“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

Last month I began a series on how the Word is to be heard. We looked at how to prepare ourselves before we come and hear the Word preached on Sunday morning. In this article we will look at what we are to do while we are hearing the Word preached. There are three matters we are to attend to while the Bible is being taught to us.

The first is listening to the preaching of the Holy Scriptures with diligence. Isaiah 55:2c reads, “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” The LORD is here calling us to be diligent to listen to Him. And He compares His Word to food that we are to delight ourselves in. When we know we are going to have a good meal at home, are we not diligent to make sure we are there when the feast is set up? And diligent to not allow ourselves be distracted by the phone as we eat? While we sit and hear God speaking to us, through the preaching of His Word, we need to make sure that we are giving Him our undivided attention. That our minds are not wandering off into what house work needs to get done, doctor appointments that need attending to, projects at work that need to be completed, homework for school etc... We know that when our minds begin to wander into these things our attention to what is being preached is lost. How many times have your heard a parent say to a child, “Are you listening to me?”, and the child has no clue to what his parent was saying, because his mind was distracted by something else. We need to be diligent that our minds are not being distracted by other things, but that we are giving God our full attention. Prov 2:1-2, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding. . .” So the first thing we are to be diligent in is listening.

The second thing we are to diligent in is discerning. We need to be good Bereans and, “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11). Note that the Bereans didn't shrug off what they heard because they didn't like the sounds of it, or it didn't fit in with their traditions. They didn't say, “Well that's your interpretation”, no instead they took the time to study the Bible to find out if what was said was true. As Christians we are to be diligent in discerning what we hear (and read) and distinguish truth from error by God's Holy Word.

A final thing we are to be diligent in is to hear with understanding. We need to understand that when the Word is being preach, rightly and faithfully, that what is being said has much weight, because it is God's Word to us. Therefore we need to seriously consider what is being said, let our minds ponder it, and seek to better understand it.

“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” 1 Peter 2:1-2

When Jesus encountered Satan in the desert and was challenged by him to turn the rocks into bread, Jesus said these important words: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Peter, when writing his first letter, was concerned for the spiritual well- being of the Christians to whom he was writing and said to them, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation...” (1 Peter 2:2). There are other places in Scripture where God's Word is compared to food and drink. Did you know every Sunday a feast is set before you? Not of real food and drink, but that of God's Word, for every Sunday when God's people gather His Word is preached and read. Great nourishment for our souls is available! To help us in getting all the 'meat off the bones' I would like to take the next few months to give direction in regards to hearing the Word preached. The first area is: what you do before you come to church? Second, what you do when you are hearing the Word preached? Finally, what you do when you go home? If you implement these things into your life you should find yourself 'getting something' out of the messages. You will be able to enjoy not just broth in your stew but the vegetables and meat too.

What then are we to do before we come to church? Two things: we are to prepare and pray. How are we to prepare? We must consider the awesomeness of the One we come to hear. We need to impress our hearts with the majesty and glory of God. Prepare your heart by ridding yourself of worldly cares: allowing what you have to do for the week to dwell in your mind will distract you from God's Word. Confess your sin to God and get right with Him. Let Christ cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Purge your heart. Remove from you corrupt desires and emotions, so that your heart will be ready to receive what God has for you. Stir up in you a desire for God's Word (1 Peter 2:2).

What are we to pray for before we come to church? First, your minster, that God would direct, teach, and guide him in what he says and how he says it. Second, that God would send His Word home to your heart, that His Word would change, strengthen, encourage, humble, or whatever the need might be. Third, that God would pour our His Spirit through the preaching of His Word, that you and others who hear might become better by it.

When the next Lord's day comes, take the time to prepare and pray before you come to hear God's Word preached. You will be blessed if you do!

*Thomas Boston was a great tool in preparation for this article. See his complete works to find out more.

“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’” - Jeremiah 16:10 (ESV)

How would you answer the above questions? Why did God send the Assyrians and Babylonians to punish His people? My first response would be, “Idolatry”. When you read on that is included in God’s answer, but He also tells them that they have done something worse. “…then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. (Jeremiah 16:11-12, emphasis mine). Not only had that generation committed idolatry, but they did something worse: they refused to listen to the LORD. Instead of obeying God they chose to follow their own ways and do what they thought was 'best'. The LORD was not pleased and told them, “Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’”(Jeremiah 16:13) Because of their refusal to listen to God, He was going to punish them, which history shows He did.

Later in Jeremiah chapter 19 we see again the punishment that the LORD says He is going to inflict on Israel and the same reason why: “Thus says the Lordof hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.” (Jeremiah 19:15, emphasis mine). My son Peter, when he heard this, asked what 'stiffened their neck' meant. I explained it was to be stubborn, and gave the example of when daddy asks him to do something again and again and he doesn't obey. This was the problem with the Israelites: they refused to listen to God, and listening in this passage implies action. More than mere hearing, hearing God’s words includes obedience to what the LORD has said.

How did the Israelites hear God? In the Old Testament God communicated to His people via the prophets. God would give His prophets a message and they would deliver it. God's Word was communicated in this way and when the people rejected what the prophets said, they were rejecting God. Today God no longer communicates to His people in exactly the same way. At the time of the prophets the 66 books of the Bible had not been completed, so God's Word was made known as He revealed it to men, who then conveyed it to His people. Today God's Word is written for us. There is no new revelation to be had. All we need to know concerning God and our duty in this life is revealed in its pages. While we don't have any Jeremiahs around, God has set up men to declare to His people His written Word. The modern day prophet is the preacher. One puritan writer called preaching the 'Art of Prophesying'. It is the duty of the preacher to declare to the people God's revealed will for them, to show them what the Scriptures say. The responsibility of the people is to listen, not just 'hear'.

Can what was said of the Israelites be said of you: “every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.”? Ponder with me these things!

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. . .” 
                                                                                                                                                                                             -1 Peter 3:15(ESV)

Last month we saw from Acts 8:1, 4 that it is every Christian's duty to share with others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This month I would like to look at ways that we can do that as well as things that aid us in sharing the Gospel. One important step is to 'be prepared'! It is not just the Boy Scout motto; they are words for the Christian to live by. We need to be prepared to tell others about Christ. This means knowing our Bibles better. In 1 Peter 3:15 we see a conscious, active effort to live and grow in a way that shows those we come in contact with that there is something different with us. If we live like the world or don't live like we belong to God, such an opportunity to share the Gospel will not avail itself. Another thing we can be doing is engaging in 'God talk'. Colossians 4:5-6 states, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” “God talk”, as Pastor Mike Renihan puts it, is “... distinctively thankful towards God, for his mercy and grace... clearly identify oneself as a Christian, or as one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, or has faith in God.” Does your speech show you are a follower of God's? When we demonstrate in our speech that we belong to God, doors can be opened to share the Gospel. But in addition to how we speak, we need to make sure that we are living holy lives. This is another thing we can being doing for the furtherance of the Gospel. Jesus tells us the effects of this in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” When we live holy lives before a lost and dying world it can lead to people giving glory to God. We have seen three things we can do to seeing the furtherance of the Gospel take place: being prepared, God talk, and holy living. As we engage in these duties we can know that we please God and we can trust Him to bring about the change. God has called us to share the Gospel, not create conversions, that it His job and must rest in Him to do so. Let us then be faithful to what God has called us to!

Sometime ago I was in conversation with a couple of the ladies from the church. As we looked over the cleaned-up driveway one of the ladies said to me in jest, “We cleaned it, you fill it.” While such a comment was said in humor, unfortunately it reflects much of the mindset of Christians in our area today. Christians think that it is the exclusive job of the pastor to see to it that the church is filled. After all, “isn't that what we are paying him for?” But this is a misunderstanding of the pastorate as well as the duty of every Christian. Is it the goal of the church to see pews filled or to see God glorified? While God may be glorified by filled pews, He also can be glorified by empty pews. Likewise, God may be dishonored by filled pews and He can also be dishonored by empty pews. The issue isn't whether the pews are filled or not, the issue is whether we are being faithful to what God has called us to do!

What is something which God has called you to be faithful? Evangelism. Evangelism is not just what the pastor is to do, it is the responsibility of every believer. We see this demonstrated in Acts chapter 8, “...And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. . . Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Who were the ones that were scattered about preaching the word? It was the church. Note that the apostles where still in Jerusalem! There are two different Greek words that are used for the preaching that a pastor does (κηρύσσω) and that which every Christian is responsible for (εὐαγγελίζω). The former is a formal heralding and the latter is informal proclamation. It is the duty of every Christian to share the gospel as they have opportunity and according to their ability. Next month I wish to share with you some practical ways to share the gospel. Until then, be faithful to what God has called you to do, share the good news that Christ came into the world to save sinners!