Bible League: Living His Word "As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."— Matthew 13:23 ESV According to Jesus, there are four kinds of people. The four kinds are differentiated one from another according to the response they have to the Gospel of the kingdom (see Matthew 13:18-22). The first kind is the one that hears the Gospel but does not understand it because, "the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart." The second kind hears the Gospel and receives it with joy, "yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away." The third kind hears the Gospel, but "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful." The fourth kind is the kind in our verse for today. It is the "one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." Obviously, it is the fourth kind that is the good kind. What is it that separates the fourth kind from the other three? According to Jesus, it is because the fourth kind is "good soil." That is, the fourth kind receives the Gospel, what Jesus likened to "seed," to bear the "fruit" of the Gospel. The other kinds do not have this ability. They are not good soil. The first kind can't even receive the Gospel. The second and third can receive it, but it never really takes root in them. Only the fourth kind receives it and produces fruit. What makes someone good soil? It is certainly not something inherently good within the person. The Bible clearly teaches that no one is righteous in and of themselves (Romans 3:10). What makes someone into good soil is a gift of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8). God gives someone the ability to receive the Gospel and the ability to bear the fruit of the Gospel. Believers must never boast about the fact that they've accepted the Gospel and bear its fruit. That's why Jesus said, "without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Praise God for His steadfast love to His chosen people. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDaniel 7, 8 Daniel 7 -- Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts, the Ancient of Days, the Son of Man NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Daniel 8 -- Daniel's Vision of the Ram and Goat NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 John 5 1 John 5 -- He Who Has the Son Has the Life; Final Remarks NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.Insight We should not be attached to this world, because all that we are and have here is temporary. Only our relationship with God and our service to him will last. Challenge Don't store up your treasures here; store them in heaven. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 1:13 Girt about the paps with a golden girdle."One like unto the Son of Man" appeared to John in Patmos, and the beloved disciple marked that he wore a girdle of gold. A girdle, for Jesus never was ungirt while upon earth, but stood always ready for service, and now before the eternal throne he stays not His holy ministry, but as a priest is girt about with "the curious girdle of the ephod." Well it is for us that he has not ceased to fulfil his offices of love for us, since this is one of our choicest safeguards that he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Jesus is never an idler; his garments are never loose as though his offices were ended; he diligently carries on the cause of his people. A golden girdle, to manifest the superiority of his service, the royalty of his person, the dignity of his state, the glory of his reward. No longer does he cry out of the dust, but he pleads with authority, a King as well as a Priest. Safe enough is our cause in the hands of our enthroned Melchizedek. Our Lord presents all his people with an example. We must never unbind our girdles. This is not the time for lying down at ease, it is the season of service and warfare. We need to bind the girdle of truth more and more tightly around our loins. It is a golden girdle, and so will be our richest ornament, and we greatly need it, for a heart that is not well braced up with the truth as it is in Jesus, and with the fidelity which is wrought of the Spirit, will be easily entangled with the things of this life, and tripped up by the snares of temptation. It is in vain that we possess the Scriptures unless we bind them around us like a girdle, surrounding our entire nature, keeping each part of our character in order, and giving compactness to our whole man. If in heaven Jesus unbinds not the girdle, much less may we upon earth. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Daily Light on the Daily Path Matthew 26:41 "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."Isaiah 26:8,9 Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls. • At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Romans 7:18,22,23 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. • For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, • but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Galatians 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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