Swift To Hear, Slow To Speak

I. Introduction: Our world is producing a mindset of everyone chiming in on everything. This is extremely dangerous. We will address this in this lesson.

A. First, let me clarify something. The verse that this lesson is taken from is in a context that is teaching one to be quick to listen to God’s word and act correctly thereafter. I don’t want to dismiss that (James 1:18-27).

1. A mindset to learn is essential in our salvation (Proverbs 8:33).
2. Every congregation in John’s Revelation was told to hear (Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:29, Revelation 3:6, Revelation 3:13, and Revelation 3:22).

1. Simply hearing is not enough (Acts 17:16-21; Acts 17:30-34). One must hear with the intent to obey (Ezekiel 33:30-33).
2. Jesus will reward according to a person’s actions (II Corinthians 5:10)!
3. Having said all of that, let’s address the underlying issue of people who want to talk more than listen. We are talking about those who only want to hear themselves talk. Understanding takes time. Think on that!

1. Many people formulate responses before truly listening. This destroys understanding and creates unnecessary problems (Proverbs 18:13).
2. Think of hearing as involving searching, investigating, and determining matters with certainty (Deuteronomy 13:12-18, Deuteronomy 17:1-7, John 5:39, and I Timothy 5:19).

1. The more a person talks, the greater the danger (Proverbs 10:19).
2. Think of the hopelessness that comes with those quick to speak (Proverbs 29:20).
3. To stay out of trouble, one must learn restraint (Proverbs 21:23).

1. Consider the old advice, "Think before you speak" (Proverbs 15:28).
2. Think about the principle of counting the cost before speaking (Luke 14:28-32; cf. Psalms 39:1, Proverbs 13:3, Proverbs 16:28, and Proverbs 18:21).