I love that chorus on that song.
It's just so wonderful. Living, He loved me. Dying, He
saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming, O glorious
day. Ears to hear On at least six
different occasions, the Lord Jesus Christ made this statement.
If he would repeat something six times on six different occasions,
that gives us some idea of the importance of this statement. He that hath ears to hear. Let him hear. The obvious inference
is. Not everybody has ears to hear. That's a very solemn thing, isn't
it? Not everybody has ears to hear. There are some people who cannot
hear. They do not have ears to hear. One of the names of the gospel,
I love to look at the different ways The gospel is named in the
scriptures, but one of the names of the gospel in Galatians chapter
three, verse two, is the hearing of faith. A title of the gospel,
the hearing of faith. Paul said in Romans 10, 17, faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The natural
man is spiritually deaf. His ears are stopped up and he
is unable to hear the gospel. Turn with me to John, Chapter
eight. Verse. Forty three. John, Chapter eight, verse 43. The Lord asks this question,
why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot
hear my word, you lack the ability to hear my word. You see, hearing
is the gift of God. It's the gift of his grace. And
he says to these people, you are unable to hear my word. Look in verse 47 of the same
chapter. He that is of God, heareth God's
words. You therefore hear the not because
you are not of God. Now the problem is not an intelligence
problem. The problem is a sin problem. You cannot hear my word. Now the evidence of being of
God is hearing, understanding, and believing God's words. The Lord said the hour is coming
and now is when the dead shall hear. The dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God And they which hear shall live. Now, God is the one who gives
these hearing ears and I want them, don't you? I want to have
hearing ears. Proverbs 2012 says the hearing
ear and the seeing eye. God has made them both. Hearing ears, I think this is
very interesting. The word obey. is derived from the word hearer. Hearing ears are obedient ears. Obedient to what God says in
His Word. Now, being a good hearer, being
a good listener, I mean, even in life, it is such a benefit
to be able to listen. I'm not one of those people that
listens very well, evidently. I remember one time, Kelly, you
might not remember this, but one time she was saying something
to me, and if anybody's around me, you've probably seen my mind
wander off, it's awful, but I remember Kelly goes, you're not listening
to me. Okay, I zeroed in then. You didn't look mean, but you
let me know, you know, you've lied. And I thought, well, you
know, I better listen. But what a blessing it is when
you're talking to someone who's actually listening to you. Hearing
what you're saying and. It's amazing in this thing of
hearing how we can all have such different perceptions of what
has been said. Ten different people can hear
the exact same thing said, and they can hear ten different things,
can't they? You found that by experience.
That's scary, isn't it? I want to hear God's word. I want to hear what he's really
saying. I want these ears that hear. I love what Cornelius said to
Peter in Acts chapter 10, verse 33. He said, we're here to hear. We're here to hear. what God says. Now, what God
says to me is more important than what I got to say to him.
I want to hear what he says. He knows what I need and everything
I say, he knows it before I even say it. I want to hear what he
says. He that hath ears to hear Let
him hear. Now I want us to look at the
six different occasions that the Lord made this statement.
Now turn back to Matthew chapter 11. It's the first time. Verse 15, he that hath ears to
hear. Let him hear. Well, let's back
back to verse 12 and see what he was talking about. And from the days of John the
Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. And the violent take it. They
take the kingdom of heaven by force. For all the prophets in
the law prophesied unto John, and if you receive it, this is
Elijah, Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. The kingdom of heaven suffers
violence. And the violent take it by force.
When we were on the bus back from Medi to go into Cancun,
they had a movie on it. And it was an American movie
and they were speaking in Spanish, so I didn't have any idea what
they were talking about. But you remember how violent
that movie was? I just looked at that thing and
I was just amazed at the violence of it. Now, what's behind violence? The kingdom of heaven suffers
violence and the violent take it by force. What does this verse
of scripture mean? People use violence. to obtain what they have no right
to obtain. That's why they use violence.
They know they have no right to it. But they must have it. Now, this has to do with striving
to enter in at the straight gate. Now, he that have ears to hear,
let him hear. The kingdom of heaven suffers
violence and the violence, take it by force. I realize there
is a sense in which we are passive in salvation, isn't there? By
grace, you're saying we're dead in sins. And we didn't call upon
the Lord until he gave us life. And when he gives us life, we
call. We didn't hear with hearing ears
until he gave us those hearing ears. But when we're giving those
hearing ears, we hear. Now, there is a sense. There's
a sense in which we're passive in this thing of salvation. A
dead man can't act. God's got to do something for
him. But when God gives life. We must have Christ. Do I know positively that I'm
one of God's elect? Perhaps not. Do I know for sure
that Jesus Christ died for me and put away my sins? I hope
he did. Perhaps I can't say that with
all assurance. Do I have assurance that I've
been born again? And that I've been given a new
nature and a holy nature, and I'm born from above. Do I know
for sure that I have the life of God in my soul? Perhaps not. But this I know. I must have Christ. I must have his grace. I must have the forgiveness of
my sins. I must have mercy. Now, I know that. I don't feel
like I have a right to anything. But the kingdom of heaven suffers
violence and the violent take it by force. These are the people
that know they have no right to this. Now, this lazy, arms
folded, fatalistic religion will not work. This idea of, well,
God is sovereign. There's nothing I can do. Therefore,
I'll do nothing. All that is, is unbelief. And
what it is, is blaming God for your sin. That's all that is.
That's blaming God for your sin. God's sovereign. He hadn't called
me. Therefore, I can't do anything. You go on talking like that. It's true. But you go on talking
like that with that attitude, and you'll fold your arms into
hell. The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence. violence, and the violent
take it by force. Now, this is the opposite of
the attitude of that fellow who, remember, he put his talent in
the ground and hit it, said, lo, you've got what was yours. The kingdom of heaven suffers
violence, and the violent take it by force. Turn to Matthew
chapter 13. Now, he that hath ears to hear,
do you hear what's being said? So important. Let him hear. Verse nine of Matthew, chapter
13, I had given the parable of the sower. And he ends up in
verse nine with who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, this was said after. Describing
the four different types of hearers. That's what's being described
in the parable of the sower. Four different types of hearers. I'm a hearer. You're a hearer. That's what we're doing tonight.
We're hearing the gospel. Now, the Lord said there's four
different types of hearers. Now, they all hear the same message. They heard the word. They heard
the same message. They didn't hear different messages.
Every single one of these four different types of hearers heard
the truth. They heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
heard, but there were four different reactions. You remember the first
one? The seed that was sown on the hard beaten path, and the
scripture says, who heard did not understand. They didn't understand. It didn't really mean anything
to them. They rejected it. They didn't
understand. They didn't really, they heard
audibly, but they didn't understand what was being said. The thousand
here came and gobbled them up. They were gone. And then the
second hearer, it's a little bit more scary. I can understand
the first one, but the second hearer understood. And he received
the word. He heard about Christ's effectual
death for his elect. He said, that makes sense. I
believe that. Why? I haven't heard anything like
this. This is good. He hears of election. He hears of irresistible
grace. He hears of the truth of how
God saves sinners. He says, this is good. I believe
this. I like this. I'm in agreement.
This is what I've been wanting to hear all my life. I'm receiving
this with joy. Oh, I'm so glad I heard this.
But when persecution arises because of the Word, when they see what it costs them,
they say, I didn't sign up for this. I didn't know it was going
to cost me this. And they go back. They quit. They leave. And then the third
hearer is the thorn choked hearer. Now, this fellow didn't leave
like the stony ground here. Who had no grace in his heart,
he didn't leave. He heard the word, he received
it and there he sits. Sunday after Sunday after Sunday,
there he sits. He's right there with us. There
he sits. But the thorns choking, the cares of this world, the
deceitfulness of riches. I love the way the Lord calls
riches, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things
enter in and choke the word and he bears no fruit. Oh, he's sitting there. He didn't
leave. But he bears no fruit. And the fourth hearer is that
one who hears the word. And he understands. He sees his need of the Lord
Jesus Christ, he sees his need of the gospel, he understands,
he receives, you know what else the scripture says? He bears
fruit. He bears fruit, the fruit of
God, the Holy Spirit. What did all the background hearers
have in common? They did not bear fruit. Now, he that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. Now, the third time the Lord
uses this word is in this same chapter, verse 43 of Matthew,
chapter 13. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Now, this was in response to
the Lord's explanation of the parable of the wheat and the
tares. Look in verse 24 of Matthew, chapter 13. Another parable put
he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in a field. But while men slept,
his enemies came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way. And do you know you can't tell
the difference between wheat and a tare? They look just like.
You see them growing up together? You can't tell which one's wheat
and which one's tares. But there's no nutritional value
in the tares. They won't do you any good. But here they are growing
up together. Verse 26, But when the blade
was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto
him, Sir, is not thou so good seed in thy field? From whence
then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou that we then
go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest while
you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat also.
You don't need to try to do that. Let them both grow together into
the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I
will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into
my barn. Now look in verse 36 of the same
chapter, then Jesus sent the multitudes away and went into
the house and his disciples came unto him and said, declare unto
us the parable of the tares of the field. They didn't understand.
They didn't know what he was talking about. I don't suppose
I would have either. When I heard that, I'd say, well,
what's this supposed to mean? Well, he tells them what it means.
Verse 37, he answered and said unto them, he that soweth the
good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good
seed are the children of the kingdom, God's elect, those who
believe the gospel, but the tares are the children of the wicked
one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. Wherever there's
truth, the counterfeit will be there. But the harvest is the
end of the world. Don't try to tear up the tears
right now. You know, you and I don't have the wisdom to be
able to do that. We don't. People looking for a pure church,
let's get the tears out, let's have the pure church. That's
so foolish. So foolish. You and I don't have
the wisdom to do that. We're to preach the gospel and
the Lord will take care of everything at the end. Don't you worry about
it. Don't you worry about it. The Lord will take care of everything
at the end. Verse 39, the enemy that sowed
them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the
world and the reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares
are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end
of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things
that offend and which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace
of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then shall the righteous If you're a believer, you want
the Lord to first to you as. The righteous. The righteous. There's the wicked, there's the
righteous. Now, here's how real perfect
conformity to image to the image of Christ is then. You can't
see him shining like this now, but then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Isn't
that wonderful to think about? The righteous are going to be
seen to be what they really are, perfectly conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ with their face shining as the sun. That's a description of every
believer. Now, he that has ears to hear, let him hear. Mark, chapter four. Verse 23, the Lord says again, this is
the fourth time, if any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Not everybody has ears to hear.
If you have ears to hear, hear what's being said. Now look back
in verse 21. And he said unto them, is a candle
brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed? and not to be
set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which
shall not be manifested, neither was anything kept secret, but
that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear,
let him hear." Now, the gospel is a candle. It's a light. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the light of the world. He also said to his people, you
are the light of the world. Every believer, you're the light
of the world. The light of what? The light of how God saves sinners.
The light of how God can be just and justify the ungodly. There's
no understanding apart from this light. Now, you don't take a
candle, all the glorious truths of the gospel. Now, the gospel
is one gospel, many truths that make the gospel. Election, justification,
redemption. Irresistible grace, sanctity,
every doctrine of the gospel. It's all necessary. Which do
you leave out? Is any part of the gospel to be put under a
bushel? Take the doctrine of grace. I
don't know how many times I've been told, you've got to believe
all the doctrines of grace. Yeah. Yeah. Which one can you leave
out? Which one's OK? What part of God's Word is it
OK to omit? No part of God's Word. It's all to be preached. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the word, preach it all. Don't hide it. Don't keep it
secret. Now, there are preachers. Who
do not want to offend people, they want to keep people happy,
so they preach in such a way as they put the candle under
the basket so nobody knows what they're talking about. They've.
Satisfied and sad their conscience. Well, I said something true,
but they didn't really. No, that's not the way to preach. That's not the way to preach.
You preach the whole counsel of God. Remember this. If I just
tell 99% of the truth, I've told a 100% lie. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. The gospel is not to be put under
something. It's to be put out where all
can see. And if somebody does hide, they're
going to be exposed for there's nothing hid which shall not be
manifested. Neither was anything kept secret
that it should not come abroad. Mark chapter 7. Verse 16. If any man have ears to hear.
Let him hear. Here's another. All of the Lord's
statements are important, but here's another one of these very
important statements of our Lord. It says, if you have ears to
hear, listen to what's being said. Back to verse 14. And when he called the people
unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me, every one of
you and understand. And I know that everyone he said
that to, they hearkened and they understood it. Because when he
told him to understand, if he said understand, you understand.
There is nothing from without a man that entering into him
can defile him. But the things which come out
of him, those are they that defile the man. Now, what does it mean
to be defiled? It means to be unclean. It means
to be unfit for the worship of God, unfit for fellowship with
God, unfit for communion with God. That's what it means to
be unclean. Now, the Savior tells us that
there is nothing that enters your body that makes you unfit
or unclean. All the religion of touch, touch
not, taste not, handle not, it's foolishness. There's nothing
you take that as far as you want. There's nothing that entering
into the body that can defile a man. You just take it as far
as you want with that. Somebody says, what about substance
abuse? And that's a real problem in our day. There's no doubt
about that substance abuse. But the problem is not the substance. It's the abuser. That's the problem. Look at Matthew's account of
this. Turn to Matthew, Chapter 15. Verse 10. And he called the multitude
and said unto them, hear and understand, not that which goes
into the mouth defiles a man, but that which comes out of the
mouth, this defiles a man. Then came his disciples and said
unto him, knowest thou not that the Pharisees were offended after
they heard this saying? I mean, their whole religion
was based upon this. Oh, well, maybe I should know. He answered
and said, every plant which my heavenly father had not planted
shall be rooted up. Let him alone. They be blind
leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And I love Peter, don't you? And Jesus said, Are you also
yet without understanding? Do not you yet understand that
whatsoever in earth in at the mouth goes into the belly and
it's cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come from the heart. They defile the man, for
out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things
which defile a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defiles
not the man. Now, the problem is the heart. That's why David said, creating
me a clean heart, because my heart is filthy and I need a
clean one. That's the problem. And men spend
a lot of times trying to deal with the symptoms and not the
problem. I can remember in 1988, I was
diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome. And it made me very sick. I was
feeling all kinds of protein and it was just continual. And
they were they were dealing with the symptom, you know, but when
they found the problem two or three years later. It was Hodgkin's
disease when they were dealing with the symptoms, but the symptoms
kept coming. But when they dealt with the problem, the Hodgkin's
disease, that's when the symptoms were taken care of. The heart
is the problem. And that makes me cry out, Lord,
give me a new heart. That's what I need. I need a
new one. I need a heart of flesh. Take
away this stony heart. Give me a new heart. That is my great need. An evil
heart is the problem. OK, Luke 14, here's the last
one. Verse 34. Salt is good. And it is. I like salt in my food, don't
you? Food that is not salted is tasteless.
I'm thankful for the way the salt brings out the flavor in
something. Salt's good. It's also a good
preservative. It keeps things from putrefying. That's what
I love beef jerky. It's got a lot of salt in it.
It keeps it. Salt's good. But if the salt had lost his
savor, If the salt is lost its saltiness, wherewith shall it
be seasoned? What good is it? It's neither
fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it
out. It's utterly worthless. He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, why did the Lord make this
statement? Once again, let's examine the
context of what was being said. Look in verse 25 of Luke 14. And there went great multitudes
with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to
me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,
and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. You're all following me, but
listen to this. And whosoever does not bear his cross and come
after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending to
build a tower, sitteth not down first and count the cost, whether
he has sufficient to finish it? You know, how many times do we
say in a day or a week, what's it cost? What's it going to cost
me? What's it going to cost me to
get this? What's it going to cost me to possess this for it
to be mine? Which of you, intending to build
a tower, saith not down first, and counts the cost, whether
he hath sufficient to finish it, lest, haply after he hath
laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, he didn't
have the money, he didn't count the cost, he quits, and all that
behold him begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build,
he is not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war
against another king, saith not down first, and consulteth, whether
he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that cometh against
him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desires conditions
of peace, so likewise whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." What does it cost to be a disciple,
a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? What does it cost? Well, nothing from you. You don't
have anything to give. But all of you. Cost you everything. And if it's not worth enough
to you. To pay the cost. Whatever that
cost may be. It's even less valuable to God.
David said, I will not offer unto the Lord that which costs
me nothing. A religion with no sacrifice. A religion with no sacrifice. Is not real. If you love somebody. You sacrifice for them, won't
you? People you love. You think of the way you'll sacrifice
for your children. You love them. You think of what
you'll sacrifice for your spouse. You love them. If you love somebody,
you're willing to sacrifice. And if there's no willingness
to sacrifice, no willingness to pay the cost, it's not real. He that hath ears to hear, Let
him hear. What does it cost me to be a
disciple of Christ? Not a dime from me, not a penny
from me. I don't have a penny. Nothing from me. Aren't you thankful
for that? Nothing from me. I don't have
anything to give. One of the glorious things about
the gospel is it is only given to those who have nothing to
pay. Isn't that wonderful? You exclude yourself if you've
got something to pay. But if you have nothing to pay,
this gospel is for you. What does it require of me? Nothing
from me, but all of me. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Isn't it a blessing to have ears
to hear the gospel? to know the joyful sound. Let's pray together.