Impact of God's Word

I had two friends who decided to join the army at the same time… in fact they were going to be attending boot camp together as well! Both prepared differently… One decided to begin to run, workout, do push-ups, and be ready when the day came for them to go. The other decided that the Army always gears things for the weakest member so his plan and preparation was to rest while he could, relax, and take boot camp as it came to him. Both went through boot camp, and both came out with two totally different training experiences!

How did you come prepared today?

Did you read ahead in Luke… knowing where we were going?

Were conversations had with your spouse or kids, or fellow brothers and sisters in Christ about the passage

Did you take time to reflect on our passage today?

Did you pause in your morning rush to get here and talk to God in prayer, preparing your heart

A large crowd is coming together, these are people coming from multiple cities and Jesus begins to teach them and his disciples. Jesus does so by

Teaching in Parables

“short stories to express spiritual truths”

Appropriate communication to bring the truths of the Kingdom of God to men

Allowed people to see things familiar , and jolt them to see spiritual truth in a new way

The familiar brings unfamiliar insights to those listening, and they bring their hearers to a point of decision

Here is what Jesus taught… Luke 8:5-8 and as He teaches, there is a clear decision His hearers need to make as well as you and I have to make...

Luke 8:5–8 NASB95

“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. “Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. “Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Why Teach in Parables?

His parables made it possible for the “fruitful hearted” and the “illuminated heart” to really hear and understand while making it impossible for the “hard hearted,” the “distracted heart”, and the “careless heart to “see, hear, or understand. *** Jesus had a message He was going to teach concerning the kingdom of God being offered in the Flesh, the word became flesh, God’s kingdom was being offered and for those who truly wanted what was being offered they could see and understand. Others would not hear the message. God had His plan, His time, His purpose.

What Does it Mean?

Seed

Road

Rocks

Thorns

Good Soil

Seed is clearly the Word of God… verse 11

This is the emphasis!

Given to all

Received in various ways

Seed on Road verse 12

Hard hearts, no desire to believe or hear

These will NOT believe or be saved

Satan has done his work… pharisees etc.

Seed in the Rocks verse 13

These believe, in fact they are joyous about what they hear!

All about the emotion of the kingdom message, but shallow

Temptations easily causes them to fall away

They never take root really, a shollowness

Seed in the Thorns verse 14

These are choked out, starved of growth wrapped up in the thistles and weeds

Look what chokes them out… WORRIES, WEALTH, PLEASURES OF THIS LIFE!

God’s Word is so rich, so wonderful, shares of the pleasures and joys that await us… and then

Slowly the weeds grow around us and hinder any further growth

The potential for God’s Word in our life is there and then choked out we bear no fruit of maturity in our lives

Seed in Good Soil verse 15

Notice so far… the seed is the same, only the soil is different.

This soil has been prepared to receive God’s Word!

Their hearts have been prepared, willing to receive… and not only that!

They hold fast, they don’t let go, we see a perseverance here, patience

For God’s Word to work in your heart, life and even more so...

To bear fruit takes time, work and patience!

The fruit… God desires for us to bear fruit, not just be a pretty plant

We know this from Luke’s next recorded parable...

If we hear His Word, If we receive it with Good Soil, If we allow His Word to produce fruit of maturity in our lives THEN...

We Should Be As A Lamp!

We should illuminate His Truth, His Word!

Remember the song: “This Little Light of Mine”… my youngest sister would sing that song and we loved to hear her sing it because she sang it just a little different. There is a phrase in it, “hide it under a bushel no, I’m gonna let it shine”. Well she sang that phrase… “hide it under a bush, HELL NO! I’m gonna let it shine!”

Wrong words but right theology! Why would we allow HELL to get the glory by hiding His truth!?

Let it shine… Let people see God’s Word lived out in your life

It reveals what was dark and hidden verse 18a “take care how you listen” are you prepared to listen?

When we listen to God’s Word, it should have an impact in our life!

Growth, Fruit, Illuminate this dark world!

James Jesus’ half brother may well have been there when Jesus said these words, look what James says thinking along these lines James 1:22-23

James 1:22–23 NASB95

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

Be a lamp for all to see, this is a message for all to hear!

Jesus’ family ask for Him, Jesus does not deny them as family but makes a greater statement

That ALL who listen to His Word and DO IT! Are His family

Beyond Blood to all mankind (Gentile, Jew, free, slave, male female)

No wonder Jesus was so amazed with the centurions faith… he knew the power of Jesus Word!

As Jesus continues in Galilee preaching the Kingdom message, Luke records for us three events that go to further focus on and demonstrate the POWER and Authority of the Word of God!

Jesus’ Word has POWER and AUTHORITY over:

Nature showed by calming the storm

Sailing across lake and a storm comes, they all fear for their life

The storm heeds His words and ceases, why not He spoke nature into existence should it not listen after creation as well?

The disciples no longer fear the storm but his One in front of them who commands the storm… and it listens!

Demons, by casting out not just one but may demons out of a man

Satan and his demons seek only to destroy mankind

This (Gentile) man is living in the tombs… those without Christ are just that, dead men walking

Jesus commands the demons to come out, they are obligated to obey yet request to go into the ranchers pigs

The man is healed and we see two responses

The people ask Jesus to leave

The man begs to go with Jesus (no stay and testify what God has done for you) WITNESSING!!!

Sickness, and even Death as He heals a woman and raises a young girl back to Life!

In verses 40-56 we see two that are sick… a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years and a 12 year old daughter of Jairus a man who worked in the synagogue. Crowds made it slow travel pressing in on Jesus

The woman

Could not be healed by anyone Luke notes (however the other gospels note that she had gone to many Physicians and they could not help)

The bleeding made her ceremonial unclean

She chooses to touch Jesus cloak, and she is healed

Her faith healed her, go in peace

The 12 yr old daughter in the meanwhile dies as Jesus is in route

Note the response of Jesus upon hearing of her death verse 50

We no longer live in a state of fear of death...

Could the power and authority of God’s Word really remove the fear of death… just believe?

Child Arise! At the Word of God… DEATH releases the grasp it has on our lives!

Jesus Christ would soon hang on a cross, die for our sin, and he would declare in victory “IT IS FINISHED!”

Oh the power of the word of god to change lives, to go from death to life, may he work and till the ground of our hearts as we faithfully go to His Word and learn and grow!

Church, do you have hearts of good soil, ready to take in the Word of God, to grow in Him and allow Him to produce the fruit of maturity in your lives?

What ground of a hardened heart needs to be softened

What stones of temptation need to be removed from your life

What are the weeds that are causing you to be choked out hindering true growth

Our goal as we come to God’s Word is not to be a pretty plant but to bear fruit