compare the parallel in luke 8.11-5 and hebrews 6.4-6
hear then the parable of the sower.
when anyone hears the word of the kingdom
and does not understand it,
the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
this is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
and the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places,
this is the man who hears the word
and immediately receives it with joy'
yet he has no firm root in himself,
but is only temporary
and when AFFLICTION or PERSECUTION arises because of the word, (TIME OF TEMPTATION,
immediately he falls away. luke 8.13)
and the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns,
this is the man who hears the word
and the WORRY OF THE WORLD (WORRIES and RICHES and PLEASURES OF THIS LIFE,
and the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES luke 8.14)
choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
and the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,
this is the man who hears the word and understands it;
who indeed BEARS FRUIT* (WITH PERSEVERANCE, luke 8.15)
and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.'
the question to be asked, in light of the fact that 5 things: pleasure, pain, riches, lack of enough to
sustain life and persecution because of faithfulness to Jesus, can be the causes of a lack of bearing fruit-
are only those who bear fruit (with perseverance, luke), in the end, saved?
what is FRUIT?
consider Jesus' word in matthew 7.15-21,
'beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
you will know them by their fruits. (Jesus, without defining 'fruits', goes on..)
grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes,
nor figs from thistles, are they?
even so, every good tree bears good fruit;
but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
a good tree cannot produce bad fruit
nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
so then, you will know them by their fruits. (still no 'good/bad fruit is...)
not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven;
but HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF THE FATHER who is in heaven'.
it would seem likely that good fruit would be anything God commands which is done out of a heart
of love for Him. what do you think?
for most of my life i have believed that my MENTAL ASSENT TO THE DOCTRINES OF CHRIST
AND THE IDEA THAT THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD = SALVATION.
it seems that these things must be believed to be saved,
but that they alone are not enough.
it would seem that there must be an ongoing, deep, even agonizing concern about lack of obedience.
in luke 13.24 Jesus says to His disciplers,
'AGONIZE to enter the narrow door,
for many will seek to enter and will not be able'.
in matthew 24.10-3, Jesus, speaking of the last days of human history says,
'and at that time many will fall away
and will deliver up one another
and hate one another.
and many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
and because lawlessness is increased, most people's love
(John 14.15- Jesus says, 'if you love Me, keep my commandments')
will grow cold.
but the one who ENDURES to the end, he shall be saved'.
the following from matthew henry on matthew 13...
let us therefore compare the parable and the exposition.
the seed sown if the word of God, here called 'the word of the kingdom' v19
..it is the In corruptible seed (I peter 1.23)
..because of the hope laid up for you,
just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing,
even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it
and understood the grace of God in truth..
the sower that scatters the seed is our Lord Jesus Christ, either by Himself or by His ministers v37
the ground in which this seed is sown is the hearts of the children of men...
the highway ground...they had pathways through their cornfields (12.1)
and the seed that fell on them never entered and the birds picked it up.
..like those who 'go to church'..they take no heed to it, take no hold of it..
they do not come with any design to get good,
as the highway was never intended to be sown.
'they come before God as his people come
and sit before Him as His people sit'
but it is merely for fashion sake, to see and be seen.
they mind not what is said, it comes in at one ear and goes out at the other
and makes no impression.
"the wicked one..the devil, cometh and catcheth away that which was sown.
such mindless, careless, trifling hearers are an easy prey to satan.
who, as he is the great murderer of souls,
so he is the great thief of sermons
...if we break not up the fallow ground by preparing our hearts for the word
and humbling them to it
and engaging our own attention..
and if we cover not the seed afterwards, by meditation and prayer;
if we give not more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, we are as highway ground.
..stony ground..
those who receive some good impressions of the word, but they are not lasting.
note, it is possible we may be a great deal better than some others,
and yet not be so good as we should be;
may go beyond our neighbours and yet come short of heaven.
..they are quick in hearing, swift to hear,
'immediately' it sprung up
hypocrites often get the start of true christians in the shows of profession,
and are often too hot to hold.
he receiveth it straightway, without trying it;
swallows it without chewing
and then there can never e a good digestion.
those are most likely to hold fast that which is good, that prove all things, I thess. 5.21
they receive it with joy.
there are many that are very glad to hear a good sermon,
that yet do not profit by it;
they may be pleased with the word and yet not changed and ruled by it.
the heart may melt under the word and yet not be melted down by the word, much less into it, as into a mould.
many taste the good word of God (heb. 6.5) and say they find sweetness in it,
but some beloved lust is rolled under the tongue,
which it would not agree with
and so they spit it out again.
they endure for awhile, like a violent motion, which continues as long as the impression of the force remains,
but ceases when that has spent itself.
many endure for a while, that do not endure to the end
ans do come short of the happiness which is promised to them only that persevere.
they did run well, but something hindered them, gal. 5.7.
they have no root in themselves, no settled, fixed principles in their judgments,
no firm resolution in their wills nor any rooted habits in their affections.
nothing firm that will be either the sap or the strength of their profession.
1. it is possible there may be the green blade of a profession,
where yet there is not the root of grace.
hardness prevails in the heart
and what there is of soil and softness is only in the surface.
inwardly they are no more affected than a stone.
they have no root, they are not by faith united to Christ who is our Root.
they derive not from Him, they depend not on Him.
2. where there is not a principle, though there be a profession, we cannot expect perseverance.
those who have no root will endure but awhile.
a ship without ballast, though she may at first out sail the laden vessel,
yet will certainly fail in stress of weather and never make her port.
..after a fair gale of opportunity usually follows a storm of persecution,
to try who have received the word in sincerity and who have not.
when the word of Christ's kingdom comes to be the word of Christ's patience (rev. 3.10),
then is the trial, who keeps it, and who does not, (rev. 1.9).
it is wisdom to prepare for such a day.
when trying times come, those who have no root are soon offended.
they first quarrel with their profession and then quit it.
first find fault with it and then throw it off.
hence we read of 'the offence of the cross' gal. 5.11.
observe, persecution is represented ..by 'the scorching sun.
the same sun which warms and cherishes
that which was well rooted, withers and burns up that which wanted root.
as the word of Christ,
so the cross of Christ, is to some a savour of life unto life,
to others a savour of death unto death.
the same tribulation which drives some to apostasy and ruin,
works for others a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
trials which shake some, confirm others Phil. 1.12
observe how soon they fall away, by and by;
as soon rotten as they were ripe.
a profession taken up without consideration is commonly let fall without it.
'lightly come, lightly go'.
the thorny ground..
some fell among thorns (which are a good guard to the corn when they are in the hedge,
but a bad inmate when they are in the field)
and the thorns sprung up, which intimates that they did not appear
,or but little, when the corn was sown, but afterwards they proved choking to it.
this went further than the former, for it had root
and it represents the condition of those who do not quite cast off their profession
and yet come short of any saving benefit by it;
the good they gain by the word, being insensibly overcome and overborne by the things of this world.
prosperity destroys the word in the heart, as much as persecution does
and more dangerously, because more silently:
the stones spoiled the root, the thorns spoil the fruit.
now what are these choking thorns:
first, the cares of this world.
care for another world would quicken the springing of this seed,
but care for this world chokes it.
worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came in with sin and are a fruit of the curse.
they are good in their place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that deals much in them
II samuel 23.6-7
they are entangling, vexing, scratching and their end is to be burned. heb 6.8
these thorns choke the good seed.
worldly cares are great hindrances to our profiting by the word of God and our proficiency in religion.
they eat up that vigour of soul which should be spent in divine things,
divert us from duty, distract us in duty, and do us most mischief of all afterwards.
wrenching the sparks of good affections and bursting the cords of good resolutions.
those who are careful and cumbered about many things, commonly neglect the one thing needful.
secondly, the deceitfulness of riches.
those who, by their care and industry, have raised estates
and so the danger that arises from care seems to be over and they continue hearers of the word,
yet still in a snare jeremiah 5.4,5.
it is hard for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
they are apt to promise themselves that in riches which is not in them (the riches),
to rely upon them and to take an inordinate complacency in them
and this chokes the word as much as care did.
observe, it is not so much riches, as the deceitfulness of riches,
that does the mischief.
now they cannot be said to be deceitful to us unless we put our confidence in them
and raise our expectations from them
and then it is that they choke the good seed.
luke 8.14...the pleasures of this life are as dangerous and mischievous thorns to choke
the good seed of the word as any other.
this is added here, which was not in the other evangelists.
those that are not entangled in the cares of this life,
nor inveigled with the deceitfulness of riches,
but boast that they are dead to them,
may yet be kept from heaven by an affected indolence
and the love of ease and pleasure.
the delights of sense may ruin the soul,
even lawful delights, indulged and too much delighted in.
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