How Is Your Hearing?

ANNOUNCE: We have a group that meets here at the church every Wednesday morning at 9:00 am, for the sole purpose of praying together! We would like to encourage others to join in with this prayer group. Women will meet from 9:00 am until 10:00 and pray together and the men will meet and pray together from 9:00 until 10:00 also in a separate room and then the two groups will join together and close out in unified prayer together!

I would like for us to take moment together at the close of the service today and pray for the people down in Louisiana, who are bracing for hurricane Ida. As of early this morning, it was expected to make landfall by late afternoon, early evening, as a category 4 hurricane and rival that of hurricane Katrina that landed there, on this very day, back in 2005!

The men’s Bible study group that meets on Monday evenings is going to be going out to the Bread of Life on Friday, September 10 at 5:00 pm and cooking and serving meals that evening and then having a time of teaching and sharing with everyone there! We do not know what the cost will be for this, but I would like to ask you, that if the Lord puts it on anyone’s heart to give and be a part of this opportunity for us to bless those in need, then at the close of the service, when we come down front to pray, you can drop whatever He leads you to give, into the baskets on the platform.

Let me start out by saying that it’s always a blessing and a joy and an honor to get to be here with you, as we come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to worship our great God and Savior together.........AMEN?!!

I want to very quickly shout out a huge thank you to Dr. Mark DuFrene and his wife Diana, who were with us this past Wednesday evening. He was here to teach and also to field a host of questions that people were writing down and handing in to him that were dealing with end times events and where we are right now in this nation in terms of Biblical eschatology/prophecy.

If you were able to attend this past Wednesday evening, or watch online, then you know that he spoke for somewhere in the ballpark of an hour and a half, I’m guessing? And in the course of his speaking, he made some pretty bold, but true statements!

One of which I want to re-state right now for everyone and also use as an introduction into today’s message.

Pastor Mark mentioned, as I am paraphrasing him right now, that there are many people who are going around and teaching that we are just in a sort of a slump, in a funk if you will, and that America is about to rebound and regain ground and become a great and powerful nation again, such as we have been throughout years gone by!

To this, Pastor Mark said that this was not going to happen. He mentioned that we are travailing down a gradual slope and in a direction that we will not recover from and one that must happen as Bible prophecy unfolds. He spoke about some of the self-proclaimed prophets of this nation who have been making far fetched and un-Biblical predictions about the church of America and this country and how they have been misdirecting and misleading many people.

And as to his statement about America not bouncing back and that we are not going to move back into a place of world power and prominence again, I would have to say that I agree with him! Now, let me also so that I am not making some “prophetic”declaration and that I have not had some word from the Lord on this matter! I am speaking from the heart and also speaking from the knowledge of the direction that things have to move as we near Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapters 38-39 of his book in the Old Testament.

Look, the long and short of it is this. The nation of Israel, according to Ezekiel 38-39, will come under attack by various nations. The modern nation that has always stood beside her, America, does not come to her aide in the prophecy of Ezekiel. Which means, that something happens to us as a nation, that prevents us from coming alongside of the nation of Israel and protecting her.

We have to be out of the way as a prevailing world power, for this prophecy to come about!

And right now, right before our very eyes, you and I are watching and witnessing this very thing happen!

America is being removed as a world power and as a dominating nation amongst the other nations of the world!

Between our mishandling of the Afghanistan situation in recent days, and to other areas of concern, we are methodically being dismantled of our status and power as a world presence!

Even within the past week, if you watched, or read, as Russia and Saudi Arabia, formed a military alliance with one another, you should begin to see that we are in trouble as a nation!

The joining of these two nations, is the beginning of another major blow to our country.

From all the way back in the 70’s, when the United States and Saudi Arabia entered into an alliance, in which we would help to cover and protect the nation of Saudi Arabia from other nations just like the Soviet Union. And with this alliance, would come the formation of what is called the “petrodollar”.

As the United States moved away from a gold backed currency and economy, the petrodollar became our security.

Through this agreement, the Unites States dollar became the currency that all of the world would operate with in the buying and selling of oil!

In other words, our currency was secured and backed through the oil market.

As the nations of Russia and China have set out to remove the United States dollar as the world recognized major currency, this new alliance between Russian and Saudi is a dramatic step closer to achieving that goal!

Once Russia and Saudi change and move away from the United States dollar as the standard with which the other nations purchase oil, then the trillions of dollars held by all of the other nations that exist for the sole purpose of purchasing oil, will be released and dumped back into our system.

Our currency will plummet in value and we will enter into a time of extreme inflation and economic ruin!

Our dollar with be all but worthless! Especially as the current administration is doing everything possible to make us more and more dependent upon other nations, instead of it being the other way around as it has been for decades!

People, this happening right now, right before your very eyes!

We must wake up and begin to acknowledge where we are as a nation and even more so, where we are as the body of Christ in this nation and in this time of prophetic history!

As I have already stated, I am NOT giving you a prophetic word this morning and I’m not saying with emphatic, guaranteed assurance that this nation will absolutely never rebound. I am saying to you that is most unlikely, based upon what happens in Bible prophecy and also, based upon what we are witnessing right now from within this nation!

All that being said and with the thought now having been placed into your minds about our becoming more aware and responsive to what we are witnessing within this nation and around the globe right now, I want to turn our attention to a particular passage in the Bible that parallels this same understanding.

So, turn with me in your Bibles please to the gospel of Luke 8:16-18, and we will begin reading there.

Luke 8:16–18 (ESV)

16 “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.

17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

As I sat reading yesterday, I had a song pop into my mind off of an album that my sister had back in 1982. The song was called, “Words”, and it was from a band that most people won’t even remember; they were Missing Persons!

Just listen to the opening lyrics and I will explain why this song came to my mind. The lyrics read:

Do you hear me? Do you care? Do you hear me? Do you care? My lips are moving, and the sound's coming out The words are audible, but I have my doubts That you realize what has been said You look at me as if you're in a daze It's like the feeling at the end of the page When you realize you don't know what you just read What are words for when no one listens anymore? What are words for when no one listens? What are words for when no one listens? It's no use talking at all

The understanding of the entire song is simple.

What is the point of talking to someone, or to people, if they are not really listening to you?

If everything that you are saying to someone is falling on deaf ears, why bother talking to them! RIGHT?!!

Have you ever engaged in a conversation with someone and right in the middle of it, you notice them looking down at their smartphone, or looking up at the TV and paying no real attention to what you are saying?

I know in times past, at night, when my wife and I would lie down to sleep at night, after the lights were out and I was snuggled up all good and comfortable in the bed, she would want to start talking.

And I would be lying there in the dark, struggling to keep my eyes open and then it would happen!

All of a sudden I would feel a flick on the cheek and hear her saying, “Are you sleeping? Did you hear anything at all that I have been saying to you?!”

And then as I would stammer and stutter and try to ramble off some random piece of information that I remember before I was out of it, she would huff and roll over and go to sleep!

People want and need others to listen to them and truly “HEAR” what they are saying and recognize that the listener has truly paid attention to what they were saying.

There was a study done and published just about 2 weeks ago, and it stated that, “People who have a good listener in their life are more likely to have a brain that sustains its ‘raw horsepower’ over time, and these people are much less likely to develop issues from demential and Alzheimer’s disease.

Another similar study done 4 years ago found that, “people who reported higher levels of companionship and emotional support had a lower risk of dementia and higher levels of a protein known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps build and strengthen brain cells.”

In other words, having someone who truly engages and listens to you and to your heart, is protecting your mind and your future!

If we know and recognize this in the natural, that is, that we need to listen to others and we need for them to listen to us and to our hearts and our cares and concerns, then we must dramatically understand this principle in the spiritual!

That is what our Lord stresses to us in the parable that we just looked at, where He says, “Take care then how you hear”.

In the AMP version of the Bible, this reads, “Be careful therefore how you listen”.

“BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LISTEN!”

This same statement, this same understanding can be found throughout the scriptures. The Lord God, throughout the Old Testament, is seen saying to His people, the same thing. He is stressing to them, “pay attention to what I am saying”.

Throughout the Old Testament, the phrase, “Hear the Word of the Lord”, is used around 35 times. And the phrase “Hear O Israel” is used another half a dozen times, as in the Jewish prayer in Deuteronomy 6:4, which reads, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!”.

There are scores of other times in the scriptures where God is seen saying, “Listen to Me”, as you will find throughout prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, where the Lord was constantly saying through the prophets to the people that they were not listening to the Lord and His commands!

Isaiah 28:23-26 reads,

Isaiah 28:23–26 (ESV)

23 Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech.

24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground?

25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?

26 For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.

God has always been trying to get His people’s attention so that they would “listen” to His words and follow His commands.

Because His words and His commands are life to the believer.

Is that not what we find the disciples proclaiming to Jesus in John 6:66-69, where we read,

John 6:66–69 (ESV)

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

All of the words and commands of God are life and strength and grace and mercy to the believer. That is, to the one who truly HEARS those words and receives them into his/her heart!

Psalm 119:9, 11, 105 says,

Psalm 119:9 ESV

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

It’s no mistake that the longest chapter in the Bible is found at center of the Bible and that its entire emphasis is upon hearing the words and commands of God and loving and treasuring and following those words!

And that is where we find our Lord and Savior, Jesus, as He is speaking to the crowds and to His disciples in Luke 8 and the parable of the lamp!

He is stressing to them that they must truly listen to His words; they must be truly HEARING what He is saying to them!

Do you understand that you could sit and read within the Word of God and then get up and walk away and it have no effect on your life and the way that you live your life that very same day?

Just like you can sit in a building such as this, each and every Sunday, and listen to someone, such as myself, read to you and teach you from the Word of God, and then you can get up after the service and go out and live like hell on earth the rest of the day!

Does this happen because the Word of God is weak and ineffective in changing someone’s life? Is the Bible lacking in certain ways so as to effectively be able to reach all peoples?

Absolutely not! God’s Word is perfect and infallible and holy and within it are found everything that we need to live a Holy Spirit filled life of servitude to the Lord!

The issue is not the Word, but rather, the issue is the person upon whose ears it is falling! They either hear the word and receive it and it changes them, or they do not!

How many times have you heard someone say, “I grew up hearing all of that Bible stuff and it wasn’t for me. It didn’t do anything for me and my life”?

You see, there is a reality about the words of almighty God and how they reach people.

To many people, when they hear the words and the commands of God, it serves only to dull their hearing and harden their heart.

And the more that they hear that word, the more that they reject it and become bitter and angry with it.

This is what we find in Isaiah 6, where the prophet receives his calling and commissioning from the Lord and the Lord tells him to go to the people and declare to them the truth, and in doing so, it will cause their hearts to become hard and unable to receive and change and repent!

This was because they were already rejecting the truth and so the more that they heard it, the more they would become hardened in their hearts to truly HEARING it any longer!

For this reason, the Lord said to Isaiah 6:9-10,

Isaiah 6:9–10 ESV

9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

I knew a young man, years ago, when I was still doing Physical Therapy, who was as rough as you could get. He was a bouncer in some of these local, seedy establishments around the area and he had a hatred for hearing the Word of God being taught.

He told me of how one day, he and some of his friends were driving through town and they pulled up to a stop light and at the corner was a man witnessing to people about the Lord.

This young man told me that the man began to speak to them at the light about the Lord and it enraged him to the point that he jumped out of the car and punched the guy in the face and knocked him to the ground!

“Keep on hearing, but do not understand.” No matter how many times the Word falls on certain hearts, it doesn’t change every person who hears it.

And from this passage, and the understanding of what God was saying to the prophet Isaiah, you then find Jesus saying to those people who were in earshot of His teachings, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This is what Jesus said at the end of the parable right before the parable of the lamp that we just read a few minutes ago.

Jesus told the parable of the sower and the four soils and at its closing, he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The truth of the these sets of parables, the sower and the lamp, is that they are both about how we handle the Word of God when we hear it.

In the parable of the sower and the four soils, the emphasis is not on the sower, it’s not all about the seed and it is realistically not about the soil itself, which is the heart of a man and how the seed effects his heart.

The real emphasis of this parable, is upon the HEARING of the word as it is given. The seed’s effect upon the heart of the individual is based solely upon the way that the person listens to and truly HEARS the word being given.

When you hear the Word of God being read or taught upon, you should find a desire within your heart to listen attentively and the unction to want to glean from that word as to falls upon your longing, attentive ears!

If not, then your ears are dull and your hearing is limited.

In each of the four instances of the seed being sown in the parable of the sower, Jesus kept emphasizing the hearing of the individual.

As Jesus explained the parable to His 12 disciples of the sower, He stressed about each one of the soils the seed was falling upon, by saying, “those who have heard”.

In other words, in each situation, the seed (the gospel message) was being heard, but not equally and not completely, by the hearer.

Hearing and understanding of the word go hand in hand.

The degree to which we understand the Word, will determine the degree to which we adhere to and follow the word.

And Jesus made this clear by saying to His 12 disciples in Luke 8:10, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”

Listen carefully to what Jesus is stressing here!

To those who desire to truly know and understand the Word of God and the mysteries that are within it, it shall be made known to them!

Jesus said, “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Jesus told His 12 disciples that because they came and desired to know the words that He was teaching, He would explain His words to them, but to the others, His teachings would remain as parables.

It was from the hardness and blasphemous hearts of men, that Jesus began teaching in the parabolic form He used, as we see in Matthew 12-13.

If you’re wondering whether or not you are truly “hearing” the Word of God, or if it’s just falling upon deaf ears, you simply need to look for the evidence of it. You should see the fruit of where the seed was allowed in and it germinated within your heart! As was the case with the 4th soil in the parable, as there was a 30, 60 and a 100 fold return from the seed.

The fruit, the proof, of your truly “hearing” the Word and allowing it into your heart and mind, is that you are a doer of the Word! The Word is moving you and prompting you to step out in faith and act upon that Word!

That Word inside of the heart of a true “hearer” is like the fire shut up in Jeremiah’s bones, that must come out and effect those around them!

James 1:22, tells us to be “doers of the Word, and not hearers only”!

And in the parable of the lamp that we looked at, the understanding of the light, is the same as in the sower and the 4 soils.

If you truly “HEAR” Jesus’ words and receive them into your heart with love and a desire to know those words, then you become a light for Him.

A light must shine, that’s what it is and that’s what it does........it shines to everyone around, everywhere that it is placed.

A seed sown in the good soil produces a crop and a light once lit produces light!

And they both come from the “hearing” of the Word!

In Luke 11:27-28, just a few verses before Jesus again mentions of the Word of God as being like a lamp, you read the following:

Luke 11:27–28 ESV

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

I mentioned at the beginning of this message about the need for people to wake up and recognize what is going on in the world around them. Another way to say that, is that people need to begin truly “hearing” what is being said, and not just listening to the all of the voices around them!

You and I, as believers, are called to listen to, to adhere to and to act upon the Word of God in or lives. We are to truly HEAR that word and then allow it to bare fruit in our lives, as we become DOERS of what we have heard and allowed to grow in our hearts!

As one pastor said, “The kind of listener you are, the kind of hearer you are, will tell you your spiritual condition!”

You must become a true “hearer” of the Word, so that you will become a “doer” of that Word. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

If you are a true and faithful HEARER of the Word of God, then who and what are you in His kingdom?

I will answer that from the mouth of Yeshua Himself, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

And one more declaration as to who and what you are as a hearer of the Word of God, I Peter 2:9 says,

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

That is what a true and faithful “HEARER” of the Word of God is, they have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

My question for you as we get ready to pray is this, “HOW IS YOUR HEARING?”

INVITE EVERYONE DOWN FRONT TO PRAY OVER THE NATION AND THE PEOPLE IN LOUISIANA. REMIND THEM OF THE MONEY FOR THE MEN’S MISSION AT THE B.O.L.