Eight Ways to Hear from God - #2: The Bible

 

We are in part 2 of our Bible Study called 8 Ways to Hear from God.  Last week we looked at Preaching as a method that God uses to speak to us.  Today, I want to move on to the next method, which is through the Bible.  The Bible is God’s Word spoken directly to us.  So, let’s start with the Study text:

 

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV)
^1:1 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;

 

So, in the Bible there are a number of times where God spoke to people through a booming voice that came from Heaven.  He spoke at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son in whom I’m well-pleased.”  He spoke to the disciples at the Mount of Transfiguration.  He spoke to Paul on the Damascus Road.  But our text here tells us that God spoke at various times in various ways.  In other words, God speaks to us in different ways.  I made a list of eight ways God speaks to us.  So today, let’s look at the second method, the Bible.  Here’s the text for today’s study:

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)
^3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

One of the arguments that I have had with Atheists is that the Bible was written by men.  How can we call it the “Word of God,” when it was written by men?  This scripture tells us that the words written on the page were written by men INSPIRED by God.  I mentioned last week, in talking about Biblical preaching, that the word inspired mean divinely breathed.  Or that God “SPOKE” the words into the writers.  God put the words there.  These men weren’t writing on their own they were writing down what God spoke to them.  Think about this:

 

1.  The Bible was written by forty different men.  There are forty different authors of the Bible.  They wrote the Bible over a period of 1500 years.  The thing that’s interesting is that all of those authors over all those years essentially agree.  How often have you heard pastor use both Old and New Testament while preaching on one concept?  The Old Testament seems to be mostly stories that demonstrate New Testament Truths.  For example, there’s this:  David has sinned.  He committed adultery with Bathsheba.  He’s killed her husband to cover it up.  God sends Nathan the Prophet to David to REBUKE him for this sin and to tell him that God was going to judge him:

 

2 Samuel 12:10-12 (NKJV)
^12:10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' ¹¹ Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' "

 

David sinned; God judged.  But then David repents:

 

2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV)
^12:13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

 

So, David repented and God took away the threat of death.  In the New Testament the Bible tells us:

 

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
^6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Our wages are what we deserve from what we’ve done.  At work we receive wages for the work we do.  That’s what we deserve.  The Bible tells us that what we deserve from our sin is death.  That’s what we have earned through sin.  But God gives us a gift and that gift is eternal life.  But we have to lose the sin to receive it. So how is that done?  Repentance:

 

Acts 2:38 (NKJV)
^2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

David repented and his life was spared by God.  We repent and our sin is removed and we no longer face the death that we deserve because of OUR sin.  The two concepts are the same.  The book of 2 Samuel was written in 540 BC.  The book of Acts was written in 90 AD, 630 years later.  God’s Word is consistent throughout the Bible.  God is saying the same things to us throughout the Bible.

 2.  The Old Testament is full of the words of the Prophets.  Fifteen of the Bibles sixty-six books are Prophets.  12 minor prophets.  (These books are up to 14 chapters) and three Major Prophets (more than 14 chapters). 

 The Bible uses the phrase “God said” or “Thus says the Lord” or something like that three thousand eight hundred times.

 

Isaiah 38:4 (NKJV)
^38:4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,

 

Jeremiah 1:4 (NKJV)
^1:4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

 

Ezekiel 1:3 (NKJV)
^1:3 the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

 

This is God speaking to his people through the prophet’s words which were written for us in the BIBLE.

 So, is the Bible the written word of God?  It is.  It’s one of the primary ways that God speaks to us.  It is God’s words accurately relayed to us by faithful men, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  For what reason was it given to us?  Look at our text again for a moment:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)
^3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

1.  God has given us the Bible to “thoroughly equip us for every good work.”  It’s so we can live according to what God wants for us.

James 1:21-22 (NKJV)

^1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

2.  The Bible will assist you to “save your soul.”  It is given to us that we will live it out.  We should do the things the Bible tells us.  It’s not enough to just read it.  Living it out is the key.  Memorize scriptures that can help you to stay saved.  Commit yourself to following God’s commands.  “I will do what God says is right.”

 

Hebrews 4:12 (NRSV)

^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.

 

3.  Have you ever wondered if the things you’re thinking and doing are the right things?  Maybe someone else is trying to influence you into certain behaviors.  The Bible will help you to know what’s right and what’s wrong.  What someone says to justify their behavior may sound like it’s logical, but the Word of God can help you to divide right thinking from wrong thinking. 

Ephesians 6:17 (NRSV)

^6:17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

4.  The word of God is like a sword.  A sword is both an offensive and defensive weapon.  You use a sword to attack and destroy an enemy.  Who is your enemy?  Satan, right?  The name Satan means adversary.  He’s against you.  He must be destroyed before He destroys you.  You can attack him with the word of God. 

 Also, you can defend yourself against his attacks by ruminating on the word of God.  To ruminate means to bring up and chew over again.  Like Cows do.  They eat some grass and then they bring it up again and chew it over again.  That’s called chewing their cud.  We can do that by reading our Bible in the morning and then throughout the day, meditating on what we read.  This helps us to avoid temptations.  We can also bring up verses that help us to turn back temptation.

 Let me show you how the Bible can help us:

Luke 4:1-4 (NKJV)
^4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." ⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

 

So here the devil tries to tempt Jesus to put His flesh before the things of God.  Jesus tells Him that IT IS WRITTEN – man doesn’t live by bread alone BUT by every WORD of GOD!  The Word of God is the key to LIFE.

 

Luke 4:5-8 (NKJV)

^4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." ⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

 

Now, the devil tries to tempt Him with wealth and power.  You can have everything the world has to offer if you worship me.  You can be a king and not have to suffer.  It’s a shortcut to your kingdom.  Jesus answers, “IT IS WRIITEN,” and quotes the scriptures to Him.

 

Luke 4:9-12 (NKJV)
^4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,' ¹¹ "and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' " ¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "

 

Now the devil tries to trick him by quoting scripture out of context.  He tries to get Him to sin through presumption.  I know what God will do.  That makes a situation where you are making your will God’s will.  But Jesus knows the written word of God and again uses it to defeat the temptation.  Then this happens:

 

Luke 4:13 (NKJV)
^4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

 

 The devil retreats from Him until He can catch Him off guard.  If you want protection from temptation and sin STUDY, the Word of God.  Read your Bible and memorize what God speaks to you.

 God uses the Bible to speak to us; to protect us; to inform us; and to inspire us.  Next week we’ll look at How God speaks to us through Prayer.