In this session we will be considering the Word from a different perspective.
Jesus said in John 6:63:
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
John 6:63 NKJV
God’s Word contains supernatural power to work from the inside out, bringing numerous benefits to the life of the receiver. We will look at some of these benefits and processes in this session.
The parable of the sower is particularly interesting in this regard, and speaks of the word as a seed, and the heart as the ground into which the seed is sown, and then grows to bear fruit.
Take a moment now to open your Bible and read the following Scriptures:
- Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23
- Luke 8:4-8; 11-15
- Mark 4:2-8; 14-20
Here are a few excerpts from these inspired words:
The seed is the word of God.”
…The sower sows the word.”
But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Strongs #4862: understands To put together. To comprehend.
But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
Strongs #5281: Patience Cheerful, hopeful endurance. Patient continuance.
But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Strongs #3844: accept To accept near. To admit. To delight in.
Jesus told His disciples that this one parable provided a significant key to understanding all other mysteries.
“And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables?”
(Mark 4:13 AMP)
The key concepts revealed by Jesus here are:
- The Word of God is like a seed
- The heart of man is like the ground into which the seed falls, and to a great extent determines the seed’s effectiveness
- Hearing and understanding the Word is the process by which the ‘seed’ is sown, and received into the heart.
Jesus speaks of the development and growth of the Kingdom of God in similar terms in Mark 4:26-29:
Mark 4:26-29 AMPLIFIED
“And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases—he knows not how. The earth produces [acting] by itself—first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth [the reapers] and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready.”
We discover that it is not essential to completely understand the ‘process’ through which God’s Word effectively works, just that we know that it does!
Like a farmer plants his grain in ‘faith’ that natural processes will produce a harvest, so we, as believers, can be sure that the supernatural process of sowing God’s Word into our heart puts in motion a process that brings forth a harvest of life:
“…whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV
Paul further expounds on the process of sowing and reaping in the book of Corinthians:
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
2Corinthians 9:6 NKJV
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
1Corinthians 3:6-7 NKJV
If we sow much we will reap much, if we sow sparingly or grudgingly we will reap little. A key part of our harvest depends upon the attitude of our heart to receive the Word.
Not only do we need to ‘hear’ the Word (Jesus spoke in these same passages about those with ears yet still do not ‘hear’ what is being said), we must ‘receive’ or ‘accept’ the word into an honest (noble, good) heart, willing to work with what we hear, patiently expecting results.
God is responsible for multiplying what is sown. We are responsible to sow the seed.
When we understand that the Word is ‘the Seed’ we can specifically sow into our own lives for our future harvest.
We determine our own future harvest by the seeds (the words) that we sow.
