Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
They on the rock are they,which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
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. Luke 8:11-15

There are four types of hearers:

1. Dullness of hearing
Dull – lacking sensitivity, unfeeling, sluggish; boring, not felt keenly or sharply

The person, who is dull of hearing, hears the word of God but does not believe it. His heart is hard toward the things of God. God’s word is not important to him.

2.  Lack of endurance

The person receives the word of God when he hears it, but does not count the cost of serving God. He is unwilling to pay the price when trials and tests come. He hears with an emotional mind and at first receives the work with joy but soon gives up. They think God’s way is too hard. They will never grow.

He that endures to the end shall be saved.

3.  Neglect, lazy or no diligence, lack of effort

The person who stops craving, eating and depending on the word of God will stop growing.

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. I Peter 2:1-3

Babies cry for milk every day; every 2-4 hours. How are we hungering after God’s word? If we have malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies or any sin in our life, our desire for God’s word will be hindered, and we will not grow.

The devil wants our life to be taken up with cares, riches and pleasures of this life so we will not spend time in praying and reading the Bible. We have to take time to read and pray. Daniel had a set time every day to pray – 3 times a day. We need to make a habit of reading and praying every day. Be diligent about it. Don’t let the things of this life distract us from staying close to God. If we don’t put into practice what we hear and allow the things of this world to come in our life we will stop growing. We cannot be lazy and neglect our devotion to God and grow.

If we stop learning God’s word; stop assembling with the saints to worship God; stop praying; and stop obeying the truth; our spiritual life will shrivel up and die.

Jesus is our example. At 12 years old he was earnest about his father’s business. Luke 2:41-52. He was not concerned about what he could get out of life for himself. He wanted to learn more about his Father and please his Father. He came to do the Father’s will and not his own will. We need to have the same earnestness of learning about our heavenly father in order to grow.

If we do not eat true spiritual food, we will not grow. Our intake of truth is vital to spiritual growth. Man’s ideas, religious ideas and doctrines of men will not cause us to grow spiritually; only the true word of God with the Holy Spirit anointing.

4.  Honest hearts will hear the work and keep it.

The honest hearer will be obedient to the word of God. Regardless of what others do or say, the honest hearer will remain faithful to Christ and grow. The honest hearer will take time to be alone with God. The honest hearer will be diligent about the things of God. The honest hearer will not neglect God’s word and prayer every day. Feeding on God’s word every day and putting into practice what it says is what will cause us to continue to grow spiritually.

Be an honest hearer of God’s word.

 II Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

 First you have to enlist to be a real soldier. There has to be an absolute commitment. As someone put it; ‘when you sign up for service in the U.S. Army, you become the property of the United States government. In a similar way, when we repent forsaking all sin, we accept Christ as our personal savior, we belong to God. We are not our own.

 The apostle Paul does not say, “Enjoy softness as a sloppy soldier of Jesus Christ” Paul endured many, many hard trials.

 Endurance means – the mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress and hardships without murmuring, to hold out, to continue.

 A United State’s Soldier is not ashamed of his uniform, of his duty, of his officers, or of his cause. Our enlistment to be a soldier of Christ is cheerfully made from our heart and we are not ashamed of Christ, living a holy life, the people of God or his cause.

 Apostle Paul tells us three things that we need to take heed to in order to be a good soldier.

 1.  II Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Don’t be tied up in worldly affairs, letting our hearts be over charged with cares and pleasures of this life. Luke 21:34-36 tells us they will come as a snare on all that dwell on the earth. We need to watch and pray that we may escape these things.

>We cannot be a good soldier if trials, cares, problems and affairs of this life are so important causing us to take our eyes off Christ. Put first things first — Matthew 6:33. A fighting man realizes, there is a war going on. Don’t be distracted from the fight.

 2.  II Timothy 2:5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

 Follow the Lord’s rules for doing his work. Just like an athlete has to follow the rules in order to win or else he is disqualified. The Bible is our rule book.

 I Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.>

 Every one that is to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ must be temperate in all things. A soldier needs self-control . Deny self from things that would keep you from doing your best

When a soldier is sent to boot camp it is to develop an attitude change and stamina by extreme harshness, hardships, rigor, and discipline. Training that develops self-control and character will make you tough and hard in mind and body.

There is a time to be tender and a time to be tough. We need a tender heart and a tough will. We need a tender conscience and a tough determination. We must endure hardness as a good soldier.

 3.  II Timothy 2:6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

A farmer has to work hard to grow a good crop;. He has to cultivate the land, get out the weeds and keep them out, plant the seeds in straight rows and irrigate.

We need to work hard at being a good soldier. Making sure we don’t let anything come in that would side track us. We will face offenses, malicious talk, evil speaking, hurts, and attacks.

II Timothy 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

 When the battle rages a soldier’s loyalty will be tested. Condition yourself to toughness, not to softness, ease, or comfort. Consider these three examples so you can be willing to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:7  For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

 We are called to holiness not to uncleanness (full of lust and dirty minded).

 Holiness is the only preparation for heaven.

Hebrews 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

 Can we live holy in this life?      YES!!

The very reason Jesus came to this world was to save his people from their sins, not to keep them in sin. Matthew 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

 In 1 John 1:9, John tells us if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have to be willing to confess and forsake all sin in order to be cleansed and be made holy by the blood of Christ.

 Romans 6:15-16   Being made free from sin we become the servants of righteousness.

 Romans 6:19 We yield our members servants of righteousness unto holiness.

 Romans 6:22, being made free from sin and becoming servants to God we have our fruit unto holiness and in the end everlasting life.

 We are to serve Him in holiness all the days of our life.

Luke 1:74-75 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

 Holiness is a way for God’s people to walk on.

Isaiah 35:8-9 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

  The unclean can not walk on this way; only those who have had their sins forgiven and are walking to please God without sin each day.

 1 Peter 1:14-16   As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

 We are commanded to be holy in all our conversation: our every day living. How we act, speak, our attitudes, our motives and our behavior.

 Sin and the world are all around us. John 17:15-17 We are not of the world if we are saved. What is the world?

John defines it in 1 John 2:15-17  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

 The word lust means a longing, craving, an eagerness to enjoy. It means delight, pleasure or desire. Any pleasure, delight, desire or interest that draws us away from God, or makes us forget God, or places God in second place is “worldliness”.

Business, pleasure, conduct, activities, education culture, dress, possessions, or any thing else that comes before God or diminishes spiritual fervency or lessens the soul burden or lessons the burden for God’s work; these things are of the world.

 Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

If we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; we will be able with God’s help to resist all temptations and live a holy life each day.

 Thank God we have victory over sin.

If we are dead to sin we will live a holy live. Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?