Now here in this chapter, Matthew
13, the Lord began to speak to the people in parables. And I
want to go through this first one with you this morning, the
parable of the sower. And I've titled this, Who Hath
Ears to Hear? Who Hath Ears to Hear? Now first
of all, what is a parable? A parable is an earthly illustration
of a heavenly truth, of our Lord's truth, His gospel. And the Lord,
let's read this together. Matthew 13, we'll read these
23 verses. The same day went Jesus out of
the house and sat by the seaside. And great multitudes were gathered
together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat, and
the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many
things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went
forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds
fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them
up. And some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth. And forwith they sprung up, because
they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they
were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked
them. But other fell into good ground
and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear? Let him
hear. And the disciples came and said
unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered
and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance. But whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak
I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear,
and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall
not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross. and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears,
for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that
many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable
of the sower. When any one heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is
he which receiveth seed by the wayside. But he that receiveth
the seed in a stony place is the same as he that heareth the
word, and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he not root in himself,
but dureth for a while. For when tribulation or persecution
ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He
also that receiveth seed among the thorns is he that heareth
the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he
that receiveth seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and
bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Now the Lord tells us here what He's illustrating, what His point
is in this parable. In verses 18 and 19, He says,
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, when any one heareth
the word of the kingdom." What he's teaching his true disciples
here is, is that it is of utmost importance never to take lightly
the hearing of the gospel of the kingdom preached. That's
what He's doing here. He's preaching this to them.
And as He's preaching this to them, His gospel to them is the
importance of hearing the Word of the Kingdom preached. Verse
3, He says, He began speaking in a parable, and He says, Behold,
a sower went forth to sow. Now, this is easily understandable. He's comparing those who preach
the gospel to a farmer who sows seed. Now, the Lord is the one
who gives the seed to the sower. It's from the Lord. He said in
Luke, the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. That's
what the seed represents, the Word of God. Paul said, I've
planted, Apollos watered, but God giveth the increase. It's
only God who gives the increase of this Word. He calls His preachers
by this Word, or He gives it to them directly as He did to
His apostles. And He doesn't do that directly
to men today, He does it through the hearing of the Word. The
Scripture says this, being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth
forever, and this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached
unto you. And by this same means, God is
pleased to edify, and to build up, and to continue to teach
His disciples, His true disciples. Why did God please, why did,
is it this way? It pleased God to do it this
way. And He says He did it this way to bring to nothing those
who think they're something. That's why He chose to do it
this way. All right, let's look at this now. First of all, we
see the wayside hearer. When he sowed, verse 4, some
seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them
up. Now in verse 19 he tells us exactly what that means. When
anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, preached, a little like
we're doing now, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart, this is
he which received seed by the wayside. Some hear this gospel
right now and they don't understand it. Some come in and just as
quickly as they hear it, it's gone. And they discredit and
they don't hear it. I have no doubt in my mind that
the Lord is knowing the hearts of everyone in this great multitude
who was before Him. He's describing what each of
their hearts were as they sat there and heard Him declare this
very Gospel. Some of them heard it and it
didn't faze them. It didn't faze them. It was like
throwing water against a brick wall. It didn't even faze them.
The stony ground here, verse 5, some fell upon stony places
where they had not much earth and full with They sprung up
because they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun was
up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered
away. Now verse 20 tells us exactly what that means. He that received
the seed in the stony places, the same as he that heareth the
word, and right away with joy he receives it, yet he hath not
root in himself. but endureth for just a little
while, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of
the word, by and by he is offended." Now, some take delight in hearing
good sermons. They do. Some people like to
hear the types looked into, and they delight in those types like
you delight in Shakespeare. delight in hearing a gospel priest
like you delight in a good movie with a well thought out plot
and twists and turns and all those things. And they get real
excited, they get warm and fuzzy, and they decide, boy, this is,
oh, they get excited about it. Real excited about it. But then
tribulation comes, persecution because of this gospel, and it
will come. Sometimes in our own household,
sometimes with our neighbors, in our community, in our business,
wherever. It's going to come because of
this Word. And he gets offended. He'd rather
satisfy men than bow to God. And he doesn't have any root
in himself. Our root is Christ. The root that brings forth fruit
is Christ. He said to the Philippians, being
filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto
the praise of God the Father. Now, people mean well and they
come up to you after a message and they say, oh, that was a
good sermon. You know what I would delight to hear and what I do
delight to hear? When folks come up to me and say, oh, that's
a great Savior. That's a great Savior. You know what the folks in Corinth
were delighting in? The preacher. They were delighting
in the preacher, not in the Christ he preached. And it caused them
to say, I like Peter better. I like Apollos better. I like
Paul better. That's right. Carnal. Alright,
here's the third thing. The thorny ground here. Verse
7. Some fell among thorns and the
thorns sprung up and choked them. He also that Verse 22, he tells
us what that is. He also that receives seed among
the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and
he becometh unfruitful. Now these are folks who try to
do the impossible. Try to do the impossible. Serve
God and serve the world. Serve mammon. If you genuinely,
in your heart of hearts, want Christ, but also you really want
the cares of this world, the cares of this world will choke
the word. If you genuinely really want
the unsearchable riches that are in Christ alone, but you
really also want the riches of this world, the deceitfulness
of these riches will choke this word. No ifs, ands, maybes, buts
about it. The Lord said, no man can serve
two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon. No possible way. And He says,
this man becometh unfruitful, and the fruit that he's talking
about here is hearing the Gospel, and delighting in the Gospel,
and walking in the Gospel, and rejoicing to hear this Gospel.
That's the first fruit he's talking about here. And he'll become
unfruitful in that very thing. He not only won't delight in
the Word, he don't want to hear it preached. Don't want to hear
it preached. Alright, here's the fourth kind
of hearer, and this is the good ground hearer, Matthew 13, 23.
He that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and
bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Now
these hear the word, they understand the word, and they bear fruit.
Now the Lord says some bear different amounts of fruit. The fruit's
not the same, but they all bear fruit. Every one of them. Now,
verse 9. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Now, what does our Lord teach
us from this parable? What is He teaching us from this
parable? Here's the first thing. He's
teaching us that the seeing eye and the hearing ear and the believing
heart are gifts of God. Look here in verse 10. The disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto
them, to his disciples, Because it is given, because it is given,
because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. But unto them it is not given. It is not given. God gives life
to whom He will. He gives life to some, He doesn't
give it to others. He gives ears to hear to some,
He does not give it to others. He gives an understanding heart
to some, He does not give it to others. If He's given you
ears to hear, then as He said in Luke, take heed how ye hear. Take heed. All right? That's
the first thing. If you hear, it is a gift given
to you of God that he doesn't give everybody. Secondly, he's
teaching us that those who will not attend to the hearing of
the gospel, he shall give over to judicial blindness, to complete
and total darkness. It pleased God to save through
the preaching of His Word. He has given His Word. He has
given His sower. He says, attend it. He says,
walk in the light He has given you because those who don't are
turned over to darkness. Three out of the four hearers
here did not hear in this parable. Now, he gives us an example.
Look at verse 12. That's exactly what he says. Whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not from him
shall be taken away, even that he hath. Now, the example the
Lord gives here is national Israel. A bold witness to exactly what
Christ is teaching here. He sent His prophets to them,
He gave them His word, but they despised His prophets and they
would not walk in the light God gave them. And so He took that
light away from them, He took those prophets away from them,
and He turned them over to darkness. Darkness. Complete darkness. And here He is standing here
sowing before a great multitude of them. But He's not sowing
to them. That's exactly what He said.
He's not giving to them. Now look here in verse 13. Therefore
speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. They think
they see, A member of the Pharisees said to the Lord when he healed
that blind man, this is what we looked at Friday night, our
young people. They said, are we blind also?
And he said, if you were blind, if you would say you were blind,
you wouldn't have any sin. But now you say you see, and
you're left in your sin. You're left in it. Think you
can see on your own. You don't need Christ, don't
need his gospel, don't need his way. You're arrogant. Seeing
you see not, hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. The Lord
said this through Isaiah in Isaiah 6, which saith, by hearing you
shall hear and shall not understand. The Lord said this was coming
upon them. Remember what we've seen through Isaiah? Seeing you
shall see and shall not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed
gross. and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." That's not just
a suggestion, that's a command. Do you know that? He that hath
ears, let him continually attend to the preaching of the gospel.
Be careful how you hear." That's what he's saying. Faith cometh
by hearing. Turn to Romans 10, 14. Let's
see this in another place. The same thing is said. This is quoted so often and so
out of context that we lose sight of what this is saying. Faith
does come by hearing because God chose to do it that way and
hearing by the word of God because God chose to do it that way.
Through the sowers God has sent to sow his word to bring your
pride, our pride, and our arrogancy to absolutely nothing. That's why he chose to do it
this way. Now look at Romans 10, 14. How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? Salvation is in those
that call on the Lord. How are they going to call on
Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things? But they have not all obeyed
the Gospel. They haven't all obeyed this
very Word. That hearing does come, that
faith does come by the hearing of the Gospel preached, by attending
to the Word spoken through God's Messenger. They haven't all obeyed
this Gospel. For Isaiah, one that God sent,
a prophet he sent, saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Who hath believed this Gospel? And he says here, but I say,
have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound, the
sound of his prophets, went into all the earth, and their words
unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses, he was the one God
raised up first and said, First Moses said, I will provoke you
to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation
will I anger you. But Isaiah is very bold. And
he said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made
manifest of them that asked not after me. He's telling us this
salvation comes by the divine electing grace of God. It comes
through God's way, God's manner, in the manner that pleases God
so that you and I are not going to receive any glory, but all
the glory is going to go to God. That's what every prophet that
ever came was declaring to the people to whom he was sent. But
look what the Lord said. But to Israel he said, all day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
against saying people. He sent his prophets. He gave
them his word. They wouldn't walk in the light
God gave them. They wouldn't obey that gospel
and attend it in the manner God sent it. So he took the prophets
away. He took the light away. And not only that, He made their
hearts and their minds dark, blind, so they couldn't hear
Him, couldn't see Him. All right, here's the third.
Who hath ears to hear, let him attend to the hearing of the
Word preached. That's what He said. This is Christ speaking. Can you hear that? It's Christ
the Lord speaking. Not my words. I don't care if
you believe me saying it or not. Believe Him though. As who sent
me to say this to you, believe Him. This is serious business
now. Here's the third thing. He's
teaching all whom He has given life and faith so that we rejoice
to hear this gospel. He's teaching you who hear this
now and are taught in the heart now by Him. He's saying to you,
what He's given you is a rich, rich blessing. Look at verse
16. but blessed." He's saying this
to His disciples, not to that multitude. Blessed are your eyes,
for they see, and your ears, for they hear. He gave them life,
and He gave them the fruits of the Spirit. And He personally,
intimately is teaching every one of them right here, His disciples
alone. Not the multitude, His disciples.
Just as He's teaching some of you sitting right here in your
heart. He did it. He was standing here in person
doing it through His Word. Now He's sent forth His message
just like He sent His prophets in the beginning. And He's teaching
through that Word in the hearts of His people. And what He's
saying to us, brethren, is, I didn't give this understanding to the
rest. I gave it to the rest in parables.
This just came like a story to them. Just a story. Is that how the Gospel is coming
to you? Are you hearing this? You're delighting and rejoicing
in this. Those who set their heart to
hear this gospel, or those that set their hearing this gospel,
but could not hear in spirit and truth, they were witnesses
to His true disciples of what a great, great blessing He had
given to His disciples. Do you understand that? This
is what he said in Romans 9.22. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? Even though that
great multitude was there, and He knew they couldn't hear Him,
and He knew they were... He blinded them. He is God who
blinded them, and He knew that they weren't going to hear what
He said. Still, He endured that great multitude with great long-suffering
for this reason. that He might make known the
riches of His glory on His vessels of mercy, which He had aforeprepared
unto glory, even us which are called out of the Jews and the
Gentiles." He sat there and He taught them, and He just endured
with those others to show these vessels of mercy what a rich
blessing He had given them. Do you see that? Does that make
you delight and see what a great
and blessed and glorious privilege He's given you. I'm telling you,
I've told you this from day one, and some of you still don't believe
me, I don't think. The multitude in this world right
now claim to believe Christ. The majority do. And they don't. They don't. I hope you can discern
the difference. They don't. There is a message
the carnal mind loves that's preached from this very gospel
that the carnal man loves, that the carnal preacher, carnal sower,
and the carnal hearer loves. And there is a message from this
gospel that the spiritual sower loves and the spiritual hearer
loves. And I can't manifest a difference
to you. God can. He did to His disciples, and
they heard Him. And He said, you've been given
a blessed and glorious blessing, a rich, rich blessing. Here's
the fourth thing. The Lord also strengthens the
hearts of those He's given ears to hear, not to take this means
of grace for granted, by reminding us that we've been given more
than His prophets of old and His true saints of old. He says
in verse 17, For verily I say unto you, that many prophets
and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye
see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which
ye hear, and have not heard them. You see what? This just magnifies
the richness of this blessing. We have Moses and Isaiah, they
saw Christ's day, but in this lifetime, they never fully got
to see carried out what you and I have seen carried out and what
we have written in the full written Word of God and preached to us
today in this Word of God of how Christ came, and how He went
to the cross, and how He laid down His life, and how He really
did. We see all of it come together
that He said it was come. How those that were blinded and
the wisdom of Him, He used those very ones who were too smart
for their own good to crucify the Prince of life so that He
could save those who were babes that He promised to save from
the beginning. and He purged their sin, and He washed away
their sin, and He's now given His apostles, and His evangelists,
and His pastors and teachers, and He finished out writing this
whole book for us. And now He's given it to us,
and we have this glorious, blessed richness that none of the prophets
of old, nor none of the believers of old have fully as we have
it now. What a treasure He's given to
us. And we're going to say we'd rather do something else in this
world than be here and hear this? That says multitudes about us.
Hear Him. Hear what He says that says about
us. Do you hear what He says it says
about us? Examine yourselves. Prove your own selves whether
you be in the faith. Make your calling and election
sure. Do you really delight in this Word? That's something to
think about. Do I really delight in hearing
the Word of the Kingdom of God? Well, here's what He's saying.
John 15. We'll close. This is it. This is it in a nutshell. John
15. He that hears is going to bring
forth some fruit. They are. You're not going to
be able to hide the fact you don't delight in this Gospel.
I'm not looking at you. I can't discern it. You can fool
me. But you're not going to hide
it from Him. Now watch what He says here. John 15.1, I am the
true vine. My father is the husband. Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. That's
what he did with a whole entire nation called National Israel. And every branch that beareth
fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now
you are cleaned through the word which I have spoken unto you,
he said to his disciples. This is how you're made clean,
through the word I've spoken unto you. Now how are you going
to be made clean? Through the word he's spoken
unto you. He's going to come in person
and speak to you? No, he's going to send an ambassador, a spokesman,
to speak his word and he's going to speak to you through that
ambassador. And he says, that's what he says
he did to them personally. You are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you. And he cleaned them and spoke
this word to them to send them forth to speak this word to others
through whom he would cleanse others through this incorruptible
word. And he says then, abide in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. You don't have any root in yourself
and I don't have any root in myself. We're going to bring
forth fruit that's going to be abiding in Christ, hearing His
gospel, hearing Him preached, hearing the words that He speaketh
into our hearts through His gospel. And He says, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without Me, you
can do nothing. Now, who hath ears to hear? This is what he says. This is
his command. Let him hear. Let him hear. Amen.