We are talking about how the enemy wants to steal God’s Word from us. We are looking at four points from Mark 4. Verse 16 says, “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.” This is the second way the enemy tries to steal the Word. These are the ones who, when the word was sown, they immediately had joy come in. But, because they didn’t have root and foundation, they weren’t connected to the process, and immediately this was taken away.
The enemy does not want you to receive the Word. He doesn’t mind you talking about Jesus or coming to church, but what he doesn’t want you to do is get the Word in you. It’s because the Word comes as a seed, and if it gets in you, it has the ability to take root and grow. We need to grasp this and realize that every time we come into the House of God to hear the Word, the enemy is going to do everything he can to get that Word and snatch it out of your heart. The ones beside the road hear, but immediately Satan comes in and takes away the Word that was sown in them.
Remember, faith is one of the fruits of the Spirit. If it’s a fruit, it has seed. It starts with a seed and it grows to a full mature fruit. And, if we are going to realize the full stature of God’s deposit into us, we have to get that seed into us so it can grow. If we don’t fight to get that seed, what happens is, because we’re not spiritually alert, the enemy comes in and steals it. Then, that which was sown for an intended purpose is gone. We prayed for a lot of people in California and Florida, recently, and at the end we prayed, “Lord, seal this word to your people.” We were asking God to put a seal on it, like the seal of a king. The seal of a king meant that this property could not be accessed. In the Old Testament, when the king wanted to make a decree, he put candle wax down and put his ring on it to stamp it, and that’s how the letter was sealed. If that wax seal was broken, it meant that somebody had violated that seal to get into the letter. It’s how contracts were made. When God’s Word comes, we need to pray and say, “Lord, put a seal around this word, so that the enemy has no right to come and open this word that has come to me.” The thief comes but to rob, steal, and destroy.
