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HOW TO LISTEN TO A SERMON
LUKE 8:18
INTRODUCTION
What are the keys to getting the most out of what the preacher says?
Jesus said, "Take heed therefore how ye hear. . ." (Luke 8:18).
Here are some cautions and directions to help us hear sermons in such a way that we will gain the greatest advantage and profit from them personally.
1. We need to come to hear the preacher, not out of curiosity or a sense of duty, but from a sincere desire to know and do the will of God!
To enter the LORD’s house merely to have our ears tickled or entertained, and not to have our hearts reformed, must certainly grieve the very heart of the Most High God!
Notwithstanding how unprofitable it is to our personal lives also!
2. We need to give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God!
Hebrews 2:1–“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
If an earthly ruler were to issue a proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager do you think they would be to hear what those conditions were?
Shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers? After all, they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?
3. We should not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister of God!
Matthew 13:58–“And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
The reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country was because they were offended at Him.
(See Mark 6:1-6)
We need to take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has placed over us or sent our way to deliver us His message!
Consider that all preachers are men of like passions as us. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own name, but in Christ’s name.
For example, how foolish would Ninevah have been to reject God’s message from the prophet Jonah? He may have been a poor example, but his message was still, from the LORD God and was truth in spite of Jonah’s shortcomings!
Remember that Jesus commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said do.
(See Matthew 23:1-3)
4. We should be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or to think more highly of him than we ought to think!
Preferring one teacher or preacher over another has often caused problems for the church of God. It was a fault which Paul condemned in the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 3:4-5–“For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” (See also: 1 Corinthians 1:12; 2:3-5)
Are not all true ministers of the truth sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be the heirs of salvation? And doing so, are they not all therefore to be greatly esteemed for their work’s sake?
5. We need to make particular application to our own hearts of everything that is delivered to us!
When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, "Lord, is it I?" (Matthew 26:22).
Oh, that we all would do the same as the disciples did! Whether the preacher is preaching against some sin or persuading us to become involved in any duty for God, we should use it to examine self! Instead of thinking in our hearts, "This was intended for such and such a person!," we should instead turn our thoughts inwardly, and say, "Lord, is it I?" How far more beneficial we would find sermons to be to us than they generally are now!
6. We should pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon–
a. We should pray for God to endue the minister with power to speak, and
b. We should pray for God to grant us a will and ability to put into practice what he shows us from the Word of God to be our duty.
No doubt it was this consideration that made Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: Ephesians 6:19-20–“ And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
And if so great an apostle as Paul needed the prayers of his people, how much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
If only those of us who are here today would seriously apply our hearts to practice these principles, think of what it could mean and would mean to us personally, to this Church and to those whom we influence!
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!