Hearing and Seeing // How Can I Hear God Speak to Me, Part 2

It’s one thing to want to hear God speak. Lots of people do – How can I hear God speak to me is one of the most common questions I’m asked. But half the time, I wonder whether we’re not wandering around with our ears shut and our eyes closed. Really!

 

The Providence of Preaching

My enduring memory of being dragged to church when I was a child was the droning of the preacher. I can honestly say he never said one thing; not a single thing back in those days, that impacted my life for good. Perhaps there was one thing – I was so bored this particular Sunday, sitting on these hard wooden pews, as a young lad, that I took the time to learn to wiggle my ears. But that was it! An incredible waste of time when you think about it and really sad because there is something incredible powerful about hearing the Word of God preached and receiving God’s wisdom that way.

Last week, we kicked off a series of messages about how we can hear God speak. I mean, if God is God and we are meant to have a relationship with Him then, shouldn’t we be able to communicate with Him? Of course, we can pray – that’s communication in one direction but what about communication back in the other direction? How can you and I actually hear God speaking His will into our lives?

As we saw last week God is still speaking today. We have chatted so far about hearing Him speak through His Word, the Bible and during times when we get still before Him in prayer. We are going to chat today about two more ways that we can hear God speak – firstly hearing through His providence of preaching and later through the reading of signs. Humm!

Now, the idea of preaching – some guy getting up and speaking about God’s Word, teaching what is in the Bible – you know, to many people, it seems pretty old fashioned. And the other problem with it is that there’s lots of bad preaching going around as well. I have sat and listened to a lot of people talk about the messages they get from their pastor on a Sunday morning and I have to tell you, in many, many cases, the news is not good. There’s a lot of dead preaching out there – people droning on with irrelevant, boring messages.

Not everywhere, of course, not every pastor, not every church, but a lot of it. A.W. Tozer in his book “The Pursuit of God” put it this way. He said:

It’s a solemn thing and no small scandal in the Kingdom of God to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table. Sound Bible exposition is an imperative ‘must’ in the church of the living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church, in any meaning of that term. But exposition can be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any spiritual nourishment whatsoever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul but God Himself and unless and until the hearers find God in their experience, they are no better for having heard the truth.

It’s sad but true! Hang on, this is nothing new though! This is how Luke records the reaction of people to Jesus preaching - Luke chapter, verse 31:

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority.

And again, in Matthew, listen to what he says. Matthew chapter 7, verse 28:

Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

In other words, this stuff that Jesus was talking about was not the sort of preaching and teaching that they had been hearing from their scribes and synagogue leaders and priests and the rest of the religious establishment - in fact, quite to the contrary. Again listen to what Jesus had to say about the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees – Matthew chapter 23, beginning at verse 2:

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

So, I guess what I am saying is that there is good preaching and bad preaching. Let’s call a spade a spade here. Preaching that brings life and sadly, preaching that brings death. And people who sit under dead teaching, well, their faith and their passion for Jesus ebbs away. And little by little, they grow cold – little by little their faith dies and they with it.

Does that mean that good preaching is all hyped and motivational and you know, about success and earning a lot of money? No that’s not what makes good prea