God Still Speaks Today

GOD STILL SPEAKS TODAY

John 10:27

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: It’s Important to Speak & Listen

1. A wife was suing her husband for divorce and accused him of not speaking to her in five years. "What have you got to say for yourself?" asked the horrified judge. The husband replied meekly, "Well, er, I didn't like to interrupt".

2. Hallmark Father's Day card: "Dad, thanks to your lectures I never change horses in the middle of a job worth doing, I know the squeaky wheel gets the worm, and I never count my chickens until I've walked a mile in their shoes … And you thought I wasn't listening."

B. TEXT

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me” John 10:27.

C. THESIS

1. We live in a day of chaos, confusion, complexity, and conflict. We read the daily newspapers and watch television news reports, but a lot of what we hear isn't really the truth.

2. In many cases, is the agenda or the opinion of those who own the news outlets/ world.

3. Everywhere there are voices speaking, telling us what to believe, how to live our lives, and how to even think. Which voice are we listening to?

4. One of the reasons we are going into a 21 day fast is so that we can tune out all the other voices and concentrate on hearing the one voice we really need to hear – God's voice!

5. If ever we needed to hear the truth, we need to hear it now. The good news is, God is still speaking today.

6. So tonight we’re going to look at a brief History of God speaking, characteristics of His Voice, and lastly, How to Hear God’s Voice.

7. The title of this message is “God Still Speaks Today.”

I. THE VOICE OF GOD IN HISTORY

History is filled with instances of God speaking to individuals. In fact, the Bible is a record of God revealing himself to people down through history.

A. EXAMPLES OF GOD SPEAKING

1. Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord walking in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8).They walked along with the voice, i.e., they kept His pace and direction.

2. One day the farmer, Noah, began to hear God speaking to him about a flood-judgment because of sin but God told them how He would spare Noah’s family if he obeyed God's voice and built an ark.

3. Abraham heard God’s voice telling him to separate from his idolatrous family and travel to a distant land which God promised to Abraham and his descendants as their inheritance.

4. Moses was in the backside of the desert after fleeing from Egypt.

a. He saw a burning bush and as he approached, he heard a voice speaking out of the midst of the bush calling, "Moses!” God said some pretty insightful things to Moses:

“I have seen.”

“I have heard”

“I am concerned”

“I am come down.”

“I will send you.”

These give us great consolation as to God’s awareness of us.

b. Moses built the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. “When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him” Num. 7:89. The Lord always speaks to us on the basis of atonement!

5. Years later, a boy was sleeping in the Tabernacle. He began to hear the voice of the Lord calling to him, "Samuel, Samuel!" He obeyed the Lord and brought in the time of the kings of Israel.

6. Later a prophet by the name of Elijah traveled to Mount Horeb, because he was desperate to hear from the Lord. Many distractions occurred, including fires and earthquakes, but he didn't let the effects of God's power distract him from hearing the actual voice of the Lord. Finally he heard the still small voice of the Lord asking, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:9. Elijah had let fear of Jezebel get him off track from God’s mission, but God put him back on it.

7. “I will look to see what He will say to me” Habakkuk 2:1.

B. THE CLEAREST VOICE OF GOD

1. The book of Hebrews tells us of God's ultimate speaking to us: through his Son Jesus Christ; “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” Heb. 1:1-2.

2. When Jesus spoke, being God incarnate, His words were God's clearest and most authoritative voice speaking to us.