Level: 1, Lesson: 12
INTEGRITY OF GOD'S WORD
OUTLINE

Mark 4:26-29, "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

THE most important thing to growth in the Christian life is a knowledge of God’s Word and understanding its power.

The only way you can understand the Spirit is through the Word of God. The Word is Spirit and life. John 6:63, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

In the same way that you can’t grow a crop without planting a seed, you can’t have God’s life transformed into your physical realm without taking the seed of God’s Word and planting it in your heart. The fight is over the seed.

Mark 4:14-20, "The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred."

The Bible compares the Word of God to a seed. Just as you cannot understand how a seed can produce a plant, you cannot understand how reading God’s Word can change you and cause God’s life to come alive in you. Mark 4:26-27, "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."

Reading and letting God’s Word saturate you changes your attitude, your perceptions and your experience.

The earth was made to incubate, germinate and release the life of the seed, as so your heart was made for the Word of God. God’s Word was created to be placed in your heart as a seed and then your heart was designed to automatically release the power of God to change the way things work in your life. Mark 4:28, "For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."

There are steps to growth, maturity and receiving from God. You must first plant the Word. Then hope, followed by faith, will produce the victory.

God has provided everything we need through the atonement of the Lord Jesus. He produced His Word - the seed - and it’s our job to take the seed, sow it in our hearts and meditate on it until it releases His life.

Mark 4:35-41, "And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

God’s Word has everything you need to succeed and have victory in every area of your life. It’s in seed form in the Word of God. As you read and think on these seeds, they’ll take root and will be able to stop the storms in your life.

God’s Word will not work without being mixed with faith in your heart. The Word has all the power you’ll ever need, but it has to be put in your heart and mixed with faith for it to release its power.

The most important thing you’ll ever do in your Christian life is to have a regular intake of God’s Word mixed with faith.

INTEGRITY OF GOD’S WORD
Lesson Text

1. In Mark 4:26-29 Jesus used well-known truths about seeds to illustrate truths about how God’s Word works, that very few people know. The first truth He taught was that God’s Word has to be planted in our hearts for it to work. Just as a seed doesn’t release its life until it is planted, God’s Word will not set us free until we get it into our hearts. Having a Bible on our tables, in our hands, or in our heads is not sufficient. We have to commit God’s Word to our hearts.
2. Second, the man in Jesus’ parable who sowed the seed slept and rose, day after day. This means that it takes time for a seed to germinate. You can’t plant a seed one day and expect to see it grow the next day. If you dig up the seed every day to see if anything has happened, it will never grow. You must have faith that the seed is sprouting and leave it alone. Likewise, we can’t just meditate on God’s Word for one day and get the results we want. We can’t just get into God’s Word one day a week and live differently the other six days. That’s like digging up the seed. The scripture has to abide in us (John 15:7).
3. Next, Jesus shared one of the most important truths about this parable. He said, " . . . the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how" Mark 4:27. This is an amazing statement. No one knows how a seed works. Mankind, with all its understanding has not unlocked the miracle of a seed. We can make things that look like seeds, taste like seeds, and have the same chemical elements as seeds, but if you put a man-made seed in the ground, it won’t grow. We haven’t figured out what makes these seeds release life, but that hasn’t stopped us from using them. For thousands of years, people have been planting seeds and reaping the harvest without understanding how it all works.
   
   In a similar way, I don’t understand how God’s Word works. I can’t explain how reading God’s Word differs from other words that I read. I don’t comprehend it all, but I know it works. I’ve experienced the supernatural life that God’s Word imparts. The Bible has God’s life in it, and when planted in our hearts and left there, it releases that life. Godly change comes effortlessly when His Word is alive in our hearts, just as plants and fruits are the natural byproducts of physical seeds.
4. This is such a simple truth that most people miss it. People are looking for some spectacular encounter with the Lord that will transform their lives instantly. Few are willing to grow. They want to microwave their miracle. Some are willing to spend hours in prayer asking for a miracle instead of planting the Word of God in their hearts, which will produce the miracle. Prayer, to the Word, is like what water and fertilizer are to a seed. It helps the Word release its life. You can water and fertilize barren soil all you want, but it won’t produce fruit. It’s the seed that has life, not the water. Likewise, prayer is not a substitute for planting God’s Word in your heart. Prayer without the Word is religion at best, and complaining at worst.
5. Romans 12:2 gives us the key to experiencing God’s transformation in our lives. It says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." The English word "transformed" was translated from the Greek word "Metamorphoo" from which we derive the English word "metamorphosis" which describes the miraculous change of a cocoon to a butterfly. If we want to be changed in nature and appearance as drastically as a cocoon becomes a butterfly, the way we do it is by renewing our minds. Meditating on God’s Word is the primary way of accomplishing this.

1. If we do not plant God’s Word into our hearts, what will happen to it according to Matthew 13:19? The wicked one will take it away so it cannot produce in our lives.
2. According to Joshua 1:8 for us to do something with God’s Word, how long must we meditate on it? Day and night.
3. some junk
   1. God’s Word is what, according to John 6:63? Spirit & Life.
   2. God’s Word is what kind of weapon, according to Ephesians 6:17? Sword.
4. Can a sword do damage to it’s enemy? Yes. 4 When we give the proper place to God’s Word in our lives, what will happen? (Romans 8:6)
5. As we behold the Lord through His Word, what kind of image are we changed into? (II Corinthians 3:18)

INTEGRITY OF GOD’S WORD
(Additional Information)
Word of God

(Hebrews 4:12) The Bible is so called because the writers of its several books were God’s organs in communicating His will to men. It is His "word," because He speaks to us in its sacred pages. Whatever the inspired writers here declare to be true and binding upon us, God declares to be true and binding. This word is infallible because it was written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and is therefore free from all error of fact or doctrine or precept.

All saving knowledge is obtained from the Word of God. It is an indispensable means of salvation, and is efficacious thereunto by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit. (John 17:17; II Timothy 3:15-16; I Peter 1:23)

Bible

Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning "books," is the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wycliffe, and came gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists of 66 different books, composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances. The writers were of almost every social rank - statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles. Most of them were unknown to each other, and they were writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years. Yet, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in its numberless aspects and relations - the subject of man’s redemption. It is divided into the Old Testament, containing 39 books, and the New Testament, containing 27 books. The names given to the Old in the writings of the New are as follows:

1. The Scriptures (Matthew 21:42)
2. Scripture (II Peter 1:20)
3. The Holy Scriptures (Romans 1:2)
4. The Law (John 12:34)
5. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44)
6. The Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17)
7. The Old Covenant (II Corinthians 3:14 RV)

There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New. The Old Testament is divided into three parts:

1. The Law (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses.
2. The Prophets, consisting of the following books
   1. The former, namely, Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings.
   2. The latter, namely, the greater prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel - and the 12 minor prophets.
3. The Hagiographa, or holy writings, including the rest of the books. These are ranked in three divisions:
   1. The Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, distinguished by the Hebrew name, a word formed of the initial letters of these books, "emeth," meaning truth.
   2. Canticles (Song of Solomon), Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, called the five rolls, as being written for the synagogue use on five separate rolls.
   3. Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and I and II Chronicles.

Between the Old and the New Testament, no addition was made to the revelation God had already given. The period of New Testament revelation, extending over a century, began with the appearance of John the Baptist. The New Testament consists of the following books:

1. The historical books: the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles.
2. The Epistles.
3. The book of prophecy, the Revelation.

The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later period, in the ninth century AD, into verses. Our modern system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced by Cardinal Hugo in about the middle of the thirteenth century (he died 1263). The system of verses for the New Testament was introduced by Robert Stephanus in 1551 and generally adopted; although neither Tyndale’s nor Coverdale’s English translation of the Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it is very useful. (Adopted from Easton’s Bible Dictionary, 1897)

Here are some questions to think about for this lesson

Level 1 Lesson 12 Questions
INTEGRITY OF GOD'S WORD

1. According to John 6:63, the words of Jesus or the Word of God is what?
2. According to Romans 8:6, to be spiritually minded is what?
3. According to Mark 4:14, what is the seed sown in this verse?
4. According to Mark 4:26-28, does the Word (which is the seed) produce right away?
5. According to Mark 4:28, what are those stages of growth?
6. We need to plant God's Word in our hearts and wait for it to produce (as it does in nature). How does Luke 8:15 teach this?
7. In Hebrews 4:2, the children of Israel heard the Word but it did not profit them. Why?
8. According to James 1:25 the Word will benefit us if we do what?

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