�Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.�

• People should not only be hearers of the gospel of Jesus but also doers of His words.

Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: �Listen! Behold, 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 of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and 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 thirtyfold, some sixty, and 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.  And 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 parables,  so that

� Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.��
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 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 thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.�

• There are some people who hear the word of God, and Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
• There are some people who hear the word of God and endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word�s sake, immediately they stumble.
• There are some people who hear the word of God; and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word.  They then become unfruitful.
• There are some people who hear the word of God, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
• See Luke 8:4-15 below.

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  �A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.� When He had said these things He cried, �He who has ears to hear, let him hear!�   Then His disciples asked Him, saying, �What does this parable mean?�  And He said, �To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
� Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.�
�Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

• There are some people who hear the word of God, but the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
• There are some people who hear the word of God, receive it with joy, and believe it for a while.  However, in time of temptation they fall away.
• There are some people who hear the word of God but are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life.  They then do not bring fruit to maturity.
• There are some people who hear the word of God with noble and good hearts, keep it, and bear fruit with patience.
• See Mark 4:2-20 above.

Jesus told His disciples, �He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.�

Jesus said to a woman in a crowd, �More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!�

�Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."

It is written in the prophets, �And they shall all be taught by God.�  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

�And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.�

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

• Hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ precedes baptism.

So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, �Go near and overtake this chariot.�  So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, �Do you understand what you are reading?�  And he said, �How can I, unless someone guides me?� And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.  The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
� He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.�  
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, �I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?�  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.  Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, �See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?�  Then Philip said, �If you believe with all your heart, you may.� And he answered and said, �I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.� So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

• Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian before the Ethiopian believed with all his heart and was baptized.

Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.  And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: �Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

• Peter preached the gospel to the Gentiles (Cornelius and his household) for the first time.  The Gentiles heard the word of the gospel and believed.

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
� How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!�

• People cannot hear the gospel of Jesus without being preached to by a preacher.
• People cannot believe in Jesus unless they have heard the gospel of Jesus.

But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.  And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

• Paul preached the gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles so they might hear.

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.  So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.  Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.  If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one�s religion is useless.  Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.