Silence pt. 2

Intro

Go ahead and open your bibles to Exodus chapter 14…

Exodus 14:5–14 ESV

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

what does verse 14 say there? (read verse 14)

Last week we talked about the silence of God, and what we as Christians should do when God is silent. however there are many instances in the bible where we are told to be silent, and so that’s what we are gonna talk about today.

We Must be Silent

To start does anyone here struggle to be quiet? and that’s really not meant to be an insult, there’s just some people who like to talk. In fact I find it fascinating how much kids like to talk, and sometimes they will talk about nothing just for the sake of talking.

I remember when I was in elementary school, and you may have an experience like this also, but there would be times where the other students would be talking during the lesson and they just kept going and going until eventually they realize that the teacher is staring at them and hasn’t spoken in a while. and the teacher stopped of course because the student wouldn’t stop talking, and was missing the lesson. anyone remember that happening in school? or you’d get the “I’ll wait” which is just a nice way of saying “shut up”.

Well that’s what God does sometimes, he tells us to shut up and listen so that he can speak. I mean really isn’t that what he did to the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt? and when we think of the teacher waiting on the student is it because they don’t love the student? No, rather they care enough that they don’t want the student to fail.

When we talk it can distract us from what God is trying to do or say. and so many times it’s better to be quiet and listen.

Open your Bibles to James 1:19-21

James 1:19–21 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Now this passage could be a series of sermons all on it’s own and it certainly speaks on more than just our silence, but what I want you to take away here, is that we must first listen. So what does this look like when we spend time with God?

“We receive the word” when we read the bible it’s no the same as just any other book. When we read the bible we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us God’s truth and direction.

now what happens when we read the bible and speak rather than listen? we make the scripture say what we want it to say. We twist scripture to justify our actions and we disregard the context of verses.

But what happens when we listen and don’t speak? God is able to speak to us and reveal his truth, without our bias getting in the way.

So it is essential that we are Silent and allow God to speak.

So write this down in your notes, We must be Silent

We Must be Separated

Who here would say that they are a busy person? you work often and you always feel like you are running around? Or does anyone have FOMO (fear of missing out) and so you’re always checking facebook or their messages? You may not always feel busy but in our American culture everything is about hurrying and getting this done and that done. and everything has a time on it. I got to get this done so that I can do this so that I can do this later on.

let me tell you being busy can be a lot of work and it can take a lot of our time. our silence doesn’t mean a whole lot when we live a loud life. and this isn’t new, and there are plenty of other cultures that dealt with this. Even in Jesus time people lived busy lives. Do you know what Jesus did to escape this?

Let’s look at Mark 1:35-37

Mark 1:35–37 ESV

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

Jesus went to a place that he knew he wouldn’t be distracted because he understood that if not he would be busy. and that’s what Simon told him, that there were people looking for him.

another person who spent a lot of time with God was John the Baptist. In fact he lived in the wilderness where he would be alone with God in nature everyday, only surviving on the locust and honey that God provided. I truly feel that John baptized and led his ministry in the wilderness because there he was free from distraction.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, well I suppose we all do, silent time with God means silent time with God.

You may say, well I’ll just turn the radio off on my way to work, but that’s not silence because though it may be quiet your mind is focused on more than just God. You may sit down and be silent with God but your phone is right there next to you and every so often you are getting distracted by it going off. Do you understand.

In fact some of you may really desire a Silent time where you can just sit an listen to god, but during that time your mind is running all over the place and you just can’t focus so you quit it all together with the intentions of doing it tomorrow but as you’ll find the process repeats itself.

When we set aside a quiet time for God we need to make sure that not only are we silent but that we are in a silent environment, no distractions, that may even mean staying away from a clock, so that you aren’t distracted by time.

and If you are thinking, absolutely not I just don’t have time for that, well that’s the point. make time to be Silent, make a point to be separated.

If you have a friend or family member at your house and they are nonstop checking their phone looking at their watch what impression do you get? THAT THEY DONT WANT TO BE THERE. and if they do all the talking and leave, what impression does that give off? Probably that all they care about is themselves.

So why in the world do we do that to God? in fact let’s add to this a bit. if someone only ever invites you to group settings and you never hang out one on one, what’s the impression you get? that they don’t care to be that close to you.

So why do we treat God like the friend that we want to avoid? In the same way that you enjoy a guest who is actively engaged in your life God loves when we are actively engaged in what He’s doing in our lives. I don’t know how I could make this clearer than this. God desires our silence and separation.

So you already have written down, We must be Silent, now I want you to write We Must be Separated

We Must be Sacrificial

Now going back to John the Baptist, do you think it was easy for him to separate himself the way he did? I mean in order to live a life like that, we need to give up a lot. but he was willing to because he recognized the importance of it.

When you begin your life in Christ, is it as easy as being baptized and going to church on Sundays? No. when we decide to be baptized, we are making a sacrifice, we are sacrificing our old selves to put on Christ. Now if we are baptized and then go on living as we would have, it’s not much of a sacrifice is it? It’s more like a shallow promise.

It frustrates me when we can say oh yes Jesus we will take that gift of eternal life but we aren’t willing to show our gratitude.

When you give a gift to a child many times depending on their age, you need to remind them to say thank you, and it’s because they think that you easily were able to give the gift, they don’t think about the work that went into getting the paycheck or the time it took to make it or even consider the thoughtfulness of the person giving them a gift. and it’s because they are children who don’t understand.

Paul says that once you were children and drank milk, but now you are to be mature believers and eat meat. From what I observe we are a church of mature believers, however that doesn’t mean that we don’t need to be reminded of the importance of making sacrifice to God.

I mean in all reality dying to our old-selves should be clear even to new converts. That being said, Let’s sacrifice some of our time, let’s remove something from our lives so that we can be silent in God’s presence without distraction.

We got a little side tracked going from silence in our time with God to having time with God, but we’re back to being silent with God.

So let’s write this down, we must be Sacrificial

Close

God loves when we are alone with him, and he loves when we listen to him. Silence, you’ll find, is an amazing way to listen. cause you can’t possibly listen to someone else if you don’t first silence yourself.

And part of the issue may be this? Is it worth it to have a quiet time. and it’s a good question to ask. cause certainly you could be using that time for 1,000 other things, things that could help you financially, things that could build your relationships with others, and even things to help you relax and take your mind off things.

However God’s word is living and active, it’s like an oasis in the desert which is springing with life, and refreshes you. God’s word is like a waterfall that causes your broken cup to overflow. and the reason a lot of people either don’t enjoy their quiet time or don’t have a successful quiet time is because they struggle to be silent in God’s presence .

Now I want to make sure that you are challenged as you leave here today. So, Im gonna ask you some questions and so I want you to either answer out loud or nod or shake your head...

Are you baptized? dead to your old self and alive in Christ?

Do you have a silent time with God?

Do you have a personal relationship with God? my guess is that however you answered the last question it will be the same to this question.

Are you willing to sacrifice your time for God?

Okay, let’s be the church people, let’s be a light in the darkness, let’s be in God’s presence and be his agents. Let’s put God first and let everything else follow. Let us be brothers and sisters in Christ, loving one another the way that he has loves us. Let us Serve God with all our hearts soul and might.

Let’s pray.