Throughout
the Gospels, Jesus frequently spoke about the disciples learned ability to hear
the voice of God.
In
John 10, Jesus said: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me.” (10:27, NIV)
In
Matthew 11, Jesus said: “He who has ears, let him hear.” (11:15, NIV)
In
Revelation 3 Jesus said: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
(Rev. 3:20, NIV)
It’s
almost as if Jesus was saying: “Can you hear me now”?
This
is the 5th shift that we must consider as we grow into the image of
Jesus Christ; this is a shift from Ask to Listen.
PRAY- Please
help us to hear what You have to say, Lord.
Let’s
start at the beginning of Mark’s gospel and notice the emphasis Jesus placed on
listening.
Jesus
begins the parable of the sower, in Mark 4, in a peculiar way: “Listen! A farmer
went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the
seed fell on a footpath…” (Mark 4:3-4a, NLT2)
After
describing the four kinds of soil, Jesus added: “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and
understand.” (Mark 4:9, NLT2)
Later,
when the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him what the parable meant, He
explained that each soil represented the way people respond to the gospel.
The
first group of people heard the word, but Satan came at once and took the word
away from them.
The
second group of people heard the Word, but because they didn’t cultivate their
walk with Jesus, they fell away when they were persecuted for their faith, or
when other problems arose.
The
third group of people also heard the message, but their desire for other things
in life prevented God’s Word from taking root in their lives;
And
the 4th group of people were the ones who heard and received God’s Word.
After
Jesus explained this parable with an illustration of letting our Light Shine,
He said: “If
anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark
4:23, NIV)
Three
times in a matter of moments, Jesus reminded His hearers to stop and listen.
A
few chapters later, we join the disciples as they were walking with Jesus on
the road to Jerusalem.
Just
after Jesus had told Peter that he was minded more like man and not like God, “Jesus took Peter,
James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.
As the men watched,
Jesus’ appearance was transformed, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, far
whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them.
4 Then Elijah and
Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus.
5 Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, it’s
wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for
you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6 He said this
because he didn’t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and
a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”
8 Suddenly, when
they looked around, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus with
them.” (Mark 9:1b-8, NLT2)
As Peter and
company are on the mountain with Jesus, they watch in amazement as Jesus’
clothing was changed and His face shone like the sun.
All of a sudden,
Moses and Elijah—both heroes of the Old Testament—appeared out of thin air and
start talking with Jesus.
After Peter
foolishly opens his mouth, a cloud forms over the mountain and falls on the
disciples and their heroes.
What comes from
the cloud is incredible. The Voice of God said: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to
him!" (Mark 9:7b, NIV)
I think the
implication is clear: We
are not to listen to Moses, nor are we to listen to Elijah; both great men of
God; we are to listen to God`s Son, Jesus Christ.
Oddly enough,
the disciples had been following Jesus for 2 years, doing everything He had
asked of them, but they still had to be told to listen to Jesus.
If you are, or
profess to be a follower of Jesus, this is your responsibility as well. You are
to listen to Jesus.
There is only
one problem with that statement: We don’t like to listen!!
ILLUSTRATION- On Tuesday, I placed a call
to a certain company, and after I
waited out the mandatory 15 minute waiting
period, I got to speak with a service representative.
After
telling him my name, and where I was from; I explained my issue.
As
I waited for his reply, you could almost hear that he was thinking of something
to say, because when he started to speak, he started out with an apology.
He
told me that he only heard half of what I had said, because he was busy doing
something else!!!!
I
felt like hanging up the phone! The only problem was that I would have to wait
another 15 minutes to speak to someone different, and I didn’t want to wait any
longer.
When
he finally stopped to listen, he was able to assist me, but he first had to
stop and listen.
Listening
is not something that we are good at doing! We are excellent at talking, but we
are not so good at listening.
ILLUSTRATION- My wife and I know of a
certain individual who will bombard us with question after question, but never
stopping long enough to hear the answer to the question.
We
know this to be true, because they ask the exact same question 15 minutes after
they first asked it!
We
have no problem asking! We ask Google, we ask Wikipedia, we ask Reference books.
Asking is not the problem, listening is the problem.
I
think we can be guilty of approaching our Bible reading the same way.
We have a habit
of selecting only the parts of the Bible that deal with our questions, and we
consider the other parts of the Bible—the ones that we will have to stop and
listen to—as irrelevant.
We
don’t clue into the fact that God might have an interest apart from our
interests, and that He might want to speak to us from another part of the
Bible.
We
have mastered the art of asking. We will ask preachers, authors, friends and
therapists, “what
does God want me to do?” but do we really stop and listen as to what
God wants us to do?
Think
about it, when we’re asking everyone what we’re to be doing, our minds are
active and busy, but when we stop and listen, our minds are open to hear what
God has to say.
When
we are asking, we want to know something, so our interests are confined to the
things we want to know, but when we stop and listen, we want to hear what God
has to say.
When
we ask, the relationship with God is peripheral; we value it only so far as it
helps us to know God’s will.
But when we
listen, our relationship with God is the reason we are talking to Himà
we don’t want to do all the talking; we’ll want to stop and listen to what He
has to say.
So
the question of the day is: How do we make the shift from ask to listen?
How can we move from simply asking
God to listening to God?
I
want to give you some practical things that you can do this week to help you
listen to God.
#1 Get alone.
If
you want to hear God speak to your soul, you will have to unplug and get alone
with God.
You
will have to turn of the television, you’ll have to turn off your phone, and
leave your iPad at home. If you want to hear the voice of God, you will turn down
the world’s volume.
1
Kings 19 is a fantastic reminder of this truth. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah had just
demonstrated how powerful God really was, but in chapter 19 he realized that
there was a bounty on his head; so he runs away.
When
he finally stopped running, he collapsed under a tree and hoped to die.
After
an angel of the Lord fead Elijah, he travels to Mt. Horeb, the Mountain of God,
and walks in the mountain and takes a nap.
When
the Lord appeared to Elijah, Elijah tells God that he’s had enough and wants to
die.
God
then tells Elijah: “…to stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for
the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and
powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD,
but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but
the LORD was not in the earthquake.
12 After the
earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire
came a gentle whisper.
13 When Elijah
heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth
of the cave….” (1 Kings 19:11b-13a, NIV)
If we’re going to make a shift
from Asking to Listening, we’re going to have to listen for the Gentle Whisper
of God’s Holy Spirit.
This only comes
to us as we, #2 Meditate
on the Word of God
If we want to
know what God wants us to do; we’ve got to spend some time in the Word of God.
Rick Warren is
quoted as saying: “Stop listening for a voice, and start looking for a
verse. He’s already spoken” (@rickwarren October 8,2012)
God will not reveal His plan for
your life in a science book, or even the Sears Wish book. God will reveal His
will for your life as you mediate on His Word.
The Psalmist
said: “Oh, the
joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with
sinners, or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight
in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like
trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never
wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm
1:1-3, NLT2)
If you want to
hear God, you’ve got to spend some time in His Book.
After you have
done your best to get alone with God; after you have spent some time in His
Word, you can ask a Godly person for advice on what you have heard, but this should only be done after you
have spent time listening to God.
Often times, God
will confirm or deny His plans through a godly person, but we can only approach
them, after we’ve spent time on our knees in the presence of the Father.
“Our problem is
not that we seek the counsel of wise friends, follow good leaders or trust
informed voices. It is more that we seek only these things and never learn how
to hear the voice of God within” (93 of SS)
Friends: it takes
practice to hear the still small voice of God, but once you dial into His
voice, you will move from ask to listen.
I want to
challenge you this week to implement these simple steps. Find some time to be
alone with God.
Find some time
to get into the Bible reflecting on what God has said, and seek out a Godly
mentor who can speak into your life.
When God said: “This is my Son,
whom I love. Listen to him!" (Mark
9:7b, NIV) He was being serious.
If we are going
to be minded like God, we must listen to His Son.
As the Dean’s
come back for one final song, I would like to ask you to spend a moment or two
reflecting on what you’ve just heard.
If you spend
more time asking than you do listening, this shift is for you.
If you spend
more time asking other people what you should do, instead of listening to God,
this shift is for you.
If you want God
to speak into your soul, you must move from ask to listen.
God is always
speaking, the only question is “Can you hear Him now?”
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