Scripture

We are in week #2 of our new series, Is That You, God? looking at how to unlock God’s voice in our life. Last week we looked at the clearest, most accurate Word of God, Jesus. He is the perfect revelation of what God has to say.

We long to hear God speak to us. Yet there are several misconceptions we carry that hinder his voice:

God only spoke in Bible times.

God only speaks to "special" people (prophets, pastors).

Hearing God's voice is always dramatic or audible.

This week we begin looking at secondary ways that God speaks to us, specifically through the Bible. The Bible is the most popular book in world history. Nothing else comes close. In fact, it would be a rare week that the Bible didn’t top the NYT Bestsellers list if it was included in the count. We’re buying Bibles at the fastest rate in history. People like never before are looking for wisdom and direction and peace in life, and they are turning to the Bible to get it. In the US alone, Bible sales went from 9.7 million in 2019 to 14.2 million in 2023. And the the demographic that has shown the largest increase in Bible sales are Gen-Z. I think that is incredibly hopeful news.

But the truth is that most people, including Christians, find the Bible confusing and unrelatable. We struggle to get anything out of it. We want to hear God speak, but get lost in strange names, weird customs, and information that doesn’t feel very relevant. Like, what does the number of soldiers the tribe of Judah could muster in the book of Numbers have to do with my life?

One reason we may struggle with hear God in the Bible is because we don’t have a good framework for what the Bible is. Because it comes bound under one cover, we treat it like most other books, when in truth it is a collection of books written by over 40 different authors across 1500 or more years. If you try to read the Bible like you read a novel you will either get totally lost, or worse, you will walk away with distorted interpretations. The Bible Project, which I will plug as a reliable source to learn the Bible from, offers seven things you should keep in mind as you read your Bible. The Bible is:

Human and Divine Literature: The Bible is a collaboration between human authors and the Holy Spirit. This matters as we read it.

Ancient Literature: We must recognize that, while the Bible was written for you, it was not written to you. So we must work to understand its historical and cultural context.

Unified Literature: The Bible, despite its diverse authors and literary styles, tells one overarching story of God's creation, redemption, and eventual new creation.

Messianic Literature: The unity of the Bible means that its themes and narratives find their ultimate fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Wisdom Literature: The Bible encourages not just intellectual understanding but also transformation towards wise living.

Meditation Literature: The Bible's artistic design invites repeated engagement and reflection over time.

Communal Literature: The Bible is meant to be studied and lived out within a community of believers. Lone ranger Christians always eventually go to distorted interpretations.

The truth is that God is a speaking God, and one of the ways that he clearly, consistently, and authoritatively speaks to us is through his written word, the Bible. To listen to the Bible is to hear God speak, and by engaging with it you can find assurance, direction, and a transformed way of life.

Pray...

To help you hear God clearly in the Bible I’m going to organize this message around three key words - revelation, inspiration, and illumination.

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Revelation

Revelation refers to God's self-disclosure to humanity. About things we couldn’t discover about him on our own through natural means. If God does not initiate communication with us, we would be left completely in the dark. But the good news is that he has revealed himself.

2 Peter 1:20–21 “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Many make the claim that the Bible is just a book. Maybe it’s considered a holy book, but it was just written by people. This is absolutely true. The Bible affirms that people wrote it. Over 40 authors or even groups of editors.

The question is, is the Bible more than just a book? It claims to be, and Jews, and now Christians for 2,000 years, have affirmed the Bible is more than a mere book. The words in the Bible are not just the opinions of people. They’re not just good ideas. That somehow God has revealed himself through it, and that by engaging with the Bible you can have an encounter with the living God. While it was written by people, and it was written in their words, it wasn’t just their words. They are God’s words.

I love the Bible because more times than I can count or remember, as I’ve read my Bible I have experienced the very presence of God speaking to me through these ancient words and stories. My life and walk with God have been transformed by engaging with the Bible.

Because the Bible is divine revelation You can be confident that it is God’s voice you are hearing in Scripture.

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Inspiration

Building on the concept of Revelation, Inspiration refers to idea that human authors we supernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit as they wrote, yet in a way that did not override their own thoughts or personality.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

Paul writes that the Bible is “inspired”. This does not mean the same as being inspired by someone’s weight-loss journey. The Greek word is theopneustos - literally “God-breathed”. God did not dictate the Bible to human authors. He didn’t override their own personality or will. He breathed into them. I’ll say more about this in a minute, but it means this book has living breath in it, and it’s the breath of God himself. In the Bible, God has breathed and is still breathing.

N.T. Wright says, “Scripture not only unveils the living God we know in Jesus Christ, but, through our reading and pondering, it works this knowledge of God deep into our consciousness and even subconsciousness, by story, poetry, symbol, history, theology and exhortation. Scripture not only gives us true information about how our lives can be transformed; it will itself be part of that process.”

“it works this knowledge...” Julie occasionally makes focaccia. After first rising will punch down and add garlic and rosemary. Works it into the dough until it becomes part of the dough itself. This is what regular engagement with the Bible does. In fact, Paul says the Bible will help us in four ways:

Teaching - giving instruction about God. It gives a narrative about life - the sacred story vs the secular story.

Reproving - it gives a gentle rebuke when something we’re doing is outside of God’s will.

Correcting - it “improves” you, in the sense of someone making improvements to their home.

Training - it will train you in what is right, the balance between goodness and justice that God wants to see in his people.

And the aim of all of this, Paul says, is not to squash people into a strange, unnatural shape by trying to order their lives according to the Bible, but to help people who belong to God to become fully human, reflecting God’s image in all its splendor.

Because of divine inspiration You can be certain that God’s voice will guide you from the Scriptures. —————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Illumination

Illumination refers to the work of the Holy Spirit to enable believers to understand and apply the truths of Scripture.

Hebrews 4:12 “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The final claim about God’s voice in the Bible is a little dangerous - that it will do surgery on your heart. Through the Bible, God’s Spirit is able to cut through all our pretensions to reveal our innermost self. If you read it regularly and prayerfully, it will lay you bare. Being totally honest, that is uncomfortable. No one likes to be called out or exposed.

Yet God works through his word, not by hacking at us, by through careful surgery. While the image of a sword is given, in God’s hand his word becomes a scalpel guided by love. And where he cuts, he does not do it to injure, but to heal.

Our friend Steve had surgery this week to remove cancer from his leg. The surgeon who did the cutting had no malice toward Steve; he had his utmost wellbeing in mind. The cuts he made were made to make Steve better, even though it causes some pain now.

This is exactly how God works upon our heart through the Bible. As we read, he will at times "illuminate” the text to your mind causing you to comprehend it in a new way. Maybe in a way that requires you to make changes. But all with your wellbeing in mind. I’m always reminded of the words of the late, great Dallas Cowboy football coach Tom Landry: “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be.” I think that is a good summation of how God’s voice transforms us through the Bible. He sometimes tells us things we don’t want to hear so that he can change us into the kind of person we always wanted to become.

Because of divine illumination You can be sure that God’s voice will transform you through Scripture.

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You can be confident that:

Revelation - It is God’s voice you will hear in the Bible.

Inspiration - You will receive God’s guidance from the Bible.

Illumination - You will by shaped by God through the Bible.

But there is a word of caution in all this. The great preacher D. L. Moody said, “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” There is a very real danger of reading the Bible but only acquiring knowledge. We’ve all been around those kind of people. Jerks for Jesus. They can quote Bible verses all day, yet they lack any of the love or kindness that the Bible commends. We need knowledge, but that knowledge must travel from our head to our heart. Otherwise, we become self-deceived - and self-condemned. James put it this way: James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

So the big question then is, How can we better hear God’s voice in the Bible? I want to offer a way of reading the Bible that I think pretty much guarantees that you will hear his voice.

Read the Bible prayerfully. Ask the divine author to open your eyes and ears.

Read the Bible slowly. Maybe read the passage 2 or 3 times.

Read the Bible out loud. The Bible was written for people living in oral tradition. In other words, the Bible was intended to be heard. You will find surprising things happening as you read it out loud, even to yourself.

Then ask three simple questions:

What does this passage say about God?

What does this passage say about me?

What does this passage say I should change?

Don’t expect drama or an audible voice. But expect that the thoughts that come to your mind is the voice of the living God.

God speaks. He has and is speaking clearly, consistently, and authoritatively through the Bible. The key to hearing God’s voice in the Bible is consistency. No one thinks that going to the gym one time will make a difference. You wouldn’t expect to see a change after a week. Maybe after a month. Going to the gym has a cumulative effect.

Hearing God in scripture is the same. A verse of the day, while possibly encouraging, will not give you the exposure you need. But if you will commit yourself to a regular habit of reading and listening, you will begin to discover God’s voice being unlocked in your life.

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Communion

Have them stand… Invite the worship team forward…

Let’s rejoice together with all God’s people regarding the scriptures in the words of Psalm 19:

Psalm 19:10–11 NRSV

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Father, that you that you are a speaking God and that you have given us a sure way to hear your voice again and again through your word. We thank you that by your word we know that you love us, and have revealed your love to us by redeeming us through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. Through the blood of the cross he has washed our sins away. Through his victorious resurrection he has guaranteed us eternal life. Through his ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit he has made us one with you. And these truths are made sure to us through the Bible.

We remember Him who for us and for our salvation, on the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.