Only good hearers are part of Christ’s Kingdom

I’m not much of a gardener. I’ve tried a couple of times with mixed results. And the more I learn about it the more I recognize that I don’t know. You have to fight hard to get a good crop. There’s variable types of soil. There’s precise timing for seeding. There’s drainage problems. There’s disease threats. There’s nutrient deficiencies. There’s invasive insects. The list goes on. However, it’s not that way everywhere. Silvi grew up in Indonesia and the conditions are quite different there. It’s tropical. It has rich volcanic soil. You can scoop up dirt from the ground, drop it in a pot with a seed, and then just walk away and months later you’d have a nice pepper plant with harvestable peppers. The soil makes an enormous difference. If it is receptive, if it is ready to grow, if it is eager for a seed, it produces a harvest.

Jesus is going to press this point talking about how different people receive his word differently. There are different types of hearers. And just as only good soil will result in a good harvest. Only good hearers will be part of Christ’s kingdom.

Main Point – Only good hearers are part of Christ’s Kingdom

Text – Mark 4:1-20, which can be found in your pew Bible on page 787

Prayer

If you’re like me, you read this section and you think, “I pretty much understand what’s happening here. I get it. The soils are different people. Some accept Jesus, some don’t. But what I don’t understand is that middle section. Verses 10-12. Is Jesus saying he doesn’t want people to understand? Is he intentionally hiding things from people to keep them from being forgiven? That part doesn’t make much sense. So we’ll start there.

Point #1 – Jesus enables good hearing (vs. 1-2, 9-13)

READ VS 1-2

Jesus is doing what Jesus usually does. His mission is to preach to people. He didn’t come to do miracles. He came to preach repentance. So he’s doing that again, and he’s doing it by the sea where he commonly would. We learned last week that the crowds were trying to crush him so the only way he could be safe was to get in a boat and push off the shore, which is what he does again here. And last week we saw that we were moving into a section of Mark’s book where Jesus is filtering his followers. Some are in the kingdom and some are out. He’s doing that again here through his parables. Look at verse 9.

READ VS 9

Jesus states some of you will hear me and some of you won’t. Intuitively, we all understand that he’s talking about more than just if he’s speaking loud enough and clear enough so that the sound waves make it into everyone’s ears. He’s talking about understanding. He’s talking about good hearing. We might even call it “listening”.

If I ask you to write down a definition of hearing and listening and how they’re different, it might be a struggle. But we all naturally understand the difference. That’s why we can say something like, “I heard you, but I wasn’t listening”. The sounds entered my ears, but I wasn’t paying attention or understanding them. Listening is different from hearing because listening involves paying attention and understanding. Most of you are hearing me preach right now, but a smaller percentage are actually listening. I’m aware of that. There’s also a distinction in obeying and listening when it comes to obedience. You might hear a parent rebuke their child by saying, “Why didn’t you listen to what I said?” The child heard what was said and maybe they even made it to the point of understanding what was said, but they didn’t obey it. Good hearing involves paying attention, understanding, and obeying.

READ 10-11

I want you to notice some words here that should stick out to us. If we’ve been reading Mark carefully we’ll notice two categories here that have been introduced earlier. Let me read a few verses from last week.

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you…And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” - Mark 3:31-32, 34

He made a distinction. There are those outside. And there are those who are around me. The ones outside are not part of the kingdom. The ones around him who do God’s will are part of the kingdom. And here he highlights those distinctions again. In verse 10, those around him (the exact phrase from our previous verse) with the twelve (the guys he chose on the mountain) ask him about the parables. And in verse 11 Jesus declares our two categories. There’s you who have the secrets of the kingdom and then there’s “those outside”.

Again if you remember last week we talked about what’s the difference between someone inside and someone outside. Did the insiders just do a better job? Are they better people? Who did Jesus call to him on the mountain last week? Whomever he desired. He willed them to be with and then they did his will. And here we see that same thing again. Why are those around him part of the kingdom? Because vs 11 “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom”. They are part of the kingdom because Jesus GAVE it to them.

But what about those outside?

READ VS 12

They see the message, but they don’t get it. They hear what Jesus is saying, but they don’t understand any of it. And so without understanding they are uninterested and unable to turn and be forgiven. You see Jesus is the only one who can enable you to understand. He’s the only one who can give you the secrets of the kingdom of God. And this becomes painfully obvious in the next verse.

READ VS 13

Jesus says “You! The ones around me! You don’t get it. You aren’t hearing correctly. How will you ever be able to understand? How will you possibly receive ears that are able to hear? How will you gain eyes that are able to see? It’s a great question. And I imagine these people thought to themselves, “It’s impossible for us to understand unless you give us the meaning”. And that’s exactly what Jesus does next. You will not understand unless I give you the secret of the kingdom of God, unless I give you the meaning. Then he proceeds to give it to them. That’s how they are enabled to hear. Jesus enables good hearing.

When you read a verse like “He who has ears, let him hear” immediately we all say, “I want to be a good hearer. I want to have ears to hear.” Well Jesus has just demonstrated that if you’re going to walk out of this room really hearing what his Word says, it’s going to require Jesus doing the work. Unless Jesus enables you to hear you won’t hear. The sound waves might crash into your ear drum but you will not understand. You will not obey. Do you recognise that? If so, it will impact what happens before we come to church. It will impact what happens on Saturday night. Are you praying that God will enable you to hear? He’s your only hope. This will all be gibberish. It will be nonsense. You’ll walk away confused or indifferent unless God works in your heart. When God’s Word is opened to you or when you open it yourself, pray desperately that you will be able to hear.

He’s asking them to hear a parable about hearing. But there’s a lot of things that would prevent them from hearing.

Point #2 – Satan and the world prevent good hearing (vs. 3-7, 14-19)

READ VS 3

He starts off by saying “LISTEN!” because his goal is for them to actually hear him with good hearing. And then he introduces the parable. A sower went out to sow. There are some things here that should be obvious, but it’s helpful if we state them anyway. What is the sower’s goal? Is he just excited about tossing seeds around outside? No, of course not. Why does any sower sow seeds? Because he wants them to grow into a fruitful crop. He wants to have a harvest later. Anything that cannot be harvested is not successful. And Jesus is going to demonstrate three soils that do not result in a harvest.

READ VS 4, Jesus has to reveal to us what that means so jump down to vs 14-15

READ VS 14-15

Jesus states very clearly, the seed is the Word of God. It’s Jesus’ message of repentance that he’s been preaching. He’s telling them a parable about what is literally happening at that exact moment. They are hearing his words. He is the sower sowing right now to them. It’s almost humorous if you look at verse 1 it says that the whole crowd is “on the land”. That’s the same word that’s later on translated as soil. So the crowd is sitting on the soil and Jesus is sowing the word to them. And what word is it? The word is a call to turn to God in repentance. Or here in verse 12 Jesus says it to turn and be forgiven.

And what happens in some instances? The seed falls on the path. It says, they initially hear the word. It does make it to their eardrums, but the birds swoop in and eat the seed and it’s gone. They never obey the word. They never even understand the word.

If we’re honest this happens all too often. Everything is fighting for our attention. We show up to church and we’re tired. We get hungry halfway through. Our phone buzzes in our pocket. But that’s just life. We can’t be expected to hear the word every time. Right? Jesus makes the bold claim of saying if the word is snatched up immediately, if it never makes it to the point of us considering it and meditating on it and receiving it, then that’s the work of Satan. Don’t let yourself become complacent about that. Don’t get used to never considering God’s Word. Don’t get used to hearing his word and then never thinking about it again. Satan’s desire is for God’s Word to never get from your ear to your heart. So fight him, by fighting the distractions that would snatch God’s Word up.

There’s a second way that good hearing is prevented. Let’s look at verse 5.

READ VS 5-6, again Jesus has to reveal to us what that means so look at vs 16-17

READ VS 16-17

I think we’re all familiar with the phrase “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch”. Praise God that sometimes people respond to God’s Word positively and quickly. But if the goal is to reap a harvest from these seeds, then the work is far from finished. Our text says “they hear the word [and] immediately receive it with joy”. That’s a step further than the ones thrown on the path. These ones both hear the word and also receive it. They take it quickly, even joyfully. Honestly this is super encouraging to see. But don’t count your chickens yet. It will take a while before we know if they will bear fruit. If they are the ones that sower is looking for. Jesus says they endure for a while. I don’t know how long that is. Weeks? Months? Is it possible years? And how are these filtered out? They’re filtered by trial and persecution. Now don’t miss this, it’s not just any type of trial. It’s trial that comes on account of the word. We often think of something like, “Oh my house burnt down. This is a trial.” And then the word comes along and comforts us and helps us through that trial. That’s not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about trials that are a direct result of your commitment to the word. Is God calling you to do hard things? End a relationship? Give money to something or someone? Is he calling you to move somewhere? Is he asking you to quit your bad habits? Those are trials caused by the Word and they can be completely avoided if you’ll just drop the word.

Why doesn’t this soil produce a crop? It’s because they have no root. The Word never gets below the surface. Don’t forget what this word is. It’s not just a call to like Jesus and ask him to give you a good day. This is a call to repentance. To turn back from the way you’re going so that you can be forgiven. The rocky ground welcomes a surface level change, but they aren’t interested in the deep change that comes about through real repentance. It will require all of their future plans to be abandoned. It will require all of the ways they spend their money to change. It will require all of their relationships to be transformed. It will require their whole life. And though they received the word with joy, the cost became too much.

Church, is this a cost you’re willing to endure?

There’s a third soil that is also not a good hearer. Look at vs 7

READ VS 7, we’ll ask Jesus to reveal this one also and he does so in 18-19

READ VS 18-19

It’s really easy to demonize these people as the group that we’d never be a part of. These are the people who have a desire for riches. They’re chasing after money. I bet we’d all say, no that’s not me. I just want to make enough money to live a nice, calm, simple life. I’m not interested in buying a yacht or a mansion or a million dollar car. This one’s not me. But try to tell me that the cares of this world haven’t choked out God’s word from bearing fruit in your life. Elsewhere in the Bible this same word is translated as anxieties or concerns. If anything this is the one that most of us struggle with. When you get in the car after service, the baby is gonna start crying. Or your family is gonna start hounding you for how hungry they are. Or your check engine light is going to come on. Or work is going to call and ask you to come in for extra hours. Or you’re going to receive a phone call with some bad news. These are all cares of the world.

They can’t be avoided, but they will choke the life out of the word if you let them. The danger and temptation that we are all prone to is to start thinking that the solution to our cares is riches or “other things”. “I can’t wait until I have enough money that this car isn’t a problem” or “I can’t wait until this kid gets older so they don’t require so much attention”. Jesus says this is deceitfulness. If you believe your hope lies in anything else other than the word you are deceived. Those things will not save you. Those things will choke you and prevent any fruitfulness. Your life will be filled with cares of this world, but only the word will save you. Don’t let your cares choke it out. Fight for it. Fight to meditate on the word. Fight to let its roots go deep in you.

Don’t believe the lie that something else will give you rest. If you think your hope lies in anything outside of Jesus’ word you will become just as unfruitful as the seed that is eaten up immediately by the birds.

Remember, the sower sows the seed with the intention of reaping a harvest. Which leads us to our last section

Point #3 – Fruitfulness proves good hearing (vs. 8, 20)

Ah now we reach the soil that all of us are. None of us are bad soil. Every one in this building is certainly the good soil. Isn’t that how we tend to read this parable? We immediately identify ourselves with the good soil and just imagine hypothetical people that might be the bad soil. But if you immediately assume you’re the good soil this parable is rather useless to you. If you don’t think you need to turn and be forgiven you sound more like those on the outside than those around Jesus. Let’s read what Jesus says of the good soil.

READ VS 8, and Jesus explains for us.

READ VS 20

Who are the good hearers? It’s the ones who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit. If there is fruit you are one of those who are “around Jesus”. If there is no fruit then you are one of those on the “outside”. If there is fruit you are the good soil. If there is no fruit you are one of the first three soils. Fruit is the goal.

Since fruit is so significant, it’s probably important to understand what that means. What does fruitfulness look like? We know what a fruitful plant or a fruitful harvest looks like. But what about in a “hearer”, what does that look like? It would be easy to just jump to conclusions and make assumptions and guesses of what fruit looks like, but let’s stick with Mark’s text to figure this out. This is how you should read your Bible. Don’t imagine that you already know what things mean. Sometimes you have to put your detective hat on and do some searching to decipher what a passage is actually saying. Let’s look.

Jesus as we’ve said is filtering his followers. This parable is another means of filtering his followers. The good soil describes those followers who are genuine or as it calls them earlier, “Those who were around him”. And look down at your Bibles just a few verses before our text in 3:34-35.

READ 3:34-35

What does a good hearer from the good soil who is bearing fruit do? First, he does the will of God. We know that to be the case. If you’re not doing the will of God, then you’re not a good hearer.  That’s the baseline. But let’s keep looking for more back in our text. One of the things we notice is that there are several things that those on the outside or the bad soils are not doing. It’s likely that the good fruitful soil is doing the opposite.

With the first soil we learned that Satan steals the word so that it never reaches the hearer's heart. The good hearer hides God’s word in their heart and considers it precious so that it can be taken away. With the second soil we saw it had no root and couldn’t endure trials. The good hearer welcomes the word, not merely on the surface, but as something that will deeply change them. It takes root in their lives so that when trials come they endure. They don’t abandon the word, but they hold tighter to it. The third soil was crowded. It had so much going on that it couldn’t give attention to the word. It was deceived into thinking riches or other desires could save it. The good soil fights the things crowding its attention. It doesn’t quit but perseveres so that the voice of the word is able to overpower the noise of the cares of this world.

And what happens when the good hearer persists through all of these things? They multiply. One seed becomes many seeds, 30, 60, even 100. They are useful. They accomplish the sower’s purpose. They accomplish God’s will. They accomplish what Jesus the sower set out for them to do. They are the fulfillment of Jesus’s mission. Look again at verse 12 and this is the most important, because this is what Jesus has hoped for his hearers all along.

READ VS 12

But in contrast the good soil, sees and perceives. They hear and they understand. And they turn and are forgiven. The sower’s goal is to produce a fruitful harvest. And Jesus’ goal is to see hearers turn and be forgiven. I can’t state it enough times. The defining characteristic of a Christian, of a good hearer from the good soil, is repentance. Christians are not marked by being nice, by being passionate, by being happy all the time. Christians are marked by repentance. And it’s not a one time thing. It’s an ongoing thing. They say to Jesus, “I am wrong. Please forgive me.” And then the next day when sin pops up again, they turn and say, “Jesus, I am wrong. Please forgive me.” Are those words hard for you? Is it difficult to have them come off your lips? Would others recognize that you’re a Christian simply by seeing how frequently and how well you repent and ask for forgiveness? Is this a pattern you demonstrate with your friends? Is this a pattern you demonstrate in your workplace? Is this a pattern you demonstrate in your home? With your family? Is this a pattern you demonstrate in your prayer life? The good hearer turns and is forgiven. That’s what sets them apart. And this what produces fruit in the life of a believer and this is what causes a multiplication of followers.

If you’re thinking, that sounds pretty difficult. That takes a colossal amount of humility that I’m simply not equipped with. How could I ever get to the point where I repent and bear fruit? I wonder if we’ve passed over an aspect of this parable that is so painfully obvious that we’ve ignored it. How does the grain grow? What causes it ultimately to become fruitful? It’s the seed. It’s the word. It’s Christ’s words. It’s not some other book. It’s not a really good podcast or a clever Christian influencer online. It’s not programs or strategies or life hacks. All of those things are only useful in so much as they point you back to the word. This is what is necessary. There is no growth without it. There is no life without it. There is no repentance and humility without it. You might be nice without it, but you will not bear fruit without it.

Our goal is to be good hearers. Only good hearers are part of God’s kingdom. Satan has all sorts of devices he will use to prevent you from being a good hearer. So pray. Pray that Jesus would enable you to be a good hearer. Fill your life with God’s Word. Let that seed work its way into your heart. And by God’s grace he will cause you to be fruitful. You’ll live a life of repentance and humility that multiplies and is a blessing to those around you.

Prayer