He That Has an Ear to Listen

During the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, you know, Jesus Christ often concluded a lesson he taught by saying, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear or let him listen. He, when he spoke concerning John the Baptist and who John the Baptist was, he was a type of Elijah. He said, he that has an ear to listen. When he gave the parable of the sower, he talked about how some seed fell on stony ground, how some fell among thorns, and some on good soil.

He says, he that has an ear to listen, hear. Even in letters that we read in Revelation 2 and 3 to the churches, you know, it says, he who has an ear to listen, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so we see this lesson, brethren, in the Bible. Now, what is the point of these sayings that we see in the Bible?

Is it just an interesting conclusion to a parable that Christ wants to do? You know, that he adds to it, to add interest to it? Well, Jesus Christ refers to a problem many have, and that people simply do not listen. They do not hear what's being said. It's a terrible foible that we all have. It's a problem of the flesh. You know, when I was a kid growing up, my dad and mom often said to me, do you have wax in your ears?

And, you know, I didn't have very much wax in my ears. I just wasn't listening. Now, some people actually do have wax in their ears. When we were over in Malaysia, they have actually where they put hot wax in your ears to get the, I mean, yeah, it's some sort of wax they put in there to get the wax out of your ears. And I thought about doing it, but I thought, you know, that, you know, probably if it was too hot, that maybe it would also get some other things out of there that I don't want out, like brains or something like that.

But, again, what is the point of these sayings? Well, the question I want to ask you here in this split sermon is, how well do you listen? How well do you listen? You know, there's an art to listening. And there's a book, in fact, called The Art of Listening by Dominic Barbara. And it says, the problem with listening to a speaker is that generally the average person speaks 125 words a minute, yet we think four times faster than that.

So your mind is going in all kinds of directions. And, you know, as I'm saying, 125 words, you're thinking, you know, nearly 500 words in the process or more for that, depending upon what kind of a thinker you are. And that difference leaves some spare time with listening can be a challenge. Our minds tend to wander, don't they? Off to something else. Now, this is not a seminar. I'm not giving you a seminar today. Some people think, well, you know, sometimes we hear sermons, they sound like seminars.

It's far from it. You know, I'm not giving you a seminar just to improve your listening. But to look at this subject from a biblical standpoint, a biblical perspective, you know, the Bible actually mentions a few types of listeners in the Bible. Let's go look at some of the ways it's referred to in the Bible. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 5, Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 11 and 12. Here, Jesus, you know, Paul rather was talking about Melchizedek, and we know that Jesus was Melchizedek. And, you know, Paul was trying to educate the church about this.

But notice in verse 11, it says, of whom we have much to say, and it says it's hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. And so here's a listening problem. Somebody is dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. You know, they can't eat meat, in other words. So here's a hearing problem, becoming dull of hearing.

You know, the word dull from strong concordance, the word Greek is as notros, and it means sluggish, or slawful or lazy of hearing. But, you know, we're not active listeners. You know, we're not participating in what's being said and what's going on.

And when this is a problem, it's hard to break through to people. You know, it's like, you know, you ever had anybody that kind of tapped you on the head and said, anybody in there? Anybody listening? Anybody hearing what's being said? It can be really hard to really break through. The real problem is not the material. The real problem is not the minister who is delivering it. The problem is the person listening. They're not hearing what's being said. And they need, you know, pabulum because they haven't listened. You know, people succeed in school if they learn to listen. They really do. You know, I remember when I went to school in Oklahoma. You ever go to Oklahoma? You'll find in Oklahoma that they have a certain draw that they speak. My brothers speak totally different than I do. And I always credit it to this. When I was in English class, I listened. I know what a diphthong is. You know, they think, in fact, it might be a bean flip or something, you know, but they didn't listen. You know, learning to say the, you know, your vowels, A-E-I-O-U. You know, and that was a big, it made a big difference in terms of accent, you know, and developing, you know, the ability to, you know, actually speak English rather than sometimes the way people do. And don't get me wrong, just because somebody has a draw doesn't mean they're uneducated. I don't mean to say that. But at least they may be are not practicing what they know, at least. So it's a matter of listening. How well we listen, how well we got it, and get it. Matthew 13. Let's go over here to Matthew 13. You know, the disciples wanted to know why Jesus are you speaking in parables? Why don't you just speak plainly to us, you know, so we can really get what you're saying. They understood that Jesus was speaking in riddles, as it were, or parables. But chapter 13, and down here in verse 13, he says, Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

And so the purpose of him speaking in parables is so they wouldn't understand. They wouldn't grasp it, because it wasn't time for them to understand and to know. And this is, and in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing. Their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts, and turn, so that I should heal them. You see, it wasn't their time to be called. And Christ-spoken stories that they really could not understand. And even today, people think they understand the stories, the parables that Christ spoke, but they do not. You know, the Protestant world, in fact, you know, they maybe talk about some of these things, but they really don't know what they mean. But Isaiah wrote about such people in his day, and Jesus applied it to the people he spoke to. He said, People's eyes, their ears, and the hearts are closed.

This prevents them from understanding God's truth, and that they would turn to God fully. Surely, though, brethren, we as Christians would strive to avoid being dull of hearing, so that we can't hear what's being said. And I realize sometimes people actually have a hearing problem. My wife actually thinks I have a hearing problem. You know, it's possible she might also have a listening problem. But anyway, let's not get into a battle here. Maybe I have a problem with that, but I might be guilty. You hear about the old man who had a serious hearing problem, and he decided he was going to go to a doctor and get fitted for some hearing aids.

And so he went off, got himself all equipped with some hearing aids. And the doctor said, You are a hundred percent. You can hear a hundred percent. And, you know, the old man went back to the doctor in about a month, and the doctor said, You know, your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.

And the man replied, Oh, I haven't told my family yet.

I just sit around and listen to their conversations, and I've changed my will three times.

So, you know, some people use the hearing not for a positive reason. So, brother, we need to strive not to be dull of hearing. It's, again, affoible that we find in the Scriptures. Let's look at another one. Another hearing problem people have is over in Second Timothy chapter four. Second Timothy chapter four over here.

In chapter four and verse three and four, just a couple of verses here, we'll look at you know the account. You've seen it probably a number of times. If you read the book of Timothy, First Timothy and Second Timothy, of course, give us a lot of information. But in chapter three, it says, For the time will come, talking about brethren, when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, whatever it is they desire to hear, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. So here's another problem of hearing, itching ears.

People have itching ears. Now, if something itches, what do you want to do? You want to scratch it. That's right. And Paul is applying this that's itching of the ears to people that want to hear according to their own lusts, their own desires, their preconceived, you know, ideas that Mr. Kududson was talking about. They're looking at things from that, and they're not looking to find out what the truth is. They're looking from the standpoint of what they desire. And we've had that problem, I think, more than, you know, at any time previously, it began about 1995. That people got those itching ears. They want to hear everything else but the truth. You know, they didn't want to establish those things that we'd already been taught. They wanted something new, something different.

There's another, you know, type of hearing that is mentioned in the Bible, listening that's mentioned in the Bible, and this one is one, by the way, we should desire. The kind of thing that we should desire is Christians. Let's notice over here in Luke chapter 8, to begin with, in Luke chapter 8, in Luke 8 and down in verse 15. Here again, he's talking about the parable of the sower here. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who have heard the word with a noble and good heart, and keep it and bear fruit with patience. You see, that kind of listening. They have a noble and good heart, and they keep it. They hear the word, and they keep it, and they bear fruit with patience. That's the kind of listening, brethren, we want to do. And the seed, of course, of life lodges in the gray matter, and they begin to produce fruit. Another example of this is found in Acts chapter 17. Let's go to Acts chapter 17 over here.

You know, we want to have that attitude, a ready and a willing mind to receive the truth.

We want to be in action when we come to church, listening for the truth. You know, if you go to college and you skip out, say you're a brain surgeon, and you skip up out on some of the important parts of instruction about being a brain surgeon, that's going to be an area that you're going to be a little lacking in, right? You wouldn't want somebody operating on you that didn't go to class. And believe me, I'm sure it happens with doctors as well, although they may have some testing procedures for that. Acts chapter 17 in verse 10, it says, Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. And these were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica. In that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. And therefore, many of them believed in also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. And so here they were really, really ready to listen. You know, that to me was so exciting, you know, to see that kind of an attitude. Frankly, when I was over in Malaysia, and, you know, as I mentioned, I've sent out the prophetic times, and there were a group of people in Singapore that received the prophetic times. I was really shocked, actually. They came up and they said, we were really excited that you're coming, you came here. And they just had a hunger to hear about prophecy. And I said, look, there were, I started talking to a couple of ladies, and pretty soon they had a crowd, you know, that started to gather around as we were talking about some in-time prophecy type things. And they said, would you do a Bible study for us? And I said, sure, I'd be glad to. And so one Sabbath service afterwards, or that we, or one of the services we had afterwards, we set up a round table, and we had a big crowd gathered around the round table talking about prophecy. You know what they want to know? They want to know, how does prophecy apply to Malaysia? And they said, well, I'm not going to go to Malaysia. And we were able to talk about some things with regard to that, that they, how they're going to be affected in a great deal. Because, you know, most of the people in Malaysia are Muslim.

Different world is going to be in the future, right? As we see, and I was talking to them about how that in World War II, that, you know, Germany, under the leadership of Hitler, had a very close ties with the Muslims. Of course, the Muslims, some of them, wanted to see the extinction of the Jewish people. You can see why. But if you search your mind a little bit, you can understand that probably that same mentality will exist in the next go-round that's going to take place. But anyway, for them, for those that were there, we talked about some things they had never heard before that at least filled in some gaps with regard to prophecy. But here, these people at the Berea, they had their minds open. They were ready to listen. They were eager to hear whatever was going to be talked about. You know, Jameson, Fossett, and Brown commentary says this about this particular passage, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind. In other words, they heard it only without prejudice, with an eager interest, in an honest and good heart, with sincere desire to be taught a right. And it says, Mark the nobility ascribed to this state of mind.

You know, in the new King James Version, it says that they were fair-minded and they listened or received the word with all readiness of mind. Is that the way we think, rather, when we come to church? Ready to hear what's being said? Wanting to apply it? So, brethren, why is it so important that you strive to be the kind of listener that the Bereans were?

Maybe you think that answer to that is obvious, but maybe not for everybody. You know, Mr. Knutson talked about how we are to become God's will. God is form and fashioning us into His will, not our own. You know, we're supposed to, in fact, get rid of our will and submit to God's will. We ought to be praying also that God's will is done here on earth, as it is in heaven. So, why is it important for us to be the kind of listeners that the Bereans were?

I got a few points here I want to give you. Number one, learning to listen is important to us because God has opened our minds. You came to the point where God opened your mind. He opened your eyes and your ears so you can hear and see. All of us, again, had that wonderful blessing that God gave through the power of His Spirit. You know, think about that. Of the seven and a half billion people upon this planet, your mind, your heart, your eyes, your ears are open to the truth. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13 and verse 16 and 17 here, just a couple of verses that we will read. But here in Matthew 13 and verse 16, But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears that they hear. See, it's a blessing of God. If you can understand the truth. For, surely, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Daniel didn't understand some of the things you understand. You know, they, of course, would have given their eye teeth to know what we understand today or can understand, at least. You know, think about the fact that Daniel was told to seal up his book that it would not be understood until the time of the end. He died in ignorance of the things that you and I can avail ourselves in the church. We have precious knowledge, brethren. Wonderful knowledge that God has given us to us, and we have to listen. You know, we need to be able to, in fact, know what the truth is, and to draw it up as well. Somebody asked, is there a reason of the hope that lies within us, according to what the scripture says? Let's go to Ephesians chapter 1. Because in Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4 over here, it shows how lofty, brethren, the knowledge that we've been given is.

The wording is kind of interesting here, where it says in verse 3 and 4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Ephesians 1, verse 3, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. In other words, God is saying here, right here, that what you know or can know is out of this world. It's out of this world. And it says, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him and love. So God has given us knowledge that is heavenly, that is celestial, that you can't find out these things on earth. We've had things unlocked for us, brethren, that only Jesus Christ could unlock, that there was nobody on earth that could unlock it, except Christ. He was the one that could take the seals away. You read that in the book of Revelation. But we've been privy, brethren, to things from heavenly places and knowing why we were born, the great transcendental purpose of human beings, the purpose for life. And you know, if we do not learn to listen and hear what's being said, then we lose the blessings.

So we have to carefully listen to what's being explained to us. Number two, number two is we cannot have faith unless we learn to listen. That's what the Bible actually says.

You can't have faith unless you learn to listen. You know, God ordained, brethren, that all are going to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. In faith, the Bible tells us comes by listening or by hearing. And of course, we have to hear the truth, and we do, unfortunately, have to hear it from a human instrument.

I wish it wasn't so. I wish we had a voice that we'd come in here and it would talk to us, and you wouldn't look up here and see a human being. You'd be hearing God, you know, but that's not the way God chose to do it. He chose to use imperfect human beings to give you the message, you know, and that's why Mr. Knutson is saying, you know, he's not perfect, you know, and I'm really glad to hear that, by the way, because I don't like being alone. And I don't think any of you are perfect either. We're all imperfect, aren't we? He's, interestingly, he's perfecting us through imperfect human beings.

And at least we're, of course, the messengers of it. And the message is just wonderful for us. But we, brethren, have to have faith to be saved. Faith in Christ, faith in what God is doing. Let's go to Romans chapter 10 over here. Romans chapter 10. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 14, it says, How then can they call unto him in whom they have not believed? Can't pray to Christ if you don't believe in Him. You can't pray to the Father if you don't believe in Him. And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? Got to be taught by somebody. And how shall they hear without preacher? You need that guy up there, you know, somebody to deliver the message. Or how shall they preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good news. You don't want somebody, by the way, who sort of says, I'm going to go even when I'm not sent. You want to hear from somebody that was sent.

But it says, They have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah, says, Lord, who has believed a report? So then faith comes by hearing. Faith comes by hearing. And it says, Without faith, it's impossible to please God over in Hebrews 11 verse 6. And hearing by the Word of God. And so listening is the only way we're going to get faith, brethren. And through faith, we receive salvation. A lot more to it, of course. But you know what, brethren, over the years, through history, few people listen to God's service. They take the example of Noah. He preached a hundred years and affected not one human being, except the eight that went aboard that boat. Few listen. You know, sometimes we look at the life even of Jesus Christ, you know, 120, part of the original church. Of course, it grew larger after that point.

But anyone called, brethren, must hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it brings about faith in the hero. And again, people lack faith because they don't listen. They do not see the full gospel, which produces greater faith, the full truth. If you ever see the truth, I mean the full gospel of Jesus Christ, it transforms your life. It really does. And if you haven't seen it, you need to dig deeper. Dig deeper. Number three, a number three point, listening is essential to produce spiritual fruit. Let's go to Luke chapter 8 and verse 15. Luke 8 and verse 15.

Hear Jesus Christ again when he was talking about the seed, the word that fell on good ground. Notice, are those that heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it, and they bear fruit. They bear fruit. So they listen, and then they applied it, and they bear fruit.

The only kind of mind or soil capable of bearing fruit is a person who is ready and willing to listen. I've been on many visits, and I'm sure elders have been on visits like this, where you really couldn't get a word in edgewise of some people.

They knew more about the truth than you did. A lot of times when I go on those kind of visits, I just let them go on. Just keep on talking. The greatest damage to me is it wastes my time. That's why I'm there, though, to interact with these people. But after a while, you try to gracefully say goodbye. They're not going to accept the truth. Maybe it's going to be later they're going to do that. But some people, again, just are not ready to listen. I'm always amazed, but some people start reading the Bible one month, and by the end of the month, they've gone through the seminary. They know all about it. They know more about it than you or I put together.

Paul wrote to the Colossians, and he said the truth was producing fruit in the Colossians since the day that you heard and knew and you understood the grace of God in truth.

It began to produce fruit in the Colossians. Number four, brethren, why it's so important for us to listen, learn to listen? It's needed to guard the mind from deception, from corruption. You've got to listen with a good ear. Over in Hebrews 2, verse 1-3, we have information about this. Why it's so important to hear and listen and to apply. Keep on your toes, spiritually speaking. But chapter 2, here, in verse 1-3, therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we've heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels prudes steadfast, in every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him? How shall we escape? What we are hearing is so precious, brethren, and we've got to avoid deception and give the more earnest heed. You know, lest we end up letting things slip, keep on guard to not forget.

You know, some people will type a string around their fingers, so don't forget something.

You know, that with me, sometimes I, time I do something like that, I forget what the string was for. And we need to learn to again remember, to not forget. Some things we forget because we're not focused on it the way we should be. That's the bottom line. We're not focused on it. Number five, we need to listen, brethren, to avoid God's judgment.

I think I told you a story about myself when I came home one time late. I was in the second grade and my mother had told me, don't come home late. And that day I went by, saw a friend and said, you know how you are, you just sort of waltz home. I don't know how old I was when I was in the second grade, but, you know, what, six or seven, something like that. And I had this newfound freedom. I walk home from school and, and sure enough, I came home late that day. I went up to the steps to the kitchen. I was going to sneak in the house. Yeah, I did things like that, by the way. But, and at the top of the stairs was my dad. He was there to greet me as I came home late. And he had his belt. And in those days, it, it, it was not politically incorrect to spank a child with a belt, as long as you did it the right way. And my dad knew how to do it the right way. And, in any way, he, he, he explained it to me, as, as, you know, you know, Ricky Ricardo used to say to, to Lucy, Lucy, you have lots to, to explain. She was always making mistakes. But that day, I learned one thing in my life that stuck with me for the rest of my life, is I don't like that kind of punishment. I would listen to anybody before I would endure that kind of punishment. That's a good lesson to learn, that you'd rather, you know, listen to words and not be spanked, you know, because there is a very real problem that people have. And, you know, even if your daddy doesn't spank you, something else will in life. Life has a way, doesn't it? It comes back on us if we don't do what is right. But we need to listen to words to avoid judgment upon us. Chapter 10 of Matthew, chapter, Matthew, chapter 10, and verse 14 and 15 over here.

Matthew, chapter 10. So we need, again, be on our guard always to the foibles of this flesh. But in chapter 10 and down to verse 14 and 15, it says, and whoever will not receive you, he's speaking to his disciples, nor hear your words. This is a judgment God has made. When you depart from that city or house, shake off the dust from your feet. Assurely, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. That's what Christ said to his disciples. Look, if, you know, people don't listen to what you're saying, it will be more tolerable than those people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were terribly evil and very wicked than for you. If you could have understood, you could have known and you didn't listen.

So be careful. Chapter 12, verse 41, let's notice this.

The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented. It says, at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. Jesus Christ, of course, was the one that was there for them. The queen of the south will rise up, it says, in judgment with this generation and the condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. In other words, God is going to be more tolerable, brethren, in the future for those who never heard, never had the chance. Nineveh repented after they listened to Jonah.

The queen of Sheba traveled a long way to hear, you know, the wisdom of Solomon. Are we willing, brethren, to make some effort?

In finding out what the truth is, to listen to the truth, and to apply the truth?

Brethren, unless we do, we will not escape the judgment of God.

God has given you a tremendous, precious opportunity to avail yourself of it. Again, why did Jesus Christ take the time to teach these things if they are not important to us? And how can we be a better listener in God's church? Well, realize where you are. First and foremost, you're in the house of God. This is where we talk about God's ways and His truth. This is a holy service that's committed to God. Listening is a part of worship.

It's a part of what we do. A minister brings the message inspired of God.

He's not God, but He's a tool. It's amazing how messages sort of go together, like Mr. Knutson talking about this, and they seem to do that. And we didn't confer on this at all. But I think it certainly works well together here today. Listen to the whole service. Get the impact of the whole service of what's being said. You know, if you see half the movie, you can't expect to know what the movie was about. If you hear half the truth, you can't expect to know what the truth is. And so we need to, again, listen to the whole service. Let it have its impact. Pay attention to the speaker. Focus on the speaker. Don't allow your mind to be distracted or wander. Make an effort to grasp what he is saying. What's going on in the church? Follow along in your Bible with what's being said. You know, I was listening to Mr. Armstrong this morning on YouTube. And he, right at the outset of the old radio broadcast, he said, do you have your Bible? He said, when you listen to me, he says, have your Bible. He says, I want you to see in the scriptures what the Bible says. Don't believe me. Remember what he used to say? Believe your Bible. Blow the dust off your Bible. Brother, we need to get in that Bible habit of following along about what's being said. We look in the scriptures and it actually says that ancient Israel, it says that they heard the gospel like we have heard the gospel. You know, they heard at least what the physical mind can understand and see, but it says they did not believe. They did not believe, and because they did not believe, you know, they did not obey. And the same thing Paul says over in Hebrews 4 can happen to us.

We can hear something, but if we don't believe it, or if we're not listening intently enough to grasp it, we can be just like the Israelites. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4 over here where Paul says here Hebrews 4 and verse 1 and 2, therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, let's be afraid, lest any of you seems to have come short of it. For indeed, the gospel was preached to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. And so we need to hear, and we have to have faith, we have to have belief. Hopefully, we're far different than that, in fact, they were. James says this in James chapter 1 and verse 22, But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. No, don't look at the law of God and walk away, not do anything about yourself. No, the law of God is like a mirror that we should look into to see how we're doing. And we should apply ourselves to those things that, in fact, God is revealing to us. Let's go over to Ezekiel chapter 33. Ezekiel chapter 33.

Now, Ezekiel had a very difficult job, as all of the prophets did. But Ezekiel was one. Remember that he was there to see the demise of his people.

And he was there to preach, to warn people. He was a watchman, the Bible talks about. But here in chapter 33 and verse 30, notice this.

In Ezekiel 33 and verse 30, As for you, Sodah man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, please come and hear what the word is that comes from the eternal. At least they were saying the right things. So they come to you as the people do. They sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. They're just doing their own thing, in other words. Indeed, you are to them a very lovely song of one who has pleasant voice and can play well on that instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not do them. So, brethren, finally, I want to ask you the question, is there ever a time God doesn't listen to you?

You know, the Bible tells us that he hears the cry of his righteous people always.

There's not a time when he doesn't hear you. Well, brethren, it's important that when God speaks, we hear him. When God talks to us, we listen, and we have a ready and willing heart to apply those things that God has given to us. So, brethren, let's ask ourselves the question, all of us, how well do we listen?