprouting varies depending on the kind of heart field. For example, even after hearing the same word of God, some people listen to the word with earnest heart and try to put it into practice, but others judge and reject it because it does not fit their thoughts and knowledge. will be In this way, the heart of listening to the Word, what it is written on, and whether or not we practice the engraved Word depends on the field of each person’s heart. - The types and errors of the heart field are divided into four major types in the Bible. In other words, it compares the process of entering the heart with the word of God and bearing fruit like a roadside field, a rocky field, a field of thorns, and a good field to that of a seed falling to the ground.
1) There is a heart field like a roadside field.
Roadside fields are hardened soil that many people have been treading on for a long time. Even if you sow the seeds, the seeds do not enter the soil and therefore do not sprout. Soon, the history of life will not happen.
In this way, there are people who are hardened and stubborn because their hearts are hardened like the road. For example, the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day rejected Jesus, who gave power by sticking to their own ideas and frameworks, and did not accept the Gospel. Even today, those who have the heart of the roadside field have a hard heart, so even if they show the power of God, they do not open their heart and reject the gospel.
Mark 4:15 says, “These are these that the word was sown by the wayside; when they hear the word, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” It is described as taking it away. When you hear a sermon, Satan comes to your heart and takes away the Word of God. For example, it is a case of making a servant of God who does not believe in the Word of God, denying it, and makes judgment and condemnation in his own mind. A person who has such a hard heart and does not open the door of his heart does not come to salvation because the word does not bear fruit even though the word falls apart.
2) There is a heart field like a stone field.
Even if we hear the word of God, we do not understand it because we do not have the heart to receive it. However, if you sow a seed on a rocky ground, it will sprout, but it will grow sparsely, and even if it does sprout, it will quickly wither because the soil is shallow and the roots cannot be deeply rooted (Mark 4:5-6).
Then what kind of person would have a heart like a stone field? A person who understands the word of God but does not receive it with faith in his heart. When they hear the word, they respond with “Amen” and decide to do it, but when difficulties come, they cannot keep their faith. Also, when we receive grace, we are thrilled and happy, but when suffering, persecution, and tribulation come, we become discouraged and change quickly. If you do not have the assurance of faith at the center, your actions will not follow.
In Mark 4:17 it says, “He has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and then, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” “Word” here means the words in the Bible: “Keep the Sabbath, tithe, do not worship idols, serve one another, humble yourself”.
However, when hearing these words and putting them into practice, if any difficulties or persecutions come, those who do not receive the word in faith lose their strength and fall. Looking back to see if this is not how I am, if there is a stone in my heart, I should immediately throw it away so that I can have faith that does not change under any circumstances, and true faith that follows actions.
3) There is a heart like a field of thorns.
A field of thorns hears the word of God, understands it, and does it. However, since we cannot do God’s perfect will, we cannot bear beautiful fruits. Mark 4:19 describes the thorns in three ways: “The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” A person with this kind of heart field seems to be doing well in God’s Word and living a religious life in his own way, but trials and tribulations follow and they are unable to grow spiritually.
If you have this kind of heart, you need to know that even if it seems that you are living according to the Word right now, it is easy to get past the temptation or temptation of wealth at some point. James 1:8 describes such a person as “a double-minded person.”
When the thorns first sprout, there seems to be no harm done, but after the sprouts grow, the situation is completely different. It is a fact that, if we let the world’s worries and greed in this way, Satan will trick us into tempting us, and in the end it will make the Word of God unfruitful. Therefore, if there are thorns, no matter how small they appear, you must remove them from the beginning. You must root out all the worries of the world, and thoroughly crucify your passions and desires on the cross, longing for only the things of the Spirit, and fervently running.
4) A good field is a field of heart like good soil.
The fertile soil is not hard land, it is a fertile land cultivated and cultivated by the farmer on a land without stones or thorns. Because there are no obstacles in this kind of heart field, when the word of God falls, it bears fruit 30, 60, and 100 times. God’s blessings come to such people, and if we pray, answers will come quickly.
Then, how can we know how much we have achieved such a heart? All you have to do is look at how you are doing the Word of God. In other words, it is easy for us to practice the word of God as much as we have achieved the soil. Some people hear the Word and know it, but they see that their actions do not follow because of physical fatigue, laziness, untruthful thoughts, greed, etc. However, since there are no obstacles like this in the fertile field, when you hear the word, you realize it and act on it.
Haven’t you also found things that were difficult to do in the past become easier to do when you hear the truth as the fields have been cleared? The heart of hatred, envy, and judgment will gradually change into a heart of love and compassion, and the proud heart will be lowered and changed into a heart of service. This is the process of cultivating the heart field and turning it into fertile soil.
When the seed of the Word falls on the soil, the seed grows and bears beautiful fruits, that is, the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Also, when the soil becomes good soil, faith comes from the heart. When you pray, a fiery prayer that draws down the power of God will come out, and you will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly and do God’s will. In this way, if you become a fertile soil and listen to God’s word diligently, carefully engrave it and put it into practice, then you can say that wrongdoing is good for that person. - If you listen to the Word right away and engrave it in your heart and act on it, according to the Bible, the good and wrong vessels are divided into gold vessels, silver vessels, wooden vessels, and earthen vessels. God knows what is wrong with each person.
Because he foresaw in advance how much he could change his mind and become good soil, he saw what was wrong and chose people to use them.
For example, God chose the apostle Paul from his mother’s womb, trained him, and used him because he knew that the Apostle Paul could become a precious vessel if it was broken and changed through refinement. Even before he knew Jesus Christ, he lived only according to the law, and because the center of his heart was to love only God, the Lord met him personally.
Then, what kind of vessel are you before God? In the same place, at the same time, while listening to the same word of God, you can see that some people receive grace and are changed, while others do not change or rather fall into temptation. It is the fact that the degree to which the Word of God bears fruit varies according to the field of your heart.
Therefore, it is important to sow the seed diligently, but it is more important to first cultivate your heart into good soil. Because man is made of clay, if we leave it alone, our heart field will become rough and weeds will soon turn into stale ground. Therefore, we must be diligent farmers, diligently plowing and plowing the soil.
In other words, listening to God’s word and keeping it in your heart deeply determines what is wrong with how much faith you put into action. For example, there is a marked difference between listening to the Word and engraving it in the center of listening to the Word and writing it in a dry manner while listening to thoughts or drowsiness. Therefore, in order to create good wrongdoing, we must first listen to the Word and engrave it in our hearts. And when we put into practice the words we hear and understand, we become good vessels and come out in a form worthy of God’s use.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will enjoy the joy of abundant harvest in New Jerusalem, the eternal heaven, when your life on this earth is over by taking today’s Word as full food and applying it to yourself.
