Hearing God
HEARING GOD’S VOICE
EZEKIEL 14:1 – 8
1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
I. The people came to the prophet looking for a Word from the Lord.
A. They wanted to hear a good message!
1. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to hear a good message.
2. They didn’t really want to hear what God had to say.
3. A lot of people are more interested in entertaining speakers than they are the content of the message.
B. They were going from prophet to prophet.
1. If they didn’t like what one prophet had to say they would go to another prophet until they heard what they wanted to hear.
2. Kind of like people going from church to church until they find one they feel good at.
C. The man of God has a responsibility to deliver God’s message.
1. Even Balaam knew he could only speak what God gave him to say.
2 Tim 4:1-4 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
II. God wants us to be people He can talk to.
Heb 1:1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
A. God ordained prophets but not to cut off communication with his people.
1. Moses and Israel on Mt Sinai.
B. God can’t use people he can’t talk to.
1. 2 Samuel 18:19-29 man running without a message.
2. Some people always seem to have a word to share, and many times they haven’t heard it from God.
C. Jesus said; John 10:2-4, 14 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- (NIV)
1. We must learn to hear his voice.
2. How can we follow him if we don’t recognize his voice?
III. We must communicate with God regularly.
A. 3 things that cut off communication with God.
1. Sin. Habitual sin.
2. Rebellion. To know what God is asking and refusing to do it.
3. Stubbornness. Insisting on having it your way.
B. We must spend time in God’s presence to learn to hear his voice.
1. You can’t ignore God in the good times and expect to hear him in the bad. You can’t ignore him all week and expect to hear him on Sunday.
2. We must read God’s Word. It gives us his mode of operation.
3. We must live in God’s presence every day.
C. God desires a relationship with us which includes speaking to us.
1. When we pray we must learn to listen.
2. When we read God’s Word we must learn to hear.
3. The Holy Spirit desires to speak to us ant lead us moment by moment.