Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: I've already determined that I'm not going to accept anything this guy has to say before I've even heard it. I've already decided I'm not going to listen to God because I don't believe in Him. I've already determined I'm not going to accept the Word of God, because I'm not even willing to hear it and consider it. See, if you're not even willing, the issue is not whether it's credible, it's you got a hard heart.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the Senior Pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Read the Red. Let's listen in as JP gives us part two of Mark 4:1-20.

JP Jones: Hebrews chapter 4 says, the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces as far as the division of soul and spirit and joint and marrow. It's able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart.

Jesus says about the word in John chapter 17, praying to God the Father, "Sanctify them in truth, thy word is truth." So, the word that Jesus is talking about is God's word that has the power to change our lives, to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct us, to train us in righteousness. The word that can set us free.

And as I mentioned, it's the word, not in a specific sense of the word, as in the Gospel, but in the word as in its broad sense, all the truth that God has communicated to us. So, for some of us, it may be the Gospel. The word that we're hearing is the word calling us to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Teaching us that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But for others of us, it may be the Word of God that's instructing us about our marriage and the kind of marriage God wants us to have. Or for others of us, it might be the Word of God that's telling us about how we should be handling our finances. Or for others of us, it's the Word of God that should be, it's teaching us about the priorities we should be living by on a daily basis.

Or for others of us, it's the Word of God that's instructing us about living by faith. Or for others of us, it's the Word of God that's teaching us about having a godly righteous character and being people of integrity. See, Genesis to Revelation, 66 books, the Word of God.

That speaks to us in our life situation. The sower sows the word. So whenever the Word of God goes out through preaching on Sunday morning or on a radio program or by reading it in the Bible for yourself or sitting in a small group or talking over a cup of coffee with somebody or sitting in a jacuzzi, as somebody's reading the Bible. It's the Word of God that goes out.

Jesus is talking about that phenomena. The sower sowing the word. And then Jesus says, it lands just like seed in different kind of ground. Not all ground is the same. Not all soil is the same. People's spiritual responsiveness to God, it's not the same.

And Jesus says, depending on the kind of ground that the seed lands in, it will or will not produce fruit. So the ground, the soil that it lands in determines the fruitfulness of the seed. The seed has life in itself. The Word of God has life-changing power in itself, but the kind of soil that it lands in determines whether that life-giving power is released or stifled.

And so just like the four soils that Jesus mentions, he says there are four spiritual conditions in the human heart. Four kinds of responses that people can have to God's word, when they hear God's word. Just like the ground that's hard, people can have a hard heart. And because the ground is hard, the seed hits the ground and it doesn't even get a chance to be planted. And as a result, the bird can come and snatch it.

In the same way, Jesus says, some people have hard hearts, they don't receive the word, and then Satan comes and snatches it. Jesus says there is a spiritual dynamic that has taken place when someone is unresponsive, unbelieving, rejecting of His word. There's something going on more than just an intellectual issue. It's not just, my questions weren't answered, therefore I feel intellectually justified in rejecting the message.

Now, Jesus says there's a spiritual dynamic. Your heart was hardened and that's why you didn't listen and receive, and because your heart was hard, Satan snatched the word. You know, the Bible says that there is a spiritual battle going on. There's a spiritual battle going on for people's eternal salvation. There's a spiritual battle going on for people's spiritual transformation.

Second Corinthians chapter 4 says, "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so they may not see the light of the glory of the Gospel in Jesus Christ." There's a spiritual dynamic that's happening when people hear the word. Right now, as I'm explaining this parable, teaching God's word, there's a spiritual dynamic going on. And there's some of us right here right now who are having a real hard time listening and believing anything I have to say.

In fact, so I'd be willing to bet, if I had money in my pocket, I'd be willing to bet, there's some guy sitting here right now that's here because your wife has brought you here. So you're sitting here, you're hearing this preacher stand up and teach the Bible, and you're going, "I don't believe that at all. My gosh, I can't believe all these people are here on Sundays to listen to this. I'm glad I got the game TiVo'd. Let's see, did I get my did I get my reservations right for the brunch we're going to afterwards? You know, I love my wife, so I'm willing to be here, but I don't accept any of this stuff." I'm sure there's somebody thinking that right now.

And what I would like to say to you, if you're thinking that, is just put a check on that thought and say, "Now, wait a minute. Am I thinking that because there's really no credibility to the message or because I have a hard heart?"

I've already determined that I'm not going to accept anything this guy has to say before I've even heard it. I've already decided I'm not going to listen to God because I don't believe in Him. I've already determined I'm not going to accept the Word of God, because I'm not even willing to hear it and consider it. See, if you're not even willing, the issue is not whether it's credible, it's you got a hard heart. And Jesus spoke to people expecting to have a hard heart.

Now, for those of you, you don't identify with the guy I just said in my little scenario, don't assume, don't naively assume, "Well, I have a good heart. I have a pure heart. I have a humble heart. I have a responsive heart." You know what the Word of God says in Jeremiah 17, "The heart is deceitful and desperately sick, who can know it?" Then God says, "I alone judge the hearts and I alone render to every man according to his works." In reality, God's the only one who even knows our hearts.

But there is in the teaching of Jesus and then the reality of life, the fact that some people have hard hearts and they hear the message, and the message doesn't transform their lives, not because the message doesn't have the power to transform their lives, it's because they never received it in the first place because they had a hard heart.

Jesus says, "There's also the rocky soil." The rocky soil he says, that's when he first gave the story, he says, "That's where the seed is planted, but because there's so many rocks, the root doesn't really get developed and rooted in the ground. It kind of grows between the rocks. And so when the sun scorches it, it just withers away."

And then he says, "This is like the person who immediately receives the word with joy, but when persecution and pressure come, they just throw in the towel because they didn't have a real root."

I take this to mean, this is the person, and please don't, don't hear any judgment in my voice because I'm putting myself in this whole category along with you. And Jesus wasn't speaking with judgment, he was just kind of saying the facts. Let's let's look at it. There's some people who whose life is filled with trauma and crises, and they just want deliverance.

So much so that they're not even very discerning about where they might receive it. They just want a quick fix, because they don't like the way they feel, they don't like what's happening, they don't like the situation that they're in. So Jesus says, "People like that sometimes immediately hear the Gospel, immediately hear the Word of God, and think that's my quick fix."

"So if I just believe this, my marriage will be perfect. If I just believe this, I'll get my job back. If I just believe this, the cancer will go out of my body. If I just believe this, people will love me the way I want to be loved. If I just believe this, everything that I don't like about my life will now all of a sudden be wonderful." So they believe it, thinking that's what they're going to get out of it. And then when the change doesn't happen, and reality bites, it's still there. The marriage is still the way it always was. The cancer is still in your body. You don't get the job. What you thought God was going to do for you, he doesn't do for you.

What you do is, "I tried that Christian thing, it doesn't work." See, that's the person who immediately receives it with joy. "Ah, this is the answer I've always been looking for! Now everything will be the way I want it to be." And then when it's not the way I want it to be, just chuck that, throw in the towel. "I tried that before and it doesn't work." See, that's the rocky soil. The problem, Jesus says, is not with the word, it's the way you received it and even why you received it.

Jesus now says there's weedy soil. Weedy soil, seed is sown, lands in the soil with a lot of weeds. It gets planted, the root goes down, the plant starts to grow, but all the weeds choke it out, and it never bears any fruit. Jesus says, "This is the person whose heart is filled with the desire for riches and comfort and other things," and it chokes out the word. This is the person whose heart is willing to receive the word along with a whole lot of other things.

Jesus is just one of many things that's in their heart. Their loyalties are divided. Their priorities are divided. They are hooked in what the Bible says, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life." And as a result, the word is choked out because the word doesn't have centrality and priority in their life. The Gospel isn't defining who they are. Their hearts aren't fully surrendered over to Christ. And so God's word, they do receive it, but not in a way to change their lives, and so other things choke it out.

So, in effect, Jesus gives us three types of soils where the Word of God is not fully transforming the person's life. And he just says it like it is. He says, "There's nothing wrong with the word. It's the heart." Either a hard heart, a rocky heart, or a weedy heart.

And then he says, "There's the good soil." Now the good soil is the person who receives the word, and if you look in Matthew and Luke's account, understands the word, accepts the word, and practices the word, and as a result, the word, which has life-giving power, transforms the person's life and produces fruit. And fruit is always used in the Bible to speak about the outward evidence of the inward nature. Fruit is the outward evidence of the inward nature.

So if you go out and you see an apple hanging from a tree in your backyard, you know it's an apple tree. Why? Well, it's got apples. You you see an orange hanging on a tree, it's an orange tree. See a banana hanging on, it's a banana tree. Why? Because the fruit tells you the inner nature. So the person who receives the word, the Word of God, the reality of Jesus Christ in one's life, fills up the life and then it overflows in fruit. And there's this this spiritual principle where the word has the power to produce fruit all on its own. So the Word of God is transforming a person's life. Why? Because the Word of God has the power to transform a person's life. And why? They're good soil. They've got a heart, a humble heart to receive it, to accept it, to understand it, and to apply it, to live it out.

So Jesus says, "The fruitful life flows out of a good heart." So here's the application. Three questions. Number one, what kind of heart do I have? What kind of heart do I have? That's a very good question for us to ask. I was talking to a guy here after the 9:00 service. And I said, "You know what? My backyard has different kinds of soil even in the one yard." There's certain part of the yard where it's really hard like clay, it's hard soil. And then there's another part of my yard which just naturally has more moisture and it's good soil, has some sun but not full sun all the time and things grow really easily there. And then there's some part of the soil that's got, you know, rocks and gravel and stuff in it and someplace where it just seems like weeds grow all the time.

So my one yard has all those kinds of soils. I said, "You know what? I feel like, personally, I'm just talking personally here. I feel like my heart is like that. I wish it was always good, but on some things, I kind of have a hard heart. On other things, I kind of have a rocky heart. On other things, I kind of have a weedy heart. And on some stuff, I got a good heart."

If you feel like you have a good heart, then that's awesome. God bless you. If you feel like you've got a rocky heart, well, you need to own up to that before you can experience all that Christ would want to do in your life. If you feel like you have a weedy heart, you need to own up to that. If you have a hard heart, you need to own up to it, because the point of the parable is to expose what's in our hearts.

Now, this is first JP. So, take it for that. This is not in the parable, but I'm just reading between the lines and I think I'm accurate on this. Jesus is in the boat, he's speaking to the crowd, very good chances, there's a guy right behind the crowd up on the hill sowing seed and he goes, "A sower sowed in the seed," and they turn around and see the guy sowing the seed. So here's the guy now, looks, "Oh, everybody's looking at me. I'm just sowing seed."

It's landing on different kinds of soils. So if you went up and talked to the farmer who's sowing the seed, and you said, "You got different kind of soil?" "Yeah." "So you got some that's hard?" "Mm-hmm." "You got some that's rocky?" "Yeah." "You got some that's a lot of weeds?" "Yeah." "You got some that's good soil?" "That's good." "So, are you just kind of leaving the soil the way it is? Just, you know, it is what it is." "No!" "What do you mean?" "Well, I'm trying to get as much crop as I can. So I get my hoe out and I break up the hard soil. And I get down on my hands and knees and I pull the rocks out of the rocky soil and I pull the weeds out of the weedy soil. I want it all to be good soil."

You first got to admit what kind of soil you are. But that didn't mean, "Well, it is what it is. I guess I got a hard heart. I guess I'm part of that 25%. That's me." Well, do you want to have a hard heart? Are you willing to humble yourself? Are you willing to allow God to break your heart so that the word can get into your heart and be planted and you could have a transformed life?

Rocky soil, are you just content to be rocky or are you willing to allow God to do the work to get the rocks out of your heart so that you can be good soil? A weedy heart, are you willing to admit, "I got a lot of weeds. I need to repent of those things and I'm willing to allow God to pluck them out of my heart because I want to be good soil?" See, you got to first admit what your heart's like, and then are you willing to allow God to do what only he can do to give you a good heart so the Word of God can transform your life and produce fruit in your life.

Here's a second question. What kind of heart do I have? Here's the second question, how am I receiving the word? Because the sower sows the word, it's the Word of God that changes us. Romans 10: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." God's word transforms us, gives us faith. God's word teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, trains us in righteousness. God reveals the truth, the truth sets us free. It's the Word of God that changes us. Am I receiving it? Am I allowing it to get into my heart?

I mean again, the illustration of the farmer sowing the seed. If a farmer had a big field and he just kind of took a couple of seeds and went, "Pff," would he have a big crop? How about if he just put tons of seeds all over? You see, if you're not receiving the word and you're wondering, "Why am I not being transformed?" Two things: my heart and my receiving the word. You got to have both. You got to have a good heart that receives the word.

Are you hearing it? Are you studying it? Are you meditating on it? You know, Jesus said in John chapter 15, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples." Revelation 1:3, "Blessed are those who hear the words of these prophecy and reads the words of these prophecies." Second Timothy 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth." Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall be careful to do everything that's written in it. And then, as you meditate on it, you will be prosperous and successful."

So we need to be reading the word and studying the word and meditating. We need to get it into our lives. We need to be receiving it. Ask the question, how am I receiving the word? And the third, last question, is the word producing fruit in my life? Is the word producing fruit in my life? Do I see spiritual transformation, maybe not perfectly, maybe not just like I look from yesterday to today, but over time, do I see an increasing humility before God, an increasing love for God, an increasing faith, an increasing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?

Do I see the reality of Jesus in my life? If I say I'm an apple tree, are there any apples? If I say I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, is there the evidence of Christ in my life? A couple of weeks ago, our pastors, we played in a charity golf tournament for the Harvest Crusade. And we're going to be, you know, joining with them again this summer in that outreach. So they had a fundraiser for the Harvest Crusade. We're playing a golf tournament over at Dove Canyon.

And I noticed, which I notice this regularly, there were guys working on the golf course, all over the course. In fact, those of you who play golf know that a good golf course, they're constantly working on the course, constantly grooming the greens, constantly doing the work to make the grass as healthy as possible, constantly doing what it takes to to get that course in the best shape possible. In the same way, a farmer who is good at his craft is constantly working in the fields, constantly working the crops, constantly working on those trees, constantly giving attention. Because the goal, you see, is fruitfulness, health. Spiritually speaking, are we responding to God's work, and are we doing the work to have good hearts that produce much fruit? That's the bottom line. That's what the parable is all about. Do you have a good heart that produces much fruit?

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. We're in a series called Read the Red. We're studying the teachings of Jesus from the Gospels. And Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever lived. His teachings related to life, His teachings introduce us to grace and the Gospel, His teachings call us to discipleship. We're discussing one of the teachings of Jesus, a very popular teaching. It was a parable, a story that Jesus gave about a farmer who sowed a seed and the seed landed in different types of ground, and depending on the kind of ground that the seed landed in, it either produced fruit or it didn't. Jesus says that the seed is the Word of God, and the soil is the human heart. And Jesus says there's different heart conditions. He says there's three kinds of hearts that people have that respond differently to the seed of His word. There's the hard heart, there's the rocky heart, there's the weedy heart, and then there's the good heart. The hard heart, that's the person who responds to the Gospel with unbelief. They reject it. And Jesus says there's a spiritual battle that's going on there. The god of this world, Satan, he snatches the word, and the person with the hard heart rejects it. Jesus also says there's the rocky heart. This is the person who without perspective receives the word because they think it's going to make their life better, but they aren't considering what it really means, they aren't counting the cost of what it would imply to their following of Christ. And so while they may have an emotional response to the word, it's not thought through, it's not reasoned through, it's not really responsive faith. And whenever there's a trial or a difficulty, the person with the rocky heart immediately falls away because there really was no root in their life in the first place. The third type of response is what Jesus calls the person with the weedy heart. This is the person who does receive the word, but they also allow the cares of this world and the desires for other things to grow in their life, and so those weeds, those worldly weeds choke out the word, so it never becomes fruitful in their life.

And then Jesus says there's the good soil, the good heart. It's the person who receives the word, who accepts it, who responds to faith in it and who allows the word to transform their lives and it produces fruit in their life. Jesus is calling us to be fruitful disciples, fruitful followers of Christ. Jesus is calling us to allow His word to change us, to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct us, to train us in righteousness, to equip us for every good work. Jesus is calling us to let His word be the center of our life, to shape our values, our attitudes, our perspectives. Jesus is calling us to be obedient to His word so that we're we're doers and not just hearers who delude themselves. It is the person with a good heart, a humble heart, a heart of faith, a heart of receiving God's truth that allows that truth to literally change every part of their life. The Christian life really comes down to this: surrendering our whole lives to Jesus Christ, discovering what He has for our life in the word, and then doing it in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the person with a good heart that receives the word and bears fruit with their life. So what kind of heart do you have? What kind of response are you having today to the Word of God? What pleases the Lord and what will bear fruit in your life is a heart response of humility and teachability and obedience to the word of Jesus Christ. Would you ask God to give you that kind of heart? Let's pray together. Jesus, we ask you to give us good hearts, hearts that are humble, hearts that receive your word, hearts that do what it says, hearts that respond to your teaching and allow it to take root in our lives and allow it to transform every part of our lives. May we have good hearts and may your word make us more and more like Jesus Christ. And we pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.