During the Sermon, Part 7

Introduction: Personal Vulnerability and Sermon Series Context

0:02 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, July 23, 1995, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Before we turn to the reading of the Word of God, there is a personal matter that I want to convey to you. A number of years ago, when I was ministering at a conference in another part of the country, a very old, wise, seasoned, blunt, frank servant of God took me aside when I was a very young man, and he asked me if I believed one of the verses that was read in your hearing this morning, namely, we have the treasure in earthen vessels, in clay pots. He said, now you believe that, son? I said, yes, sir. He was old enough at that time probably to be my grandson.

0:57 And he said, well, if you do, never be afraid to let the clay show, for the treasure is never more precious than when the clay is obvious. And because many of you know me well and have sat long under this ministry and would pick up on nuances that might cause concern to you, I feel I should mention that as I stand before you to preach this morning, I must consciously seek to place awareness, to reign on the degree to which I let my passions and emotions take hold of the rest of me from the sole of my feet to the end of my fingertips to the hair on the back of my neck as I preach. Some of you know that this past week I discovered that I had a tear in my retina and on Thursday underwent laser surgery. And the doctor said there would be no danger to that procedure and to the onus. I said, well, I assure you, in my most impassioned moments, I never have occasion to bend over.

2:28 I never have the waist and get into the grotesque position in which the doctor put himself. But for some of you who know me, I don't want you concerned, wondering if something's wrong, if at times when there would normally be a spontaneous rush of passion expressing itself in ways that you are accustomed to, I am mindful of the biblical principle that the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets, of the pressure, of the sixth commandment, of the commandment, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And in the light of those matters, I will seek to regulate the level to which I allow my heart and spirit to run out with the truth in those dimensions of expression. Now we turn again this morning to the text that has been the basis of our meditations through these weeks of summer ministry. Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 8 and verse 18.

The Dearth of Good Preachers and Good Hearers

3:31 Luke chapter 8 and verse 18. Words spoken by our Lord Jesus to the inner circle of his disciples, having uttered and expounded what we commonly call the parable of the sower or the parable of the sower and the soils, and having added to that interpretation some very cryptic words of the parable of the sower and the soils, of announcement to his own, the Lord Jesus speaking to his disciples said in Luke 8 and verse 18, 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 seems to have. The words of our Lord that have been the focus, the framework of our meditations together, are those opening words of verse 18, Take heed therefore how you hear. It is a sad but tragic fact that in every age and in every place, there has always been,

4:58 a relative dearth of genuinely Christ-like, accurate, clear, earnest, spirit-filled preachers of the word. It is equally accurate to assert that in every age and in every place, there has also been a relative dearth of those who, sitting under rare godly ministries, attend to that ministry as they ought. If a competent ministry of the word, automatically secured a godly attendance upon that ministry of the word, then surely the ministry of our Lord Jesus, would have secured such a godly attendance upon his ministry. However, it is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who with respect to the response of his disciples, to his own ministry, says to them, Pay constant close attention to how you hear.

Sermon Series Overview: Before, During, and After Hearing

6:23 Therefore, with these words of our Lord Jesus, in Luke 8 and verse 18, forming both the foundation and framework of our concern, we have been focusing our attention upon the duty each one of us has to take heed how we hear the word of God preached. Our examination of this intensely practical duty has led us to consider what it is to take heed how we hear, first of all, with respect to our preparation for the preaching of the word of God. And then we have considered what it means to take heed how we hear, as it applies to what we do during the preaching of the word. Now this morning, and God willing, for the next several Lord's Day mornings, we'll take up the third and final category of this duty, and joined upon us by our Lord, namely, taking heed how we hear in connection with what we do after the preaching of the word. And as I have said repeatedly, this approach to the subject of taking heed to our hearing before, during, and after the preaching of the word

7:51 is not original with me, but is found in many places in the practical sermons, particularly of the Puritan writers. They were not at all loath to remind their congregations that this duty of taking heed to our hearing encompasses our preparation for the preaching of the word, our conduct under the preaching of the word, and our response to that word subsequent to its proclamation. In seeking to understand the word, in seeking to organize and to distill what is nothing less than a massive amount of biblical materials connected with this category of concern, we're going to approach the subject under two major headings. First, the central concern identified, and then secondly, the specific means prescribed. When we ask the question, how do I take heed to my hearing of the word, subsequent to my being exposed to the preaching of that word, my response will come to you from the scriptures collated under these two major headings, the central concern identified,

Review of Previous Duties: Preparation and During Preaching

9:16 and then the specific means prescribed. In our time together this morning, we will take up just this first heading, the central concern identified. Now, assuming we've taken our Lord's word seriously, take heed how you hear. And I know that some of you, unless you are outright liars, have taken this word seriously.

9:43 You have spoken to me of the tremendous difference that has already come about in the profit you're receiving from the preaching of the word because you have begun to implement the counsels and directives with reference to preparing yourself for the preaching of the word. Some of you have written me letters focusing upon the same results of the preached word in your own heart. You have been seeking to remind yourself that it is the word of the living God Himself which you will encounter in the preaching. 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13.

10:25 You have been seeking to renew your heart, to renew your heart, to renew your heart, to renew your repentance, and to do what Peter instructs us to do in 1 Peter 2.1. Before longing for the sincere milk of the word, you have been seeking to put away all guile and all hypocrisy and all evil speakings. You have been seeking by the grace of God to do that very thing.

10:49 Further, you have been seeking to come to the preaching with the renewal of a meek, teachable, and eager disposition, the directive of 1 Peter 2 and James 1 and Acts 17.11. And you have been more conscious of seeking to make conscience of crying to God for the present and powerful work of the Spirit upon your own heart. Ephesians 1.15 and following in Luke 11 and verse 13.

11:22 Further, as you have actually then come with greater measures of deliverance, deliberate preparation as part of your response of taking heed to how you hear, you have been seeking under the preaching to face that sobering fact that neither the influence of remaining sin nor the devil are negated or suspended under the preaching of the word. You have been seeking to implement those very practical directives that as the word is preached, you have been seeking to give yourself with resolute fixation of mind to the preaching. And you have been seeking to render those appropriate responses of heart which the word demands while it is being preached so that convicting, sin-exposing words are precipitating right there in the pew renewed acts of repentance toward your God. Further, when you have been seeking to render some fresh provision or promise or announcement of God's intention, you have been seeking to mix faith with that word while it is being preached. And you have been seeking to respond with chastened silence and reverent praise when impenetrable and high mysteries

12:49 of God and of His ways have been set before you. But now, the final prayer has, has been spoken into the ear of God. Our heads have been bowed. The pianist has played quietly an appropriate hymn seeking to clinch in our minds and hearts what we have heard.

The Central Concern Identified: Retain and Experience

13:11 Now the question is, what do I do after the preaching that is an appropriate response to the words of the Lord Jesus, take heed how you hear? What do I do after the preaching? What do I do after the preaching of the word? And my answer to that is that you and I ought to have a conscious central concern subsequent to our exposure to preaching.

13:43 There ought to be a conscious desire and intention of heart. Well, what is it? Well, I said this morning, I want God helping me to set before you that central concern, identified. And I shall do so under these headings, the concern stated, the concern demonstrated, and the concern illustrated and applied.

14:10 The concern stated. Now remember what the concern is. The concern is, what do I do after I have been privileged to sit under the preaching of the word, seeking in the strength of Christ to give those appropriate responses while the word was preached? What is my biblical task when the assembly disperses and I go back to my home and back to the circle of my God-given responsibilities?

14:44 What is the central concern that ought to occupy all of our minds and hearts in conjunction with the word we have heard? Well, let me state it as follows. Having heard, the word preached, it ought to be our most crucial concern to retain that word in our hearts and to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives. Now there's nothing profound in what I've stated,

15:19 but I'm convinced that the word of God supports the assertion that this is the concern that each one of us ought to have. To retain that word in our hearts and to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives. That ought to be our concern in response to the word of our Lord. Take heed how you hear.

Audience Disposition: Unbelievers and Backsliding Believers

15:53 It is not enough so to hear as to have an immediate heart response to that word, but there ought to be a jealous concern to retain that word in our hearts and having retained it in our hearts to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives. Now before we turn to the concern demonstrated from the word of God, let me pause to say what should be obvious to many of you. This concern will only be true of those who are either in a state of grace or are having dealings with God in His prevenient grace because by nature the scripture says we love darkness rather than light and we will not come to the light lest our deeds should be reproved. And if you're not a child of God then your natural disposition if the word has in any way even begun to be a child of God begun to penetrate your mind and heart under the preaching you will roll up your sleeves and do everything in your power to rid yourself of every bit of pressure of that word upon you.

17:18 And that's what some of you do every single Sunday. Young and old alike in spite of yourself there are times when the Holy Spirit so attends the gathering of His people and the preaching of the word that in spite of yourself you find yourself beginning to be hooked beginning to be attentive not just to look up here while you deliberately make your mind roam from Dan to Beersheba from China to the South Sea islands and back again but in spite of yourself God Heaven Hell Sin Christ the blood of God of atonement repentance faith the desirability of the Christian life in spite of yourself God begins to get a hook in you and you find your mind taken up with some of those realities but as soon as the service is over you do everything in your power to obliterate the slightest bit of pressure you have felt from that word and I have news for you there is a devil determined to damn you who's at your elbow cooperating with you and aiding you in your task for those of you whom I've just described

18:47 I can only say God have mercy on your course of self-destruction that God would mark you out among the billions who have lived and died and who this day are living and many of whom shall die having never once heard a gospel sermon and you've heard dozens and hundreds of them and your history is the history of seeking to obliterate every impress of those sermons for your own damnation God have pity upon you in your blindness and also tragic to say the child of God who's in a state of arrested growth who's got a conscious controversy with God and one of the raw nerves of the area of that controversy has been pinched in the preaching well if you're in the state that David was in between the time of his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah and the time Nathan the prophet came to him you will not welcome what we have to say this morning either and when God pinches that raw nerve of the air of your controversy you sit there rationalizing you feel the nerve pinched but then you try to persuade yourself

20:16 oh that's just the preachers opinion oh that's just one man's way of looking at it and you do your best either to cauterize that nerve or to anesthetize it as the physician anesthetized my eyeball before he stuck an instrument on it through which he shot his laser beams to the back of my retina I couldn't feel a thing and you are very adept at anesthetizing the nerves that God pinches child of God how stupid how wicked how self-destructive and the Lord Jesus is praying at the right hand of the Father sanctify them in the truth thy word is truth and that very instrument of your sanctification you resist and you grieve and you quench the spirit thank God I believe that there are many of you sitting in this place this morning whose disposition is oh Lord I want I want optimum benefit from every exposure to the preaching of the word and you have shown that by your response to the things we've addressed as we have considered what it is to take heed how we hear prior to the preaching during the preaching and I believe your heart is anxious

Demonstrating the Concern: Commands, Virtues, and Condemned Sins

21:44 to know what your gospel duties are with respect to how you hear subsequent to the preaching and how you hear and how you hear and how you hear and how you hear and how you hear and how you hear and I answer by saying the concern that ought to be uppermost in your mind and heart is this a concern to retain that word in your heart and to experience its appropriate influence upon your life now having stated the concern let me seek to move on secondly to demonstrate from the word of God that I am a man why this ought to be your concern and here again in my preparation I was embarrassed by the riches in the scriptures and how to organize them into categories that were natural and biblical and not artificial and how to be selective and I finally came to the place where I felt I could just give a sampling not even a tithe of the materials and to do so under three headings that I believe are biblically warranted in demonstrating that this concern is a biblically warranted concern I want you to consider with me first of all such a concern as an oft-repeated command secondly such a concern

23:12 as a frequently identified virtue and thirdly the absence of such a concern as a repeatedly condemned command and thirdly sin first of all then see from the scriptures that such a concern is an oft-repeated command and we're going to look at a segment of passages in the book of Deuteronomy this is probably the most dense concentration of biblical materials pointing in the direction of this duty to treasure up the word heard in our hearts and to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives those of you familiar with the setting of the book of Deuteronomy will remember that Moses and the people of God have been brought to the plains of Moab they are about to enter the land of promise Moses is soon to go to a better place his ministry is about to end and Moses the man of God stands in the land of God stands in the midst of his people and in that setting he reviews God's dealings with them as a nation he underscores the highlights of God's demands of them his precepts and commandments

24:41 culminating in that marvelous song of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and in that setting we find how Moses the man of God who had been the instrument through which God had revealed his will and word to his people underscores the very thing we're talking about again and again look first of all at Deuteronomy chapter 4 and now O Israel Deuteronomy 4 1 hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances which I teach you to do them that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers gives you you shall not add unto the word which I command you neither shall you diminish from it that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you but you that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you to this day verse 5 behold I have taught you statutes and ordinances even as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do so in the midst of the land whether you go in to possess it keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom

26:10 and your understanding and the sight of the people that shall hear of these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people hear me hear Moses says the word of God has been revealed to you but now your task having been the recipients of that revelation is not to alter it don't diminish from it don't add to it it is the word of God its declaration is to remain intact you are not to add nor subtract from it but neither are you simply to point to it and say Jehovah has spoken we have the words of God we have no intention of adding or subtracting from those words he said no these words must now find appropriate expressions in your lives you are to keep this word that has been commanded you your wisdom before God and in the sight of the people in the nations is to be found in the implementation of the word of God not the mere reception of it or the confession of its adequacy and the determination not to alter it it must be

27:39 implemented chapter 5 in verse 1 the similar emphasis Moses called unto all Israel and said unto them hear O Israel the statutes and ordinances which I speak in your words in your ears this day that you may learn them and observe to do them it is not enough to hear and to learn or even to retain that hearing and learning and retention must find expression in performance in doing them and that language permeates this whole section chapter 6 verses 1 to 3 6 to 9 again in chapter 11 and then it finds a beautiful summary after that song of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 32 Deuteronomy 32 and verse 44 and following and Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people he and Hosea the son of Nun and Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all his people Israel and he said unto them now notice the language set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you

29:07 this day which you shall command your children to observe to do even all the words of this law for it is no vain thing for you because it is your life and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land whether you go over to Jordan to possess it you see the emphasis upon these two things they are to retain the words in their hearts and they are to implement them in their lives verse 46 set your heart unto the words your ears have heard them your minds have received the impress of them but now set your heart to those words and don't profess to have your heart set unto those words unless there is a commitment to implement them to render the appropriate responses in every facet of life which is found or which are the facets of life which are found addressed in that word hear that in the this section of Deuteronomy there is the oft repeated command to those who had received the word of God that word mediated through Moses

30:35 the man of God they are told it is not enough to have heard and to have heard with attention there must now be the retention in the heart and the implementation in the life but this principle is not only found as an oft repeated command in the book of Deuteronomy turn to another section of scripture that has many references to the same the book of Proverbs here you have the father instructing his son and in the midst of that instruction notice how frequently this emphasis comes through chapter 2 and verse 1 my son if you will receive my words and lay your up my commandments with you not enough to receive them and then to let them leak out but you must having received them lay them up with you as a precious treasure chapter 3 and verse 1 my son forget not my law but let your heart keep my commandments he is not saying here my son listen to me no no now he is assuming the son has listened and he is saying don't forget them don't allow them to slip

32:05 my son forget not my law but let thy heart keep treasure up my commandments chapter 4 verse 1 in following hear my sons the instruction of a father and attend to no understanding for I give you good doctrine do not forsake my law for I was a son to my father tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother and he taught me and said unto me now listen to what his father said to him let your heart retain my words keep my commandments and live get wisdom get understanding forget not neither decline from the words of my mouth do not forsake her for she will preserve you love her and she will keep you you see the emphasis let your heart retain my words my son don't let my words merely strike the outer vestibule of the ear don't let them merely glance over the surface tables of the heart my son let my words find a deep and a permanent lodgment in your heart my son my son I entreat you that you take my words and retain them and retain them

33:34 with what end in view not merely to show off how much of my words you can remember and quote to others but with a view to having them ready at hand in the center of your being in the citadel of your humanity that is in your heart with a view to obeying them keep my commandments and live again chapter 6 verses 20 to 22 I say it's an oft repeated command my son keep the commandment of thy father forsake not the law of thy mother bind them continually where upon your heart last them to your heart as sailors might lash one another to the mast of a ship in the midst of a turbulent storm that they be not separated from their ship and dash into the waves he says lash my words lash them to your heart bind them upon your heart tie them about your neck when you walk it shall lead you when you sleep it shall watch over you when you awake it will talk with you for the commandment is lamp and the law is light and reproofs of instruction of the way of life what's he telling

35:01 his son to do this for not simply that he might be this big storehouse of the knowledge of the word of God which has been preached to him by his father but that his life might be regulated by it so you see the principle is again set before us that our great concern ought to be to treasure up the word we have heard in our hearts and to find its appropriate influence upon our lives one other passage in Proverbs chapter 7 verses 1 to 4 my son keep my words lay up my commandments with you keep my commandments and live and my law as the apple of your eye bind them upon your fingers listen to the next instruction write them on the tablet of your heart well I thought only God can write his law upon our hearts I thought God said as one of the provisions of the new covenant I will write my law upon their hearts now the writer here says that you are to write them upon the tablet of the heart how can I write anything upon my heart well that we'll address when we come to the subject of the means ordained but the principle is we are not to be content until the word to which we have been exposed in the preaching and teaching of that word

36:28 has been written upon our hearts and is taken into a relationship beautifully likened in verse 4 to that of a beloved sibling and of a beloved familiar friend say unto wisdom you are my sister and call understanding your familiar friend you see what you hear in this place ought not to be a stranger whose acquaintance you made Sunday morning and Sunday night that acquaintance ought to become a familiar and intimate friendship and you are responsible to make it so that's not the preacher's job that's your job the preacher's job is to introduce the friend the preacher's job is to set the friend before you in all of his or her loveliness and desirableness but you must cultivate the relationship until that truth becomes your sibling and your familiar friend that's your job that's not my job that's yours not mine that's yours so when we ask the question what's it mean to take heed how we hear with respect

37:57 to what we do subsequent to the preaching of the word I've asserted that the central concern must be to treasure up the word in our hearts and then to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives and I say in the biblical witness this rests down upon the oft repeated command in this very direction we've seen this block of commands in Deuteronomy this block of commands in Proverbs and let's look at several witnesses from the New Testament in the New Testament I could if time permitted look at a verse that's been fascinating me through this entire study Luke 9 44 I'll just mention it and you can meditate upon it the Lord Jesus talking to his disciples about his impending death and knowing that these words were strange to them he said let these words sink down into your ears let these words take up residence in your memory in your thinking in your heart retain them don't let them bounce off and let your present prejudices sink down have a rejection factor let into your ears and it's an imperative it's a duty he lays upon them the Son of God does not say since I speak in the fullness and plenitude of the anointing of my Father and I speak

39:25 as incarnate wisdom and I speak as God's great and final prophet my words will automatically sink into your ears he said no you let them sink into your ears it's your duty it is my duty but remember Matthew 28 20 the great commission look how clear it is on the surface of the passage make disciples of all the nations baptizing them teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you teaching them to keep tereo that means to guard to keep to observe that is retain in the heart and then to express in appropriate manners in the life all things whatsoever he has commanded and then another text Colossians 3 and verse 16 just the first part of it this again these are all imperatives Colossians 3 and verse 16 let the word of Christ dwell in you richly here we have an imperative a present imperative a present imperative a present imperative a present imperative of a verb which means to live in to make yourself at home in to dwell in the imagery is rich Paul is saying let the word of Christ

40:54 not so much the word about Christ but the word of which Christ is the giver and author that is all of scripture for it was the spirit of Christ who spoke in the prophets Peter tells us and it is the spirit of Christ who speaks through the apostolic writers the spirit of Christ that is the author of the whole of scripture old and new testament and we are told let this word not merely come and knock at the door of the house of the inner life no but let it dwell let it make its residence let it take up its permanent abode in you and to do so richly in the adverb for translated richly pluseos means lavishly extravagantly in your heart that is what he is saying don't treat it like some suspicious stranger that you put out in the in the potato bin where you keep your potatoes over the winter and throw it a cracker let the word of Christ dwell in you richly let that word come in and take over every room and live like a king in your heart that's a duty the word is not simply

42:23 to come to us and as it were under the preaching knock on the door of our inner life we are not to be content until it dwells in us and dwells richly and then there's Titus 2 in verse 10 that it is to dwell in us richly to what end that eventually we may adorn it beautifully here after giving many specific directions to many different segments of the church in terms of various genders and age groups and stations in life Paul writing to Titus says in verse 10 after speaking about servants not purloining but showing all good fidelity to what end that they may adorn that they may be dressed up in the doctrine or teaching of God our Savior in all things in other words there's not to be a thing in my life in which I do not appear dressed in the truth that I profess to believe that's what he's saying I'm to be dressed up in the truth and not merely to have walked by the closet where the truth is kept and gone through and say oh yes that's my truth there I believe that truth there that's my jacket of truth

43:51 that's my skirt of truth that's my jacket of truth that's my shirt of truth that's my tie of no no you have to be dressed up wherever you go you adorn the teaching of God our Savior in all things that says that it's my responsibility having heard the word if I truly take heed to how I hear that I will not be content until that word has taken up residence in the heart and is being appropriately adorned in my life or my life is appropriately adorned in it so surely brethren this is an oft repeated command when I say that taking heed how we hear involves this great principle of a determination to retain that word in our hearts I did not say retain the outline of the preacher retain everything the preacher said I didn't say that that would be to lay an insufferable burden on you I can't even retain my own outlines often by Wednesday it's very humbling and embarrassing to spend many many hours trying to hammer out the word in a clear and a simple way and I ask myself by Wednesday what I preach on Sunday and I can tell you the general drift many times I can't remember my own outline so don't feel bad if you can't I don't feel bad

45:20 but what I'm saying is that the word preached the essence the substance of what has been expounded by means of that particular outline attended with those particular illustrations etc. that we are under a solemn obligation by the grace of God to retain that word in our hearts and to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives and I've sought to demonstrate that concern from the oft repeated commands of scripture but more quickly now secondly such a concern is a frequently identified virtue in scripture such a concern is a frequently identified virtue in scripture this concern to treasure up the word in the heart and to have its appropriate expression in the life it's identified as a virtue in scripture Psalm 1 how is the blessed man described as that one who meditates in the law of God day and night that word that he's been exposed to either in his own reading or in the preaching of the same is not something that has simply had a passing influence upon him it has taken up his residence in him and in a subsequent sermon we'll deal with the matter

46:48 of what meditation is and spiritual assimilation but here it is evident it's identified as a virtue in that law he meditates day and night he takes the word away with him from the place where he's been exposed to it Psalm 37 21 the law of God is in his heart none of his steps shall slide it's when the word is treasured up in the heart that a man's feet are kept from sliding and that's the problem some of you have heard enough Bible to have kept you from sliding into a thousand different sins and patterns of spiritual sloppiness but that word hasn't kept you why? because it's not in your heart it's not treasured up in your heart Psalm 119 9 through 11 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word how do you take heed to the word? thy word have I laid up in my heart like a treasure that I might not sin against thee it was the treasure of the word in the heart that gave birth to the taking heed to that word in the context of temptation there's a beautiful description we'll come back to it God willing in more detail of Mary after words are passed on through the shepherds concerning the announcement

48:17 of the angels it says they were all taken up in amazement with the things that happened but it says Mary pondered these things in her heart it spoke enough as a virtue that this young mother stored up in her heart the things that were said that were conveyed to her about the message of the angels there on the Judean hillside and what she herself had heard she treasured them up and she pondered them again 1 John 2 14 describes the young men who are strong why are they strong? because it says the word of God abides in them it has no passing acquaintance like a stranger it abides in them and they have thereby become strong and overcome the wicked one well surely a frequently identified virtue ought to be something that we pursue as the people of God and if the treasuring up of the word is frequently identified as a virtue then we ought to be committed to that virtue and to the attainment of it but then thirdly the absence of this concern is a repeatedly condemned sin the absence of this concern to treasure up the word in the heart and to have its appropriate expression in the life it's a repeatedly condemned sin

49:46 Ezekiel 33 30 and following a passage we looked at early in this series of sermons God says that Ezekiel you've become like an orchestra and people love to come and to hear you preach as they come to listen to a well played instrument to one that can sing well they hear your words they weren't turning away saying ah who cares about the words of the prophet they hear your words but they do not do them why because their heart goes after covetousness you see the word was not taken into the heart and God condemns those who hear and do not see to it that that word possesses the heart Jesus in Luke 6 46 to 49 why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say they call him Lord they sit before him and hear his words because he goes on in that very passage and describes that activity listen everyone that comes to me and hears my word and does them I will show you to whom he is like but he that hears and does not is like a man that built his house upon the earth without a foundation when he says why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say he is speaking to people who call him Lord who sit before him and hear his words

Illustration and Application: The Diamond in the Holy Pocket

51:15 as though they were waiting to implement those words but they hear and they do not perform they profess to receive that word but they do not render appropriate acts of obedience and just and Jesus said why do you go on calling me Lord when you are not implementing the directives of my word well I have stated that our central concern in taking heed how we hear after the preaching of the word should be to retain that word in our hearts and to experience its appropriate influence upon our lives I have sought to demonstrate the biblical basis of this assertion from the oft repeated commands the frequently identified virtue the absence as a repeatedly condemned sin and in the few minutes that remain thirdly consider this concern illustrated and applied this concern illustrated and applied what a man does to guard and protect an item of great intrinsic worth is proof of whether or not he perceives and appreciates its worth let me illustrate here is a man of very modest means lower middle class let's peg him there he's summoned by another man of abounding wealth to come to his baronial mansion

52:43 and when he appears at the appointed time the wealthy man looks at the man of modest means and says sir do you know what a diamond is he said yes I do that's a gem of great worth he said alright I have a diamond that I want to give to you but I want to tell you something about its worth and he brings out a diamond that is of the rarest quality of purity of brilliance it's perfect in its cut polish it's two carat weight it's worth tens of thousands of dollars the wealthy benefactor who is going to pass it on to the man of modest means and make him the beneficiary tries to set out in every way possible in plain layman's language look this little hunk of shining material is the real thing and it has tremendous intrinsic worth in the market of rare jewels and gems and the man says I appreciate that I understand that I'm so indebted to you you mean you're going to give this to me yes I'm going to give it to you but it's worth it's alright I'm going to give it to you but I'm not it's alright I'm going to give it to you it's a free gift no strings attached all I ask is that you regard it

54:12 for what it is a gem of rare and exquisite beauty and of tremendous value and that's oh yes that I will do he turns starts to walk out of the room and he happens to have on his work clothes and in his work pants he often puts nails and screws and sometimes sticks a utility knife and so there are little cuts and tears and little cuts and tears and little cuts and tears in his pockets and he takes the jewel and he sticks it in his pocket now suppose you were flying the wall watching this what would you do the minute you saw him take this rare jewel of great worth and stick it in a potentially holy pocket not H-O-L-Y in terms of holy as God is holy but full of holes what would you kids say you go he's putting that diamond in a pocket full of holes it's probably going to it's probably going to fall out and it's going to be lost in the grass and so you happen to follow him he makes his way out of the house a little bit later after he's taken the bus and gone downtown he reaches in his pocket and lo and behold he pulls it out it hasn't fallen out and you breathe a sigh of relief oh he still has it now he's at a place in the city where they have grates in the sidewalk to let the subway system ventilate and he starts flipping the diamond up in the air like it was a piece of popcorn walking right over those grates and he catches it and he flips it and he catches it

55:41 and you go well I could go on you see what would you say about that man and the value he's placing on that diamond if he sticks it into a holy pocket if he flips it up walking over a grate in the middle of the city where it could drop down and be lost in the subway tracks what would you say about that man does he really value that diamond well he says he does but I don't I see you kids sitting there going like this no you say no matter what he says he's treating the diamond like it's a little piece of popcorn or a penny or something of no worth because if he regarded it for what it really was he would take it from the man who gave it to him and say sir do you have some kind of a box into which I can place this and immediately secure it with a strong lock until I can get to my bank and if I don't have a safe deposit box take out one and put it in a secure place you see if he really regards it to be the thing of worth that he says it is his actions will prove it now you see where I'm going what do we say this is

57:08 we say that this blessed book and the truth it contains about God and man and support and the way about Jesus Christ and the way of life and salvation is of incalculable worth it is of inestimable value David could say your precepts I count them of greater worth more than gold yea than fine gold and yet how often on the Lord's you stick the diamonds of God's truth in the holy pocket and flip them up like pearls and pennies over the grates and grids of this world that are all together too willing to make sure we never retain them for some of us it's worldly conversation before we ever get out the doors of this church have already slipped through your holy pocket of worldly conversation no effort made in your conversation with others to see what we can do to box up

58:36 and to preserve the precious diamonds of God's truth the conversation in the car on the way home is nothing to make as it were a trip to the safe deposit box to treasure up that precious gem of God's truth and by holy conversation to seek to retain it but the conversation runs through from one thing to another and alas often into family squabbles in the car before you ever get home for your lunch dear people if we really regard the word of God to be what we say we regard it to be our actions to preserve it in the casket of the heart and to see it take expression in every facet of our lives will prove will prove that we really value it take heed take heed how you hear if the Son of God who spoke as never man spoke to whom the Spirit was not given by measure who could say I don't speak my own words but the words of Him that sent me who spoke only the word and always

60:06 the word of His Father spoke it in the unlimited measure of the Spirit resting upon Him as God's anointed one if His ministry did not automatically secure a good hearing but He had to say take heed how you hear how much more when we redeemed sinners with all of our imperfections and shortcomings and inadequacies seek in our pathetically weakening the mind of God so that we may be able to understand the world and to lay it out in a way that is reasonably structured and clear and warm and relevant and passionate yet yet or nothing of those qualities are so little that were in our Lord in their fullness how much more then do we need to say to you take heed how you hear take heed how you hear take heed how you hear take heed how you hear take heed how you hear And ask yourself, am I flipping the diamonds of God's truth like they were bits of popcorn or pennies?

Puritan Voices on Retaining the Word

61:27 Am I putting them in the holy pocket of worldly and carnal conversation? Or am I taking heed how I hear? You see, this concern is not something new to me. I close by letting you hear what some people heard.

61:48 One congregation, over 300 years ago, this is what they heard their preacher say. Do not hear slightly, but hide the word in your heart, that it be not embezzled by your own negligence. Forgetfulness, running into carnal distractions, that it be not stolen by the devil, that he may not snatch away the good seed out of your soul. When the word is preached, there is more company present than is visible.

62:19 There are angels and devils in the assembly. Whenever the sons of God meet together, Satan is present with them. The devil is present to divert the mind by wandering thoughts, by raising prejudices, that he may cast out the word. Or by excuses, delays, evasions, putting it off to others when we begin to have some sense of our own sin and danger.

62:41 The devil is loath to let us get too far, lest Christ get us subjected to his kingdom. Oh, therefore, labor. To get something into your heart by every sermon. Some fresh notion or consideration is given out to set you aworked in the spiritual life.

63:02 A conscientious waiting upon God will find something every time. It's sad to consider how many have heard much and laid up little or nothing at all. It may be they have laid up the sermon in their notebooks. But they've not laid up the word in their hearts.

63:24 Another preacher said to his people, If then you would avoid a judgment which strikes not only at your estates and your lives, but at your souls. If you would prevent that dreadful stroke which may not only reach you, but your children and your children's children. If you would not have them and yourselves and thousands and millions with you bereaved of the gospel. And the means of.

63:51 Grace and life. Take all care and pains that the influences of the preaching of the word do not slide from you. That it may not be as water spilt on the ground. Be faithful and diligent in the use of these directions and all other means which may be effectual to fix them.

64:17 And hereby your hearts are wrought up to such a resolution. Then he quotes the scripture. The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of your hearts. And then one final old preacher.

64:35 This is what he said to his congregation. He said, I've read a story of two men walking together. They found a young tree laden with fruit. So they both gathered and satisfied themselves with the fruit at present.

64:49 One of them took all the remaining fruit. And carried it away with him. The other took the tree. And planted it in his own ground.

64:58 Where it prospered and brought forth fruit every year. So that the former had more at present. Yet the latter had more when the other had none. Those who hear the word and have large memories and nothing else.

65:14 May carry most of the word at present. Yet he that possibly can remember little. Who carries away the tree. Plants the word in his heart.

65:26 And obeys it in his life. Shall have abundant fruit. When the other.

65:37 I'm not in strange territory. He talked about retaining it in the heart. Bearing fruit in the life. Just take a little tree.

65:46 Some dimension of the truth. Treasured up in the heart. Adorned in the life. Will bear fruit.

65:54 When the person who with quick wit. Can get it. Give back the outline long after the preacher has forgotten it. May profit very little.

Conclusion: The Work Has Only Begun

66:05 May God help us dear people to take heed. How we hear. You say pastor. I thought coming to church I did my thing.

66:14 My work was over and then I get. No no no my friend your work has only begun. It's only begun. It's only begun.

66:22 And if we would take heed how we hear. We will welcome. Those gospel duties. Which will make that word.

66:29 Truthful in us to the glory of God. And to the good of our souls. Let us pray.

Prayer of Confession and Supplication

66:40 Our father. We do confess with shame. That so often we have taken the diamonds. Of your truth.

66:49 And place them in the tattered pockets. Of worldly concern.

66:55 Carnal. Preoccupations. We pray that you would forgive us. Because we do.

67:03 Believe your word to be of inescapable. Valuable value. We do love it. We do believe that it is the instrument.

67:12 Of our being made more and more. Into the image of your son. Knowing what you have provided. For us in him.

67:21 Directing us how to show. Our love to him. Promising every needful grace. That we may walk.

67:28 Well pleasing to him. And we think of the many promises. That are left. Unclaimed.

67:35 The many commands. That are left unobeyed. The many provisions. Left unused.

67:42 Because we have not taken heed. How we hear. Forgive us. Wash us in the blood of your son.

67:51 And give us grace. To demonstrate. In our actions. Subsequent to our hearing of the word.

67:59 That we do indeed count it. A great treasure. Have mercy upon those. Who have left to themselves.

68:06 This will again this morning. Having felt some impress from the word. Do their best. To rid themselves of it.

68:16 Lord would you not in mercy show them. That they are in the path. Of willful self destruction. May they this day.

68:25 Turn from that path. Treasure up every impression. Made of heaven and hell. And of Christ.

68:32 And of holy things. And give them no rest. Till they know. What it is.

68:39 To behold your glory. In the face of Jesus Christ. Seal then your word to our hearts. We pray.

68:47 Through Christ our Lord. Amen.