OK, well, we'll continue this
morning what we started last week, a look at some of the parables
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this week, I want to turn
you to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 13, which is, it's got several
parables in it, but the one I want to think of this morning is the
parable of the sower. This is also repeated in Luke's
Gospel, Chapter 8, but we'll look at the passage in Matthew's
Gospel, Chapter 13. The parables were the earthly
stories with heavenly meaning. They're not formative in terms
of doctrine. We must always get our doctrine
from explicit, clear statements of Scripture in context. But
nevertheless, they illustrate doctrine. They illustrate divine
truth. And we use them for that. And
there's some teaching in the middle of this parable. How many
times have you heard somebody speak about the parable of the
sower? In a country that has virtually lost all knowledge
of spiritual truth, this is one of the few bits that are known
about. You know, people know about the Sermon on the Mount.
They know about the parable of the Good Samaritan. They know
about the parable of the sower, if they know anything at all.
These are the little pinnacles of Scripture that they know about.
But how many know about those verses in the middle of it? Were
you listening? when they were read out. Wow! They're what the disciples who
were following Jesus in John chapter 6. Those are words that
they would have said, this is a hard saying. Who can tolerate
this? We'll look at it in a moment.
But what's this parable about? In summary, it's about this.
It's about the necessity of hearing the Word of God, the Gospel of
Christ with a believing heart. It's essential to eternal life
to hear the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ with a believing
heart. You know, we often quote what the Philippian jailer asked,
what must I do to be saved? And we read in Romans chapter
10 the answer, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved, no doubt. whoever calls upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved." And what is it to call upon the name
of the Lord? It's to call upon that saving, sovereign, substitutionary,
atoning grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's that to call upon
the name of the Lord. So, Christ tells them this parable.
Christ tells them this parable to illustrate what it is to hear
the Word of God, to hear it with a believing heart, and what happens
as that Word is preached. And so what I want to do is to
look at it because this parable not only is the parable there,
but Jesus gives his explanation in verses 18 to 23. This parable he explains. We
don't need another commentary. He gives the commentary on his
own parable. And I want to look at the sower, the seed, and the
ground. I want to just make some brief
comments on the sower and the seed and then explore the ground
in a bit more detail on what makes the difference with the
different types of ground because that is the key to it. The sower. Who is the sower? You know, the
parable of the sower is this. A man goes out to sow his seed.
And nowadays, of course, it's all done in the Western world
with mechanization and it doesn't happen like this. But you'll
find parts of the world where a man goes out or a woman goes
out with a basket of seed in the spring. Walking over tilled
and prepared ground, and they scatter the seed. They just throw
it out. They just throw it out. I mean,
the nearest thing, I suppose, that I ever do that gets close
to this is putting the fertilizer on the lawn when it's been prepared
in the spring. What you're trying to do is just to scatter it so
that you get an even spread, so that all of the lawn gets
a little bit of this kind of weed killer and feed. And he
goes out, and he sows this seed, and it lands on various types
of ground. There are bits of ground that
are hard and stony, the footpath. There are bits of ground that
have got lots of stones in it. It's still soil, but it's got
lots of stones there. There are bits of ground which seems to
describe my garden, where the thorns and the briars and the
weeds seem to prosper and thrive absolutely brilliantly. And then
there's the good ground that's deep. We went walking across
a fen yesterday, just north of Cambridge, Wiccan Fen. And the
ground is deep, black, rich soil. It's good soil and you look all
around you and the ears of barley are waving in the wind and it's
absolutely beautiful. It's good ground and it brings
forth fruit. So, there are the different types
of ground. But the sower, let's make some
comments about the sower. Who is the sower in this parable? Well, the sower is clearly the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was the one who was going
out sowing. But it's also all who go out preaching the gospel
in his name in every age. That's not those that just stand
up and say, I'm preaching in the name of Jesus. There's a
lot of people do that and they're not preaching in the name of
Jesus. Listen to what they say. By their fruit you shall know
them. By what they say you shall know them. Listen to what they're
saying. Listen to their gospel. Listen to their message. it's
to preach the truth of scripture undiluted unadjusted untwisted
unadapted to suit what you think will tickle the ears of the hearers
and you state it as it is which is what I intend to do this morning
I have no doubt that if we've pressed all the right buttons
and that this sermon ends up on Free Grace Radio there will
be people who will listen to this who will be offended by
some of the things I have to say because the scripture to
the natural man, to the unbelieving heart, to human logic which is
tainted by sin, to that which doesn't see the preeminence of
God and the glory of God in everything, they will find these words offensive. They really will. But they're
the truth of Scripture. So, it's all who go out preaching
the gospel in his name. And they're called and they're
equipped of God. That is so important. They're
called and they're equipped of God. It's God who makes a man
a preacher. It really is. It's nothing else. Other things can help but if
God does not make a man a preacher, there's no preaching going on.
There's no word of life being proclaimed. It's God, says Ephesians
4 verses 11 and 12, who gave some apostles and preachers and
teachers and evangelists for the equipping of the saints.
God gave them and they speak with the authority of God. Do
you know there is so much waffle in the so-called churches of
our land in these days? There is so much indecisiveness
about what the truth really is, about whether this practice is
good or that practice is good. There is so much compromise,
so much worldly compromise. It's not like the Lord Jesus
Christ when he went out to sow because he spoke not as the scribes
and the Pharisees but as one having authority. That's what
they said. He spoke as one having authority
and not as the scribes and Pharisees who'd be asked a question, they'd
go, well, maybe it's like this or maybe it's like that. No,
he spoke as one having authority. And so his preachers go out clear,
absolutely clear, knowing what his message is. They're not called
by a denomination. They're not given the authority
by a committee. They're not equipped by a theological
college. I'm not necessarily saying that
everything that goes on in theological colleges is bad. That's not the
case. But the fact of the matter is, I know men who would agree
with me on this, that there are more people that have been ruined
by theological colleges than there are that have been helped
by theological colleges. because there's a whole lot of
waffle goes on there. Don't think that if you want
to be a preacher you go to a theological college and you get your ticket
to be a preacher. God equips his men to be preachers
of the word. What you study at a theological
college might help. It's good to have time out from
the secular things of the world to get clear in your mind but
God equips his people to be preachers. And his preachers, these sowers
Do you know what they've got? Do you know what the Scripture
says that they have? Beautiful feet. That's what it says. They
have beautiful feet. Isaiah 52 verse 7, How beautiful
on the mountains are the feet of Him that brings good tidings,
that publishes peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publishes
salvation, that says to Zion, your God reigns. Why are they
beautiful feet? I'll tell you why. If you're
a sinner looking for eternal life and conscious of your appointment
with judgment with the God of the universe and your path crosses
the path of a man equipped by God to speak with his message
the gospel of his grace and you hear that message and it goes
deep into your heart wow you'll say that man's got beautiful
feet whether they're ugly and covered in bunions and calluses,
they're beautiful feet because he's carrying the message of
the truth of the gospel of grace that saves your soul. The message
that Christ has died for his people and saved them from all
their enemies. And these preachers, these sowers
are devoted to the task. What's the task? It's the commission.
Go into all the world without distinction and preach the gospel. You may say, well, If we read
this parable with human logic, we ought to be far more selective
where we go. That's not what the Great Commission
says. It says go into all the world and preach the gospel without
distinction because who are those who are going to be saved? They're
known only to God, not to us. We don't know. We don't know.
No idea at all. Sometimes it can be the ones
who seem least likely to be the recipients of grace. who turn
out in God's sovereignty and God's grace to be the stalwarts
for the truth, sometimes it's them. I can think of one or two. So he's devoted to the task He
casts His bread on the waters, says Ecclesiastes 11 verse 2. He casts His bread on the waters.
You know, don't you need to keep hold of your bread because you
might need it for nourishment? No, He casts His bread on the waters
and it returns in the fullness of time. He goes out as we read
in our opening Psalm 126. He goes out weeping, sowing. meaning he goes out with toil
and difficulty and hardship and sometimes it's a burden. It is
a burden. The priests carried the Ark of
God and they had to bear that burden and so the preachers of
the message, there's a burden to be borne and sometimes it
causes weeping and he goes out weeping but he comes back bringing
his sheaves rejoicing. He has to preach the Word. These
sowers have to preach the Word. What do you preach? Preach the
Word. Preach the Gospel of God's grace and be instant. When? When it's convenient? No, in
season and out of season, Paul says to Timothy. Preach the Word. Be instant, in season and out
of season. Don't be diverted or put off.
It says in Ecclesiastes 11 verse 4, He that observes the wind
will never sow. Oh, I'm not going out sowing
my seed today. It's a bit windy. There'll be all sorts of reasons
why it won't be a good day to sow seed today. He says, if you
think like that, then tomorrow there'll be another excuse. It'll
be too wet tomorrow or it'll be too sunny tomorrow or it'll
be too something else tomorrow and you'll never get round to
it. He goes and does it to fulfill the Great Commission. The sower
goes out to sow. And then the seed, what is the
seed that he's sowing? obviously as Luke says Luke 8
verse 11 in his account of this the seed is the Word of God the
seed is the scriptures and the seed is particularly the gospel
of grace as it is revealed in this word because you know many
professors and theologians and academics can study the very
words that we study on the pages of this book and they're completely
blind to what they're really saying The natural man does not
receive the things of the Spirit of God. Neither can he know them. They're foolishness to him because
it needs a work of the Holy Spirit to make it alive and to show
us, as Christ showed those disciples on the Emmaus Road, the things
concerning himself. In all the Scriptures, these
are they which speak of me. Beginning at Moses and the prophets,
he expounded to them the things concerning himself because he
is the message. What is the message of the Scriptures?
It's the message of Christ, our substitute. That's it. You want
to know that? Somebody asks you a question.
What's the message of this book? The message of this book is the
message of Christ, my substitute. The one who stood in my place.
The one who died in my place. The one who accomplished all
things in my place. The one who dealt with everything
that would condemn me to hell. My sin, My nature, everything
about me that would condemn me to hell, He came and He stood
in my place and He answered it. And He established the justice
of God. He never flinched from that perfect
justice of God. He established it. He upheld
it. He reinforced it. And yet at
the same time, because He died in my place and in the place
of a multitude of sinners for whom He was made sin, that they
might be made the righteousness of God in Him, yet He is still
able. Though He is just, though the
soul that sins, it shall die and He never flinches or moves
from that, though that remains absolutely true, yet He is the
justifier of those who come to God by the Lord Jesus Christ.
God is perfectly just, yet He saves sinners from their sins. This is the word. Look at 1 Peter. Just turn over to 1 Peter. and
chapter 1 and verse 23. What is this seed? Look here,
verse 23 down to the end. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23, being
born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by
the word of God which lives and abides forever. For all flesh
is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower of grass.
The grass withers and the flower thereof falls away. But the word
of the Lord, this seed, endures forever. And this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. You see that? This
is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. The gospel
of Christ. It's that gospel of substitution,
of particular redemption, of salvation from sins accomplished,
of the complete answer to the utter depravity of man. It is
that which Peter said When, you know, I mentioned earlier about
those disciples going away because it was a hard saying and Jesus
said to them, will you also go away? And Peter said, to whom
can we go? There's a lot we don't understand
but you have the words of eternal life. That's the seed. It's the
words of eternal life. It's not that gospel so-called
of establishment Christianity, you know? That's a message which
is compromised with the world, it's free will, it's legalistic
religion. That's not the truth. That's
not the gospel of the Word of God. That's not the seed which
is sown, you know? It really isn't. I find it tragic
going to places when you're on holiday and you go to churches
that seem to have a reputation and maybe you've been there before
And you listen to what's preached and you say, I'm sorry, but there
is not a solitary grain of gospel truth, of the grace of Christ
in what I've just heard. There is nothing other than legalistic
obligation, thou shalt do, thou must do, and so on and so forth.
I'm not denigrating the law of God. The law of God is good.
But to preach nothing other than moral obligation when it's supposed
to be The gospel of God's sovereign grace is an absolute denial of
the truth. This is the seed. It's the seed
which germinates into fruitful eternal life in the believing
heart. That's the seed. The seed which
germinates into fruitful eternal life in the believing heart.
It's that seed, that gospel message which Paul determined alone to
know. I determine to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. It's that which alone he would
preach. He said, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. He said,
we preach Christ and him crucified. What's your message, Paul? Christ
and him crucified. And it's a message which isn't
culturally adapted. Oh, this really gets me. When people try to tell me that
there's a gospel that suits the people in Nedworth and there's
a different gospel that suits the people in Kentucky or Ivory
Coast or Australia or wherever it is. Absolutely not. There's
one message. One message alone. One message
of sovereign grace and substitutionary atonement. Absolutely no cultural
adaptation because we're all sinners. We're all sinners. We're all in need of the same
grace of God. Absolutely no different. There's
one message that brings eternal life and it's the message of
Christ, our substitute. So that's the sower and that's
the seed. I know it's rushed I know we're in a hurry, but
I need to get through this. And then the ground. The ground.
There are four types of ground that Christ speaks of. And it's
so true today. Do you know it really is? 2,000
years ago these words were spoken, give or take a bit. 2,000 years
ago. Oh, wasn't society so much different?
I mean, they didn't have their Nintendo games and stuff like
that then, did they? So, aren't we so much more sophisticated
and So much cleverer these days? No, we're exactly the same people.
We're exactly the same flesh and blood with exactly the same
desires. Although the evolutionary picture is that we're getting
brighter and bigger and better, don't you notice every time a
news item comes out about some archaeological evidence of the
existence of primitive man, the more they dig into it, the more
they discover, hey, do you know something? He was actually quite
sophisticated. He was really a very, very smart
guy, was this ancient man. We were watching something about
stonemasons on Canterbury Cathedral, and there's parts of Canterbury
Cathedral that go back 1,500 years, and they actually said,
do you know something? We are learning from, as we look
at this, we see how they did it, and we think, wow, that was
smart. That was really clever, you know?
It's so true today. I'm getting off the point. The
point is this. that the description of the types of ground is exactly
the same today. Whether it be in a gathering
like this or a much bigger church or the audience on Free Grace
Radio or wherever it is, when the true gospel is preached,
you get these four types of ground. You get the potential for these
four types of ground. The commission of Christ is to
sow the same seed to all without distinction but knowing that
it will always land in these four types of ground with the
same results that he outlines here. What are the results? Well,
let's look at them. First of all, there are the wayside
hearers, the footpath hearers. Look at verse 4, And when he
sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and
devoured them up. And then look at the explanation
in verse 19, When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands
it not, then comes the wicked one, and takes away that which
was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed
by the wayside." Wayside hearers. It never takes root. It never
germinates. It's, as we would say, in one
ear and straight out of the other. Satan snatches it away before
the hearer is aware that he is even hearing it. It's like those
that Jeremiah spoke of in Lamentations chapter 1 and verse 12. And he's
speaking of the cross of Christ and the day of the crucifixion
and all the people that went by. And he asks them this question. Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by? Is it nothing to you that the
God of all creation is hanging there on a cross, bearing the
sins of his people, that they might have no sins to pay? Is
it nothing to you? And you see, to the wayside hearer,
no, it's not. It's nothing. It's irrelevant.
I've got other things to do. I've got worldly things to pursue.
Now, what would I say? I don't know who's a wayside
hearer. But if there are any wayside
hearers that hear this message, I would say this. Wake up. Wake
up. Don't sleep. You know, if you
were in your house and you've got a smoke alarm, which you
should have, and the kitchen catches fire and the smoke creeps
up the stairs, then don't sleep through the alarm. We'd struggle
to sleep through ours. It's absolutely deafening. especially when you
burn a piece of toast and it catches it, it's deafening. Don't
sleep through it. There's an alarm bell going off.
Can you hear it? There's an alarm bell. Wayside hearer, there's
an alarm bell. Don't be a wayside hearer. Don't sleep while the
bell of the Gospel rings out. Secondly, stony ground hearers. Look at verse 5. Some fell upon
stony places where they had not much earth and forthwith they
sprung up because they had no deepness of earth. And then verses
20 and 21. But he that received the seed into stony places, the
same is he that hears the word, and anon or instantly with joy
receives it. Yet he does not have any root
in himself, but endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution
arises because of the word, by and by he is offended." Look
back at the book of Ezekiel, the prophecy of Ezekiel in chapter
33. I want to read you some words
here. Oh dear, in terms of hitting
the nail on the head as to the attitude of so many who listen
to preaching, look at this. He's talking to Ezekiel as a
preacher of the truth. Ezekiel chapter 33 and verse
30. Ezekiel 33 and verse 30. And this is what God says to
Ezekiel as a preacher of the truth. He says, Also you, son
of man, the children of your people still are talking against
you by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to
another everyone to his brother saying come I pray you and hear
what is the word that comes forth from the Lord and they come to
you as the people come and they sit before you as my people as
if they are my people and they hear your words but they will
not do them for with their mouth they show much love but their
heart goes after their covetousness. See where their heart is? And
lo, you are to them, you preacher of the word of truth, you are
to them as a very lovely song and one that has a pleasant voice
and can play well on an instrument for they hear your words, they
like the tune, they like the sound but they do not do them. What an indictment against a
people who receive it with joy They don't do it. Turn back to
the parable in Matthew 13. He that received the seed into
stony places, he hears the word and the none with joy receives
it, yet he has no root in himself. They like the preaching. They
like the eloquence of the speaker. They like the intellectual construction
of the message. They like the sweet music of
the Word of God, but they don't do anything with it. There's
no change of heart and maybe something's preached that's the
truth and somebody says, surely you don't believe that, do you?
Think about the consequences. If that's true, then think what
else is true and you surely don't believe that and persecution
starts to come and tribulation and trouble because of it and
it becomes like the sun scorching down. The scrutiny of the doctrine
that they claim to have believed And then there's rejection of
sovereign grace. And they go away like those in
John's Gospel in chapter 6. Stony ground hearers. And then
the third type, they're the thorny ground hearers. Look at verse
7. Some fell among the thorns and the thorns sprung up and
choked them. And verse 22. He also that received seed among
the thorns is he that hears the word and the care of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes
unfruitful. These stick around longer than
the other two. They're attracted by the Gospel,
but they want to cling on to the world. They even appear to
bear fruit, you see, and becomes unfruitful. So, there was an
appearance of fruit. They even appear to be fruitful,
but worldly cares, worldly desires, the things where their heart
and their affection is set, the deceitfulness of riches. You
know why are riches so deceitful? Because they're always promising
happiness. Oh, if only I had this much more
and a little bit more. Oh, what happiness they would
promise. And yet when you get there, they don't give that happiness.
Riches do not give that happiness. Oh, they help with all sorts
of things with the necessities of life. But God said in the
parable of the, sorry, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
your father knows what you have need of. And all of these things
will be added to you but don't set your heart on them and your
affection on them. These things come up and they
choke any vestige of life, of spiritual life out of these thorny
ground hearers who appear to receive it so well. You see what
they're trying to do is they're trying to hang on to both. They're
trying to hang on to that word of life that they've heard but
also the world where their affection still is. they're failing to
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness knowing
that all these other things that are needful are added anyway
you know it's so true it sounds like a selfish statement on behalf
of God you know where God says you know jealousy is not a good
not a good feature in human beings but God says I am a jealous God
and I will not share my glory with another we're to give God
the preeminence in all things we're to give Him all the glory
And to the natural mind and to human logic, that sounds like
a selfish thing. But do you know something? The
greatest bliss, the greatest happiness, the greatest contentment,
the most excellent human relationships, husband and wife and children
and parents and families and employers and employees and so
on and so forth is all if one and one alone is given the absolute
glory and preeminence. And that's why That's why in
the wisdom of God he says that he must have all the glory and
he will not share any of it with another. It's for our good that
he must have all of the glory. But these people, these thorny
ground hearers, they struggle with wanting to grasp hold of
the things of the world and have the two at the same time. The
kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. And you can't.
You cannot serve two masters. And so then there are the good
ground hearers and there in verse 8, other fell onto good ground
and brought forth fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty.
And in verse 23 we have the explanation, he that received the seed into
the good ground is he that hears the word and understands it and
also bears fruit and brings forth some a hundred, some sixty, some
thirty. We know what the fruit is, it's that fruit of the Spirit,
the love, the joy, the peace. Characteristics of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the fruit. We were looking
at it in Galatians 5 a few weeks ago. That's the fruit that is
brought forth in the good ground believer. They hear. They understand. They bear fruit. They have varying quantities
of fruit. Notice, 100, 60, 30. But it's
the same nature. It's the same quality. It's fruit
which comes alone from the Spirit of God within. Herein is my Father
glorified that you bear much fruit." John 15 verse 8. Do you note that the good ground
believers, the good ground hearers are very much in the minority?
You know, there was the wayside, the stony ground, the thorny
ground and then the good ground. Very much in the minority. Let's
not be under any delusion. Don't expect to see the whole
of Nebworth meeting with us at some time in the future. Oh,
in God's good pleasure we pray that there will be some and that
he will bless the preaching of his word but don't ever think
that we're going to be in a majority it's the little flock that Jesus
said to do not fear little flock it is my father's pleasure to
give you little flock the kingdom his kingdom it's you who follow
the narrow way to eternal life the broad way you see the easy
way the way that they're all going along you know where that
leads to destruction, to eternal loss. The narrow way of following
Christ leads to eternal life. Now why is this? And this is
where I want to spend the last five minutes or so and I should
have left probably more like 25 minutes to concentrate on
this. But these verses 9 to 17 of Matthew 13, this is about
sovereign grace. Why is it that it's like this? Why is it that the seed goes
out and falls on all these different types of ground but yet there's
just the good ground in the minority? Why is it? It's because of sovereign
grace. It's that which to the natural
man is a hard saying but to the child of God it's the ground
of all his assurance and confidence. Is it not? If you're a child
of God here this morning the fact that these things are all
determined by God in eternity in sovereign grace and not in
any way based on what you are, what you've done, what you've
believed, what you've decided, what you are committed to do.
None of that. It's all determined by what God
has done in Christ. Is that not the ground of your
assurance and your confidence? You see, it is the gift of God
to give ears to hear. Look at verse 9. Who has ears
to hear? Let him hear. If you have ears
to hear the gospel, do you know why? You've been given them.
You've been given them by God. You have nothing unless God gives
it to you. You have ears to hear because
God has given it to you. When others around you, sitting
next to you perhaps, or walking past you in the street, don't
hear a thing. The gospel goes out to all like
seeds that fall on all types of ground, but it is God who
makes you to differ. Who is it, says Paul? 1 Corinthians
4, 7. Who is it that makes you to differ? The implication being,
obviously, it's God. So, don't go bragging on what
you are. Don't go boasting about what you are or what you've done
for Him. It's God who makes you to differ. You see, we're all
spiritually dead, but God's Spirit makes alive those for whom Christ
lived and died and brings them to belief. Ephesians 2, verse
8, you know it so well. By grace, you are saved through
faith. And that's not of yourselves.
The faith is not something that you whipped up because you're
basically that good type of person. No, even that is the gift of
God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. And so then why? Why does Jesus
speak in parables? Rick and I have been talking
about this on and off recently. Verses 10 to 13. The disciples
came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables?
You know, why do you speak to them in parables? And He answered
and said to them, Because it is given to you, My disciples,
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them
it is not given. For, now look at this verse.
How many people think that these are words that fell from the
lips of the Lord Jesus Christ? Whosoever has, to him shall be
given and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever does
not have, from him shall be taken away even what he has therefore
I speak to them in parables because they seeing don't see a thing
and hearing don't hear a thing neither do they understand. And
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says, By hearing
you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall
see and 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. Blessed
are your eyes, for they see happy are your eyes made happy by God
for they see and your ears for they hear for verily I say to
you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those
things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those
things which you hear and have not heard them this is the sovereign
grace of God to reveal the truth to his elect why in parables
because it hasn't been given to the rest to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God, but it has been given to those He chose
in Christ. That innumerable multitude from
every race and tongue and generation, it has been given to them to
know this. Isaiah prophesied of it. In Isaiah
6, this is what's quoted, Isaiah 6, 9 and 10, just after he's
seen the Lord in the temple and he says, Don't go and tell these
people. Their heart is fat and slovenly
concerning the things of the truth of God and they will not
understand and they will not see. But blessed are your eyes
for they see and your ears for they hear. It's been given to
you to know, verse 11, it's been given to you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of God. Oh, what a blessed thing. Has
it been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God? Are you one of Christ's friends? John 15, he said, I
call you no longer servants, but I call you friends. For the
servant doesn't know what the master's doing, but the friends,
he tells them all things. He reveals his secrets to them.
If the Lord Jesus Christ is your friend and my friend, he shows
us his secrets. And what are his secrets? They're
the secrets of His kingdom, the truth of His kingdom. It's what's
known as the mystery of the gospel. In Ephesians 3, verse 3, that
which was hidden from generations has now been revealed to His
saints. He reveals the mysteries of the
kingdom to His saints. And what must we pray? What must
we ask in response to this? Is He speaking to you? Is He
speaking to anybody listening to this? We ask this. It's all
a sovereign grace, but pass me not, O gracious Savior. hear
my humble cry whilst on others you are calling oh Lord please
do not pass me by do not because if you pass me by I'm lost I'll
have nothing and even that which I thought I had will be taken
away from me but Lord pass me not by do you know something
else he never awakens anyone in order to leave them lost he
doesn't if you can hear that bell ringing wake up to it nobody
can come unless the Father draws him. That's true. But whoever
comes, says Jesus, John 6, 33 or 34, whoever comes, I will
in no wise cast out. So, if you feel Him calling you,
don't ask, I wonder if I'm His elect or not. Just follow that
call and come. And what must we do in response
to this? Well, at the end of Luke's account,
Luke 8 and verse 18, at the end of his account of the parable
of the sow, he says this, So take heed how you hear. You see, you could say that this
doctrine of sovereign grace leads to fatalism. Well, there's no
point doing anything. It'll all turn out the way God
wants it in the end anyway. So, what difference does it make
to me? Well, I don't understand it. And you can't understand
it either. But I know this, the Scripture
says this, that you can do something. Take heed how you hear. Be careful
how you hear. What do I mean? How do you take
heed? With this I'll close. Listen to the Word of God. submissively
and prayerfully. When you hear it preached, you
know, hard sayings, listen to it submissively and prayerfully
saying this, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Help
me to believe. Because I'm a fallen human being
with fallen human logic. But help me to trust you and
submissively follow you. Listen to it. Listen to this
word obediently. Obediently. With a spirit of
obedience to Christ. determined not only to hear it
but to do it and not just to be fatalistic you know as Peter
says in his second epistle in the first chapter he says to
your faith add virtue and to virtue add I can't remember the
list but you read it for yourself in the opening verses of 2 Peter
chapter 1 and he says and in so doing and it sounds completely
illogical in so doing you will make your calling and election
sure Do something. So be obedient and determined
when you take heed how you hear. And then thirdly, and I'm sure
others can think of loads more but these are the ones that just
sprung to my mind. How you hear. Hear it joyfully. Joyfully. Why? For blessed are your eyes
for they see and your ears. Have you got happy ears and happy
eyes because they see the truths of the kingdom of God? that he
saved his people to the uttermost, and you're saved for all eternity
on the basis of what he has done. And with that, we'll close.