In our passage, this morning, Jesus says that when we hear the word, we become accountable. If we hear the Word and make good use of it, we shall benefit from it and the opportunity for greater knowledge and grace will come. If we hear the Word and do not make good use of it, we will not only not benefit from the Word we hear but will lose out on the blessings we now enjoy. We will go spiritually backwards rather than forwards.
This morning, I am going to discuss with you how we should properly hear the Word if we want to derive spiritual benefits from it and pave the way for greater blessings. I am going to point-out six ways in which we should hear the Word of God.
* With Longing
1 Peter 2:2, “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
The Apostle says that we need to hunger for the Word of God as a baby hungers for milk. A healthy baby instinctively hungers for milk and demands it often. If that baby does not feed on milk, it will quickly become malnourished. Its development will be diminished. The little one will eventually die.
A hunger for the Word of God, the yearning desire to hear it preached or to read it, is evidence of conversion….spiritual life. The born-again Christian instinctively desires the truths of Scripture because there is an gnawing inward void without it. It is their life-source. No spiritual growth will take place unless they are well-nourished in the Word.
No matter where a child of God is in spiritual development or in stages of growth, they should greatly desire to partake of the Word because the regenerated soul must have it. No further growth and development will come without consuming it often. Moreover, unless there is a regular consumption of the Word, the child of God will go backwards in spiritual growth. We will lose ground in our spiritual health and development. We will grow sickly and die.
Thus, we need to hear the Word of God with an urgency and yearning.
* With Faith
Hebrews 4:2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
The writer of Hebrews is talking about the Israelites whom God delivered from Egyptian slavery. He brought them into the desert of Sinai and gave them His word. They received the good news that if they trust and obey God’s Word, they will be given the ‘promised land.’ On the other hand, they were told that if they should fail to trust and obey, they would never get to their desired destination.
The writer says that we are now in a similar situation. God has delivered us from the kingdom of Satan and slavery to sin. He has given us His Word. We have received in that Word the good news that if we trust and obey, we will reach the spiritual ‘promise land’ - heaven. On the other hand, we have been told that should we fail to trust and obey, we will never reach heaven.
Sadly, out of the millions of Israelites who were rescued from Egypt and given the good news, only two of them reached the promised land - Caleb and Joshua.
Why did the others fail to reach the promised land? The writer tells us that they failed because the good news did not profit them. Why didn’t the good news profit them? It is because they did not receive it with faith. In other words, they did not trust that God meant what He said. They did not believe the Word absolutely so as to make it a part of their lives. They did not take God’s word seriously enough to allow it to influence their hearts and their minds.
Because they did not receive the Word with Faith, they did not stand on the promises of God. They derived no comfort or peace or joy from God’s promises because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. Because they did not receive the Word with Faith, they did not seriously heed the warnings of God. They did not dread God’s threats because they didn’t really believe the threats.
We need to realize that hearing the Word or reading the Word will not profit us in our lives unless we believe what we hear or read. That is, we will derive no advantages or blessings from the Word unless we place our complete trust and confidence in it.
Listen to 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
The Word works on our hearts and minds and lives only if we believe what it says. It will not bring any blessings into our lives unless it is received with faith. Faith says - ‘I believe what I am hearing to be true and because I believe it to be true I will begin to act on it.’
My friends, that is how we can know if someone is receiving the Word with faith. If they are, you will see them acting upon the Word. Faith naturally leads to obedience. Hebrews 4:6, “those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience .”
I want to have us consider the passage found in Ezekiel 33:30-32, "But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ’Come now, and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people, and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not practice them.”
God is telling Ezekiel that the Israelites of his day all enjoy coming to hear him preach. For them, its like going to a concert. They love the performance. They appreciate the tune. They love his voice. The melody is wonderful. But, after its over, they return back to their normal lives. Nothing has changed.
I have seen this countless times. I’ve seen this happen in every congregation I’ve been part of. People come to hear a teacher or preacher. They think the message is great. They think the delivery is wonderful. What a blessing it is to hear this guy preach or teach. They even invite friends and family to hear this guy.
But, when the worship service is over or the Gospel Meeting comes to an end, the people return back to their previous routines and way of life, make no changes, and act as if they never ever heard a message from the Word of God.
How does that happen? Its because the people did not receive the Word with faith; therefore, it did not profit them.
Proverbs 16:20, “He who gives attention to the word shall find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”
* With Humility
After receiving the Word with faith, the next most important way in which we must hear the Word is with humility. James 1:21, “In humility receive the word…which is able to save your souls.”
It takes humility to accept a message which says that you are a no good sinner. It takes humility to openly receive a message that says that you need to be told how to live your life. It takes humility to accept counsel which tells you that you got to change your attitudes, your ways of thinking, your speech and your behavior.
Proverbs 11:2, “With the humble is wisdom.” Proverbs 12:15, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”
The truth is: if you are not teachable, you are not saveable. In order to be saved, you must be humble. Humility begins by being willing to accept the instruction, the correction and reproofs found in the Word and to apply them to our lives.
Proverbs 10:17, “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who forsakes reproof goes astray.”
Humility says, ‘Not my will, but thy will be done. Teach me your ways.’
David had that humility - Psalms 25:4, “Make me know Thy ways, O Lord; Teach me Thy paths.”
* With Love For The Truth
Today, if your pride keeps you from accepting God’s counsel, corrections and reproofs, you can find some church or some preacher who will make you feel comfortable and tell you what you want to hear. You will be able to hear the message you want to hear rather than what you need to hear.
This day was predicted by the Spirit of God. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth.”
There is a grave danger for those who do not love and seek the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of a punishment that will meted-out upon those who do not love the truth but who turn to falsehood - Paul speaks of the ministers of the apostate church who will come “with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
Paul says that if we do not love the truth and seek it at all costs, but turn to those who teach a false Christianity because we take pleasure in wickedness, God will send upon us a deluding influence that will cause us to believe in false teachings and practices. If we reject the truth, God will see to it that we will have access to falsehood and cause us to accept it to our own destruction.
That is one reason why we need to hear the Word with an intense love of the truth. No matter what the truth may be or what it might demand of us, we should value it above all else. Proverbs 23:23, “Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding.”
We need to have the attitude of David, as expressed in Psalm 119:47, 127-128, 163, “And I shall delight in Thy commandments, Which I love.… Therefore I love Thy commandments Above gold, yes, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way…I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Thy law.”
* With Study
Because we love the truth and hate every false way, we must hear the Word with great care. For an example of this needed attribute, we look to the Bereans of Acts 17:11, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.”
Picture this: The Apostle Paul came to preach the Gospel to the Jews living in Berea. Thus, the Bereans were taught by the most famous apostle and theologian of the early church, and the human author of at least 13 New Testament books. Yet, they searched the Scriptures when Paul taught, to see if his teaching was truly Biblical! They would not accept Paul’s word at face value, but wanted to know if these things were so.
Its not that they were skeptics or cynics. It says they “received the word with great eagerness.” They had open hearts….but, they also had clear minds. In their eagerness, they were not careless to accept anything that just sounded good. They were diligent to make sure that they would not receive anything that was not consistent with the Scriptures….not just with some Scriptures but with all of the Scriptures.
Because the fate of their spiritual happiness and their soul’s destiny was at stake, they were diligent to research the Scriptures and investigate what they heard. They believed they could understand and find out truth from the Bible. It was a book of truth, and that truth was there to find out. They also searched the Scriptures daily to find out. It wasn’t a one time, quick look. They made it a point of diligent, extended study.
If the great apostle Paul was worthy of this kind of close examination, how much more should teachers and preachers today be carefully compared with the Scriptures! The preaching of ministers should be examined by the Scriptures. Their doctrines are of no value unless they accord with the Bible. Every preacher and teacher should expect their doctrines to be examined in this way, and to be rejected if they are not in accordance with the word of God.
* Implant the Word
The last manner in which to hear the word of God is with purpose. I want to return to James 1:21 - “In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
James says, “Receive the word implanted.” What does he mean? James is telling us to do everything we can to allow the message to sink deeply into our hearts and minds.
How many of you can remember the subject and chief points of the sermon that was delivered, last Sunday? Throughout the years, I have posed that question to folks in the Church and I am usually astounded at the number of folks who cannot remember the high points of the last sermon they heard.
It saddens me when people cannot remember because if we can’t remember what was delivered, odds are that message was not applied to their life after it was heard. The message went in one ear and out the other and, by the next day, for all practical purposes….was forgotten.
When we hear a lesson or a sermon, we need to make an effort to implant into our brains. A powerful lesson or sermon is worthless unless we implant it into our brains.
Why is it so important to implant it into our brains? If we do not implant it, it will do us no good in the days ahead. We will not be able to apply it to our circumstances in the future unless we can draw it out of our hearts and minds.
James says “receive the word implanted” and then goes on to say “prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
The fact is: if you don’t implant the Word, you won’t be doers of the Word.
Let me give you a couple tips on how you can help yourself “receive the word implanted”:
1. Write down the sermon’s chief points and Scripture references and meditate on them through-out the week.
2. Come-up with one or two ways you are going to apply the principles learned and follow through with them that week. No method is better in implanting the Word than putting the Word into action as soon as possible.
David said, in Psalms 119:11, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart.”
Paul commands, in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom.”
Memorizing the Word is important. But, Paul says “let the word of Christ dwell within you with all wisdom.” Its not enough to memorize Scripture. We must put within our memory the wise lessons of the Scripture. It is the lesson or teaching provided by the Word that we can apply to our lives and that allows the Word to become fruitful in our lives.
Luke 8:18-21, "‘Therefore take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.’ And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, ‘Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.’
But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.’
