Rocky Ground

The great American theologian Jonathan Edwards used to make a distinction between a person who has been awakened by his/her sin and shows remorse, and a person who has truly been saved. He was making the point that some people feel sorrow for what they have done but they never come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Asahel Nettleton, a Reformed evangelist during the Second Great Awakening in America -- who, by the way, wrote the tune for the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" -- traveled throughout Connecticut preaching the gospel. In the mornings he would preach about sin, and many people would be awakened by their sin. However, he would not preach salvation until the evening service to see who was truly troubled and ready for deliverance. He also preached in a yearly circuit; he would come back to a church a year later to see whose hearts had truly been changed.

This is quite biblical. Jesus teaches in the parable of the sower that the spread of the gospel is like a sower who sows seed in a field. Some of the seeds fall along the path and are quickly eaten by birds; other seeds fall on rocky ground where there is not much soil -- the grass springs up quickly but it does not last, but withers away quickly. Other seed falls among the thorns and is choked; and, finally, some seed falls on good soil and does well. Jesus defines the seed that falls on rocky ground as those who hear the message and receive it, but they endure only briefly and they fall away quickly. There are, indeed, some who hear, are pricked to the heart, but it does not last; it is not a true conversion.