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How Well Do You Listen?

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”Matthew 11:15

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Three Types of Listeners

• The “Dull of Hearing”–Hebrews 5:11

• Those “wanting to have their ears tickled”–2 Timothy 4:3-4

• Those who hear with “An Honest and Good Heart”–Luke 8:15

Hebrews 5:11“Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have

become dull of hearing.”

2 Timothy 4:3-4“For the time will come when they will not

endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their

own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Luke 8:15“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear

fruit with perseverance.”

Acts 17:11“Now these were more noble-minded than

those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the

Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

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Importance of Good Listening

• Essential to being Blessed–Matthew 13:16-17; Ephesians 1:3

• Essential to Saving Faith–Romans 1:16-17; 10:14-17

• Essential to Bearing Fruit –Luke 8:15; Colossians 1:6

Matthew 13:16-17“But blessed are your eyes, because they see;

and your ears, because they hear. 17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and

righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear,

and did not hear it.”

Ephesians 1:3“Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly

places in Christ,”

Romans 1:16-17“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone

who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith."”

Luke 8:15“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear

fruit with perseverance.”

Colossians 1:6“which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit

and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it

and understood the grace of God in truth;”

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Importance of Good Listening

• Essential to Preventing Apostasy–Hebrews 2:1-3

• Essential to Avoiding Rejection and Condemnation–Matthew 10:14-15; Acts 13:44-49;

Matthew 12:41-42

Hebrews 2:1-3“For this reason we must pay much closer

attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience

received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,”

Matthew 10:14-15“Whoever does not receive you, nor heed

your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15

"Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the

day of judgment than for that city.”

Matthew 12:41-42“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this

generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the

preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 "The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear

the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

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Steps to Better Listening

• Make Listening an Act of Worship• Listen from First to Last• Look at the Speaker • Read along in your Bible• Listen with Faith

–Hebrews 4:1-2

• Listen with a Mind to Act –cf. Ezekiel 33:30-32; James 1:22-25

Hebrews 4:1-2“Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise

remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For

indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united

by faith in those who heard.”

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