MAKING SENSE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD
How is Your Sense of Hearing? Heb 3:6-8
INTRODUCTION:
A. We Serve a Great God!
1. I started thinking about this series on our relationship to God a couple of days ago and I got to marveling about God’s creative ability.
2. Take our bodies, for instance.
a. There are seven major systems in our bodies
1) Skeletal – our bones which provide the body with shape and give protection to organs
2) Muscular – working in very close connection with the skeletal, they control the body giving strength and movement
3) Digestive – breaking down foods into the different proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fats our bodies need.
4) Respiratory – brings in air, supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide
5) Circulatory – moves blood carrying oxygen and nutrients supplied by the Respiratory and Circulatory systems, to all parts of the body
6) Nervous – its our bodies’ control system: sending, receiving, processing data
7) Reproductive – allowing for the birth of offspring.
b. There are also a number of smaller, yet very important systems as well
1) Lymphatic
2) Endocrine
3) and Urinary
3. All these systems grow and mature in humans from conception.
4. It is a miracle that all these systems can work together – but more than that it is proof that there is a Master Designer, whom we know as God!
5. No wonder the psalmist declares, Psa 139:13-16 thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. [14] I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. [15] My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. [16] Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
B. And that was not enough, the Lord also gave us five senses to help us interact with the world around us: hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch.
1. Each of these give us a different perspective of our world
2. As I though about this my mind shifted to my dad
- One of the side effects of the chemo they had him on was the loss of feeling in his hands and feet
3. Then I thought about Denise and the loss of hearing in one ear.
4. It is hard to do without one or more of our five senses.
C. So as I thought on this, I began to think of how often God spoke about our relationship to him in terms that are reminiscent of our senses.
1. So the series will focus on the same five senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching.
2. Today we will take a look at the sense of hearing.
3. This brings us to our lead in passage for this morning: Heb 3:6-8 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. [7] Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will HEAR his voice, [8] Harden not your hearts,…
4. Hearing is important for a number of reasons
a. Hearing is Essential to Salvation
b. Hearing is Necessary for Obedience
c. Hearing is Foundational for Hope
5. May the Lord open our ears as we look into His gracious word and in the words of our Lord found in Matt 15:10 Hear, and understand:
PRAY
Hearing is so important that 16 times from the book of Matthew through the book of Revelation we hear the words, “let him hear.” Why? Because
I. HEARING IS ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION.
A. As Jesus went about his ministering to the public we have recorded for us in the book o f Mathew what has become known as the Kingdom Parables in Matthew 13
1. At one point he made this statement to the disciples, For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Matt 13:15
2. He people were dead, so to speak, and could not hear the words of the Lord – not the act of physical hearing, but spiritually hearing – grasping!
3. And so it would take a miracle for them to hear!
4. It is no different with people today
a. For one who is dead in their sin, it is nothing less than a miracle for one to hear.
b. And it is a very special hearing that is necessary.
B. It is the hearing of the word, more specifically the gospel, we need
1. Paul as he writes the great treatise of faith, the book of Romans, states in Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. These words were spoken right on the heals of one of the greatest passage in the Word - Rom 10:6-10 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) [7] Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
3. One must hear the gospel, and thereby accept it by faith, believing the very Word of God
4. Jesus died for our sins – your sins
a. Yes you are a sinner – for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Rom 3:23
b. And because you are a sinner you are bond for hell, for the wages of sin is death… Rom 6:23
c. That is, of course, unless you come to Christ as your Savior!
5. If, therefore, you are hearing this word and have been convicted (feeling remorse for your sin) you are in effect hearing the word – do not delay
6. Come to the Lord, now, while, He may be found
7. In the words of Peter, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19
8. How is our sense of hearing?
Hearing is essential to salvation, and
II. HEARING IS NECESSARY FOR OBEDIENCE
A. I remember that as a child my mother would ask, or more often than not, tell me to do something and sometimes I would not hear her; consequentially I did not obey her
1. Now I know what your thinking – Did you not hear her or did you ignore her?
2. More often than not I probably ignored her, but there were times – to no avail for the little boy who cried wolf.
3. But to my defense it is really hard to obey someone if you do not hear what they say.
4. Hearing is necessary for obedience.
B. God wants us to hear Him unto obedience
1. Listen to these words found in the book of Mark: And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some an hundred. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. [24] And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. [25] For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. Mark 4:20, 23-25
- When we hear we become responsible for the word – it is a matter of obedience, now!
2. Over and over again in the book of Revelation chapters 2 & 3 we read the words He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; Rev. 2:7
a. He is speaking about listening to and acting upon, in obedience, that which he had warned the church about such as, Rev. 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [5] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
b. It is necessary that we listen to our Lord and hear what He is saying to us so that we might obey what He is saying.
3. One last thought on this issue, Jam 1:22 says, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
a. Hearing is necessary, but there must be obedient action following the reception of God’s Word
b. If we do not follow through on the “hearing” we are only deceiving ourselves concerning our life in Christ for God
c. The Pharisees “heard” the word but were deceived because they did not obey it, and for them it was because they had not heard it unto salvation.
4. Why may we be hearing the word and not obeying?
a. Worldliness, anger, pride, selfishness: we are only deceiving ourselves concerning our relationship to God
b. Could it be that we just are not saved – again deceived into thinking we are?
5. How is our sense of hearing?
One last thing I think we need to consider concerning our hearing
III. HEARING IS FOUNDATIONAL FOR HOPE
A. If you read the book of Acts you will come to see that those who did not hear the words of God had no hope – they were constantly looking for something else, somewhere else.
1. The Sanhedrin was trying to find hope in a messiah (of their own making) who was not coming
2. The populace was trying to find hope in a government that was increasingly corrupt and crumbling
3. The religious crowd outside of Judaism was trying to find hope in god’s (again of their own making) who were unable to help them
4. In Matthew’s gospel we read of a situation that involved Jesus and the masses that were all around Him, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Matt 9:36
5. And it was Paul who, concerning those who had come to know Christ in the church as Ephesus, wrote: That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Eph 2:12
B. It is through hearing the word of God that hope can be found.
1. The apostle John recorded the words of Jesus in John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
a. Life is possible through Jesus Christ – there is hope!
b. In life Jesus is our hope and the hearing of His word assures us of it - Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,…
2. And beyond this there is the hope of an eternity with the Lord, beyond the grave.
a. Jesus also said, Marvel not at this (that which He had stated in verse 25) for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, John 5:28
b. Those that hear his word have the promise of the resurrection.
- Listen to the words of Paul found in 1 Thes 4:13-14 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
3. Hallelujah, we have hope in this world and the one to come!
4. Hearing the word of God is foundational to our knowledge and understanding of this hope!
5. Living in obedience to His word is necessary to experiencing this hope!
6. How is your sense of hearing?
CONCLUSION: In closing
A. God has given us five senses to relate to the world around us
1. These same senses are used, often metaphorically, to express our relationship to God
2. How is your sense of hearing this morning?
B. The writer of Hebrews quotes a passage from Psalm 95 which I want to use in these closing minutes
1. If you are not saved and the Lord has spoken to you listen to these words found in Heb 3:7-8 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, [8] Harden not your hearts,…
2. And Paul to the church at Corinth said, (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 2 Cor. 6:2
- The Contemporary English Version states it this way, In the Scriptures God says, "When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you." That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.
3. Would you hear the word?
C. If you are saved and a part of this church hear God’s word found in Rev. 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
1. Will you hear His voice
2. Will you let Him in?
HOW IS YOUR SENSE OF HEARING THIS MORNING?
