Hearing

	We have considered what the Scriptures say about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, salvation and obedience.  But exactly what is involved in these last two?  What specific steps of obedience are involved in obtaining salvation?   Lord willing, we will spend the next few weeks examining words related to salvation.  The first thing that we must do on the pathway to salvation is to hear the Word of God.
	"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away {from it,}" Hebrews 2:1-4 advises. "For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."
	God expects us to listen.  God expects us to hear.  In fact, it has always been important to God that His people listen carefully to His instructions.  The words "hear" and "listen" are common in the Old Testament, especially when God is giving specific commandments.
	"Then Moses summoned all Israel," we read in Deuteronomy 5:1, "and said to them, 'Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully.'"
	The passage continues with the Ten Commandments.
	"Hear, O Israel!" Moses proclaims in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, "The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
	We often want God to listen to us, especially when we are confronting a difficult situation.
	"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!" David requests in Psalm 4:1.  "Thou hast relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer."
	"Answer me, O Lord, answer me," Elijah cries out in 1 Kings 18:37 as he confronts the priests of Baal at Mt. Carmel, "that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and {that} Thou hast turned their heart back again."
	Yes, there are times when we desperately need for God to hear us.  But we all know that communication is a two-way street.  If we want God to listen to us, we must first listen to Him.  We are mistaken if we believe that we can ignore God's instructions and then expect Him to heed our requests.
	"Then they will cry out to the Lord," Micah 3:4 warns, but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time, because they have practiced evil deeds."
	"Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save," Isaiah 59:1-2 notes, "neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden {His} face from you, so that He does not hear."
	God wants us to listen to Him.  We want God to listen to us. This is an "all-or-none" arrangement.  Besides a listening ear, what can we expect to receive if we hear God's Word?
	"So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ," Paul states in Romans 10:17.
	Faith comes by hearing.  If someone claims to have faith which is the result of some emotional experience, they need to take another look at what the Bible has to say.  The only real faith results from hearing the Gospel.
	"This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" Paul asks in Galatians 3:2.
	"Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" the Apostle wonders in verse five.
	We receive the Holy Spirit after hearing with faith.  Peter says in Acts 2:38 that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when we are saved through being immersed into Christ.  So we are not surprised to discover the third thing that we receive through hearing.
	"For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God," Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 1:18.
	"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe," the passage continues in verses 21-23.  "For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness."
	Through listening, we receive faith, the Holy Spirit and salvation.

	Hearing is very important to God.  If we want Him to listen to us, we must hear what He says to us.  Through listening, we receive faith, the Holy Spirit and salvation.
	We should clarify what the Bible means when it talks about hearing.  It does not mean simply listening and shaking our heads.  Biblical hearing demands that we comprehend what is being communicated and that we act accordingly.  Biblical hearing involves obedience.  If a sane person is standing on a train track and hears a whistle, that person will get off the track immediately.  In the Bible, we could often replace the word "hear" with the word "heed." 
	"For not the hearers of the Law are just before God," Romans 2:13 points out, "but the doers of the Law will be justified."
	"But prove yourselves doers of the word," James 1:22-25 advises, "and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for {once} he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the {law} of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does."
	"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven," Jesus warns in Matthew 7:21-27, "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'  Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
	Biblical hearing involves obedience.  We must also point out that there are obstacles which might hinder us from hearing.
	"And in their case," Jesus comments in Matthew 13:14-15, "the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;  for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.'"
	A hard heart will keep us from hearing.
	In Mark chapter eight, Jesus warns His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, meaning that they should guard against false teaching.  Their minds rush, though, to material bread and physical hunger.  They are not listening to Jesus on a spiritual level. 
	"Having eyes, do you not see?" Jesus responds in Mark 8:18. "And having ears, do you not hear?"
	A material, worldly attitude will keep us from hearing.
	At the close of the book of Acts, Paul is trying to share the Gospel with the Jews in Rome.  Some listen, but many are too bound by their religious traditions to hear the Gospel message.
	"And when they did not agree with one another," Acts 28:25-26 records, "they {began} leaving after Paul had spoken one {parting} word, 'The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, "Go to this people and say, 'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive.'"'"
	Religious traditions will keep us from hearing.
	Spiritual immaturity will also stand in the way, as the Hebrew writer observes in verses 11-14 of chapter five.
	"Concerning him we have much to say," this passage says of Jesus being a priest after the order of Melchizedek, "and {it is} hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes {only} of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."
	We must look out for obstacles to hearing.  We must guard against hard hearts, material and worldly minds, religious traditions and spiritual immaturity.  What happens if we overcome these obstacles and listen to God's commandments?  As God has promised, we can then approach Him with the same confidence that David exhibits in Psalm 3:1-8.
	"O Lord, how my adversaries have increased!" the psalmist expresses.  "Many are rising up against me.  Many are saying of my soul, 'There is no deliverance for him in God.'  But Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.  I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain.  I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.  I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.  Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For Thou hast smitten all my enemies on the cheek; Thou hast shattered the teeth of the wicked.  Salvation belongs to the Lord; Thy blessing {be} upon Thy people!" 
	Hearing is very important to God.  If we want Him to listen to us, we must hear what He says to us.  Through listening, we receive faith, the Holy Spirit and salvation.  Biblical hearing involves obedience.  We must look out for obstacles to hearing.  We must guard against hard hearts, material and worldly minds, religious traditions and spiritual immaturity.  If we truly hear God, then He will hear us.
	"And working together {with Him,}" Paul exhorts in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, "we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain-- for He says, 'At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you'; behold, now is 'the acceptable time,' behold, now is 'the day of salvation,'"
	This is our simple plea.  We urge you to hear the Word of God and be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."