Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. 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 Nyberg. I'm speaking to you this morning
from Luke chapter 8 on the parable of the sower. And I've entitled
this message, The Four Types of Hearers. And in this parable,
the Lord Jesus gives the four different types of hearers when
they hear the gospel. So I will be describing, you
and I, from this passage of scripture. I'd like to read the passage
first. It's found in Luke chapter 8. I want to begin reading in
verse 4. And if you can get your Bibles
and follow along, it would be helpful. Luke chapter 8, beginning
in verse 4. 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, 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 and choked it, and other fell on good grass. and sprang up and bear fruit,
and a hundredfold. And when he had said these things,
he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." You know,
not everybody has ears to hear in a spiritual sense. Oh, ask
the Lord to give you ears to hear. He says, He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him,
saying, What might this parable be? They didn't understand it.
And he said, Unto you is 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. Now the
parable is this. Now our Lord is going to give
his explanation of that parable. Now the parable is this. The
seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they
that hear, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out
of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they which,
when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root,
which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."
And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have
heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures
of this life, and they bring forth no fruit to perfection. But that under good ground are
they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Now, the sower
sows the seed. This represents the preaching
of the gospel. The seed is the word of God. The sower is the one preaching
the word. The sower didn't make the seed.
The seed was given to him, and he sows the seed. Now, some falls on a beaten path. not plowed up ground, but a beaten
path. And there it lays and the fowls
of the air come and gobble it up. Some falls in soil that had
been plowed, but there was rock underneath it. It was shallow
soil. So when the sun comes down, the
seed that was sown in the shallow soil, it comes up immediately,
but it can't develop any root and soon withers because it's
scorched by the heat of the sun. Some falls in a place where there
are weeds competing for the nutrients of the soil, and the plant that
did spring up never bears fruit and is choked, and some falls
into the ground that has been previously plowed And it takes
root, it springs up, and it brings forth fruit. The purpose for
which the seed had been sown. And there we have the four types
of hearers. The wayside hearer, the shallow
ground hearer, the thorn-choked hearer, and the good ground hearer. And I want to know what kind
of hearer that I am. And I want you to know what kind
of hearer you are. Remember our Lord said, he that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, the one thing that all of
these hearers had in common is they all heard the same message. They heard the gospel. They didn't
hear a false message. They heard the gospel. They heard
the word of God. Now, what is the word of God?
Well, it's the word of God. It's the Word, it's the message
from the Word, the written Word which reveals the living Word,
the Lord Jesus Christ. They all heard the Word of God,
they heard the Gospel. And I don't want to take for
granted that everybody knows what the Gospel means. So what
is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message from
God, the good news for sinners. And the only way you could really
understand the Gospel is if you're a sinner. And if you're a sinner,
someone who can't save themselves, The gospel comes as good news
to you when you hear of the work of God for you. You see, the
gospel is what God does for the sinner. Now, what does God do
for the sinner? Well, if you're saved, it's because
God chose you before time began to be saved. It's called election.
You can't preach the gospel, not preach election. The gospel
is that Christ put away your sins. You see, those the Father
chose, Christ came to represent, and He put away their sins on
Calvary's tree. He didn't simply make salvation
available if we do our part, He actually saved. And the gospel
is that God the Holy Spirit comes in time, in power, and reveals
Christ. He gives a new heart and He reveals
the gospel to you. It's not something you can figure
out. It's something that He places within your heart and you believe. It's the work of the triune God. That's the gospel. The work of
the Father in election, the work of the Son in redemption, the
work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. The gospel is preached. And all
four of these types of hearers heard the gospel. Now, let's
consider First, there is the wayside here, and here is what
our Lord says about them in verse 12, those by the wayside are
they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh
away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and
be saved. You can be sure of this, Satan
is always at work when the gospel is preached. Somebody says, well,
Satan's sphere of operation is in the bars and the brothels
and all the stuff where all that bad stuff is going on. No doubt.
He's there. But his main sphere of operation
is in the pew. It's in the pulpit. Remember,
he comes as an angel of light, and he's always trying to work
against the gospel. Now, what about these hearers? Is Satan able to prevent someone
from being saved? Not if God saves them. He's not
able to prevent anybody from being saved that God saves. But
he's going to do all he can to prevent it. Now, Matthew's account
tells us that when they hear the word, these beaten path hearers
or wayside hearers, they do not understand. Now, it's not because
of a lack of intelligence. They may be much more intelligent.
They might have a higher IQ than the other hearers. But it's because
they have no sense of their sin. And they can't bring it together.
They have no sense of the character of God. When they hear of the
holiness of God, it means nothing to them. When they hear of the
sinfulness of sin, it doesn't seem to apply to them. They don't
see themselves that way. When they hear of the blood of
Christ, they really see no need for it. When they hear of the
freeness of God's grace, they don't see a need for it because
they don't hear as sinners. The only way you can hear with
understanding is if you hear as a sinner. Are you a sinner?
And I mean what the Bible means by the word sinner. All you are
in and of yourself is sin. You can't do anything but sin.
Now, if that is what you are, you're able to hear the gospel. Now, if you don't see yourself
as that way, You've never heard. You're on your own. And you have
no hope. You see, the gospel is only for
sinners. The gospel is a sinner's religion.
And when you're a sinner, you can hear what's being said. But
until you're a sinner, you can't understand the blood of Christ. You can't understand the grace
of God. You see no need for election or redemption or regeneration. So the wayside here, he doesn't
understand. He's got a hard heart. His heart
is like, when the word comes on him, it's like snowfall coming
down upon asphalt that's warm enough to just dissolve it immediately.
That's what happens. There's no penetration into his
heart. He's not saved. He doesn't hear.
He doesn't believe. He doesn't understand. The gospel
means nothing to him. So he goes away and on to the
next subject. I mean, this is something else
more interesting. What about this shallow ground
here? I've seen him so many times over
the years. Let me read verse 13. Our Lord
says, They on the rock, or they, which when they hear, receive
the word with joy. And these have no root, which
for a while believe, which is for a time. But when temptation
comes, they fall away. Now, these people receive the
word and they receive it immediately with joy. I don't know how many
times I've heard people leave the church that come and visit
and they say, this was wonderful. I love this. I'll be back next
Sunday. And my thought generally is,
you know, you won't when people make that response. I just know
the way people act. They receive the word with joy.
This is wonderful. But there's they have no root.
They have no death, they have no grace is what it is. They
have no real grace. They hear the word temporarily,
and it sounds good, but they've never really been stripped. They've
never been broken up. They hear, but they don't hear. They say, I believe this, I receive
it, I rejoice. But as soon as any kind of temptation
or trial comes because of the word, if they're going to be
persecuted because of the word, It's not really that valuable
to them. They think, I didn't know this was going to happen.
I didn't know this was going to take place. I'm not going
in this direction. And you see them no more. Now, they had no
grace in their hearts. They're at that shallow ground
here. They had no root in themselves. You know, Job said, the root
of the matter is in me. That which you can't see, they
did not have. They didn't have the root of
God's grace in their heart. They didn't have a new heart.
God had never really done something for them. And the fact that they
received the word immediately, with no thinking, no struggling. You know, let me say this. Before
you're glad, you better first be sad. If you've never been
brought under the conviction of sin and seen your nothingness
and your need of Christ, it's bad at first. And when these
people hear the word, they go through nothing like that because
God's never really done anything for them. They hear it, receive
it quick, but they only endure for a while. And as soon as some
kind of persecution comes because of the word, when somebody says,
do you believe that foolishness? Or maybe some family member says,
I can't believe you believe something like that. Y'all don't believe
that. They think, well, okay. And they're gone. They're like
a shooting star. They're very bright for a while,
but they're gone soon enough. And then there is the thorn-choked
hearer. Let me read about him in verse
14. And that which fell among thorns
are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked
with cares and riches and pleasures of this life. and they bring
forth no fruit unto perfection." Now, this is the here that scares
me the most because I fear being this here myself, a thorn-choked
hearer. He hears the Word and he agrees. It's not like he's fighting against
the truthfulness of the Scripture. He believes the Bible is the
Word of God. He believes that God is, as He's
revealed in the Word. He believes God is sovereign.
He believes God is holy. He believes God is just. He believes
God is all-powerful. He believes that the Bible teaches
that men are sinners and dead in sin. He sees that in the Scriptures.
He says, I agree with that. He even gives a sin to election.
You can't read the Bible and deny that God elected who would
be saved before time began. He believes that Christ accomplished
salvation. The Bible teaches that. He said
it is finished. It was finished. He believed God's grace actually
saves. He believed God's people persevere.
He believes all these things. He gives a scent to these things. I don't believe this man ever
leaves the church. The shallow ground here, he left, he was
gone, but this guy is still sitting in the pew. Maybe not as regularly,
but the scripture says the weeds compete for his affections. And four things are mentioned.
Now remember, this man believes. He doesn't believe error. He
believes. He hears the word. He believes. He gives a cent.
But cares. The cares of this life. And indeed, there are cares and
troubles in this life. The cares of family, of marriage,
of financial problems, problems with your kids, stress on the
job, physical sickness. Oh, indeed, there are cares in
this life that are most real. And these cares compete with
Christ. This man becomes consumed with
the cares of this life. He doesn't call upon the name
of the Lord. He doesn't look to Christ. He
just becomes consumed with these cares. And the next thing the
Lord mentions is riches. Riches, all men's preoccupation
with riches. The love of money. is the root
of all evil. And people are going so hard
after money, more, more, more. And then you even have preachers
preaching this prosperity foolishness. God bless you if you have more
and so on. And everybody's grasping for more. Covetousness. Covetousness. Always needing
more riches. And then the Lord mentions the
pleasures of this life. And indeed, there are pleasures
in this life, but are these pleasures worth coming into competition
with the Lord Jesus Christ? Somebody can become so consumed
with pleasures that they forget Christ. This person gets choked. You know, there are indeed pleasures
in sin for a season. The Scripture says that. Men
wouldn't sin if there wasn't pleasure in it. But these people
know nothing of what David meant when he said, I'd rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of
the wicked. There's more pleasures in knowing
Christ than any pleasure this world provides. And these people
never really experience that. They're taken up with pleasures. They're more concerned about
material blessings than spiritual blessings. And then we read in
Mark's account, the lusts Of other things, the craving, the
lusting for power, the lusting for prestige, the lusting for
human praise, the lusting for security, anything that comes
into competition with Christ, these things choke the word and
these hearers never bear fruit. They sit, but they never bear
fruit. They know nothing of love. of joy, the joy of resting in
Christ, the peace that comes from knowing that His righteousness
is your righteousness before God. Long-suffering, believing
that God is the first cause behind all things. Gentleness, kindness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, the fruit of the Holy Spirit
they know nothing of. They just sit there without bearing
fruit. Now, if I bear no fruit, that
means I don't have the root. If I don't have the root, God
hadn't given me any grace. I'm not a believer. Here this person is bearing no
fruit. Now the fourth type of here we
read of in verse 15. But that on the good ground are
they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Keep
it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Now let's camp for
just a moment on this thing of having an honest and good heart. What is this honest and good
heart? Because these people, you ask them, they have hearts
that are just as bad as anybody else. You know, the Scripture
says regarding the heart of man that it's desperately wicked
and deceitful above all things. And these good ground hearers
that have this honest and good heart, they know they have this
bad heart, this evil heart. But this honest and good heart
is a heart that God gives when you're born from above. When
God gives you the new birth, He gives you a new heart. He
said a new heart also will I give them. And this new heart, is
called by Christ, honest and good. First, it's honest. You know, somebody once said,
honest people don't go to hell. And that's so. People who are
honest with the word of God, they don't come to the word of
God and try to manipulate it to make it say what they want
it to say. They don't come to it to use it to prove what they
think they believe. They come to the Word of God
and bow to whatever God says. The Bible is God's revelation
of Himself. I don't come to the Bible to
prove what I believe. I come to the Bible to find out
what to believe. The Bible is the Word of God. Now, I know a lot of people don't
believe that, but I do. I know it is. It's the revelation
of God, and if we don't have the Bible as the Word of God,
what do we have? We have nothing but my opinion or your opinion.
What good will that do anybody? No, the Bible is God's revelation
of Himself, and an honest heart is honest with what the Word
says. It's honest with what the Word says concerning the character
of God Almighty. I bow to what God says in His
Word about Himself. He's holy. He hates sin. He's absolutely sovereign. He's
the first cause behind everything. He's the Creator. He's the sovereign
of the universe. He's absolutely just. He's all-powerful. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere
at once. Oh, all the glorious things God reveals to us about
Himself in His Word, we bow to it. We're honest with the Word
of God. We don't make up a God that we feel comfortable with.
We bow to what God says concerning Himself in His Word. And we're
honest with what the Word says about us. If I have an honest
heart, I know that I'm nothing in and of myself but sin. All
I do is sin. I cannot not sin. I can't look
down my nose in moral superiority at anybody. And I have no claims
on God because of my sinfulness. I am a sinner, deserving of the
wrath of God, and I can't do anything to save myself. I'm
totally dependent upon His grace. Now, that's being honest. Anything
else is a lie. If somebody says, I'm not like
that, well, you've lied to yourself and you've deceived yourself.
I'm honest. If I've got an honest and good
heart, I'm honest with what the Word of God says about me, dead
in sin. I'm honest with what the Word
of God says concerning Christ. He is salvation. His blood is my only sin payment. His righteousness is my only
righteousness before God. All my hope is in Him. Now, this
honest heart, good heart, you know, it's so good it doesn't
sin. Not the new heart. Now, the old heart, all it does
is sin, but the new heart, Remember what John says, he can't sin
because his seed remains in him. This is that which is born of
God is holy. It's an honest and good heart. And there are five things that
are said about this honest and good heart. Matthew's account
tells us he hears the word and he understands. Now, remember
what I said previously, you can really only understand the gospel
as a sinner. And when you're a sinner, you
can understand the message. You can understand how it's necessary
for God to choose a people because you know in and of yourself,
you won't choose God. You're so wicked, you'll fall away from
Him. He must choose you. You understand your need of a
perfect and complete atonement by the Lord Jesus Christ. You
understand the power of His blood. You understand how grace must
be utterly free. There's some understanding. Oh,
you don't understand anything completely, but you do understand
because you hear the gospel as a sinner. Now, Mark's account
tells us that he receives the word, and there the word means
he welcomes with approval. When he hears the gospel, he
welcomes it with approval. It's good news to Him. It's not
just doctrine. It's not just one man's opinion.
It's not what this church believes. It comes as due from heaven.
It comes as the very Word of God. It comes as good news. It's
good news to me that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
because I'm one of those. And what good news it is to me
that He came to save sinners. The freeness of His grace is
good news to me. The power of His blood is good
news to me. This person receives the word
with open arms. He welcomes the word. And Luke
tells us, having heard the word, he keeps it. That means he holds
fast to it. Its value to him is Infinite,
and he cannot, and he will not let it go. All of his eggs are
in this one basket, and he can't let it go. He keeps the Word. It's of infinite value to him. And then he brings forth fruit. This is the reason the seed was
sown in the first place. to bring forth fruit, and that's
a reference to the fruit of God the Holy Spirit. Love. Love to God as He's revealed
in the Word, and love to His people. Joy in the Gospel. Peace. The peace of knowing that
God's reconciled to you through Christ, and that all He requires
of you He looks to His Son for. You get peace from that. Oh,
the joy and the peace of believing. Long-suffering. You really believe
God is on the throne and that He's the first cause behind everything.
Gentleness. Kindness. If God's been kind
to you, you'll be kind to others. Goodness. A merciful attitude. Faith. You believe the gospel. Meekness. You really believe
that God's brought everything your way and whatever He does
is right, whether you understand it or not. So you bow. Temperance,
control from within. If there's no fruit, there's
no grace. Now, the good ground here brings
forth fruit, and then Luke says, with patience, which means abiding
under, he abides under God, he submits. He submits, not simply
because he has no choice, but he submits willingly. Whatever
God does is right, and whatever He does with me is right, and
He submits. Now what type of hearer are you
and I? The wayside hearer? The stony ground hearer who immediately
receives but falls away? The thorn-choked hearer who hears
and believes but becomes immersed in the cares and pleasures of
this life? or the good ground hearer who is honest with the
Word of God and receives and keeps and rejoices in the Word. May God make us good ground hearers. We have this message on cassette,
CD or DVD. If you call the church or write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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