Turn back to Luke chapter 8.
I had two births this week. Charlie Wamsley and Adeline Sly. And I hope that we will all be
moved to pray for the salvation of these two dear young children. Tonight my subject will be mercy
and grace. Mercy and grace. Grace. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Four Types of Hearers. It's a very sobering message.
Has certainly been to me. The four types of hearers. If you are under the sound of
my voice right now, that makes you a hearer. A hearer is someone
who listens on some level to the gospel. So everybody in this
room fits that category. And the Lord gives us four different
types of hearers. differentiated by these four
different types of soils. There's the wayside here. That's
the hard beaten path that the seed falls on and doesn't penetrate
the ground. And then we have the rocky ground
here. Underneath the soil, there's
rocks. And because of that, when the
seed goes down, the sun hits it, it springs, but it has no
root, and it dies. And then there is the thorn-choked
hearer. He hears, but there's competition
for the nutrients of the soil, the competition of the thorns
and the weeds. And because of this competition,
he's choked, and he brings forth no fruit. And then we have a
good ground hearer. Luke says, who hears with an
honest and a good heart. And this hearer brings forth
fruit with patience or endurance. Now, all four of these soils
are said to hear. All four. They all heard the
Word of God. Somebody says, well, what about
those who've never heard? Well, you and I don't need to
concern ourselves this morning about those who've never heard.
We hope to make a way for them to hear by the grace of God,
but that's not what we're concerned with this morning. Who are you? What kind of hearer are you? What kind of hearer Am I? Because I will be describing
myself and you. We fit into one of these four
different types of hearers. What kind of hearer are you? Now the first thing I would like
to consider is who is the sower? The sower went forth to sow. That's how this parable begins.
The sower went forth to sow. Now this is a farmer who's scattering
seed. What does he want? He wants fruit. He's not doing this just to give
him something to do and to fill idle hours, but he wants to see
fruit. And we're not told who this sower
is. I think it's interesting in the
parable of the wheat and tares, We're told the sower is the Son
of Man, but here we're not told. It could be the Son of Man, it
could be the Lord Jesus Christ, it could be the gospel preacher.
But even if it is the gospel preacher, that is all useless
unless the Son of Man is pleased to bless it. We're totally dependent
upon God to bless His Word. And what is He sowing? The Scripture
says He's sowing the Word of God. is the Word of God. It's not the words of men. It's
not the thoughts or the opinions or the ideas or even the religion
of men. The seed is the Word of God. Now that's another name for the
Gospel. The Gospel is the Word of God, the Gospel of God. It's contained in the Word of
God, not the Word of men, but the Word of God. That's what
the seed, the sower, is sowing, the Word of God. And oh, that
that seed might be sown today. Now turn with me for a moment
to the book of Acts, chapter 6. Now I want us to see that this
is the only responsibility, is to sow the Word of God. Chapter 6, verse 1, and in those
days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, now at this time,
and I don't know that this has ever been duplicated, but at
this time there were thousands of people who had been converted
through the preaching of Peter on Pentecost, and this church
in Jerusalem at this time had thousands of people, at least
8,000. 3,000 converted on the very day
that Peter preached. Now that's an amazing thing to
think about, isn't it? If it's the Lord's will, wouldn't
you love to see that duplicated here? If it's the Lord's will,
I pray that if it's the Lord's will, it will be duplicated here.
That we might see thousands of people brought to a saving knowledge
of Christ. Now when the disciples were multiplied,
there arose a murmuring. a complaining, a dissatisfaction
of the Greeks against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected
in the daily ministration. Now this was a legitimate gripe.
The Gentiles said, man, you're all treating the Hebrew widows
better than us. That is not right. And through
this problem that occurred in the church, and it was a problem,
and it was a legitimate problem. Look how Peter addresses this.
Then called the twelve and the multitude of the disciples unto
them, and said, It's not reason that we should leave the word
of God and serve tables. We shouldn't have to deal with
this. Verse three, Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you
seven men of honest report. And that word honest report is
martyrs, people, witnesses, people who have actually seen something.
seeking out seven men who can testify, full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business, but we will
give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of
the Word. That's what we're about. That's
what we're to give ourselves continually to. Prayer and the
ministry of the Word. And I love the way he mentions
prayer first. Before he mentions the ministry
of the Word, he mentions prayer. Why? Let me give you three reasons. Because the men who minister
the Word are so powerless and sinful. And they need the power
of God to cause what they do to come to pass. Here's the second
reason. Because the people they are preaching
to are so evil that they will not receive the Word unless God
is pleased to cause them to. And here's the third reason.
Because this is a thing beyond the flesh. It's supernatural. It's God giving a new heart to
receive the Word. You see, men don't need assistance.
Men don't need help. They need a new birth. Regeneration. A new nature. So, He begins with
prayer. Our ministering of the Word will
be nothing without prayer. God's got to bless it. Prayer
first, and then what are we to give ourselves to? The ministry
of the Word. That's what's going on right
now. The ministry of the Word. The Word of God. Not the Word
of men, but the Word of God. The Gospel. The Gospel. Now, what is the gospel? The
gospel is how God saves sinners. That's what I need. I need God
to save me. The gospel is how God saves sinners. What are sinners? They're men
who can't save themselves. They're men who are evil, who
are wicked, who can't save themselves, who are completely dependent
upon what God does for them. How does God save sinners like
that? Well, first of all, He elects them. He chooses them
to be saved, and that choice was made before time began. And
He sent His blessed Son to put away their sins, to keep the
law for them, to take their sins upon Himself and put them away. He saves those sinners by sending
them God the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to give
them new hearts to believe, A new man that can hear the gospel,
that believes, that repents. Salvation is of the Lord from
the beginning to the end. Amen? Salvation is of the Lord. It's His work and His work alone. Now that is the Word of God. The Word of God is the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the Word from the written
Word. that reveals the living word,
the gospel message. That's what that sower is sowing.
It's not the word of man. These people all heard the true
gospel. They didn't hear a false gospel. They heard the true gospel. They heard the word of God. That's what I pray I hear. That's what I pray you hear.
The word of God. Pray for me that I will preach
the Word of God. Pray for yourself that you will
hear the Word of God. Somebody says, well, how can
I know I'm hearing the Word of God? You got the scriptures. See if
what I'm saying is according to the Word of God. You got the
scriptures for yourself. Don't take my word for it. Oh,
that we would be like the noble Bereans who searched the Scriptures
daily, whether these things be so. The sower sowed the Word of God. Now let's consider the soils.
Verse 4, Luke chapter 8. And when much people were gathered
together, and were come to him out of every place, he spake
by a parable. And here's the parable. A sower
went out to sow his seed. Now, remember, why does a sower
sow? For fruit. If you plant corn in the ground,
What do you want out of it? A corn stalk. Food that you can
eat. You don't do it just to pass
the time and give you something to do. You have a specific purpose
in mind. You want fruit. If you plant
an apple seed, then you want an apple tree that brings forth
fruit. That's the purpose of sowing. Now the sower goes out and sows
the Word of God. The gospel. The gospel is being
preached. And what takes place? Some fell
by the wayside. The hard path that people walk
on. I mean, he was sowing it everywhere,
and some ended up on the path that people walk on. Beat down
very hard, and the seed cannot penetrate that. There it lays,
and what happens? A bird of the air flies down
and gobbles it up, and it's gone. That's the first soil, the wayside
here. Verse 6, and some fell upon a
rock. Now we know from the other accounts
that that rock was underneath the soil. He didn't just throw
it on a rock. That would be no different than
the wayside here. But there was soil, very shallow
soil over that rock. And when the seed was sown, it
went down into the ground. But there wasn't any room. There
wasn't any water. It couldn't get its roots established.
When the sun hit it, it sprang up immediately. But it couldn't
put roots in that rock. There wasn't any water for it,
and it was scorched. immediately. It sprung up for
a while, but after that it was scorched. That is the stony ground
hearer. He heard the gospel. He seemed to spring up, but he
fell away. Verse 7, and some fell among
thorns. And the thorns sprang up with
it and choked it. Have you ever seen a garden overcome
with weeds? It starts off being plowed up,
and some plants come up, and for whatever reason, the one
growing the garden leaves it alone. What do you got to do
for a garden to be completely overcome with weeds? Here's what
you got to do. Nothing. Nothing. Just leave it alone. And what's
going to take place? The weeds are going to come up.
And those weeds are going to be competing with the plants
for nutrients, aren't they? And you know who's going to win?
The weeds. The weeds. the weeds will be
stronger. And that fruit that came up or
the plants that came up never bears fruit. The wayside here
bore no fruit. The thorny ground here or the
stony ground here bore no fruit, and the thorn-choked here bears
no fruit, the purpose that the seeds sown in the first place.
Verse 8, And others fell on good ground, cultivated ground, ready
to receive the seed. And others fell on good ground
and sprang up, And what did they do? They bore fruit. They weren't like the wayside
here that never got under the ground in the first place. They
weren't like the stony ground here who sprang up quickly but
were quickly destroyed. They didn't, they were not like
the thorn-choked here who had the weeds competing for nutrients.
They were in the good ground. And they sprang up and bare fruit
and hundredfold. And when he had said these things,
he cried. Oh, there's something about the
Lord crying, isn't there? He cried, he that hath ears to hear. Let him hear. What a precious gift of God to
have ears to hear. He that hath ears to hear. Not
everybody does. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? Not everybody does. He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. Oh, Lord, say that to me. Give
me these hearing ears and let me hear. No hearing without his
permission. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Verse 9. And his disciples asked him,
saying, What might this parable be? And I understand that question.
If I heard this parable, I'd say, I have no idea what he's
talking about. Isn't that the way every parable
is? I mean, you hear it, and I don't know what that means.
Well, you don't know what it means until the Lord teaches you what it
means. And here's what the Lord does. Verse 10. And he said unto you, it's given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Now, I want you
to think about that for just a moment. You've been given something so
precious. If you're a believer, if you hear, you've been given
to know, to understand, to glory in, to rejoice in the mysteries
of the kingdom. The mystery of who God is. God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The mystery
of being united eternally to Christ. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
You've been given special grace to know. mysteries of the kingdom. You know what happens to me every
time I think about that? Why me? Why me? Why has the Lord done
this for me? Amazing grace. How sweet the
sound. But to others in parables that
seeing they might not see, and hearing They might not understand. Now that's God's judgment against
these people. And do you know this is a quotation from Isaiah
chapter 6. And it is the most often quoted
passage in the New Testament that comes out of the Old Testament.
This passage right here. That ought to make us want to
go back and read it. Isaiah chapter 6. Verse 11. Now the parable is this. The
seed is the word of God. The incorruptible seed. The naked, unadulterated gospel
of Jesus Christ. That's what I want to hear. The
seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they
that hear, then cometh the devil. You know, Satan's always at work.
Somebody says, is there a real devil? Of course there is. Of
course there is. I know very little about him
and I don't want to know much about him, do you? But I know
this, God tells us that when the gospel is preached, he's
at work. And he comes, and what's he do? Verse 12, those by the wayside
are they which hear, then come with the devil, and taketh away
the word of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Now if they would believe, they
would be saved, wouldn't they? Anybody who believes the gospel
will be saved. And the devil comes along and
prevents this from happening? Does that mean God wanted these
people to be saved, but the devil messed his plans up? Well, you
know better than that. God reigns. God rules. God's
in control. And the devil comes, and Matthew
gives us some interesting detail in this parable. He says they
understand not. They hear the gospel, And they
understand not. Now understand this, this is
not an IQ problem. This is not an intellectual problem.
It's not like the other hearers were smarter and these hearers
just weren't very smart. They don't hear as a sinner. That's the difference. They do
not hear as a sinner. Therefore, what they hear makes
no sense to them. There's no point of reference.
It's not even important. They hear, but they don't hear
as a sinner. Kind of like a first grader listening
to calculus. No point of reference. Bored
to tears. It's not even really that important.
It's just theological mumbo-jumbo. They don't hear as a sinner,
and therefore they don't understand. You know, the only way you can
have any understanding of the gospel is for you to hear as
a sinner. Then it makes sense. But if you
don't hear as a sinner, and this would describe most hearers,
They do not hear as a sinner. They hear, but they don't understand. And then the scripture says the
devil comes and takes the seed away. Now what's he do? Just gives you something else
to think about. It's gone. It's gone. What do I got to do
today? What am I going to do tomorrow? What's going to help
me out in life? He gives you some other thought.
and all of a sudden it's gone. I wonder how many people hear
the TV program, they hear the radio, they hear just like this. They don't hear as a sinner and
it really is meaningless to them. Let's go on reading, verse 13. They on the rock are they which
when they hear They receive the Word. They receive the Word. And how do they receive it? With
joy. This is the best thing I've ever
heard. Soon as they hear it. Immediately. This is great. This is what I've
been looking for. This is what I've wanted to hear
all my life. They received the word and they
did it with joy. This is great. And these have no root, which
for a while believe. Maybe a long while, maybe a short
while, but it's still a while. It's temporary. They for a while
believe, and in time of temptation, trial
testing, they fall away. Perhaps they're received by the
church as imminent believers, but in time of temptation, when
they see the gospel, will not allow them to have what they
want. Or the temptation or trials that come as a result of confessing
Christ. They say, I didn't sign up for
this. They believe. They really believe. But it's
for a while. And understand this. Temporary
faith is never saving faith. They had some understanding of
what they heard. They believed for a while. But
they really had no root. They had no moisture. They had
no grace. And you know, anytime I see someone automatically. This is great. I've seen this,
I can't tell you how many times. I've seen people come in here
and say, this is the best stuff I've ever heard in my life. And
I mean, I can't help it, but I'm always so skeptical when
I hear that. I think you ain't going to be
back. And are you just being negative? No, I'm being realistic.
Whenever someone just all of a sudden, this is wonderful.
We'll see. We'll see. And these believe
for a while, but whenever temptations, trials come, I didn't sign up
for this. I didn't sign up for this conflict
in my home. I didn't sign up for this conflict in my family.
I didn't realize this was going to take place. Maybe this isn't
what I thought it was after all. Maybe this... They leave. They leave. They're gone. Out
the door. Verse 14, and they which fell among thorns,
or they which may have heard, they hear, they believe, they
say, I believe this, they go forth and are choked with cares
and riches and pleasures of this life. and bring forth no fruit
to perfection. Now, here we have a story of
competition. The weeds compete for the nutrients
of the soil. The weeds are called the cares
and riches and pleasures of this life. Now show me someone who's
indifferent about the cares and the riches and the pleasures
of this life. Mark calls them the cares of
this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts, the
desires of other things. These weeds In competition for
the utterance of the soil, choke the word, and there is no fruit. There they sit. They don't leave
like the stony ground here. There they sit. No fruit. They don't know anything about
love, love to God, love for His gospel, love for His people,
the joy that comes from really believing that Christ is all
in salvation, the peace that results from knowing that Jesus
Christ is my righteousness before God and I need nothing else.
They know nothing of longsuffering because God is on the throne
of gentleness, of goodness, of gracious and kind spirit. They
know nothing of faith. They don't know what it means
to trust Christ. They know nothing of meekness
before God. He's sovereign and I'm His creature. Whatever He does is right. They
know nothing of the temperance, that control that comes from
God the Holy Spirit. They know nothing of the fruit
of the Spirit. Now, understand this. Where there
can be competition, the competition will always win. And let me repeat that. I want
you to think about what I'm saying. Where there can be competition, the
competition will always win. If you've never seen Christ as
all, there will be competition. Now, when you've seen Christ
as all, there's no competition. You can't be bought. You know,
I remember when I was trained for a bank teller, I remember
the guy training us said, He was warning us about, you know,
you'll be tempted to steal money and so on and you'll be having
thousands of dollars through your hands and all the kind of
stuff being with a bank teller. And by the way, it's the only
job I ever got fired from. I probably told you all that.
It's the only job. I couldn't stay in balance. It was a disaster. I was out of balance 51 times
the very first year. When I got audited, the guy said,
how come you haven't been fired? I said, I don't know. And the
next day, the branch manager came and said, you're a nice
guy, but you need to do something else. So that was the end of
my banking career. And if I tried it again today,
I'd be fired. I've never been able to. This
is stupid, but you know, when we used to balance checkbooks
before, You can get on the internet and look where you're at. Not
one time did I ever balance my checkbook. Rich, I bet you balance
yours with a penny every time. Not once was my checkbook ever
balanced. But at any rate, the guy said,
with all this money going through your mind and your hands, everybody's
got a place where they can be bought. Don't think you don't. If you're given the right temptation,
you can be bought. That's true on a human level.
But with regard to a believer, you can't buy him. Believing
Christ is all, you don't have anything that's as good as what
they already have. Believing that I'm complete in Him, you
don't have anything worth that. And that's the good ground here. The bad ground or the thorn choked
here, he can be bought. If there can be competition,
it will win. But verse 15, but that on the
good ground, here's where we'll close. But that on the good ground
are they which in an honest and good heart. Now somebody's thinking, what
in the world does that mean? Because I hear you say the heart's desperately
wicked, deceitful above all things. You talk about men being depraved
and wicked and evil. What is this about? An honest
and a good heart. Let's go on reading. But that
on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Now what is this honest and good
heart? It's the new heart. It's the clean heart. It's the pure heart. It's the heart that you didn't
have before God saved you. Honest. In what way? The only
honest person is the person who honestly faces the fact that
they're completely dishonest, wicked, and evil. The honest person is the person
that deals with this. I am completely evil. That's me. I'm sinful. I can't turn myself. I can't
change myself. I can't make myself. It's the
man of Romans chapter 7. You read what Paul says about
himself in Romans chapter 7. That's the only honest man. Anything else is deception and
hypocrisy. That is the honest and good heart. It's only the honest heart, the
new heart, that sees sin. And that's where he's at. It's
what the Lord called, I love that scripture in Psalm 32, 1
and 2. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Deceit. And the only honesty
there is, is for me to see that I'm nothing but dishonest, sinful,
and evil. You can't even hear the gospel
until you see that's true about yourself. That's the honest heart. That's the good heart. Doesn't
sound good to me. It is. Let's go on reading. But that on the good ground are
they which in an honest good heart, having heard the word,
they keep it. They keep it. Matthew's account
says they understand what they're hearing. They understand. And when they understand... Romans 10, 10. I've given this
before. Let me give it again. Hopefully
the Lord will cause this to bear fruit in somebody's heart. Scripture
says, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Now the heart
is the understanding, it's the affections, it's the will. Now
I understand that the only righteousness I have is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Do you understand that? The only
righteousness you have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
his obedience, his law keeping given to you because he took
your sins. Do you understand that? Now,
not only do I understand that, and I do understand that. Right
now, while I'm talking to you, I know the only righteousness
this sinner has is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But not only
do I understand that, with my affection, I love it that way. I love this. Not only do I love it, with my
will, if given my choice. What would you prefer if given
your choice? Would you rather be saved by
the righteousness of Jesus Christ or your own personal righteousness?
You know what I choose? Christ's righteousness. Now that's
what it is to hear with understanding. You hear with understanding.
God's given you a new heart so that you can hear the gospel
as a sinner. And you hear the gospel as a
sinner. You receive it. You understand it. You receive
it as good news. And the scripture says here,
you keep it. You keep it. You persevere in
the gospel. Notice these words, and they
bring forth fruit. The end in which that seed was
sown. to bring forth fruit. And notice it says, with patience. Now that, I wish I could say,
well I never get impatient. But that's really not what the
word means. That word means with endurance. With endurance. You persevere all the way to
the end. You have your ebbs and flows,
ups and downs, but you keep on keeping on. You persevere. all the way to the end. Turn
to 1 John chapter 2. Now this scripture is used and
abused, I know, a lot of times when somebody leaves the church.
People will use this scripture to, I guess, justify themselves. At least we haven't done that,
and that's not the way this scripture is to be used. But look in 1
John 2, verse 19, what John says. 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, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. But you have an unction from
the Holy One. and know all things. Now one other scripture, turn
to John chapter 6. I know I said this was my last scripture, and
I didn't mean to say that. I meant this is the last scripture. Verse 64, the Lord says, But
there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man
can come to me, except it were given unto him of my father.
From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve,
Will you also go away? Here's the door. That's what
you'll want. Will you also go away? And then
Peter answers as the spokesman of every believer. Then Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? It's not like
we have another place to go. Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, weren't
you guys great? No. Have not I chosen you twelve? That's why you believe. And He
acknowledged Judas and one of you. You're going to end up betraying
me because you're a devil. He talks about Judas. He spake
of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he that should
betray him, being one of the twelve. I pray that God will
make every one of us and a bunch more outside of here good ground
hearers. Let's pray. Lord, we ask for this new heart,
this honest heart, this good heart that receives the Word, that understands, that keeps,
that brings forth fruit with patience. Lord, give us this
heart. to believe your gospel. Lord,
we tremble with fear lest we should be a stony ground hearer
or lest we should be thorn-choked hearers, and we know that's what
we will be apart from your grace. And Lord, we ask for saving,
keeping grace to believe on my Son under righteousness. In his
blessed name we pray. Amen.