HEAR, RECEIVE, AND ACT

Beloved, there is a difference between hearing the Message and receiving the Message. There is a difference between having the Message in our ears and having the Message in our hearts. There is a difference between knowing what God has said and allowing what God has said to become life in us.

A man may know the truth and yet remain unchanged. He may admire the Message, speak about the Message, defend the Message, and even quote the Message—and yet never allow that Word to take possession of his life.

But when the Word of God truly enters the heart, it does something. It causes unmistakable change. A change which the Holy Spirit bears witness to.

Job 1:1 KJV

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Once the Word is truly received:

It changes the man. It changes the walk. It changes the conversation. It changes the desires. It changes the mind.

The purpose of the Message is not merely that we should know something new. The purpose is that Christ might be formed in us.

Paul said:

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”—Galatians 4:19 KJV

That is the purpose of the true message: Christ formed in the believer.

HEARING IS THE BEGINNING, BUT TRULY BELIEVING MUST FOLLOW

Jesus said:

There is something deeper than hearing with the natural ear. There is a hearing of the heart. It is that inward ear that recognizes, “This is the Word of God. This is what God is saying. This is the direction of the Spirit.”

And when the heart truly recognizes the voice of God and receives, faith begins to act.

Faith is not merely agreeing that something is true. Faith takes God at His Word, believes and acts on it. Faith makes you surrender to the will and work of God.

Faith says, If God has spoken it, I will believe it. If God has revealed it, I will walk in it. If God has commanded it, I will obey it. What God has spoken, it will stand. It will do for me. It will hold for me. It will save me. Therefore, I will hang on it.

GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD A WAY OF MAKING HIS VOICE KNOWN

Amos gives us a tremendous principle:

The purpose of this is to give His people a true ground for hope by which faith is produced to anchor the soul. Only the word truly spoken by God can impart faith in the heart. God has ever done it.

Noah preached in his generation.

Moses carried the Word for his generation.

Elijah stood with the Word in his generation.

John the Baptist came crying in the wilderness.

And when the fullness of time was come, God Himself, as the whole Word, was manifested in flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ.

The messenger is important—but the message is greater than the messenger, because the message comes from God.

Therefore, when God sends a messenger, it is needless to ask, “Who is this man?”

We should ask:

“What saith the Word? Is it God’s voice? Can it pass the test?”

If so, then we owe our life, our whole life to it.

THE MESSENGER MUST POINT TO CHRIST

A true messenger does not gather the people around himself.

He points beyond himself.

John the Baptist understood this perfectly. When the people looked at him, he said:

That should be the spirit of every ministry that truly comes from God.

Christ must increase. Man must decrease.The Word must increase.Human opinion must vanish.

The messenger is a vessel.

The Message is God's Word.

And Christ is the centre.

Christ is the Message in its fullness.

The servant may carry the light, but Jesus Christ is the Light.

DO NOT STOP AT HEARING

James gives us one of the most searching warnings in Scripture:

What a solemn statement:

“Hearers only.”

It is possible to hear a true message but lack a true experience that goes with it, and that is to deceive ourselves. The true experience comes by one plunging into the narrow way. You have to enter in by violence. It is a fight that destroys the fleshly lusts and ambitions that try to hinder you. You violently enter in by destroying any opposition.

It is possible to sit under true preaching and remain unchanged. Why? By taking it for granted. By not being wholly taken up by the message. By holding on earthly cares because of not being persuaded enough to give up all for the sake of life eternal.

It is possible to know the true doctrine and not possess life eternal. Why? Doctrine in itself does not impart life. Life eternal is received by birth. To be born again you have to fully surrender to Jesus Christ in a way that means he is everything to you. Have you done it dear friend?

It is possible to know the Message by head while failing to walk in its spiritual reality. Why? You can only walk in the reality of God’s living Word by the Holy Spirit working it in you. Dear friend, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

But God is calling for something deeper. For something higher. For something greater. For something wider. For something broader.

What is it? Where you and Him become one. Are you ready for it brother? Are you out for it sister? It means you receive all of Him at the expense of the whole world. The whole of your world must go for attain Him. The whole world must crumble for you to gain Him. You can’t hide a little of it and attain it. Are you ready?

The Word must become life to be of any meaning to you.

Jesus said:

The blessing is not merely in knowing. The blessing is in doing.

When the Word says forgive—then seek until you attain it.

When the Word says love all—then be convicted to seek to obtain it. Rest not till it is in you to love all.

When the Word says separate yourself from sin—then endeavor to achieve it, not as a law, but as a new nature within which allows nothing else.

When the Word says walk in holiness—then cry after it till it strikes home.

When the Word says humble yourself—then break down in conviction, and willingly reach out to Him to help you attain it.

When the Word says follow Christ—then be diligent not to do anything but His will.

That is when the Message becomes more than just a sermon. It becomes a living reality in you.

THE WORD MUST MOVE FROM THE EAR TO THE HEART

There are distinct steps that every revelation must make.

It must travel:

From the ear,to the mind,from the mind,to the heart,and from the heart,into the life as quickening takes place.

If it stops at the ear, we have only heard.

If it stops at the mind, we have only understood.

But when it reaches the heart is quickened, we are then saved.

The prophet Ezekiel spoke of this inward work:

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”—Ezekiel 36:26 KJV

God does not merely want to give us information. No! Not information, but He wants transformation.

How?

He wants His Word written upon the heart.

He wants the believer to become a living epistle.

Paul said:

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:”—2 Corinthians 3:2 KJV

The world may never read the sermon we preach from a pulpit.

But they can read the sermon written in our lives.

They can see whether we have truly believed.

They can see whether Christ is truly living in us.

They can see whether we are truly holy.

They can bear witness whether we are truly righteous.

They can see and testify whether we are truly just.

THE TRUE MESSAGE BRINGS US TO THE LIVING WORD

If God sends a messenger, that messenger speaks what God has in mind concerning us. He will direct the us back to the living Word – that is Jesus Christ.

Isaiah declared:

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”—Isaiah 8:20 KJV

What a measuring rod!

Not personality.

Not popularity.

Not eloquence.

Not signs alone.

Not human reasoning.

Not emotion.

But the Word! Not just knowledge on paper, but the living walking Word! You become part of that Word.

THE SHEEP KNOW THE VOICE

Jesus did not say, “My sheep know every voice.”

He said:

“My sheep hear my voice.”

The sheep have a relationship with the Shepherd.

They recognize His voice because they belong to Him. They are his and his alone.

And there are many voices in the world today.

Voices of religion.

Voices of tradition.

Voices of philosophy.

Voices of culture.

Voices of men.

Voices of fear.

Voices of compromise.

But Jesus said:

“My sheep hear my voice.”

May God give us ears that can distinguish the voice of the Shepherd from every other voice.

May we never become so attached to some personality that we cannot hear Christ.

May we never become so attached to a denomination that we cannot hear Christ.

May we never become so attached to our own interpretation that we cannot hear Christ.

And may we never become so fascinated with a messenger that we forget the One who sent him.

The messenger must lead us to Christ. The Message must lead us to the Word.The Word must lead us into obedience. And obedience must produce the life of Christ in us.

WHEN THE WORD BECOMES LIFE

John wrote:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”—John 1:14 KJV

The supreme demonstration of God's Word becoming life was Jesus Christ.

The Word was not merely spoken.

The Word was manifested.

And today, the same principle remains true in the believer's life.

God desires that what we have heard should become manifested in our life.

The love we hear preached should become the love we live by.

The holiness we hear proclaimed should become holiness in our walk.

The faith we confess should become faith in action.

The forgiveness we speak about should become reality towards our enemies.

The humility we admire in Christ should become humility in us.

Then the world can see something beyond our words. They can see Christ.

Paul said:

“Christ in you, the hope of glory:”—Colossians 1:27 KJV

That is the goal.

Not merely Christ talked about.

Not merely Christ preached about.

Not merely Christ studied about.

But Christ in you.

LET US RECEIVE WHAT GOD IS SAYING

Therefore, beloved, let us not be content with hearing.

Let us believe.

Let us not be content with believing.

Let us wholly receive.

Let us not be content with mentally receiving.

Let us surrender all our hearts to what we receive.

And let us not be content with outward obedience. But let us seek that inward transformation whereby Christ Himself is formed in us.

If God has sent a messenger in our day, let us recognize the ministry according to the Scriptures. Let us receive the Word that God has vindicated and made known through that ministry. But let us never stop at the vessel.

Look beyond the messenger to the Christ, through Christ to God.

For every true ministry has one great purpose: To bring the Bride back to the Bridegroom.

Every true revelation should make Christ more precious.

Every true opening of Scripture should make Christ more glorious.

Every true message should cause us to say with the apostle Paul:

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”—1 Corinthians 2:2 KJV

A FINAL CALL TO THE HEART

Believer, the hour is not calling us merely to hear more.

It is calling us to be changed by being transformed by the power of the living Word, to be as He is, so as to be filled with the fullness of God.

The question is not only:

“Have you heard the Message?”

The deeper question is:

“Has the Message heard you?”

Has it changed your heart?

Has it changed your trust?

Has it changed your character?

Has it brought you closer to God?

Has it made you more like Jesus?

Has it brought you closer to the Word?

Has it caused you to walk in greater love, humility, holiness, faith, and obedience?

Because the evidence that we have truly received the Word is not merely that we can repeat it.

The evidence is that the Word is producing its life in us.

Jesus said:

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”—John 15:8 KJV

May the Word bear fruit in us.

May revelation become experience.

May doctrine become life.

May hearing become faith.

May faith become obedience.

May obedience become character.

And may character reflect Jesus Christ.

PRAYER

O gracious heavenly Father,

Give us spiritual ears to hear what Thy Spirit is saying.

Give us hearts that are tender enough to receive Thy Word, humble enough to believe it, and yielded enough to obey it.

As Thou hast sent a messenger among us to bear Thy Word, give us discernment to fully recognize the ministry according to Thy Holy Scriptures. Keep us from rejecting what Thou hast sent, but also keep us from exalting any man above the place that belongs to You alone.

Let us measure all things by Thy Word.

Let us hold fast that which is good.

Let the Message not remain merely upon our lips. Write it upon our hearts, oh Lord.

Let it become faith in our spirits, holiness in our walk, love in our hearts, truth in our speech, and Christ in our lives.

May we never become hearers only.

Make us doers of the Word.

Let the world see Jesus in us.

Let our ways testify.

Let our actions testify.

Let our character testify.

Let everything we do point back to Calvary, back to the Scriptures, and back to Jesus Christ.

For He is the centre.

He is the Word.

He is the Life.

He is the Way.

He is the Truth.

And He is the One we follow.

In the precious Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“THE MESSAGE IN OUR HEARTS — THE WORD IN OUR LIVES — CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF IT ALL.”