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Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb7bvF5Ucrk
I. Whoever Has Ears
Whoever Has Ears
This morning I am kicking off a new series.
We have looked at the Persecuted church found around the world.
We have looked at our situation which is not fully the persecuted church yet, however, we have moved into a new culture that does not receive us so openly and we feel exiled in our own culture.
Many nations have lived their entire lives in this place, but for U.S. citizens, this is a new place for us.
Now that we have “embraced” our current position, we need to find new ways of accomplishing our mission within this current state of affairs.
To do this, we need to look to what Jesus taught us.
For the rest of this summer and throughout the fall, we will be looking to the book of Luke to find the “Life and Teachings of Jesus.”
This morning we are starting with the Parable of the Sower found in .
This parable is found in Matthew and Mark also.
It must have been important for three different apostles to include it in their writings.
In each case, Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of God and He sets the scene for how we find the Kingdom.
We find it comes through the Word of God.
Bow your heads with me and lets pray before we begin.
Father, we have prayed acknowledging your presence this morning.
We have given praise and worship to You and Your name.
Now Father, we turn to you to give us ears that will hear.
Direct and guide our thoughts and illuminate within each of us how you would have us apply Your message in our lives that we may not only be hearers of Your Word, but doers of Your Word.
In the Holy Name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
Background:
After Jesus was Baptized He went into the wilderness to pray before beginning His ministry.
At that point, we know that Satan confronted Him and tempted Him to turn Him from His mission.
However, Jesus deflected each attach with scripture.
When Jesus left the wilderness, He chooses disciples to mentor as leaders for the time when He is no longer here on earth.
Then we find Him on the mount teaching the people, feeding the people and as he travels healing people.
The miracles Jesus performed began to draw crowds.
People heard of all that Jesus was doing and they came to see and hopefully prosper from His touch.
At this point, He is along the banks of the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd has once again gathered and so He steps into a boat in order to get back from the crowd and to provide amplification of His voice for teaching.
He begins with a story.
The story is of a farmer who is sowing seed and what takes place with the seeds.
Many will tell you that Jesus told stories to keep people involved and to help them easily understand what He was teaching, but this is not necessarily correct.
Jesus states in this passage why He speaks in parables and it is not for easy understanding, but just the opposite.
It is for the purpose of weeding out those who do not really have the right interest in being there.
Look at verse 10.
This seems odd to us as we think that Jesus would want all to understand.
However, Jesus understands that not everyone is interested in truth.
Many are only interested in self-gain.
Many wanted Jesus to heal and fix their lives, but they had no desire for Jesus to change their lives.
That is the very essence of this Parable of the Sower.
So with that explained, let us jump into the Parable itself.
A. The Sower (, )
Jesus begins with “a farmer.”
He does not describe the farmer any further than that as no other explanation is needed.
The farmer just describes anyone sowing the seed.
It can be me, you, or whoever.Then He describes...
Then He describes...
B. The Seed (, )
He says the seed is the word of God.
That is easy enough to understand.
It does not take a pastor or an evangelist to share the word of God.
Anyone can share the word of God with people at any time.
So the farmer sows the seed.
Now in Bible days, there were no fenced off fields.
They were not even plowed necessarily.
They would just cast the seed out around them as they walked.
So as this farmer cast out the seed we find some fell on different kinds of soil and Jesus tells us...
C. The Soil Represents the Heart of the Listeners.
Jesus then describes...
1.
Four Kinds of Soil/Hearts
a.
The Path Represents a Hard Heart (, )
There were often well worn paths that ran through a field.
These were paths people used walking to and from various places.
Over time the ground became hard-packed from all the foot traffic.
We see a field and we do not often see paths running through the middle beyond the tracks of sprinklers.
More often a field in our day, might have a road that runs around the outside edge, but not through.
However, the Jews were familiar with paths running through their fields, so this made perfect sense to them.
The hazard of the path was the seeds would sit on top and not be buried where it could germinate.
It would then be trampled on and crushed, or birds would come along and eat the seeds that were so easily available.
The road made them easier to spot and devour.
These represent the hard heart.
The hard heart comes from repeated and unconfessed sin.
They refuse to confess their sin.
They will not lower their pride enough to receive the word of God.
Unconfessed sin hardens our heart to the message of God.
Satan has control of such a heart.
These are the people that in many ways are just not interested.
Some may never even enter a church.
Others come to church, but for the wrong reasons and they are not interested in hearing the message.
They come for status or to please others, but never really listen to the message.
In one of the churches I used to attend, one husband came and sat with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face throughout the entire service.
It was like he was saying, “There is nothing you can say that will impress me.”
Many of the Pharisees were in this place.
They had figured out a place for themselves that was comfortable and they were in control.
They fought Jesus because they had no desire to change their ways.
Nothing He said or did was going to change their mind.
Many of the Pharisees were in this place.
They had figured out a place for themselves that was comfortable and they were in control.
They fought Jesus because they had no desire to change their ways.
Nothing He said or did was going to change them.
This was what Jesus meant when He quoted .
Luke 8:
The listen and they watch, but they never internalize the message.
says,
These are some of the hardest people to win to the Lord.
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