Manchester Lutheran Church

If God’s Word is so powerful, why isn’t everyone a Christian?

In his famous book “The God Delusion” Richard Dawkins argues that every religion doesn’t believe in the gods of all the other religions. And so the only difference for him as an atheist is: he doesn’t believe in one more.

He’s making an assumption that many people feel to be true, even if they can’t tell you why: that if God is real, surely everyone would believe in him.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been hearing a lot about the power of God’s Word. We’re a very young church, we only started on 1st September with 8 people… …in that time we’ve seen people come and go …and we’re still small. But, if God’s Word is so powerful: why is that?

By chapter 8, the person reading Luke’s Gospel has a similar question. In the introduction, Luke said he’s written his Gospel to give his readers certainty about the Word.

The Word of God is the central theme of Luke and its sequel Acts …and while Luke has shown the power of Jesus’ Word …in chapter 7 he’s shown a mixed response. Some accepting, some rejecting.

If God’s Word is so powerful, why isn’t everyone a Christian?

Now, in this parable, there are four parts to Jesus answer:

1) God must give us faith to receive his Word
2) The Word gives faith and judges those who resist
3) People who look away from the Word fall away
4) People who fix on the Word bear fruit

The first God must give us faith to receive his Word

Please look again at vv. 4-8:

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus tells a story. But, he does not expect everyone to understand and receive the story. That’s why he says “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

When we hear Jesus’ Word, we need God to give us something.

Paul explains it like this in 1 Corinthians 2:14:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

As we hear Jesus’ Word, God’s Spirit needs to work in our hearts to give us faith.

The second part of Jesus’ answer is this: The Word gives faith and judges those who resist.

Please look again at vv. 9-10:

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God,

The Word does two things to people. When we hear God’s Word, the Holy Spirit wants to work in our hearts to give us faith and understanding. Jesus says “To you it has been given.”

Paul describes this in Ephesians 1:13:

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

He describe three things that happen at the same time:

—hearing the Word
—us believing it
—the Spirit sealing the Word in our hearts

In 1 Thessalonians 1:5, Paul describes this happening to the people in that church:

our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

This is what the Holy Spirit wants to do as we hear the Word… …but some resist him. And as people resist the Holy Spirit, the Word judges them.

Look again at the second half of v. 10:

but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

In Acts 7:51, Stephen describes his generation behaving in this way:

 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.”

This is one reason we are careful here at Manchester Lutheran Church to spend a couple of months going through the Bible with people before they become members and take communion.

Because, communion is God’s Word united to bread and wine, and Paul explicitly says this in 1 Corinthians 11:29:

anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

God’s Word is incredibly powerful: both to save and to judge.

The Word gives faith

—this is the only means by which the Spirit works
—he gives us faith through God’s Word

And the Word also judges those who resist.

Jesus now describes that judgement in the third part of his answer: People who look away from the Word fall away.

Jesus describes three different types of people. But, they all have something in common.

Look again at vv. 11-12:

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

Churches are full of people like this… …who keep hearing the word, but it is not in their heart.

They are religious. Maybe they are zealous. Probably opinionated. But, the Word is not in their heart: and so, the things they care about are not the things God talks about. They want religion on a Sunday, and they want it to be “just so”.

Now look again at v. 13:

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

These are people who respond by believing the word at first. They have faith, they’re excited by Jesus and trust him. But, they do not root themselves in the Word.

So, when troubles and difficulties come… …they do not look at the Word. This person comes to church, they’re excited, but when problems come, they look at their problems.

Now, v. 14:

And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

All of us face all sorts of distractions: career, family, money, holidays, opportunities. None of these are bad things in themselves. But this person looks at them, rather than the Word.

For them, there is no dramatic falling away, they just peter out. Occasionally come to church, connect where they can, try and fit things in around their busy schedule. But, to be honest, there’s so much going on, it’s hard to fit it in.

Eventually years, decades, later, they stop coming at all. They may still call themselves a Christian. But, their fruit has never matured.

Three very different types of people:

—The religious church goer who cares about the wrong things.
—The excited one who falls away when things get hard.
—The slow decline of the supposed Christian who peters out and never turns up.

These people look very different, but they all have one thing in common: they all look away from the Word and so fall away. Whether they keep coming to church, or stop, or just turn up when they fancy it …the one thing they have in common is… they are not looking at God’s Word.

Which leads us to the final part of Jesus’ answer: People who fix on the Word bear fruit

Look again at v. 15:

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

In our Bible Information Course, the very first Bible passage we read includes these words from Jesus in John 10:27-28:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Jesus gives absolute assurance of salvation to those who hear his voice. His Word is what determines whether we have absolute assurance or not. That is why my pastoral response so much of the time is: look away from yourself, at God’s Word.

Do you want assurance?

—Look at your Baptism, where God’s Word is united to water.
—Look at the Body and Blood of Christ, where God’s Word is united to bread and wine.
—Look at the promises of Christ to you in the Bible.

In other words, as Jesus says:

hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart

That is how we avoid being bad soil: As you hear the Word, trust it! As you face troubles in life, don’t fixate on them: look at God’s promises. Don’t get caught up in all the distractions of life, however good they promise to be, look at God’s Word.

As you hear the Word here, today, and every day… …the Holy Spirit wants to give you faith …he wants to work in your heart: don’t resist him.

Because Jesus gives us such amazing promises as we do that. He says we will:

bear fruit with patience

Martin Luther, in his sermon on this passage, explained what these fruits are in this way:

Christ speaks here especially of the fruits the seed of the Word brings forth in hearts that become enlightened, believing, happy and wise in Christ, as St. Paul says in Romans 1:13: “That I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles;” and Colossians 1:6 “Even as the Gospel is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it does also in you;” that is, many will be made alive through the Gospel, delivered from their sins and be saved; for it is the characteristic work of the Gospel, as the Word of life, grace and salvation to release from sin, death and Satan. In harmony with this fruit follow the fruits of the Spirit, the good works of patience, love, faithfulness, etc.

What Luther is saying is that the first fruit Jesus is describing here is the fruit of faith that keeps going patiently despite problems and setbacks. This is Jesus’ promise to you: look at the Word, and God will preserve your faith with patience. What an incredible promise.

And as Paul says in those verses Luther quoted from Romans and Colossians …if we keep looking at the Word and have faith in it, …it will bear fruit in us talking about the Gospel …and so others around us becoming Christians too.

Finally, of course, we will be transformed and changed… …as the Spirit brings from our faith the fruits of good works described in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the kind of people Jesus promises we will become, if we hold fast to the Word.

Hold onto the Word: and you will bear fruit.

Now, of course, Jesus promises patience, because not everything happens instantly. We started our church a few months ago, it was very small. We’re still very small.

If you get baptised today, you’re not going to be perfect tomorrow. Just know this: People who fix on the Word bear fruit

So… If God’s Word is so powerful, why isn’t everyone a Christian?

Well, (1) God must give us faith to receive his Word. Through the Word, Jesus gives us faith by his Spirit.

(2) The Word gives faith. The Word is the means by which the Spirit gives us faith. And the Spirit always wants to give us faith as we hear the Word.

but, be warned, The Word judges those who resist. If we resist the Spirit, the Word will harden us. That’s why we spend a couple of months reading the Bible before people become members and take communion.

Because, (3) People who look away from the Word fall away. Whether they’re hard hearted religious fanatics. Or they stop coming because of difficulties in their lives. Or they just peter out over time and their fruit never matures. All these people look away from the Word: toward themselves, or their problems, or their opportunities.

But, (4), we have this amazing promise: People who fix on the Word bear fruit …fruit with patience: so God will preserve you to the end; …the fruit of Gospel growth: we talk about the Word and so others come to faith too …and the fruit of good works: the Spirit will transform our hearts and make us better people.

Fix your heart on the Word this week.