Did you see? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm preaching this morning from
Luke chapter 8 on the parable of the sower. I want to read
that parable to you from the scriptures, and I've entitled
this message, The Four Types of Hearers. And I will be describing
myself. I'll be describing you. You and
I are described in this passage of Scripture. There are four
types of hearers. If you're within hearing distance
of this message and you hear what's being said, you are a
hearer. Now, let's read this parable
together, beginning in verse 4 of Luke chapter 8. And when
much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every
city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed,
and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. the hard beaten
path, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured
it. And some fell upon a rock, and
as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it
lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and
the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. Have you ever
seen a garden where somebody quit weeding it and it becomes
overcome with weeds? It's an ugly sight. And that's
what the Lord is referring to. And other fell on good ground,
and spring up, and bear fruit a hundredfold. Now, why did the
sower sow the seed in the first place? He wanted there to be
fruit. And only on the good ground did
fruit spring up. And when he'd said these things,
he cried, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. You know, not everybody has ears
to hear. And if you have ears to hear the gift of God, listen
up. And his disciples asked him,
saying, what might this parable be? They had no idea what he
was talking about. And he said unto you, it's given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others
in parables that seeing they might not see. and hearing, they
might not understand. This is a quotation from Isaiah
chapter 6. And by the way, this is the most often quoted Old
Testament passage in the New Testament from Isaiah chapter
6. Now the Lord gives the explanation
of the parable, verse 11. Now the parable is this, the
seed is the word of God, the gospel. Those by the wayside
are they that hear Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the
word out of their heart, lest they should believe, and be saved.
They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word
with joy. They think, this is the best
thing I've ever heard. And they're very sincere in thinking
that. And these have no root, which
for a while believe. a time, maybe a long time, maybe
a short time, but it's a time. And in time of temptation, they
fall away. And that which fell among the
thorns are they which when they have heard, go forth and are
choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and
bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are
they which in an honest and a good heart, having heard the word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Now here I've
described the four different hearers, and if you're under
the sound of my voice right now, you are a hearer. A hearer is
someone who, in some measure, listens to the gospel. Four types of hearers. One, the
wayside hearer. And the Lord explains this. The
sower goes out to sow the word, and some fall on the wayside,
the hard, beaten, walked-upon path where the seed can't penetrate. And as it lays there, the fowls
of the air come and gobble it up. The second type of hearer
is called the rocky soil hearer. There's rocks just underneath
the soil. The seed penetrates, but there's
rocks underneath. It can't take root. The sun comes
down, it heats up a lot because of the rocks, and it germinates
and grows, but because it has no root, because it has no moisture,
it withers away. It grows up quick, but it withers. And then we read of the thorn-choked
hearer. The sower sows the seed, and
this hearer receives the word, believes the word, but in time
weeds compete for the nutrients of the soil. The lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the pleasures
and the deceitfulness of riches, all these things come in and
compete with the word, compete with the nutrients that are in
the soil and the weeds win out. Then we read of the good ground
here. The ground has been broken up and the seed is received and
it takes root and it's watered and it grows and brings forth
fruit a hundred fold. Now, first of all, who is the
sower sowing the seed? Interestingly, we're not told. Now in the parable of the wheat
and tares, we're told that the sower is the son of man, and
here the sower could mean the gospel preacher, but even if
it does mean the gospel preacher, it's only the son of God who
can bless the Word, and he's sowing with the intention of
The seed sown bearing fruit, bearing life and bearing fruit. You don't sow just to pass the
time, you sow with a purpose. So the seeds that you sow will
bear fruit. And what is the seed? Well, Luke
8, 11 says the seed is the Word of God. It's not the Word of
men. It's not the thoughts or the
opinions of men. That will never produce fruit,
but it's the naked, unadulterated word of God, the gospel. That's another word for the gospel,
the word of God, God's word, not man's thoughts or man's interpretations
of the word. You know, somebody says regarding
the scripture, well, here's what this scripture means to me. I
don't want to be rude, but I'm not really concerned about what
it means to you. What I want to know is, what
does it mean? I don't want to know what it
means to you. I want to know what God means by this, the Word
of God, the Gospel of God, the Word that saves, the Word of
which Paul said to Timothy, Timothy, preach the Word. Whatever the
Word declares, preach it. Now, that's the seed that sown
the Word of God, the Gospel, how that God saves sinners. Now, how does God save sinners? Well, He elects sinners to be
saved before time began, a great multitude that no man can number.
He gave those sinners to His Son to represent. In time, Christ
came into this world. The world was made flesh. And
he represented those sinners. And he kept the law for those
sinners. And he died for those sinners and put away their sins
and gave those sinners his very righteousness so that they are
the righteousness of God. And in time, those sinners hear
the gospel. God gives them a new heart. God
gives them understanding. God gives them a new nature.
They hear the gospel. They believe. They repent. They
look to Christ only. They receive the Word of God,
and they bear the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. Now, the seed
is the gospel. The seed is the Word of God. Now, somebody says, how can I
know if I'm hearing the Word? Well, you have the Bible to see
if you're hearing the Word. You see if what I'm saying is
according to the Scriptures. That's all I ask. I'm not asking
you if you agree with me. Perhaps you don't. But am I preaching
the Word? I ask you to see if what I'm
saying is according to the inspired, infallible Word of God, oh, that
we might be like those noble Bereans who search the Scriptures
daily, whether these things be so. Now, the sower goes out to
sow the seed, and the seed is the Word of God. It represents
the preaching of the Gospel. And then we read of those four
types of soils. We're going to consider what
they mean, but first the wayside soil, the hard-beaten path where
the seed can't penetrate and the valves come and devour the
seed up, we have the rocky soil where rocks are just underneath.
And the seed is received and springs up immediately, but it
is scorched. It falls away and bears no fruit.
We have the thorn-choked hearers. The seed was sown among thorns. The thorns compete for the nutrients
and went out. And we have the good ground hearer
that receives the Word, grows up, lives, and bears fruit a
hundredfold, the Lord says, with patience or with endurance, with
perseverance. Now, what do these four hearers
represent? Verse 11, Now the parable is
this, The seat is the word of God, those by the wayside are
they that hear. All these people heard the same
message, the gospel. They hear, then cometh the devil. and taketh away the word out
of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." Now what
about these people that the devil comes and takes away the word
out of their heart? Now we know from Mark's account
that they had no understanding. They heard and they had no understanding. They had no point of reference. What they heard did not make
sense to them. It was meaningless to them. Now,
this lack of understanding was not a lack of intelligence. It's not because these people
had a lower IQ than the other hearers, but it is because they
had no point of reference. Now, what do I mean by that?
The gospel is meaningless to you if you are not a sinner,
someone who deserves to be cast out of God's presence, someone
who deserves to be sent to hell, someone who in and of himself
is nothing but sin. Now, if you are a sinner, You're
able to hear the gospel and you're able to hear with understanding.
But if you don't believe this about yourself, if you think
the preacher is just being negative and it's not true about you,
you don't believe yourself to be a sinner. You're like a first
grader in a calculus class. You're not hearing with understanding
and you're bored to tears. You just don't have a point of
reference or a frame of reference and the gospel means nothing
to you. There it sits, and all the devil
has to do is give you another thought about what you're going
to do that day, or about what you're going to do tomorrow,
about what you're going to make of yourself, and it's gone. That would describe most hearers. When they hear the gospel, they
don't hear as sinners. They hear without understanding.
And therefore, when they hear, it just doesn't make sense to
them. It doesn't come together. It's just religious mumbo-jumbo
and nothing more than that. The wayside hearer. And then we read in verse 12, of the stony ground, hearer. Verse 13, they on the rock are
they which when they hear receive the word with joy. This is the best thing I've ever
heard. I love this. This makes sense
to me. This is the first time I've ever
heard anything that makes any sense to me. I agree with this. I like this. As soon as they
hear the word, they receive it with joy immediately. No time of conviction, no time
of thought, no inner workings. They receive the word with joy. This is the best thing that I've
ever heard. But the Lord tells us in verse
13, these have no root. You see, they were sown on the
shallow soil with a rock underneath it, and they were unable to take
root and take hold. It was hot. The rock made it
hotter. The plant sprang up immediately,
not like the one in the good soil that took time, but it had
no moisture. It had no water. It had no root.
It springs up immediately, but as soon as the sun comes out
in its glory, in its power, it withers away and it's gone. Now, this person has never really
had a work of grace done in their heart. And when they're confronted
with what the gospel demands of them, they say, I didn't sign
up for this. When they deal with their loved
ones having no love for the truth that they say they believe, and
maybe even persecute them and say, what are you doing believing
something that ridiculous? They say, I didn't sign up for
this. And they fall away. Now, they may have endured for
a short time. They may have endured for a long
time. But there's always a point in
which they fall away. Will a true believer fall away?
Not if he has the new nature. But a religious man will most
certainly fall away. He won't continue in the faith,
grounded and settled. It's not worth it to him. In time of temptation, in time
of trial, in time of trouble, When he sees what the gospel
costs him, when he sees what the gospel prevents from him,
he will quit. He'll fall away. He will not persevere unto the
end. John put it this way in 1 John
2, verse 19. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out. They might be made manifest,
but they are not all of us. Now hear me real carefully. I pastor a church. If someone
leaves that church, and I've seen many leave, does that mean
they've left the gospel? Not necessarily. I don't know
people's reasons completely behind leaving, but I know this. You
can leave the visible church and still be saved, but you can't
leave the gospel and still be saved. You can't leave the only
way of salvation by Christ, by His free and sovereign grace,
and still be saved. If you leave that, you will prove
that God has never done a work of grace in your heart at all. Now this is the rocky ground
here. He continued for a time, but
it was only for a time, and He fell away. And then we read in
verse 14, and that which fell among thorns, or they which,
when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and
riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring forth no fruit
to perfection. Now, unlike the rocky ground
hearers We don't read where these hearers leave. They're still
sitting there in the pew. They've heard. They've heard. They've received. They believe,
so they think. But competition enters in the
cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life. And these weeds choke the Word. Mark speaks of the cares of the
world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things.
These come into competition for the nutrients of the soil, these
weeds, and they choke the Word, and there is no fruit. There
they set. But they know nothing of love
to God or love to His people, not really. They know nothing
of the joy and peace of believing. Having never experienced the
grace of God and the longsuffering of God, they're not longsuffering. They know nothing of the gentleness
and goodness which is the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. They
know nothing of genuine faith in Christ or meekness before
God or temperance. They bear no fruit because they're
dead. They've been choked by the weeds
of this world. Now, if there can be competition with
me or you, If there can be, the competition will win out. It
always does, if there can be. Now, if you're a believer, you
really believe that Christ is all, and there's nothing worth
leaving Him for to you. There's nothing better than the
gospel of God's grace, and there's nothing you can be tempted with
that'll cause you to remove because you really believe Christ is
all. But if you've never really believed that Christ is all,
all of God, all in the scriptures, all in salvation, if you've never
seen that Christ is all, the weeds will eventually win out,
just like they did with this thorn-choked hearer. Now the
first three soils I described are not good. There's no salvation
in those soils. Now let's, in closing, consider
the good ground here. In verse 15, but that on the
good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep and bring forth fruit with patience. Now, the first thing that's pointed
out about these good ground hearers is they have an honest and a
good heart. Now, were they by nature better
than the other hearers? No. They were just as sinful,
just as dead in sins, and utterly dependent upon the grace of God
as the other three hearers. But here's the difference. They've
been given a new heart. This honest and good heart is
that new heart that God promises He'll give. This is the clean
heart. This is the pure heart. This
is speaking of the regenerate heart, that new heart, that new
nature that God gives. And that nature is honest. It's honest. This is the nature
that sees my sinfulness. It's honest before God. I'm nothing
but sin. I'm in complete need of Christ
and His grace. That's the honest heart. You
know, honesty faces sin. Dishonesty denies it, lessens
it. overlooks it, honesty sees the
truth about its own personal sin. I'm completely depraved,
evil, unable to do anything to save myself. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. That's the honest heart before
God. That's the good heart before God. Now, what does it do? Those in an honest and good heart
are they having heard the word. They've heard the word. And Matthew's
account tells us they hear with understanding. They hear with
understanding. Now, what does that mean? Well,
here's a scripture that I think will be helpful. Romans chapter
10, verse 10 says, with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness. Now, the heart is the whole man.
It's the understanding. It's the affections. It's the
will. The whole man. Now, with my understanding,
I understand that the righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness
there is and the only righteousness I have. He is perfect obedience. Not my own righteousness, but
He is. With my affection, I love being
saved by His righteousness. I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. I love this. With my will, if I'm given the
choice to be saved by my own righteousness or Christ's righteousness,
which one do you think I pick? Christ's righteousness. With
the heart, with the understanding, with the affections, with the
will, man believeth unto righteousness. New heart, this honest heart,
this good heart, the new heart given in the new birth, this
clean heart, it hears with understanding. You can't understand the gospel
without having some understanding of your own sinfulness, God's
holiness, and your need of a righteousness better than you can ever produce.
This man hears with righteousness and he receives the Word. He
receives it as good news. This is the only thing that will
save me. And not only does he receive it, Luke tells us he
keeps it. He guards over it. He preserves
it. He won't let it be changed. He
won't hear anything else. He keeps the Word. He guards over it. And what does
He do? He brings forth fruit. Every believer brings forth the
fruit of God the Holy Spirit, and they do so with patience. And that word patience means
endurance, perseverance. They keep on believing. We're made partakers of Christ.
If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the
end, He perseveres all the way to the end. And He brings forth
this fruit. Now, that's the work of God.
If I'm a good ground here, if you're a good ground here, It's
because God has made us such. And we are, by His grace, enabled
to hear the gospel. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
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