Oakbrook Evangelical Free Church

Introduction:

Cell phones…who is the one person you would love to get a call from?

I. Is God Still Talking?

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”” ESV

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

No because of who I am but because of what you’ve done.

Not be/ of what I’ve done but because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading here today and gone tomorrow.

A wave tossed in the ocean. A vapor in the wind.

Still you hear when I’m calling Lord you catch me when I am falling and you told me who I am. I am yours, I am yours.

Who am I that the eyes that see my sin would look on me with love and watch me rise again. Who am I that the voice that calmed the sea would call out through the rain and calm the storm in me

Genesis 3:8-9 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

Genesis 6:3,7,9, 13 “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years…So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them…These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God…And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

Exodus 3:2-8 “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. “And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” “Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” “And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. “Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, “and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” ESV

Exodus 3:10 “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”” ESV
“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

1 Samuel 3:4, 10 “Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!..And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

Isaiah 6:1,5, 8-9 “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple…And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!…And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” “And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’” ESV

“Who am I that the Lord of all earth would care to know my name

Would care feel my hurt. Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?

Acts 8:26 “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.” ESV

Acts 9:4-6 “And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. “But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”” ESV

Acts 9:10-11 “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” “And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,” ESV

Hebrews 3:7-8 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, “do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,” ESV

Hebrews 3:12-13 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” ESV

Quote: Mar/Apr In Word, p.37

II. Why Does God Speaks Today?

1. Because he loves you.

2. Because we need his definite and deliberate direction in our lives.

3. Because we need comfort and assurance!

4. Because He wants us to know Him.

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” ESV

1 Corinthians 1:7-9 “He will keep you strong to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” ESV

II. How Can I Hear His Voice?

A. Listen To His Voice in your heart.

Nehemiah 1:5 4 months 2:4

And in the quietness of a prepared heart God whispered his plan 2:12

B. Listen to his voice in His Word

Joshua 1:7-8 “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” ESV

Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” ESV

Hebrews 4:9-13 “So then, there remains a rest for the people of God, “for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” ESV

C. Listen to his voice through His Spirit

Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” ESV

D. Listen to the voice of those God sends to you.

God sent Samuel to speak to David.

He sent Ananias to speak to Saul.

Romans 10:13-15 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” ESV

III. Why Say “Yes”?

The question about “rewards” is really about, “What difference does it make if I follow Christ wholeheartedly?” Or “what’s in it for me if I follow Christ wholeheartedly?”

This is a complex question. Peter asked this question about what is in it for those who follow Christ. Here is what Jesus said.

Matthew 19:27-30 “Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” NIV

Christ is simply saying that those who follow Him will have to say “no” to some people and some things. But all our sacrifice for Him is worth it both in this life and in the kingdom when he returns.

Because He is the treasure worth giving my life for.

Matthew 13:44 ““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” ESV

Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” ESV

Because I want to make a difference.

Why should Nehemiah worry about this problem.

He had a well-paying, high ranking, secure job.

Why should Nehemiah put his life on the line?

Why should Nehemiah put up with the headaches of convincing a timid, fearful people to join together to do manual labor?

Because it was something God put in his heart to do for Jerusalem.

It wasn’t about him.

It was for the sake of some six generations into the future.

The story of Colonet Todd Nehls

Sent to help secure Afghanistan for their first democratic

election. Near the border of Pakistan.

Yellow taxi. Car shot up. 6 election workers killed. The next day some 30 people show up to take their place.

Day of election.

Men vote in the morning.

Testing the security of the poling places.

In mid afternoon women flooding the streets with faces covered with burkas. No man see her face except her husband. Soaked with tears because their never thought the day would come. The Talabin

IV. Why People Say “No”

Why don’t people turn to Christ? What keeps people who have heard about Christ from turning to Him in faith?

1. An unwillingness to admit their need for forgiveness.

They don’t see their need for forgiveness.

Luke 18:10-14 ““Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ““But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ““I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” NIV

Lack of an awareness of personal sin is one indication that a person is not a real Christian no matter what they say.

2. Their desire for personal comfort

Luke 9:57-58 “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” “Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”” NIV

3. Their desire for money

Luke 9:59-62 “He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” “Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” “Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” “Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”” NIV

This man’s father had not died yet. He was saying, “Let me go back home and wait until my father dies and I get my inheritance. Then, I will come and follow you.” The desire for money was this man’s first concern.

Luke 12:20-21 ““But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ““This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.””

(Read the whole story – Luke 12:13-21)

Matthew 6:31-33 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” NIV

4. Their desire to please family or friends

Matthew 10:34-39 ““Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— “a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ ““Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” NIV

I personally known people who believe the good news but refused to personally turn to Christ because of what their family and friends would say.