So again a very warm welcome to all of you from wherever you are. I kind of just miss hearing the voices of the people in the hall as we were singing those glorious hymns, and how again we pray that the Lord might gather us again in-person to sing together praises to Him alright. I’m sure that you are singing in your own locations, your own homes, and you hear our voices. And I again like to say that it is such a wonderful thing to be able to meet again though not physically but even although virtually.

And so I’ll like to again say hi to people from different places, partly just to tell you that we do remember you, partly is also to remind myself that you are there with us, joining us in worship and joining us in hearing the Word of God. Now those of you are in from Miri and those of you from Johor Bahru, and from Melaka. Now those in Rompin alright, and understand that there are probably people from Perak and maybe even Kedah who are still tuning in to our program here. And those from Singapore. I know that some are also tuning in every week to join us in worship. And then further away those from UK, from the US, and maybe Australia.

So welcome all of you to join us together in the worship of our great and almighty God. Now we come to the time of looking at the Word of God. And this morning I would like to begin a new series. If you have been joining us, you know that we have been studying the Psalms. Now today we are going to begin a series on the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. So before we look at God’s Word, let us look to Him for help. Let us pray.

“Our dear Father in heaven, we gather again and we want to thank You and to praise You that although we are in a very difficult time and in a time of a pandemic where we are all under lockdown; but not only that, we know that many people are very much affected by this pandemic and many are suffering loss of job or suffer financially. Many are going hungry. Many are suffering from being isolated and from depression. And Lord, we want to thank You that in spite of this that You have preserved us. You have kept us. You have provided for us. You have been protecting us.

And Lord, we continue to pray and look to You that You’ll continue to preserve us throughout this time and keep us free from the virus. And Lord, we also pray as a church and as Your people at such a time that we might indeed be instruments in Your hands to be a blessing to people around us, the people that we can reach out to. And so help us, O Lord, to be useful in Your kingdom even at this time. And so we commit all of us under Your hands, and we commit this time under Your hands. We pray for Your blessing; we pray for enlightenment. We pray that You might instruct us, for these, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Alright, we’re going to look at the parables, as I said, and first of all maybe to clarify what are parables. Now simply parables are stories that Jesus told when He was on earth. But these are not simply stories. These are stories that are meant to teach His disciples and the people of His days. And so we are looking at the stories that Jesus told when He was on earth, but stories with spiritual meanings. In other words, these are although earthly stories but with heavenly truth, with great important life-changing truth, with saving truth. And that’s the reason why it is important for us to study the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so therefore by way of introduction, I’ve given you the reason why you should pay attention to the parables or to these stories that Jesus told.

Again we are not going to look at all the parables but selected ones. Now the first parable that we are going to look at is recorded for us in the gospel of Luke and chapter 8. Gospel of Luke and chapter 8. Look with me again beginning in verse 4- beginning in verse 4 of Luke chapter 8. It says here: “And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, now He spoke a parable (and this is the parable): “A sower went out to sow His seed. And as He sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Now some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let Him hear!””. Now, this is the parable, and the disciples were there. They heard this little story and then they asked in verse 9: “And when His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?””. And that is our interest this morning. We want to ask: What is this parable about? What does it mean? Now let me point from the very outset here the point or the meaning or the purpose of this parable. So what is the big point? What’s the big idea here? What is it exactly the Lord wants to drive home here in this parable?

Now I tell you, it is this. It is that we may hear the Word of God carefully. It is about hearing the Word of God. Look at verse 12: “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear”. So Jesus is saying I’m talking about people who hear. Verse 13: “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear”. And then in verse 14: “Now the ones who fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard”. And then in verse 15: “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard”. Now you see what the Lord is saying here? You see the point of this parable? It is about hearing. It is about hearing. All these soils are hearers.

Jesus is talking about people who hear the Word of God when it is being preached. It is talking about all of us here this morning when we hear the Word of God. So it is about hearing. Now, what does Jesus want us or want to tell us about hearing? Yes, He is talking about hearing. He’s talking about the hearers, but what does Jesus want to tell us about hearing? It is this. You see, the context of this (I want you to take note) is people gathering to hear Him preach. Verse 1, we are told: “it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.”. Jesus was going everywhere, and He was preaching and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And that is what of course we all should be doing. That is the mission, the commission that He has given to us to go and preach the great tiding of the kingdom of God. And then we are told in verse 4: “And when (a large or) a great multitude had gathered”. Jesus was preaching, and then a large crowd had gathered to hear Him. But Jesus had a concern. He has a concern here as He sees this huge crowd. These multitudes, these many, many, many people coming to Him and hear Him preach the kingdom of God, what is His concern? What is Jesus’ concern here as He looks into the crowd and He sees the multitude? He sees people coming to hear Him.

Now His concern is this. It is that for many of these people, He could see before His eyes for many of these people. We do not know how many came that day, maybe in the hundreds, possibly in the thousands because it was common in His time that thousands came to hear Him, to listen to Him. And so probably there were thousands of people coming to hear Him, but He’s saying and He’s thinking that many, many of these people coming to hear Him, they are not going to benefit at all. It is of no benefit to these people. They are there, and they are listening to Him, but their lives will be no change. There will be no change in their lives. The Word of God will have no effect on them.

They will remain unmoved. They will remain unaffected. They will remain the same after hearing the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is of course the concern of preachers. We can be preaching Sunday after Sunday, and maybe we know in our heart although we do not see people these days that there are many who tune in to listen to the Word of God preached, yet all the same. They are all the same that today as in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ many, many people who hear the Word of God week after week after week, their lives remain unchanged. They are the same. So most like today, yesterday, today, and forever. No effect on their lives. That is what Jesus is thinking about as He sees the crowd coming to Him. And so He tells the parable.

And so He tells a story about their hearing. In other words, He is now telling them a parable saying to them that coming to hear is not enough. It’s not enough that you tune in to hear the Word of God. It’s not enough, Jesus said, to come and listen to Me preach. It’s not enough just to hear. So hearing is not enough. And therefore, Jesus concludes this parable by saying in verse 18. This is how He concludes this, how He ends in verse 18 by saying: “Therefore take heed (or take care) how you hear”. Therefore, Jesus says, take care how you hear. That is what this parable is about. It is about taking care how we hear the Word of God. And so that is our message this morning here, take care how you hear.

It’s not just hearing. It’s not just coming. It’s not just tuning in, but it is about how you come and hear the Word of God. And there are two things I want to show here or I want to bring out here concerning the hearing, concerning the fact that we should take care how we hear the Word of God- that we should take care how we hear the Word of God. Let me, first of all, tell you why we should take care, and then how we should take care. First, why? Why should we listen carefully? Why should we take care how we hear the Word of God? Now there are at least two reasons that we can see here in the parable that Jesus tells us why it is important that we take care how we hear.

Reason number one, we should take care how we hear because of what is at stake- because of what is at stake. Do you know what is at stake here if you do not take care how you hear? If you do not listen carefully, do you know what is lost or what is gain? So if you do not take care, think about what is lost. See, salvation is at stake. Your salvation is at stake. Look at verse 12. Jesus says as He explains to the disciples these parables. He said those by the wayside. Now this kind of hearers, we call them the wayside hearers. “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; and then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts.” Why? “Lest they should believe and be saved”. This is the saving Word of God.

When the gospel is preached, I want to ask you: What do you think that you are hearing about? Every Sunday as we open up the Scriptures, what do you think you are hearing about? Some information? Some inspiration talks? What do you think you are listening to every Sunday? Now let me tell you what you’re listening to. Hebrews- Hebrews 2:1 and 3. Hebrews chapter 2. Now here’s the warning, a similar warning by the writer to the Hebrews about people who hear the Word of God. And his warning is this, Hebrews 2:1. He said: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed”. You must listen carefully “to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”. And verse 3: “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation”.

In other words, the writer to the Hebrews is saying what we are hearing, these are words of salvation. These are saving words. This is the gospel. We are telling you from the Word of God that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved. And the only way to be saved is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust in Him. Do you get that? Do you hear that carefully? Do you understand what the Bible is saying here about the danger that you are in? Do you understand what the Bible is saying here about Jesus being the Way, the Truth, and the Life? Does it get into your ears and into your heart? Does it mean you understand and believe in it? Do you hear carefully? If not, you see, salvation is at stake.

As I said, what do you think we are talking about, we are preaching when we preach the Word of God? When you teach the Bible to your children, those of you who are parents- older parents and younger parents or going to be parents, aren’t you entrusted, anxious to open the Scripture and read it to your children? But when you read to your children, what do you think you are saying to them? Paul tells Timothy in Second Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy 3:15. 2 Timothy 3:15, now listen to the Apostle here in 2 Timothy 3:15 telling Timothy: “and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures”. From childhood, your mom and your grandmother have been reading the Word of Scriptures to you, “which are able to make you wise for salvation”.

So you see the importance of reading the Scriptures to your children? These words are able to make them wise unto salvation. And if you’re listening to the preaching of the Word of God, these words are able to make you wise unto salvation. These are the saving words of God. And if you neglect it, if you do not listen carefully, you are neglecting your salvation. So do you understand what is at stake here? Salvation is at stake. Salvation is at stake. Remember Jesus asking the disciples in John chapter 6? John chapter 6, and He said this to them when many people deserted Him. Many of the other people deserted Him after eating you know the bread that Jesus gave to them. And Jesus said in John 6:67 to His disciples: “And then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?””.

And listen to the response in verse 68: “But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”. Here! Where else do you want to go? To the mall? To the golf course? Here! To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Do you understand that that when you hear the Bible preached, you’re listening to the words of eternal life? Hear carefully. Understand what is at stake here. Salvation is at stake. But secondly, the reason why we should take care how we hear is because fruitfulness is at stake. Back to the parable in Luke 8:15, we are told here: “And the ones that fell on the good ground (these are the good ground hearers) are those who, having heard the word with a noble and a good heart, and keep it bear fruit with patience.”.

These people who hear the Word of God carefully, who take heed how they hear, Jesus tells us these are the people who bear fruit. These are the people who bear fruit. We have to bear fruit. When we listen to the Word of God, it cannot be nothing. It cannot be nothing happen to us. Something must happen. Some changes must happen. What must happen? What must happen to us? Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 22. Galatians 5:22 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (verse 23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”. God expects this to be seen in us. Do we bear forth this fruit, the fruit of the Spirit of goodness and gentleness, of love and faith, and so on?

Is anything seen in us over the months or the years of listening to the Word of God? Is there any of this seen in us? You see, what is at stake if you do not hear carefully? The only way that this fruit can appear in our lives according to Galatians here is in verse 16 when we walk in the Spirit. Paul says walk in the Spirit. How do you walk in the Spirit? To walk in the Spirit is to walk by His Word. It’s to walk in the Word of God. That is what he means. That is what is at stake here. So listen carefully to the preaching of the Word of God. Why? Because salvation is at stake; because fruitfulness is at stake. Now let me give you another reason why we must take care how we hear.

The first reason is because of what is at stake. The second reason is because, turn back to the parable again in Luke chapter 8 and look at verse 12. Look at verse 12 again. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear, then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts. You see, the parables are picture words alright. When Jesus talks about the birds coming and pick up the seed, He is referring to the devil. The devil is like the bird, and the bird will be watching there on the tree branches. When you throw the seed on the ground, birds will come quickly and take those seeds away. Do you know what Jesus is saying here? When we hear the Word of God, remember Jesus says that we have an adversary.

In other words, take care how you hear the Word of God because the devil is ever ready to take those words away from you. You see that the danger that we are in? The devil, like the bird, is ever ready. And you listen and before it germinates, before it sinks in, the devil would want to take it away from us. Why? Because the devil knows what Paul says in Romans 10 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And the devil knows that, that if you hear the Word of God it can save you. And so the devil doesn’t want you to be saved. He doesn’t want you to have faith because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. He wants to take that away from you.

The devil knows when you hear the Word of God as Peter tells us in First Peter 2 as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that it may grow. He knows that if you take the Word of God you will grow, and the devil doesn’t want you to grow. The devil doesn’t want you to be saved. He doesn’t want you to grow in your spiritual life. He doesn’t want you to be more and more godly. He doesn’t want you to be more and more Christ-like. He doesn’t want you to be more and more holy, and He knows that we are sanctified by the Word. And the devil, the devil is anxious to take that away from us. And remember what Paul says to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20?

Now listen to what he says here as he spoke to them in Acts 20:32- “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up”. Which is able to build you up. It is the Word of God that builds up His church, and the devil doesn’t want the church to grow. And he knows that the way the church grows is by the Word of God. And so the devil will take the Word away from the church. He’ll makes sure the preacher doesn’t preach the Word. It’s okay if he tells stories. It’s okay if he just tells his own personal testimonies. It’s okay, he can tell some jokes, but he doesn’t want him to preach because the devil knows what the Word of God can do. We should know, don’t we?

The sad thing is a lot of Christians don’t know. A lot of Christians don’t understand the importance of the Word of God and what the Word of God can do. It can save. It’s the power of God unto salvation. It makes us grow. It establishes the church. Don’t we understand that? And therefore, don’t we, therefore, pay careful attention to the Word of God that we might be saved, that we might grow, that the church might be established? There’s no other way unless you build a man-made church, then you use man-made methods. But if you want to build the church of God, then you use the method of God. And this is the method. This is how we grow. This is how people are saved. The devil knows that, and he will do everything to take the Word of God from us.

Now do you understand why it is so difficult to hear God’s Word carefully? Why is it so difficult? Because the devil will do all kinds of things. He will take the love of God’s Word from us. He will bring in distraction. He’ll make you think about other things, other concerns in this life as you come to hear the Word of God so that we will not hear carefully, so that you can come and listen but you’re thinking about something else, that your heart is somewhere else, that your mind is somewhere else. The devil will do everything. It is a struggle. Don’t you realise that it is a fight that we must fight for our dear life, our soul because this is the Word of God? This is the Word of life.

So, Jesus said, listen carefully. Take heed how you hear because of what is at stake. And because the devil is there, you cannot see him. But he’s there, doing everything to make sure that you don’t hear carefully, that every week it’s just the same for you. You go, come in this ear, and it goes out the other side. Maybe it haven’t reaches in, the devil will just take it away. Now we look at the second thing here- how. How do we listen carefully to the Word of God? How do we take care how we hear the Word of God? Now let me mention three things here. Now first, we should pray. We should pray. You might say pray for what? Now I hope we all pray when we come and hear the Word of God.

I hope we all understand what an important assignment or activity this is. We mustn’t take it lightly. You know when we go and attend a lecture or even go to a conference, we do so with seriousness. We know what is at stake here. If we don’t listen very carefully, we will fail our exams. If we don’t listen to the conference about how to make money carefully, we will not make money. I hope we come with that seriousness. We should draw near with much prayer- with much prayer. And what do we pray for? What do we pray for? Let me tell you, I think the first thing, the main thing we should pray for is to pray for a longing heart. Let us come each week with a heart that longs after the Word of God.

Let’s pray in other words that we will have love for God’s Word. If you do not love the Word of God, you would not come with seriousness, with that full attention. Listen to the psalmist in Psalms 119. Psalms 119:97. And verse 97, the psalmist says here: “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”. Let us pray that this will be true of us that as we come to the Word of God we can say: “Oh, how I love Your law!”. Can you say that this morning as you come before God and before His Word, that you say: “Lord, I love!”? If you do not pray that you will have that love, pray that you would have that love. Or verse 131. Psalm 119:131- “I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.”.

Oh, the sad thing is this. The sad thing is that perhaps not many Christians hear the Word of God with that kind of a heart. There’s that lack in hunger and longing and love for the Word of God. Or as Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 15:16- “Your words were found, and I did eat them, and Your words were to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart”. Now that is what we should be praying about. That is how to hear the Word of God. That’s the first thing, that you must have love for God’s Word. Psalm chapter 1, we read this. Psalm chapter 1, we are told alright: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful”.

But in contrast with these people of the world, in contrast with the ungodly, what should we be like? Verse 2: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. Then he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season”. Perhaps the Lord Jesus Christ when He told this parable He was having these psalms in mind. These are the good soil. The good soil are those who delights in the law of the LORD, and the good soil are those who meditate upon it day and night. The good soil are those who love the Word of God. The good soil are those who hunger, are those who can say with Jeremiah: “Your word, that the joy and the rejoicing of my heart”.

How many of us- how many of us come this morning to the Word of God, to hearing the Word of God with that kind of a heart? No wonder so few benefit from the preaching or the hearing of the Word of God. No wonder Jesus is bemoaning here as He sees the crowd gathering before Him, He says how many of you? Thousands of people around Me. How many of you are like the good soil? How many of you truly love the Word of God, coming with the longing and hunger and all ears listening carefully to every word that Jesus is going to speak to them? Jesus says the sad thing is not many- not many because not many love the Word of God as they should, not many are hungry for God’s Word as they should.

So we should come and hear the Word of God with prayer. Pray that God will give us that longing heart, that hungry heart. If you do not have that heart, you will not hear carefully. You will not listen to God’s Word as you ought. So pray. Pray for a right heart. It’s about the heart, like Jesus says in the parable. It’s the heart. Now secondly, we should come with much preparation. We should come with much preparation. How well do you prepare yourself when you come and hear the Word of God? How well do you? You know amazing people just rush in, they just come without any preparation. No, we need to prepare ourselves. In the parable here, there is only one soil that is well prepared. The farmer knows that the wayside soil, it is not. It is an unprepared soil.

The rocky soil, the thorny soil, all these soil are unprepared for cultivation. The only soil that is well prepared is the good soil. The farmer knows what kind of soil they can grow, what kind of soil that will produce fruit. The farmer knows that. It is the last soil. We have to be like the last soil, well-prepared soil. How do we prepare ourselves? We should prepare ourselves by removing all the distraction, removing anything that is in the soil that will inhibit the growth of the plant. What do we see here in the other soil, the rocky soil? How can you plant anything when there’s so much rock in the soil? You have to pick up the rocks and throw the rocks away. You have to plough the land.

How can you grow anything in the thorny soil with all kinds of things growing there, the weeds and the thorns and other things all growing there? How can you grow anything and expect fruit in that kind of soil? You have to remove those kind of things. Surely there are some things we must remove from us, remove from our heart as we come and hear the Word of God. Listen to James in James chapter 1. James 1:21. Again here is about the hearing of the Word of God, and hear what James says here. In verse 21 of James 1: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”.

Again James says here you know that the Word of God is so important it is able to save your soul, so you should listen to it carefully. But how so? James says here you should remove anything that is there that will hinder you from hearing the Word of God carefully. Anything. And here James is thinking about the sin in our life, the wickedness, and all the other things that’s in our life, we have to deal with it. We have to confess to sin before God as we come with sincerity of heart, with humility. James says humble our heart, not the heart that is puffed up before God. Humble our hearts and draw near to God. Remove all kinds of things that will hinder us.

And then in the parable itself, we are told in Luke chapter 10. Now not in the parable, now in the gospel of Luke itself in Luke 10:41. Now this is just not long after telling this parable. Luke 10:41, listen to what Jesus says here. Jesus said: “Jesus answered and said to her (or to Martha), “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”. You see, one of the things that will cause us not to hear the Word of God properly is distraction. And Jesus is telling Martha: Martha, Martha, you’re just too distracted. There’s just too many concerns of this life. There are many people who come and hear the Word of God in the same way as Martha, that they are still worried about this and worry about that. All the worries of this life are still with them.

Jesus tells Martha you know what? Only one thing is necessary, and Mary had chosen the good, but Mary came with full concentration. Mary is not worried about what you’re worried about. She has learned to put all these cares aside and come and pay full attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the second thing about how to take care. The first thing is that we must pray and come with a longing heart. And the second thing is that we must prepare our hearts so that we might come with an undistracted heart. No distraction. That’s the reason why we have a notice every Sunday to remind you to turn your phone to silent mode or to switch off or anything like that. No distraction, so that we can hear God’s Word properly and carefully.

Third purpose. We must pray for longing hearts, we must prepare our heart so that we have an undistracted heart. The third purpose. In other words, do you know why you are listening to preaching? Do you know? You know what Jesus is thinking about? Why are these people gathered? What is this crowd, this huge crowd gathering here? Why are they anxious to listen to the Word of God? Now let me tell you the reason for some of these people. For some people, it is entertainment. You know they like those preachers that can entertain them, and there are a lot of preachers who are out there to do that. So they love these preachers. You know the things that they say and how they said it, it’s so you know interesting.

And that is such a good preacher as it were because He can entertain us. He can tell us nice things. Maybe there are some who are here and they’re listening. They think that Jesus is going to give them some tips on how to live a, you know, a more successful life. People want success or things like that. They have their reason. Jesus is saying you must know your purpose. You must know why you are here listening to the Word of God. So why are you hearing? Now let me tell you why, what you should not be concerned. Now some people want other things. They are here because they choose to have knowledge. Now Jesus says coming here is not merely about knowledge.

Now they want to read a lot of books, theology books, Puritan books. They go on the website and they watch these and they listen to this and they read updates because they will increase so that they are well informed. But here’s the warning by the Apostle Paul. Now listen to him in First Corinthians chapter 8 about the Corinthian Christians. He says you Corinthian Christians, you are not lacking in head knowledge. Many of you are theologians, great debaters. You can tell me all the five Solas and all the Calvinism and all the reformed theology. And Paul warns them, chapter 8 and verse 1: “concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. And knowledge puffs up”. And knowledge puffs up.

You’re coming to hear the Word of God. It’s not that you just have knowledge. That is not ultimately the idea. But rather as Jesus tells us in the parable, the reason is obedience to the Word of God. It’s doing what God’s Word tells you to do. Now it is interesting in Luke chapter 8. In Luke chapter 8. Now after recording the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ, Luke inserted or adds in a little as it were incident here that happens. And what is that incident? In verse 19 alright- in verse 19 of Luke chapter 8. Verses 19 to 21, here’s an incident that He inserted: “Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.””.

And then Jesus said in verse 21: “He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.””. Now you see what Jesus is saying? That is the purpose of hearing the Word of God. You ought to hear carefully because you are supposed to do what you hear. These are my brothers, my mother, and my sisters. They are those who hear God’s Word and do it. This comes immediately after the parable. I believe Luke inserted this to drive home the point that is what the parables is about. It’s about doing the will of God. It’s about being obedient to God. And so how do we take care how we hear the Word of God? How do we listen carefully?

We must have a longing heart, a heart that loves the Word of God. We must come and hear with an undistracted heart, and we must come with an obedient heart. We must come this morning hearing the Word of God and say in our heart: Lord, what should I do? What do You want me to do? How do You want me to live my life? How do You want me to serve You? And I will do it. And I will do it. My brother, my mother are those who hear the Word of God and do it.

Now let me bring this to a conclusion with this warning- with this warning. You see, we are encouraged that many of you tune in week after week. We know that. We know that there are many people who tune in week after week to hear the Word of God, and we are encouraged by that. But we are also concerned like Jesus here that how many of you will actually benefit from the hearing of the Word of God. Now here’s the warning. The warning is this.

In verse 18 when Jesus says: “Therefore take heed how you hear.”, then He says: “For whoever has, to him more will be given; whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”. If you hear the Word of God carefully, the blessings will come upon you more and more. You will learn more. More will be added to you. But if you do not hear the Word of God carefully, everything is lost. You can tune in every week, but it will be completely lost at the end of the day because you do not hear carefully. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your precious Word, for this is the Word of life. This is the Word that brings faith, great faith in people. This is the Word that sanctifies us, that help us grow as Christian to help us be what You want us to be. This is the Word of God that builds up the church of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to understand what we have in our hands and to understand what we are hearing every week as we hear Your Word. And therefore, we pray that You’ll help us to be careful hearers, that we might bear forth much fruit. For these, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.