Intro: There once was a not so bright fellow who saw an advertisement for a cruise. The sign in the travel agency window read “Cruise -- $100 Cash.”
I’ve got a hundred dollars, he thought. And I’d like to go on a cruise. So he entered the door and announced his desires. The fellow at the desk asked for the money, and the not-too-bright guy started counting it out. When he got to one hundred, he was whacked over the head and knocked out cold. He woke up in a barrel floating down a river. Another sucker in another barrel floated past and asked him, “Say, do they serve lunch on this cruise?”
The not-too-bright fellow answered, “They didn’t last year.”
It’s one thing not to know. It’s another to know and not learn.
Transition: In the parable of the sower Jesus compared our ears to soil. He told about a farmer who scattered seed (symbolic of the Word) in four different types of ground (symbolic of our ears). Some of our ears are like a hard road—unreceptive to the seed. Others have ears like rocky soil—we hear the Word but don’t allow it to take root. Some hearts are like a weed patch – too overgrown, too thorny, with too much competition for the seed to have a chance. And then there are some who have ears that hear: well tilled, discriminate, and ready to hear God’s voice. In all four cases the seed is the same seed. The sower is the same sower. What’s different is not the message or the messenger – it’s the listener.
If the ratio in the parable is significant, three-fourths of the world isn’t listening to God’s voice. Whether the cause be hard hearts, shallow lives, or anxious minds, 75% of us are missing the message. That means that will three-fourths of us are traveling down a river in a barrel only 25% are on an Ocean Cruise liner with the Lord. If you had your choice between floating down a river in a barrel or going on an Ocean Cruise liner, which would you choose? The truth of the matter is, the abundant Christian life is a choice that starts with how we listen and respond to the Word of God.
Some of us can’t have a passion for God because we need a heart transplant. Listen to what the Bible says about our hearts and our passions apart from God.
(v.12) THE UNRESPONSIVE HEARER
The reason he doesn’t understand is not due to any deficiency in the message but to his own hardheartedness. He is unconcerned with the things of God, completely indifferent to anything spiritual. These are the atheists and agnostics who aren’t willing to give God or anything associated with Him a chance. If you’ve never given your life to Christ your heart is beyond cure… there’s nothing you can do… it’s impossible for you to have a passion for God because you need a new heart.
You can have an interest in God.
You can have a desire for spiritual things.
But you can’t have a true passion for God until God has given you a new heart.
(v.13) THE SUPERFICIAL HEARER
They believe for a while. A plant with no root will produce no fruit. The root of a plant is its support; it draws minerals and water from the surrounding soil through the root system. Someone can confess to be a Christian and merely be running off emotions. And when the emotions die down so does their passion for God, church attendance and attention to anything spiritual. This one offers no resistance at all, but rather manifests emotional excitement in his response to the message. But the change is on the surface, rather than in the depths of the heart. His feelings were changed but not his heart. There is no repentance, no remorse over sin, no recognition of lostness, and no brokenness. When someone talks about getting to the root of a problem then they are referring to the origin of the problem. The root or origin of our faith must be the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Illustration: This is like when a person gets a new car; you know how they drive slower and wave bigger. They’re so proud of their new car with its new smell and want to show it off to everyone. But the excitement begins to die down when they make that first payment. Then they get kind of tired of washing it all the time, and before you know it the new wears off. Eventually it becomes an old car and needs to be traded in also. These are the same people who think happiness is found in a better job, spouse, house, location and are always looking to something new to make them feel happy. Never realizing that a consistent relationship with God is the only thing that will ever give them the peace they truly need. These are the ones that are excited about church for a little while but when the new wears off the excitement does as well, and they stop coming to church and move on to something else in there search for happiness.
(v.14) THE WORDLY HEARER
This person hears the word of the gospel and may make a token profession of faith. But his first love is for the things of the world, and his worry about the things of the world blinds him to the importance of the gospel or anything else spiritual and eternal. This person is always concerned about having a better job, spouse, car, or house. Thinking worldly things will satisfy them completely with no need for God at certain times in their life. Even if they have a desire to grow spiritually they get it choked out by other things. No one volunteers to get choked this is not something we want to happen to us. Even though we voluntarily put ourselves in this situation this is an involuntary act.
Illustration: A lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline received oil once a month to keep his light burning. Not being far from a village, he had frequent guests. One night a woman needed oil to keep her family warm. Another night a father needed oil for his lamp. Then another needed oil to lubricate a wheel. All the requests seemed legitimate. So the lighthouse keeper tried to meet them all. Toward the end of the month, however, he ran out of oil. And his lighthouse went dark, causing several ships to crash on the coastline. The man was reproved by his superiors, “You were given the oil for one reason,” they said, “to keep the light burning.” Sometimes good things can keep us from the best. As Christians it’s easy to get so busy doing good things that we have no time for our personal relationship with God. Its not just bad things that can choke the spiritual life out of you it’s also the good things.
(v.15) THE PREPARED HEART
This is the believer who has a passionate heart for God. He is focused on the Word of God looking for how he can apply it to his life. Just as a farmer breaks the ground before he sows his seed the prepared heart stays soft and receptive before the Lord. David was a man after God’s own heart not because he was perfect but because he was a man of repentance. For the greater part of his life his heart was broken and receptive to the Lord.
Conclusion: Last year I worked for several months next to a Dairy building a dam. When the wind was out of the South the smell made for a long workday. They would take the manure liquefy it and spread it all over their pastures. When they did this the sights and smells where painful to take in. Where they would spread the manure it would leave a black streak through the pasture that smelled horrible. But then I noticed a few weeks later that the steak turned dark green and the grassed flourished. Maybe right now there is something in your life that stinks and is hard for you to handle. If your heart is soft towards God and your willing to trust Him, He can take the things that stink now and cause you to flourish later. I wish I could tell you it only will be a few weeks, but in reality it may take years. That’s why the origin of our faith must not be in circumstances but in Jesus.
