Do you pay attention to what God is saying through the Word?
How are you as a talker?
What words come out of your mouth?
Do you speak about Jesus Christ or the Bible?
As Christians we should be good talkers and good listeners
This passage looks at giving out and taking in
Give out (v21)
You wouldn't put a lamp under a bed or under a basket
A light is there to be show, to reveal the darkness, to be used
A light is never to be hidden
What was Jesus meaning?
We are growing up in an age where many don't know the Bible
We as Christians need to let our light shine
Why don't we: maybe we are afraid
There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent
There are times when we should speak - God gives us opportunities
We are not to be too worried about what people think of us
Some people don't speak because they don't think about the urgency of the message
At times it might be a sense of failure
The [local] church needs to speak out
Why ought we to shine our light?
Who has the truth?
Only Christianity has the truth - not other religions
We have "good news" - Jesus paid the price to forgive all their sins, that He rose from the dead and that people need not fear death
This news is life transforming - the Holy Spirit takes God's Word and changes peoples lives
We should never conceal the truth
Always be ready to given an account
Could you tell the gospel using Scripture?
We are to sow in hope
Take in (v23)
'He who has ears to hear, let him hear'
Take care 'what' you hear
There are many voices clamouring for attention
What is behind the intellectuals of the day: mostly an atheistic agenda
Religion - blinding following without thinking
'All roads lead to Rome' - all religions point in the right direction [they do not]
We need to be saturated with the Word of God
We must be in Church
We must read the Bible
We must meditate on the Bible, read with questions
We must be selective with what we watch and what we read
"Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" - Phil 4:8
Diligent application of the word will make you strong
Gifts and grace multiply as they are exercise - Matthew Henry
The converse is true
He comes little to church, reads the Bible little becomes rusty
Warning - v25
Those who don't exercise their spiritual disciplines lose out
Warning - v24
Those who listen to hard hitting, negative, judgemental preachers might lose out
The same measure will be used to you
If we only listen to tolerant, loving, non-confrontational preaching
We might excuse sin, to lower Christian standards, to except all
We need to be balanced
We need to hear the whole counsel of God
'Behold the goodness and severity of God'
We must not mis-apply the word of God
Luke 8:18 - How you hear
James 1:21 - "receive with meekness the ingrafted word that is able to save our souls"
