(Luke 8:4-8) The parable of the soils. And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” a. He spoke by a parable: The word parable comes from the idea of “to set along side.” As Jesus used parables, it means to set a spiritual truth along side a daily truth of living. b. A sower went out to sow his seed: In this parable, Jesus described something they were all familiar with - a farmer casting seed on the ground, and the seed falling on different types of soil. i. Why wouldn’t the farmer only cast seed on good soil? Some fell on the pathway by accident (some fell by the wayside), but most of the seed was sown on ground that was plowed after the seed was cast. Therefore, you didn’t know where rocks were or where thorns might grow. c. The seed fell on three areas without lasting success: on the pathway (the wayside), on the rocky ground (on rock), and on the thorny ground (among thorns). But some of the seed fell on good ground. d. Though this is commonly called the parable of the sower, it should really be called the parable of the soils. The difference is never the seed, but on the kind of soil it lands on. 3. (Luke 8:9-10) The purpose of parables. Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’“ 4. (Luke 8:11-15) Jesus explains the parable. “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” a. The seed is the word of God: 1 Peter 1:23 says that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. i. The natural tendency is for the audience to critique the preacher. But here, Jesus the preacher is critiquing His audience. How they will hear is the issue. b. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved: Some people are like the ground on the pathway. They allow no room for the seed of the word in their lives - it never enters. i. This is Satan’s preferred result. His desire is that the word take no place in a person’s life, so they do not run the “risk” of being fruitful to God. c. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away: Some people are like the ground that is rocky, but covered with a thin layer of topsoil. They receive the seed of the word with a flash of enthusiasm that quickly burns out. d. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity: Some people are like the seed that fell among the thorns. They receive the word but allow the interests and cares of this world choke it out. e. The ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience: Some people are like the good ground, and receive the word with a good and noble heart. They keep the word, and thus bear fruit, thus fulfilling the purpose of the seed. f. These four categories apply to those who hear the gospel of salvation, but they also apply to those who are already saved who continually hear the word of God. How do you hear it? o Do you let Satan take it right away? o Do you take it but then immediately ignore it? o Do you allow the cares of this world to make your hearing of the word of no effect? o Do you keep the word and see it bear fruit in your life?
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 06:05:34 +0000
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