Does Your Heart Listen?
9:30 3/25/93 Text Matthew 13:1-22 Psalm 1 Hebrews 12:1-12
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RICK
How is it that two people can come hear the same preacher,
sit on the same pew, and listen to the same message each week,
yet one of them grows by maturing in his her faith, learns to
walk in the Spirit, and have a productive fruitful life for
Christ, and the other shows no sign of growth. Why is it that
after listening to four years of our sermons, some of us are no
further along in our Biblical knowledge or spiritual growth than
we were four years ago. Could it be people, that the way we lis
tens, determines who we grow?
TOBY
Saints, God wants us to listen to Him, so that we may be set
free by His truth, and that we might communicate that truth to
others so that their lives and our lives might be changed. Andre
Crouch wrote a song, with the words, "Lord we need to hear from
You. We need a word from You. If we don’t hear from You, what
will we do?. Wanting you more each day, Show us your own perfect
way. There is no other we that we can live." My friends, if we
are going to hear God, then we must prepare to listen.
RICK
You may say, I listen all the time, but I don’t hear God.
Chances are we are listening in the wrong places. The greatest
listening device we have for hearing from God comes not through
our ears, but rather our eyes and our hearts. If our eyes are
not opened to the word of God in the Scriptures, and our hearts
are not set on loving God with all our being, it does not matter
how clearly or loudly God speaks, we won’t hear.
7 3 ��
TOBY
Our text this morning is found in Matthew chapter 13. If
this parable Jesus is going to describe 4 kinds of soil which
receive seeds. The four kinds of soil represent the four kinds
of hearts that hear the word of God. The seed represents the
word of God itself. Let’s pick up the story together in chapter
13. Jesus has a large crowd around him, and he’s in a boat teach
ing them. Let’s look at verse 3 and 4. "Then he told them many
things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
{4} As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and
the birds came and ate it up."
RICK
The farmer is going along sowing seeds by throwing them out
of bag and letting them land where they may. The first group of
seeds have a less than productive fate. Since the ground is hard
along the path with so many people walking on it, the seed never
gets past the surface. The birds come and eat it up. Jesus
gives the explanation of the path and the birds in verse 19. He
says "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does
not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was
sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path."
TOBY
There are two kinds of people in this predicament. There is
the person who comes to church. He or she has already decided,
"I’m not interested in hearing anything from God, the preacher or
anyone else. I know what I believe and that’s enough for me."
Saints, its dangerous to hear the truth of the Word of God and
7 3 ��make no response. Each time one does it, it becomes a little
harder for the person to develop a relationship to Jesus Christ.
RICK
The second group of persons in this predicament is those who
hear from God and intend to do something about it, but immediate
ly they forget what it was they were intending to do. The devil
convinces the person, oh there’s no need to do anything about
that, besides you’ve got plenty of time. That instant in what we
know is the right thing to do or to say, we let it go by because
we allowed it to be snatched away from us.
TOBY
When we allow ourselves to be calloused to the Word of God,
to God’s truths, then we give open opportunity to Satan to steal
away these precious truths. The abiding danger here is that
after ignoring the truths which God shares with us through many
avenues, that when we come upon hard times, we won’t be able to
handle or deal with the hardships properly. God has a different
attitude for us to possess when it comes to the Scriptures.
Instead of letting the devil steal it, we are commanded in Colos
sians 3:16 to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."
RICK
There is another kind of soil in addition to the hard soil
that can’t be broken by the seed. Look at verse 5. "Some fell on
rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up
quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up,
the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no
root."
Jesus explains this in verse 20 where he says, "The one who
7 3 ��
received the seed that fell on rocky places is the one who hears
the word and at once receives it with joy. {21} But since he or
she has no root, he or she lasts only a short time. When trouble
or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away."
TOBY
This second soil characterizes the heart of people who lacks
spiritual depth and commitment. That is, they here the word of
God and get exciting, saying "That’s it! That’s what I want.!
They are the people who are happy to be saved, but want only to
enjoy the excitement and thrill of being saved. The real problem
is they, do not take the time to study the Word of God so that
they can develop a firm foundation. There is no foundation.
When the storms of life come, they have had it. They are blown
away.
RICK
The moment things do not go their way, they are ready to lay
aside their religion and do what they want to do. It’s easy to
pull up a plant that has very shallow roots. Everyone hates those
dandelions in their yard. The reason it stays, is that it sends
it’s roots deep into the ground. We don’t care how many times
you cut off the top, it keeps coming back. The seed in the rocky
places found some dirt to grow in, but the rocks underneath
blocked the seeds ability to go deep. Sometimes we are open only
to a little of the word of God, but underneath our veil of ac
ceptance, is a heart saying, "no further shall you go."
TOBY
We can’t have a shallow reception to the word of God and
7 3 ��expect to weather the storms of life. When the bottom drops out,
or the roof caves in, when all turns for the worse in our experi
ence, and we cry out to God whose truths we have ignored, we will
find it hard to talk to God. It won’t be because God is not
listening, but because of the callousness of our spirit. This is
one of the reasons its so important that we keep renewing our
minds. We must be willing to let the word of God go beyond our
agreeing to it, to letting it penetrate our hearts underneath
that it might take root. If the root doesn’t grow, the word
won’t grow.
RICK
The danger with our rocky hearts, is that we look fine to
everyone. But notice Jesus says that when trouble or persecution
comes, the person QUICKLY falls away. So often we think others
are spiritual giants, when in reality there just one strong gust
of wind away from being blown up and out of the church. When we
examine ourselves, we may see areas in which the slightest thing,
can send us off and out of God’s will in a given situation. You
see, God wants more than permission to penetrate in a single
straight line in our hearts. He wants the roots to penetrate in
each and every direction.
TOBY
The deeper we allow the Holy Spirit to dig under the surface
of our hearts, the more painful, yet the more productive our
lives will become. The more we open ourselves to the digging
tools of God, the more of a garden our lives will begin to be.
The deeper we dig into the word of God, the more thrilling and
exciting Jesus Christ becomes. You will see you are being made
7 3 ��
in the image of Christ. Too often we simply report our requests
to God and turn and walk away. God wants to speak to us about
some of those requests we are making, in order to put us in the
position to receive them.
RICK
We may be saying, God I need to have a better husband, or
wife, or children, or parents. Lord will you do something. God
is ready to say yes, "here’s how I want to change you." Before
God gets that out good, we have gone on to the next request. God
is so much more interested in working to change us as individuals
than he is about the circumstances around us. If God can change
us, it won’t matter what our circumstances are, we will have deep
enough roots to overcome them all.
TOBY
There is yet another kind of soil that is found in the human
heart. Look at verse 7. Matthew 13:7 "Other seed fell among
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants." These seeds fell
on soil that was good enough for it to send down its roots. It’s
problem was that other plants grew so tightly around it, that it
could not find room to grow. Jesus explained the fate of the
soil and the seed in this way in verse 22. He said, in Matthew
13:22 "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns
is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and
the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful."
RICK
This soil is the heart of those who believe the right
things, intend to do the right things, get’s ready to the right
7 3 ��things, but something else is draining their energy. It’s the
person who wants to hold on to Jesus, but can quite let go of the
world. The gospel of Luke expands the list of things that Jesus
says will choke us. The combined lists include life’s worries,
the yearning for pleasure, the deceitfulness of wealth and rich
es.
TOBY
The word of God cannot produce fruit in our lives if we are
constantly worrying about the past, the present, and the future.
If we are afraid this is going to happen or that is going to
happen, we paralyze ourselves and keep from doing anything. Worry
is our belief that God is not in control, and our situation is
somehow beyond Him. People worry about crimes that never occur,
sicknesses that never come, death that doesn’t show up, and fears
that never materialize. Saints you are in the loving hands of
God, and there is no better place for you to be.
RICK
The word of God cannot produce fruit in our lives if we are
constantly seeking to have a good time and finding pleasure for
ourselves. We discover very quickly not only is there a pleasure
in serving God, one can also find pleasure in sin. There are
times when doing wrong is fun. That’s why so many people do it.
The Bible even says, sins has its fun, but it only lasts for a
little while. The word of God is not always fun to do. It’s not
fun to say no to things you’d like to try at least once, but it
sure does a lot for your spiritual maturity and growth. Keep in
mind, others have a paid a lifetime of pain and still others have
paid with their lives for having tried it just once.
7 3 ��
TOBY
The word of God cannot produce fruit in out lives if we are
caught up in the deceitfulness of riches. There is the belief
that if we just get that one more thing, we are going to have
made it and then we can settle back and serve God. No matter how
many material goods we get, we are in a society that tells us we
need just a little more to be happy. We can’t wait to pay of our
mortgage so that we can get a bigger mortgage on a bigger house.
We can’t wait to pay off our car loan, so that we can get a
bigger loan on the next car. What would happen if each Chris
tian, after he or she paid off a debt be it a car, jewelry, home
or whatever, would commit themselves to say, "Lord instead of
buying another new one, for one year, I’m going to make that
monthly payment for the work of the ministry."
RICK
The word of God cannot produce fruit in our lives when our
lives are possessed with riches. The more we have, the less
likely we are to give in the manner that God tells us to give.
Our trust goes from being in God, to being in our riches. When
there is a need, a person with money will say, well I’d like to
help out, but I’ve got to save for a rainy day, because you don’t
know what the future might bring.
TOBY
God doesn’t mind about us being rich so long as we allow
the word of God to take route in our heart concerning our riches.
It simply says those who are rich are to be "generous and willing
to share." Most rich people will only want to be in churches
7 3 ��where everyone else is rich. Otherwise they will always be next
to brothers and sisters in Christ who need help. Then there is
that verse in 1 John 3:17 "If anyone has material possessions and
sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love
of God be in him?" Having pity on someone goes beyond praying
with them, to taking the time, energy, and if necessary the money
to take care of the need.
RICK
Notice that even though the person had the desire to grow in
Christ, the heart that’s being choked did not produce any fruit.
But look at the fourth kind of soil that allowed the roots to
spread, and the weeds to be held at bay. In verse 8 it says
Matthew 13:8 "Still other seed fell on good soil, where it pro
duced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
TOBY
Saints, did you notice that we were talking about the same
sower, the same seed, and the same field. Just like we mentioned
the same preacher, the same sermon, and the same pew in the
beginning of the sermon. Yet the results are dramatically dif
ferent. Jesus says of the fourth kind of soil in verse 23,
Matthew 13:23 "But the one who received the seed that fell on
good soil is the person who hears the word and understands it. He
or she produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown."
RICK
Saints, this is the heart that simply says yes to the will
of God. It’s the heart that says, God change me. Get rid of the
7 3 ��stones in my life, that I might grow deep in you. Get rid of the
distractions in my heart that causes me to worship the things of
this world. It’s the heart that says, not my will but may Your
will be done.
TOBY
Friends, this the committed mind. The committed mind is the
teachable mind. Pride and fear are two barriers to good listen
ing. Pride says, "I don’t need any teachers or the Scriptures. I
can decide for myself what I think is right or wrong." Fear
stands to assure defeat because of the unknown, because of an
unwillingness to make a trusting commitment. But saints, God
will teach us if we are open to Him and if we will be responsive
to what He wants to teach us.
RICK
They are four ways we cannot cultivate the soil of our
hearts to prepare it to produce fruit. 1) In prayer we can commit
ourselves to listen carefully to God’s message through Life-
Sharing groups, through the pastors, and through personal Bible
reading and devotions. 2) We can make a commitment to evaluate
our lives in the light of what we are hearing. We can take the
initiative in asking, "Lord how does that apply to me?"
TOBY
Third, we can make a commitment, not only to evaluate our
lives, but also commit ourselves to apply the truths to our
lives, otherwise Satan will only steal the truths. Fourth, we
must make a commitment to obey those truths that God impresses
upon our lives. As the hymn says, "trust and obey, for there is
no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Saints
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we can know this, "We cannot apply and obey the Word of God daily
or weekly and remain the same as before." Do we listen to the
word of God with our hearts, or simply with our ears. It makes
all the difference in the world.
