How to Listen to a Sermon

How to Listen to a Sermon
by George Whitefield

Keys for getting the most out of what the preacher says

Jesus said, 'Therefore consider carefully how you listen' (Luke 8:18). Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage.

1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves.

2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?

3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister. That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you.

Consider that the clergy are men of like passions with yourselves. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own, but in Christ’s name. And we know who commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said (see Matt. 23:1-3).

4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think. Preferring one teacher over another has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians: 'For whereas one said, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are you not carnal, says he? For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God’s hands by whom you believed?' (1 Cor. 1:12; 2:3-5).

Are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work’s sake?

5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered. When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, 'Lord, is it I?' (Matt. 26:22).

Oh, that persons, in like manner, when preachers are dissuading from any sin or persuading to any duty, instead of crying, 'This was intended for such and such a one!' instead would turn their thoughts inwardly, and say, 'Lord, is it I?' How far more beneficial should we find discourses to be than now they generally are!

6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty.

No doubt it was this consideration that made St. Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: 'Praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and for me also, that I may open my mouth with boldness, to make known the mysteries of the gospel' (Eph. 6:19-20). And if so great an apostle as St. Paul needed the prayers of his people, much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds!

This excerpt is adapted from Sermon 28 from The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield. Published by E. and C. Dilly, 1771-1772, London. George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a British Methodist evangelist whose powerful sermons fanned the flames of the First Great Awakening in the American colonies.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law, and Took Its Place in Our Lives

In the Old Testament, the standard of righteousness was the Law which was delivered to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai.  It is just, perfect, and good, since it is really a reflection of God's character.  He is holy, perfect, just, and good, so His Law is of the same character.  Included in the Law was a whole system of sacrifices foreshadowing the coming of Christ who shed His blood on the cross for our sins.  In other words, in the Law there was provision made for lawbreakers to be reconciled to God.  That is what atonement is about - the forgiveness of sins, the taking away of sin from the sinner, the lifting of the wrath of God from the condemned sinner, and reconciliation with the God who loves them and provided a way of salvation.  The spotless lamb died in the sinners place, and the meat of the lamb was shared in a meal with the whole family on the Day of Atonement. This is a picture of Christ, the Lamb of God who gave His body and blood on our behalf.  Righteousness and peace kiss one another, as the Psalmist said.  (I'll give you this one - Psalm 85:10)  It is peace with God because our sin has been atoned for. When you read the Pentateuch, you will see something called the mercy seat where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled.  It symbolizes Heaven looking down with favor on the forgiven sinner, and God being at peace with the repentant one.

If these concepts are unfamiliar, then a reading of the first five books of the Bible may be necessary, and then the Gospels.  Even for someone who does not believe in Christ, an understanding of the Pentateuch - the first 5 books of the Bible -, and the Gospels - the first 4 books of the New Testament, telling the life of Jesus - is necessary if one wishes to claim to be educated in our culture.  Find a modern translation of your choosing.  The Roman Catholic church has a very good one called the New American Bible. I am sure that the Orthodox church also has good Bible translations that they make available to their people. We Protestants have many fine versions.  The New Living Translation may be a good one if a person is unfamiliar with the Bible.  When I was in college, I started reading the Old Testament in the Living Bible.  All of the stories were familiar to me, since I had learned them as a child. However, I had never read them for myself.  To actually read them and "get it" was one of my life changing, or at least life influencing experiences.  These books of the Bible are fairly easy to read, since they are mostly stories.  They also give us insight into what life was like in ancient times, showing that people have always had, and still have many of the same kinds of needs.  We need love. We need family. We need meaningful work.  We need community. We need to know the difference between right and wrong.  We need to know what to do when we  have done wrong.  We need to know how to treat one another. We need God. 

Now I read the New International Version or the English Standard Version - both fine, modern translations.  IOW, there is no excuse for not knowing one's Bible, and no good reason to ignore it, believer or unbeliever.  One cannot claim to be cultured if one has not read the most influential book in human history. If you read it for no other reason than that of becoming familiar with great literature, read it.

When Jesus lived on the earth over 2,000 years ago, He lived by the standard of righteousness presented in the Old Testament. He obeyed the Law of God that was delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  He was a Jew who kept the Law of God perfectly, in thought, word, and deed. He loved His Father God with all His heart, soul, strength, and mind.  He had no idols of any kind. He did not worship images, nor did He make any. He never took God's Name in vain. He kept the Sabbath day holy even when He did good on the Sabbath.  He honored His parents, and obeyed them.  He never murdered anyone, even with His thoughts or words. He was never guilty of sexual misconduct of any kind.  He never lied, but rather is Truth incarnate. He never took anything that did not belong to Him.  He did not covet anything that belonged to his neighbors.   He never slandered anyone.  He lived in perfect obedience and kept every jot and tittle of the Law.  The idea of  "jot and tittle" has to do with the little markings in the Hebrew script. It was a way of saying that Jesus obeyed every detail of the Law .   Musicians might say that He did not miss a beat.

So, when we believe in Jesus, receiving Him into our lives, our focus changes.  As He obeyed, we want to obey Him. As He loved us, we want to love Him. As He loved others, we want to love others - even our enemies.  If we sin, we have Someone who speaks to the Father on our behalf, and who cleanses us.  He also dines with us, and we enjoy sweet communion with Him.  Obedience to God's Law becomes obedience to Christ, who fulfilled all the law.  We who have been rescued from sin in this way do not want to habitually sin. His Holy Spirit lives in us, producing the character of Christ in us little by little as we live in love and obedience.

Jesus the Sabbath Lord

This is a fantastic video on the subject of legalism and the silly rules that people make up, generally in the name of religion. In this message, he does not address the subject of radicalism, but just some of the comical things that people do in order to be pleasing to God.  It is a serious, but lighthearted look at religious practices.  No one is left out, and no one is picked on more than others. In fact, he is pretty much hardest on those in his own, Reformed tradition.

Driscoll defines "legalism" as the tendency of religious people to makes rules that are not found in the Bible, and then to try to pressure, coerce, or even force others to live by those rules.  

Of course, on the hat "thing" he mentions in the video,  I would agree with the cross dressing greeter at the gay church.  Baseball caps are NOT appropriate in worship services. Besides, hat etiquette in relation to worship services is actually addressed in the New Testament, so I'm not so sure that I would  put that subject in the same category as, say, having special elevators for the Sabbath day, but his examples are pretty funny all the same.   

Then there's the sign at the site of where Jesus fed the 5,000, plus women and children, that says "No Picnics."  That's just too funny.


I agree with him that there are also secular legalists.  Captain Janeway on the Starship Voyager is one of them, but he didn't mention her.  I love Star Trek and Janeway, BTW, but she is a legalist who struggles at times with her own rules. 

Seattle taboos include things like driving cars, and at times, throwing real, dead fish around in Pike Place Market.

I also agree strongly with his point that there are Christians who are reverse legalists, and that is just as dangerous. Legalism is common among all kinds of religious people, but that doesn't mean that there are not real standards and principles that God expects us to uphold.  One example Driscoll gives is that of those who may, in an effort to avoid being legalistic in daily Bible reading, decide not to read the Bible at all!  

Driscoll also makes the point that one may have what he calls "individual legalism" in an appropriate way, but corporate legalism is a different matter.  A person who grew up in a home where alcoholism was a big problem may personally decide to never drink alcohol, and that is fine as long as one does not try to force everyone to quit drinking, even in moderation.  Not even AA does that. So, much food for thought.

I like his  comparison of the Sabbath to Birthday Cake.  The cake is meant to be a good, enjoyable thing, and so is the idea of God giving mankind a day off every week.  Legalists turn it into a burden, taking all the enjoyment out of it.

All in all, this is a good treatment of the subject of Jesus and the Sabbath.

Note:  The Driscoll kind of Mars Hill is not related to the Rob Bell Mars Hill.  Though I am sure that Bell loves Jesus, he has deviated from Biblical teachings in some very important areas.  Driscoll is  straight up Reformed in his theology.  It is only the style and trappings that are trendy, not the message of the Gospel itself. He is closer to the Puritans than to Rob Bell.  Just FYI.   

Simple Faith

 Sometimes life can become very complicated for one reason or another.  Simply trusting Christ is the  one constant.

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They that thirst and want to come to Christ must remember that simple faith is the one thing required. By all means let them come with a humble, broken, and contrite heart; but let them not dream of resting on that for acceptance. Faith is the only hand that can carry the living water to our lips. Faith is the hinge on which all turns in the matter of our justification. It is written again and again that "whosoever believes shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "To him that does not work, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5). Happy are they that can lay hold on the principle laid down in that matchless hymn:

 Just I am! without one plea,

Save that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come!

~ J.C. Ryle

Musical Update

Because of  our daughter's  huge wedding we recently staged, I have not had much time to play my oboe.  The wedding went well, with about 400 guests.  It was a stressful, but good time.  I told my daughter that the wedding was important, but it's the marriage that interests me more.  The kids should do well in their marriage, by the grace of God. They are in love, but they also really like each other and are good friends.  Anyway...

My musical involvement is taking a bit of a different turn at this time.  The worship leader in our church wants me to be involved in one of the two teams he has going.  We are a small church, but we have some pretty fantastic musicians.  Ben, our worship and youth pastor, is a classically trained pianist, and a fantastic jazz saxophonist.

So, this Sunday is my debut with the team.  Ben wants me to sing harmony on two of the songs, which is fun. I have to make up an alto part, but that's not hard to do on worship style music.  I am playing flute on 3 or  4 other songs, and also have to improvise my parts pretty much.  It's a bit different reading off of a lead sheet that consists in the words to the songs and the chords.  As long as I stay in the right key and play notes compatible with the chords, I'm Okay.  I was able to find the music to some of the songs, but in a way, it's easier to just "wing it."  I'm glad for the jazz lessons I took a few years back.  I'm not being very adventuresome at this point in time, keeping it pretty simple.

I have to say that it is a lot of fun to play on a worship team.  It is not what I am used to, but it is always good to branch out. 

Four Points of the Movement

I am not part of Mark Driscoll's church or movement. However, I like many of the things that I see in his church.  For example, their statements, accompanied by action, about human trafficking and the sex slave trade.  Very few Christian groups have taken this on in a serious and direct way.  I admire them for that. They also show a concern for the poor, widows, and orphans.

Their teachings on the Christian family are excellent.  They take a strong stand against domestic violence, and also match their words with actions.

I am also mostly in agreement with their theological positions, which are basically traditional Reformed in nature.  So, I hope that they can continue on the path they are on. 

Below I included an excerpt from an excellent article.  These are ideas that are truly revolutionary and transformational. Our mission has been involved in this kind of ministry since our beginnings in Manila, PI.  It takes time and patience, but such approaches really do make a difference in the lives of individuals who are trapped in poverty and its accompanying despair.  :

July 01, 2011 by Peter Greer Robby Butler

A Hand Up Not a Handout

Why Enterprise and Business Are Changing Our Approach to Poverty Alleviation

 

Poverty: the Church's Role

By Robby Butler
The Church has a strategic role in overcoming internal and external factors in poverty. This outline is representative rather than exhaustive:

• Internal Influences must be defeated through relational biblical discipleship:
• Fatalism: Poverty is our destiny.
• Hopelessness: Effort will prove unfruitful.
• Laziness: Change is too much work.
• Lies: God hates me and wants me to suffer.
• Identity: I am a victim, inferior to others.
• Addiction: I must numb my pain.
• Limited Good: If you or I benefit, the other must lose.
• Individual Circumstances may need such practical assistance such as micro-enterprise mediated through accountable relationships:
• Subsistence: Where water acquisition consumes a family's time and energy, improved access to clean water allows pursuit of better employment.
• Bonded servitude: High interest on even a small debt enslaves many, and micro-finance loans can create freedom to seek other employment.
• Lack of skills: Training can empower a more profitable contribution to the community.
• Lack of capital: Micro-finance loans enable entrepreneurs to increase the supply of existing products or services (subject to local market saturation or global competition).
• Societal Environment, best improved through local and international advocacy:
• Corruption: The best long-term remedy is widespread Biblical discipleship.
• Lack of Infrastructure: Advocacy can encourage governments, charities and businesses to collaborate in developing infrastructure to facilitate commercial enterprise.
• Lack of Basic Goods, Services and Employment: The Church can encourage and assist the development of healthy, enterprises which provide employment and discipleship while serving the community.

God didn't simply address our poverty by giving us instructions and resources. Christ emptied Himself and dwelt among us. The most effective approaches to breaking the poverty cycle include incarnational ministry which develops collaborative relationships to hear, serve, learn from and influence the poor, through biblical discipleship, practical assistance, business development and advocacy.

Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for Oboe Solo

 Another oboe piece that I am seeking to resurrect from my musical past is the Six Metamorphoses after Ovid.  This set of 6 songs for the oboe are delightful to listen to and to play.  I never performed the complete work, but I did play two of the 6 as audition pieces for a scholarship once. I got the scholarship. That was awhile ago.  They are not really technically all that difficult, but the devil is definitely in the details on this one.  There is no other instrument to help the poor oboist, either.  One is completely exposed, and every little imperfection is magnified. One nice thing, though, is that the player can take all the time they need to get a good breath between phrases because of the liberal use of both fermatas and breath marks.  Evidently Britten loved oboists.

These are a lot of fun to play.  This work fits into  the genre of programme music. That is, the composer attempts to tell a story through the music.

I had to take about a week break from the oboe because of a very unexpected emergency surgery.  Not fun, but not all that bad either.  I'm working on I. PAN for now.  Here is a performance of that piece by British oboist, Nicholas Daniel. Does it sound like the god, Pan, playing on his pipe, which was really his beloved Syinx?  Not sure, but it is a nice song well played by an excellent musician.




The background information for this post was taken from Wikkipedia.  It is the easiest and most concise reference online, though it has not established itself as a completely reliable source.  It is still very handy, especially since my intention is not to become an authority on the life and works of Benjamin Britten.

I sang parts of two seasons in the Bremerton Choral, and we did 2 of Brtten's pieces during that time.: A Ceremony of Carols and Rejoice in the Lamb. So, these three pieces are pretty much the extent of my direct musical  experience with Briten's works.

The Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for Oboe Solo was composed by Benjamin Britten. It is his Opus 49 and was written in 1951 for Joy Boughton.  She was the daughter of a friend and fellow composer, Rutland Broughton.

Britten was a 20th century British composer, conductor, and pianist.  He is best known as a composer of opera, but he also wrote some instrumental works.
 
This work for oboe was first performed at the Aldeburgh Festival on 14 June 1951.

The six pieces are titled.:

 Pan, who played upon the reed pipe which was Syrinx, his beloved
 Phaeton, who rode upon the chariot of the sun for one day and was hurled into the river Padus by a thunderbolt. 
 Niobe, who, lamenting the death of her fourteen children, was turned into a mountain. 
Bacchus, at whose feasts is heard the noise of gaggling women's tattling tongues and shouting out of boys. 
Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image and became a flower. 
Arethusa, who, flying from the love of Alpheus the river god, was turned into a fountain. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Both Wikkipedia and You Tube enrich my life!

Dr. Patrick Moore

An interview with Dr. Patrick Moore, author of "Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout."   Dr. Moore said a lot of things about conservation that make sense to me.  He dropped out of Greenpeace, but not out of the conservation movement.  He rejected the radicalism and  unscientific approach of what Greenpeace has become. 

We obviously have environmental issues that need to be solved.  I like the idea of "win-win" resolutions and solutions. 

Here is a quote from Dr. Moore's book.

"I wanted to move from constant confrontation, always telling people what they should stop doing, to trying to find consensus about what we should do instead. I had been against three or four things every day of my life for the past 15 years. I now decided to figure out what I was in favour of for a change. I wanted to find solutions rather than problems and to seek win-win resolutions rather than unending confrontations." 
- Dr. Patrick Moore 

I also believe that there are solutions to problems and win-win resolutions to some of the challenges people face.  

Funny Headlines

This is not an Onion parody.: "Jane Fonda Claims Home Shopping Network Censorship By 'Political Extremists' "

- Mark Hemingway - The Weekly Standard

Simple Gifts

This is a lovely little video.  The photos and paintings of children are beautiful in their simplicity, as is the music. 

Hindemith Sonata for Oboe and Piano

Way back when I was in high school, shortly after the earth cooled, my oboe teacher had me working on the Hindemith Sonata for oboe and piano.  He liked 20th Century music quite a bit, and always had his oboe students working on unusual pieces.  I never performed it.  My interests lay more in the music of composers like Mozart, Bach, and Cimarosa. I did perform some of their works.  It was a lot more fun to spend hours working on the Mozart Oboe Quartet than  atonal music.

That was many years ago, and after many moves from one place to another, one country to another, and back again I began to try to recover some of my musical past that got left or lost along the way.  The Hindemith Sonata is one of those pieces.


Hindemith lived 16 November 1895 – 28 December 1963 and was a German composer, conductor, violinist, violist, teacher, and music theorist.  He had a complicated relationship with the Nazis, sometimes in favor and other times not - as is true with all artists living under the despotic, socialistic systems of the 20th century.  He finally emigrated to Switzerland, and then the US in 1940. His wife was Jewish, so that  was definitely a good move.  In the mid-30s, he spent some time in  Turkey helping them to develop their music education program. 

In 1946 he became a US citizen, and then in 1953 moved back to Germany, living there until his death. All of the bio info is from Wikkipedia.  Click on the word "Wikkipedia" to see the article about Hindemith.

The Sonata for Oboe and Piano - or  Sonate Für Oboe Und Klavier - was written in 1938.  Hindemith wrote sonatas for many, if not all of the instruments of the orchestra. It is an atonal.   Here is the Wikkipedia definition of that kind of composition. 

"Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another (Kennedy 1994)."
- Wikkipedia


I suppose that it is a kind of egalitarian approach to music theory and harmony. 

Here is a note from the Music Minus One, Oboe Classics - for the Intermediate Player compiled and edited by Elaine Douvas.  She includes I. Munter (Lively) in her book.  

"Hindemith's style is 'neo-classical' and 'contrapuntal.'  That means he wrote complimentary, architecturally constructed, independent lines similar to Bach.  Clarity and line are essential to bring out the counterpoint."

She suggests that many oboe students try to play this piece too heavy.  It is actually light, lyrical, sparkling, and dancing - her words.  I think that she is on the right track.  Many musicians make the same kinds of errors of interpretation with Bach and other Baroque composers, playing their pieces too heavy and serious.  

Personally, I do not think that Bach and Hindemith are in the same category of genius, but I suppose that he believed himself to be using ideas borrowed from Bach, but brought into the 20th century.   


The piece has 2 movements.  The second movement begins with a very slow passage.  The first two phrases are supposed to be played on one breath each.  I am focusing on these two phrases for now.  This is for personal reasons. For one thing, I think it is the prettiest part of the whole sonata.  Then, it is a challenge for me because of the breathing difficulties I have because of asthma.  It is good for me to make myself play these phrases as they should be done - no cheating.  

The first phrase consists in 28 beats at  ♪=54.  Kinda' slow, but I can do it.  It begins p and grows over the first 3 measures to mƒ, then decrescendo back to p.  I love my Fox 300 oboe which is an asthmatic's dream. :-)  Anyway, I'm having fun with this. 

The 2nd phrase is similar to the first, but enough different to not make it redundant. It begins pp, grows over 21 beats to f and then back to p in 11 beats.  So, 32 beats at 54.  I'm having a harder time making that one on one breath consistently, so we'll see.  


Then there are 4 beats rest followed by a 22 beat phrase.  The last 6 measures of the first part of movement II are made up of 4 short phrases broken up by rests.  Hindemith did have some mercy on this poor oboe player.  The marking of the movement is "Sehrlangsam"  which must mean something like "slow as sorghum molasses, making the oboist languish."  

Here is a recording of Movement II.  The guy cheated and breathed in the middle of the phrase!  ...or maybe my teacher was too demanding...just because Roger Cole could do it...I think that the oboist in this recording captures the light, lyrical, sparkling, dancing nature of the piece. I don't think that the brain fishing drawing complements the piece all that well, though.