THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 4, NUMBER 20, MAY 16, 2004

TAKE HEED HOW YE HEAR

            In Luke 8, in the context of His explanation of the parable of the Sower, Jesus said in v . 18, “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”  In Mark’s account, found in Mark 4:24, the exhortation given is to “take heed what ye hear…”  By putting these two passages together we can see that the disciples were being urged to be careful about how they heard what they heard.  Since both of these statements were made in the explanation of the parable of the Sower, making application is easy.

            Over many years of doing daily, call-in radio programs, one of the most frustrating things was how so many in the listening audience heard what they heard.  Some take such a shallow approach to God’s Word that they focus on things of no real consequence and turn a deaf ear to the more sublime issues of scripture.  I could be discussing what the Bible means when it speaks of “salvation by grace through faith”, only to have someone call up and ask, “Where did Cain get his wife?”  I could be examining the conditional nature of salvation and the need for us to be obedient to God’s commands and someone would call wanting to know how Noah got all of the animals into the ark.

            Still others in the listening audience were so entangled with denominational error that the truth was choked out when they heard it and they would absolutely refuse to acknowledge it as truth.  I remember a classic example of this very thing.  On a program one day I was discussing a letter of disagreement that I had received from a listener.  As I answered each part of the letter with the appropriate passages from the Word of God, showing that grace does not negate our need for obedience but actually instructs us to obey, callers were calling in saying, “I agree with that sister.”  No scriptures were given to support their agreement.  No comments were made related to the answers I had presented, just “I agree with that sister.”  Why did they agree?  Because her letter was filled with the same old denominational errors of “salvation by faith only” and “once saved, always saved.”  Because that is what these people had chosen to believe, they turned a prejudiced ear to the truth when they heard it.

            Did you notice that Jesus said, “…for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have?”  Everyone is responsible for how they hear what they hear.

            This responsibility does not stop with those who are outside of the Body of Christ.  It is also the responsibility of those who are Christians.  It is not uncommon at all for some brethren to be very selective about how they hear what they hear.  If a lesson is presented on the need for baptism for the remission of sins, practically all the brethren will strongly agree.  If a lesson is preached about the organization of the church, most again will agree.  Present a lesson about  the love that binds us together with the Body and the agreement is palpable.

            However, present a lesson about modest apparel and some stop listening.  It is as much the Word of God as any of the other lessons, but the “cares, riches, and pleasures of this life” interfere with how they hear and it affects their perception of what they hear.  “I want to wear what I want to wear so obviously what was preached was not the truth.”

            If a person preaches about social drinking, what we should or should not partake of as entertainment, what the Bible teaches about divorce and remarriage, and many other controversial subjects, hearing problems will crop up for some.

            The way to deal with hearing problems, both for the non-Christian and for those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, is to be as the Bereans we read of in Acts 17:11.  The passage says, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

            How they heard was “with all readiness of mind.”  What they heard was “the word.”  After hearing “the word with all readiness of mind” they then “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”  That is how to hear, to make sure what we hear is the truth.  Finding it to be so – simply believe and obey it.

                                                Greg Litmer

A NEW VENTURE

            We have been mentioning from time to time the fact that we have been working on a 30 minute television program for broadcast at different times on WBQC,  which is the UPN affiliate in Cincinnati.  During the day, their programming is PAX   - or family programming.  The station is channel 25.

            Well, the first program has been completed and it will begin to air on Monday, May 17, at 8:30 am.  It will air again on  Thursday, May 20, at 10:30 am, and on Sunday, May 23, at 2:30 pm. 

            The same company also owns a small, independent station, WOTH, channel 38.  This channel is available only by regular broadcast.  It is not included on cable systems or satellite yet.  Remember when all you could get was via your antenna?  Well, this is one of those stations.  We will test that station a little bit at a time to see if we get any results.   Our program will show on WOTH, channel 38, on Wednesday, May 19, at 11:00 pm.

            We will generally know up to two weeks in advance when the program will be airing.  I will do my best to let you know when it will be.  I will have more to say about this in later bulletins.