Listen

Here at North Hills we are more than Sunday and we say that because we have a school and preschool that meets here daily, Monday through Friday.

Now when you have several hundred students, things can be a little loud. But it’s always amazing to me, that if Florence stands in front of the room without raising her voice, she just has to say, “If you can hear my voice clap once.” Everyone claps. If you can hear my voice clap twice. everyone claps twice. And by the 3rd time she says, If you can hear my voice clap three times and at the end of of those 3 claps, the room is silent and Florence can speak.

It’s fun, its participatory. If I’m there I clap to. Its the principle of mulitplication. Florence never raises her voice, but as more people hear her and clap in response, the number of people listening multiplies and all eyes are on Florence, even if you don’t care what she has to say.

Now this only works if those who can hear at the beginning respond and it gets passed on. Imagine what would happen, if those nearest to her said, I can hear you fine but I don’t want to disturb those who aren’t listening. I’m here say, what you need to say. Number one, you’ll be distracted by those around you not paying attention and probably more importantly you aren’t doing what she asks.

Now bear with me for a minute. This is the way that Jesus has chosen to get His message out to the world. The message that he is the Messiah, the son of God who came to this earth and died on the cross for our sins.

For those of that can hear His voice are called to respond that others might listen up…even if they don’t care what He has to say.

Turn in your Bibles to John Chapter 10.

Scripture Introduction:

So much of John’s

The purpose of John’s gospel is to beg the question is, “Are you listening?” But also to ask, “Do you believe what you are hearing?”

Can you hear Jesus speaking in your life?

Can you hear?

When Jesus begin His ministry, people loved his new way of teaching. They loved the miracles that He did. They loved how He called out hypocrites and Pharisees. But over time, His message got stronger and harder to follow. People in power, sought to use that power to silence Him. People, even those who followed Him, were growing colder and colder towards Jesus. As he was approaching His time, people were growing more and more tired of Jesus’ desire for response in the form of total sacrifice..

Many people followed Jesus. Many people were interested in Jesus. But let’s be real, true believers in Jesus (just like today) were a minority in that day.

So in life there are so many voices telling you what to believe....what not to believe…criticizing our beliefs…distorting our belief…arguing minor points of our beliefs. Sometimes that voice is entirely inside our own heads.

Jesus tells us to follow Him and put aside any other voices. We are called to listen and we are called to respond and spread the message.

Matthew 13:10–17 ESV

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

John 10:22–33 ESV

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

john 10:22-

Big Idea: Listen up. Believe. Respond.

Let’s read

John 10:22–26 ESV

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

:22-

What everyone wanted to know is, “Jesus are you the Messiah?” Tells us!

1. Jesus has spoken in words and actions.

Jesus had told them that he was the messiah both in words and in actions. The first question is are we listening?

Now a couple things here. Jesus didn’t often say, “I am the messiah.”

The work I do, in my father’s name, bear witness about me.” WHY???? Because the Bible has spoken. The OLD TESTAMENT IS A BOOK ABOUT JESUS!

John 5:39 ESV

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

Luke 7:20–23 ESV

20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus is quoting the prophet Isaiah. No Jesus didn’t even tell John the Baptist, “Yes, I am the messiah.” He quoted of the OT that told what the messiah would be like and said, “What do you hear?” Scripture cannot be broken. Jesus quoted or referred to the Old Testament 64 times and every time He did, he spoke to it’s authority to govern our lives. Jesus had a very high view of scripture and we should have the same view scripture.

Illustration:

There are few things as frustrating as having to answer the same question over and over again by the same person. “I already told you!” Many peopleare like, “Why doesn’t God just speak to me?!?!?!”

And God is like, “WHY DON’T YOU READ WHAT I ALREADY SAID!?!?!?

Unbelief looks for excuses not reasons. The question is are you reading and listening?

Let’s keep reading.

John 10:27–33 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

John 10:

2. Believe what you have seen and heard.

Jesus says that His sheep here His voice and follow Him. They believe. And are given eternal life and then Jesus makes the claim that He is God. It’s one thing to believe in Jesus the rabbi. It’s one thing to believe in Jesus the teacher....Jesus the Good man. But will you believe in Jesus as God. And again this isn’t knew, the Old Testament spoke of this. But when you’re face to face with it, will you believe.

What you have heard.....

It’s one thing to hear the words of Jesus whether you are reading the Bible or at that time, actually hearing the words of Jesus; it’s quite another thing to actually believe them. The second question is “Do you believe what you are hearing?”

In many cases, we like some of the words of Jesus, but we don’t like all of them. There are no red letters in my Bible. Why? Because John tells us that it is Jesus who is the Word. The letters in red are the words Jesus spoke on earth, but the word in black is still his word. That changes the way we approach the Old Testament or even the words of someone like the Apostle Paul who was inspired to write more than half of the New Testament. And while we don’t have time to do so here, many of you know that we are going to have to wrestle with some things that are hard to comprehend.

But the call is to believe what you have heard in Scripture.

What you have seen...

The first thing that we have seen as followers of Jesus is the history of the church. 2,000 years of talking about a crucified rabbi. Why are we still talking about Jesus? Is it a great conspiracy to control us? Considering that the first Christians died for what they believe, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. All of the disciples and apostles died.

Believe what you have seen in history.

For me, I’ve also seen what the gospel has done for people now. It is difficult to argue with a changed life.

We also have to believe what we see. It is difficult to argue with a changed life.

Actions speak louder than words. We can say, I believe in Jesus, but if we don’t believe it in a way that leads to action, does it really matter?

Now, not everyone believes and this is also telling.

It’s not just about not believing. Isn’t it amazing how strongly those who don’t believe react. It’s like they are listening and then shove there fingers in their ears like a 3 year old and start screaming to drawn it out.

Illustration: We really are living in an age where we don’t alway know what to believe. But here’s what we need to remember, evidence really doesn’t help in the age of lies.

What Jesus says is that His sheep will hear his voice and follow Him. So all that needs to be done is to speak the word of God into people’s lives and those who are His will eventually get it.

We don’t have to argue. We don’t have to debate. We speak the words of God.

And this is where the clap comes in…when you hear the words of Jesus....clap for someone else to listen up and pay attention. Listen up and speak up.

Now where we go next is not in . Flip over to Romans 10. We know how the pharisees responded to Jesus. They killed Him to silence. But there was another group of people there, the disciples.

We know that they listened. We know that they believed. The question is how did they respond? They clapped.

Romans 10:8–17 ESV

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they 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? 15 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!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

3. Speak Jesus into someone else’s life.

Romans 10:8–17 ESV

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they 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? 15 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!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Romans 10:8-

Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. Jesus is no longer walking the earth as a man. So the word of Jesus comes through believers who speak Jesus into the lives of others.

I think many of us mistakening pray a prayer like this....”God would you speak to so and so that they might believe.” The truth is that God wants to speak through us. As we share our story and His word, God speaks and that is how he has chosen to get the word out.

So what do we say? We share His word. We share the stories of the Bible. 75 % of the Bible is stories of how God interacts with His people. Share those stories.

Share you favorite Bible verse and talk about why it means s much to you. God is speaking.

Share your own story of how Jesus has changed you.

However, to the new person who doesn’t know whether to believe or not.

Hebrews 3:15 ESV

15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

God might be speaking to you through His word today. Just make sure you aren’t fighting it.

Listen up! Believe! And Respond.

Let’s reflect on these questions this morning.

Reflection: Are you listening for Jesus to speak into your life? Are you speaking Jesus into someone else’s life?