"ARE YOU LISTENING?" - #2 IN "HOLY CONVERSATION" SERIES (August 3, 2008)

Continuing our series on “Holy Conversation”, Listening to God, we learned last week that we need to prepare ourselves to listen to God by clearing out the noise and clatter of the world. We need to be quiet before our God and incline our hearts and minds to Him. But how does God communicate with us? Doug Fields said that we listen to God through the FOG method:

Feelings

Others

God

I would like to look at that last category, God. How does God communicate with us?

I. God Communicates Through the Bible

You may hear people say that the Bible is just a book written by men, but the Bible itself claims to be God's Word! And we can rely on it? The evidence of history, archaeology, fulfilled prophecy and personal testimony over thousands of years is overwhelming that the Bible is, indeed, God's Word. Do you want to hear God's voice? We need to be aware that the Bible is written from various viewpoints of the writers, there are contradictions, however the overarching theme is one of a Loving God reaching out to fallen humanity offering us accessibility to His eternal grace, love and companionship.

o The Bible is our index or guide for all the other ways God communicates.

o If we are going to listen to God and discern His voice in the other avenues He uses, we must be listening to His Word, the Bible.

o Of course, God communicates His Word in many ways: through those who teach it formally and informally as in:

*counseling,

*in personal exhortation

*and encouragement,

*through song or music,

*through books, tapes, film, etc.

o However, the primary method God has chosen, and that which is foundational to all the other ways God communicates in the church age, is the local assembly when the church is assembled together for the hearing of the Word.

o Other things are involved, prayer, singing, praise, the Lord's table, but at the center is the proclamation of the Word

* 1 TIM 4 reads as follows

4Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; 5for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, 8for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe. These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching.

II. God communicates to us through Prayer:

When you want to have a conversation with someone, how do you begin? Do you stand in front of the person and hope they will talk to you? That might work, if the other person is outgoing enough, but usually we begin a conversation by opening our own mouths and talking, engaging the other person's attention. It's the same with God! He loves to hear us talk to Him, and it's in those moments that we prepare ourselves to hear the voice of God.

Prayer is like saying, "Hello, God, it's me. I believe You created me and that You know way more about how I should live my life than I do. I'd like to get to know You better. Here's what's going on in my life, and I'd sure like Your thoughts on how to handle it. Would You please speak to me about this today?"

In an ordinary conversation, we speak, then listen for the response of the other person. It's the same with God! Once we've prepared our hearts to listen through prayer, we're more likely to hear the voice of God. Does He speak to us through an audible voice? Some claim He does, but usually that's not the case. We may not actually "hear" the voice of God, but He speaks to us in many ways.

III. God Communicates Through the Holy Spirit

John 14:26 tells us that "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

The second chapter of Acts describes the events that occurred on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus ascended into Heaven. Verse 3 says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, the Counselor promised by Jesus. This unique aspect of God's personality did not come to them as someone they could see and touch, but rather He came to live inside them. That same Spirit is available to you and me today. We are to ask God for a fresh filling everyday, and He will prepare your heart to hear God's voice. His Spirit, that still, small voice inside you, is the One who will remind you of what God said, and help you recognize God's opportunities in your life.

The Holy Spirit is our resident teacher. JOHN 16:13 tells us:

13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

IV. God Communicates Through the Events of Our Lives

1. Special Times of Worship (singing, praise, prayer, teaching,
Sacraments, preaching).

MAKE LISTENING AN ACT OF WORSHIP...

 How you listen to God's word being read or preached is as much an indication of your devotion to God as to how you pray or sing

 So when you have opportunities to listen, do it with "a worshipful attitude"

• Think of how you would listen if some great person were speaking,

• Imagine your rapt attention if you were listening to some famous person

LISTEN FROM FIRST TO LAST...

Pay attention all the way through

Do you expect to understand a novel by simply reading a sentence here and there?

So it is with listening...sentences, phrases, words, to be understood must be heard in light of the context in which they are presented

LOOK AT THE SPEAKER OR LOOK TO GOD, LOOK TO JESUS

This greatly aids your concentration

 Looking elsewhere makes it easy for your mind to wander

 Closing your eyes is good for some, however for others it is hard and it easy for them to loose concentration.

 This requires self-discipline, but it is conducive to developing a longer attention span

 Don’t let distractions draw you away from God, Jesus, the speaker

 Try it, and see if it doesn't make a difference!

READ ALONG IN YOUR BIBLE...

 You remember more of what you both see and hear over what you simply hear which is why visual aids are often used in sermons but the greatest visual aid is your own Bible!

 Your knowledge of the Scriptures can be greatly improved by
doing this

 It is hard at first to keep up, but persevere and it will soon become easier

LISTEN WITH FAITH...

 Listen with a willingness to accept and believe what is
shown in God's Word

 Notice Hebrews 4:1-2; Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

 Those who died in the wilderness did not listen with faith!

LISTEN WITH A MIND TO ACT...

 Are we like the people in Ezekiel's day? - cf. Eze 33:30-32

 30 As for you, mortal, your people who talk together about you by the walls, and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to a neighbour, ‘Come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ 31They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not obey them. For flattery is on their lips, but their heart is set on their gain. 32To them you are like a singer of love songs, one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

 They loved to hear him, but for the wrong reason

2. Blessings that reveal His love and grace.

• My experience in the Baptistry after my falling out with God in 1998 (Heart of the Triad)

• Observing God’s nature

3. Trials and tribulations can become tools to get our attention and build character, but only as we hear and learn to relate and rest in the promises and principles of Scripture.

 IE: My encounter with an angel during my hospitalization after the motorcycle accident.

 Sharon Fears encounter with an angel at the airport prior to flight.

 Billy Graham’s book: “Angel’s, God’s Secret Agents” includes numerous stories about people encountering angels:

 Missionary family surrounded by angry tribe.

 Worker in NY who worked with troubled youth and left her pocketbook at the office and returned after dark to retrieve it.

V. God speaks to us through our Conscience:

• Dreams Matthew 2:13-18 Joseph’s dream about the treachery of the King and the danger he, Mary and Jesus were in, therefore he fled with them to

• Visions Luke 1:5-22 Zechariah had a vision of an angel telling him about his wife Elizabeth being with Child (John, Jesus’ cousin)

VI. God Communicates Through the People in Our Lives

1. The Bible is full of illustrations of how God uses people to communicate His love, mercy, and grace.

2. This comes in many forms: sometimes in the form of encouragement, sometimes in the form of godly example, and sometimes even in the form of rebuke.

2 Sam 12:1-12 Nathan’s talk with David regarding Bathsheba

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another, and build one another up.”

VII. God Communicates through Audible Voice

1 Sam 3:1-15 The calling of Samuel while he was a boy in the temple with Eli.

Hearing God's Voice - Conclusion of the Matter

So we have the Bible, prayer, the Holy Spirit, Events, Dreams, Visions, Other people, an Audible Voice and our own hearts to help us in hearing God's voice. Do you want to hear God's voice? That is the final question, for God responds to willing hearts. In the book of Revelation, we read: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20). God will never force you to obey Him, but waits for your willing response to His call. Are you hearing His voice right now? Don't let your final answer be the wrong one.

• As already pointed out, listening to God must involve God's Word and the Holy Spirit working together in the mind and heart of the believer.

• Even when God uses people and circumstances, we must always consider what God is saying to us in the light of His Word.

• God never contradicts His Word.

We must learn to examine everything in the light of the Holy Scripture.