The Seed
Luke 8:5-15 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
A few weeks ago we talked about the sower and why it is so important that we continue sowing come no matter what. At the end of that passage of scripture Jesus tells His desciples that the seed is the Word of God. It is the word of God that will change peoples hearts more effectively than anything; and it is also what we need if we are going to grow in grace to be more like Jesus. The Word of God is described as alot of things in the Bible, but today I’d like to focus on the characteristics of a seed.
The seed stays the same
The first thing we notice about a seed is that it is something you can count on to be the same over time. You wont plant an apple seed and get anything but an apple. it will always stay the same. And though there are many in the world who would like to undermine the authority of the Word of God, they will never change the fact that the word of God is ultimately completely the same. His word has not changed and it will not change. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:8
Before the year 1947 Skeptics of the Bible liked to argue that because the transcripts that they had from the Bible only dated back to the thirteenth century, that we couldnt count on the Bible being accurate. And then in 1947 a young shepherd boy dropped a stone into a cave and heard the sound of breaking pottery. Out of curiosity he came back later and discovered scrolls that had been stored for years in vases. What he found were transcripts of the Bible that dated to the third century AD, much older than the previously thought oldest transcripts. It was soon discovered that the newer Biblical transcripts were in fact virtually identical to the dead sea transcripts, which were around a thousand years older. The sands of time had not lost or distorted the Word of God! No matter what people might say, Gods Word remains untainted and unchanged.
The seed has power
A seed is something that is essentially alive. It contains all of the necessary eliments to produce fruit and to create a new plant. Though it may be dormant for a time, as soon as it is planted and conditions are right, it begins to sprout it powerfully cuts through the soil and reaches upward towards the sun. It begins to produce the fruit for which it was intended.
Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Just like a seed the word of God is alive and powerful. It lives breathes and moves. Gods Word has a way of cutting through right to where it needs to go. Gods Word has the specific answer to the questions we have in life. It cuts through the chaff and shows us exactly where we are and where we need to be. Gods word reveals to us the difference between truth and lies. Gods word is alive, and it is powerful. The word of God has the power to bring about Christ’s likeness in the lives of those who read it and beleive it. It contains all of the promises and the blessings of God in its pages. How can we claim them and believe God for them if we do not know what they are?
In scripture; The word of God is listed as part of the armer of God. We see it mentioned twice. once as part of the belt; it is the truth of Gods word that holds us together, and also as the “sword of the spirit which is the word of God”. That piece of armor described a short sword that was used for hand to hand combat. The word of God can come to your aid at times when your mind is overwhelmed with doubts and fears and lies.
When Jesus was tempted in Matthew chapter four, He chose to combat satans lies with verses from Deuteronomy. Jesus was showing us the most effective means of overcoming the lies and temptations of the devil. The Bible is not a dusty, musty book that we are duty bound as Christians to read, it is the very breath and power of God in letter form to every person that wants to live a life that is pleasing to God.
The soil must be good
As powerful as the seed of the Word of God is, I beleive there are many people who read it on a daily basis and pay no more attention to its words than to the morning news. the seed is either choked out, withered away or stolen by the enemy of their soul. But God wants the seed of His word to be planted and cultivated in our lives. You see seeds are inherently powerful, but their power in not unleashed untill the seed is planted. The writer of Hebrews talks about a group of people who did hear the word of God, but did not experience its power. “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Hebrews 4:2
Mixing the Word of God with faith and trust in our hearts is the final crucial eliment of being impacted by the word of God. Not only must we read it; but we must beleive it, take it to heart and act on what it tells us we must do.
I want to encourage you today, Gods Word is a treasure waiting to be discovered, a seed waiting to sprout. It is the same as it has always been, and it still has the power to change your life.