Bible, Bros & Brew
Bible, Bros, & Brew is all about helping you navigate your relationship with God in practical, real-life ways. Hosts David and Phil dig into scripture—'chopping up the word'—and bring it to life with insights you can actually use every day. And while they’re at it, they share their favorite 'brews'—don’t worry, it’s not booze! Just a solid lineup of classic coffees and teas to keep the conversations flowing.
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Walking in the Spirit: Why the Parable of the Sower is So Vital | Bible, Bros & Brew
One of the most powerful keys to making progress in your spiritual life is this simple yet profound concept: Fruit is the product of seed. If we plan on bearing the fruit of the spirit outlined in Galatians 5:22, we have to take seriously the cultivation of the seed of God's Word in our everyday life. In this second installment of our series on how to walk in the spirit, David & Phil take an in-depth look at the parable of the sower in both Mark 4 and Luke 8, and explore not only the four types of soil mentioned in that parable, but also what practical steps you can take to become a proficient "spiritual farmer" in order to see more fruit from God's Word in your life.
gotbrew@biblebros.net
Hey everybody, last week we began to walk in this little truth of Galatians 5.16, where it says walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust or the appetite of the flesh. And as we began to dig into that scripture, we realized that every fruit starts with a seed. This week we're going to take a look at the seed and begin to plant the kind of life that we want. Up next, on Bible Bros and Brew, I'm David With me. Today I've got Philip on my side, and down below we've got the illustrious John, and then, over to the catacorner of me, we've got none other than ryan holdeman and company ryan and john hey, nisi glad to see you there, how you guys doing tonight you guys doing all right tonight.
Speaker 1:Are you just playing in the wind?
Speaker 3:how are you doing? David, I'm great thanks for finally responding I don't remember that video with that news guy who was talking and his daughter walks in while he's doing the broadcast.
Speaker 1:That was too funny man the difference, though Ryan is unfazed. He didn't even move, he didn't lose his mind or anything. Well, we're glad you guys have joined us. Tonight we're going to be talking about, or continuing on in our conversation, about walking in the spirit, and what does it mean? Last week, we talked a little bit about what it doesn't mean, and then we began to realize something Philip said that was so profound. Last week. He said fruit is the product of seed, and so we knew we needed to visit Mark chapter four this week. So we're going to be talking about the parable of the sower. But before we look at that, let's take a look at what's going on in these cups of coffee, because, as you know, good conversation is always well oiled by good brew. So I'm going to start with you, philip, what you drinking tonight?
Speaker 3:Well, I decided to go local and I'm very pleased with the result. Man, there is a coffee shop down in Peachtree City, georgia. It's called Bloom Organics. I don't know if you guys have heard of it. It's like coffee shop, slash, gift shop kind of thing, really cool place. But they have like an in-house brand that they have called these coffee.
Speaker 3:Nice, it's the decaf I'm doing tonight, because I've probably overdid it earlier with other things, but it's called the dancing goats and I really liked that. Man, it's good, it's delicious. Man, it's one of the best decafs I've had. And I don't know if y'all have heard the legend of the dancing goats. Have you heard this whole thing? Well, it legend of the dancing goats. Have you heard this whole thing? Okay, well, it's the history of coffee. Um, supposedly, uh, there was a? Um, a goat herder in in yemen, I think it was, and he was out just kind of tending his, his, his goats and he noticed that every time they ate of this certain berry on the bush, they would start jumping around all over the place and that was actually the coffee bean they were eating. So it kind of came from there. So he decided to take the beans and, I guess, boil them or do something with them. So from what I understand. So, yeah, pretty cool story man.
Speaker 1:Great story, Nice share, Philip, and I just want to congratulate you. This is two weeks straight that you have not had a peregrine coffee. That ain't see if you let God work.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, your deal expired with him.
Speaker 1:My brand partnership. We got a 16-week Peregrine run coming, don't worry.
Speaker 3:Yes, we do. I got a whole other bulk order about to go down here in a little bit yeah we love and for the record we pick on Phillip.
Speaker 1:We love Peregrine.
Speaker 2:They're great people, awesome folks, all right.
Speaker 1:John, what are you drinking tonight?
Speaker 2:Oh snap, I had to go back down to my roots. Today I picked up, picked up. Tonight I'm drinking Black Rifle Coffee Company. This is our I guess their Freedom Roast. It's actually, it is one of my favorites. It's got notes of milk chocolate, notes of vanilla and cinnamon as well, so it's very flavorful. I don't knowful. Black Rifle never misses with me good stuff, man do you feel more liberated as you drink that coffee. I feel just the America just flowing through my head.
Speaker 1:America, yes, man, it's nice well make sure you drink your black rifle. On Monday with inauguration, you'll feel quite the American lift, as they say. Alright, ryan, what about you? What are you drinking tonight?
Speaker 2:I've got the Peets in my new mug, yep. So nothing toot, for I've got the pizza in my new mug, yep.
Speaker 1:So yeah, which pizza Are you still working on the holiday roast?
Speaker 2:No, done with that. Now we're back to the major dicker scenes.
Speaker 1:Oh, he is the ultimate armed forces guy I understand armed forces guy for coffee Tonight for me, I am rocking my pothead cup from none other than the Black Rifle Coffee folks. That's right, I am drinking a cup of just black from Black Rifles. So yes, be very jealous. I wish you had some just black.
Speaker 3:Dang Okay.
Speaker 2:All right Point taken and noted.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get into it tonight as we kind of bounce ourselves off into the word night, as we kind of bounce ourself off into the word. And, as I said a few minutes ago, philip said something profound last week when he said that fruit is the product of seed. And that immediately got me thinking and he was already thinking it as well is that we've got to look at. If we want to understand seed, we've got to look at the parable of the sower, because the parable of the sower tells us so much about the seed, but Jesus also tells us it's a foundational parable and if you understand this parable, he says, you'll be able to understand all parables. So it really is a critical parable for us to wrap our hands around.
Speaker 1:So let's look at Mark, chapter 4. Now there are three ways you can read this parable. You can look at it in Mark, chapter 4, luke, chapter 8, or Matthew, chapter 13. We're going to look at all across the board here over this week and next week, but for right now we're going to look at Mark, chapter 4 and kind of lay a foundation here. Philip, you want to take a stab at reading that for us and go through the first part.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. It says he began again to teach by the seaside and I like the fact that it said again so that means it was something that he was, that was just his regular vibe. You know, he's teaching all the time. He began again to teach by the seaside and there was gathered unto him a great multitude so that he entered into a ship and sat in the sea and the whole multitude was by the sea, on the land. So he's out there in a boat, kind of right off the shore, just talking to a crowd all along the shoreline.
Speaker 3:It says he taught them many things by parables and said unto them in his doctrine hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow and it came to pass. As he sowed, some fell by the wayside. Now the word some there is referring to the seed. Some seed fell by the wayside and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. Some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched and because it had no root that's a key it withered away. And some fell among the thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no fruit. And then others fell on good ground and did yield fruit. That sprang up and increased and brought forth some 30 and some 60 and some 100. And he said unto them he that has ears to hear, let him hear. And so he gives them this illustration and I'm sure they're probably thinking OK, you know, because most of the people living in that time it was a very agrarian society, agricultural society. They all understood sowing and reaping. You know, it was very common back then for people to grow their own food. But at the same time they probably were thinking there's got to be a little bit more to this. We know that part, you know we're familiar with sowing and reaping.
Speaker 3:And then we get to verse 10. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the 12 asked of him the parable. So this wasn't with the whole crowd, this was later said. When he was alone, they that were about him with the 12. So he had 12 with him and then maybe a few more. It wasn't like the whole crowd was asking this.
Speaker 3:And he said unto them, unto you, it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. There's a lot to get into, even with just that phrase, kingdom of God. But we'll keep rolling. But unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables. So he's saying to them I'm letting you in on something here, this isn't something common, it's only for those that are, if you want to say, on the inside. And the reason why I say that is because he said unto them that are without, that that phrase actually means to them that are on the outside, to them that are without or on the outside, these things are done, done in parables.
Speaker 3:And then I'll just skip to verse 13. He said unto them know you not this parable? And how, then, will you know all parables? So, like David said earlier, he's pointing out right here this is like a master key, like you know, those kinds of things where you got one key that can unlock several different locks. That's what this is. And he gives us the I believe to be like the core I don't know what to call it like the core principle, the core truth of how the?
Speaker 3:kingdom of God works.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd say it's a core truth, a foundational principle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is like if you don't get this, you're probably not. Everything else is kind of ancillary, compared to this verse 14. The sower sows the word he's like. Remember that seed I was talking about? That's actually God's word.
Speaker 1:Right and can we? Can we just stay right there? How, just starting right? There is that if you are a person, if you're a Christian, if you're a believer, that makes you a sower.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, you have. It's as if to say you have a responsibility to sow the word. I think, though, philip, in another way though it's, that we, as believers I think everybody is everybody in one sense are sowers. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, but then it becomes a matter of what you're sowing.
Speaker 3:What you're sowing. That's right man. Elaborate, david, if you don't mind.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean it's, you know, because we see it every day. Right, we sit and we watch people and we see how people live this life and we can we point out and we can say, man, that's some bad seed that dude just sowed right.
Speaker 1:You know, and just think about what does it mean to sow seed? It's not just to scatter seed to the ground. That's the example here. But when we go into a work environment and talk to anybody any kind of way, we're sowing seed right, because eventually that seed is going to come back and prepare a harvest. So we're making harvest available in our lives.
Speaker 1:When we treat people well, when we bless and serve the poor and the hungry, you know, when we give of ourselves for the benefit of others, when we use our mouths to speak good, godly, righteous things, we're sowing good seed. And those seed, when watered and nurtured, will produce good things. And in the same way, when we do bad things to people, when we misbehave, when we sin, we're also sowing a seed. When we sin, we're also sowing a seed. But it's not good seed, it's bad seed. It's the tares right. It's seed that's designed to grow up and bear no fruit and really, as you'll see here in just a minute, I believe, in some cases we're actually sowing thorns. We're sowing bad vines that produce negative harvest that can actually choke out the good seed that we planted.
Speaker 1:That's good. So you know, some of us are, some of us are double planting with our mouths. You, know with in one sense, we're planting good seed in the ground that should bear good fruit, but then we're going right behind it planting planting bad seed, and that bad seed chokes out the good and tries to produce its own harvest and says I'm here and it's nothing you wanted.
Speaker 3:Wow, if you think about it too, man, it's like Paul said that too. It's interesting. In the end of Romans 6, he said what fruit do you have? And all the things that you did that you're now ashamed of, you know so. So he was even. He was kind of pointed out even back from a whole other book, a whole other author, but the Holy Spirit still, that message is very consistent. It's like the things you were doing were seeds. You know what kind of fruit did you get out of that stuff that you're now ashamed of? You know.
Speaker 3:So it's like whether or not you even know it, as a believer, when you come into the things of God, actually as a human being, you come into, you become a sower as soon as when you're born into this planet. You're, and it can even come down to your media consumption, things like that. Those are seeds that you're planting in your mind and heart. You know it could be the movies you watch, it could be the music you're listening to, just whatever kind of entertainment choices. Those also can be considered seeds, because they're competing for a place in your heart and in your mind, and if you're constantly absorbed, you know, inundating yourself with those kinds of things, then it's to the degree that it's drowning out God's Word. You're probably going to see more fruit from those things instead of from God's Word.
Speaker 1:You know, philip, even in Genesis, chapter eight, it says you know, while the earth remains seed time and harvest. Look at it's like even in Genesis right out of the rib, while the earth remains seed time and harvest. Cold and heat, summer, winter, day and night shall not cease. Wow, so we're always going to be in this place where we, as believers, are operating in the law of seed time and harvest.
Speaker 3:That's right. That's right, and God meant for his system to operate that way. And no matter how modern we get or how technologically advanced we get, god's system does not change. You know, he has established the system of seed, time and harvest for how he wants to operate, and that's why Jesus I take it back to Mark 4, it's like he said if you don't know this parable, how are you going to know any of the things I'm talking about? Right, this is the root, this is the nucleus of how the kingdom of God operates, and I mean, I don't know what else to say except we either jump on board with that and learn how to work with that system, or we continue to be victims of that system in a way that we don't want.
Speaker 1:You know which leads to say so we want to be a part of your Bible study, right? One of the things that I encourage you to study is these parables. Yes, Because if it's so important that Jesus says, if you know this, you'll get it all, Well just think about it.
Speaker 1:I think I've always believed that that there that plays a part in your understanding of the word, that if you'll understand this parable, then as you read on from Mark and Matthew and Luke into John and on into the letters and parables, there's something more that's going to be open to your eyes as a result of understanding this. And so I encourage you to take time to study this parable and to get comfortable with it and feel to that. Well, I was going to say feel it, you know, but really dig into it and let it marinate your spirit, because you'll see this pop back up. You know, like Philip just said, in Romans, chapter six, I jump back to Genesis, chapter eight, and it's really planted throughout the whole Bible, old Testament and New Testament. Seed time and harvest time shows up all the time and you know, it shows up in the actions people take.
Speaker 1:It shows up in decisions that people make. It just it's everywhere and if seed time and harvest is everywhere, then we've got to learn how to operate it, because one other quick thing, phil, is that it goes back to what we read last week. We talked about the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance, self-control. I think I got them all. Love, you cannot cultivate those things without seed time and harvest.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:At some point you have to sow the seed for each of those fruit and then begin to nurture them so that they can bear fruit.
Speaker 3:And then you have trees of all of those things functioning in your life, and then your job is to be a good husbandman and cultivate all of that fruit and maintain your trees and then grow more and more and more so that you live a fruitful life and you know what's interesting too, I thought about this man when you're, you're saying that, um, even in, like, non-christian circles or just generally what we call the world system or whatever, um, even they have an understanding of this to a degree, it's like because you ever heard the phrase, uh, what goes around comes around, right, or uh, they talk about karma a lot.
Speaker 3:You hear people saying, um, and it's this idea that's behind it that we kind of get that. It's like most people believe to some degree that whatever you put out is what you're going to get back in one way or the other. But to me, of course, the Bible is the ultimate root of. I mean, it's the core truth of how to understand that system, because God is the one who invented the system. We might call it karma, we might call it what goes around comes around, but at the end of the day, it's what God established as the way things work.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Go ahead. I was going to say and just realize that the system of karma, the system of what goes around comes around, those are based out of the Bible. The Bible didn't pull from those principles. Those concepts came from the Bible and people trying to, you know for whatever reason, that they did. But hold on to the Bible as the foundational teaching in this, because I mean it did. It goes back to the very beginning of the word even even, even in the garden you know Jesus talked about the seed time and harvest that would happen in the garden and how.
Speaker 1:You know when man sin, how he would have to toil in the garden. You know toil to get food up or to get growth out of the ground. So we, we've seen this before. Don't, don't buy into the lie that it belongs to some other. You know ethereal extraterrestrial. You know ethereal extraterrestrial. You know assignment out there, because it doesn't, it belongs to God.
Speaker 3:Right, absolutely so. Finally, in Mark 4, when we get down there, where Jesus gets a chance to explain it to him what he was talking about in the parable and he said okay, here's how it works.
Speaker 3:In verse 14, the sower sows the word and these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown. But when they have heard, satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. Now, this to me is key too, david, because he identifies the location where the sowing happens, right. Right, it's like, oh, it's seed that goes into your heart. So and we know, if you study the word heart all through the Bible, especially the New Testament, it's basically a combination of the mind and spirit. Together. It's like the spirit and soul together equals the heart. So, if you want to just kind of make it more general, it's the inner man, it's the inward person, the thoughts, the motives, the desires, the emotions, everything that makes you who you are, your power to choose. All that is kind of wrapped up in what we call the heart. And so when he says this seed goes into the heart, that means, if we want to break it down, spiritually speaking, your heart is ground or soil.
Speaker 1:Right, that's the important thing, philip. The heart is where you grow things.
Speaker 3:Come on and if you think about this man and if you don't mind, Ryan, if you could pop over to Proverbs 4. This is how important this is. In Proverbs 4, he's talking about he says don't depart from my words. I think it's verse 20, something. He says you know, my son, keep my words, They'll give you length of days, long life and peace, All that good stuff. And then he gets down into verse 20. Yep, there is verse 23. Yep, he says guard your heart. So there it is again Guard your heart, with all diligence or from it flow the springs of life.
Speaker 3:So he's telling us, and that's what soil does right, soil produces things. You know, if you, if you plant seed into it, it's going to produce something. As long as you cultivate it properly and do all the stuff to keep the pests away and all the whatever else, it will produce something. The job of soil is to produce. And so right there in the Hebrew when it says out of the heart, I think in the King James it says are the issues of life. If you look up that word issues, it means the goings forth. It means the goings forth it's kind of like an ongoing verb, you know, like out of the heart are the goings forth of life. So it's like a fountain that's kind of producing something all the time. So that's fascinating to me, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'll tell you something else too that I just thought about the ground produces living stuff. Come on man, the ground does not. The ground does not produce dead things. Even your food, when it's on the vine, is living yes, it's living food.
Speaker 1:It's healthy and it's it's good you, whether it's wheat or corn or grapes or other things, the ground produces more living things and, even more equally as important, it also tends to produce more seed, to produce after its kind, man, and that's why the word talks about. We are the planting of the Lord. He has planted us, and he's producing more after his own kind. We're made in his image and in his likeness, and so we have to appreciate just how deeply and exactly what the word is saying here about our hearts being ground and planting in that ground and that ground producing living things.
Speaker 1:And oh, by the way, out of that living thing comes more living things that you can continue to plant. And as long as you have the ground space for it, you can just go on and on and continue to plant and nurture and cultivate and bring forth harvest and produce a more and more fruitful life. I've never seen Philip the Bible talk about a limitation to how fruitful your life could be.
Speaker 3:No, no. And if you look at just the natural world, it's an example of it, because you think about any kind of thing that you plant, like a watermelon or apple, whatever it is, man, crack that thing open. Guess what's inside? More seed, and it's always more seed than what you started with. You know what I mean. It's like a watermelon, good Lord. There's hundreds of seeds in that thing.
Speaker 3:And imagine this, though. This is what gets me every time I think about it, cause I think I think Miles Monroe said this. He said you can count how many acorns are on an oak tree, but you can't count how many trees are in an acorn. Mmm, I was like, oh, it's deep, but um, and but that's. That shows you the way God thinks. It's like he's a god of perpetual fruit bearing, you know, and if we look at a if you don't mind, ryan, totally popping this on you, john 15, I just wanted to point this out it's kind of like to tie it in the. And if we look at if you don't mind, ryan, I'm totally popping this on you, john 15, I just wanted to point this out as kind of like to tie it in the way God thinks about what he wants us to do and to be like In John 15, I wish I could read Greek, be cool In verse.
Speaker 3:Where does it go? Where he says I am the vine, you're the branches. Yeah, verse five, I'm sorry, verse five. It says I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. And if you study that out, the phrase without me, it actually means separated from me. So, like what David was saying earlier about these things that grow, as long as they're connected to the vine or connected to that plant or whatever it is that produces the fruit, it will continue to bear fruit, you know. And he's saying as long as you're connected to me, you'll bear fruit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the cool thing of God, because that's a second way you can grow. You can grow by being planted in the ground or you can grow by being grafted into the branch. Right, branch right, and so that process of grafting in is where on the original tree or branch they cut off a piece of that and then they take the loose branch that they want to graft in and they cut off a piece of that, so raw connects to raw.
Speaker 1:And then I've seen it where they tape it up. Yeah, pop it up and do all that so it holds together. But the whole objective is that, ultimately, the branch that was added becomes part of the tree, so that which wasn't originally a part of it is now engrafted into the vine and it's growing as if it had always been.
Speaker 3:Goodness gracious.
Speaker 1:And that, again, that's how God you have to realize, that's how God sees us, you know, and that's how you know. Even when we, you know, the scripture talks about how we were grafted into the branch. That's right, and originally we, who were Gentiles, were not a part of the original tree.
Speaker 3:The.
Speaker 1:Jews were a part of the original tree, but God saw fit to take us and to make room for there to be skin-to-skin contact with his vine and for us to be connected. And now the vine takes to the branch and now we that were once separate are now one. And I think in ephesians it talks about. It talks about that a little bit. Um, you know, god's good, yeah, think about all the ways he's looking to bring us in to his kingdom, his way of doing things. And then he says, now that you're here, bear fruit, yeah, plant plant sow and reap Sow and reap.
Speaker 3:Sow and reap, that's it. It's such a mentality shift. It really really is. That's it. It's such a mentality shift. It really really is. Because when we're in the world, and I mean when we're living without God in that system of the world's culture, it's like the way the world thinks of life is you know, get all you can for everything all the time. And that's what he said in Matthew 6. He's like you know, don't think about what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to wear. Everybody in the world, all the Gentiles, are obsessed and consumed with those thoughts all the time. And then he follows it up but seek you first the kingdom of God. He's like the system of sowing and reaping, the system of, you know, giving and getting. Um, that should guide you. Now. It's a mentality shift and it takes faith.
Speaker 3:You can't do it without faith. That I think that's part of one of the things that maybe is hard to, I guess, get accustomed to, because even as, even if you are planting a garden just in the natural world, you plant a garden there is a degree of faith. You have to have to even plant the seed to begin with. You're doing it thinking that there will be in some number of weeks or months. There's going to be something that's going to come from this, even if it looks like nothing's happening above the ground.
Speaker 3:You know you got to go ahead and plant the seed anyway, water it, keep the birds from eating it or whatever else might happen. And eventually you know, like if you bought something like a little plant from I don't know Home Depot, they got the little picture of what the plant should look like, you know, on the seed packet and so you're hoping that one day that photo looks like what you. What's coming out of the ground, you know, or vice versa. But that takes faith and it's the same way with how you sow god's word. You have to do it before you feel like anything's different, before it looks like anything's different, before you, you know, can be guaranteed of a harvest or whatever. You've got to go ahead and sow it and be consistent in the sowing, because that shows that if you are consistent in the sowing there will be a consistent harvest down the road.
Speaker 1:That's good, phillip. That's really good, brian. Let's go back to Mark, chapter four. And so we saw the very first bit, the first reason that the seed struggles. Let me oh Lord, I just lost it. The sower soweth the word, and these are they, by the wayside, where the word is sown, but when they've heard, satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. Secondly, these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves, so endure, but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word sake, immediately they are offended. There's a couple of places to go here, philip, where you want to start.
Speaker 3:I was thinking the same thing. There's so many ways we can branch off of this thing, man. I think it would be good in terms of I'll tell you what, ryan, if you could put it back up on the board for me a second. When it says there, they immediately receive the word with gladness, but they have no root, and I think I mean I myself have fallen into this category. Talk about it now. Talk about it A few times before. It's like you know, you hear the word preached. Maybe you went to church and got a nice sermon and it just stirred you up. Or maybe you and your friends are talking about the word and you're stirred up.
Speaker 3:Or maybe you're just alone in Bible study yourself and you get, and you get geeked out about what the Word's saying and you're like yeah man, I'm going to trust God, I'm going to da-da-da-da, but then you get out there into the world and you get beat down in one way or the other. It's like maybe it's some friends that don't see things the way you do, maybe it's something, you run into a problem, that you run into some type of obstacle or whatever it is. All of a sudden it's testing that word that you got, because you may have just heard a word about forgiveness and now all of a sudden, somebody at work just seems to have it out for you. And it's like why? You know what's going on, dude, it's coming for the word. You know that's the thing, and if you don't pass that test, then that no fruit will be, will come from that. But you got to recognize it and that's why I said actually I think it's uh, in that verse 2, ron um, and it says they have no root in themselves verse 17 and so they endure, but for a time.
Speaker 3:In other words, they're, they're geeked out for a little bit, but then afterward, when affliction or persecution arises, for the word's sake. So it shows you why it's coming. It's for the word's sake, it's trying to get that word. Now the first ground. It was easy. They didn't understand it, so Satan came and got it the second way. They finally got something, but then they couldn't hold on to it and it says immediately they are offended. And so I think it's a good illustration, man, of like, the power of endurance. Man, you have to be able to endure and weather that storm, dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what else. There's a. You know, first of all I was thinking, Philip, just think about this for a moment, dude. Yeah, you know what else? First of all, I was thinking, Phillip, just think about this for a moment. Everybody, Satan comes for the word. In other words, he's not going to willingly, just let it sit in your heart and bear fruit.
Speaker 1:Right right, he's going to come for that word. So you're sitting in church or whatever, and you just are you listening to this Bible study and you're like, man, I got this, this is good, I got this, this is good, I got this. And then tomorrow you go to work and it feels like all hell breaks loose and you're like, well, you know, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm just gonna sow some good word and all that. And then your friend tells you you're just being stupid, you're just missing it missing. You're making this too spiritual, too christian, you're doing too much. Right now you just need to do your work and get focused. And you don't realize that all that is designed because remember, it's stony ground. It says that that means that there's not enough depth of earth or the root to go down and take hold and be nourished.
Speaker 1:That's right, that's right so you've got people contending with your growth and they're fighting for that seed not to grow in your life. And if it doesn't grow, then Satan's like yeah, this is fantastic, because now that won't bear fruit.
Speaker 2:And you just think.
Speaker 1:You just think about it. Um, oh gosh, where's that scripture at? Um, I can't remember it, but after a while, if you're not bear, you think you're bearing a fruit. You're trying to bear fruit and it seems like nothing's coming to pass. Nothing's bearing fruit. After a while, you could get discouraged, and that discouragement can lead you down another path where you're just like I don't even know about this fruit stuff anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm just not going to worry about it. And it's like then you give Satan an open door and he's got you right where he wants you, starting to get isolated out on your own and not even thinking about your job as a sower to sow the word and bear fruit. God's made it possible for you to bear fruit, but you've got to realize that each one of these grounds represents a way that you don't bear fruit, and the whole objective is avoid one through three and work to hit four every time.
Speaker 3:There you go, man. That's good Right.
Speaker 1:But if you can't recognize what one, two and three are, then you're in trouble. So God is so good that he even tells you about the different types of ways Satan comes and tries to steal this word from you, so that you'll be aware of it and you'll know. So then you'll know that now you're sitting here and you're trying to hold on to this word, you know you need some more time and you need to maybe do something to move some rocks out of the way.
Speaker 2:So what do you?
Speaker 1:do you start ducking and dodging a little bit? Well, don't worry about me, you know I'll be all right. I'll be all right. Yeah, I'm going to get focused on my work. Lord, you gave me this word and I believe that this word can bear fruit in my life.
Speaker 1:Lord, Help me to remove anything that's keeping this seed from growing in my life and allow God to start doing what he does, as you're digging in and doing what you do and what you're responsible for, but fight for your seed to bear fruit. Come on, man, don't just let it die on the vine because, oh gosh, well, there's rocks here, so I can't do anything. Move the rocks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there you go, dude, you made me think of my oldest daughter, man, she's got like the greenest thumb ever and so she planted this blackberry uh, like a blackberry bush in this big. We got her this big pot, she planted this thing and it was so cool watching her like she took it seriously and and I'm not good at that, I gotta get better at my gardening skills, man but she took it seriously so she was watching what was going on with that thing. Um, and I remember one time we started noticing little birds would try to come and eat the stuff off the thing. So she got this like zip screen thing where it could cover the whole plant but still have like breathable fabric so it could still, you know, get the light or whatever, whatever. Then another time she she tied it up with a little thing so it wouldn't fall over or be too, you know, too much strain on the root system.
Speaker 3:All this stuff she was doing, man, she was, she was tending to that bush dude and I mean this went on for months. I forgot how long it takes for blackberries to bear fruit, but it's a good while. And then all of a sudden, dude, one day she comes in, she's got these blackberries in her hand and they are like the nicest looking blackberries and they were the best tasting blackberries that ever had in my life. Man, we had some and um, it just really it spoke to me, man, because it was like this is what is necessary.
Speaker 3:If we're going to bear fruit, especially for the kingdom of god, and we're sowing word, there is a part we have to play. You know we've got to be serious about protecting what's in our heart. If it's been sown, you've got to protect that thing. You've got to be like 1 Peter 5 says you've got to be vigilant to recognize when stuff's trying to come to challenge that word, Because it's not that it won't come, it's going to come. Right, because it's not that it won't come, it's going to come. And that's not really being pessimistic, that's being realistic. It's like you got to recognize when those challenges are going to try to come. And so you know she could have taken another route and said I know birds are going to try to mess with this bush, you don't have to worry about it, and she would have got all her berries eaten up every single time, you know. But instead she plans. She saw what was going on and she made provision for it, and that's something that we, as cultivators and sowers, we have to do for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. I just want to point out one other part of this verse, and it talks about um. I just I just walked away from it. It says when affliction or persecution arises, for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Speaker 2:Oh boy.
Speaker 3:Talk about it dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we just got to deal with this offense thing. When you look at that word offended, it comes from the Greek word that's. I'm going to stab at pronouncing it. It's scandalizo. Sounds like scandalous to me.
Speaker 3:It sure does.
Speaker 1:But one of the reasons, one of the definitions, is to cause, to stumble, to offend, to lead to sin. And just think about it. You read in the Word and you're studying and spending time with God. You're a single Christian and you're reading about how God says to maintain your body, to maintain a purity in your life, not to give yourself over to sexual sin, right, and so this word's permeating in you. You got some stony ground in there, because it's also battling what the world says. And you know the world says.
Speaker 1:you know you should test it out before you marry it so you can make sure that you're sexually compatible and so you're dating somebody and they don't have a problem crossing that line. But more as you read, the more you understand, the less do you want to do this. But this person kind of starts talking you into it. And before you know it, you've been led into sin. Wow, you've, you've been caused to it. And before you know it, you've been led into sin. Wow, you've, you've been caused to stumble.
Speaker 1:And so the Bible calls that being off ended offended, and so you have to be careful not to not to be offended. And that's just one version of offended. The other version of offended is to cause, to become indignant, to shock or to offend. And you know you can't let anger about how people feel about the word. You know, philip and I have been at this for years and there are things that I believe about the word that I've heard people say over and over again. You know this isn't true. You know I have a, I have a disagreement with people who say you know, who believe that there is an end to the gifts of the spirit.
Speaker 1:You know, they, they say, the gifts of the spirit ended, you know, back here in the book of Acts or wherever they ended. They ended with Paul, the book of Acts, or wherever they ended with Paul. But I'm like, but that doesn't explain so many other things that happened in the Bible after Paul and things that we see happen in our real world, everyday lives. And we still can lay hands on the sick and see them recover because we actually see it happen in real, genuine ways, them recover because we actually see it happen in real, genuine ways. I disagree with them over those things, but I don't allow myself to become offended because I want the fruit of healing to continue to grow in my life. So I avoid offense in those things so that I can keep a good harvest. That's good. So be careful, don't be offended. Offended is such an easy emotion, it's an easy thing to come into and you know the devil will. He is his offense all the time.
Speaker 1:Oh, goodness yeah, and before you know it, I'm. You know, phil, if I'm being honest. You know there's been a part of my Christian life where I feel like I was offended about everything. You know, christian offended though. You know a righteous offense. Right right, and it was all just really immature.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's true. That's true, it's almost, and, to be honest with you, there's a relationship between spiritual maturity and the amount of offense that you can get into. They seem to be connected in a pretty big way.
Speaker 1:Just be careful with becoming offended, and I would dare say the more you learn to not grow offended at things that are happening and things that people say, the more likely you are to bear the kind of fruit that you desire in your life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then it goes on to say Philip, and I actually like reading about this ground. Don't ask me why I actually like reading about this ground. Don't ask me why. It says and these are they which are sown among thorns such as hear the word, listen to that. They hear the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things enter in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
Speaker 3:Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Yeah, brother, this one here. I thought about this one day, man, and I mean I submit this to everyone listening and to you, david. I actually think that these grounds, these different soils, are levels. I started really thinking about that.
Speaker 3:It's like you got level one where you just don't even get the word enough to understand it, it just gets stolen from you right away. Maybe you're at a church that doesn't teach the word, whatever, whatever. Level two you finally do get the word and receive it, but then persecution or offense can take you off of it and steal that harvest. But when you finally develop some endurance and some fortitude, you get to level three. It's almost like Satan's looking for that angle. He's like, okay, I only understood the word, so I can't get them that way. They are no longer. I can't knock them off with offense, so I got to stop that. But here comes level three. Let me see if I can just distract them. You know the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lust of other things entering in choke the word. So it's not that there's no word there. Right, it's there, it's there, but there's an overwhelming amount of other crap that's coming in and choking. What's there?
Speaker 1:you know, you know, phil, phil, just to add in real quick it's there and it's growing, yes, yes. So there's, there's some level of nurture that's happening to that seed that's causing it to grow. So wow, yeah, I just want to add that into what you're saying.
Speaker 3:No, that's good man, because if you think about it, you ever heard the phrase like man, she's growing like a weed, you know, right right, there's a reason why people say that weeds grow so fast, dude. I mean, I wish we could plant stuff and have it grow the way weeds grow, you know. And so you've got this, this, this soil here that not only has the word planted in it, but all of a sudden these thorns are showing up by way of. The first thing he names is the cares of this world. You could put it this way like the anxieties, the things that we worry about, the things that we are constantly concerned about. You know, that's the cares of this world. How am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay my bills? What if my kids doing stuff they shouldn't be doing? Whatever, whatever it might be the cares of this world. That's a big category by itself.
Speaker 3:And then we get this other one here. I think it's interesting the deceitfulness of riches. It's like, okay, we've got, you've managed to have financial abundance in some kind of way, or maybe you're just trying to chase it. Even that pursuit of money all the time can end up deceiving you, taking you off course, derailing you in some kind of way. And then this one here at the end, I think, is it shouldn't be overlooked, man, the lusts of other things, the lusts of other things. Now, what's interesting to me, it's like it doesn't necessarily say that those are bad things. Right, because it could be that you, you're far more consumed with a particular sport than you are you know the word and the things that got you far more consumed with what's going on with social media than you are with the things that got, or even a TV show, or it could be. I mean, and I'm not saying you can't have any of that stuff in your life.
Speaker 1:Look watching the news and politics.
Speaker 3:News and politics. Oh, that's a big one. That's a big one, dude. Things like that, don't get me wrong. Taken in the proper balance, not a big deal. But if it, if you, if you seem to be consumed with that stuff to where it's coloring everything about your life and God's word is constantly taking a backseat, your spiritual life is going to suffer. I mean, I'm speaking from experience, dude. I know this because I've been through it.
Speaker 3:You know, it's like and whenever I go back to it yeah, I mean, I've had my ups, my downs, my sideways and everything else. And it's like I'm telling you from experience as soon as you start getting consumed with, or occupied with, all this other stuff and God's word starts taking a backseat, next thing, you know, your peace starts draining away. Right, you know, your ability to be patient that's a big one with me you know it drains away. Different things like that man. After a while you just start seeing that you don't have this, that you're not bearing the spiritual fruit you'd like to bear. And when those times hit you and you realize, man, this is not cool, then you got to start checking your inputs. Okay, what am I giving attention to that I shouldn't, or what am I giving too much attention to that I may be able to tone down and tamper down. So it's again cultivation, dude. That's the key.
Speaker 1:Good. One other quick thing on this one is remember that these things that come in, remember your harvest is. There is growth that's happening with what you've planted.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:These things. Their ultimate goal is they choke them out.
Speaker 2:These things. Their ultimate goal is they choke them out.
Speaker 1:So at some point they stop producing and you don't ever come to full fruit. So, in other words, if you planted corn, but then you've got thorns in the ground and the thorns start circling their way around the stalk of the corn and then tightening their grip on that corn until all you get is a little bit of an edge of where corn started to grow but it never got to finish because that thing choked it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just remember, the enemy is trying, really trying to choke you out, wow, and to stop you from producing in your life. And you, you've just got to see the enemy for who he really is, that's right, and what he's trying to do. Philip, this last ground is, of course, where we all want to attend, or what we all want to achieve. It's in these verse 20, are they, which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word, receive it and bring forth fruit, some 30 fold, some 60, and some 100.
Speaker 3:Dude. Let me say this, man, I love how Jesus did not guarantee a particular level of harvest, mm-hmm. I love how he was wise enough and obviously he would be. He's wise enough to say, hey, sometimes it'll produce this, sometimes a little bit more, sometimes a whole lot more. That's as cool and as balanced as you could be, because that's pretty much the way farming works in the natural world too. It's like you might have one year where you have a bumper crop. Very next year everything gets rained out. You know there's different things you deal with and contend with when you're in that cultivation process.
Speaker 3:But the thing that gets me, man and Ryan, if you don't mind going to Luke 8 for this one, because to me Luke 8 nails this particular verse probably more than any of the other two, or more than the other two, two or more than the other two, let's see here. Yep, yeah, here it is in verse 15, luke 815. But that on the good ground are they? Which here's the big goal in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Yep, there's so much here, man, there's so much here. But the one that gets me, david, is the honest and good heart. I didn't realize how difficult it is to get to a place like that, and it's not something that you ever fully achieve and you're done. It's something that can fluctuate at different times, so what do you think about that? I'm throwing it out there, man. What do you think about it?
Speaker 1:No, that's good. I don't have anything to add to that. I mean, an honest and good heart is the equivalent to having clean ground. Yeah Right, it's the equivalent to having good soil. Yeah right, it's the equivalent to having good soil. I was watching a show today and they were. They were doing uh um, I forget the word, but it's when it's all water.
Speaker 1:Uh, all water garden type of thing oh, the hydroponic hydroponic yeah, yeah, thank you and so, um, they were doing a hydroponic garden, but it wasn't all water, because there was soil there. And the lady said well, what about weeds? And the guy said, well, this isn't going to have weeds. First of all, the container that it's in is sterile. The ground that's in it is ground that's come from a bag or something like that.
Speaker 1:So, it doesn't have weed seed in it, and then it's covered with a tight mesh on top, so nothing but whatever the seed is that's growing is going to grow out of this container. So you're not going to have to pluck out weeds from this particular type of garden, and she was thrilled by that. But you know, it's that. It's that, I think, the equivalent to having a kind of a sterile ground, a good ground, where everything is covered and it's made possible for one beautiful thing to happen, for the seed to grow and bear fruit. And I think that's what a pure heart is and its role in playing. You know, if you just think about what an impure heart would do to your seed.
Speaker 3:Right, exactly.
Speaker 1:Because that if I would say that if there's an impure heart there, then most likely there are other things that would choke it out, going back to the last seed, the last ground, sorry, and which means good things can't necessarily come from that ground, but good things can come from a pure heart, and you know what I think also happens, philip. I think that when a pure heart is at work, the Lord blesses that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:And I think that's why you can have the surprise of how many fold is produced in that particular type of ground, because at some point you know, even because I well I'm'm sorry, I was about to make a correlation- that I don't think I could make, so I'm going to take that back and just shut up. No strange biblical correlations from david tonight oh man, yeah, wow, well Wow. That's good.
Speaker 3:I mean to me that thing about the honest and good heart. It's something that you have to constantly work on. You know you do, because so many things can affect your heart, and I mean even down to relationships you have or things that happen at work, or desires you have or motives you have and different things like that. You know God has like the ultimate heart monitor on our lives and he's watching these different levels that we're at. He's got his stats and his data team that's kind of keeping track of everything and I'm sure there's some type of thing where it says, okay, this person, they've got an honest and good heart. You know they're cleared, they're good to go. Time for that seed to grow and produce.
Speaker 3:You know, um, but if you're wondering, maybe you haven't seen the fruit from the word. Like you, you, you want to, or you think you should check your inputs, check the things. What's going on in your heart, man? Um, do you have some unforgiveness that you haven't let go of? Do you have any kind of certain motives or certain things that you're kind of gravitating towards that you know aren't good for you or spiritually productive in any kind of way? Those things can affect your heart, man, yeah, offenses, yeah, 100%. Are you offended in some kind of a way?
Speaker 1:Right. I dare say to you, philip, that an honest and pure heart, one of the benefits of that is a good mental health. Yes, there's your tip for the day crowd. I don't know how you can have an honest and good heart and not also have a good mental health, because God's in it. Yeah, when you have an honest and pure heart and he's working on the whole you.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm sorry Go ahead.
Speaker 3:No, no, no, no, wrap that up, you's right.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, go ahead. No, no, no, no, wrap that up, you're good.
Speaker 3:I was going to say Matthew 5, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And I think that means they see evidence of him in their lives in all kinds of ways. You know, I mean it may be one meaning, there could be other meanings, but that's part of it at least. But praise God.
Speaker 1:We're going to put the bookmark right here on this episode of Bible Bros and Brew. We hope you got something out of this, philip, I think the next time I want to look at Luke 8 and Matthew, chapter 13. Yeah, and look at his explanation for the parables there, because there's a word that comes up in both of them that I think we need to talk about, and it's the word understanding.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And there's some other words in there too, but I'm really excited to talk about that with you guys and and hope that it'll bless your life and hope you'll, you'll just bear, it'll help you to bear fruit with us. So study with us, dig in with us on this, philip, let's pray for the people tonight and let's just pray for God to plant his word in their lives and see some fruit come out of it.
Speaker 3:Yes, sir, father, we thank you for giving us this principle of seed, time and harvest. Yes, jesus, lord, you said in your word that while the earth remains seed, time and harvest will not cease. And, lord, so we ask you to help us to give us wisdom to become good sowers, good cultivators of the seed of your word. Lord, help us to recognize those times when distractions try to come to take the word, when offenses try to come to take the word, other things or persecutions, afflictions, hardships, when they try to come to take the word.
Speaker 3:I pray, father, for all of us, everyone listening, that they'll have the strength they need, that their faith will fail, not during those times. Father, we thank you for that. We thank you for helping us to be good cultivators of your word. And you said that when we do that, that we will bear abundant fruit, and herein, that you would be glorified by way of us bearing abundant fruit. And so we just give you praise for that, lord, and thank you for the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to carry it out, and we give you praise in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen. We're so glad that you guys have stopped and studied and dug in with us. We hope that you got some inspiration out of our time and you got some encouragement and we hope that you're going to be very busy, bearing much good fruit this week. As you go on and go through the week, we want to encourage you to connect with us. You can connect with us by going, first of all, to our social media. You can connect with us on YouTube at Bible Bros and Brew. Make sure you like and subscribe, and you can even hit the notification button so that you'll be made aware whenever a new episode or whenever we go live is. Also, you can reach us out on Instagram. You can reach us on Facebook and we're even available on X, bible Bros and Brew. So reach out to us. You can also take opportunity to send a note to us. Connect with us on social media If you have any questions or comments or you need us to pray for something for you. We'd love to do that and to be a part of your journey. Also, you can reach us by email at gotbrew at biblebrosnet. Again, that's gotbrew at biblebrosnet. That's it for this week. We'll be back next week with more.
Speaker 1:I'm David. He's Phillip, on behalf of John and Ryan. We're out of here, peace.
Speaker 3:Until next time.
