THE HEART’S REACTION TO THE WORD OF GOD

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LUKE 8:1-15
Lesson #23
THE HEART’S REACTION TO THE WORD OF GOD

• Memory Verse: Psa 40:8
• The ministry of Jesus continues throughout the countryside from town to town with large groups of people following Him.
• Read Luk 8:1-3 Mary Magdalene
  • There has been so much disagreement over Mary Magdalene throughout church history that we need to examine the scriptures to see who she really was.
    • There are some who say that the prostitute with the alabaster box that anointed Jesus’ feet in Luk 7 was Mary Magdalene.
      • However, you will notice the definite break in time between the end of chapter 7 and chapter 8 when Mary Magdalene is first mentioned.
      • In Luke 7 we are not told the prostitute’s name. Some assume it was Mary Magdalene and therefore conclude that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.
      • There are no scriptures to indicate that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.
    • There are some who say Mary Magdalene was at most Jesus’ wife or at least His lover.
      • They conclude that because she had an intimate relationship with Jesus, she is the true leader of the disciples and the early church after the crucifixion.
      • There are NO scriptures to indicate any of these points.
        • Jesus gave the leadership of the disciples and the early church to Peter. (Mat 16:18-19)
        • There are no scriptures to indicate Jesus ever married or had a sexual relationship with anyone.
  • Jesus had a group of people besides the 12 disciples that followed Him from place to place. Some of these people were women. It is possible that some of these women were wives of the disciples. We know that Peter was married for he had a mother-in-law that Jesus healed. These women helped and supported Jesus’ ministry probably with such tasks as shopping, cooking, and laundry. Mary Magdalene was one of these women. (Mat 27:55-56)
    • Magdalene was not really her name. She came from Magdala in Galilee.
    • Because Mary was a very popular name and because there are at least 6 women with the name Mary mentioned in the New Testament, she is designated by her home town to separate her from others with the same name.
      • She was converted to Christ when He cast out of her seven demons. (Mar 16:9 Luk 8:2)
      • She was at the crucifixion and came to the tomb the morning of the resurrection to be the first to see the resurrected Jesus. (Mat 27:56, 61 Mat 28:1 Joh 19:25)
• Read Luk 8:4-15 The Parable of the Sower
  • This parable occurs in three of the Gospels. (Mat 13:1-23 Mar 4:1-20 and Luk 8:4-15)
  • There are three basic elements in this parable:
    • The sower
    • The seed
    • The various soils
  • The meaning of the following parable objects:
    • The sower:
      • The sower is a generic term, meaning that does not refer to a specific individual, but to a class of persons.
        • The sower is God in Jer 31:27
        • The sower is Christ in Mat 13:37
        • The sower is every believing Christian in 1Cor 9:11
      • The responsibility of the sower is to sow the seed. He is not responsible for what happens after the seed hits the ground. He cannot make it grow.
    • The seed:
      • The seed represents the Word of God’s kingdom. (Mat 13:19)
        • All the seed must be sown. The whole gospel of God must be presented.
        • For example: you cannot talk about the crucifixion of Christ without talking about the resurrection.
      • The nature of the seed:
        • The seed of the Word of God is living and incorruptible. (1Pet 1:22-25)
        • The seed of the Word of God is powerful and soul saving (Rom 1:16 Rom 10:17)
        • The seed of the Word of God is heavenly and divine. (Isa 55:10-11)
        • The seed of the Word of God is immutable and everlasting (Isa 40:8)
        • The seed of the Word of God is able to save. (Jam 1:17,18,21)
        • Because Jesus Christ is the Word in Joh 1:1, He is also the seed as well as the sower. (Luk 4:16-22)
    • The different soils:
      • The emphasis in the parable is on the different soils and their reaction to the seed.
      • Therefore, the soils represent the human heart and how the heart responds to the Word of God.
      • Ground #1, the wayside (Luk 8:5 Mat 13:4)
        • The wayside soil represents the hearer with a closed heart and mind, lacking any spiritual perception. (Psa 14:1)
        • The seed falls on the surface of the soil but does not penetrate inside the soil.

The fouls:

The birds represent Satan and his demons that destroy the seed so that it does not penetrate the soil.

• • • • Ground #2, the stony places (Luk 8:6 Mat 13:5)
        • The stony soil represents the emotional hearer who is superficial and has no depth of spiritual understanding.
        • The seed falls on the surface and enters into the soil but does not go deep enough to establish roots. The heart is a hard rock underneath the seed.

The sun:

The sun represents temptations or hard times that prevent the seed from growing.

• • • • Ground #3, among thorns (Luk 8:7 Mat 13:7)
        • The thorny ground represents the hearer with a wandering mind. The seed takes root but the plant does not bear any fruit.
        • The seed falls on the surface and enters into the soil. It even goes down deep enough into the soil to germinate. However, the plant does not come up because it is choked by weeds.

The thorns:

The thorns represent daily chores, desires of the world, pleasures, and riches.

The thorns are also forces in opposition to the nature of the seed that are allowed to exist and enter a person’s life so as to choke out the importance of the growing seed.

A garden has weeds because of neglect.

Discussion: What are the weeds in a person’s life that the believer neglects to pull?

The believer can get overburdened by a number of distractions, some of which are legitimate within themselves.

For example, work or family can be a legitimate distraction that can become a weed if God is not the top priority of your life.

Notice that the Bible calls these “thorns” and not just simple “weeds”. The reason is because the believer gets “caught” on them.

• • • • Ground #4, good ground (Luk 8:8 Mat 13:8)
        • The good ground represents the spiritually perceptive heart.
        • The seed falls on the surface of the ground. It enters into the soil and penetrates deeply enough to germinate. Then the plant grows up and produces fruit.

The seed of the Word of God becomes well established, filling the soul, mind, heart, conscience, and will.

The plant produces fruit because the Word has top priority in the person’s life.

The fruit:

The fruit represents any deed you have done for Christ that was initiated, motivated, and empowered by Christ.

• • The fruit is produced for the sower:
    • Human hearts are not equally receptive to Christ and the Word of God. Instead the heart allows other things to take priority. God wants us to be spiritually perceptive:
      • We need to hear and perceive His command of what He wants us to do with our lives.
      • We need to be committed to Christ so that we obey His calling.
      • We need to perceive the anointing of the power of the Holy Spirit who enables us to complete His will.
  • Summary:
    • Notice that the enemy in the first 3 sowings is:
      • The fowls = the devil
      • The sun = the flesh
      • The thorns = the world
    • All the things that keep us from doing God’s will and producing fruit for God’s kingdom fall into these same three categories.
  • A question to ponder:
    • Which of the four hearts represented by the four soils are saved?
      • Ground #1 the wayside: Because the devil stole the Word before it got down inside the heart, the person is obviously not saved.
      • Ground #2 the stony soil:
        • Because the Word did get down inside the heart, the person is saved but he is living a carnal life style. He is what the Apostle Paul would call a carnal Christian.
        • This parable in Luk 8:13 says, “for awhile believed”.

The word, “believe”, is used for a faith that saves.

The original Greek indicates they have no firm root. It does not indicate that there is no root.

Anytime there is germination and some growth, there is some root in a plant.

• • • • Ground #3 the thorny soil:
        • Because the Word did get down inside the heart, the person is saved but will have no rewards.
        • Luk 8:14 says that there is no fruit, but it does not say there is no belief.
      • Ground #4 the good soil:
        • Because the Word did get down inside the heart, and the person’s life and priorities are committed to doing God’s will, the person is obviously saved and produces fruit for the kingdom of God.
    • Three of the four types of heart (soils) seem to be saved but only one of the four produces fruit for God.

Homework

Luke 8:16-21

• Application of Luk 8:1-15
  • Examine your own spiritual receptivity to Christ and His Word.
    • Have you received Christ into your heart so that He is in you just as the seed is in the ground?
    • If you have received Christ, has the seed of Christ’s Word grown to produce fruit in your life so that other people can see Christ in you?
      • Describe the fruit that is produced in your life.
• Preparation for Luk 8:16-21
  • Read Luk 8:16-21
    • What is the responsibility of the person that has received the light of truth?
    • What is the warning in Luk 8:18?
  • Read Luk 11:33-36
    • What new aspects does Luke give in this passage that were not presented in Luk 8:16-18?
• Memory Verse: John 8:12