The title of today's sermon is, Ears that do not hear. In Luke chapter 8, the Lord Jesus preached the multitudes who come to hear him, but he spoke to them in parables. Here in Luke chapter 8, also in Matthew 13, And in Mark 4, you'll find the famous parable of the sower. All three of those Gospels have this same parable. This is the parable where seed is sown on four different soils. Today, we'll just look at the first soil. My question is, why did Jesus use parables? You may know the short answer, so that they wouldn't understand. from Matthew 13, but let's look a little bit more deeply into it. Let me put it in my own words. The disciples asked him, Lord, these people have come from far away. They've made a special effort to hear you. Why do you speak to them in parables, which they aren't able to understand? But we read here in Luke eight, verse nine, Luke eight, verse nine, his disciples asked him saying, what might this parable be? From the other Gospels, we learn that he was alone with the Twelve when they asked him privately, Lord, why speakest thou unto them in parables? But the answer Jesus gave was surprising to them, and it may also surprise us. Jesus said, Luke 8, verse 10, He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of God, but to others in parables, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. In other words, Lord Jesus said, it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Lord Jesus speaks very clearly here about election. And it's true, one of the twelve who was with him for almost three years still did not get it. To know the mysteries of God is nothing less than salvation. because to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God is identical with knowing the gospel of salvation. At another occasion, Jesus said to Peter, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. In other words, we get to know the gospel and we get to know Jesus when God himself teaches us the gospel. and God himself makes us believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Isn't it surprising that the Lord Jesus is speaking here about election? These people were only beginners in hearing the word of God and yet Jesus did not hesitate to teach them about election. Many pastors today would hesitate to do that and yet Jesus taught them about the sovereignty of God from the very beginning. That should be an example to us We must realize that people do not become saved because we explain the gospel so eloquently or logically. God does the saving, regardless of how eloquently or clumsily we witness of the Lord Jesus. God speaks about that in 1 Corinthians 2. Just listen, 1 Corinthians 2, 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." That was 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14. In other words, the natural man is not able to hear the gospel truths, because they are foolishness to him. And then God says, neither can he know them. Judas Iscariot stayed as his natural self. God did not choose to save him. Then, when Jesus started to explain this parable, he said that the seed is the word of God. Let's start reading this here in Luke 8, verse 4. And when much people were gathered together and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trodden down and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other fell on good ground and sprang up and beat bare fruit and hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. These last words, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, was all that the multitude heard as far as the explanation goes. But that's a warning. It's not much of an explanation. These last words, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, are an indication that only if we have received spiritual ears from God are we able to understand what God Jesus said and what he meant. Again, the Lord Jesus speaks about election. And he's not afraid to offend some of these people. So let's focus on the first of these soils, the wayside. Right away, we see that this is not just an accidental spill out of the bag of seed that falls on the wayside. This was not a clumsy farmer. It's a deliberate identification of a certain group of people who are represented by the wayside. Let's hear Jesus' explanation of this, starting in verse 11. Now the parable is, Luke 8 verse 11, the parable is, the seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear, then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. What again is the seed? The seed is the word of God. This must be good seed and it must be valuable seed. It is so valuable to our salvation that the devil does not want us to hear it. The fowls of the air represent the devil and his angels. Therefore, this seed is not any arbitrary part of the Bible. This seed is the whole counsel of God. The message that is represented by the seed makes us come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the work that he has done for us on the cross. So that's the seed. Who does the soil represent? Please turn with me to the epistle to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. When the Lord Jesus walked on the shores of Galilee, about 2,000 years ago, great multitudes came to hear him. And so it is today. Great multitudes come to hear him in churches all over the world. But who do they come to hear? A great miracle worker? Or do they come to obey the word of God? We read here in Ephesians 4 verse 17 and 18 and 19. Ephesians 4 verse 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that's in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. Paraphrased, God says here, you Gentiles who have been saved, Do not conduct yourselves, as other Gentiles do, who still remain unsaved. But why is God saying that? God reminds us that prior to our salvation we were just like them. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that's in us, and so on. We were just like them. Our hearts were as unfruitful as the hard, trodden pathway. from which the message of the gospel could easily be pecked away by Satan and his fallen angels. Yes, we were enemies of God. We were alienated from the life of God because we were unknowingly slaves of Satan and sin. Only if we begin to see our condition as slaves of sin and of Satan can we be saved. Now, how can anyone make us see that? Only God can make us see our true condition. Only God can give us a new heart. Without such a gift from God, all the preaching in the world is not going to turn us around. Today we see great multitudes flock to churches to hear what they would like to hear. But do they become saved? Do they get a heart transplant from God, the Holy Spirit? Only then will they be able to hear what God says in His word. Only then Only when we have become born again can we believe that God has saved us entirely by His grace. Only then will we agree with God who says, So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. That's Romans 9 verse 16. So the first soil, the wayside, is representing the hard heart of an unbelieving soul, a reprobate, who has no intention to turn to God, even though the true gospel is pounding in his ears. Can God turn around such a hard heart? Well, look at Saul of Tarsus. He had a hard heart like that. God can turn the hardest heart around so that this person becomes a faithful servant of God. The next question is, who is the sower? Christ delegated the task of sowing the gospel to the church. The church sends out her witnesses two by two. Can we say then that we are the ones who are sowing the seed? It is true that Christ commanded us to bring the gospel to the entire world and teach all nations the kingdom of God. But who is behind this great endeavor? Please turn probably a page to your left to Ephesians 2 verse 10. Ephesians 2 verse 10. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. is sowing the gospel of good work. Absolutely. God says that our work of sowing the gospel ultimately is his work, which he for ordained in order that we should walk in them. If we are sowing the seed of the gospel, it's actually God who is doing it in and through us. Please turn again to your left, just to Ephesians 1 verse 9. I need to turn a page. God the Holy Spirit causes us to hear the gospel we see that here Ephesians 1 verses 9 10 and 11 having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will." God the Holy Spirit has made known unto us the mystery of God's will, which is the revelation of the redemption we have in Christ. God sowed the gospel in our hearts and gave us a new heart simultaneously. That's why we believed and responded positively. We read in verse 9, God did that, why? According to his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself. It was entirely by his good pleasure that we were chosen to salvation. And then God repeated that same idea in verse 11. being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Whose will was it that I become saved? It's not my will, but it was entirely God's will. God says, again Romans 9 16, so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Therefore, if the church sends us out to preach the gospel and someone became saved through that preaching, we have to say it was God who sewed that gospel into the heart of that person. Let me quote again Philippians 2.13. It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. But if we preach the gospel and no one becomes saved, Then who was the sower of the seed? Ultimately, it's still God who's behind it all. And it was God's choice not to save anyone. God passed them by. Like when the seed fell on the wayside. They heard, but they did not understand. Let's read that again in Luke 8. Luke 8, verses 11 and 12. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear, then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But whose fault is it when we come under the hearing of the gospel but we don't understand? Can we blame the devil and his angels for snatching the word of God away before we can chew on it? No. The devil is not going to hell for our sins. He's going to hell for his own sins. Can we blame the preacher? No. Could we blame our father Abraham or Adam? No. God says in Ezekiel 18, verse 20, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. Neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. Whose sin is it then when we come under the hearing of the gospel but we do not understand? That's our sin. We do not understand because we do not want to understand. That's our nature. That's how we came into this world as enemies of God, not willing to hear God. So what is exactly this valuable seed that the devil does not want us to hear? It's the message of salvation. Let me condense that to just six points. First of all, God says, every one of you, mankind, are sinners from birth in rebellion against God. The second point, God's justice requires payment for sin. And the payment that God has in view in eternity is an eternity in hell. Everyone in the human race is headed for hell. Unless God intervenes. Point three, God did. intervene. God set up the principle of substitution and God provided the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone was able to make the payment that God requires for sin. This price, it was the full price that had to be paid for a sin which is nothing less than the equivalent of an eternity in hell. The Lord Jesus Christ paid that payment on the cross at Golgotha When we see Christ crucified, we're looking at the mercy of God on display. The fourth point. Did the Lord Jesus pay for the sins of everyone in the whole human race? Absolutely not. If Jesus paid for everybody's sins, then nobody would go to hell. But the Bible says that there will be more people going to hell than going to heaven. This alone should scare the wits out of anybody who believes in God or who believes that the Bible is the word of God. and we've got to get the news out. Number five, the Bible says before the foundation of the world God elected those whom he intended to save from mankind. God wanted to save this awful bunch of rebels. Throughout the Bible those are the people he called his elect. And what's wrong with that? It's as if the father chose the bride for his son. Was the father doing anything wrong with that? Of course not. Sixth point, God committed himself to send through the Holy Spirit this good seed to his elect at some point in their life so that they might become saved. That is the story of this sower and his good seed. This good seed is the word of God, the whole counsel of God. If anyone does not become saved, it's not because there's anything wrong with the seed. It's a perfect seed because it's based on the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could pay such an enormous payment because he is God, not just a son of God. He is the embodiment of this seed. That's why he's called Abraham's seed. Therefore, anyone who does not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as God does not have a savior. The sower sowed good seed. But why doesn't everyone become saved where this good seed is sown? The reason is that there are problems with the heart of man. When we speak about the heart, it's a synonym for the soul. None of the descendants of Adam can go to heaven with the soul that they've been born with. We all are in need of a heart transplant, and the heart transplant operation is a process that leads through fire. No human being can go to heaven except he first clean up his soul in the fires of hell. Now that's not a popular doctrine to deal with. But the Bible teaches that either we go through the fire of hell with and in the Lord Jesus Christ or we go to hell on our own account. But then we'll be there for eternity. Do most people believe that? No. Most people will find one or more reasons for not believing what the whole Bible says. Oh, they'll believe some things out of the Bible. They'll believe that there is a God. And they will believe that there is a heaven. But they will not believe what God said in Jeremiah 17, verse 9. Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The human heart is desperately wicked, and it will deceive even itself into believing all kinds of lies that were generated through the wisdom of man. The human heart is desperately opposed to what God says. God says in Psalm 58, verse 3, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent. They are like the deaf adder that stops its ear. It means that God described all these cute little babies that we see around us as poisonous snakes. And all those who remain unsaved are just as well described this way. Poisonous snakes who have stopped their ears so that they will not hear the word of God. Especially from Psalm 58 verse 3. Or from any other place that they choose in the Bible. If we bear any resentment against some passage in the Bible, or against one verse in the Bible, then we bear resentment against God, and that is a definite sign that we are still unsaved. God declares here and in other parts of the Bible that the entire human race comes into the world like poisonous snakes, and that we are in need of a transformation from snakes into sheep. We come into the world with a hard heart, unwilling to accept anything from God. Why then is it that there are people who are willing to believe the entire Word of God? It's because God has given them a new heart. They have been made born again, or born from above. This is a totally free gift, made possible through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ purchased that gift for us on the cross when he endured the fires of hell in our place. Would you like to know if you've been one of those to whom God has freely given that gift of a new heart? In other words, what are the signs of a soft heart? One of the signs of a soft heart is that the love of God, that we love the word of God, and we love everything that God has written there. As an example, please turn with me to Psalm 119. Turn to Psalm 119. You may know that Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It's been divided into 22 different stanzas that each have eight verses. And each verse begins with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And each verse has some mention of the Word of God. Either in the passage that we're going to look at, word or commandments or statutes or judgments or testimonies. Every verse mentions God's Word. The first section starts with all A's or Eleph. which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and verses nine through sixteen all begin with the letter Beth, or B, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So let's begin reading in verse nine. Psalm 119, verse nine. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, by taking heed thereto according to thy word? With my whole heart have I sought thee, Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word." This is a message from God to us. God shows us the character of a person who has received a new heart from God. This is what theologians call sanctification. But sanctification is not something you do out of the goodness of your own heart. Sanctification is something that is also given by the grace of God. Sanctification is also a sign of salvation. A person cannot have received the gift of a new heart without also having received the desire to obey God's word. Perhaps the most touching is verse 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart that in order that I might not sin against thee. And God shows us here that the person who has a soft heart where God spends time every day in prayer and in reading his Bible and in meditating on the Bible in order to have God plow his heart and mold him into God's mold. Does our life show this kind of commitment every day? Are we aware that we have to be prepared to do battle with our selfish self every day? Are we aware that there's a battle going on for our soul? That is absolutely true, and Jesus showed it to us in the parable of the sower. Remember, those birds were ready to pick that seed off the pathway any moment. Please turn with me to the second epistle to the Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Is our heart getting hard on the surface? Hardness of heart is a hardness on the surface. It may well be soft inside. It may even be a compassionate heart inside. But if the Word of God does not penetrate our heart, then we have an unsafe heart, a hard heart, like a pathway. A footpath may be deep down inside. It might be soft, but it's still hard on the surface. That's because that's where the traffic is. There's a lot of busyness. much activity of all sorts of things, maybe even a lot of activity for the church. When there is much busyness and God's word fails to take root in our life, then Satan seeks to destroy that word in our heart by giving us a lot of work to do and by letting us get worried about all those things we need to do. But the essential question is, does God's word affect us and does it change us? have we received that free gift. Let's read this here in 2 Corinthians 4 verses 3-6. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord. and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Now the God of this world, in verse 4, refers to Satan and his fallen angels. He has blinded the minds of all the unsaved so that they believe not the glorious gospel of Christ. They cannot see their condition of slavery to sin and Satan. They cannot see that they are in total darkness and that this world is the bottomless pit. Verse 6 tells us also that prior to our salvation, our heart was in darkness. But God commanded the light of the glorious gospel to shine from out of that darkness, meaning from out of this dark and troubled world, God sent someone with the gospel to us. and God made the light of this gospel shine in our heart to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What a fabulous gift that is from God. So totally undeserved and so free. Now that is where one of the battles for our soul comes in. Mankind does not like salvation to be totally free. It leaves them without control and it leaves them totally at the mercy of God. They always want to do something for their salvation, like accepting the Lord Jesus, or like saying a formula such as the synod prayer, or being baptized in water as a requirement for your salvation, and so on. But the salvation that God gives us is totally undeserved. Just think of that salvation of Saul of Tarsus. He did not want God's salvation by grace through Christ and yet God forced it on him in such a dramatic way. Is that how God saves everybody? Mostly. God put this story in the Bible to let us know that in our natural state we do not want his salvation package. We were spiritually dead in sins only after God has struck us down and given us a new soul Are we willing to come to Him? In reality, we're not taking the initiative to come to Him, but the Father is drawing us to Jesus. So does that make us religious? Or does that make us fear God? Please turn to the first epistle of Peter, chapter 1. First Peter, chapter 1. To be religious means to strive to seek God through good works. For example, a Pharisee is religious. Do you know that in the Old Testament there is no word for religion or religious? Instead, they talk about the fear of the Lord and the worship of the Lord are spoken of primarily to indicate the proper attitudes of the mind and the acts of adoration. So if someone calls you religious, it's not a compliment. Instead of being religious, instead of seeking God through good works, we should fear God. And teach your children the fear of the Lord. Because God says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So in 1 Peter 1 verse 16, God says, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respecter of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. God is not a respecter of persons, and God judges everyone according to every man's work, without respecter of persons. If you live like the devil, then you must be a devil. If you call him the father, claiming that he is your father, remember that he said, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Therefore, conduct yourself in the fear of the Lord during the time of your sojourn here on earth. Drop down to verse 22, same chapter, 1 Peter 1, 22. He hath purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren. See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, literally having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." If we indeed fear God, then God's commandment is that we love one another with a pure heart fervently. There is where the fear of the Lord shows itself outwardly. This is how we worship him. Do we realize that this is one of the areas where the battle for our soul is occurring? We must constantly be on our guard because Satan and his demons are also constantly on their guard. The fowls of the air are eager to pick up the seed that's thrown in our heart. So let me summarize what I've said so far. is Christ who sowed the seed of the word of God within earshot of those who never become saved. God knows that they will never become saved, but this is done so that prophecy might be fulfilled. God says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. These are the people represented by the wayside. They heard the message of the gospel, but they did not understand because the natural man has, by nature, an aversion against all that comes from God. In other words, he has a hard heart and does not want to understand the message. Nevertheless, God says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. How can we be converted? We must physically hear the gospel message, and then perhaps God will do that miracle in our heart. Let's go back to Luke. Luke, chapter eight, for the conclusion of this matter, where he said, Who have ears to hear, let him hear. In Luke, chapter eight, after telling another parable about how we must let our light shine, Jesus said in verse 18, Take heed, therefore, how ye hear. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given. And whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." Lord Jesus said, take heed, however, how ye hear. Make sure that we hear the spiritual message. Make sure that our doctrine is much more than that is such that we give Christ all the honor and the glory. If we have a salvation program whereby Christ has done his part, and now we must do our part, then that's a works custom. Which does not bring salvation because we're robbing Christ of his glory. Let me paraphrase what the Lord Jesus continued to say in Luke 8 verse 18. For whosoever hath, hath what? Spiritual ears, to him shall be given, what? Salvation. And whosoever hath not spiritual ears, from him shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have. All the material wealth he presently has, even the green grass under his feet and the cool, clean air that he breathes, shall all be taken away. He will be naked and cast into hell. So how do we get spiritual ears? That's a gift from God. Jesus said in the Mark version of this, Mark 4, verse 23, If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And at the end of the same parable in Matthew 13 verse 9, Jesus said, who have ears to hear, let him hear. When all is said and done in this battle for our soul, remember who is ultimately doing it all. And who is fighting for our soul. He is the one who is in control all along. Jesus said in Matthew 13 verse 60, but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. And rejoice that God has given us the desire to hear this message. Amen. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for all that you have done. Lord, we recognize over and over again that it's all because of your gift to us and nothing that we have done, nothing that we ever could do that would be deserving of any of these gifts. But we thank you for the desire to hear, the ears to hear, the eyes that see, and all that spiritually in the sense that we see it all as a gift from you and Christ's sacrifice on the cross has done the atonement once for all. for only those who he came to save. Lord, we thank you for the truths that you continue to point out to us in your word, and we pray that we will always stand ready for an answer for those who ask for the hope that is in us. We pray that your word will go forth powerfully today, and that it will find good soil in which to rest. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.