Let The Church Have Ears
Listening to God's Voice • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. "I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day," he recalled in his book Stress Fractures. "Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable.
"I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, 'Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin' and I'll tell you really fast.'
"Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, 'Honey, you can tell me -- and you don't have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly." "I'll never forget her answer: 'Then listen slowly.'"
This whole series has been listening for God’s voice. Today we will look at the church. Normally when I speak about the church, I am speaking about the individual christian as the temple, but today, I am not only speaking to the individual, I am speaking to the church as the assemble of believers. As a church, we have lost the ability to listen slowly for the voice of God. The church is in such a rush to get their Jesus fix and check off that box of good Christianity, that we miss God wants to tell us. Or we try to rooster all night Saturday, that we fall asleep on Sunday morning and miss the message. Maybe the Catholic religion has it right with all the standing, sitting and kneeling just to keep everyone awake. I don’t normally do this but look over to your neighbor and asking them you awake. Alright, let’s get to our verse for today.
So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Let’s get a bit of background so we can understand what is going on. This verse marks a vital point in the growth of the early church. The church was forced out by prosecution and was scattered away from Jerusalem. But even though they were going through persecutions and had to move away from their homes, they had peace and were strengthened. This outward movement set up the church for a second stage of growth. This caused the gospel to be preached boldly to the Gentiles.
We see the church increase in numbers and grow stronger, even in the midst of persecution. True Christianity and the church prospers even though there is outside pressures when the believers depend on God’s peace and strength. Church if we take God’s Word seriously, we will understand the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. If a believer is not facing persecution, it is possible he doesn’t have a faith worth persecuting.
In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Notice for the church to grow, the believers had to be removed from their comfortable and reach out with the Gospel to those who did not know Jesus Christ. The reason we see such a decline in church attendance is because the church does not know the fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and they are too comfortable hiding their faith from the world. The church and the preachers in the pulpit has raised up a generation of weak Christians unwilling to speak to the lost about Jesus Christ. We want to have the peace, the strength, and the growth, but we miss out seeing they had to go out away from their comfortable to reach that point.
So church have ears. If we want to see growth, if we want to hear God’s voice in God’s house, we must get back to understanding these two key points to church growth
The two keys to church growth:
Understanding the fear of the Lord.
Understanding the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
We will look at these two keys, but due to time restraints, it will be difficult to really dive deep into these keys to church growth. If I went into details, we would be here till midnight tonight. So I will hit on the major things we need to understand about the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
So let’s get started with
Understanding the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord appears in the bible over 130 times. If we want to get away from the decline in the church we have seen this past decade, we need to get back to understanding what the fear of the Lord is. It starts with.
Recognition of God.
The fear of the Lord is a humble recognition of who God is. We do not serve a god, we serve The God. The I Am. Yahweh! Jehovah. The creator of all that is and all that will be. I know we look at fear as a reverent fear and that is correct, but imagine right now standing in the presence of God. Remove your arrogance thinking I will ask God this or that, If the angels caused fear and trembling to those who saw them, what do you think standing in the His Presence will do to you. Being humble is knowing that we serve the almighty God and everything is because of Him.
Let the whole earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
2. Continual Submission to God
The fear of the Lord is a continual submission to God in humility and faith. This means being obedient to His Word.
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?
3. God must be front and center.
The fear of the Lord is putting God at the center of one’s life. As headship of the triune, He deserves to be foremost in our lives. More than our spouses, parents, children and so on. Is He front and center in your life? If not, change your viewpoint today.
The fear of the Lord leads to life;
one will sleep at night without danger.
4. Gives us the desire to turn away from this world.
The fear of the Lord is the desire to turn away from evil. When we fear the Lord we will have it in our hearts to turn away from the things of this world. The things the devil try to tell us that is fun or addictions we do not want to give up.
To fear the Lord is to hate evil.
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,
and perverse speech.
5. Wisdom
The fear of the Lord gives us wisdom. Scientist today will tell you that their had to be a over arching intelligence and that scares the crap out of them.
The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and discipline.
6. Confidence
The fear of the Lord is a spiritual discipline that promotes confidence in the Christian. Knowing you are a child of God. You are His.
In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence
and his children have a refuge.
7. Peace and Strength
The fear of the Lord will promote peace and strength in the Christian.
But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated,
Understanding the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
When Christ died on the cross, the veil was torn in two at the entrance to the Holy of Holies, so we can have access to God through His Son Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the modern church age, we have churches that either overly display what they call a move of the Holy Spirit or we have churches that stifle the move of the Holy Spirit. If we truly want to hear God’s voice and have growth in the church, we must be open to the true comfort of the Holy Spirit. To rely on His power.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Peace and Strength
The comfort of the Holy Spirit will provide peace and strength in times of adversity.
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
2. A Shield
The comfort of the Holy Spirit is a shield to protect the Christian from fear and worry.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
3. A Guide
The comfort of the Lord is a guide through this dark world.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.
4. Power
The comfort of the Holy Spirit is the empowerment of the church.
You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.