Hearing God (Mark 4:1-20) With Pastor Matt Crethar

I'd like to begin by simply asking a question.

Why is it that two people can hear the same message and yet respond in completely different ways?

Two people can hear even the exact same gospel message, and yet one heartily embraces the gospel and the other staunchly rejects it.

I think even of the the two men as a good illustration on on either side of the cross, both of them on either side of our dear Lord Jesus, both of them criminals who deserve to be where they were, both of them encountered the same glorious Savior King.

And yet one of them, seeing Jesus, embraces his Savior in his final moments.

And the other, even with nothing to lose, he scoffs and rejects him.

This phenomenon, no doubt, we've encountered personally when we've shared the gospel with somebody in our own life.

We've we've unfortunately explained it away from time to time.

We can explain it away why why some people here who hear the exact same crucial message can respond so differently.

We can say it's about their personality.

They simply have different personalities.

Their psychology makes it difficult to accept this truth compared to this other person.

If you only knew what they had been through, then you would know why they responded that particular way.

They weren't born in the right country.

They didn't have the right upbringing.

They're just a stubborn type.

They're not very open, open-minded.

You see, everyone has a pair of ears, but not everyone hears God.

Actually, none of us by nature have a heart that's capable of truly hearing God at all.

Our ears function perfectly well, but our hearts, left to themselves, do not.

Every part of us, including our capacity to perceive spiritual truth, has been affected by the fall.

Something has to change inside of us before we can hear and receive the gospel.

And this problem, it isn't new for humanity, is it?

In fact, it finds us beginning all the way back in the garden.

We were created to hear God, to enjoy him by relating to him as our God and our creator, to glorify him in our efforts, our activities, our labors, to hear and obey and delight in his commands.

But the very first sin involved willfully not hearing God.

Eve chose instead to hear the serpent who tempted her to sin.

And Adam instead heard his wife and took the fruit as well.

And then in Genesis chapter 3, verse 17, God says this because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it.

Genesis 3:17

And cursed was the ground.

And the man and woman were exiled from the presence of God.

This was the fall of man, and it began because man failed to listen to God and turned their ear to the serpent instead.

And every single hardened heart since then is simply an expression, another expression of Adam's problem, failing to hear God.

The message of our passage tonight actually elaborates on this theme.

And so I invite you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter four.

Mark chapter four as we look at verse one down to twenty.

A passage that I trust is familiar to all of us, probably.

And yet perhaps this is a new way of hearing and understanding this passage as we look at it uh chiastically.

And so have a look at Mark chapter four.

The message of our passage, what our passage is really trying to teach us is this hearing God is a sovereign kindness for a hardened people.

And we'll unpack this theme over two simple points.

We'll see, first of all, in verse 1 to 12, the secret of the kingdom, the secret of the kingdom, verse 1 to 12.

And secondly, we'll see the seed of the kingdom in verse 13 to 20, the secret of the kingdom and the seed of the kingdom.

So let's pray and then we'll open up the word together.

Would you join me in prayer?

O gracious Heavenly Father, speak to us through your holy word.

Give your people ears to listen, hearts that are soft to receive.

And should there be any that are here tonight that have not trusted in you, whose hearts are hard, whose ears are deaf, or work so miraculously as to open them to the truth of your word, to the necessity of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Would your spirit move among us to perhaps even convert an unbeliever here tonight?

But certainly to strengthen and mature and comfort and grow and encourage your people here.

Use me as an ambassador of your truth.

And I pray that your word would go forth and your son would be exalted above all.

In Christ's name.

Amen.

Well, first of all, let's consider the secret of the kingdom.

Why did Jesus teach in parables?

We're introduced to the theme of parables.

And so have a read of verse one down to nine, and then we'll pause and reflect just after that before reading the rest.

Verse one.

And again he, that is Jesus, began to teach by the sea.

And a great multitude was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.

Then he taught them many things by parables, and said to them in his teaching, Listen, behold, a sower went out to sow.

And it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

Some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and yielded no crop, and other seed fell on good ground, and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased, and produced, some thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred.

And he said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Mark records this parable that Jesus told as a crowd gathered around him, and as he goes into a boat and faces the crowd, pushing out into the water, so that probably so that the crowd doesn't crush him, he teaches this lesson.

A parable, the parable of the sower.

A parable that is told with agricultural imagery, pictures that are no doubt known to the hearers in Jesus' day and that are in many ways really familiar to us as well.

It is of a sower who goes out to sow some good seed.

But before we ask what this seed is and unpack what this parable means, we uh we need to ask an important question.

That question at the heart of our passage.

Remember that question.

Why is it that people can hear God and yet fail to really hear God?

And to answer that question, we need to ask another one first.

Why does Jesus teach in parables at all?

And why doesn't everyone who hears these parables actually hear it?

And the key is the method in which Jesus taught parables.

Parables.

What is a parable?

A parable, as one man describes it, is an earthly story with a heavenly reality.

I sort of like that definition.

It's a sort of analogy, a simile, a metaphor.

It's a sort of sort of story with a point.

And often Jesus would take earthly pictures, things that we would understand to reveal to us the mysteries of something much grander.

And so, since parables are a sort of analogy or metaphor, they're saying something beyond the surface level, right?

Jesus teaches about a mustard seed in the ground and a great tree grows, but he isn't really talking about farming techniques and agriculture, is he?

He's telling us something deeper and something greater.

And so these are stories that we need to chew on.

We need to discern their message.

We need to take time to interpret them rightly.

And now it's popular thinking in our day that stories are open to interpretation.

That all stories have a subjective meaning, that there are really multiple interpretations and lenses in which we can view them, and that there is a message underneath the story that actually tells us the bias and the worldview and the shortcomings of the individual that is telling us to them.

We ask that question, what does that story mean for you?

And then you end up with a hundred different meanings, don't you?

Surely not all of those meanings were really what was intended in the first place.

But is that how parables are meant to be read?

Is that what Jesus wants us to reflect upon?

What these stories mean personally to us?

Did he just tell us these stories and leave us to work out what it means to us personally?

Or does Jesus, the world's greatest teacher, does he have a message and a point?

And indeed, certainly Jesus does have a message that he wants us to know.

All of the parables do have a main point.

In fact, all of his parables have a central main theme, and then sometimes supporting themes and points around it.

But we're not to overread them into every uh nitty-gritty detail either.

We're not to ask what color was the robe that the prodigal son was wearing when he returned home.

No, we use discernment with the Spirit's help to interpret the main point.

And many of Jesus' parables share this one theme in common.

They're about the kingdom of heaven.

That's why Jesus says in verse 11, he says, To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.

And that word mystery that he says there, that's that's really significant.

It's language that points us back to Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

Turn there just for a moment in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 2, where we'll read a few verses from verse 44 to 47 to understand this point.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

In Daniel 2, God reveals mysteries that were previously hidden, especially his purposes for the kingdom and the end of history.

So Daniel 2, verse 44 to 47 says, And in the days of these kings, that is the ones that statue Nebuchadnezzar dreams about, in the dr in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.

Daniel 2:44–47

And the kingdom shall not be left to other people.

It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Verse 47 the king answered Daniel and said, Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the revealer of secrets or mysteries, since you could reveal this secret, the mystery of God's kingdom.

And this is indeed part of what Jesus is revealing here.

The Old Testament anticipated God establishing his everlasting kingdom and then decisively defeating his enemies.

But Jesus now reveals that the kingdom comes in a way that his hearers perhaps didn't expect.

So what is God's kingdom?

Well, one theologian says that God's kingdom is God's people in God's place under God's rule.

It is a spiritual kingdom now.

King Jesus reigns over the hearts of his people.

He is our king.

We serve him.

We are his people under his rule, are we not?

He is the king, and his kingdom is now in the hearts of his people.

But it is also a visible kingdom to come.

One day Jesus will return to reign over the whole world visibly, and he will destroy his enemies once and for all.

He will rule over all of his collected and redeemed people.

And in a final sense, God's people will be in the place that God has prepared for them under God's rule.

And so the kingdom we must understand is already here because the king has come and reigns over his people, but it is not yet in its fullness.

The mystery of the kingdom is revealed progressively in Christ, inaugurated now by the king's work and consummated when the king returns.

That is God's kingdom.

And so as we unpack more of Jesus' parables in the remainder of Mark, we need to understand that the core theme tying many of these parables together is that they are about the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God that is both now and not yet.

They reveal the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.

That's why many of them start, for the kingdom of heaven is like.

And then there is an explanation.

But we need to ask the question: why does Jesus choose to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom in this manner?

Why does Jesus speak in parables?

We have to admit that sometimes these parables can be a little bit confusing, right?

We may have even heard multiple interpretations of the exact same parable.

And we hope sometimes that someone will just simply explain what it really means to us.

Finally, someone is teaching on the parables so that I can finally understand them.

So why did Jesus teach in parables and stories rather than just being straightforward?

Well, Jesus spoke in parables for two reasons.

And the first reason is this Jesus spoke in parables to reveal.

It is a matter of revealing, to reveal the mystery of the kingdom of God to his disciples and to those who would gather in close around him.

That's why, or what Jesus said when those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable in verse 10 to 11.

So have a look and read verse 10 to 11.

It says, But when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable, which was what we read in verse 1 to 9.

And Jesus said to them, verse 11, To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.

But to those who are outside, all things come in parables.

Mark here emphasizes the audience's verse 10, those around him with the twelve, the wider circle that wanted to draw near to Christ to understand what he was teaching.

Those who came closer so that they could understand what the mystery was that was being taught.

This is unlike the scribes and the Pharisees, right?

Who heard the Lord Jesus teach already, and they rejected his message, distancing themselves from him rather than drawing near to understand.

But here in Mark 4 was a group seeking to be enlightened at the feet of Jesus Christ.

They want to see revealed the secrets of the kingdom.

They have ears to hear, and so they draw near to hear the master.

So the first reason Jesus spoke in parables was to reveal, to enlighten those who would draw near to hear.

But the second reason is actually the opposite.

Jesus also spoke in parables not only to reveal, but to conceal.

See what it says, verse twelve.

But to those who are outside, verse eleven, all things come in parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them.

And so Jesus also speaks in parables to conceal the secrets of the kingdom.

And he desires to conceal for two reasons.

It is to harden the hearts of unbelievers, first of all, as the unbeliever hears the parable, they are simply confounded, they are confused, they are already blind by their unbelief of the things of God.

And so Jesus simply continues to give them over to their blindness and their deafness of heart.

They hear the words of Jesus, but they do not perceive the meaning.

They see his works, but they do not recognize who he is.

And rather than drawing near to Christ to understand, they remain outside.

And so Jesus, one of the reasons he concealed was to harden the hearts of unbelievers in judgment.

But the other reason is a sort of mercy.

It is to give a sort of mercy to those unbelievers.

You see, it is truly a mercy that they do not understand, since if they understood more, then they would face a harsher condemnation, having known the truth so well and yet actively disobeyed and rejected it.

Remember in Hebrews 10 it says, For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, then no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment.

How much worse punishment do you suppose will be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?

Well, the Prophet Amos echoed much the same sentiment in Amos 3.2 toward Israel.

This is what the Prophet Amos said about Israel.

He says, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.

The Lord knows Israel.

I've known you, you have been my people, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

You knew the truth, and yet rejected it, and a harsher judgment befalls that one who has tasted of the heavenly truths and yet rejected or walked away.

That's why Mark records in verse twelve, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven then.

The withholding of understanding and the withholding of forgiveness are tied together.

And so to be given the parables full meaning without a believing heart to receive.

Would only add to a person's guilt and not lessen their guilt.

This raises an important and a difficult question.

Why can't they hear?

We understand that people can't hear, they can't understand, but why can't they hear?

Why is it that they can see Jesus face to face?

They can listen to the teaching from his very lips.

They can eat and they can drink in his very presence and yet they cannot hear him.

Is it because Jesus is just being deliberately evasive and difficult?

Or is there something deeper going on in the human heart itself?

Well, what the Word of God tells us is something profound, that by nature none of us can hear the things of God.

Paul says it clearly in 1 Corinthians 2 14.

He says, The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

You see, the truths here are not a matter of intellect or effort.

Rather, there is a spiritual condition that we all have by nature that impedes us from hearing God.

One that we inherited from our first parents, who willfully did not listen to God.

The Lord Jesus says the same thing over in John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

He says, Why do you know not understand what I say?

It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

He who is of God hears God's words, therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.

This has been an age-old problem for all men, and Israel was no exception.

Moses told Israel, after forty years of watching God's mighty works, yeah, he tells them in Deuteronomy 29, 4, Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to know.

The Lord has not given you eyes to see, nor ears to hear to this very day.

All they had ears, but they could not hear, eyes, but they could not see, mouths, but they could not really speak truth.

They were just like their idols, and so were incapable of hearing God.

That's why Ezekiel Ezekiel condemns the people that they have a heart of stone, that God can remove it, but only God can remove that heart of stone, to replace it with a stone, uh sorry, a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36, 26.

You see, stones aren't even at the level of willfully not hearing.

They simply, by nature, cannot hear.

They don't have ears to hear.

And this is what every human heart is like before God, unless God intervenes and sovereignly gives a heart of flesh.

And so Jesus' parables reveal this mystery to those who draw near to him, while at the same time concealing it from those who remain outside and reject his message.

And so, as we learn from Jesus' great parables revealing the mysteries of God's kingdom, then if you are a child of God, these are tremendously exciting truths that will bring encouragement, comfort, clarity, joy, hope.

But if you do not trust in Christ, then you will not understand the vast riches of these precious truths.

And by understanding more, without repenting, you will heap more judgment upon yourself.

And so, would you be provoked, if you have not trusted in Christ, would you be provoked to draw near to Christ, to sit at the feet of the Master and learn from him about the mysteries of the kingdom?

Would you trust in Jesus Christ, repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The seed of the kingdom.

Verse 13.

And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all the parables?

The sower sows the word.

And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.

When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and they have no root in themselves, and so they endure only for a time.

Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the world's sake, immediately they stumble.

Now these are the ones sown among thorns.

They are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

But these are the ones sown on good ground.

Those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit.

Some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

The Lord Jesus he explains the parable he just told to his followers.

And this parable, interestingly, serves as a perfect illustration of what he just taught.

That none, not everyone who has ears can really hear God.

Hearing God is a sovereign kindness for a for a hardened people.

That's why Jesus says to his followers in verse 13, Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all the parables?

You see, this parable of the sower and seed is foundational to hearing God.

It's placed here intentionally as the first parable by Mark, as a lens through which every other parable of the kingdom is meant to be understood.

How will your heart receive the message of God's kingdom and the gospel of that king?

And so we turn now to the parable, and the the seed that is sown is the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

The seed of the kingdom is the gospel of the king.

The gospel is about the king of God's kingdom.

It is his mighty work of salvation for his people.

It is the good news about Jesus, it is his holy word, it is the message of how one enters the kingdom of God.

And how does one enter into the kingdom of God?

Simply by trusting in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as Savior and King.

For you have sinned against your creator God, and the punishment for sin is eternal destruction.

But God sent his son, truly God and truly man, to take your place and to bear your punishment.

And anyone who trusts in him will be saved.

That is the message of the kingdom.

And so recognize your sin before God.

Cry out to him for mercy, and trust in the all-sufficient Son who saves anyone who calls upon his name.

For anyone who the Spirit of God has regenerated and who repents from sin and turns towards God, they belong to God's kingdom.

And this seed of the kingdom, the gospel, the Lord Jesus simply calls it, verse 14, the Word.

This word is like a seed that the Lord takes and plants deep within our hearts.

And our hearts, like soil, may help to receive the message of the gospel so that it grows and it blooms and it flourishes, or our hearts may end up turning it into a dead and a rotting shrub.

And this seed, it must be said, this seed is good seed.

Now there's no question about the quality of this word.

It is a good word.

If there is any failure for growth, it's not because the seed is bad.

No, Jesus is emphasizing rather the hearts of those who hear the good word of the kingdom and whether they respond to the good seed with a good heart that hears or a bad heart that rejects.

And Jesus describes for us four soils that the seed, which is the message of the kingdom, is scattered upon.

And these four soils are the hearts that respond in four different ways.

And this evening, even now, in our very time with the scriptures, is God's word going out, and your heart is responding in one of four ways to the message of the kingdom.

And so let's consider these four soils just in the remainder of our time together.

The four soils that describes the heart that has heard God.

You have, first of all, the seed sown along the path in verse 15.

As the sower went out to sow, some seed fell upon the path, and these vicious birds descended swiftly and devoured the seed.

And this is that one who hears the message of the kingdom, but they lack understanding.

They actively reject it, or they fail to grasp it truly.

They're spiritually blind and hard-hearted.

They despise or even perhaps indifferent to the gospel.

And Mark, he doesn't soften this message.

He says, verse 15, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

The devil swoops like a bird and snatches away the seed from the heart.

And this is exactly the natural heart of man.

But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, the God of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe.

The birds, they don't have to work very hard here.

The seed is right there for them to grab and devour.

There was never any depth for the seed to begin with.

And in almost an instant, interest in the message that saves souls from eternal destruction is tragically lost.

Secondly, there is the seed that is sown upon rocky ground.

In verse 16 and 17, other seed was cast and it fell upon rocky ground.

It quickly sprang up into a plant, but there was not much soil.

There was no place in the heart to take root and dig deep.

There was no ongoing nourishment.

And as the sun soon after rose, the plant was scorched and withered because it lacked deep roots.

You see, for a moment, this soil's reception to the cedar looked pretty good.

It sprang forth into a vibrant plant.

The gospel of Jesus was received with joy, with delight.

Perhaps there was the celebration of baptism or the opportunity to share their testimony to others, but there's no root.

It was a shallow response, and so it can endure nothing more than shallow issues and shallow troubles.

This is a heart still made of stone underneath, of underneath what could have been a promising surface, a rock just beneath the topsoil.

It has never actually been given the heart of flesh that Ezekiel was talking about.

And so there was nowhere for the route to go, however real the initial joy might have felt in experience.

But when trials, tribulations, and persecutions inevitably come, when difficulties arose because of the word, when pressure mounted against them, when push came to shove, Mark says they stumble, verse 17.

They trip over the stone that once made their faith spring up so fast.

They stumble.

Then the third seed, the seed which is sown among the thorns, verse 18 to 19.

Still there was other seed which fell among thorns, and in time the thorns grow up and choke out the plant until it dies.

This, like that last soil, had initially a promising response, but Mark says, verse 19, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entered in.

These things choked out the seed like a like thorns.

They're distracted by things that seem important but lack eternal value.

The lures of the world, they they cause the heart to stray.

They wandered into idolatry, into distractions, into delusions.

They miss their former sins.

And like a dog returning to its its vomit, so they return to their former lusts.

And such distractions, they they really are commonplace in our day.

Such distractions can be things like a good grade, a good job, a good house.

We can be distracted by even good things, and yet neglect the fellowship of God's people and the supremacy of Christ.

Dear friend, never never compromise gathering with God's people on the Lord's day in the midst of examinations and the mix in the midst of sports and all of these things, which are not bad endeavors in themselves and are good things, good gifts given by God.

But we must not compromise, because the pattern and priorities that you set today will stick with you tomorrow.

And those with this soil of heart are deceived into believing that it was worth gaining the world, even if it means losing your soul.

They believe that they can serve two masters, but no one can.

And what does Jesus say, verse 19?

They are unfruitful.

This is like the one who has fruitless faith.

As James says, faith without works is dead faith.

They claim faith, but it is unfruitful in all matters of life.

They reject Christ's lordship, his lordship over all of life.

This person's heart is tragically unfruitful.

And what good is a crop that is unfruitful?

Only to be gathered together, trampled underfoot, and thrown into the fire.

And finally, the fourth seed, the seed sown on good soil.

Verse 20.

And this scattered seed fell upon good soil, and there was gain, a bountiful crop.

In one case, the fruitfulness of the crop was thirtyfold, in another sixtyfold, in still another a hundredfold, all of it varying degrees of fruitfulness, and yet all of it fruitful.

All of it good.

This is the heart of the one who receives the word with gladness.

They accept it, verse 20 says, they understand the message of the kingdom, and they bear the fruit of righteousness as a result of true faith.

Fruit, the evidence that the gospel has been understood and has been responded to truly.

The seed, it yields a crop in this heart because this heart has truly yielded to the seed.

And this soil didn't make itself good.

Remember Lydia in Acts 16, verse 14, she was already a God-fearing woman, woman listening to Paul preach.

Acts 16:14

But Luke says, he reports in Acts 16, that the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

This was a sovereign work of God.

And that is like the good soil in this parable.

It isn't a matter of natural human openness to the word.

It is the sovereign hand of the Lord, graciously softening and opening up the hardened heart and giving a heart of flesh, giving ears to hear God.

This is as that prophet, those prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied.

Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 31, I will put my law in their minds, I will write it in their hearts, I will be their God, they shall be my people.

This is that seed.

And Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 36, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

It's no accident that Mark he goes on in Mark chapter 7 to record the Lord Jesus healing a deaf man.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

And the crowd says this when the Lord Jesus goes and heals a deaf man.

The crowd says, He has done all things well.

It is good.

He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.

This is an echo, an echo of Isaiah's promise in Isaiah 35, 5, that the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

God will open up the ears of the deaf.

And indeed, this is the work of the Lord Jesus, physically and spiritually, opening the ears of the sinner men to hear God and live.

And the parable of the sower simply elaborates on the Lord's sovereign work in the various hearts of men.

And then there are those who hear it, but truly prove that they never had ears to hear at all.

And so how do you respond to the seed of the kingdom?

I wonder, do you resonate with any of these four soils?

Have you heard the word at home, at church, received it with joy, but you've become distracted?

Do you have ears truly to hear the secrets of the kingdom of heaven?

If you have not responded in faith to the message of the gospel, then you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The secrets of the kingdom remain hidden to you and out of reach.

The gospel is the seed of the kingdom.

And so, empowered by the Holy Spirit, you must believe in King Jesus.

Let the seed of the kingdom take root in your heart, cultivate its growth, drive away the crows, hold fast in tribulation, flee from temptations and distractions, and drink deep of God's word, and let your soul be nourished, so that that seed would spring forth into a beautiful plant and bear much fruit to the glory of God's name.

That seed will take root and b burst forth into a bountiful crop for the sake of Christ's kingdom.

None of that begins with our efforts.

The secret of the kingdom of God and the good soil that receives it are both gifts of grace from the sovereign hand of God who hear who makes us hear and softens hardened hearts.

Failing to hear God has been humanity's problem from the very beginning.

In that garden, Adam neglected to hear God.

Instead, he listened to his wife, who listened to the serpent, he plunged mankind into sin, deafening our hearts to the word of God.

But the Lord Jesus, the Lord God, rather, has not left man in helpless deafness.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied that the Lord would take out that heart of stone and give his people a new heart of flesh, and his law would be written on their hearts to be fruitful and obey.

And this heart is given to us by the Spirit of Christ, who not only describes the hearts and ears to hear by parable, but but he heals them with his very own hands, that the crowd would say, He has done all things well, he makes even the deaf to hear.

And the Lord's work has not stopped.

He is to this very day opening deaf ears, softening hard hearts, and sowing his word among us.

And at the close of this chapter of history, the risen Christ still speaks to his churches with that great summons to hear.

He says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And when we are enjoying eternity with God, when the dwelling of God is with men, and he will dwell with us without any fallen ears or any fallen hearts, without the sin and hardness that now obscures our hearing, when all things are thus restored and renewed, then God's people will have the everlasting privilege of hearing God and enjoying Him for eternity.

That's the everlasting kingdom that Daniel saw.

The kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom that shall consume all others.

And so I ask you, have you responded to that message of that everlasting kingdom?

Or does it remain a mystery to you?

Do you have ears to hear the Lord?

Or do you need to ask the Lord who by his sovereign hand will and can open the deafest ear and soften the hardest heart?

Ask him to work in you, or otherwise, Christian, someone that you know.

To the glory of his name.

Let's pray.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, you have been so kind to us.

For all of us at one stage in our life were deaf, blind.

The things of God were foolishness to us because we simply did not understand.

We had hearts of stone.

Oh, but your spirit has worked in the hearts of your people to regenerate them, to give a heart of flesh, to hear your word and respond rightly, to enjoy your word and your commands.

And so for your people that are here, oh Lord, continue to give us ears to hear, soften our hearts to the things of God.

Oh, let our hearts not become hardened by our own sin, by the deceitfulness of riches and distractions of this world and lures and temptations, but let us cling to Christ.

Oh, may we drink deep of his word and hear what he has to say.

Cling to him until that final day where we will glorify you and enjoy you as we ought to.

But for any that are here that have not trusted in you, that do not belong to your kingdom, all soften their heart, work in them, that they would respond, that you would be placing in their heart even now that good seed, and that it would be implanted into good soil that would bear much fruit for the glory of your name and the building up of your kingdom.

For Christ's sake, we pray.

Amen.