God is personal and speaking

So 2 Timothy 3, verse 1 to 4, verse 5.

2 Timothy 3:1–4

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, for people

will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,

ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,

not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than

lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.

Avoid such people, for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women,

burdened with sin and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to

arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

But just as Janus and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth, men corrupted

in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those

two men.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience,

my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch,

at Iconium and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured.

Yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil

people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learnt and have firmly believed, knowing from whom

you learnt it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which

are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and

for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and

the dead, and by his appearance and his kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season.

Reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears,

they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away

from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

As for you, always be sober-minded.

Endure suffering.

Do the work of an evangelist.

Fulfill your ministry.

Well, good morning, everyone.

For those who are visiting, I'm one of the pastors here.

My name's David.

David the Older.

David the Ordinary.

Yeah.

So, you and I live in a huge world.

It's a fragile world.

And I think, oftentimes, it's just a scary world.

We live in this huge, fragile, scary world alongside almost 8 billion other people.

And our world is dwarfed.

Our planet Earth that we live on here is dwarfed in our solar system, which in turn is dwarfed

in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which in turn is immeasurably dwarfed by the universe.

We are so small in our universe.

And that begs the question that is in everybody's mind at some point in their life is, yes, we're

small, but are we insignificant?

That huge question of meaning and purpose explains in part why every one of us has what I'm calling

this morning a voice in our head, a life voice.

Words that are speaking into us all the time.

A life script, perhaps you might call it.

It's something that comes from outside ourselves and which we need to give ourselves some perspective

in our smallness, to give ourselves a sense of meaning and purpose in this giant, humongous universe.

We need that voice because it needs to be bigger than ourselves.

Now, every person has it and every person listens to it.

Not every person is aware they're listening to it, but every person listens to it.

That voice actually defines and shapes how they think about themselves, how they think about

our world and how they live in the world on a daily basis.

It gives perspective to daily life.

Now, for young children, I think that voice might well be just the voice of parents.

That seems to be the size of their universe as young children.

For teenagers, the universe gets a bit bigger, but not necessarily wiser.

So that voice might just be the voice of peers.

Dare I say the blind leading the blind.

Social media.

I don't know how you describe that.

For adult Australians, the predominant voice is science.

Science says, well, yes, I'm a very, very insignificant little cog in a very, very big mechanistic world,

a big machine.

It's impersonal.

And it exists only by chance, by randomness.

That doesn't really help with significance, does it?

The problem is with that, is that people can't live as an insignificant part of a huge machine.

People, by nature, crave relationship.

We actually crave a beating heart at the center of our universe.

We crave something and long for something and almost need something that's bigger than ourselves, bigger than what we can see.

A being, whatever we call it, some form of God.

People call it all sorts of different things.

But there's a common longing for something bigger than ourselves, something or someone who will understand our universe and, in a sense, understand our part in that universe.

And thereby, find significance for ourselves in that universe.

And so, given that people can't live, really, with the voice of science, it's constantly in competition with the voice of religion, the voice of spirituality.

And there's literally hundreds of thousands of different forms of that in our world.

But it's so common.

People want and need some form of God.

Some one or some being who's there in the background.

Someone who knows our world.

Someone, in a sense, who sees us.

Well, friends, what people long for, I want to tell you this morning, is at the heart of biblical Christianity.

The key of Christianity is, at the heart of our universe, is a beating heart.

Is a personal God.

If we're to know that God and be known by him, he must be personal and speak.

Now, at this point, I just want to stop and make a disclaimer here.

I really wish that Adam's introduction this morning was my sermon introduction.

I said to Alison as he was going through that.

That's what I should have had as an introduction to my sermon.

So, if you can reflect back to Adam's words, it's a much better introduction than mine.

So, it's a really good thing because if we are to know God and be known by him, he must be personal and speak.

Words are how we get to know people.

Unless God took the initiative to tell us what he's like, to tell us what's in his mind, we would never be able to find out.

We might have a vague sense that there's a God out there.

But we wouldn't actually know.

We couldn't live securely with knowledge of that God out there.

What does he want of us?

Does he want anything of us?

Those sorts of things are beyond human discovery.

In a world where science tells us that we can discover everything.

Not so.

Those things are beyond human discovery because God is outside of all human methods of investigation.

And so, in speaking, God reveals things about himself.

He reveals things about us.

He reveals things about our world that otherwise would be hidden and unknowable.

And as Adam said in his introduction, words are relational.

So, as I speak to you over a period of time, you get to understand what I'm like.

You get to see something of my character.

You'll hear something of my aspirations.

I'll express my thoughts.

As Catherine said this morning, without words, very, very little can be known about someone.

We can guess.

We can hope.

But unless we have words, very little may be known with certainty about another person.

In this case, God.

And there's a verse in Isaiah 55.

I'm just going to turn to it now.

You can listen or find it if you're quick at finding these things.

In Isaiah 55, verse 8.

Isaiah 55:8

God tells us this through the words of Isaiah.

God's word through Isaiah's words.

We'll say more about that in a minute.

God says this.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts.

Neither are your ways.

My ways, declared the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.

And my thoughts than your thoughts.

In other words, God's saying there's a great gulf between me and you.

You couldn't span that gulf in your own resources.

For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bear fruit and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread theater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

It shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

God's word bridges the gulf

and makes God knowable to us.

And more importantly for us,

at an experiential level,

makes it possible that we will be known by God.

Now, first point of application.

It's a small point and yet a big point.

At a very, very practical level,

that means that our knowledge of God

is something that we need to see as a gift from God

and value it as such.

We're so familiar with God's word as Christians, aren't we?

That we forget

it is a really, really precious gift

that God should speak to us

and tell us about himself

and tell us about ourselves.

And as we saw in 2 Timothy 3,

tell us about salvation.

God's speaking to us,

God's word,

is a precious gift of grace and mercy

from the Lord.

Okay, next question.

How does God speak?

All right, we're saying God needs to speak

and as he speaks,

then we see his personality.

God is personal as he speaks.

But how does God speak?

Well, you don't need to be rugged science

to work this one out.

We know that effective communication

or relationship requires words.

The best communication requires precise words,

clearly spoken.

In just the same way,

God speaks into his world,

into the lives of his people,

using ordinary words.

He uses ordinary words to reveal himself.

And so God speaks meaningful statements

about himself.

He reveals in those meaningful statements,

sentences,

ordinary functions of language and grammar,

he reveals his character.

He reveals his physical relationship,

his relationship to the physical universe.

He reveals how he wants to relate to ourselves

as his image bearers in the universe,

as we've seen in Genesis 1-3.

In speaking personally and precisely,

God prescribes how we are to think about him.

He says,

this is what I'm like

and this is how you should think about me

and how you should engage with me.

This is what you should believe about me,

says the Lord.

This is how you ought to respond to me

when you hear me speak.

And in turn,

as we hear and get our picture filled out

of what God is like,

then that tells us something

really, really important about ourselves

in relation to God.

How we're to think about ourselves

individually and collectively as humans.

Now we see this in Genesis 3,

Genesis 1-3.

Right through Genesis 1,

God spoke and God said words,

front and center,

powerful words.

God's word spoke our universe

into existence

in all its diversity,

in all its differentiated parts

and its single whole.

God's word.

spoken.

And as he speaks,

and we see that in Genesis 1-2-3,

his words and the actions

that come

hot on the heels of his words,

his words always achieve

what he says,

his words and the resultant actions

reveal perfectly

his character

and his purpose.

and God said,

and it happened,

and God's conclusion,

it was good.

It was exactly

as God said it would be

and deemed it would be.

And in Genesis 1-2-3,

we see what God's words speak of God.

So it speaks,

first of all,

of his existence.

God exists.

He has to exist

to be personal and speaking.

And he existed before

in the beginning.

In the beginning,

Genesis 1,

but before the beginning,

God existed in Trinity.

Father,

Son,

and Spirit.

It tells us,

God's word tells us

about God's creative power.

Tells us about his goodness.

Tells us about his personal glory

reflected in his image bearers.

It tells us about his desire

to relate to his image bearers,

loving and providing for them

in abundance.

It tells us about his holiness

and majesty in Genesis 2,

commanding his image bearers

to live under his rule.

And then in Genesis 3,

calling his image bearers

to account

when they refuse

to live under his rule.

And then in the end

of Genesis 3,

it speaks of his steadfast love

and commitment

to his people

and his world,

even in the midst of

and in the light of

their rejection

and rebellion.

Huge amount we learn

about God's character

and God's purpose

in those first three chapters

of our Bible.

So God speaks

using ordinary words.

And those words

are recorded

and preserved

in what we call the Bible.

So it's very appropriate

to say that the Bible

is God's words

in men's words.

So ask the question,

well, how do we know

what God's words were

in the very beginning

of our world?

Adam and Eve

were the only ones there.

Maybe they didn't even hear

those words

and God said.

So how do we know

what God said?

Answer,

because we have the Bible.

The Bible,

by its own definition,

is the written record

of what God has said

in relation to his world.

God's words.

God's words

and that brings us

to 2 Timothy 3, 16.

Scripture is God-breathed.

The word for breathed there

is the same word

that's used in other places

and in Genesis 1, 1,

for that matter,

for the Holy Spirit.

The point here, I think,

is that just as

the Holy Spirit

was involved

in the physical creation

at the very beginning,

so the Holy Spirit

is fully involved

in creating the Scriptures

or what we call the Bible.

And we're told,

I don't have time

to track through it all.

You can research this

for yourself.

We're told that

the Holy Spirit

oversees supernaturally

a range of ordinary people

writing in the different centuries

at different times

and different circumstances

and he oversees them

supernaturally

to record precisely

what God wants them to write.

And here's the point.

It is so precise

and so accurate

under the Holy Spirit's

superintending

that we can say

with confidence

that when we read

these words,

here in 2023,

here in 2023,

that they are just

as real

and living

and direct

and just as much

God speaking

as if God himself

was standing here

in front of us

this morning.

that's what the scripture

itself says of scripture.

Now that doesn't mean

the writers,

the Bible writers

were mindless robots.

No.

The Holy Spirit

superintended

the normal function

and faculties

of each of those

individual writers

so that not only

do we have

God's word recorded

over generations

but we see a lot

of different

personality types.

We see a range

of styles

but all combining

to be God's

recorded word.

God's words

in man's words.

And the next thing

is then

we need to understand

that that revelation

of God in words

is progressive.

As we move

through the Bible

from Genesis

right through

to the end

we see the progressiveness

as God

excuse me

as God speaks

he unfurls

his plan

of salvation.

Now again

as in any relationship

the longer it lasts

the more deeply

we get to know

the person

we're relating to.

And so it's the same.

God's revelation

of himself

gets richer

and fuller

and clearer

as we track

through what we

call the Bible.

As we trace

his relationship

and see his

salvation plan

unfurl through history.

And again

we see that principle

in Genesis 1-3.

I'll demonstrate it there

and then I'll be

jumping back

to the New Testament

again.

So when you look

at Genesis 1-2

then we see

a lot about

God's character.

but in Genesis 3

we see

aspects of

God's character

that I believe

couldn't possibly

have been known

in the time frame

of Genesis 1-2.

So in

Genesis 1-2

God's a creative God

he's a good God

he's a personal God

but it's not until

we get to Genesis 3

that we see an aspect

of God's character

that would have been

new to Adam and Eve

that is

we see that God

is a God of wrath

a God who takes

himself very

very seriously

and who will act

decisively

with those

who reject him

and refuse to live

under his rule.

And we'll see

in Genesis 3

he's a God of judgment.

There are consequences

for stepping out

from under the authority

of this good

creative God

that we meet

in Genesis 1-2.

and in the end

of Genesis 3

we also see

that this is a God

of grace

and mercy

and compassion.

You see

it's progressive revelation

three chapters in

and we're already

starting to build

a much richer picture

of God's character

and God's purposes.

And progressive revelation

continues throughout

the Old Testament

as God speaks

to his people

in covenant

relationship

with them.

Each book

of the Bible

each generation

each circumstance

each event

we get another

little bit

of the picture

until

the process

is completed

with Jesus.

Why is it

completed with Jesus?

Well

you need to turn

with me to Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

to start putting

that point

down

in concrete terms.

So the writer

of Hebrews

says this

in Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

Long ago

at many times

and in many places

God spoke to

our fathers

by the prophets

but in these

last days

he has spoken

to us

by his son

whom he appointed

the heir

of all things

through whom

also he created

the world.

He is the radiance

of the glory

of God

and the exact

imprint

of his nature

and he upholds

the universe

by his word

and by his word

of his power

and after

making purifications

for sins

he sat down

at the right hand

of the majesty

on high.

Progressive

revelation

we get

an increasingly

clear picture

of God

and his purposes

and salvation

until we get

to Jesus

and when we get

to Jesus

we've got the

final piece

of the puzzle.

The one piece

of the puzzle

in a sense

makes sense

of all the

other pieces

that come

before it.

If you want

to know

what God

says

look at Jesus

he's the exact

imprint.

If you want

to see the

creative power

of God

look at Jesus

he's the radiance

of God's glory.

Do you want

to know

what God

is like?

Look at Jesus

he's been

with Jesus

since before

the creation

of the world.

He's been

with God

since before

the creation

of the world.

He is God

before the creation

of the world.

God has spoken

most plainly

God has spoken

lots

throughout the

Old Testament

but he's spoken

most plainly

and finally

in Jesus.

In other words

God has nothing

more to say

in terms

of his salvation

plan.

is fully

embodied

and fulfilled

in Jesus.

We see the same

thing in John

John 1:1–18

chapter 1

verse 1

to 18

where that

famous passage

of the word

the word

becomes flesh

and again

I don't have time

to read it all

but the highlight

of that introduction

is

that the word

you can't get

any more personal

than that

than saying

the word

actually becomes

flesh.

God's

creative

saving

word

actually

becomes

flesh

in the person

of Jesus

and dwells

among us.

Why?

That we might

have new life.

Now again

just to

pause on the

way through

here

and just

score a point

by way of

something to

think about

application wise.

What that

means I

believe

and I think

we've lost

that in

so many

places in

the Christian

church

what it

means is

that all

religious

experience

all religious

authority

must be

evaluated

against the

words of

Jesus.

If he

is the

complete

the

fulfillment

of God's

word

the final

God's

word

then

whatever

Jesus

says

has to

be the

measure

of what

God's

will

and

purpose

in our

world

is

and in

the

church.

How do

we fit

the New

Testament

into that?

Well

the New

Testament

was written

by divinely

appointed

apostles

who took

the words

of Jesus

and applied

them

under the

supernatural

superintending

of the

Holy Spirit

applied them

in the

building

of the

church

and so

the record

of the

New Testament

is the

record

of the

word

God's

words

through

Jesus

as the

Old

Testament

is the

record

of God's

spoken word

into his

world.

Well

that's how

God speaks.

Why does

God speak?

Well

the first

thing I want

to say

here is

that God

doesn't

need to

speak

really.

Sometimes

we speak

or you

know

sometimes

you have

the person

who speaks

would never

be me

but they

speak because

they're lonely

or because

there's a

space and

they have to

fill it

with words.

God's not

like that.

He's not

lonely.

He's not

filling up

some longing

or deficiency

in himself.

His purpose

in speaking

is very

very purposeful

and that

is to

deliver us

into

unending

pleasure

with him.

In other

words

God

speaks

in order

that we

might be

friends

with him

that we

might be

in relationship

with him.

Again

we've seen

in the past

few weeks

Genesis 1

to 3

that we

learn that

people there

people were

created

people are

made

to know

God.

Our purpose

in life

is to know

God and

enjoy him.

The good

life, the

best life

that we

were created

for is

the life

lived under

God and

with God.

Those are

all themes

from Genesis

1 to 3.

Jesus

reinforces

that truth

and makes

it more

precise in

John 17

that famous

prayer on

the eve of

his crucifixion.

He says

this is

life.

They might

know him

who sent

me and

know me.

In other

words God

speaks.

The reason

I'm here

as the

word living

and dwelling

among you

is that

you might

have true

life,

eternal

life.

that you

might be

in

relationship

with God

forever.

Friends,

why does

God speak?

Well,

ultimately

he speaks

that we

might receive

salvation

and fellowship

with him

forever.

Now,

again,

see the

potential

disconnect

there.

That means,

again,

if God

hadn't

spoken,

there

wouldn't be

salvation,

there

wouldn't be

fellowship.

Flip the

coin again.

That means

we're made

as rational

beings,

and we

are rational

beings,

well,

at least

some of

the time.

We're

supposed to

be rational

beings.

We're able

to think,

we're able

to act

on our

environment,

we're able

to love,

listen,

speak.

Why do

we do

all those

things?

Ultimately,

for us as

people,

we do

all those

things because

they're elements

of creating

relationship and

building

relationship.

They're elements

of affection

and commitment.

And God

has made us

as we are,

his image

bearers,

that we

might be

able to

engage in

meaningful,

reciprocal

relationship

with him.

So,

God doesn't

want to

relate to

us like

a farmer

relates to

a sheep

dog.

Get behind.

No,

he wants

to relate

to us

more like

the picture

of a

husband and

wife,

a father

and son,

or two

besties,

whatever

picture it

is.

It's that

picture of

intimacy,

a picture

of affection,

reciprocal

nature.

So,

God speaks.

And because

God is

committed to

this friendship,

being living

and active,

then it's

not a

surprise that

his word

is described

as living

and dynamic

and active,

as a guide

throughout life.

Again,

the only way

to make

friends is

to speak

and keep

on speaking.

If a friendship

is going to

survive,

it needs to be

fed with

words and

affections.

God speaks

to his image

bearers.

He finds

joy in

giving us

gifts.

And we

find our

joy in

giving him

thanks.

Again,

back in

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3:16

chapter 3

verse 16

again.

God's

greatest gift

is new

life in

Christ.

And his

word,

we're told

there,

and notice

the tense,

his word,

though written

in the past,

present tense,

is able.

It's

living,

it's dynamic,

it's active,

is able to

bring us to

salvation.

But much

more,

it's able,

and again,

notice the

present tense

written in the

past,

but is able

to guide us

and nurture us

into the life

of righteousness,

the life of

Christ-likeness,

or in the

words there,

to make us

true men and

true women

as we were

created to be.

And since

God hasn't

changed,

his voice to

the world

hasn't changed.

So the

Bible you have

in your hands

this morning

or on your

device,

the Bible you

have this

morning is

God's current

living,

active,

dynamic word

to you today

in 2023

as it was

when it was

first spoken.

The Bible

is God's

complete message

to his world.

Now,

it never

claims to

say everything

there is to

know about

God.

That's an

important thing.

Sometimes we

want the

Bible to

say more

than it's

ever promised

to say.

It never

claims to

say everything

there is to

know about

God,

but it

does claim

that it

says everything

we need

to know

to live

well in

God's

world as

God's

people.

So,

final question.

What should

be our

response to

God's

personal

words and

promises?

Well,

I think it's

a very simple

equation.

The shape

of God's

revelation

determines

the shape

of our

response.

God's

revelation

comes to

us in

words and

statements

and commands

and promises

our response.

ought to

be in

terms of

listening,

hating,

and obeying,

believing,

trusting.

It's that

simple.

In other

words,

we ought to

be,

our first

response ought

to be active

listening to

God's word.

Now,

the danger

of not

listening is

so real

for us and

so dangerous.

Genesis 3,

the very

first instance

of God's

people when

they stopped

listening to

God,

choosing not

to hear

God's word,

choosing not

to heed

God's word.

And Genesis

3 describes

that as an

act of

arrogant

rebellion.

how significant

was it?

Well,

it was

whole of

life

changing.

It was

generationally

changing.

It was a

catastrophe.

One

simple act

of stopping

listening to

God's word,

and here's the

consequences.

But it

wasn't just

that simple

act of

stopping

listening to

God's word,

because as they

stopped listening

to God's

voice,

God's word,

then they

actually started

listening to

their own

voice,

their own

words.

Well,

I'm not going

to be limited

by God's

command.

I'm very

capable of

deciding what's

good and bad.

I don't need

God to do

that for me.

They listened

to Satan's

lies.

Well,

come on,

it's not that

big a deal.

So,

it's not just

that we stop

listening to

God and then

there's a

vacuum.

As we stop

listening to

God's word,

then we start

listening to

other words,

the voices that

come to us

from our

society,

from our

culture.

After they

sinned,

we see the

same thing

happening again.

They were

hiding from

God's word.

They didn't

want to engage

with God's

word.

Genesis

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

Cain kills

Abel.

How can we

pitch that?

Well, I'm

going to pitch

it in these

terms.

Why did

Cain kill

Abel?

Well, I

think Cain

killed Abel

to silence

the voice of

righteousness

that Abel

had expressed

to Cain,

which exposed

Cain's shabby

attitude to

the Lord.

Cain's

mind.

And so we

have the

voice of

self-protection

in Cain's

mind, the

voice of

self-defense

showing itself

to be so

ruthless that

it would try

and silence

the voice of

righteousness

rather than

repent and

say sorry

to God.

God.

It's

dangerous to

stop listening

to God's

voice.

Hebrews

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

I'll just

reference it.

I don't have

time to even

go to it.

Hebrews

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

notes how

God's people

spent 40

years in the

wilderness.

Now, there's

many reasons

why they spent

40 years in

the wilderness.

What was the

summary in

Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

3?

They stopped

listening to

God's voice

voice and

paid the

consequences

for it.

What were

they listening

to instead

of God's

voice?

Well, they

were listening

to a

romanticized

version of

their life

in Egypt.

At least we

had onions

to eat back

there.

It was a

crazy voice,

but they were

listening to

that rather

than listening

to God's

voice.

And friends,

we're not

any different.

I think it's

incredibly sad.

Even stronger.

It's just so

wrong to

observe

believers.

Remember,

believers are

those who

claim to

value relationship

with God,

who claim to

value God's

word.

It's just so

sad and so

wrong to

see believers

form conclusions

about issues

and make life

decisions.

without reference

to God's

word.

How does

that happen?

We're

actually under

increasing

pressure to

shut down

God's voice,

God's words

in our mind

and go with

the voice of

popular belief.

belief.

Haven't been

able to turn

on the TV

to watch the

news for the

last two

weeks.

All against

gay pride,

gay Mardi

Gras.

The voice of

popular pressure,

popular belief.

belief.

It's even more

sad, I think,

and I observe

this all too

often to see

believers,

those who've

been Christians

for many,

many years,

find themselves

in a position

where they're

almost illiterate

in terms of

what God's

voice would

be on this

particular issue

or that

particular issue.

How does

that be?

We're tooled

up with

information at

so many other

points of

reference.

Why aren't

we so tooled

up when it

comes to

God's word?

Friends,

it's as simple

as this.

Our view of

God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit,

is inseparably

tied to

our view

of God's

word.

It just

goes together.

Careless

in respect

to God's

word,

careless in

respect to

God.

The proper

hearing of

God's word

will overflow

in determined

action,

a life of

belief,

faith,

or trust.

God's word

God's word

is

God's word

speaks

primarily

because he

wants to be

in relationship

with his

image bearers,

since he

promises salvation,

since he

promises the

good life,

since he

promises the

life of

abundance,

and says,

this is how

you get it,

then

our

determined

action ought

to be

a life of

faith,

a life of

belief.

God has

said it,

will accept

it.

God has

promised it.

I'll live my

life trusting

in it.

God has

declared it.

I dare not

look for an

alternative source

of truth on

it.

So I'm just

going to finish

by asking

a question.

Whose voice

has captured

your head,

your mind,

your heart?

Whose voice,

therefore,

I'm asking you,

is shaping

your life daily,

informing your

decisions,

determining the

point at which

you will pivot

and resist

our society?

I'm just

going to

I'm seeing

increasingly in

evangelical circles

even,

that churches

are trying to

use something

other than

God's word

to build

churches,

to build

communities of

Christ's people,

to build

maturity.

humanity.

That's got to

be hopeless,

hasn't it?

At the very

least in

Congress,

that we who

say we

delight in

the Lord

would be

listening to

some other

voice to

grow ourselves

into maturity.

It doesn't

make sense.

And yet I think

all too often

is true.

So we need

to be asking

ourselves

individually,

and we need

to ask it

analytically of

our whole church

family here.

Are we

listening to

God's voice?

Are we

hating God's

voice?

Are we

determined to

act in the

light of God's

voice?

At every

point in

how we

relate to

one another,

in how we

deal with

difficulties with

one another,

in what we

teach people

as the

hope and

certainties of

life looking

forward into

the future?

We've got to

ask ourselves,

well, if we

say we're

listening to

God's word,

then what

difference is

it making in

your life?

Is it

something you

delight in?

Is it

something you

crave to

understand and

apply more?

That is God's

word as a

written record.

Do you see

and appreciate

and savour the

perfection of

God's word for

every aspect of

your life?

To grow you,

to lead you,

to keep you in

every circumstance

of life, to

deliver you safely

into the next

life?

Do you pray

that God's

living act of

word will

crash through

your defensiveness

and expose

your sin?

or you still

want to hide

from God's

word in

those key

areas of

sin that you

find yourself

loving all

too much?

That's what I

know.

I do that

myself, so I'm

not asking you

something I

haven't asked

myself.

It's

shameful.

we need to

ask the Lord

to crash

through our

defense and

to expose

our sin so

that we might

repent and

become all the

more appreciative

of the grace we

have in Christ.

The only option I

can think is that

God's voice is just

annoying white noise

in the background

while you're busy

trying to listen to

another voice.

it's sometimes

infuriating in a

shopping center or

a party or

something where

there's too many

competing voices

and you know you

should be listening

to this particular

voice but it's

just a bit of

white noise in the

background because

you're actually

trying to listen

to somebody else's

conversation over

there.

Well,

are you listening

to another voice

that's promising

you a better

life down a

different pathway?

Even as you're

sitting here this

morning,

I would mean you

to say,

and I might get

myself in trouble

for this,

but sadly I think

there's way too

many like this

in our church

for whom God's

voice is just

white noise in

the background

while they're busy

trying to listen

to another voice.

I just want you

to consider this

morning if that's

actually you.

Well,

pray with me.

Lord, we thank you

that you've chosen

to speak to us,

that you revealed

yourself to be a

personal God who

loves to be in

relationship with us,

who wants to be in

relationship with us,

who's actually defined

relationship and provided

everything needed for

that relationship to be

loving and secure and

affectionate and forever.

Lord, forgive us for not

listening to you,

for not hating you,

for not being determined

in our actions of faith

and trust and belief in

response.

forgiveness and more

specifically,

Lord, forgive us when we

silence your voice and

listen to other voices,

whether it's the voice of

society or the voice of

temptation or the voice of

self-indulgence.

forgiveness and more

forgiveness and more

forgive us, we pray,

Lord, and make us delight in

your word once again.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.