"He That Has an Ear" - Amy Lawrence

He That Has An Ear

A Study On Listening

For the most part, we all have two ears, one mouth, and a brain in between. We don’t often use them all in tandem. It’s either the ears or the mouth…and rarely is the brain involved, unfortunately. As human nature goes, we are usually using the one we shouldn’t be using and not using the one we should be using. 

Hearing is addressed frequently in New Testament scripture. Jesus uses the phrase, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear,” seven times in John’s Revelation and eight times in the gospels. Given the prevalence of this phrase, it seems to be important that we understand. But what does it mean? 

Jesus warned His disciples to be careful “how you hear”, Lk. 8:18. The term “hearing” is used in scripture as a synecdoche to describe one allowing information to reach the brain and properly assimilating and applying that information. An example of this is Romans 10:17: “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Ears do not just hear the word “faith” and suddenly learn everything there is to know about God’s will. It’s a process.

The hearing process first requires proper motivation. In the English language, this can be expressed as “listening”. We that are native to the English language are well aware of the difference between hearing and listening. Not all who hear listen. There were a number of audiences in the New Testament that were well known for their habit of hearing - but not listening. When Stephen disputed with the Synagogue of Freedmen in Acts 7, they “stopped their ears” just before they stoned him, vs. 57. Paul the apostle declared to many of the Jews that he would preach the message that they did not want to hear to the Gentiles, and “they will hear it”, Acts 13:46; 28:28. The Corinthians were among these Gentiles that would hear, and the result of their hearing was belief and baptism, Acts 18:8. 

Sadly, some will only halfway hear. The rich young ruler was such a one, Mk. 10:13-22. There were many among the rulers that both heard and believed the gospel, but they also allowed the world’s voice to be louder in their ears than God’s voice, John 12:42. Crispus, however, was not among these halfway hearers, Acts 18:8, and neither was Nicodemus  nor Joseph of Arimathea, Jn. 3:1-2; Mt. 27:57-60, Mk. 15:43. 

Hearing properly is vital to our salvation. The gospel is our calling from God, 2 Thess. 2:14, 2 Pet. 1:3. Hearers of the gospel are also known in God’s word as “those who are called”, Heb. 9:15, Jude 1. We answer back to God’s call through baptism, Acts 22:16, 1 Pet. 3:21, to become a part of the ἐκκλησία (ekklesia), the “called out”, the church, Acts 2:41,47. 

We must continue to hear as well. John’s Revelation, chapters 2-3, give us the seven churches of Asia and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Ephesus was commended in that they disallowed false teachers to infiltrate their number, but were reprimanded because they had “left their first love”, Eph. 2:2-4. They needed to get back to hearing. Jesus warned the church at Smyrna that hard times were coming, but the reward for faithful hearers would be a “crown of life”, Rev. 2:10. 

Jesus also warned his listeners about “what you hear”, Mk. 4:24. It matters what we let into our brain. Paul wrote to the Philippians to think on the good things, Phil. 4:8. There are so many poisons the world offers the mind that we must take care to filter what we allow in, and what we allow to dwell in our heads. Jesus rebuked Peter in Mt. 16:23 because Peter’s mind was dwelling on worldly things and not the things of God. Romans 8 gives us the instruction to keep our minds Spirit-centered. Satan is in direct conflict with this kind of mind. His goal is to deceive us, Rev. 20:10, 2 Cor. 11:12-15, and that deception is focused on manipulating what we both hear and believe. There are so many false gospels out there these days. Any gospel that is not the gospel Christ and His apostles delivered IS NOT THE GOSPEL, Gal. 1:6-9. Christ’s message is built upon selflessness, Phil. 2. Many stray away from this because they want to worship, serve, and live their own way and not God’s way. This is Satan’s most dangerous weapon - using us against ourselves. He uses our own selfishness to capture us and enslave us - by making us deaf to God’s voice. Defeating oneself is an undertaking that few have the desire to do because they want to be enslaved by their desires. They “cover their ears”, just as the Freedmen did. Only the gospel can free us from this enslavement, if we hear and do what the gospel tells us, Jn. 8:32.

It is imperative that we know the true gospel so that we can spot all the fakes. No one can wield their sword in the battle against Satan when they’ve never learned how to properly handle a sword, Eph. 6:17, 2 Tim. 2:15. We cannot just hear the gospel a day or two a week. We must create our lives around hearing (and living) the gospel of Christ in order to be pleasing to God, Heb. 11:6, 2 Pet. 3:17-18, so that using it becomes second-nature. A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to a person that isn’t.

We cannot only be hearers. We must also be doers. James wrote that a hearer that is not a doer is like a man looking in a mirror, turning away, and forgetting what he looked like, James 1:22-24. He goes on to say that the mirror we should be using is the “perfect law of liberty”, vs. 25. The word of God is a “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”, Heb. 4:12, and is the only means by which we can achieve the righteousness of God, Rom. 1:16-17, and overcome the fleshly traps Satan sets for us. 

“He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Jesus makes this statement seven times in the book of Revelation, but each time, a different reward is listed to those that hear and overcome:

-“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God, Rev. 2:7.

-“He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death,” Rev. 2:11.

-“To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it,” Rev. 2:17.

-“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—he shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star,” Rev. 2:26-28.

-“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels,” Rev. 3:5.

-“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name,” Rev. 3:12.

-“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne,” Rev. 3:21.

A battle is being waged between the armies of Satan and the Lamb of God. The Revelation of John bears this out, in detail. The great thing about the revelation John receives is that it can be summed up in just two words: God wins. When the battle is won and this life comes to an end, God will look and see who was following Christ into the fray, Rev. 17:14. We that heard and obeyed the call and sacrificed ourselves toward the cause of Christ will receive the promises - because God is faithful, Deut. 7:9.

If you’ve been listening, you now know the method by which God has delivered His will: the spoken/written word. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he reminded them that the wisdom of this world will not save. Those that saw themselves as “wise” called the preaching of the cross “foolishness”. We that are the Called Out know that our Creator has made Himself known to us through the simplicity of hearing His word, 1 Cor. 1:18-25, and only through the hearing AND doing of His will can we be pleasing to Him, Col. 1:9-10.