How Are You Programmed?

     I hope you agree with me that we live in a very blessed time.  As bleak and unpromising as the future of this world and its cultures appear, I am extremely excited to see God increasingly unveiling His knowledge in more and more rapid surges of revelation.  I mean, we have access to podcasts and books and in-depth studies of Scripture by men and women who are making it their life's work to cast aside man-made religious doctrines in order to fully understand what God says and wants from His people.

     For instance, the truly discerning believers of Christ know that the Bible is a supernatural book; that it is, at its foundation, a book about the Hebrew people and their relationship with YHWH.  We have the benefit of learning from scholars who are studying the Hebrew language to give us a much broader and fuller understanding of Scripture than the Greek-to-English translations have afforded us.  We have the opportunity to learn and question the research of scholars and teachers who are not willing to accept man's traditions as superior to the Word, and are seeking to come closer to God and to possess the facts of His Truth.  That is called KNOWLEDGE.  And the interpretation of that Truth is what we know as UNDERSTANDING.  The application of that Truth is called WISDOM.
     Now, before you go and give me any kind of praise for this explanation, I must give credit where credit is due.  I am going to present a new understanding that I have been gleaning and formulating about our spirituality from one of those young men who is truly a blessing to this generation.  Dan Duval is among a group of young and bold and faithful disciples of Christ (including Justen Faull, Russ Dizdar, Michael Heiser) who have not only immersed themselves in studying the Greek and Hebrew Bibles for greater insight into God, but have gone where the Church is either too afraid or too unenlightened to venture -- spiritual warfare, deliverance and healing, satanic ritual abuse, and the application of Jesus's Power and Authority through us, His commissioned followers.  But they have also taken advantage of the internet, social media, and technology -- tools that satan has successfully used to lure our younger generation and society into spiritual bondage -- and they all have ministries whose goals are to bring more souls into the Kingdom of God.  They have successful podcasts, blogs, books, videos, and even online church services that are reaching multitudes for Christ.  And their work is all done to glorify God from a Scriptural foundation and according to the dictates of His Word!
     All that being said, Dan Duval has written a couple of books that incorporate an idea that is opening up a new understanding of Scripture for me everyday.  It concerns the matters of our heart, and I literally have a more expansive vision of the Word, and am seeing the application of this new understanding as I read old, familiar verses.  I know I can't express all of it in one blog post, so I hope you will continue to follow me as I try to explain how Scripture has opened up to me.
     To begin with, I approached this subject of the heart in a post on the Parable of the Sower, and that is really where I began to see how central our hearts are to the application of our faith, and how important it was to Jesus that we understand that.  I also wrote about how the conditions of our hearts affect everything we think, say, and do in this post.  But Dan Duval has pointed me to further examples in Scripture and I am beginning to see how I have glossed over these verses, without seeing how fundamental they are to my Christian walk.  So, I am going to try to lay out the process I am undergoing and share with you these new facts of God's Truth.
     First, we need to gain an understanding of just how the heart plays into God's creation of Man.  I am not a scholarly person, so please excuse me if this seems elementary, but it is the steps I have taken to enter into the higher and deeper dimensions of God...  We all know that the completion of His creation is evidenced in our spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  We're pretty clear on what constitutes our spirit and our body, but we need to understand that our soul consists of our mind, will, and emotions.  So where does the heart fit into all this?
     If we understand that the heart is kind of a gateway, or entry point, from our soul to our spirit, then we can see that it plays a very important part in how we act out our faith.  Think of it as a processing plant between our soul and spirit -- the spirit feeds spiritual information into the heart, and the soul feeds carnal information into our hearts (from our minds, our emotions, and our life experiences, or will).  The heart then processes all that information, and sends information out that shapes the activity of both the soul and spirit based on the belief system that is operating in us.  In this way, whatever the heart is convinced of, shapes the person's reality.  This is what is meant when Scripture tells us, "as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).  (Join me on Sunday as I show how this played out in the life of Ananais and his wife Sapphira in the Book of Acts).
     As we contemplate the heart, it is vital that we understand that the collection of all the information coming from our soul and our spirit into our heart, is what makes up, or forms, our worldview.  So, if you have no relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, you will not have much spiritual knowledge flowing into your heart; only the carnal knowledge coming from your thoughts and how the world affects you through your experiences ... so you will likely have a secular, humanist worldview.  On the other hand, if you are saved, and have a personal relationship with Jesus, then that knowledge will mix with your fleshly thoughts, your feelings and what the world throws at you, to bring you into some form of spiritual or Biblical worldview.  If you are of the latter persuasion, then how you respond to this life on earth will be determined by how your heart processes that mixture of information.  In other words, what are the "thoughts of your heart"?  And can they be changed  or programmed to respond in one direction or another?
     Dan Duval exposits that there are three main ways to program the heart.  The programming is dependent on which kingdom has created the program (or, as I understand it, who wields the most influence in your heart).  Who sits on the throne of the kingdom of your heart -- God, man, or the Prince of Darkness?  Although we have three kinds of kingdoms in operation here, there are really only two agendas -- the Christ agenda for the redemption of mankind and the antichrist agenda that denies Jesus is Lord.  There is no middle ground, and no other alternative.  The kingdoms that we set up for ourselves (both in the heart and in the world) either further the Christ agenda by submitting to it, or stand in its way by resisting it.
     So how are our hearts programmed by each of these kingdom sources?  Again, Mr. Duval presents an interesting paradigm.... In the Kingdom of God, our hearts are programmed through revelation.  God's revelations of Himself yield a love-based paradigm, in which we think and act like God thinks and acts.  In the Kingdom of Men, our hearts are programmed through repetition, which becomes tradition.  This is the difference between religion and relationship.  We will think and act like our forefathers thought and acted.  We see that in the centuries old doctrines of our churches.  And in the Kingdom of Darkness, our hearts are programmed through trauma, which opens doors for bondage and satan's lies, which generates fear.  We begin to think and act according to the lies he whispers and the way he acts.
     I don't want to overwhelm you with a difficult concept, but I hope you can see that there is a war for our hearts.  The spirit and the soul are in a perpetual battle for the thoughts of our hearts.  For us Christians, while the spirit is attempting to program the heart according to the truths of God and His kingdom, the soul is attempting to program the heart according to the experiences of our lives.  That is why the Bible tells us that we must continually renew our minds with the Word of God.  Our minds are such a strong component of our soul that we will serve what we yield ourselves to, and what we yield to will become the primary influence upon our hearts.  So what we think greatly affects our hearts and how we ultimately act.  That's why the Bible tells us to take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.
     I think the best example I can show you of how we, as humans, must program our hearts is found in the first chapter of the Book of Daniel.  I have read and studied this inspiring book with my Home Church group, but am reading it again as I make my way through the Bible ... one more time.  In Daniel 1:8, the King James version reads, But Daniel purposed in his heart, that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank...  The Amplified version reads, But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile (taint, dishonor) himself with the [a]king’s finest food or with the wine which the king drank...
     Can you see this concept of programming our hearts played out in Daniel's faithful act?  Can you see the struggle within his heart -- how he had to process the information coming from his spirit with the information coming from his mind, emotions, and will?  Daniel knew that the king's food would have been sacrificed to pagan gods; and he knows that because his name has been changed from Daniel ("God is my Judge") to Belteshazzar ("The pagan god Bel will protect my life"), if he participates in eating the king's food, he will be giving the impression that he agreed to follow the pagan practices.  This is where Daniel "purposed his heart" according to the belief system of the Kingdom that lived within his heart.  Daniel's heart was programmed by the Kingdom of God, so he acted and thought like God, and out of his love for God, he chose not to compromise.  He made up his mind; "for as he thinks, so in his heart, is he".  Do you see just how powerful our minds can be in overwhelming our hearts?
     I challenge you to look up all the verses in the Bible about the heart.  I believe that, like me, you will find new inspiration and revelation as to how important the state of our heart is to our faith and our salvation journey.  And I think you will discover just how important renewing our mind is to programming our hearts.  Also, I believe that you will find new meaning in verses like this:  "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me"  (Psalm 51:10); and this one:  "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart"  (Hebrews 4:12).
     Finally, I will be showing you with my Scripture choice on Sunday, how the Enemy targets the heart to influence us and take us captive, filling it with his deception and wickedness.   But when our heart is circumcised with the love and commands of the Lord, everything that flows out of it is for the glory of God's Kingdom.  Stay tuned!

Proverbs 4:23    "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life."
   
   

   
 

It's All About Our Hearts

     I have been so impressed with some of the interviews I have seen following the horrific events of last week.  The shootings in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas, have rocked this nation.  I am saddened by the continuing vitriol, but I am also very hopeful at what I am beginning to see happening.  I think you will agree, as you read these interviews that each of the conversations came from the heart, which is the part of us where our emotions dwell.  I think we can all agree that as humans, we are flesh, soul, and spirit.  The soul is comprised of our mind, our emotions, and our will.  But while the heart would seem to be a part of the soul (because our emotions and desires dwell there), I actually believe that there is a spiritual component to our hearts.  I want to explore this further, but first, I want to share why the statements by these individuals moved me so much.
     To begin, all three people just happen to be Black.  But it wasn't their skin color that spoke to my spirit; it was what emanated from their hearts.   I think Benjamin Watson, the tight end for the Baltimore Ravens has given one of the most impressive interviews I've seen.  On NFL Access, he stated that the number one issue to tackle in our nation's attempt to heal from racial division is honesty.  "It's about stepping into someone else's shoes... and sometimes it hurts.  There's pain; there's tears that need to be shed; there's repentance that needs to happen, and forgiveness that needs to happen on all sides.  Healing comes when people's hearts are open to the truth; when they are open and honest and willing to get uncomfortable.  Racism is uncomfortable!  It's not easy to sit here and talk about this issue, but if this nation is going to get to a better place, then we have to realize it is a heart issue; something inside us and not necessarily something effecting us from the outside... We have to respect each other, and see people how God would see them."  On Fox News's The Kelly File, Watson said, "[We have to solve our race problem] through Truth, Justice, and Righteousness."  This man gets it!
     The other two interviews were held with Shetamia Taylor, a shooting victim from Dallas, and a surgeon who treated the officers that were killed, Dr. Brian Williams.  I highly urge you to click on both links, and watch them express their experiences that day.  I dare you not to shed a tear!  When discussing the current state of race relations, Ms. Taylor said, "It's disheartening. I'm angry and I'm frustrated because, of course, we want action, but you have to think first before taking that action. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm not going to stop. I want my community to be unified, I want my people to be unified, I want all of us to come together."  Dr. Williams stated, “I understand the anger and the frustration and distrust of law enforcement, but they are not the problem,” he said, his voice choking up. “The problem is open discussions about the impact of race relations in this country. And I think about it every day, that I was unable to save those cops when they came here that night. It weighs on my mind constantly.” And then here is the honest and uncomfortable part of the discussion that Benjamin Watson encouraged all of us to have ... Dr. Williams continued, “And I want the Dallas police to also see me, a black man, and understand that I support you, I will defend you and I will care for you. That doesn’t mean that I do not fear you. That doesn’t mean if you approach me, I will not immediately have a visceral reaction and start worrying for my personal safety.”
     Can you see the expression of the heart in each of these individuals?  And why is that so important, and what part does it play in spiritual warfare?  The term "heart" refers to the inner person, and it is central and vital to our spiritual existence.  It is very important, in the context of spiritual warfare and our spiritual life, to understand that God is deeply concerned about the inner man or the condition of the heart.  In fact, He make this point clear in 1 Samuel 16:7:  But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  Could that pertain any more to our what our nation is experiencing?
     It is obvious from this passage that God searches the heart.  Why?  He plainly tells us that Where your treasure is, there will be your heart, also (Matthew 6:21).  Everything about our lives -- how we act, our works, our desires and pursuits -- stem from our heart.  If our heart is sick with sin, then it produces sickness on the outside.  That's why God promises those who will follow Him that He will give them a new heart, and take away their "heart of stone".
     The website Bible.org sums it up precisely:  Since the heart is so important to what we think, say, and do, we each need to regularly do open heart surgery with the scalpel of the Word under the guiding hand of the great physician, the Lord Jesus. We accomplish this through the teaching, guiding, convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. Like a sharp two-edged sword, the Word divides the inner man asunder to reveal the true condition and needs of our hearts, because this will truly reveal if they belong to Him.
     Do you remember the blog post I wrote a couple of weeks ago on the verse Mark 4:13 and the Parable of the Sower?  I invite you to go back and revisit it.  But here is a summary that ties into what we're talking about today:  "Three out of four of the types of ground, or soil, received the seed; they were saved.  But not all experienced the same thing over the long haul.  It had to do with the state of the ground upon which the seed fell.  So what does the ground represent?  Remember, when asked by the disciples what the parable meant, He told them the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to those who have teachable hearts ...  The Kingdom of God (where God resides and governs from) works with our human hearts (our belief system and depth of our faith).  But when the world challenges us through its problems -- bills that are due, family issues, health threats -- we choose fear instead of faith."
     If those types of ground, or soil, represent the condition of our hearts, and the seed represents the Word sowed into our hearts, can you see the schemes of the devil to keep that seed from being firmly implanted?  Can you see that preparing the soil of our hearts to become fertile ground for the Word of God is an important weapon in our spiritual warfare arsenal?  The Enemy may disrupt your planting season with his lies, or with unfortunate happenstances that destroy the condition of your heart.  Or, as in the case of last week, he might send agents to kill and murder, sending a fiery dart of hate, causing the condition of your heart to be like barren ground.
     When I wrote my commentary on the Parable of the Sower a little over two weeks ago, the challenges brought about by the shootings in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas had not happened.  Can you now apply what the Bible says about the state of the heart to Benjamin Watson's point that how we react to these tragedies is "a heart issue"?  That we need to repent and forgive in our hearts -- possible only through the conviction and presence of the Holy Spirit -- before healing can begin?
     If we allow satan any access to our heart, he will take advantage of our fleshly emotions and desires and sow his rocks, weeds, and thorns; reaping hate, division, and rebellion in our hearts.  That is why part of our spiritual armor is the breastplate of righteousness which protects our hearts and allows the Word to germinate, thrive, and produce much fruit.  That is the righteousness that Benjamin Watson says we must seek as we examine our hearts.  He's right, you know.  Unless we seriously deal with our heart issues -- fertilizing our hearts with the Word and rooting out the weeds that choke the spirit out of us -- and then allowing ourselves to be uncomfortably honest, and seeing each other as Jesus sees us, His healing balm can not mend our broken hearts.
     I may be an eternal optimist, but my faith gives me hope, and I see hope in the conversations these three remarkable people were willing to have.  There was honesty, which leads to Truth and the readiness to begin to forgive ... and those are powerful weapons against an enemy that seeks to enter our hearts and make them "deceitful and desperately wicked".   We would be wise to listen to the following words of Solomon ....

Proverbs 4:23       "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

Mark 4:13

Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables? 

     This last week my husband and I attended a potluck dinner at the local church for a young couple who will be moving from the community to Italy, as the husband fulfills part of his military service.  Although I am not a member of this church, I love so many of the people who are, and recognize them as faithful and obedient Christians.  

     I overheard my husband, who is continually challenging himself and fellow Christians to understand their Bibles at a deeper level, ask a young woman, "Tell me, do you think there is a difference between the Gospel of Jesus and the Gospel of the Kingdom"?  This young woman loves a good challenge and promised to get back to him after studying the matter.  But that got me to thinking ... How many Christians have even considered this question, or better yet, care enough to determine an answer for themselves?  

     Although I believe there is a difference and could give a pretty good apologetics argument for my opinion, I am never satisfied with my level of knowledge. So I decided to dig a little deeper to try to understand these two concepts and found that the Parable of the Sower is at the foundation of understanding the Gospel of the Kingdom.  In fact, the questions Jesus poses in the title of this blog are questions He asked after He taught His disciples this parable, and He makes it pretty clear that if we don't understand the parable of the Sower, then we will have trouble understanding all the rest of the parables.  Wow! I had never grasped that concept before!  Understanding this teaching is something worth pursuing.

     I want to begin by saying that I spend a lot of time in my Bible, studying for myself, but there are also good teachers in this day that I admire and respect; teachers who are following in the footsteps of teachers down through the centuries:  Origen, Matthew Henry, Dwight Moody, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Billy Graham.  These historical figures are flawed men, and you may not completely agree with their theology, but you cannot deny their passion for the Gospel.  The same is true of men that I admire today:  Justin Faull, Russ Dizdar, Michael Heiser, and Dan Duval.  In fact, it was a podcast of a sermon Duval delivered for his online ministry, The Fire Place Church, that helped me come to a new level of understanding regarding the Parable of the Sower and the Gospel of the Kingdom.

     We are all familiar with this parable ... chronologically, it is the 11th of 49 parables that Jesus taught.  It is important to understand the order in which Jesus taught them, and what came before this parable if it, indeed, is the one that understanding all the other parables rests upon.  Parables 1-10  focus on the fact that there’s a new story being told, that it’s not to be hidden, and it serves as a foundation for what’s coming next. These are the parables which involve new cloth, new wine, a lamp on a stand, wise & foolish builders, the moneylender who forgives unequal debts, a lamp on a stand (2nd time), a rich man who builds bigger barns, servants who must remain watchful, wise and foolish servants, and an unfruitful fig tree.  

     The 11th Parable, the one about the Sower of the Seed, teaches us to understand the foundation of what's coming next ... the Kingdom of God.  The parable relates the familiar story of a sower who sowed seed on four types of soil:  the wayside (or the hard road), where it failed to take root and the birds ate it up; on rocks where there was not much soil, although a plant sprang up and was quickly scorched by the sun because the roots had no depth; among thorns, where the seed took root, but the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit; and the good soil, where the plants grew, and increased, and yielded 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.  

     How many of us have been taught that the primary purpose of this parable is to point out that it was only the good soil where the seed grew and yielded fruit; that this parable is all about the salvation of those people who occupy the good ground and their response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Yes, Jesus goes on to explain that the Sower "sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation]".  But if you re-read the parable, you will notice that all the types of soil but one received the Word and had an initial experience of salvation.  

     Jesus tells us that the seed that fell on the rocks represent those who "receive it (the Word that brings salvation; the Gospel of Jesus Christ) with joy [but accept it only superficially] -- but accept it they did! -- and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away".

     He tells us that the seed that fell on the thorns are "the ones who have heard the word, but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful". They were still saved, but they fall away and are unfruitful!  Lastly, He tells us that the seed that fell on good soil represents "the ones who hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown]." 

     I can just hear all my Baptist friends!  "Only the seed that fell on the good ground represents the truly saved!  The seed on the rocky and thorny ground represents those were were never really saved!"  I will agree to a point ... they experienced salvation, but did not keep it.  But stick with me -- I do not believe this is the point of the parable.

     We all understand what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is; Gospel means "good news", and the "good news" of Jesus Christ is that He died for our sins to save us from the hell we deserve.  BUT, is that what He is preaching in this parable?  Jesus hasn't died yet, so how could He be preaching how His death, burial, and resurrection would lead to eternal life?  No!  When asked to explain the parable of the Sower by the disciples, Jesus said, "“The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables...".  He did not say, "the mystery of the Gospel of Me has been given to you."

     Can you see that He is trying to tell them (and us!) that the good news is more than the Gospel about Him; it is about the good news of God's kingdom!  This parable is not only about the salvation experience of hearers of the Word -- it's more than that!  Our salvation experience is just the beginning of our purpose here on earth.  This parable is about understanding the mystery of the kingdom of God --- if we have teachable hearts like the disciples!  Jesus wasn't preaching his death, burial and resurrection with this parable.  He was preaching something else, something bigger than Himself.  He was preaching about the coming of the kingdom of God, the Gospel of the Kingdom.  But what is that? 

     The kingdom of God is the realm in which God exists; it is wherever God is.  And what does a King do?  He governs His subjects and servants.  The Gospel of the Kingdom is the good news of God's government.  It is the good news that God governs out of His realm, which is now dimensionally separated from the earth, and that He intends to govern the earth through us; to interact with us in order to transform the planet to His will in accordance with the faith and belief of His people.  

     Up to this point, God's government has been a spiritual government.  But when God became incarnate, in the figure of Jesus, His government was now interacting through a man on earth, and He was taking territory from the Enemy.  That is "the mystery" of how God would now govern the earth, and it was good news for mankind!

     Can you see that the Gospel of the Kingdom goes so much further than the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Please understand -- I am not diminishing the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  It is the key to the salvation message by which all men can avoid eternal damnation.  It is the necessary first step!  But let's not stop mid-sentence!  Let us not diminish the Gospel of the Kingdom which tells us the good news that God can now interface with saved men through dimensions, and can work with us to begin bringing heaven and earth back into alignment!  

     At the heart of the Gospel of the Kingdom is the knowledge that Jesus was the first man to manifest this interface, and then He turned around and gave that ability to us ... whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  He is telling us that the Father gave Him authority to help govern the earth (to do God's will), and now we can, too, because He is going back to the Father and will be personally interceding for us; interfacing through the dimensions with those who believe in Him.  

     Can you see that when we stop at the salvation message of the Gospel of Jesus, we lose out on a bigger revelation?  It is through the revelation of the death and resurrection of Jesus that we gain access to the dimension and realm where God is King.  

     So to bring it full circle, I believe this is what we need to understand about this parable:  Three out of four of the types of ground, or soil, received the seed; they were saved.  But not all experienced the same thing over the long haul.  It had to do with the state of the ground upon which the seed fell.  So what does the ground represent?  Remember, when asked by the disciples what the parable meant, He told them the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to those who have teachable hearts. 

     Can you accept that perhaps that the ground represents the condition of our hearts; our belief system and where our faith is anchored?  Can the different types of ground represent our willingness to connect to the realm of God, and to becoming partners with Him to govern the earth.  The Kingdom of God (where God resides and governs from) works with our human hearts (belief system and depth of our faith).  But when the world challenges us through its problems -- bills that are due, family issues, health threats -- we choose fear instead of faith.  And fear closes that inter-dimensional connection.  

     Once we have received salvation, we are each responsible for our own heart condition.  Jesus is sowing Himself into our hearts.  How hard will we work to grow our roots deep; how hard will we fight to keep our roots from being choked out by the world? How teachable is your heart, and how much do you want to work with God to help govern His earth?  The extent of your ability to do that, as a saved Christian, depends on the condition of your heart -- is it hard, rocky, thorny, or good?  Think about it.

      

Jeremiah 6:10

To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.

     The entire Sixth Chapter of Jeremiah is a lament for how far the children of Israel have strayed from God.  The aging prophet speaks the Lord's truth over the nation and Jerusalem; they are full of oppression, violence and plundering.  They have committed abominations against the Lord and are unashamed.  They ignore the teachings of the Prophets and reject the Word of the Lord.  Jeremiah calls them "stubborn rebels", and warns that there is a refining fire coming upon the Land, in which the Lord will no longer protect them.  He asks if there is anyone who will listen to him, but knows that no one will hear because their ears have been closed by God because He is tired of their rebellion.

     How often have we read this same cautionary warning in the New Testament?  How many times did Jesus say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  I will tell you that I am writing about this theme today because my husband had a recurring dream that I was to bring this to your attention, and that we were to pay special attention to exactly what it was that Jesus wanted us to hear.

     A glance at the Bible told me that our Lord spoke these words often, as an ancillary follow-up to His parables.  I found it interesting in Matthew 13, that the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, and He told them that the mysteries of Heaven had been given to certain people, but not to all.  As Matthew Henry, the 17th Century theologian, so eloquently puts it:  "A parable is a shell that keeps good fruit for the diligent, but keeps it from the slothful." 

     In other words, Knowledge is a gift from God, and through His Grace and Sovereignty, He gives or withholds it at His pleasure.  For the one who diligently wants to grow in his understanding of God, he will find that he hears the hidden message in the parables.  To those who hear God’s word, and see his divine interventions, and yet make no effort to understand and perceive His will, they will receive the teaching of the parables in vain.  The words of the Lord will be wasted on them, because their heart is hardened.

     So, just what did Jesus want us to hear?  In fact, in both Matthew 13, and Mark 9, the Parable of the Sower is repeated.  Apparently, God wants to make sure we get the meaning.  He is trying to teach the Disciples that the Gospel Message will not bear fruit among everyone with whom they share it.  There will be those who hear the Word, and it is easily taken from them because they do not guard it.  Others will embrace it for a time, but it has not pierced their hard hearts because it was laid in shallow ground.  Still others will hear the Word, but they are surrounded by forces that will choke the life out of it, and it cannot survive the sorrows of this world.  But they will have success when the Word is planted in a rich soil, and a yearning heart; it will grow, and spread and produce a harvest far beyond what was planted.  Those are the ones who will hear!

     In Mark, Chapter 4, is the difficult passage in which Jesus compares John the Baptist with the Prophet Elijah.  He reveals that the Spirit of Elijah, who was taken up to God, has now returned as God's Messenger through the Prophet John the Baptist.  When Jesus tells them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear", He is telling them, in essence, that those things were dark and hard to understand, and therefore needed their attention.  They were of great concern and consequence, and deserved their full scrutiny.  If they were given the gift of hearing and understanding, then they needed to use it to understand that John the Baptist is the one of whom their prophet Malachi spoke; the one who would prepare the way for their Messiah.  It was incumbent upon them to use the gift of understanding that they had been given by God, so that they could share it with others who would hear.

     The same could be said of Christ's repeated command to the Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation:  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  This directive is repeated for each of the Seven Churches in Revelation 1-3.  Don't you think He wants us to pay special attention to what is plainly revealed to us in these passages?  The Lord makes it very clear that He holds these Churches in His Right Hand -- they are HIS churches!  

     As He points out the characteristics of each Church, He tells them to hear what He has to say to them.  To the Loveless Church (Ephesus), He tells them to overcome their strict, legalistic heart and return (repent) to exemplifying the Love of Christ that they first demonstrated.  If they will hear what He has to say, they will once again eat of the Tree of Life and exhibit new life in their church.

     To the Persecuted Church (Smyrna) He reveals that He intimately knows the hate and suffering they are experiencing for His sake.  But wants them to hear the encouragement He is offering that they will be rewarded for their perseverance.

     To the Comprising Church (Pergamus), Jesus shows that He is aware that they have slipped in their devotion to Him, and have admitted false doctrine into His Church.  He wants those who will hear to eat only of His sustaining Bread, and to repent of their sins.  In return, they will receive new life in their faith.

     To the Corrupt Church (Thyratira), He appears as the Son of God, with blazing eyes.  He is angry that they have let the immorality of Jezebel overtake the purity of His Church.  He sternly warns those who follow her, that He is able to search hearts and minds, and His justice will be swift.  To those who have ears to understand His teaching, they will need to hold fast until He returns, and they will be given power over the nations.

     To the Dead Church (Sardis), Christ warns that He is not fooled by their good reputation of works, for He knows that their heart is cold and lifeless.  Once again He promises renewal to those who repent and understand the hearing of their ears.  

     It is only to the Faithful Church (at Philadelphia) that Jesus has strong praise.  They are an example of those who have used their ears to hear, and who have not denied His name, but kept His commandments to persevere in the midst of temptation and suffering.  

     And, finally, to the Lukewarm Church (Laodicea), Jesus warns them that their wealth and position will not buy them security in His kingdom.  They choose to hear only what makes them comfortable, and it will be their ruination.  He tells them to repent and seek His Kingdom, not the wealth of this world.  

     So, as you can see, when people shut up their ears, it is usually because the word of God is offensive to them.  It gives them no pleasure and they do not wish to receive the life-giving sustenance and wisdom that God offers them through faith in His Son.  And it is sad to contemplate that there will be some people to whom we cannot teach His Gospel Message, because they refuse to hear.  But we must not be discouraged, and continue to sow the Word upon all the ground before us. Ultimately, whether people hear or not, is the Sovereign decision of God.  But we must all be like Jeremiah and continue to ask "Who will listen to me?"  You never know whose life you will speak the Word into, and how they will respond.  But you can trust God to use it for His glorification!