Week 30 You Have Good Ground with Ears to Hear
“If I walk with the world, I can’t walk with God.”
Dwight L. Moody
Passage
3And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5“Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6“But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7“Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8“And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
9“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:3–9 (NASB95)
"Footprints on the beach" by Javier D. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Background
Quote-First Dwight Lyman Moody(February 5, 1837 – December 26, 1899), also known asD.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher connected with Keswickianism, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School),Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers. One of his most famous quotes was "Faith makes all things possible... Love makes all things easy." Moody gave up his lucrative boot and shoe business to devote his life to revivalism, working first in the Civil War with Union troops through YMCA in the United States Christian Commission
Passage-First The book of Matthew is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Genealogy, Parables, Sermons, and some Prophetic Oracles. It was written by Matthew (Levi), the Disciple of Christ around 48-50 A.D. The key word in Matthew is "Kingdom" and is used 28 times.
The personalities of this book include the Messiah Jesus Christ, His parents Mary and Joseph, the Twelve Disciples, the prophet John the Baptist, and other kinds of leaders. These leaders include those in government like Pilate and religious leaders such as the Pharisees (who attempt to hinder the work of Jesus).
The book of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels and it was written to reveal the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the line of David. It also was written to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long-awaited Messiah.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
You are good ground with good soil to grow fruitful plants. It’s there. It really is. The question is, is the garden being tended and who is tending it?
Ask: What does it mean to have ears and to hear?
Point: It is a question. Are we listening to understand or listening to reply?
Ask: What’s the difference between listening to understand and listening to reply?
Point: When I listen to reply I’m more focused on what I have to say and people thinking my words are important. When I listen to understand I’m deciding the speaker’s words are more important.
Ask: What is understanding?
Point: First Reading Matthew 13:11–17 (NASB95)
See the Definition of Understanding
See the Greek Definition of Understanding
Ask: Understanding means wisdom, so what is wisdom?
Point: Second Reading Proverbs 1:1–7 (NASB95)
State: Wisdom is making a choice God approves of or choosing things God thinks are good.
Third Reading Proverbs 15:32–33 (NASB95)
Ask: Fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom and someone who refuses instruction despises his own soul, so what’s fear of the lord?
Point: Fourth Reading Proverbs 8:13 (NASB95)
Ask: To hate evil is fear of the lord because God doesn’t like evil. Why do we need to fear Him and hate evil? What’s God going to do?
Point: Fifth Reading Isaiah 13:9–11 (NASB95)
Ask: I’m not evil but there’s a lot I don’t understand in the Bible. How do I make sure I don’t make a mistake and end up on God’s bad side?
Point: First, you’re going to make a mistake. Second, that’s the point of mercy, grace, and faith in Jesus for the repentant soul. Third, Sixth Reading
Ask: So, we are good just the way we are and don’t need to do anything?
Point: No.
Seventh Reading 2 Timothy 2:14–16 (NASB95)
Closing Statement
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. The Word of God. Study. Froward, willfully disobedient. Walk with the world or walk with God. That’s the choice. Which is more important? The world is immediate, visceral, tangible, right here. God is, well God can be those things too it depends on how you look at the Bible, the body of Christ which is the church, and our own individual walk with God. Is the printed word of scripture any less tangible? Are the people gathered in Sunday school class not real? Is the wood of the pews we sit in not physically there? What isn’t real about God? The fact that we cannot see Him, the physical being of Him? We did, over two-thousand years ago. We have an accurate historical record of it. Does He have to return and be crucified in every generation for us to believe? The study of God’s Word is more than trying to get it right. It is figuring life out. It is communicating with God. It is seeing the world through His eyes and learning how He would react if He were in every person. What would Jesus do? The unspoken question in that well-known axiom is this; what will you do? He who has ears let him hear, think about it, contemplate God’s word, His ways, His love, and understand.
Questions for the Week
Question 1 How do you study scripture, not just read it but study it?
Question 2 Pick any scripture you would like to understand further and study it this week, all week.
Question 3 Write in your journal all the things you learn, think about, and realize about both the scripture and your study habits.
Question 4 Contemplate and write down what the phrase “Fear of the Lord” means to you, how it affects your life, and any changes you might want to make in light of this week’s lesson.
Scripture
First Reading
11Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12“For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’
16“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
17“For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 13:11–17 (NASB95)
Second Reading
1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,
3To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;
4To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
5A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
7The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:1–7 (NASB95)
Third Reading
32He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.
33The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility.
Proverbs 15:32–33 (NASB95)
Fourth Reading
13“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.
Proverbs 8:13 (NASB95)
Fifth Reading
9Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
10For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
11Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
Isaiah 13:9–11 (NASB95)
Sixth Reading
31The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: But the froward tongue shall be cut out.
32The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: But the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Proverbs 10:31–32 (KJV 1900)
31The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out.
32The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.
Proverbs 10:31–32 (NASB95)
31The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: But the froward tongue shall be cut out.
32The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: But the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Proverbs 10:31–32 (KJV 1900)
Seventh Reading
14Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
16But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
2 Timothy 2:14–16 (NASB95)
Definitions
understanding
[ uhn-der-stan-ding ]
noun
mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.
superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.
knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.
a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.
a mutual agreement, especially of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind: They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.
an agreement regulating joint activity or settling differences, often informal or preliminary in character: After hours of negotiation, no understanding on a new contract was reached.
Philosophy.
1. the power of abstract thought; logical power.
2. Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
adjective
characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
Understand
Greek Word: συνίημι
Transliteration: syniēmi
Phonetic Pronunciation: soon-ee’-ay-mee
Root: from <G4862> and hiemi (to send)
Cross Reference: TDNT - 7:888,1119
Part of Speech: v
Vine’s Words: Understand, Understood, Wise, Wiser, Wisely
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
understand 24
consider 1
be wise 1
[Total Count: 26]
from <G4862> (sun) and hiemi (to send); to put together, i.e. (mentally) to comprehend; by implication to act piously:- consider, understand, be wise.
James Strong, “Συνίημι,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
froward
[froh-werd, froh-erd ]
adjective
willfully contrary; not easily managed: to be worried about one's froward, intractable child.
15For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
17Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
18Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
19For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
1 Peter 2:15–19 (KJV 1900)
Froward
Greek Word: σκολιός
Transliteration: skolios
Phonetic Pronunciation: skol-ee-os’
Root: from the base of <G4628>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 7:403,1046
Part of Speech: adj
Vine’s Words: Crooked
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
crooked 2
untoward 1
froward 1
[Total Count: 4]
from the base of <G4628> (skelos); warped, i.e. winding; figurative perverse:- crooked, froward, untoward.