Hearing God

April 30, 2017

The Q Before the A

Denominations,
Spiritual Wisdom,
Hearing God

This sermon series is based on questions submitted by you!  To submit a question or topic you would like to hear covered, go to livingfaithindy.com/qa.

1. Are the differences between denominations important or unimportant? Why are we a Southern Baptist Church?

Denomination:
A group of churches that identify together through a common name, structure, leadership and doctrine.

Hebrews 10:25
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Are the differences between denominations important or unimportant?
Yes.

When you gave your life to Jesus, you gave your life to JESUS. NOT to a denomination. That being said, differences ARE important because they often show a difference in major doctrinal issues (such as salvation, the person of Jesus, the Holy Spirit’s work, or palpal primacy). 

What is Southern Baptist:
1) Adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message
2) Give to the Cooperative Program
3) Annual Church Profile

North American Mission Board
www.namb.net

- Led by Kevin Ezell
- Church Planting across North America in Send Cities
- 83 percent of the population now living in metropolitan areas

-Other ministries: collegiate, Appalachian mountains, send relief, church renewal, disaster relief, human trafficking, hunger relief, training and equipping of pastors and church leaders

International Mission Board
www.imb.org

- Led by David Platt
- International missionaries all over the world in some of the hardest places on earth. Name a country and the IMB is there in some capacity.
- Current focus: sending limitless missionaries

2. How to we obtain the kind of spiritual wisdom referenced in Proverbs?

Proverbs 1:1-7
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
    for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
    doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
    and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
    the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Wisdom:
Skillful living

To have wisdom, we need to have proper knowledge of the Lord. We need to have reverence and respect for him as our lord. It’s an understanding that we are in the presence of the very King of everything. When we talk about gaining spiritual wisdom, we start with knowing who God is.

This isn't the kind of thing that we get all at once. If we are going to really strive after Godly wisdom, it’s going to take us a lifetime. It doesn’t come in a session, a Bible study, or a sermon - it comes from a lifetime of faithful obedience to the Lord.

In proverbs there are 2 types of people:
- The wise who live their lives in submission to the Lord and want to honor Him every day.
- The fools who rejects God and his ways.

If we want to live like the wise, we need to submit to God’s instruction every day. To obtain Godly wisdom, we need to decide that I’m not going to follow my own heart and my own ways, I’m going to follow the ways of the Lord. So, I’m committing to:
- Study the Bible
- Be in a church that will hold me accountable
- Receive correction if I need it

Wisdom seems more like a person than something that we obtain. Growing in wisdom only comes from knowing Jesus in a real and personal way.

3. How do you hear God?

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

John 8:47
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 10:27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

If you are a born-again Christian, the Holy Spirit is inside of you and you are able to hear God!

Through Scripture:
- Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
- There were many times that God reminded someone
in the New Testament of an Old Testament verse
and spoke to them through it

Still-Small Voice:
- Spoke to Elijah through a still-small voice
like a voice in the back of his head

Inner Conviction:
- Esther was convicted by God to stand up for her people
- David was convicted multiple times while sinning against God

Other People:
- In Acts 2, God spoke to people in their own languages
through Christians at Pentacost
- In the Old Testament he used prophets to speak to His people

Dreams:
- Spoke to Pharaoh in Exodus and used Joseph to interpret it
- Spoke to Paul in Acts 16 through a dream
of a Macedonian man, telling him to preach the Gospel there

Visions:
- Spoke to Ananias in Acts 9 telling him to go find Paul
- Spoke to Peter in Acts 10 telling him to eat unclean animals
and seek out lost gentiles

Audible Voice:
- Spoke to Saul in an audible voice with a beam of light
… He also physically showed Himself to him
- Spoke to Moses basically “face-to-face” on a mountaintop

Supernatural Manifestations:
- Spoke to Moses through a burning bush
- Spoke to Gideon through a fleece
- Spoke to Balaam through a donkey
- Led the Isrealites with a pillar of clouds and a pillar of fire

Compass it
- Count the Cost
- Check it with the Bible
- Check it with People
- Check it with God again

Communication Card
- I’ll study more about what it means for Living Faith to be a Southern Baptist Church.
- I will ask God to increase the amount of wisdom I have.
- I will take time this week to discover a new way that God can speak to me.