TITLE: Hearing Your Shepherd?s Voice 072103c
TEXT: John 10:25-27 Jesus said: I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out. 4When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5The sheep will not follow strangers. They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away. 6Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.
I. GOD WANTS TO SPEAK TO YOU
ILL. Two men were talking to each other. The first man said, "I think my wife is crazy. She talks to herself all the time." The other man said, "Oh, my wife talks to herself all the time, too. Only she doesn’t know it. She thinks I’m listening."
ILL. A particular dog trainer always consults with his clients before meeting their dogs. That way, he can find out about their pets? behavioral problems and suggest what equipment to bring for the next training session. One day a studious owner took some very copious notes. As she left, he called out, ?Don?t forget to bring the collar and leash next week.? At the next class everyone but this woman arrived with a dog. She stood holding a jeweled collar and matching leash. ?Where is your dog?? he asked her. ?You said to bring the collar and leash,? she replied, ?You didn?t say anything about a dog!?
ILL. My Dog?s name is Orion?we named him after the Mythical hunter. He is a miniature Daschund. Now I?ve tried to teach him how to hunt and point to no avail. I was watching a man work his hunting dog one time. It was nothing short of amazing. The man would get the dog?s attention and point. The Dog would gaze in that direction a split second and then begin running as fast as he could. If he found the indicated target the dog would engage his pointing stance. If He was unable to find the target, he would look back to his master. The master would point farther, back some, left, right and the dog would follow the commands to the tee.
A. Upon watching that dog work, I thought to myself, ?I wish I could
understand God?s direction of my life just like that. I wish I could know just exactly what He is trying to communicate to me without mistake, or disobedience.
1. I am continuing my once/month series: Who? Me? A Disciple?
With a topic that few Christians have mastered. Indeed, I know few if any who have really mastered this necessary art. It is the art of hearing God?s voice when He speaks to you.
2. You remember what a disciple is, do you not? A disciple is a
learner and a doer. A disciple is not a pew sitter, a casual admirer of Christ and His teachings. A disciple is one who is ready to follow Jesus at all costs. He or she is willing to stake their lives on what Jesus has said and done.
3. If you are going to a learner and a doer, a genuine follower, t hen
you are going to have to begin training your ear to recognize His voice.
4. Many think that Hearing God?s voice is for the super spiritual?the
upper echelons of Christianity?the Billy Graham?s and Oral Roberts?maybe a needy pastor every once in a while. But God doesn?t speak to me. I don?t think I have ever really heard His voice.
5. But in our text, Jesus plainly tells us, that if we are really His
sheep, we will know His voice and we will follow His instruction.
II. GOD HAS SPOKEN IN MANY WAYS
A. Through out history, God has spoken to individuals in many
interesting ways.
1. In the Garden of Eden, God conversed with Adam and Eve in an
undefiled paradise in the cool of the day during regular evening walks. This was God?s purpose in creating man?the Bible says that God was lonely?He wanted a being in His image with whom He could converse.
a. This relationship was unencumbered by sin. The man and
women would not understand the precious gift they were forfeiting when they disobeyed God?this unfettered access.
b. And though sin entered the picture?God still desired to speak.
2. God spoke to Noah and gave him highly specific information on the
hows and whys to build an ark. The scripture does not tell us the medium of that speech, but it must have been irrefutable for the man Noah to take on such a grand endeavor.
3. God spoke to Abraham about many things. The most striking must
have been Abraham?s debate with God over Sodom and Gomorrah. God spoke to Lot and his family through an Angel warning his family to leave that place and seek shelter. God regularly spoke through angles?why the very word angel means messenger.
4. And God spoke very loudly through events such as the fiery
destruction of those two cities.
5. God spoke to many individuals with dreams. I think of Joseph who
had dreams that his other brothers would all one-day bow down low in his presence.
6. God spoke through visions?the ability to see into the spiritual
realm, which is usually veiled from human sight.
7. God spoke through apparitions as when He spoke to Moses
through the burning bush. Later it would be described how Moses regularly conversed with God. It is said that he did so as a man would speak face to face with another man?amazing. I guess of all the individuals who have heard from God?Moses? experiences are the most fascinating to me.
8. God spoke through the prophets. Though this method of speaking
to the masses of people did not seem to be very effective?few people ever heeded their messages with a few notable exceptions.
9. In the New Testament. God Himself became man in Jesus and
spoke. He wooed, He challenged, He instructed, He demonstrated compassion unlike this world has or will ever see. Jesus told His disciples ?If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.
10. On other occasions, God?s voice has boomed from heaven as
through a loud speaker?some could recognize and understand it, to others it sounded like thunder.
11. Other times God has spoke through people who were completely
unaware that He was doing so. Why on one occasion, He even spoke through a Donky.
B. And sadly, there have also been periods of long silence when God
seemed to tire of speaking for the lack of listening.
1. (1 Samuel 3:1-4) In those days, the LORD hardly ever spoke
directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the LORD’S house. They had not been asleep very long 4when the LORD called out Samuel’s name.
2. In the 600 years between the writing of the Old Testament it
seemed to be the same. There was very little speaking and almost no listening. People had sort of given up on the notion that Almighty God would stoop to speak to regular people.
3. Sadly, many believers feel that we are in such a period of silence
today. I bet many of you feel this way. How many of you can say with certainty, ?God speaks to me. I know His voice. I follow that voice.?? Probably not very many.
4. Well the purpose of the message today is to begin a change in
your experience. I believe with all my hear that God wants to speak to you. In fact, I believe that if you would ask Him and hear His response He would tell you that He would like to speak to you like He spoke with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day?or like He spoke with Moses?face to face.
5. Let?s consider some of the ways in which God might speak to you
in this day and time. But before we do I want to give you this NEWS FLASH. God?s method of speaking hasn?t changed all that much since (Hebrews 13:8) He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
TS. Yet one way has become revered over every other way?but please
know it is not the only way.
II. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH THE BIBLE.
A. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word.
All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 17The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.
1. The Bible is not only a source of God speaking generally to all
people it is the guideline by which we believe all other could be messages from God must be judged.
ILL. I was riding with a friend who, I believed to have a vital and intimate relationship with God. He was thinking about divorcing his wife. He was looking for a sign?he was asking God for permission. He pointed out two crows sitting on a telephone poll. He said, ?Scott, see those two crows? If they are gone by the time we ride back this way, that will be my sign that God wants me to divorce my wife.?
2. Does anyone else see the stupidity in that line of thinking? God
has spoken, (Malachi 2:16) I hate divorce.
ILL. I listened to a woman for 21/2 hours speak of her deep and personal relationship with the Lord. She doubted that anyone else had such an intimate relationship with Him. I think she might have been among the most sincere people with whom I have spoken. She told me of her prayer closet where God would reveal Himself and speak to her. The last half hour of my listening to her she told me that she was homosexual and that God had given her verbal permission to continue in that orientation.
3. Hello! Let me say it again: The Bible is not only a source of God
speaking generally to all people it is the guideline by which we believe all other could be messages from God must be judged.
B. Yes the Bible tells us more than what we can?t do. It is a major source
of hearing God speak today.
1. I can?t number the times when I?ve been looking for the answer,
and God?s Holy Spirit has answered me concretely through pointing me to a particular passage of scripture that previously meant little to me.
2. I can?t number the times when I have just been reading scripture,
not really looking for any particular answer, that the Holy Spirit made a word or phrase jump off the page. And all of the sudden I had new marching orders?a fresh vision?even if just direction for the day.
3. (Hebrews 4:12) What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It
is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.
III. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT
A. Jesus was God in the flesh and for 31/2 years He encouraged, taught
and corrected His disciples. Prior to His leaving this earth, He promised that we would not be left with no one to speak to. He promised that the Holy Spirit would come and be to disciples just as Jesus had been, and encourager, a teacher a corrector.
1. How does God speak through the Holy Spirit. Remember from 1
Corinthians 12, it told us that God speaks through messages of knowledge, wisdom, through prophesy and discerment, through tongues and interpretation.
2. But what is the dynamic? How does it work? I think that the best
illustration of this comes from a well known Old Testament story about Elijah. Elijah was in a bad way. He was worn out physically, emotionally spiritually. He really needed to talk to God, rather, he needed God to speak to him.
3. (1 Kings 19:11b-13) All at once, a strong wind shook the
mountain and shattered the rocks. But the LORD was not in the wind. Next, there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12Then there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. Finally, there was a gentle breeze, 13and when Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his coat. He went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. The LORD asked, "Elijah, why are you here?"
4. The NIV calls it a gentle whisper, KJV: a still small voice. This
seems to be the Holy Spirit?s preferred way of speaking to me.
5. I have heard many Christian leaders question as to whether God
still speaks in an audible voice. I believe He does. You would be hard pressed to convince me that God has not spoken to me in this way (tell the story of how God directed you to this building).
6. But most of the time it is this still small voice which God allows me
to hear.
7. Let me tell you the problem of the still small voice. ADD - Attention
Deficit Disorder Attention Deficit Disorder (AD/HD) is mostly an organic problem which tends to run in families. It is characterized by the inability to sustain focused attention. This checklist rates the following behaviors which are present in most people with ADHD: 1. Distractibility 2. Inattention 3. Free flight of ideas (free associations to any other idea) 4. Impulsivity - Moodiness 5. Insatiability 6. Bursts of hot temper 7. Hyperactivity .
8. When it comes to hearing the still small voice most believers allow
ADD to get in the way. This is why hearing God?s voice is such an art.
ILL. An artist must cultivate inspiration-rarely will it burst upon him in a flash of light. An artist must put himself at the right place and give himself unfettered time. Other concerns must be placed aside for a time if inspiration is to come. And then there is focus on the subject matter.
IV. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH DREAMS AND VISIONS
A. (Joel 2:28-29) 28Later, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons
and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29In those days I will even give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women.
1. Once again, the insight given must be squared with scripture. A
great deal of care must be taken in the understanding of our dreams and visions.
ILL. One morning Annette awoke from a dream that so vivid and effected her so powerfully that she thought it certainly must have had to come from God. In her dream I was having an affair with some blond woman. I promise you that dream wasn?t from God. Not all our dreams are special messages from God.
2. Dreams and visions are not mediums of God voice a person
usually pursues. They just happen. You know what a dream is, a vision is extra sensory sight given, often times when an individual is in prayer. The recipient can be awake, and may fall asleep during the encounter.
3. A great deal of wisdom must be used in deciphering the message
that God wishes to communicate. However, I believe that if God has given you the vision or dream.
ILL. When I was a very small child. I had some strange dreams. I saw myself preaching. I often woke up confused thinking, ?I?m not a preacher!? You decide what those dreams may have meant. When I was a teenage kid in California, I used to have a reoccurring dream that I was married to southern belle like unto Scarlet O?Hara. You decide what that dream might have meant. But it seems interesting to me that the two most important decisions of my life would be revealed to me in a dream. When Annette was pregnant I had this nightmare that she would give birth to an imbecile wouldn?t apply himself at school and would never ever move out of the house, but I don?t think that was from God.
V. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH EXPERIENCES
ILL. I love this parable a friend shared me with me several years ago.
A man was caught in a flood and ended up floating on the roof of his destroyed home. He prayed desperately for God?s help. In time a rescue team came by in a boat. ?We?ve come to help you,? they shouted. ?Get in our boat and you?ll be safe.? ?No,? the man shouted back. ?God?s going to save me.? It grew dark and scary and the man prayed harder. The beat of a helicopter?s blades could be heard coming from the distance growing louder and louder, until they were thumping overhead. A bright light framed the house wreckage and the man. The loudspeaker boomed, ?Take the rope, you?ll be safe.? ?No, thanks,? the man shouted as he waved the helicopter away, ?God?s going to save me.? Shortly thereafter, the roof disintegrated and the man drowned. He was grateful to arrive in heaven, but irritated that God hadn?t answered his prayers. When he stood before Jesus, he complained. ?Why didn?t you save me as you promised that you would?? ?Whatever do you mean?? the Lord said, ?I sent a boat and a helicopter!?
A. Many times God is shouting to us in our experiences, but we are so
intent on just one option, that we fail to hear Him. We can be so fixed in our point of view that we cannot see what He is doing, or wanted to do, in and through us. Many times we call these ?Wake Up Calls?
1. How much pain might we spare ourselves IF we were willing to
consider that constant source of irritation might be a messenger of God sent to grab our attention? Paul, the apostle, helps us to see how God works through the experiences of our lives to accomplish HIS purposes. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) Of course, I am now referring to the wonderful things I saw. One of Satan’s angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud. 8Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away. 9But he replied, "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. 10Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.
2. Are you struggling financially? Have you asked God IF He is trying
to talk to you about your values, or your work habits, or your present occupation?
3. Are you prospering, enjoying a time of abundance? Have you
considered that God is pouring out His blessings on you OR have you just congratulated yourself on your cleverness?
4. Understanding the right messages that God may sending to us
through our day to day experiences requires discernment and prayer. Some of us are too quick to judge another?s circumstances. We think we know exactly what God is doing and we judge.
5. Humbly open your mind to the fact that God may be sending you a
message through the experiences of your life.
TS. And I hope this doesn?t come across too vain, but...
VI. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH YOUR PASTOR
A. All week, week after week, I find myself praying the same prayer. It is
not one I rattle off by wrote, it comes from the deepest part of who I am. ?God, give me a word for your people.?
1. Many times it is a message that God has been teaching me.
2. I think that too many people think Sunday?s message is for the
other guy?the real sinner.
3. But let me tell you, God wants to speak to you today. Maybe you
and your family are really struggling?you don?t have the answer?I believe that God has a word for you this morning. Maybe you are a struggling student. Maybe you are struggling with temptation. Maybe you are searching for direction.
4. Maybe you?re weary of where you?ve aloud life to take you and
need to put your life back into His hands. Let Him speak to you today.
Source: Point 3 relied heavily upon ?God Speaks?Are You Listening by Jerry Scott
