Hearing His Voice Today
Matthew 5:1-2; James 1:19-25
J. David Hoke
And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down,
His disciples came to Him. And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying, (Matthew
5:1-2)
It could have been a day much like today when the greatest teacher who ever lived
preached the greatest sermon to ever be preached. That teacher, of course, is the Lord
Jesus, and the sermon is called the Sermon on the Mount.
On that day He saw the multitudes of people who needed to hear a fresh word from
God. They, like many today, were hungry for something which would speak life to their
hearts. Tired of the opinions of people and the abstract theological ramblings of the
religious leaders of the day, they wanted a relevant message they could apply to their
lives now. And that would be what they would get.
As we prepare to hear the words of Jesus' great sermon, words that are full of power,
wisdom, insight, love, grace, and life, we must recognize that it is possible to hear the
greatest sermon ever spoken and go away unchanged by it. Unless the ground is prepared to
receive the seed, the seed will never penetrate that ground and consequently will never
take root and eventually bear fruit.
What can we do to make sure that we hear His voice today and receive the full benefit
of the most powerful Word spoken to the human race? There are several areas we can examine
concerning our ability to receive the Word and perhaps a passage from James (1:19-25)
would assist us in that endeavor.
An Attentive Heart
This you know, my beloved brethren. But let every one be quick to hear, slow to
speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness . . . (James
1:19-21a)
The first insight we receive from this passage is to cultivate an attentive heart.
We must be quick to hear the Word of truth. "Quick to hear" refers to an alert
ear. It is possible to hear, and yet not hear. We do that all the time. We do that when we
talk to one another. You see, James is not talking about physically hearing the words as
they impact our ears, but listening for what God has to say. "Quick to hear"
describes an attentive heart, listening for what God has to say. Often we talk to one
another and never really hear what the other person has to say. When we ask someone,
"How are you doing?" and they give us any other answer besides, "I'm doing
fine," (the only one we're programmed to hear), we may miss it altogether. We are not
programmed to hear those kinds of answers. We are not quick to hear when it comes to
receiving what others are trying to tell us.
That is often true when it comes to the what God is trying to communicate to us. You
can hear His Word and not really hear it. That's why Jesus was always talking about
"having ears to hear." In one Gospel, it says, "Take heed what
you hear;" in another Gospel it says, "Take heed how you
hear." We not only have to concentrate on the facts, we have to concentrate on
the attitude of our heart in hearing the facts. What are the things that keep us from
hearing?
One of the things that keeps us from hearing is that we need to be (but are not) slow
to speak. One of the reasons you don't listen is because you are doing all the
talking. God gave us two ears and one mouth - that ought to say something to us. Many
times we need to be quiet and let God speak to us. The story is told of a young man who
came to the philosopher, Socrates, to be instructed in oratory. When the young man was
introduced, he began to talk incessantly. This went on for some time, and finally Socrates
put his hand over his mouth and said, "Young man, I'll have to charge you a double
fee." The young man asked, "Why?" Socrates replied, "Because I have to
teach you two lessons. One - the science of holding your tongue; and two - the science of
using it correctly." Sometimes we just need to shut up if we are going to hear God.
We need to develop an attentive ear.
The second thing we need to do is cultivate a calm spirit. We need to be slow
to anger. Did you know that being upset with what you hear can block all the capacity
you possess to hear it, especially when it comes to a relevant now word from God? If you
don't calm you spirit down and let God speak a word to you, even when that word is
uncomfortable, you will never hear. Cultivate a calm spirit.
Then we also need to cultivate a clean heart. James exhorts us to continue putting
aside all filthiness. This word, filthiness, comes from a root in Greek that
has to do with earwax. But it refers to sin. In other words, sin in your life is like
earwax - it will prevent you from hearing God. It stops up the capacity to hear. The Bible
teaches that sin separates our hearts from God's. Isaiah said, "The Lord GOD has
opened My ear." (Isaiah 50:5) God sometimes has to dig our ears out so that we
can hear what He has to say. If you listen for God to speak, you will hear His voice.
A Teachable Spirit
In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. (James
1:21b)
How do we receive the Word? There are several keys here. One is that we receive it
in humility. Anger speaks of arrogance. We don't want to hear what God has to say
because we don't like it. We need to develop a teachable spirit if we are going to
hear what God has to say. Humility is talked about in Galatians 5 in terms of the Fruit of
the Spirit. It is talked about in the Beatitudes, one of the eight characteristics which
characterize a Christian's walk and life. Humility is essential to hearing the Word and
receiving it. It's not just enough to hear the Word. We have to welcome it. The welcoming
of the Word takes place when we are humble enough and teachable enough for God to speak to
us. Some people think they know everything. That's pretty rampant in some church
situations. I don't know what there is about coming to know Christ that does this to
people, but it's incredible. Some Christians are saved only for a matter of days, and they
have already "arrived."
I have followed the Lord for 20 years or so and I find that the more I know about
Jesus, the more there is to know. I have only scratched the surface in my understanding
about the things of God. If I am to press on and understand the things of God better, I
must maintain a teachable spirit, or I will stay stuck in the mud in my spiritual walk.
Listen, saints, none of us have arrived. Paul said that he hadn't arrived, and if he
hadn't I can't think of anyone else who has. Paul said, "I have not attained . . .
I press on." We need to develop a teachable heart and an open receptive spirit.
The saints of God sometimes need to throw off all they think they know. Often they
have to unlearn some things to be taught again. The idea of receiving the Word has
a connotation in the original language of showing hospitality. This word is used for how
we receive others into our homes. Here it is used for how we receive the Word. In other
words, we are to give the Word a warm welcome into our hearts. Receive the Word of
God into your life and let it do its work.
An Obedient Walk
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude
themselves. (James 1:22)
Many Christians stop at merely hearing and receiving the Word. They hear the Word,
receive it, but don't take the essential step to do what the Word commands. Chuck Swindoll
says, in his book, Improving Your Serve:
"To make the value of obedience just a practical as possible, let's play 'Let's Pretend.' Let's pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I'm the owner and I'm interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to travel abroad and stay there until a new branch office gets established. I make all the arrangements to take my family and move to Europe for six to eight months. And I leave you in charge of the busy stateside organization. I tell you that I will write you regularly and give you directions and instructions. I leave and you stay. Months pass. A flow of letters are mailed from Europe and received by you at the national headquarters. I spell out all my expectations. Finally, I return. Soon after my arrival, I drive down to the office and I am stunned. Grass and weeds have grown up high. A few windows along the street are broken. I walk into the Receptionist's room. She is doing her nails, chewing gum and listening to her favorite disco station. I look around and notice the wastebaskets are overflowing. The carpet hasn't been vacuumed for weeks, and nobody seems concerned that the owner has returned. I asked about your whereabouts and someone in the crowded lounge area points down the hall and yells, "I think he's down there." Disturbed, I move in that direction and bump into you as you are finishing a chess game with our sales manager. I ask you to step into my office, which has been temporarily turned into a television room for watching afternoon soap operas. "What in the world is going on, man?" "What do you mean, Chuck?" "Well, look at this place! Didn't you get any of my letters?" "Letters? Oh yes! Sure! I got every one of them. As a matter of fact, Chuck, we have had a letter study every Friday night since you left. We have even divided the personnel into small groups to discuss many of the things you wrote. Some of the things were really interesting. You will be pleased to know that a few of us have actually committed to memory some of your sentences and paragraphs. One or two memorized an entire letter or two - Great stuff in those letters." "OK. You got my letters. You studied them and meditated on them; discussed and even memorized them. But what did you do about them?" "Do? We didn't do anything about them."
This is not funny at all, when you think of the unhappy fact that this is where many of
our churches and Christians are. Sometimes we even reinforce it. We encourage our kids to
memorize Scriptures and reward them for the mere fact of Scripture memorization without
the consequent obedience to that Scripture. You see, God gives us His Word, not to make us
smart, but so that we will obey it. He says, "But prove yourselves doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." Sometimes, we hear and
receive the Word; we memorize and can tell people the facts and the truth of the Word of
God; and yet, we do not live that Word out. If we are merely hearers, we delude ourselves.
For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at
his natural face in a mirror. For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has
immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. (James 1:23-24)
He is comparing the Word of God to a mirror. The mirror shows us what we really look
like. Most of the time when we look into the mirror, we do it for other reasons besides
seeing ourselves. Sometimes we look into the mirror to shave, or put on makeup. Many times
you can go through that routine without ever seeing what you look like. But if you do
study that image, you will see an accurate reflection of who you are. The Word of God is
like that. When you look into the Word of God and hear His truth, you see who you really
are as you compare to that Word. The Word of God, like a mirror, reveals to us who we
really are.
If we just hear the Word, we are like somebody who glances in the mirror and shaves
himself, or powders her nose, and walks away and doesn't really remember what they look
like. I have this idealized image of myself. I think I am still the good-looking guy I was
twenty years ago. But the mirror pops my bubble. Most of you probably think you look
differently than you really look. Some of you might remember when cassette recorders were
first introduced. When we heard ourselves on tape we said, "I don't sound like
that!" But you do. The tape is precisely how you sound. Somebody takes a home movie
and says, "I don't look like that!" Yes you do! That's precisely how you look.
We have an idea of what we really want to be and what we want to look like. Sometimes that
is true for our Christian lives. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into believing we are
something we are not simply because we know the facts of the Word of God. A. W. Tozer
wrote:
"There is an evil which, in its effect on the Christian religion, may be more destructive than communism, romanism and liberalism combined. It is the glaring disparity between theology and practice among professing Christians. So wide is this gulf between theory and practice in the church that an inquiring stranger who chances upon both, would scarcely dream that there was any relation between the two of them. An intelligent observer of our human scene who heard the Sunday morning message and later watched the Sunday afternoon conduct of those who heard it would conclude that he had been examining two distinct and contrary religions. It appears to me that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right. And so, the divorce between theory and practice becomes permanent in fact. Truth sits forsaken and grieves till her professed followers come home for a brief visit. But she sees them depart again when the bills come due."
Because we fail to obey the Word, there is a disparity between what we profess and what
we possess; what we say we believe and what we actually believe; what we say we are and
what we really are. Jesus has not called us to become people who "know" the Word
only. He has called us to be people who live the Word, who obey the Word. How do you do
that? You do it by "doing." Simply, do it! Obey it! Live it!
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. (James 1:25)
How do we receive the Word? We need to develop an attentive heart to hear the
Word of God. We need to develop a teachable spirit to receive the Word of God.
Finally, we need to develop an obedient walk to obey the Word of God. If you do
this, you will be blessed.
If you are going to be changed by the Sermon on the Mount, these qualities will need to
be in you. Are they? Are you listening with your spiritual ears to what God wants to tell
you? Do you have a teachable spirit open to what God has to say, or is your theology too
closed and narrow to hear a fresh word? When God speaks, are you willing to do what He
says? If you are willing to hear and obey, God will gladly tell you the next step to take.
May God give us grace to take it.
Copyright (C) 1995 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of
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