Sermon Text: Luke 8:1-21
Sermon Title: Take Heed How You Hear part 1-2
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:1-21
What did we learn last week?
This passage is exclusively about hearing. Last week we learned that the care we take in hearing God’s Word will determine our eternal destiny. The difference between Heaven and Hell is how you hear.
“Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away” (Luke 8:18).
“He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And he said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us, then he will answer you, I do not know where you come from.’’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’” (Luke 8:22-27).
“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16).
“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:4-8).
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11)
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fade away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13).
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you and evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:12-19).
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
Wait a minute!? Am I saying that you can have your salvation and then lose it? Am I saying that you can earn your way into Heaven by good works? Am I denying the doctrines of grace? By no means friends.
And we both believe that paradox is woven into the nature of the universe, and that resisting it drives a person mad. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.
We don’t adjust the brain-baffling categories of Scripture to fit human reason. We take it as one of our jobs to create categories in human minds that never existed in those minds before — a job only God can do — though he makes us agents. For example, we labor to create categories of thought like these:
- God rules the world of bliss and suffering and sin, right down to the roll of the dice, and the fall of a bird, and the driving of the nail into the hand of his Son; yet, even though he wills that such sin and suffering be, he does not sin, but is perfectly holy.
- God governs all the steps of all people, both good and bad, at all times and in all places; yet such that all are accountable before him and will bear the just consequences of his wrath if they do not believe in Christ.
- All people are dead in their trespasses and sins, and are not morally able to come to Christ because of their rebellion; yet, they are responsible to come, and will be justly punished if they don’t.
- Sin, though committed by a finite person and in the confines of finite time is nevertheless deserving of an infinitely long punishment because it is a sin against an infinitely worthy God.
(http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-sovereign-god-of-elfland-why-chestertons-anti-calvinism-doesnt-put-me-off).
Read Acts 27:13-26 and 27:30-32.
Here is the point: Yes it is absolutely true that God chooses whom He will save (Romans 9-11) and causes those whom He chooses to persevere or be unconditionally secure until the end (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8; John 10:28-29). However, I must also believe that if I am not a good soil hearer, I will fall away and will spend eternity in Hell.
The Parable of the Four Soils Explained
Each of the four soils describes a different way to hear.
These seeds are said to fall along the path (vv. 5, 12). The path describes the pathway or rows between the fields. Because of the traffic along the path, the soil became hard-packed and impenetrable. Sure, truth (the seed is the Word of God) was found on the surface of the path; with the sower “broadcasting” along the path, the path was certain to be littered with seed. However, the seed did not penetrate.
The hard soil hearers are certainly interested and receptive to the Word, but it does not penetrate. The hard soil hearers often comment on how a text was interpreted or communicated, but rarely speak about personal conviction and need of change. Like the Pharisees, the hard soil hearers hold the Word dear, yet are found examining everyone else rather than themselves.
Over lunch the conversation is almost exclusively a critique of someone else – what they said; how they handled a text; what is wrong with the Church; what errors were made – rather than deep introspection on how the text applied to their life and how they need to change. Hard soil hearers are good at pointing out problems, but are rarely part of the solution.
Biblical literacy is not to be confused with Christian maturity. Homiletic accuracy is not the same as godliness.
Theological dexterity is very different from practical holiness. Successful leadership is not the same as a heart for Christ. Growth in influence is not to be confused with growth in grace. Because of the feeling of arrival, I/you don’t sit under my own preaching (Tripp, Paul. Dangerous Calling p. 105).
Rather than humble learner, you sit as judge. Rather than someone to be known, God has become a puzzle to be pieced together. Your hermeneutics have led you to approach the Bible as a text book to dissect, rather than approaching the Bible with the intent if it dissecting your heart.
Maybe the greatest sign that you are a hard soil hearer is that you are not considering for a moment that I just described you. What I am saying is just sitting on the surface; it will not penetrate. Without God’s grace the seed just sown will sit on the surface of your heart and will be easy picking for the birds to steal it away.
Here Jesus teaches that these hearers receive the Word with joy, but cultivate no root. These hearers are perceived to “grow up” above the surface of the soil, but have no depth beneath. Eventually, trials expose the hearer for who they are: joyful hearers and circumstantial followers.
If you have ever re-sodded your lawn, you might understand what I mean. After re-sodding five times in my life, I consider myself an expert. The first several times I put down sod my neighbors would enviously comment on how beautiful, green, and lush my lawn was. I outwardly accepted their praise with humility, while raging inside with pride. You see, lawn of the month was my objective and my new sod was the key.
As I have gotten a little bit older and a little bit wiser my response to these compliments have changed. Now my reply humble inwardly and outwardly: “Thank you, but I would ask that you withhold your compliments until after the winter.” The once green grass goes dormant, or to sleep, over the winter. During this period, the grass turns brown, which is its defense against drought and cold.
You see, during the trials of drought and freeze, the winter reveals the depth of the root system. Because all the grass is brown, you just don’t know if the grass persevered until spring. How – it comes back green, healthy, and lush like before.
According to the University of Purdue (http://purdueturftips.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-lawn-is-brown-and-crunchy-is-it-dead.html), there is a way for a lawn to survive during the trials of winter:
“A friend recently asked me recently what to do about their lawn during these very dry conditions. I told them, honestly we will really just need to wait and see. He said, so I should just accept a little bit of brown? I responded, accept a whole lot of brown! If you have been regularly watering your lawn you should continue, the turf has been conditioned to this practice and shutting off the water may be damaging to survival. The driving factors for survival during severe drought have to do with rooting depth and the reservoir of available water. What about fertilizing? One of the suggested water conservation practices is to stop or reduce (decrease amount) nitrogen fertilization during periods of drought. There is no need to push shoot/leaf growth in the plant when other resources like water are limited.”
In other words, the seed fell on the rock. The seed didn’t fall on good ground and then someone threw rocks on top. The seed feel on the rock. What does that mean? It means that although your heart received the Word with joy, you didn’t have pliable soil. The trials revealed the shallow nature of your heart. What do you do? Why was the root shallow? You can make it on lack of moisture and still remain (to some degree) green. However, when there is a drought, you will be exposed. If you neglect your heart in times of drought, you will fall away.
When you’re in the intersection between the promises of God and the details of your situation, what you do with your mind is very important. In this intersection, God will never ask you to deny reality. Abraham did not deny reality. Romans 4 says that he “considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb” (v. 19). Faith doesn’t deny reality. No, it is a God-focused way of considering reality. As Abraham renewed his mind and meditated on God, he actually grew stronger in faith even though nothing in his circumstances had changed yet (Tripp, Paul. Dangerous Calling p. 133).
“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night.”
― John Piper, Hunger for God
I run the risk of sounding like I am promoting asceticism here. Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals. I am not promoting asceticism here. I believe in enjoying God’s gifts and I believe strongly in Christian liberty. I like to play. I like to have fun.
With that said, you cannot go to work, play 2 hours of video games, mess with fantasy football for half an hour, watch three games on Saturday and one on Sunday, do little league, dance, gymnastics, lift weights, play cards, go dancing, check your Facebook ten times a day, have a cagillion (defined by the Urban Dictionary as a little more than a bagillion but less than magillion) pins on Pinterest, watch full television seasons in two days on Netflix, have too much to drink, go to the movies, have dead noise in your car, listen to Boortz, Rush, and Hannity or sports talk radio each day – then waltz in here on Sunday with a few personal devotions and a podcast in your pocket and expect to bear fruit.
In our day it is said that preaching is not an effective way of communication or the most conducive environment for change. I agree that is a biblical statement. However, preaching has never been an effective way of communication. Regardless of what I have said this morning, I would do well to expect about twenty of you to hear this, hold fast to it, and bear fruit because of it. So I echo the words of Christ, “Take heed how you hear.”
What did we learn this morning?
This passage is exclusively about hearing. Last week we learned that the care we take in hearing God’s Word will determine our eternal destiny. The difference between Heaven and Hell is how you hear.
What should we do because of what we have learned?
10 Practical Suggestions on “Holding Fast"--next week.
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