Bible Study #10: Speak, Your Servant Listens
Read 1 Samuel 3:1-9. Why did Samuel not recognize that God spoke to him? V1 – the word from the Lord was rare in those days – i.e., God didn’t often speak to men; v7 – Samuel didn’t know the Lord nor the word of the Lord revealed to him – Samuel had not come to know the Lord personally nor know that the Lord would speak to him to reveal His will (NOTE: in vv8-9 Samuel needed to be instructed by Eli how to know and respond to hear God speaking to him; help student learn they must learn how to know and respond to hear God speaking to them)
Unless you believe God speaks to you, you will not listen for His voice. Read
the following text and identify reasons you should believe God speaks to you.
Deuteronomy 5:24 Bible teaches us God speaks to man and man is able to hear His voice
Hebrews 1:1-2 Bible teaches in past God spoke in many ways but in these last days (days in which we live) God has spoken to us in (through) His Son, Text shows us God speaks to men in these last days
Why Does God Speak To You?
Read the following texts and identify the reasons God speaks to you:
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 If we obey (v1 & v2 literal Hebrew text says if we listen to voice of the Lord – see footnote NASV) and do the Lord’s commandments then Lord sets us high above all nations, all blessings of God will be ours
Jeremiah 42:6 God speaks so when we listen it will go well with us (NOTE:understand other Scriptures will teach us listening is not enough, we must also do what we hear to be blessed)
Luke 6:46 Jesus said, why do you call me your Lord, but don’t do what I say. God speaks to us through Jesus so we will know what we are to do, and obey what God communicates to us
How does Deuteronomy 29:29 confirm reasons God speaks to you. God reveals Himself to us (i.e., speaks to us) so we will observe/do everything God tells us to do
How Do You Hear God Speak and Discern His Will?
When discerning God’s will, we often say, “I’m at peace . . . I feel good about
this”, or “I am not at peace . . . I don’t feel good about this”. Are our feelings a
valid means of discerning the will of God according to what Bible teaches?
Read Luke 1:1-3 and Acts 15:22, 25, 28. What do these texts suggest? Luke undertook task of writing Gospel of Luke because ‘it seemed fitting for” him to do this, i.e., it felt good for Luke to write the Gospel, which was clearly God’s desire; The Jerusalem had meeting about Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles and in v22 “it seem good to apostles and elders with the whole church” to send men to Antioch; in v25 again what they were doing “seem good to them” and in v28 “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to them”. From these text the feelings expressed were clearly the will of God which He had communicated to His servants
Read Acts 26:9 and John 16:2. What do these texts suggest? Paul thought to himself (he felt this was good thing to do) to do many things hostile to name of Jesus; Jesus identifies a time will come when people will kill the servants of God because they think it is good thing and offers service to God; From these texts the feelings and thoughts expressed were clearly not the will of God and thus were never communicated to God to these people
T / F: Feelings alone are not a satisfactory means to discern God’s will!
True: help student to understand our own feelings alone can never be trusted to determine if God has truly spoken to us
How Does God Speak to You? In Old Testament times God spoke in
many different ways: an audible voice, angels, burning bushes, donkeys,
handwriting on wall, dreams. Read Hebrews 1:1-2. How does God
primarily speak to you today? God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ
How do you receive the message of the Son (John 16:13-15; 1 Cor 2:12)? Holy Spirit guides us in all truth (Jesus is the truth); Holy Spirit never speaks on His own initiative but takes of Mine (i.e., Jesus – words of Jesus) and discloses – reveals them to us. Thus we receive the message of the Son through the Holy Spirit (which indwells us)
Read 1 John 3:19-21; Romans 8:16; and Luke 24:32. According to these
texts how does the Holy Spirit speak with you? (NOTE: context – v18 not love in word, but in deed and truth; v19ff teaches us how to assure our heart (i.e., spirit, inner man) before God – how to be certain of what God wants us to know) we assure ourselves in whatever our heart condemns us i.e., judge us guilty; declare us to be wrong – for God is greater than our heart – God can make us hear Him speak – because He can overpower our heart/spirit/inner man and communicate if our love is in word only. if our heart (spirit/inner man/intellect) does not condemn us – not make us feel guilty or wrong – we have confidence before God, i.e., we know our love is in deed and truth. God uses to Holy Spirit to communicate (speak to us) His approval or disapproval. Thus God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit communicating with our heart/spirit/inner man/intellect. This is confirmed in Rom 8:16 - Holy Spirit testifies (speaks with) our spirit that we are children of God (i.e., God’s approval). In Luke we find the men on the Emmaus road found their hearts (inner man, spirit) burning within them as Jesus was explaining the Scriptures, i.e,, the Holy Spirit was attempting to communicate but they weren’t listening - the Holy Spirit speaks to us through our hearts/inner man/spirit/intellect – these represent the center of our thinking - our thought processes
The Holy Spirit uses Bible as the primary source to speak to you and
influence your thoughts. Read John 16:13 and John 17:17. How do these
texts affirm this truth? Holy Spirit guides us in all truth; According to John 17:17 God’s word is truth (NOTE: the Bible is the primary and foremost source by which the Holy Spirit speaks to us – Bible always should be used to confirm others sources noted below)
The Holy Spirit also speaks to you through other secondary sources. Identify
these sources in the texts below:
Acts 13:1-3 The Holy Spirit spoke to the church to set apart Saul and Barnabas to the mission field, thus the Holy Spirit speaks through other people especially the members of the church.
Esther 4:13-14 Mordecai pointed out to Esther that she might be the queen for the purpose of delivering the Jews from the threat of death – thus the Holy Spirit can use our circumstances to speak to us God’s will
Acts 9:10-11 The Holy Spirit had revealed to Paul during his prayers that Ananias would come and restore his sight, thus the Holy Spirit uses our prayers to speak to us the will of God.
The Bible is the primary source to affirm God’s message the Spirit speaks
through these secondary sources. How does Acts 17:10-11 confirm this truth? Those in Thessalonica received the spoken word from Paul and used the Scriptures (Bible) to identify that the words he spoke were indeed God’s words
What Must You Do To Hear The Holy Spirit Speak and
Discern God’s Will?
First Requirement: Believe You Can Know God’s Will
The Bible gives us confidence we can know God’s will. Read the following
texts and identify the reason we have confidence we can know God’s will.
Colossians 1:9-10 Paul prayed under inspiration of God that his readers might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, thus we know its is God’s desire for us to know His will
Colossians 4:12 Paul under inspiration of God wrote of Epaphras prayers that he prayed the Colossians might stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God; thus we know its God’s will for us to be fully assured of what God’s will is
Second Requirement: Live the proper lifestyle.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
Identify three things in the text above that enable you to prove the will of God. #1 – present your bodies a living sacrifice; #2 – do not be conformed to this world; #3 – be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
How do we present our bodies as a sacrifice to God (See Eph 5:1-2)? present your bodies a sacrifice – imagery of OT sacrifices presented to God, thus we present our lives to God. See Romans 6:19-22 – we enslaved ourselves to God – die to self and be alive unto God to serve Him [explain to student how the sacrifice is living, holy, and pleasing to God]
To be conformed means to be squeezed into mold. How do we keep from
being squeezed into the mold of the world (see James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17)? do not be conformed to this world – conformed is to be pressed into a mould, i.e., the world’s mould, do not let the world force you to be like it – self centered and self serving – you cannot be a friend to ways of the world and at the same time be a friend of God
How are you to be transformed (see Eph 4:22-24; 1 Cor 2:13-14)? be transformed by the renewing of your mind; transformed is the Greek word from which we get our English word, “metamorphosis”; we must undergo a change just like that of caterpillar to a butterfly – see Colossians 3:5-10; the work of renewing the mind is done by the Holy Spirit which enables us to put off the old man and put on the new man.
Third Requirement: Seek God With A Whole Heart.
Read Isaiah 55:6. What does this text suggest about being able to find God? We must seek God while He may be found, while He is near; text suggests there are times when God will not be found, and times when He is not near.
How do the following texts support the truth of Isaiah 55:6?
1 Samuel 3:1 in the days of Samuel and Eli – a word from the Lord was rare – God could not be found
Amos 8:11-12 God promises to bring a famine for His word, and though people will search for the word from the Lord, they will not find it.
The Bible is clear when God will not be found and will be found. Read the
following texts and identify when God will not be found:
Isaiah 1:4, 10-15 our sin will separate us from God
Zachariah 7:12-13 people hardened their hearts against hearing the word of the Lord; God promised when they called He would not listen
James 4:3 God doesn’t answer because we ask with wrong motives – our hearts are self centered
Read the following texts and identify when God will be found:
Jeremiah 29:12-13 when we call on the Lord, when we pray, when we seek God with a whole heart – we will find Him
Deuteronomy 4:29 when we search for God with all our heart and all our soul, then He will be found
2 Chronicles 7:14 humble self, pray, seek the Lord’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear us
Luke 11:9-13 keep on asking, seeking, and knocking and God will give us the Holy Spirit – i.e., the Holy Spirit will reveal God’s will to us
How do we seek God with a whole heart? (Note: summarize the texts above) we must turn from self centeredness and sin, humble ourselves before God by confessing our weaknesses and sin; we must make a diligent effort in continual prayer - seeking God - calling on God; we must listen for God to speak His will to us
Fourth Requirement: Test the spirits.
In your life many spirits influence your thoughts. Identify the different spirits:
#1 - Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15)
#2 - devil and demonic (2 Corinthians 11:14)
#3 - world (Romans 12:2)
#4 - self & selfish desires (James 1:14)
All of these sources seek to influence your thoughts, the way you think.
Many times all these influences are speaking to you at once! Read 1 John
4:1-3. How do you know which spirit is the Holy Spirit speaking for God? According to vv1 we should not believe every spirit that tries to influence us but rather tests the spirits to see if they are from God or not
According to 1 John 4:2-3 how do you test the spirits? Every spirit that confesses Jesus is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God
How do you know if the spirit confesses Jesus (see John 10:27)? Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. Sheep (children of God) know Jesus because they know and recognize His voice. They have heard the voice speak to them many times and thus have confidence in knowing and recognizing His voice when He speaks. (NOTE: you might use the illustration of knowing your spouse’s voice on the telephone vs. a strangers voice) Thus, we know the spirit confesses Jesus when the influence of the spirit agrees with person, character, and teaching of Jesus. (NOTE: the importance of knowing the person, character and teaching of Jesus through our worship, prayer, Bible study, and service/working with Jesus.
If the spirit seeking to influence you is the Holy Spirit, He will only speak the
things which He heard from Jesus (John 16:13-15). The influence you are
testing will sound like Jesus (John 10:27), His teaching, and will agree with
His character and nature. The Holy Spirit will always agree with the teaching
of Bible! If the influence sounds like Jesus, acts like Jesus, smells like Jesus,
tastes likes Jesus, feels like Jesus . . . its Jesus!
T / F: Practically you test spirits by comparing the influence of the
spirit to what you know about Jesus.
True: If the influence sounds like Jesus, acts like Jesus, smells like Jesus, tastes likes Jesus, feels like Jesus . . . its Jesus!
Fifth Requirement: A Love Relationship with Jesus and Father
Producing obedience.
Read John 14:15-26. Identify how love relationship of obedience with the
Father and the Son assure you that you will clearly hear God speak and know
His will. Jesus promises we will have the Holy Spirit abiding with us and in us (v17); Jesus teaches in vv21 that those who love Him, i.e., keep His commandments, will be loved by His Father and Himself (NOTE: understand this is a deeper and greater relational love than John 3:16 love - i.e., God loves all the world, but He loves those who obey Him with a greater and deeper love.). Jesus also promises that to those who love Him He will disclose Himself. According to vv26 Jesus does this through the Holy Spirit in us who will teach us all things and bring to remembrance all Jesus taught us. Thus to those who live in a love relationship of obedience to Jesus, Jesus promises to disclose, reveal, show Himself to us. He speaks the Father’s will to us because Jesus always speaks the things of the Father. The closer we are in our relationship with Jesus the greater confidence we will have to hear God Speak to us through the Holy Spirit.
Why is it so important to a Christian to be confident that
you can clearly hear God speak? (NOTE: understand that when we are confident in hearing God speak to us clearly, then we will be confidence in knowing God’s will for our lives and being empowered to live in a love relationship of obedience with Jesus and the Father.