Hearing Jesus with Heed
Mark: The Suffering Servant-Savior • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsResponsible listening is richly rewarded by the Lord.
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Prayer
Introduction
Introduction
Turn with me and listen from God’s Word again, this time from Mark 4:21-25.
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Biblical writers often refer to body parts as a means of communicating important spiritual observations or for illustrating a biblical truth. For instance, Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news... who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’”. Or James 3:6, “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.” Or Matthew 6:22, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light”. Or take Matthew 10:30, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered”.
Twice now in Mark chapter 4, Jesus has challenged us, saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mk. 4:9, 23). Both times, Jesus was saying that there is a spiritual connection between our ears and our hearts. Last week we saw that the seed that is broadcasted on the soil represents God’s revealed truth and our obligation to receive and respond to it. If we listen carefully and we respond genuinely to God’s Word, then we will bear much fruit. Similarly, this lamp and its light, in our text today, represents God’s revealed truth as it comes to us through Jesus and the Word. So, if we receive and respond to this light of God’s truth and relate it to our everyday life, Jesus says we will be given more light, more truth, and thus more fruit. Jesus’ teaching in verses 21 to 25, basically illustrates that:
Theme: Responsible listening is richly rewarded by the Lord.
In the span of two verses, Jesus issues two similar imperative commands that concern our ears and hearts. In verse 23, Jesus’ command is for us to “listen”. And in verse 24, He commands us to “Pay attention to what you hear”. Clearly, Jesus wants us to improve our listening skills so that our hearts can produce a plentiful harvest.
Several people came and talked with me throughout the week about what I had preached last Sunday on the parable of the soils. Each of them voiced concerns about the “soil” of their own hearts. They all understood that they needed to make changes in their lives and develop a keener sense of spiritual hearing for their own spiritual benefit. I think it’s safe to assume that all of us feel the same way! We want to be that “good soil” that bears fruit and we recognize that that will require us to improve our spiritual listening skills.
I thought it would be appropriate this morning then to go about handling this text in Mark in a more practical and applicational way than delving into the deep details of the text. If the people who came to me this past week are a fair representation of this congregation, and I think are, then we all, myself included, could use a little help when it comes to listening to God’s Word better. If it’s true that there is a spiritual connection between our ears and our hearts, and if we desire to cultivate a heart that has good soil to receive God’s revealed truth in His Word, then we should equally desire to strengthen our spiritual ears and hearing.
And so, I want to use the second half of our text this morning as a sort of follow up to what we looked at last week, in order to help us strengthen our spiritual ears so that we may spiritually profit. Let’s re-read verses 23 to 25 again, just so that the words are fresh in our minds.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Responsible listening is richly rewarded by the Lord. As I mulled that over this past week in my study, I began to wonder how I could listen to God’s Word responsibly with the most spiritual profit. That thought remained with me and nagged me all week and by the time Thursday came around I had a whole new message to write on just that very thing. Throughout the week I had been jotting down notes for my own benefit that centered on how I could listen to God’s Word more profitably. So, what I wish to impart to you today is an expansion on my discoveries, which I’ve called: Five Ways to Listen to God’s Word Responsibly with the Most Spiritual Profit. Most of these are loosely based on Mark 4:23-25.
1. Listen with adoration
1. Listen with adoration
The first one, however, is not! And yet, I think this first one has a significant impact on the other four. Number one, listen with adoration. When we come to our Bibles, whether to read it or to hear a sermon or message from it, the posture of our hearts must be one of humility, worship, and love.
The Bible is the very Word of God. The Bible, we must recognize, is not man’s word about God. It is God’s Word to man. This Book is God’s gracious revelation of Himself to us. As we read and listen to the Word, we encounter the person and nature of our God, who discloses Himself. He reveals to us His holiness and love; His infinite power, knowledge, and wisdom; His sovereignty and goodness; His justice and compassion; His grace and His glory.
Not only does He reveal His nature to us, but He also makes known to us His ways and purposes. From Creation to Corruption; from the Choosing of Abraham and Israel to the Coronation of David; from the Collapse and Captivity of Israel and Judah to the Cross of Christ and into the era of the Church, we see God has crafted and is carrying out a marvelous, unified, perfect plan.
That should humble us. That should fill our hearts with awe and wonder. Who are we that God should choose to reveal Himself and His ways to us?
We should treasure every opportunity we have to read and listen to God’s Word. Treasure it because it is the precious Word of Life, which breathes in us new life. David wrote:
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The psalmist in Psalm 119 declared to the LORD:
I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
Jesus taught His disciples:
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
And Peter affirmed this truth saying:
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
It is through the Word that we are introduced to the glorious gospel of the Savior we need. This gospel, we read in our Bibles, is the power of God,
9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
For
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
And this eternal life is available to any and all who would repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This should be reason enough for us to love and cherish God’s revealed Word!
If we wish to strengthen our spiritual hearing and see fruit produced in our hearts, then we need to first come and listen to God’s Word with adoration.
2. Listen with attention
2. Listen with attention
Number two, listen with attention. Jesus said in Mark 4:24, “Pay attention to what you hear”. If adoration is to be the posture of our hearts, then attention must be the posture of our minds as we come to God’s Word. You should be filled with adoration and praise that God would speak through His Word. And you should snap to attention to hear from His Word because He is speaking to you. On an individual level, God through His Word, has parted the heavens with a message intended for you to hear and to heed.
Jesus compares God’s revealed truth in Him to this lamp that is to be placed on a stand so that hidden things are made manifest and the secret things, once shrouded in darkness, are brought to light. But what good is it if the lamp is shinning bright, illuminating a room, and we choose to walk around with our eyes shut! We must learn from the poor example of Israel. God laments in Isaiah 48:
Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.”
How many blessings did they miss out on and their children miss out on because they would not pay attention to God’s Word? God says they missed out on a steady flow of peace and righteousness because they failed to pay attention to His Word.
May it never be so with us! We are to focus our minds and our ears to hear from the Lord. For:
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
We do not have to go about stumbling in the dark, where dangers and snares are lurking. We can have eyes that are open to the light that exposes and illumines our path, that it may go well with us. That our lives would be full of blessings.
Listening with attention will require much preparation on our part. It will require us to set our mind on things above; those things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It will require us to remove any impediments that would clog our ears, distract our minds, or divide our hearts. It will mean weeding out those three thorns Jesus spoke of in the parable of the soils: the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. It will mean the confessing and crucifying of our secret sins, which cling so near and dear to us. It will require us to be vigilant of Satan’s work, who like the birds of the air, is ready to swoop down and snatch God’s truth away from taking root in our hearts.
That is how we ought to hear God’s Word. Failure to pay attention to what we hear is really not to hear at all. “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” or plug your ears! Listen to Him with attention.
3. Listen for the purpose of apprehension
3. Listen for the purpose of apprehension
Number three, listen for the purpose of apprehension. Of what value would it be for us to "pay attention to what we hear”, to have open minds as we come to God’s Word, but never close our minds down upon the truth for our own understanding? We must be active in our reading and listening, working to grasp the central point or message the text of Scripture is presenting to us.
And let us not be so prideful as to think that we will arrive at all the answers by ourselves. There’s a reason I have so many books in my office! There are many saints who have gone before us, who may be long gone, but still speak words of insight. Consult many good books. Listen to good preachers. Seek counsel from fellow believers. Use resources that will help you to mine out the gold nuggets of God’s Word to put in your treasure chests.
Don’t just seek understanding, though. Labor also to retain the information you discover as you listen to the Word. And do your best to guard that good deposit with a holy jealously, that it may not be snatched away or lost because of our fickle memories! One of the best ways to guard and keep the Word in your mind and heart is through meditation. That is why, I think, the very first Psalm begins:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Meditation is to reading, what digestion is to eating. It is an ongoing process that lasts day and night. Chew carefully on every morsel of God’s Word. Savor the flavor and let the Word become a part of you.
Just as a failure to pay attention to what you hear is not to hear, so also a failure to understand, remember, and retain what you hear is not to hear. Every time you come to the Word pray with the psalmist:
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
4. Listen for the purpose of application
4. Listen for the purpose of application
Fourth, listen for the purpose of application. Jesus said, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Jesus expects us to use what we hear. So, are we paying attention and apprehending what we hear in order that we may use it proportionately? James instructs us to “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only”. Yet, it is good hearing that will prepare us for good doing.
As you ready yourself to listen to God speak to you in His Word, come with an honest heart. Recognize that you are not yet who you ought to be, or where you ought to be, but God’s Word is the means of your sanctification. It is the chisel and your heart is the marble. Allow the Spirit, through His Word, to chip away at those rigid edges in order to conform you more and more into the image of Christ.
Listen with a heart ready to change and grow through application. Be on the look out for what God is telling you to do in response to what you’ve heard or read. The puritan preacher, Thomas Watson in one of his sermons said:
“Take every word as spoken to yourselves. When the word thunders against sin, think thus: 'God means my sins;' when it presses any duty, 'God intends me in this.' Many put off Scripture from themselves, as if it only concerned those who lived in the time when it was written; but if you intend to profit by the word, bring it home to yourselves: a medicine will do no good, unless it be applied." -Thomas Watson
When you read the Word or you listen to a sermon preached from the Word, there are a series of questions you should be asking, which will help you put what you hear and learn into practice.
Are there examples for me to follow?
Are there commands for me to obey?
Are there errors I need to address in my doctrine?
Are there sins I must forsake?
Are there promises for me to claim?
Are there doctrines for me to trust?
Are there principles for me to implement?
All Scripture, it is said, is profitable that we may be complete and equipped for every good work. Let us be alert for how we can put it to good use in our lives through application.
Finally, the fifth way to listen to God’s Word responsibly with the most spiritual profit is found back in Mark 4:24-25.
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
5. Listen for the purpose of addition
5. Listen for the purpose of addition
Basically, listen for the purpose of addition; with the intent of receiving more from the Lord. Jesus’ teaching here is the principle of reciprocity. The principle of reciprocity simply states that we get out what we put in. Measure for measure. Except, Jesus offers a better promise than simply getting back what we put in. He promised, “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” My cup overflows, as David put it.
For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Jesus revealed that those who embrace God’s truth and are committed to using it can expect to receive more truth. The encouragement is that when we make the effort to hear the Word and heed the Word, we will continue to grow in the Word. The more you seek to understand God’s Word, the more understanding the Lord will provide.
On the other hand, Jesus also offers a warning. For those who have no interest in the Word, they will find it to be uninteresting. Those who will not abide in the light can expect to stumble around in the dark. The more light that is given, the more responsibility we have to live by it and in it. When it comes to the light of God’s Word shinning upon you, it’s use it or lose it. Receive the Word and put it into practice and you will profit. You’ll be like that good soil that bears fruit, some 30-fold, others 60-fold, and others yet 100-fold. But, refuse the Word and fail to put it into practice and you risk losing even what you think you have. If you aren’t careful, weeds begin to pop up in the garden of your heart. And if not attended to, those weeds will spread and overtake everything.
When the Word of God is not received and heeded, it becomes a positive loss to us. We could call this concept Spiritual Progressive Assimilation vs. Spiritual Regressive Atrophy. Many of us have seen this spiritual reality exemplified in our physical fitness. Work hard at building a certain muscle group and typically you’ll see results over time; those muscles will grow and become strong. But, the moment you cease to workout that muscle group for an extended period of time, all that hard work will go to waste. Your muscles will atrophy and you’ll have to start all over again or just give in to never having that perfect summer beach body.
Paul challenged Timothy to:
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
We should listen to the Word with the mentality of be trained and conditioned to grow and mature.
As the proverb goes:
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
When it comes to the Word of God, it will continue to give and give and give to those who will receive and apply it. Make sure that you come to the Word with a big bucket, listening for the purpose of addition.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Of course, along with each of these five attitudes and suggestions, we shouldn’t neglect to bathe our listening of the Word in prayer.
Pray before and while you listen to or read from God’s Word. Pray that God’s Spirit would meet with you and teach you. Pray for understanding, for wisdom, for a desire to hear from the Lord, for an enjoyment of what you will read and hear, and pray that what you discover in God’s Word will ultimately change you. Pray big prayers of faith as you listen.
But also pray after you’ve heard from the Lord in His Word. Pray that you would remember what you’ve gleaned. Pray for opportunities to put into practice what you’ve learned. Pray that your hearing would improve for the next time you look to the Word. And pray for fruit. There are riches for us to dig out of God’s Word, if only we would search diligently for it.
As I’ve said, these five ways of listening are simply the summation of my scattered notes this past week. Hopefully, they didn’t seem too jumbled or out of left field to you. Perhaps you’ll find them to be of some help. And I pray they bless your own hearing and hearts as they have blessed me these last few days.