Derek Grier - Answers For Dirty People
We're gonna be in Luke 8:4. This should be a relatively familiar parable but it is our assignment today. You're gonna learn some new things, some old things, and you're gonna leave here renewed, refreshed, but I also think light bulbs are going to come on this morning. In verse four, "And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come from every city". It's actually biblical that we have come from all the surrounding counties, some from Maryland, some from DC, further into Virginia. We even have folks that drive in from West Virginia. And then we have people from around the world.
Jesus intended this for the Word of God but here's the reason why it's important, because the voices in your life will affect the choices in your life. That's important, one more time. The voices in your life will impact the choices in your life. If that means you gotta get in your car to get the proper voice, get in your car because it will impact your choices. My Bible says that bad company corrupts good character. I can tell you where you're going by the company you keep. I think it was Goth, a famous German writer. He said, "Tell me who you most closely associate with, and I could tell you who you are".
So everyone gathered. They took the journey. They moved by foot, I mean, and they had to sweat and deal with dust and dirt and sometimes animals as they walked to hear Jesus preach. We had air conditioning in most of our cars and you know, we drove and we parked, and you know, it's relatively easy, but folks needed and wanted to hear the word. "And they came and he spoke by parable". Now all a parable is is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. That's all a parable really is. And at first, when it's spoken it sounds like a typical, ordinary story. But while it's told it keeps something up its sleeve, that suddenly pops up and and kind of hits you in the face and makes everything clear.
So Jesus has the task of explaining spiritual phenomenon to people limited in a material world. So there's not really appropriate language where we are to capture it. So he had to take our language to the next level and come up with stories that would somehow illustrate truths. So in verse five, Jesus says this. A sower didn't sit at home. "A sower went out to sow his seed". Now everyone in this agrarian culture understood something about farming.
So typically what would happen is the farmer would first clear the land of obvious rocks, big weeds and trees and he'd plow the land the first time. But after the land was plowed the first time, then the farmer would go out with a big bag on his side and he'd throw and cast seed on the soil as it's plowed a second time. And as the soil is plowed the second time, the plow would plow the seed under and the seed would get buried. And then it would begin the process of germination, et cetera. "And as he" what? Sowed. So he's gonna use something they know to explain something they did not know. So if you can understand this, you can understand that.
"And as they sowed, the wind came along and blowed some of the seed by the wayside or the pathway. And this seed that went by the pathway was trampled down. And because it didn't get deep enough in the soil, the birds of the air devoured it". And then he continues. And actually there's a progression that we'll see a little bit later. "And some fell on rock". So, you know, there was a lot of limestone in that part of the world. And limestone was often flat and, you know, the plow would would break up the soil but sometimes just inches beneath the plow, there would be this flat limestone that would limit the growth of the plant and the farmer though, he didn't know this.
This was not an irresponsible farmer. Actually, we get the language "broadcast" from what they do with the seed. They take the seed and they broadly cast the seed. And what a broadcast does, it casts it to everyone. But if you tune in and your heart's right you hear what I'm saying? How many of y'all tuned in and your heart's right? You will produce a harvest. "And as soon as it's sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture".
Now God, or Jesus here, is using something we understand to explain something we don't understand. Verse seven, four types of soil's here. "And some fell among thorns". This is brambles, thistles, and briers. "And the thorn sprung up with it and choked it. But others," here's the fourth type of soil, "fell on good ground," which is fertile ground, ground with no obstructions, no hindrances. "And it sprung up and yielded a crop a hundred fold". When he had said this thing, everyone that had come from all the counties, if you will, the towns around, they were thinking in their minds, "You know, I travel all this way. I left my farm, I left my animals, I left my kids, I left my wife, to hear riddles about paths, birds, and thorns".
But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So the Bible says he actually raised his voice and began to double down on his message. You see, Jesus did not live scared or preach scared. He knew if you're not convinced about who you are and what you have to say don't expect other people to be. So everyone's wondering, it's like, you know, all this way and that's your message, Jesus? So he cried out and he said, "No it's not about the message or the messenger. This is really about you". And we're gonna see that more clearly. He says "He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit of the Lord has to say".
Now everyone, unless you've been in an accident of some sort, has ears on their heads, but not everyone at all times has ears in their hearts. And it often took help to understand Jesus. Jesus was an unusual, very unordinary man. You needed God to continue to walk with him because he did things that you wouldn't quickly understand. And Jesus was God taken on a flesh. And he wasn't, you know, there this, he wasn't fainthearted. He wasn't a weak man. And if you didn't get it, it's like, well you know what, you got to pray until you do. He was that type of guy. He kept moving to the next place, doing his things.
But my Bible says, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with your whole heart". Yeah. And sometimes Jesus will do things in your life to intensely make you seek him. You wanna quick and easy explanation. God said "Until you find your knees". Some things are hidden from people that just want casual relationships with God. Sometimes you will have to find your knees. You have to strain your brain to understand the ways of God. Your relationship with the Holy Spirit is the most important relationship you will ever have on planet earth. And Jesus didn't always make it easy. 'Cause he wanted his disciples to develop this relationship with God where when they didn't get it, God could show them.
And if someone's always explaining it that becomes a problem. They become your God. So God intensely leads you into places you don't get it. So that you'll look up for the answer. Verse 9, I'm preaching good, but you're coming with me. I can feel you in this room. "Then his disciples asked him". Now Proverbs says wisdom is like a woman. It must be valued and pursued. The Bible just teach something married men? Yeah. Yeah. Truth is like a woman. It must be valued and pursued. And if you don't value her and pursue her, she will break down.
Okay, y'all about to make me take a side journey here. The Bible says that we are to honor our wives. The King James version says as a weaker vessel, but other translations say fragile and precious. So when my wife and I were married I bought her a diamond ring. But it wasn't something I wanted her just to stick in a pocket somewhere. I had it set in a ring. Because it was valued, it was positioned. Do you understand what I'm saying? And when you really value something, you will position it properly. You will find a space for it in your life. I got a lot of things to cover today. But that man, that woman in your life are not just to be acknowledged, but valued and pursued.
So the disciples asked Jesus, what does this parable mean? Like everyone else, disciples didn't get it at first. You will not always get it the first time you hear it. You will not always get it in that instant. You're not that smart. Don't be so proud. When you're dealing with God, this is a mind beyond minds. This is intelligence beyond intelligence. It's unfathomable the brilliance of God, and you with your peeny brain think you going get it every time just like that.
So the disciples who had been following him heard everything that everyone else heard. And then they get Jesus alone, like "Jesus, what does this parable mean"? So like everyone else, they didn't get it at first. But this is the whole point of the narrative. This is why we have the story next to the parable. Because unless you're willing to personally come to Jesus, you will never understand his ways. Unless you lean in, you won't get it.
And then he said, not to those who casually here and walk away, but to you, those who came close, those who are willing to pursue until they understand, "to you, it has been given to know the mysteries or the golden apples of the kingdom of God". So we don't know because we're smart. We know because God made it possible, and watch this, and because it has been given. You see, people in the world get theirs from their God. There's some things we can learn from people in the world. They're going to get theirs. But what I've learned from them is I'm going to get mine from my God because my Bible says you will seek and find me when you search for me with your whole heart.
Halfhearted approaches will not get full on solutions to issues in life. "But to the rest," I don't want to be like the rest. Not understanding, walking away, shaking my head, "What was all that about"? "But to the rest it's given in parables". This book will remain a mystery to many, not because God's unwilling to reveal it, but because many of us are not hungry enough to pursue it. I am preaching good to somebody in this room. If you really want God, your last name must be hungry. And your first always. You gotta go after this thing. And for the married folks, if you really want that thing, your last name needs to be hungry, and your first name always. Because you're gonna have to pursue to get.
Okay. And he said "It's given parables for a reason, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand". Have you ever had an impasse or a conflict with someone who didn't really wanna understand where you were coming from? They just wanted to be right. Yeah. Real confidence is not always being right, but the willingness to admit, I might have got it wrong. Be confident enough to say, "Honey, I might have got it wrong. Child, I might have got it wrong".
That's confidence. And because they asked, because they lingered and stayed around, didn't walk away and say, "Well I thought he was a better preacher than that," because they lingered, Jesus said "Now, because of what you just did, the parable is this. You get this key, the whole thing opens up". He says, "The seed is the Word". Now y'all, I get criticized to this day, "Why are you always in the Bible? Why? Just tell 'em some stories. Talk more about your life and what you are doing. Make them follow you". The seed is the Word of God. The seed is not Derek Grier, not Yeromitou Grier, David "DJ" Grier. The seed is the Word of God. That's where the life comes.
Criticize if you want, I'm gonna stay at it and keep plowing my life straight until Jesus comes. So people wonder why we keep growing when everyone else is shrinking. Well, the mystery is this. The seed is not the preacher humming. The seed is not the piano playing. The seed is not the shine of the building. The seed is the Word of God. So in the parable, when Jesus said that, you all of a sudden understand there was only one constant. It was the seed, the same seed on different soils. God's Word doesn't change, but the soils are in different conditions.
So the problem is not what with God's word, but with the soil in that particular area of your life. So stop, I'm gonna look at the live streamers for this. So stop, stop blaming God for things you have power, but you refuse to change. And Jesus said those by the wayside, those along the pathway, those are the people whose heart have been hardened by the steps of people. Cynicism, skepticism that sets in because you've been run over by life. But what Jesus is teaching us is in God's kingdom, you can't let hard lessons harden you. You will never be able to protect your heart acting like you don't have one But Jesus about to teach us something here.
God has a plan for your pain. He does. Having a baby hurt, but God has a plan for your pain. But watch this, but so does the devil. But so does the devil, so be careful. He said "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear, then the devil..." Let me say it again. The devil has a plan for your pain. Just like God has a plan for your pain, the devil has a strategy and a scheme for your pain. Those by the wayside or the pathway are the ones who hear. But then the devil comes, and when you've been burnt over and over and over and over and over, it's easy but it's lazy to think that indifference will protect you in the future.
All a bitter heart does is rob the owner and close the door on God's help. God can heal a broken heart, but you have to be humble enough to bring it to him. If you get so hard that I'm gonna handle this I'm gonna lock myself in here. It's not that God don't wanna help you. He can help you because you close the door. He said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If you are soften up and let me in, I'll come in and fix the thing. But you gotta open up. Then the devil comes". The devil can only work with what you give him, "and takes away the word out of their hearts". Because of our hard hearts. No matter who says it, how well it's said, God's Word will not penetrate to grow roots and make a difference if your heart is hard.