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[0:00] In St. Mark chapter 7, we read verse 16, that any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

[0:13] Now the context of why Jesus is using this particular phrase, which obviously is simply a fundamental truth to be stating, it's almost a kind of quite sarcasm when it's I've any ear.

[0:24] Everybody has ears. Everybody has ears which are designed for hearing. But as we mentioned a little earlier with the children, the ultimate purpose of the ears the Lord has given us is to hear what the Lord is saying to us.

[0:40] Now God does not tend to speak nowadays, so often anyway, through angelic appearances or through the heavens parting and great shafts and beams of transfigurating light.

[0:52] He doesn't tend to use Damascus Road that often. He's only actually used it once in Scripture and so on. He tends to speak more quietly through the things that he has made.

[1:05] He uses the testimony of those whom he has converted. He uses the witness of his revealed word. He uses the witness and example and teaching of Jesus.

[1:16] He uses creation and provenance around him. The word of the Lord is speaking to those who would hear if they have ears to hear.

[1:27] The context of this passage in which Jesus is using this phrase is that the Pharisees were guilty, we might say, of a tradition which had fossilized into superstition.

[1:41] They believed that they were somehow kept right with God if they went through the right sort of rituals. When it says about, you know, washing their hands before eating, as we've mentioned often in the past, this isn't a reference to sort of hygiene like your mum would say to you when you're out of your mouth.

[1:57] Off you go and wash your hands before lunch or whatever. It's not the sense of rubbing away with soap and water under the tap. It's the sense of, like it says in verse 3, they wash their hands off.

[2:09] The literal translation of that is wash with the fist. And it means that the water trickles down through the hand and they would rub their hand thoroughly in and under the trickle of water.

[2:20] This isn't so much for hygiene. It's a ritual purity. But the ritual purity, which they would do with the washing of cups and brazen vessels and pots and tables, all of this is taking to a further man-made degree that which God had originally only required in the case of the likelihood of infection.

[2:44] Now, of course, infection was not known about in ancient times, in the time of Jesus. I mean, in terms of medicine and biology and so on, it wasn't known about in terms of science.

[2:56] It wasn't known about much less in the days of the Israelites wandering in the desert. But, of course, it was known to God. Bacteria wasn't discovered until the 19th century. And yet here we have, in Leviticus 14 and Leviticus 15 and 16, we have instructions about if there's a suspicion of leprosy, whether it's clothes or anything that has been touched by it, it's to be washed thoroughly or burned if necessary.

[3:23] Anybody who's been in contact with anybody who might have infection or whatever is to wash themselves. And to wash them, to the Jews, the Israelites and those they've built, why do you want us to do that?

[3:34] They wouldn't have any contact of germs or infection or anything, but God said it. And therefore, they were required to do it. But I'll give you an example, Leviticus 15, verse 11.

[3:45] Whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, that's whether an issue of blood or a running sore or some kind of issue in his flesh, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the even.

[4:01] And the vessel of earth that he toucheth which hath the issue shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water. Now this is almost certainly the origin of what the Pharisees were doing.

[4:15] But its original context is in the likelihood of a running issue, an issue in the flesh, or an infection, a disease, to avoid contamination. But of course, they had built themselves up such that, well, we don't know who might have any kind of infection.

[4:30] We don't know who might be unclean. So in order to make sure that we stay pure the whole time, let's just treat everybody else as though they were infected. So we always wash our hands ritually, and our plates and our cups and everything, before we eat.

[4:47] Now, of course, as we said, there's nothing wrong in washing before you eat. But this was their sort of ritual. It wasn't cleanliness and hygiene. It was a ritual to stave off the ritual impurity of the others.

[5:00] God had originally intended it as a protection against infection. They took it as being the sort of moral infection of the rest of the world.

[5:11] And so they washed all the time. And everything that had touched or had contact with the outside world. In chapter 14 of Leviticus, it was with the issue of leprosy in the possible way.

[5:22] In chapter 16, it was the priests who were to wash before they came in to do the sacrifices of the Lord. Again, symbolizing the purity, the cleanliness of the Lord.

[5:33] But, of course, the Pharisees took this on and made traditions about, oh, no, you've got to do this, you've got to do that, you've got to do it. Every time, every situation, it became a tradition of the elders.

[5:45] Passed on, man-made, with additional circlings and additional requirements over and above what God had required originally in his work.

[5:55] And this is what Jesus takes issue with them. They were so pernickety about their rituals and about their superstitions and about their rules and regulations.

[6:05] But they had allowed the spirit of God's commandments, like in caring for your father and mother, honoring your father and mother, to go by the wayside. Because if they dedicated something to the temple or to the Lord, nobody else could touch it.

[6:19] They couldn't help their parents. They couldn't provide for them. They couldn't look after them in their old age. Sorry, everything's been given to the temple. Everything's been given to the Lord. That's how godly. That's how religious I am, they would seem to say.

[6:31] But Jesus, of course, takes issue with them for that. And when he had called the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me, every one of you will understand. There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him.

[6:45] But the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man of ears to hear, let him hear. Now, what he means by this is that if you are right with the Lord, if your situation with God is that your sins are forgiven, you're right with him, your heart is right with the Lord.

[7:03] Okay, none of our hearts are as they should be with the Lord. But contact with that which is even defiled or sinful does not of itself defile you.

[7:13] Yes, there may be a seeking out of things that are wrong. There may be a deliberately going to places where sin is committed. And that may defile, but what defiles there is the heart that secretly wants these things.

[7:29] Not the inadvertent contact with those who may engage in such activities. You're not defiled by them. Your righteousness is the Lord. It's in Christ.

[7:39] That which comes from without doesn't defy you. Then what you have to watch is what is within. And again, as is so often the case, as we've mentioned in the past, the physical points us to the spiritual.

[7:53] If you think in terms of anything that comes out of the body, we tend to recoil from. We tend to think of as something icky and unclean.

[8:05] The only possibility that may be not is tears. People don't tend to recoil from tears. That tends to evoke sympathy. That which comes from the eyes. Everything else whacks out of your ears.

[8:16] Whatever comes out when you blow your nose or when you sneeze violently. Or if you're sick and you vomit. Or anything that comes out from the ordinary easing of nature and bodily functions from further down below.

[8:30] Everything else. We think, it's a bit disgusting. We are repelled by it. We are disgusted by what comes out of the body.

[8:41] But we tend to be enticed and delighted by whatever we plan to put in to the body. Food and drink and so on. That's nice. That's good. That's positive. But once it's been eaten and digested, then if it comes out in a different form, well, that's not so nice.

[8:55] So, likewise, in a spiritual sense, there's nothing outside that is going to be finally within. Unless you bring it in. But that which is on the outside will stay on the outside.

[9:09] What you've got to watch is what is in the heart. If any man appears to hear, let him hear. And then Jesus expounded it. He explained it. Do you not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot be filed?

[9:23] He doesn't stay there. It entereth not into his heart, but into the belly. Goeth out into the draught, purging all meats. That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

[9:33] For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts. Reasons, adulteries, fornications, murders, deaths, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness.

[9:44] An evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man. We might say almost foolishness. It sums up all these other things.

[9:56] These foolish imaginations and vain things. So much of them worldly, fleshly distraction from the ultimate truth. So Jesus says, if any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

[10:11] Now, we've already looked with the children just how wonderfully and marvelously the ear is designed, just in brief. But we also have to remember that whilst ears are given explicitly for hearing, if we're not hearing what the Lord is saying, then we're not using our ears for what they're ultimately intended for, which is to hear the voice of God.

[10:38] Now, as we mentioned, God reveals himself, first of all, in creation. He declares, the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his hand he works. He declares himself, he reveals himself in providence, in the outworking of the way things happen.

[10:54] He shows the hand of God in history, in providence, in the outworking of things in your life. You can see it far better in retrospect than in prospect. You look back with hindsight and say, oh yeah, I can see why that turned out the way it did.

[11:08] I can see why the Lord stopped me from going down that road and turning me down this way. How he knew better than I did in providence, and above all in revelation, in what he reveals through his beloved son, Jesus Christ, in what he reveals through his written word, in what he reveals through the person of the Holy Spirit, speaking through the scriptures, and ultimately, if we are waiting on the Lord and listening for him, he will speak to us also, if we are, as it were, tuned in to the Lord.

[11:39] We will hear what the Lord will speak. We will be able to know in his head, if it is in line with what he himself would reveal in his word.

[11:49] If God tells us to do, apparently God tells us to do something completely at odds with what he has revealed, well, no, it's not the Lord speaking. Well, no, it's a difference with it altogether.

[12:00] But he reveals himself in that revelation through scripture, through the person and witness and example and teaching of Jesus, and through the person of the Holy Spirit speaking to us.

[12:12] We need to have our ears tuned to that, if we're going to really hear it. Just like, you know, it's not so much the case nowadays, and everything's internet, but, you know, when I was growing up, certainly if you had radios, you had radios and you had to twirl and all, and you'd get all to that.

[12:28] Static and so on, and then you'd get a brief burst of music, or somebody speaking, and maybe in a foreign language, or maybe in something, and you'd have to keep on turning and all, until the dial moved across the screen, or whatever it was, or turned right further, until you've got the right frequency.

[12:43] And when you've got the right frequency, you might have the program that you want. And you can listen to it then, because you're tuned in to where you're going to pick up the right waves. And we have to be likewise tuned in to the Lord, waiting upon him.

[12:58] You are not going to hear God speaking to you in the midst of all the noise and hovel and bustle of the world, and all the clamor, and all the different competing voices and noises that are going to be there.

[13:09] This is why Jesus says, go out to your closet and shut the door, and pray to your Father which is in secret, and your Father which is in secret will hear and will reward you openly.

[13:22] But this phrase, if any man adheres to hear, let him hear, it's not unique, of course, to this verse. It's something that Jesus uses again and again in the New Testament.

[13:33] And the earliest instance that we have of him using this particular phrase is in reference to John the Baptist. John the Baptist being Elijah, which was to come.

[13:47] And Jesus, talking about him, says, you know, what went he out for to see? In Matthew 11 and verse 15, he says, you know, if you will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

[13:57] You know, people say, oh, why do you say Elijah's going to come first? Because Elijah's already been. If only you had ears to hear. If only you were tuned in to see. This is the man coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, just as the angel said to Zacharias his father.

[14:12] He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. This is Elijah, which was for to come. He that adheres to hear, let him hear. Now, what does he mean when he says, oh, look, Elijah's already been.

[14:25] Oh, where are you? But the whole thing about Elijah coming was if you look at the very last verses of the Old Testament in Malachi, chapter four, verses five and six, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

[14:42] And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Now, this doesn't just be a recipe for some domestic happiness, like parents and kids will get on okay.

[14:57] Rather, it means that the fathers, those who have gone before to whom the Lord has revealed his will and his word and his scriptures and those who come afterwards and every generation, of course, thinks they're too modern and too with it to be by and by our parental and grandparents generally.

[15:16] You know, we know much more than they do. But, of course, the older we get, the more we realize, oh, maybe they weren't so daft after all. And it's our children and grandchildren who then think we're old fashioned and sort of behind and so on.

[15:28] But every generation thinks it is the most modern, the most cutting edge and that they have truly new insights. But rather, when we really get the insight, the spirit of the Lord, we see what he revealed way back to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, what he revealed to David and the prophets and so on.

[15:47] This is exactly, perfectly in line with what he reveals now through his son Jesus Christ and through the spirit. The children are reconciled to the fathers and the fathers are reconciled to the children.

[16:00] The generations are united in their love and service of the Lord. They recognize it is one God speaking with one voice across the ages and they are reconciled one to another.

[16:14] Those who have gone before and those who come after. I would suggest to you, this is the interpretation of the final verse of the Old Testament. And the person who turns them to repentance, the fathers to the children, the children to the fathers, yes, that they also get right with each other in the present day, but it has that sort of generational, that the ages, the times of the Lord's people recognizing that this one spirit, one voice, one witness across the Old Testament scriptures, the New Testament scriptures, it's all coming together in the fulfillment which is in Christ.

[16:50] He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest they come and smite the earth with a curse. And everybody thought, okay, Elijah's coming first.

[17:01] But until Elijah comes, well, there's no worries that the king, you don't have to worry about the end of the world or anything just yet, you don't have to worry about, you know, the Lord coming in his glory because Elijah hasn't been yet, so that's okay.

[17:12] If Elijah came, would they know what he looked like? Nobody had set eyes on Elijah. When John the Baptist comes, he's not the physical reincarnation of Elijah. No such thing as reincarnation.

[17:24] But he goes in the spirit and power in Elijah. That's what the angel said. And Jesus said, if you will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.

[17:35] Heathen in ears to hear. Let him hear. If your ears are really being used for what the Lord designed and to hear what God is doing, what God is saying, then you'll hear.

[17:48] That's the first instance. And there are several together. The second is that of the parable of the sword, where both in Matthew 13 and Mark chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8, Jesus concludes this parable, which of course is about the good seed, going on different types of soil, and how the first three types don't produce any fruitfulness at all.

[18:09] Yes, there's a little bit of growth where there's a way of it. It's choked by the weeds and the thistles of dawns and so on. But there is growth at the last. And that which falls in the good soil brings forth a harvest.

[18:22] Heathen in ears to hear, let him hear. How much may seem to be rejected. How much may seem to be lost. God is not defeated by that. God's purposes have not failed because of that.

[18:35] Rather, he is showing his generosity. That he scatters the good seed of his word, of his invitation, of his call to repentance, on all the soils alike, on all the kinds of different hearts.

[18:49] But that which falls in the good ground brings forth abundantly, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold. He that appears to hear, let him hear.

[19:00] That which brings forth the least brings forth thirtyfold. The seed is not wasted. The seed is not lost.

[19:11] The seed is reproduced and repaid in abundance. God is not overcome by the falseness of man's heart. God is not defeated by the thinness and unproductivity of so much of the soil of our lives and our hearts.

[19:27] God will have his perfect plan, his perfect victory. This is the parable of the sower. Matthew, Mark and Luke. He that appears to hear, let him hear.

[19:38] That's the second time it is used. The third time is also in Mark. Well, if we turn back a couple of pages in Mark's account of the gospel from where we are, we see in chapter four verse twenty-three, Jesus says, If any man of you is to hear, let him hear.

[19:55] And he's talking about there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad. He's talking about a candle not being put under a bushel or under a bed but set on a candlestick.

[20:09] And he is saying this about that which is hidden will come to light. In Mark's account, it is in the immediate aftermath of the parable of the sower. And in the parable of the sower, when the seed is scattered, initially, nobody can tell what the fruitfulness is going to be.

[20:27] Nobody can tell the difference between any of the different types of soil or what the fruitfulness or lack of it might be. But as time goes by and as the seed sinks down and germinates or not, then it brings forth the truth of the kind of soil is seen for what it is and the truth comes out.

[20:47] And eventually, of course, the truth always comes out. This is one thing which I just wish people would understand about things that they think will be kept secret, they think will be gone away with.

[20:59] It will always come out. Whether it is good or whether it is bad, it will always come out in the forms of time. So much of what people do that is sinful or in the dark or whatever they think, nobody will find out.

[21:16] But it always comes out in the end. There is nothing here, Jesus said, which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad.

[21:28] Eventually, it will be known to man and it is already all known to God. In other words, in the context, the seed will sprout, which has been planted, it will spring up one way or the other and it will show the soil either to be shallow and hopeless or choked with weeds and so much other junk that it can't flourish or so bare that it's a bare rock and the birds of the air just take it away or it will be seen to be good soil.

[21:55] Nothing wrong with the seed. The seed is good regardless. Any man of the ears to hear, live in fear. That's the third time. Nothing good that will not be revealed. The fourth time it's used is in Matthew's account of the Gospel again and it's the parable of the wheat and the tares and that too is not dissimilar to the parable of the sower upon which again it follows not so far behind in the same chapter in Matthew 13.

[22:23] It was in verse 9 when it was used first of all in chapter 13 who hath ears to hear let him hear but later on at verse 43 in the same chapter who hath ears to hear let him hear and that's the conclusion of the parable of the wheat and the tares.

[22:38] Again, one field and the master sows good seed in the field but then somebody else, the enemy comes along and he sows tares and bad seed in the field and he says an enemy hath done this and therefore the devil sows his evil seed in the field it's the wicked one the enemy that sowed him is the devil the harvest is the end of the world the reapers of the angels as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of this world the son of man shall send forth his angels they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth you see the fact that it was planted in the same field as the good seed didn't save it didn't save the tares the fact that they were surrounded by so much good seed and good wheat didn't say oh I can hide in the crowd nobody will know it's me nobody will know that I'm a tear nobody will know that I'm actually not the real deal yes they will nothing hid that will not be revealed gather all the tares out burn them in the fire nothing is secret that will not be made manifest you see these are all interconnected the parable of the sword the parable of the wheat and the tares things coming out into the open and the fact that time is a lot nearer its fulfilment than anybody thought as long as they thought oh Elijah hasn't come yet plenty of time

[24:02] Elijah's already been John the Baptist is Elijah in the spirit and in the sense and in the power of Elijah he's already been the time is a lot nearer than you thought there isn't ages and ages before you have to act there is nothing here that shall not be revealed the parable of the wheat and the tares there is no hiding in amongst the good seed and in the wheat there is no hiding in the fact we're in the right field if you're not of the planting of the Lord then you won't be saved but Christ has offered us that which is a way of salvation it is not that which is on the outside and this is now the fifth element is our passage today in verse 16 in Mark 7 if any man of ears to hear let him hear there's nothing from outside a man that defiles him it doesn't matter what you may have done or what you may have been guilty of or what you may have mixed with there is hope now and there is hope today for all who will put their trust in Christ because he will plant his seed in their heart and he will put his spirit into their soul and that which the Lord has put within is not affected by what is on the outside it is what is inside that either cleanses and redeems or else defiles the Lord desires to save and the Lord desires to redeem he knows that we're swimming about in a cesspool of iniquity in this fallen world he knows we are permanently defiled by the fact that we live in this fallen world and we are ourselves fallen we cannot be redeemed except by his great grace let us never fool ourselves and the Pharisees did if we just do the right things and go through the right rituals and say the right formulas and do all the right outward things that will be enough that won't change a thing because the outside is not affected by what the outside does it's the inside it is the heart it is the spirit of the soul which the Lord either enters or not and he desires to enter he says in Revelation 3 behold I stand at the door and knock if any man will open unto me

[26:16] I will come in and suck with him and be with me the sixth the second last use of this phrase is in Luke's account of the gospel where we find that Luke mentions in chapter 14 verse 35 when he's talking about salt being good but if the salt have lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted seasoned it is neither fit for the land nor yet for the downhill but men cast it out he that adheres to hear let him hear what's he referring to there he's referring to the fact that yes salt is good he's talking about the cost of witness that is the context there Luke is telling about or the Lord is speaking in Luke's account of the gospel about the cost of discipleship and recognising that there is a need to put the Lord first if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children doesn't mean literally hate it means love less than they love the Lord he cannot be my disciple which of you intending to build a tower sit if not down first and count at the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it unless happily after he had laid a foundation he's not able to finish it all but behold and begin to mock saying this man began to build and was not able to finish count the cost recognise this is going to take all that you've got it's going to take all the rest of your life you can't say well I'll give the Lord five years and then I'll go off and do my own thing no it's going to take the rest of your life whether that life is long or short it's going to take all that you have whether it's a widow's mite or whether it's a king's ransom it doesn't matter it's going to take all that you have the Lord requires of you all that you have because what he desires to give you is all that he has and what he has already given for sinners is all that he has his very life upon the cross the life of God the Son and what he offers now is the glory that God the Son has laid out for him in heaven and for all eternity that is what he desires to give but he's going to give you an all and it means that you have to give him all that you have whether it's a sale whether it's a widow's mite or whether it's a king's ransom whether you're rich or whether you're poor whether you've got five minutes left to live whether you've got five decades left to live it's going to take all of your life it's going to take all that you have it's going to take everything just accept that if you're going to commit to Christ then it is a commitment to Christ for all of your life and for all that it takes and it means putting Christ first in everything.

[28:54] And there'll be some aspects of the flesh which will be inconvenienced by that. And some aspects of life here that may seem to cost more because of that. But that investment will always be worth it.

[29:07] God is no man's debtor. Salt is good. But if the salt have lost his saver, wherewith shall it be seasoned? Judas was close. How close was he to the Lord?

[29:17] One of the twelve. How long did he go on to the Lord? Right up until the last day of his life. And then he fell away. If the salt have lost its saver, it's good for nothing.

[29:32] If the Christian loses Christ, he or she is good for nothing. He that appears to hear, let him hear. And the final instance in which this phrase is used, it's used slightly differently.

[29:47] It's used by the risen Christ, the glorified Christ in Revelation. And it's used in the singular. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

[30:01] In Revelation it's used these seven times. For each of the seven churches which are addressed in chapter 2 and chapter 3 of Revelation. And of course, each of these churches, as we know, has something good in them, usually.

[30:16] Many rarely, one or two, maybe don't have anything good in them. But some don't have anything that he finds fault with. But always, always, even in those like Smyrna or like Philadelphia, which he only has good things to say, there's still more that is required.

[30:32] There's still words of wisdom saying, well, you're still going to be half-giving more. There's still going to have to be maybe a martyr's crown. Be thou faithful unto death and I'll give you a crown of life and so on.

[30:43] There's always more that he needs to tell them. There's always more that he needs to say. And it doesn't matter how good and holy and bright our Christian witness might be.

[30:55] There's always more the Lord can add to it while we're here on this earth. These churches were a whole mixture, a whole range of Christian witness. Some good, some bad, some indifferent.

[31:07] Some pretty near the Lord and some pretty far away from the Lord. But he still has a word for each of them. And he still has an encouragement for each of them. Some of the greatest words that he speaks that we just call him here.

[31:20] Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Any man shall open to me. I'll come in and suffer with him and he with me. These opportunities that are there, these are spoken to loud I see. And the Lord said he would spew them out of his mouth because they were neither hot nor cold.

[31:35] But still there is opportunity and still there is time and still there is grace. Whilst there is life and there is hope. Yes, Elijah has already been.

[31:47] And the time is less than you may have thought it was. He then had an ear and in here would the Spirit say for the churches. Does he just say it to Ephesus? Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos?

[31:59] He just said the Sardis and Philadelphia and Thyatira and Mauritius. Or is it recorded for all the rest of us as well? Well, obviously. It has been recorded for posterity and God's dictation and by God's inspiration.

[32:17] Seal not up the sayings of this book for the time is at hand. It is for all the churches in all the ages. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit say to the churches.

[32:30] Hear that John the Baptist was Elijah. He's already been. Hear the parable of the soil and the different soils. Hear the parable of the wheat and the tares. That there is no escape just by hiding in the same field or hiding in a crowd of good wheat or good seed.

[32:46] There is nothing here that will not be revealed. Whether it is good or bad or indifferent. There is nothing from outside that defiles a man. But that which is in the heart.

[32:58] It is the heart that needs must be made like with God. It is the heart that must be given to him completely and totally. Count the cost of discipleship.

[33:10] Salt is good. Let the salt have lost its savor. It is therefore good for having that it be cast out and thrown under the foot of man. Count the cost. The cost will be everything you've got.

[33:24] Everything you have. Everything the Lord has given you. He intends you to offer and give back to him again. Not that he may take it away from you and leave you in poverty and destitution and misery.

[33:37] But so that really dedicated to him these things can be received as his good gifts and put at his service. So that all that he has given you give back to him and you will see that which was dull shine with a new brightness.

[33:53] You will see that which was of dull blade become sharp and razor keen. You will see that which was dim become bright and shiny. You will see that which you thought was just for your own meager gratification be said to a holy and pure and powerful purpose.

[34:11] You will see a life transformed. When that life is given to the Lord it will take everything that you've got. It will take all the days of your life from here on.

[34:23] It will take all the resources he has placed into your hand or into your pocket. It must all be placed at his disposal. He gave his all for those he redeemed.

[34:37] and they are called upon to give their all for him. He will not be the poorer for that exchange or for that investment. Whatsoever may be the particular aspect that he is pointing to even as he is here.

[34:52] If any man appears to hear let him hear. There is so much that you cannot help hearing in this world. Some of it is edifying much of it is not. But if we are tuned in to listen for what the Lord would say seeking him in his word seeking him in the quietness making time to pray making time to read through his word making time to listen to see the work of God around us to be tuned in to seek him while he is to be found and call upon him while he is near.

[35:26] We will be eventually enabled perhaps quickly enabled to use our God-given ears for the purpose for which they were designed to hear the Lord speak to us.

[35:43]  Let us pray.