"how's Your Hearing?"

D. A man was persuaded by a friend to go with him to a revival at the church he attended. The man went and God laid His hand on him and convicted him of sin. The next morning he went to the home of a friend and said to him, "Do you recognize that old watch?"

"Why, yes," answered the other. "That is my watch. I lost it eight years ago. How did you find it?" "I stole it," was the reply.

"You stole it? What made you bring it back now?" "I was converted last night, and I have brought it back first thing this morning. If you had been up, I would have brought it last night."

That’s repentance.

IF THE WORD IS TO PROFIT US WE MUST HEAR IT GLADLY AND PENITENTLY. AND:

III. WE MUST HEAR IT OBEDIENTLY:

A. “Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.”

B. There is no salvation unless Jesus is Lord in your life. And He is not Lord if we don’t obey Him.

1. We will not consider any command as unessential to salvation. Obedience is essential to salvation.

2. The only questions we ought to ask are, “What does Jesus Command?” and “What am I going to do about it.”

3. There are only two answers, “I will ignore it,” or “I will obey it.”

4. James wrote, “don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 (NLT2).

C. The Bible makes it clear:

1. “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered. In this way, God qualified Him as a perfect High Priest, and He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him.” Hebrews 5:8-9 (NLT2).

2. “If someone claims, ‘I know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s Word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in him.” 1 John 2:4-5 (NLT2).

3. God’s Word tells us what is right, and James says, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17 (NLT2). I had a friend in Klamath Falls who told me on one occasion, “I believe every word in the Bible! Every word.” I replied, “No, you don’t.” He said, “Yes, I really do.” So I said to him, “Then why haven’t you obeyed the command to repent and be baptized? He said, “You are right! Let’s do it!” And we did.

D. Don’t question, just comply. Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then lord chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees!

One day every knee of every demon, every atheist, everybody without exception will kneel before Jesus. But to be ready to do that we must hear His Word as James and John did when the master said “Follow me,” and they GLADLY left their nets and their boats and TURNING AWAY from that former life, they OBEDIENTLY followed him. You must do the Word as well as hear it, yielding up your hearts to its commands and teachings.