”Are You Truly Listening?”
Matthew 11:15
Clairmont Baptist Church – September 25, 2016
- Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 11:15. One verse… Matthew 11:15.
- Page ________ in your pew Bible.
- While you’re finding this passage, let me take a moment to catch you up with our ministry.
GIVE UPDATE and GIVE THANK YOU to Clairmont!
- Now… let’s get on with today’s message.
- Many of us at some point seem to want something changed about ourselves.
- We would like a nose job… or a tummy tuck… or something enlarged… or
something shrunk.
- We often think that those things will make life better for us.
- But what if we just asked God to change us so that life could be better? What changes would He make to us?
- We often ask God to start with changing our heart… that He would give us a heart transplant so that we could better be able to love God and love People.
- What other areas would He change so our life could be better?
- One area that I think God would change is our ears.
- Some of you might be thinking, “Oh good! My ears are not even on my head… so I hope He evens them out.”
- Or maybe some of you think you look like Dumbo… with ears that are too big.
- You may say to yourself, “I will look better with smaller ears.”
SLIDE 1: Ross Perot
- Some of you may remember Ross Perot who ran for president of the United States many years ago.
- Some people thought Ross Perot had big ears and he even joked about it himself when he was running for president. Someone wanted to ask him a question and he said… “I’m all ears!”
- But I don’t think God would shrink our ears.
- In fact, I think God would do an “ear augmentation.” He would make them bigger so that we could hear Him better.
SLIDE 2: Are you truly listening?
- Sometimes we think God doesn’t hear us, but the fact of the matter is that we are the ones with a hearing problem.
- There was a man who thought his wife had a hearing problem, she never responded when He asked her something.
To prove this he waited until he wife was reading the paper. Then he walked across the room and said in a normal voice, “Can you hear me now?”
The man heard no response.
He took a few steps closer and said, “Can you hear me now?” Again the man heard no response from his wife.
A few more steps closer and the same thing… no response.
Finally, he gets right behind her and says “Can you hear me now?”
And to his surprise she turned and said, “For the fourth time, I can hear you.”
- It isn’t God who can’t hear… it’s us!
- Now before you get all worried, God is probably not going to physically change the size of your ears… but He does want us to be able to hear Him better.
- And that’s the important thing. We don’t just need bigger ears to hear more of everything else. We need bigger ears to hear God.
- Jesus often spoke in parables and in several places, we see him end with a phrase such as “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
- Let’s look at Matthew 11:15.
READ: Matthew 11:15
SLIDE 3: Matthew 11:15: “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
- I also want you to read Matthew 13:9.
SLIDE 4: Matthew 13:9: “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
- And what about Matthew 13:43?
SLIDE 5: Matthew 13:43: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
- Are you beginning to see a pattern here?
SLIDE 6: Are you truly listening?
- We also find this admonition as a warning to the seven churches in Revelation.
- The phrase, “Whoever has ears, let them hear” can be found in Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29 and chapter 3:6 and 22.
- Jesus wants people to think about… and hear what He has to say.
- He wants the same thing for us today. He wants us to have ears to hear.
- So let’s allow the Lord do an ear augmentation on us today.
- Before we are ready to have that happen, we need to first talk about the
“Pre-op preparation for an ear augmentation.”
- If we are not prepared to receive the ear augmentation, it will not be effective. We won’t hear God any better than we do now.
- Just like someone going in for a real, physical surgery… one needs to do certain things.
- For example… not eat or drink anything after midnight… take certain medicines, etc., so your body is prepared for the surgery.
- Some specific things need to occur in our lives before we receive an ear augmentation if it’s going to produce the desired results of us better hearing God.
SLIDE 7: You need to be saved!
- First… you need to be saved!
- John 8:47 says, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
- You may come to church every week.
- You may read the Bible every day.
- You may watch and listen to Christian TV and radio.
- You may give money to the church and other charities.
- But until you stop and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will never truly be able to hear what God has to say to you in directing your life.
- Before we get our ear augmentation, we need to start with a heart transplant.
- Because if we didn’t, the ear surgery would take without it.
- It would be like giving a dead person a hearing aid. It really wouldn’t help.
- So if you truly want to hear the deeper things that God wants to say to you… the direction that He wants to give to your life… then you need to begin by hearing the basic message that God is speaking to everyone… the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- This gospel message is available to everyone and is something that everyone can hear.
- God has said that He wants everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3)
- Have you come to the point yet of realizing that following your own voice doesn’t really not work so well?
- If you’re going to be able to discern God’s will for your life, then you must receive Jesus as your Savior.
- Now just receiving Jesus as your Savior doesn’t mean that you will now know all things… and know exactly what it is that God wants you to do.
- Any true Christ follower will tell you that is a false statement.
- A second thing that needs to happen for you to hear what God has for you is
that you need to humble yourself.
SLIDE 8: You need to humble yourself.
- Psalm 25:9 says, “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
- To receive the wisdom of God, and hear his teaching so that it can direct our lives, we need to live humbly before the Lord.
- If you don’t, your ear augmentation will not take.
- If you have a spirit of pride, you are only going to hear what you want to hear.
- Paul wrote to Timothy about such people.
- He said in 2 Timothy 4:3-4… “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
- They had a spirit of pride. They wanted to do what they wanted to do and they surrounded themselves with people who would tell them what they wanted to hear.
- They are like King Ahab.
- Here was a king who was wicked and did only what he wanted.
- He wouldn’t listen to the Lord’s prophet Elijah… nor would he listen to the Lord’s prophet Micaiah. (Mick-kaya)
- In 1 Kings 22, King Ahab wanted to go to war and wanted the help of King Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah.
- King Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire of the Lord first so King Ahab brought out 400 prophets who would say what the King Ahab wanted to hear.
- 1 Kings 22:7-8 tells us… But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.
- So they get Micaiah and he prophesies against the king going to war and says that the king will die.
- But King Ahab doesn’t want to hear that. His pride wants to win back the territory that he lost. So he goes to war anyway and is killed.
- Don’t be like King Ahab and let your pride keep you from hearing what God wants you to hear.
- There are going to be times that what God has to say may not be what we want to hear… but we need to hear it.
- We need to be humble enough to follow even when initially… it may not be what we want.
- God certainly will lead us the best way for our long term, eternal best interest.
- So now… we have prepared ourselves for God to do our ear augmentation.
- He spiritually expands our ears so that we can better hear what He has to say.
- But just as we had some pre-op preparations… after God opens our ears to hear… there is some Post-op care for an ear augmentation.
SLIDE 9: Are you truly listening?
- Whenever you have an operation and leave the hospital, there are certain things that you are going to have to do to make sure that things continue to go smoothly.
- You will need to keep the area clean if you had surgery.
- If you received a new knee or a new hip, you will have to get up and start using it.
- Well… when God does an ear augmentation on you… you are going to need to start using your new ears so that your ability to use them will grow.
- So… the first thing you need to do after receiving your ear augmentation, is to
be in the Word!
SLIDE 10: Be in the Word!
- Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
- If we want our faith to be grown and we want to be prepared for the things God wants us to do, then we need to be in the Word of God.
- There is no other way for us to grow in our understanding of what God wants us to do than to be in the Word.
- I know what you’re thinking… “Well what about through teaching and preaching?”
- Yes… you can grow and learn to a point with just teaching and preaching, but it’s when you are personally in the Word of God that God will truly be able to guide and direct you.
- And when you are doing that, the teaching and preaching you hear becomes even more valuable, because God takes what he has taught you and combines it with the things you are hearing and learning with your new augmented ears.
- Then the Holy Spirit convicts and challenges you to new levels of commitment where you will find peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.
- Maybe you are saying… but Kerry, when I read the Bible on my own, I just don’t understand it.
- Maybe you’re saying… I understand it, but I just can’t see how it applies to me.
- Well… if you have received Jesus as your Savior and you humble yourself before the Lord, that’s when God gives you that ear augmentation and you now have ears that will be able to hear Him better.
- Here’s an idea… join one of the small groups that meet weekly. This is a great way to exercise your new ears to find out what God has to say to you.
- You get to meet other people and discuss the word of God together which helps you grow in your understanding and gives us other people to help us apply it.
SLIDE 11: Apply the Word!
- We do need to apply the Word to our lives.
- James 1:22-25 reads, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.”
SLIDE 12: Apply the Word! (with photo)
- For the Word to have impact on our life, we need to apply it to our daily living.
- When we have others who can keep us accountable, then we are going to be more successful at applying God’s word to our lives.
- Whatever you do, you need to exercise your ears by being in the Word of God so you can Hear what He has to say to you.
- You need to be in Prayer!
SLIDE 13: You need to be in Prayer!
- James 1:5… “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
- We need to be praying and asking God for His wisdom as we study and listen to His word.
- The psalmist writes in Psalm 119:169… “May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word.”
- Pray that God, by the power of the Spirit, will give you insight and understanding.
- John 16:13 says, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
- It’s the Spirit of God who will guide us and we will be able to hear Him better because we’ve had a heart transplant… and we’ve gotten an ear augmentation.
- Pray in the power of the Spirit for His guidance as you read the Word and hear His voice with fresh ears.
- My prayer for you is the same as Paul’s to the Philippians.
- From Philippians 1:9-11… “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.”
SLIDE 14: Are you truly listening?
- Receive Jesus as your Savior and humble yourself before Him by being
willing to follow His ways for your life.
- Then the Lord will open your ears to hear Him through His Word and through prayer.
- Receive an ear augmentation from the Lord today… listen to what God is saying to you this morning.
- Why did Jesus say the phrase “Whoever has ears, let them hear” so often?
- He said this because everybody was “listening” but not everybody was “hearing.”
- This type of hearing that Jesus was talking about is really a “desire to hear” and a “willingness to hear.”
SLIDE 15: Are you truly listening? (Cartoon)
- Truly listening and truly hearing is a matter of good communication.
- Communication is essential to all of us, but it remains the center of most problems.
- Husbands and wives tend to fight because they fail to adequately communicate.
- Pastors and deacons disagree over seemingly minor issues because they fail to effectively communicate.
- Mothers and daughters stop talking to one another due to strained communications.
- Countries go to war as various forms of negotiations break down.
- Missionaries fail in their attempt to evangelize a people group because of their inability to communicate the gospel cross-culturally.
- Some people go as far as taking people to court for alleged slander or libelous communications.
- Effective communication is hard to achieve.
- Most advertisers tell us that if they want their message to reach the point of media saturation where they are assured that their message has covered the vast majority of a T.V. listening audience, then they must have their commercial played 17 times.
- Even then… not everyone would have heard and understood the message.
- Matthew 13:13 says, “This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
- Three friends decided to go deer hunting together. One was a lawyer, one a doctor, and the other a preacher.
As they were walking, along came a big buck. The three of them shot at the very same time. Immediately the buck dropped to the ground and all three rushed up to see how big it actually was.
When they reached the deer they found out that it was dead, but had only one bullet hole. So a great debate followed concerning whose buck it was.
A few minutes later a game officer came by and asked what the problem was. The doctor told him their reason for the debate. The officer told them he would take a look and tell them who shot it.
Within a few seconds the game officer said with great confidence, “The pastor shot the buck!”
They all wondered how he knew that so quickly.
The officer said, “Easy. The bullet went in one ear and out the other.”
- We all need to listen when someone is talking to us.
- We need to listen to God when He speaks.
- Psalm 46:10… “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’
- Check this out…
- The man whispered “God, speak to me”
And a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.
So the man yelled “God speak to me!”
And the thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.
The man looked around and said “God let me see you.”
And a star shone brightly.
But the man did not notice.
And the man shouted “God show me a miracle”
And a life was born.
But the man did not know.
So, the man cried out in despair. “Touch me God and let me know that you are here!”
Where upon God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.
- We need to listen to others when they speak.
- The famous Dale Carnegie once said, “you can make more friends in two weeks by becoming a good listener than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in you.”
- Here are some indicators that you may be a lousy listener…
- Lousy listeners are attending to other things when you are speaking. Proud of their ability to multitask, they continue to scan the newspaper, pick up the living room, text, or clean their desk while being addressed. An occasional ‘uh-huh’ is supposed to cue you that… really… they are with you. They’re not really — or at least not totally. Their mind is distracted. Chances are they miss important pieces of your message — even if they protest that they don’t.
- Lousy listeners are planning how they will respond even while you are speaking. They are so busy rehearsing their reply that they miss part of your message and don’t catch the nuances of your communication. They’re ready with a paragraph before you’ve even completed a sentence.
- Lousy listeners steal the ball. You say something like; “I can hardly wait to tell you about my trip to the Grand Canyon.” Before you get the last word out, they start: “The Grand Canyon? I was there once. Let me tell you. It was so interesting. We went on this and did that and this and that happened. And we met these wonderful people at the dude ranch we stayed at.” They are off and running with their description of their own experience. You are left to hold your story for another day – if you ever get the chance again.
- Lousy listeners change the subject before you are ready to do so. Maybe you are talking about something sensitive between the two of you… or maybe the topic is just more meaningful to you. Either way, because they aren’t interested or because you are making them nervous, they steer the conversation to something that interests them more or that makes them feel safe. You say, “I’d love to go see such and such concert.” They say, “Sunday night is football night.” Collaboration or compromise isn’t a strong point. You say, “I’m really upset with the way you spoke to my mother.” They say, “What are we having for dinner tonight?” Empathy isn’t a strong point either.
- Lousy listeners hurry you along. As you talk, they get restless. They might say, “Uh-huh… uh-huh… uh-huh” or look at their watch or scan the surroundings or fidget. You run out of interest in communicating with them because they’ve let you know that they’ve run out of patience with listening to you.
- Lousy listeners have lousy nonverbal skills. They don’t look like they are paying attention. They don’t give much in the way of positive feedback like a nod or a smile. They slouch. They turn away. Their eyes glaze over. Talking to a lousy listener is like talking to a fence post for all the affirmation you get.
- Lousy listeners tend to see criticism or blame in the most innocent of discussions. Their defense is to be critical and judgmental. While you are talking, they are busy developing critiques of what you said or how you said it. They use sarcasm, “jokes,” and anger to derail any hint that you may be suggesting the need for them to change something about themselves or about how they are doing something. Communicating with them is so unpleasant you avoid it as much as you can.
- Lousy listeners are quick to offer advice, even when it hasn’t been asked for. They don’t take the time to listen to the whole story or to offer quiet support. Often they mean well. They really do want to help. But they don’t understand that their help isn’t always helpful; that sometimes what you want is simply to be heard and understood or given a vote of confidence that you can solve your own problems.
- If someone you love or someone you work with has lousy listening habits, chances are they won’t be interested in listening to your critique of their listening.
- Telling them that “You never listen to me” will only make them defensive.
- If you recognize yourself in any of these scenarios, perhaps it’s time to make some changes.
- Lousy listening can have a negative effect on your work, your friendships, and your love life. It’s worth putting in the effort to become better at it.
- Like most habits, the habit of lousy listening may be hard to break. But education, perseverance, and practice will pay off.
- Since there are many websites and books that explain good listening skills, I won’t go into them here.
- Get the information you need and give the issue your time and attention.
- As you become better at listening, people will be more interested in what you have to say.
- And that will make a difference when we tell them of the amazing story of the gospel!
SLIDES OFF!
- In closing, I’m so excited for you as a congregation because of next Sunday your pastor will be back in the pulpit after a productive sabbatical!
- I’m excited for you because I know he’s rested and prepared for the future of this church. I know, because we’ve talked about it.
- JB has listened to the Lord. He’s truly listened.
- When he returns, he’s going to be ready and excited to tell you what the Lord has spoken to him about.
- He’s going to try his best to communicate with you.
- Are you ready to hear? Are you ready to truly listen? It’s my hope and prayer that you are.
- Let’s close in prayer…. take some time right now and just listen to the Holy Spirit. What is He saying to you today? Are you truly listening? (PAUSE)
PRAY!