I. INTRODUCTION
A. For those who do not listen well, we often say that words go "in one ear and out of the other." In other words, they simply do not retain what they have heard.
B. What causes poor listening skills? For many, it is simply a lack of effort. They hear the words, but they do not adequately attempt to evaluate and understand the message.
C. Presently, let us consider the necessity of paying attention to the word of God and the responsibility of all men to do so for their own salvation.
II. PAY ATTENTION!
A. Hearing the word of God is a necessary step for anyone to receive salvation in Christ.
1. For each one who would be saved, the process begins with hearing. Consider Romans 10:13-14, 17:
13For "whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? ...17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
2. The benefit of hearing does not come by mere audible sensation, but rather it comes by reception of the gospel message in the heart and the mind. Only those who listen attentively have the opportunity to believe and be saved.
B. Hearing the word of God continues as an important part of a Christian's spiritual growth.
1. In 1Timothy 4:13, Paul advised Timothy, saying, "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching." This advice stands as a prescription for growth to all Christians.
2. To hear effectively, hindrances to hearing must be eliminated. Notice James 1:19-21:
19This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
a. Our goal is to achieve the righteousness of God and the salvation of our souls.
b. Quickness or eagerness to hear the word of God with humility enables us to receive the word implanted and meet our goal.
c. Quickness to speak, quickness of anger, filthiness, and wickedness impair our ability to hear and prevent the word of God from implanting within our hearts.
C. It is the responsibility of each person to listen to God's word. Each person must supply the effort.
1. The Lord places a great responsibility upon Christians to teach His word, but He gives at least as much responsibility to all people to honestly seek the word of God and pay attention to it.
a. In Matthew 13:9, Jesus said, "He who has ears, let him hear." This instruction imparts a universal responsibility for all men to hear the word of the Lord (see also Matt. 11:15; 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23; 7:16; Luke 8:8; 14:35; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:9).
b. The Lord said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7). Asking, seeking, and knocking require effort that must be supplied by the hearer.
c. Notice that the failure of the Jews to believe the gospel was due to their own refusal to listen. Notice Romans 10:18, 21:
18But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world"...21But as for Israel He says, "All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
2. Consider the example of Lydia in Acts 16:11-15.
a. When Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke came to Philippi, they gathered at the place of prayer on a Sabbath. There they encountered "a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul" (v. 14).
b. The Lord opened Lydia's heart, but it was only after she had placed herself in a position to hear His word and listened to it. She made the effort, and the Lord rewarded her.
III. THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN AND THOSE WHO WILL NOT
A. Those who listen carefully to the word of God will be blessed beyond measure.
1. James affirms the blessing of listening to God's word in James 1:25:
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 will be blessed in what he does.
2. The book of Proverbs is filled with promises of blessings of wisdom, knowledge, and more to those who will listen to the word of God. Consider a few of these promises.
a. Proverbs 1:5-6 -- 5A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, 6to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.
b. Proverbs 4:10 -- Hear, my son, and accept my sayings and the years of your life will be many.
c. Proverbs 4:20-22 -- 20My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. 22For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body.
d. Proverbs 8:6 -- "Listen, for I will speak noble things; and the opening of my lips will reveal right things."
e. Proverbs 8:32 -- "Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways."
f. Proverbs 15:31 -- He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
g. Proverbs 18:15 -- The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
h. Proverbs 19:20 -- Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.
i. Proverbs 22:17 -- 17Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge; 18for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, that they may be ready on your lips.
j. Proverbs 25:12 -- Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.
B. Those who will not listen to God's word are responsible for their own hardships.
1. It was noted before that the Jews who remained lost without Christ were responsible for their condition, for they refused to listen due to their own disobedience and stubbornness (Rom. 10:18, 21).
2. Those who hear the word but do not listen sufficiently to act upon it are addressed in James 1:22-24:
22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23For 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; 24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
3. The Proverbs also address those who will not listen to God's word. Consider a few of these passages:
a. Proverbs 5:13 -- "I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to my instructors!" (These are the words of a fool caught in adultery.)
b. Proverbs 13:1 -- A wise son accepts his father's discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
c. Proverbs 18:13 -- He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.
d. Proverbs 19:27 -- Cease listening, my son, to discipline, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
e. Proverbs 28:9 -- He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. It has been said that "you get out of it what you put into it." This is not always true, but it is certain that if you make no effort to listen, then you will gain nothing from the word of God.
B. Therefore, let us be diligent in listening to the word of God so that we may receive God's blessings.