Can You Hear Him Now?

Can You Hear Him Now?

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

 

Illus. Highs and Lows.

 

This morning we will turn to the beginning of Matthew 13, where Jesus gives a parable that points us to the importance of hearing His word, and the heart postures in our lives that get in the way of hearing and responding to what He has to say. Jesus illustrates this by giving a parable, an illustrative story about a farmer who goes out to scatter seed with the desire that the seed sown would take deep root in the soil, grow, and produce fruit. The word “Parable” in Greek means to “place, or lay, something alongside of something else for the purpose of comparison.” Here Jesus gives a spiritual or moral truth and expresses it by “laying it alongside” a physical example that could be easily understood.

In this parable, the Sower is scattering the seed, and as the seed is scattered, it falls upon 4 different types of soils and it is the condition of the soil that is the determining factor in whether the seed takes root. Each soil type has a different level of readiness to receive the seed being sent.

Jesus will tell the parable, and then explain it. In His explanation, what will become clear is that the seed is a picture of His Word and the four soil types we see represent different heart conditions.  The heart conditions mentioned, determine one’s ability to hear God’s word, understand it, and ultimately live life according to it.

Prior to Jesus giving this parable, and earlier this same day in Matthew 12, Jesus had been firmly rejected by the religious leaders. They were determined in their decision that Jesus was not their Messiah. The crowds stood in wonder, amazed, asking if He was in fact the promised one they had been waiting for.

Some had determined to reject Him, others would receive Him willingly, laying down their lives to follow him. In light of the varying responses, some may wonder, why are some willing and able to hear, listen, and understand Jesus’ words while applying them deeply, while others reject Him completely? Jesus gives the answers in this parable, while comparing four soil types to four heart postures.

 

Read: Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

 

At the center of this parable lies the importance of hearing and understanding.    

 

Matthew 13:9, He who has ears, let him hear.

 

In verses 10 to 17, Jesus spoke about those whose hearts became dull, they had ears, but scarcely heard, they were selective hearers in other words, and they had eyes, but they closed them. Jesus Himself said “The one who has ears, let him hear (Mt. 11:15) In this parable Jesus said blessed are the ears of those who hear, and the eyes of those who see…. They will understand with their heart.

 

Matthew 13:18, Hear then the parable of the sower.

 

What Jesus is giving here is more than just a story, but the reality of what happens when His Word goes out. In this parable there is the Sower sending out the word, the seed is the Word of God, the evil one is satan, and the four soils represent the heart posture of different hearers.

 

Illus. The way seed was sown…

 

This illustration would have been very familiar to those hearing, but Jesus was drawing a parallel between the soil of the earth, and soil of people’s hearts. And based on how each soil type is described, it is clear which soil, which heart Jesus desires for you and I.

 

1. Cultivate the Right Conditions

 

• To cultivate, is to prepare and use land for crops and gardening. So that it is ready to receive seed. In fields or gardens, soil needs to be cultivated so that the conditions are right and ready to receive.

 

• Jesus compares the soil types, to heart types.

 

• While we will look specifically at each soil and our opportunity to get our hearts in the place of being ready to receive God’s Word in our hearts through some soil searching this morning, I want to first give a biblical idea of what is meant when we read the word “heart.” If my heart needs to be clear in order to receive and respond to God’s word, what is it that I am dealing with?

 

• In other words, what is it that I need to cultivate? The heart.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

 

1 Samuel 16:7, …The Lord looks at the heart.

 

 Proverbs 27:19, As in water a face reflects the face, so the heart of a person reflects the person.

 

Illus. The heart.

 

Proverbs 23:7, As a man thinks in his heart so is he.

 

Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

 

• Since everything you do and all that you are flows from the heart, Jesus wants to make sure that His word is taking root in our heart, and that fruitfulness for the kingdom is flowing from it.

 

• In order for fruitfulness to flow, the seed of His Word has to be deeply rooted. In order for deep roots, there has to be a cultivation of the right conditions.

 

• A cultivation of our mind, our will, our emotions, our desires, our choices.

 

Illus. Soil prep.

 

1. Let Jesus Hammer on What Has Been Hardened

 

Matthew 13:3, Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

 

Matthew 13:18-19, Listen then to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road.

 

• The soil beside the road is illustrated by a path that has been walked on and over, again and again. These “roads” ran right through fields, and many would walk on them.

 

• The soil in these places was so packed down that the seed which fell upon it, would not penetrate the ground at all.

 

• The illustration is of one who hears God’s Word, and due to hardness of heart, the Word makes no impact.

 

• This is not due to a deficiency in the message, but their determined indifference and hardheartedness.

 

• To be hardened, as defined by the dictionary is depicted as a person who is pitiless, unfeeling, unwilling to change, unyielding.  

 

• There are many examples of a hard heart in Scripture.

 

• In Mark 8:17-19, Jesus and his disciples are on a boat together after Jesus had fed four thousand with only seven loaves of bread and the disciples in the very next situation we see, the disciples began worrying about their lack of bread…It seems they had forgotten what they had just seen.

 

Mark 8:17-18, And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember…

 

• The disciples had seen something with their eyes, Jesus provided miraculously…Yet they could not see!

 

• Their inability to see, understand, hear, and remember indicated a hardness of heart.

 

Romans 2:4-5, Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness (hard) and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God

 

• Paul wrote that God’s kindness should lead people away from sin and to Him, to repentance, but was by hard hearts unwilling to yield to Him and His Word.

 

• In Hebrews 3, we read about those who tested the Lord, went astray in their hearts, did not learn His ways, deceived by sin, and they were referred to as “hard hearted.”

 

• When the Word of the Lord came to the people through Zechariah the prophet, they were described this way…

 

Zechariah 7:12, They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit…

 

• We have hard hearts when we are unmoved, unyielding, unresponsive and unwilling to receive what the Lord has to say to us.

Illus. Not there.

• There are some who have dropped all desire to understand, are determined to be indifferent, and therefore the seed doesn’t stay long.

• It is snatched away, but there is a better way. The Lord promises to change our hearts if we come to Him.

 

2 Corinthians 4:3-4, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 

Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

• For hardheartedness to be changed, one needs to put the plow in the hands of Jesus and let Him hammer on what has been hardened, or plow what has been packed down.

Psalm 51:17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

1. Don’t Stay in the Shallow End

 

Matthew 13:5, Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

 

Matthew 13:20-21, The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately he falls away.

 

• The seed sown here falls on rocky ground. It has enough soil to receive the seed, the seed springs up, there is joy, however, the soil has a layer of rock under the surface ultimately making the soil too shallow for real roots to develop.

 

• This is the one who due to lack of depth, is tripped up by tribulation, parched due to persecution.

 

• The particular type of persecution and affliction that comes is because of the Word.

 

• The persecution comes, and that person falls away. That phrase falls away is a word in Greek (skandalizo), which is to cause to stumble, or take up an offense.

 

• The picture is of a person who is offended, stumbles, and falls away when their initial response to Jesus’ Word is put to the test.

 

Illus. Salmon.

 

Galatians 5:7, You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

 

John 15:18, If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

 

• Affliction and difficulty come, people bring persecution, stumble you, offend you, and when they do, there is a rocky layer beneath the surface that nobody, not even the Lord is able to truly get through.

 

• In order to cultivate the right conditions, the barrier rocks beneath the surface must be removed.

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Illus. The Deep end!

 

• I encourage you to dig deeper so that deeper roots can be established. Be determined in difficulty to draw near, and as you go to the deep end, depend on God.

 

1. Throw Out the Thorns

 

Matthew 13:7, Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

 

Matthew 13:22, And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

 

• The thorns in this type of soil prevent the seed from maturing. Specifically, the thorns are the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of wealth.

• The soil is fertile for God’s Word, but fertile for everything else including seed of words that are sown, in this soil, all types of other things are taking root.

 

• Jesus talks about the deceitfulness of wealth: Riches, possessions, prestige, and position, are placed on equal footing with faith, rendering their spiritual life unfruitful.

 

• What Jesus was making clear is that riches will not deliver what they promise.

Illus. The multimillionaire, John D. Rockefeller, was once asked the question, “How much money is enough?”

CS Lewis wrote…“All that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”

 

Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

 

• In addition to the deceitfulness of riches, Jesus speaks to the anxieties and worries of the world which make the word unfruitful.

 

Matthew 6:34, Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

• These things choke out the word.

 

• The word “choke” here means to strangle completely, to drown, to crowd out, to cut off.

 

• The person picture in Matthew 13 is hearing the word, that is clear, but the word is being choked out. Jesus also talks about the anxiety of the world as well and that the anxiety of the world, will choke out God’s word.

 

Philippians 4:6-7, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

• The word “anxious,” is worth our consideration, so that we can understand exactly what Paul is encouraging us to not be in our lives.

 

• The Greek word here is meremnao. It is here translated “anxious,” and commonly translated into our English words worried, worry, or concern. To be anxious, troubled with cares or worry. It is used 19 times in the New Testament.

 

• The roots of this word are interesting as well. It comes from two root words together. The first means to tear, separate, or divide. The second, means the mind.

 

• Merizo (to divide, separate, cut into pieces), naus (NAS) the mind…

 

• There are thorns being thrown and attempting to choke out God’s truth and word in and over your life. Throw out the thorn! One thing Jesus makes clear is that we are not to worry…He is in control and knows what we need.

 

• Is your ability to see, receive, know, believe, and trust God and His word being strangled and choked out of your life due to the anxieties of the world? Throw out the thorns!

 

Illus. Wealth and worry.

 

• Jesus said your father knows what you need…He didn’t deny need, or the reality that there are needs. He didn’t push past the situation or place it to the side. The needs were and are real…So is God. In the midst of your situation, know that He knows and let your trust and faith in Him grow..

 

• There are five times Jesus uses the phrase “you of little faith,” and in every case it had to do with worry, clothing, or life span (Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; Luke 12:28).

 

1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (NASB 95’)

 

• The word there for “cast” is to throw upon, throw away, or throw off.

 

• If you are being choked out by the worries of the world, the thorns in your heart, cast your cares, or literally throw them out and upon Him, because He cares, He is there, and He will guard your heart and minds with peace.

 

Illus. Practical, and real.

 

1. Readily Receive Whatever He Reveals

 

• Those who hear the Word and accept it are compared to the good soil.

 

Matthew 13:8-9, But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.  The one who has ears, let him hear.

 

Matthew 13:23, And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the Word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

 

• The seed that is sown on the good soil bears fruit. Therefore, when the seed has grown, it is known by what was sown.

 

• Jesus is saying if you want to be fruitful to let His Word take root in your heart.

 

• Just like Jeremiah, the Psalmist rejoiced that the one who delights in God’s Word and meditates on it day and night is “Like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever they do, they prosper.”

John 15:5,8; “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

• As you continue to cultivate the right conditions…The weeds will still try to make their way onto good soil, rocks will get kicked or thrown there, thorns will try to make their way in throughout the day…

 

• The good soil will need to remain kept up and ready to receive, knowing that when the good seed is sown, the Lord will determine what is grown.

 

Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

 

Ilus. Why not?

 

 

Matthew 13:1-9