Inductive Bible Study Method for Luke 8:11-15 (2-3-2014)
“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 the thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasure of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground and those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
In this parable, Jesus gives an illustration pertaining to the different ways the Word of God is received. Circumstances play a huge role in how people receive the Gospel, but an even bigger role is faith. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. All of these heard the Word of God but made different decisions on what to do with it based on their amount of faith. Romans 12:3 tells us “... God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Each human being has been given a measure of faith, and for this everyone is held accountable for what they did when they were given the Gospel.
God has given us not only a measure of faith, but evidence all around us that He is God. He’s given us Creation, our Conscience, Christ’s testimony, and the Canon of Scripture. Even for those who haven’t heard of Christ’s testimony or read the Canon or Scripture, they’ve still seen Creation and at the very least have been given a Conscience. Romans 1:20-21 says “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
The ones who were by the wayside had the Word taken out of their hearts so that they could not believe and be saved. I relate this to people I’ve come across that seem so close to salvation - they have heard the Word and they have a head knowledge but don’t have the heart knowledge.
Those who were on the rock did not grow roots, so when temptation came they fell away. This is when people are not founded on the Word - they are easily swayed by temptation. They have no desire to resist temptation. James 4:7 says “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
Those who were in the thorns were choked by the cares of this world and didn’t bear fruit. This is similar to instances where I’ve seen believers have a very shallow relationship with Jesus and when supposedly “better” things come along, they follow after the things of this world instead of the things of heaven. They bear no fruit because they’re not surrendering their will to Christ.
The last ones were on good ground and bore fruit because they had a noble and good heart. This is related to people who have repented of their sins, placed their faith on Jesus Christ and are daily surrendering their lives to the Holy Spirit. They bear fruit because God is working in their hearts and lives.
I don’t want to have a shallow relationship with Christ and I don’t want to get caught up in the things of the world. I want to be the last one - the one that bears fruit and can resist temptation from my flesh and the devil. I am in the process of giving up control of my life daily. I want to live every day for Jesus.
This parable still stuns me, I still don't get the full brevity of the implications. Yet, I need to remember that I desire to be a follower of Christ…..and bearing fruit is the evidence that I am His. His faithfulness in my life I need to remind myself daily. Salvation is awesome, and confounds my finite mind!
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