God still speaks to his people today. And he speaks as clearly as he did in the Old Testament, or to the apostles, or to the early church. Yet we must realize one thing: God chooses to speak only to those who have ears to hear.
Mark tells us Christ “taught them many things by parables” (Mark 4:2). In this passage, Jesus tells the parable of the man who sows seed in a field. Yet when he finished the story, the crowds were baffled and wondered, “Who is this sower he is describing? And what does the seed represent?”
Jesus did not explain it to them; instead, Scripture says, “He said to them, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (4:9). Only the disciples and a few others wanted answers, so they came to Jesus afterward, asking the meaning of the parable: “When he was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable” (4:10). Then Christ took time to answer all their concerns (see 4:14-20).
Let’s look at what was happening here. Jesus had given the crowd revelation truth, a word spoken directly from God’s mouth, yet it puzzled them. You may wonder why Jesus did not explain the parable more clearly at the beginning, but I believe he was saying, “If you want to understand my Word, you are going to have to pursue me for the answer. Come to me with a hunger for truth that will set you free and I will give you all the revelation you need.”
I can imagine that when a majority of the crowd that day went home, their neighbors crowded around, eager to hear what Jesus had said. “Tell us all you learned,” they urged. And while they might have been able to recite the parables, their words would have been dead, lifeless, with no life-changing power. It was the ones who stayed behind, who lingered in his presence, who received Christ’s life-changing revelation.
Are you willing to wait on Christ in order to receive his secrets? Give up your comforts to do whatever is necessary to train your ear to hear his voice.
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David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.