Listening to Jesus

I want to ask everyone here a question:

What should we do when we hear God’s voice? Last week we talked about God having sheep. He knows who his sheep are, and his sheep listen to his voice. If you follow Jesus, you are one of his sheep. We should know God so well that we should be able to recognize his voice. But there are steps involved for when we do finally hear God’s voice. Let’s read this story.

1 Samuel 3: 2-10 “At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own 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, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay do…”

1 Samuel 3:2–10 NIV

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 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. 6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel 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.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” 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. 9 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. 10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

The story begins by talking to us about this man named Eli. Eli was an old man who was the leader of the church in Israel. And Eli was training the next leader, his name was Samuel. Samuel was about 12 years old in this story, and one night Samuel goes to bed. While in bed he hears a voice call to him ‘Hey Samuel!’

Samuel wakes up and he thinks it’s Eli who called him and Samuel tells Eli, I’m here. Eli responded and said: I Didn’t call you, go to sleep. Well it happened again, Samuel was sleeping and he heard the voice again. This happened a total of three times.

People who don’t know God can’t recognize His voice.

Samuel heard the voice 3 times and he could not tell who it was. He just assumed it was Eli who was calling him. You know, today I don’t believe that God talks to people like he did to Samuel. We have something Samuel did not have, We have Jesus and the Bible, and Samuel didn’t have the entire Bible during that time and Jesus had not been born yet. So God will call out to us, but it won’t be in the same type of way.

God communicates with us in different kind of ways, He speaks to us through the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and through other people. We have other tools at our disposal for God to communicate with us that Samuel did not have. And we can talk all day long about how God communicates with us but the point here is this:

People who don’t know God can’t recognize His voice. See, this goes in tow directions for us. If you don’t know, you won’t recognize His voice, so I encourage you to develop a relationship with God. But for our adults in the room, do you teach others what it looks like to know God’s voice? I know we’re starting some new adventures here at church, Sunday school, some music, and we’re trying to make church a place in which we learn about God and read His Word. Do we teach our kids what God’s voice is like at home? What about outside of this ministry, how is that coming along? I am not asking to get a response, there are those of you in here that have shared with me in the past how you’ve tried to do some discipleship and I am so encouraged and I encourage you to continue. But sometimes, we expect the people we are taking care to already know how to do certain spiritual things. One of those, is to listen to God.

It is not possible to expect someone to know who God is if we don’t share with them who He is.

1 Corinthians 2: 14 “14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2: 16 “16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV

16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

I want to encourage all of us who have the mind of Christ to teach other what it means to hear God’s voice. That’s what Eli did with Samuel.

1 Samuel 3: 8-9 “8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” 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. 9 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.”

1 Samuel 3:8–9 NIV

8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” 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. 9 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.

It took Eli some time before he realized it was God who was talking to Samuel. I Identify with Samuel, that’s me. It takes me a long second to figure out, oh wait, God’s talking to me. It happens to me all the time. My wife knows that sometimes I’m a very blunt individual. So I’ll say something to somebody and it might come across as rude, and she’ll say: ‘hey, that was too rough’. and I’ll get all mad and say: ‘it was true though, so what?’ and then i’ll go pray, and spend some time with God and i’ll find something in the Bible that will say remind me of the conversation I had with the person, and then I’ll feel God pulling at my heart and making me feel bad for saying what I said, and then after the 3rd or 4th time it’ll hit me. God was talking. He spoke through my wife, and the Bible to tell me that I was kind of mean and I need to apologize.

2. When you hear God’s voice, be willing to respond.

See, Eli taught Samuel how to respond, but now Samuel had to put it into practice. For our adults in the room, this applies so heavily to us because I believe God has placed in our hands an important ministry and we should carry it out as best as we can. But sometimes we are so hard headed and lazy that we are not willing to respond to God’s calling. now don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not easy to respond to God. Samuel was trying to sleep, he didn’t call him in the middle of morning right after breakfast. Samuel was trying to sleep when God called him, I would’ve tried to ignore the voice. I love my sleep.

It’s so easy to respond with: ‘it’s not my job’ or ‘I’m too tired right now’. But God wants his people to be people that are willing to follow his voice, and to follow in his footsteps.

back to our kids, God might be calling you to a couple of different things. You know, the Bible tells us that you and me, we sinned against God. and our sin separates us from Him. Who here wants to be separated from God? I don’t, but our sin doesn’t let us back to God. But God found a way for you and me to be able to live with Him forever. God sent his Son Jesus to take your sin away. He took it away and he put it on himself. Sin comes with a punishment, but Jesus took the punishment instead, and if you ask Jesus to be your savior, he will save you from your sin. and you can be with God.

God might be calling you today to accept Him as your Lord and your savior. And if He is calling you, will you be willing to respond? if you want to know more about what it means to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, reach out to me or your house parent.

He might be calling you to be baptized but you don’t know what it means. Reach out to one of us. We’d love to talk to you about what it means.