INTRO.- ILL.- An excited little boy was telling his daddy about something that had happened to him that day. His daddy said, "Slow up, honey, you are talking too fast!" His boy shot back at him, "Oh, no, Daddy, I’m not talking too fast. You’re just listening too slow!" ARE YOU LISTENING?
ILL.- It’s been said that we think four to five times faster than we talk. This means that if a speaker talks at 120 words a minute, the audience thinks at about 500 words a minute!
I suppose I need to talk a lot faster in my preaching or else you need to listen slower, otherwise I will put you to sleep.
James 1:19 “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."
ILL.- The story is told that when Napoleon was making plans to invade England, he was told that an American wanted to see him. "I can give him two minutes," Napoleon said. But two minutes was not long enough to understand the revolutionary idea of a ship propelled by steam. Had Napoleon listened longer to Robert Fulton the history of the world might have been altered.
ARE YOU LISTENING? It pays to listen to the right person, at the right time, and for the right length of time.
After Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, God said in Matthew 17:5 "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. LISTEN TO HIM!" It always pays to listen to Jesus!
ILL.- An 80-year-old grandfather went to his daughter’s house for Sunday dinner. When the meal was over, he announced that he was going to take a walk through the neighborhood. "I’ll be back in twenty minutes," he said. But two hours had passed before he finally returned. "Sorry I’m late," he said. "But I stopped to talk to an old friend and he just wouldn’t stop listening."
ARE YOU LISTENING? Sometimes it pays to listen a very long time. Especially, when it comes to listening to God in His Word. We should never stop listening to the Word of God.
It pays big dividends to listen to the Lord and learn from Him whether through a sermon, a Sunday School lesson, a radio program, or through your own personal reading of God’s Word.
PROP.- In our text about the parable of the sower Jesus speaks of four different kinds of hearers or listeners.
1- The hard-hearted listener
2- The shallow-hearted listener
3- The clutter-hearted listener
4- The good-hearted listener
I. THE HARD-HEARTED LISTENER
Matt. 13:19 "When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path."
The hard-hearted listener is hardened to the Gospel because they can’t seem to understand it or grasp it. Satan snatches any little bit that was sown in that person’s heart before it can start to grow and bear fruit.
ILL.- At one point during a game, the baseball coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" The little boy nodded yes.
"Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?" The little boy nodded yes.
"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or cuss or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?" Again the little boy nodded.
"Good," said the coach. "Now go over there and explain that to your mother"
Brothers and sisters, there are some things that some people just don’t seem to understand in life! However, understanding all about baseball is not nearly as important as understanding the basics or the essentials of the gospel.
ILL.- Three boys were talking about their fathers. One of them said, “My father is a great professor. When he is talking about a subject, only 10 people in the world can understand him!” The second boy said, “My father is great brain surgeon and when he is talking about his surgery only 5 people in the whole world can understand what he is saying.” The third boy said, “My father is a preacher and when he is preaching nobody can understand what he is saying.”
Col. 4:3-4 "Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly..."
In order to keep Satan from stealing what has been sown in people’s hearts and minds we must make the message of Christ as clear and as interesting as possible!
II. THE SHALLOW-HEARTED LISTENER
Matt. 13:20-21 "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. ‘When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away."
The shallow-hearted listener doesn’t have any staying power. They are quick to believe, receive and rejoice, but they don’t stay with the program or the person of Christ.
ILL.- Hachiko was a Japanese dog who used to accompany his master to the railroad station each morning and then greet him back in the evening at the station. One night in 1925, the man did not return, having died in another city. Although the little dog had met its master for only a few months previously, for over 10 years hence, the dog went to the station every night—sadly trotting home again after waiting an hour.
The faithfulness of Hachiko impressed the nation so much that the government erected a statue of the dog on the spot where he had perseveringly waited—and then sent statuettes to all schools in the then Japanese empire.
Brothers and sisters, it’s a shame that we humans are not as faithful or enduring as some dogs, BUT IT’S TRUE.
ILL.- I’ve known a number of people who started a jogging or an exercise program because it seemed so beneficial, but after only a short time they quit. Why? The excitement wore off. The going got tough. They experienced sore muscles, leg aches, shin splints, etc. And what people have done with various sports they have also done with jobs and THEY HAVE DONE WITH CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH!
Why don’t they stick with it? Is it their fault or ours? Part of the fault could be ours. How so? It all depends on how much we help new converts, how much we love them and support them.
ILL.- E. Stanley Jones who became a Christian missionary said one time, “I am quite sure that I should not have survived as a young Christian had I not had the corporate life of the church to hold me up. When I rejoiced, they rejoiced with me. When I was weak, they strengthened me, and one when I fell – a rather bad fall – they gathered around me with prayer and love, and without blame or censure, and they lovingly lifted me back to my feet again.”
That’s it! That’s one key to the survival of all Christians! We must love them and even in their failures! We must support them, encourage them, help them, and pray for them.
I Thess. 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Rom. 14:1 “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”
Rom. 15:1-2 “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”
I’ve heard it said that Christians are the only people who shoot their wounded. I wouldn’t say that always holds true but it does a part of the time. In other words, when someone fails or sins, what do we do?
Do we shoot them or do we try to save them? Do we criticize and condemn them or do we try to help cure their problem?
I realize that you can’t help some people because they don’t want to be helped. I’ve seen those kind of people in churches. And generally, after a period of time, they will drop out. It seems like no one can help them, but God alone.
Consequently, some will not remain faithful. When the going gets tough, they get going in the wrong direction. Whether they find life tough or the Christian life tough, they just drop out. Such is the shallow-hearted listener.
III. THE CLUTTER-HEARTED LISTENER
Matt. 13:22 "The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful."
The clutter-hearted listener has cluttered up his life with the things of this world.
ILL.- Listen to this prayer. “Dear Lord, please leave me alone! Just let me sit here in my pew on Sunday. And Lord, guard my seat. Please don’t let anyone else try to sit here. Lord, you know that’s my seat. And precious Lord please get me home quickly after the church service on Sunday, before all those church people try and recruit me to actually do something that I don’t want to do.
“Lord, make them understand that I’m happy and content to just show up on certain Sundays. Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing my prayer but I’ve got to go - kickoff to the football game is only a minute away. You understand Lord. Thanks God for putting some great games on this week, and thank you for that all-sports cable channel. See you next Sunday or the Sunday after Lord. Amen.”
Some people are caught up in the world of entertainment which keeps them from being captured by the Lord.
ILL.- Did you know that last year Americans gave: $2.9 billion dollars to overseas missions? Sounds pretty good until you hear the rest of the story. Americans also gave $8.4 billion to see movies, $13 billion to buy chocolate, $23 billion to buy toys, $23 billion to buy stuff for their pets, $24 billion for jewelry, $58 billion for soft drinks, $85 billion for lawn & garden care, and $354 billion to eat out at restaurants!
Does this sound Americans are interested in God and Christ? I’m not trying to point the finger at us. I’m pointing the finger at Americans! The vast majority of Americans are not interested in God. They are interested in anything and everything else. They have no spiritual priorities!
The vast majority of people in America may talk a bit about Christianity but they don’t practice it!
Ask the average person what they are interested in and see what they say. They don’t talk about God, Christ and the church. They talk about sports, movies, food, hobbies, cars, etc., etc.
ILL.- While out walking early one morning I met a neighbor I didn’t know existed. What captured my attention to him was the fact that he had a big bass boat in his garage. I walked over and introduced myself and naturally, discovered that he is avid bass fisherman. He has 21 ft. Ranger Bass boat. They don’t give those things away…so what does that tell you?
The reason I tell you this is because if I didn’t know the Lord I would probably fish every day if I had the chance. And this is the problem in affluent America. We have everything. We do everything or want to do everything and consequently, God and Christ are left out of the picture of our lives. American’s lives are cluttered with things and we have no room for Christ.
IV. THE GOOD-HEARTED LISTENER
Matt. 13:23 "But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
The good-hearted listener hears the Word, understands it, and bears fruit.
ILL.- A school teacher said to little Johnny, "Johnny, can you tell me the difference between perseverance and obstinacy?" Little Johnny replied, "One is a strong will and the other is a strong won’t."
We need to have a strong will in doing God’s Word instead of a “strong won’t.”
ILL.- A man walked out of church one Sunday morning and said to his preacher, "That was a good sermon. I couldn’t find myself pointed out one time." That man was not a good-hearted listener.
ILL.- I heard one time that the gauge of a good sermon is when a person leaves church, not saying, "What a good sermon!" but "I WILL DO SOMETHING!" That’s the good-hearted listener!
James 1:22 "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only."
ILL.- A lady of high society was looking at a picture she had never seen before in the city’s art museum. "My dear fellow," she said to the Curator, "I have never seen this painting before. I find the image shallow and rather crude in appearance. What do you call this?" The curator answered without giving the slightest expression, "That madam, is a mirror."
James 1:23-25 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking after himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."
The good-hearted listener sees himself in the mirror of God’s Word and doesn’t like what he sees. Consequently, he does something to change that image. He believes and obeys the Word of God. He allows God’s Word to bear fruit in his life.
The good-hearted listener listens, understands, and bears fruit.
CONCLUSION-----------------------------
Jesus said in Rev. 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
Are you listening? Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. He is knocking in many ways and by means of many people. Do you hear him? Are you listening? He is not saying, "let’s do lunch."
He is saying, "Let’s do life together." Are you listening?
