Luke 8:4-8
The Difficulty In Being Saved
Have you ever noticed how many times Jesus made reference to
gardening when He taught? He spoke of the sower, of the seed of the
vine, of the crop, of the harvest, and on the list goes.
Let’s study the garden and see the Difficulty in Being Saved. In
regards to that title, let me say several things up front.
1. The difficulty is not in salvation.
a. Even a child can be saved.
Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,
he shall not enter therein.
b. In fact, the statistic that I heard many times when I
worked with CEF is that 80% of all Christians made a
profession of faith before they were 13.
2. Yet, the Bible tells us only a few will actually come to
salvation.
Matt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.
a. That tells me that the problem is not with salvation.
b. It is with us!
3. It goes on to say many who start down the salvation’s road
will get side-tracked before they get to their destination.
Hebrews 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be
in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God.
a. That indicates that people who at one time were open,
perhaps even attending a Bible church, could fall away.
b. 70 to 80& of Southern Baptist teens have quit church by
their freshmen year of college.
c. In 1990, 85% of American identified themselves as
Christian. By 2008, only 76% did.
http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/are-young-people-really-
leaving-christianity/
If salvation is so easy, why is it so hard to get people saved? Let
me share some thoughts:
I. It is difficult to be saved because there is a HARD ENEMY.
A. In Jesus’ parable, the story of a soul getting saved is
being compared to a seed taking root and growing.
B. \\#Luke 8:12\\ tells us one of the main reasons the seed
doesn’t take root!
1. The devil comes and to steal the seed.
a. The devil is a real being with a real purpose.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour:
b. He wants to keep you damned. I don’t know that I
could tell you why. It isn’t like he gets paid
to do it. All I can figure is he hates us
because God loves us so his desire is to insure
our destruction.
2. He does that by taking away the seed, that is the
word. How many ways can you think of that the devil
can steal the seed?
a. He can get your mind off the word while it is
being preached.
b. He can get your mind off the word after you have
heard it preached.
c. He can keep you from hearing the word preached.
d. He can wreck your faith in the word that is to be
preached.
e. He can swap that which is the word with that which
is called the word so that the preacher never
preaches the world at all.
C. Today, even people in the church seem to dismiss the
devil.
1. If the devil is not real then who do we give the
credit for his work?
2. Somebody is doing a great job of stealing the seed
and damning souls to hell.
3. Friend, the devil is real.
D. The devil has destroyed others before you were born and it
seems certain that he will be destroying others after
you.
John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon’s son, to betray him;
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan
filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and
to keep back part of the price of the land?
II. It is difficult to be saved because we can have a HARD HEART.
A. \\#Luke 8:6\\ The rock is a picture of a hardened heart.
B. The calluses that a human heart can grow is amazing.
1. Anything that we see or hear of often, we can grow
callous to.
2. The plight of the aborted.
3. The hungry, the sick, the abused, the soldier, the
spread of evil.
4. A lost person can even become calloused to the notion
of going to hell.
C. The whole Bible speaks of the hard heart.
1. First example in the Bible is \\#Ex 7:3, 13\\,
Pharaoh.
2. Last example is \\#Rev 9:21\\.
Re 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders,
nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,
nor of their thefts.
D. The heart doesn’t just hardened on its own. Human hearts
have to BE hardened!
1. The devil can do some of it.
2. But ultimately, we harden our hearts.
Exodus 8:15 …he (Pharaoh) hardened his heart.
Psalms 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the
provocation, and as in the day of temptation
in the wilderness:
Proverbs 28:14 Happy is the man that feareth
alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall
fall into mischief.
Proverbs 29:1 He, that being often reproved
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed,
and that without remedy.
E. What hardens a heart?
1. Hearing the truth and not responding to it.
2. The only way to keep a tender heart, is to do
something about whatever injustice or wrong you hear
about.
F. Remember the statistic of 80% being saved before 13?
1. That means the old hard-hearted sinner doesn’t have to
be a old person!
2. He may only be 18!
III. It is difficult to be saved because there are so many HARD-
HEARTED religious leaders.
A. Everybody has a point of view that they feel is correct.
1. Unfortunately, for most, it is just a point of view.
It is not based on anything absolute or solid.
2. Most points of view are influenced by the devil.
B. One of the greatest condemnations of the religious in
Jesus’ day was the error they taught.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they
are ravening wolves.
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither
go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that
are entering to go in.
C. Let me tell you something you will not hear many people
say.
1. You had better trust no one when it comes to the
salvation of your soul!
2. Get the Bible out and read it for yourself!
IV. It is difficult to be saved because it is a HARD WORLD.
A. \\#Luke 8:14\\ The Bible warns that the "cares, the
riches, and the pleasures of this life" can choke out
the truth.
1. The "cares" are the things we might have to do.
2. The "riches" are the things that we might posses.
3. The "pleasures" are the things that we might want to
do.
B. Some truths to help you in dealing with this.
1. Salvation won’t always available to you. (It is only
available when the Spirit of God is dealing with
you.)
2. There will always be another "have to."
a. Another task to do.
b. Another object to fix.
c. Another person to care for.
3. Both the riches and pleasure of this world are only
temporary.
Yes. It is hard to be saved, but not because salvation is hard. All
you have need do is believe that Jesus died for you, place your trust
in that death as payment for your sins, and repent of your sins.
Don’t let a hard world or a hard heart cost you your soul. Trust
Jesus and be saved today.
