The Wayside Hearer

Introduction to the Parable of the Seed and Soils

0:06 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, November 11th, 1984, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn to the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Mark as we continue our consecutive expositions of this portion of the Word of God. Mark's Gospel, chapter 4, and follow as I read verses 1 through 9. And then verses 13 through 15, writing concerning the activity of our Lord Jesus, Mark tells us, And again he began to teach by the seaside. And there is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so that he entered into a boat and sat in the sea. And all the multitude were by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things in parables.

1:10 And he said unto them in his teaching, Hearken, behold, the sower went forth to sow. And it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it. And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth. And straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth.

1:37 And when the sun was risen, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And others fell into good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing, and brought forth thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.

2:07 And he said, Who has ears to hear? Let him hear. Let him hear. Let him hear.

2:13 Verse 13. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how shall ye know all the parables? The sower soweth the word.

2:27 And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown. And when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and takes away the word that hath been sown in them. Verse 14. Let us again bow in the presence of God, and ask for the help of the Spirit as we study the word together.

2:57 Our Father, as we have sung together this hymn with all of its rich imagery, how we earnestly pray that the dark winter of the soul may indeed pass from us, that life and beauty would spring forth in us. Very good. Let us rise up, howe' we slip. Write down in your sü Madeleine the sall, for we would like to know both the answers that we none can testify Hispanics do.

3:18 Write down in your sü Madeleine the sall the future ep SSD for more information at www.al민ěktivikia.com Page 25 , www. devastatingdialogIOt element.ad intended.ac.am forth in our minds and hearts as your holy spirit takes the truth of the word and uses it to impart that very life we pray that we may not come to the word as those who hear it and understand it not and are thereby prime candidates for the fowls of the air the devil himself to come and take away the seed that has been sown oh lord give us hearts that will enfold the word and by your grace bring forth fruit 30 60 and a hundredfold bind the influence of that adversary who would even now bring into our minds a thousand distracting thoughts who would cause our bodies to become dull and lifeless and listless oh god chain up we pray every influence of that enemy of our souls and may the word run and have free course in our midst this morning we ask through our lord jesus

4:34 christ amen now in our consecutive expositions of the gospel of mark we return this morning to consider what is commonly called the parable of the sower but which i would much rather entitle the parable of the seed and of the soils in our initial study several lord's days ago we examined verses one and two of mark four in which mark gives to us a very graphic picture of the circumstances in which this parable was spoken and on that occasion having opened up those circumstances we then simply underscored from verse thirteen the crucial importance of this parable having seen the circumstances in which it was spoken i felt it vital that we understand from verse thirteen as we approach the detailed study of the parable that our lord himself underscores its crucial importance and to tell us after that

5:57 several,angen and that this parable is sunscreen and ,and those of us who learn the parable now that we don't set aside the not many things it's not to find something in the middle that is not입 the enunciated narrative of the verse thirteen but in two convinced us that the escuchers pasta not only meets to the And in Luke chapter 8, we are to understand that the seed which was cast abroad by the sower is nothing other than the word of God, the message of the kingdom, the proclamation of God's saving mercy in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. And then the sower is obviously in this setting our Lord himself as he sat in that boat just a little distance from the shore of the Sea of Galilee and before him are gathered this vast or is gathered this vast mixed multitude.

7:04 He is the great sower. He is broadcasting this seed of the message of the kingdom. But also anyone who in any circumstance at any time takes that message given by God and conveys it to another becomes in that sense a sower of the seed. And then we notice the various kinds of soil. Their identity is given to us in the word of God as the whole person or more particularly.

7:43 In passages such as Luke 8 and verse 12, the seed is sown in the heart. And so the various kinds of soil represent various kinds of people particularly with reference not to the color of their skin, not with reference to their social status, not with reference to their native intellectual capacities, but with reference to the condition of their life. The soil is the condition of the heart. The emphasis falls upon the soil being the condition of the human heart.

8:21 And then we concluded our previous study by addressing the major issue underscored by this parable. Before taking up any of the details, we need to understand the major elements, the seed, what it is, the sower, who he is, and the various kinds of soil, what they are, what they are, and what they are not. And then the major issue underscored as the unifying principle of the parable, and it is this. In every instance, it was the state of the soil which determined the fate of the seed.

9:01 The state of the soil determined the fate of the seed. The crop depended on the character, not of the sower, or even the...

9:13 Not the quality of the seed, but the crop depended on the character of the ground upon which it fell. That which a man takes from the Word is dependent upon that kind of heart that he brings to the Word. Now that's the overarching thrust of this entire parable. And now having looked at the parable in a...

The Facts of the Wayside Soil in the Parable

9:44 A broad overview, we come this morning to take up the first of the four kinds of soil, and we consider together the soil that is found upon the wayside, or the footpath soil. And as we think our way through this important instruction of our Lord, we will consider first of all the facts as given in the parable. Secondly, our Lord's own...

10:13 Secondly, our Lord's own... Our Lord's own interpretation and explanation of the facts, and then some vital application of these facts to our own hearts and our own circumstances.

10:28 First of all, then, let's seek to grasp the facts as they are given in the parable itself. Verse 3 of Mark 4. Hearken! Behold, the sower...

10:43 ...went forth to sow.

10:45 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it. Luke adds this other dimension of perspective. Luke chapter 8 and verse 5, with reference to the facts included in the parable, the sower went forth to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it.

11:24 So you have this additional thought spoken by our Lord, but omitted in Mark's account of the parable included by Luke, that as the sower went forth and cast abroad his seed from his seed bag, Luke said, ...concerned that the seed...

11:42 ...should find every available square inch of good soil, some of his seed fell upon that which is translated in our English Bibles as the wayside.

11:58 Now there is a great debate among commentators, what is this wayside? Well, I will not weary you with that debate and all of the various possibilities. Suffice it to say that letting Scripture be established, and let it be its own interpreter, most likely what our Lord is describing is that which we find in chapter 2 and verse 23 of Mark's Gospel. It came to pass that he was going through this on the Sabbath day through the grain fields.

12:32 And his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears. And there seems to be, upon reliable testimony of those who have studied Palestinian agronomy, ...and there seems to be, upon reliable testimony of those who have studied Palestinian agronomy, ...of the agricultural circumstances, that often there were footpaths through the various fields owned by individuals.

12:52 And here, in this situation, as the farmer, the sower, goes forth to cast his seed, some of the seed falls upon one of those footpaths. And, it is not long before someone passing through that very field, along that path, tramples that seed underfoot. But because the path is already packed hard, even the pressure of a sandal or a bare foot upon the seed does not bury it out of sight. So that as soon as the person passes and the bird notices the seed lying upon the packed ground, the birds swoop down, pick up the seed, and they devour it. They eat it. They have a meal at the expense of the sower. Now those are the simple facts as given in the parable. Facts that would be in terms of those

13:56 to whom our Lord was speaking, things of common observation. Our Lord was not saying something that would have caused the people sitting in that horseshoe, configuration upon the shore or the bank of that part of Galilee in that little cove to scratch their heads and say, what in the world is he talking about? It was something that perhaps very likely was going on even as he spoke. When he said, hearken, behold, he may have even pointed to a nearby field where a sower was casting his seed. And they could see this being enacted before their very eyes as the bird swooped. Down and plucked up the seed that was sown upon the wayside. Now, having looked at the simple facts as they are given in the parable, we turn in the second place to consider our Lord's interpretation of these facts. Our Lord's interpretation of these facts. Mark simply

Our Lord's Interpretation: Lack of Understanding and Satan's Role

15:02 tells us in verse 15,

15:08 by the wayside where the word is sown, people have heard the message of the kingdom and straightway cometh Satan and takes away the word that has been sown in them. And if all we had was Mark's account of the parable, we would gain the impression that there was some kind of an overpowering immediate operation of the devil. That as soon as the seed, as it were, touched the ground, the birds immediately swooped down and took it away. But we must add to the account of Mark the further insight given to us in Matthew's account of this same parable. In Matthew chapter 13, we read these words. Verse 19, Matthew 13, 19. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not, then comes the evil one and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart.

16:27 This is he that was sown by the wayside. So you see, prior to the snatching away of the seed by the birds of the air called by our Lord, Satan, the adversary, the devil, there is prior to that this lack of understanding. And this word used in Matthew's gospel translated, they do not understand. They do not perceive. They do not have insight into.

17:08 They do not have insight into. Now, we might stand listening to two foreigners talking in their native tongue. This happened to us again and again at the Grand Canyon last week as visitors from all over the world were there. And on several occasions, we saw some Orientals and they were talking either in Japanese and some may have been speaking in Korean and some in Chinese.

17:33 And my wife and I could turn to one another and say, we don't understand a word they're talking about. Now, we use the word. Now, we use the word. Now, we use the word.

17:39 However, there are times when my wife speaks to me in plain, simple English. And when she's all done, I say, honey, I don't understand what you're talking about. Now, it's not a problem of linguistics. It's not a problem that she's speaking in Chinese and I don't understand Chinese.

18:01 Because she doesn't have the gift of tongues. And if she did, I'd question its validity. But you see, what I'm saying to her. She says, dear, I don't perceive the meaning of your words.

18:15 Yes, I understand the words. I can give back to you. But I have no insight into the thought that you're seeking to convey by means of those words. Now, that's what our Lord is talking about here.

The Nature of Spiritual Non-Perception

18:30 Giving his own interpretation of the parable of the soils. The wayside soil represents the person who hears. He hears the message of the kingdom. And he does not understand it.

18:48 That is, he does not have spiritual perception of the suitability of that message to his own personal state and condition. This is the word used in Luke 24, 45, where it says of our Lord Jesus, Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. They had read the Old Testament Scriptures again and again. They had heard them read, many of them, from childhood in the synagogue every Sabbath day.

19:24 But they did not perceive their meaning. They did not see how the Scriptures fit together. And in their fitting together, all pointed to Christ. And to that which he came to do on behalf of the salvation of his people.

19:42 And so when we come to the wayside soil, it is a picture of the person in whose mind and heart the message of the kingdom has been sown. People have heard of God's mercy to rebel sinners in the person and work of his own dear Son. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God.

20:12 They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God.

20:16 They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God. They have heard the word of the kingdom that the offended God has taken the initiative to come to the kingdom of God.

20:20 They hear the wonderful proclamation of all of the redemptive blessings available in Jesus Christ, reconciliation to God and peace with God through the blood of His cross, a free justification, pardon and acceptance as righteous in the very sight of God and in the court of heaven. They hear of the extension of God's mercy in sanctifying grace, promising to give men a new heart and to give them power to live a life of righteousness and of evangelical law-keeping. They hear these things, but hearing them, it's as though they never heard them. They do not understand them. That is, they see no suitability in the message of the King. They do not understand them.

21:14 They do not understand them. To their own state and condition and to their own need. If you speak of how to make a quick buck, they're all ears. Everything within them is a lie.

21:27 If you speak of a way to advance personal position, to find some new avenue of sensuous pleasure, they are all ears. All of their internal juices are flowing and all of their faculties are alert. But you speak of a way to advance personal position. But you speak of a way to advance personal position.

21:44 If you speak of the message of the kingdom, you talk of God, of sin, of Christ, repentance, and faith, and sanctification, justification, a life of holiness. And you speak of them in the clearest terms possible. You illustrate them as our Lord did. You seek to enforce them by entreaty and by passionate appeals as our Lord did.

22:10 But what happens? They do not understand. It's not because they don't understand. The preacher has used high-flown vocabulary.

22:18 It's not that he's taken the gospel and converted it into some kind of a system of philosophy and used concepts that only a few erudite people could grasp. He, like our Lord, has sought to speak in the simplest, plainest terms, to illustrate, to clarify, to enforce. But alas, 1 Corinthians 2.14, The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. You see, he does not receive because he cannot perceive. He does not see the suitability of this. He does not see this word of the kingdom.

23:16 He does not see how in every dimension of that word of the kingdom, there is something perfectly suited to his need as a sinner. And so, with the attitude, there's nothing in that for me. His heart is to that word what hard, well-packed ground is to see. If I were to take, and to sprinkle it along the edge of this pulpit, or if I were to go out and sprinkle it on the macadam, what happens?

23:55 The macadam, the wood of the pulpit, is too hard to receive that seed. It lies upon the surface. It makes no penetration into the substance of the wood or of the macadam. And so, in this parable, when our Lord says, The sower went forth, and some seed fell by the wayside, and it was trampled underfoot, there was no capacity in the state of the soil to receive the seed, give it an opportunity to germinate, to send a root downward, and to bear fruit upward.

Satan's Forceful Removal of the Word

24:36 And from that condition of no perception, then we read, then comes the devil, to snatch it away. Now, the word used in Mark's gospel is this, that it fell by the wayside, verse 4, and the birds came and devoured it. In our Lord's interpretation, he says, verse 15, these are they by the wayside where the word is heard, or sown, and when they have heard, straightway comes Satan, and takes up, that is, picks up and carries away the word that has been sown. But in Matthew's account, a more vivid verb is used. Matthew 13, 19, the verb used there is to take away by force. You remember in John's gospel, it says they wanted to come and take away Jesus by force and make him a king? That's the verb used.

25:42 So that Satan's activity, likened to the birds of the air, it's not a case of some birds, if I may make them into thinking, speaking creatures, are flying around this seed that has fallen upon the footpath, and a few people have walked over it, and they're having a little discussion amongst themselves, saying, well, are we hungry, are we not? Should we give it a little try, and swoop down, if we get one, we make it, if we don't, you win some, you lose some. No, the picture, the picture is that the birds descend and by force they take it away. In other words, there is a determination that that seed shall be taken away from that well-packed soil on the footpath. And our Lord says, that is a picture of the activity of the devil himself. As in nature, so in the rest, so in the realm of the spirit. The seed not enveloped by the soil is removed by the birds.

26:55 The non-reception of the soil sends a signal to the birds. And so with the devil, when he finds men and women and boys and girls insensitive to the great truths of the gospel, so that they do not, with the soil of their hearts, enfold that message, reflect upon it, meditate upon it, plead with God that it may be buried in their hearts. Just like the birds of the air, seeing seed lying upon the surface, they swoop down and take it away by force. So with everyone who hears the message of the kingdom and does not perceive its purpose, and does not see the perfect suitability to his need, who inwardly, lightly dismisses gospel seed as unworthy of serious reflection, unworthy of deep, concentrated thought and self-examination, when the soil of the heart regards the seed as worthy of nothing more than to lie exposed to the birds, you can count on it, the birds will see it, and come and take it. And the birds, according to our Lord, the adversary, the devil,

28:23 the great enemy of our souls, who plucks away that word with one intention. Look at the parallel passage in Luke's Gospel, chapter 8. One intention, and one intention only. Luke 8, 12.

28:41 And those by the wayside are they that have heard. Then cometh the devil, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Then cometh the devil, that they may not be saved. That's the thrust of our Lord's interpretation.

29:14 His taking away the seed is not a pastime for personal entertainment, it is a whole-souled engagement in the damnation of souls. Then cometh the devil, and takes away in order that they may not be saved. Now that's our Lord's interpretation of the parable, based upon the simple facts of the parable. Now then, what is the message?

Application 1: The Necessity of Spiritual Perception for Salvation

29:47 What is the application? What is the word of God in this parable? This parable to us. Well, let me suggest, as time permits, four very obvious and basic lines of application.

30:03 First of all, this passage teaches us that men must perceive and receive the message of salvation before they can ever be saved. Men must perceive and receive the message of salvation before they can be saved. The seed is the word of God, the divinely appointed instrument of salvation. In this part of the parable, the soil never received the seed.

30:42 The hardness of the soil caused the rejection. That hardness is described as those who understand it not. They perceive no suitability between the message and their own need, and that lack of understanding and perception leads to the rejection of the seed and ultimately to the removal of the seed from the very soil on which it fell. In this passage we are taught in the plainest terms possible that if men are to be saved, they must first of all receive the message, but they will not receive the message until they first of all perceive its suitability to their need. The devil comes and takes away that word that they may not be saved, but he found a condition perfectly suitable to his activity. You see, the birds did not come and get the seed before it hit the path. It's when it hit the path, lay on top of the path, was never absorbed into the soil, then came the birds and snatched it away.

31:56 You see, there must be a work of illumination in the mind and heart of a man, a woman, a boy or girl. A work of illumination showing how perfectly suitable is the message of the kingdom to our needs. How perfectly consonant are all the grand truths about Christ in His glorious person as God and man, His work of perfect obedience, substitutionary death, resurrection from the dead, His session at the right hand of the Father, the gift of the Spirit, regeneration, all of these grand truths, until there's a work of illumination in which we come to see all that is announced in the message of the kingdom is God's glorious provision answering to my real, personal, deep needs. Until that conviction comes home, the message of the kingdom will never be enfolded as seed is enfolded by well-plowed, moist and receptive soil. When Paul was commissioned by the risen Lord, it's interesting that in that commission this very principle is underscored. Turn to Acts chapter 26 if you will, please.

33:18 Acts chapter 26 and verse 18. Here Paul is recounting the details of his conversion and his commission by the risen Christ. And notice as Paul reiterates that commission, verse 16, Acts 26. But arise, stand upon your feet, the Lord Jesus, speaking to Paul.

33:50 For to this end I have appeared to you to appoint you a minister and a witness, both of the things wherein you have seen me and of the things wherein I will appear unto you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom I send you, now notice, to open their eyes in order that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. Now do you see that great stream of gospel privileges that will come to sinners through the ministry of the apostle? They will be turned from the power of Satan unto God. They'll receive remission of sins. They'll receive the inheritance that comes to all believers.

34:48 However, what's the first step in that entire process? Notice, to open their eyes, to open their eyes, to open their eyes, to give them perception that the message you preach is not the message of some fool fanatic who has some mystical experience on the road to Damascus. Paul, I'm sending you to preach and I'm sending you to preach with this promise that my presence will go with you and as you preach and my blessing is upon you, this is what will happen. Men's spiritual eyes will be opened.

35:33 And then when you preach that men are sinners, men are under wrath, and though under wrath and sinners and helpless, God in mercy has sent His Son and in the person and work of that Son there is forgiveness for the vilest of sinners. There is power to break the chains of the most helpless of sinners. There is an inheritance of eternal life and the pledge and promise of coercion with Christ. Paul, when I open their eyes, your message will not be to them like the song of a drunken fool.

36:09 It will be good news. It will be good news indeed. For when their eyes are opened and they see that indeed they are my creatures, they have offended me, they have broken my law, they stand under my wrath, I could take their lives and send them to hell in a moment. When they hear that there is a way of deliverance, Christ is that way, the only way, and they must come to Him in repentance and faith.

36:38 Paul, as you preach and I open their eyes, they will indeed then see. And that great seed, that message of the kingdom, instead of lying as it does upon a well-beaten footpath for the birds of the air to pluck it up, there will be those who will enfold it into a heart that then produces by my grace fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. You see, men must understand the message by spiritual illumination before they will ever be saved. Now that says an awful lot to us by way of practical application. To every one of us who attempts to communicate the gospel to others, parents to children, loved ones to relatives, friends to neighbors, preachers to those who sit before them, if God does not open your eyes, the most plain, earnest preaching will be treated by you as seed is treated upon a well-beaten heart, unworthy of any further consideration. And that's one of the most humbling and in a sense one of the most spiritually

38:05 frustrating realities of the ministry. That I stand here this morning knowing that as plain as I attempt to preach and as earnestly as I attempt to bring the word to bear upon your mind and your spirit, some of you will go out of here and in less than three minutes you will not have one serious thought about God, about your sin, about heaven, about hell, about your never-dying soul. You will go out of here as though you were nothing but a boost on your way to slaughter. And I can't do a thing to give you eyes to see what you really are. A creature made in the image of God, answerable to God, under the wrath of God, hanging by a thin thread of unrivaled sovereignty that in a moment could let go and see you sink into hell. And yet you'll be able to go home and flip on your TV and watch a bunch of overgrown boys bang their heads and butt their shoulders and go off to sleep as though you were as safe

39:31 as an angel in the bosom of God. Threat! Men must understand the message before they'll ever be saved. And we have no power to give that understanding God must.

Application 2: The Danger of a Hard, Unplowed Heart

39:52 But then you say, oh well preacher, if God must, then I'm inexcusable. I'm not to be blamed. I'm excusable. I'm not to be blamed then for my blindness.

40:04 Oh my friend, yes you are. Because you have every responsibility to cry to the God who can open your eyes. Like that blind beggar who heard that Jesus was passing by and he didn't say, oh well, I'm a blind beggar. Jesus is God.

40:21 He wills to open my eyes. He'll do it if he doesn't. Too bad. You win some, you lose some.

40:27 It says he cried out saying, Son of David, have mercy on me. And the people around him said, shut up. He's got no time for you. You're just a blind old beggar.

40:36 And it says he cried out the more saying, Son of David, have mercy upon me. And it said Jesus stood still and he turned to him and said, what do you want from me? That's a silly question. What's a blind man want in the presence of the only one on the face of the earth at that time who could open the eyes of blind people?

40:58 He wants sight. But Jesus wanted him to articulate his need. And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus opened his eyes.

41:08 Oh, my dear unconverted man, woman, boy or girl, cry to the Lord Jesus. If you're not a Christian, if you know nothing of forgiveness of sin through the blood of the cross, acceptance with God on the basis of the righteousness of Christ, if you do not know what it is to have your feet planted in the narrow way that leads to life, having come through the narrow gate of real conversion, your position is precarious. You have no right to be comfortable another moment. Ah, but you say I am.

41:41 But my friend, your deluded comfort doesn't change the reality that you're in the most precarious place that anyone could ever be. Cry to God to show you where you really are. Cry to God to show you how that in the gospel the blessings held forth are perfectly suited to your need. Men must understand the message of salvation before they can be saved.

42:13 But the second truth that's so obvious in the passage is this. A hard, unclogged heart will never savingly understand and receive the message of salvation. A hard, unclogged heart will never savingly understand and receive the message of salvation. You see, when the plowshare bit through the various parts of that field, it never once raked over the footpath.

42:48 The farmer understanding that people had to have a place over which they could pass from one point to another allowed this access to and through his field, and he never bothered to have his ox pull the plowshare over that footpath. And over the years, it became so packed, it was almost like flaky concrete. That's the picture of a hard, unclogged heart that will never savingly understand and receive the word. The seed was good seed, and apparently the soil even had the potential for germination of that seed. It was not that someone had dumped a bunch of ashes that could not, even if made soft, receive the seed and cause germination. It was ordinary soil that had the potential, but it had been so packed that there was no possibility in that condition. Unless a man has committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, there is no human being who has sunk so deeply into sin and hardness of heart, but what God is able to make the soil of his heart.

44:13 There is none who can say my heart is too hard. No, the plowshare of God's holy law cutting over the surface of that hard heart turning it over, crisscrossing that heart can turn it from a hard and an insensitive heart to one that is prepared to receive the seed of the gospel. By the law comes the knowledge of sin. I had not known sin, Paul said, except the commandment said, thou shalt not covet.

44:52 What was Jesus doing in the Sermon on the Mount? He was taking, among other things, a bunch of people whose hearts were like the wayside. They had been for so long trodden upon by a religious mentality that said all God is concerned about is externals. If you're at the right place at the right time saying the right thing in the company of the right people, you're all right.

45:17 And so they were unprepared to receive the message of the kingdom. So what did he do? He took the plowshare of the law and he hitched it, as it were, to the ox of his own close applicatory preaching and said, you have heard that it was said, but I say unto you, here's the real meaning of the law. Oh yes, you've never laid hands with violence upon another man and plunged the knife into his breast and watched him in the twitches of death.

45:46 Oh no, but you've had anger in your heart. You're a murderer. The plowshare cut across that wayside heart. And then he said, you pride yourself and have never sneaked off to a place of prearranged trysting and laying with another man's wife.

46:05 But you've looked at her as she's gone by and you've looked with an intent to lust and said, if I could, I would. Jesus said, you're guilty of adultery. And the plowshare cuts across the heart again. And when Jesus is done, hearts that were hard were plowed up and made ready for the message of mercy and salvation.

46:30 My friend, a hard, unplowed heart will never savingly perceive or receive the message of the kingdom. I speak to you, precious children, don't, don't be proud of a hard heart. Many a child growing up in a Christian home and under gospel preaching who comes to teenage years unconverted begins to be proud that they can sit through a service like today and have no twitches of conscience. They think back on the times when they used to go to bed at night and sometimes even call for mommy and daddy to come in and say, mommy and daddy, pray for me. I don't know if I'm a Christian and I'm afraid if I die, I might go to hell. Mommy, daddy, pray for me. Tell me about Jesus.

47:25 Tell me about your children. Some of you remember when you did that? What's happened to some of you? You come into your preteens and you've begun to be proud of yourself.

47:34 Now you can go to bed days at a time and you don't fear hell anymore. That hell you feared when you were four or five years old hasn't disappeared. It's still there waiting for you. It's still waiting for you.

47:50 God hasn't blotted his hell out of the earth. You've just begun to get a hard heart. Oh, dear children, don't cultivate a hard heart. Because one of the most hardening influences is the trumping of the feet of the gospel over your heart.

48:16 Perhaps there's no hardness like the hardness that comes from hearing the gospel again and again and again and again and resisting the overtures of mercy and the appeals of the tender love of Jesus to come and to find in him forgiveness and everlasting life. You need to cry to God to give you a tender heart. And then every word from God seek to enfold it by prayer and meditation. Cherish every serious thought of heaven and hell and Christ and the cross and the life of holiness. Cherish every seed of the word of the kingdom. A hard, unplowed heart will never savingly, understand or receive the word. But then there's a third truth taught in this passage and it's a frightening truth, but I must preach it because it's there.

Application 3: The Present, Powerful Activity of the Devil

49:21 Jesus teaches us in this parable that there is a present, powerful activity of the devil in hindering the saving reception of the truth of God. Jesus teaches that there is a present and powerful activity of the devil in hindering the saving reception of the truth of God. Luke tells us in Luke 8, 12, Then cometh the devil and takes away the word from their heart that they may not believe and be saved. Matthew uses that more vigorous verb, harpazo, to seize by force and to take away by force. And that's the teaching of the word of God everywhere. The devil is described in Ephesians 2, 1 as the spirit who is actively working in the sons of disobedience. 2 Corinthians 4, 4 The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not.

50:28 2 Timothy 2, 26 They are taken captive by him unto his will. Listen to me young and old alike. Listen. You may not take the devil seriously, but he takes you seriously.

50:44 You hear me? You may not take him seriously, but he takes you seriously. Then cometh the devil and takes away the word that they may not be saved. And if they're not saved, they'll be damned with him.

51:05 May I say it without being in any way flippant or reverent? The devil is determined to have a population boom in hell. And he's got you marked. What's the devil care about me?

51:26 Every creature made in the image of God but fallen in Adam who does not return to becoming a joyful image bearer of God by receiving a new heart and by being joined to Christ, by becoming one of Christ ones, in a sense, every such one who becomes a wreck of the marred image of God and is ultimately cast from his presence into hell, is as it were part of the devil's gleeful triumph and defiance of God. My friend, listen. According to this passage, there's a presence and there is a powerful activity of the devil in hindering the saving reception of the truth of God. Now the devil is not omniscient, so obviously he does not work directly in every place where the gospel is preached, but he need not work directly or immediately, but he works mediately through downness of mind, distracting interest, trivial talk, unwise humor, a critical spirit, a hyper-analytical attitude that says until I can figure it all out I won't believe it. Men will slip into hell cogitating and thinking and figuring when they should have been repenting

52:55 and believing and running to Christ for mercy. My friend, if the devil ceases to be in earnest, deluding, deceiving, snatching away the seed and damning souls, then we can write a book, Soul Winning Made Easy. Until then, soul winning is never easy. You know what I'm grappling with as I preach this morning?

53:29 I'm not just grappling with the minds of some that happen to inhabit bodies that may have been kept awake with a sick child, caring for some legitimate need. I'm not simply grappling with various moods and states of some who physiologically are at a time in their own lives when there is weariness or dull...

53:50 No, no, no. Anyone set on bringing the word of God home with a view that people will be saved is in hand-to-hand combat with the devil himself. He's the one who's injecting into your mind right now. Ah, this is all a bunch of histrionics.

54:08 I bet he practiced all of that in front of a mirror. That's all a lot of preachers talk. I mean, he gets paid for that. As far as I know, probably gets a pretty good salary.

54:18 Listen, my friend, you know where those thoughts come from. The one who wants to damn you. You ought to be thinking right now, where am I before God? The God who made me, the God who'll judge me, the God who sent His Son to the world for sinners like myself.

54:35 Where am I in relationship to the blood of Jesus and to the righteousness of Jesus and to the claims of Jesus and to the yoke of Jesus and the grace of Jesus? That's what should fill my mind. And why do you find it so hard? You just begin to get serious and your mind is taken off here.

54:54 You begin to think in a concentrated way about these things. It's taken off there. I'll tell you why. There is a present, powerful activity of the devil in hindering the saving reception of the truth of God.

Application 4: Warrant for Indiscriminate Gospel Sowing

55:07 Bishop Ryle in his own inimitable way said, perhaps nowhere is the devil more active than in a congregation of Christians under the preaching of the word of God. Perhaps nowhere is the devil more active than in a congregation of Christians under the preaching of the word of God. Oh, children of God, plead that when we come each Lord's day, God would bind the powers of darkness and resist everything that would be a tool in his hands to make your heart anything other than soft, pliable, receptive soil. Then I close and just touch briefly on this fourth observation. Here in this passage is a beautiful warrant for the abundant, indiscriminate sowing of gospel seed. People debate whether or not we ought to preach the gospel to all men indiscriminately. Will you get the picture?

56:07 When the sower went out to sow, he didn't get on his hands and knees and say, now, let me feel over here. Oh, that's a little bit hard soil. I don't want to waste the seed there. Better not put any there.

56:17 And then go around and say, oh, let me feel. Oh, that's soil now. A few too many people have walked. You see, he was not fastidious about wasting a few seed.

56:26 He was so determined that the seed would find every little square inch of good soil that he was willing to waste some by throwing it on bad soil. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful picture of God's command in Christ. Preach the gospel to the whole creation.

56:45 Cast it out. Cast it out. Even when you see something that looks like hard soil very, very close to it may lie a piece of prepared soil that will bring forth thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Don't be discouraged that so much gospel seed seems to be wasted.

57:07 God will never rebuke you for emptying your seed bag. He'll fill it up again. He'll fill it up again. You're just the soil of the gospel seed.

57:19 Scatter it. There will be those whose hearts are like the wayside who do not understand it. They say, don't bother me. I've got more important things to do.

57:33 And your heart is grieved. And when it's grieved, then you're tempted to draw back because nobody likes to expose himself to repeated grief. But don't draw back. Keep sowing it.

57:44 Keep sowing it. Keep sowing it. In due season we shall reap if we faint not. And in the most unlikely places God has some good soil.

57:57 Good soil. Don't you go around being a soil tester. You just be in the business of sowing seed. That's your task.

58:08 That's my task. Yes, the Son of God knew as He sat in the boat by the shore of Galilee, that amongst those vast multitudes who at this point were hanging upon every word, He had no silly notion that all of their hearts were good soil. But He preached to them all anyway. Go thou and do likewise.

58:25 May God grant that we shall hear the parable of the sower. These by the wayside are they who when they hear and understand not, then cometh the evil one and takes away that which is evil. And when they hear and understand not, then cometh the evil one and takes away that which hath been sown in their hearts. Luke says that they may not be saved.

58:52 Oh, may God grant that that will not continue to be a description of your heart. But may your heart be that described as a good and an honest heart made such by grace that receives the word, brings forth fruit with patience even unto everlasting life. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for the words of our Lord Jesus.

59:30 We thank You for this parable that in so many ways unlocks the perspectives of so much of Your Word. And we pray that that which has been preached today, the seed of this very passage that has been cast abroad into the minds and hearts of those comprising this congregation, oh, that it may germinate and spring forth into the fruits of everlasting life. May not the appeals and the entreaties be in vain, but may Your Holy Spirit seal the Word, opening eyes, turning some from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto Yourself, that they may receive forgiveness, and the inheritance among the sanctified. Hear then our prayer and answer us for the praise of Your own grace. Amen.