"Speak, for Your Servant is Listening", Part 2

good morning everybody i want to continue with our subject and that is simply listening to god learning to listen to god and with that i want to direct your attention to first samuel chapter 3 we want to read the passage where i want to jump off from the boy samuel ministered before the lord under eli for in those days the word of the lord was rare there were not many visions one night eli whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see was lying down in his usual place the lamp of god had not yet gone out and samuel was lying down in the temple of the lord where the ark of god was then the lord called samuel samuel answered here i am and he ran to eli and said here i am you called me but eli said i did not call go back and lie down so he went and lay down again the lord called samuel and sam who got up and went to eli and said here i am you called me my son eli said i did not call go back and lie down. now samuel did not yet know the lord the word of the lord had not yet been revealed to him the lord called the samuel a third time and samuel got up and went to eli and said here i am you called me then eli realized that the lord was calling the boy so eli told samuel go and lie down and if he calls you say speak lord for your servant is listening so samuel went and lay down in his place the lord came and stood there calling as if the other times samuel samuel then samuel said speak for your servant is listening church that's the word of the lord amen speak for your servant is listening not listen for your servant is speaking many of us i think it's fair to say have had or maybe at least heard testimonies about the unexpected ways in which god might speak true yeah i want to share a little quick testimony with you a man shared with me that he and his wife and their four-year-old daughter had been spending the afternoon raking his mother-in-law's huge lawn when the wife cried out she lost her wedding ring huge lawn and after searching through the entire lawn area the husband said he looked at 12 bags large plastic bags full of lawn clippings and debris and so forth and the bags all would have to be opened emptied individually examined and yet then even then they may not find the ring he said he said this young daughter suggested that they ask god where to start what a novel idea let's pray he said iana he he just was honest he said he was he was doubtful but if the holy spirit could on the outside chance to be speaking through her let's do it so they all sat down on the grass and they prayed they asked god to show them where to look for the ring they remained quiet for a few moments then suddenly the little girl cried out god told me she pointed to one of the garbage bags she just opened that one daddy he went over turned the bag on its side opened it up and the ring fell out he he reflecting back he said on that day my little girl showed me that she had ears to hear she heard god speaking to her and he learned a valuable lesson he said that there are unexpected ways which god might speak if only we would be listening granted having ears to hear may not always be as easy as it was for that little four-year-old girl at times quite frankly god is silent at other times he may be speaking but we could be very easily hindered from hearing and i want to talk to you this morning about what i believe are the most common reasons for spiritual deafness the inability to hear i hope this is helpful to you first of all i want to talk to you about the bearer of the barrier of a closed mind sometimes we just close our minds we close our minds against the possibility of hearing god and that closed-mindedness can take on a number of different forms let me list them for you number one we call this one who me if you go back into the book of judges in judges chapter 6 the account of gideon how many remember gideon when god called gideon gideon reacted in disbelief as he saw it he was an unimportant member of a minor family in the weakest of the clans judges chapter 6 verse 15. in verse 17 of that passage gideon insisted that god give him a sign that it is really you talking to me now gideon doubted not that god would speak but that god would speak to him why would the lord of the universe converse with what he believed was in effect a nobody i'm not that important we too may assume that god finds our lives unworthy of comment or even intervention yes we admit the bible does reveal him speaking but to prophets and kings apostles other important people but would he really have anything personal and specific to say to me would god really speak to me jesus encourages us in luke's gospel chapter 11 he says ask and it will be given to you the point of that passage is to continue to ask in the greek it's in the it's in the present continuous tense so keep asking keep seeking keep knocking and then jesus follows that invitation with the reminder that even if sinful human fathers care about their children how much more will their father in heaven do so also this is the same father by whom the very hairs of our head are all numbered even the hairs that remain for some of us this father cares about the details of our life he cares about the details of our life can you imagine that the things that matter to us matter to him he cares enough to speak to us about them now let's not allow doubt to deafen us to god's voice no matter how small how small we may be in our own eyes we can have faith that if we seek to hear from him he will speak the writer to hebrews reminds us he rewards those who earnestly seek him there's a second form of a closed mind what's the first form why who me who me here's the second form that's just thunder another reason we sometimes miss god's communication with us because it doesn't come in a way that we expect think of the people standing around jesus on the day god spoke from heaven jesus understood clearly what his heavenly father said but john records in his gospel the crowd that was there heard it and said it had simply thundered apparently their expectations but how god might speak did not include an audible voice from heaven so when the word of the lord came to them all they heard was thunder all they heard was noise on the other hand we may expect such spectacular forms of revelation from god that we miss his message when he speaks subtly elijah when god spoke to elijah he didn't speak in the wind the earthquake of the fire first kings chapter 19 no god spoke to elijah you know what a whisper what if elijah was expecting god to speak only through some spectacular sensational means had ignored the whisper open minds stay alert to both the ordinary and the extraordinary the surprising ways in which god may choose to speak you just have to stay open how many how many know recognize his name augustine one of the early church fathers he writes in his autobiography that when he was young he found himself weeping alone in a garden plagued by the knowledge that his life was not consecrated to god and he could not consecrate himself it would take an act of god to transform him so that he could be consecrated how many understand that so he begged god for help to break decisively from his sinful past and if you read his autobiography he was very very sinful and suddenly no sooner he prayed he says he heard a child nearby singing take up and read take up and read what a coincidence was it simply part of a child's game augustine wasn't sure he says but he was alert to the possibility that the lord could be speaking to him through that child so he found a copy of the bible he opened it and he read the very first words he saw he happened to open it to romans chapter 13 verses 13 to 14. he read these words let us behave decently not in orgies and drunkenness not in sexual immorality and debauchery all which categorized and characterized his life up to that point rather clothe yourselves with the lord jesus christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful natures the text he said struck him like a thunderbolt and of that moment augustine later said to god you converted me to yourself here's the third form of a closed mind it might get weird this is another consideration that may cause us to close our minds of god's voice how many how many religious kooks and how many cults have begun with someone saying god told me how many unbalanced people have engaged in strange even criminal behavior that they thought was inspired by god how many otherwise normal people for that matter have made poor decisions because they thought they were acting under god's private and specific instructions i was convinced god told me now understandably we don't want to make the same mistake so to ascribe to the lord our our own silly notions or defame his reputation by claiming he told us something that proves not true caution at that point is admirable isn't it i'm always cautious and tempted to say well god told me they just don't let those words always come out of my mouth unless i can go here but listening to god is not an all-or-nothing proposition it's possible even come commonly for christians sometimes to hear accurately from god and to be mistaken at other times we're not perfect in terms of our understanding of these things but learning to listen with discernment learning to listen with discernment say that with me learning to listen with discernment this is the form of spiritual growth and to help us in this process god has provided ways of correcting us it's like it's like we have to correct have a correct course we're going on he has a way of correcting what we say we heard from him are you with me and sometimes we do discover by other means that what we think we heard is true the example of the lord speaking to that young daughter that we just heard about about her mother's ring immediately verified when what they found the ring if we believe that god has spoken just about a matter of doctrine or a matter of morals we can compare what we believe we've heard with the scriptures we always go to the bible just to confirm what i believe i've heard with respect to a doctrinal issue or a moral issue the back of your bible you should have what's called a concordance that's simply a listing of words in the bible and the where and where those words are found in various passages you can do your own personal bible study and if you're if there's something in your mind that you're thinking about a word or a thought or concept you go look it up and you find all the verses where that's listed and then you do your own personal bible study but read those verses in the context in which they are given it'll give you a greater sense of understanding if in fact what you heard from the lord is true or not am i making sense now if what you think you've heard is involving some kind of personal decision you can seek the counsel of older wiser more mature believers don't lean on your own understanding all the time but if you if you're making some kind of personal decision and it can be a memento this momentous decision you want to go talk to other people that have either made that decision or the process of making a decision have some experience and have certainly some spiritual wisdom to bring to bear before you make that decision god provides those things and maybe if god's called you to uh to some kind of ministry some kind of ministry action that would require in fact god's provision the verification of that call would be the fact that god does what bring his provision so you have some sense of confirmation so we've seen how a closed mind can be a bearer to uh the sound of god's voice the same is true of a closed heart so what are some of the signs that a heart attitude might be hindering us from hearing god well here's the first one we might die we might die in contrast to gideon who doubted that god would speak to him the israelites gather around mount sinai you read about in exodus chapter 20 they were convinced that the lord did have something to say but they were terrified by the prospect that he would speak to them as god spoke from the mountain the people trembled and pleaded with moses speak to us yourself when we will listen but do not have god speak to us or we will die sometimes we too shed out the voice of god because we fear what he might say to us we may not worry as the israelites did that his words would kill us but we might wince at the possibility that he could make uncomfortable demands what if god were to command us to change our ways what if he were to call us to some great sacrifice i spoke with a man this week whose wife is undergoing um cancer treatment and uh they don't have the insurance to cover it so it's quite expensive and so a number of people who know them have gathered around and taken up and made a collection and helping to support them still not enough money and so he he said lord how how are we going to pay for this sell your motorcycle beautiful big harley motorcycle yes lord he may call us to make a sacrifice and that's precisely what he often does our lives are to be what living sacrifices deny yourself pick up your what cross to follow him you read the the word the lord gives to the believers in the seven churches of revelation the beginning chapters of the book of revelation he praised their virtues he praised their good works but then he rebuked them for their sins and warned them that the sufferings ahead would require great sacrifices then he punctuated each of those messages with the same command you read those those those letters to those churches then you read this he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches nevertheless he always concluded with words of hope and a promise of salvation he says to those who overcome in other words persevere don't quit don't give up if fear is deafening us to god's voice we should bear in mind that the rewards of heeding him are priceless and eternal no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind is conceived of that which god has prepared for those who love him no matter what god calls us to we can take courage the apostle paul reminds us for our light and momentary troubles our achieving force and eternal glory that far outweighs them all nothing can compare i promise you when we get there we're going to say it was worth it it was more than worth it and we should be saying that now here's a second way in which we close off our hearts to god's voice i'm going to call this we've got horses we've got horses we sometimes have trouble hearing him because of pride pride one form of pride leads us to assume that we have things under control and have no need for conversation with him i got this i got this this is a piece of cake the old testament prophets often warned against that mentality zephaniah for example rebukes those who quote neither seek the lord nor inquire of him should we be seeking him yeah he tells us to should we inquire of him absolutely god has a cure-all by the way he is a cure-all for misplaced confidence in ourselves he allows difficult circumstances to overwhelm us and to remind us how desperately we need him and his guidance trust in him with all your heart acknowledgement all your ways don't lean on your own understanding he'll make your path straight in isaiah's time judah was threatened by the assyrians and the leaders of judah should have been asking god for his protection and his direction however instead they made an alliance with egypt what did god think of that arrangement in isaiah chapter 30 we read it quote woe to the obstinate children to those who carry out plans that are not mine forming an alliance but not by my spirit again this whole concept don't lean on your own understanding seek him through isaiah the lord called his people to trust in his protection but they responded no if trouble comes we've got horses for a getaway listen to how god responds to that one so be it god replies you'll take to your horses and your enemies will pursue and overtake you in other words your horses are not going to be sufficient even so you have to appreciate this god's mercy is great he says how gracious he will be when you cry for help when you realize you've missed it when you find yourself in trouble and you cry out to him isaiah reminded these prideful people as soon as he hears he will answer you and how will god show his compassion once we've abandoned our self-sufficiency by speaking to us in verse 21 of that passage whether you turn to the right or to the left he promises your ears hear a voice behind you saying this is the way walk in it i'm off doing my own thing i realize i'm in trouble and i cry out god i'm sorry i trusted myself help he'll talk to me and he'll put me on the right path is he great absolutely here's a third form where we close off our heart to hearing from god i'm not listening to a donkey pride can also lead us to presumptuousness about the kind of messenger god will choose to use some of us you know we say i don't like that messenger i don't like that messenger god's chosen that messenger you just need to listen regardless of the messenger we can close our hearts and ears to god's voice if we consider his messenger not fit or unpalatable to us or not to our liking john's gospel chapter nine do you remember the the blind beggar that jesus healed remember that guy and jesus healed them and when the pharisees examined them he tried to tell them that jesus was a prophet sent from god whom they should listen to but they already concluded that jesus was quite simply just a troublemaker and so they rejected not only the message but they rejected the messenger the healed blind man and they said it they told him he said you were steeped in sin at birth now the thinking was in those days if you were born with some malady i.e like his blindness then you're blind because you sinned or your parents sinned while you were in the womb so that's why you're blind of course that's silly so but anyway they they they said that to him these you were steeped to sin at birth they told him you dare lecture us they despise the messenger who knows how many times the word of the lord has come to us through people we might never have chosen for the role a child makes a profound statement of spiritual wisdom beyond his or her years an adversary an enemy rebukes us maybe with an uncomfortable truth a stranger a stranger makes a passing remark that opens the door for god's direction for us god spoke through balaam's donkey do you remember in numbers chapter 22 if he could speak through a donkey he can speak through anyone whenever it becomes clear that we've dismissed a message from god because we found the messenger not to our liking we should stop right there humble ourselves confess to god that we're being a little prideful and we should go ahead and repent of that and we should go to that messenger and thank them for speaking or being the vessel that god chose to speak to us through that act of humility can help prevent future presumptuousness on our part another way to swallow our pride is to habitually and humbly seek good counsel from trusted christians just if you've got to make a decision if you've got you think you've heard from god go talk to somebody about it that you trust and who's demonstrated wisdom here's the fourth way we close off our hearts hearing god's voice you're not the god of me this is really a dangerous one you're not the god of me sometimes we miss his voice because our hearts are rebellious we turn our backs on god preferring to do things our own way our ears grow deaf to his voice this is not necessarily a new phenomenon when god again instructed the nation of judah how to live righteously zechariah says this they turned their backs and stopped up their ears they made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the lord almighty had sent by his spirit whoa what an indictment and the result the lord almighty was very angry a hardened heart is at enmity with god and in the end those who oppose him will suffer calamity if you choose to harden your heart and go your own way you're not going god's way you're going to pay a price for it it just that's just the way it is listen this is jeremiah speaking listen says the lord to rebels i'm going to bring a disaster and that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle wow i believe one way or another we'll all end up listening to one way or another you do this the easy way or the hard way and we would choose the easy way yes this is why this message may be so helpful to you and we can avoid any kind of catastrophe like that if we turn to him seek his forgiveness recognize his sovereignty he has given us a new heart if you're not a believer if you're not born again god could god will give you a brand new heart a heart with an automatic bent towards him he will change you he'll make you a new person a new creation i'm forever hearing people say well i was born this way i was born this way well then you need to be born again you need to be born again don't take pride in the fact that you were born that way because you're lost you need to be born again to give you a new heart so that you can say with the prophet isaiah the sovereign lord has opened my ears and i have not been rebellious i have not drawn back we can only say that if we're if we're one of his and we're going with them i find it helpful by the way when i sense my own heart closing in any way anyway the ways i've just talked about i find it helpful to reflect on god's sovereign goodness in my own limitations to overcome fear of god's correction i remember this hebrews chapter 12. our father's discipline is for a little while as they thought best but god disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who've been trained by it i don't know about you i fear god i mean i have a healthy fear of god and i don't necessarily want to be taken to the divine woodshed and disciplined not punished it's discipline discipline always has this eye to the future it's training as he says look with me at lamentations this is a marvelous passage lamentations chapter three this is jeremiah yet this i call to mind and therefore i have what hope because of the lord's great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail they are new every morning great is your faithfulness i say to myself the lord is my portion therefore i will wait for him don't you love that you can trust him you can trust him when i need to recover my sense of dependency on god i'll remember things like this first corinthians chapter 4 verse 7. paul says what have you that you did not receive if then you received it why do you boast as if it were not a gift everything we have is a gift my very next breath is a gift my relative degree of health is a gift the fact that i can stand here instead of a voice is a gift the fact that we have each other is a gift james james acknowledges this also every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights wow a gift that's humbling isn't it if i'm struggling with submission to his sovereignty i remember his words to job god says to job where were you when i laid the earth's foundation tell me if you understand who marked offensive dimensions surely you know who stretched a measuring line across it you just have to go okay have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth tell me if you know all this i don't in exodus chapter 15 god has just delivered israel from the clutches of egypt moses and all the israelites have looked back they've just crossed through the red sea and they've watched the red sea close over the entire egyptian army by the way when you look through secular history you see egypt falls right there from world domination they disappear why because their army is destroyed so right after this moses in exodus chapter 15 sings a song it's called moses song to glorify god for what has happened i want to call your attention to two simple verses verses 11-13 who among the gods is like you oh lord who is like you majestic and holiness awesome in glory working wonders what have he just seen notwithstanding all the miracles that he did but now the destruction of the whole egyptian army then he says this i love this you have to love this in your unfailing love in here in your what unfailing love you will lead the people you have what redeemed he's talking about us not just israel in your unfamiliar you will lead the people you redeem in your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling god is going to get us there he's going to get us there we're not doing it on our own are you with me after reflecting on these passages they remind me of the nature of my god of our god and after reflecting on them i find my heart opening more willingly to his will and my ears opening to his voice how can you not read those verses and go okay okay are you with me now the barrier of a closed mind and heart we've talked about now i want to talk about the barrier of a closed lifestyle lots can keep us from hearing his voice they're more particular a lifestyle sometimes the obstacle is a practical matter that leads to in needs a practical solution here's the first one i can't seem to fit you in the most obvious lifestyle culprit is busyness now i know none of you have that problem in matthew chapter 22 jesus tells us parable and i think sometimes we're like the people that this king invited to the wedding feast and matthew records the people paid no attention they went off one to his field another to his business they never ever enjoyed the king's company or heard what he had to say because they never showed up for the conversation they gave priority to other matters other matters that seemed seemed more urgent when we look at the occasions recorded in the bible when people actually did hear god speak we see a pattern most often they had withdrawn from their routines they'd withdrawn from the pressing matters of the day you just have to step back stuff screams for our attention doesn't it we most often succumb to the proverbial tyranny of the urgence example elijah went up the mountain alone to hear the divine whisper moses went up to sinai to receive the ten suggestions when jesus needed to hear from his father about which men to choose as who would be the the future apostles luke tells us he went alone to the mountain to spend the night in prayer peter peter in acts chapter 10 was on a roof praying when he heard a voice from heaven while the prophets and the teachers at antioch in acts chapter 13 were worshiping the lord and fasting they heard the holy spirit speak john on the isle of patmos in exile revelation chapter 1 verse 10 was quote unquote in the spirit presumably at worship when he heard the voice of the lord you see the pattern people got away they got away and they heard from god certain spiritual disciplines can in fact turn our ears in god's direction if you regularly make time for prayer and fasting worship meditation in doing so you you open up a space where his voice can be heard you have to be deliberate and set that time apart i'm forever encouraging people who are struggling and they just go you know i never hear from god i said because you don't make time to hear from god do you have a prayer closet what's that it's a space that you go to and you can exclude all distractions you leave your hand device outside or turn it off and you just go and you sit i mean i go i sit at my desk i close the door i put my phone on do not disturb and i just sit and i just i just say i'm here i'm here if you want to talk to me i'm here i'm listening i confess sometimes i actually fall asleep but he can still speak to me through a dream can he yes yes yes heavenly peace but i've got so much to say i've got so much to say even when we take time to withdraw to focus on the lord we may need to practice that fine art of silence as opposed to filling up those quiet spaces with our chatter well-intentioned as it may be you may be of the mind that well i i i go away and i i i pray for an hour and then when you're done you walk away okay i prayed for my hour i did an hour with god was all you talking or did you stop talking and just say i want to hear from you i want to hear from you he already knows everything you're going to say it's not like he's going no kidding that happened to you imagine that it's not like you have to alert god's stuff he already knows everything he's already he already has a plan to factor those things into what he's doing in your life i would think we would just want to hear how he's going to do it remember when matthew's gospel chapter 17 jesus takes peter and and james and john with him up the mount of what we call the mount of transfiguration remember that and jesus had something to reveal to them his glory so they go up on the mountain who does all the talking peter peter they'd sooner no sooner together peter starts talking and he's monopolizing the whole time god the father finally had to interrupt peter telling him to be quiet and open his ears matthew chapter 17 verse 5. well peter was still speaking i think this is interesting that matthew would record that matthew and peter were kind of took a while for them to get together matthew says well peter was still speaking a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice in the cloud said this is my son listen to him we may withdraw to be with the lord but we may spend all of our time talking the conversation goes only one way because god can't seem to get a word in edgewise we need to make sure that our regular quiet time really does include some quiet and that can be frustrating because you may think you're not making any progress and and you need to tell god all the stuff just just relax take a deep breath he already knows he wants you to hear from him give him a chance to speak should he desire to god is not mute he wants to speak to us we must never ever then mistake our deafness for his reticence he's pleased to reveal himself to us jesus says it gives your father great pleasure to give you the kingdom whoa he wants to tell us what to do with it he wants to invite us into this eternal conversation that he has within the context of the trinity with the son and the holy spirit what a privilege to be invited in to gain insight and understanding into the very mind and thoughts of god notwithstanding he reveals himself in his word but personally he wants to speak to us young samuel i submit to you young samuel should be our model after he was instructed to listen for god he lay quietly on his bed he laid quietly and he waited in the stillness of the night without doubt without fear without pride without presumption and when we are as eager to know and obey the lord as samuel was then we remove the barriers that keep us from hearing god call our names and then we can answer expectantly as samuel did speak for your servant is listening amen shall we pray has this been helpful lord thank you again thank you again that you do speak and you want to speak to us lord you've already spoken through your word but we know that you do want to speak to us personally about things in our own lives you want to assure us and comfort us grant us wisdom and understanding of what your will is in any and every occasion thank you for teaching us through that young boy samuel as a model lord that we can say speak for your servant is listening rather than lord listen for your servant is speaking we love you this morning and as we prepare to come to the table we ask you lord to reveal to us any any hurtful ways in our life that we can confess them to you repent of them and come to your table with clean hands we love you we thank you we pray in the precious name of your son jesus amen you

Channel: Hope Chapel Hermosa Beach

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Length: 50min 41sec (3041 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021