HOLDFAST THAT WHICH YOU HAVE

There is something very important the church needs to realise, and that is, that there is an enemy out there who wants to steal away all the blessings of God from our lives. We need to be constantly reminding ourselves that this is not a Holiday Camp we are in, it's war. The devil has many tactics when he attacks the Church that are mentioned in the parable of the sower and the seed. The Lord said this was a very important parable and if we don't understand this parable then how will we understand other parables. Mark 4:13

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow. v4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.......v8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.

Jesus often spoke to the people in parables. A parable is an earthly message with a heavenly meaning. The disciples themselves didn't always understand what the message meant, but when they went to Jesus afterwards He explained it to them. God doesn't make everything plain to us all the time. He wants us to seek Him for an answer. He wants a people to search Him out, as it's always good for us to do. If everything were made plain all the time then we wouldn't grow strong. It's like parents who spoil their children, by making life easy for them, those children end up a mess. We need difficulties to make us strong, just like a weight lifter needs heavy weights to improve his body, so do we need to search out our God. Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter."

We as God's Kings have the privilege of seeking out the deep things of God. Whenever the disciples came and asked Jesus for the interpretation, He always gave it to them. We see that the teaching of this parable is to show us how to bring forth a harvest of 100 fold. The devil doesn't want this kind of harvest in our lives.
Mark 4:3-4 "Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up."

We see that there is a sower and that is speaking of us. There is the seed, which is the word, our hearts, which are the ground, and birds, which are the devil's workers.

Mark 4:14 "The sower sows the word. 15And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts."

We see that the way to have a 100-fold harvest in your life is dependent on the seed that is sown and where it ends up. God's desire is that it gets into our heart (the ground). But it doesn't always get there. Satan doesn't want the word to take root in your heart so he comes immediately to snatch it out. "Immediately". Even before the service is over he will come and try and take it away, while it is still small. You are dangerous to him when you begin to believe the word of God. A seed is far easier to take out of the ground when it's small than when it is a foot high plant. The longer the seed is in there the harder it is to get it out. Satan knows this and that is why he comes immediately. We need to believe the word and hide it in our hearts.

The Communists knew how dangerous the word was to a young heart and would not allow children to hear the word of God. They didn't mind older people going to church but not the young. The older you get the more set you become in your ways and the harder your heart was to change. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. When the word gets into your heart it has the potential to produce 100 fold and you become dangerous to the devil. The devil doesn't mind the word being in your head, but when it's in your heart and you actually believe it, it's a problem for him.

There are men of the cloth and so called Christians that have memorised the bible and know it back to front but they are not saved. That's because they don't believe it in their hearts. The devil comes to steal away the word from your hearts, and even before the service is over he will come with his doubts.
John 10:10 "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Satan comes to steal everything that is good in you and will try to take away - even your salvation. Christ has come to give us life. He wants to give us all of Canaan. Many Christians are being short-changed by the devil and don't know what God's will is. Jesus wants you set free from every bad habit, sin and weight that is hindering you from experiencing true life.

It's like the true story of the man who travelled by sea early in the last century from Europe to America. He was poor and saved up all his money to buy a ticket. He had nothing left for anything else, but was just thankful to be going to the Promised Land of America. He got a supply of crackers and cheese for the journey. It was hard to go past the dining room every day and see all the people eating all that good food. But he consoled himself by saying that at least he was able to go to this new land of opportunity. When the journey was over the steward asked him why he didn't join them for meals. He said that he couldn't afford it, and only had enough money for the trip, nothing more. The steward was amazed and declared to the man that the food in the dining hall was all included in the ticket. He could have eaten well every day on the journey instead of half starving himself.

Many Christians are like this too on their road to heaven. The devil has robbed them by making them think small instead of big. They are living on scraps instead of eating well at the Captain's Table.

The reason why the seed was easily taken by the birds was because the ground was trodden down. It had become hard. Many of our hearts are like this too, as the cares and hurts of this life have hardened our hearts and we have put up walls to protect ourselves. There are shields in place that we have put up, to guard us from being hurt, so the word can't get in and the enemy finds it easy to steal from us. We need to plough up our hearts.
Hosea 10:12 "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."

We can break up the ground of our hearts by praising God in all things, prayer, fasting and meditation. A good way to break up your heart is to praise God when things go wrong and not just when all is well. It hurts to do this, but is very effective. We need to push the word in at times and keep it there.

Rev 2:25 "But that which you have already hold fast till I come."

Rev 3:11 "Hold fast that which thou have, that no man take thy crown."