Got your Bible tonight. Turn over to Mark chapter number four tonight. Mark chapter number four. And we'll look at these passages together. Mark chapter number four this evening. Mark chapter number four. Church family, normally on Wednesday night we break up and I have a prayer time. I hope that you'll as I open in prayer that you'll again ask the Lords again, take the prayer sheet and think about the ones, take them home and pray for them, obviously, but pray tonight that the Lord will meet with us in a real way tonight. So let's pray together. Our Father, again, thank you again for letting us be in church tonight. Lord, I just ask you to please continue to guide the service. And Lord, now during the time we open up your word, would you speak to our hearts? Lord, I ask you again, strengthen those who might be tired from the day, help others who are thinking about other things, even as we're praying. Father, we bring our focus and mind back to you and Lord, how much we need you and how much we need you to do something in our own lives as well as our family and church. Father, thank you, Lord, how you've been so good to us more than we deserve. And Lord, thank you for the Bartels being with us tonight. Lord, continue to help him to get to the field of Russia. Father, thank you again for the Flores son grandson being with us tonight. Also, would you again bless Weston and Heidi is there in Mexico? Father, Lord, just please help us as a congregation, Lord, to be a missionary where we're at, that we'd be a witness for you. Lord, there's a host of people on the prayer sheet as far as sickness, salvation. Father, Lord, particular needs, would you please answer according to your perfect will? And Lord, again, help us tonight. Lord, give now liberty in the words you say and the power of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, when it's all said and done, may we again say it's been good to be in the house of the Lord because you met with us. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, got your Bible. Now turn over, we're in Mark chapter four tonight. I want you to jump down and we're gonna pick it up in verse number 21. Mark chapter four, verse number 21. The Bible says this, and he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick for there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. Verse 23, if any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, take heed what ye hear, what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you, and to you that hear shall more be given, for he that hath to him shall be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken even that which he hath." I want to focus on one phrase tonight, verse number 24. It says, and he said unto them, here's the phrase, take heed what ye hear. Now, Church Family, I'm trying to get my focus. Hope you got your focus tonight I feel like the service has gone long and we haven't done really enough praising the Lord on what he does in our life in prayer and singing but Tonight I really need you to focus tonight because I want to deal with more than just this one verse in this passage I'm gonna stay in the passage tonight, but Jesus is making this making this statement If you've got your Bible in front, you're gonna follow me now He's talking to really three groups of people that are mentioned in this I think maybe years gone by I've talked a little bit about the passage this passage But in Mark chapter 4, look at the three groups of people first. In Mark chapter 4, verse number 1, All right, stay with me now. So the first group that God's speaking to, Jesus is speaking to, is this great multitude, and that is gonna be basically verses one through nine. He's talking to this great multitude. Now we'll pick it up in verse number 10. And when he was alone, now who's alone with him? Here is who is with him. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the 12. All right, now again, you have to understand the context of what's going on for us to understand the thought tonight. Jesus makes the statement, take heed what ye hear." Now, before he makes that statement, let's understand there's three groups of people. The first group that he's talking to in verses 1 through 9 was this multitude. I'm sorry, we don't have time to really do a complete Bible study tonight, but let me just fill in the missing pieces tonight. The multitude is the lost people. These are not saved people. And again, the reason we know that is because in verse number 11, And he said unto them, Unto you it is given, unto you being those that were about him with the twelve. And it says in verse 11, And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, talking about the multitudes, all these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be what? converted and their sins should be forgiven. Now follow where we're going now. The first that we see in verses 1-9 he's talking to the multitudes and then in verse number 10 this group that he's talking to are those about him and the twelve. Now we don't know how many that is but there's a group of people that stuck around beyond the multitude All right, we understand in verse number one, Jesus gets into a boat. He's on the seaside. There's a great, not just a multitude, a great multitude. Jesus is in the boat. He's teaching through parables. Now, Jesus knows that while he's giving these parables, these truths, we call them earthly stories with heavenly meaning. They were practical instances that people could relate to that had a spiritual truth with them. He knew that the multitude didn't understand what those truths were. Church, can I just tell you that when we tell people about Jesus Christ, not everybody is going to get saved. And can I just tell you that the lost people are not going to think like saved people. The Bible calls them the natural man, that they are spiritually discerned. In other words, they cannot understand the scriptures because they're lost. If you're saved, you better thank God that you're saved, because you understand a whole lot more than a lost person. Now, here's what he says in this grouping. The first group is the great multitude. Second group are those that are about him and the 12. Look at the third group in verse number 34, end of the chapter here. He says, but without a parable spake he not unto them, and when they were alone, He expounded all things to his, what? All right, so three different groups that we have in this particular chapter. First group is the great multitude. Second group is those that are about him, the disciples. Third group is the disciples themselves. Jesus makes this statement about, take heed what you hear, not to lost people. He makes it to save people. Now those about him, I take it from the scripture here, that those who are about him are the ones that stayed behind, those that wanted to learn. And truthfully, I think they were believers. I think that the 12 disciples are mentioned, that's the inner circle, those are the people who are close to Christ. Multitudes, those who are lost, those that were about Him and the 12 disciples, a picture of those who are saved, but they're just about Him. They're not involved in the sense like the 12 disciples, they went with Jesus everywhere. They didn't want to miss one thing that Jesus had said, all right? So Jesus is making this statement now to the disciples in verse 24, and He said unto them, take heed what ye hear. Now, just hear me. I don't know how you are and I don't want to just say that we're thinking the same, but when I look at that statement, if I take it at face value, take heed what ye hear, I would understand that Jesus is trying to say be careful about what you hear. Are y'all with me so far? Think this thing through. I would think that Jesus is saying, hey listen, be careful that you don't hear, as we would say in our English vernacular, don't listen to cussing. Don't listen to rock music. Don't listen to dirty jokes. Don't listen to dirty language. Don't listen to the world's philosophy. That's what we would say about, take heed what ye hear, all right? Now, and then by the way, there's nothing wrong with that, okay? You shouldn't be listening to those bad things as a Christian, because what you put in is going to come out, okay? And if you want to have a clean heart, you put clean things in. You want to have a dirty heart, you put dirty things in, all right? If you're with me tonight, say amen. Church family, are you sure you're with me tonight? I feel like I wore you out with a business meeting. I don't know what it is, but just look at your face. How many had a hard day today? You worked really long and hard today, all right? How many, you're sleeping right now and that's why you didn't answer my question, all right? That's what I thought. I was afraid of that. All right, all right. I'm gonna run, but I can't run if you're not with me tonight. And there's nobody with your eyes closed, but you ever heard that statement, you know, what is it, the lights are on? Nobody's home, yeah, that's how I feel right now, all righty? I feel very alone, all right? Look at your neighbor and say, I'm glad you came to church tonight. All right, now repeat after me, talk to your neighbor and say, you are unspiritual and you need something from the Bible tonight. And I am, keep going, and I am praying that God gives you what you need. All right, all right, now you just lied, you're all ungodly, all right? But that's not what this phrase is talking about. And the reason for it is because the context of what Jesus is speaking about, it cannot be take heed about whatever you hear, because that's not the context of what Jesus is trying to say in Mark chapter four. And I want to show you what I mean by that. All right, now look at your Bible again. In Mark chapter four, verse number 24, you have, and he said unto them, take heed what ye hear. All right, now I want to show you what Jesus is referring to when he says, what ye hear. All right, now let's follow the passage and we'll come up to verse number 24. But in verse, I'm not gonna read everything tonight, but in Mark chapter four, verses number three down through verse number nine is the parable of the sower, all right? The sower went forth to sow. Where did he sow? He sowed on the wayside, he sowed on the stony ground, he sowed on the thorny ground, and he sowed on the good ground. We know the parable. That's what Jesus said to the multitude, to the people who were lost. Look what he says now, and pick it up in verse number 13. And he said unto them, this is the group that was about Jesus and his disciples. He's talking to Christians, he's talking to believers. And he said unto them, verse 13, know ye not that this parable, and how then will ye know all parables, the sower soweth the word, and these are they by the wayside where the word is sown, but when they have, what's the word? When they have heard, heard what? Okay, the word, look at verse 15 again. And these are they by the wayside where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. Verse 16, and these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have what? Heard what? Heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure. I'm trying not to bog you down tonight. I really love this parable that Jesus is speaking. But I want you to understand, we refer to it as the parable of the sower, but to me, it's the parable of the hearers. And the reason for that is every one of these particular things that Jesus is talking about, the wayside here, the stony ground here, the thorny ground here, the good ground here, it's not about the ground as much as it's the person who heard the word. And he says that in every one of them. Look at your Bible again, verse number 18, and these are they which are sown among thorns such as, what's the last three words? Hear the word, verse number 20, and these are they which are sown on the good ground such as what? Hear the word. Now think about this, in verse number 21, I'll come back and explain what 21 and 22 is there for but it says, and He said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel. In the context of what Jesus is speaking, He just isn't giving this parable and He explains the parable to the disciples that it's about hearing the Word and what you do with the Word. And then you come down to verse 23 and He says, if any man have ears to what? To hear, let him what? And he said unto them, take heed what ye hear with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again." Now, 13 times just between verses 1 to 25, Jesus uses the word hear, the word heard, or the word hearing. And so when you get down to verse 23 and he says, take heed what ye hear, he's making reference to those four types of soils or four types of hears on how they heard the word, all right? Again, I know we're going very quickly tonight, but this premise is very, very important because Jesus is talking to these disciples and he's saying, it's not just about what you hear, it's about what you hear. In other words, he's talking about the scriptures that he's talking about in the parable that he talks to the multitudes about, then he explains the parable, and he's talking about hearing the word, and then Jesus says, take heed what you hear. So Jesus is trying to say that every time we open the book and we hear the word, we're supposed to take heed to what we hear. Hey church family, a few moments ago some of you retired and I got most of you had gotten back and some of you are still out in the Netherlands. And that's often how we read our Bible. Hey, how many in here, you've ever read your three chapters or how many chapters you read? You read your three chapters and when it was all said and done, you were about to close your Bible and you couldn't remember one thing you read. Anybody like that at all? All right. I would say majority of sometime or another in our life that we have had that happen. All right. Can I tell you, you know what the difference is? Is you weren't hearing the word. You weren't hearing the word. So Jesus is talking to the disciples and what he's stressing here is so important. He is stressing to us on how we hear, take heed what ye hear, take heed how ye hear the word. In other words, when we read the word of God or we listen to preaching of the word of God, God says, I want you to take heed, the word take heed, I want you to pay attention. I want you to perceive, I want you to catch. I want you to take heed. How many of you would you agree that that book you hold in your hand is the very word of God? Say amen. Amen. How many of you think that book is quick and powerful and that God gave it to us? Would you say amen? Amen. I believe that. I believe that the book we hold in our hand is not just some novel. It's the very word of God. Amen. You wouldn't be in church tonight if except for what the word of God said, forsake not the same of yourselves together. Everything that we try, and we're not perfect Christians, but everything we're doing in our life is because we've got a powerful book that came from God for me. So God's talking to the disciples, and he says, now listen, you take heed what ye hear. And the what? What was it? It's the word of God. He said, take heed what ye hear. Now, I want to just point out three things that Jesus said in these couple of verses that make it very, very clear about what he's talking about here as far as listening to the word and taking heed, being attentive to what the Lord's trying to teach us here, all right? Look at your Bible now. Let's pick it up in verse number, two verses, first of all. In chapter 4 and verse number 9, he's speaking to the multitudes. And he said unto them, verse 9, and he said unto them, He that hath, what? Ears to hear, let him, what? All right, down in verse number 23, now he's talking to the disciples, verse 23. If any man have ears to hear, what? Let him hear. Now, you know what Jesus is trying to say? He's trying to say that hearing is a choice. What's the last three words? Let him hear. In other words, we choose whether or not, when we open the book, if that we're truly hearing the word. I like to quote, and it's one of the best things that ever happened in my life, I can't even tell you exactly how it happened, but the book of Proverbs. The Proverbs of Solomon, Son of David, King of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity, and give subtlety and symbol to the young man, knowledge, and discretion. A wise man will hear and will increase learning. And I could go through the entire book of Proverbs, but not here. You know, we as Christians, we do our reading, we come to church, and truthfully, we're not hearing. And God says, it's a choice. It's a choice that we have to make in our life that we're going to listen to, and the word understand, so that we can understand what God wants in our life. So Jesus, when he talks to the disciples, he's saying very clearly that we have a choice to make when it comes to this thing about hearing. It does not happen by accident. Look at chapter 4, same chapter I'm sorry, look at verse number 10. Now remember all in context Jesus is talking about hearing here, hearing the Word. In verse 10 He says, and when He was alone they that were about Him with the twelve asked Him the parable. And He said unto them, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, talking about those who are lost, all these things are done in parables. that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them." Has it ever dawned on you that all the people that you are by today, whether it was in a restaurant or a store or at work, that they're either going to die and go to heaven or they're going to die and go to hell. And if they're not saved, the book you hold in your hand, they do not understand. Impossible. Now, can they be moral? Yes. Can they be good people? Yes. But can they truly... What illuminates us as far as the Word of God is a Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. When we pray the psalmist prayer, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law, that's a prayer to God for God to illuminate our mind of understanding to be able to do and use what God's trying to teach us. So, can I tell you, it's a choice that we get to make that a lost person can never make until they accept Christ as their Savior. You chose today to eat. How many ate today something? You ate something. Raise your hand. Boy, aren't you glad you ate. How many still haven't had supper yet? After church, you're going to get supper. Anybody at all? All right. How many is hoping this service will end quickly? Raise your hand. All the people who are hungry. You know, we choose to eat. You choose to read the Bible and hear it. So Jesus says, take heed what you hear because hearing is a choice. Look at something else here. This is interesting to me. When Jesus is about to speak to the parable, now if you've got a red letter edition Bible, what's the very first word that is in red letter in Mark chapter four? Say it. Hearken. Jesus could have said, taking that word off, behold, there went out a sword. So Jesus could have done that. But here he's talking, and the very first thing Jesus said is, listen to me, hearken. God wants us, it's His will that we listen to the Word of God and we hearken to what God's trying to teach us, that we don't miss what the Lord's trying to teach us from His Word. I told you I would come back to it. I want to show you something. It's interesting that in verses number 1 through verse number 20, Jesus gives the parable and explains the parable. Then in the context of it all, where does 21 and 22 even come from? Verse 21, and he said unto them, now remember now, he just got done explaining what the parable was to the disciples, verse 21, and he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed. and not to be set on a candlestick. Now, Church, I know that we have these particular verses and another passage of Scripture, and we understand that that other passage of Scripture, you know, talking about us being a light and how we're supposed to be, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father. We understand that as a Christian that we are that. But what Jesus is teaching here is this. He says, who goes and gets a candle so that they can put under a bushel? All right, I don't want to smash that candle, Who goes and lights a candle so it can be covered up? Who goes and lights a candle and sticks it under a bed? All right, now think for just a moment here, so we can get this lit here. All right. No, we're not gonna light it on fire. I'm just gonna leave that right there for just a second. Look at the next verse, though. In verse number 22, first he talks about, is a candle brought, verse 21, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, under a bed? And not to be thought on candlestick, verse 22, for there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad. Now I'm going to ask you a tough question. It's not a trick question, OK? But it's a tough question. If you haven't been with me thus far, you're probably not going to know the answer. In the context of what Jesus had just got done talking about, and then he talks about this candle, what is the candle, or the light I should say, what is it a picture of? It's a picture of the word. It's a picture of the word. What he's saying is, why would God give a person the word so that you can just cover it up? By the way, that's what a lot of Christians do. Because a lot of Christians, the only time they touch their Bible is when they come to a church service and you haven't touched it all week long. You know what you did? You covered the light up. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Look what Jesus did. Now think about this promise that Jesus just gets untelling in verse 22. Let's read it again, verse 22. For there is nothing hid which shall not," future, which shall not be manifested, manifested means made known, neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad. I don't know if you're catching this or not, but you know what God's trying to say, Jesus speaking to the disciples, you know what God's trying to say? He's trying to say, hey listen, the word is like that light that's not supposed to be covered under a bushel, it's not supposed to be put under a bed, but that it might be manifested and that it should be made known. Can I just tell you should and shall are future tense of things that could happen, but they're not gonna happen as long as you've got your light covered up, as long as you're not opening the book, you're not spending any time in the word of God, you come to a church service, listen to me tonight. There's something that God wants to do through His Word that can only be done through His Word. The sanctified life is done because of the Word of God. Luke 17, 17. He said, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. So in order to live salvation, That's when I got saved. Sanctification, that's how I'm living my life while I'm alive. Glorification, that's when I'm in heaven and I have my glorified body. In this area of my life, the only thing that helps me stay sanctified is the word of God. So take heed how you hear. Hear what? Hear the word of God. So he makes it very clear that God is looking for Christians to be in the book and hear the book. So hearing is a choice. Hearing is God's will for each of our life. Church, remember, look at verse 23, read it out loud with me, verse 23. After he gets done talking about the candlestick, after he gets done telling that God wants to make his word, the candlestick's the picture of that, make it manifested and known unto us, let's read out loud verse 23. If any man have ears to hear, all he wants you to do is listen. Listen to what he's trying to say. I can't tell you how many numerous times in my life I have gotten through my devotions, but I didn't get anything from my devotions I've got done with my reading, but I didn't do my reading When it comes to the Word of God It's a matter of God teach me and help me to hear and help me to focus and you get three or four verses in the description You say okay God, I'm gonna stop right now. I'm going right back to verse number one because I'm here to hear I'm here to hear We just got done having that lesson on Samuel. Brother Barney did an excellent job teaching on Sunday. And the unique thing about Samuel was, is that the Bible says that in the days that Samuel was alive as a child, there was no open vision. The word vision there is talking about no word from the Lord. You know how we use the proverb? Where there is no vision, what happens? Okay, that vision is not talking about goals where there's no vision. That's what I always want to use that verse for. But the Bible's saying where there is no vision, where there's no word from God, the people perish. Can I just tell you the reason Christianity is in the shape that it is, is not because of what's going on in the White House or our world. It's because of what's going on in Christianity. It's what's going on with God's people, where people who have no walk with God, no talk with God, or people who have a walk with God, but they're not hearing. I got it done. Got it done. Jesus says, take heed what you hear. Every time you open that book, I want you to pay attention. We see that hearing is a choice. We see that hearing is God's will. And I want to show you one last thing. This is very interesting to me, too. Look at chapter four, verse number 21 now. I'm sorry, not verse 21. Jump down to verse 24. Mark four verse 124. He's talking about this concept of hearing the word, verse 24. And he said unto them, take heed what ye hear. With what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you, and unto you that hear shall more be given. Now, I want to get a question for you. In verse 24, when he says, with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you, what is he referring to? Okay, you're correct, but let's get a little bit more specific in that verse. He said, take heed how ye, talk to me. Take heed how ye hear, right? Then he said, with what measure ye meet, it should be measured to you. Am I correct on that? Okay, now, so here's what God's saying. God says that in the measurement of how you hear is how God will help you understand or what God will give to you from his word. So if you get a spoonful of scripture, you're gonna get a spoonful of the word. In other words, if I am not, he says in the, by the way, isn't it interesting? You know your Bible. Luke chapter six, verse 37 and 38, remember that? Isn't it interesting that there's only five things that the Bible says that as you measure it out, or as you give it and meet, God will measure to you back again. Remember those four, the four things besides this one. The four things in Luke chapter six, verse 37, 38. Number one, God says that if you first of all judge, He says, in the amount that you judge, you're going to be judged. He said, number two, in the way you condemn. The word judge means to call into question. Condemn means to declare guilty. When you condemn somebody, God says, in the measurement that you condemn, I'm going to condemn you back. Number three, he says, in the way you forgive. This is Luke 6, verse 37, 38. He says, in the measurement, what you measure out, you're going to be measured back. By the way, if you're an unforgiving person, it's no wonder you're miserable, because you get no forgiveness. He says, in the measurement that you forgive, that's the measurement you're going to get back. Last of all, this is the one all of us know. Give and it shall be. And that's when he says that in the measurement we give out, that's the measurement we get back. Church, let me think for a moment here. This is the only other one that I know of that God says in the measurement that you hear is in the measurement that I'm going to give to you. So that means that if I measure out a cup of hearing, I'm going to get a cup of hearing back. That means if I'm going to measure out a pitcher full of hearing, I'm going to get a pitcher full of hearing back. That means if I give out a tote full of hearing, I'm going to get a tote full of hearing back. You know, it's crazy. I don't know why I can't get anything from my Bible. Newsflash. That's why. You know, how could you expect God to say anything to you when you come to a church service and not even bring a Bible? Preacher, he just needs to get right with God because every time I come there, he doesn't feed me anything. You don't even bring a plate to put food on. You want to park there for a while? You don't get something necessarily because of the person, you get something because of the word. It's the word that changes us, it's the word that challenges, it's the word that gives us light in our life. Hearing, I should say giving, what God gives to us will always be in proportion to how we hear. This is powerful, I'm done, because again, I went long in the beginning part, but I want you to look at verse number 34 with me. But without a parable spake he not unto them, and when they were alone, he expounded all things to them. I'm sorry, it's a previous verse, verse 33. Verse 33, and with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to what? Hear. All right, now, to me, I could not understand that we are only so able to hear. I don't know if you caught that or not, but when I read that, I said, wait a second here. That means some people aren't even able. What's the deal here? But when you look at the verse prior to that, I want to show you how you become able. Look at your Bible back up in verse number 24. I'll read the whole verse, last phrase though. And he said unto them, take heed what you hear with what measure you meet, it should be measured to you. Let's read out loud the last phrase, verse 24 together. And unto you that shall Oh, I just can't get anything out. I must not be able. Wait a second here. To him that here, that's what enables you. The enablement to get something from the word of God. Just let me think for a moment here. Samuel was a child and God said that he revealed himself unto Samuel and he'd be known as a prophet to all the people because God spoke directly to him. Now I know that we have the very word of God. He had the literal audible voice of God and we've got the word of God. But can I tell you, Samuel allowed God to speak to him and he spoke to God. And God used him in a great way, and God repeatedly did things in Samuel's life. Can I tell you, God wants to do the same thing with every one of us, whether you're a child or an adult, but it's not going to happen unless you're like this. Hear my? Speak, Lord. I don't want to miss what you're trying to teach me. Brother Weston is here with us tonight, Missionary of Mexico. Brother Mr. Flores, grandson. Brother Weston, would you say that there's an overabundance of missionaries out there? I would say the same thing. Brother Bartels, would you say there's an overabundance of missionaries out there? You know why there's not an abundance like it used to be? Wasn't it many years ago, there was an abundance of missionaries? Someone was telling me the other day, Pastor, we haven't had very many missionaries coming through. Can I just tell you, there's not a whole lot of them out there. You know why there's not an overabundance of missionaries? Because we've got too many, can I just say young people, we've got too many of our young people that what's important to them is getting a high score on a game, or going playing a sport, or gonna spend time with friends, or watching a movie, and that is so important to them that if they read their Bible, it's getting it done and not hearing. You know, God's not done calling people. He called people, they were listening. So what does Jesus say to the disciples? He said, take heed what you hear. And I want to tell you, the next time that you open the book and you start doing your speed reading, you just need to sit still. And listen, I know there's probably several of you in here, your devotions is basically turn on the, your phone or whatever it is and allow the scripture to play. And by the way, scripture can never return void. So you're 10 times better off doing that than nothing. But there's something about hearing. You ever told your kids something and they say, well, I didn't hear you tell me that. Well, if you're listening, you ought to have dingbat. I wonder what God calls us, what names are his names, you know? Nitwit. Ding dong. I don't know. Church family, you're a Wednesday night crowd. I would like to think, God only knows, that the majority of you in here read your Bible on a regular basis. Preparing for this message tonight, I caught myself several times today because quoting is something I can do anywhere. I'm on chapter 15 right now, I try to, I didn't get through the whole book today, but I don't know how many times today, because of studying this sermon, I caught myself, I would quote an entire chapter and then forgot that I had quoted the chapter, I didn't know it, I didn't know one, and I knew it by heart, but I couldn't remember one thing I had quoted out loud. Jesus is talking to that group of disciples that were about him, And he says, hey, listen, I just want to tell you something. You need to take heed to the word because there are people are going to die and go to hell because when they heard the word, it went by the wayside and the devil took it off. He said, when they heard the word, it fell on stony ground and they took no root. He says, when they heard the word, it grew, but then the thorns went around it and choked it. They were unfruitful. And then there is that group. that when they heard the word, they produced some 30-fold fruit, some 60-fold fruit, some 100-fold fruit. And do you know why that happened? Because those are the ones that take heed how they hear. Take heed how you hear. Ask the Lord on a regular basis when you open the book, God, would you please teach me today and would you help me to dismiss what you have for me? And when you get reading through the Bible that you're not doing the speed race, that God, I need you to speak to me. Listen, I'm gonna say this and I'm done. I know we're all different as far as our devotions, but there's some of you in here, you've been taught all your life, read three chapters a day, you'll get through your Bible in a year. That's not what makes a good Christian. People who hear from God make good Christians. Don't just get it done. But don't stop what you're doing. But hear. Hear. You know, I have a habit of when I'm preaching that if somebody is sleeping, I wake them up. If it's a teenager sleeping or a child sleeping, you as a congregation give me liberty, because I've never had anybody get mad at me that I know of. Oh, one time years ago, 20 years ago, I remember that for some reason. A parent came up to me after the service, said, how dare you call my child done? I said, they were sleeping. It was a teenage girl. I said, that's why I called her down. They got mad at me for that one. I remember that one. That's amazing. But other than that, I don't remember anybody else. But if it's a teenager or a child, wake them up. She's not sleeping. Wake them up. You know why? Because there's something inside of me that with the importance of what we're talking about, which is God, you can't be sleeping. If you're an adult and you worked all day and you're alone, I will never call an adult down. I don't remember, I don't think I ever have. I will never call an adult down because obviously I don't know what's going on in that adult's life. If they worked all day, didn't get to sleep, their wife kept them open, I don't know anyway. But occasionally, occasionally I'll walk, raise my voice, I won't look at them. There have been times though, I said bless God, You know why I do that? It's because as a preacher, I just can't think to myself, we're talking about the most important thing in the world, we're talking about the scripture, we're talking about God. I want everybody to catch it. And you know what God says about you? God says, hey, listen, I don't want your light. I lost my lighter. Did I put my lighter down somewhere? Okay, pretend. Lit up, okay? Did I set my down lighter somewhere? All right. I found it. God says, I've given you the word, and that's what the word does. It lights our way. It gives us warmth. It does something to us. And God says, this is what should happen, and this is what could happen. But every time you open the book, you've got a bushel over the top of it. You know how you get the bushel out of the way? you take heed what you hear. God, don't let me miss it. Would you bow your head and close your eyes tonight?