God Speaks God Speaks

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


Introduction:

    A. Does God speak to people?

    B. According to the Bible, at least, He used to. Think about the many people to whom God spoke in Scripture:

      1. Adam and Eve "heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." (Genesis 3:8)

      2. God spoke to Noah about the coming flood and his need to build the ark for the safety of his family. (Genesis 8:15)

      3. When Abram was ninety nine years old, "the LORD appeared to him and spoke with him." (Genesis 17:1) Furthermore, according to James (2:23) Abraham "was called the Friend of God."

      4. Do you remember the rascal son of Isaac, Jacob? After cheating his brother, he runs for his life. Camping out at night, he has this vision of a ladder with angels coming to minister to him. But it's not just angels, God Himself speaks to Jacob from the top of the ladder. (Genesis 28:13) Then late in his life, when Jacob was left his homeland due to the famine, and he moved to Egypt, the Bible says that "God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I." (Genesis 46:2 )

      5. God spoke many times to Moses, most famously from the bush which wouldn't stop burning (Exodus 3:2). But notice the intimacy that existed between Moses and God, "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." (Exodus 33:11)

      6. God also spoke to Joshua: "After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 'Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites.'" (Joshua 1:1,2)

      7. Manoah was the father of Samson. His wife came to him one day to inform him that God had spoken to her through an angel who told her she would conceive and give birth to a son. Then there were instructions about her diet, and this child would be dedicated to the Lord's work. Manoah's response is very interesting, he prayed that God would send the angel back to "teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born". (Judges 13:6-8)

      8. We also have the wonderful story of Samuel, the young son of Hanna who was taken to the temple at age 12 to serve the Lord. It was in the night that Samuel heard the Lord speak to him. At first Samuel thought it was Eli the priest calling him, but after a little coaching, Samuel finally caught on, and gave the answer we all should give, it, "Here am I. Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3:4)

      9. Isaiah used this same response when he had his magnificent vision of the Lord in His temple, "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then said I, 'Here am I; send me.' Isaiah 6:8

      10. David, through the prophet, heard about his terrible double sin of adultery and murder.

      11. In the New Testament God spoke to Peter while he was on the roof waiting for lunch. God said, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:15)

      12. During the awful storm that caused his ship to go down, God spoke to Paul. He gets up in front of the passengers and crew to tells them, "Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, `Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me." (Acts 27:23ff )

    C. Is everyone who says they've heard from God believable? Obviously not. Just think about Joseph Smith; Marshall Applewaite; Jim Jones; David Koresh.

    D. So how does God speak to us today, and how can we know for sure that it is God doing the speaking?

    E. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that God speaks to us through His Son; "In the past God spoke to our forefathers 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 he made the universe." Hebrews 1:1, 2

    The point of Hebrews is that God speaks through the act of the cross. The message is clear, sin results in death, but Jesus "hung in there for us" - He took our place, and rose again to prove He had the ability to bury the sins and leave them there. It was a kind of message through drama.

    F. We also know that the Holy Spirit spoke to His church, as in Rev. 2:7, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The leaders of the NT church understood this also when after making a decision concerning the Gentiles' entry into the church they said, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. . .." (Acts 15:28)

So how does God speak today, what forms of communication does He use?

I. God speaks through other people, it's called "Prophecy"

    A. Balaam was a prophet who was offered a rich reward to pronounce a curse against the Children of Israel. But he understood his role as a prophet of the Lord.

    Balak complains to Balaam, "Did I not send you an urgent summons? Why didn't you come to me? Am I really not able to reward you?" "Well, I have come to you now," Balaam replied. "But can I say just anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth." Numbers 22:37,38 (Remember, this was the same Balaam to whom God spoke through his donkey!)

    B. A lesser known prophet, Micaiah, said, "As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak." (II Chronicles 18:13)

    C. Isaiah said it this way, "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back." (Isaiah 50:4,5)

    D. To Jeremiah God gave instructions to write down the prophecy, "Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book." (Jeremiah 30:2)

    E. Amos 3:7 - "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

    F. These are Old Testament Prophets. Were there prophets in the New Testament Church? Yes. They are listed among the ministry offices along with Apostles, Evangelists and Pastor-Teachers. And we have many examples, and Paul gives guidance to the church at Corinth so that the balance toward the use of prophecy would be improved.

      1. While there are a couple of instances of prophecy being directed toward an individual, most prophecy (as also "tongues" with "interpretation") is for the benefit of the general audience of the church. When this takes place among us, we must always be attentive. This is God speaking to His people, much as He did through the prophets of old.

      2. This is an example of God using fellow members of the Body of Christ to speak for God to other members of the Body of Christ. Remember the analogy Paul uses of the Body? If some are "ears", then some must be "mouths".

      3. When we consider this subject, God speaking to us, it's very easy to succumb to the arrogance of saying, "If God wants to speak to me, He can do it directly. I don't want Him going through anyone else."

        a. The problem is, left to ourselves, this easily becomes a matter of self centered subjectivity. Too easily we will "hear what we want to hear" or interpret what we hear according to our own self interests. So God gives us other members in the Body of Christ to provide a check, a confirmation point for us. This comes through such means as preaching, teaching, counsel, prophetic messages, or at times tongues with interpretation.

        b. People in Old Testament times understood this. Listen to what they said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." (Exodus 20:19)

      4. But this is not to be relegated to the Old Testament. Both Paul and Peter understood their role to include the responsibility of speaking for God.

        a. Paul wrote, "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." (I Corinthians 2:7) "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." (II Corinthians 2:17)

        b. And from Peter we have these words, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (I Peter 4:11)

II. There are other ways God may speak to us.

    A. Perhaps while in prayer there comes an awareness that God is speaking, if only we can take the time to listen.

    B. Or perhaps through the circumstances of our lives: "I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice." (Jeremiah 22:21)

    C. And also through Dreams, Visions, and Angels (to the seven churches) (Luke 1:19). And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

III. But with all of this, of greatest importance to us today is God speaking to us through the Scripture, the Bible.

    A. Listen to what Peter wrote, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (II Peter 1:20,21

    B. And in Paul's instructions to Timothy he wrote, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3:16,17)

    C. While there may be times when God will speak to us using a variety of means. (He may even use a donkey!) But for the most part, God will speak to us through His Word, the Bible.

    However, this too is not exempt from possible misuse and subjectivity; most of us know this saying is true, "you can get the Bible to say anything you want it to." It is for this reason the Lord has provided teachers in the church. Theirs is the responsibility to help us understand the meaning.

      1. The beginning of this teaching ministry goes all the way back to Nehemiah's day: "They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. (Nehemiah 8:8)

      2. We should not go to the extreme represented during certain parts of the church's history when the people were not allowed to read the Bible for themselves. But neither should we accept the opposite fallacy of believing that everyone is able to correctly interpret the Scripture equally well.

      3. It was specifically to Pastor Timothy that Paul wrote, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (II Timothy 2:15)

Conclusion:

    Throughout the Bible, the people of God are viewed as sheep needing to be fed, and sheep needing to be led.

    Psalms 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

    John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

    John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

    As never before, we need to be His Sheep, listening for His voice.

    Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

  • - - Return to Top of this Page
  • - Email a Link to this Page
  • - Go To Next Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
  • - Back To Sermons Page or to the Sermons Alphabetical List
  • - - Download This Sermon 
    This Page's Title Is:

                       
    Your Name Is:

                       
    Your Email Address Is:

                        
    Your State and Country:

    Please identify your vocation:

         Senior Pastor.     Associate Pastor.
            Youth Pastor.    Lay Minister.
                  Church Member.

    Which section of this site would you most likely return to?

         Sermons     Articles     Stories   
             Poems     Hymns    Articles for Leaders
               Marriage Articles         A Bit of Humor

    Would you like to receive the free weekly E-mail Circular?

      YES

    If you have a web page, would you like to establish a reciprocal link?

      YES

    Feel free to add a comment or prayer request: