Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Luke 8:18, "Take heed, therefore, how you hear," arguing that profitable hearing of God's Word is a solemn and constant duty. He illustrates how Satan seeks to undermine the Word not only by hindering its preaching but also by neutralizing its reception in the hearts of hearers. Martin explains the necessity of this duty by examining Ezekiel 33:30-32, showing that people can appear eager to hear God's Word, even gathering to listen, yet their hearts remain unchanged, pursuing personal gain rather than obedience. He concludes by outlining the requirements for profitable hearing, including diligence, preparation, prayer, examination, faith, meekness, meditation, and obedience.
Primary Texts
menu_book
Luke 8:18This verse is the primary text, serving as the foundation for the sermon's command to take heed how one hears and the principle of spiritual increase or decrease.
menu_book
Ezekiel 33:30-32This passage is expounded to illustrate the necessity of careful hearing, showing how people can outwardly engage with the Word while their hearts are far from it.
The Solemn Principle: To Him Who Has, More Will Be Given5:59
The Constant Duty of Profitable Hearing9:23
Explanation for the Necessity of This Duty14:09
The Example of Ezekiel's Hearers: Outward Devotion, Inward Covetousness16:02
Requirements for Profitable Hearing21:37
Future Sermons on How to Hear22:14
Key Quotes
“Where he fails to distort or to replace the pure, Spirit-anointed preaching of the word, he seeks to hinder a proper reception of that word.”
“Those who truly possess spiritual understanding, by taking heed how they hear, receive yet more understanding.”
“Those who seem to possess spiritual understanding, by refusing to take heed how they hear, lose even what they seemed to have possessed.”
“It is the solemn and constant duty of all who are privileged to hear the Word of God preached, to consciously and carefully regard the manner, in which they hear that Word.”
“He nonetheless says to his hearers, Take heed how you hear,”
“they hear thy words, but do them not. For with their mouth, they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.”
Applications
All listeners
Constantly take heed to how you listen to and react to the proclamation and teaching of the word of God.
Consciously and carefully regard the manner in which you hear the Word of God preached.
Take heed how you hear, just as preachers are commanded to take heed how they preach.
Attend upon the preached Word with diligence, preparation, and prayer.
Examine what you hear by the scriptures.
Receive the truth with faith, meekness, love, and readiness of mind as the word of God.
Meditate and confer of the Word.
Hide the Word in your hearts.
Bring forth the fruit of the Word in your lives.
A full transcript is available on the
tab. 39 paragraphs, roughly 23 minutes.
Machine transcription
The Devil's Strategy Against the Word of God
I want to read in your hearing the passage that will be the focus of our attention in the ministry of the Word this morning, verse 18 of Luke chapter 8. Take heed, therefore, how you hear, for whosoever has, to him shall be given, and whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away, even that which he thinks or that which he seems to have. Take heed, therefore, how you hear. You hear. Now, if you were the arch enemy of God, the arch enemy not only of God in his person, but in his saving purposes, if you were that foul fiend of hell called in Scripture the devil, and you were determined to thwart, to hinder, to frustrate, or even attempt to overthrow the Son of Man, you would be the arch enemy of God. If you were the arch enemy of God, the arch enemy of God, the arch enemy of God, the saving purpose of God, how would you go about your nefarious task?
How would you set out to give vent to your fiendish and soul-destructive purpose to overthrow the purpose of God to save and to sanctify his people? Well, you say, if I were the devil, I think the answer to that question would be quite obvious. If God has ordained the preaching of His Word as the primary weapon in His arsenal to destroy the kingdom of the Prince of Darkness, you would, if you were the devil, no doubt, seek to undermine, to erode, to negate, to hinder, or even to put an end to the pure, powerful preaching of the Word of God. In the place of the pure and spirit-anointed preaching of the Word, you, if you were the devil, and so would I, would substitute superstitious religious rituals for the preaching of the Word. You would substitute aesthetic and beautiful liturgies for the preaching of the Word.
Or you would offer the full array of musical entertainment appealing to the full spectrum of musical tastes, from classical to hip-hop and to modern rap with its driving beat. But now, suppose you failed as the devil. In your effort to overthrow, to negate, and put a stop to the pure, spirit-anointed preaching of the Word, and you failed to move it from its central and strategic place in the life and ministry of any congregation, what would be your next means of attempting to defend your own territory and to hinder any further preaching of the Word? What would be your next means of attempting to defend your own territory and to hinder any further preaching of the Word? There are now further incursions of God and the work of His Grace upon that territory. Having failed to overthrow the pure preaching of the Word of God, if you were the devil, would you not seek to do something to turn aside, in the very context of the pure, spirit-anointed preaching of the Word, what would be the next means of attempting to defend your own territory and to hinder any further preaching of the Word?
What would be the next means of attempting to defend your own territory and to hinder any further preaching of the Word? Men's commitment to hear that word as they ought. Would you not, if you were the devil, seek to destroy the profitable hearing of the preached word? Would you not employ all of your cunning and fiendish powers to neutralize the profitable hearing of the word of God?
The Command: Take Heed How You Hear
Now, these thoughts are not just the spillover of a weary, jet-laggy mind of a preacher. But according to our Lord Himself in Luke chapter 8 and verse 12, this is precisely what the devil does seek to do in defending his kingdom, in seeking to hold captive all of his subjects. Where he fails to distort or to replace the pure, Spirit-anointed preaching of the word, he seeks to hinder a proper reception of that word. And so our Lord lays upon His own disciples this serious duty in the form of a commandment indicating that it is a perpetual duty. They are to constantly take heed to how they listen to, how they react to the proclamation and teaching of the word of God. Take heed, therefore, how you hear.
So we have a serious duty commanded by our Lord. But then we have a solemn principle articulated by our Lord. Look at the text. Four.
The Solemn Principle: To Him Who Has, More Will Be Given
Here's the connection. Why is it essential to take heed, therefore, how we hear? Well, because of this principle. Four.
Whosoever has, to him shall be given. And whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that which he seems to have. The solemn principle articulated by our Lord. The solemn principle articulated by our Lord is simply this.
Those who truly possess spiritual understanding, by taking heed how they hear, receive yet more understanding. Those who truly possess spiritual understanding, by taking heed how they hear, receive yet more understanding. Take heed, therefore, how you hear. For whosoever has, to him shall be given.
But then the solemn principle has a dark negative dimension. Those who seem to possess spiritual understanding, by refusing to take heed how they hear,
lose even what they seemed. Those who seem to possess spiritual understanding, by refusing to take heed how they hear, lose even what they seemed to have possessed. Surely that is the clear teaching of our Lord. And whosoever has not, he was one who has not, but seemed to have.
Some measure. Some measure of spiritual understanding. But by refusing to take heed how he hears, loses even that which he seemed to possess.
Now obviously, a time factor is involved in the outworking of this solemn principle. This does not all happen in one service, or in one exposure to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Our Lord is the one who has the power to do so. Our Lord is assuming a time factor is involved in which someone who hears the mandate, take heed how you hear, does not lay that mandate to heart.
And over a period of time, because he does not take heed how he hears, by degrees what he seems to have possessed is lost. And he is ultimately lost. And he is ultimately revealed for what he really is. A man, a woman, a boy, a girl, utterly devoid of any true, saving, spiritual apprehension of the Word of God.
The Constant Duty of Profitable Hearing
It is the solemn and constant duty of all who are privileged to hear the Word of God preached, to consciously and carefully regard the manner, in which they hear that Word. May I run it by again?
When we distill the teaching of this passage into its essence, this is what it says to us. It is the solemn and constant duty of all who are privileged to hear the Word of God preached, to consciously and carefully regard the manner, in which they hear that Word.
That's the duty mandated by the text. And as I spend much of my time, as I've already indicated, seeking to extract from the Word of God, and from masters of the past and the present, who have sought to apply their minds to what makes effective preaching, what makes true biblical spirit anointed preaching, what it ought to be and can be, and as I have no scruples about seeking to set forth the teaching of the Word of God and the light of general revelation as it interfaces in this whole matter of preaching, and give myself to hours of such ministry as I did in Ireland, so I have no reservation in standing in this congregation this morning and saying, It is not enough that to every man who stands, stands in this pulpit, the Word of God comes home to his heart. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching, and to lay upon the conscience of every man who stands in this place of trust, to take heed how he preaches. So God says to you, every one of you, you, take heed how you hear.
It is not enough to have in our pulpit men who take their tasks seriously, who bend their God-given mental faculties, their divinely imparted spiritual faculties and powers and graces and gifts, to dig into the Word, to ascertain its meaning, bending all of their powers in dependence upon God, to parcel it out in a way that is clear and simple and well-structured, and where necessary, illustrated and applied, to the conscience, and seek to do so in the power and demonstration of the Spirit of God. No one ever did this to the degree that our Lord did. And yet it was our Lord who said, It is not enough that you have standing among you truth incarnate, to whom the Spirit has not been given by measure, who is the divine sower in your midst, of whom it is said, No man spake as he spake. They, who wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, the common people heard him gladly. He nonetheless says to his hearers, Take heed how you hear,
and if it were necessary for the Lord Jesus to have good hearers, for his message to be received. How much more when we sinful men, with our natives, and with our own peculiar innate twists and turns of mind and disposition and temperament that enter into our best efforts to preach the word. If it was true that our Lord Jesus in the perfection of what he was as a preacher had to have hearers who took heed how they listened to his words, how much more when you sit before those of us with all of our weakness, weaknesses and limitations and sins, when we attempt to bring that word to your ears and into your hearts. Now thirdly, I want to give an explanation for the necessity of this duty. The Lord did not articulate this duty arbitrarily.
Explanation for the Necessity of This Duty
Now some would question and say, Well in the light of what the word of God says about itself, why should this be necessary? Does not the word say of itself, that it is a sword? Is it not called the sword of the spirit in Ephesians 6.19?
Is it not called in Hebrews 4.12, the word of God which is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, joint and marrow? And is it the cerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart? Is it not called in Jeremiah 23.29, a hammer that breaks the rock in two? Is it not called in Psalm 109.105, a lamp in the light? If the word is all of those things in itself, and surely preached in the power of the spirit, it will carry itself into men's hearts, regardless of the disposition with which they hear.
Well there is one little element of truth in that. There is an element of truth in that, that often the word makes for itself a good reception.
But whatever truth may lie, in that dimension of biblical teaching, I still have the Lord's text, the Lord's words before us in our text. You are to continually, consciously, deliberately take heed how you are continually hearing the word of God. And the reason for this, the explanation for the necessity of this duty, is found in many parts of scripture. I want to give you just a sampling of why, this duty is necessary, bringing in the broader teaching, what the old writers would call the analogy of faith, the general teaching of the word of God.
The Example of Ezekiel's Hearers: Outward Devotion, Inward Covetousness
Look first of all with me at the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 33. Now Ezekiel, as you know, was a prophet, a true prophet. Not one of these modern fanatics who stands up, shivers, shakes, and puts on a funny voice, and then in the first person says, thus saith the Lord, and then usually in very poor Elizabethan English, proclaims to be speaking in the name of the Lord.
It always amazed me that the Lord couldn't speak better Elizabethan English. But be that as it may, he is a true prophet, a true Na'vi, one who when he opened his mouth, his mouth became the very organ of the words of God. The prophet spoke the very words of God, so that when he spoke he could say, thus saith the Lord, and what the prophet said is what the Lord said, and what the Lord said is what the prophet said. Here is a true prophet, endowed with spiritual unction, as well as spiritual illumination.
And this is what God had to say to the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 33 and verse 30. And as for thee, son of man, the children of your people, will talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord. Now let me ask you something. If we had, as they had in those days, in the climate that made it possible, open holes in the side of the houses where we have what we call windows, where we have glass and double glazing as they call it over in the UK, and we would say, well, you know, there are windows, there are storm windows, or Anderson, or Pella windows, with two or three panes for insulating purposes. But imagine where all the windows are. It's open, a warm, balmy climate, and you're walking down the street, and you overhear the conversation coming out of the houses on your street, and everyone is saying one to another. Notice what it says.
The children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord. They're saying, well, let's go hear what God's word is. Let's hear what the latest word from Jehovah is. You'd say, I'm in a town where there must have been a revival.
There must have been an outpouring of the Spirit of God. The whole town, the streets, and all the villages. Why, when we overhear the conversation, what they're talking about is, let's go hear the prophet. Let's go hear what the word of the Lord is.
We want to attend upon the word of God. You see that in the passage? But now notice, God says, And they come unto you, as the people come, and they sit before you, as my people, and they hear your words. These people weren't skipping church.
These people weren't going out fishing when it was known the prophet was going to be holding forth the word of God. These people weren't conjuring up a bellyache when they had no bellyache as an excuse, a providential hindrance to miss the time when the prophet of God would be holding forth the word of God. What they were saying in their houses, they were validating by their actions. They weren't just talking about it.
They did something about it. In their houses, they're talking, saying one to another, come, come, let's go hear what the word of the Lord is. We want to hear the word that is coming forth from the Lord. Lo and behold, when they knew that the prophet was going to speak in the name of God, there they were, he says, they come unto you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words.
Up till now, it looks like revival times. Everybody is excited about the word. People are urging one another to come and hear the word. They're gathering in the place where the word is preached.
A stranger would say, there must have been a visitation of the Holy Ghost. Look at the people, talking about the word, gathering where the word is preached. I'll read on, they hear thy words, but do them not. For with their mouth, they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
There was a condition in their hearts when they're jabbering away in their houses, saying one to another, let's go hear the prophet, Let's hear the word of the Lord. And when they went up to the place where the prophet would speak, there was a condition in their hearts, unchallenged and undealt with. And when they sat and when they listened, there was a condition in their heart that was not dealt with.
He says, with their mouth they were showing much love to God, to his servant, to his word. But their heart goes after their game. It was given over to covetousness. What's required of them that hear the word preached?
Requirements for Profitable Hearing
It is required of those that hear the word preached that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer. Examine what they hear by the scriptures. You know what the proof text for that is. Acts 17, 11.
Receive the truth with faith. And you know what the proof text for that is. Meekness, love, and readiness of mind as the word of God. Meditate and confer of it.
Hide it in their hearts. And bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.
Future Sermons on How to Hear
In subsequent sermons, I want to deal specifically with how do we take heed to our hearing before the preaching, one sermon, during the preaching, the second sermon, and after the preaching, the third sermon.
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors.
It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
Luke 8:18
This verse is the primary text, serving as the foundation for the sermon's command to take heed how one hears and the principle of spiritual increase or decrease.
Ezekiel 33:30-32
This passage is expounded to illustrate the necessity of careful hearing, showing how people can outwardly engage with the Word while their hearts are far from it.
Texts Expounded
auto_stories
This verse is the central text of the sermon, commanding hearers to take heed how they hear and articulating the principle of spiritual increase or decrease based on reception.
auto_stories
This passage is used to explain the necessity of taking heed how one hears, demonstrating that people can outwardly appear eager for God's Word while their hearts remain unengaged and covetous.