15<\/strong> .<\/em> keep it<\/em> ] Comp. Luk 11:28<\/span>; Joh 14:21<\/span>. “Thy word have I hid in my heart<\/em>, that I might not sin against Thee,” Psa 119:11<\/span>. The opposite of the “forgetful hearers,” Jas 1:25<\/span>. For them the seed does not fall ‘on the way.’<\/p>\n bring forth fruit with patience<\/em> ] not as in thorns, not as on the rocky ground. The hundredfold harvest does not come at once, but “first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” These words are added by St Luke alone. Patience or persevering consistency is a favourite word with St Paul. It is “strength of mind sustained by good hope…The sum of Christianity.” Bengel.<\/p>\n Luk 8:15<\/span><\/p>\n But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it<\/em><\/p>\n The necessity of patience<\/strong><\/p>\n The necessity of patience in the Christian course appeareth by these reasons: <\/p>\n 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n The scope of the gospel is to make men fruitful Christians. But this can never be, without the persecution of the world (2Ti 3:12<\/span>). The shadow doth not more undividedly follow the body, than persecutions and trials follow the profession of the gospel. This necessity of suffering afflictions implies and infers a necessity of patience. <\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> It is necessary in respect of the manuring and preparing to fruit. The best ground brings no fruit unless it endure the plough, the harrow, the cold, the frost: even so the Lord prepareth His children to fruits of grace, by patient enduring many trials. The walnut tree is made fruitful by beating, camomile by treading upon, the palm by pressing, and the Christian by suffering. <\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> In respect of the producing of fruits, there is great need of patience: seeing there is no fruit of grace which Satan seeks not to kill in the very sprouting and first appearance; as the child in his birth (Rev 12:4<\/span>). And the wicked world seeks to blast them with the east wind of reproaches, yea to nip and pinch them, out-face and destroy them, with strong and violent persecutions: so as without patience enduring the cross, and despising the shame, this thirtyfold cannot be expected, much less an hundredfold. Thus Christ Himself brings forth to us all His blessed fruits, not without the greatest patience, proportioned to His greatest sufferings: and after the same manner must we also bring forth our fruits to Him. <\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> It is necessary, in respect of the growth and ripening of fruits. The seed sown comes not up all at once, but by degrees; first the blade, then the ear, then ripe fruit (Mar 4:28<\/span>). So all our graces and fruits are small at first, and receive increase by little and little. <\/p>\n 5.<\/strong> It is necessary in respect of things that might hinder the growth, if patience prevented not: as first, the smart of present afflictions; for every affliction is grievous for the present (Heb 12:11<\/span>), the mention thereof oftentimes makes us shrink, and startle, and grow out of heart, because of the roughness of our way. But now by patience we possess our souls, the present remedy of the disciples greatest persecutions (Luk 21:17-19<\/span>), whereas by impatience we lose ourselves, and lessen our fruits. Secondly, the common crosses which accompany our mortal life will make us weary enough, unless patience supply some strength, and under-shore us. Thirdly, inward temptations, and disquietness of conscience, the wounds of spirit, are so intolerable, that the violence of them often shakes off many fruits, and makes the Christian walk weakly many days. Now patience alone keeps the soul at peace and quietness, waiting for God unto succour or issue. It holds the heart in expectation of the accomplishment of Gods promises, and our happiness in Christ. Fourthly, there are enemies without, which hazard our fruits. Fifthly, infirmities of brethren with whom we converse, were a great means to shake off our fruits (as Barnabas lost his sincerity for a time by Peters dissimulation), if patience did not uphold to discern and bear the infirmities of the weak (Rom 15:1-2<\/span>). <\/p>\n 6.<\/strong> Patience is necessary in respect of the harvest of fruits, the gathering and full reaping of all the seed sown. And thus the good ground brings forth with patience, i.e., <\/em>with patient expectation of the full fruits; the first-fruits whereof are already attained (Rom 8:25<\/span>). (Thomas Taylor, D. D<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Effectual hearing<\/strong><\/p>\n If you would hear the Word aright, be not only attentive, but retentive. Lay the Word up in your memories and hearts. The seed on the good ground are they who, having heard the Word, keep it. The Greek word for keep signifies to hold the Word fast, that it do not run from us. If the seed be not kept in the ground, but is presently washed away, it is sown to little purpose: so, if the Word preached be not kept in your memories and hearts, it is preached in vain. Many people have memories like leaky vessels–the Word goes out as fast as it comes in: how, then, can it profit? If a treasure be put into a chest and the chest not locked, it may easily be taken out: a bad memory is like a chest without a look, the devil can easily take out all the treasure. Labour to keep in memory the truths you hear: the things we esteem we are not so apt to forget. (T Watson.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Meditation renders good impressions lasting<\/strong><\/p>\n Gotthold had for some purpose taken from a cupboard a vial of rosewater, and, after using it, inconsiderately left it unstopped. Observing it some time after, he found that all the strength and sweetness of the perfume had evaporated. Here, thought he with himself, is a striking emblem of a heart fond of the world and open to the impression of outward objects. What good does it do to take such a heart to the house of God, and there fill it with the precious essence of the roses of paradise which are the truths of Scripture? What good to kindle in it a glow of devotion, if we afterwards neglect to close the outlet–by which I mean, to keep the Word in an honest and good heart. How vain to hear much, but to retain little, and to practise less. How vain to experience within us sacred and holy emotions, unless we are afterwards careful to close the heart by diligent reflection and prayer, and so keep it unspotted from the world. Neglect this, and the strength and spirit of devotion evaporates, and leaves only a lifeless form behind. (Scriver.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Remarkable fertility<\/strong><\/p>\n Paul Joanne ascribes amazing fertility to the soil of Mentone, and backs his assertions by a story which reads like a legend. He says that a stranger coming to pay a visit to his Mentonese friends stuck his walking-stick into the ground and forgot it. Coming back some days afterwards to seek his cane, he was surprised to find it putting forth leaves and young branches. He declares that the little tree has grown vastly, and is still to be seen in the Rue Saint Michel. We have not seen it, and are afraid that to inquire for it in the aforesaid Rue would raise a laugh at our expense. We may believe the story or not as we please; but it may serve as an emblem of the way in which those grow who are by grace planted in Christ. All dry and withered like a rod we are thrust into the sacred soil, and life comes to us at once, with bud and branch and speedy fruit. Aarons rod that budded was not only a fair type of our Lord, but a cheering prophecy of ourselves. Whenever we feel dead and barren let us ask to be buried in Christ afresh, and straightway we shall glorify His name by bearing much fruit. (C. H. Spurgeon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The mystery of growth<\/strong><\/p>\n In the growth of a grain of wheat are three miracles of wonders, viz., the power of absorbing fresh materials, the power of changing them into living vegetable substance, and the power of arranging the new materials according to a fixed pattern. Could we see this process through a powerful magnifying glass, so that the particles which are to be absorbed should seem as large as marbles, we should see millions of such marbles building themselves up into a green tree; some marching to one part, some to another; then changing themselves into tree sub stance, and, finally, all arranged into an exact pattern, so that no one can mistake the nature of the tree. Growth is a mystery. (E. White.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n With patience<\/strong><\/p>\n Of all the characteristics of the good hearer, this, as it is the most valuable, is also the hardest to attain. To wait is even harder than to labour and to obey. Unless we are to have our harvest very soon, we have hardly the heart to sow. The husbandman has long patience–must have it–till he receives the early and the latter rain. So with us. To become a good hearer, i.e., <\/em>a good doer of the Word, is a task which requires long patience. We must suffer many a killing frost, many a darkening shower, many a burning sun, before the good seed cast into our hearts by that great Sower, who daily goes forth to sow, will gladden us with its increase. But the longer we wait the more precious will be the harvest–it is only ill weeds that spring up apace–and the sweeter the taste of the bread which has been so hardly earned, and so long in coming. (S. Cox, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 15<\/span>. With patience.<\/B><\/I>] Rather, with perseverance<\/I>. The Greek word , which our translators render patience<\/I>, properly signifies here, and in Ro 2:7<\/span>, perseverance<\/I>. The good ground<\/I>, because it is good<\/I>, strong and vigorous, continues<\/I> to bear: bad<\/I> or poor<\/I> ground cannot produce a good crop, and besides it is very soon exhausted. The persons called the good ground<\/I> in the text are filled with the power and influence of God, and therefore continue<\/I> to bring forth fruit; i.e. they persevere in righteousness. From this we may learn that the perseverance of the saints<\/I>, as it is termed, necessarily implies that they continue to bring forth fruit to the glory of God. Those who are not fruitful are not in a state of perseverance.<\/P><\/p>\n But that on the good ground are they<\/strong>,…. The seed that fell on good ground design such hearers,<\/p>\n which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it<\/strong>: who hear with an honest and good intention, and faithfully keep it, and hold it fast:<\/p>\n and bring forth fruit with patience<\/strong>; with great constancy, suffering much for the sake of it; and the more they suffer, the more fruitful they are. See this explanation of the parable more largely insisted on in the following notes.<\/p>\n [See comments on Mt 13:19]<\/span> [See comments on Mt 13:20]<\/span> [See comments on Mt 13:21]<\/span> [See comments on Mt 13:22]<\/span> [See comments on Mt 13:23]<\/span><\/p>\n In an honest and good heart <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Peculiar to Luke. In verse 8<\/span> the land (<\/SPAN><\/span>) is called <\/SPAN><\/span> (really good, generous) and in verse 15<\/span> we have <\/SPAN><\/span> (in the beautiful or noble land<\/B>). So Luke uses both adjectives of the heart. The Greeks used ‘ <\/SPAN><\/span> of the high-minded gentleman. It is probable that Luke knew this idiom. It occurs here alone in the N.T. It is not easy to translate. We have such phrases as “good and true,” “sound and good,” “right and good,” no one of which quite suits the Greek. Certainly Luke adds new moral qualities not in the Hellenic phrase. The English word “honest” here is like the Latin honestus<\/I> (fair, noble). The words are to be connected with “hold fast” (<\/SPAN><\/span>), “hold it down” so that the devil does not snatch it away, having depth of soil so that it does not shrivel up under the sun, and is not choked by weeds and thorns. It bears fruit (<\/SPAN><\/span>, an old expressive verb, <\/SPAN><\/span> and <\/SPAN><\/span>). That is the proof of spiritual life.<\/P> In patience <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). There is no other way for real fruit to come. Mushrooms spring up overnight, but they are usually poisonous. The best fruits require time, cultivation, patience. <\/P><\/p>\n These are they which [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Which denotes them as belonging to a class. Hence Rev., rightly, such as. <\/P> Honest and good heart. Peculiar to Luke. Honest; lit., fair, noble. <\/P> Honest, not in the popular sense, but in the sense of the Latin honestus; noble, virtuous, worthy. <\/P> Keep (katecousin). Much better Rev., hold it fast, giving the force of the compound verb. <\/P> With patience. Or in patience. Peculiar to Luke. In contrast with fall away, ver. 13.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “But that on the good ground,” <\/strong>(to de en te kale ge) “Yet that seed that fell into the good soil of the earth,” Mat 13:23<\/span>; Mar 4:20<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2) “Are they, which in an honest and good heart.” <\/strong>(houtoi eisin hoitines en kardia kale kai agathe) “These seed are (exist as or represent) those who in a good and worthy heart,” a noble and generous heart, that “believeth unto righteousness” and are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” Rom 10:10<\/span>; Eph 2:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n 3) “Having heard the word, keep it,” <\/strong>(akousantes ton logon katechousin) “Having heard the Word hold or possess it,” hold on to, embrace it, its instructions, Mat 13:23<\/span>; Mar 4:20<\/span>; Jer 4:3-4<\/span>; 1Th 2:13<\/span>. They labor on, unwearily in well doing, 1Co 15:57-58<\/span>; Gal 6:9<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “And bring forth fruit with patience.” <\/strong>(kai karpophorousin en hupomone) “And who bear fruit in patience,” Mat 13:23<\/span>; Mar 4:8<\/span>; Mar 4:20<\/span>, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. The believer in Christ is to persevere in good works, not act on impulses only, or sit down in idleness, Mat 5:15-16<\/span>; Act 1:8<\/span>; Jas 1:4<\/span>; Jas 1:22<\/span>; Heb 10:36<\/span>.<\/p>\n (15) In an honest and good heart.<\/strong>The Greek for honest has a somewhat higher meaning than that which now attaches to the English, and may be better expressed by noble<\/em> or honourable.<\/em> The two adjectives were frequently joined together by Greek ethical writers (kalokagathos<\/em>),<\/em> the nobly-good, and so applied to the best forms of an aristocracy, or claimed by those who professed to represent it, to express the highest ideal of moral excellence.<\/p>\n With patience.<\/strong>Better, with perseverance,<\/em> or steadfastness.<\/em> The word implies something more vigorous than the passive submission which we commonly associate with patience. The thought is the same as in he that endureth to the end (Mat. 10:22<\/span>; Mat. 24:13<\/span>), but the noun does not occur in the other Gospels. It occurs thirteen times in St. Pauls Epistles.<\/p>\n ‘And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.’<\/p>\n But the seed that fell on good ground represented those whose hearts were honest and open. They had a good, receptive heart. And once they received the word they held it fast, and they endured, and persevered, and patiently brought forth fruit.<\/p>\n So the emphasis of the parable is that the four types of ground represented four types of people. And it demonstrates that how they responded to the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God depended on the state of their hearts. The Kingly Rule of God was present among them all, but it had to be received by their putting their trust in the King and responding to and doing His words, by a faith which would result in fruit, and in the active doing of His will. Each must then choose how he would respond.<\/p>\n It will be noted that there was response in three out of the four examples. It was just that in one case the response was choked, and in another it simply petered out. Neither were true saving faith.<\/p>\n In its own quiet way it was a revolutionary concept of the Kingly Rule of God, not as something which had to be fought for, but as something that would come about through response to His word as the Holy Spirit applied it in the hearts of men.<\/p>\n (It will have been noted that Luke’s account is briefer than Mark’s and somewhat different. But this is to be expected. Luke did not just depend on Mark, even though he used him a great deal. He would also have gathered similar details from Aramaic speaking eyewitnesses, and possibly from Aramaic books about Jesus, as well as from the collection of sayings that Matthew also used (see Luk 1:1-4<\/span>). Thus while he clearly took advantage of Mark’s rendering, selecting from it what he found suitable, at the same time he would also extract from elsewhere, and also do a little translating himself in a form more useful for his Gentile readers. The parable of the sower was no doubt repeated any number of times in different forms and with different emphases and he would thus have a number of alternatives to choose from).<\/p>\n 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it<\/em> , and bring forth fruit with patience. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 15. In an honest<\/strong> ] Referred to the end and intent in the action.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And good heart<\/strong> ] In respect of inward renewed qualities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Having heard the word, keep it<\/strong> ] As food or physic, which if not kept, profiteth not. They incorporate it into their souls, so as it becomes an ingrafted word; they are transformed into the same image, conformed to the heavenly pattern.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n With patience<\/strong> ] Or, with tarriance for the fit season, . Not as that first ripe fruit, Luk 8:13<\/span> ; Psa 129:6-7<\/span> <\/p>\n 15.<\/strong> ] It has been said, on Mat 13:23<\/span> , that all receptivity<\/em> of the seed is from God and all men have receptivity enough to make it matter of condemnation to them that they receive it not in earnest, and bring not forth fruit: but there is in this very receptivity a wide difference between men; some being false-hearted, hating the truth, deceiving themselves, others being earnest and simple-minded, willing to be taught, and humble enough to receive with meekness the engrafted word. It is of these that our Lord here speaks; of this kind was Nathanael, the Israelite indeed in whom was no guile, Joh 1:48<\/span> ; see also Joh 18:37<\/span> , “Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice,” and Trench on the Parables, in loc.<\/p>\n <\/strong> has here nothing to do with its classical sense of , but is purely ethical, and to be rendered as in E. V., honest and good.<\/p>\n <\/strong> .<\/strong> ] in patience<\/strong> consistently<\/em> , through the course of a life spent in duties, and amidst discouragements , , Mat 24:13<\/span> .<\/p>\n Luk 8:15<\/span> . , in a noble and generous heart, an important contribution by Lk. to the explanation of the conditions of fruitfulness. The former epithet points to a lofty aim or ideal, the latter to enthusiastic whole-hearted devotion to the ideal, the two constituting a heroic character. The phrase was familiar to the Greeks, and Lk. may have been acquainted with their use of it to describe a man comme il faut<\/em> , but he brings to the conception of the new moral elements. , in patience, as opposed to ; and, it might be added, as opposed to the thorny-ground hearers. ., again in Luk 21:19<\/span> , often in Epistles.<\/p>\n Luke<\/p>\n ONE SEED AND DIVERSE SOILS<\/p>\n Luk 8:4 – Luk 8:16 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n Luke is particular in dating this parable as spoken at a time when crowds resorted to Jesus, and the cities of Galilee seemed emptied out to hear Him. No illusions as to the depth or worth of this excitement beset Him. Sadly He looked on the eager multitudes, because He looked through them, and saw how few of them were bringing ‘an honest and good heart’ for the soil of His word. Just because He saw the shallowness of the momentary enthusiasm, He spoke this pregnant parable from a heavy heart, and as He tells us in His explanation of it to the disciples ver. 10, uses the parabolic garb as a means of hiding the truth from the unsusceptible, and of bringing it home to those who were prepared to receive it. Every parable has that double purpose of obscuring and revealing. The obscuring is punitive, but the punishment is meant to be remedial. God never cheats men by a revelation that does not reveal, and the very hiding is meant to stimulate to a search which cannot be vain.<\/p>\n The broad outstanding fact of the parable is tragic. Three failures and one success! It may be somewhat lightened by observing that the proportion which each ‘some’ bears to the whole seed-basketful is not told; but with all alleviation, it is sad enough. What a lesson for all eager reformers and apostles of any truth, who imagine that they have but to open their mouths and the world will listen! What a warning for any who are carried off their feet by their apparent ‘popularity’! What a solemn appeal to all hearers of God’s message!<\/p>\n I. Commentators have pointed out that all four kinds of soil might have been found close together by the lake, and that there may have been a sower at work within sight. <\/p>\n <\/strong> But the occasion of the parable lay deeper than the accident of local surroundings. A path through a cornfield is a prosaic enough thing, but one who habitually holds converse with the unseen, and ever sees it shining through the seen, beholds all things ‘apparelled in celestial light,’ and finds deep truths in commonplace objects. The sower would not intentionally throw seed on the path, but some would find its resting-place there. It would lie bare on the surface of the hard ground, and would not be there long enough to have a chance of germinating, but as soon as the sower’s back was turned to go up the next furrow, down would come the flock of thievish birds that fluttered behind him, and bear away the grains. The soil might be good enough, but it was so hard that the seed did not get in, but only lay on it. The path was of the same soil as the rest of the field, only it had been trodden down by the feet of passengers, perhaps for many years.<\/p>\n A heart across which all manner of other thoughts have right of way will remain unaffected by the voice of Jesus, if He spoke His sweetest, divinest tones, still more when He speaks but through some feeble man. The listener hears the words, but they never get farther than the drum of his ear. They lie on the surface of his soul, which is beaten hard, and is non-receptive. How many there are who have been listening to the preaching of the Gospel, which is in a true sense the sowing of the seed, all their lives, and have never really been in contact with it! Tramp, tramp, go the feet across the path, heavy drays of business, light carriages of pleasure, a never-ending stream of traffic and noise like that which pours day and night through the streets of a great city, and the result is complete insensibility to Christ’s voice.<\/p>\n If one could uncover the hearts of a congregation, how many of them would be seen to be occupied with business or pleasures, or some favourite pursuit, even while they sit decorously in their pews! How many of them hear the preacher’s voice without one answering thought or emotion! How many could not for their lives tell what his last sentence was! No marvel, then, that, as soon as its last sound has ceased, down pounce a whole covey of light-winged fancies and occupations, and carry off the poor fragments of what had been so imperfectly heard. One wonders what percentage of remembrances of a sermon is driven out of the hearers’ heads in the first five minutes of their walk home, by the purely secular conversation into which they plunge so eagerly.<\/p>\n II. The next class of hearers is represented by seed which has had somewhat better fate, inasmuch as it has sunk some way in, and begun to sprout. <\/p>\n <\/strong> The field, like many a one in hilly country, had places where the hard pan of underlying rock had only a thin skin of earth over it. Its very thinness helped quick germination, for the rock was near enough to the surface to get heated by the sun. So, with undesirable rapidity, growth began, and shoots appeared above ground before there was root enough made below to nourish them. There was only one possible end for such premature growth-namely, withering in the heat. No moisture was to be drawn from the shelf of rock, and the sun was beating fiercely down, so the feeble green stem drooped and was wilted.<\/p>\n It is the type of emotional hearers, who are superficially touched by the Gospel, and too easily receive it, without understanding what is involved. They take it for theirs ‘with joy,’ but are strangers to the deep exercises of penitence and sorrow which should precede the joy. ‘Lightly come, lightly go,’ is true in Christian life as elsewhere. Converts swiftly made are quickly lost. True, the most thorough and permanent change may be a matter of a moment; but, if so, into that moment emotions will be compressed like a great river forced through a mountain gorge, which will do the work of years.<\/p>\n Such surface converts fringe all religious revivals. The crowd listening to our Lord was largely made up of them. These were they who, when a ground of offence arose, ‘went back, and walked no more with Him.’ They have had their successors in all subsequent times of religious movement. Light things are caught up by the wind of a passing train, but they soon drop to the ground again. Emotion is good, if there are roots to it. But ‘these have no root.’ The Gospel has not really touched the depths of their natures, their wills, their reason, and so they shrivel up when they have to face the toil and self-sacrifice inherent in a Christian life.<\/p>\n III. The third parcel of seed advanced still farther. <\/p>\n <\/strong> It rooted and grew. But the soil had other occupants. It was full of seeds of weeds and thorns not thorn bushes<\/em>. So the two crops ran a race, and as ill weeds grow apace, the worse beat, and stifled the green blades of the springing corn, which, hemmed in and shut out from light and air, came to nothing.<\/p>\n The man represented has not made clean work of his religion. He has received the good seed, but has forgotten that something has to be grubbed up and cast out, as well as something to be taken in, if he would grow the fair fruits of Christian character. He probably has cut down the thorns, but has left their roots or seeds where they were. He has fruit of a sort, but it is scanty, crude, and green. Why? Because he has not turned the world out of his heart. He is trying to unite incompatibles, one of which is sure to kill the other. His ‘thorns’ are threefold, as Luke carefully distinguishes them into ‘cares and riches and pleasures,’ but they are one in essence, for they are all ‘of this life.’ If he is poor, he is absorbed in cares; if rich, he is yet more absorbed in wealth, and his desires go after worldly pleasures, which he has not been taught, by experience of the supreme pleasure of communion with God, to despise.<\/p>\n Mark that this man does not ‘fall away.’ He keeps up his Christian name to the end. Probably he is a very influential member of the church, universally respected for his wealth and liberality, but his religion has been suffocated by the other growth. He has fruit, but it is not to ‘perfection.’ If Jesus Christ came to Manchester, one wonders how many such Christians He would discover in the chief seats in the synagogues.<\/p>\n IV. The last class avoids the defects of the three preceding. <\/p>\n <\/strong> The soil is soft, deep, and clean. The seed sinks, roots, germinates, has light and air, and brings forth ripened grain. The ‘honest and good heart’ in which it lodges has been well characterised as one ‘whose aim is noble, and who is generously devoted to his aim’ Bruce, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ<\/em> , p. 33. Such a soul Christ recognises as possible, prior to the entrance into it of the word. There are dispositions which prepare for the reception of the truth. But not only the previous disposition, but the subsequent attitude to the word spoken, is emphasised by our Lord. ‘They having heard the word, hold it fast.’ Docilely received, it is steadily retained, or held with a firm grip, whoever and whatever may seek to pluck it from mind or heart.<\/p>\n Further, not only tenacity of grasp, but patient perseverance of effort after the fruit of Christian character, is needed. There must be perseverance in the face of obstacles within and without, if there is to be fruitfulness. The emblem of growth does not suffice to describe the process of Christian progress. The blade becomes the ear, and the ear the full corn, without effort. But the Christian disciple has to fight and resist, and doggedly to keep on in a course from which many things would withdraw him. The nobler the result, the sorer the process. Corn grows; character is built up as the result, first of worthily receiving the good seed, and then of patient labour and much self-suppression.<\/p>\n These different types of character are capable of being changed. The path may be broken up, the rock blasted and removed, the thorns stubbed up. We make ourselves fit or unfit to receive the seed and bear fruit. Christ would not have spoken the parable if He had not hoped thereby to make some of His hearers who belonged to the three defective classes into members of the fourth. No natural, unalterable incapacity bars any from welcoming the word, housing it in his heart, and bringing forth fruit with patience.<\/p>\n on = in. Greek. en. App-104. Not the same word as in verses: Luk 8:8, Luk 8:13, Luk 8:16, Luk 8:23. <\/p>\n which. Denoting a class, <\/p>\n keep it = hold it fast. See note on 2Th 2:6. Figure of speech Tapeinosis (App-6), for much more is done beside this. <\/p>\n with = in. Greek. en. App-104. <\/p>\n patience = patient endurance. <\/p>\n 15.] It has been said, on Mat 13:23, that all receptivity of the seed is from God-and all men have receptivity enough to make it matter of condemnation to them that they receive it not in earnest, and bring not forth fruit:-but there is in this very receptivity a wide difference between men; some being false-hearted, hating the truth, deceiving themselves,-others being earnest and simple-minded, willing to be taught, and humble enough to receive with meekness the engrafted word. It is of these that our Lord here speaks; of this kind was Nathanael, the Israelite indeed in whom was no guile, Joh 1:48; see also Joh 18:37, Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice, and Trench on the Parables, in loc.<\/p>\n has here nothing to do with its classical sense of , but is purely ethical,-and to be rendered as in E. V., honest and good.<\/p>\n .] in patience-consistently, through the course of a life spent in duties, and amidst discouragements- , , Mat 24:13.<\/p>\n Luk 8:15. [ , on the good ground) Lest such a soil should not be sown upon, it is better that some seed should be thrown away on the wayside, etc.-V. g.]- ) See Mat 7:17. A frequent compound is . has somewhat of a relative meaning, is absolute.-, retain, keep it fast) not as on the wayside.-, bear fruit) not as among the thorns.- , with patience) not as on the rocky ground. answers to the one Hebrew word , waiting, hope. It is strength of mind, sustained by good hope. It precedes the act of bearing fruit in such a way as even to accompany it: on this account it is here put at the end. This constitutes the sum of Christianity.<\/p>\n in an: Luk 6:45, Deu 30:6, Psa 51:10, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:29, Eze 36:26, Eze 36:27, Rom 7:18, Eph 2:8, Jam 1:16-19, 1Pe 2:1, 1Pe 2:2 <\/p>\n keep: Luk 11:28, Job 23:11, Job 23:12, Psa 1:1-3, Psa 119:11, Psa 119:127-129, Pro 3:1, Jer 15:16, Joh 14:15, Joh 14:21-24, Joh 15:10, 1Co 7:19, Heb 2:1, Jam 1:22-25, 1Jo 2:3 <\/p>\n bring: Mat 24:13, Rom 2:7, Rom 6:22, Rom 7:4, Gal 5:22-26, Phi 1:11, Phi 3:13-15, Col 1:6, Col 1:10, Heb 6:11, Heb 6:12, Heb 10:36, Jam 1:4, Jam 5:7, Jam 5:8 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Lev 18:26 – keep Deu 6:6 – shall be Jos 24:14 – serve Neh 5:16 – I continued Pro 7:1 – keep Eze 3:10 – receive Eze 3:20 – and his Mat 10:22 – but Mat 13:8 – good Mat 13:23 – that received Mar 4:8 – fell Mar 4:20 – which Luk 6:27 – unto Luk 8:8 – other Luk 8:21 – which Luk 21:19 – General Joh 7:17 – General Joh 15:4 – Abide Joh 17:17 – Sanctify Rom 8:25 – with patience Rom 10:10 – For with Rom 11:22 – if thou Rom 12:12 – patient 2Ti 4:7 – I have kept Heb 12:1 – with patience 2Pe 1:6 – patience Rev 2:3 – hast patience<\/p>\n GENEROUS SOIL<\/p>\n But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.<\/p>\n Luk 8:15<\/p>\n The heart that receives the Word with gladness and proceeds to live upon it and to test it in life and action, resisting all temptations to forsake it, this is the heart that is in sympathy with the Word, that is in that sense honest and good. This brings us somewhat nearer to realising what the good soil upon which the seed of the sower fell, what it is when it represents a heart prepared and influenced and vitalised by the Word of God.<\/p>\n I. There is a certain condition of the man that appreciates and that advances to welcome the Word of God when submitted to it. What is that condition? The honesty and goodness are not the fruit of the Word, seeing that they are the attitude in which they are to receive the Word. And yet just as there is a kind of soil fitted to receive and promote the seed of the sower which falls upon it, so there must be a cognate condition of heart. The honest and good is a well-known combination of Greek words, a familiar coupling of epithets which have acquired an almost technical meaning; and when applied to men it meant a man of noble, kind, and generous race, worthy of ones descent, true to the primal birth and endowments. I think that that word generous, seeing that we ourselves have long been accustomed to apply it to inanimate things, would really be a very adequate rendering of the two Greek words here in combination. We know what we mean when we speak of the soil as a generous soil; it is a metaphor, no doubt, but it is one that we all accept. And even that further use of generous in the sense of giving is not out of harmony with it.<\/p>\n II. A generous soil is a soil that gives as well as receives; it gives something of its own to meet half-way the boon conferred upon it; and so they both co-operate to the blessed end of bringing forth fruit. So the heart that hears the Word with gladness, it too is prepared to give as well as take.<\/p>\n III. Those who accepted the Word.When we think of the various personages in the Bible history whose acceptance of the Word to rich and blessed ends is brought under our notice, it is abundantly clear that this description does not mean that the Word of God is not accepted by those who only come to it with a spotless record of past lives. We know, and it is the one hope and consolation of our lives to know, that it was not the spotlessly clean ecclesiastics of our Lords day who appreciated and accepted the message that He brought, but it was the sin-stained, those who approached Christ with no antecedent qualities for honesty and goodness; not the respectable but the unrespectable class for the most part supplied the hearts in whose soil the Word found its most fertilising acceptance. The man who was only too well aware of his unbelief, not the man who prided himself on his orthodoxy; the woman who had been a sinner, not the highly born lady who would have spurned her from her presence; not the Scribe who came into court with the cleanest of clean hands in such matters. Such were the subjects on which the Word tried its power with the most wondrous success. And therefore it must have been all such who came under the rule laid down by our text. The honest and good heart describes these outcasts, these downright sinners at that moment when the Word found them and was welcomed and began its beneficent work.<\/p>\n Rev. Canon Ainger.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n Paradoxical as it may seem, it was not the strangeness or difficulty of our Lords first parable that was a stumbling-block to many who heard it, it was rather their familiarity and their simplicity. The defect in the listener who was offended by them was not that of mental acuteness, they were not so dull as that they failed to understand a simple metaphor; it was that they were so accustomed to receive a religious teaching of a different kind, that this new sort seemed as it first fell on their ear trivial. If the Pharisees and doctors of the law were asked to deliver a religious homily it would have been something altogether different, something in fact quite over the heads of the unlearned; and therefore when this new Rabbi proceeded to unfold His religious message, and began to tell simple fables of the ploughman and sower, and all the homely details of the life around them, it seemed to the anxious listener a mockery, an evasion of a sacred duty. It was not because the analogy was too hard for them to understand, but because it was too easy, that they were first offended.<\/p>\n 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an {d} honest and good heart, having heard the word, {e} keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience.<\/p>\n (d) Who seek not only to seem to be such, but are indeed so: so that this word “honest” refers to the outward life, and the word “good” refers to the good gifts of the mind.<\/p>\n (e) With much difficulty, for the devil and the flesh fight against the Spirit of God, who is a new guest.<\/p>\n Luke described this believer as having an honest (or noble) and good heart thereby stressing the character of the individual. He adapted an ancient Greek phrase denoting singleness of purpose. [Note: Liefeld, pp. 907-8.] <\/span> Matthew described him as understanding, in keeping with his emphasis on comprehending the mysteries of the kingdom (cf. Mat 13:11; Mat 13:14-15; Mat 13:19; Mat 13:23; Mat 13:25). The kind of person Luke describes will follow Jesus faithfully and bear fruit.<\/p>\n "Jesus’ emphasis here is not so much on whether a person perseveres but on the kind of person who does persevere." [Note: Ibid., p. 908.] <\/span><\/p>\n In summary, Luk 8:12 seems to view the lost, Luk 8:13-14 both the lost and the saved, and Luk 8:15 the saved. However in each case the emphasis is on their present response to the Word of God be it belief or unbelief, not the ultimate outcome of their response, namely, their eternal salvation. Jesus encountered all four types of responses during His ministry, and so do modern disciples. Some people refuse to believe at all (cf. most of the Pharisees). Others follow Jesus temporarily but because of persecution or love for other things stop following Him (cf. Joh 6:66; Luk 18:18-30). The salvation of these people is the most difficult to evaluate. Still others believe and continue following faithfully (cf. Luk 8:1-3).<\/p>\n But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it,] and bring forth fruit with patience. 15 . keep it ] Comp. Luk 11:28; Joh 14:21. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee,” Psa 119:11. The … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 8:15”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"