Why Some Hear and Some Don’t

0:43 Let me begin this morning, and we are in the Gospel of Mark chapter 4. Let me begin by telling you about Jim. Jim was getting to be hard of hearing, so he went to his ear doctor and audiologist who fitted Jim with the latest, best technology hearing aids. Jim came back for a follow-up appointment two weeks later with his doctor. The doctor said, Jim, how are those hearing aids working out for you? He said, they're fantastic. So much better than the last pair, doc. I can hear every word. even in noisy situations I can hear every word doctor said well that's great and I'm sure your family must be happy as well and he smiled Jim smiled and said haven't told them yet but I have changed my will three times since. You know, sometimes I wish that we all had hearing aids, spiritual hearing aids, so that when truth is heard, it makes an impact. Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Some hear, others listen. And as we said last time, there's a difference.

2:06 I don't know if you are aware, but there's a theory, it's just a theory, that the shape of a person's ears will tell you a lot about their personality. So if you have big ears, you are calm, you are self-reliant, you are independent, you are courageous under pressure. If you happen to have small ears, you're an introvert. You're shy but disciplined. You're humble. If you have square ears, you're creative, peaceful, deeply empathetic. You know how to listen. If your shape is more rounded ears, you're loyal, sensitive, supportive. If you have pointed ears, you are Mr. Spock. No, I'm just kidding. If you have pointed ears, you're smart. You are detail-oriented, analytical. If your ears protrude, you're a non-conformist, quirky, and you hold unique views of life. That's just a theory. A part of that theory also is the size difference. They say if your right ear is larger than your left ear, you're the impulsive sort. If your left ear is larger. You're the cerebral type. You are intense in thought. Now, I see some of you looking at each other's ears. You're probably going to go home and do that in the mirror. But I have a question to leave with you. All that aside, what is the shape of the ears of your heart? I know that doesn't make sense. It's not literal. But I want you just to think about that. Hold that thought.

3:59 What's the shape of the ears of your heart? There's a huge crowd that has gathered around our Lord. There always is, wherever he shows up. Now he's at the Sea of Galilee, verse 1 of chapter 4. There's a large group. He has to manage that group, and he does so by getting into a boat. while they are on the shore, there's a natural amplification system with the water. And he begins to teach them.

4:28 But are they listening? Are they really listening? You know, there's a funny story about one of our presidents, President Roosevelt, FDR. He got tired of banquets and professional situations where people came to meet him. And he just felt that a lot of times people that he would meet in public gushed over the fact that he was the president, but really they weren't listening to him. So at one particular event, there was a long receiving line, and he just thought, you know, I'm going to test to see if they're listening. So he was up to his shenanigans. as they came to meet him, he would lean in and smile and say, I murdered my grandmother this morning. He wanted to see if they were listening. Most people were not. Most people just said, good job, Mr. President. Keep up the great work. But there was one man in the crowd who was listening to him. And when the president said, I murdered my grandmother this morning, this was a Wall Street banker. He leaned in and said, she probably deserved it, Mr. President.

5:43 Well, we're dealing with some of the parables of Jesus here. And as I mentioned last time, it's a whole different technique for communicating truth. In fact, he told parables for two reasons. You remember what they were? One was to reveal the truth. The other reason was to keep the truth from people to conceal it. Those who really wanted to hear what he had to say, he would reveal it deeper by the parable. To those who didn't want to hear, he would hide it. It just became a riddle to them. He is giving here an illustration or a story of a farmer who is planting seeds in different soils. Now, most of us did not grow up on a farm. I'm guessing most of you didn't plant seeds for a living. So this is a parable that you're familiar with it, but it doesn't hit you the same as it did them. If I were to say a man sat down at his computer to write an email, you would get that. But this crowd got this story of the farmer because it was an agrarian culture.

6:54 So we are really going to be looking at verse 14 down to verse 20. But do you mind, can we begin in verse 1 to get the whole context? And again, he began to teach 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. Then he taught them many things by parables and said to them, in his teaching, listen, behold, or check it out, a sower went out to sow, and it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, 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. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8:00 But other seed fell on good ground, and it yielded a crop that sprang up, increased, and produced some thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred. And he said to them, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. But when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable. He said to them, to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things come in littles, parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word, and these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness. And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among the thorns. They are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground. Those who hear the word accept it and bear fruit, some 30 fold, some 60

10:07 and some 100. Verse 13 is a significant key. He said, look, you don't get this parable, you're not going to understand the rest of the parables. You get this one, you'll get the others. You don't get this one, you won't get the others. Now, there are three elements in this story that I want to point out. There's three components, all of which paint the picture of what it is to hear to really listen. And these three explain, these three elements will explain why it is some people hear and others do not. See, the problem is not in the auditory nerve. It's not in the optical nerve. It's not what you're able to just figure out by sound or sight. the problem goes much deeper to the core of who you are. And this explains why some of you sit on every word and drink in every word. And when the sermon is done, you go, oh, we're just getting started. Wish there were more. But others of you endure a sermon. Look at your watch and you wonder, what is it going to be done?

11:31 Of course, the answer is not soon enough. Why is that? Why do some really listen and some do not? You're about to find out. And the three elements are pretty simple. The sower, the seed, the soils. Let's find out who they are. First of all, the sower, in verse 14, says, the sower sows the word. This is called the parable of the sower. The sower is the preacher, the teacher. Jesus, in this case, is teaching them. The sower sows the word. This is the person proclaiming truth, proclaiming the word. Okay, go back to verse 3 and notice he says, listen, behold, a sower went out to sow. If you're a believer, and I'm just addressing all y'all as such, we all go out to sow. We all go out to sow. All of you are spiritual horticulturists, spiritual agronomists we all proclaim the truth to some degree the question is where and how effectively or ineffectively if you read through the new testament you discover something that is not there you never in the new testament read about a missions department in a church you will never read about a mission program or a mission committee. And here's why. The church is the mission. The whole church has a mission in the world. What is the mission? What are we supposed to be doing? Sowing seed. Sowing seed.

13:20 Proclaiming truth. Jesus gave a commission in Matthew 28. We call it, anybody know? the Great Commission, and he says, to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you. That is for all of us to be doing. There's nobody that has a gift of missionary.

13:48 That's not a New Testament gift. We are all called to be missionaries. Now, do you remember who led you to Christ? Can you think of that person? Maybe it was in a conversation or you heard a sermon or you went to a concert. Something that tipped you over the edge into the kingdom. I'm guessing it wasn't one. I'm guessing it was several events or conversations or messages you heard that added to that till you finally said, okay, I'm surrendering my life to Christ. That's usually how it goes. Remember Paul said, I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God that gave the increase. But you are a Christian because somebody cared enough to sow seed in your life, to plant it, to teach it, to preach it, to proclaim it. Now it's your turn. sowers all. The second component is the seed. That's also in verse 14 and throughout the entire story. The sower sows, and here's the seed, the Word. The Word. The seed is the Word of God.

14:59 The seed is the biblical message of salvation. The seed is the gospel. I told you before that there are three places that the parables show up in the New Testament Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In Luke's account, Luke chapter 8 of this, he has Jesus saying this, the seed is the word of God. Now here's a question. Why on earth would Jesus compare the word of God to a seed because both have life within them. Both have the power of life within them. The seed is the word of God. Now, Peter picks up on this. Remember, Peter was there when Jesus said all this.

15:53 So years later, he would write 1 Peter 1. Listen to how close this sounds. having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Here's the thing about seed. If you look at it, it didn't look like much. In fact, it looks ugly sometimes. Look at that seed. If you're close enough, what does that look like? Yeah, it looks like a skull. That's ugly seed. You look at seeds, they're small, they're shriveled, they're kind of like dirt cloddy or little stones. But there's power in them. I'll prove it. Ever walked on a sidewalk and you see a little weed or plant popping through? That's power. For that little seed to break open, have enough force to thrust a stock up through cement, that's powerful. Now, likewise, that's the seed. The gospel is like the seed. Seeds look ugly. The gospel looks and sounds ugly to a lot of people at first. Now, I know we call it the good news, but when a lot of unbelievers hear the gospel, the whole gospel, it didn't sound good to them at first. Because part of the gospel is there's one God and one only, one Savior and one only, one way to heaven and one only, and all other belief systems are false and will lead a person to an eternal judgment of hell. That's an offense to people. That's an offense. That's why Paul said the cross is an offense.

17:40 It's foolishness to the Greeks. It's a stumbling stone to the Jews. But it happens to be true. And part of the gospel is that all of that judgment that rests upon us is taken away in Christ who took the punishment for us. And when that seed germinates in a heart and begins to grow and break through the soil, life is produced and transformation takes place. I'm convinced you could take a page from the New Testament, rip it out. I'm not asking you to do this. Rip it out, put it in a bottle, put a cork in the bottle, take it in the middle of the ocean, let it wash up on some shore, somebody could find that page and read it, and their life could be transformed from just the truth that is on that one page. That's the power of the gospel. How powerful is it? Jeremiah 23, the Lord says, my word is a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. The Word of God can break stubborn pride and hard hearts. Hebrews chapter 4, the Word of God is a two-edged sword. Ephesians 6, likewise, the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God can touch places a surgeon's scalpel can never get to, cut deeply into our lives.

19:09 Jeremiah chapter 23. My word is like a fire, God says. It has the power to consume. But also a fire, it has the power to warm you up if you have a cold and insensitive heart. Psalm 119 describes the power of the word. David said, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It gives me direction. helps me make sense out of this crazy world. So the sower, proclaimer of the truth, seed, word of God, gospel, message of salvation. Let me give you a caution. Anybody who sows seed needs to sow just the seed. If you mix that seed with other stuff and dilute it, it becomes dangerous.

20:04 see back in Leviticus chapter 19 there's this odd thing that God dumps into the law for the children of Israel he's giving them all sorts of laws and then he says you shall not sow your field with mixed seed a lot of commentators scratch their head at that verse wonder why is that dropped in there it seems that God is saying I want holiness and separation to be such a part of your existence that it even shows up in how you plant your fields. Don't plant your fields with mixed seed. Likewise, don't mix the gospel. Don't add philosophy to the gospel. Don't add psychology to the gospel. Don't add tradition to the gospel. Don't add ritual to the gospel. The gospel is you're a sinner. Jesus is a savior. Believe in him and him alone, period.

21:02 Don't mix it. You mix it, you'll end up with no gospel at all. So those are two components. The soil, or the seed, and the sower. The third is the soil. And that's verse 15 all the way down to verse 20. And in these verses, we get a picture of four different ways to hear. Four different hearts. Four different heart conditions. You see, the effectiveness of God's word is never the problem. The seed is powerful. The problem lies in the soil that receives it. That's the problem. Now, remember the question I asked at the beginning, what's the shape of the ears of your heart? Now, let me explain that.

21:56 You'll notice in verse 15, the word heart shows up, right? Satan comes immediately, takes the word that was sown in their hearts. Let me explain to you from the Bible what the word heart means. The word heart shows up in Scripture, Genesis to Revelation, about 900 times. I say about because between 800 and 1,000 times, depending on what version you read. Let's just say 900 times, heart shows up. In the Greek language, in the New Testament, the Greek word is cardia. Sounds familiar. Cardiac. We get our word from cardia. Cardiology. Same thing. Comes from the Greek word cardia. We usually use that term to refer to the physical organ that pumps blood. The Bible typically, though sometimes it does, usually does not. The Bible uses the word heart figuratively. And what does it mean? It means the core of your being. The heart in the Bible is where you process your thoughts and form your convictions.

23:05 It's another word for your mind. It's where you think. Here is the biblical heart, right up here. It's your mind. In Proverbs 23, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Genesis 6, the Lord saw that every intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. In the New Testament, Jesus is hanging out with the scribes and Pharisees. It says, in Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why do you think evil in your hearts? And then he said, out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, things that defile. Now, I bring that up because some of you are hearing this and you're going, now, wait a minute. I always thought that the mind and the heart were like opposites.

24:02 That's because you're an American. And that's what we do in the West. We pit the heart against the head. All the pop songs do it, right? You know, I thought this in my head, but my heart says, And so we always pit the heart against the head as opposites. We think that the head is the rational, sterile, unemotional, analytical, logical part of who you are. But the heart is where you feel deeply and experience emotions deeply. That's your heart. No, it's not. In the Bible, you know where you experience your emotions? Anybody know? Your gut. Your gut. If you read the old King James Bible, you pick up on this. Bowels of mercy. You got any bowels of mercy? Bowels of, tender bowels of compassion.

24:55 Because biblical thinking is that a person experiences the deepest emotions in the pit of the stomach. So your heart, biblically, is your mind. It's where you process your thoughts. So here's how the heart works. you hear truth with your ears you process that truth in your minds you then form convictions about that and that shows up in your will and your actions all of that is your heart your heart is the control center the core of who you are it's what you think it's what you want and consequently it's how you feel okay with that in mind let's look at these four soils. The first soil is the hard soil, the hard heart. Verse 14, the sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside. The wayside is the footpath.

26:00 Dirt that's been walked on so long, it's like cement, like the top of this podium. these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown when they hear satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts farmers would toss out the seed into the field some of it would fall on the path birds are pretty smart they always follow the guy with the seeds knowing someone's going to be left behind, which means they claim it as their own. It's like pigeons in the park or at the beach. They're looking for anything. Anything you leave behind, they own. So the birds would take it. This refers to people who are so calloused by their unbelief that the seed of the gospel is unable to penetrate their lives. They refuse to hear it. Anytime you bring up God, Jesus, Bible, truth, salvation, immediately they clam up or put up a wall. I don't want to hear that. They refuse it.

27:13 The Bible calls these people stiff-necked. Stiff-necked. Stephen said to the Jews in the synagogue in Jerusalem, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. So you share the truth. Immediately they, I don't want to hear it. Now when they refuse to hear, they remain enslaved by the devil. Notice verse 15, Satan comes and immediately takes the word away. 2 Corinthians 4, the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not. And here's why he's so keen on snatching the truth from people.

28:08 Satan doesn't like defectors. he didn't want anybody leaving his team and going over to the enemy's team. He does not want to see people liberated. He wants them bound. So that's the hard heart. The second type of hearer or heart is the shallow heart. That's verse 16. These, likewise, are the ones sown on stony ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they stumble okay now you're trying to picture this go what who what farmer is going to put seed in a ground with a bunch of rocks don't you clear them out first yes you would look at this soil and it would look good to you So let me explain.

29:06 First of all, if you ever go to Israel, and by the way, we have a tour now. We're just getting in place for 27 that we're going to take people finally after all this time for a tour to Israel. But if you go to Israel, one thing you notice, everywhere you look, like everywhere, there are rocks. It is the stoniest place I have ever seen in my life, which adds a little bit of fun to the thought when Jesus is coming down the Mount of Olives and the people are going, Hosanna, Hosanna. And the Pharisees said, tell them to shut up. And Jesus said, if they shut up, the stones would cry out, right? I've always wished he would just say, shh, quiet boys. And just, you know, it would be the, I always say the first rock concert in history. Okay, so farmers did remove the stones from off the field, so it looked good, but here's the problem. Go down a little bit, 8, 10, 12 inches of topsoil.

30:11 Underneath, they wouldn't see it right away, there's a shelf of limestone, typical in that area. Bedrock underneath the topsoil. So what does that do? Well, that topsoil has, because it's shallow, lots of nutrients, warmth, some moisture is trapped. So it's like a little greenhouse. You plant seed in that kind of topsoil and it grows quickly. But because it's shallow, it can't establish. The roots cannot take hold. So this is the emotional hero. The emotional hearer hears the seed, the truth, the word, the gospel. That person is moved. They respond quickly. As Jesus said, immediately they receive it with gladness. When you look at this kind of a person, there is every outward indication that this is a genuine believer.

31:14 Look how excited they got. Here's the problem. only their feelings have been affected. Only their feelings have been affected. Under that thin veneer of enthusiasm lies an unrepentant heart and there's no change in their lives. You say, wow, it's kind of scary. How do you tell them apart? Here's how you tell them apart. Turn up the heat and watch. Verse 17, They have no root in themselves. They endure only for a time. Jesus said, the sun comes up and scorches them. And here he interprets, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.

32:05 Turn up the heat and watch. They won't last. They won't stick it out. They will not endure very long. We used to call these kind of people, for fun, back in the day, we used to refer to them as Alka-Seltzer Christians. You know when you put an Alka-Seltzer in water, what happens? Gets very excited. Fizz. Lasts two minutes at most. It fizzes, but it fizzles out very quickly. So Jesus says these people endure only for a time. They can't stand the heat. They can't stand the trials. They can't stand the hardship. They don't like the fact that living the Christian life is a little bit hard, and I'm getting persecuted. It's not what they expected. It's not what they signed up for. What they signed up for is the abundant life part.

32:59 What they signed up for are the personal benefits. They signed up for my best life now. That's what they signed up for. Not the persecution, not the tribulation. many years ago a couple came to a Sunday service and I was meeting people afterwards and they introduced themselves and I shook their hands and I never forget this the man sort of stood up tall and kind of looked a little bit you know like he was looking down at me which is hard because I'm six five but he just kind of bent backwards he goes yeah we're visiting here and we want to see what you have to offer.

33:41 And I thought, well, that's a shallow thing to say. I didn't tell him that. Well, I sort of did in so many words. I tried to bite my tongue, but I finally then said, well, I have a question. What do you have to offer? So this is the shallow heart. We have the hard heart. We have the shallow heart. Third, we come to a soil that I would call the crowded heart. The crowded heart. Verse 18, these are the ones sown among thorns. They hear the word, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire for other things, broad category, entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Okay, this soil is different. This soil is fertile. It's productive. Doesn't have rock underneath it. Looks really good. Things grow in it. That's the problem.

34:41 Anything grows in it. Everything grows in it. Even weeds. you know i i i've never planted a weed have you but they show up don't they you plant your flowers you don't plant weeds it's like you come out the next day it's like okay who did that well they come uninvited don't they and they crowd things out and they compete with the plant that you have put there they just appear This is the distracted heart. This is the preoccupied individual torn between spiritual things and worldly things. That is, they don't have a singular love for Christ.

35:32 And so, cares, deceitfulness, desire for other things, choke it. Let me read that verse, verse 19 alone. I'm going to read it to you in the Amplified Bible. They took a little bit of liberty and expanded on it. The cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age and pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches and craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the word. this person is torn between two kingdoms kingdom of god kingdom of their kingdom they they have too much of jesus in them to be really happy in this world they have too much of this world in them to really be happy in jesus alone they're the crowded heart divided heart there's thorns and i already mentioned the thorns to you you remember a psalm 86 if you don't let me just quote it to you one little phrase david said unite my heart to fear your name unite my heart what on earth does that mean lord don't let me have a divided heart in relationship with you divided to other things there was a young man proposing to his girlfriend they had been dating he proposed very eloquently very beautifully. It was sort of a nice long proposal. And at the end of it, he said, I don't have a Ferrari like Jimmy does. I don't own a yacht like Jimmy does. And I'm not rich like Jimmy is, but I love you with all my heart. And she said, I love you, but tell me more about Jimmy. She didn't know that about Jimmy until that moment. Now the heart is divided.

37:36 In 1 John, the apostle said, Do not love the world nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And the world is passing away and the lust thereof. But whoever does the will of the Father, whoever does the will of God, is his. when you love the word eventually you will forsake the world when you love the world eventually you will forsake the word the seed will produce or you will love what is competing with it enough that it will get choked out now the thing is so far we've looked at three different hearts all of these three and the fourth can all be in church.

38:30 Can't tell by looking. Can't tell the real from the fake. I remember as a kid, we used to eat ice cream, but then the manufacturers came up with imitation ice cream. My mom would buy that because it was cheaper. Then the manufacturers came up with something called ice milk, which is a drag. And then, believe it or not, the manufacturers came up with something called imitation ice milk. give us air now right imitation believers so three types of soil three types of hearts three types of listeners the hard heart the shallow heart the crowded heart here's the fourth the fruitful heart verse 20 this is the best of all but these are the ones and maybe he pointed to his disciples sown on good ground who hear the word accept it and bear fruit.

39:30 Some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. This is the receptive heart. The seed is received. The seed takes root. The roots go down deep. The plant produces fruit. God's word doesn't bounce off the surface. It doesn't momentarily flourish only to shrivel up later on. Their Christian life doesn't get choked out by competing interests. The truth is established. Best, best description of this in the Old Testament is Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the law of the Lord. In his law does he meditate day and night.

40:23 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season. Its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does will prosper. That's the fruitful heart. when Paul wrote a little letter to Thessalonian Christians, listen to what he said. We also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. That's the receptive heart, which also effectively works in you who believe. It's pretty evident because you have root system. So if you have no root, you'll have no fruit. If you have root, there will be fruit.

41:25 One brings the other. but as we close this, I want you to notice the very end of verse 20. Jesus gives us a very unusual, I would say unexpected ending. And that is this farmer, this farmer reaps way more than he has sown.

41:51 He says, they accepted and they bear fruit some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. That is a harvest of 3,000%, 6,000%, and 10,000%. There's something in farming called the seed-to-yield ratio. The seed-to-yield ratio. In ancient times, it was like 8 to 1. you get like a seven to eight hundred percent increase from what you plant this is monumental this is three thousand six thousand ten thousand why because he's speaking about what the gospel empowered by the holy spirit can do supernatural work will bring supernatural results how do you measure conversion how do you measure conversion you can't you can't You can't really measure it because you might have a conversation with a friend or a loved one and you plant a seed, you share a truth, you preach the gospel.

42:58 They may not want to hear it today, but six months from now, you or they might hear it from somewhere else. Hear truth. It germinates. It waters. It is fertilized a little bit. You don't know where it's going to lead. and you don't know what one person that you lead to Christ is going to end up doing, where that's going to go. I'll give you a quick example. When I think of my ministry, and I always love it when somebody says, you know, I came to faith in Christ through your ministry. I go, well, thank you, but really you need to thank Billy Graham, because Billy Graham is the one that really led me to Christ. 1973, I was watching him on TV, I tell him the story. But then, I got to think it this way. Billy Graham came to faith by listening to a man named Mordecai Ham preach a gospel message in Charlotte, North Carolina.

43:55 And he was like one of the last people to walk down at that altar call. So when I die and go to heaven, I got to find Mordecai Ham and say, dude, thanks so much for doing that. Because that led Billy to Christ, that led me to Christ. And others have come since. but I can't stop there because what I found out is that a man by the name of Billy Sunday ever heard of him he was an evangelist before that he was a professional baseball player he had a meeting with Charlotte North Carolina businessman and persuaded them to sponsor the Mordecai ham evangelistic event which happened so when I get to heaven I need to thank Billy Sunday for coming to Charlotte and talking to those guys and thank those businessmen for forking up the money to have that event. But Billy Sunday had been hired after his professional baseball career. He was hired by the YMCA to be an evangelist. Now think about that. That was the day when the YMCA actually preached the gospel. They hired an evangelist. And he was hired by a man named Wilbur Chapman. And I've read some of his works. So when I die and go to heaven, I need to find Wilbur Chapman now to thank him for his work in Billy Sunday's life.

45:18 But Wilbur Chapman was a college student who was led to Christ by a man named F.B. Meyer, whose books I still read. But F.B. Meyer got into the ministry because he was in church one day when Dwight L. Moody preached. And it was Moody's message that so moved Meyer that Meyer said, I'm going to get into the ministry. So, of course, when I die and go to heaven, I want to go find D.L. Moody to put a pat on his back and thank him. But I really can't stop there because D.L. Moody was an unbeliever. working in a shoe store in Chicago. And in 1855, a young Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball was shuffling his feet outside the shoe store. And he was wondering, should I go inside and talk to that kid?

46:13 Nah. I mean, he debated. He almost didn't do it. Nah, I'm not going to go bother him during work. But something gripped him and he walked into the shoe store and he put his arm on Moody's shoulder and led him to Christ. That's the ripple effect. You cannot measure conversion. You plant the seed, you let the Holy Spirit water it and you watch what grows. So. so tag you're it it's your turn our turn thank you father for this glorious seed that we bear the gospel the life-changing gospel it looks so unimpressive it sounds ugly to some but buried within it is the power to transform a life thank you for it