Listen

Have you ever heard something? An instruction. Maybe when you're a kid, Bob says, he has heard something, so we're off to a good start. Like, for instance, when you were a kid, your parents told you something. And you said, uh-huh, yeah. And then you went on. And later, they're not around, and you needed to remember what they said, and you couldn't remember it. A hundred stories like that. Oh, why didn't I listen? And, well, I'll let you supply the funny stories, and the sad ones, the shocking ones, and sometimes some very distressing times, because you didn't listen well.

I know a fellow who didn't pay attention to what his tax lawyer told him about getting certain forms in on time. It cost him thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, because he didn't get it on time. And I can tell you a real awful story of a young man I know who is now middle-aged, that forgot to renew his college scholarship. So he went for one year, had a full scholarship, went back the second year, and they said, where's the money?

Well, my scholarship. Well, you don't have a scholarship. We don't have any records of it, and so on. Well, God wants us to listen to him for our benefit. In that way, and that may be the only way, God is like the IRS, or the tax lawyer. God tells us to listen to things, and if we don't listen, it's going to hurt. So we need to listen. That's the general idea. It's for our benefit. He is a motive of love, true love for us. He has great gifts and graces and blessings in this life, just more than we can count, more than we can even take advantage of.

And then eternal life and glory on the end of that. And that's what he wants to give us, but we have to listen to what he says in order to take advantage of it. Or we could be like the fellow, the man, young man I know, who has had a harder time of it, and is greatly talented, but hasn't been able to use it as well, and hasn't made near the money, for another thing, as if he had just listened.

Get this in by such and such a date. Our success and glory depends on listening to, and studying, and obeying God's words, and listening, or harkening, to God. Just what we have to benefit from is the glory that he gives, which we can't even comprehend, the encouragement, the strength, the inspiration that comes from listening to God.

So that's the basic thesis. That's what I want to talk about, and with the over 800 scriptures on the subject in the Bible, on the general subject, I won't be able to cover every one of them today. However, I would like to first, to start off with, just do a thorough study of all the references in the Bible that tell us, where God tells us, directly to listen.

So if you turn to Isaiah 49, verse 1, we'll start, and we'll go over every single one of these. It says, not surprisingly, Isaiah 49, 1, Listen, O Isles unto me, and hearken ye people from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, has he made mention of my name. So, that's it. We've covered all the scriptures in the English Bible that tell us to listen. Thorough study. I had a friend who, when Sabbath was going to go through all the places in the Old Testament, where it says, where it talks about faith.

So he got his concordance and his typewriter and his Bible and books and everything. And he got the first one, which was Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk 2, and he typed that out. And he looked for the next one, and it wasn't there. So he had kind of a short study. There's one other, one of the revisions of the King James, I think, also has one in Deuteronomy 32, where it mentions faith.

But it's not the subject that isn't taught in the Old Testament. It just uses the word trust for many, many scriptures. In the New Testament, the majority is faith, and there are quite a few with trust. And that's the way this is. There, like I said, 801 mentions of this subject, but there's only one, uses the word listen. The rest of them, there are a cluster of words in English, hear, hearken, listen, obey. Even obey, because a lot of times the force of the word to listen, you say, now listen to me, young man, I'm talking to you, little kid.

Now you get over there and take that trash out and get that job done, and then you can have dinner, or whatever your enforcement methods. I heard that one a few times. Listen to me. In other words, do what I said. Listen so hard that you take action. And that's actually implied in the word listen or hearken and so on. But in English, like I say, there's a cluster of words. Hear, hearken, listen, obey. Overlapping meanings, it does even mean obey sometimes. Incline your ears used a few times, and give heed, and things like that. Where we would say, it's talking about the very same thing, and it does mean, it can be translated, listen or listen to me.

So it's a pretty big one. In the most common words, there are two words with two forms each in both Hebrew and Greek. One is samma or shama in Hebrew, and the other is a kuo, or something like that, and a koi, which is just the same word, verb and noun, and that's in Greek. And there are a few other words, like in English, that being very similar things, or expressions like give heed, something like that. Now, these words in both Hebrew and Greek, and also in English, hold a progression that starts out with hearing. Hearing is one of the main ones, too, hearing, and hear. Those are the two biggest ones, as a matter of fact, hear and hearing. But there is a progression there, and it's part of God's word, and it's what he means when he says, listen. First of all, you can hear a band play, or, you know, a rock fall and hit the ground, funk. You can hear a lot of things that you don't have to understand, because it's not words. And that word, many times, is just used for, you know, it bounces off the ear, and you know there's some noise. So that's obvious, the first thing. But then the next one is it has to do with hearing and listening, paying attention. So that you know what's said, and the next, it progresses to the next meaning, which is to hear with understanding, or comprehension, so that you're paying attention. Sometimes a parent would say, now listen to me, look me in the face, look at me, and listen to me. And sometimes God says that, and what they mean is, not just listen, but pay attention, understand what I'm talking to you about. And the natural thing that follows that is, and obey. Take action on this. And there's something in the Bible where it takes it farther than obedience, because the next step has to do with the reason for all this, and that is, when you obey, say when a child has an obedient attitude, and is pleased to obey and follow.

Or, let's say, a recalcitrant problem employed, it's fine to decide, you know, I think I really like this company, I want to help them make a success of it, so I'm going to really work hard and cooperate and so on. So what happens is, when you have that attitude of obedience, then you start to bond. You form a relationship, in this case with God, and from that flows relationships with all of his other children. Our fellows are equals, those are of our peers. And so it goes from just plain hearing to listening, paying attention to responding to understanding, to obedience to building a bond, to bonding or building a relationship. And this progression you can see all through the Bible, in the definitions of the words, in the descriptions of what we're supposed to do, when God tells us to listen, when he talks about listening or hearing, and this whole subject, as I say, over 800 scriptures, on this subject at a minimum. That's just where these words are, there are other explanations. And this progression, you can just see it all through the Bible. So we have these two common words, and it just doesn't matter because they mean the same thing. They have the same idea in the two original languages of the Bible and in English. So you have scriptures like the one we read which says, listen. And we have, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to do them, which I teach you for to do them, that you may live. That's the reason, that's the benefit. So God is teaching us to do things, many things, that if we do them, if we do listen and then take action, we'll get life. We'll be able to live forever. So there are many, many, that's the Deuteronomy 4.1, and that's just repeated all through. Get a concordance and look up hearken and you'll have many, many. You'll have one on listen and one on hearken, that'll have quite a few, and then there are some others. One of the most famous here, well, as I was going to read, you also have a lot of hearing in here. For example, Matthew 13, verse 13, Therefore, this is why I speak to the men parables, because they seeing, see not, He's quoting Isaiah, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. They're just missing out on this whole progression. It just bounces off. They hear in terms of bouncing off their eardrums, hear the words, but they don't get it.

And so these terms are used throughout the Bible, Old and New Testament examples there. Now, the most famous command to listen. This has to be the most famous. What would you say? Anybody have a thought? Well, it's really famous. God says, listen, it's not Isaiah 49, of course. It is called the Shema, or Shema. I've heard those who know Hebrew, pronounce it Shema. It's in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 and 5. He says, Shema, O Israel, or hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord, verse 5, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with your soul, and with your might.

And this is referred to, this command is referred to in the Old Testament and in the New, in later places. In the prophets, quoting back to Moses and by Jesus Christ and others in the New Testament. So this is the most famous. Deuteronomy 6 is called the Shema, S-H-E-M-A, which is, just like the two words, the basic words are Shama, S-H-A-M-A, or S-A-M-A, and the Shema, which is very famous. Here, O Israel, is just that word, that form of that same word.

Now, there are different words and phrases that are used, and I would like to point out two or three here, and some examples for each. There are many, so I'm going to try to go fast. And I'm debating about just saying, well, if you want to do this study, get on the computer and put in Harkin and push the button and get them all, and I know that not all of you have this, so I'm thinking of making this, just my notes here, a study paper handout.

And I'll see how easy that is to do. But that's what it is. I just made a study on these words, and then I've rearranged them. Let me just point out, first of all, a common phrase is, Hear the word of the Lord. Now, this is made famous, and I printed this out, but there's not time to read it. I'd like to sing it to you, sing it in high school.

Dim bones, dim bones, dim dry bones. You know the old spiritual song? And now, Hear the word of the Lord. You know, the foot bone connected to the leg bone, the leg bone to the knee bone, and so on, the neck bone to the head bone. Now, Hear the word of the Lord.

So I printed them out, but will not sing them to you. Very famous command, where God directs it to different ones, first of all, to individuals, specifically Hezekiah. This is 1 Kings 20, where Isaiah told Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. He said, first of all, you're going to die. This is your deathbed, you're dying. And He went out, Hezekiah prayed, turned himself to the wall, and prayed fervently, and asked God for more time. And God told Isaiah, turn around in the courtyard, go back and tell him, I've given him 15 more years.

What would you do if you, whether or not you were dying, but just at this point, God says, okay, you have 15 years. If you put a time limit on it, you say, whoa, how am I going to use this time? Of course, there is a time limit. It's just that we don't know it, which I'm thankful for. But we do, it does say, redeem the time, you know, at all times in our lives. So to individuals, God sometimes says that, and He says some things, which come back to this, to us, individually.

Those of us, and He describes us, who are in the Church of God at the end time. So, now this common phrase, hear the Word of the Lord. There are many of these directed to the children of Israel and Judah, these people in general, physical people. Hosea 4.1, just for one example, hear the Word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in this land.

Forgot the Sabbath, so I didn't hear the Word of the Lord on a regular basis, and so they forgot. The context is always positive. Everywhere you have one of these condemnations says, I am going to have to punish you. It also says, but I will bring you back. You will repent, and you will return. I'll bless you again. The phrase is used in several interesting contexts with different lessons. I didn't know this before I made this story. This is interesting, just to look at how He talks about listening or harkening, paying attention, and taking action.

Taking action is always included. Amos 8.11, Behold, the days come, says, Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water. So the famous scripture, Amos 8.11, we've mentioned that a lot of times, a prophecy for the end times, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. So listening to God is connected with the idea of famine or not having anything to eat. Famines, of course, kill.

Sometimes you barely make it through the famine, but always there are some people who die in a famine, and sometimes many people. God tells us that being cut off from hearing His words is a death sentence, if we have ears to hear. So it's interesting that listening to God is compared to being able to eat or starving.

The resurrection is introduced or is described with this term. Ezekiel 37, and that's where the dim bones came from, of course, and that's the prophecy that the song is written about. Oh, you dry bones hear the word of the Lord. These are dead people, and so it's a metaphoric announcement to all Israel that, no, you aren't without hope.

There's a resurrection. God is going to bring you back, and you do have hope. They're dead, so they don't hear, but it's a metaphorical...it's called a literary technique or literary device, I guess. Okay, so famine, resurrection, faith is very much impacted and described by this concept of listening to God. Galatians 3, 2, so this is only what I've learned of you. He says, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? So this kind of hearing, there's a hearing of, what, goofing off compared with a hearing of faith.

Some people take listening to God and what God says very much more serious than some others. The tendency of all of us is to get distracted and get into our own things. God says, come back every Sabbath and hear my word, the word of not the minister or, you know, song leader or anybody, but the Lord, the words of the Lord. Romans 10, 17. This is a great and also very famous scripture. We quote it quite a bit. Romans 10, 17. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. This verse shouts a message about daily Bible study and about coming to church to meet with Jesus, the head of the church, on his regular appointed times.

And of course, he said, I will meet with you. I will be there and meet with you. That was on the Sabbath. That's what he's talking about. And he told him where and the where is he explained is wherever you are meeting together in my name. So faith is certainly described and enhanced and is connected with the subject of hearing God. We don't hear the words of the Lord.

We're basically starving to death. And our faith will dry up and blow away if we don't if we're not careful to listen to God. Then the gospel, actually, a couple of scriptures and several, but I just chose a couple.

Luke 11, verse 28, he said, Yea, rather Christ said, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. This one woman said, Oh, bless is the wonderful woman and blessed are the breasts that anyway, it was the motherly term of him nursing at his mother's breast. And that was true. Mary was greatly blessed to be able to, you know, to nurse, take care of and nurture Christ as a baby, Jesus as a baby.

But Christ's answer was that that's physical. Yes, that's wonderful blessing. But yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it because those those, pardon me, because those are the children of God.

Those are the ones God's approved of. Those who hear the word of God and always you have and keep it or and do it or and obey. Take action and gospel. The word gospel is you know, replaces the word of God. Verse seven of Acts 15. Acts 15, seven. Peter rose up, said unto them, Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God made choice among us.

He's speaking to the gathered apostles there that the Gentiles by my mouth, he was the first one to preach the Gentiles officially, should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And of course, you look at the gospel. It means good news. It's talking about the good news of the kingdom of God. And that's the words of the Lord.

So there are more there are different ways of saying this and different ways of expressing in the Bible. But that's I thought that was interesting that that listening to God is specifically connected with correction, encouragement, famine, which means being able to feed or being cut off from God. The resurrection, God calling to dead people to life again, our very faith in the gospel itself. All these things are directly related in the Bible to this subject.

It touches many different big subjects. OK, I want to go over and mention one other. I've already referred to the word harken. So I'd like to note several of these things and these things, several scriptures in which this concept of listening is translated harken. We used to use that more in I mean, in this language, 400 years ago, they're almost five when the King James Version was written. And well, it is 500 miles, 500 years ago.

At any rate, nowadays we would say listen or pay attention. So it says harken. We know what that means. It's still usable word, but we would normally probably use listen or pay attention. But I'll just read it as it is. Luke 26. Pardon me. Leviticus 26, verse 18. This is the great corrective severe warning chapter. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, both. And it says, if you will not harken unto me, I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And this is after two or three times we punished they haven't repented.

So listening, of course, can avoid punishment. The idea is to get you back to God so you can be blessed. Now, speaking of that, there are many blessings and cursings, especially found in Deuteronomy. And I would say add to that Jeremiah, which answers to Deuteronomy many times. Jeremiah will make a statement, or he'll write a statement. He'll say, this kind of sounds out of context. What does he mean? We look in the commentaries. He's referring right back to Deuteronomy. There are statements and then answers, responses in Jeremiah and also some of the other prophets where there are blessings and cursings made.

I'm just going to quote a few. Harken to Israel, dot, dot, dot, but well into all the statutes and judgments on, dot, dot, dot, that you may live. Harken to these judgments and keep them, that the Lord your God shall keep unto you the covenant and his mercy. This is how to keep the covenant current. Keep it up. It's your part. Listen. Keep on listening. Pay attention and follow. And harken diligently. Carefully harken. And other ways of saying the same thing. The Lord will set thee on high. This is chapter 28.

Above all nations of the earth, blessings shall come on you and overtake you. All these blessings shall, I shall make you head and not the tail. God says to Israel and all the Israelites that all these things will come with harkening. And then, many scriptures in Deuteronomy 28, so verse 15, many scriptures talk about what if you won't harken? Well, if you won't harken to the voice of the Lord your God to observe you all his commandments and statutes, which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

And it's not. And then he takes many verses to describe it. It's not that he's mad or offended because, as one woman told me one time at the height of a hippie, movement, snotty attitude, she said, well, I just think God's on a, you know, on an ego trip, she said. She's, I'm going to be there, I hope, when she has to reconsider what she said. I'll enjoy it because it'll be good for her, but I'll enjoy it too anyway. I found that offensive. I almost barked at her. What?

What are you talking about? Last famous and I didn't say that stuff. Anyway, all these curses will overcome you because it's a matter of how you live. If you live any other way besides what I'm describing here, it's going to cause things to fall up and sour. It'll sour your life. So God wants what's good for us. Now, there's prophecy and history, mucho prophecy and mucho history. But the house of Israel will not listen unto you because they didn't listen unto me.

That's Ezekiel, Psalms. But my people, this is Psalm 78 and 81, both, where it covers the history of Israel. So the prophecy was they won't listen to you and the history is they didn't listen to my voice. So there are so many scriptures. And that's a real good study to do. If you're prepared to read 801 scriptures, you probably won't get it done in one night. But it truly is a good study to do, just to drill it in. There is proverbial advice and it's connected with food, the opposite of famine.

It's connected with healing and health. So proverbial advice, now therefore hearken to me, you children, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Proverbs 8 and James 2, verse 5. If you want Proverbs in the New Testament, look at James. It's called the Proverbs of the New Testament. Proverbs 2, pardon me, James 2, verse 5. Harken, my beloved brethren, has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him.

Listen, my beloved brethren. James basically quotes and takes off from Proverbs. Then I mentioned famine a while ago in Amos, but here in Isaiah 55, verse 2. Wherefore do you spend money for that which isn't bread and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? What's the solution to the stupidity? It's talking about physical food, but it's mainly talking about spiritual food. You spend all your energies and wealth going after things. Here's the answer. Harken diligently unto me, 55 too of Isaiah. Listen diligently to me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. We worry about fat a lot these days, on TV, magazines, and so on.

We shouldn't worry too much about that. Health is important, of course. But the idea of having extra blessings with God sometimes does result in extra poundage. It's not way outlandish. Well, God isn't worried about that. It's a symbol of having extra and the richness of His blessings. He's talking about spiritual food. But we don't know just the basics. We have understanding, wisdom, and insight, and know a lot. And we're going to have to do that. That's important so that we can be leaders, which is what He has prepared for us.

A Healing in Faith, Exodus 15, 26. Now, if you will diligently harken to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in sight, He says, I won't bring all these consumptive diseases or degenerative diseases that the Egyptians have on you. I added that description because through archaeology we know that's what they had. They had diabetes. They had all kinds of heart disease, cancers, all kinds, and MS. The degenerative kinds of diseases that are brought about by our general lifestyle. So He's saying, if you'll live a different lifestyle, your whole society just won't have these problems.

There are societies yet, there are fewer and fewer, that are generally primitive, and they don't have diseases, but they don't have this kind of just good, robust health, and then you just start corrupting. Arthritis, for example, and all these things that many of us cope with. So healing and health has to do with listening to God about our lifestyle, and of course the comment about famine, which is the opposite.

Now here is a classic Scripture. It has to do with the spirit of the law, which is so basic about really keeping the law, the opposite of legalism, finding all the picky little points and then making sure you do all those points, because then you get the reward at the end. It's a totally different concept. 1 Samuel 15, verse 22. This is a classic and major and important Scripture.

Basically Saul had taken the things that he was supposed to kill, that is all the animals of this one battle, and he was supposed to do away with them and kill them. He said, well, we saved the best ones for sacrifices to God. But God, through the prophet, told them they were supposed to kill them. I don't know why it's possible that we do know from archaeology there were all kinds of diseases that were just rampant.

In the human population, we presume the animal population too. But he told them to just kill everything there because of the filth, both spiritual and physical. And he, well, the people saved a few of the animals for sacrifice. He wouldn't even, as the leader, wouldn't take responsibility. And so here is what Samuel said. This, by the way, resulted, of course, in him being rejected as king. Has the Lord, as great a delight and burnt offerings and sacrifice, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Remember listening to the point of obeying.

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen or hearken than the fad of rams. You can do all kinds of obedience. We're supposed to be obedient. Not wrong to be obedient. But the idea of doing this, that, and the other thing, therefore God being obligated to give you blessings. That's legalism. It's quite the opposite. Micah 6, verse 8, is another classic scripture, goes with this. What does God require?

Well, you're supposed to do justly. Be fair and honest, in other words. And to love mercy, love to go that way rather than the other. Be hard on people. And to walk humbly with your God. It's really quite simple because it has to do with attitude and spirit. When you listen in a right attitude, you naturally walk humbly with God. You obey Him. So it all works together. The subject of listening carefully to God and paying attention, and taking action, is really, really big in the Bible, all through the Bible.

Now, some, we still have a little bit more to cover here, some direct warnings to the church, to the New Testament church, from Jesus, and also from the Apostle, New Testament. I'll start out in Deuteronomy 18, 15, because this is a specific prophecy of Christ. The Lord thy God, Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, the whole chapter is very, very important. Moses spoke this in a sermon first, then wrote it.

The Lord your God will raise up unto you a prophet from the midst of you, one of his own, you know, John 1, he came to his own, of your brethren like unto me, and unto him shall you hearken. Another translation is, him shall you hear. Now, we fast forward to John 12, verse 48, which goes with Deuteronomy 18, 15.

This is John 12, verse 48. There are several scriptures, and this is one very specific. He that rejects me, Christ said, he was that prophet that Moses prophesied, he that rejects me, and does not receive my words.

It's another one, receiving my words is another way of saying listening. Has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same, shall judge him in the last day. So Christ was saying, I didn't come this time to judge, came to save. But the words that I have spoken will judge you. This is a big subject, I've touched on it several times. I'd like to go into it more deeply, but just to notice, listening to his words, receiving his words, has to do with fulfilling the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy, that Christ would come and give us God's words.

He said, I didn't come with my own words. These are from the Father. And we would need to listen to them and take action. And if we do, we have all the blessings, all the promises in the Bible, all the good things will come. Now, a couple of things here that are very famous. The example of the house on the rock. You know, the idea of building a strong foundation, your spiritual house, built on a rock.

The storm comes and it doesn't blow it away, but the guy that builds on the sand without foundation, the flood just wipes it out. And I remember seeing this one picture of a flood in Utah three or four years ago. And it was a really large house intact, floating, you know, down the street, down a very wide street.

They built the street at the bottom of the canyon, and there's just an enormous amount of water. And here goes this and that, and car is upside down. And then comes this huge house. Obviously, it didn't have a foundation worth a hoot. There was a house nearby that had been built 100 years previous, and it was built of stone. It wasn't as comfortable as an ice wood house, but it was right on the outcropping rocks and it didn't move.

It stayed there. So we've seen many examples of this, even through the wonders of TV on the news. But the difference between those two is mentioned here. And this is Matthew 7, and I'll read verse 24. Therefore, everyone, therefore which hears these words of mine and does them, shall be like this wise man who built on rock.

And the opposite is those who hear and don't respond, don't obey, is like the guy that just loses his whole house. That's the difference. Whether we listen, pay attention, respond, and obey and build a relationship with God. The first word is listen, and the key word to explain it is obey. So then there's the sower and the seed, the four categories, only one of which listened and paid attention and obeyed and kept going. And once again, you see, that's what it is. He quotes in Matthew 13 verse 14. This is where the sower goes out. This is also in Luke 8.

But by hearing, you shall hear, and in no wise understand. This is Christ quoting Isaiah. And then verse 15, next verse, This people's heart is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Now, I think it's easy to grow dull of hearing, especially in this day and age you have the news cycles. You hear the news, and you think, you know, that 85 atrocities have occurred recently. You know, he's just heard it 85 times. Or, you know, a child is kidnapped, or like these three women, a couple months ago were found in captivity.

By this man. And you think that this is happening all over. Well, it's terrible that it's happening once. But by hearing it so much, you grow dull of hearing. And then when important things come along, you pay less attention. You tend to just not pay as good of attention, because you're used to hearing astounding and amazing things. And Christ said that would happen to some people, so we have to be careful not to.

And to keep on listening and doing what we are fed by God, His truth. The whole section in chapter 13 talks about the blessings and gifts to the firstfruits, those who hear and obey. So this subject, as I say, is huge. Now, some of the apostles, Paul, Romans 12-13, pardon me, Romans 2-13.

There's Paul, James. The doers of the word and not the hearers only, he talks about. And then he says, being not a hearer that forgets, but a doer that works. So Paul and James, and there's Peter, Acts 2, verse 14. Of course, this is the Day of Pentecost. Peter, standing up with the 11, lifted up his voice and said to them, You, men of Judea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and listen to my words. Peter spoke with authority as Christ told them to, and as Christ modeled for them. Okay. Now, that brings up, that brings us to the fact that the Bible says, Now, that brings up, that brings us to the fact that the church is defined by being the listeners who take action. That's one of the definitions of the church, descriptions and definitions. First of all, listening is connected to the calling of the firstfruits, the Church of God, the New Testament Church. Mark 4, verse 18. These are they, which are sown among thorns, such as hear the words, and don't pay attention. Verse 20. These people fall on good ground, they produce fruit. Hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty, some hundred, some a hundredfold. So, there's Mark 4, and verse 20. Now, in Luke, chapter 8, verse 21. Now, the question was, they said, well, there's a crowd here, you know, but your mom and your brothers are out there trying to get a hold of you. And he could have said, which he probably did, well, just a minute, I'll go right out to them, or make a way and let them come up here. You know, I'm sure he took care of his family and talked to them, but there was something more important that he said first. This is Luke 8, verse 21. He answered when they said, well, your mother and brother are not here waiting for you. And he said, my mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and do it.

Now, that's pretty big, because that shows that this relationship and this bond with Jesus, which is necessary for us to succeed and be in God's kingdom, our bond with Christ and the Father, that's our goal. And it has specifically to do with listening and doing, not just being a forgetful hearer.

Now, we go to Revelation, and there is a lot said in Revelation, so I'll just mention it without it. We don't have time to go over it. But there is a lot about the testimony of Jesus Christ. He starts out in the first chapter talking about the testimony. That's the words that Christ brought, specifically the Ten Commandments. That's the dictionary definition, just a Webster's dictionary definition.

The testimony refers to the testimony of God in the Old Testament, where he spoke from Mount Sinai, those were his words. But it also refers to everything Christ said, especially when he came, because he said, I came not with my own words, but my testimony is from the Father. And so it goes to, I'll just mention, if you want to look that one up specifically, just look in a concordance and look at testimony. Revelation is very instructive. Those people who are the people of God, it talks about them holding the testimony. They held the testimony. And then they gave their testimony, which were, in some cases, martyrdom. But speaking of the truth, and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And then it talks about the tabernacle of the testimony. That's in chapter 15, verse 5 of Revelation. Now, what does that mean? The tabernacle of the testimony. It's not the tabernacle in the wilderness, although you could call it, because the Ten Commandments were kept in the tabernacle. And so that was the type of the real tabernacle of the testimony. The purpose, if you notice here, of the tabernacle was to be a home for the testimony or the words of God. And the building in the Old Testament only is a picture of the people who are the church in the New Testament. That means that the purpose of the church, one of the purposes of the church, is to be a home for the words of God.

The words of God is supposed to be living in us, His laws and His words in our hearts. And it talks about the church being the pillar and ground of truth. There are several verses that, several statements that specifically show, the church is to keep the words. The work of the church, then, is to hear the Word of God and then speak it to the world. I won't need to go over that more deeply. I'd like to conclude here with going back to Isaiah, because there is a section here, well, there are several in Isaiah and several throughout both Testaments, but they are specifically written as personal words and personal directives telling each of us to listen to God.

In other words, we hear the words, it's not God that needs to change and adapt to us like the world around us continually does. It's very hard, but this is what we have to do. So, Isaiah 51, starting in verse 1. I would love to go through from chapter 40 through 51, just to summarize the high points, see how it gets to this and where it takes it from there, all the way to the end. We're just going to read 51 and 66, which is the end chapter. Isaiah 51, verse 1, listen to me. Now, listen to this, from what we read, this description of who he's talking to. God is saying to somebody, listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Well, that isn't Israel, the whole book is about how they feel. It isn't the world.

There's only one group this can be, and this is the Church of God. And this, by the way, is for the end time. This section of Scripture, or Prophecy, is all pointing to the end time. Okay, listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, do you? I try to. I know you do. And that seek the Lord. We do this every day in our prayers, and we have a lot of grief dealing with our own problems, seeking God. Look unto the rock from where you are hewn, and the quarry of the pit where you are digged from. This is where you come from. Verse 4, listen unto me, my people, and give ear to me, O my nation, for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light on the people. Listen to me, my people. So this is who it is he called his people. The Israel of God, the pillar and ground of truth, the church of God in the end times. Isaiah 51, verse 7 now, listen unto me, hearken, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. These are ones who are converted. They're struggling, they're not perfect.

But they are dedicated to God's words. Verse 16 then, and I have put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, and say, undesigned, you are my people. What does he mean, lay the... plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth? What are you talking about? He's talking about his kingdom. He's going to redo everything and start everything, and it's going to be founded on the apostles and the prophets, ordinary men who sin, we have all the records of their sins, and a bunch of others who are called to serve with them, who are far from perfect, but keep on trying. And God will say, undesigned, you are my people. This is the church. The Sabbath is a sign and a key part of listening. It provides a regular pattern of listening and learning the words of God throughout life. So keeping the Sabbath is vital, and I'm preaching to the people who know this. That's why you're here. Otherwise, why would we come out on a Saturday morning after a tough work week? Well, we'd relax. I'd relax at home, but God wants us here. I don't want to be anywhere but here. So I'd like to then just have you listen one more verse. It's 66.5 of Isaiah. Words of concouragement from God about his encouragement, his inspiration to those of us in the church. This is to the church, and it's to each one of us. So listen to this and just put your name in there. 66.5 of Isaiah. Hear the Word. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

You that tremble at his word, that is, have deep respect for God's Word. Your brethren that hated you and cast you out for my name's sake, that is, we've had trials in the world and will. And they said, let the Lord be glorified when they hurt you, you know. But he shall appear to your joy. This is a quote of them. It says, but they will be ashamed.

You're going to be exalted, just like he said, in 51.6. This is the church. He says, to conclude the book, hear the Word of the Lord. You're going to be a success. Or, in the end, we win. You that tremble at his word. Now, I did want to refer back to Matthew 13, verses 10 to 17. We already covered it.

But he talks about the firstfruits being chosen to have the gift of understanding or the gift of listening to the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, while others aren't. And he says, you are blessed because to you are given the gift of understanding, the mysteries of the kingdom. Pretty exciting. Pretty important to us. Very strengthening.

We have a real job dealing with our own recalcitrant selves to keep ourselves pointed in the right directions and highly motivated to go in the right direction. So, we can just say this. Listening to God ramps up your life to a higher level.

Our success, the glory that is promised to us, depends on hearing. Listening to, studying, obeying God's words, hearkening to the point of obeying and building a relationship with God. It's really, really an important subject in the Bible. What comes from listening to God? All the blessings of God.

They're dependent on us continuing to listen. So, this great spiritual principle of the kingdom that I've just talked about today can be summarized in a one-word instruction of love and concern from God himself to each one of us that is summarizing this. He tells us over 800 times, my dear children, listen!