{"id":662,"date":"2011-06-02T09:54:18","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T23:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/providence.buzzrocketmedia.com\/?p=662"},"modified":"2011-09-19T18:56:23","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T18:56:23","slug":"on-being-quick-to-hear-gods-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=662","title":{"rendered":"On Being Quick to Hear God’s Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the previous blog, I provided an overview of how Christians are to receive God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written word. This has to do with our attitudes toward the Bible. In this post, I want to say a word about hearing and listening.<\/p>\n

In James 1:19, we find that believers who willingly submit to God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word must be quick to hear (1:19a). <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the ESV, the opening phrase is rendered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153know this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In the NIV it says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153take note of this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In the NASB it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s translated, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This you know.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

James is using an imperative statement. The imperative is like a verbal highlighter that underscores what the writer is about to say. James grabs the reader\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention in such a way that it requires action on our part.<\/p>\n

He says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153know this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because there were and are Christians who\u00c2\u00a0don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/em> know how to receive God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word profitably. This is something every Christian needs to hear.<\/p>\n

James loves these Christians. He calls them \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my beloved brothers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t writing in anger, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pleading, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s urging like a concerned father for their progress in the faith.<\/p>\n

There are spiritual dangers James urges believers to avoid. These instructions relate to receiving God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word, both publicly and privately.<\/p>\n

The first key to receiving God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word (in verse 19) is the determination to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quick to hear.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The idea behind this phrase is that of an\u00c2\u00a0eagerness<\/em> to learn.<\/p>\n

When we read the Bible for personal study, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quick to hear\u00e2\u20ac\u009d describes how our heart should be toward God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word. In the private setting, we\u00c2\u00a0hear<\/em> with our eyes as we read the Bible. Hearing can be active or passive. Passive hearing is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not trying.<\/p>\n

Every day, I\u00c2\u00a0passively<\/em> hear train whistles in the background, especially at night. At home, I\u00c2\u00a0passively<\/em> hear dogs bark. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0try<\/em> to hear these sounds, but I do. But James is calling for\u00c2\u00a0active<\/em> hearing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 where we strive to hear with an eager heart.<\/p>\n

Likewise, when I listen to a sermon, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quick to hear\u00e2\u20ac\u009d means my heart is\u00c2\u00a0prepared<\/em> to listen, my mind is awake and fully engaged, but not to criticize or to pass judgment on the text, but to receive instruction as the Spirit applies the truth to my own life.<\/p>\n

This attitude presupposes the desire to be taught. Sir Winston Churchill revealed something about himself when he confessed, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am always willing to learn, although I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not always willing to be taught.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Many of us can relate to that sentiment.<\/p>\n

There is wisdom in\u00c2\u00a0knowing<\/em> that we need to be taught. Learning requires a high degree of listening (or taking knowledge\u00c2\u00a0in<\/em> rather than putting information\u00c2\u00a0out<\/em>) where talking is restrained on the part of the learner, except in interactive contexts, and only then when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely necessary to facilitate learning.<\/p>\n

I remember in seminary, Dr. Howard Hendricks said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I was a boy, my father taught me to take every opportunity to stand in the presence of wise men and to always keep my mouth shut except to ask a perceptive question.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In Proverbs 10:19 Solomon wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The ability to keep silent is a prerequisite to learning. The more proud and foolish a person is, the less willing they are to retrain their lips and listen to others.<\/p>\n

In a book published back in 1970, Dr. Paul Tournier wrote: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Listen to the conversations of our world, between nations as well as between couples. They are, for the most part,dialogues of the deaf<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a description of people who are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hard of listening.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Why is listening \u00e2\u20ac\u201c being quick to hear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so important to receiving God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word?<\/p>\n

When James wrote these words to the dispersed Jewish believers throughout the Roman Empire, apart from the OT, there were no canonical Scriptures for the New Testament at this early date in the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infancy. James was\u00c2\u00a0first<\/em> in terms of writing.<\/p>\n

The epistles hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been written yet and even the gospels hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been written yet. Therefore, all instruction in the gospel of Christ and in doctrine was\u00c2\u00a0oral<\/em> as believers met from house to house. They met to\u00c2\u00a0listen<\/em> to the apostles\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 teaching conveyed orally.<\/p>\n

Listening<\/em> became a matter of spiritual life or death. Those who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t receive God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truth. Those who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how to listen to God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word in any era become spiritually weak and divisive. Listening is still spiritually vital in our day.<\/p>\n

Very little can be learned by a person while they are talking.<\/p>\n

Pastor Kent Hughes made this insightful observation on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quick to hear.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He wrote:<\/p>\n

All of us have had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conversations\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in which we are speaking, but the vacant eyes of our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hearers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and their body language indicate that they do not hear. Sometimes our listeners are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153on another planet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sometimes they are so self-consumed they\u00c2\u00a0cannot<\/em> listen, other times they are so intent on what\u00c2\u00a0they<\/em> want to say next that they are not catching a word we are saying. And to be honest, we are often like this ourselves.<\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s learn a lesson from this observation. Being quick to hear is the first key to receiving God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word with humble eagerness\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only way for us to grow spiritually.<\/p>\n

Love in the Truth,
\nPastor Kevin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the previous blog, I provided an overview of how Christians are to receive God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written word. This has to do with our attitudes toward the Bible. In this post, I want to say a word about hearing and listening. In James 1:19, we find that believers who willingly submit to God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Word must be … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “On Being Quick to Hear God’s Word”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}