What Is Our Attitude Towards Hearing And Learning

What Is Our Attitude Towards Hearing And Learning God’s Word?

Introduction • We cannot become Christians without learning what God commands us to do, • We have a responsibility to study God’s word 2 Timothy 2: 15. • God gave us His word for a reason, and anyone would be foolish to reject God’s words. • So how should we receive God’s word?

Attentively! – Proverbs 7: 24 “Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth” – Nehemiah 8: 1 -3 “And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law”. ;

Attentively! – Acts 2: 14 “But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give heed to my words”. – Acts 16: 14 “And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul”

Attentively! – Luke 19: 47 -48 “And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging upon His words”. – 1 Thessalonians 5: 21 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good”. – 2 Timothy 1: 13 “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus”.

Attentively! – Hebrews 2: 1 -3 “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard”, ; – Hebrews 4: 14 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession”. – Hebrews 10: 23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; ”

Attentively! • 2 Peter 1: 12 -15 “Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you, And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind”.

Reverently! – Acts 10: 33 “And so I sent to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord” – 1 Corinthians 10: 12 “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. ” – Hebrews 12: 28 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ”

Reverently! – Revelation 4: 11 “Worthy are Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things and because of Thy will they existed, and were created”. – Matthew 18: 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst”. – Must recognize our presence before God! • House of Cornelius came to hear all things commanded of God!

Honestly! – Matthew 13: 15 “For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them; (Isaiah 6: 9 -10) – Luke 8: 15 “And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance”.

Honestly! – Matthew 7: 1 -5 “Do not judge least you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye’ and behold the long is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eyen, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”.

Honestly! – Acts 13: 44 -46 “And the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God, But when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life behold we are turning to the Gentiles”. • We show ourselves unworthy by being improper hearers of God’s word. • Must honestly make application to our lives.

Inquiringly! – Acts 17: 11 “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so”. – 1 John 4: 1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. – 1 Thessalonians 5: 21 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good”. – John 5: 39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me”.

Inquiringly! • A true teacher of God’s word will be honored by those who examine his teaching by God’s word. – Most in error run and hide - Jn. 3: 18 -21 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God, . And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God”.

Personally! – Mark 14: 18 -19 “And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me— one who is eating with Me’. They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, ‘Surely not I? ’ – Isaiah 6: 8 “Then I heard the voice of the LORD, saying ‘whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? ’ Then I said, ‘Here am I, send me’. ”

Personally! – 2 Samuel 12: 1 -7 “Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said, ‘there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor, . The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and his children. I would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and line in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who hade come to him…” • This parable told for David’s benefit but he did not see himself as the application of the parable.

Personally! – “Thou art the man” – vs. 7 – 2 Corinthians 13: 5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? ”; – Romans 12: 1 -2 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”.

Obediently! – Matthew 7: 21 -27” Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles? ’ And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock…. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand….

Obediently! – Romans 10: 1 -3 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God”. – James 1: 21 -25 “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves…(25)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”.

Obediently! – Hebrews 5: 8 -9 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation”. – Acts 5: 29 “But Peter and the apostles answered and said ‘’we must obey God rather than men”. • No value in hearing without obeying! • Must be obedient hearers to have the proper attitude!

Prayerfully! – Romans 1: 16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”. – 2 Timothy 4: 5 “but you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry”. – 2 Thessalonians 3: 1 “Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you”.

Prayerfully! – Ephesians 6: 18 -20 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel”. – Colossians 4: 2 -4 “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak”. • We must pray for the effective work of the Gospel! – That ALL sinners will receive it! – That preachers and teachers will speak the truth boldly in love!

Diligently! • “Diligence” - "speed", i. e. (by implication) dispatch, eagerness, earnestness: --business, (earnest) care(-fulness), diligence, forwardness, haste. (Strong) – 2 Peter 1: 5 -10 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence…knowledge. . . self-control… perseverance… godliness, . brotherly kindness… love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless or unfruitful in the true knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ…. (10)Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; ”

Diligently! – 2 Corinthians 8: 7 “But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also”. – Hebrews 6: 11 -12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises”. – Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”.

Hopefully! – Romans 8: 24 -25 “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” – Ephesians 4: 4 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you weer called in one hope of your calling, ” – Colossians 1: 5 “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel. ”,

Hopefully! – Colossians 1: 23 “if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creating under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister”. – Titus 1: 2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, ”; – Titus 2: 13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”. ; – Titus 3: 7 “that being justified by his grace we might be made hears according to the hope of eternal life”.

Hopefully! • Must not loose hope! • The hope of a Christian is the eternal reward in heaven! – 1 Peter. 3: 15 “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; ”. • Must finish the course to receive it! – 2 Timothy 4: 5 -8 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing”.

Christians must hear God’s word: • Attentively! • Reverently! • Honestly! • Inquiringly! • Personally! • Obediently! • Prayerfully! • Diligently! • Hopefully!

Conclusion • Need we say more? • We must listen to God’s word with all of these characteristics. • Are you doing this now?