Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20090506.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part XXVIII: Christ's Identity As God's Savior By His Teaching On Responses To His Ministry
(Luke 8:4-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Jesus Christ is God's true Savior of the world where His teachings were abundantly validated in the lives of SOME people (like the saved women of Luke 8:1-3), a reader of Luke's Gospel might wonder why did not ALL hearers of Christ's teachings RESPOND ABUNDANTLY as they had done!
    2. Luke 8:4-21 supplies the answer, presenting an exhortation to us who hear God's Word today (as follows):
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior By His Teaching On Responses To His Ministry, Luke 8:4-21.
    1. After Jesus explained in Luke 7:31-35 that those who heeded His Word were proof of the correctness of His teachings, and after the testimonies of the many whose lives had been transformed by Jesus' teaching was given in Luke 7:36-8:3, Luke noted Jesus began to teach the throngs who came to Him, Luke 8:4.
    2. The teaching He gave them was in parable form, and it explained why only SOME of His many hearers would see their lives greatly change for the good, and why many lives would become worse, Luke 8:5-15:
      1. Jesus gave a parable about seed being sown on different soils that led to different results, Luke 8:5-8a.
      2. After giving this parable, He said, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," Luke 8:8b.
      3. The disciples wanted to understand so as to apply the parable, so they asked Jesus to explain it, Lk. 8:9.
      4. Alluding to Isaiah 6:9-11, the Lord replied that God was revealing unto the disciples the mysteries of His kingdom, but that He was not revealing them to many others in divine discipline, Luke 8:10.
      5. Then, Jesus explained the parable to His spiritually interested disciples in Luke 8:11-15 as follows:
        1. The seed sown represents God's Word as taught by Christ [or through His messengers], Luke 8:11.
        2. The seed sown by the wayside represents those hearers who then do not receive the Word, and Satan comes to take it out of their hearts, as symbolized in the birds of the air devouring the seed, that the hearers might not believe the Word to their benefit, and so even lose their memory of it, Luke 8:12.
        3. The sowing of the seed on the rock pictures those who first accept God's Word with joy, but because they have no spiritual strength [due to unbelief], in time of temptation, they fail to heed it, Lk. 8:13.
        4. The sowing of the seed among the thorns represents hearers who let the cares or riches of this world distract them from applying God's truth, so they bring no fruit to maturity in their lives, Luke 8:14.
        5. However, the seed sown on the good ground represents hearers who have noble and good attitudes as opposed to the others, so through much patience they yield much spiritual fruit in life, Luke 8:15.
    3. Having explained that their responses to His Word was the cause of the degree of transformation His teachings had in His hearers' lives, Jesus exhorted His hearers to obey what He had taught, Luke 8:16-18:
      1. By the parable of the lighted candle (Luke 8:16), Jesus explained that every hearer's response to the teaching of God's Word will eventually become apparent to all others in their lives (Luke 8:17).
      2. Thus, every hearer needs to apply to his life what he hears of God's Word, Luke 8:18a. After all, those who accept the truth are given more to heed, and those who fail to apply what they have been taught will have what they possess taken away so their contrasting spiritual welfare or the lack of it in time will be extreme either to one's honor and blessing, or to his dishonor and spiritual loss, Luke 8:18b!
    4. Finally, Jesus revealed that those who heed His Word would know blessed fellowship with Him, 8:19-21:
      1. When someone then announced that Jesus' mother and brothers had arrived to see Him [since they were unable to get to Him themselves due to the press of the crowd, Luke 8:19-20], Jesus responded, claiming that those who heeded His Word were His real spiritual family members, Luke 8:21!
      2. This statement provided added motivation to heed Christ's Word, for in continually obeying His Word, the hearer would enjoy continual spiritual fellowship with Jesus! (Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 226)
Lesson: Jesus explained that varying degrees of HEEDING His Word affects spiritual results in one's life, ranging in time from humiliating destitution to honorable productivity and fulfilling fellowship with the Lord, extreme RESULTS that will be EVIDENT to ALL onlookers!

Application: May we for all these reasons be MOTIVATED to KEEP HEEDING GOD'S WORD!