Luke chapter 8 this morning.
I'm going to try to bring you a message from verse 16. I hope
to end up in verse 21. Luke chapter 8, verse 16, down
through verse 21. And I'm taking the title for
the message found in verse 18. Take heed, therefore, how you
hear. Take heed, how you hear. This same parable that's recorded
in Mark chapter 4, verse 24, it's recorded there, take heed
what you hear, take heed how you hear, and take heed what
you hear. Both are vitally important to
the salvation that we enjoy in Christ Jesus. I don't want to
hear anything that is false, do you? I don't want to hear
any false or fake news about the Lord Jesus Christ. I want
to hear that which is true to God. that which is honoring to
God, that which is found in the Word of God. You see, it is only
the truth that will set us free. Take heed how you hear, and take
heed what you hear. This phrase here, take heed,
in the original is one word, and it means behold, it means
beware, it means to pay close attention to what you hear and
pay close attention to how you hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now let me go back by way of
introduction. The Lord had been giving the
meaning of the parable unto His disciples. Unto them it was given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, while others
remained in the dark. Notice, if you will, verse 9
and 10 in Luke chapter 8. His disciples asked Him, saying,
What might this parable be? And He gives them the meaning.
unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God." That's the sovereign revelation of God. But unto others,
all they see is just words. That seeing they might not see,
and hearing they might not understand. The seed here is the Word of
God. The Lord had given to them the
light of the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, that the power
of God unto salvation. These were true believers as
described in Luke 8 verse 15, those good ground hearers who
had the light turned on, who had the work of God done in their
heart that they might receive the word. But that on the good
ground are they which in an honest which have heard. and an honest
good heart, and have heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth
fruit, and they do so with long-suffering." They do so with patience. The
good ground-hearer of the Word, having received the Word, they
keep it, and they bring forth fruit unto the glory of God. You remember the Lord said, without
Me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Now, I want to begin
with verse 16. And here's my first point. The
Lord instructs these apostles and all believers to hold forth
the light of the gospel. And we do that by holding forth
the word of truth, by holding forth the gospel. No man, when
he hath lighted a candle, covers it with a vessel, or puts it
under his bed, but he sets it on the candlestick, that they
which enter in may see the light of the gospel." Now, the Lord
instructs them to hold forth the light of the gospel by preaching
the gospel. That's how we hold forth the
light. by preaching Christ, by lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember, He instructed the church to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature? The Lord uses a very straightforward
and plain illustration. When you light a candle, and
we've all done that, haven't we? had put a match to a candle to
light it, and you do so to get light, to get light. But when
you do that for the purpose of lighting a room to help yourself
see things, you don't put that candle under a bucket, do you? Or under the bed. You hold it
forth that you might see. That's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ is telling us to do with the Word of Truth. We're
to hold it forth, to hold it up. Now, What is the light of
the gospel? What is the light of the gospel? Or maybe I should ask it this
way, who is the light of the gospel? I found this scripture
in Malachi 4 verse 2. He said, But when, but unto you
that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness, S-U-N, Son
of Righteousness, arise with healing in His wings. The Lord
Jesus Christ, He is that Son of Righteousness. He is the Son
of God, He is God the Son, but He is our light. Now you look out on a clear,
bright day, and that sunshine is so brilliant and so bright.
You know that sunshine has in it life? Light and power. You can't grow anything without
sunlight. You have to have light. And in
that light is the power of life. And all that is a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of Righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
the light we need. and all the light there is to
enlighten us." And that's what He does. He commands the light
of the Gospel to shine in our darkened heart that we might
see the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
light of the Gospel reveals the truth of the Gospel, doesn't
it? Turn over to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. The light of
the Gospel reveals the truth of the Gospel. The light of the
word, the light of the gospel. John chapter 8 verse 12. Our
Lord said, I am the light of this world. You see, everything
else in this world is darkness. The Lord is the light of the
world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He is our life. He that hath
the Son hath life. He is our light in this dark
world. In this same chapter, John chapter
8, Look at verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth That will
set you free. Verse 36, If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. He has come to give us life,
and He does so by giving us light. Light. Now find 1 John. 1 John chapter 1. Christ is that light. He's the
light of the Word, He's the light of the Gospel, and He's the light
of every believer's life. 1 John chapter 1. Now, 1 John chapter 1, look at
verse 5. This then is a message which
we have heard of Him, and declare unto you that God is light. Now, who is Christ? He's light. I am the light of the world.
God is light, the Lord Jesus Christ is our almighty God and
Savior, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not
the truth. But if we walk in the light,
that is believing the light, looking to the light, Christ,
as He is the light, we have fellowship one with another in the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us. You see, the light
of the Gospel reveals unto us what we are. If we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Those
that have been given the light and life and power of God in
the gospel have the privilege to hold forth the true light
of the gospel, that is to preach the gospel to others. You see,
God had translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of God's dear Son. He has called us out of darkness
into His marvelous light, and we're to hold forth the light
of the gospel. The Lord is describing to His
church and to us what is involved in preaching the gospel of Christ.
It is to hold Him forth. It is to lift Him up. It is to
boldly preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you
take your Bible and hold your place there, and find the book
of Philippians first, Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
chapter 2. How do we hold forth this light? What he says here, Philippians
chapter 2. Verse 13, "...for it is God which worketh in you
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. Do all things
without murmuring and disputing, that you may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of the crooked
and perverse nation among whom you shine as lights." You see,
Christ in you is a hope of glory. You shine as lights, He's describing
believers. Now watch verse 16, "...holding
forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ."
Holding forth the word of life, that's how you shine forth. "...that
I have not run in vain, neither have I labored in vain." Now,
don't turn to this one because I read it earlier, but over in
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he said, "...that you, brethren,
are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a
thief, but you are children of the light and children of the
day." We are not in darkness of ignorance and blindness anymore. God has enlightened us to the
truth of the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is
all of salvation. It's by His grace and we hold
forth that message as it's found here in the Word of God. We hold
it forth. We lift it up. We don't hide
it. We don't put it under a bushel
and say, now, we're going to tell this part and not reveal
that part. The Lord has ordained the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as the means to call out
his sheep and to quicken his sheep. He said, by the foolishness
of preaching, I'll call out my people. And the Apostle Paul
wrote this, 1 Corinthians 9, 16. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. He says, Woe is unto me if I
don't hold forth the light. In other words, he said, Woe
unto me if I do not preach the gospel. If I do not hold forth
the light of the gospel in Christ. Now, I take that personal. And
I hope you take it personally too as a believer. Woe is unto
me if I do not preach the gospel Woe is unto me if I do not preach
the gospel, but woe is unto you if I do preach the gospel and
you won't hear it. Woe is unto you. Now, I must
preach the gospel, and I pray that God give you ears to hear
it, but I can't make you hear it. It is both a great privilege
to hear the gospel, and to believe the gospel, and then to tell
others about how God saves sinners. Now, we have a very good illustration
of that found right here in Luke chapter 8. Turn one page. You remember the wild Gadarene
that was in that cemetery? He was wild and no one could
tame him. He was running naked and wild
and demon-possessed and out of his mind. And the Lord Jesus
Christ crossed his path and put him in his right mind, cast out
those demons, and they found this man sitting at the Lord's
feet, clothed and in his right mind. Luke chapter 8, Luke verse
38. Luke 8.38, Now the man out of
whom the devils were departed, besought him that he might be
with him. But the Lord sent him away, saying,
Return to thine own house, and show how great thing God hath
done unto thee. Now what's he saying? Hold forth
the light. Hold forth the light. Now notice,
tell how great thing God hath done for you. Read on, and he
went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things
the Lord Jesus had done for him. Now, he didn't go around saying
what I've done for him. No, it's what he has done for
us. You see, a declaration of the
gospel is not what you must do, it's what he has done for us
by his grace and by his sacrifice. Now, look back at the text again,
look at verse 17, "...that they that enter in may see the light,"
verse 17, Luke 8, "...for nothing is secret that shall not be made
manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be known, and
come abroad." So what's he saying right here? Those secret things
and the mysteries of the gospel that are hidden shall be known
and revealed by the preaching of the gospel through the power
of God the Holy Spirit." This is what I call housetop preaching. Housetop preaching. What are
you talking about? Turn to Matthew chapter 10. We often see people in the community,
different times, if they want to make some kind of a statement,
sometimes a principal in a school, If the students do certain things,
he'll give them a challenge and he'll say, well, I'll go up on
the rooftop and tell everybody how great things that my students
have done. Well, look what it says here
in Matthew 10 verse 26. Matthew 10 verse 26, "...fear
them not therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall
not be revealed, and hid that shall not be made known." Now
what I tell you in secret, what I tell you in darkness, speak
ye in the light. And what you hear in the ear,
you preach that on the housetop. You see that? Fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
We are to preach the gospel publicly, boldly, always, and never compromise
the truth. Preaching on the housetop. Don't
cover it up. Hold forth the light of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gospel preachers are not to hold
back any truth. We are to declare all the counsel
of God in salvation. What is all the counsel of God
in salvation? Christ and Him crucified. The
gospel preached dispels darkness and ignorance when it's blessed
of God to your heart. It'll deliver you from darkness.
It'll deliver you from ignorance. Now, what is it to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, I've given this to you many
times. Four things are involved. I'm going to go through this
quite quickly because you're familiar with it. What is it
to preach the gospel? Paul said, what would it have
done to me if I don't? What is it then to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Number one is to tell the truth.
about God, who he is. God is not who we think he is,
he's who he is as he's revealed in this book. What is the central
attribute of God? What is the central character
of God? God is absolutely holy, holy, holy in all things. God is love, but not apart from
His holiness. His love is holy love. God is
merciful, but not apart from His holy mercy. Mercy must be
in harmony with God's holy justice. Tell the truth about God in His
holiness. Tell truth about God in His sovereign
rule and reign. He rules in creation, providence,
and in salvation. It's to tell the truth about
God. That's what it is to preach the gospel. Secondly, it's to
tell the truth about you. It's to tell the truth about
man. What would you say is the central
character attribute of the fallen flesh? What we are before God. We read it a moment ago in 1
John. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. God is holy and
we're just the opposite. We are totally sinful before
God. As a matter of fact, he said,
there is none righteous, no, not one. All of our righteousnesses
before God are as filthy rags. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. To tell the truth about God,
to tell the truth about man, sinful. What is it to preach
the gospel? Thirdly, it's to tell the truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is this one from Nazareth? He said, when you've seen me,
you've seen the Father, I and my Father, we are one. It's to
tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is God,
our Savior. Why did He come? We declare who
He is, God manifested in the flesh. We declare why He came. Why did He come? Did He come
to try to save some people? Or did He come to save His people
from their sin? The Scriptures teach us that
the Lord Jesus Christ, He came to redeem us from the curse of
the law being made a curse for us. We declare who He is. We
declare what He accomplished. He accomplished the putting away
of our sin, the sin of God's people, by His own blood, by
Himself He purged our sin. And we tell where He is now.
Where is He now? If He's dead in a grave in Jerusalem,
we're in big trouble. If there be no resurrection,
we have no salvation and no forgiveness of sin. Where is the Lord Jesus
Christ right now? When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavenlies
in glory. He's seated on the throne of
glory. Thirdly, rather fourthly, What
is it to preach the gospel of God? To hold forth the light,
to hold forth the truth of who God is, who man is, who the Lord
Jesus Christ is, and fourthly, is to tell the truth about salvation. Is salvation something that you
accomplish? Is salvation something that you've
earned? Is salvation something you do
for God? Or is salvation something God
does for you? Well, we know the truth of this
book, don't we? Salvation is by the sovereign grace of God. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning in election to glorification and all in between. Salvation
is totally of the Lord. It's by His grace. And you know
what else? It's in Him. Salvation is in Him, in Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not Now, look back to the text again. Luke chapter 8, verse
18. So we hold forth the light, don't
we? That's what we try to do here. That's what Brother Nybert
tried to do in Lexington. He does a much better job than
I do. He holds forth that light on a better candlestick than
I do. But I tell you what, it's the same light, it's the same
gospel, it's the same Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look
at verse 18, now you take heed. Now, you pay attention to what
you hear. You pay attention to how you
hear. Take heed, therefore, how you hear this gospel of God concerning
the light of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark says,
take heed what you hear, and that's very important. You don't
want to hear anything but the truth, do you? It's the truth
that sets us free, but let us also take heed how we hear. When we hear or read the Word
of God, let us do so with eagerness, let us do so with faith, let
us do so with reverence, let us do so with prayer, Let us do so as to learn of Christ."
He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of Me. So, four things here, five things
I've got written down about how to hear the Word of God. Take
heed therefore how you hear. First of all, let's hear the
Word of God with eagerness. Eagerness. Did you come here
this morning with eagerness in your heart? Wanting to hear a
word from God? Take heed how you hear. Let us
do so with eagerness. Now, I remember what Cornelius
said to Peter. I read that last week. Remember?
When Peter was sent to Cornelius to hold forth the light, to preach
the gospel, Cornelius said, We are all here before God to hear
all things commanded thee of God. He was eager to hear, wasn't
he? He came to the table hungry. Hungry! When you come to the
table and you're full, your appetites Gone, you don't eat much. But
when you come hungry, oh, you sit down and you just gobble
it up, don't you? That's the way we ought to hear
the Word. Come with an appetite. Come with eagerness. And then
secondly, let us do so with faith. Faith, believe in God. We receive
this Word, not as it is the Word of men, but as it is the Word
of truth, that effectually worketh in you that believe. That's 1
Thessalonians 2.13. Let us hear the Word in faith,
believe in God. We can do right by believing
Him. We can never do wrong by believing
the Word of God. Let us hear it with eagerness,
let us do so with faith, and let us hear the Word of God with
reverence. Reverence. Reverence of the Word. Holy and reverent is His name. Let us hear the Word with reverence
and devotion. He sent redemption unto His people.
He commanded His covenant forever. Holy and reverent is His name. His Word is holy and reverent
too. We should always hear the Word
of God, read the Word of God with devotion and with reverence
and with worship. Here's the fourth thing. Let
us hear the Word of God with a prayerful heart. Asking the
Lord, Lord show me Christ. Show me the Gospel. I don't want
to just read words. I don't want to just learn facts.
about God and about Jewish history, I want to read this book and
see in the book revealed the Lord Jesus Christ. My prayer
for us, Lord show me Christ. Show me the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And let us do so with the desire
to feed upon Him. Let us desire the sincere milk
of the Word, that we might grow thereby. I am to feed the flock
of God with the Word of truth. That's what I do every day. Every
day I come over here when I study, and I study God's Word, and I
prepare messages to feed you. And as He feeds me, I write these
things down, and I trust that He'll enable me to hold forth
the light and to feed you with the Word of Truth. A steady diet
of thus saith the Lord. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is called Bread of life. He's not only the light of the
world, He's the bread that the believer desires to feed upon. Now, here's the last thing I
want to bring out. In verse 19, down through verse
21, we learn who the real family of God really are. Verse 19, "...then came to him
his mother," he's talking about Mary, that's the virgin that
gave birth to the Lord Jesus, conceived of God, "...and the
brethren," some of his relatives, relatives of Joseph and Mary,
"...and they could not come to him because of the press, because
of the crowd, and it was told him by a certain which said,
Thy mother, not brethren, they stand without desire and can
see thee." Now look at verse 21, And he answered and said
unto them, My mother and my brethren are these." Now he's pointing
to this whole big crowd. He said, this crowd here. My
mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God. Take heed how you hear. That
hear, that hear the word of God and do it. Do it. That is, they believe it. Here we learn who the family
of God really, really, and truly are. The Lord describes His true
family as sons of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. Turn over here to Ephesians.
The book of Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Behold what manner of love God
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons of God. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19. Now therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners. Now that's just by nature. strangers
from the covenants of grace and the promises of God, foreigners
to the love of God, the mercy of God, but now fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophet Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed
Together groweth unto a holy temple unto the Lord, in whom
ye also are builted together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." Believers are of the household of God, made so,
adopted by His love, made so by His grace. Now, they hear
the Word of God because God prepared their heart. It goes back to
what it said there about the hearer that had that seed sown
in the ground of his heart prepared by the Lord. They hear the Word
of God and then they obey the Word of God. That is, they do
the will of God. Now, I'm going to ask you a question.
Turn to John chapter 6. What's involved in doing the
will of God? Let's see if we can find out. Those that hear the Word of God,
and receive it, and believe it, and obey it. What's involved
in that? John chapter 6, verse 35. John
chapter 6, verse 35. It's coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ by saving faith. Verse 35, the Lord said unto
them, John 6, 35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I say unto you that you have
also seen me, and you believe not. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. Now read on. For I came down
from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And this
is the will of him that sent me. Here it is. that everyone
would seeth the Son." How do we see Him? With eyes of faith,
looking unto the Lord Jesus, and believe on Him, may have
everlasting life. How do you believe on Him? By
faith are you saved through grace. By grace are you saved through
faith, brethren. That not of yourself, it's a
gift of God. And I'll raise Him up at the last day. Now turn
to one more Scripture. Back one page, John 5, verse
24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life. Take heed how you hear. Take heed what you hear. And when you hear the Word sown
in your heart by the power of God the Holy Spirit, you know
what happens? We come to the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith
and we rest in Him. May the Lord be pleased to make
us willing in the day of His power to rest in Him. You see, we believe the gospel
only according to the working of His mighty power. These have heard the word of
God. He's opened our ear, opened our
heart, given us life, and He's made us willing to bow to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We bow to His Lordship, we bow
to His sovereignty, we say Amen to the way of salvation in Christ
by His grace and by His will.