The Principle of Hearing
June 4, 2026
We appreciate you being in the Lord’s house. If you need a prayer request card, one of those chairs in front of you all has that. Get that filled out. Ushers will get that shuffled over to Brother Rick Simon here in just a bit.
And by the way, tomorrow is our first Summer Thursday morning at 10 a.m. So if you can make it to that, I’d love to have you come tomorrow at 10 o’clock for that.
We’re excited. We have some guests with us tonight, and I just got to meet them a few minutes ago. Great people, and missionaries to Mexico. We have some common ground; their home church and the founder of it knows someone I know. It’s good to get to know them a little bit.
I’m going to probably—I’ve told them, I’ve worked at this—but I’m still going to ask Brother Patrick, “Do you think I’m going to get this name right?” He’s like, “No, I know you’re not going to get it right.” So he’s probably right. The Seguera, Seguera, Seguera family. See there, Brother Patrick? I got it right! Come on now, you know, I mean, give me a little credit. He said, “You don’t even get English words right.”
Well, that’s true, you know, but anyway, we’re honored to have them with us and appreciate them being faithful to the Lord’s call on their life. They have two little ones back in the nursery, just cute little ones. You got to meet them, and you’ll enjoy that. And mom and dad too, now, you know, but the little ones are cuter, for sure, you know, so I got to meet them for sure.
Going to Mexico. Praise the Lord for missionaries. That’s the truth. Sometimes I think, you know, I’m doing something, but man, can you imagine leaving your hometown, your home country, and going to serve the Lord? They mentioned to me earlier just how far what it is here in America, just having running water where they’re going. And just water you can trust, I guess, is a rarity sometimes. And so, praise the Lord for these people that just go in to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We appreciate them stopping by tonight. We’re going to show a video of where God has called them, and then he’s going to come for just a bit and share with us, give us a testimony tonight. I’m excited about that. If somebody could get our lights for us, that would be so helpful. Thank you, Brother Kevin. We’ll watch this video, and then he’ll give us a testimony right after that, if you would, please.
We have been serving faithfully at Open Door Baptist Church in West Dakota, Texas, under the leadership of Pastor Timothy Agiar.
I believe God has led us to a certain area in Mexico: the municipality of Mikiwana in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Mikiwana was founded on May 14, 1849. Mikiwana is six hours south of the United States and Mexico border, a village in the mountains with 2,800 people. We often focus on big cities with a great population, but what about the small rural areas?
Mikiwana is a poor village with few resources. There is no running water. Water comes and goes. Usually, every area gets one day of running water out of the week, and people fill up their water containers to be able to use the water for the rest of the week or until the water comes back on. Sometimes water can take up to two weeks to come back again.
Income for the people ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 pesos bi-weekly. This is around $30 to $75 weekly. People go work in different areas to be able to get money to feed their families. The main source of income comes from agriculture. They work with agave, lechuguilla, bay leaves, and oregano. The people plant corn to make tortillas, and the same corn plant is used to feed their lifestyle. Nothing goes to waste.
The village is 176 years old, and in all that time, there has not been a fundamental Baptist church there. There are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostal, and Catholics. The main religion there is Catholicism. Mikiwana is a village with a lot of idolatry and witchcraft. When we visited the village, we were able to see some of their beliefs as we visited during November 1st and 2nd, which is the Day of the Dead.
Our goal is to establish the first fundamental Baptist Church in Mikiwana. There we will be able to start sharing the gospel and make disciples for our Lord. There are different villages around Mikiwana less than 15 minutes away, which we will be sharing the gospel there as well. We want to start running bus routes to pick up people from those villages and bring them to church and help them grow their faith. God has already started to open doors.
A property was donated so we can be able to start with this new mission. We serve an amazing God. As we continue the mission God has placed before us, we invite you to join us in advancing God’s kingdom. There are three ways you can partner with us. First, you can pray: commit to lifting this mission, our team, and the people we serve before the Lord.
The second is, you can give: support the work financially so we can reach more souls and meet more needs. And the third is, you can go: step out in faith and join us in the field, serving shoulder to shoulder as the hands and feet of Jesus. We ask that you prayerfully consider how God is calling you to be part of this mission. Together, we can make an eternal impact.
Will you ask the Lord what your part is in this mission? Thank you, and God bless you.
My name is Pastor Timothy Agiar of the Open Door Baptist Church in West Coast, Texas. It’s a great joy and privilege to present to you the Segura family as missionaries. We’ve been able to get to know this family for many years. We’ve seen their surrender to the Lord. We’ve seen their faithfulness to God and their love for the ministry. I know God’s going to use them in a great and mighty way.
It’s been our joy and pleasure to be a part of that ministry, and I know it would be a joy and a pleasure for you as well if God would so allow you to support them, not only in your prayers but as well through your financial support. Our desire is that they would arrive at the mission field very quickly, and with your help and other churches, we know that this can become a reality. I would ask you to please consider the Segura family in your prayers and in your support. May God bless you.
Amen. A blessing to be here. Thank you, Pastor, once again. Thank you, church, for having us, and thank God. Amen. I’m not here because I did anything right or because I’m someone special. No, if anything, I did everything wrong. God is good, amen. And it’s by the grace of God that I’m here today, amen.
We’re from—my name’s Edgar, my wife, Michaela, and our two young ones are in the nursery, E.J. and McKenzie Ray. And we’re the Segura family, missionaries to Mikiwana, Tamaulipas. All right, can anyone pronounce that? We got someone that might want to—Pastor, you want to try? It’s for real.
So we’re—yes, it’s six hours into Mexico. We were able to visit last year just to get to know the area a little bit more. And we went in there praying, “Lord, we had gone before and saw no signs of life anywhere, right? And it was just like, ‘Lord, show us who are we going to preach to? We can’t preach to the rocks or to the cactus, right?’” So we went. That was one of our prayers, and we went for a week. Since the first day to the last day, kids and teenagers all over running around in the streets, and I’m like, “Wow. That’s God telling us. He does not make any mistakes. He knows exactly where he’s sending us, right?” And just glory to God, right?
And we were praying as well, “Lord, show us exactly where you want us to start.” And they donated us a property. And I’m like, “Wow, God is amazing, right?” And I learned, right, that all he requires is our obedience.
Move to the side because he does everything; he’ll take care of it, right? “He will never leave you, nor the righteous forsaken or begging for bread,” right? And on the contrary, I told my wife, “We need to start a diet,” right? Because God has been too good, amen. And just all honor and glory to him.
And now we’re here on deputation. All right, deputation, not deportation—don’t get any ideas, okay? So we’re for…
It’s just a blessing to be here and just a quick testimony, right? I thought I had it all figured out, right? I thought my profession was welding, right? So I would weld in refineries, and then once I got married, my whole mentality changed. I want to be home more, right? So we started our own company: welding, fabricating, structural steel direction.
And just prayed about it, “Lord, this is it, right? We want to do more for you, and we want to be more involved.” And we were in our church; I was the one who directed the hymns, right, and helped with the music. We had a group as well, kind of like a Spanish choir, I guess you could call it. It’s called a Rondalla. I don’t know if anyone’s ever heard of that. And I was the leader in that; I would go as deacon, treasurer, and we were helping out in church, and we just wanted to do more. But no, God didn’t want just more time; he wanted it all, right? He’s like, “No, move all that to the side,” right? So…
We were praying, right, “Lord, this world is crazy, right? We want to take care of my family, right?” So my wife and I, our plans were just to move a little bit north and buy some acres there and make our own ranch. And now, right, out in the middle of nowhere, right? Now we’re going to go…
We need to be careful when we pray, right? We’ve got to be extra detailed because he’s like, “Okay, you want to go in the middle of nowhere? You’re going to go out in the middle of nowhere in Mexico,” right? So now out there, right? And right, we’re like, “We want to protect our kids and we want to protect them from just crazy people out in the world.” And then, no, now we’re in the ministry, and ministry is people, right, working with people. So we got to be very specific in the way we pray, right?
And so we thought we had it figured out, and no, right? God started speaking to me by going and visiting there, right? And just Romans 10:14 and 15, right? And it’s in our prayer cards. And it just came out and just spoke to me and just couldn’t get it out of my head, right? And God kept telling me every single day.
And when we came back to the States, right, “Who’s telling them about Christ? Who’s preaching to them?” right? And I just, I was fighting it and fighting it, right? And we were busy, right? And sometimes we want to push it to the back of our mind, right? Like, “No, I’m already doing,” right? We were active in our church, but no, right, no. We could try to cover up, “Lord, I’m already doing all this,” but no, we know exactly what God wants from us, right?
So I was just fighting it, and I was like, “No, I can’t fight it anymore.” And I just remember one time we were heading home from Walmart, and I’m there fighting in my head, “Well, how is my wife going to take it? Poor her, she’s—right? It’s a whole different thing, a different way of living.” And just like I’m just there fighting in my head, “How is my wife?” Like, “But poor her,” right?
And we were just quiet, right? And my wife turns around and she tells me, “Don’t ever use me as an excuse to not serve God.” And I’m like, “What? Why do you tell me that? Like, what do you mean?” And she’s like, “Well, God just told me to tell you that.” And I’m like, “Okay, well, we need to talk.” Right.
And just, right, we just want to be obedient to God. And God’s been good. God’s been showing us, right, and opening doors. Just a little bit of bragging on God, right? That property that they donated us is in Mexico. It’s measured in meters, right? So it’s 14 meters wide, which I believe is about 40—about 46 feet, I think, 46 feet. And then we had our company, and that shop that we had for fabrication, we’re going to break it down and we’re going to take it over there. That shop is 42 feet wide, so it fits perfectly right in there, right? And it’s just awesome seeing how God is lining everything up.
And we have a table out there in the hallway, and there are some pictures of Mikiwana, all right? And if you can pronounce it after the service, you get a free Chick-fil-A card. Okay, no, just kidding. And there are pictures there, and there are prayer cards, and we ask you, right, have you—please grab a prayer card. There’s a catch there, right? There’s a candy there, right? You can get one candy, but you also have to get a prayer card. You can’t just get one, okay? And when you get one, you’re telling us that you’re going to pray for us.
So we just ask you—thank you, Pastor, once again. Thank you, church, and we ask you keep us in your prayers, and may God continue to open doors. Thank you. God bless you.
I love the way he started it off. That just said so much. It’s not that I’m all that, did all this. It’s just God is good. I love that, brother. That’s just so true. And I appreciate the start of it, just about more than all of it. All of it was good, but I love that very, very much.
If you get your prayer request cards filled out, if you’re passing them down to the aisle, we’ll get those shuffled over to Brother Rick Simon. And he has his hieroglyphics glasses on, so he’ll be able to read any writing tonight. And Brother Rick, as soon as you get those, you come on up and lead us in prayer for these prayer requests. And at 7 o’clock, we’ll stop and pray again for our church.
And Brother Edgar, there is no pressure at all. It may not work good for you; everything’s on the spur of the moment tonight, I get that. But you mentioned that E.J. sings sometimes. If you think he may be up to it later on in the service, just let me know. Our people would love it, but it may be too much. I know he woke up from a nap earlier. So y’all talk about it. Just let me know if it might work here later on. That’d be good.
Brother Rick, if you come—he’s getting his glasses adjusted to the writing, you know—would you come, please, and lead us in prayer this evening? Good. A bunch of a bunch tonight. We’re needy.
All right, I’ll start with Mr. Bill Senior. Pray for our jail services Friday at 7 o’clock for both ladies and men. The doors will be open. These inmates will be able to hear the word, and just for both ladies and men, be able to come to a special knowledge of the Lord.
Ms. Repass: Praises for a reunited family. Going to Hickory Woods Rehab Center this afternoon, and prayer request for 100% recovery. That’s the one from Larry Lee’s daughter. My name’s Christa Lee. He’s got cancer; just pray for her health and recovery.
From the Sharps: Praises for salvation. Amen for that. Special request: I pray for Dina to get a promotion at work. Unspoken request also. I’m sure each of us has unspoken requests.
Tim and Jennifer: Praises for a co-worker who asked me about Jesus. I guess that was Tim’s co-worker. It’s great. Special prayer request: Tony and Cheryl got custody of their grandson Lucas, or get—I guess, get custody of their grandson Lucas. VBS coming up; lives will be changed, the teens and children, and other workers, and salvations for the VBS coming up.
Brother Patterson: Praises, Mary’s improving; keep praying for her. And prayer request for the closing on our property.
Miss Amanda, the bus mom: Prayer request for Jody, as a mom going through treatment, had three cardiac events yesterday in ICU, so health for that. Also, I want to pray for our missionaries, the Segura family. Pray for you on your work going to Mexico, that your deputation goes well and you get down there quickly.
I got an email from the Dietans not too long ago. I guess they were going to Switzerland. That we took on—I guess before they were headed out, he burned some trash, and it blew up in his face, and he got burned on his eyebrows and his hairline, and just for his recovery before he goes over to Switzerland. So kind of a crazy deal, but pray for all our missionaries.
Let’s take these to the Lord in prayer. Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for this night to come here and hear your word and just to hear the testimonies of godly people that want to serve you, Lord. We just bring these requests to you, these special prayer requests for our missionaries that go out in the field, Lord, just to serve every day to further your kingdom. Lord, be with them. You protect them and provide for their needs, Lord. Pray for our jail services coming up, that souls be saved there. You pray for our building going forth, the closing on our property, and just all the details being worked out. We have faith that you brought us this far, that you just take us all the way there, Lord, and it’ll close soon, and we’ll get moving into the new building as quickly as possible, and just all the wonderful things that are going to happen through that, dear Lord. Pray for the VBS coming up, Lord, and just lives will be changed, children will come to know you, Lord. We just pray for workers to be here for that and for the salvation that could come from that. Pray for the unspoken requests, Lord. Many unspoken on our hearts that, Lord, only you know about, and you’ll answer those according to your will, Lord. Pray for those that are suffering, having health issues, Lord, Larry Lee’s daughter with cancer. We pray for this bus mom, Jody, that had cardiac events and is in ICU, for their health, Lord, and just the recovery from all those in our church that have had surgeries and just illnesses, Lord, that you’ll heal their bodies soon, Lord, and just give them that comfort, Lord. Be with the doctors as they work through all their medical issues, Lord. We love you. We praise you for all that you do, for your dying for us on the cross, Lord, and giving us the chance to know you, Lord. We just ask that you be with the pastor through the rest of the service, Lord, give him the word that he needs to, that you’ve laid on his heart for us to hear, Lord. We ask this all in Jesus’ name. Amen.
You may keep your seat, but turn with me to page number 256. In the very first line of this song, it’s something we’ll be asking people all the time: “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?” Okay, let’s sing it, all right?
We appreciate you. We’ve been praying every night at 7 o’clock, and wherever you are, we just stop and pray for the sale of this property and that we can use the proceeds from this before we draw from the loan for the building of the new building. And I’m going to ask you to come again in just a minute here. Let’s pray again like typical, but I’m going to do this tonight. I feel like the Lord would have us do this: let’s kind of lay aside our needs, our requests, and let’s just pray for the missionaries tonight. God can handle our needs.
And pray, Lord, you’ve let him know about it, and we have. Let’s just come tonight for the missionaries. Let’s do that. Let’s do like we’ve been doing, coming forward and praying. But Brother Edgar, are there any special needs that you’d have that you want us to pray about?
You say 35%? 35%. Amen. Just been on the deputation trail for about six months, so that’s very, very good. Let’s come on down like we’ve been doing. We’re going to change from praying about the sale of this property to the missionary family tonight, and let’s pray for them. Brother John, can I get you to lead us in another—man, that lead us in that?
Tell you what, we won’t get him up here. Brother John, are you ready to pray? Come on up, Brother John. Come on up, Brother John. We’ve got Brother John leading us in prayer tonight. It must be the night for the Brother Johns to pray for us, and not for us, but for our missionaries.
Now, let me just say a couple things. Of course, pray for the doors to open. Pray for their safety. Missionaries put thousands of miles—it’s amazing at the beginning of deputation to the end—how many thousands of miles. Pray for their protection. Pray for their children. They’re in and out of homes and churches. I can’t imagine being on deputation trying to raise children. And so let’s pray for their children. Pray for their marriage. Pray for their vehicle. Pray that God would just already be working in hearts, people being saved. That’s the end result; that’s the goal. Let’s pray for people to be saved and God just open the door for souls to be saved on the deputation trail in Mexico. But let’s all pray for this missionary family, and just like it was our own children, let’s pray for them. And Brother John Sharp from Brother John Casey will lead us in prayer for these missionaries at this time.
Let’s pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for bringing us all to your house this evening, Lord. Thank you for the fellowship, Lord, seeing everyone. It’s been such a great night in your house already, Lord. Thank you for these missionaries that came by, Lord. The video that we watched, Lord, it was such a blessing. Father, we want to lift them up to you tonight, Lord. Just lift them up to you in faith, Lord. We want you to protect them, Lord, put a hedge of protection around their whole family. Father, they are just a few months into the process, Lord, but I pray that you can provide them what their goal is, Lord, and have them complete by this January, this coming year, Lord. Father, give them what they need, Lord, give them the strength, Lord, give them the wisdom, Lord. And Father, I pray for when they get there, Lord, that they can just make a difference in that town, Lord. They mentioned the children, Lord. I pray that they can have a great relationship and rapport with the children in the town, Lord, that they can change lives, Lord, change families, Lord, not just in that town but spread throughout the state and the country, Lord. Father, be with them. This process, I’m sure, is challenging, Lord. Be with them every step throughout the way, Lord. And we just want to place all that in your hands, Lord. And Father, we just thank you again for hearing our prayers and continue to bless this great family, Lord.
Dearly Father, I’m so thankful for this day, this ability to be together, Lord. I’d like to say a special prayer for our missionaries tonight, that you will give them the tools necessary, the words to say, and the ability to reach as many for the purpose of Christ as there as possible. Pray for their family; keep them safe in their travels wherever they go. So we’re so thankful for you. We love you. We know you’re able to do anything. We say we pray in your holy name, Jesus. Amen.
Thank you so much for praying. That’s awesome. Thank you for praying. Thank you for praying.
When to get your seats, Proverbs. Proverbs chapter number one. We have started our study in the book of Proverbs a month or two ago, and we’re going to just—I don’t know that we’ll get it all covered. We’re getting up for a little bit late, but that’s all right. God has a better plan than me, and we’ll just seek to follow his plan. You know, Proverbs is a book of principles. It really is. I thought we could do the overall study; maybe the title of the overall study is “Principles from Proverbs.” But tonight we’re just going to get one principle: the principle of hearing.
Now, when I say that, don’t think, “Well, I don’t need that. I’ve heard that all my life.” That shows that you do need to hear about the principle of hearing if that’s what you’re saying. So just for a bit, we’re going to talk about this subject. We’re going to start in Proverbs chapter number one, and we’ll just read one verse and pray and try to dive into this thing. We’ll see how much we’ll cover tonight. We’ll be out of here about at least 10 p.m., I promise you tonight.
And Proverbs 1, let’s stand if you would please, just to show the word of God respect. Proverbs 1 and verse number 5. And trying to get a principle from the book of Proverbs: 1 and verse number 5. The Bible says, “A wise man will…” What? Can you say that again? A wise man will hear and will increase in learning. And a man of understanding shall obtain unto wise counsels.
Would you pray with me as we start this just brief Bible study tonight? Father, Lord, I do ask, would you speak to us? All of us—I know myself, I for sure need this tonight. Lord, so would you speak to us about where and how we can grow in this area? Lord, you’re so direct and so plentiful in verses from Proverbs on this subject. And Lord, teach us, grow us. Lord, I pray that you would help our homes, our marriages through this principle. And Lord, we thank you for what you do. And Father, we ask for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
I’m going to give an illustration in just a minute, kind of the way of the introduction. Before I give that, I just want to say, hey, I have to work on this one for sure, you know, whether it be my mind’s here or there yonder. I’ve got to focus and listen, or whether I’m just proud and I don’t want to hear somebody tell me what to do, whatnot. But I have to work on this one just like everybody else has to work on this one. So I’m preaching to myself here also, when some things are easy preaching, hard living. You understand that, you know?
But I had someone a little while back. I gave them instructions about something. When I was giving them instructions about this, I knew in my mind they’re not listening. By the way, tonight I’ll use hearing and listening as a synonym, so don’t understand there’s a little difference sometimes, but I’m just kind of using those together for this one study from Proverbs. But anyway, I knew they weren’t listening.
And so I gave them a bit of information that would—they could get to the desired goal they wanted to get to, but they wouldn’t go the way if they followed this last bit of advice. I knew they weren’t listening, so I got to give them this last little bit so they could get to the end goal, but it wouldn’t be the way or the route they wanted to get there. So a couple weeks later, they come to me, and they’re coming out a little bit, and they’re saying I didn’t give them the advice or the instruction they needed. Well, I knew they weren’t listening to me, and that’s why I gave them the last bit of advice. So they got to where they needed to get to, but it wasn’t the route they wanted to get there.
But I thought when they came at me a little bit, you know, I thought, “I knew it. They weren’t listening.” Now, I’m guilty myself about a thousand times on that one there. But the Bible here is talking about are you hearing?
Let’s just look at a couple of verses. We started there in Proverbs 1:5. Let’s go back to that one. We’ll just start there. We’re just going to get some verses in here for a bit. Proverbs 1:5. We already read it; we’ll go back and get it again. “A wise man will…” What? We’ll hear, and will increase in learning. A man of understanding shall obtain, or if you will, he’ll go after his counsel; he’ll get wise counsel.
Look in verse chapter 8. Chapter 8 of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 8 and look in verse number 33. How does this start off? What’s the first word of this verse? “Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me.” That’s speaking of wisdom. “Blessed is the man that heareth me or wisdom, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors.”
Look over in chapter number 9, if you would please. Chapter number 9, and two verses here: chapter 9, verse number 8 and verse number 9. The Bible there—you’re there? 9:8? You’re there? Amen. Good. Look at verse number 8. He says, “Reprove not a scorner, why? Lest he hate thee.” Ever have to kind of get on to someone or whatever, and you think, “Oh no, this is going to be—this is going to be interesting because they don’t like to take instruction.” And he says, “Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee.”
Now, sometimes you’ve got to do it, but he said, “Boy, when you do it, they’re not going to be happy about that thing. They’re going to hate thee.” Then he says this: “Rebuke.” Now, there’s a little difference between reprove and rebuke. They’re very similar. I tend to think reprove is a little stronger; it’s got conviction. If you study the word out, it has to do a little bit with conviction also. Rebuke, maybe not quite as strong. So it’s saying you reprove a scorner, he’s going to hate thee. But a wise man, you just give him a rebuke. It’s not quite as strong.
It’s like a horse. You know, some horses, if you’re going to turn them to the left, you’ve got to jerk that rein. You know what I’m talking about? You got to jerk, or you’ve got to stop, man, you know, you’ve got to pull back. Some horses, very well-trained horses that they use a lot, man, you’re just a little bit, and they go that way. A little bit with that fault, I think is a little bit there. But reprove an honest scorner, lest he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Wow. “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will yet—and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”
Look over in chapter number 19. Chapter 19. Chapter 19 and look in verse number 20. Chapter 19, Proverbs 19 and verse number 20. What’s the first word of this verse here? “Hear counsel and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.”
Look over chapter 22, if you would please. And look down in verse number 17: 22:17. “Bow down thine ear and what? And hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.”
Look over in chapter 23, the last one we’ll look at here at the beginning. Chapter 23, look in verse number 19: 23:19. What’s the first word of that? 23:19: “Hear thou my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.”
Now, just hearing: Do I hear? Do I listen as I ought? Let me give you just very quickly three principles about this thing here tonight as far as a Bible study for the book of Proverbs.
Number one: A fool will not listen, so don’t spend your life trying to instruct them. That’s so very important. Look back—you’re in chapter 23. Look back in chapter 23, you’re as close to chapter 23 and verse number 9: 23 and verse number 9. “Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.”
Look in chapter 27. Chapter 27 and verse number 22. That’s an interesting verse here: 27:22. “Though thou shouldst—” if you study that way, it means pound a fool in a mortar. No, mortar is like a bowl. It’s like if you think of someone, you know, if they couldn’t take it out to the large threshing place, they would bring it in there, and they would have it in a bowl, the wheat, and they would take a little hammer-type thing, and they would pound it out. Now, that’s the fault, okay? “Though thou shouldst pound a fool in a mortar, a bowl among wheat with the pestle”—I’m not saying that exactly right—“not a pistol,” like you’re going to knock it through 57. Pestle, pestle, thank you, Brother Bill. Like a hammer, basically. “Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.”
What’s he saying? He said, “Look, if you could somehow put that fool in a bowl where they’re pounding out that—making kind of like a little grain of wheat, and you’re pounding out that wheat, and you’re pounding out that wheat—he’s not going to break. He’s not going to yield.” He studied it out; that’s what he said. He’s just, he’s just not going to listen.
Let’s keep going. Look over in chapter 17. Chapter 17 and look in verse number 10. Chapter 17 and verse number 10. “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool.” Wow, you’re just—just a reproof, and it’s a wise man that’s going to accomplish more than a fool with a hundred stripes. I mean, typically, in the Old Testament, they don’t beat him with 39 stripes, but he’s saying 100 stripes here. You have to kill them, in other words, and it’s just not going to get that much done.
So this principle number one: Don’t spend your life trying to teach a fool, if you will. Now, let me say this along this line: we don’t always know who the wise and the fool person is. I was always amazed in Chicago when we had our bus ministry there, and now there are different parts of Chicago, some a lot nicer than others. You go down the North Shore, you know, some beautiful, and there are different parts. But some of the parts we would go to are often the rundown, the rougher parts of Chicago. And I was always amazed in areas where you think, you know, “Can any good thing come out of this neighborhood here? Can anything good come out of Nashville?” In those neighborhoods sometimes, you’d find the best hearts. And I’d be shocked, man, some of the best people there.
And I say that is that you don’t always know who the wise person or the fool is. It may be the opposite of what you think. So sometimes you won’t know without trying. But on the other hand, the flip side, if a fool’s not going to listen—I never forget when my wife, oh, years ago, I don’t know, 14 years ago, and we didn’t have any staff, and the church was about the same size, to be honest with you, and my wife got cancer. And she was going through chemo, and I had two teenagers at home. And man, my world was just turned upside down.
And I remember I went out to a park, Cedars of Lebanon—you know where Cedars of Lebanon is? I just went out. I just had to get away and spend some time alone with the Lord. And, “Lord, how do I kind of keep things together somewhat?” And the Lord spoke to me that day, and I wrote down, I think, five principles. I’ve got it stuck away in my computer. And four or five principles, but one of those—maybe the one that spoke to me or lasted the longest in my heart—and just at that time, you know, just kind of, for me, it was one of the lowest points: “How can I just—I can’t keep my head above water?”
And one of the principles that I wrote down, I don’t—life’s too short to spend my time trying to help somebody that really doesn’t want help. Boy, God was so good to me that day. And that was a good change for me that day. And I had to learn where to focus my time and my energy. And I don’t want to spend my life if someone’s a fool, and they’ve shown that. I don’t want to spend my life there. Remember, let me find somebody who wants to listen, someone wants to learn, grow, get it. So, very, very important.
Here’s the interesting thing just talking about a fool will not listen, so don’t spend your life trying to instruct them, all right? You know one of the classic lines in our day and time? It’s getting a little bit—maybe five years ago this was the biggest thing. In fact, I read an article somewhere along that line five or so years ago: What’s the most popular verse or section of a verse? And at that time, you know what it was? “Judge not.” Boy, that was so big: “Don’t judge!”
And sometimes that’s a classic line of a fool, not always. And I don’t want to get judgmental; you don’t want to judge everybody that moves, and I don’t want to be like that, but some people, that’s a classic line: “Judge not.” You ever think about it? Sometimes the person just screaming, “Don’t judge me,” is the biggest judge at the moment of all.
But look over—the only time we’ll leave Proverbs this one—look over Matthew 7. Let’s just look at that verse where that “judge not” comes from. You know, it’s amazing how people like to use the Bible to their advantage, you know? Look at this thing here. By the way, just before we get to it, you know, Corinthians talks about “he that is spiritual judges of the whole thing.”
I had to make a judgment call today when I thought, “Who can lead us in prayer?” and I texted Brother Rick, and Brother Rick said that was a judgment call. You made a judgment call when you pulled out in traffic and that person said they’re going to turn with that blinker, whether they’re being honest or not. You made a judgment call. Everybody judges every day of their life; it’s part of life. You got to. Are you going to let your neighbors watch your children or not? Well, you’re judging. Sure, you’re judging. You’ve got to. Part of life. If you’re breathing, you’re going to make some judgments. You’re going to judge. Should we let Brother Josh drive a bus? That’s a big—I tell you what, I don’t know about that, you know. Praise the Lord he does. Well, that’s a judgment.
So let’s look and see what he’s saying over here, Matthew 7. Look at Matthew 7 real quickly here. Matthew 7, look at verse 1. He says, “Judge not.” That’s it. Well, that was the most quoted a couple years ago by one article I read. That was the most quoted part of the Bible at that time: “Judge not,” but watch what he says that…
Ye be not judged. In other words, he’s saying, “Well, have you judged?” That’s what’s going to come back to you. “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” By the way, if you become judgmental and you’re just pointing your finger to everybody, that’s what everybody’s going to do to you, you know. “What judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
“Why beholdest thou the mote?” Now I’m going to change that mote just for Tennessee vernacular to a toothpick. All right. “Why beholdest thou the mote [the toothpick] that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam”—I’m going to change that beam to the two-by-four, all right?—“but considerest not the two-by-four that is in thine own eye?”
“Or how wilt thou say to that brother, ‘Let me pull out the toothpick out of thine eye’; and behold, a two-by-four is in thine own eye?” Thou hypocrite! First cast out the two-by-four that is in thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the toothpick that is out of thy brother’s eye. You say, “All right, you get yourself cleaned up, maybe you can help your brother get the toothpick.” You get yourself right.
But watch, even after he says, “All right, you get yourself right, maybe you can help pull the toothpick out of their eye,” but he gives a little bit more special instruction in that. Verse number 6: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” No, why? What happens? “Lest they turn again and tread them under their feet and turn again and rend you.” You try to get on it, they’re going to hate you. That’s what Proverbs is saying.
He said, “Look, he said, don’t be just, you know, don’t—don’t cast your pearl before swine.” I was with someone recently in just getting to know them briefly, and they were drinking. And they found out, you know, what I do for a living and whatnot. And they said, “Oh no, I’m drinking in front of the pastor,” you know. And I could have said, “Well, God sees everywhere. He, you know, who cares about what about God’s sin? You?” But, you know, that had been casting my pearl before swine. What I would have been right, sure, but it’s not about being right. It’s about trying to get the gospel to somebody.
By the way, if your life is about being right, boy, I feel sorry for you. There are some things a whole lot more important than being right all the time. And they didn’t need that. They had trampled me. When I left that, that’s sorry, God. He’s preaching everybody, but I hope they said, “Well, the guy seems pretty sincere.” I hope later on down the road when they maybe need somebody to pray for them, they’ll come to me.
And he’s saying, “Be careful. Don’t always just be ready to give your judgment. Don’t cast your pearls before swine.” Why? We’re always just ready to give our judgment to everybody. That’s going to come back to you. And he said, “Besides, if it’s a dog or someone that doesn’t want to listen, or Proverbs says a fool, he said, they’re going to turn around and attack you.” And so I don’t want to spend my life trying to instruct a fool. I want to try to find somebody that wants to grow and wants to learn. I don’t always know who that is, but I’ll never know until I cast the hook a little bit, if you will, understand?
Let’s move along here. That’s point number one, principle number one, about this thing, just hearing.
Then principle number two: Look over in Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18 and verse number 13. We’re going somewhere with this. Proverbs 18 and 13. If you’re there, would you say amen? Amen. “He that answereth a matter before he what? He heareth it. It is folly and shame unto him.” Principle number two: Don’t answer until you’ve heard. Oh, that’s so very important. I try to make this statement fairly often because I think it’s such a good principle, but make a knowledgeable decision. You can’t make a knowledgeable decision until you’ve heard.
I like it if there’s a decision to be made; I like to gather people’s opinions and thoughts and advice and all that, you know, and then make a decision. But I can’t make a knowledgeable decision until I’ve gathered that. Now, if the responsibility lays on your shoulder or at the end of the day you make the decision, but I mean, I want to hear it. And he said, “No, no, you need to hear it before you answer the matter.”
Look over in chapter 15. Chapter number 15 of Proverbs, 15 and look in verse number 28. Proverbs 15:28. “The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.” He said, you got to need to hear before you answer, and if you’re going to study it out, then you need to hear so you can study it out properly before you answer. See?
Look over in chapter 29. Chapter 29, Proverbs 29, and look in verse number 20. Proverbs 29 and verse number 20. “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” Wow. That’s pretty strong. It reminds me of James where it says, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
How many ever heard this one? It had been a year since I heard it, but I used to hear it a lot, it seemed like: “Be quicker to listen than to speak.” That’s why God gave you two ears and one mouth. How many ever heard that? I don’t know how biblical it is, but it makes sense to a country boy, you know what I mean? Hey, you know, hey. Here’s the thing, especially in marriage, because we think we know our spouse. We’ve been married 750 years. “I know what they’re thinking before they think it.” Let me ask your spouse about that—what they think.
How about let’s go, let’s, let’s, let’s—those commercials will throw down the replay flag. Let’s go back and replay the last fight. Now listen, let them talk. Don’t answer. And here’s the problem, at least for me: we’re thinking about a rebuttal. We’re not listening to them; we’re thinking about what we’re about to say as soon as I shut up so I can talk again, right? Come on now. We’re all there, folks. Come on now. Yeah.
Miss Reese is the only one that can point because her husband’s in heaven now, you know, so she’s got the right to talk. Miss Bushaw, too—Miss Bushaw, too—a couple of these, you know. And I’m teasing, of course. But no, listen, before you talk, listen.
Look over in chapter 26. Chapter 26. Look in chapter 26. Look in verse number—this is the interesting one here. I used to read these two verses and think, “Well, man, God’s contradicting himself. You know, what’s going on here?” And it was a good day when God kind of gave me a little understanding about these verses. Proverbs 26, look in verse number 4. Proverbs 26:4: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest I also be—” lest I also be like unto him. Answer a fool? Wait a second. You just said, “Don’t answer.” Now you’re saying, “What am I supposed to do?”
It was a good day with the Lord when he said, “Paul, first of all, look at the order. Look at the order. First of all, don’t answer them. Don’t get on their level.” Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest I also be like unto him. Don’t get on his level. But then there are sometimes—sometimes, you know, you don’t answer them for a while or whatnot. Sometimes they need to be put in their place, especially because they’re going to take over the classroom or they’re going to sway other people to their own opinion.
So verse number 5: “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” He just gets real cocky. By the way, you realize this in our day and time: you don’t have to be right, your advice; you just have to sound convincing. Man, there’s a whole lot of YouTube and every—you know, all the other videos out there. Half of it’s not true. It’s just they sound convincing, you know. How many of you—how many of you, your back hurts, your knee hurts, or your elbow hurts, or whatever, you know? I’m like, “How do they know?” And they play a commercial about that thing. Come on now, you know. I’m like, “Wow, that got me,” you know. And, you know, they’re trying to sell some crazy hocus-pocus stuff, but as long as they sound convincing, man, let’s order those things.
And he says, so sometimes you need to answer and put them in their place.
Principle number three: Determine that you are going to be a good hearer. I’m going to become an expert at listening. We are losing the art in this day of listening. I’m convinced of that. I’m talking about to each other person. We’re just losing that. You know, God gets fed up with that a little bit.
Look over in chapter 28. Chapter 28. This is an interesting little verse along this subject here. Proverbs 28 and look in verse number 9. Proverbs 28 and verse number 9. “He that turneth away his ear from what? From hearing.” Man, he just doesn’t want to listen. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing, even his prayer shall be an abomination.” Wow. We hear a lot about, in regard to, “Lord, if there’s iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” you know. But maybe I’m much stronger than that. He said, “Look, if you just turn away, you don’t even want to hear, God says your prayer is an abomination.” That’s like stronger than—hey, that’s like extreme hatred. God says, “I can’t stand it. You don’t want to listen to a thing, so you think I’m going to listen to you?” Wow. Pretty strong.
Just determine I’m going to work at this thing and become a good listener. Look in chapter number 12. Chapter 12, we’re winding this thing down. We’ll only have three more laps in the race, amen. Chapter 12, look in verse number 15. 12 and verse number 15. What is this said there? Chapter 12, look at verse number 15. He says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.” Wow. But here’s on the other side: “But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”
Look in chapter 11. Chapter 11, verse number 14. Chapter 11, verse number 14. Pretty familiar verse. Chapter 11, verse number 14: “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
Look in chapter 24. Chapter 24 and verse number 6. Chapter 24, verse 6. Proverbs 24:6: “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war.” Now that doesn’t mean you’re warring against your spouse, all right, now, you know, your neighbor, whatnot. You’re warring against the devil and a good and right cause that God has put you in. “For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
Here’s the thing: it is determined I’m going to be a good hearer. Seek out counsel. Go find someone. Get counsel. If you need financial help, don’t find someone who’s in debt and they owe everybody and their car is about broke down and all the rest. Go find somebody who’s been pretty good with their finances. If you want to have a good marriage, go find somebody who’s got a good marriage, talk to them about marriage. Go find—get counsel. If you want to find out about the jail ministry, go to Bill Johansen Sr. If you want to find out about nursing, go to Ms. Tam or Ms. Tabitha or somebody that’s a nurse. You know, if you want to find out something about computers, go to Brother Patrick or Brother Chip or somebody. Go to someone that’s been there and done that, has been successful. But seek out counsel.
And under just becoming a good listener. Now, four helps quickly things. Let me just talk to you for a second. All right, we’re not going to share another verse yet, so you can close your Bible. Let me just give you four tips right here.
Number one: Slow your mind down to listen. If you’ve got 10,000 things on your mind, put them all out, and listen to your husband, listen to your wife, listen to your children. I’ve heard Brother Treber, Jack Treber. I like to listen to him a lot. And I’m surprised how much he talks to parents about listening to his children. I’m surprised. He’s right. But whatever it is, slow down. This is the problem. They say we can speak 100 words a minute—that’s those at the end of the commercial when they take this one pill to do this, but then they read off it, “It costs ten million dollars.” We can speak 100 words a minute. We can hear 400 words a minute, but we can think 4,000 words a minute. So you’ve got to slow down and listen.
Number two: Remember everyone has the right to be heard. Yes, yes, you know 1,000% you’re right, your spouse is wrong, but your spouse still has a right to be heard. Feelings get hurt and magnify greatly when they don’t even have—you don’t even give them the time to share their side of the story. Shame on you. Even if you just know you’re right, they have the right to voice their side. And listen, you just might be surprised.
Number three: This is an interesting thing about just listening. If the decision is not life-changing, you don’t have to give your opinion. Look, you know, if it’s going to add 30 seconds to the trip, and you would go a different way, you would save 30 seconds, you know, the wiser thing might not be to say a word. Just 30 seconds being all right, and enjoy your evening. You start about, you know, telling them how to go if you went that way, it would have been faster. You don’t have to give your—if it’s not life-changing, just let them talk. Let them go. Okay, you might know how to better cook that meal or whatever it may be, but if they’re cooking, just let them. It’s not going to change your life, just let them cook it the way they want to cook it. I’m thinking to somebody—I was thinking to somebody—they are, they really, it doesn’t seem like they have any close relationships. I don’t say much to them because if you do, they’re going to give you their opinion. And sometimes, honestly, I don’t want their opinion. So I’m not real close to them. Do you know, I love them? But can I just say sometimes, don’t be so opinionated? That’s pretty good advice, by the way, especially in—half the time, they know what you’re thinking anyway.
I got to get this last thing. Slow down your mind to hear, to listen, to focus. Remember, everyone has a right to be heard. Number three, if the decision is not life-changing, you don’t have to give your opinion. Number four, you cannot make a knowledgeable decision unless you have heard.
Hey, let’s make knowledgeable decisions. Would you bow your heads? Close your eyes. Just briefly tonight, just a Bible study about hearing. Would you spend some time with the Lord? Let’s stand. You can come to the altar if the Lord leads you. Have the Lord lead you. We won’t be long tonight, but let’s just say, “Lord, help me to grow at being a listener.” All of us—I have to work at this for sure. Let’s pray. You’ll be obedient to the Lord. Father, thank you for your word. It’s awesome, Lord. It’s got everything we need, and help us to grow and learn. Bless these folks tonight, and bless these few minutes in Jesus. And we pray. Amen.
You’ll be obedient as our instruments play. Would you please?
His son is Edgar, but they call him, you know, two Edgars trying to get his kids. So they call him E.J., if I got it right. Is that right? I think it’s E.J., they call him. And they had said before, he’ll play the guitar and sing. I don’t know how much, but as I mentioned, they said he’ll do it. So here’s what we’re going to do: they’re back there getting him. We’re going to pray and be dismissed. If you want to hang around, I’d hang around for that, you know. And they’re working on getting him up here. But if you’ve got to leave, I understand. Some of you might go to work at 3 a.m. or whatever it may be in the morning. You’ve got to leave. I get it, man. If I had to get up at 3 a.m., I’d be leaving too. But as preachers, don’t get up till noon anyway, so, you know.
We’re going to pray and be dismissed, and if you want to hang around to hear it—I’m going to hang around to hear it, see what it’s like, you know. But that would be enjoyable to hear it tonight. Good to see everybody here. Appreciate you being here tonight. That’s great to see everybody in God’s house. Brother McCord, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please, brother?
Original File: 2026-06-04 - Pastor Paul Chisgar - The Principal of Hearing - Wednesday PM 06⧸03⧸2026