WordFruit5 – God's Word in Action

How Does The Word Of God Bear Fruit In Us?

Part 5 - The word is heard and is understood

We are told that these people, known as the good soil in the Scriptures (Matthew 13:23a, Mark 4:20a, Luke 8:15a), heard the Word of God. We are also told that when they listened to the Word of God, they either understood it (Matthew 13:23b), accepted it (Mark 4:20b), or retained it (Luke 8:15b), and, as a result, all were able to produce a crop. Let us remember that in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, the Sower is God, the Father speaking through His Son Jesus (John 14:22-24), and the seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11).

If you truly believe the Word of God, you will be able to do the works Jesus did and even greater (John 14:12). Jesus promised this just before He was crucified on the cross for all our sins. Praise God that Jesus overcame death, rose out of the grave into heaven, and is now sitting on the right hand of God, our Father, as our advocate (Romans 8:34).

Jesus also promised us that whatever we ask for in His name, He will do it so that “the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13-14). Let us go over all that we just read on this page.

We grab hold of the Word of God once we have heard it, and we get to ask Jesus for anything we want, and He will do it. But, can a child of God ask Jesus for anything, even way, way, way out of this world? Let us take a look at Ephesians 3:20-21 for the answer:

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

The Word of God states in Ephesians 3:20 that Jesus can do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Let me repeat the Word of God. Jesus can do “exceedingly abundantly more than you could ever ask or think (imagine in the NIV version).

There I go again, getting overly excited writing this. Dear Lord Jesus, I pray for more self-control in sharing your word for God’s glory.

What the Word of God told us in Ephesians 3:20 is truly amazing, but it does not end there. There is a dependent clause (according to the power that works in us) at the end of Ephesians 3:20 that is very revealing. Let us review, again, Ephesians 3:16-17a, which was discussed earlier in the introduction of this article:

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

In Ephesians 3:16-17, we are told that God is strengthening us with power through His Spirit in our inner being (spirit) so that Jesus can live in our hearts by faith (believing in Him). So here we see that the power of God is at work in us so that Jesus can do His thing in our hearts when we put our faith in Him, which is to believe in Him.

Hebrews 11:6 states, “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” The power in a child of God will only work if they trust and obey Jesus. So, going back to the end of Ephesians 3:20, we see that when we ask Jesus for anything, He will only give us what we ask “according to the power that is at work in us.” Let us look at what Jesus says about those who He can heal (restore health, family, relationships, work, land, etc.); beyond anything we can ask or imagine. We will also take this time to summarize this article about the Parable of the Sower and the Seed using Isaiah 6:8-10.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

We really have two types of people in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed: the believers and the unbelievers.

According to Isaiah 6:9, the unbelievers will forever hear God’s word but never understand. This is because of their unbelief, and we are told in Isaiah 6:10 that they end up having calloused hearts, deaf ears, and blind eyes. Let me explain:

When you ignore the Word of God, your heart becomes hardened for what the world has to offer. You are also unable to understand anything you heard from the Word of God, and you are blinded to the crops (things or works) produced from God’s Word.

Also, according to Isaiah 6:10b, the believers see with their eyes the crop (works, things, etc.) in their lives that the Word of God produces. They hear the Word of God with their ears, and they understand what the Word of God is saying. So let us list what happens to believers when they trust and obey the Word of God.

When they see the Word of God manifesting His Fruit in their lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23);

When they hear the Word of God teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training them in God’s Righteousness (God’s way of doing things in any situation) (2 Timothy 3:16);

When they understand the Word of God in their hearts and turn (trust and obey the Word of God);

…then they will be healed (beyond anything you can ask or imagine).

As you can see or hear, we need to believe the Word of God if we want Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives. We will close with the Scripture below, Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 was repeated by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40, when He answered, what was the greatest commandment? Finally, Deuteronomy 6:7-9 describes what you should do with the Word of God beyond believing it.

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Matthew 13:18 “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 their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Mark 4:13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Luke 8:11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.