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Luke 8:4 While a large crowd was gathering
and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this
parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering
the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds
of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the
plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among
thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other
seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred
times more than was sown.”
When he
said this, he called out, “He who has
ears to hear, let him hear.”
Observe what Jesus said to this large crowd which had gathered to
hear him. He urged them to listen very carefully to his words. So why
did he speak in mysterious parables? Modern day preachers, standing
before a large crowd, certainly would not give such a cryptic message.
Instead, they would assure the crowd that God loves them and wants
to bless and prosper them. Then they would give an altar call to accept
Christ, and then after that take an offering.
But Jesus did not say or do these things. He knew the hearts of people.
He knew that even though a large crowd had assembled to hear him, only
a fraction of them would actually understand and retain what he said---perhaps
only one out of four. He did not want to give to dogs what is sacred
or throw his pearls to pigs (Matthew 7:6). In Matthew 13 Jesus describes
these people in the following way.
Matthew
13:13 “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing,
they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah: ”‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s
heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they
have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear
with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would
heal them.’
Although
Isaiah’s prophecy was originally meant for the Israelites
in the time of Jesus, it can also apply to many people who have been
brought up in church or have been going to church for many years to
hear the word if God. The crowds in church can simply stop hearing.
The Lord does not want to heal them. Scripture applies to God’s
people today just as it applied to God’s people the Israelites
two thousand years ago. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Christ’s
words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35). Let’s now return
to Luke 8 and listen to what Jesus said next, this time to his disciples
in private.
Luke 8:9
His disciples asked him what this parable meant. …11 “This
is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those
along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe
and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word
with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for
a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that
fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their
way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures,
and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those
with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering
produce a crop.
There
are four classes of people who
come to hear Jesus Christ, and
these can be those who go to church. There are those for whom the word
of God is immediately taken away by the devil after they hear it. Then
there are those who are very enthusiastic initially when they hear
the word of God, but they do not last and they fall away. The third
class consists of those who hear the word of God and want to obey it,
but are ultimately overcome by the worries of this life and the deceitfulness
of earthly riches. They fail to mature and to produce good fruit. They
may in fact be drawn to the gospel and want to enter life. But because
they do not bear good fruit, they are cut down and thrown into the
fire.
Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
But the
last and fourth category of hearers of the word is those who have
a “noble and good heart.” Jesus calls them “good
soil.” They listen to the word of God very carefully and they
understand it. They successfully resist the worries of this life and
the deceitfulness of wealth. They persevere. They grow to maturity
as disciples of Jesus Christ and they bear good fruit for him. Only
one out of the four hearers of the word is the right kind of soil and
succeeds in entering life. “But small is the gate and narrow
the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew
7:14).
This is
not the kind of message one hears in church today. Almost all messages
heard in church today appeal to nearly
everyone in the
crowd. “God loves all of you, and wants to bless all of you,” the
crowd is told in so many words in one fashion or another. They feel
encouraged and will certainly be back for more comfort on the following
Sunday. But Jesus did not preach such messages to the crowds who came
to hear him. On one occasion, “as the crowds increased, Jesus
said, “This is a wicked generation” (Luke 11:29). Jesus,
unlike most of today’s preachers, did not come to please man
with sugary words. If we study the words he spoke as recorded in the
New Testament, we are in fact left, in general, with the very opposite
impression.
If modern
day preachers spoke as Jesus did in the New Testament, churches would
be far smaller than they are today. But
since success in the
eyes of man is measured in numbers, preachers are forced to change
the message to please the people and to bring in the crowds. When questioned
about the validity of this, preachers will say that it’s for “the
sake of the harvest.” Times have changed, and we need to change
the message to fit the culture in order to reap a harvest for the kingdom
of God.
Really?
Is it right to change the word of God in the way that they do? It
is not simply a cosmetic change in the packaging, it is a change
in the central message of the New Testament for believers. Does the
message revolve around how God
wants to
bless
His
people on
earth? Or does it rather focus on what His
people should now do for Him in light of what God has already for
us through His Son Jesus Christ and in anticipation of his
glorious appearing?
Could
it be that we are simply tickling people’s
ears in order to fill our churches and win the praise and recognition
of man? If
so, we will have already received our reward here on earth. But Jesus
did not come to please man, but to please his Father. He did not compromise
the message which the Father had given him.
Listen to what Jesus then said to the disciples back in Luke 8 after
he explained to them the meaning of the four types of soil.
Luke 8:16 “No
one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead,
he puts it on a stand,
so that those who come
in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not
be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought
out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you
listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he
thinks he has will be taken from him.”
We who
are disciples of Jesus Christ are the light of the world (Matthew
5:14). We are lamps providing light which should
be seen. “Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose
them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in
secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible…” (Ephesians
5:11-13). As light, we are to expose that which is hidden and concealed,
even in the Church, and bring it out into the open. The fruitless deeds
of the Church must be disclosed and made known.
We must also be sure there is no hidden darkness in ourselves as we
gaze intently into the word of God---the mirror in which we can see
any darkness in ourselves (James 1:23).
In order to do this, Jesus commands us to
consider carefully how we
listen. We must listen to the pure word of God, and listen very carefully.
We must be very serious about the word and divide it correctly. In
light of what is taught in many churches today, it would be best to
sit down with the word of God and prayerfully study it for ourselves.
Our teacher
is the Holy Spirit. “As for you, the anointing you
received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to
teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that
anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you,
remain in him.” (1 John 2:27) This verse takes on greater urgency
in light of the unbalanced teaching so widespread in the Church today.
The Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation through
faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15).
If we
have a noble and good heart and consider carefully the words of Jesus
Christ, we will persevere and bear
fruit for him---thirty, sixty, or one hundred times what we had at
the beginning. And we will be given more. But if we do not
have, even what we think we have will be taken from us. If we are the
first
kind of
soil, the second kind, or even the third kind, we will lose even
what we think we have. Many “Christians”---to their
dismay and disbelief---will be weeping and gnashing their teeth at
the end of
the age.
If we are serious about eternal life, we must consider carefully the
pure word of God and how we listen to it. Many people go to church
to hear the word of God. But for most of them, even what they think
they have will be taken from them. They listen, but hardly hear with
their ears. This is the reality behind the crowds in church.
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