Earthly Stories with a Heavenly Meaning

0:50 Good morning. Thank you. Welcome back. Thank you. I appreciate that. I have been on a working vacation. The last couple of years, I'll take the month of July off so that I can do another job called writing. So I cranked out eight chapters of a new book on prophecy from 30,000 feet that are coming out next year and all about end times, prophecy, eschatology. So it was a working vacation, more working than vacation, but 75 degrees was the high where I was at. Sorry to rub that in, but it was, and it was, it was lovely. You've been, you've been under some great teaching though. I was able to follow online and you are well taken care of with Pastor Nate and Pastor Taylor and Caden. I got to tune in online and I will say the online experience is pretty awesome. We have an incredible worship team. You can tell if a worship team is good when you're online because in a room, sometimes you don't know if notes are on or off.

1:56 And to hear it over the TV was just so beautifully done. We have a great worship team, great video team. So the online experience is good, but it's better to be here in person, right? And so I feel like Dorothy, there's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home. Would you turn in your Bibles this morning to the gospel of Mark once again, as we're going through this book, Mark chapter four, Mark chapter four. once upon a time when you hear that phrase you lean in because you know that a story is coming once upon a time that phrase transports you into an imaginary world a mystical world once upon a time there was a handsome prince once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. Once upon a time, there was a wicked king. Or this one. Once upon a time, there was a woman married to an annoying man named Steve.

3:13 He would complain about everything. One day, he went to their creek with his mule. He complained so much that his mule got annoyed and kicked him to death. At the funeral, when all the men walked by the wife, she shook her head yes, and every time the women walked by, she shook her head no. being very curious the minister came up to her after and said why was it that you would shake your head yes for the men but you were shaking your head no for the women her reply was this the men were saying how sorry they felt for me and I was saying, yes, I'll be all right.

4:17 The women walked by asking if the mule was for sale. And I said, no. Once upon a time. Storytelling predates written history. Storytelling goes all the way back to tribes telling their story over and over again to the younger generations, telling them the history of the tribe, the identity of the tribe, the migration patterns, moral stories to apply to the next generation. Storytelling spans genres of film, literature,

5:04 theater. When you think of great storytellers, you might think of William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens or J.R.R. Tolkien or Steven Spielberg. Storytelling is natural. It's very natural to our communication. I would say it's the most natural form of communication. It has been estimated that 65% of daily communication is storytelling. And if you think about it, that's right. If you think about it, when you tell your friends or your family or your neighbors or your colleagues what you did yesterday or you did over the weekend, you are going to tell them stories. You're going to give them a narrative that has anecdotes in them to explain your life. Well, all of that is a background to what we're about to read in Mark chapter 4.

5:58 In Mark chapter 4, Jesus enters a brand new phase of his ministry, a phase of communication in his ministry, a phase in his teaching style. He's going to change the way he teaches. And what's interesting about the gospel of Mark is Mark doesn't really give us much of Jesus' teaching. He gives us a bunch of it in chapter 4 and a bunch of it in chapter 13. And the rest of it, it's really about what he did, not what he said. It's like the newspaper version of the life of Christ. But Mark chapter 4 is an important one because it marks a shift in the way Jesus communicates. And what I mean by that, and you'll discover it, is he is going to teach by parables, parables. Now, usually when parables are talked about, they're interpreted this way. Jesus told delightful stories to get the crowd's attention, to delight them, and to make people understand what he was saying.

7:02 Yes and no. That's only partially correct, and you will see why in a moment. What really happens is that he employs this new method of storytelling via parable at a very specific time in his ministry at a certain point for a certain reason. Now, let me just catch you up. In chapter 3, it has been an exhausting and long day for our Lord.

7:34 It begins with his family. His family comes from Nazareth. Some of his brothers think he's out of his mind because there are so many people. Jesus doesn't even have enough time to eat. This whole Messiah thing is getting out of hand. They want to take him by force and bring him back to Nazareth. Then he has a group of critics, scribes and Pharisees, who are looking for ways to entrap him and get him killed. And they eventually will succeed in doing that. They accuse him in chapter 3 of being in league with the devil himself. Yes, Jesus can do these miracles, but that only means he's doing them and casting out demons by the prince of demons, Beelzebub. You remember that accusation. This is all in the same day. When they accuse him of being in league with the devil, Jesus then uses that as an opportunity to describe their condition of committing the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

8:38 Then immediately after that comes chapter 4. Now, chronologically speaking, Jesus' ministry is about three and a half years in total. Chapter 4 of Mark is right in the middle of that three-and-a-half-year mark, right at kind of the pinnacle of his Galilean ministry, halfway through his earthly ministry. So he has been at it for over a year, teaching people, healing people, doing miracle after miracle. Nobody has seen anything like it. And he is gathering steam in terms of the crowd. The crowds are growing. but one thing about Jesus we know is that he knows what people are thinking. He has that distinct advantage, so no matter who's in the crowd, he knew perfectly well why they were there, what their intention was. John chapter 2 describes that. It says, He knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.

9:55 So he knew why they were coming. what I'd like to do with you in this chapter, chapter four, we're going to go down from verse one down to verse 12 today, because the whole parable goes all the way down to verse 20. He gives the parable, then he will explain the parable to his disciples. And we'll look at that next time. But I'd like to give you four characteristics of interacting with truth, Four characteristics of interacting with truth. Four attributes that are always the case whenever you deal with truth, whether it's truth in a classroom, truth from a pulpit in a sermon, or from your parents. Truth. Four characteristics. Number one, truth is a priority. this is evident in the life of Jesus if you look at verse 1 and 2 notice what it says and again he began to teach them by the sea and a great multitude was gathered to him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. You can picture it, right? It's like an amphitheater. He launches out a little bit in the water. The crowd is there on the shore. They can't get any further.

11:21 The amplification of the water would help. Verse 2, then he taught them many things by parables and said to them in his teaching. Stop there. There's a few words I'd like you to notice. First is the word again. And then notice the threefold repetition of the same word in different conjugal forms, the word teach. Teach, taught, and teaching. He's doing it again. What is he doing again? Teaching them. He taught them. He's all about teaching. Jesus never grew weary of teaching truth. that was his priority. Time after time, day after day, place after place, he is teaching truth. I want to show you back a few chapters. Go back with me to chapter 1 of Mark's gospel, just to kind of get this fresh in your memory. Chapter 1, verse 14.

12:39 Now after John, that is John the Baptist, was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Go down to verse 21 of chapter 1 of Mark. Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes. Then turn to chapter 2, verse 1. And again he entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them. There's the crowds growing, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them. Look at verse 13 of chapter 2. Then he went out again by the sea, and all the multitudes came to him, and he taught them.

13:55 then again in chapter 4 that we just read, and again, he began to teach by the sea. You see, this is pretty important to him. Sometimes it says he preached. Sometimes it says he taught. Two different words, two different meanings. Preaching and teaching. And those are two different activities, by the way. Preaching is the word keruso. It means to herald, to proclaim, to announce. When it says Jesus taught them or was teaching them, it is the word didasko. Didasko. And that means to instruct. To instruct. We get the word didactic from it. To educate or to instruct. Kenneth Wiest, the Greek scholar, said this word used here in Mark chapter 4 describes the process of explaining the word to them line upon line, precept upon precept. In other words, Jesus is doing biblical exposition. He's not ranting and raving and just expressing his own opinions. He's explaining truth to them from God's word. Teaching and preaching, two different things. Both very important. We need both. We need preaching. We need teaching. We need preaching to come to Christ. We need teaching to grow in Christ. Preaching is the proclamation of the gospel. Teaching is the explanation of the gospel. Preaching tells people how to get to heaven.

15:37 Teaching tells people how to live on earth until they get to heaven. preaching focuses on salvation teaching focuses on progression growth when the preacher preaches the church becomes a birthing center new life born again when the teacher teaches the church becomes an incubator that promotes spiritual maturity. So Jesus did both activities, preaching, heralding, and teaching, educating, instructing, line upon line, precept upon precept. What's interesting to me is that though he did both, Jesus is never referred to as the preacher, but about 60 times in the gospels he is called the teacher he is known for this priority activity one who taught so again he began to teach by the sea and a great notice as a great multitude was gathered to him now we're used to reading that right this is jesus growing ministry Wherever he shows up, people show up.

17:01 Great multitudes. Why? He's the greatest show in town. That's why. He's the greatest show in that town, in any town, in all of that country. They have never seen anyone like this ever. Not only who teaches like this, but who does miracle after miracle, healing after healing. He virtually banished disease for three and a half years. wherever he showed up, he did miracles. So there's a multitude and we're used to reading that. Back in chapter three, we've already noted great multitudes followed him from Galilee, Judea, Idumea, Jerusalem, and other places. It was getting so big. You remember back in chapter three, Jesus told his disciples, hey, keep a little boat handy so the crowd doesn't crush me so I can get into the boat and escape this.

18:00 In chapter one, when he healed a leper, do you remember what he told the leper after he healed him? He said, now, don't tell anybody, which would be hard to do, by the way, when you get healed physically. Keep it a secret. Well, everybody's gonna know who knows me, but don't tell anybody. Well, he tells everybody. And because he told everybody, Jesus' fame got so big that he couldn't even get into the cities, into the towns. He had to remain out in the countryside in the rural areas. But this, in chapter 4, is bigger because Mark is using the Greek superlative. And when he says,

18:47 a great multitude was gathered to him, it's the superlative, the greatest multitude, the biggest multitude. This is Mark's way of saying, this crowd is bigger than ever before. To a point where Jesus needed to get away from just to address them. why so many people? Why so many people? Well, I just mentioned he's the greatest show in town, but honestly, there were different reasons for people gathering around Jesus. Some were really interested in what he had to say. Others just wanted a free lunch. They wanted to see a miracle. Others were there because they were looking for something he did or said that they could entrap him in and they could get him killed, which will happen. What's interesting to me, though, about the multitude, the crowd size, is it never affected Jesus' priority.

19:54 He didn't change because of the size of the crowd, small or big. He stayed the same. He didn't get to his head. He didn't go, man, look at this crowd. This would be a great time to take an offering. nor is he annoyed by the crowd. He doesn't say, you know, I don't like all these people. I want to go to a smaller church. What he does do is accommodate to the size of the crowd. He adapted to the circumstance. He got into a boat. He got a little bit away from the shore, and he essentially created a floating pulpit from which to exercise his priority of teaching the word. In other words, truth was so important to him that he is looking for opportunities to make the truth go further. What if we were to look at life that way? I'm looking for opportunities to make the truth go further. I'm going to use my job to make the truth go further.

20:58 I'm going to use my status, my promotion, my position to make the truth go further. and so people are gathering around him, and that's another good question. What am I gathering around? I know what you're gathering around. You're gathering around God's word. You're gathering around God's people, God's kingdom. People gather, but some people gather around a social circle, a golf game, an online game, a bar scene with their friends, gathering around Jesus and his truth is a noble thing to gather around. That's a good priority to keep. So truth is a priority. That's the first characteristic. Second, stories bring clarity. He's about to launch into a story. Verse 3 begins that. Listen, he says, Behold, or look, a sower went out to sow.

22:05 And perhaps where he was, that was happening. He could look up the hill and there's a guy sowing seed, a farmer planting seed. Look, a sower went out to sow. And it happened as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside. That's the footpath. And the birds of the air came and devoured it. some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth but when the sun was up it was scorched and it because it had no root it withered away and some seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some 30 fold, some 60 and some 100, which is a tremendous amount of increase.

23:12 So he launches into a story, a parable, a parable. That word terrible is a word that shows up 48 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's never found in John because John doesn't record any of the parables of Jesus. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke do. So Matthew chapter 13, Mark chapter 4, Luke chapter 8 discuss the miracles of Jesus. A parable is a story, but it is far more than that. It is a special kind of a story. What do I mean a special kind of a story? A parable is either an eye-opener or an eye-closer.

23:51 Now, I'm going to explain that in a little bit. I've called it, that's the title of this message, an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. But it's actually much more than that. The word parable is, we're going to put the word, I think, up, parabole. That's the Greek word, parabole. And parabole, parable, is a word that comes from two words stuck together. Para, which means next to or alongside of, and balo, which means to put or to cast or to throw or to lay. So the word parabole or parable means to place something next to something else. It's a story that places something next to something else to make a comparison so you can understand it. It's as simple as that.

24:50 It's to place something familiar next to something unfamiliar to make that which is unfamiliar understandable. So you take a common object or a common practice, like planting seeds, something they were familiar with, to elucidate a complex spiritual truth. And they can be very powerful.

25:14 There is an Old Testament example of a parable. When David had committed a sin with Bathsheba, he slept with another man's wife. Then he got her husband killed in battle, Uriah the Hittite. And so the court advisor by the name of Nathan came in and said, David, I want to tell you a story, a parable. There were two men in one city. One was a really rich guy who had many flocks and herds, many animals. And there was a poor man who only had one, one little female lamb. And they loved that lamb, was the family pet. He slept with it. It was like a daughter to him. Well, the rich man wanted to throw a party. and instead of taking one of his many animals and killing it and eating it, he took the one lamb from the poor man's house, slaughtered it and ate it.

26:06 David said, find the man and kill him. Nathan said, you're the guy. You're the man. Now, that parable had an impact. It was like holding up a mirror to David. So we could see, oh, now I know what you mean by that parable. It was me all along. So a good story can do that. A good story will produce good results. Challenge people to think. Hopefully challenge them to respond. Keep in mind, 2,000 years ago, they don't have television, iPads, movies.

26:47 Storytelling was their equivalent of that. And people loved to hear stories. People still do. When a good story is heard, I read this this week, even to this day, when a person hears a good story, chemicals are released in the brain. Good chemicals, good hormones, oxytocin, dopamine, cortisol. These are the kind of chemicals that create empathy and love and bonding and help you remember the details. In fact, experts even say that there's a thing called brain sync, sync, brain sync, S-Y-N-C, sync, that when somebody tells a really good story, the listener's brain activity can actually sync up with the one who is speaking that story. And it is the most effective form of communication. Well, storytelling, parables, that was like the favorite thing that Jewish rabbis would use in their ministry. One third of Jesus' entire teaching catalog was in parables. But it happened at a certain moment. I'm trying to get to that point. It happened at a certain moment. From this point onward, he's going to employ this method.

28:18 And the disciples are going to be taken back by that. I want you to go to verse 33. Just kind of notice this with me. We're getting ahead a little bit, but look at verse 33 of chapter 4. It says, And with many such parable, parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable, he did not speak to them. And when they were alone, he explained all things to his disciples. this is much more than an illustration like a pastor would use in a sermon. Sometimes I hear people point this out. You know, preachers today need to tell more stories because that's what Jesus did. Well, they kind of get the whole idea of a parable wrong. Yes, Jesus told stories, but he did it for, as you'll see, for a couple reasons. On one hand, it was a window. A story was a window that you could see the truth more clearly, but at the same time, it would be a wall.

29:30 that you couldn't see the truth at all. And he's going to explain that. So truth is a priority. Stories bring clarity. Let me give you a third characteristic. Listening is a necessity. there's a bit of a difference between just hearing something and really listening to something look at verse 9 and he said to them he who has ears to hear let him hear you're familiar with that many times that's when jesus told a parable he used that little phrase He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And you'll notice that corresponds with verse 3, where he begins by saying, listen.

30:28 Listen. That's a commandment, by the way. It's in imperative, present imperative. So it's in the imperative mode, present tense. And better translated, be listening. Whenever Jesus says that, he is underscoring the importance of what he is about to say. That don't just hear it with your ears, a verbal articulation of a speaker, but really listen here. Listen in the heart. Take it to heart. Listen. In the Bible, listening is far more than just hearing sounds and apprehending those sounds. To the Hebrew mind, listening carries the idea of being ready to act on what you hear. That is the idea.

31:23 The Jews' probably most famous command in the Bible is called the Shema, which means hear. Deuteronomy 6, Shema Israel, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Then it says, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength. That is, you live according to what you hear. That's the idea. That's the idea.

31:54 I'm going to give you another story from the Old Testament that some of you are familiar with. I hope all of you are, but there was a guy named Samuel who grew up in the tabernacle, you remember. When Samuel was just a little kid and his parents dropped him off to be raised by this priest named Eli, which is a big act of faith for a mom to do that, Samuel's a little kid and he goes to bed one night and he hears God speaking to him, but he didn't know it's God. He just hears a voice, Samuel. He wakes up, goes into Eli, the priest's bedroom, and he goes, what do you want? Here I am.

32:30 Eli said, I didn't call you. Go back to bed. Goes back to bed, happens a second time. Samuel, goes into Eli. What do you want? Here I am. I didn't call you. Go back to bed. That happens three times. Now, Eli's probably thinking, this kid's having bad dreams. I don't know what it is, But do this, young Samuel. Next time you hear the voice calling your name, because it's probably God, say this. Say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Say that. And that word listening means I am listening and ready to act upon what I hear.

33:13 And that is when God calls him into service. It's interesting that three times God calls him, but he never reveals his will until Samuel said, I'm listening. I'm ready to do what you want. Years ago, I had a counseling session with a couple. They came to me for counseling, and I'll be upfront with you. I am not the guy you want to counsel with. You might think you want to talk to me about something, but if you got into a counseling session, you would quickly know this guy doesn't have it. Well, this was early on. I didn't have many people on staff, and so I met with this couple, and I listened to them, their story, and their issues. It was going back and forth, and I could tell they're very deeply at odds with each other. And I knew that I was about to share biblical truth. So I could also sense a reluctance to learn what God wants from them and to employ that in their marriage relationship. So I, after listening to him a while, I said, stop for just a moment. I have a question to ask you.

34:24 And it's a pretty simple question. It's sort of a yes or no question. Are you willing to do in your marriage whatever you discover to be true from the scripture? We're going to go through truth here, scripture. Are you willing to put into practice in your marriage what you discover to be true from the Bible, whatever it is? Because if it's yes, then we'll keep going. If it's, I don't know or no, we're done now.

34:58 I'm not going to drag this out. Because when you hear something and it goes in your ear, in your head, it has to work its way to your heart. That's where you form your conviction, the core of who you are. So from ear or head to heart to feet, you do what you have discovered to be true based on what you hear. So ears, heart, feet. That's the idea of listening, hearing. See, some people say, oh, I really want to do God's will. But really what they mean is, God, would you tell me what it is first so I can kind of decide if I really want to do that or not? Because if I don't, I'm going to take my marbles and go home. listening means willing obedience it is a purposeful choice it is intentional to listen is to stop stop what you're doing stop getting distracted start listening to what God wants sermon listening let's take it into the church setting sermon listening should be an active dialogue with God, where when truth is dispensed and you are hearing it, you should say, what is God saying to me? Not to him.

36:21 To me. What is God saying to me? Hearing God's voice requires eliminating distractions and cultivating an attentive heart. Truth is a priority. Stories bring clarity. Listening is a necessity. Now I'll take you to the fourth. This is sort of the heart of this section. Understanding shows sincerity.

36:52 Understanding, whether you get it or not, shows sincerity, sincerity of your heart. So he says, verse 9, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Verse 10, but when he was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him about the parable. And he said to them, to you, it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. Mystery musterion, that which was secret in the Old Testament, but now disclosed in the New. To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those who are outside, outside the faith, unbelievers, all things come in parables. So that seeing they may see and not perceive.

37:47 and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them. Now, I'm gonna categorize this as one of the hard sayings of Jesus. Those are some pretty tough words because what I'm reading is this. Jesus said, here's why I'm giving you parables. Here's why I'm teaching in parables. I'm teaching for two reasons. Number one, to reveal truth. Number two, to conceal truth.

38:17 To some, it'll reveal. To others, it will conceal. For some, it will help. Help them understand truth deeper. For others, it will hide the truth from others. You say, why would he want to do that? Well, he's quoting Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 9 and 10. Very famous passage. You know, that's where Isaiah said, Here I am, Lord, send me. and Isaiah said, okay, what do you want me to do? God says, I want you to go to the house of Israel and I want you to give them my message, but they're not gonna listen. They're not gonna understand. They're not gonna get it. They have rejected my words, rejected my truth, seeing they do not see, hearing they do not understand. And so Isaiah said, okay, well, how long do you want me to speak to that crowd?

39:11 And God says, basically, until there's no more people left in town and this whole town goes into captivity. In other words, these people have been ignoring your warnings for so long that their consciences are now seared and I am determined to send them into judgment. They were unwilling to respond. Now they're unable to respond. so back to this their understanding the crowd's understanding of jesus parables is sort of like a gauge that shows the condition of their hearts you see jesus is telling his followers they're hearing what you're hearing they're seeing what you're seeing you get it they don't get it but they don't get it because they don't want to get it.

40:11 And so I'm teaching in parables to reveal the truth to you, but to conceal it from them. And the fact that they don't get it shows the depth of their rejection. Now, I mentioned that the parables are given in three places in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew 13, Luke chapter 8, Mark chapter 4. In the same time that Jesus is teaching this parable, Matthew gives us a little more helpful information. Jesus said this, Matthew 13, I'm quoting. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables. Though seeing, they do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

41:04 And then he quotes Isaiah. that seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand. In other words, those who hear the truth and act on it will get more of it. those who hear the truth and act on it will get more of it. Those who reject the truth will ultimately lose the little bit they had. that's frightening. That makes coming to church frightening.

41:44 That's how responsible we are in hearing truth. And if you want to know why that person maybe you're thinking about that used to come to church, used to read his or her Bible, used to pray all the time and hang out with Christians, no longer does, that's why.

42:05 They heard truth superficially. And the fact that they are where they are reveals the condition of their heart. So parables are full of truth for truth accepting people, but full of mystery for truth rejecting people. For some, parables are a joy. Ah, that's really helpful. That makes that truth understandable. For others, it's not a joy. It's a judgment. On one hand, it's an act of grace. On the other hand, it's an act of judgment. Now, remember who's in that crowd. There are scribes and Pharisees. They have heard Jesus' plain, straightforward teaching for over a year. They've rejected it. They have seen sign after sign, miracle after miracle, proof after proof that this is God's son.

43:00 Never in their lives have they seen miracles like this. They've rejected it. So this is now judgment. A judicial blindness has fallen upon them because he has just spoken. Jesus has just spoken about the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This chapter four is the first installment of that judgment.

43:27 Do you remember Moses in the Old Testament going to Pharaoh and Pharaoh did something with his heart. You're going to know what it is. So Moses comes to Pharaoh and says, Pharaoh, let my people go. That's what the Lord says. And what happened to, what did Pharaoh do with his heart? He hardened his heart. Ten times we read, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. But what's interesting is ten more times we read, and God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Why would he do that? He did that because whatever decision Pharaoh would make, God would make it firm, make it harder. So if you say, I'm not going to let those people go, then I'm going to firm that up and make you more obstinate. And then you say it again and I'll firm that up. By the way, if you were to soften your heart, he'll confirm that as well. He'll make that possible. You make that step, he'll confirm that step.

44:32 So 10 times he hardened his heart, 10 times God hardened it after him as a judgment. Back in 1850, there's a little bit of a poem that was written by Joseph Alexander called The doomed man. The doomed man. It goes like this. There is a time we know not when, a line we know not where, that marks the destiny of man betwixt sorrow and despair. There is a line. Though by man unseen, once it has been crossed, even God in all his love hath sworn that all is lost. you remember the book of Romans where it says, and God gave them over to their desires, gave them over to a reprobate mind.

45:29 They made that choice. God gave them over to that choice. They were unwilling. They were unwilling. They were unwilling. They were unwilling. So God now says, now you are unable. So it's a joy or it's a judgment. Well, where does that leave us? Two things. Number one, cultivate a receptive heart.

45:55 Cultivate a receptive heart. How do you do that? Every time you pick up this book, say like young Samuel, speak, Lord, your servant hears. I'm listening. I'm ready to do what you want. or like David in Psalm 119, open my eyes that I might behold wondrous things out of your word. When you go to church, say, Lord, teach me today. When you sit in that seat, Lord, say it again. Lord, what is it you want to say to me during the sermon? Lord, I'm opening my heart to you. What do you want to say to me when you go home? Say the same thing. Cultivate a receptive heart. And then number two, get ready to act. Get ready to act. Remember, hearing, listening in biblical parlance means you want to obey what it says. Hebrews chapter 2, therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest any time we drift away from them.

46:55 so from the ear to the heart to the feet the crowd made room for Jesus on the shore. Somebody made room for Jesus in that boat. Well, we make room for him in our hearts.

47:17 Father, thank you for the plain, understandable, straightforward teaching of Jesus and the parables, the stories that for us who are sincerely interested makes it more approachable, apprehendable, comprehensible to us. And Father, I would pray for anyone who has not received Christ, but even has a modicum of feeling left, that they would respond in the affirmative to the Savior. And if that describes you, friend, if you're here and you've not received Christ, you have not surrendered your life to him, right where you're seated, open your heart to him.

48:13 He will confirm that. He will harden that in a good way and make it possible for you to live for him. If you would just open your heart and say to him something like this, right now where you're seated, Lord, I give you my life. I surrender to you. I know I'm a sinner and I'm sorry. I turn from my sin. I turn to Jesus as Savior. I believe he died for me and rose again.