15th October
2006
BREAK UP YOUR UNPLOUGHED GROUND Pastor
Linton Smith
A couple of weeks ago you heard a little
about our trip to various parts of
Africa. I personally found it a great
blessing. Thank you for praying for us.
God was with us and enabled us to meet
every commitment. He specially blessed
us in Arusha, Tanzania.
We speak of warm welcomes
here.. well the welcome there was far
more than that. Harrison and his
family.. Mount Meru University Faculty,
Staff, students, Arusha International
Baptist Church.. and the people we
visited in their homes.. all gave us
the warmest of warm welcomes.
We discovered that people were very
willing to hear about Jesus.
When we visited the neighborhood our
interpreter would greet people,
introduce us, then invite me to speak. I
would say something like this: We have
come from Australia to tell you about
Jesus. Do you know much about Him? Would
you like to hear about Him? The response
almost always was.. I know a little..
yes.. I would like to know about Him. I
would then speak about where Jesus
lived.. when He lived.. the things He
did.. and taught.. how He died.. and
rose.. and ascended.. and is now at the
right hand of God.. will be Judge.. but
is willing to forgive us and be our
Friend. Would you like to know more?
They all said, Yes. Then the interpreter
would take over and show them how to put
their trust in Jesus. Some did.. and
some did not.
Almost everywhere we went we found
openness to speaking about Jesus.
In Livingstone one of
the waiters.. as he was serving us..
announced he was a Christian.. and that
led to a very warm exchange. On one
flight a lady shared with us about her
experience of churches. We told her that
only 20% of Aussies go to church. She
responded.. It must be hard to be a
pastor in Australia!
As I pondered all this.. God’s word to
the prophet, Jeremiah came to mind.
Jeremiah spoke to people who had
hardened their hearts toward God.
Jeremiah 4:3,4..This
is what the LORD says to the men of
Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your
unplowed ground and do not sow among
thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the
LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of
Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my
wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done— burn
with no one to quench it.
Jeremiah was speaking about the hearts
of the people.
Their hearts were hard towards God..
like unplowed ground.. or like thorn
infested ground.. God was telling them
they must break up the hard surface..
soften their hearts towards Him.. and
open them to Him.
Peterson
[The Message] brings this out. He
paraphrases, Plow your unplowed
hearts.
We found
the hearts of many people in Africa were
like plowed ground - ready for the seed.
In contrast the hearts of many in
Australia are like unplowed ground.
How do we respond to that?
Some
might suggest, “Let’s take the Good
News to people who are willing to listen
and ignore the challenge at home.”
Hopefully we will say,
“We will continue to take the Good News
to people who are willing to listen and
we will plow the soil in Australia.”
The question on my heart today is this:
How do we plow the soil in Australia?
What can we do to soften the hearts of
our own people to God?
Three things are absolute necessities.
We must:
The Bible is emphatic about this. A few
examples..
Philippians 2:14-16..
Do everything without complaining or
arguing, so that you may become
blameless and pure, children of God
without fault in a crooked and depraved
generation, in which you shine like
stars in the universe as you hold out
the word of life..
Picture that!
1 Thessalonians 4:11,12..
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet
life, to mind your own business and to
work with your hands, just as we told
you, so that your daily
life may win the respect of outsiders
and so that you will not be dependent on
anybody. Win respect!
1 Peter
2:12,15.. Live such good lives
among the pagans that, though they
accuse you of doing wrong, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God
on the day he visits us.. It is God’s
will that by doing good you should
silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
Silence knockers by doing good!
I like the J. B. Phillips paraphrase of
Titus 2:1-8..
Now you must tell
them the sort of character which should
spring from sound teaching. The old men
should be temperate, serious, wise -
spiritually healthy through their faith
and love and patience. Similarly the old
women should be reverent in their
behaviour, should not make unfounded
complaints and should not be over-fond
of wine. They should be examples of the
good life, so that the younger women may
learn to love their husbands and their
children, to be sensible and chaste,
home-lovers, kind-hearted and willing to
adapt themselves to their husbands -
a good advertisement for the Christian
faith. The young men, too, you
should urge to take life seriously,
letting your own life stand as a pattern
of good living. In all your teaching
show the strictest regard for truth, and
show that you appreciate the seriousness
of the matters you are dealing with.
Your speech should be unaffected and
logical, so that your opponent may feel
ashamed at finding nothing in which to
pick holes.
A good
advertisement for the Christian faith.
Take a hard, honest look
at believers and the church in
Australia.. Can we say that we are a
good advertisement for the Christian
faith?
De we stand out
as Godly people.. as people
demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit..
Christ like character and behavior? You
be the judge.
Our motto
is
Jesus Christ makes THE difference – now
and in eternity.
Let’s allow Jesus to demonstrate that
through us! Will we ever be faultless in
this life? No. But when we are at
fault.. let’s be humble enough to admit
it.. and say sorry!
Would you agree
that prayer is one of the greatest
privileges we have as believers? What a
privilege to carry everything to God in
prayer. Everything.
The Apostle Paul valued prayer.
Time and again he asked people to pray
for him as he sought to share the good
news.
Let’s look at three of his requests..
In Colossians 4:3,4 he writes..
And pray for us, too, that God may
open a door for our message, so that
we may proclaim the mystery of Christ,
for which I am in chains. Pray that I
may proclaim it clearly, as I
should.
That God may open a door for the
message..
Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 16:8,9
throw light on what he means. He
writes,
I will stay on at Ephesus until
Pentecost, because a great
door for effective work has opened to
me, and there are many who oppose me.
A door for
effective work.
I take that to mean that people are
willing to hear the message and are
responsive to it. Not everyone. Many
oppose him.
That I may proclaim it clearly..
C. H Spurgeon
used to say it is not enough to speak to
be understood.. we must speak so as not
to be misunderstood!
In Ephesians 6:19,20 he says..
Pray also for me, that whenever I
open my mouth, words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make
known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly,
as I should.
That words may be given me whenever I
open my mouth.
This is
the work of the Holy Spirit.
He gives us ready words.. What a
difference that makes. People listen..
the word of God goes to the heart. Pray
for this!
That I may
declare it fearlessly.
It is so easy to fear.. to think about
what people will think.. and so to leave
out or gloss over some unpopular aspects
of the message. We must not do that. We
must tell it all.. with boldness.
The early believers were told not to
speak about Jesus.. they prayed for
boldness.. We are told in Acts 4:31..
After they prayed, the place where they
were meeting was shaken. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and
spoke the word of God boldly.
And in 2 Thessalonians 3:1 Paul writes..
Finally, brothers, pray for us
that the message of the Lord may spread
rapidly and be honored, just as it was
with you.
That the message spread rapidly and be
honored, just as it was with you.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:13 we learn how
these people honored the message.
We also thank God continually because,
when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but as it actually
is, the word of God, which is at work in
you who believe.
They
honored it by accepting it as God’s
message! Paul wants the message to
spread far and wide.. and be accepted
with faith.. like that.
Pray then
for all
who share the good news.. for the
opportunity to speak to people who
want to hear.. to speak clearly..
with words given by God.. boldly..
that the message will be received as
God’s message.. received with faith.
Once more let’s take Paul as an example.
He wrote to the Corinthians..
2 Corinthians 4:2-6..
We have renounced secret and shameful
ways; we do not use deception, nor do we
distort the word of God. On the
contrary, by setting forth the truth
plainly we commend ourselves to every
man’s conscience in the sight of God.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled to those who are perishing. The
god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the
light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God. For we
do not preach ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your
servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who
said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made his light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Paul shared the Good News about Jesus
without deception or distortion.
I hope that few resort to deception..
but I fear that many of us may at times
distort the message. One way I believe
we do that is when we talk about the
things Jesus can do for us. We put
ourselves at the center.. and speak of
Jesus almost as a product that can meet
our expectations.. make us happy..
healthy.. wealthy..
The Apostle says,
We preach Jesus Christ as Lord.
That is our task.. simply to talk about
Jesus.. show people who He is..
He goes on to say.. For God.. made
His light shine in our hearts to give us
the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ.
We speak
about Jesus..
His life.. teaching.. miracles..
character.. death resurrection..
ascension.. He is Lord.. and Judge.. and
will forgive our sins if we admit our
need.. believe He died for us.. and come
to Him.. focus on Jesus.. and leave
it to God to fill the hearts of the
hearers with light! That is what I
sought to do in Tanzania.. and I am now
more convinced than ever that this is
God’s way!
God might be saying to you today..
there is an open door in Africa..
prepare to work there..
Or He might be saying to you..
work for Him here.. work to prepare the
hearts of Aussies to hear about Jesus..
break up the unplowed soil.. Live a
good life.. stand out as Godly
people.. shine like stars in the
Universe.. Pray for all who share
the good news.. for an open door.. that
people will be willing to hear.. that
they will speak clearly.. with God’s
words.. boldly.. that the message will
be received with faith. Share the
Good News about Jesus.. focus on
Him!
It must begin with us here this morning.
With you. With me. What are our hearts
like? Unplowed ground? Plowed ground?
Plow them up. Let’s humble ourselves
before God.. open our hearts to Him..
and invite Him to begin His work in us! |