Sermon Title: Listening to God
Scripture: John 10:2-6, 14, 27
This idea of prayer as listening to God is not original to Jesus; it’s a central theme running all the way through the Bible.
The Shema:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
The Great Commission:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Until we come to trust that what God wants for us is only our deepest happiness, we will not even desire to hear God’s voice, much less obey it.
How do we hear God’s voice?
- Jesus
- Scripture:
- “Holy Scripture is not an arid story or ancient chronicle but the ever-living, eternally youthful Word, which God, now and always, issues to His people. It is the eternally ongoing speech of God to us.” (Herman Bavinck)
- Lectio divina is a Latin phrase meaning “spiritual reading.”
- Circumstances
- “God comes to us disguised as our life.” (Paula D’Arcy)
- Desires
- “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
- Prophecy, Dreams and Visions
- “…the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation…. the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues… so that the church may be built up. (1 Corinthians 14:3-5)
We need discernment. Without discernment, we could get wildly off base, or worse: open our mind to lies from the world, the flesh, and the devil himself as warned of in 1 John 2:16.
Additional Notes:
John 10:2-6, 14, 27
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Vs.14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own knows me.”
Vs.27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”