Latest / HBCWestminster / 7.12.20 Luke 8:16-21 Pastor Danny Gardner

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7.12.20 Luke 8:16-21 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Luke chapter 8, verses 16 to 21. And it says,
• 0:21
  Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given. And from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, Your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see you. But he answered them, My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. And Lord Almighty, it feels as though we are living
• 0:51
  In dark times, it is difficult even to see any light. And so we ask, Heavenly Father, that you would illuminate our minds to think like you do. That you would illuminate our hearts to care for people as you do. May we, the people of God, see the world and our nation and our church and our homes the way that you see them. And where there is no light,
• 1:19
  Jesus, may we shine as light to a lost and dying world. And Lord, we ask that you give us your heart and your eyes today. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, you can be seated. Thank you, church. I would just ask today, would you say that you're a good listener? And what would you say are the marks of a good listener? I hear high school and college-age kids say that they appreciate their friends because they are, quote,
• 1:51
  good at listening. What I find they mean by that is that their friends, they believe, can sit for hours at a time and allow them to rant about whatever random topic or opinion they may have without interruption. And here is the key, without condemnation. That's what I find, how I find we often define being a good listener. But is that what makes a good listener? A good listener is someone who never speaks, who never disagrees, and who never corrects.
• 2:20
  The pivotal verse in our text this morning is verse 18, where it says, take heed how you hear, or in the ESV, take care then how you hear. In seminary, we were taught not only to observe what the text says, but also what the text does not say. And so look at for a moment what the text does not say. It does not say just to take heed that you listen. Rather, it says take heed that you hear.
• 2:51
  And it doesn't just say take heed that you hear, but actually emphasizes how you hear. Take care then how you hear. I recently came across a website called skillsyouneed.com. Its topics range from personal life skills like self-preservation, how to eat healthily, how to take care of your body, how to manage stress.
• 3:19
  How to use proper grammar even is on there. How to give a presentation. But under their interpersonal skills tab, the skill of listening is listed foremost. They define listening as the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages, and they are quick to delineate between listening and hearing. They said there is a big difference between listening.
• 3:45
  And hearing, in other words, you can listen to all kinds of things without actually hearing them. Well, how do you hear well? And how is it that we would listen well? And why is it important that we become good hearers rather than merely listeners? Is it even that big a deal? Consider for a moment this warning from the history of Israel. The Lord speaking in Psalm 81 and verse 11 says, but my people did.
• 4:14
  not listen to my voice. You find God pouring out revelation about himself, speaking directly to his people, directly to them, sometimes even audibly in the Old Testament. And he says, yet my people did not listen to my voice. Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels.
• 4:39
  Some of you already know my testimony, but I actually had no intention at all, no desire at all. It was never a dream of mine to become a pastor. I never thought that I would be doing this for a living. In fact, pastoral ministry never even occurred to me as a career choice. I grew up going to church. I even attended a Christian liberal arts college. I was aware that there must have been some people somewhere majoring in biblical studies.
• 5:09
  But not until I finished school did I realize that there were probably people actually choosing to become pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. It had never really even occurred to me. I was a history major. And I jokingly say that I was a history major because I thought it would be the easiest. But really, I became a history major because I love stories. I love hearing them, especially true stories. I love hearing about people's stories and their histories. I love telling stories.
• 5:37
  I've always even enjoyed kind of conceptualizing my own life, imagining my own life lived in another country or at another era in time. And speaking as a history major, the year 2020 is proving to be a fascinating time to be alive. I believe that 2020 will be a tipping point year for the American nation.
• 6:09
  of presidential candidates wholeheartedly. I will support any candidate God has elected. Every president is my president, whether I voted for them or not. But we really are witnessing a year which will prove pivotal in the future society and economy of the United States. And I guess, church, that I'm surprised at the anger being expressed on both sides.
• 6:37
  of the proverbial political aisle. I'm surprised at the solutions that are being touted as solutions. As I've spoken to friends and family about the events that have happened this past year, if I'm honest, church, I guess I'm surprised that the people of God are surprised. I think one good result about the current culture war is that the veneer of American Christianity is finally being torn down.
• 7:08
  And although we were certainly founded upon Judeo-Christian principles and a work ethic, which is a good thing, and although we've always been called a Christian nation, and although the popular notion has been that post-World War America was one where everyone was a Christian because everyone went to church, our Christian culture is finally being shown for what it truly is.
• 7:37
  a facade. I think popular culture has given a platform for the public voice to voice their widely held moral and social beliefs. And these, even in the church, we are finding these widely held moral and social beliefs, we are finding are far from a reflection of Christ's heart.
• 8:01
  What we suspected to be there all along, what I've been hearing since I was a child, pastors say there's something wrong in the American heart for being a Christian nation. We sure don't act like Christians. I've been hearing this. We've suspected this for all along. It feels like that veneer has finally been torn down. And so the question is, what happened? What happened? Did churches cease to exist? Well, far from it. There are more churches per capita in America than any other nation on earth.
• 8:31
  Well, maybe church attendance diminished. And honestly, church, far from it. Churches across the country are posting record attendance. Did Bibles cease to exist? Far from it. In fact, there are more Bibles per capita in America than anywhere else on earth. A recent Barna study has shown that the average American household has 4.7 Bibles in it.
• 9:00
  4.7 Bibles per household. What's funny is the same study showed, that same Barna study showed, that the average American household has 2.5 people in it. In other words, they say there are twice as many Bibles in America as people in America. Well, then what happened? If the problem isn't church attendance and the problem is not access to God's word, in the United States, it's everywhere. What happened?
• 9:31
  What happened is that Americans, although possibly listening, haven't been hearing. And that's Jesus's point in verse 18. When he says, take care then how you hear. He is drawing a line between listening and hearing. And this is why so many of his parables, including the one from last week, ends with...
• 9:58
  If you have ears to hear, hear the word of God. If you have ears to hear, then hear. You can listen. The words can go in without actually hearing. You want to know what happened? In 2020 America, the fake Christianity, which has been rallied around and touted for so long as genuine, has finally been cast aside.
• 10:25
  Spiritual darkness, which we all knew secretly was there, has finally been exposed. The good news is, and there is good news in all of this church, the good news is that genuine believers in the gospel can now finally shine as lights in the darkness. Listen to Philippians 2, verse 15. Be blameless and innocent. Children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
• 10:55
  among whom you shine as lights in the world, as lights in the world. I remember being a child right around junior high and for the first time seeing what was called the 1040 window map. And we're going to show it here on the screen for you. The 1040 window map, it's green, yellow, orange, and red. And it's supposed to show kind of where the gospel, where the least evangelized.
• 11:20
  people groups on earth are and the 1040 windows are parallels right earth parallel globe parallels that kind of show that the middle east and asia are the least evangelized places in the world and i understand why it was made i'm not mad at it i understand the value in it certainly it's never been the 1040 region of that map the one you're looking at right now that i've had a problem with
• 11:47
  Yes, we know that the gospel has not gone there. The problem that I have with it is the giant green North America. Do you guys all see it? The North America that is completely green, which by their kind of study and synopsis says that it has been completely evangelized, saturated, gospel saturated in North America. And the reason I've had a problem with that is because that statement has never jived with my own experience.
• 12:15
  I don't feel like we live in a place where the gospel has saturated, saturated the hearts of North Americans. And I think finally, we see the American people being honest with themselves. That's the good news about 2020. And that finally gives us as believers a starting point for discussions about the gospel. Let's turn our attention to the text. We'll draw some basic observations about the difference between listening and hearing. And then we'll draw some differences.
• 12:44
  observations about the difference between hearing and doing. And so notice first the importance of hearing and in verse 16. So in other words, how do I know that I am genuinely hearing? And the first is that the result of hearing is that the hearer becomes illuminated. Look at verse 16. No one, Jesus says, after lighting a lamp, no one after lighting a lamp. And so Jesus is giving this picture that somebody comes along and lights a candle or lights an oil lamp.
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  Now, light in the New Testament can refer to many things. It can refer to holiness, as in Romans 13, let us cast off works of darkness and put on the armor of light. It can refer to truth. Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Light can also refer to Christ himself when he said, John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. But in this context, you've got to remember the context.
• 13:41
  The context is the parable of the sower and the soils. In fact, you'll notice this is in Jesus's timeline. It's even the same sermon from last week. There is no stop. There is no break between the soils. And now this statement about lighting a lamp, the light in this context refers to the gospel itself. The gospel must be applied to our own lives before we can apply it to others.
• 14:12
  Scripture says that once enlightened by the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells and empowers every believer. The scriptures say that the Holy Spirit lives in and through the believer. And once the Holy Spirit does, he or she, that believer will begin to bear fruit. And remember from last week's sermon, it is the bearing of fruit that is commended by God. And that one major aspect of this fruit will be a manifestation of the fruits.
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  of the spirit love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control these things should be true and should be the marks the characteristic of every genuine believer the bible says that a genuine believer
• 15:05
  is not one that simply pays lip service to God, not one that just mouths the words, not one that just happens to show up at church occasionally holding a Bible. That has nothing to do with your genuine faith in God. The genuine believer will be exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit. He or she is one, the genuine believer, who actually applies the gospel to their own heart and life. They will take up the call to walk.
• 15:34
  like Jesus walked. I was asked by one of our members this week, this week, to provide her with the most frequently asked questions that pastors ever get. She said, I'm doing kind of a research project. Would you help me with this? What are the most frequent questions you ever get asked as a pastor? I was honest with her. I said the most frequent questions I get asked, and I'm not kidding, the most frequent, I am asked by believers in the church.
• 16:04
  about why I can't make the worship and light settings more to their personal preference. You want to know, honestly, church, what I get the most questions about, it's typically about volume levels and light levels. That's what I get asked the most about, but I don't think that's what she intended. I then kind of explained, I followed up. The most frequent question I get asked by non-believers, which I think is what she was going for, is why are Christians some of the most angry, unloving,
• 16:34
  and impatient people I know. Aren't you guys supposed to walk like Jesus did? Why is it that when I find people who claim the name of Christ, they're impatient and unloving, hostile, intolerant? Why are those the ones that bear the name of Jesus? I think if you ask the average Christian, and better yet, church, if I had asked you, if I had asked you on your way into church, or as you were turning on this video, if I were to ask you,
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  What is the biggest problem in America today? What would your response be? What is the biggest problem in America? If you could solve one problem today, what is the problem that you would choose? What is the biggest problem in our country? What anyone have honestly responded with, you know the biggest problem in the entire country today is the sin in my own heart. That's the biggest problem in our country.
• 17:30
  It's nowhere else. It's no one else. No one else is to blame. The biggest problem in our country is the sin in my own heart. And the good listener, the one who doesn't just listen but hears, is the one who hears for the purpose of applying it to his or her own life first. That is first. The hearer becomes illuminated first themselves. But notice also another result of hearing.
• 17:57
  is that the hearer uses the knowledge they possess to illuminate others. He continues in verse 16, no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. In other words, an illuminated person seeks to illuminate others. Spiritual knowledge, he says, is like a lit candle. It is only useful if it is put on display. And as we've said,
• 18:24
  Spiritual darkness is easy to find in our world and in our country. It is important for us to look first to ourselves, but church, catch this, the gospel about which we focus our studies, our songs, and by which we ourselves are saved is not meant merely to be looked at. In fact, staring directly at the gospel for too long will actually neglect its purpose.
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  Here's what I mean. Many years ago, I was the youth pastor at another church. We met in a building that had kind of a five or so acre field behind it. No lights, kind of not landscape, just this big old field behind the building. And sometimes...
• 19:12
  Kids, after youth group or even during youth group on occasion, would go walking out in that field to talk, to hang out with their friends, to hang out with their girlfriend, to cause just basic mischief. And after youth group, it was my job to go out and round these kids up in the dark, hundreds of yards back, trying to find these kids against the fence line or in the bushes or wherever they were, trying to find these kids. And I just got so tired of tracking them down in the middle of the night.
• 19:39
  that I eventually purchased a flashlight. And you say, well, everybody's got a flashlight. I didn't just buy a flashlight, okay? I didn't get one of those little ones, you know, that fits in your pocket. That's like a hundred candlelight power or whatever. I didn't even get the next step up. There's like a six cell mag light. You know, it's got several thousand candle power. I didn't get one of those. I went online. I found the biggest flashlight I could. I found one that was, the lens of it was about that big around.
• 20:08
  It was huge. It was huge. I had these two big switches. It was three million candle power. Three million candle power. I could stand at the door of the church and turn that thing on, and it would shine all the way back. It was like a spotlight. It would shine all the way back, hundreds of yards to the back. I could illuminate the entire thing and find those kids. But it was a fun toy to have, and youth pastors always purchase the most random things.
• 20:37
  But the inevitable did happen. It kind of became the prank flashlight in the church office. And so what ended up happening was this was always sitting on my desk. And youth interns and others thought it was the funniest thing. And it was funny. The funniest thing to call somebody's name when they weren't paying attention. Hey, Pastor Kevin. Pastor Kevin looks up. And as soon as he does, they high beam him. Bam! They hit him with this flashlight right in front of his face. And it was so bright, you could actually feel heat off of it.
• 21:06
  Boom! And man, Kevin would go blind for about two minutes, right? Completely useless for about two minutes. That flashlight was a useful tool if it was used properly. If it was used to illuminate the path, either your own path or the paths of others, it was useful. But listen, church, it was useless to stare at. We have been entrusted.
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  with the gospel. Church, don't just sit there and stare at it. It was meant not only to illuminate our own path, but the paths of others as well. So that's second, you illuminate others. But third, another result of hearing rather than listening is that the hearer gains much more than they had intended. But the one who listens without hearing loses even what they had gained. Look at verses...
• 22:08
  17 and 18. Verse 17 says, nothing is hidden, Jesus says, that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. In other words, what a person truly is in their heart will eventually be discovered. That is what he's saying. Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest. There is no secret thing that eventually will not come out, right? So this fake veneer Christianity, he says, will eventually be shown for what it is. Now look at verse 18. Take care then how you hear.
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  For to the one who has, more will be given. And from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. In the present, it seems as though genuine followers of Christ are losing. But in the end, the works of false disciples will be shown for what they are. Dross, rubbish, garbage.
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  Right? Trash. I mean, that's the works of the unrighteous, the works apart from Christ. He says they're like filthy rags. But, he says, the faith of genuine believers will be rewarded. Take care, then, how you hear. To the one who has, more will be given. And from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has, these false, fake works, even those will be taken away. Let me just...
• 23:29
  say as an aside, you know, we consider the words of Christ, consider the words of Christ's church when he says, take care then how you hear and allow me here just to take a momentary aside. I don't even know if I'll have time for this in person for worship on Sunday, but allow me to preach here, not necessarily from the word of God, but from my own experience. Allow me to offer some simple advice, especially to you younger Highlanders.
• 23:56
  My encouragement as your pastor would be, don't neglect the value of reading. Because reading is listening. Reading is listening. It really is. Reading the Word of God. Reading Christian biographies. Reading devotional books. Reading deep devotional books like Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions or Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. Reading deep, deeper books like that. Begin to stretch yourself. The reading is...
• 24:25
  Listening. George Martin has famously said, a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads can live only one. My encouragement is this, the person who does not read probably doesn't listen either. And so may I just add very quickly just a challenge to pick up the art and skill of reading. Reading is...
• 24:55
  listening. Consider the words of Christ. Take care then how you hear. Don't just listen, but hear. Notice second, he says the importance of doing, the importance of doing. And look at verses 19 to 21. It says, then his mother and his brothers came to him.
• 25:10
  But they could not reach him because of the crowd, and he was told, your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see you. But he answered them, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. And that is the key phrase, hear the word of God and do it. And there is no confusing Christ's statement here. Many, many, many claim the name of Christ. Many mouth the words, many parrot Christian cliches.
• 25:39
  But he says obedience is where the rubber meets the road. Luke chapter 6 and verse 44, Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don't do what I say? If you ask the average American Christian about their understanding of Christ, a whole lot of them will tell you Jesus is my Lord and Savior. That is the most common response to that. To people who believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior, that's an accurate statement. There's nothing wrong with it.
• 26:09
  And yet many times by the way that they live their lives, you can deduce that they have no intention of actually living according to his word. They call him Lord and Savior, but we very often neglect that word Lord, Savior, yes, save me from all the bad things I've done, but I have no intention of actually serving you as Lord, being obedient to you, reading this book and then doing what it says.
• 26:31
  In this brief text, just three verses, the Lord's biological family comes to him in an effort to see him. In the Gospel of Mark's parallel passage in Mark chapter 3, you can look that up on your own, Mark's parallel passage actually includes that the family were concerned about Jesus' physical health. That's why they were coming to him. Perhaps they thought he's not caring for himself.
• 26:56
  Maybe the crowds, these growing numbers, growing hostility would eventually turn against him, which they'd be right, right? He would end up on the cross. But Christ's response in verse 21 is so profound. He wasn't intending to offend or slight his mother and brothers, but rather to teach that he did not define familial relationships simply by biology. Rather,
• 27:26
  He says, true children of God, true brothers and sisters of Christ are those who not only listen, but hear, and not only hear, but obey. Listen to John chapter 14, verse 21. Also the words of Christ, John 14, 21. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Church, we know this already, but the gospel is not only to be heard,
• 27:56
  understood, and believed. It is to be lived. That is the gospel. It's not just a flashlight that we stare into and go blind. That's not what it's for. It's meant to illuminate our own hearts and to illuminate the hearts and minds of others. The gospel is to be acted upon or it is not properly understood at all. And Lord, I pray. I pray for the grace, Lord, to live the gospel, not just to understand it,
• 28:26
  I pray, Lord, for the grace to hear your word and not just simply to listen to it. I pray, Lord, for the grace to obey your word, to obey it and so prove that we genuinely know and understand what it means. God, thank you for illuminating our hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• 28:48
  And Lord, now I pray that that light that shines in our hearts will be put up on a stand so that it can help to illuminate the paths of others. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.