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Elder David P. Bridgman ... "From "Good Will" Jan. 1957
It is a great thing for anyone to have the sense of hearing in a natural way. I am sometimes made to wonder if I do appreciate my keen sense of hearing. I am afraid I am not as thankful for it as I should be. It is possible that you may not be able to hear in a normal way. But that you CAN hear is of great value to me. So each of us who can hear at all in a natural sense should be grateful to God for this blessing.
And now I have in mind the subject of hearing in a spiritual sense. Many religious people today believe that any who want to hear God's word can hear it. They think all mankind are alive to the things of God, but I do not believe that. I do not believe any have ever heard or ever will hear the things of the Spirit of God unless God gives them an ear to hear with. We notice in many places in the Scriptures, after Christ had told His children what to do or what not to do, that He closed His statement with this expression: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." He knows that those who do not have spiritual ears cannot hear, so we can easily see that one must first be blessed with ears to hear with before he can hear.
Well, when does such a blessing come about? It comes about when one is given spiritual life, or is born again. When one is born again that one is given five senses, just as they have in nature. They can hear, feel, see, taste, and smell. Now it is but reasonable to expect that the more each of these senses is developed the more benefit it is to him. This is equally true in the natural sense. Some men have so developed the sense of touch that they can close their eyes and tell much about what things are just by touching them. Some can tell who others are by hearing them speak better than by seeing them because their sense of hearing is highly developed in a natural sense. This shows that it is good to use the various senses that God gives us, that we may get the most benefit from them.
Now back to how the spiritual senses come about. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, etc." St. John 10:27. Now we know that there are two classes of people on earth. There are two manners of people in this world. Gen. 25:23; Ps. 33:12. Christ is here speaking about HIS children, and He calls them HIS SHEEP. And when He speaks He speaks in plain terms. He can do that, for He has ALL power both in heaven and in earth. He knows them before they are born again, and they are His before they are born again, just as they are afterward. But He does not make it known to them until they are born again.
In His own good time He (Christ) speaks to them; not a moment too soon or a moment too late, but just when He desires. Eph. 2:1. Now note what He said in John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Now we know that all men do not have ears in this sense, and so it is God that quickens one into divine life and in doing so gives him ears to hear with. And as surely as God gives one ears to hear with that one will hear the voice of the Son of God and will believe on or in God. God lives in that one, and that one knows that there is a God and that he himself is a sinner. He knows many things that one does not know who is dead in sin. He knows he needs mercy, and he begs for it. The one still in his sins does not know that he needs mercy, so he does not beg for it. He does not know that he is a sinner but feels to be good, as good as anyone around him, if not better. The born again sinner sees his sins before his eyes. He wants to live a better life and begs for mercy. He has everlasting life, but he does not of his own accord believe in order to have everlasting life. God speaks to him, as He spoke to Lazarus when he was dead and in the tomb, and by HIS speaking Lazarus lived in a natural way. It is the same thing in a spiritual sense. God speaks to His sheep while they are yet dead in sin, and when He so speaks to them they live and they can then hear His words. They can hear His still small voice, and can feel spiritual things. They can see, taste and smell them.
Now there is a reason why all men cannot hear and all men cannot believe. Some of them are members of the goat family. They just do not belong to the sheep family. And again we hear the words of Christ, "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." John 10:26. Now neither you nor I have ever seen a goat that wanted to be a sheep. This is not the case among natural goats, and neither is it in the spiritual sense. Each one is well pleased in his own realm. But when someone bothers the goat or he drifts into a tight spot he begins to bleat, and then the moment he is let go he is happy again. That is his nature, and he is well pleased with his own nature. If you can hear the good things of Christ, you can rest assured that He has spoken to you and made you to hear, and now you should exercise all your five senses daily and thereby receive the most benefit from them while you live here below. May He bless you, is my prayer.