Stony Ground, and the Mercy of God
The message notes from yesterday. This was part 2 in a series I am doing on the Parable of the Sower. It’s been a very beneficial and interesting study so far. God greatly anointed the message yesterday, and I am so grateful for that. I could just sense that it was flowing. (And it flowed for about an hour actually.) 
God is way to good to me. 
I was also struck this past week by an experience I had. I went to a funeral of a man who had not lived a very righteous life. He was a gentle man I think (I didn’t know him that well) and was very well loved by his family. But he had some struggles in his life, and actually turned his back on the Lord a couple times. No one was certain of his salvation.
However, a few weeks before the end of his life, one of his relatives came with her husband to his hospital room. They spoke to him of being certain of his salvation, and he said that he was not. When asked if he wanted to be sure where he would spend eternity, he said that yes, he would like to be sure. They prayed with him and he genuinely received the Lord as his Savior. A few weeks later he was dead.
His funeral was a blessing, because many of his family are Christians, and they were all rejoicing that he is in Heaven now. I was rejoicing with them. 
It struck me how merciful our Lord is, and that it is never too late. He is so merciful that even a man who had turned away from him, and lived most of his life in a wicked way, when at the end of his life he says (essentially) “Father, I am a sinner, and I need you. I put my faith in Christ as my Savior. Please forgive me and receive me as your son.” And then our wonderful heavenly Father says “Sure. Yes, come on in! I love you, my son, and I have waited long for you. Enter into my kingdom.” Wow! Such mercy, and love!
He didn’t turn him away. He didn’t say “No, you rejected me, therefore I’m responding in kind.” Nope, not our Father. Our Lord, our Father, said “Yes!” I’m so glad he said yes to me, and has said yes so many times. Praise YHVH for his everlasting mercy, and his forgiveness that is so freely bestowed upon all who call on Christ! 
About The Author
Preacher Dad
Jarod has been a pastor, construction worker, restaurant manager, ministry administrator, children's story teller, author....in no particular order. At heart he is passionate about the Truth, and has been called to proclaim that Truth from an early age. He is committed to his wife and eight children, and seeks to have a lasting impact upon the future by discipling his family. He blogs at PreacherDad.com on parenting, preparing, and cultural impact.
Click
What a God indeed! “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy toward us; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us!” This Psalm struck the chords of my heart afresh just a while ago as I walked out into our grassy,side yard which is quite dark at night. I looked up into a vastness that took my breath away! The sky is so clear tonight and the space between my little grassy yard and the light my eyes were capturing from stars billions of light years away in outer space simply overwhelmed me! How vast and transcendant! This is the Psalmist’s description of God’s mercy to us! “As high as the heavens are above the earth…” Keep making the voice of His praise to be heard, brother!
The catch-phrase “yesssss!” comes to mind…because I think that this life is simply God’s attempt to cajole our free spirits into embracing him. It’s a carefully crafted persuasion, and if a person just goes through their life resisting it, the urgency just increases. So if a person responds to God early in life, that’s great, but if they respond later in life, then it’s like God’s been watching, waiting, hoping that something would break through before it was too late…and then, just in time, it DOES! YESSSS!
Very interesting thought Luke.
Thanks!
PTL! “Mercy and truth” hand in hand…
What a wonderful story..thanks for sharing it! There are so many people who frown on deathbed confessions, although I cannot figure out why. I have yet to find a Scripture that says the angels in heaven rejoice over a lost sinner coming to faith except the one’s who do so on thier deathbed. We all have the same gift – salvation. Wether we accept it at the age of two or one hundred and two it is the same….now, there may different rewards that we recieve based on our service to the Lord, but that gift is always there for anyone at any point in thier life. Think of the vines that bear fruit, more fruit and much fruit. Each vine doesn’t bear much fruit. For some reason there are vines harder to keep healthy than others…but they still produce fruit. Even if it is one little grape it is still fruit! May we always rejoice with the angels when a sinner cry’s out for salvation and welcome them with open arms!