Introduction:
I. Have you noticed;
A. We live in a noisy world.
B. By noisy, I mean
1. Lots of competing ideas
2. Lots of competing ideologies
3. Lots of competing standards of living, and ideas of what is right and wrong,
C. And all of these different noises seem to be talking at once.
II. And have you ever noticed that even in a crowd, every once in a while you will be able to hear a distinctive voice above the din.
A. Our world is certainly loud, and every voice seems to be shouting for it’s own attention.
B. Is it any wonder that we often miss the voice of God in our lives.
III. For the past several months, some of us have been praying; more or less consistently I hope, words to this effect, “God, how do you want to make yourself known to this community, at this time, through this church?”
A. We pray, and we keep praying, and after two years, we are still praying.
B. I believe one of three things must be true
1. God is not answering, then MAYBE we should change our prayer.
2. We are not listening; therefore why should we keep praying.
3. Or God has answered, and now it is time for us to act.
C. Maybe that is also true in other areas of our lives.
1. We ask God, and we keep asking, but answer SEEMS not to come.
2. Then it must be true
a. God is not answering, so maybe we should change our prayer.
b. We are not listening, therefore why should we keep asking,
c. God has answered, and now it is time to act.
IV. I put a couple of fact about our neighborhood in the bulleting this morning.
A. Within a five mile radius, there are almost 65,000 homes.
B. Within a five mile radius, there is a population of about 159,000 people.
V. God how do you want to make yourself known to those 159,000 people at this time through out church?
A. One thing we know, God does want to make himself known for the Bible clearly states, 8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2nd Pet. 3:9, NASB)
B. One thing we know, through Christ is abundant life - I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly. (John 10:10, NASB)
C. One thing we know, there is only one way to the Father - Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. (John 14:6)
D. One thing I know is true; if all these things are true, then God is still speaking to us today.
VI. And if God is still speaking to us today, why do we so often find it difficult to hear Him over the noise of the world?
VII. I have to believe that God’s voice must be distinctive.
A. In the gospel of John, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; John 10:27, NASB)
B. If this is true, we ought to be able to discern his voice, so why is it so often drowned out by the noise of the world, and admit it, it is.
VIII. Turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 4, and we will embark on a journey in an attempt to remedy that situation.
Prepare The Soil
I. How do we hear the word of God?
A. In this story, that is exactly the question that Jesus is answering.
B. Most people read this passage, get to verse 12 and see the word “Saved” and apply this only to eternal salvation.
C. Certainly responding to God’s call for salvation is part of responding to His word, but if we read on to verse fifteen we see something about “bearing fruit”.
D. When we hear and respond to the Word of God, we bear fruit, whether that is our own personal salvation, or being saved from the consequences of not responding.
II. First we have to prepare the soil.
A. Verse 5 says that some of the seed, that is the Word fell on compacted soil; “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up.
B. People in Jesus day would have fully understood this picture of how crops were planted.
1. Seed was taken out into a field that had been prepared, and scattered by hand.
2. Invariably, some of that seed would fall on the paths around and through the field.
III. Seed that landed in these areas could not take root; they could produce nothing.
A. There was nothing wrong with the soil composition; it was the same as the field,
B. But because it was hard, the seed could not penetrate to take hold.
IV. So it is with us when we hear God speaking, but the soil of our hearts is not ready to accept what is being said.
V. What are some causes of a hard heart?
VI. Pride
VII. In some cases it might be pride,
A. Pride can cause us to ignore God’s word in a situation
1. I know what God says, but I know what I want.
2. I know what God has said, but He doesn’t understand my situation.
3. That may have been true then, but this is now.
B. Pride can cause us to not even ask for God’s involvement in a situation.
1. I don’t need God’s involvement in this.
2. I can handle it on my own.
3. This is too small for God to worry about; I can handle the small stuff on my own.
C. Isn’t it really pride that will cause us to say from time to time, “I’ve always handled or done it this way in the past.”
D. If we are not hearing God’s voice in a situation, we might need to take a look at ourselves, and make sure that our own pride has not hardened the soil of our hearts.
VIII. Fear
IX. Sometimes fear can cause us to miss the word of God.
A. What if I pray and God asks me to do something I don’t want to do?
B. Have you read the Bible lately and seen what God told people to do in the past?
1. Moses, “Go, see the Pharaoh, and tell him to set my people free” he could have been killed.
2. Joshua, “Lead these people into the promised land” the people didn’t want to go.
3. Nehemiah, “Go and rebuild the city”
C. What if I pray about someone’s salvation, and God says, “You tell them about Jesus.”
D. What if I pray about my child, and God tell’s me to do something uncomfortable to me.
X. Fear can be a very strong block when it comes to hearing the word of God.
XI. Bitterness
XII. In Romans 12, Paul writes - If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
A. And when was the last time that God spoke to you, and said, “Go and make people with someone that has done you some perceived injustice?
1. But God, you don’t know what that person has done to me.
2. But God, you don’t know what it’s like to work with that kind of person.
3. When the come to me, then I’ll make peace.
B. But that’s not what the Word of God says, for Paul goes on to write - Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
XIII. When we can’t hear God answer,
A. Sometimes we need to check our pride.
B. Sometimes we need to check our fear
C. Sometimes we need to check our bitter attitude and leave it at the cross.
D. If we want to hear from God, we must prepare the soil of our hearts in order to open our ears to hear.
Get Rid of The Rocks
I. Verses 6 and 13 explain a second type of soil.
A. 6 “And other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. - 13 “And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
B. This world is a noisy place, and sometimes the dryness of that noise can compete with the moisture of the “Water of life.”
II. I have read that about 2 to 3 inches under the soil of the Israel, lies a bedrock of limestone.
A. In order for plants to take root and grow, that limestone must be dealt with.
B. Seed can be thrown, moisture will be initially present, but as soon as the sun come up, the plants will wither away.
C. The rock has to be dealt with.
III. There is a funny thing that happens, at least to me as a preacher.
A. I will spend sometimes several hours preparing to write a message.
1. I’ll pray
2. I’ll read the passage
3. I’ll read supporting text’s and commentaries,
B. Then someone, Maryann, will ask me what I am preaching on, and I will stutter.
C. Noisy and rocks sometimes get in the way, most especially until I commit the message to paper.
IV. How can we deal with the rocks?
V. Write it down
A. Write down what God is saying to you.
B. Have you ever left a church service, and not remember a thing about what you just heard, that’s the rocks.
C. Some studies show that we forget 90 to 95% of what we hear, but if we write it down, we will increase that number to 75 to 80% or is it decrease.
D. When God speaks, if you will commit what He has said to paper, you will be surprised at how much more you retain.
E. I make every attempt to put a listening guide in the bulletin, just for this purpose.
VI. Second - Review what you have written.
VII. When I was in college, particularly for classes that I found difficult, I would make “flash cards”
A. This accomplished two things for me,
1. One - It would help simply because I wrote it down, but
2. Two - I could go back to those cards at any time to review what I had written.
B. Flash cards were the primary method I got through Greek and history classes.
VIII. Make it a habit to use the listening guide in your bulletin, and then at some point in the week, especially if God has spoken to you, go back and look at your notes; God might renew his call for things that the rocks of life have caused to be temporarily lost.
IX. I have never been able to cultivate the habit, but some people swear by journaling their prayers.
A. I know of some people that have several notebooks in which they have written their prayers and sometimes God’s answer to those prayers, and they swear by the practice.
B. Just by writing down your prayers, thoughts, concerns and answers from God, some of the rocks can be dealt with.
X. Third, spend regular time talking to God and reading what He has said.
XI. It seems to go without saying, but if we do not make a habit of reading the bible, and reviewing what God has said, our roots will tend to be shallow.
XII. The rocks will steal the moisture, and our initial excitement of hearing God speak will soon die for lack of moisture.
XIII. The third kind of soil Christ addressed was full of thorns.
Deal With the Thorns
7 “And other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it, and choked it out. - 14 “And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
I. This world is a noisy place full of distractions.
A. We have to make a living in order to pay the bills,
B. We have children to raise.
C. We have spouses to be concerned with.
D. We have health issues, personal issues, immediate issues, and the list goes on and on.
II. And all the while these issues are there, God is trying to speak to us.
III. Verse 14 says that worries, riches and pleasures are what chokes us from responding to what God is saying.
IV. How do we respond to the thorns of life; one way is to slow down.
A. To often we end up running around so much, that God to often gets the left-overs of our lives.
B. Jesus says in Matthew 16 - What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
V. There is really nothing wrong with having a degree of riches and pleasures, as long as we keep it in perspective.
A. When the pursuit of pleasures, gets in the way of listening to God, then what real good will those pleasures ultimately have?
B. And how often is it that the pursuit of riches and pleasure is actually the root of our worries?
VI. Slow down, make room in your life to listen to God.
VII. The last soil that Christ deals with is found in verses 8 and 15 -
The Good Soil
“And other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 15 “And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
I. What is that good soil?
A. Soil that is honestly in pursuit of obedience to what God has said.
1. It may not always seem pleasant,
2. It may not always be what we expect
3. But if we are honestly willing to be obedient, God wants to speak to us.
B. Soil that is good,
1. That word “good” means “agreeable”
2. Yes Lord, yes. Whatever you say, I will do.
C. Soil that “holds fast”
1. Those words “hold fast” mean, “to take possession of.”
2. I will take God at his word.
3. I will trust Him, knowing that in the end a great harvest will be mine.
Closing
I. What is God saying to you right now? He’s trying to get through.
II. What has God said to you recently? He’s looking for a willing heart.
III. What will God say to you next? If we are receptive, we will hear.
IV. One hundred and sixty thousand people, within five miles of this church need to connect with what God is saying; are you one of them?
