GOD’S WORD
Sermon Text, St. Luke 8:4-15 (v. 4-5a, 11). And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. … Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
Lord, this is Your Word, and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Dear Lord, we thank You that You don’t get tired of sowing Your Word in our hearts. We ask You to bless Your Word so it bears fruit in our life. Amen.
People dearly loved by God in Christ, who still sows the good seed of His Word into our hearts: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We know what the parable of the sower and the seed is about. It’s about God’s Word. Jesus says outright: “The seed is the word of God.”
In this parable, Jesus does not explain what the Word of God is. He shows what the Word of God does, or what happens with people who hear His Word.
So before we look at the parable, we want to be very clear about what the Word of God is. The Word of God is simply: God speaking. At first, He spoke directly to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, etc., and they would speak God’s Word to others – they preached it – so others would hear God’s Word from them. Why did God speak to them? So they would know Him, and so they would know His will for them. God wants the people He made and loves to know Him, and especially to know His love for them. This is so great: God didn’t need to come down to man’s level. But He did it! Right away with Adam and Eve, God confined Himself to being known through human language, their language, on their terms, something they could comprehend.
But eventually God wanted His Word to be written down. That’s what the Bible is: God’s written Word. Over 1,500 years and at least 36 different writers, men wrote down the words God directed them to write. The amazing thing is, it all fits together as one truth from God. What it says of the creation of the world in Genesis 1, Psalm 33, Psalm 104, and Job 38-41 – and in the words of Jesus, written down by Matthew, Mark, and Luke – is consistent. John writes about Mary and Martha, and so does Luke – who, unlike John, didn’t know them – and yet the two accounts fit together extremely well.
The Bible say,s “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit inspired, “breathed in” to their minds, every word. So we can trust that not only are they the words of Moses, David, Isaiah, Matthew and Paul, but we can trust that every word is the Word of God.
What else can we say that the Word of God is? We ask what its central purpose is. What holds it all together is Jesus. The Old Testament is about preparing the world for the Savior to come, for God to send His only-begotten Son into the world to save the world. The New Testament shows how He came and what He did, and it includes Jesus’ words and the apostles’ words, about who He is: true God and true man, the only Savior. So the entire Bible is about Jesus. “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
And there it is: the reason God has given us His Word, His written Word, the Bible, is for you to believe in Jesus, and by faith to have everlasting life.
That brings us to the parable. In this parable Jesus teaches that God’s Word powerfully produces faith. Jesus teaches this by means of a picture story. He starts by picturing a man with a bag full of seed, walking through the landscape scattering it everywhere: some on the pathway where people walk, some falls on rocky ground, some falls in among thorns, and some falls on “good ground.”Amazingly, wherever it falls, no matter how poor the conditions of the ground, the seed springs up, sprouts, and begins to grow.
At this point, Jesus is teaching that God’s Word produces faith. He says, “The seed is the word of God.” This is about the spreading of God’s Word. What happens when God’s Word is preached, when you hear or read God’s Word? Jesus says that faith results. He keeps saying “it sprang up.”
Luke’s version of the parable emphasizes faith. We hear that the devil’s attacks are so that people will not “believe and be saved.” Those who “fall away in time of temptation” are those “who believefor a while.” In this parable and in hearing the Word, what’s at stake is to “believe and be saved.”
It’s important first to learn this simple, Biblical truth: that God’s Word produces faith that saves you. We’re tempted to rely on our own efforts to have faith. But contrary to what we sometimes think from this parable, there’s no such thing as “good ground” on its own. By the power of His Word God makes us into His good ground. The Bible says: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God” (Rom 2:10-12). This is because “in me (in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Rom 7:18). We’re unable by our own will or strength to believe.
So how does anyone believe? We don’t deny that it’s important to have effective teaching and good preaching, and for people to listen attentively and really study the Bible and ask good questions, and seek the truth. It does take work, and effort. But our ability to persuade and ability to understand is not what will do it. Faith isn’t about the intellect. Faith is a miracle that God works in us. The Bible says: that faith is “the gift of God, not of works” (Eph 2:8-9); that it’s “God who gives the increase” (1Cor 3:8), and only by the Holy Spirit’s doing will anyone confess “Jesus is Lord,” from the heart (1Cor 12:3).
The Bible declares this happens through the Word: “the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). The first truth to learn is that God’s Word produces faith in you.
But that’s not all: Jesus’ parable concentrates most on the next truth: that God’s Word protectsyour faith. This beautiful work of the Holy Spirit in His Word – to bring you to repent and believe God’s forgiveness in Christ – isn’t done in an atmosphere of perfect tranquility, with no adversity or opposition.
The devil is doing all he can to snatch the Word away from you, to separate you from Christ, to separate your faith from how you live, and to make accusations in your conscience when you aren’t in the presence of the Word, so that you’ll only listen to the accusing voice of the devil and not the forgiving voice of God. This is most of what Jesus describes in the parable. He shows that faith does not exist in an ideal environment. Faith has enemies.
First there’s the devil. In Jesus’ first example, where the Word is pictured as seed being “trampled down … and devoured,” it’s because “the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts.”
Second, there’s the unbelieving world. In Jesus’ second case, “the ones on the rock,” where the Word is pictured as seed that “withered away because it lacked moisture,” it’s because some who are believing “fall away in time of temptation.” What kind of temptation? In Matthew and Mark what Jesus says here is “tribulation or persecution” which arise “because of the word.” In other words, your faith in what God’s Word teaches will meet with opposition in the world.
The devil and the world are the first two enemies of faith. The third is inside you: your sinful flesh. In this case, where the Word is pictured as seed which sprang up with thorns that “choked it,”He says the Word is “choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life.” The worries are over goodthings He gives us. The devil inflames our flesh to cling to them too much.
These are the three enemies of your faith: the devil, the world, and your sinful flesh. When it’s hard to do God’s will and you really struggle with temptation, doesn’t it seem these enemies have the upper hand? The devil is tempting you, the world’s giving you a hard time and it’s hard for you to say no to your flesh. As you hear the accusing voice in your head, struggling with guilt and shame and you don’t have peace in your conscience, the devil is really letting you have it. When you’re besieged with worries, and feel so weak, your sinful flesh that doesn’t want to trust God is active.
Can we ever be “good ground” please? Jesus’ answer to you is: Yes. Despite the way it seems, you are good ground. Not on your own, nor by your own efforts, but by faith in Him. How can you have that faith when life in this world is so hard on it? The answer is surprising. When the devil works to undermine what God is doing, God turns it around on the devil.
As the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh attack the Word, God actually gives you the Word as the part of your armor that isn’t merely defensive, but His Word goes on the offensive, goes on the attack against these enemies, on your behalf. This is how the Word of God protects your faith.
When you’re being tempted and then accused by the devil, the words of the Gospel – “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you,” and “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin” – silence the accusations.
When you’re receiving opposition and unfriending from the world, the promises of God that He will be with you, you are not alone, and you are part of His multitude, arm you with confidence. Words such as: “I have redeemed you; you are Mine,” and: “I am with you to the end of the age,”and “Behold, a great multitude which no one could number standing before the throne and before the Lamb … And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
When you’re struggling with doubt, with worry, and with your own temptations to be envious or discontent, God gives you words for this struggle: that because “[Jesus] has suffered, being tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted,” and “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things,” and even the verse that’s specifically about struggles to be content: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
These words! And many more. He puts this armor on you, as you come to church and spend time in His Word. Just as you can’t see the seed growing, you can’t see or feel this. But He promises: as you hear His Word He’s making you into “good ground,” strengthening and keeping you steadfast in His Word and in faith. By grace you do “bear fruit with patience.” Amen!