We listen to the word of god

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Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

The Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith through the Word of God. Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).  We live on the words that come from the mouth of God. And the words that come from the mouth of God are given to us in the Scripture. Jesus says, “You live on this Word.”  Faith unites you to Christ who feeds you, nourishes you, and sustains you. He does this through His Word. This Word is to your life like bread is to your body.

God calls us to bring faith to the Word

“They were not able to enter because of their unbelief… The message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.” Hebrews 3:19, 4:2

The writer is speaking about the Israelites who did not enter the Promised Land. They heard the message of the Gospel, but it was of no value to them. Why? Because they did not combine it with faith.

Christ sustains my life through the Word of God. So, I need to hear the Word. But if I do not hear the Word with faith, it will be of no value in my life. I’ll simply be a person who comes to church and hears many sermons. But these sermons don’t benefit me, they go over my head, because I don’t combine them with faith.

Jesus made this truth very clear in the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:1-15). There is one seed, but four kinds of soil. Every weekend, the Word of God is preached. The seed is sown. But it has different effects in people’s lives.

For some the Word of God makes little difference. Their hearts are hard. Satan snatches the seed away. The Word is of no value to them. For others, the Word of God has only a temporary effect. Their hearts are shallow. Pressure comes and they shrivel.

For still others, the Word of God is choked by competing priorities. Their hearts are preoccupied with worries and money, and the desire for other things. And for some the Word of God is bearing a great harvest. Their hearts are good soil in which the seed flourishes.

Most of us know that parable, but here’s what Jesus said about it: “Consider carefully how you listen” (Luke 8:18). Here we are, all hearing the Word of God, but Jesus says, “Be careful how you listen, because it has radically different effects in different kinds of hearts.”

Today’s message is about how to listen to a sermon. Pastors study how to speak the Word of God. I want to help you to hear the Word of God in such a way that it will bear fruit in your life. Consider carefully how you listen. How do you listen?

Come with a Settled Conviction…
…that God Speaks through His Word

Some years ago, I was taking a wedding in the south of England. The couple was concerned for their unconverted relatives, and asked me to preach the Gospel at their wedding. I must have spoken for 15 to 20 minutes. The photographer hadn’t counted on this and he was desperate   to get on with his work.

Our oldest son Andrew was just a baby, and while I was speaking Karen took him outside the church where she met the photographer. He was pacing up and down like a caged lion.

He said to her, “Who is that man who is going on and on and on in there?”

To which she replied, “Oh, that’s my husband.” To many people, that’s all the preaching of the Word of God is—a man who’s going on and on and on. Quite honestly, if that’s what you think preaching is, then there’s not much reason to listen.

In Thessalonica, people’s lives were being quickly and radically changed: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  You heard the Word of God (at that time, the Old Testament Scriptures) from us. You did not receive it as the word of men. You received it as the Word of God, which it actually is. You grasped that God speaks through His Word. That’s how God speaks. That’s how you hear His voice.

That’s our conviction at The Orchard. We believe that God speaks through His Word. That is why, when we gather—we want to sing the Word, pray the Word, read the Word, preach the Word and hear the Word—so that we may receive the Word by which the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith.

How do you listen to the Word of God?

God speaks through His Word. When we know who is speaking, we listen differently. I listen to adverts passively. If something grabs my attention, I suddenly wake up and listen, but otherwise it passes me by. Candidly, that’s how some people listen to the preaching of the Word of God.

I listen to my enemies defensively. I know that they want to harm me, so I am on my guard. If you think God is your enemy that is how you will hear His Word. That is how some listen to His Word.

I listen to my friends in a different way. I hear them with an open heart because I know that they love me. When they tell me I am wrong, I listen because I know they are in my corner, they want to do me good. The way you listen to the Word of God reveals a great deal about your relationship with Him. God’s friends hear His Word gladly.

God chooses what He wants to say to you

When you know that God speaks through His Word, you will come expectantly. We all have our ideas of what we want to hear, what we think we need to hear. But when He speaks He chooses what He wants to say.

God spoke to me through His Word at the conference this week. In the last session, C.J. Mahaney was speaking from 2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season…” And here’s the part the Holy Spirit spoke to me: “…with great patience.” I saw some areas of my life where I am impatient.

I didn’t go into that session thinking about patience. I wasn’t feeling a need in regard to patience. I wasn’t aware of a lack of patience, but God spoke to me about patience through 2 Timothy 4:2.

You may be thinking, “I’ve come to church this weekend, and I’m facing all these things in my life. A sermon on how to hear the Word of God is not what I need right now.” Can you consider the possibility, friend, that it may be exactly what you need?

God may be saying to you, “Instead of looking for a quick fix to the problems in your life, you need to establish a regular pattern of receiving My word with faith, so that it will bear long-term fruit that you have not been bearing in years.” You never know what God is going to say to you, but you know He is going to say it through His Word.

Let me encourage you with two practical things that I, and many others have found helpful:

1. Bring your Bible to church

Not any Bible, not the smallest one you can find. Bring your Bible. Have one Bible that you get to know and use during our times together. It will help you to discover what’s in your Bible.

2. Bring a pen and paper to church

Write down what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. I take a pen and paper when I go to breakfast with our church chairman. I do that because I know there will be things I need to follow through on. I don’t want to mess up.

If that’s my disposition when I am listening to the words of a man to whom I am accountable, how much more should that be my disposition when I am listening to the Word of God?

Come with a Healthy Appetite

“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

Jesus is making the connection between God’s Word and food. He invites us to think of God’s Word as a nourishing meal.

The preacher’s task is to prepare the meal. The table should be spread in a way that is attractive. The food should be placed where it is accessible to the guests. Most of all, what is served should be the nourishing food of the Word of God.  God’s people are not fed on the dry bones of the preachers opinions. We are not nourished to eternal life by the preacher’s latest thoughts on how to improve your marriage or your self esteem.

God has never promised to bless my words. He has promised to bless His Word. So, the task of the preacher is to set God’s Word before God’s people so that we may be fed and nourished.  But when the meal is prepared, when the meal is served, what is your part? Come hungry. Come with a hearty appetite: “Come all you who are thirsty come to the waters… Come, buy and eat. Listen to me… and your soul will delight in the richest of fare” (Isaiah 55:1-3).

How do you develop a healthy appetite?

Use the pressures of your life to increase your appetite for the Word of God. That’s what you find consistently in the Psalms:

“As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul longs for you, O God.” Why? “My tears have been my food day and night.” Psalm 42:1, 3

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Why? “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in His dwelling.” Psalm 27:4-5

“As for me it is good to be near God.” Why? “My feet had almost slipped… My heart was grieved, my spirit embittered… til I entered the sanctuary of God.” Psalm 73:26, 1, 21, 17

If everything in my life was apple pie, I might not feel this hunger and thirst for God. But the truth is I face great pressures. My own sins are many. Therefore, I’m hungry and thirsty for God. That’s how to use the pressures of your life, whatever they are.

I’ve sometimes heard a pastor say at the beginning of a service, “Lord, help us shut out the pressures of our life in this world.” That’s impossible.  You can’t detach yourself from the realities of life. You come to God with all the pressures of your life, and you use them to increase your appetite for the Word of God.

Learn to use a knife and fork

Infants need to be spoon fed. At one time in your life that was true of you.  The rest of the family was sitting at the table eating their meal, and you were in your high chair, with your food ground to a pulp. Your mother or father, or maybe a sister or brother, were feeding it to you with a spoon.

But it was not long before you learned to use your knife and fork. The preacher’s task is to prepare the meal. But when dinner is served, it is your task to use your knife and fork to eat what’s laid before you. You can sit at the table, where a lavish meal is served. You can come with a hearty appetite, but unless you use your knife and fork, you will not be fed.

I’m using a picture: Whatever’s on the table, and however hungry you are, when the Word of God is preached, you need to make applications of the truth to the particular circumstances of your own life. This is what it means to use the knife and the fork.

Isn’t this the preacher’s job?

You may be thinking, “Isn’t it the preacher’s job to give me the applications?” When God spoke to me this week about patience through a message on 2 Timothy 4, I was in a room with 7,000 other people.

In that room, there were 7,000 situations where patience is needed, 7,000 situations where impatience is being displayed, and all of them different. That’s assuming that each of us has only one. I could think of at least three. It would be impossible for any preacher to make every application to every life situation in the congregation.

The Holy Spirit is given to you so that you may have wisdom to apply the Word of God, as it is being taught, to the particular circumstances of your life—circumstances that the speaker is not even aware of.

Infant Christians want to be spoon fed. They are always saying, “What’s the bottom line? Where’s the take away? Give me the application.” When the preacher reduces the application to a list of things to do, it obscures the unique way in which God speaks to each of us as individuals through His Word. Only God can do that by the Holy Spirit.

God is not building robots. He is raising sons and daughters who hear His Word, develop the capacity to apply it, and respond to it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Preaching the Word of God is an act of faith, flowing from the conviction that God speaks through His Word. I would never dare to preach if I didn’t believe that the Holy Spirit is able to apply that Word in the hearts of God’s people in ways I’ve never even thought of.

Hearing the Word of God is an act of faith in which you ask the Holy Spirit to show you how the Word applies in circumstances of your life. When I heard 2 Timothy 4, I had to apply it to my life—just like 6,999 other people who had to use their knife and fork.  Come to the Word of God with faith and your faith will increase: “To whoever has, more will be given” (Luke 19:26).

What If You Do Not Yet Have Faith?

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17

Here’s the amazing mystery—that Christ sustains faith through the Word of God and He creates faith through His Word. You may have no faith today. Christ is able to create the capacity of hearing in you. And that hearing produces faith.

God creates by speaking. That is how the world was made. And that is how faith comes. “Faith comes from hearing and hearing [comes] through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Here is what you can do…

1. Place yourself regularly under the Word of God

Read it, hear it preached. Listen to this Word, not as the words of men, but as it actually is—the Word of God. Come with the settled conviction that God speaks to you through His Word. Come to the Word with a hearty appetite. Place yourself under the ministry of the Word.

2. Recognize you need God to do for you what you cannot do yourself

You need Him to give you ears that can hear. “Lord, unless you change me, I will be the kind of person who is always hearing and never understanding, always seeing and never perceiving” (Matthew 13:14).  Lord you say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8). Give me ears to hear. When you come to this place, faith is already beginning in you, because you are reaching out to Him.

3. Look to Christ

It’s so significant that Paul says here, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Bible is all about Jesus Christ. Everything in this book is given to you so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ… and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

The message of the Bible is that though you are by nature a sinner, a rebel, and an enemy of God, He loves you and has sent His Son into the world to redeem you. Jesus Christ gave His life as a sacrifice for your sins to reconcile you to God. He rose from the dead and He is ready to forgive all who come to Him in faith and repentance.

He is able to give you peace with God, new life, new hope, and new power by His Holy Spirit. He is able to save you from the hell you deserve and bring you faultless into the presence of God in heaven. Look to this Christ today. Ask Him to save you.

Where in the Bible Is Listening Mentioned?

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance” (Proverbs 1:5).

Listening requires more than the audible detection of sound. Those who are deaf listen by seeing, lip reading, and sign language, proving there is a depth to listening beyond just noise.

Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. In the verse above, listen, which in the New American Translation of the Bible is the word, hear, means: to hear, listen, obey. “We can deceive ourselves so easily, so to avoid that, he suggests we listen to increase our learning and how to apply that learning, called wisdom,” Jack Wellman explains. “That’s the best guidance you’ll ever get. Listen. Perhaps this is why God gave us two ears and one mouth in the hopes that we’d listen twice as often as we speak.” This type of listening assumes a reaction. We can hear something passively, but when we listen, we are engaged. Matthew wrote:

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

Faith in Christ is an active decision. Many hear of Christ Jesus, but not all listen. Scripture is not mere words on a page. It isn’t a collection of stories for us to hear. It’s the alive and active Word of the Living God. When we listen to the Word of God, it suggests we are tuned in to the Spirit’s work in our lives. The apostle John wrote:

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:17-18).

It is only through Jesus that we come to the Father, and not by hearing, but by turning to listen. Our faith requires active obedience, not just a good feeling of fleeting happiness. The assurance of our faith is built upon the firm foundation of the Living Word of God. Jesus is the Word. Listening to His call on our lives leads us to the “more than we can ever ask for or imagine” plans God has for our lives.

The apostle James wrote, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:19-20).

When we hear something which unsettles our souls, we often find ourselves in a fight for the peace and joy we have in Christ Jesus! We turn over words in our minds, and allow downward spiraling thoughts to spin. In those moments, James is cautioning, we have a choice as to what to do with what our ears are hearing. We can allow our initial reactions to spew forth, which will often result in thunderclouds of anger, some flashes of rage, and then a mess of regret and hurt to clean up in the aftermath of the storm.

Listening requires us to be “slow to speak and slow to become angry.” It’s human to have this immediate reaction, but living our lives within the love of Christ allows us the power of pause. We can back down from our natural human reaction of offense, defense, anger, and stormy emotions, and allow the peace that surpasses all understanding to activate in our lives. There are moments in my personal life when my soul is unsettled, I simply say the name of Jesus out loud until my soul calms down!

We have the power to listen within us. Like James says, human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. But listening – being slow to speak and slow to anger – produces the good fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/kieferpix

Let us press in upon Jesus to hear the word of God (Luke 5:1). When we do, maybe he’ll withdraw a little, as if getting into Simon’s boat and putting out a little from the land, but he won’t neglect to teach us (Luke 5:3).  We must each seek out and listen to the word of God in our lives. He is always speaking to us, I believe, in the language of our lives. But it can be difficult to make out what he’s saying over the crashing of the waves.

The word of God to us is often counter-intuitive.

What he’s telling us often isn’t what we want to hear.

It’s often not easily recognized or understood, agreeable or believable to us.

Hearing the word of God and keeping it requires a little faith.

Hearing the word of God is like toiling all night in a boat on the lake in the grueling and backbreaking work of fishing. Casting out your nets, pulling them in, catching nothing. Casting again, pulling in again, catching nothing again. All night long. Hour after hour. Then, exhausted and disheartened, giving up, coming near the shore to wash your fruitless nets and call it quits only to hear a man command you to put out again into the deep and to let down your nets again for a catch (Luke 5:4).

You know how good it feels to get home from work after a long day. But how would it feel if, just when you get home, your boss calls you and tells you to come back in and get back to work? My first thought probably wouldn’t be that this is the word of God to me. That wouldn’t be my first thought. To recognize such a seemingly mad suggestion as the word of God would take a little faith.

Simon, who Jesus will later call Peter, has a little faith. He says to Jesus, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). Notice that he doesn’t say, “for a catch.” Jesus tells him to let down the nets “for a catch,” but Peter just says that he’ll let down the nets. He’s holding on to a little skepticism, but he also has a little faith. As it happens, God is the master of more than just fish, and so the haul they take in by heeding his word was enough to nearly sink two boats.

We must listen carefully for the word of God in our lives and be open to it, because it can be counter-intuitive. Our God is a God of surprises.

Hearing the word of God is also like long suffering from a thorn in the flesh – a weakness of body or spirit or condition of life – and asking the Lord to remove it, yet still suffering it and so asking the Lord again to remove it and yet still suffering it and so asking a third time for the Lord to remove it, and finally hearing the word of the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power reaches perfection in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).

The word of the Lord isn’t always what we want to hear. Sometimes he has to tell us three times before we’ll accept it. Accepting it requires a little faith. Paul finally accepts his weakness and even boasts of it, saying, “for the sake of Christ, I am content with weaknesses” (2 Cor 12:10).

The word of God can be hard to hear.

Hearing the word of God is also like trying to sleep at night but being woken by the voice of your teacher calling your name, getting up, going to see what he wants and hearing, “I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.” Then, trying to sleep again, hearing him call you again, getting up and going to him only to hear again, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back to sleep.” And again a third time – but this time at last your teacher recognizes that the voice you’ve been hearing is the voice of the Lord (1 Sam 3:3-10).

Sometimes we mistake the voice of the Lord for the voice of our human teachers, just as sometimes we mistake the voice of our human teachers for the voice of the Lord. His voice in our lives can be hard to recognize, but our teachers, if they are wise and humble, can help us to recognize him when he calls us.

The priest Eli is a good example of this kind of teacher (1 Sam 3). It is Eli who finally recognizes the Lord calling the boy Samuel in the night, only to learn that the Lord will punish his house for the iniquity of his sons, to which news Eli says, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him” (1 Sam 3:18). This demonstrates a rare humility and openness to the word of God, necessary in teachers who would help us to hear the word of God in our own lives.

Hearing the word of God is also like suffering the oppression of another nation for seven years and them destroying all the produce of the land and taking all the livestock, instigating famine, making you so weak and so powerless against them that you just know that there’s nothing you can do about it, so you call out the Lord and ask him, “Why don’t you do something? Where are your wonderful deeds? Why don’t you deliver your people?” only to hear back from the Lord, “Why don’t you deliver your people?” (Judges 6:1, 4, 13-15). Sometimes we ask the Lord, “Why don’t you help us?” only to hear him say, “You are the help I have sent.”  Sometimes we see our own particular problems because God is telling us to deal with our own particular problems.

This is how it went with Gideon against the Midianites (Judges 6). What the Lord was asking him to do to was unbelievable to him. He was of the weakest clan in Manasseh and he was the least in his family and yet the Lord chose him, of all people, to deliver Israel from the Midianites (6:15). He took a lot of convincing.

The word of God can be like that. It confounds us. It calls us to do things we think are impossible. And they would be impossible without God, but they are not without God. When God calls us to seemingly insurmountable tasks he says to us, as he says to Gideon, “But I will be with you” (6:16), and that makes all the difference.

Sometimes people say that God will never let you suffer more than you can bear, but I don’t think that’s quite right. Rather, we may get crushed by our problems, but he will bear them in us. Be with us. Raise us up when we fall (Ps 145:14). It really was impossible for Gideon to drive out the Midianites, but God in Gideon can do anything.

Of myself, I can’t do anything.
God can do anything.
In God, I can do anything God wills.

So, with the guidance of wise and humble teachers, we must listen carefully for the word of God in our lives so that we can know his will for our lives and live in him who accomplishes great, surprising, new, impossible, confounding, and glorious works in and through us.

This service of lessons and carols is rooted in the story of God’s eternal Word made flesh and living among the people. The readings, prayers, carols, and other folk music were chosen to embody this theme.

Our pipe organ, never a great instrument, gave up the ghost a number of years ago. Our congregation has tried to turn a loss into a blessing by encouraging instrumentalists to add their music to the service. We now have an astonishing array: flutes, recorders, violins, trumpet, mandolin, a concertina, percussion of all kinds, and even a psaltery!

We have learned that the choice of instruments can add a layer of meaning to the service. The same is true of readers: a child’s voice reading a certain passage can change how we hear it. Choose readers, both adults and children, male and female of various ages, and rehearse the passages ahead of time. Encourage them to read slowly, letting the emotion of the passage show in their voices. It might help some readers to imagine themselves a character (Isaiah as a young man, for example, or Wisdom as an older woman); for others, it might help to almost “sing” the passage, especially if it is a psalm or a poetic prophecy.

Recruit instrumentalists well ahead of time and determine their strengths and weaknesses. For example, even a beginning guitarist can play a single-note drone for “Noel Nouvelet” (“Now the Green Blade Rises”).

Teach unfamiliar refrains (such as the “Gloria” by Pablo Sosa, or any others) before the service begins. Show the congregation where the “Gloria” will be sung, and prepare them to repeat it strongly or softly, as the Spirit—and the music leader—moves.

The congregation could sing almost all the music suggested here if you do not have a choir.

This service refers to The Book of Psalms (1995, The Presbyterian Church in Canada) for its psalm selections, but other psalm settings can be used. The service can be scheduled for Christmas Eve or any service of lessons and carols just before Christmas. It uses some of the texts from Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary but can be used in any year.

Call to Worship

In your wisdom, O God, you call us here to worship you.

We gather, alive to the Word of God.

You call us to be fully alive with your life abundant, ready to listen and respond with heart, soul, strength, and mind.

We listen, alive to the Word of God.

You call us to be always watchful for your Word of wisdom, sometimes startling and unexpected, sometimes still and quiet, but always dwelling among us.

We watch and wait for the Word of God.

Processional

“O Come, O Come, Immanuel” CBP 122; PsH 328; PH 9; RL 184; SFL 123; RL 194; TWC 133; UMH 211
st. 1-2, all; st. 3, women; st. 4, men; st. 5, solo (male); st. 6, solo (female); st. 7, all

Opening Prayer

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

O God, for your Word of Wisdom, with you from the foundation of the world,

we give you thanks and joyful praise.

We thank you that her voice cried out in the streets, and sought those who seek after God.

We give you thanks and joyful praise.

With Miriam and Moses we sing and rejoice at your mighty works.

We give you thanks and joyful praise.

With Joseph the dreamer and Joseph the carpenter, we thank you for visions of glory and warning.

We give you thanks and joyful praise.

With Sarah and Hannah, Elizabeth and Mary, we thank you for new life, longed-for but always surprising.

We give you thanks and joyful praise.

We thank you for your Word of Wisdom that does not return to you empty. We gather in joyful anticipation of the coming of Immanuel, the Word made flesh, who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.

Lesson 1

Reader 1: God’s Word of Wisdom creates the world; a reading from the book of Proverbs. (Proverbs 8:1-4)

Reader 2: (Proverbs 8:22-31) The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Carol (choose one)

“Creator of the Stars of Night” CBP 111; PH 4, UMH 692
st. 1-3, choir (a solo voice can sing the 1st phrase, with the rest of the choir joining for the rest of each stanza); st. 4, all; st. 5, solo (male or female); st. 6, all
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” PsH 342; PH 309; RL 190; TH 162; TWC 145

Lesson 2

Reader: God gives wisdom to those who seek him. We read responsively from the book of Psalms.

Reading/Carol (choose one)

“Psalm 14” CBPs 14

If this setting is used, sing the second refrain, “Oh, that salvation would come from Zion!” to end the reading; if the psalm is read with no refrain, end the reading with a doxology according to the tradition of your congregation.

“Toda la Tierra” (“All Earth Is Waiting”) CBP109; UMH 210;   RW 49, p. 26

st. 1, all; st. 2, women; st. 3, men; st. 4, all

Lesson 3

Reader 1: The Word of God will fulfill its purpose; readings from the book of Isaiah. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Reader 2: (Isaiah 55:12-13) The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Anthem (choose one)

Three anthem possibilities follow, all chosen for their roots in popular forms. Handel’s oratorios were popular entertainment before they occupied concert halls. Bach’s cantatas were usually based on hymn tunes. The third suggestion is in a contemporary idiom.

“How Beautiful Are the Feet,” G. F. Handel (soprano solo; available in any standard edition of Messiah)
“Zion Hears the Watchmen’s Voices,” J. S. Bach (from Cantata 140, Carols for Choirs 2, David Willcocks and John Rutter, Oxford University Press, New York)
“Waiting for Messiah,” Richard D. Leach and Andrew Donaldson (Canadian Computer Printing, 2-334 Wilson St. West, Ancaster, ON L9G 1N5; 905-648-5607; http://www3.sympatico.ca/palin
dromes.ccp/; CS 115). This is an accompanied anthem (piano) with some syncopation, easy to medium harmony, and an optional cello part.

Lesson 4

Reader 1: Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion! Our Hebrew sisters and brothers, our spiritual ancestors, lived in expectation of God’s salvation; a reading from the book of Zephaniah. (Zephaniah 3:14)

Reader 2: (Zephaniah 3:15-19)

Reader 1: (Zephaniah 3:20)

Reader 2: The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Carol (choose one)

“Comfort, Comfort You, My People CBP 113; CVH 131; PsH 194; PH 113; RL 169; SFL 121; TH 197; TWC 132
“Hark, the Glad Sound!” CBP 118; CVH 125; PsH 335; RL 251

Lesson 5

Reader 1: The Word of God comes to Joseph in a dream.

Readers 1 and 2: (Matthew 1:18-25; one reader is narrator, the other is the voice of the angel.)

Reader 2: The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Prayer Response

O God of dreamers and visionaries, thank you for Joseph the dreamer, who set aside the wisdom of his age, its desire for vengeance, and forgave the brothers who had wronged him.

Thank you for Joseph the carpenter, who set aside the wisdom of his age, heeded your dream of promise, and became the husband of Mary. We thank you that he heeded your dream of warning and fled to Egypt.

Carol (choose one)

“The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came” CBP 156; CVH 139; PH 16
st. 1, all; st. 2, men; st. 3, women; st. 4, all

God’s Word appears to those on the fringes, on the hillsides far from the halls of power.

“‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” (Huron Carol) CBP 144; PH 61; SFL 139; UMH 244

st. 1, choir, all on refrain; st. 2, choir men, all on refrain; st. 3, choir women, all on refrain; st. 4 and refrain, all

Lesson 6

Reader: God’s Word comes to Mary, who sang this song to the Lord as recorded in the gospel of Luke.

“The Song of Mary” (Magnificat) CBP 123; PsH 212; PH 600; SFL 125; UMH 199

The Song of Mary may be read responsively or dramatically. Or it may be sung by choir in an anthem setting or by the congregation from your hymnal.

Lesson 7

Reader 1: God’s Word appears to those on the fringes, on the hillsides far from the halls of power. God’s Word appeared not to the wise of this world, but to shepherds; a reading from the gospel of Luke.

Readers 1 and 2: (Luke 2:8-13; one reader is the narrator, the other the voice of the angel)

Carol (choose one)

“Gloria,” Pablo Sosa (Songs of the World Church, Vol. 1, G.I.A.; RW 45, p. 32)

Accompany this carol with rhythm instruments and guitar. Repeat strongly or gently as the shape of worship requires. You might want to have the instruments softly play under the following reading, letting it fade gradually.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” CH 278; CVH 162; PsH 347; PH 23; RL 206; SFL 133; TH 214; TWC 152; UMH 238

Reader 2: (Luke 2:15-20) The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Lesson 8

Reader 1: God’s folly is wiser than our wisdom; a reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 1:25-26)

Reader 2: (1 Corinthians 1:27-31) The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Carol (choose one)

“Before the World Began” (Iona Community, G.I.A.) CBP 341

st.1, all; st. 2, women; st. 3, men; st.4, all

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” CBP 139; CH 277; CVH 157; PsH 345; PH 31, 32; RL 196; TH 203; TWC 171; UMH 240

Lesson 9

Reader 1 (female): God’s Word became flesh and lived among us; a reading from the gospel according to John. (John 1:1-5)

Reader 2 (male): (John 1:6-13)

Reader 1: (John 1:14) The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

Reader 2: Let us go out rejoicing, for the Wisdom of God, the Word of God, the one who is and was and is to come, is born among us, and we have seen God’s glory!

Note: Add a congregational blessing, if appropriate.

Recessional Options

“Il est né” CBP 169; UMH 228

All sing verses in English, refrain in French.

“People, Look East” CBP 125; PH 12; UMH 202

Congregation and choir.

Excerpt

Hymnal Abbreviations
Used in This Article

CBPs       Book of Psalms, Canadian Presbyterian
CBP        Book of Praise, Canadian Presbyterian
CH         Celebration Hymnal
CVH      Covenant Hymnal
NOBC   The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols
OBC      Oxford Book of Carols
PH         Presbyterian Hymnal
PsH       Psalter Hymnal
RL        Rejoice in the Lord
SFL      Songs for LiFE
TH        Trinity Hymnal
TWC    The Worshiping Church
UMH   United Methodist Hymnal
 

Performance Notes for Instrumental Prelude

Note: The following arrangements are created directly from the hymnal and are intended for available instrumentalists. Feel free to create your own.

1. “Noel Nouvelet” (“Now the Green Blade Rises”) BP 226; NOBC 110; OBC 149; UMH 311
Often sung in English as an Easter carol, this was originally a Christmas carol.

Introduction: 2 measures; guitar (or cello) plays a drone (on F or G depending on the key chosen) with drum ad lib.

Stanza 1: all available instruments

Stanza 2: flute, recorder, or other wind instrument (or organ flute stop), guitar drone, drum

Stanza 3: violin or other stringed instrument, solo or with soft keyboard accompaniment; guitar and drum silent

Interlude: guitar or cello and drum, 2 measures; same as for the introduction, except that they should crescendo into:

Stanza 4: all available instruments

2. “Il est né” (“He Is Born”) NOBC 114; CBP 169

This is a French carol in the pastoral tradition. Its charm is given depth by its devotion to the Christ child. It could also use guitar or cello drone and drum, in a manner similar to “Noel Nouvelet.” Note that in most arrangements, the refrain lends itself to full harmony, while in the stanza, a duet is often featured. Two wind instruments (flute, recorder, etc.) or a soloist could play this duet, with the second part carried by the keyboard.

Introduction: guitar, cello, (bassoon or 8-foot organ reed stop) and hand drum ad lib

Refrain and stanza 1: soft and distant; melody on any treble wind instrument (or a light, 4–foot organ reed stop); guitar and drum continue

Refrain and stanza 2: stronger and more “present”; add harmony on the keyboard

Interlude: guitar drone, hand drum similar to Introduction, except that they crescendo into:

Stanza 3: all available instruments; strong and joyful

Refrain: If desired, the players could end the carol by repeating the refrain, playing more and more softly and “dropping out” one by one, ending with the drum, pianissimo. This can create a quiet anticipation for the rest of the service.

3. “Toda la Tierra” (“All Earth Is Waiting”) CBP109; UMH 210; RW 49, p. 26

This piece is in an easy key for guitarists. Several guitars strumming in the following pattern can add an air of urgency and expectation to an instrumental rendition of this song. A horn or trumpet can add a note of heralding for the last stanzas. If this is an unfamiliar carol, using it as a prelude can help teach it to the congregation just before they sing. Three instrumental stanzas are suggested here, though the congregational version has four.

Introduction: guitars strumming strongly; drum optional, ad lib, two measures.

Stanza 1: all available instruments except brass

Interlude: guitars strumming for two measures, becoming softer into:

Stanza 2: gently, add flute or flute stop on keyboard

Interlude: guitars strumming; crescendo into:

Stanza 3: all available instruments; add horn or trumpet if available

Texts in Biblical Order Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 14 Isaiah 55:10-13 Zephaniah 3:14-20 Matthew 1:18-25 Luke 2:8-20 1 Corinthians 1:25-31 John 1:1-14.

I read a quote recently that got my attention– “God gave us mouths that close and ears that don’t… that should tell us something”- (Eugene O’Neil). He seems to be telling us that listening can sometimes be a better choice than speaking. And when listening, what if I spent my time specifically listening to the voice of God in place of the outpouring of opinions, thoughts and bold statements flying around?

Who has heard the voice of God? 

Wouldn’t it be awesome to hear the word of God audibly? God spoke aloud many times in the Old Testament, starting in Genesis. God walked with Adam and Eve, giving them verbal instructions to be fruitful… rule over every living creature… what they were to eat… (Genesis 1:28-30)

God had an entire conversation with them regarding their sin in Genesis 3.

The Audible Voice of God

Aaron and Miriam heard the Lord speaking when He came down in a pillar of cloud to chastise them for criticizing Moses.

God said about Moses, “With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles.” Numbers 12:8 NIV.

God spoke audibly to the prophets (and in dreams and visions) with the purpose of recording His words and plans.

Samuel thought he was hearing the voice of the priest Eli in the night, but it was God calling to him.  “The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak for your servant is listening’.’” 1 Samuel 3:10 NIV.

Jesus spoke throughout the New Testament to teach and announce the plan of our redemption through His sacrifice.

Jesus told his disciples that the gift of the Holy Spirit would come when He was no longer on earth.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 NKJV.

Once the Bible was in written form and dispersed, it became God’s way of communicating with us. His written word and the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit are how we hear Him today.

Hearing God Speak

Wouldn’t it be amazing to hear the voice of God clearly? He speaks to us, but like Samuel, we have to be attentive listeners and know His voice.

It seems these days that we all want to talk and be heard, but we aren’t the best of listeners. (I’m speaking of myself here, too.)

I have a bad habit of listening with “one ear”. I perfected it through years of parenting and multitasking with 4 children. That was a lot of talking, demands, arguments and needs that all wanted to be heard at the same time.

True listening is to pay attention to; and to hear with thoughtful attention. Synonyms for “listen” are to tune-in, concentrate, and be all ears. What a wonderful reminder!

If we want to be listening to God, we need to give Him our full, thoughtful attention.

Be Silent Before the Lord

We’re not truly listening if we break into a conversation with our own words or busy formulating how we are going to reply.

Listening involves quieting our minds and giving our full attention to what God wants to tell us. It reminds me of when Jesus spoke to a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee. He quieted all the noise with the simple words “Quiet! Be still!” Mark 4:39 NIV.

Might He be speaking to our hearts in the same way? If we want to hear the voice of God, practice silence and stillness.

Bible Verses about Silence

•When Moses spoke to the Israelites about God’s principles for holy living, he said, “Be silent, O Israel, and listen!” Deuteronomy 27:9 NIV. God wanted their full attention for His important work. He was making them His holy people.

•When the Red Sea stopped the Hebrews’ progress, Moses reassured them that God would save them. “You have only to be silent”: Exodus 14:14 ESV.

Their silence allowed them to hear and see God’s power.

Jesus Remained Silent

Jesus shows us the importance of silence-

•“He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.” Luke 23:9NIV (In His trial before Herod.)

•“But Jesus remained silent and made no answer.” Mark 14:61NIV (To the high priest in His trial before Caiaphas.)

•”Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.” Matthew 27:13-14. (In His trial before Pilate.)

•Isaiah prophesied Jesus as the silent lamb.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7 NIV.

Even though Jesus was innocent of all charges, He remained silent in order to willingly accept our punishment. His strength and serenity were on full display. He didn’t complain, put up a defense, or rail against the injustice.

Jesus used silence to show obedience and self-control.

Knowing the Voice of God

But how can we know if the voice we are hearing is from God?

Jesus used the parable of the Good Shepherd to illustrate how we can distinguish His voice from others.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:14, 27 NIV.

When our relationship mirrors that of the sheep and their shepherd, we trust Him and follow His lead. Knowing Jesus’ voice means we prefer His voice to all the other voices swirling around us. Steeped long enough in His word, we can discern His voice from those who try to deceive us.

The closer your personal relationship with Jesus, the easier it is to clearly hear what He has to say to you.

How to Listen to God

•Find a time to meet with Him daily in stillness and silence.

This does not have to happen at the same time of the day or be long and drawn out. Silence your phone and find a quiet place without distractions. It may be as you first wake up, or as you lie down to sleep. Going for a solo walk, driving without the radio on, or going into a room and shutting the door for privacy can be quiet places to hear from God.

•Consistency in all things brings results. Listening to the voice of God becomes fine-tuned over time.

There is no magic formula. Listening to His voice comes by focusing on your relationship. If you only come to Him for answers when you are facing a crisis, or need guidance on an important decision, you may be frustrated that you aren’t clearly hearing His voice. He wants you to hear Him clearly. Invest the time into speaking and listening to Him regularly.

•Open your Bible.

God speaks to us every moment we spend in His Word. Listen for the Holy Spirit to draw your attention to a passage, spark a curiosity about what you have read, give you understanding, or convict you to make a change. When this happens, turn it into a conversation. Ask questions. Listen for His answer.

•Spend time in His presence through worship and praise.

Pause and listen occasionally as you praise Him. Speaking with our Lord is supposed to be a dialogue, not a one-sided conversation! I’m guilty of doing this without going the extra mile and intentionally listening for His response.

Listen and Hear

•Listen with the focus of hearing His plans and ideas.

We go to His presence often with our worries, our desires, and our frustrations. He wants us to lay all these things out to Him, but also go one step further. Try asking Him to tell you what action He wants you to take, what comfort He has for you, or what spiritual truth to apply to your situation.

•Don’t force it.

We will hear God’s voice through the help of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13) God is ready to speak to us! (Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 145:18, Matthew 7:7.)  He will, however, speak to us with what He wants us to hear, not necessarily what we ask of Him. Be patient, persistent, and open to His thoughts, teachings and guiding.

•God can speak through circumstances (and mysterious ways!)

When I was contemplating following through on starting my blog, I argued plenty with God (but with lots of me talking and no listening.) I just kept laying out the reasons why I wasn’t qualified.

One day as I was driving and listening to the radio, I heard a commercial for a Christian Writers Conference in my area. My conscience was pricked, but I resisted. I continued to hear this commercial repeatedly until I finally gave in and checked it out. It turned out to be the springboard and encouragement I needed to go forward in His plan.

How many times does your “verse of the day”, a Facebook post, or a song seem to be the perfect bit of encouragement/love/ comfort you need?

God can speak through circumstances, conversations with others, our thoughts, music, books we read, beauty in nature- the list is endless. But one thing will always hold true- His voice always stands up to Biblical truth. He would never speak words that contradict Biblical principles.

Hearing God in the Silence

I stood at the window with my eyes closed, basking in the weak winter sunlight. I spoke these simple words, “Lord, you are my King. You alone are worthy of praise.” I waited in silence and heard the words, “I see you.” My tea kettle whistled, and the moment was over.

I went back to my computer and googled “Bible verse I see you” and here’s the first thing I found:

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a (NIV)

Isn’t that a beautiful word picture? He is looking on us, ready to strengthen us with His truth and guidance!

Speak Lord, Your Servant is Listening

Samuel’s response to the Lord was a simple prayer that we can all pray as we go to God with the desire to hear from Him. We often spend a lot of time in prayer speaking to God, but never take the time to listen to His reply.
Sit in silence with your Lord and He will call you by name, leading you in the way you should go. He loves you and wants you to know Him in an intimate and deep way. Are you listening?

Blessings!

AnnMarie

All Scripture is taken from the NIV unless specified otherwise.

Photo Credits: AnnMarie Anderson, Deposit Photos

As believers in Christ, we need to listen carefully to God’s word, obey God’s word, and act on it, coming to God’s word with a proper attitude to care for contacting God and obeying what He is speaking to us; this will lead to having success in serving God and working for God.

This week we come to another great crystal in the book of Judges, The Intrinsic Significance of Gideon as God’s Valiant Warrior. God called Gideon a valiant warrior even before he went to war; He foresaw that Gideon was going to be a warrior on His behalf against God’s enemy.

Gideon was raised by God to be a judge in Israel. A judge is one who plays the role of the adjudicator; in a judicial sense, they would decide when two people would come to them with problems, and they would make a decision.

However, this wasn’t their primary function; mainly, their function was to be a chieftain, a leader, one who provides leadership in bringing the tribes together in one accord to fight against God’s enemy.

The case of Gideon is quite significant since, among all the judges in the book of Judges, he has the largest portion of verses – four chapters (Judges 6-9).

The reason chapter 9 is included is that Gideon wasn’t only very successful in defeating God’s enemy, but he also had a terrible failure, which continued even after he died.

He was one with God and was very successful and useful in God’s hands, but then he was one with Satan and he brought in destruction, chaos, and death in his family.

We need to read these chapters prayerfully, contact the Lord, and have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches.

It is quite sad to read a verse that keeps repeating in Judges, such as Judges 2:11, The children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Jehovah and served the Baals.

This is repeated again and again, together with another verse that says, In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes (this is repeated four times in Judges).

Because they left Jehovah as their Lord, their King, their Husband, and their Head, they committed wickedness by rejecting Him and choosing to go after idols.

May we be saved from the evil and wickedness of forsaking God and may we turn to Him, choose Him, and take Him as our King, our Lord, our Head, and our Husband.

This is why the first verse in the New Testament states that Christ is the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; first, He is the son of David, for He brings in the kingdom of God, and when we repent and obey God to have His kingdom, we also have the blessing, typified by the son of Abraham.

May we stay away from the great wickedness and great evil of forsaking God, and may we take Christ as our King, our Lord, our Head, and our Husband.

Being those who Listen Carefully to the Word of God and say Amen to His Speaking

Gideon was raised up by God as His valiant warrior and sent by God to save Israel (Judg. 6:12-14; cf. John 8:29) from the oppression of the Midianites (Judg. 6:1—8:32); we must see the intrinsic significance of Gideon’s success.

We need to see the intrinsic significance of Gideon’s success and of his failure to be both exhorted and warned concerning our walk in our Christian life.

If we see the secret significance of Gideon’s success, we will be helped and perfected to be the Lord’s overcomers, for the story of Gideon shows us how to be an overcomer.

In Judges 6 we see how the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon and told him, Jehovah is with you, valiant warrior!

Gideon must have been shocked, for he wasn’t from the tribe of Judah, he was not a mighty person, but he considered himself to be someone insignificant, in a small house, even the youngest in his house.

The Angel of Jehovah is Christ Himself, the Son of God, as the One sent by God to save His people from their situation of suffering.

It is similar to the Angel of Jehovah appearing to Moses in the burning thornbush and calling him to deliver Israel. Gideon was very sincere with the Lord, and he conversed with Him.

We all need to be open to the Lord and listen carefully to the Word of God, even say Amen to His speaking.

We need to build up a habit of conversing with the Lord, pouring out our troubles, our sins, our griefs, our sorrows, and everything that is within us.

We need to breathe out everything that is in us so that we may be filled with Him; in our time with the Lord, we need to be sincere with Him, opening to Him and being those who listen carefully to the Word of God so that we may inhale Him.

Gideon was honest with the Lord and told Him that if Jehovah is with them, why has all this happened to them, all these bad things with the oppressors that come and take away their crops?

The Lord didn’t respond by saying, Don’t say that, Gideon, don’t be so negative. Rather, the Angel of Jehovah said, Gideon, go in this strength of yours, and save Israel from the hand of Midian; indeed, I have sent you. Wow!

This reminds us of the Lord’s word in John 8:29 where it says that the Father who has sent the Son is with the Son, He hasn’t left the Son, because the Son always does the things that are pleasing to Him.

We may not always do the things that are pleasing to the Lord, but we have to realize that He is with us; He sents us, and He is inside of us, so when we exercise our spirit, we are identified with Him.

To be identified with the Lord means that we are one with Him. Gideon listened carefully to the word of God, something that was rare among the children of Israel at that time.

Today we live in a similar situation; the Lord’s word is rare, and even when He speaks, it is rare for someone to listen carefully to the word of God.

May we be those who listen carefully to the Lord’s word, treasure His word, and speak His word according to what He speaks to us.

Gideon was a person who listened carefully to the Word of God.

The Lord today is the Spirit speaking to the churches, and He wants us to have an ear to hear what He speaks to the churches (Rev. 1:10, 12).

May we turn to our spirit, be in spirit, and hear the Lord’s word; sometimes, His speaking may be from behind, for even though we are in spirit, we may be in the wrong position.

We need to hear the Lord’s voice, and we will see a vision; our seeing a vision depends on our hearing the Lord’s voice and our listening to His speaking.

The Lord wants to open our ears to hear His voice (Job 33:14-16; Isa. 50:4-5; Exo. 21:6) so that we may see things according to His economy.

If we have dull ears, they need to be circumcised (Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51), and the sinners’ ears need to be cleansed with the redeeming blood and anointed with the Spirit (Lev. 14:14, 17, 28).

May we all have an opened, circumcised, cleansed, and anointed ear to hear the Spirit’s speaking, and may we listen carefully to the Word of God.

The Lord Jesus in His human living was awakened morning by morning to hear the Word of God and listen carefully to it.

We may love our bed very much and may not spend time with the Lord early in the morning; we need to pray that He would wake us up to spend time with Him, so that He may give us a tongue of the instructed that we would know how to sustain the weary with a word.

The Lord always wants to open our ears to hear His voice so that we may see things according to His economy; may we turn our heart to Him and exercise our spirit to listen carefully to the Word of God in spirit.

Lord Jesus, we turn our heart to You and we exercise our spirit to be in Your presence so that we may have Your speaking. Amen, Lord, grant us to have an opened, circumcised, cleansed, and anointed ear to hear the Spirit’s speaking. May we listen carefully to Your word and be one with Your word. We pour out our heart before You, dear Lord, and we want to breathe ourselves out so that we may breathe You in. Open our ears to hear Your voice and see things according to God’s economy. Awaken us in the morning to hear Your word, and give us the tongue of an instructed one so that we may sustain the weary with a word. Amen, Lord, we love Your word – we love Your present speaking, Your up-to-date, moment-by-moment, speaking!

Coming to the Word to Enjoy God and Living in Spirit to Obey God’s Word and Act on it

Gideon didn’t only listen carefully to the Word of God when the Angel of Jehovah came to him; he also obeyed God’s word and acted on it (see Heb. 11:32-33).

It is one thing to hear God’s word and listen carefully to it, and it is even better to obey God’s word and act on it.

Faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen; when we receive God’s word, we need to exercise our spirit of faith to substantiate God’s speaking and make it real to us, and we need to obey God’s word and act on it.

If we hear the Word of God and obey it, we will be blessed. In the New Testament, we believers in Christ have Christ’s life of obedience and submission, and if we walk according to the spirit, we will spontaneously fulfill the righteous requirement of the law (Phil. 2:5-11; Rom. 8:4).

We have the Lord’s life of obedience in our spirit. Rom. 8:4 tells us that the righteous requirement of the law is spontaneously fulfilled in us when we walk according to the spirit, not according to the flesh.

When we live, move, and have our being according to our mingled spirit, we spontaneously fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.

The Spirit within us spontaneously fulfils all the righteous requirements of the law when we walk according to Him.

May this mind be in us (Phil. 2:5); the mind that was in Christ, the thinking that was in Him, may this be in us.

The mind that was in Christ contains the thoughts of the Triune God, and such a mind needs to be in us.

Christ took the form of a slave, humbling Himself and becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.

We have His life of obedience that always takes the cross and always goes to the cross.

The Lord did not come to be served but to serve; the happiest ones in the church life are those who serve others, for they are one with the Lord who serves us.

May we be those who listen carefully to the Word of God, obey God’s word, and act on God’s word. We act on God’s word by taking Christ as our life and person.

As those who know their God, we need to show strength and take action (Dan. 11:32).

Our attitude in coming to the word of God shouldn’t be merely to care for the commandments, precepts, principles, and teachings in the Bible; we need to take the Word of God as the breathing out of God, enjoy God in His Word, and receive more of the life-giving Spirit as we come to God’s word (Psa. 119:25, 116, 130; 2 Cor. 3:6; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

If we do this, the Word of God will function to dispense God Himself as life into us as His loving seekers.

If we come to God’s word with the exercise of our spirit to breathe God in, we will receive Spirit and life; if we come to read the Bible merely with our mind and heart but without our spirit, we may receive letters, which may kill us. Oh, Lord.

May we say Amen to God’s word, listen carefully to God’s word, and obey God’s word so that we may act on it.

Only those who are obedient to God are useful to Him; our heart needs to be softened, and our attitude should be that of a learner, for we want to learn from the Lord through His Word.

The Lord Jesus also learned obedience through the things that He suffered; we learn obedience by experiencing Christ with His life of obedience in the midst of sufferings as we hear His word, listen carefully to it, and exercise to obey His word and act on it.

Lord Jesus, we come to your word to just breathe You. We breathe ourselves out and we breathe You in through Your word. We exercise our spirit, Lord, to enjoy and experience Your life of obedience and submission. We want to walk according to the spirit so that the righteous requirement of the law may be spontaneously fulfilled in us. Amen, Lord, we come to You in Your word to breathe You in and be infused with life! We say Amen to Your word and we exercise to obey the word of God and act on it. May we be those who learn to obey through the sufferings we experience. May we learn to live out Your life of obedience and submission so that You may live in us and fulfill the Word of God in us.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ed Marks for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 47, Authority and Submission, ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 8, The Intrinsic Significance of Gideon as God’s Valiant Warrior.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Speak, Lord, in the stillness, / While I wait on Thee; / Hushed my heart to listen, / In expectancy. / Speak, O blessed Master, / In this quiet hour; / Let me see Thy face, Lord, / Feel Thy touch of power. (Hymns #809)
  – Take time to behold Him, / The world rushes on; / Spend much time in secret / With Jesus alone. / By looking to Jesus / Like Him thou shalt be; / Thy friends, in thy conduct, / His likeness shall see. (Hymns #643)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. (Hymns #784)

“Therefore Consider Carefully How You Listen”
(Luke 8:18)

Introduction

We might begin by asking the question, “What exactly is the Bible?” Most Christians would answer with something like, “It’s God’s Holy Word, His special instrument of communication to man.” And they would be right. Then we need to ask another question. “If we believe the Bible is God’s Word and special means of communication, do we take the Bible seriously? Do we have a holy reverence for Scripture and the time we assemble together to worship and study this Word from God?”

Are we like the one God esteems or looks for in Isaiah 66:2? “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” (NIV) Or as the KJV reads, “but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” God is looking for people who have a holy reverence for the Word and His plan for learning and applying it. This means truly hearing God’s voice in the Word. God is the master communicator and biblical history is not only the story of redemption but it is also the story of communication and revelation from God. He encodes and transmits, and we are to decode and receive.

Isn’t it true that one of the keys to life and good relationships is effective communication? And for effective communication to occur, there must be effective listening. This is just one of the reasons we must take the study of the Bible very seriously, whether privately or corporately. This is true not only in Bible study, but in our prayer life and in all aspects of corporate worship. Why? So we might truly listen to God through the various aspects of a worship service, and especially our time in the Word.

We so need to learn that we are here to listen to God even though He has chosen to use human instruments to communicate with us. It would be well for each of us to take to heart Paul’s praise to the Thessalonian believers in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”

The process looks something like this:

(1) COMMUNICATION: Listening to God

(2) COMPREHENSION: Understanding what God says

(3) CONFIDENCE: Trusting in what God says

(4) CHANGE: Being transformed by what God says

Without this process of communication, there simply cannot be any real spiritual change in the life of man. Because of this, God is deeply concerned about how well we listen when we are listening.

The Importance
Scripture Places on Listening to God

Have you ever noticed how often the Bible emphasizes the idea of listening? It is a concept that is repeated over and over in a variety of ways. This is obviously not without purpose.

Illustrations:

(1) The specific clause “hear the Word of the Lord” occurs 32 times in the NIV and 28 times in the NASB.

(2) The words “hear” or “listen O Israel” are found 6 times in the NIV and the NASB. “Listen” is found 331 times and the majority of these passages in some way deal with listening to the Lord. “Hear” is found 347 times and again, many of these also have to do with hearing God’s Word.

(3) We also find a number of comments like “Incline your ear,” or “give ear” or “pay or give attention” and similar expressions used in various ways to call man, and especially to God’s people, to listen intently to God.

(4) In the New Testament, the Lord warns us to consider carefully what you hear (Mk. 4:24) and how you hear (Lk. 8:18).

(5) The words “today, if you hear his voice,” are found three times in Hebrews and once in the Old Testament (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7; Ps. 95:7).

(6) Seven times, once in each of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 we read “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

(7) In Mark 4:9 the Lord warned, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” and again in verse 23 He said “if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (NIV)

(8) And is it not significant that one of the titles of the Son of God is the Greek term logos which refers to some form of communication? It means “speech, word, saying, discourse.” As the Logos, Jesus Christ is the living Word of God to man. Of Him Moses wrote in Deut. 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (NIV)

(9) But not only is there the call to listen carefully to the Lord, there is the warning about listening to the wrong voices or influences in the world in numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments.

The point is simple, God has much to say to us and because He is the all-wise and sovereign God and because of our finite humanity as well as our fallenness, it is imperative for us to listen carefully. But, as fallen people, even as fallen people now redeemed, we are ever so prone to be distracted and drawn away with other things, even with good things.

We can too easily be like Martha, who was distracted by so many things, rather than Mary who sat at the feet of the Savior to hear His Word.

Luke 10:38-42 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

As portrayed in the parable of the sower, the soils, and the seed, we can be like the thorny ground, full of thorns and thistles which represent the cares of the world and which choke the Word and cause it to become unfruitful in our lives.

Mark 4:18-19 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Why do you suppose God created man with two eyes and two ears, but only one mouth? That in itself ought to be a visual object lesson worth a thousand words.

Listen to these words from Proverbs 20:12. “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made both of them.” You know, I find it significant and interesting that Solomon says nothing about the mouth. The Lord made that too, yet it seems Solomon purposely didn’t mention the mouth. He only mentions that which is a source or means of receiving instruction from the Lord. The fact is we are all too quick to reveal our minds and too slow to listen. James reminds us of this very fact: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). (NIV)

With this in mind, we might note Proverbs 18:2, “A fool does not delight in understanding (which comes by hearing), But only in revealing his own mind.”

Proverbs 22:17-19 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge; 18 For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be ready on your lips. 19 So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, even you.

The lesson is obvious: We are to listen so we can learn to trust the Lord. To fail to listen shows our determination to pursue life through our own resources and foolishness.

The Instruction
of Scripture on Listening to God

How God communicates should teach us something about how we should listen. So How does God communicate, and how should we listen? What do we need to do to be prepared to listen attentively and effectively?

God Communicates Through the Bible

The Bible is our index or guide for all the other ways God communicates. If we are going to listen to God and discern His voice in the other avenues He uses, we must be listening to His Word, the Bible. Of course, God communicates His Word in many ways: through those who teach it formally and informally as in counseling, in personal exhortation and encouragement, through song or music, through books, tapes, film, etc. However, the primary method God has chosen, and that which is foundational to all the other ways God communicates in the church age, is the local assembly when the church is assembled together for the hearing of the Word. Other things are involved, prayer, singing, praise, the Lord’s table, but at the center is the proclamation of the Word (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:11, 13; 2 Tim. 4:1-4).

God Communicates Through the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the resident teacher whom the Father has sent through the Son to indwell every New Testament believer as God’s special anointing to teach and make the truths of the Word understood and real to the heart or mind of believers. One of His primary ministries today is that of communicating the Word—the completed canon of Scripture. Since the cessation of the temporary, foundational, and miraculous gifts, He does not give special or new revelation, but He works through the Scriptures which is our index for belief and practice.

To be able to listen to God, to comprehend truth, to worship the Lord, and to be transformed by the Word through faith in God, God has given us the Holy Spirit. He is God’s special agent who takes the things of Christ and teaches them to us whether we receive them by personal study or through the human instruments who teach us the Word.

God Communicates Through the Events of Our Lives

(1) Special Times of Worship (singing, praise, prayer, teaching, ordinances).

(2) Blessings that reveal His love and grace.

(3) Trials and Irritations that become tools to get our attention and build character, but only as we hear and learn to relate and rest in the promises and principles of Scripture.

God Communicates Through the People in Our Lives

The Bible is full of illustrations of how God uses people to communicate His love, mercy, and grace. This comes in many forms: sometimes in the form of encouragement, sometimes in the form of godly example, and sometimes even in the form of rebuke. A few passages should illustrate the point:

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know (note the element of communication here) that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name.

Ephesians 5:19-20 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, 2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Ephesians 6:4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

1 Peter 3:1-2, 7 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. … 7 You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Primary Focus: Our primary focus in this short study is on how God communicates to us through the Word and the Holy Spirit and especially in relation to our times of worship together.

Question: What does this mean then in terms of how we listen to God? Two things:

(1) As already pointed out, listening to God must involve God’s Word and the Holy Spirit working together in the mind and heart of the believer. Even when God uses people and circumstances, we must always consider what God is saying to us in the light of His infallible Word. God never contradicts His Word. We must learn to examine everything in the light of the Holy Scripture. Further, this means I need to recognize that since the Spirit communicates to me through the Word of God, I need to expose myself to the Word privately, and corporately, as often as I can.

(2) But listening to God also means something else. Listening to God, really hearing what He is seeking to say, demands SPIRITUAL PREPARATION and ACTIVE PARTICIPATION on the part of the listener. In order to listen to God, one must be prepared to listen. Listening to the Lord is a spiritual matter. But any kind of learning involves preparation and active participation or concentration. Because of this, God is very concerned about HOW we listen and worship. He is concerned about our mental attitudes and our spiritual state when we come to worship or sit down with the Bible either privately or corporately.

The Problem: We can simply go through the motions of religious activity and deceive ourselves as James warns us in James 1. We can play church and do a kind of “nod to God” routine putting in our appearance physically while we are in essence absent spiritually. Result? We don’t even come close to truly hearing the voice of God. Why? Because we have removed our hearts from the Lord. We have become passive listeners because we aren’t really prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually to hear the Word of the Lord. Church attendance is often simply a part of our plan to pursue life on our own terms. We attend church not to really meet with God or listen in order to know, love, and serve Him, but to feel good, have an experience, to hear beautiful music, to hear an eloquent speaker, to see people or even to be seen by people. We attend church to soothe our consciences and maybe earn a little of God’s favor. In this case, one’s religious activity is a kind of insurance policy—a protection we think. But we are dead wrong if we think this way because such reasons do not line up with what God says to us in His Word.

Let’s look at a few verses:

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 Guard your steps as you go to the house of God, and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. 2 Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.

Isaiah 29:1, 13 Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule. 13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, …”

Ezekiel 33:30-32 But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now, and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’ 31 And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people, and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not practice them.

So, the Key Question: What is needed for us to be able to effectively listen to God? What can we do to prepare our hearts so we are in a position where we can hear what the Lord is seeking to reveal or communicate to us, i.e., understand the message and respond with faith and obedience whether the message comes through a hymn, or a testimony, or through the teaching of the Word?

May I suggest several things:

We Need Spiritual Preparation

As we have already stated, God’s communication through the Word always involves the teaching/convicting ministry of God the Holy Spirit. This is evident in a number of passages but two will do to illustrate the point:

Ephesians 3:16-19 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-3:3 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

That God communicates the Word through the ministry of the Spirit means I must be properly adjusted to or in right relationship to this divine teacher who indwells me. This is a relationship where, believing that He is present, I consciously depend on Him for insight to God’s Word (understanding and personal application). But as we can see from 1 Corinthians 3, the carnal believer, the believer who is not dealing with sin in his or her life, simply cannot and will not effectively listen or hear God’s message. The carnal believer is apathetic and simply cannot understand and respond to the things of God while in that condition.

Well why? Because known sin in the life, things like wrong attitudes (envy, jealousy, resentment, pride, unbelief, self-centeredness), self-protective ways of living, indifference or apathy to God, preoccupation with other things, and other forms of sin grieve the Spirit’s person (Eph. 4:30) and undoubtedly stifle or quench much of His ministry like teaching and making the things of Christ real (1 Thess. 5:19). His ministry is changed from leading and teaching to convicting the carnal believe of his or her condition. The Lord Jesus put it this way:

Mark 4:19 and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Martha gives us a classic illustration of this. Though in the very presence of the Lord Jesus, Martha in contrast to Mary had no ears to hear what the Savior was saying because she was distracted and drawn away by other concerns (Luke 10:38-41).

Another illustration can be seen in the disciples when the Lord fed the five thousand. Read Mark 6:30-52. They had failed to truly listen to what the Lord was teaching them through the events of the day because they too were occupied with other things, often with who was the greatest. The result is seen in the Lord’s rebuke in verse 52, “For they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”

There Needs to be an Open Heart

There needs to be a heart open to personal, soul searching examination for the purpose of seeing our motives, our sources of trust or the things we depend on for our security, i.e., the condition of our lives as they really are. This needs to be done prior to personal study or a worship service to prepare our hearts for hearing God and then it needs to be maintained as the Spirit of God brings conviction or as other things or thoughts might seek to intrude to distract or hinder listening while studying or praying, or during a worship service (Ps. 119:18; 139:23-24; 1 Cor. 11:28f).

Often this is simply not done. People arrive at church harried and upset because of something that happened at home or even on the way to church. Or people get busy being friendly, talking, and so on, and that’s all good, but after they sit down they never give any thought to the condition of their heart or their need to secure a spiritual focus and to be sure they are controlled by the Spirit.

What’s the purpose of self-examination? The purpose for examination and self-revelation is honest to God, deep seated confession in a spirit of repentance. While people can’t see our hearts, God can and He rejects worship that is not in spirit and truth, where the heart is kept from Him (Isa. 29:13).

Regarding confession, we are talking about a confession which seeks to go to the root causes of sin in our lives, especially our stubborn determination to run our own lives and live by our own devices for peace, security, and significance (Jer. 2:13; 17:5; Ps. 66:18; Prov. 28:13-14; 1 Jn. 1:9; Ps. 51:5f; Jam. 4:6-10).

Both James 1:19-25 and 1 Peter 2:1-2 teach us that before there can be a proper response to the Word that leads to true spiritual deliverance through an active faith, a response where we are quick to listen, receive, and hunger as a new born babe for the pure milk of the Word, we must honestly deal with sin. In James 1:23, “receiving the word implanted” is dependent on “putting aside all filthiness …” In 1 Peter 2:2, the command to “long for the pure milk of the word” is dependent on “putting aside all malice and all guile, …” How do we deal with sin? By personal examination and honest confession of sin. Then we will be free to listen to God’s Word and depend on the Holy Spirit to give deliverance over sin.

We Need Active Participation

In our TV generation we have become passive listeners. I think our term today is “couch potatoes.” We have forgotten how to think and stay actively involved in the listening process. We have become mentally lazy. Active listening means concentrating, searching, probing, questioning, thinking, interacting, responding and applying. God doesn’t want pious, passive spectators. He wants actively involved listeners. We aren’t receivers who turn ourselves on, tune ourselves in, and relax.

“Active involved listening is spoken of frequently in Scripture.”¹ Note these passages for instance:

(1) 1 Corinthians 2:15 “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.” The word “appraises” is a Greek word which was used of a lawyer in careful, diligent judicial investigation. Now, what does that involve? It involves careful thought, actively searching, comparing, and probing to get at the truth. In this context, the words “he that is spiritual” refers to a person who is Spirit-controlled, has grown spiritually, and is also somewhat spiritually mature (note the contrast in 3:1 to spiritual babies). In such a person the Holy Spirit is free to work in an active heart and mind because that person is in fellowship and responding to the Spirit’s ministry. Such a person is able to search, probe, compare, and apply God’s Word effectively.

(2) James 1:22-27 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 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; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 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 shall be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Having challenged us to deal with any sin so we can truly receive (hear) the Word, James then warns us about the difference between superficial and substantial listening. He is warning us against unprepared, passive, and uninvolved listening. James is teaching us we need the kind of active listening that is diligent to understand and respond to God’s Word in order that its truth so touches the heart that it begins to bring change, not of course by our own strength, but by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God through faith.

The words “looks intently” in verse 25 represent a different word for “looking” than the one used previously in this section (vss. 23-24). This is the Greek parakupto which refers to a very intent and concentrated look. Literally parakupto means “to stoop down in order to have a close look.” It is used in John 20:5 and 11 of the disciple’s investigation of the empty tomb, and in 1 Peter 1:12 of the Angels intense interest and study of the person and work of the Savior. So parakupto suggests keen interest, close attention, and active investigation.

(3) 1 Timothy 4:15 “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.” Here Paul told Timothy to “take pains” and “be absorbed” in these things, a reference to the previous commands regarding his ministry in teaching, being an example of Christlike character, and using his gift (4:11-14). One simply cannot “take pains” and “be absorbed” and remain a passive listener. “Take pains” is the Greek word melataw which means “cultivate, think meditate, attend to carefully.” “Be absorbed” is literally, “in these be,” and connotes the idea of “be totally enveloped, absorbed, give yourself totally to them.”

But note the next verse: “Pay close attention to yourself …” Bible study or hearing the Word is to be aimed at personal application for changed living from the inside out.

Passive, uninvolved listening to God is inadequate and judged by God as futile religiosity. Believers are always to be on the alert—probing for meaning and application, for lethargic, half-hearted listening just doesn’t cut it with God nor can it result in spiritual deliverance. In practical terms what does this entail?

What does this mean in terms of my listening to God? When I read and study the Word, I must put everything else aside and concentrate on what He is saying to me. I must give Him my undivided attention. I should do this on a regular basis, for that is the only way I can develop my listening skills. I should do this in a place where I have minimal distractions. I should read and meditate out loud and take notes and ask questions, for these are the kinds of things that make me an active participant.

I should observe carefully to whom God is speaking, what He is saying and why He says it. I should interpret accurately what God means. I should apply these truths personally and practically in my own life.²

Finally, to round out our preparation, there are two more things we need so we can listen carefully.

We Need a Biblical Kind of Participation

Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.

The nobility refers to the fact that the Berean Jews, in contrast to Jews in Thessalonica, were teachable, open, though not gullible. They listened attentively as active participants, but they tested Paul’s teaching against the Scripture as their index for truth, always a noble and biblical attitude. Their authority for what was truth was the Word. They sought to set aside or block out their prejudice so God’s Word could speak for itself. The result was many came to trust in the Savior.

When we come to church, God wants us to be Berean-like listeners, those who are good listeners and teachable, but who are also biblically active participants who search and probe the Scripture whether these things are so.

(1) Mark 7:7-13 stresses the ever present problem of prejudice and background whether religious or secular which we all bring to church and to our background. This passage shows how our background, tradition, experiences, prejudices, etc., can nullify the power and truth of the Word on one’s life.

(2) 2 Timothy 3:15 teaches again the value of active participation in the words “be diligent” or “study” (KJV), but to that it adds the importance of applying sound principles of Bible study so we are truly listening to God and not the ideas of man that are so often based on man’s tradition or human experience, including our own (cf. 2 Pet. 1:17-21). We need to be precise in our study or in our hermeneutics so we truly hear what God is saying.

Why did the Apostle say this? Because Timothy was faced with false teachers who were neither diligent nor accurately handling the Word and that leads to hearing man’s voice and not God’s. When we apply poor methods of Bible study and poor methods of listening, we can end up hearing man’s voice rather than God’s.

There is simply no place in God’s plan for lethargic, passive listening, or listening carelessly.

We Need Physical Preparation

In Luke 22:7-14, we find that the Lord sent Peter and John to make preparations for the Passover meal that they might observe it according to its meaning and significance. The word prepare is used three times in these verses (vss. 9, 12, 13). The Lord saw to it that everything needed was properly prepared so He could observe the Passover with His disciples. Worship and being in a position where we can truly listen to God involves physical as well as spiritual preparation. Certainly without spiritual preparation, the best physical preparation in the world accomplishes little. But we often fail to see the need to be physically prepared to listen to God. Physical preparation needs to be seen as a part of the spiritual preparation needed to listen to God.

(1) Noise, people moving around, poor lighting, and other physical conditions can certainly be distractors which hinder our ability to concentrate.

(2) Being physically tired from not getting enough sleep the night before for whatever reason can create a real block to good listening.

(3) Those who have a part in the worship service as song leader, pianist or organist, ushers, the speaker, the leader of the praise and prayer time certainly need to be prepared so they do not become a hindrance to hearing God for others because of a poor and unprepared presentation.

(4) Preparation needs to start at home even the night before through little things like getting to bed early, getting the kids clothes ready, and by even planning breakfast. For many families, getting to church becomes a frantic and harried experience with Mom and Dad looking for socks, shirts, and trying to feed the family. In such condition, who is prepared to listen?

(5) Preparation can include something as simple as seeing to it that the children go to the bathroom before the service. It can include bringing certain things for smaller children to help them take part and stay occupied during the service. But bring it in something that doesn’t wake up the dead when the child starts opening it to get to his or her things.

The bottom line is that listening to God is no small issue. If we are not prepared to listen so we can respond with our hearts, let’s face it, we are simply playing church and we are withholding our hearts from the Lord. Our religious activities then become an experiment in futility.

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1 Grant Howard, The Trauma of Transparency, Multnomah Press, Portland, 1979, p. 91.

2 Ibid., p. 92.