1980, March issue

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15)

Greetings to all the Saints in the Word of God!
Spring is almost upon us. The sound of heaven draws nearer as our faith deepens. I pray in the name of our Lord that you will incline your ear toward the soft voice of heaven and become a person of blessing like Noah.
Too often, we find ourselves lost in the useless chatter of others. Around 2,700 years ago, the prophet Jeremiah said that you hear the sound of people, but not the sound of the land; you hear the sound of the land but not the sound of heaven. This was the case in Jesus’ time, but it is worse today in the era known as the space age.
Whether it is the space age, the machine age, or a political era, they are all clamorous because they are about wars. How noisy the age in which we live is! The Word must not make noise. That is the point of the Word: to refrain from making noise. Nevertheless, the sound of the Word circulates across the lands (Psalm 19:1-4). True sound does not cause noise. If we wish to avoid making noise, we must open our ears to the sound of heaven. The sound of heaven is not like the sound of the earth and therefore does not make noise. Thus, if we wish to receive the Word of the Lord, we must have “ears that hear.”
What are “ears that hear”? They are ears that hear the Word of God, not just words of men. We see this in Matthew 11:15, when Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The phrases “ears that hear” and “the Word of heaven” both refer to the heart that hears the cry of history. If there is a heart, the ears will open and hear the Word of light that resounds in the midst of silence; if there is no heart, the ears cannot hear, for they are hampered by the noise of this world. When we lack something, it is not because heaven does not provide. Rather, it is because we do not use what we have been given. In Matthew 25:24~30, Jesus said, “For to everyone who has, more will be given; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”

For that reason, God declared through the prophet Isaiah that those whose neck is an iron sinew and their forehead bronze would not see or hear (Isaiah 48). How disastrous it would be if this happens! The prophet Amos also sternly warns of the “famine and thirst” in regard to hearing the Word of God (Amos 8:11-14).
Mankind needs food to sustain life. The Word, however, is the one thing that is more important than food. When we were babes, we needed milk; but as we grew older, we needed to move on from milk to solid food to live. Likewise, material things were our absolute necessity when we lived according to our instinct; but when we mature to the spiritual level, which surpasses the level of physical instinct, we need spiritual food, the Word of heaven. Without the Word, we cannot use our material possessions to turn it into food for life. This will not only rob ourselves but even others of life.
Dear Saints, I cannot say that I fully understand the hearts and intentions of the great prophets and forefathers, but I hold only onto the sound of the Word with trembling heart in this barren and empty world because I have a great fear of the coming famine of the Word.
Like children wandering about looking for water during a drought, eyes dimmed and throats parched as they fall on the ground...yet, the heavens will not raise a single cloud but instead turn its back on this famine. Do you not see the state of this nation’s youth as they wander about searching to find even a morsel of God's true Word? Will the day come when our hearts will divide and fall because we cannot hear the Word of heaven? Will the terrible day come when the wrath of heaven closes the spiritual gates of heaven, so that not even one cloud will rise?
Because I love this nation and the people, I dare to think, “Let me try to pierce a hole, even if it is one as tiny as a pinprick,” as I pray to God. It is my heart’s desire that the gospel of the Lord’s cross would dwell in the hearts of the entire nation, so that the people may find the hope of heaven.
I am well aware of my mistakes and shortcomings. Despite my flaws, however, I pray to serve this nation at least as an eye of a needle through which the people of this nation may hear the sound of heaven and become the foremost in the world and live for eternity (Deuteronomy 28:1-4).
Remember once again. To those who have, more will be given; but to those who do not have, even what they have will be taken away. While this may seem contradictory and irrational, it is the law that cannot be broken. It is evident of this heavenly law that the Samaritan woman, a woman of immorality but with faith, was able to meet the Messiah while the Jews, who had no faith in Jesus, ended up wandering in different ends of the earth even though they have had the promise of heaven for thousands of years (Matthew 25:13-30, 8:11-12).

Saints, if you fear the thought of witnessing the truth, then your springs of reason, morality, and spirit will dry up and you will be trampled upon by others. Heaven may tolerate it for a while, but do not think that heaven is foolish enough to endure your disregard forever. Heaven will take revenge, but not cruelly without a warning (Amos 3:7-8).
We must have the discernment to sense the signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-5). The crisis into which this present day has fallen came because mankind ignored the face of God by despising Him and considering the God-given wisdom as ignorance and superstition!
I am one of the people who have prayed to this day, hoping that this nation will see and discern the face of the times as they hear the heavenly Word even a little bit. Let us hear the sound of the times. The one who knows how to listen to the voice of history will receive the blessings of heaven. Heaven does not hesitate but always places its will into a humble and cracked piece of earthenware. Only the humblest of hearts can redeem the world, and such humble spirits can come only through holy wisdom.

Senior Pastor Abraham Park