Please remain standing. We'll be reading from Luke, chapter eight. I'm going to start in verse nine.

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said to you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. But for others, they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now, the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. And the ones along the path are those who have heard.

Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. And they believe for a while. And in time of testing, they fall away.

And as for the ones who fell on the thorns, they are those who hear. But as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that, in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast and honest and a good heart. And they bear fruit with patience. Now, no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light.

For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be made known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. For to the one who has, more will be given, and for the one who has not even what he thinks he has will be taken away. Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And when he was.

And he was told, your mother and brother are standing outside, desiring to see you. But he answered them. He said, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Take your seats.

Let's pray. God in heaven, we thank you for this morning, for the rain, for our city, and for this time where we get to hear from you. I pray that everything I have to say this morning would be in line with what you would have me say in accordance with your spirit, in accordance with your word, that it would be building in the hearts and minds of those who listen today. We need you, Lord. We seek you.

We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. The year was about 2005, and I was about five years removed from my parents home. And it was like, year after year, I was losing my way as a Christian. And as I began to kind of lose my way, I picked up this desire to lift weights.

And the Lord used those weights to challenge me to find a workout partner. And I found a workout partner, a guy named Bryce Eddie. Bryce Eddie was a guy who loved his wife, loved his daughters, loved the Lord, served in his church, worked hard every day. He was everything I wanted to be as a man. He challenged me to consider my walk with God.

He challenged me by sharing God's word. And I could hear God almost calling me through Bryce and our friendship. But it wasn't really only Bryce. But I feel like God used Bryce to cultivate in me a heart of openness to turning my heart to God again. So I joined a men's group.

And in that men's group, we had to read the Bible really every day together. And we would talk about it on Friday mornings. And there was one day where I was sitting in my car. I got to the Bible study a little bit early. And I was listening with my earphones in and reading the Bible.

And I used to love doing that. And I don't know where it was, but it was in the book of Matthew. And on this day, I heard God's word in a way I'd never heard it before. It was like I knew it was true. I knew it had something for me.

And from that moment forward, I began to cultivate. Or God began to cultivate in me a desire to hear his word. And I took it into my heart.

This is the type of experience I believe a lot of people were going through when they were hearing Jesus preach in Luke eight. We have gentiles, we have Jews. We have gentiles who are irreligious gentiles. We have Jews who grew up in the rabbinic homes and synagogues. We have all different types of people who are hearing jesus speak.

And they are realizing the truthfulness of what he's saying. The word of God is coming through Jesus and is changing lives, changing minds, changing hearts. He is speaking and people are listening. He is speaking and people are changing. He is speaking and people are responding.

All of what they are, all of what they want is being reformed through his preaching. This is all happening in Luke. And as we've been going through the book, we've seen him call people out of the world of darkness, the kingdom of man, into this kingdom of God. And he says, blessed are you who come to this kingdom. I have creating.

And woe to those of you who are serving the other kingdom. He's preaching these things in this passage we're looking at today. The heart of the issue in this passage is right in verse 18. Take a look there. It says this, take care, then how you hear.

Take care, then how you hear.

Take care, then how you hear. This is the heart of the issue. Jesus is driving very hard at how you hear. This morning we're going to have two questions that we're going to deal with in this sermon. The first one is, what does jesus mean when he says, be careful or take care how you hear?

What does this mean? Second question is, how does he hope? Or what does he expect? Or how does he hope the disciples would respond to this teaching? First is, what does he mean by this teaching?

Take care how you listen. And then how does he expect the disciples to respond to this teaching?

You'll notice in these surrounding passages that the word hear is said nine times. Nine times. How you hear. He starts off with this parable that he's explaining, and we'll notice there are four types of environments. First, you have the path where this sower is sowing seed and the sowing of the seed.

The Bible says in verse eleven that the seed the person is sowing is the word of God. Now, the word of God that's being sown falls on first this path. And this path is like any path. If seed falls on it, it'll be trampled underfoot. And that's what Jesus says when it's trampled underfoot.

This is like those who hear the word of God. They hear it, but they do not understand. The second group that the seed falls on are those in the rocky soil. And these are those who hear the word. They respond quickly, with joy.

But then the trials draw away the word of God in their life. They hear, but they don't hold on. Then there's a third group where they hear the word of God. It says, and this seed falls in the thorns. And then when the word of God is growing up, the thorns choke out the word, and they choke out the word through the pleasures of life and the riches of life and the cares of the world choke out the fruit of this vine, this word that's growing.

And this word never matures. Neither those who hear it, but the world takes it from them and never mature. Then there's another group, and it's those who hear the word, and they hold fast to it, and they take it in their heart with a sense of honesty before God. And it even says there's a patience in how they're bearing fruit with this word of God in their life. So Jesus is teaching this and what he's meaning here.

Is he's trying to show them what it looks like when you take care of how you listen. These different groups are characterized by how they hear. He also, and Pastor David talked about this last week. He's not only teaching them about how they hear, but he's also showing them the nature of the kingdom of God. He's been preaching.

And some people respond and some do not. Some respond with joy. And they go all in to hear from their heart, a good heart and patience. And they follow the word of God, and others walk away. He's teaching them this.

That's what it means. He's also showing them a process. The process. See, now he not only is talking about how they hear, but then he goes on to verse 16. He says, now it's almost looking at disciples, that no one who has heard the word of God and takes it in their heart would hide that they're like a lamp.

No one would cover a lamp, but they would put the lamp on a stand so that all people could see the word of God birthing and moving from their life. No one would cover a lamp. They would share it. They would show it. They would demonstrate it so that people could see the light as it says.

Another thing he teaches in this is that the nature of the kingdom and the nature of the world and the nature of the word of God is it. The word of God seems to cut through secrets. The word of God seems to cut through hiddenness. It says, for nothing is hidden. Verse 17.

That will not be made known, no secret will not come to light.

See, Jesus is not only teaching about the fact that the word of God is out there in the world and helping people to respond to him, but he's also calling people to this idea that the word of God is piercing to the heart of man. Everything that it touches, it uncovers. Everything it touches, it reveals before God.

And the last thing he says here, that he wants them to understand about taking care how they listen or how they hear. When he says this, he says, take care then how you hear. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. This is not a the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is not about material things.

This is about the revelation of God going into the heart of a person and them longing and wanting more and getting more. And then it's the person who thinks they have it, having it taken away.

All of what Jesus is teaching here is about how they hear. And in how they hear. He knows the stakes are high. How you hear is about your life. How you hear is about your eternity.

How you hear is about your soul. Everything goes down to how you hear. And he knows this. So when he's teaching this and saying this, he's driving to what matters most.

How do we know this? John 525 says this. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here. When the dead will hear the voice of the son of God, and those who hear will live.

Hearing is living. Hearing is faith. When jesus says, take care how you listen, he's talking about their faith. He's talking about their obedience. He's talking about their life.

He's talking about their walk with God. He's talking about knowing who God is calling them to be and walking with the God who created them. It all starts with their hearing.

The stakes are high. And this is what he means when he says, take care how you listen.

When I started hearing God's word in that way in the car that day, I wanted to obey God more, but I still fell short. I wanted to hear it that day and then be able to live his will out perfectly after that. But that wasn't the case. I think even now, as I look back on those times, I think about how many times I heard and I ignored God. How many times I heard God, and then I changed what he said to hold on to my sin.

How many times I heard God and disobeyed God. How many times I heard God, and I didn't want to hear what God had to say. I thought about all those things and all those moments, and it seemed that I spent my entire life hearing God and never responding faithfully. That's how I felt.

But then, as I look at the scriptures now, and I'm now 42, and this is a long time ago, but I look back and I realize that in my sin and my struggle, that when I came to faith in Christ and I put my trust in him, those times I wasn't hearing. In some ways, he was hearing on my behalf, and he was obeying on my behalf. When I wasn't hearing, he was hearing and obeying. Give me an amen. If you believe that Christ lived the perfect life, you could not live.

Amen. Okay. So then, therefore, Christ heard in a way you could not hear. Amen. Amen.

So, in many ways, when I wasn't hearing God and wasn't responding to God, now that I have faith in God, he's heard for me in a way I could never have heard in my past, and he's going to hear for me in my future in a way that I maybe could not hear, that he, in some ways, and always in every way, is covering my lack of hearing. He's heard for me, he's obeyed for me. So when I look back on those days when I hearing God's word, I can rejoice. And now I look forward to. Now I go, man, this is what he planned all along, that I would hear him and rejoice in the message of him.

It's obeying, yes. It's hearing, yes. And it's his glory. Yes. It's all wrapped in one, that I must hear his voice, I must respond to his voice.

All of this is happening inside of me. All this is happening in the people that Jesus is preaching to, and he wants them to take care how they hear, because the stakes are high.

I love how he puts this word in there, in the passage, if you notice. Look with me to verse 15, just to drive home this point about him hearing in your place and obeying in your place and still calling you to hear and obey. He says that there's that last soil. It says, as for that, in the good soil, they are those hearing the word hold fast in an honest and good heart. And here it is.

Bear fruit with patience.

Okay? So just stay with me. They bear fruit with patience because when they heard, they didn't have it all that day, they had to be patient. As God was working and working, and patience was coming out, faithfulness was coming out, joy was coming out, hope was coming out, steadfastness was coming out, strength was coming out, suffering. All the things were coming out over the years of God's patience just working in their lives.

And that's the vision he had for them. Even there. He was building it even there. The fact that they would hear, they would listen, they would fall down, they would get back up, they would hear, they would listen, they would fall down, they would get back up. He knew that patience was required in the hearing and the living out of the fruitfulness of God.

It's all there. This is what he meant when he said, take care how you listen. Take care how you hear. Now the second question, how did Jesus hope the disciples would respond to this teaching? I kind of pulled out a few things starting in verse 16.

I think we kind of dealt with the first one. He expected and was hoping that these disciples would take the word into their hearts with a sense of this patience and this desire to see the fruit bear in their lives. And they would have this good, honest heart before God, that they would take this on, this idea. And as he's teaching these disciples, and he even tells them that you, disciples, you've been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God or the mysteries of God, he knew that they had the ability to take it in.

So he hoped that they would take it in, into their hearts, not just obedience, but heart and obedience. And then it also says in verse 16, no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but they put it on a stand.

He knew that he was preaching. Some were listening, some were not. He knew that when they went out, some would listen, some would not. But in every case, they were to be the light to the world. They were to let the word of God grow in their life, the fruit of God, birth in their life.

He wanted these disciples to see this as he's teaching them. I think also with these disciples, it's almost a process of discipleship built into these verses. It's like you just see it where he's wanting them to take in the word by faith, and he's wanting them to grow and desire to grow and desire to be light. And then recognizing in that, this contrast, he does this contrast, you'll see in verse 1617 and 18, it's light and dark. You don't cover the light that's dark.

You let it out. Let it be light. You have this hidden and then manifest. You have this secret that's made known. So it's almost as though these disciples are being called to recognize the nature of their hearts before a holy God, so that they could stand before God.

All of their hiddenness, all of their secrets, all of their sins that are going to be made known one day can be made known now before God.

You see, if you're on the wrong side of this, you live your whole life trying to hide your sin from God, and one day you have to face him anyway. But if you're on the good side of this with the disciples, you know that you ought to face God one day. So you make it right now, all of your secrets, all of your hiddenness, you just let it out. That's why every week, I mean, Pastor David just said this. We're trying to look away and look toward Christ.

This is what he's teaching. All the hidden things will be revealed. He wants them to know that. He wants them to have this search me, God. Know me, renew me, spirit, as he looks at his disciples.

And then he goes into this next section, I've said this already. I'm going to say it again.

He says, for more will be given, and for the one who has not even what he thinks he has will be taken away. Jesus wanted the disciples to trust the promise. The promise is that if the word of God takes root in your life, more will be given to you that you can trust that God is going to keep delivering on, teaching you and leading you and loving you and directing you, building wisdom into you. And he wanted them to know that promise. And the warning, and the warning is to those who think they have it, but do not.

And then there's a final thing. I think Jesus wanted the disciples to learn as he was teaching him in this one scene here about hearing. It's a few verses down, verse 19. Look with me, it says, then his mother and his brother came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see you.

But he answered them. My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.

Depending on what kind of preacher you are, you can emphasize certain things here. I can emphasize the fact that he's saying do it, or I can emphasize the fact that he says, you're my brothers.

I want to emphasize the latter. I think this is actually a moment of privilege that he goes, I know my mom's out there trying to get in, but the crowd, she can't get in. I know my brother's out there with her. But you disciples, all of you who hear my word, all of you who do my word, you are my family. Can you imagine Jesus looking to you saying, if you believe me, essentially by hearing me, you are my brothers, you are my sisters, you are my family.

We get to do this together. We get to honor God together. We get to hear God together. As the disciples are hearing this, without getting too much in the experience of the moment, because we weren't there, I just want you to recognize that he's teaching, looking them in their eyes, telling them the certain soil, this good soil, has a heart for God. It's like a light on a stand.

Everything that's hidden will be revealed and so reveal your heart. And my brothers and sisters are those who hear my word, and they do it, do likewise, disciples, this would be a foundation teaching. They would take with them the rest of their apostolic ministries. This would be the foundation for them understanding discipleship, hearing and doing in community with brothers and sisters who are following Christ.

This is what he wanted for them. He wanted these disciples to strive. And we know, just like I said in my first point today, these disciples struggled. They went up and down. They fell short.

You're going to see all through Luke. All through Luke. It was up and down, and they listened, and they didn't listen. They doubted, and it was all over the place. And it's like looking in the mirror for all of us.

When we think about the disciples, there seems to be this process that God is using of the word of God. People responding in faith by hearing it, going through a process of revealing their sins before holy God, and then moving in to listening and obeying this God with the brothers and sisters he's called them to. This is the pattern that he puts before the disciples.

I don't think this message is too theoretical, but oftentimes I think about our children in our service. And today, I wanted to consider the children today. The hux and the Hendrixes and the mink kids, and I know all their names. And Rowan, the boy Rowan, not the girl Rowan. I wanted to think about the Burke boys and girls.

You're kind of older than I'm talking about, but you still count. I want to think about the little kids and the bigger kids and all the kids. And I wanted this to land home for all of us. And I want to close with this. It's a story.

It's a story that I think a lot of us know that I hope will illustrate the point of this message. Take care how you listen. Take care how you hear. It's about a guy that a lot of us know. And so I'm talking to you, children.

I'm going to ask you some questions, so get ready. It's a story about a guy who. He had a heart for God. He wrote psalms for God. He had a heart for God.

He knew God. He does know God. But he went through a season where he stopped hearing from God and the pleasures of life and the riches of life started to choke out his wisdom and the word of God in his life. And there came a time where a man who walked with God needed to come to him, to speak the word of God to him, to get him back on the right track.

This man's name is King David. Children, do you know the name King David? Yeah. Let me ask you a question, children.

Who did King David kill with a slingshot?

Goliath. Okay, so this is the guy that killed Goliath. This is after Goliath. So this is a faithful guy who loves God. Well, let me tell you what happened one day he saw a woman that he liked that wasn't his wife, and he decided to take that woman as his own.

And he decided to send that woman's husband to the front lines of a battlefield to die. He took a man's wife. He murdered a man. And he tried to do it in secrecy. He wanted really no one to find out.

And so one day, his really good friend Nathan, a prophet, comes to him to talk to him, to speak to him. And now we know David has sinned greatly. We know David has heard from God in the past, but he's at a low moment in his life. This is what Nathan tells David, a parable about his hidden sin and stealing that woman and killing that man. Here's the parable.

There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds. Children, are you listening? Very many flocks and herds. And he brought up that Ew lamb.

And he took the eulam and he grew it up and he grew it up with his children. And he used to eat with the EW lamb and morsels off his table, and he would drink with it from his cup. And he would lie with this ew lamb in his arms. And he cared for this lamb like a daughter. Now, there came a traveler to a rich man, and this rich man was unwilling to take one of his own flock and prepare it for the traveler.

So he went and he took the poor man's lamb and he prepared it, and he gave it away to the traveler. Do you guys see that? Students, children. He stole from another man. How's David going to respond to this story?

Well, this is what David says. David's anger kindled greatly against the man. And he said, nathan, nathan, as long as the Lord lives, this man who has done these things deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he has done this thing. He had no pity.

Now, Nathan, his friend, who used this parable to teach David a lesson about his secret sin and about how he stopped hearing from God. Now is his opportunity. Is he going to hear from God? What do you think, students? Is David going to hear from God now?

What do you think, Hendrix? What do you think? Is he going to listen? Okay, here we go. Here's what happens.

Nathan says to him. Nathan looks at David and says, you are the man. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. I anointed you king over Israel, and I have delivered you out of the hand of Saul. Essentially, Nathan is saying, you were a faithful man called by God.

And you have stopped being faithful. And now God is here now, speaking through me to tell you to turn from your sin. This is what David says. David said, nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

I've sinned against the Lord. So, students, children, do you think God's gonna forgive David?

How about Rowan, the boy? What do you think? Yes. Okay, good. All right.

Yeah. God does forgive David. God does restore David. David heard. David fell.

David got back up, and he was used by God. I tell you this story, children, students, adults, because this is the reality of humanity, as Jesus is teaching the book of Luke. And through this chapter, he's talking to people who are going to seek to hear him, are going to seek to obey him, and they're going to go through the ups and downs, and they're still called to by faith, trust him and have him carry them along the way as they, with patience, bear fruit. That's the path. Jesus taught these things is what he desires.

And so now, this morning, we can stand here hearing the word of God, singing the word of God and remembering his grace that he gets to call us, to take it into our hearts, to remove our sin and look away from it, and then to renew us, to be a lamp so the world can see. And then to call us to a time where brothers and sisters can remember the words that Jesus said, and we can hear them when he says, this is my body broken for you. Take and eat. This is my blood shed for you. Take and drink.

The message that's always saved is a message we must always remember. We must always hear and respond. Let's pray. God in heaven, we thank you for this day. Pray that you would use this word today to be an encouragement to us, that we would hear and trust, and we would hear and obey.

We would hear and all the things that we can do in response to you. I pray that your grace, through Christ, that leads us and builds us and strengthens us. We thank you for stories that you use throughout the Bible, that all these stories would be examples to us, not only to know the history of your people, but also stories to show us how your grace has covered the sins of others and how you call us forward and teach us and show us how we, too, can walk like your disciples walked. Now we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.