Passion for the Word

Understanding God’s Word

 The Parable of the Sower
 Matthew 13:3-23
 3 "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path, and the birds came and ate it up.
 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have
much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was
shallow.
 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were
scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and
choked the plants.
 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a
crop-- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
 Jesus’ Explanation of the Parable
 18 "Listen then to what the parable of the
sower means:
 19 When anyone hears the message
about the kingdom and does not
understand it, the evil one comes and
snatches away what was sown in his
heart. This is the seed sown along the
path.
 20 The one who received the seed that fell
on rocky places is the man who hears the
word and at once receives it with joy.
 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only
a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, he quickly
falls away.
 22The one who received the seed that fell
among the thorns is the man who hears
the word, but the worries of this life and
the deceitfulness of wealth choke it,
making it unfruitful.
 23 But the one who received the seed that
fell on good soil is the man who hears the
word and understands it. He produces a
crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty
times what was sown."
1. Parable of the Sower
2. The Importance of understanding the
word of God
3. How to respond to the word of God
 1) Man does not live by bread but by the word
of God
 Deut 8:3
 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and
then feeding you with manna, which neither you
nor your fathers had known, to teach you that
man does not live on bread alone but on every
word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
 We live by God’s word
 2) the word is the only thing that will give
stability in our life
 Isa 40:8
 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but
the word of our God stands forever."
 3) Nothing can make you stumble if you
love the word of God
 Ps 119:165
 Great peace have they who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.
 Ps 37:31
 The law of his God is in his heart; his feet
do not slip.
4)It’s important because of the power of the
word of God in our life
a) we have been born again through it
1 Pet 1:23
For you have been born again, not of
perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of
God.
 b)it is a hammer that breaks the rock, like
a fire.
 Jer 23:29
 "Is not my word like fire," declares the
LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a
rock in pieces?
c) it keeps us from sin
Ps 119:9 How can a young man keep his
way pure? By living according to your
word.

Ps 119:11
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
 d) it gives understanding
 Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your
words gives light; it gives understanding
to the simple."
 E) it is part of the armor of God that we as
his soldiers use
 Eph 6:17
 Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.
 What must our response be to
the Word ?
1. We must read the word determined to
follow everything the Lord tells us
 Ps 40:8
 I desire to do your will, O my God; your
law is within my heart."
 2)We must humbly accept the word planted in us
 James 1:19-21
 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone
should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow
to become angry,for man's anger does not bring
about the righteous life that God desires.
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil
that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word
planted in you, which can save you.
 3) We must keep His word
 Rev 3:8
 I know your deeds. See, I have placed
before you an open door that no one can
shut. I know that you have little strength,
yet you have kept my word and have not
denied my name.
 4) We must tremble at his word
 Isa 66:2
 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?" declares
the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he
who is humble and contrite in spirit, and
trembles at my word.
 5)The word must be in our hearts
 Deut 30:14
 the word is very near you; it is in your
mouth and in your heart so you may obey
it.
 Deut 6:6
 These commandments that I give you
today are to be upon your hearts.
6) The word must constantly be in our
consciousness and in our unconscious. Gising o
tulog. Naglalakad o nakaupo.
 Deut 6:7-9
 Impress them on your children. Talk about them
when you sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and when you get
up.
 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind
them on your foreheads.
 Write them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates.
 7) Let the word of God be like water on
your heart; let your heart drink it like plants
drink rain, let it fall into your heart
 Deut 32:2
 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words
descend like dew, like showers on new
grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
 8) Love the word of God, delight in it…Think of
the word all day long, think of it night and day
 Ps 119:97
 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day
long.
 Ps 1:1-2
 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of
sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on
his law he meditates day and night.
 Conclusion:
 1.We need to hear the word and
understand it.
 Ps 119:34
 Give me understanding, and I will keep
your law and obey it with all my heart.
Once you understand, you will obey.
 Matt 13:9 He who has ears, let him hear.“

 Matt 13:11-16
 11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of
the kingdom of heaven has been given to you,
but not to them.
 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him.
 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand.
 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but
never perceiving.”
 15 For this people's heart has become
calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their
hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
 16 But blessed are your eyes because
they see, and your ears because they
hear.
 Letus see with the eyes of our heart. Let
us hear with the ears of our heart. And
move on to understanding and obedience.
 Ps 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with
them that fear him; and he will show them
his covenant.
 Proverbs2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,
from His mouth come knowledge and
understanding
 Col2:3 in Christ are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
2. Let your heart be inclined to fear God and follow
Him
 Deut 5:28-29
 28 The LORD heard you when you spoke to me
and the LORD said to me, "I have heard what
this people said to you. Everything they said was
good.
 29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear
me and keep all my commands always, so that it
might go well with them and their children
forever!
 3. We must not be obsessed with wisdom
and knowledge of the word.
 It’s not just about wisdom, it’s about
knowing the Lord.
 It’s about loving the Lord. When we love
the Lord above all else, we understand
Him, we understand His heart.
 Mark 7:6
 6 "Isaiah was right when he prophesied
about you hypocrites; as it is written:
"'These people honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from Me.”
 Jer9:23-24 This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength or
the rich man boast of his riches, but let
him who boasts boast about this: that he
understands and knows me, that I am the
LORD, who exercises kindness, justice
and righteousness on earth, for in these I
delight," declares the LORD.