Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur
Cincotti. 05/14/2023
Listen to our Bible
Study Discussion at: Hearing From God Podcast
Or watch the Video Zoom Session of our Study on YouTube:
Hearing from God
“Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.”
Rm. 10:17
We have often said that
prayer is a dialogue with God, and that hearing what God says is far more
important than what we say.
The question should arise,
how do we hear God?
In the Old Testament select
prophets heard directly from God. We read that as early as Cain and Able they
heard from God. As the population grew we move swiftly through Scripture to
observe how people heard from God. By Deut. 18:18 the LORD says to Moses, “I will raise up for them a Prophet
like you from among their brethren and will put My words in His mouth, and He
shall speak to them all that I command Him.” vr. 15, “Him you shall hear.”…Wonder
who that was?
By Jos. 8:31 we first see, “as
it is written in the book of the law of Moses,”...A Bible
I Sam. 3:1, “And the word
of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”
until God said, “Samuel! Samuel!”
and Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”
Two principles:
1) God prepares His prophets.
2) God did not continue until He got the appropriate response.
We read examples of people
hearing from God by audible voice, dreams, direct revelation, direct encounters
with the “angel of the LORD”, one donkey, and the written word of God.
In the New Testament, “the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” Jn. 1:14
Jn. 12:50, Jesus says,
“…whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Jn. 14:26, “But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
The Holy Spirit spoke to the
apostles, they wrote stuff down, and the church sealed it; closed
cannon…right?
How do we hear from God
now???
His word, the Bible, of
course. This is the Word of God; the Logos.
How did we get to the
Bible? Rm. 10:14, “How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Is there any direct revelation today? Of course
there is.
The Bible is sufficient
information for salvation, and for how to live righteously before God. II Pet.
1:3, “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life
and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
But what about the particular
engagements of life; who should I marry, what profession should I pursue, where
should I go to church, where should I live, what should I have for breakfast???
No
chapter and verse for those!
will, in some way, hear from God.
Joel said, and Peter repeats, “And it shall come to pass
in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams.”
Acts 2:17
In this verse we engage two
OT methods in which people heard from God saying that it shall occur in the
last days.
In Acts. 21 we read of a man named Philip who, “had four
virgin daughters who prophesied.” It was never recorded what they said, but
they spoke the word of the Lord.
God, who is, “the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Heb. 13:8 engages with us in the same ways as always, but we also must apply
some important principles.
*God can not contradict
Himself. So any revelation that we
receive, either by dream, voice, notion, prophecy, must be consistent with
His word. God is never going to tell you to rob a bank, enter into a
homosexual relationship, worship an idol, or put peanut butter on a pepperoni
pizza.
*We should be very
cautions with “thus sayeth the Lord”. If we read on in Deut. 18:23, “when
a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if
the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken in
presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
We believe, and emphasize
that our God is a very personal God, who invites us to call Him Father.
He has given us much and continues to beckon us into a deeper, richer, more
intimate relationship with Him. He desires that we would engage with Him by
embracing His word, and conversing with Him all the day long.
He has promised, on His part,
never to leave us or forsake us. When you ask God a specific question, expect
and answer.
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For those who require the
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
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