May-June 2006 Syllabus Introduction & Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 7 Lesson 8
God Provides The Seed
What kind of soil is your heart? Our Father provides the seed which will produce the fruit of the Spirit. He sends the sower. He supplies the vine on which the fruit will grow (John 15:1). He is the vinedresser (John 15:1). He gives life for the fruit to grow.
What He Cannot Contribute
One important element He cannot contribute and that is the human heart, for He cannot use it, unless we yield it. Without this element, all that He provides is useless. The human heart is the soil in which the seed can grow. If this soil is defective, the seed cannot grow, and there will be no fruit brought forth to glorify and honor the Father.
What Kind of Soil Is Your Heart?
Christ taught a parable about the different types of soil. It is important that we consider it and examine our hearts, in order to know what kind of soil we are:
The Parable Of The Sower
The Wayside Soil
Matt.13:3-9;18-23
1. Behold, a______ went out to sow. And as he sowed, some _______ fell by the wayside; and the _____ came and devoured them. (Mat. 13: 3-4)
Jesus explained:
2. When anyone ______ the word of the kingdom, and does not ______________ it, then the wicked one comes and ____________ away what was sown in his ____________. This is he who received ________ by the wayside." (Mat. 13: 19)
Wayside Soil Is Hardened, Impenetrable Soil
I grew up on a cotton farm in the Mississippi delta. Encircling the fields was a barren road called the "turn row". This narrow strip of land was used by farm vehicles going and coming from the field. Farm vehicles also used it as a place to turn around when they reached the end of the row. Nothing grew on this land because it was hard and packed from all the traffic going to and fro. This is an example of wayside soil. Seed would accidentally drop on this soil, from the equipment, as it brought the seed to the good soil to be planted. It would lie there as if on concrete, until birds came and ate it.
Harden Not Your Heart
The hearer has power over his own heart, whether he will harden it or yield it, soft and pliable, to the teachings of the Word of God.
3. Do not _______ your hearts, as in the rebellion,.... (Ps.95:8)
4. Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who __________ heart will fall into __________ . (Prov.28:14)
5. But in accordance with your _________ and your _____________ heart you are treasuring up for yourself ______________ and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (Rom. 2:5)
6. But exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today", lest any of you be ____________ through the __________________ of sin. (Heb. 3:13 )
No Understanding
Jesus said that the person with wayside soil type heart, heard but did not understand. There are two reasons that I can think of that a person would not understand the word if he heard it.
One reason is if the teacher does not teach and explain adequately for the student to learn all he needs to know.
The other reason is the student does not to desire to understand. The latter is the nature of the wayside soil.
It is the responsibility of the teacher to stay with a student of the Word until he understands, as long as the student is willing and desiring to understand.
Do You Understand?
We have an example of a teacher doing this very thing:
7. Then the ______ said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet ________, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone _________ me?" (Acts 8:29-30)
Philip Preached Jesus To Him
8. And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the __________ which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the __________; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His ______________ His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the ___________ say this, of himself or of some other man?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. (Acts 8: 31-35)
I Believe
9. Now as they went down the road, they came to some ______, And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being _________?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your __________, you may." And he answered and said, "I _________ that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Acts 8: 36-37)
Philip Baptized Him
10. So he commanded the __________ to stand still. And _____ Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he ___________ him. (Acts 8: 40)
11. Now when they came up out of the ________, the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way ____________. (Acts 8:39)
Evidence Of Understanding
We notice that the eunuch said that he did not understand because he did not have a teacher. Philip preached to him Jesus. There is then evidence of understanding, because the eunuch desired to be baptized after he was taught and then he went on his way rejoicing.
A Teacher Should Thoroughly Teach
When Jesus was giving the great commission to the Apostles, he told them to make disciples (teach them the Word) and then baptize them.
12. What did he tell them to do after that? (Matt.28:19-20)
The Heart Of The Hearer
The implication in the passage Jesus taught about the wayside soil is that the problem with this soil is more than the teacher’s failure to teach. It lies in the heart of the hearer. Those with wayside soil type hearts are like the children of Israel and of Judah.
God said:
13. And they have turned to Me the back and not the _________; though I ________ them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to _________ instruction." (Jer. 32:33)
The Student’s Responsibility
The second reason people do not understand and are in danger of becoming wayside soil, never bearing fruit, is because they do not put any effort into learning on their own part. Let’s look at some passages that indicate the responsibility the student has in gaining understanding:
14. In Heb.5:11, what problem did these students of the Word have?
15. What does it mean to be "dull of hearing"?
16. Why were some them not teachers of the Word? (Heb. 5:12)
17. What is the spiritual condition of those who drink spiritual milk? (Heb. 5: 13)
18. To whom does solid (spiritual) food belong? (Heb. 5:14)
19. What does the author of Hebrews indicate that a person is in danger of if they are not progressing spiritually? (See Heb. 6: 1, 4-8)
20. Those who do not exercise physically get flabby muscles. What happens to those who are not exercising spiritual muscles? (Heb. 6:12)
We Will Not Produce Fruit
Unless We Are Nourished By The Word Of God
Psalms 1 tells about a man who is blessed.
21. What is his attitude towards the word of God? (Ps. 1:2)
22. How often does he think about God’s Law? (Ps. 1:2)
23. What does the future hold for this man? (Ps. 1:3)
The Bereans Were Not Wayside Soil
24. Tell what set the Bereans apart from the Thessalonians. (Acts 17:11)
A Window Of Opportunity
In our years of teaching the gospel, I have observed that new Christians are usually eager to know more. They are ready to receive instruction. They are hungering and sensing that there is so much catching up to do, from the years they wasted in sin.
They are stimulated by their new knowledge and relationship with God. They are curious to know what else, indeed, everything else, they have been missing. This is a window of opportunity for Bible teachers which must not be lost or neglected! This window may soon close if new Christians are not supplied quickly with the spiritual food they so greatly desire, especially after they start rubbing elbows with contented, self-satisfied members.
Neglected New Converts
Over the past 20 years, I have met many who obviously were neglected during this crucial time. They were evidently taught, baptized and then forgotten. They became members of congregations who were lax in teaching the Word in their Bible classes and the pulpit.
Pride And A Hardened Heart
New converts in these situations can quickly lose their appetite for the Word. They may even become puffed up with pride and develop hearts hardened to the occasional grain of truth they may happen to hear. In this type spiritual environment, these neglected souls can soon outnumber the well versed in a congregation.
Time In The Pew Does Not Equal Knowledge
Some people can sit in the pew for years and never grow in knowledge. They don’t study at home. They don’t get fed when they worship. This doesn’t seem to matter to church leaders who invite these weak Christians to become Bible class teachers, or worse, appoint them as elders.
When this happens, they begin to spread their lack of knowledge around. Often they fall back on what they knew before they were converted and begin teaching error.
Wayside Soil In The Church??
Eventually a congregation will go into apostasy because they are being taught by those who have not been taught and who have not studied on their own. It becomes a real problem when the wayside soil is not only in the church, but is running it.
25. My people are destroyed from lack of ___________. Because you have rejected ____________ I will reject you....... (Hosea 4:6)
26. Mary.....sat at Jesus’ feet and _______ His word. ..... And Jesus said.... "Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:39-42)
Conduct A Survey
27. Conduct a survey of people who were converted after they became adults:
A. Ask them what personal measures were used in follow up teaching after they were converted.
B. Ask if they think that enough time was spent in one on one follow up teaching after they were baptized.
C. Did the examples set by members encourage them or discourage them after they were baptized? Ask them if they were warned about the possibility of apostasy after they were converted.
D. Ask them if as a new Christian they were taught they must bear fruit.
Let us pray that our hearts will be rich, fertile, yielding soil always receptive to the Word of God.