EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2026
9:09 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: “The
Roadside Soil”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
8:12
Message of the verse: “Those beside the road are those who have
heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that
they will not believe and be saved.”
Now we must remember that this parable that Jesus is
saying represents something, and also remember that only those who are
believers will understand it, as that is the way Jesus’ parables worked. We have talked a bit about this verse
earlier, but now we want to talk about its meaning. Now the hard-packed, impenetrable soil beside
the road, which is the pathway through the fields that people walked
on. This symbolizes those who have
heard the gospel but reject it outright.
Like that soil, the hearts of such people are hardened against the
truth. MacArthur writes “The Old
Testament refers to them as hard-hearted (Ps. 95:8; Proverbs 28:14)and stiff-necked
(Deut. 10:16; 2 Kings 17:14; Neh. 9:29; Jer. 7:26).”
(Ps. 95:8; Proverbs 28:14)
“8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as
on the day at Massah in the wilderness,”
“14 ¶ Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,
but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”
(Deut. 10:16; 2 Kings 17:14; Neh. 9:29;
Jer. 7:26)
“16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your
heart, and be no longer stubborn.”
14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn,
as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God.”
“29 And you warned them in order to turn them back
to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments,
but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by
them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would
not obey.”
“26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their
ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.”
“They are
stubbornly resolute and rigid in their indifference and hostility to the
gospel, motivated by their love of sin.
The heart of such people is a thoroughfare, constantly trampled and
packed down by the sins that traverse it.
It is never plowed by conviction, self-examination, honest assessment of
guilt, and repentance. It is as callous to
the sweet reasonings of grace as it is to the fearful terrors of judgment.
“Interestingly, such hard-hearted
people are often not atheists, but highly and seriously religious. A prime example was the Jewish religious
leaders of Christ’s day. So firmly shut
were their minds to the truth of God that they hated, opposed, and ultimately
killed His Son, the very Messiah they had longed for (cf. Matthew 21:33-46).”
(cf. Matthew 21:33-46)
“33 ¶ "Hear another parable. There was a master
of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress
in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another
country. 34 When the season for fruit
drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat
one, killed another, and stoned another. 36
Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same
to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to
them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the
heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the
vineyard and killed him. 40 When
therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
tenants?" 41 They said to him, “He
will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other
tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in
the Scriptures: ’”The stone that the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of
God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be
broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees
heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.”
“Because the sin-hardened hearts of
those who permanently reject the gospel are impervious to God’s truth, their
father (John 8:44) the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart,
so that they will not believe and be saved.”
(John 8:44)
“44 You are of your father the devil, and your
will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he
speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
“Satan
does that through false teachers (Matt. 7:15-20), fear of man (John 12:42), embarrassment
at identifying with Jesus Christ (Matt. 10:33), pride (James 4:6), doubt that
causes them not to believe and be saved, and mot of all, through the
love of sin (John 3:19).”
(Matt. 7:15-20)
“15 ¶ "Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are
grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but
the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A
healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
(John 12:42)
42 ¶ Nevertheless, many even of the authorities
believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that
they would not be put out of the synagogue;”
(Matt. 10:33)
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will
deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
(James 4:6)
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
(John 3:19)
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come
into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because
their works were evil.”
9/11/2026
9:54 PM
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