Do you Have Ears to Hear?
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Good Morning, turn with me in your Bibles to the gospel of . Let’s stand in honor of the reading of God’s word. (Read)
(Pray)
Only a few short months ago my daughter asked me a question: “Daddy she said” Will you show me that you can fly? I tried to play it off by saying “No its a secret” but she would not be denied “Daddy please show me how you can fly!” “Grace I told you honey that is a secret.”
But she kept pressing me and so finally I told her, “Darlin Daddy can’t fly” She actually cried! You see when Grace was 3 she told me that she believed I was superman. As a joke because her statement caught me off guard I simply said “somethings you’ll never know” and she took it to heart she had been asking me to show her to fly for 3 years and I finally decided she was old enough to understand that Daddy didn’t lie to her.
She was crushed though, she genuinely thought I was superman! The heart of a child is so pure and innocent isn’t it? You can tell them almost anything and if they love you or even if they like you then it will become gospel truth to them.
This is why Jesus admonished us in the gospel that unless we receive the Kingdom of God as a little child then we could not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Children don’t question they just believe ..
Yet as we grow older something happens to our hearts we lose our innocence and we begin to see the world through the jaded lense of past failures or pains, we call it experience. But the sad thing is this experience, this wisdom that comes from these situations and wrong decisions in life rob from us the thing that we need the most.... A SOFT HEART.
This Jesus is going to paint a picture for us about the most important muscle in your body, the heart. You know the greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all you heart, mind soul, and strength. Have you ever noticed what comes first?
The idea Jesus is conveying in the greatest commandment is this you cannot love God with all your mind, or souls, or strength if you don’t first honor Him as Lord in your heart. Here is the question i want you to answer today as we navigate through this text, WHO AM I in this parable. Everyone in this room is found in this passage somewhere. I wanna see if you can identify yourself, because that is exactly what Jesus was trying to do. Today is a day of self examination, I am examining myself, and I hope that you will examine yourself as we walk through this passage.
In this passage Jesus tells a story about dirt different types of dirt to be exact and he talks about dirt in terms of the productivity of the soil. Listen here is something we need to understand God wants to plant something inside your heart on a daily basis, when you come to church, He wants to make a deposit of truth on the inside of you and as that seed is planted and nurtured then it should produce spiritual fruit. We see this throughout the Bible that God desires you to bear fruit.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
So God is a farmer, He plants and then He waters and then He desires to see fruit grow out of your life, but not physical fruit spiritual fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Write this down this is the main point today: The goal of the Christian life is to bear spiritual fruit
Now some of you might say well I thought the goal of the Christian life was to glorify God?
True but remember in Jesus said by this my Father IS glorified that you bear much fruit. YOu are here this morning for a Bible study that’s good at least i hope that’s why your’e here, to be spiritually fed. As children of God we should be hungry for the word of God, a healthy child is a hungry child, and if you show up hungry to have truth planted within your’e heart you are on the right track.
Jesus tells this story in Marks gospel because he wants us to understand that He is a planter and that our hearts are the soil that He plants in, now we decide which type of soil our hearts are. We are the ones who decide if we are going to move forward spiritually or if w are going to go backwards spiritually its really up to us. God wants us to grow but we must want to grow as well, you see there is god’s part and there is our part.
Philippians
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Philippians 2
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
Now that verse is often misunderstood, this verse does not say work FOR your own salvation because you cant work for it, because it is a gift of God. It says work OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling. That phrase work out your own salvation can better be translated carry it to completion. This idea is that of a gold mine, He is saying go into that gold mine and get as much gold out of it as you possibly can. So God has saved us but now we must mine the eternal riches of His truth and allow that truth to change us.
It goes on to say this
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So there it is altogether human responsibility working along side God willing and working out these thing for His good pleasure.
The only way we can make it as a Christians is by the daily help of the Holy Spirit. Do you know what you need everyday you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Well good, but the word used in the Bible for filled means “to be under the influence of” have you ever seen someone under the influence of alcahol? They don’t act as they normally would they dont react like they normally would, if they were not being influenced by the substance within thier bodies. Now they make bad judgment calls, the alcahol changes the way they walk and interact with people.
Likewise to be “filled” or to be under the influence and indwelt with the power of the Holy Spirit changes the way you interact with people, it changes the way you walk it changes how you talk. to be controlled by the spirit of God changes the way you and I act. Do you know what we are missing today? We are missing people who beg God to be filled with His Spirit. Myself included, I am telling you if I don’t get in God’s word every morning I am not a good person to be around. Im grumpy I worry, I always have a aggrivation about me. I walk around with a chip on my shoulder. It is just the way I am but when I have time to be in God’s word fruit begins to show in my life, love, joy, peace, patience kindness goodness and selfcontrol.
But oh boy if I dont I am just like you, I struggle. How many of you can say that as you have gotten older you feel the same way, that if God’s word is not an active part of your day then you struggle?
God wants to fill us over and over and impact our lives, families and communities.
This is what Jesus wants to teach us today.
When it comes to a spiritual harvest the soil is everything.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 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, so that
“ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”
Mark 1:1-
Then Jesus goes on to explain this parable
Then
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:13-
Here we have 4 different reactions to God’s word matched up with 4 different types of soil.
Only one out of 4 respond to God;s truth like a Christian listen not everyone is gonna respond to the gospel, our job as disciples, my job as a pastor is to take this seed of the word of God and throw it out as far as I can. I mean take a look at the sower here in this passage he is just scattering seed everywhere some fall on the wayside, some on the rocks, some in the thorns, I mean He is just scattering this stuff everywhere isn’t he?
MINISTRY IS MESSY
There is no neat and tidy way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, you just throw the seed everywhere you can and trust God with where it lands. When I preach a sermon I am scattering truth everywhere I try to throw out as much truth that pertains to as many issues as I can within the context of a passage of scripture thats why sometimes it seems scattered… pun intended. THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I AM DOING, scattering seeds and some fall on rocky soil, some fall on the wayside, and some fall on receptive soil.
( Adam’s videos)
Were all called to scatter the seeds of God’s truth, and trust the Holy Spirit with where it lands. How much talent does it take to scatter seed? Not much it is having the right seed (God’s word) and then scattering it out there during your week. There is no pressure there just spread the truth of God in any way you can, scatter it, and trust God with the rest. That’s our job as Christians.
(tracts, verses, conversations, sending someone a link to a message)
There are many ways to scatter God’s truth are you?
That’s another message in and of itself. Let’s get back to examining our hearts, and it may tell us why if were not trying to scatter the good news, why we might not be doing that.
Jesus stands here in a boat on the shoreline and he tells us a story. In this story we see four different types of soil showing us four different types of hearts, which shows us four different types of people, and how they respond to the Word of God.
The Heart that is in the Wrong Place
The Heart that is in the Wrong Place
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Mark 1:3
First of all this is something Jesus really desires that His listeners pay attention to hence his intro LISTEN, BEHOLD, or TAKE NOTE, He is saying pay attention! I want you to notice this is a positional issue, it says the seed fell BESIDE the path. Meaning this seed was intended to fall on the path in front of the sower but instead it fell by the wayside or off the beaten path where it was supposed to go.
Have you ever came to church with your heart in the wrong place?
Have you ever tried coming to church with the heart that says I am going to go because its what I am supposed to do? You didnt come desiring the word, you didnt come to worship the Lord you came in and your heart was in the wrong place, it was off the beaten path so to speak and then you heard a message and left, and nothing changed. How many of you would say that has been you at one time or another?
How about this one, you decided you were going to get into the word of God because you knew you were supposed to but your heart really wasn’t in it and you sat down with a devotional or a book and you sit down and you read it and you might as well have read a phone book because you didn’t feel anything?
You can relate to this because we have all come into church or tried to do the right thing with the wrong heart and when we try to do the right thing with the wrong heart it ceases being right. your just going through the motions there is no devotion to Christ there it is just an action that you are doing but it wont make any impact.
Look at what happens to the seed that falls in the heart that is in the wrong place.
Jesus says the birds came and devoured it.
So what are these birds?
Jesus explains:
The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
Mark 4:
Notice they are robbed! By who? Satan comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
If your heart is in the wrong place even if the word is being sowed in you it wont last long. So let’s get real for a minute you come to church your heart is in the wrong place and you hear a message you may even agree with that message but before you leave Satan does something to take awya the word that has been sown in you. Something happens the prince of the power of the air comes in and uses something to strip you of the word that was meant to change you.
Or let’s say you make it outside the church, and you get in the car and Satan at his finest an argument happens in the car, the kid acts a fool and you respond wrongly, Satan has come and used circumstances to steal from you the truth that was meant to change you. This is why it is so important to come to worship with our hearts in the right place, fixed on JEsus coming to sit at His feet and learn from Him Truth that will transform us.
You might be in here today and you have been focused on everything but the word of God, can I tell you something, your heart is in the wrong place, your focus is on the wrong thing.
(Mary and Martha)
The Heart that is Deceived
The Heart that is Deceived
Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
Mark 4:
Notice the soil the seed landed here is not really deep at all, they came to a service or came to thier Bibles not really looking for any depth but instead this is the heart that has become shallow and self centered. They dont realize it but they are focused on themselves not the Lord or His word. Now you might ask me where or how I got that from this passage let’s think about it . The verse says “IT DID NOT HAVE MUCH SOIL” Therefore is the soil refers to the heart then this heart is shallow. They focus on themesleves, have you ever met shallow people? People who thought the world revolved around them? We can all be this way during different season of our life but we must recognize it, and move on.
Jesus says the word can do nothing great within them for a specific reason
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
Mark 4:16-
Do you see this decieved heart hears the word but because of his selfcenterdness the reason he recieves it with gladness is because he thinks it could benefit his or her life somehow. They recieve it with joy, GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE, a plan to prosper you and not to harm you to give you hope and a future they stay in verses like these. But when Jesus says blessed are you when you are persecuted for my names sake they choose not to listen to verses like those.
They are all about themselves.
We can see this because they immediately receive the word with gladness but then when it come time for the tribulation and trouble that comes with being a follower of Christ they take off.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Not everyone who receives the Word gladly knows the Lord, and in true selfpreservation style this guy hears it and endures for a little while but when it gets tough they immediately fall away. This is a person who has deceived themself into beliving they are saved when they truly are not.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James says dont just hear the word but do it, because if you only like hearing the word and have no inlclination to do anything with it you decieve yourselves into thinking you are born again when really you have never recieved with meekness the IMPLANTED WORD which is able to save you souls.
There are no doubt some in this room right now who are deceived and believe they are saved when they are not, they simply like good preaching, and that is the scariest thought to me but Jesus says it will be true until he returns.
ARE YOU DECEIVED?
The Heart That is Not Tended
The Heart That is Not Tended
And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
Thonry ground is usually a place where no one has been in awhile, it is grown over and hard to travel through, I went to look at some property recently and i had the kids with me, they wanted to get out and come with me but it was clear that nothing had gone through there in a very long time, I knew there would be thorns and other dangers, and this is the type of heart Jesus describes here. This heart has not been tended it is overgrown with thorns and ruffage, it is cluttered and unkempt.
This is the heart that has not been cared for, there has been no cultivation, there has been no path clearing it just sits idle. never been touched by the word of God and when the word does come the thorns growing there choke out the life giving word the Lord wants to plant.
Jesus says it this way:
Mark 4:18-
And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
These people hear the word and the seed falls but because they have never cultivated a heart and made the soil ready for planting other things stop growth. The cares of this world dominate their minds, they cant focus on what is eternal because they are preoccupied with the physical world they can see, it overwhelms them the truth cannot tell them that God is in control and if they hear it they wont live like He is. Truth can’t tell them that they are part of an eternal kingdom because they serve the kingdom of this present world that we now live in. This is why they are deceived and think that if they gain riches they will be satisfied but they are not because the have an unkept heart, and they desire other things and those other things choke out the life God wishes to plant within them.
This is the heart that cannot even fully listen to a word form god because they are worried about bills, or their children or how they can get ahead finacially, they sit in a pew for sure but it does not much good because they are being choked to death with things that have no eternal value.
The Heart that is Receptive
The Heart that is Receptive
Mark 4:
And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
This is the soft heart, this is the heart like a child ready to recieve what comes to them. This soil is soft it has been worked and churned up and is ready for something to fall and one seed may fall but it produces a good crop because the soil is good. There are many farmers who take soil samples of the groun they intend to work for the upcoming year. They do this to make sure that the ground is ready whenever it is time to plant.
How are you preparing the soil of your heart to recieve the word? So that when it is planted it bears fruit?
Do you have a receptive heart?
Is your heart
in the wrong place
rocky and shallow
filled with brush and thorns because you have neglected it
OR IS YOUR HEART SOFT AND READY TO RECEIVE GODS WORD?
I pray that if nothing else God would show you a reflection of your hear this morning and it would change your life.
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”