2:7a: Closed Minds: “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches.”[i]
The main theme of the messages to the
Churches is the refrain: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to
the Churches.” It is a message of warning in light of the fact that
Jerusalem is being destroyed because she closed her mind
to Christ. On that Great
Day of the Lord, at His appearing to reward His
saints and to judge His enemies in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the appeal was
to open the mind to Christ, the Word. The Spirit is still speaking this message
to the Churches today.
A
closed mind is the final stage of apostasy, beyond which there is no hope of
repentance. As long as a person has an open mind, he may be taught the truth
and corrected in his errors, but when he closes his mind, he seals himself into
a chamber with no exit. One attitude that reflects a closed mind is the expression:
“Everyone knows that (so and so).” Scripture portions may even be offered as
proof-texts without weighing the evidence from the context of the whole Bible. The closed mind accepts popular
belief as authoritative and does not test doctrines or philosophies by
Scripture. Another attitude typical of the closed mind is: “I know what I want
to believe, so don’t confuse me with the facts.”
Interpretation
is a stronghold; like a building, it is a system. It is indeed frustrating when
a neat system of doctrine is upset by finding error in the foundational
premises. Much effort, dedication, and persistence are required to rethink a
whole system and make necessary adjustments. It is painful to have to admit
error or ignorance, especially when one has taught these errors to others. It
is scary to take responsibility for an opinion. The easy way out is to simply
say: “Our church teaches (thus and so).” It is unpleasant to the Flesh, but sweet to the Spirit to
experience Truth firsthand.
Closed minds are prevalent in the
religious world, and are especially reflected in the area of dogma.[ii]
Religious organizations typically lay down a body of doctrines that are
considered as the authoritative principles of that religious body. Upon this
basic dogma, other doctrines are built. But, while doctrinal principles may be
discussed, refined, proven or disproven, the dogmatic foundations of those
doctrines are expected to be accepted as true without question.
The word doctrine implies a principle accepted by a body of believers, while
dogma, though a synonym of doctrine, implies a doctrine that must
be accepted without question merely upon the authority of the founders of the
body. Obviously, if these founders were ignorant, unaware, deceived or
malicious, their dogma will be faulty, and doctrines built upon that dogma will
not be sound. Dogma thus assumes a blind belief in the infallibility of the
founders of a religion and becomes an idol.
Christ faced just such a situation when He ministered
to the scribes and Pharisees. Their minds were closed to the truth He taught
because of the dogmatic teaching of the rabbis. Many of these teachings were
supposedly the authoritative interpretation of Scripture, but were actually
perversions and distortions. Jesus refuted these errors consistently, for
example, in the Sermon on the Mount: “You
have heard that it was said .... but I say unto you.” He pronounced “Woes” and judgments upon those who refused to hear Him, (Matthew 23).
Christ referred these Pharisees to the Scriptural
foundations. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 6:9-13). Isaiah was
called to preach to the nation of Israel to warn them that judgment for their
sins was coming and to call them to repentance. Yet, he was told he would not
succeed in turning the nation, for “hearing
they would not hear and seeing they would not perceive.” Isaiah would fail, for their minds were
closed.
When he asked: “How long, O Lord?” the answer was:
Until cities lie waste without
inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land is utterly desolate, and the
Lord removes men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the
land, (RSV). The sad
consequences of closed minds.
Their destruction was assured because of
their closed minds. Yet, though the nation would not be saved, his preaching
was not in vain for a remnant would hear and be saved.
Christ knew that He faced the same situation – people
with closed minds, accepting only the interpretations of their malicious
leaders; – people whose ears were closed to hearing and whose eyes were closed
to seeing the truth, (Matt. 13:14-17; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:9-10; John 12: 39-40).
This willful blindness and deafness greatly grieved and frustrated our
Lord. It was this that prompted Him to so often repeat the refrain: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
The series of parables in Mark 4:1-33 begins with the command: “Hearken!” (KJV), or “Listen!” (RSV) The series ends with the statement that Jesus taught the larger crowds by parables only as
they were able to hear, (v. 33). The reason for using parables as a method of
teaching is given in verse 12:
So that they may indeed see but
not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn
again, and be forgiven, (RSV).
The principal point of the parables is
given in verses 24 and 25:
Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he
that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken
even that which he hath.
In context, when He says “hear,” He is
speaking of the measure of the Word which a man has allowed to take root and to
bear fruit in his life. Biblically, to hear means to heed, that is, to act upon
what one hears. To him that has thus incorporated the Word into his life, more
of the Word will be given, but to him that has only accepted the surface
meaning of the parables, who refuses to allow the Word to impart a deeper
meaning, even the Word that he has heard superficially will be taken from him.
The parable of the candle, (Mark 4:21-22), is about the entrance of the Word
into a man. Psalm 119:130: “The
entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The Word enters a man through the channel of hearing.
Unless the hearer places the light upon a candlestick, that is, gives it a
place of prominence and honor, it will not give him light. But if it is given
its proper place, it will illuminate his inner man, cleansing him from the
secret sins of the heart and mind.
Those with closed minds do not allow the
Word to penetrate their hard exterior of religious dogma. As both the fulfillment
and the embodiment of the Word, Christ emphasized its acceptance as a means of
salvation. So Christ punctuated the parables, as well as the messages to the
churches with the refrain: “He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear.”
Examining our dogmatic beliefs can be
unsettling, for our entire philosophy of life rests upon them. In rooting out
false dogma, we must carefully examine them in the light of the Scripture and
hold fast that which is good. Genuine faith in the Scriptures does not fear to
subject them to careful scrutiny and analysis. The doctrine of the inerrancy of
the Scriptures has been well examined and has proven reliable. The Holy Bible has been preserved and transmitted down to us
as a faithful witness to the Truth by many generations of saints.
The Scriptures establish that Jesus is the Messiah Savior, the Son of the Living God. His words
have been tried and proven for 2000 years. We can accept His authority. Upon
His authority, we can accept Christ’s Spirit, which says: “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
This Spirit of Truth will reveal our weaknesses and errors and give us full
assurance of pardon if we repent and allow the Truth to rule our conduct and
thinking, although here we only know in part – our knowledge is not perfect.
The Spirit of Truth is also the Spirit of Love. Because he loves us, we have
the security to examine the Scriptures without bias and without fear of
condemnation. We can postpone an opinion until we have gathered more
information and we can change our opinion when we find we are wrong. In other
words, we can be teachable.
The greatest hindrance to enlightenment
is a closed mind. The greatest challenge to teaching is not how to fill a mind,
but how to open it.
The Lord GOD
hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back, (Isaiah 50:5).
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .
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