Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 3 Study # 6
May 19, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: The other "thorns" which suppress the fruitfulness of the seed are: the deceitfulness of "abundance"; and a significant commitment to also gathering up the "other things".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the "thorn" of "anxieties of the age". We saw that Matthew called it "The Anxiety of The Age", while Mark runs it out from there to the "anxieties" that have their roots in "The Anxiety". In that study, we saw that in spite of "hearing The Word", this issue of the "anxieties of the age" boil down to all of the mental/emotional/spiritual inner conflicts that come out of a "love/faith/choice/action" focus upon the body/soul/spirit concerns in "the (current) age"
rather than "the age to come" upon which a believer's focus is
supposed to be:
Mark 10:30 compared with
Matthew 6:25-34 and
Hebrews 11:10). The
particular issue is the
spirit of man in its overwhelming commitment to obtain recognition for itself [Note
1 Peter 5:6-7 where "anxiety" is connected to the immediately prior issue of God "...exalting you at the proper time..." Thus, the "anxieties" are related to "The Anxiety" (the potent desire "to be exalted"). There is, likewise, a near-context reference in
2 Corinthians 11:28-30 to "being weak" and "boasting" (which has its roots in this longing to be exalted)].
This evening we are going to look into the other two "thorn" issues that subvert the ability of the seed to produce its fruit.
- I. The Original Statement of the Parable.
- A. "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop".
- B. On the face of it, at issue in the parable is the fruitfulness of the seed sown and the reasons for the "fruitfulness/unfruitfulness", and in this part of the parable the focus is upon unfruitfulness because of "thorns" that rob the soil of the moisture and nutrients that are required for the seed to produce fruit.
- II. The Interpretation of the Parable Given by Jesus.
- A. "Anxieties" rob the soil of its "seed-nurturing" elements.
- 1. As we have seen, there are "anxieties" and there is "The Anxiety"; the many deriving from the One.
- 2. The "One" is tied to the spirit of man and its primary "lust": the desire for, and pursuit of, "exaltation" in this present age.
- a. For the sake of clarity, "The Anxiety, and its downline "anxieties", are consumed with whether "the others of this age" will recognize, and applaud, the abilities of the spirit of man in his pursuits.
- b. This over-commitment (as Jesus characterizes it in Matthew 6:5) "to be seen of men" frustrates the fruitfulness of the seed for the simple reason that this desire, and pursuit, destroys the ability of men to "believe" (John 5:44) and because it is impossible to please God without "faith" (Hebrews 11:6), the God of The Word does not allow the unbelieving search for glory from men to produce legitimate "fruit".
- B. The other two fruit-blocking thorns.
- 1. "The deceitfulness of riches".
- a. The word translated "riches" simply means "having far more than is required".
- 1) All of the challenges to "life" in this age require a basic provision to meet those challenges.
- 2) If a person has "far more of the requirement than is necessary to meet any particular challenge", he/she is considered "wealthy" in regard to that challenge.
- b. The "problem" is not the possession of "riches"; it is the "deceit" than is attached to them.
- 1) "Deceit" is, fundamentally, "a lie being presented as a truth".
- 2) The "deceit" is like unto "the Anxiety": it has multiple down-line "deceits".
- a) What is "The Deceit"?
- i. At root, "The Deceit" is the "Lie" that "the basic provision of God for the need of 'life' at the moment is not enough".
- i) This deceit first showed itself at the point when Abram arrived in the land of promise and found it in a period of famine and decided that this provision of God, at that moment, was "not enough", so he went to Egypt.
- ii) Remember Jesus' "prayer" instruction in which He said that we should pray "give us this day our daily bread" (a prayer that is completely unnecessary for the "rich" -- keep this in mind).
- iii) Also remember that Jesus said, in respect to anxieties, "take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself... Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof".
- ii. Because of this "root", the lack of "enough" means that we must acquire "more than enough" so that we have the anticipated requirements for the needs of 'life' in the future (thus, the run on toilet paper during the early stages of the Chinese virus).
- iii. Thus, the actual "deceit" of "more than enough" is the "lie" that "riches" are better than God in view of the needs of the present day and all of the tomorrows.
- b) What are the downline "deceits"?
- i. 'Life' is full of daily needs, so that "The Deceit" means that we must stockpile many kinds of provisions: these are the multiplied downline deceits (this is why "covetousness is idolatry").
- ii. Believers are not forbidden to "get rich", but they are forbidden to give in to the thought that their acquired abundance means they do not need to "pray", and they are commanded to apply their riches to the progress of the Gospel and the needs of others.
- 2. The "Lust for Other Things".
- a. The word for "lust" is an intensified form of a word that means "being so committed to a goal that rage is the result of being blocked from its achievement".
- 1) A classic example is the "rage" that caused the mob to stone Stephen when he destroyed the "lust for recognition" that consumed his hearers.
- 2) Another classic example is the "rage" that will drive God's outpouring of wrath in the Day of Wrath.
- b. The translation "for other things" is really misleading.
- 1) The text actually says "the lusts regarding 'the rest'".
- 2) In view is Jesus' awareness of the fact that "anxieties" are rooted in the spirit of man, "the deceits of the mindset of 'enough is not enough; I must have more than enough" are rooted in the soul of man because it is the soul that worries about tomorrow, and "the rest" has to do with the attitude that physical pleasures are essential for "Life" because the body of man is capable of many "pains" and "pleasures".
- 3) Thus, "the rest" includes all of those things that are beyond "recognition for the spirit" and "abundance for the soul": all of those things that the body desires for its pleasures.
