The quality of Hearing

Guys, last week we talked about training and we got stuck, in a good way perhaps.

So this week we'll go further ahead and as I went over the questions you asked last week

and the things we were talking about in training, I realized that we'll have to break it down even further.

So thanks to mainly James, this is going to take longer.

It's a stretched out version of training.

So today we are only going to talk about one aspect of it and that's training your hearing.

Training your hearing. That's the first thing we need to train.

And here's the thing guys, sometimes the word training may not be the kind of word you want to hear associated with Christian living.

So whenever a word I say brings up a certain image in your head and you don't like that image,

don't get stuck there, replace that word with something else.

So training, call it formation of spiritual habits.

Call it grace-filled, Holy Spirit-inspired practice.

Call it my mind is a student, the Holy Spirit is a teacher.

Call it whatever you want so that the word does not prevent you from exploring it further.

So change the word.

And just to quickly repeat some of the lines I repeated last time.

Why are we training? Because our minds are fashioned by the world and we want to renovate it with the word and the Spirit.

See, if you notice the Bible doesn't say, and then Jesus said, I'll come and I'll clothe you in myself.

The Bible doesn't say, this is the armor of God, Jacob. Now, just could you stand still while I put it on you?

No, no, no, no, no. The Bible says put on the armor of God.

Romans 13, 14 says put on Jesus Christ.

There is an active doing which is not natural, which is why Paul had to emphasize that listen, put on, take it on, put it on.

There is a certain diligence involved in it.

And so much of the kingdom of God has to do with hearing and doing.

Have you noticed how in the Bible it always says, this is one of Jesus' favorite phrases, eh?

That's him who has ears, hear.

And Paul would say, especially in Hebrews, today if you hear the voice of God, today if you hear, do not harden your hearts, today if you hear.

So the kingdom of God has much to do, the quality of the kingdom of God has much to do with the quality of the kingdom of God in your life and my life has much to do with the way we hear.

So today we'll be focusing on how to hear.

How can I improve the quality of my hearing?

Because if I improve the quality of my hearing, the word, I'll improve the renewing of my mind.

And if I improve the renewing of my mind, why do you say that, Jacob?

Because the Bible says that the renewing of the mind comes through the word.

So the quality of my hearing affects the way I think and the way I think affects the way I live out my life in Christ.

So we're going to only look at training our hearing so that we can hear well, so that we can be transformed.

Guys, the first thing we need to establish is there are degrees of hearing.

There are degrees of hearing that apply to you and I in different areas of our lives.

For instance, take John 12, 27-30.

John 12, 27-30.

John 12, 27-30.

Hey, did anyone get one of these from anyone's car?

I need a new one because it's broke, guys.

Do your thing.

So I passed through your sending us into the neighborhood to steal and there are...

No, just to your mom's car.

Okay, so degrees of hearing.

Guys, John 12, 27-30.

Here's what it says, then a voice came from heaven.

I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.

Meaning Jesus was praying to the Father and then a voice came from heaven saying,

I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.

The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered.

Others said an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine.

Guys, here's the thing about this passage.

God spoke and when he was speaking, he was speaking for the sake of the people.

Not really for Jesus because Jesus makes that clear.

But listen to what happens.

Some actually heard what God spoke, which is why it's recorded in the Gospels.

So some heard it.

Others heard what they thought was thunder.

Thunder.

And a third group heard and said it was something that an angel had spoken.

You have the same thing being spoken from the heavens, the voice of God,

and three separate groups of people hear it in three different ways.

And none of them were wrong.

It was loud.

It was a heavenly voice.

But only some heard what God was saying.

The rest heard loudness.

One group said this is definitely not just loud but it's heavenly.

But a third group said not only is it loud, not only is it heavenly,

but it is the voice of God and here is what God said.

And very clearly Jesus says, by the way, this was for your sake, not for mine.

So it's odd how our hearing has varying degrees of hearing.

Varying degrees.

Remember that about yourself and about myself.

That even as you sit here and I speak, all of us have varying degrees of hearing

as you listen to what I'm saying.

The same as seeing.

The same as seeing, yeah.

Yeah.

And it has much to do with how we approach things.

We'll talk about that some more.

The other, so that's degrees of hearing.

The next thing I want to tell you about hearing is that obedience and hearing are very intertwined.

The word obedience actually carries the sense of listening to, listen under.

That's the sense of the word.

Obedience is to listen under.

And strangely enough, disobedience is to listen around.

Obedience is to listen under and disobedience is to listen around.

So disobedience is not a lack of listening or a lack of even doing.

Disobedience is if this is the word,

obedience is listening under the word, disobedience is listening around the word.

This is why many of us without knowing or walking in disobedience

because we don't come under the word, we go around the word.

Eli listened around the word.

Eli is that guy who was a high priest in Israel who Samuel grew up under.

Eli listened around the word, which is why he ended up in the situation he was in.

Samuel listened under the word.

And by the way, Samuel comes from the word Shama-ul,

which means one who heeds the word and does it.

Even the very name Samuel carries the sense of listening under.

Go ahead, Diana.

Eli was given words from God and instead of doing them, he chose to listen around,

which is why his sons ended up where his sons ended.

Okay, listening around. God says to Samuel,

God says to Eli, Eli, your sons are up to this and that.

Make sure that you don't go condoning what they're doing.

Take action so that things may go well with you and your family.

Samuel chose not, Eli chose not to do that.

And in choosing not to do that, not only do Eli's sons die,

but Eli forever loses his high priesthood from his family line

because he chose to listen around.

To listen around is to listen some but not listen fully.

That's listening around.

Yeah, it will translate into doing.

I mean that's a huge part of hearing, which we'll come to.

So guys, when it comes to hearing, hearing and obedience go hand in hand.

This is why in Hebrews 4, 2, and 6 and 7, it says that Israel heard.

Israel was good at hearing, but Israel didn't mix their hearing with obedience.

And because they didn't mix their hearing with obedience, they never entered into rest.

Just think of this. Think of how far-reaching it is, the quality of our hearing.

Our hearing, if it's not coupled with obedience, will never allow you and I to enter into rest.

And I'm not talking about heaven. I'm not talking about heaven.

I'm talking about rest here on earth where you only do what you're told to do because you hear and do.

Jesus walked in rest. Jesus ran in rest.

Jesus strived in rest, are they?

This is why guys, it's fascinating how these little words like hearing can have such far-reaching effects.

These are foundational things that we miss.

And maybe increase. The intent of this is partly to point out our defective hearing,

but more than anything else, after pointing that out, is to say,

okay, from now on I'm going to change the way I listen.

I'm going to change the quality of my listening because Jesus kept saying this.

Pay heed to how you hear. Listen to how you hear.

Let him who has ears hear. Why does he keep saying that?

It wasn't a pet Jewish phrase, by the way.

Even Eli knew, right? Because he told Samuel how to respond to God.

Eli knew. It wasn't that Eli didn't know. Good point.

It was that he listened around despite knowing.

He taught Samuel how to hear, man.

The quality of your hearing then affects your output.

Just imagine this.

Here's where, because we hear a certain message preached a certain way,

we forget the main core of the parable.

The parable of the sower, we immediately connect it to salvation.

But here's what Jesus says about the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.

Those that listen to my word and do not understand it.

Then he goes on to say, those that listen to my word and receive it with joy,

those that hear me and let it sink for a while but circumstances, drive them away.

And then he finally ends the whole parable saying,

as you hear, so shall the output of your life be, 30, 60 or 100-fold.

Amazing.

That parable is about how you hear.

That parable is about how you hear the word.

And according to how I hear the word, my life will produce 30, 60 or 100-fold.

So if Jacob's life at present is not producing 100-fold in some areas,

it's because in those areas, Jacob does not couple hearing with doing and obedience.

That's one of the reasons.

And note too guys, that Jesus says hear, he doesn't say read.

I understand that reading the word is important,

but note that the emphasis is on hearing the word.

On hearing the word.

Remember, till 1600, there was no question of reading the word.

Don't think that the Old Testament, they sat down and lit their lamps

or sat by the cloud of fire and said,

okay, pull out your Old Testaments and let's read.

No, there were no Old Testaments.

Nor did Paul teach from the New Testament, because there was no New Testament.

All of it happened through hearing the word.

So as much as reading is to be absolutely encouraged because you divide the word right,

note that the emphasis is on hearing the word.

And that's why there must be a primacy given to teaching in every church

above worship, above gifts, above everything else.

It's vital that teaching be given primacy and not worship.

Any church that is worship centered is actually putting the cart before the horse.

Because even an understanding of God in worship comes from what you have learned about Him through teaching.

Which is where I want to put something else in, guys.

Guys, I'm a five-fold teacher, meaning I'm an equipper.

There's a grace given to me by Christ, which allows me to teach the way I teach.

It's going to be very hard for you to keep notes of everything I say,

because most of the time they're not even in my notes.

So as much as keeping notes helps, I'll tell you what will really help you if you listen to what is taught.

But Jacob, you overload us with information.

True, I'm trying to change that habit of mine,

which is why for the next few weeks we'll keep going over old teachings.

But so if you take notes, it's good because you can go over notes.

Some of us are more print friendly than anything else.

So taking notes is fine.

But if you're not taking notes, then I would strongly suggest that you listen to the old teachings.

But if you're not taking notes, then I would strongly suggest that you listen to these messages

either online or in your vehicle or at home or even when you're going to sleep.

If I'm the one who puts you to sleep, so be it.

But the point is this, guys, for a five-fold teacher it's almost impossible to take notes of everything.

And if you don't listen, may I suggest to you that you're at a disadvantage.

This is the only reason why I listen to my own sermons.

Sometimes I get tired. I tell the Lord, Father, I'm listening to my own voice and it's beginning to grate.

Because I talk to myself anyways at home because I live alone and I use different accents too.

Oh, if you only eavesdrop, you'd hear such funny conversations.

Sometimes I think even God is amused.

But the point is this, the reason I listen to my CDs in the vehicle is because I want to hear what is taught.

Because sometimes things that I said are not in my notes.

It's to your advantage because it's through hearing that this happens.

The emphasis is on hearing.

So here's something else then, guys.

Jesus said, the sower went out and sowed the seed of the word.

The soil was the quality of your hearing.

So who is the sower today?

Hey, look at these fancy things there.

They've got erasers at the end.

It might take forever, but at least it's fun.

Anyways, who is the sower today?

Who is the sower today?

Pardon?

Yeah, anyone who teaches is a sower.

Or let's qualify it even further.

Who is the sower today? The preacher or the teacher.

Who is the bona fide preacher? Who's a real preacher?

One who is sent.

You don't become a preacher because you went to Bible school.

I told them this very clearly when I first started asking Jason to teach at Acts 29.

I said, make sure that we don't hear one of your Greek sermons.

I don't want that.

If you want to teach at Acts 29, teach because God has deposited something in you.

And if you notice, he has changed so much from when he first started teaching.

When he first started teaching, he'd always tell you what the word meant in Greek.

We want to know the Father, not in Greek or Hebrew.

We want to know him through what he has been taught by the Father.

So, who is a bona fide preacher?

A bona fide preacher is someone who is sent.

What do I mean by sent? Someone who is appointed, someone who is commissioned to teach.

That's what a bona fide preacher is.

Not everybody who teaches is necessarily sent, eh?

Which is why it was important to send Su.

We'll talk about that another time.

One of the singular qualities of a sent preacher or teacher of the word is that the word preached is the word lived.

The word preached is the word lived.

There is very little separation between the message and the messenger.

You have a right to come up to me and gently, if possible, tell me that,

Jacob, there's a gap between what you preach and what you practice.

You have a right to do that.

And if you are... Initially, I may be defensive.

I may not like you for two or three hours, but I promise you, if you are right, I will listen.

And I will make every effort to change.

That's one of the singular qualities of someone who is sent to teach.

That the difference between what is taught and what is practiced is minimum.

I'm literally challenging you on that, eh?

To come and you have the right to check me when my life doesn't match.

And I promise you, there will be areas like that.

When I throw out this challenge, I'm not saying you will not find this gap in my life.

I'm saying you will find that gap in my life and you have a right to do that.

Gently.

Like I do.

Excuse me?

Did you snigger?

Guys, so here's the catch now, eh?

And this is important.

We said just now that hearing...

The sore is the one who is sent.

So here's the thing, guys.

You have to be careful.

The sore is the one who is sent.

So here's the thing, guys.

You will not be able to hear well if you are not able to receive the one who is sent.

Just think of this.

And it's happened to me many times.

I'll be sitting in a church and there'll be some guy who comes up to teach.

And his teaching is brilliant.

But the moment he walked in, I didn't like the color of his shirt.

I didn't like his accent.

I didn't like the way he looked.

I didn't like the ceremony that he came in with.

So there I'm sitting in the church and the guy is speaking the truth and teaching the truth.

But I have an attitude in my heart and I'm not able to give honor to the one that God has sent.

And therefore I take myself out from the ability to hear him properly.

Because as I receive the sent one, so I receive the sent word.

Do you understand why people could not receive Jesus?

Everybody said this about Jesus.

That here is a man who speaks with great authority.

Where did he learn it from?

Isn't this the brother of Judas and James and some of those other guys?

And isn't Joseph and Mary his father and mother?

Where does he get such authority from?

People who hung out with Jesus, people said of them, these have surely been with Jesus.

But because look at their authority too.

If this man preached with authority signs and wonders, why couldn't people receive it?

Because they said he is from Galilee, from Nazareth.

He's a carpenter's son.

What can he tell us?

The way you receive a sent one, so let me make it even more nitty gritty.

The way you receive me a sent one in this house will surely determine the quality of your hearing.

One of the things I always have to do is if you do something that I find annoying, that I find offensive,

one of the things I have to do immediately is go and say, father, I'm carrying offense against Diana.

I need to get rid of it immediately because if I don't, then anything I do with Diana will carry offense in it.

I got to get rid of it.

In the same manner, if you carry offense against me, get rid of it fast because you will be the one who gets it.

If you carry offense against me, get rid of it fast because you will not benefit from anything I do for you or I do for God here.

Get rid of it, guys.

Because the way you receive the sent one is the way you will receive the sent one.

The reception of the sent one prepares your ground to receive the word that God sent through you, through the sent one.

And remember, guys, just think of this.

Let's assume Jason was teaching today and I'm beginning to think this guy, he's got a few degrees,

what a show off, has a van now, thinks he's a big shot.

So I'm sitting here with this offense in my heart.

And he is teaching and the word that's coming through him is the word that will bring life to a situation in my livelihood.

But because I have now chosen to seem a certain way, that sent word, which is supposed to bring life to me,

will fail to get traction in the ground of my heart because the ground of my heart is hard against the one through whom the word is coming.

I've made this mistake so many times, it's crazy.

Sorry, ask that again, Mariam.

No, it's for the believer and unbeliever.

In fact, the unbeliever has to be given greater latitude because he doesn't know these truths.

For believers, we've got to change the attitude we function with.

Go ahead.

There are tears in your heart that prevent good seed from growing, yeah, in a sense.

I would put it this way, that the ground of your heart becomes hard because you're not able to recognize the one sent by God.

Grow, yeah.

I don't know if that analogy applies fully here.

I would say it is more the hardening of the heart towards a certain person and therefore the heart becomes hard against the word the person is bringing.

And guys, the other thing is when you...

Yeah, we'll leave it at that.

Guys, some of you are benefiting more here at Acts 29 simply because you have recognized the sent one and therefore the word that God sends through me becomes more easily permeable in the soil of your life.

It's the same with Eddie.

I remember after the India trip, Eddie turned around to me and he said, Jacob, in 2007, you chose in your heart to recognize me as one sent into your life by God and therefore you've been practicing the word that I have deposited in your life.

And that's why you're seeing the increase in your life that others that have done the same thing too have not seen yet.

And he goes around the world, they to different places.

Fascinating how this works.

These are scriptural principles, guys, even though they sound like self-promotion.

And by now you should know me better.

If you don't, well, meet me for coffee and pay for it.

I'm kidding, guys.

Sometimes this is a process.

It took me...

It takes a while.

I don't want to get arrogant here because it will take away from what I'm trying to say.

So bring yourself under...

In a way, guys, when you bring yourself under the covering of the word that a sent one brings, you're also bringing yourself under the covering of the sent one.

Let me say that again.

If you don't...

If it doesn't register immediately, it's okay.

When you bring yourself under the covering of the word that God brings through a sent one, and I'm pointing to myself right now.

It could be any of us who God commissions and sends.

When you bring yourself under the covering of the word that comes through a sent one, in a sense, you're bringing yourself under the covering of the sent one.

In the Old Testament, before John the Baptist or during the John Baptist time, even baptism was along those lines, you know.

When someone got baptized by a particular teacher, you know what you were saying?

You were saying that I completely agree with the doctrine of this teacher.

And in baptizing myself under this teacher, I'm saying that I see him as my covering and follow after him.

That's not the way it functions now.

I'm not saying that yesterday when we baptized Rob and Marcus that they were pledging allegiance to me.

They were not.

But this was a practice that was prevalent during Jesus' time.

The next thing about hearing, guys, is hearing has to happen humbly.

You have to hear humbly.

Where does it say so?

James 1.21.

James 1.21.

It says, Therefore, Jacob, get rid of all moral filth and evil and humbly accept the engrafted word.

I love that.

Therefore, Jacob, get rid of all moral filth and evil and humbly accept the engrafted word or the word planted in you which can save you.

Humbly accept the word.

Which means I'll have to lower myself if I want to learn from you.

This is why people prefer learning from the Holy Spirit.

Because it's easy to humble yourself before the Holy Spirit.

But it's darn hard to humble yourself before someone that the Holy Spirit sends.

Because if I want to learn from you, it's impossible for me to learn from you unless I humble myself.

So let's assume for a second.

And listen, why is it?

Because I've got pride.

One.

Two.

Because I look at you and you don't look like a teacher, Kamal.

I see you in the flesh and you don't look convincing enough.

And thirdly, I don't discern what the Lord is trying to do through your life and mine.

And therefore, what do I do?

I do not humble myself.

And when I don't humble myself, I don't humble myself.

I don't humble myself.

I don't humble myself.

I do not humble myself.

And when I don't humble myself, the word that God wants to plant through you into my life does not get planted, does not get engrafted.

Look at why we need to talk about the quality of our hearing.

Fascinating.

Yes.

Humility is not a key to the soul.

Humility.

Is humility one of the fruits of the spirit?

I would say for me, it's a gift.

Okay.

I'm not sure.

Someone check Galatians 5.

Just like Jalot said, I love him.

Okay.

Humility is not.

But it is something that is a...

Let's put it this way.

It's not in the list of the Galatians, but it's a prime quality of Jesus.

It actually is, because you take those qualities and...

Yeah, it's...

Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord.

I mean, Jesus is the ultimate expression of humility.

So it's impossible to be Jesus-like without being humble.

And so, let me put it this way.

If I don't humble myself, there's no question of me learning from you.

And I'm at the greatest risk in this church for not learning from you, eh?

Because I, after all, as of today, I'm the senior pastor.

And given that I'm the senior pastor, if I don't discern the way you're coming to me as sent from God,

if I don't decide that Derek can perhaps teach me something, though he's half my age,

what, you're 18 right now, right?

And if I don't discern these things, there's no question of me ever learning.

I'm at the greatest risk.

This is why pastors are at the greatest risk of not learning.

Husbands are at a great risk of not learning from their wives.

Teachers, they're the worst of the lot.

Which is why James 3, verse 1 says what?

James 3:1

I love it when the response is so tremendous.

It says that, listen, any of you who want to be teachers, don't be too enthusiastic.

Because teachers are judged doubly that they'll be judged more severely than the rest.

We'll come to that later.

Guys, so accept the word humbly and cherish it.

And then the first part of the verse comes true.

Get rid of all evil.

I love Psalm 199.

I learned it when I was Derek's age.

And here's what it said.

It said, how shall a young man keep his way pure?

By cherishing the word.

So on one hand, Paul is saying, therefore, set aside all moral filth and evil.

How do you do that?

By cherishing the word.

How do you cherish the word?

By receiving it humbly from the ones that are want to plant it in you.

Why do I resist that?

Because I got pride in my heart.

What can you teach me?

Because I got pride in my heart.

You don't look and fit the type.

Because I got pride in my heart.

I got pride in my heart.

And I'm proud of it.

I'm proud of it.

I'm proud of it.

I'm proud of it.

And I'm proud of it.

You don't look and fit the type.

Because I got pride in my heart.

Because I don't discern you as one sent from God.

Therefore, you're not able to engraft in me the word God wants to.

Another one.

Hearing and legalism.

We talked about this three weeks ago or two weeks ago.

Guys, the more legalistic and more stubborn you are, the less you will be able to hear.

The more legalistic and the more stubborn you are, the less you will be able to hear.

Why?

Because Galatians 3 says that legalism dulls you.

Legalism dulls you.

Dulls you in the sense because you cannot...

Don't worry, Roxanne.

You can step out there and do what you want.

When I walk, you don't have to run back in.

Legalism has the ability to dull you to the things of God.

Guys, you can't put a new cloth on an old?

These things we should know.

Not wine skin.

You can't put a new cloth on an old?

Rag.

You can't.

Legalism is holding on to the old which was once godly and unable to let go.

Therefore, it is impossible to hear because God is speaking something new.

Why stubbornness?

Guys, if you and I are stubborn, it's going to be very difficult to hear the word of God.

Why?

Because stubbornness is akin to?

Rebellion is akin to witchcraft.

Stubbornness is akin to?

We've got to visit the Old Testament more often.

Idolatry.

1 Samuel 15, verse 22.

1 Samuel 15:22

Stubbornness is like?

Idolatry.

Rebellion is like?

Witchcraft.

Guys, it is natural when there is stubbornness to have a dumbness or a dullness like the very idols that they're supposed to represent.

Move away from stubbornness and legalism and you'll find that you hear better.

Some of us may not be legalistic but we are stubborn.

One of the things my mom said to me over and over again, Jacob, you're so blooming stubborn.

And my mom's not the only one.

Others have said it too.

What is the root of stubbornness?

Being an authority unto oneself.

Control.

Pardon?

Bitterness may be a product of it but I think the reason I'm stubborn is because I want to be an authority unto myself.

I don't want to listen to you.

I am the one who runs my life and you have no right to tell me what to do.

Pride.

It leads to that perceived notion as we were saying before, oh he's wearing this color shirt.

It was some bitter happen about that color and it leads to, I don't like what he's saying, I will not receive this.

Could be.

I'm not making a concession.

I actually think it could be.

Legalism brings spiritual dullness, guys.

The more legalistic and stubborn you are, the less you hear.

Here's another one.

Hearing and doing.

James 1, 22.

Do not be deceived.

If you hear and don't do, you're like a guy who stood, guys don't do this, a guy who stood in front of the mirror and spent hours doing stuff and he walks away from the mirror and he doesn't know what he looks like.

That's what, guys, if I don't, here's the thing.

If I hear and don't do, I never get to practice what I've been taught and I never come into an encounter with God in that area.

Listen to me again.

It's only 11.15.

You got strength to stay till 11.40.

Oh, those days when we used to go on for three and a half hours.

How I missed them.

Matt and Rachel, you are so fortunate to come into our lives at this time.

You should have come two years ago.

Three and a half hours, man, it would go on.

Three and a half hours, man, it would go on.

Okay, guys, if I do not practice what I hear, it's impossible for me to encounter God in the very things that the word is supposed to test me in.

It's impossible for me to encounter God in the very things that God wants to test me in.

How does God know that you are approved in the study of the word?

In the very area that you're studying, he'll have you encounter him in a situation where he'll try and see how you're doing.

I love that.

Part of me loves that.

Part of me doesn't.

So imagine, let's assume God is teaching me about patience.

Everywhere I turn in the word, I'm reading about patience.

So what does God do?

So what does God do?

Now he has me encounter him in a situation where I need patience.

And it'll prove whether the word I heard is the word I practice.

So what does he do?

He sends me James.

No, I'm just kidding.

James didn't hear me.

Oh, you heard me.

He probably has not sent you.

No, he's the sent one.

Sorry James, I had to do that.

I can come and apologize later.

I think I spent...

No, forget it.

Moving on.

The quality of hearing is terrible if it's not followed by doing, because it leaves my mind untransformed.

Here's another one guys.

There are three more to go and then we'll stop.

Itching ears.

Itching ears has a connection with hearing.

Itching ears in hearing.

Itching ears in hearing.

It's in 2 Timothy 4.3.

2 Timothy 4.3.

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 and teachers,

they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,

and will turn away their ears from the truth,

and will turn aside to myths.

My THS.

For the time is coming, and is now upon us,

when we will not endure sound doctrine,

but will want to have our ears tickled,

and so what will we do?

We'll accumulate for ourselves teachers in accordance to our own desires,

and will turn our ears from the truth,

and will turn aside to fables and myths.

Notice here that the problem is not with the teacher,

the problem is with the hearer.

When it comes to itching ears,

it's not saying that the teachers are necessarily bad or wrong.

It's saying your ears are itching.

So what do you do?

Do you accumulate to yourself multiple teachers,

so that at some point someone will say something that fits your desire and needs.

And your paradigm.

I think Chris said this once.

Don't...

No, I think she said it.

Believe what you read, don't read what you want to believe or something.

Believe what you read, don't read what you believe.

We have a tendency to read what we want to believe.

We have a tendency to listen to people who will tell us what we already want to believe.

And the intent is believe what you read, Jacob.

Don't keep reading to find out something that will help you believe what may not be the complete truth.

Oh, you got the quote from me.

The problem is with the hearer and not the teacher.

Guys, this is what we talked about last week.

You cannot eat at multiple tables.

It's a case of itching ears.

Desist and find your main table.

You cannot eat at multiple tables.

You can go occasionally pick and taste and see how the other table is doing.

But you cannot eat at multiple tables.

It's accumulating multiple teachers unto yourself.

It's a case of having itching ears.

Okay, before I go on to the next two, any questions?

Go ahead.

You can.

You can.

But know where your main table is at.

That's what I'm saying.

You can listen to others.

There will be people who will tell you stuff that you won't get where you normally eat.

There will be people who add important truths to what you already know,

which you won't get where you presently eat.

But you don't go jumping from one to the other.

You know where your primary stream of table is.

You eat there.

And then you decide, this has become my main table.

I will have tributaries coming in as God wants and I will gain from them.

But this is my primary table.

And the intent then becomes, I will not accumulate teachers unto myself.

Because if this church becomes the ultimate expression of all truth,

then this church is actually where Jesus Christ dwells every day,

like he's actually here.

Because surely we have all the truth.

The moment we begin to say that, something is seriously wrong.

Because there are tons of other churches out there that are speaking truths that we haven't yet discovered.

So yes, we will learn.

But know where your main table is and eat there.

And guys, spend time figuring out where your main table is.

Here are some ways to identify your main table.

And I may not be able to tell you all of them because this is not where I wanted to go.

Your main table better be somewhere where you get challenged and uncomfortable.

If the place you go to most is a place where you feel comfortable

because everything is nice and people are nice and the message is nice, flee.

It's a bad idea to go there.

Secondly, make sure that wherever you go,

there is some kind of personal relationship with someone who can upgrade you spiritually.

Because upgrade comes through association.

So wherever you go and decide that this is the main table that I'm going to sit at and eat,

know this, that you have to have someone.

May not be the pastor in a large church,

because a large church may have 500 people like us.

But know that you have to have someone.

Thank you for a few smiles.

Speaking in faith, man.

So here's the thing.

Whenever you go to a church, make sure that you have somebody who is at a level spiritually far above you

or much higher than you that you can connect to.

Because you will not upgrade if you do not connect with someone who is operating at a level higher than you.

And when I say connect, I don't mean how's the weather.

I mean, how's the environment.

I mean someone who has the ability to challenge and speak into your life.

Till you find that, do not decide that this is going to be my main table.

Third, if you want to come to a place where you want to say,

this is the main table that I'll sit at,

make sure that it's a place where one area is not continuously emphasized to the exclusion of other areas.

Every single area is not continuously emphasized to the exclusion of other areas.

Every tribe has a trait.

So there will be some churches that speak a social gospel because God has given them that trait.

They are supposed to do that.

But let it not be to the exclusion of other things

because otherwise you'll have one appendage that is larger than the rest of your body

and you end up looking misshapen.

It's possible to come to Acts 29 and only hear about the apostolic.

It's possible to come to Acts 29 and only hear about the apostolic.

And if that is the only thing you hear in Acts 29, leave.

Because you will have an appendage that is longer than,

you'll have one hand that is longer than every other part of the body.

Or you'll have your nose sticking out like Pinocchio.

Sorry, say that again.

Yeah, yeah.

So if there's only an emphasis on that, something is wrong.

It has to be wholesome.

And then after all this, look for are the people loving?

What do we do? The first thing we look for is are the people loving?

Really?

This is a messy place. There'll be people who offend you.

If people are not offending you at Acts 29,

it's either because we've gotten the hang of liking each other

or it's because they're being false with you.

It's the first thing we look for in a church.

I went in there and I felt tremendously loved.

That's good the first couple of times. May you feel loved.

But if they come back a third time and they don't feel loved, it's okay.

I meant that in the nicest way.

Because that's not the criteria that Matt and Rachel are going to use

to decide where they want to fit themselves.

Do you disagree? Do you want to challenge what I'm saying?

Just in case I'm wrong, do you want to challenge this?

You don't know how to keep that to the very top?

Yeah, that's another good question.

What do you do when the church sets the bar up high?

Two choices, man. And this, the pastor of the church has to decide.

Do you want to lower the bar or keep the bar high?

And some churches, God may instruct them,

listen, I want you to lower the bar.

Not lower the standards of Christ, but for the sake of the people,

lower the bar so that people are able to achieve what they need to achieve

and feel encouraged.

In some churches, they'll say, set the bar high.

And so what will it do?

It'll cause people to stretch and reach out.

Some may not make it and you may have to sit down with them and encourage them.

Some will keep, but there'll be continuous growth.

About five years ago, I don't know if some of the guys who were in the leadership remember this,

we had this choice to make.

And very clearly, I still have it in my notes that I keep when God speaks,

very clearly, we were told to keep the bar high.

One is not wrong, one is not right.

Both are acceptable.

So sometimes in a church, you have to set the bar low because that's what God is saying.

Bar low meaning, let's pick on Tavis.

Let's assume that Tavis is a high jumper.

And so Jason is training him and he sets the bar for the high jump at this level.

And Tavis is able to kind of get it, kind of fall.

And Jason keeps increasing it very little at a time because he knows Tavis' makeup.

And so he wants Tavis to be encouraged as he goes higher and higher.

And then there is Evelyn.

And Evelyn is a high jumper too.

But she's got a completely different makeup.

You give her a half an inch at a time, it's like, let me go play hockey instead.

So you've got to, and let me go play for the Canucks and not the Maple Leafs.

May that be the case with all your kids.

But then you can set the bar up, in Evelyn's case, a foot higher.

And Evelyn looks at it and she knows it's impossible, but something begins to beat inside her.

I agree. Thank God we started with new wine skins.

No, everybody needs a new wine skin.

As in that understanding here, but if somebody possesses old wine and you wanted to pour wine into that, you can pour new wine into that, right?

Or the wine skin will rupture.

Agreed, James. But here's the advantage Acts 29 had.

Acts 29 is a church plant and therefore had no baggage.

The only baggage Acts 29 had was the baggage Jacob came with.

We don't have a baggage, is that?

No, no, no. What I'm trying to say is that Acts 29 had no baggage.

And Acts 29 didn't have the baggage of a 40-year-old church.

We didn't have to deal with boards, we didn't have to deal with rules, we didn't have to deal with traditions because we had none.

So let me move on and complete this thing.

Guys, here's another thing.

Satan and hearing. Satan has things to do with hearing, eh?

Satan has things to do with hearing.

Is it shutting well?

If not, go and tell Wayne that the door still needs some help.

Guys, Satan has things to do with hearing.

Matthew 13, 19.

And when a person does not understand the word, Satan comes and steals the word?

Crazy, eh? Guys, just listen to this.

I only have two more.

I mean, after this, I only have one more heading to go.

So get encouraged that it's coming to an end soon.

It's coming to an end soon.

Guys, just listen to this.

Just listen to this.

When you do not understand the word...

He certainly hasn't learned the prayer.

Lord, if this is your will, open the door.

If it's not your will, shut the door.

And I'm glad for him.

Guys, when you don't understand the word, please recognize the fact that there's someone waiting to snatch it away.

When you do not understand the word that you hear, please be aware that there is someone waiting in the wings to snatch it away.

What we do is when we don't understand something...

And it's...

By the way, one of the things I really liked about Diana...

Liked, it's in the past tense, about Diana, just in case she thinks I'm encouraging her...

One of her problems was she would always hear with her mind and not her spirit.

Sometimes she still does that, but she's almost cured.

So she would listen to things with her mind and not her spirit.

So if Diana couldn't process things with her mind, she would not be able to grasp a truth.

And so one day I sat down with Diana and I told her...

And that's why she'd ask question upon question upon question.

One of the reasons.

And one day I sat down and told her that for the next six months, I don't want you to ask questions.

You guys don't know this, because we allow questions here.

But in her case, she needed not to ask questions.

And so for six months, she stopped asking questions.

You probably weren't aware of it because other people started asking questions.

And when she stopped asking questions, here's what she had to do.

She now had to hear and receive things first in her spirit and then process it in the mind.

All to say that when you don't understand, do not then stop listening.

I was talking to somebody earlier this week and I was saying to them that listen,

when you don't understand something, you shut down.

Because I'm not able to understand it. I shut down.

No man, no. When you don't understand something,

know that there is someone waiting to snatch that seed away.

So when I don't understand something, I immediately say, Spirit of God, I'm not getting it.

Either you make it happen or can you bring this back later and revive it?

Because I know there is something here. In my spirit, I know it.

But in my thinker, I'm not able to process it.

So Spirit of God, can you bring it alive or can you bring it back later?

And I write it down so I can go and ponder on it as Mary did.

Because otherwise, there is someone called the devil waiting to snatch the good seed

that has just been laid on your soil.

But because you and I are human, we are not understanding it.

Because the Bible says so, Jesus said, some did not understand it

and the devil came and snatched the word away.

Do not shut down when you don't understand.

Do not shut down.

There is something called the spirit of stupor.

Jesus talked about it.

He said, listening you do not hear.

Understanding you do not perceive.

Jesus is talking about it.

He calls it a spirit of stupor.

Where suddenly it's like nothing goes through.

Know that it's not a God thing and resist it.

As we resist it again and again and practice resisting it, it flees. Why?

Because when you submit to God, which is submitting to his word,

and resist the devil, he flees from you.

Also know that when it comes to hearing and Satan,

this applies in the scripture, it's being applied to unbelievers,

but it's true for us too.

Romans chapter 4, verse 4.

Romans 4:4

The God of this age has blinded our minds

so that the light of the gospel does not shine through.

It's talking about unbelievers in that context,

but may I suggest to you that the God of this age is presently involved

in blinding sometimes our minds too,

which is why there are tons of churches and there are situations in your life and my life

where even though something is told us again and again, it doesn't go through.

I went and taught some of these things for four days in Prince George and nothing changed.

Nothing changed.

Because the God of this age has the ability to blind us to some truths.

So know that Satan has a place in affecting hearing.

And the last one guys, the last one is equippers in hearing.

Equippers in hearing. What do we mean by equippers?

Ephesians 4, we'll talk about that.

So here's the first scripture.

The first scripture is from 1 John 2.20.

1 John 2.20 says,

The anointing is in you

and will lead you into all truth.

Meaning the anointing as in the Spirit of God is in you and will lead you into all truth.

So that's 1 John 2.20.

And yet when you look at Ephesians 4, 12 to 14,

it says God has appointed in the church apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelists.

Why has he appointed them?

He has appointed them to equip the body.

Why?

So that they will not be tossed about by false doctrine.

But come into truth.

Hey, where's Ruth?

Okay.

When I said truth, I remembered Ruth.

So on one hand, 1 John 2.20 says,

Jacob, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is in you and will lead you into all truth.

So then why do I need teachers?

And yet it says, Jacob, I have appointed.

Who has appointed? Christ has appointed.

Who has Christ appointed? Apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelists.

Why? To equip the body.

Why? So that among other things,

we will not be tossed about to and fro by false doctrine or by the winds of false doctrine

and through the craftiness of men, but instead that we may come into the truth.

It's like aerodynamics and gravity.

On one hand, you have the Holy Spirit to instruct you.

On the other hand, you also have equip us to help you learn.

Both work together and you fly.

Either one is missing and you don't fly.

So guys, please don't be a maverick.

Learn and draw from Christ appointed equip our gifts in your midst

and learn and draw without hesitation or resistance.

Learn and draw.

I wouldn't ask Jason to teach if I didn't think he was gifted as a teacher

to equip and he'll grow in it.

I am an equiper.

I mean, what can I say?

So draw and there are, let me not stop with Jason and me.

There are others here.

Some of us are ministers. Some of us are equipers.

Almost always the church is divided into, not divided into.

Christ is both a minister and an equiper.

He had the ability to minister the people.

He had the ability to equip.

And therefore the body of Christ is made up of ministers and equipers.

Some of you, right from the start, the day you were born, are meant to be equipers.

Some of us are meant to be ministers.

Neither is greater than the other.

Who is greater? The coach or the player?

The coach gets paid less in hockey.

But both are of equal value.

I mean, when an equiper begins to function like a minister,

it's like a coach playing hockey.

The point is, in your midst today are equipers.

Don't be a maverick. Draw and learn from them, guys.

Draw and learn from them.

Draw and learn from them.

How do you draw and learn from them? And that's the last point.

How do you draw and learn from them?

Oh, shoot. That was the wrong end.

Okay, later.

How do you draw and learn from them?

Through honor.

Through honor.

And humility.

Ah, two words that really great as humans, eh?

Great as in D-R-A-T-E.

How do you learn from anybody? Not just from equipers.

How do you learn from anybody?

Through honoring them and through humility.

So it's impossible for me to access the grace in your life till I honor you.

Let's pick on somebody.

Let's pick on Joan.

So Joan has certain skills when it comes to bookkeeping, accounting,

handling numbers and stuff like that.

And so let's assume I want to learn that skill from her.

Unless I come with an attitude saying I want to learn from you

and recognize you as someone better than me in this area,

if I don't come with that attitude, I don't learn.

Secondly, I do not learn from her unless I honor the gift in her.

Because honor is the seed to access things in anybody's life.

Do you understand now why it says in the Bible that

pay particular attention to the elders among you

particularly to those that teach for their worthy of double honor,

which is why we are doubling its pay.

Worthy of double honor.

We didn't increase it by 10% or 15% today.

We just straight doubled it because they're worthy of double honor.

So if you want to hear, if I want to hear, I have to honor the one side,

recognize the scent ones.

So guys, I'm done. Here's what you need to do.

By the way, if anything I said chaffs and you think to yourself,

this is all about his own self-promotion or this isn't sitting well with me,

then may I let you know that it's not God's fault, it's not the devil,

it's not even me, it's you.

So fix it. Because what I've told you is the truth, man.

And it's scriptural.

Is there any solution for blindness and dullness?

Yeah. If there's dullness in my life, the first thing I have to do is find out

whether...the way I attack it is whenever there's dullness,

two things I do.

One, I go into deliberate discipline of reading and hearing the word.

Deliberate discipline. Because as a pastor, because this is my job of sorts,

this is all I do.

But sometimes I do it for Sundays, not for my son.

So I go into deliberate discipline of reading and hearing the word.

Second thing I do is I recognize that there might be areas of stubbornness

or legalism in my life.

Because I know that it will dull me.

Third, I come against any spirit of dullness in my life.

These are the three things I do.

Fourth, I ask God if there's any stronghold in my mind that is preventing His truth

from coming in and then I pull down those strongholds.

I would suggest that you go home and check and see what is it,

what are three areas that are preventing you from hearing

to the extent that you can hear?

What are the three areas? Three of all these things I've told you,

what are three things that you can pick on that's diseaseing your ability to hear?

And I guess the best way to conclude this,

now you'll have to decide whether you want to go over these notes

or go listen to this teaching or not.

And after that you'll have to decide, do I want to do anything about it or not?

Decisions, decisions.

Yep.

I heard the first part. The second part is what?

Just say the second sentence?

Yeah.

No. Today we're only talking about hearing the word, as in the word that is spoken.

Yeah. And I like the way you put it, eh?

Guys, this just so smirks as if this is all about self-aggrandizement, but it's not.

What Jeff said is this. He said that today what I get from the message is

that a lot of this has to do with hearing the word from the one who speaks

or the one that is sent. And actually he's hit the nail on the head, man.

Yeah. That is kind of exactly what it is.

And through that process we learn.

Because even though the anointing is within me, to learn, I learn through people.

And does this have anything to do with hearing God?

Not really, because that's a separate teaching where we talk about how to hear God for everyday decisions.

Here we're talking about hearing the word and to increase the quality of a hearing

so that our very way of living improves.

So in a sense what Jeff said is really exactly what it is.

This is how we learn, guys. Any other questions?

I'm done, so feel free to ask questions.