Matt. 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 
Our text this evening is a very challenging one. It places us into an arena that many of us might choose not to enter, but must in order to come into everything that is ordained for us in Christ. This short passage, hopefully, will become a challenge to each of us as we hear, and as we seek to have the Holy Spirit quicken in us the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. I fully place myself at the forefront of this activity of the Holy Spirit, as I am being constantly challenged by that which is before us this evening.
	As a background, and as a place of context, we find ourselves in the midst of the sermon of Jesus to the gathered Children of Israel. It is just after He had concluded the parable of the sower and the seed, and just before He is ready to address His disciples as to the meaning of this parable. Our Lord Jesus Christ was fulfilling the prophecy, as outlined in verse 35 - That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundations of the earth. He was speaking forth the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in a manner in which only those who chose to hear, and to mull them over in their hearts, and to seek after the truth, would be enabled to hear with understanding all that Christ was saying.
	The same is so very true today. It matters not where we are, who we are, how learned we are, nor how blessed we are in our intellectual capacities. If we choose not to dwell on the Word of God, we will not understand it, nor will we receive from it all the truth of God which is contained therein. Many of us have been attending church services all our lives. Many of us have been instructed in the scriptures week in and week out. Most of us have been readers of the Word of God, even to the point of religiously reading the Bible from cover to cover, sometimes on a yearly plan of reading. Yet, how many of us, of all of us, truly desire to hear the full truth of the Word of God as only the Holy Spirit can bring it forth?
	Before there is a flourish of self-congratulatory hand-raising, let us look to the parable of the sower, and determine before the Lord, the condition of our hearts. I would dare-say, that we will discover that we are constantly fluctuating in the receptivity of our hearts toward the Lord’s Word.
	Initially, let us remind ourselves of the parable at hand. It is a well-known one in which Christ relates the saga of the sower planting seeds. Some of the seeds landed on the side of the path, some fell among the stones, some fell among the thorns, and the rest was sown in the good soil. Each type of soil represents something we must consider before the Lord in terms of a heart after God to receive that which He desires.
	The first soil upon which the sower’s seed landed was that of the hardened path’s wayside. The seed could not be absorbed into the soil as it was so packed and thickened with trampling. The seed lay in the open and was devoured by the fowls of the air. It never had a chance to take root, because it could not be received into that packed soil. 
	There are several views in this aspect to be considered. One, and the seemingly primary, rests in the hearts of those listeners who have no interest in the Word that is spoken. Here, reference can be made to those who refuse to acknowledge Christ as anything more than a teacher in history. They will accept the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was alive at one time and that He was a good man, even a prophet of the age, but nothing more than that. If one tries to discuss Christ’s Divinity and Christ being the only way of salvation, one is met with stony silence or adversarial commentary. Consider whom Christ, Himself, was addressing at the time of this parable. He was talking to the Children of Israel. He was trying to get them to hear the Words of the Lord, to seek after the glory of the Father in all His grace and truth. Yet, He knew that there were those who would never recognize Him as the Messiah. They were not ready for the Lordship that He brought. They wanted a place for themselves in the kingdom of this earth and were not interested in the kingdom of God in its spiritual fulfillment. They wanted to have a place of being, a purpose of honor, and a place of self-engrandisement above all the others on the earth. Their focus was not on the way of the Lord, but on the way of the exaltation of themselves. 
	To these hearers, the Word of God was but a tool to be used to achieve a higher elevation of themselves over the rest of this realm. Sacrifices and rituals were but a method of enslaving a people that would give respect and honor to those seen as the learned and the pious. Beyond that, the only purpose of the things of God were as a convenient means of holding forth promises of better times to come for those who knew how to command respect and honor and praise for their highly exalted positions. 
	These were the ones who were not ready, and seemingly never would be ready for the Messiah of God’s plan and purpose. They were never interested in someone who would not establish an earthly kingdom, with them as the highly placed architects of power. Jesus of Nazareth was but a lowly carpenter with an unusual grasp of the scriptures. He was never going to bring them to the power they sought, so they began to subordinate and to sway the crowds to quit listening to His teachings. They were never receptive because their exaltation was never the focus of His messages. He spoke of God, the Father, and the will of the Father, and the Love of the Father. He made no provision for their plans and purposes, so they had no place for Him.
	Again, many have related this soil on the path as those to whom the Word of God means nothing today. It is brought forth into today’s world with a sense of those who refuse to hear the Word of God, or have no interest in it. Many preachers put this label on those heartless-hearers for their lack of capacity to receive and ingest the Truth of Jesus Christ. This world has many things within it that can harden the hearts of those who are not under the pre-salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit. Many programs and devices are implanted into the psyche of the inhabitants of this realm as a better way of life. They choose this deception rather than what they term a crutch for those who are so weak in themselves that they have to turn to a belief in a higher power to make it through the day. So much is seen and taught and communicated in terms of the strength of the person, that the heart becomes trampled under the feet of the power of this age to create a well-worn crushing of the soil as a shield against any Word of God from getting through. And, it would appear, that there are those to Whom the Word of God will never penetrate. 
	Yet, as hopeless as it may appear, The Holy Spirit, in His miraculous pre-salvation ministry, is greater than the power of this age. If one is called of God to receive the Word, the Holy Spirit will most assuredly be actively working to break apart that hardened clay of hearing to allow the Word of Our Lord Jesus Christ access into any hardened heart of a hearer. It may take years, or so it may seem, but God will be proven, even in the heart of the most fiery of agnostics under the tremendous Grace of the Love of God in Christ Jesus. 
	Yes, the soil may be trampled under foot, and hard-formed clay may seem to be impermeable to Christ, but we place our hope firmly on the Word of God in Eph. 2:1-5 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)...   
	We were all in the same situation until the Holy Spirit made the Word of God a living reality in our lives. He broke apart the soil, and He cultivated it with His Grace and Mercy. He watered the seed and He caused life to spring forth where nothing else could grow. On that basis alone, it would appear that there is more at the heart of the Lord’s word than that which we have yet considered. 
	Now, we must measure this truth in our hearts before the Lord. How many times have we come to a meeting where the Word of God was being shared, not because we wanted to, but because we had to? We feel that it is our obligation as a member of the community of Christ to be at the meeting, but our hearts are not in it. We are simply fulfilling a requirement, without any earnest desire after what the Lord has for us. We come, we sit, we seem to listen, and then we leave without any true hearing of the Word. Our minds and our hearts are elsewhere, completely impervious to the things of God. We do not spend time during the week to think and to pray on the things that are shared. We do not give His Word even another moment’s consideration as we depart from the assembly. Even in our reading of the Scripture, we concentrate on the words and on the stories without seeking after the Holy Spirit to open the depth of the truth held within the life of Christ that Scripture contains. It makes the Word of God nothing more than a piece of literature, an anthology of writings to be discussed and critiqued, rather than to be lived.
	Is this too harsh? Is this too crushing? Is this too close to the truth of our being here at times? Now please realize, that even if it is obligation, the place to be is in fellowship, especially in those times of our discontent. So often, we will use our lack of interest as an excuse to be elsewhere, even believing that we would be more productive if we were involved in other pursuits rather than wasting an hour or so at a meeting that holds no interest for us. But the fact is that there is nowhere else to go to receive nourishment for our spiritual beings. We can seek a place among the pagans, so to speak, but there is nothing for us of any true value there. It is with the body, that we receive some nourishment, even if the portion we accept unto ourselves is but a meager one. And please apprehend the fact, as well, that any growth we experience is in direct proportion to the sustenance of our beings. Meager portions beget meager growth. This might well be an explanation as to why we sometimes seem to have a lack of growth in our lives before God. If we are not willing to receive of Him, and to study His Word, and to seek after a greater knowledge of Him, we will soon find that our lives give evidence to the same. 
	The prophet Ezekiel was faced with this situation as related in Ezekiel 33:31-32 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 
	Our carelessness in hearing the Word of God is often masked in our sentimentality. We look for those things which appeal to the emotional senses in what is being shared. Like the people of Ezekiel’s day, we enjoy a good performance, with all the bells and whistles in the vernacular of today, and then we leave without any true hearing taking place. This is being experienced in many of the mega-churches of this day. The flocks are tremendous because the senses are being stimulated to the maximum effect, but are the sheep being fed or sheered? An uncompromising question, but one that demands an answer before the Lord. His Body is being conditioned not to come to church to be fed, but to be entertained. There is a carelessness in hearing which is developing due in great part to the fact that there is a carelessness in preparation to meet together and to bring forth the Word of God. 
	Using His name in attracting the crowds, for better or for worse, places a tremendous burden of bringing forth His Truth to the members of His Body. The people of God are being conditioned not to hear the truth, but rather to experience the sensationalism which will draw them back for more next week, and the following week. The ears are being deadened by a constant barrage of that which sounds so lovely, but is so shallow in depth and life. Unless it is Christ, and Christ crucified that is proclaimed, and proclaimed uncompromisingly from every pulpit of His Church, there is nothing to be said. And, if the flock continually is fed the sentimental fluff, the hearts will be hardened to the truth when it is proclaimed because it will lack the emotional appeal that is being craved. 
	Where do we find our heart before God? That is the question we must face in the verse before us. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Do we have ears to hear His Word? At times, it may be that we have closed our ears to the Word. The soil of our hearts has been trampled into a solid mass resembling concrete, it seems. We have no desire after the things of God because we no longer hunger and thirst to grow spiritually. This is because we have allowed ourselves to be desensitized to the reality of the Word of God. We have allowed so much to have a place in our hearts that we are no longer soft to the things of God. Rather than come with reverence and honor before the Lord, coming to do Him homage and service, we are sullen and sloppy in our preparation. Rather than thrilling to hear His Word as children at His feet, yearning after every Word that proceeds forth, we are so self-righteous and so self-satisfied that we know it all, that we no longer need to hear what is being said. There is no penetration into us, because we are too complacent in our attitude before God. We settle for those things that strike our sentimentality, our emotional responses, with no care given for those things that will cause us to exercise our growth into the Faith of Jesus Christ. The multimedia realm of our lives has made the flash and bang the expected, and if it doesn’t entertain us, we are not interested and our attention span wanders into other avenues of concern to us.
	James addresses this issue of the careless hearing in Chapter 1, verses 21-24 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was, But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 
	There is life in the Word of God, eternal life in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is never to be taken for granted, neither can He be ignored. His Word is active, powerful, all truth, full of Grace and Mercy and Glory. None can ignore it forever. He is the expressed image of the One, True and Living God. As such, He deserves more, much more than a mere show in our attendance at the meetings. We are the ones who have been given an audience before the Most Holy God in Jesus Christ. As we gather together, in preparation for every meeting, every message, every worship, let us ask, simply ask the Holy Spirit to break apart any hardness in the soil of our hearts. We may say this without any true feeling in it, but the Holy Spirit does know how to quicken our hearts unto Him. He is very active, even when we seem to be nothing but spiritual couch potatoes, to bring into effect a desire after the things of God, those things which shew forth the only true value of eternity, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our hearts may be packed with all the weight of this world, but He is capable of breaking asunder the hardest surface in order to bring forth the life of Jesus Christ into fruition. Nothing can withstand the tilling work of God, when that tilling is desired in order to bring forth Glory and Honor in Jesus Christ.
	Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.