1 Streetsville United Church Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014 Rev. John Tapscott GOD SPEAKS Hebrews 1:1-3 Several years ago the United Church of Christ in the United States ran an advertising campaign of evangelism and welcome. It was entitled God is Still Speaking. For several weeks before Christmas that phrase was seen on billboards and TV screens and heard on radio. It stirred up a fair bit of interest in the denomination and in Christian faith. God is still speaking. Well, is it true? Is God still speaking? Yes, he is. God is a living God. God speaks and is still speaking to all who know how to listen for his voice. But we have to be careful. We have to be sure that we don t confuse God s voice with the latest cultural trends or fads. I want you to hear these words of the writer to Hebrews; Chapter 1, verses 1,2 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son. These words are important for they tell us that God speaks to us in the same ways that he has spoken to us in the past. There is no new method of communication. Nor is God saying something new. Now the cultural context in which God speaks changes. But peoples deep needs are the same through all generations. So God is saying to us today what he has always said. Long ago, God spoke. In these last days God has spoken. God is speaking still. Today I want us to think about the many and various ways God speaks to us. First, God speaks to us through his creation. The Psalmist heard God speaking through the night sky. Psalm 19, The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament declares his handiwork. Job heard God speaking through a whirlwind telling him of God s greatness and God s grand purposes. Jesus said, Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
2 Many people have come to believe in God by reflecting on his creation. Through nature they have heard God s voice saying, I exist. I am your Maker, your Creator. One night Napoleon, not a religious man, overheard some of his generals arguing about religion. Some were denying God s existence. Napoleon strode over, pointed upwards, and said to them, Who then, made the stars? And just a few days ago there was a magnificent and multi-colored exploding star in the universe which scientists labelled the hand of God, because it very much resembled the shape of a human hand. If you haven t seen it google it on the internet. It is amazing. Now none of this is final proof for God, because God leaves room for us to have faith. But consider the stars in their courses, the wonder of the human body, the rhythm of the seasons, and the detail found in a single cell. The evidence in creation for a divine Creator and Designer is there if we re open to it. Paul says that creation makes God s eternal power and divine nature plain to us, so that we really have no excuse for unbelief. Now faith in God as Creator is not yet faith in God as Redeemer, but it s a start. When missionaries share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with cultures that have never heard, they begin with God as Creator. That s because God speaks to the whole human race through his creation. Furthermore God speaks to us through creation telling us to treat God s creation with respect and care. For we are made in God s image. We are his agents on earth. There should be no abusing or destroying God s creation. Now I d say some go too far and begin worshipping the creation. That s idolatry. We are to worship the Creator, not what he has made. Furthermore God s creation is fallen and flawed so it cannot reveal the fullness of God s nature. But again it s a start. God speaks and is still speaking to us through creation. Secondly, God speaks to us through the inner person. Now God speaks to all humanity outwardly through creation, but he can also speak to us individually, through the inner person. He can speak to us through the voice of conscience. He can speak in visions or dreams. He can speak to us through an inner compulsion which grips us and tells us to go one way rather than the other, to do this rather than that. God spoke to the Old Testament Joseph in dreams and gave him the gift of interpreting dreams. God spoke to Jacob in a dream. In the Christmas story God spoke to Joseph several times in a dream, directing his actions. Once the apostle Paul had a vision of a man begging him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Paul changed direction and went to Macedonia concluding that God had called him to preach the Gospel there. Now I ve never heard God speaking to me in a dream. My dreams are way too weird for that. But in my sleep I ve had God change my plans. I ve gone to bed certain that I would do one thing then wake up in the morning knowing that I needed to do something else. In my sleep God has given me solutions to problems I was wrestling with. Scripture promises that God gives to his beloved in sleep. Yes, God speaks to us through the inner person. Now we have to make sure that it s God who is speaking to us. For there are many voices that speak to us and they re not all from God. They may seek our harm rather than our good. But if you think that God is speaking to you,
3 here are some questions to ask, some tests to apply. Is it in line with the Bible? God will never tell you to do something which contradicts Scripture s clear teaching. Does this action promote peace and reconciliation? Is it helpful to others? Can you share it with a friend? Is it the more difficult way? God s way is often the more challenging way. God speaks to us through the inner person, and his voice can be very powerful, but it needs to be tested to make sure that it s God s voice we re hearing. Yet another ways God speaks to us is through the prophets. God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets By the prophets the writer means the people whom God raised up and inspired to speak for him, those who said, Thus says the Lord, including the law-giver Moses. These words were so important that God not only inspired people to speak them but to write them down. These words were recorded and preserved and are now found in the Bible. And we now include the writings of those witnesses and apostles who knew Jesus. That s what we call the New Testament. God spoke through the words of the prophets and the apostles who witnessed God s mighty acts. And God is still speaking through these same words of the Bible, bringing his eternal truth to bear on our situation. An Australian preacher, Frank Boreham writes gratefully in his autobiography of his parents and their influence. He tells of a time during his boyhood when he noticed his parents were very anxious and troubled. Suddenly the atmosphere changed dramatically and it all had to do with a piece of paper that had been cut from a calendar and tacked to the wall. Printed on it was a verse from the Bible, Thus far has the LORD helped us. After few days the boy asked his mother about it. She told him, Father and I have had a crushing trouble and we feared a much heavier one. Last Tuesday I was feeling dreadfully worried. I felt I could endure it no longer. The burden seemed to be killing me. As I paced up and down I paused in front of the calendar. The only thing I saw was this verse, Thus far has the Lord helped us. I was so overcome I sat down and had a good cry and then I began again with fresh heart and trust. When father came home I told him about it and he took the page from the calendar and framed it and hung it on the wall. Fifty years afterwards Boreham wrote, It was then that I made my discovery. Here was the secret. Here was the connection between the Bible religion and real life Perhaps that s a good message for us as we go forth into the New Year. Thus far has the LORD helped us. It s true for us individually and it s true for this congregation. God has helped us in the past and he will never withdraw his help or sustaining power. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So we enter the New Year with hope and confidence in God. God has spoken and still speaks to us through the words of the Bible. Finally, God speaks to us in Jesus. Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son God speaks to us in many ways, but most clearly
4 in Jesus. Jesus is God s final word to the human race. All that God wants to say to us and all that we need to hear has been spoken to us in Jesus. He is the Word made flesh When we re in a debate with someone we often make our best argument, but then speak too long, so that our words lose their effectiveness. Sometimes you need to say what you re going to say and then just let your words sink in. That s what God did with Jesus. In the life, the teachings, the works, the death and the resurrection of Jesus God put forth his very best. He laid it all on the table for us to hear and see. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. He is the exact imprint of God s very being. Do you wonder whether God cares for us? By taking on our flesh God answered that for all time. He said, I do care for you. I care for the whole world. I shared your life. I know your needs. I understand what you re going through. Do you want to know how much God loves us? Look to the Cross where Jesus suffered and died to purify us from sin. You want to know that death is a defeated enemy? Listen to him who was raised from the dead and lives forever and says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in me, even though they die yet shall they live Are you fearful? Hear God s word spoken to you in Jesus, Do not be afraid. I am with you always to the end of the age. Are you troubled by sin and guilt? Hear the words of the Saviour, Your sins are forgiven.., Do you wonder who reigns in this universe? Look to Jesus for he is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high and he is coming again to complete God s Kingdom and take God s people home. Do you want to live with purpose and meaning? Hear the words of Jesus who said, Follow me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Yes God speaks to us in many and various ways, and he speaking to us still. Above all he is speaking to us in His Son. So listen for God s voice and receive his timeless message, a message that was spoken in a Bethlehem manger 2,000 years ago, a message that is as new and as fresh as today, and just as needed as ever. Let us hear God s word and go from this place with renewed faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit not just to hear God s word but also to do it.
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