some notes taken from a recent sermon

Luke 8 - today’s notes are on “hearing”
So a man goes to the doctor and tells him that his wife is starting to have issues with her hearing and he wants to know what they can do. The doctor says he’d be happy to help the man’s wife but he wants the man to go home and run a test for him. He says, “go home and stand very far away from your wife and in a normal voice ask her a question and then take a few steps forward and ask her again. Continue doing this until she responds and then let me know how close you were when she responded.” The man agrees and decides to perform the test while his wife is cooking. Standing 20 feet behind her the man ask, “what’s for supper hun?”. Hearing no response the man moves several feet closer and repeats, “what’s for supper hun?”. He does this a few more times until he’s just behind her and repeats one more time, “what’s for supper hun?”. At this the wife turns around a bit angry and says, “FOR THE 5TH TIME, BEANS AND STEAK!”
The whole time the husband thought the wife had issues hearing when really he was the one becoming hard of hearing.
The Importance of “Hearing”
Luke 8:1 NKJV
Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him,

This is indeed great news. Don’t miss out on the glad tidings of the kingdom today or any day of your life as we get overwhelmed by the activities in this world. Forget not that you are in the world... not of it. Receive glad tidings and share it with others.

Luke 8:2 NKJV
and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,

Notice the emphasis on this healing being in the past. How many people wrote her off? Jesus didnt. He healed her and she imediately considered the old her to be past. Never write someone off... Jesus can heal.

Luke 8:4 NKJV
And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:

This is a great multitude is a huge amount of people, but it doesn’t mean that they were all paying attention or getting it. Just like in our lives there are so few whose hearts are ready for the seed of truth that God gives which is the Gospel salvation. Jesus gives a fairly difficult parable here (which means " to come along side") knowing that only a few will get it. He is passionate in this message that those that who will pay attention should receive and share..

Luke 8:5-8 NKJV
“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

We need to apply this to our lives. We need to not only be present at sermons and also read our bibles, but we need to pay attention to what we are hearing and reading and act on it. This determines the state of our heart. Does the message from the word take root and grow in your life? How is the soil of your heart?

Luke 8:9-10 NKJV
Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’

Here Jesus quoted from Isaiah 6:9 which says, “ 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Jesus also names two types of people.. Those that are seeking after the Word and apply it to their lives are searching for the spiritual lesson in the story so they can apply it to their life. The other people are pretty much just here for the free lunch or for the look of being spiritual or religious.

Luke 8:11-12 NKJV
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

So here we see that the birds were the representation of satan and he comes and takes away the seed so that u don’t receive it. He has and is doing this in so many people’s lives right now. He is stopping them from attending church bringing up in their mind excuse after excuse to not attend church and he is also doing the same thing for when they should receive the word outside of church; distracting their thoughts so they don’t receive.

Luke 8:13 NKJV
But the ones on the rock are those who (when they hear) receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. “
We can now look at this and see that belief has a by-product. If you have faith in Jesus Christ as you Lord, you won’t abandon all hope when there are troubles in your life. If you are saved by faith, then it is by faith you live… even when the living gets tough.
Dont give up on your relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe someone told you it would be easier than this, but that’s not the case and now you are losing interest. Or maybe satan has distracted you now that you have this seed and so you are forgetting the seed and the purpose of the seed. Its going to be rough but it is worth it. Don’t make a shallow commitment that gives up when times get rough.

Luke 8:14 NKJV
Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

The cares of this life - rent, laundry, bills, work, arguements, and all the other business as people spent their entire life wondering how comfortable they are going to be when they die instead of being eternal minded. Bear fruit while we are here. Don’t let the cares of this life become more important than the word of God in your life. Matthew talks about this as he quotes jesus talking about the love of money becoming the root of all evil. You can’t serve two masters. Songs of solomon also hits on this note talking about the meaningless of the seasons of placing your trust in money and living for pleasure and self instead of for God. Now this doesn’t mean that there is no pleasure in a Christians life. There is joy and there are pleasures and vacations and such, but make sure those pleasures are in Jesus and that he goes with you on vacation. Make sure your focus is on God. Go through you daily life now and start pulling weeds. Be sure nothing is hindering you from the closeness that is intended in your relationship with Christ.

Luke 8:15 NKJV
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.

Galations 5:22 & 23 tell us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Can you take a step back and look at your life and describe it with the fruit of the spirit listed in galations 5? If you can’t then that is a big deal. You must examine why and correct the heart of the issue. Are you hearing the word of God in such a way that it brings forth fruit in your life and to those around you? Make adjustments accordingly so that it does.

Luke 8:16 NKJV
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.

This is part of that fruit and planted growing seed issue. God is not a God of secrets.. share Him with the world. It is not hidden, its made known. We want to hear the word, apply the word, share the word.

Luke 8:17-18 NKJV
For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Here we see the concept, "use it or loose it". This has been used in arguments about loosing salvation. But if you read carefully and put into practice what you read and learn then you have given evidence of being saved. If you don’t display this evidence to start with, odds are u were never truly saved to begin with and thus you don’t loose salvation, you loose the illusion of being a saved person. I see so many people that fall into this catagory. They appear to have salvation but they have no fruit. They do not live a Godly life. They live just like the rest of the world but they attend church. So sad. They have no light and they are fully transparent to the saved.

Luke 8:19-21 NKJV
Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

1John 1:6 says, ”If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
So we know that we are saved and we are family with jesus when we do what the Word says and have fellowship with Him. If God’s word has impressed upon you to do something then do it. We must put God’s word into practice or we will fail. It’s easy to say you are a Christian... but being a Christian is not easy at all. It is hard, but not regretable. Don’t say you are a Christan and then live in and of the very same darkness the rest of this world does. You are not of God if u are also of the darkness of satan’s kingdom. Don’t be fake. Make a change. Stand out from the rest of the world. Repent of your sins (turn away) and confess Jesus as Lord in your life. Let him begin working in and through you today and don’t hide it. Let that work show. Spend time in the word and apply it to your life. Begin bearing good fruit by him working mightily in you. Shine Christian shine. Make no tolorance for sin in your life.