New Ears! ...

(Luke 8:8) “ When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Dear friends, I pray to find you all blessed in the Lord’s will.

I would like for you to think about something if I may. Have you noticed that when one goes to church, God’s word being preached can have so many different responses from a congregation? From boredom to excitement . Usually it’s the congregation or the hearers that assess the preacher or the one reading the word of God. And it seems to be a tendency of people to lay all the blame at the Preacher’s feet more often than not.

Well, there’s a very interesting parable in Scripture where the tables are turned and it is now the preacher that assesses the congregation or the hearers of God’s word. This parable is found in- (Luke 8:4-18).

This Parable would be better titled “The Four Soils”, And this is why, because this parable speaks less about the Sower and the Seed being sown than it does about the actual Soil that the seed falls on.

This passage has always reminded me that if we truly want to see change in our lives and especially in our service unto the Lord, then we must stop blaming others for our own lack of spiritual growth and instead we should begin to develop the “right kind of ears”. The kind that produces the true growth and maturity in Christ Jesus that Father God intends for us all.

So my prayer for everyone is that God would grant us NEW EARS. That is, the kind of EARS that would hear to understand and to apply to our own lives.

(Luke 8:4-8)4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside;(the roadside soil) and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.

6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

As we read on into (Luke 8 verse 11) of this passage Jesus makes it clear that

• the seed represents the word of God

• The farmer is the preacher Or Jesus in this case

• And the four soils represent the 4 different kinds of hearts.

The first kind of people he talks about in (verse 12) are like the soil on the wayside(side of the road) that the seed falls on .

But the devil takes it away quickly. These people hear, but are not willing to listen. They don’t think about what is said, And don’t read for themselves. Instead, they allow Satan to distract them easily with any little thing and to preoccupy them, ultimately robbing them of Jesus’ life giving words… So like the saying goes- the message goes in one ear and comes out the other.

The second kind of people he talks about in (verse 13) are like the rocky soil. There’s an initial response to the word of God and maybe even an excitement, but it just doesn’t take root. This is because of the shallowness of their heart. Charles Spurgeon once said- “some people seem to have been baptized in boiling water requiring constant superficial excitement” To remain in the faith.

But as soon as trouble or persecution comes, Such people will leave quickly. Their idea of discipleship has no place for suffering . They are fair weather Christians .

In other words they get excited and on fire as soon as they hear a good word but because they have no root, they run away just as quickly when trouble comes.

The third kind of people Jesus talks about in (verse 14) are like the thorny ground or soil. These kinds of people respond to the gospel but are easily overcome With worry, greed , and worldly desires. They ultimately end up choking their spiritual life and prevent themselves from bearing Spiritual fruit. While these hearers make more progress than the other two, they still bear no fruit. They are not willing to give up the world to gain Christ.

The fourth kind of people He mentions in (verse 15) are like the soil that we should all strive to be. It is a good soil. These are the ones that when they hear or read God’s word, they accept it, they apply it to their lives, and because of it, they produce a rich harvest! Unlike the other three, these are willing to really listen, to suffer, And to give up everything For Christ!

The Bible goes on to say in (verse 18) of this passage - Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Dear friends, in reading this parable It is very clear that the only ones responsible for our own growth would be our own selves.

Prayer- Father, May we purpose within ourselves to desire New Ears, the kind of ears that represent the good soil, the kind that would develop us all into the men and women that You Father God, desire us to be, In Jesus Name Amen & Amen With Love, Pastor Billy Montes