LISTEN AND LIVE!

Text:

Zechariah 7:11–13

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,

And stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law,

And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets:

Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear;

So they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

Refusing to Listen to God

INTRODUCTION:

God’s counsel is not only kind and reasonable but it is wisdom. For he can see the end from the very beginning. But Israel’s conduct was rebellious; defiant of God. God say’s to us in;

Isa. 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

God try’s to reason with us for our good!

I. ISRAEL’S SIN IS FIRST SEEN IN THEIR REFUSING TO LISTEN.

A. The text says, “they refused to hearken.”

B. When the created refuses to hear

his creator, he is on dangerous ground.

The prophet Samuel told King Saul;

1 Samuel 15:23

23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,

And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD,

He hath also rejected thee from being king.

C. 2 Tim. 4:4 speak’s of people in the last days

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

D. It is rude and disrespectful to refuse to hear your father, mother, pastor, teacher, or worship leader.

But how horable and sinful to refuse to hearken to the voice of God even if its’coming thru leadership.

E. Job 36:10

He openeth also their ear to discipline,

And commandeth that they return from iniquity.

II. BUT ISRAEL REJECTED HIS ADVICE.

A. “… and pulled away their shoulder.…”

Turned their back to him!

B. They withdrew their obedience to Him! They rejected His counsel!

C. God said, Proverbs 1:24–28

Because I have called, and ye refused;

I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

But ye have set at nought all my counsel,

And would none of my reproof:

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when your fear cometh;

When your fear cometh as desolation,

And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;

When distress and anguish cometh upon you.

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer;

They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

D. 1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

E. John 6:66 “… many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

III. THEY STOPPED ALL COMMUNICATION.

A. “… Stopped their ears.…”

B. They were determined to shut out God & his message. It was ignorant, arrogant, foolish, and childish.

C. The men who killed Stephen “stopped their ears.” Acts 7:57

Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

They didn’t want to hear his Spirit-anointed words. and the world won’t want to hear you either!

D. Jesus said to all of the seven churches of Revelation, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith to the church” Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Rev. 3:6, 13, 22.

E. These scripture shows the importance of having open ears and receptive hearts to the voice of God.

IV. THEY HARDENED THEIR HEARTS.

A. “… they made their hearts as an adamant stone.…”

According to Webster, the word adamant comes from a Latin word and means “the hardest metal; impenetrably hard;

Hard as a rock!

B. Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it?

C. But The Holy Ghost said,

Hebrews 3:7–8

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

D. Job said, “… God maketh my heart soft.…” Job 23:16 tender, pliable,

V. THEIR ATTITUDE’s AND ACTION’s CAUSED GOD TO REFUSE TO HEAR THEIR CRIES.

A. Vrs. 13 “Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.”

B. When we cut God out, we cut out

the only one who can help us.

God will not force himself upon us!

C. Prov.1:28-29 “Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.”

Why does God refuse to hear them?

The answer is found in vrs. 29

“For they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”

CONCLUSION:

I want to read one last scripture!

Hebrews 2:1

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

We cannot afford to neglect or reject the word of God weather written or spoken . Our decisions will have last effects!

What are you listening to? The clamor of the world or that still small voice of the lord!

Only those who are listening will hear the trumpet and the voice of his call in these last days!