Listen Up!

Introduction

Story of me talking to Ashley and hearing what she is saying but not really listening because my mind was thinking and distracted about other things at work.

I heard what she said, but I was not listening. . . I did not have ears that could hear what she was saying because my heart was in a different place.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and you heard what they said, but you were not really listening?

What about when it comes to spiritual things?

Why are some people transformed by the gospel, but others are hardened and put off by the same message?

For example, how can my Mom and my uncle, who were both raised by the same parents, heard the same gospel message, went to the same church growing up. . . but my Mom trusted in Christ and my uncle rejected Jesus?

How does that happen?

The issue is not whether or not they heard the message. . . the issue is how well they listened.

For us to be able to listen and receive God’s word, we must have ears that can hear. . . what we need is spiritual hearing.

And the point of Jesus’ parables is only those with spiritual ears and a soft heart can hear, understand, and obey the Gospel.

The disciples were asking the same questions. Some had received the message of Christ, but others had rejected it.

Jesus’ teaching in Mark 2-3 had allowed the lame to walk, tax collectors to come to repentance, and sinners to be forgiven. . . but his same teaching caused the Pharisees to plot with the Herodians on how to kill him.

In Mark 3, Some believed Jesus could only perform miracles through the power of God, but others said it was from the power of demons.

The disciples chose to follow Jesus, but his own family rejected him and called Jesus insane.

Why is that the case?

Well, Mark places the story of the parable of soils in chapter 4 to give the explanation to why some people believe in Jesus and some don’t. . . and it is because some have spiritual ears to hear and others don’t.

Now lets read this parable together in Mark 4. . .

Read Mark 4:1-9.

Prayer for Illumination

1. The Parable: Four Different Soils; One Produces Grain (v. 1-9)

v. 2: “And he was teaching them many things in parables. . .”

Define “Parables.”

Parables were short stories or sayings composed as a kind of metaphor that uses some element of everyday life to present a moral or spiritual lesson.

Example: Political Cartoon.

In this case, Jesus used gardening and sowing to make his point, which was a common practice for his audience in 1st century Galilee.

It would be like Jesus talking about playing football or something else that would be common to us today.

Two things to note about this parable.

First, Jesus bookends the parable with an imperative command to “Listen” (ακουω) in verse 3 and 9.

Thus, Jesus wants his audience to hear what he has to say.

Also, by Jesus saying, “who has ears,” implies that some in the crowd he was speaking to could understand his teaching.

Second, in the parable, he lists four different soils. . . and only one produces grain.

There is one sower and he sows the same seed. . . but the difference consists in the soils and the result of the seed. . . again, only one type of soil. . . the good soil. . . produces grain.

Remember that. . . now let’s listen to Jesus’ explanation of the parable to the disciples in verses 13-20. . . which tells us of four ways of hearing. . . but like the soils. . . only one way of hearing produces fruit

2. The Explanation: Four Ways of Hearing; One Produces Fruit (v. 13-20)

Read v. 13 and explain why this parable is important.

Legend Key:

The Sower: Jesus/His Disciples.

The Seed: Jesus’ teaching/The Gospel.

Soils/Hearing: Human heart.

Four Ways of Hearing

The Path: Minimal Hearing. (v. 14-15)

These are the one’s who are too busy even to listen. . . and what they do hear is taken away from them.

These could be likened to hearing someone proclaim the gospel or hearing an invitation to church. . . and they don’t stop but just keep walking by.

Or they come to church for all the wrong reasons and pay no attention to the message.

They don’t have time for God and have no desire to hear Jesus’ message.

Are you too busy for Jesus to stop and hear his teachings?

The Rocky Ground: Shallow Hearing (v. 16-17)

These are people who, at first, receive the gospel with joy.

But there is not root. Like the soil in the parable, the sun scorches the plant and it withers away.

This is the same phrase used in James 1:11 how the rich man fades away in the midst of his pursuits.

Hosea 6:4: They are like a morning mist, like early dew that disappears.

The heat of tribulation and persecution cause this person to stumble and fall away. . . and they bear no fruit.

When you face opposition, do you back away from your testimony?

The Thorns: Distracted Hearing (v. 18-19)

These are those who hear the word but three things come in and choke out the word.

Cares of the world.

What are the cares of our world?

Politics, fame, being loved by others, physical comforts and pleasure.

Deceitfulness of riches.

Desires for other things.

These people listen to the word of God, they may attend church, but when it comes to accepting and obeying the word, they get distracted by other things. . . and the word is choked and produces no fruit.

“They find more pleasure in cash than in Christ, more pleasure in their cravings than in their Creator.” -Danny Akin

The Good Soil: Spiritual Hearing (v. 20)

These are the people who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.

Now, every heart heard the word. . . but only the heart that had good soil heard the word and continued to hear it. . . they continued to accept it. . . and they continued to bear fruit.

This is another reason why the original languages can be helpful in aiding us in interpreting Scripture.

In each case of soils, they “heard” the word. . . but for the path, the rocky ground, and the thorns, “heard” is in the aorist tense in the Greek.

This means that it is a completed action and does not continue. . . they hear it but they do not persevere or continue to hear it.

In contrast, the “hear” for the good soil is in the present tense. . . which means the action is currently being done and has not been completed. . . it is the same with “accept” and “bear fruit”. . . The heart that has good soil continues to hear. . . continues to accept. . . and continues to bear fruit. . . the good soil perseveres.

Therefore, Jesus’ whole point from this parable, is the one who has ears to hear will hear the word and obey it. . . and CONTINUE in hearing and obeying. . . and their life will produce fruit. . . and their fruit will continue to multiply.

Even though your Bible probably has a division after v. 20, I don’t think Jesus is switching to a new topic when he discusses the lamp. . . because in v. 23-24, he continues the theme of having ears to hear and listening to his word. . . and what he says is that the way we hear will be measured back to us. . .

3. Hearing Will Be Measured (v. 21-25)

Read v 21-23. . .

The message of the Kingdom may be a secret now, but it will one day be revealed. . . therefore. . . we must listen and hear this message!

Read v. 24-25. . .

What you put in will be what you get out.

“practice makes perfect?”

Nope. . . “Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Its not just that you hear. . . its how you hear. . . and how you respond.

But this brings us back full circle. . . because to hear God’s word and obey. . . and to desire to hear God’s word. . . we must have a heart that is good soil. . . we must have ears that can hear. . . so how can these things happen?

verses 10-12 gives us the answer. . . for Spiritual hearing is given by grace and received by faith. .

4. Spiritual Hearing is Given By Grace and Received by Faith (v. 10-12)

Mark 4:10–12 ESV

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”

In verse 12, Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 and says the parables serve as a filter. . . it reveals who has ears that want to hear and receive his words and others who do not have ears and further harden their hearts to his words.

It is just like the Sun. . . which hardens clay, but melts wax. . . the sun is the same but the object is different. . . just as the Word is the same. . . but the hearts are different.

Those who want to hear and understand the parables will gather around Jesus and seek diligently for an explanation and the secrets of the kingdom will be revealed to them. . . but those outsiders who do not desire to hear God’s word will be hardened by the parables.

But here is the issue. . .

Ephesians 2 and Romans 3 teach us that no one seeks after God, no one desires him, we are all dead in sin and children of wrath. . .

All of our hearts are hard and none of us deserve to hear and understand God’s word. . . so how can we have receptive hearts???

Jesus said to the disciples “to you it has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God”

It is only the grace of God that can change our hearts and till up our stony hearts to give us a desire to listen, hear, and obey his word.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says that it is by grace you have been saved through faith. . . and this is not of yourselves. . . but the gift of God. . . not a result of works so that no man may boast.

Jesus came and died for our stony hearts. . . for our deaf ears. . . for our blind eyes. . . He came to give us new hearts. . . open our blind eyes. . . and unstop our deaf ears. . .

Ezekiel 36:25–28 ESV

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Just as fertilizer is the means that breaks up and softens the soil. . . God’s grace is the fertilizer that softens our hard hearts and allows us to be able to receive the gospel by faith.

Faith too, is a gift. . . but how can we have faith?

Paul says in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of Christ.”

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

But if people reject the gospel and choose not to listen to the words of Christ and remain in the dark, it is not God’s fault. . . They have freely chosen to reject the gospel and harden their hearts to the only message that brings life.

In these verses Mark is unwilling to relax the tension between God’s divine sovereignty and people’s responsibility in the accomplishment of his will in salvation.

Response

Therefore, there are two responses for us tonight. . .

First, We must respond to the gospel through repentance and faith and trust God to transform us.

Our job is to respond to the gospel through repentance and faith. . . and God will be the one to produce the growth and the fruit and help us continue to hear, accept, and bear fruit for his glory.

So, we must plead with God to give us his grace and show mercy to us. . . we must plead with him to give us ears to hear, understand, and obey his word. . . We must plead with him to plow our hearts and make them good soil to receive his word. . . and we must believe. . . by faith. . . that he has given this grace to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:13 says if we seek God with all our heart, we will find him.

James 4:8 says if we draw near to God through repentance and faith, he will draw near to us.

Matthew 7:7 says ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.

How well are you listening?

Second, we must faithfully sow the seed (proclaim the gospel) and trust God to produce fruit.

We can’t control what type of heart someone has.

We can’t save or produce fruit in their lives.

We can only proclaim the gospel freely to all people, calling all people to repent and trust in Christ. . . and God will save whomever he will.

We are not responsible for the result. . . we are only responsible for the way we respond. . . so how will we respond tonight?