"Speak, For Thy Servant Heareth” ( 2 Of 2)

One of the stars on the program is Sharon Stone, who is a lawyer. But she is different from all the other lawyers in the firm in which she works because she occasionally talks about God talking to her. When she does this, everyone looks at her as if she is some kind of a nut that should be institutionalized.

But at the risk of sounding like a nut myself, I want to align myself with her by saying I also believe God speaks to us.

There are many today who do not believe God still talks to men. They say He speaks only through His Word, that is, all God ever wants or needs to say is locked up in the canon of the Scriptures.

I believe that wholeheartedly! But I also believe God still speaks to us today, but let me hastily say, God will never speak a word contrary to what the Scripture teaches.

If anyone tells you that he has received a message that can not be found in the scriptures, you need to get away from them as fast as possible. God will never speak to us about anything that can not be supported by the scriptures. NEVER!

The Word of God teaches us that God speaks to us at different times in different ways. For example:

• Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days (We live in the last days) spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”

• God spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus. Look at Acts 9:3-4, we read, “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

• Paul said before King Agrippa, “And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee.”

• Peter heard and obeyed the voice of God. In prayer, he heard God speak: "And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.”

The Lord Jesus is still talking to His children! He said His sheep know His voice and they will not heed another voice.

I showed you in a previous sermon that:

I. HE SPEAKS TO US THROUGH PRAYER

II. HE SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS WORD

But also He speaks to us in other ways, such as:

III. HE SPEAKS TO US THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES

A good case of this is in the Book of Jonah. Look at Jonah 1:1-2, we read, “ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

These two verses of scripture tell us a great deal about Jonah.

• God spoke to him

• God told him where to go, Nineveh, that great city

• God told him to cry out against it for their wickedness

But Jonah, instead of obeying God, went just the opposite way.

There are folks who say, “If God were to speak to me verbally, I would do whatever he asked me to do!” But notice, God spoke to Jonah and he did the opposite of what God told him to do.

God spoke to him and he did not get the message until God SPOKE TO HIM THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES!

Jonah knew…

• When the wind began to blow

• When the waves began to rage

• When the ship was about to sink

…he had better listen to God.

Listen, God knows there are folks that He must speak to through circumstance in order to get their attention.

• Sometimes God has to remove a loved one out of their life

• Sometimes God has to snatch their security blankets away from them and they lose their job or life savings