Hearing: The Neglected Step

Introduction

When’s the last time that you misunderstood something or somebody? When’s the last time somebody misunderstood you? You probably remember that one easier. They weren’t listening to what you said or didn’t understand the meaning of what you said. Communication’s a vital part of our life, isn’t it? And communication, we understand, has to always be a two-way street. Even if one party is silent in that communication, it’s still a two-way street. There has to be a speaker and a listener or a receiver. And many times there’s a breakdown in that communication. And I have no scientific research to back this up, just my own experience, but I would venture to say that when there’s a breakdown in communication, that most of the time, not always, but most of the time, my experience shows me that the breakdown is usually on the listener’s part rather than the speaker.

This is my favorite way. Quote says, I know you believe that you understand what you think I said. But I’m not sure that you realize that what you think you heard is not what I meant. That’s the essence too many times of communication. On one level, one way or another, we didn’t properly hear the message that was being spoken. That can be frustrating. That can be embarrassing. But when it comes to receiving the communication that God has spoken to us, it can become dangerous. And life and eternity altering. And so this morning I’d like for us to talk about hearing the word of God. And I’ve entitled the lesson, not just hearing, but hearing as the neglected step. And here’s what I mean by that. If you’re a member of the Church of Christ or familiar with somebody who is, you’re probably familiar with these steps.

You’re a member here at Bumby, I know you are, because we put this chart up every Sunday morning. What we sometimes call the five steps of salvation. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. I memorized that chart from the youngest of ages in Bible class. And had to memorize Bible verses that went with it. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. Now, I’ll admit this list or these steps, phrased like that, have some drawbacks and some disadvantages of just memorizing those five steps. And here’s maybe some of those disadvantages. We may minimize them when we put them down to just like one word steps. We may fail to understand and emphasize in our own minds what believe means or what confess means. And we may intentionally or unintentionally imply that that’s all that there is when there’s much more than those five steps, aren’t there?

There’s the sum total of what God has done, which is the biggest step of all. Sometimes we add a sixth step to this, and that is live faithfully, that maybe encompasses then a life of other steps. But I do think this is a list worth discussing. Because these are biblical precepts. This isn’t just some man-made list. We read of these steps and the essentiality of these steps in God’s holy word. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and to be baptized. Of those five steps, we talk about the four latter steps a lot, don’t we? We talk a lot about faith, and understandably so. You cannot talk about the Bible without talking about faith. It is fundamental to the biblical precepts. We talk about repentance and what that means of turning in your life from a sinful way of life into a godly righteous way of life.

We talk about confession, the idea of being able to own up to our faith and proclaim that faith, not just one time in a church building before you’re baptized, but throughout your Christian life that you profess and confess your faith before men. And we talk about baptism a lot, don’t we? And sometimes we’re ridiculed and mocked for how much we talk about baptism, but I’m going to stand before you this morning and make no apologies for emphasizing baptism. I think we emphasize, and rightly so, baptism in these steps for two reasons. Number one, and chiefly of those reasons, is because the Bible emphasizes it. You can, again, you cannot read the New Testament scriptures. You cannot read gospel preaching in the book of Acts and teaching and the epistles of the New Testament.

You cannot read about the life of Christ and not read about baptism. It’s there. And it’s there for a reason. But secondly, we maybe emphasize baptism because in much of the religious world we agree with our friends and religious neighbors about hear, repent and confess. But for some reason, baptism has become that sticking point, that point of disagreement. And so it kind of makes sense that we would spend a lot of time talking about what we disagree on rather than talking about what we agree on. And so we do emphasize baptism in these steps. I hope not to the neglect of others, and I hope we never give the impression that that’s the only step or that it is somehow more important than the other steps.

1. Hearing: The Most Neglected, Most Foundational Step

But I do want to proffer to you this morning that I think the most neglected step is the first one. And that’s hearing. And with great trepidation, I offer this suggestion. I think this may be the most important step. Hearing.

But I could also make the argument, couldn’t I, that hearing is the most foundational step, because without hearing there is no faith. In fact, we’ll read a verse this morning that says just that. And so let’s talk about hearing. This most neglected step. But this most foundational step. It is worthy of our time and our attention because it is so important. Turn with me in your New Testament, it’s the book of Romans, chapter 10, and let’s just look at that passage that emphasizes the absolute necessity of hearing. Because any other step, whether you make a list of five, six, ten, twenty, or a hundred steps in coming to God, the first step has to be hearing. Because no other step in approaching God can take place without this one.

In Romans chapter 10, begin with me in verse 13 at this reading. Romans chapter 10 and verse 13 says, For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let’s just pause right at the beginning. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Salvation is the theme of this section. But notice what he says in verse 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they’ve not believed? And so call, and I believe in this context, in most contexts, call just encompasses all of what we do to approach God, of what he has called upon us to do. But he says, how can you do that if you don’t believe? And finish verse 14. And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

You call to be saved. You have to believe in order to call, but you can’t believe unless you hear, he says.

How shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, and unless they are sent, as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. Now, if you’re paying attention here and you’re the argumentative type, you might say, Well, wait a minute, Ken, you said hearing was the most foundational step, but he just lists two steps before hearing preaching and sending. To which I would say touch. But I would counter that they are sent to preach just so hearing can take place. Preaching is not an exercise that takes up, if you’re lucky, 30 minutes of a worship service. Preaching is delivered just so that it can be heard.

And preaching does no good, and sending somebody to preach does no good unless there’s a receiver, unless there’s a listener to that message. Verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Who has believed our report? So then, verse 17, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say to you, have they not heard? Yes, indeed. Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. But I say Israel did not know. First Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, and I will move you to anger by a foolish nation. But Isaiah is very bold and says, I was found by those who did not seek me, and I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me.

2. What Hearing Means: Hear, Understand, Think, Accept

But to Israel, he says, All day long I’ve stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. You wouldn’t listen, God says. So hearing is that foundational step. Now, before we go any further talking about hearing and the importance of hearing, and specifically hearing what God says, let’s talk about hearing. What does it mean? I looked up the dictionary definition of hearing, but I had a communication problem. It didn’t help me a whole lot. And so let me just give you the practical real world understanding or definition of hearing. Hearing is the way we use it, and I believe as the scriptures use it. The word hear or listen carries with it several components or several layers, doesn’t it? The first layer would be hearing and audible noise.

I hear something, we say. And you may sometimes be sitting at home, usually at night, when you’re by yourself in the dark, and you hear something.

So that’s the most basic level of hearing. But then there’s another level that’s involved in hearing, isn’t it? Parents to their children or wives to their husbands often say, Did you hear me? They don’t mean, did you hear or recognize an audible noise? But did you understand? And that’s many times what we mean when we say hear or listen to me. There has to be some level of understanding of what I’m saying.

We have many in our congregation who speak a language other than English. I’m bilingual. I speak Alabama and Pig Latin. But many of you, much smarter than I am, you can speak two, three maybe different languages. And let’s say that two of you who could speak Spanish fluently were having a conversation. And I was standing right by you. I could hear every word you said on that basic level. I heard every sound you made. And if I had a good ear, I might be able to repeat back what you said. But I wouldn’t understand any of it. Because I don’t speak or understand Spanish. And so I heard, but I didn’t hear. So hearing means I recognize an audible sound, and then there’s an understanding of that.

And then I think also implied in hearing, especially when the word is used in the scriptures, comes with it the idea of thinking about what was said. The scriptures have another word for that rather than hearing, is the word meditate. Is thinking about what was said. Hearing it, understanding it, and then thinking about the meaning of that word and all the implications and all the applications of that word. That’s involved in the concept of hearing, if not in the definition itself. And then I would take it one step further. There’s the hearing of the sound, there’s the understanding of it, there’s the thinking on it, and then there’s the accepting of it. Turn with me to James chapter 1. James has a lot to say about hearing.

In chapter 1, he talks about the importance of hearing the word of God. The end of chapter 1 and end of chapter 2, he talks about doing, being doers of the word and not hearers only. But notice in this step in James chapter 1, what he says in verse 21. We’re going to back up and look at verse 19 in a little bit, but right now, verse 21, where he says, Therefore, after having told them to hear the word of God, therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow with wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word. Receive the word.

Or accepting it. What does it mean to receive with meekness the implanted word? I think it carries with it the idea of an agreement, an acceptance of that. As a preacher or a teacher, sometimes you can visually see somebody receive it. You can be teaching a Bible class, maybe about a particular tough text of Scripture, and you can almost see the light bulb above somebody’s head go off when they go, oh. Or sometimes when you’re preaching and you get what I call the Church of Christ, Amen, that’s a silent nodding of the head. That’s somebody’s receiving it. They’ve heard it, they understood it, they’ve thought about it, and they’re saying, that’s right. That’s right. And many times they’re saying, that’s right because that’s what I need.

3. An Exclusive Step: Only the Word of God, Unfiltered

That stepped on my toes, that applied to my life and my current situation, and so they’re receiving it. All of that is involved in this foundational step of hearing. Two questions. How do we make sure we’re truly hearing the word of God? These are just thought questions. I’m not giving you the answer. How do you truly know you’re hearing the word of God? Second question. How can you become a better hearer? How can I improve my listening skills when it comes to the Word of God? You see, hearing is a neglected step. But that’s a shame because it’s the most foundational step of our approach to God. For God has spoken, and we should hear. And it’s also an exclusive step. And what I mean by exclusive step is that we need to listen to the word of God as that foundational building block for our approach to God, but we must listen only to the word of God.

Unfiltered. Preaching in years past emphasize the idea of book, chapter, and verse of speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent, and no creed book and nothing but the Word of God. And those slogans and those mottos were true. And they had biblical statements behind them.

But there are volumes and volumes of books about the Bible. Volumes and volumes of books about Christianity and God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And many of those books are valuable. Many of them written by our own brethren and even by others who on that particular subject may be preaching and teaching nothing but the truth. And those books, commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, can have a part and a play in our Bible study. But no book can take the place of the book. And though there’s nothing wrong with reading and studying those works of human wisdom that may assist you, but to understand that that is not the same as this. And reading that’s not the same. Reading a book about the Bible isn’t the same as reading the Bible.

Reading a book about God is not the same as reading the book from God. Again, those may have their place and have value, but they have no, they are no substitute for just opening up the word and reading it unfiltered. Look with me in Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew chapter 19, the first part of that chapter is a very familiar passage of scripture to most of us because it deals with a controversial and important topic of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. And I’m not getting sidetracked into that subject this morning, but I do want to notice how Jesus approached that subject. The Pharisees came to him, we would argue insincerely so, but they came to him with a question. Is it lawful, verse 3 of Matthew 19, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason? And again, it’s not our intent this morning to deal with that question, but to deal with how that question was answered. Verse 4. He, speaking of our Lord, he answered and said to them, have you not read?

Now, for our purposes, reading is the same as listening, isn’t it? It’s just listening to something that was written down rather than spoken. Spoken. Have you not read? In other words, he’s simply saying, What did God say? That was the only answer Jesus said that should matter. Now there are literally dozens of ways he could have answered that question, isn’t there? But there was only one way he could really answer that question. And that was Have you not read? Hearing the word of God. Not the words of man. Not filtered through the mind of some man. But what does God say? Turn back with me to James chapter 1. We started in verse 21 earlier, and I promised we would back up. Let’s do it now.

4. Swift to Hear, Slow to Speak

James 1. We need to hear the unfiltered word of God, not the words of someone else, but it’s also important that we hear the unfiltered word of God, not my own words. That’s what James 1 verse 19 means when it says, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. Slow to speak, slow to wrath. We sometimes quote that verse completely out of context. And we make it apply to our general conversations with one another. Then I’m talking to you, I need to talk less and listen more. That may be great advice, but that’s not what James is saying here when he says, be swift to hear, slow to speak. The context of James 1, I would say indisputably points out that he’s talking about be swift to hear the word of God.

Back up to verse 18. Let’s make that point quickly. Verse 18 of speaking of the Father, of His own will, he brought us forth by the Word of truth, that we might be a kind of a first fruits of his creatures. So then let every man be swift to hear. So then be swift to hear what? The word of truth. He goes on to say in verse 20, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. What does produce the righteousness of God? No offense, but what you say to me doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. And so James is not saying I need to listen to you. He goes on to say what produces the righteousness of God again is the word of God.

And so that’s what I need to be swift to hear and slow to speak. What does it mean slow to speak? Well, since it’s followed up by slow to wrath, it may be the idea of not just talking, but talking back to. In an irreverent, angry tone. But it may simply be just talking, period. Because as indelicate as this may sound, it doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t matter what I think. All that matters is what God said. Now that requires another H word, humility. Of recognizing that when I open up this word, I’m opening up the word of God. And I need to be real quick to listen. And I better be real slow to speak.

5. What If It Isn’t What I Want to Hear?

But what if what I read or hear isn’t what I want to hear? Will I be like the rich young ruler? You remember him? Who came to Jesus with, I think, a sincere question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? And when he was told, he didn’t want to hear it. Oh, he heard the sounds. He even understood what was said, didn’t he? Go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor and come and follow me. Oh, he absolutely understood every word that was spoken. That was the problem. He understood what was required of him. And so the text says he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. Did he listen? Yeah. But he didn’t really. In the full sense of that word.

Because what he heard was not what he wanted to hear. So will you be a rich young ruler? Or will you be a Saul of Tarsus? Who on the road to Damascus heard a message that he didn’t want to hear? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. You think Saul wanted to hear that? You think Saul wanted to hear that his whole career, his zeal that he was involved in was nothing but a lie, and he was an enemy of God. Saul could have spoken that day and become angry. But in the words of James, he was swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. There’s an old saying. I’ve made up my mind. Don’t confuse me with the facts. Is that my approach to the Word of God?

Am I willing to listen? Humbly listen to what God said. And whatever it is, whether it’s something I agree with, something I’ve believed all my life, what my parents believed, what my church and my preacher teaches, none of that matters. Am I willing to listen to the word of God and meditate on it and receive that implanted word which is able to save my soul.

Conclusion

All we will do is open up the Word of God and read it together. Because that’s all that matters. If you’re here with us this morning and you’ve heard the Word of God and you understand it and you humbly want to accept it and accept the challenges and the changes that it requires in your life, and you’re willing to based upon what you’ve heard, to believe it, to repent of your way of life, to confess your faith openly before men, and this morning be baptized for the remission of your sins. Can we help you as you listen to what God says this morning? If we can help you in any spiritual way, let it be known right now as together we stand and as we sing.