Take Heed What Ye Hear

When a rich loved one has died and the funeral and weeping is over, then comes the reading of the will. The loved ones are all gathered at the home and present to listen closely to the reading of the deceased's "last will and testament". Everyone is anxious about what the will contains. No one falls asleep during the dull reading no matter how long it lasts. The lawyer reads long paragraphs and mispronounces some words, but no one cares. It may be a very dry reading, but they are all ears to hear what the lawyer is saying. Oh, how they listen! They open their ears to catch every sound. They are all expecting something - they lean forward and sit on the edge of their seats. When a person's name is mentioned, he doubles his attention to the lawyer's voice. He catches every syllable. If they miss a word concerning them, they request that piece of the will be read again. It is deeply interesting to them, because it concerns them personally. All present are attentively listening to see what has been left to them in the will. Likewise, that is the way a sinner should be listening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take heed what ye hear. Listen to the Gospel personally, attentively, retentively, earnestly, and obediently. Obey the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

Listen now, lend me your ears, thoughts, and heart a few minutes.... Hearken diligently, give your best attention to God's message of free grace and bleeding love, Chase away the vanities and distractions which are buzzing around in your mind now. Hear the Gospel personally - Consider and remember the guilt of your past sins. Your sins should alarm you; number them if you can, your sins are innumerable. The denial of your sin only multiplies your sins. Great is your guilt, you have sinned against light and knowledge. When you sin, your conscience pricks you, but you sin anyway. You have sinned continually all your days. Plead guilty to it. You may think you are as good as most, and if you have sinned, you are not utterly lost. You have no idea how desperately depraved you are, and that you are rotten at your core. You think there is no need for you to be born again, no necessity for you to repent. You think the Gospel is only for those foul, open sinners. You are too good, rather than too bad. Your self-righteousness has made you stone-blind to your fatal condition.

Remember your sins against your mother and father, friends and coworkers. God shall judge the secrets of every man by Jesus Christ according to the Gospel. Check your lusts. By nature you are a despiser of God. You may have a healthy body, but you have a perishing soul. What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? The threatenings of the Law of God trouble your mind and conscience. It is a dreadful thing to sin against your Maker; there is no light penalty for sinning against the Almighty God. Rejecting Christ will cost you your soul. Sin pollutes and defiles the soul of man. Only the Holy Spirit can give you a true and real sense of your sins. You cannot hide your sins, only the Blood of Christ can do that. The Man Christ Jesus is the one sole object of faith for the pardon of sin. The filthy devil of licentiousness, and the clean devil of self-righteousness - both will destroy you. Every licentious look is adultery in the making. The very desire to do that which is evil condemns the soul. You cannot right your wrongs, you need the Savior to do that for you. Stake everything on Jesus' word and blood. Believe on Christ, and be saved. Trust your soul to Him. Remember that your main business is with Jesus Christ Himself.

The sentence of God's condemnation has gone out against you. You are condemned already, your trial is over, your sentence has been handed down, you are this day condemned before God. Why? Because he that believeth NOT on Jesus Christ is condemned already. Your eternal death warrant is already signed, sealed and stamped. There is only one way of escape from the condemnation of God (John 5:24). Your sin and condemnation should alarm you. But on top of that, your helplessness and utter inability to save yourself should trouble you. You are dead in trespasses and sins. You are lost, ruined, undone, and you cannot do anything for yourself. You are guilty of past sins, condemned before God for them, you are unable to save yourself. Your nature is too vile to help itself. You must bow and plead for mercy and cry for pardon. But you are so bad that you hate your only mercy. Your sinful nature hates the Savior who died for you. Believe in Christ, surrender yourself to Him. Man hates to be saved, he loves darkness and sin with a fatal infatuation.

We have all sinned personally; and we shall all perish unless we find all our salvation in Christ. Salvation is deliverance from the guilt of our sins. Every one of us have broken God's laws. We have all wandered on the downward dark road of sin. Salvation is the blotting out and remission of all sin, purging from all guiltiness, that we may stand accepted before the great Judge. Salvation is deliverance from the power of sin. We are all fond of evil, we run after it greedily, we are bondslaves of iniquity, we love the darkness and bondage. A man learns that sin is evil, regards it as such, loathes it, repents that he ever loved it, turns his back upon sin. Men love their sins, they desire to follow the imaginations of their corrupt heart. Bad habits, unclean desires, carnal passions, vile imaginations. Salvation from sin, escape from the corruption which is in the world through lust. Salvation is the deliverance from the present wrath of God which abides upon the unsaved man every moment of his life.

Every sinner who is unforgiven is the object of divine wrath. God is angry with the wicked every day. The wrath of God abides upon every unbelieving sinner. Every soul that is unreconciled to God by the blood of Christ is in the gall of bitterness. You are in a state of danger and alienation from the life of God. Deliverance from the dominion, curse, guilt and power of sin, and from the present and future wrath of God. To die without Christ is to enter into eternal damnation. Christ Jesus bore the wrath of God on our behalf, so that we might never bear it. Christ shed His blood and made a full Atonement to the justice of God for all your sins. The moment you trust His blood, there remains no more record of guilt for you. Hate sin not because it will damn you, but because it does God wrong. The "last will and testament" of Jesus Christ (the Gospel) says, Regeneration is mine, justification is mine, forgiveness of sins is mine, adoption is mine, sanctification is mine, Christ is mine, heaven is mine, resurrection is mine, eternal life is mine, yea all things are mine freely.

The only remedy for your sins is this: God Himself was made flesh, and dwelt among men. God put Himself into human form as a Jewish man - His name was Jesus of Nazareth. God did this so He could be capable of suffering, bleeding, and dying for sinners. In due time Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, and suffered for it in His own body on the tree, that your sins might be put away by the bloody sacrifice of Himself. Your sins were laid upon Jesus, yes, your sins. By His death upon the Cross, Jesus made the full Atonement for the sins of man, and the sinner who believeth in Jesus is delivered from his evil and its consequences. The main point is that Jesus died for sinners, the Just for the unjust. His atoning blood is the kernel of the Gospel. Be in earnest to receive and trust the Savior's finished work. Take heed what ye hear.