Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they who hear; then comes the
Devil, and takes away the Word out of their hearts,
Lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive
the Word with joy; and these have no root, which for a
while believe, and in time of temptation fall away
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when
they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares
and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no
fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest
and good heart, having heard thee Word, keep it, and
bring forth fruit with patience.
The Greek word which was translated into keep in verse 15 is, “katecho” and means to HOLD FAST.
The definition of Hold in the dictionary is, “remain or keep in a particular situation or position”.
The most appropriate definition of fast, which I found in the dictionary was, “firmly fixed”.
The following is a brief paraphrase in which is used the above definitions to add clarity.
But that on good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, REMAIN FIRMLY FIXED IN THE POSITION OF THAT WORD, and bring forth fruit with patience.
The Seed that is sown is The Word of God, and to be more precise The Word of God is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-15). So was the sower simply going out and saying Jesus Christ to everyone. (the sowing of the seed)?
The Apostle Paul said, “we preach Christ Crucified,” (1 Cor. 1:23) And in 1 Cor. 2:2 Paul states, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified.
THE POINT
To remain firmly fixed in the position of that Word, is to remain firmly fixed in the position of Christ, and what he accomplished on the Cross.
This is the only way to prevent yourself from becoming one of those by the way side who hear; and then the devil comes and takes the Word out of your heart.
This is the only way to prevent yourself from becoming one of those who received the Word on the rock with joy, but having no root, believe only for a while, and when temptation comes, fall away.
And this is also the only way to prevent yourself from being one who is counted as seed that fell among thorns, who is choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring forth no fruit to perfection.
The only way we can bring forth fruit, with patience, is by having an honest and good heart, receiving the Word of Christ Crucified, and REMAINING FIRMLY FIXED IN THE POSITION OF THAT WORD.
A WORD OF CAUTION
There are many times when honest sincere people fall away during time of temptation. And many times these people do not really believe they have fallen away. We must examine ourselves continually, to be sure our object of faith is always, “Christ and Him Crucified”.
Also, many are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, but still believe they are keeping the Word.
The devil is very deceptive and one of his much used tools of deception, I believe is to cause the believer to think he is trusting in the Cross of Christ, when in reality his object of faith has been vacillated.
