Listen Better - Part 3 of 7 - Read the Word

Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - Pray Before the Sermon

Speaking to a rebellious people who were inquiring why God had not blessed their rituals and their efforts, Zechariah identifies their problem:

“They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.” ~ Zechariah 7:12

(Zechariah doesn’t identify exactly which prophets they were ignoring, but definitely Isaiah’s chapter 58 is one of them)

As you attend church on Sunday morning hopefully you will hear a pastor open the Word of God and proclaim the excellencies of the King to you. But how will you know? For the last 70 years the people of Bethel had been listening to tradition tell them to fast in remembrance of the destruction of the temple and for God’s blessing. For the entire time they had been in sin; the sin of elevating man’s tradition to God’s commands, and in refusing to listen to the former prophets.

How could they possibly know that they were following tradition and rejecting God’s Word? If only God had sent prophets beforehand to declare God’s statutes…

Are you following tradition? Is your pastor preaching his own opinions or the opinions of those who came before him? I recently read a Warren Wiersbe book called 50 People Every Christian Should Know, and, while I like Wiersbe (especially his biographical works), many of the 50 on the list were famous people of his early life who preached their own opinions and traditions. Were they good communicators and visionaries in their fields? Absolutely, but should we emulate them? By no means. A disciple of Phillips Brooks would be astonished today that you don’t know who Phillips Brooks is, but I guarantee you’ve been influenced by his tradition of emphasizing the preacher’s personality over the preaching.

So, how do you know if you’re listening to tradition or God’s Word?

You have to know God’s Word, you have to interact with it, wrestle with it, digest it, and apply it.

Before you head to church next time, find out which passage your pastor is going to be preaching on, and read it at least a few hours before (or better, if you're not reading this article on Sunday morning, every day until the sermon). God’s Spirit will use the former prophets (in the case of my church, Mark’s Gospel) to speak to you and in reading the passage before you hear it preached you will be more prepared to understand and respond to what you hear.

Mayhaps God will show you something he does not show your pastor, or maybe your pastor will reinforce conviction that you received from the Word, or perhaps he will answer questions you had in reading. Maybe you’ll see a connection in God’s Word that helps to reinforce what you believe and what you’re learning. Scripture is full of cross-references and quotations, for example, reread Zechariah 7:11-12 and then go read Hebrews 1:1-2 and Romans 15:4 and see if you don’t see some parallels and some amazing grace as you see the continuing theme of Christ in all of scripture (by the way, read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as well!)

Regardless of how the Spirit is going to use it in your life, you will be better for knowing God’s Word and you are sure to understand it better from your pastor if you read it before you hear him preach it.

Part 4 - Take Every Thought Captive