Are You Listening?

Rev. George R. Dillahunty
Freedom Fellowship (COG)
685 Grant Avenue
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452-3047

June 24, 2009

Text: Mark 4:23-25 (King James Version)

"If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. (v. 24) And He said unto them, ’Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. (v. 25) For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.’"

Topic: Are You Listening?

Many people simply do not listen; or, if they do, they do not listen so as to understand! I am convinced that many people - today - simply do not appreciate the importance of listening well!

During His earthly ministry, Jesus, the Christ, often concluded a lesson by saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." In His letters to the churches of Asia, Jesus, the Christ, concluded each with a similar saying: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

The late great poet and author, Anna Hempstead Branch (1875 - 1937), once wrote:

***"God wove a web of loveliness,
***Of flowers and trees and birds,
***But made not anything at all
***So beautiful as words.
***They shine around our simple earth
***With golden shadowings.
***And every common thing they touch
***Is exquisite with wings."

Dr. Ed Stetzer, Research Team Director and Missiologist at the North American Mission Board, has stated that a preacher is not a self-help guru, nor is he or she a political activist or entertainer. A preacher is a truth-dispenser - a proclaimer of the Word of Almighty God. Without people hearing - really hearing what a preacher says - the listener will not believe the message.

The late great American historian and United States Senator from Indiana, Albert Jeremiah Beveridge (1862 - 1927), once wrote: "’And the common people heard Him gladly,’ for "’He taught them as One having authority.’ These sentences reveal the very heart of effective speaking. Considered from the human viewpoint alone, the Son of Mary was the Prince of Speakers. He alone has delivered a perfect address - the Sermon on the Mount. The two other speeches that approach it are Paul’s appeal to the Athenians on Mars Hill and the speech of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg. These have no tricks, no devices, no tinsel gilt. They do not attempt to "split the ears of the groundlings," and yet they are addressed to the commonest of the world’s common people."

There are three (3) types of listeners: (1) The "Dull of Hearing;" (2) Those with "Itching Ears;" and, (3) Those who hear with a "Noble and good heart!" The latter is the type of listener that each and every one of us should be!

Notice, if you will, that when an individual is afflicted with the "dull of hearing" syndrome, it is hard for others to explain things to him or her! The fault is not with the "subject" material, nor is it with the "presenter;" but, it is with the listener! Some of the Hebrew Christians were like this! In Hebrews 11:5 (NLT), the writer of Hebrews tells them and us: "There is so much more we would like to say about this. But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand."

The Prophet Isaiah wrote of such people and Jesus, the Christ, applied it to many in His day! The Disciple/Apostle Matthew, in Matthew 13:13-15 (NLT), records Jesus,