The Country Church Bourbon Indiana

Text: Luke 8:16-21

Verse 16-18

This short parable relates to the parable we spoke about last week.

*Review last week’s sermon – four types of hearts “soil.”

• Those for whom the Word makes no impact whatsoever. It falls by the wayside and is taken away.
• Those who receive the Word on a surface level, but it does not reach their heart and is abandoned when trials come.
• Those for whom the Word is heard, but the things of the world ultimately consume their focus, and so the Word does not bear fruit.
• Those who receive the Word with an open and honest heart and hold fast to it, bearing fruit.

The parable was speaking more about the fruit of true faith compared to a number of ways that the Gospel is often, ultimately, rejected. But it hits home for us as believers too. Likely we can all relate at one time or another to one of these four positions of openness to the Word. Sometimes we let worldly pleasures get in the way, and what we have heard is choked by those pleasures and ultimately does not bear fruit.

It’s very easy to forget about something that God has spoken to you about in His word when we are focused all upon worldly cares and pleasures.

Trials can be hard to endure, and sometimes we don’t pass the test or we fall to temptation.

And sometimes we simply don’t pay attention at all – the Word falls to the wayside and is taken away by Satan.

The short parable in verses 16-18 is related to the parable above it. Verse 18 and verse 10 are tied together. As we talked about last week, Jesus choosing to teach in parables was a judgment upon those who had hardened their hearts against Him and God’s message. People like most of the Pharisees and scribes of the day. Who would say John had a demon for having a strict diet and Jesus was a glutton for having a more relaxed one. They would try to trap Jesus in His words with questions like “who does this money belong to? Caesar or God?” They knew that whatever Jesus would answer to that question, there would be someone out there who would want to kill Him for it. They heard what He said, but they weren’t really listening.

The opponents of Jesus were not at all careful how they heard. They weren’t listening to Jesus’ words at all, in fact. When they did, it was only to oppose Him. Therefore, Jesus began to teach in parables. They received less and less of God’s Word. Ultimately their ability to understand Jesus’ teaching at all was taken away. Even what they thought they heard and knew was taken away from them.

But to those who listened carefully and sincerely desired to follow Jesus, He would take them to the side and explain the true meaning of the parable to them. And thus, to the ones who had – the disciples – more and more was given to them. Their knowledge of God, His ways, and how to obey Him, grew and grew. While the knowledge of those who did not listen, received less and less. “to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Application:

And that warning Jesus gives to His disciples here, “Take care then how you hear,” is not for the people living at that time only. We also need to be careful how we hear. Because God consistently operates under that principle – the more that you ignore and resist Him, the less you have, and the less you will continue to have.

When Pharaoh ignored God, it eventually got to the point that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. When Nebuchadnezzar ignored God, God gave to him the mind of a cow.

When Jesus’ opponents ignored Jesus, it eventually got to the point where Jesus taught in parables with the intention that they would not understand Him.

Even for believers, we are warned not to grieve the Holy Spirit within us. Ignoring God’s promptings within you brings grief to the Holy Spirit and those promptings start to come less and less and be less powerful.

We should be careful then how we hear. If we have developed a habit of letting the Word fall by the wayside, or letting the cares of this life choke the Word, or whatever. Then, we will receive less and less.

But if, instead, we approach God’s Word with an open and honest heart, we will receive more and more, and grow into people who produce great fruit in our lives for our joy, the joy of others, and for the glory of God. And the difference between gaining more and more and losing even what you think you have, is having a heart that is open and honest toward God and His Word.

Likewise, verses 16 and 17, also are relating to the parable before. Verses 16 and 17 are what we do with that Word which we have received into our hearts.

It’s obvious, no one lights a lamp for the purpose of covering it with a jar – for that would immediately put the light out. Neither does someone light a lamp to put it under the bed – I mean, for one, that’s a fire hazard! But for another, you aren’t going to get much light out of a lamp that is hidden under your bed.

In the same way, when God’s Word is heard and received, it doesn’t stay hidden. What does it do, verse 15… it bears much fruit. God’s Word comes in, the lamp is lit, it is evident to all who enter that light has come into your life. People will notice.

No one genuinely hears and receives God’s Word for the purpose of immediately extinguishing it from their life and hiding it from other people. If, when hearing God’s Word, you extinguish it or hide it from other people – I assure you, you are not behaving like the person whose heart is open and honest toward God. You are instead behaving like one of the other three people, for whom the Word does not produce fruit in their life.

If God’s Word comes to me and says “Aaron, don’t lie to people.” And I say to myself “Ok, I accept that into my heart.” And then everyone around me is thinking “Man, why is Aaron lying so much? Can’t believe a word that guy says.” Then has the lamp really been lit? Am I really like the fourth person in this parable who has received the Word with an honest and open heart? No. I’ve not just lied to everyone else, I’ve lied to myself. I am instead like one of the other three people, for whom the Word does not produce fruit.

And if you’ve ever heard these verses preached or sung about before, you’ve probably heard them in the context of sharing the Gospel with other people. And there is certainly good reason for that. If you have trusted in Christ as your Savior, it really doesn’t make sense for what you do with that decision to be to cover it up with a jar or to stick it under a bed. It is something to be shared.

Now that verse in the middle, verse 17. This is probably one of the most humbling and frightening verses in the entire Bible. “Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest.” Everything will be made known and come to light.

Pause, think about that. Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. That would be a wise thing for a person to listen to and hold fast in an open and honest heart. It’s also a good reason to always tell the truth. The truth will out in time. Fortunately, God is our judge, not other people, and God will be very gracious and merciful to us through His Son Jesus Christ. But it is nevertheless a very humbling, but healthy, thing to keep in mind. And if you have not received grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, then it is a very frightening thing to consider.

Link: Now, these next three verses have struck people as odd and cold. But I think, considering the context and all that we have just discussed, they are not.

Verses 19-21

So you might hear that and think: Is Jesus saying that His mother is not really his mother and his brothers are not really his brother?

No, He’s not intending to say something negative about them at all. First, the point of everything that Jesus just said before is basically this:

True disciples of Jesus, the true children of God, are those who hear the word of God and do it. Just like a lamp is not lit to be quenched and hidden. So Christ Jesus is not received to be ignored and denied. Just like a seed has not been planted into good soil if it does not grow into a plant that produces some fruit. So Christ has not been received in the life of one who never moves on to obey Christ.

His mother and brothers instead “just so happened” to arrive at the perfect time for Jesus to make His point in all of these parables exceptionally clear – “my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” That’s these parables in the most plain and simple terms. They mean “my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” The true children of God, who have truly placed their faith in Christ, go on to do good works. I’m sure He didn’t leave his earthly mother and brothers standing out in the cold.

One reason I’m sure is 1 Corinthians 9:5. Check this out. This is really awesome if you didn’t know. “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” Also, check out Galatians 1:19 “but I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.” Do you know what these verses means? This means that Jesus’ own brothers became Jesus’ disciple. Can you imagine? Isn’t that such a powerful testimony to the truth of the Gospel?

Imagine if one of your siblings claimed to be the Messiah. Would you become their disciple? Imagine younger people, if your brother or sister was claiming to be the Messiah. You would go “Mooom, my brother is acting weird again.” And us adults would probably be pretty alarmed. I am confident none of you would become your own brother’s disciple. I know I would not, and my brother would never become mine, and we love each other very dearly.

And yet, they did. But it gets even better. Turn with me to the book of James. Do you know who wrote this book? Do you know who penned the words “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”? Jesus’ own brother. This book was written by James the Just, Jesus’ own brother. And you want to know something else about James the Just? James the Just was martyred by being thrown down from a temple and then beaten to death with clubs between 62 and 69 AD. James the Just was brother to our Lord both in the flesh and by the new birth through faith in Jesus Christ, and He was willing to die for Jesus. How wonderful! How amazing!

So, no, Luke 8:21 is absolutely not about Jesus saying that his mother and brothers are somehow outsiders. It’s about what being born again as a child of God really looks like – it looks like hearing the word of God and doing it. And I think Jesus’ brother James at least, got the point. It’s in the book of James that we read “faith without works is dead” and “you believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!”

Works don’t save you. Don’t get that confused. But true faith produces works. For some maybe 30, some 60, some 100, some maybe less than 30 or more than 100. But no one lights a lamp for the purpose of immediately quenching and hiding it.