[Matters of the Heart Series]
RESPONSES OF THE HEART
LUKE 8: 11-15
[Mt. 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Isa. 55:10-11]
Here we have the various responses of the heart to the Word of God illustrated in the Parable of the Sower. The Word of God is sown into our heart and it must come to fruition within our heart. The condition of our heart determines the fruition of the Word of God that is sown (CIT). [If we respond to the Word of God out of a desire to be obedient to God we will become responsible and productive believers.]
The story itself is a simple lesson from every day life. Farmers sow with different results. All seeds, even those hand sown do not hit the target, nor is every seed left alone to germinate in the warm soil. Much seed never germinates. But good seed in good soil brings abundance fruitfulness.
The parable teaches that if we hear God’s Word, believe it and hold fast to it we can be “good soil” in which the Word of God multiplies and bears fruit abundantly. Make sure you are good ground, make sure you have a receptive fertile heart for the Word of God so that you may produce the wonderful harvest the Lord of the harvest so desires you to product.
To Jesus the Word was God’s unique revelation to mankind. Not everyone truthfully embraces its message, but those who do yield a life of God honoring fruitfulness. To embrace and follow the message of Jesus is to become a fruitful blessing.
Jesus ended His parable of the sower, seed and soil by calling out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Jesus calling out denotes that He was making the major point. The expression, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” describes the fact that receptive hearts can discern the intended spiritual meaning of a parable. The implication is that unspiritual people would understand no more than the parable’s surface meaning.
It is also very revealing that right after Jesus told His disciples the meaning of the parable, He says in verse 18, "Therefore, consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." How we listen and respond to God, as He speaks to us, will determine the amount of growth and spiritual fruit we will produce. The condition of your heart will determine what God’s Word can do in your life Another way to say it is that the condition of our heart will determine what happens to the Word of God’s Word that comes to us throughout our life. Only if we listen with receptive hearts to God’s Word will it produce or yield its fruit.
I. THE HARD HEART, 12.
II. THE SHALLOW HEART, 13.
III. THE DISTRACTED HEART, 14.
IV. THE GOOD HEART, 15.
[BACKGROUND] The parable of the sower contains a mystery that the disciples have the privilege to learn while outsiders are blinded and unable to see its truth. Before the coming of the Holy Spirit the disciples did not fully understand the parable either. But they had the desire and faith to speak up and ask Jesus. What God speaks and what God teaches, He will explain to those disciples who follow Him.
So Jesus turned to the disciples to give them the insider knowledge prohibited to outsiders. His words and actions would not make sense to the uncommitted or lead them to changed or to lead spiritually fruitful lives.
In verse 11 Jesus begins explaining the parable to His disciples. “Now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God.
This parable references God's redemptive work throughout His world. God gives His Word, but people respond in different ways. The good seed is defined as the Word of God. The words which were being preached by the Living Word, Jesus, was the same message John the Baptist had been preaching. The people’s responsibility was to accept the message which both Jesus and John were preaching. The sower is any Spirit-filled person who shares God’s Word with others.
The picture of the Word as seed is important. Often we think of preaching and evangelism as something that happens in an instant. The picture of a seed makes us think of a farmer who prepares the ground, sows seed, waters and then must wait for the crop. Producing a crop requires time. Often the message of God takes time to bear fruit also. Some of the fruit the Word bears will not be seen until eternity, for it is an eternal Word.
We begin our lesson this morning at the point where the disciples of Jesus asked what the parable meant. Before Jesus told them its meaning, He explained why He used the parabolic form of teaching in verse 10. People who were spiritually discerning, that is, were following Him and acknowledging His message as true, would have the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God. But others who were not responding to Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God would not understand the parable (1 Cor. 2:14). [In support of this Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:9—the people heard what He said but did not understand it. Walvoord, John & Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983, S. 225.]
Now let’s look one by one at the four responses of the heart to the Word of God. [Jesus uses the obvious to teach hidden truths. Four kinds of people are represented by four soils. All four kinds receive the same news or word. The seed or word falls on various kinds of soils or hearts with a variety of results. Though the Word causes various responses, only one type of soil yields fruit. The other three types of soil or hearts prove inhospitable to the precious seed. So Jesus tells this agrarian based culture four places were seed lands: on a path, on rocks, among thorns and in good soil.]
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I. THE HARD HEART, 12.
In verse 12 we find the first group is on the hard path consists of those who hear but do not believe at all, because of the work of the devil. “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.”
Some seed falls on a hard path exposed to birds and travelers. The path represents those who do not get to respond to the word because the devil comes and takes the Word away before it has a chance to penetrate the ground or heart. When God speaks to our hearts a cosmic battle for the effectiveness of that word breaks out.
The heart serves as the center of a person’s reasoning power (1 Chron. 29:18). It represents the inner being of an individual out of which attitudes (Lk. 2:35; 16:15) and values come (12:34).
The hard heart is unresponsive or unmoved at the Word of God. Some people have let people or things or situations make their heart hard so that they do not want to let the Word enter their heart at all. They might never attend church or they may attend church regularly. They hear the word but fail to take hold of it as God’s truth for them for they are lost and hardened in their sin. The God’s Word has no real effect on them.
So some hear, but immediately Satan robs them of the word, replacing it with his deceptive words. They thus miss the opportunity to hear and be saved. I pray none of us would have this kind of heart.
Their hearts.
II. THE SHALLOW HEART, 13.
The second group in verse 13 are those who listen and rejoice but then do not stick with the truth of the message for they have no root. “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
The seed of the rocky soil represents a Word that enters only shallowly or superficially into a persons heart. There is an initial response, but eventually temptation causes the person to abandon their initial response. Some people hear with joy; excited at the new information and opportunity. But soon some other joy appears before the joy in God's Word can take root and grow. Tough times come, and joy alone is not enough to endure. God's Word must bring more than good feeling.
The seed finds a spot to dwell in for awhile but it does not penetrate down deep enough to get a root system. This speaks of a person who is emotionally touched and when the feeling goes away so does the faith that could have been.
The fact that they believe for a while but . . . fall away means that they only accept the facts of the Word emotionally, intellectually, or superficial and then reject it when “the going gets rough.” It does not mean they lose their salvation, for they had none to lose. Jesus offers no comfort for such a person pointing out that the seed never bears fruit. (1 Tim 4:1; Heb 3:12).
[One day a preacher decided to quit. He went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God,’ he said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" "Look around", God said. "Do you see the FERN AND THE BAMBOO?" "Yes", I replied. "When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said. "In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. "I would not quit." He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant, but just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots" "I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you." "Don’t compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet, they both make the forest beautiful." The God said to me, "Your time will come. Humble yourself under My mighty hand and I will raise you up. Don’t be preoccupied with how high I raise you up but occupy yourself with living out the purpose that I am raising you up for My glory.”]
III. THE DISTRACTED HEART, 14.
The third group in verse 14 are those who listen but never come to maturity. “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
The thorny soil represents those who are choked out of a walk with God by life's distractions. These may be those who are interested in Jesus’ message but who do not commit to it because of their devotion to material things—life’s worries, riches, and pleasures.
They hear the Word but don’t meditate on it and absorb it deep into their lives. They get caught up in the worries of daily life and the search for material success. Thus their wrong priorities in life take any benefit the seed has to offer or any nutrients the soil possesses. They let life choke out and suck dry any opportunity for the seed to come to fruit bearing maturity.
[Pleasure seeking overcomes eternal pursuits. [Pleasures translates a Greek word from which our term "hedonism" is derived.] They have no time for God's Word. They do not mature in God.] Clearly, wrong priorities can kill off the seed of the word.
Unless we KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, worries and perversities, which have an evil propensity to choke the word of life.
Note. Jesus does not call for hermits seeking refuge from life in the world. He does seek people whose perspective on the world puts the Word of God far above all worldly cares, interests, and activities.
IV. THE GOOD HEART, 15.
In verse 15 we find the one type of soil or people with a fruitful outcome. The good soil pictures those who hear the Word and hold fast to it. “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
Some sown seed hits good soil. Good soil is fertile and moist. It has the right nutrients in the ground that nourish growth. It is not hard. It is free of obstructions and foreign elements, free of other life sucking plants. The good soil is the fourth group consisting of those who listen, retain the Word, and . . . produce a crop, that is, they bear spiritual fruit, which is the evidence of spiritual life. Only the good ground (vss. 8, 15) bears any fruit and represents a saved individual. Their hearts were changed by the Word for their hearts are called noble and good. The their honest and good heart in time bears fruit.]
The emphases is here with those who don’t simply hear but hold it within their heart for reflection and obedience. The good soil receives the Word, encourages its growth, hides it in the heart for times ahead, so that they persevere through testing, temptation, and the complexities of daily life. The good soil represent those disciples who listen to, meditate on, and follow after God's Word along the twisting paths of life.
The mention of patience or perseverance is important. Believers live under much pressure because of their faith. Associating with Jesus will not help people to win a good old boy contests. If we care about the world's respect or are too weak to resist temptation, we will not hold on to the word with perseverance. Tragically, we may fall away, or our potential for fruitfulness maybe choked out.
Tragically three of the examples end with the seed failing to produce that for which it was sown. God sows the word to bear fruit in the heart. Only by clinging patiently to what God offers does the seed reach maturity. Such reliance on God is called faith. [Bock, Darrell. The IVP NT Com. Luke. Inter Varsity Press, Dover Grove, IL. p.150]
This parable is not about one’s an immediate response to the Word. It sums up the different ways the Word of God is received over a lifetime of exposure. It takes time to fall away from an initial attraction to the Word. Only over time do the pleasures of life erode the seed's effectiveness. The parable calls for reflection.
[As Jesus’ ministry progressed, it was evident that each of these groups surfaced: (1) The hard hearted Pharisees and religious leaders refused to believe. (2) Some people rallied around Jesus because of His miracles of healing and feeding but the sallow-hearted refused to stay with His message (John 6:66). (3) The distracted-hearted, such as the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-30), were interested in Jesus but would not accept Him because of the strong pull of the materialistic world. (4) The good-hearted followed Him and were committed to His Word regardless of the difficulties (e.g., 8:1-3). [Walvoord, John; Zuck, Roy. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983, S. 225]
One day a nearsighted elderly man who consider himself an ART EXPERT visited a museum. He’s forgotten his glasses and couldn’t see real clear, but that didn’t stop him from airing his opinions.
What he thought was a full-length portrait soon caught his attention. He gazed at it a moment, then began his criticism. "The frame is altogether out of keeping with the picture," he complained. "The man is too homely and shabbily dressed. In fact, it was a great mistake for the artist to select such a shoddy subject for his portrait."
He continued until his wife managed to discretely pull him aside. "My dear," she whispered, "you're looking in a mirror."
It's important to examine your life, but be sure you're using the only mirror able to both diagnose and heal your life: The Word of Jesus.
We need to cling to the word in persistent faith. If we desire to be fruitful, especially given that the obstacles to fruitfulness are so varied, then we must hold fast to God and His message of salvation and maturity. We will focus either on God's promise or on our circumstances. Which we choose makes a difference: one leads to fruitfulness, the other to barrenness.
CONCLUSION/ RESPONSE
The seed is the same, but the soil into which the seed falls is what makes the difference. And I suggest that depends on our ability to hear what God is saying. Verse 18 says, “Take heed how you hear.” Make sure you are good ground, make sure you have a receptive fertile heart for the Word of God so that you may produce the wonderful harvest that the Lord of the Harvest so desires for you to product.
A certain person went to CHURCH ONE SUNDAY. He frowned when the organist missed a note during the opening hymn. He gave a mean stare at two teenagers talking to each other when the congregation was at prayer. During the Scripture reading, he kept looking impatiently at his watch. When the collection basket was passed he felt that the usher was watching to see how much he gave. During the sermon, he felt mighty pleased with himself when he caught the preacher making a slip of the tongue. He was tight-lipped during all of the hymn singing. As he slipped out a side door during the closing hymn, he muttered to himself, "That was terrible. What a bunch of clods. What a waste of time!"
Another man went to church one Sunday He was edified by the organist’s moving rendition of "Amazing Grace." He marveled at the sight of a father exchanging hugs with the little child draped over his shoulder. He gave generously when the collection basket was passed and wondered if he was giving enough? He listened attentively to the Scripture readings, which spoke of God’s incredible gift for the human race. He heard something in the sermon that helped him with a question that had bothered him for a long time. He enthusiastically joined in the singing of the closing hymn of praise. As he left the Church, he said to himself, "How good it is to be here and fellowship with others in the Presence of God!”
Both men had gone to the same Church, on the same Sunday! Why was each one’s experience of the same place so different? Could it be that each had found exactly what his heart was looking for?
Where do you find yourself in this parable? What type of heart do you have? Do you have a heart that is producing the fruit of the Spirit?
Jesus said, “Be careful how you hear” or “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Have you ever heard God speak so wondrously deep into you eternal soul that It caused to look at life from a completely different perspective, for the perspective of God. Is the Life of Christ growing and producing spiritual fruit within you? Is the life that is the vert center of the kingdom of God the very center of your earthly life? If not, would you like Him to be the center of your life right now?”
