JUST THINKING: Do You Hear What I Hear?
At Christmas, many songs with differing messages are heard. One of those is “Do You Hear What I Hear?” I was just thinking about how each of us hears the message differently.
Jesus Made the Point
From His masterful teaching on what is called The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said six times, “You have heard it said…” (Matt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 43). In each of those parts of His message, the Word of God Himself was stressing the point that a person may have heard things taught for centuries, never realizing there was much more to be heard. For the remainder of His earthly ministry, Jesus emphasized that those who truly follow Him must listen and apply the Lord’s instruction.
The Things We Hear
In his morning message this past Sunday, Pastor Allen Morton mentioned a woman who told him that the “church” she attends lets everyone believe whatever he or she wants — even that there are multiple ways to Heaven. However, no follower of Jesus Christ can adhere to such. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).
Another statement we often hear is, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you are sincere. That comes right from Satan! A highway bridge was out. A traveler stopped to warn others. The next man drove up and heard, “The bridge is out, and turn around.” To which the man replied, “I’ve crossed that bridge all my life. I’ll be all right.” He may have been sincere in his trust of the old bridge — but he was sincerely wrong.
The truth: Jesus is the real bridge over troubled water. Humans need to sincerely place their trust in Him.
The Bible is Antiquated
So often, even from some “Christian” pulpits, I’ve heard it said that the Bible is outdated, both religiously and culturally. That is the very reason we are hearing of so many who are receiving “new revelations,” which they say come directly from God. God’s Word, which has endured for centuries, is as applicable today as ever!
This world will soon experience multiple devastating changes and will ultimately disappear, but that is not so regarding God’s Word. As the Lord described the generation of the Last Days, He said something many would not want to hear — “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).
Do You Hear What I Hear?
My reason for this article is to remind and encourage us of the importance of hearing and listening. The biggest problem is that people want to hear what they desire and not listen to what they need — “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (II Tim. 4:3).
Do you hear what I hear? It sounds like we are in that Last Days generation. Do you hear the sounds of His coming?
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Dr. Tom Mitchell
Dr. Tom Mitchell pens a column titled, Just Thinking, in which he addresses many topics relative to the Baptist Missionary Association. His Trailblazers series provides biographies of many BMA trailblazers from the past.
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