Luk
8:4-15 And when much people were
gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a
parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he
sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the
air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it
was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And
some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And
other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And
when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear. 9
And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And
he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but
to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might
not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word
of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear;
then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they
should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they
hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while
believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among
thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with
cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to
perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which
in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth
fruit with patience.
GOD HAS SET IN MOTION A
LAW THAT WILL REMAIN AS LONG AS THE EARTH REMAINS.
He said: While
the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and
winter, and day and night shall not cease. Gen 8:22
Look at some verses
concerning sowing and reaping:
Even
as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. Job
4:8
He
that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
Pro 22:8
For
they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk:
the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it
up. Hos 8:7
Ye
have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of
lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
Hos 10:13
They
that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him. Psa 126:5-6
The
wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be
a sure reward. Pro 11:18
Sow
to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for
it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hos
10:12
Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Gal
6:7-8
The SEED
Luke
8:11, "...The seed is the word of God."
Some interesting facts about the SEED - The WORD
of GOD.
1. IT IS INCORRUPTIBLE, AND IT LIVETH AND
ABIDETH FOREVER
1
Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
Luke
21:33, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass
away."
2. IT IS POWERFUL
For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12
3. IT IS PURE
Psalms
119:140, "Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it."
Proverbs
30:5, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their
trust in him."
So here we have a very
special kind of seed. It is incorruptible, powerful, pure, and it lives and
abides forever. The result of planting such a seed can be quite special!
Some interesting comparisons of the WORD as
seed.
1. EVERY GOOD SEED HAS WITHIN ITSELF THE
POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP INTO A PLANT.
The life resides in it
ready to develop given the right conditions.
Even so EVERY Word of
God carries with it the POWER to accomplish EXACTLY what it says.
Romans
10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God."
Take away the germ and
you destroy the seed. Even so take away faith from the Word of God and it is
made of no effect. Hebrews
4:2, "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it."
Ever heard something
that affected you really deeply that you even feel it physically? In a parallel
manner the Word mixed with faith will deeply affect your spiritual man
resulting in manifestations.
2. BOTH MUST BE PLANTED.
The act of planting a
seed anticipates a result. You expect a result when you plant or you would just
be wasting time. You must DO something with the seed, OR the Word. Keep the
seed in a dry bottle on a shelf - it will remain only good seed - no fruit.
Keep the Word in the book respectfully and reverently dust and clean it. It
will remain the wonderful Word of God, but without result. No sowing, no
reaping.
Reject the Word when it
is preached and you reject the results of that Word in your life.
3. BOTH MUST BE NURTURED
Just as seed needs to be
planted in the proper environment for best results, so the Word needs to be
planted so that it will be most effective. It must also be properly attended
to. "Therefore
we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we should let them slip." Hebrews 2:1
THE GROUND
Several factors are
required for the success of God's Word in lives.
The most important is
the ground. WE know already that the seed is GOOD. So our attention must be
turned to the next most important thing...the ground...or the HEART of man
It is very difficult for
plants to grow on solid rock. The heart needs to be prepared for reception of
the seed of God's Word.
Jesus differentiated
between FOUR types of ground in referring to the hearer of the Word.
A. WAYSIDE GROUND HEARERS
Luke
8:12, "Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil,
and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be
saved."
This is the unconcerned
and the indifferent. Whether a saint or a sinner, such an individual will not
receive the benefit of the word preached, for they do not allow it to be
effective in their lives. The ground is unprepared. It is trampled down and tightly
packed, offering strong resistance to any attempt to plant a good seed. The
enemy just comes along and takes away the Word from such a life.
B. ROCKY GROUND HEARERS
Luke
8:13, "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word
with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of
temptation fall away."
Here we have a situation
where there is a little depth of soil that is prepared to receive the seed. The
Word is received with joy but there is no depth. It reaches a solid barrier of
rock beneath because the ground was not thoroughly broken up. When the heat of
temptation is turned on these quickly fall because of the inward barrier that
prevents the Word from lodging deeper. This hearer is affected by the Word while
it is preached but does not allow it to take root. They are caught up in the
moment and may even shed a tear or two but the layer of impenetrable rock
underneath prevents the Word from taking root firmly and lack of proper supply
results in loss of benefit. The least provocation throws every bit of the Word
out of doors resulting in soul destroying fleshly selfish responds to
situations and the environment.
C. THORNY GROUND HEARERS
Luke
8:14, "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have
heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this
life, and bring no fruit to perfection. "
The people that are
represented here are those who hear and receive the Word. The ground is fertile
but there is a lack of careful attention. As a result the cares and riches and
pleasures of this life take over the prime spot and become the top priorities.
Like thorns and weeds they slowly choke the results of the Word. As a result
the fruit produced brings no glory to God nor reward to themselves. There is a
weird mixture of the world and the flesh with the application of the Word
resulting in a life of gross imperfection, and the fruit on display (attitude,
behavior, response and decisions) does nothing to glorify Christ. The window
display turns everyone away from buying into what we have to offer. Matthew
6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you."
D. GOOD GROUND HEARERS
Luke
8:15, "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good
heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with
patience."
Here we have ideal
conditions. The heart is well prepared and receptive to the Word. It believes
God and is constantly open to His Word. It allows no worldly distractions to
take first place. It resists the devil's efforts to steal the Word. It is
constantly allowing the Word to penetrate deeper as it meditates day and night
on that Word. Psalms
1:1-3, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day
and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
The result of such a
practice is abundant fruit that glorifies God and benefits the individual!!
If we are going to get
results in the garden we need to obey the laws of gardening. If we require
results from the Word in our lives we need to obey the spiritual laws of sowing
and reaping. Hebrews
2:1, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which
we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip."
Gardens need constant
attention for maximum yield. 2
Peter 1:19, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the
day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
Paying attention to
God's Word can only result in benefit to the individual.
The Word has the power. Are you ready to receive
it properly?
What kind of ground are you?
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