Week 5: The People
One of the most popular kinds of books or articles in our day is the kind that offer a
diagnostic checklist to tell you if you fit into certain categories. You can check a few boxes and
find out, for example, if you’re in good health, or if you’re financially stable or teetering on the
brink of disaster, or if you’re being a good parent. It seems there are checklists for everything in
the world, including a book called How to Know If You’re a Redneck!
In case you’ve been wondering about that, I’ll give you a few indicators to help clarify
that for you.
1. If, when your front porch collapses, it kills more than three dogs, you might be a
redneck.
2. If you own a home that is mobile and five cars that are not, you might be a redneck.
3. If you’ve ever been fired from a construction job due to your appearance, you might
be a redneck.
4. If you’ve ever hollered, “Rock the house, Bubba!” during a piano recital, you might
be a redneck.
5. If you stare at a can of frozen orange juice because it says, “Concentrate …”
6. If you have to think about that last one … !
Today we’re going to look at a Bible passage and then take a ten-point diagnostic of
ourselves. So get out your paper and pen, and get ready.
These past few weeks we have been doing an intensive study and application to discover
that God is truly closer than we think.
• We’ve talked about his desire to be close to us—to be with us.
• We covered how being with him is our choice.
• The third week we learned how the Spirit of God is present within us as Christfollowers.
• Last week we learned about listening to God’s voice throughout each day.
Every one of these weeks builds on the other, and each reflects God’s great desire for a
relationship with you that is far more than a Sunday-morning experience—but is woven into the
fabric of every single day.
One of the most overlooked places to experience God’s presence is in the lives of the
people around us, particularly, but not exclusively, those who are Christ-followers.
Here’s the diagnostic question we’re going to ask ourselves today: “How do you know if
you are seeing God’s presence in and through the people around you?”
Here’s why this is important: when you and I grow in our awareness of God’s presence in
and through the people around us, we are growing in our love for people and our love for
God—and growing even more aware of his presence. This is critical to our maturing in our faith
as Christians.
If you have a Bible with you, please turn to Colossians 4:7–18, Paul’s final words to the
church in the city of Colosse. Here is what he says to this congregation:
“Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister
and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may
know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with
Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is
happening here.
“My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of
Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) _
“Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my
fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is
always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and
fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and
Hierapolis. Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to
the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
“After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the
Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
“Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.’
“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”
People who are in community together typically do two very common things. They tell
stories and they dream dreams. The longer they’ve been in community, the deeper the stories and
the richer the dreams.
Do you realize that when you’re part of a small circle of individuals, there’s a story and a
dream attached to every person? That’s part of doing life in community.
That’s what lies behind Paul’s words here. Unfortunately, this is the sort of Bible text a
lot of people tend to skip right over. But it is so rich. I want to extract everything we can from it.
Paul most likely wrote Colossians as a prisoner at Rome, probably not far from the end of
his life. In this very poignant conclusion of his letter he sends greetings from a small circle of
people—a little community that faced prison or exile—back to some of their dear friends in
Colosse, knowing that some of them would probably never be reunited. In a sense, he pulls back
the curtain and reveals his little circle of traveling companions and special people to whom he’s
writing. A handful of names are mentioned, and there’s a story behind every one of them.
What I want to do is to walk with you around this circle, look at their stories, and ask you
to reflect. From the lives of these individuals and Paul’s words about them or to them, we are
going to see various indicators which help us recognize God’s presence in and through the
people around us.
The first indicator is this:
1. If you can describe how a person’s character traits reflect God, you might be seeing God
through the people around you.
Paul starts in verse 7 by saying, “Tychicus will tell you all the news about me.” We first
met Tychicus in Acts 20:4, where we’re told he’s from a Roman province of Asia. Paul here
gives him a beautiful commendation. Look at the three phrases that describe him.
He’s a “dear brother.” We’re in relational intimacy, Paul says. He’s a “faithful minister.”
Tychicus had some task to work at. We don’t know what it was, but he was diligent in his work
for the community. He’s a “fellow servant.” He served.
I want to give you a key word, a phrase for each one of the names around this little circle.
If you’re taking notes, you can just write down a little note next to each one of these names. The
one here for Tychicus is this word “encourage” in verse 8. “I’ve sent him to you for this very
purpose,” Paul says, “so that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.”
Most New Testament scholars think that Tychicus was the representative of the church in
the province of Asia who brought money to the poor in the Jerusalem church. Imagine the
encouragement that brought to the believers in Jerusalem. Tychicus apparently was the guy who
signed up for that assignment.
Paul also wrote about Tychicus to the church at Ephesus. Take a look at what he says:
“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you
also may know how I am and what I am doing.” (Ephesians 6:21)
When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he was chained to a Roman guard. There are
certain things you don’t write about when there’s a Roman guard looking over your
shoulder—such as prison conditions or how you feel about Caesar! So he says Tychicus is going
to come so they can know for sure how things really are.
Tychicus would go to the people and reassure them: “Paul’s okay, he’s in God’s hands.
Not just that, the gospel is spreading, and the kingdom is growing!” And the people would be
encouraged, because when one human being authentically shares his or her experience of God’s
faithfulness, people get changed.
John Ortberg gives a powerful example of this truth. His wife Nancy received a note
while on staff at Willow Creek. The letter was written by Steve Bond and John tracked him
down for permission to read it. Here’s what it said:
“I’m writing this note to you knowing that you’ll share with appropriate people at
Willow. On Thursday night, last month, you baptized my father and mother. They are in their
seventies, James and Margaret Bond.”
Then, as John tells it, he digresses to point out, “James Bond got baptized here last
month. My wife baptized Bond, James Bond! In fact, when I called Steve to get permission, the
last three digits in the telephone number were 007!”
Back to Steve’s letter. “In the audience was our thirteen-year-old son. Apparently, the
service had quite an impact on my son. He told us Friday that Grandma and Grandpa looked so
happy on the stage that he knew he had some thinking and praying to do. Thursday night he
accepted Christ as his personal Savior.”
Then he writes, “My wife and I are ecstatic. My parents are walking on air.” But it’s
because a couple of people at one end of the life spectrum declared God’s faithfulness to them—
declared it was their sins that nailed Jesus to the cross—that the heart of a thirteen-year-old was
encouraged and the gospel was spread. Encouragers do that.
When you look into the life of another person and are able to declare the character traits
you see that resemble God—you are reminded of God’s close presence to you through them.
Their faithfulness is reflective of God’s faithfulness. Their trustworthiness is God’s
trustworthiness. The encouragement you see in them is God’s encouragement.
The second indicator is:
2. If you see people not for their earthly status but for their stature in Christ, you might be
seeing God through the people around you.
A writer named Denis Waitley writes about an exercise that he sometimes includes in his
public speaking. He asks eight volunteers from the audience to come upfront, and then he puts a
cardboard sign around each of their necks. On the sign is written a title to indicate their status in
life: baby, mother, astronaut, janitor, rock star, NBA basketball player, doctor, lawyer. Then they
are told to position themselves in order of their importance.
Now let me add that these volunteers are kids ages seven to eleven. What starts out as a
harmless exercise turns into Star Wars and Virginia Woolf. After the pushing and shoving stops,
they settle down to serious status seeking about who should be at the front of the line.
The astronaut heads to the front—“I am first because I am going places the rest of you
can’t go. Besides, I am going to try to find us another place to live because the earth is too
crowded.” Applause.
The rock star walks up and pushes the astronaut to second place, to a round of cheers
from the spectators. The rock star says, “I’m already in outer space. I make the most money, and
I could buy you as a pilot for my private jet.”
Next comes the NBA player. “I think that I should go first. I make as much money as the
rock star and play to a big crowd every night all season doing something physical, which is better
for you.” More cheers.
The doctor walks up to make his case. “I should go first because I fix all of you when you
are injured or sick, and I make good money.” Light applause.
The lawyer takes a try. “I’m the best because I can put you in jail or keep you out of jail,
and you have to pay all of your money to me.” Big cheers.
Up walks the mother. “I really am first because I brought all of you into the world.”
Again, just light applause.
The baby comes next. “Shouldn’t I really be first in line? All of us were babies before we
were mothers or anything else.” Nods and cheers.
Do you know who never tries to make it to the front of the line? The janitor. Those who
play the janitor role don’t even try for first because they know they will be laughed at if they do,
though it’s just a game.
That’s the way the game of life goes in this world. There is pushing and shoving to see
who is going to win, who is number one, who is most important, who is most powerful or most
successful. People go through their lives being miserable because there always seems to be
someone ahead of them, and it eats away at them.
If you are a person who can see people not for their earthly status, but for their stature in
Christ, you are more likely to see the nearness of God through the people around you. Take a
look at Colossians 4:9 where Paul writes about another name in his circle.
Paul says that Tychicus is coming with Onesimus, “our faithful and dear brother who is
one of you.” Turn to the letter of Philemon, just a few books further back in your Bible.
Onesimus was a runaway slave whom Paul had urged to return willingly to his owner,
Philemon, as a sign of his obedience to Christ. We’re about to see in a tangible way here that
what makes the new community of faith so unique is that the old divisions, boundaries, and
hostilities are just obliterated in Christ.
Beginning in verse 8, Paul writes to Philemon, “Therefore, although in Christ I could be
bold and order you to do what you ought to do”—in other words, Paul is saying, I could
command you to be reconciled and receive Onesimus back—“yet I appeal to you on the basis of
love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for
my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.”
Look at the skill and the heart and the care with which Paul works toward reconciliation:
“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” A little
note here: the name Onesimus meant “useful.” So Paul is making a sort of play on words. In fact,
the name was very rare name among freed people and given almost exclusively to slaves.
“I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him
with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I
did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous
and not forced.”
Even though he could, Paul is not going to use pressure or authority. “Perhaps the reason
he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—no
longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.”
Those were radical words in those days, friends—“He is very dear to me but even dearer
to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.” That is, he would now be a brother, not a
slave, both in their earthly relationship and in the church.
“So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.” Then look at
what Paul says. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” you’re seeing one in action
here.
“If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing
this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do
wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”
Onesimus could have been tracked down and killed, but Paul couldn’t bear to think of
disunity or enmity in the body. In Paul’s letter to the church at Colosse, he wrote, “Here there is
no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is
all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3:11)
Imagine how Onesimus, a runaway slave, felt knowing he had come back to his master,
Philemon, but that Philemon and the congregation at Colosse would hear these words from the
apostle Paul: “This is my faithful and dear brother.”
I’ll share a postscript with you. Several decades later, a church father named Ignatius
referred in his writings to a bishop of Ephesus named Onesimus. Now, we don’t know for sure,
but because this was a name pretty much restricted to slaves, it may well be that this same
Onesimus, a nothing, a slave in the eyes of the world, went on to become one of the great leaders
of the church.
Learn to look beyond the status or the role and see the stature of the person in their
relationship with Christ.
Then there’s Aristarchus. Paul writes just one phrase about him here in Colossians—“My
fellow prisoner”— but, along with a couple of other New Testament passages, it’s sufficient to
provide us with our third indicator:
3. If you observe Christ-followers who stick close to those who are in trouble, you might be
seeing God through the people around you.
In Acts 19:29 Paul is at Ephesus and there’s a riot, and we’re told that Aristarchus is one
of those with Paul, a loyal traveling companion who shared his trouble there.
Later, in Acts 27:1, it says, “When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and
some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the
Imperial Regiment.” And then we find out in verse 2 that they were accompanied by Aristarchus.
It may well be, some scholars think, that Aristarchus attached himself to Paul as Paul’s slave so
that the Roman soldiers would allow him to stay close by.
Often we do well when people are in a short-term crisis. For a week or two we’ll offer
support. But what about when people have long-term needs, ongoing financial or career
problems, or an extended illness? How loyal are you within your circle in such situations?
There’s a saying in Proverbs, a piece of wisdom that goes: “A friend was born for times
of adversity.” Does that describe you? That’s Aristarchus. Paul says, “He’s my fellow prisoner.”
He was in prison with Paul, almost certainly voluntarily.
Aristarchus reflects Jesus’ promise that he will be with us “always, to the very end of the
age.” When you see people who stay close in times of trouble, you are seeing God’s presence
through them.
Then there’s Mark. Paul says, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, as does
Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you’ve received instructions.” This is
interesting—“If he comes to you, welcome him.”
In Mark’s life we find the fourth indicator:
4. If you see someone who has failed and is being restored, you might be seeing God through the
people around you.
Some of you know the story of Mark, also known as John Mark. In Acts 13:6, we’re told
that he set out along with Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey. But in verse 13, Mark quit.
He deserted them.
Then in Acts 15:36–40, we read this:
“Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the
towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’
“Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it
wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in
the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.”
As we find out, Barnabas reclaims Mark, and over the ensuing years Mark doesn’t give
up. He returns to God and to the ministry, and proves himself faithful. In fact, Paul makes this
comment about him in 2 Timothy 4:11: “Get Mark and bring him … because he is helpful to me
in my ministry.” What a turnaround!
Eventually, Mark is called by God to be one of the writers of Scripture and the gospel of
Mark bears his name. Mark’s second chance is a picture to everyone around him of God’s
restoring grace. It certainly was powerfully evident in his life.
Maybe you’re here today and your story includes failure. You’ve tried ministry and
involvement, but it didn’t work out. Or you had a relationship or even a marriage failure, or you
lapsed in sin of one sort or another, and you’ve been feeling guilty. You’ve responded by
withdrawing from people and withdrawing from ministry.
Maybe you need some time for further healing, but if you’ve had enough time, get back
in the game. It’s been done before. Determine you will not spend the rest of your life on the
sidelines. And, if you know of somebody who’s failed, don’t give up on them either. Remember
the story of Mark. Because, through people like Mark, God’s presence is seen and experienced
by those around them.
Next Paul talks about Jesus, who was also called Justus. Justus, along with Aristarchus
and Mark, were called by Paul “the only Jews among my fellow workers.” But because they
lived among and ministered to the Gentiles it meant that they faced ostracism and being expelled
from the synagogue. Paul’s comment on Justus and the others is this: “They have proved a
comfort for me.” It’s a real tender word.
The fifth indicator to consider is:
5. If you see people who are bringing comfort to those who are hurting, you might be seeing
God through the people around you.
Paul likewise shared the fate of being ostracized, of being expelled from synagogue after
synagogue. We sometimes think of Paul as this real tough, calloused character, but he was not.
He needed to be comforted, and Justus, along with others, saw that. They brought comfort to
Paul.
Is there anybody in your small group or Sunday school class who you know needs
comfort? Is there anybody around you going through a loss of one sort or another who needs a
phone call or a note or a meal or just an embrace? Maybe there’s somebody here today who just
needs to be touched by you.
What a wonderful thing to have said about you what Paul says about Justus—“He’s a
comfort to me. I was wounded and hurt and lonely, and he brought healing to me.” It could be
part of what you bring to your little circle.
The sixth indicator is a powerful one that affects you and those around you, but is a
gateway to seeing God’s presence in and through the people around you:
6. If you pray bold prayers on behalf of the Christians you know, you might be seeing God
through the people around you.
Take a look at Colossians 4:12: “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ
Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all
the will of God, mature and fully assured.” The word Paul uses for “wrestling” is used one other
time in Colossians to describe his own struggles on behalf of the church.
It’s the Greek verb agonizomai. We get our word “agony” from it. The biblical picture of
wrestling you might best remember is the Old Testament story of Jacob in Genesis 32. Visited by
the spirit of God, the angel of the Lord, Jacob wrestles with him and says, “I will not let you go
until I have your blessing.” Transfer that particular mental image to Epaphras and you get the
idea.
Paul goes on to say of Epaphras in verse 13, “He is working hard for you,” but what’s
most interesting is, he brings that work ethic to prayer. He prays bold prayers.
When you pray bold prayers on behalf of the Christ-followers you know, God opens your
eyes to seeing them as he does. You see needs, strengths, and his hand working in ways that you
would otherwise be unable to recognize. You see God’s presence in their lives as you experience
prayers you prayed answered on their behalf.
Are you praying boldly for the faces and names around your circle? That’s what
Epaphras does. Though separated from the Christians in Colosse by so many miles, he struggles
and wrestles and agonizes for them in prayer.
The next character Paul talks about is Luke with just the phrase, “Luke, the beloved
physician.” Some of you may know about Luke being a physician. It’s the only time that he’s
called this in the New Testament. In our day, with all the feelings about HMOs and so on, it’s not
often that somebody gets called the “beloved physician”!
In Paul’s day, medicine was just emerging as its own discipline. Here’s apparently what
happened—Luke gave up a medical career to travel with Paul. Apparently, he felt God’s call to
leave the marketplace and enter ministry. Not everybody does, not everybody should, but Luke
did.
I’ll tell you an interesting theory. Paul talks in another letter about his “thorn in the
flesh.” He never specifies what that thorn is, but it may well have been a physical affliction. And
it’s very possible that the reason Luke has such a place in Paul’s affection is that Luke decided to
travel with Paul to give him medical attention.
Luke makes an incredible sacrifice for the cause of Christ and for Paul. Paul says this is
Luke, the beloved physician, who gave up his whole career. Of course, God had another career in
mind for Luke beyond missionary—that of an author. Luke went on to write the gospel of Luke
and the book of Acts.
The seventh indicator on how well we recognize the presence of God in the people
around us is:
7. When you observe people who are willing to sacrifice for the cause of Christ, you might be
seeing God through the people around you.
It could be that sacrifice comes in the form of caring for someone who is homebound. Or
nurturing the youngsters in the nursery at church. Or serving Jesus in another country. Or living
on less so that they can give more. When you see sacrifice, you are seeing the character of God
through the people around you. Because God’s character is to give until it hurts—to the very
point of sacrificing his very own Son for you.
This year God is going to call some of you to sacrifice. Maybe it’s a big one. Maybe it is
a job change. Maybe you know that, and your heart’s kind of thumping right now. How are you
going to respond?
Maybe it’s a smaller sacrifice. Maybe it involves time devoted to ministry. Maybe it
involves money. Maybe it involves a difficult confrontation with somebody around your circle.
Will you do it? Will you say, “I will be like Luke and make a sacrifice. I will endure some pain
for the cause of Christ”?
Our eighth indicator to consider in this diagnostic of seeing God’s presence in the
people around us is:
8. If you observe someone whose first love is Jesus, you might be seeing God through the
people around you.
The next name is a very sad one. It’s Demas. He is the antithesis of what we are
diagnosing through this indicator. Take a look at verse 14 again, “Our dear friend Luke, the
doctor, and Demas send greetings.”
You’ll notice Demas is the one name in this whole passage with no description
surrounding it, but he has a story too.
There was a time when Demas was counted by Paul as a fellow worker. Here in Colosse,
he’s simply called Demas. The last mention of him is in 2 Timothy 4:10, where Paul writes about
him, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”
Once Demas stood shoulder to shoulder with Paul. But there was a pattern of drift in his
life that went unchecked, and eventually he just drifted out of that little circle and drifted away.
We never hear of him again.
Some of you today need to do a heart check. What’s your first love? Honestly. Is it God?
Is that first love fresh? Or is the truth right now that you are drifting, perhaps consumed by a
career or financial issues or levels of achievement or comfort or security, and in the process
being pulled away from God, becoming detached from your circle?
God was not seen in Demas’s life. But God wants your life and mine to be marked by a
growing and unmistakable presence of a love for him. When you see someone drifting, step into
their life and call them back to their first love. If you ever see yourself drifting, run to God and
tell him: “I don’t want to drift. Help me to stop now.”
In verse 15, Paul says, “Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha
and the church in her house.” Nympha probably was either widowed or unmarried. Otherwise, it
wouldn’t be called her house, but the house that belonged to her husband. Her house was large
enough, apparently, to host the church. [Note: Some manuscripts translate this as the masculine,
Nymphas, but it is more likely feminine.]
Up until about the middle of the third century, the church did not have property, did not
have buildings like we have today, so it was dependent on somebody with a substantial enough
house for all the Christ-followers to meet in.
It’s through Nympha that we get our ninth diagnostic:
9. If you see men and women serving indiscriminately in the church, you might be seeing God
through the people around you.
Life in the church was different than life in the synagogue. You see, in Judaism, in order
to have a quorum for a synagogue, you needed to have at least ten men. Without that number,
you couldn’t have a synagogue. Women didn’t count. You could have a thousand women and
nine men, and no synagogue. Only men mattered.
Not in the early church. In fact, the Christ-followers chose another word to describe their
meetings. They didn’t have to. “Synagogue” was a generic Greek word that meant “gathering
place,” but is it used only once in the New Testament to describe a Christian gathering—James
2:2.
The Christians felt they needed a new word to describe their gathering, so now there is
the ecclesia, the assembly, the church. In this new community, the woman not only counts, but
here in Colosse, she’s the host. She’s like a quorum all by herself for the church.
In fact, one New Testament scholar, James Dunright, says because Nympha was the
householder and the only one named in the connection with the church in her home, she was
probably the leader of the church there. In the new community, there’s a new role for women.
Let me ask, are you part of a circle where men and women increasingly are relating as
brothers and sisters; where there are ministry opportunities and encouragement based solely on
giftedness, regardless of gender?
The tenth diagnostic is seen in the life of Archippus. Paul writes to him in verse 17: “Tell
Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.’”
The final diagnostic is:
10. If you see Christians who are faithful to finish what they begin, you might be seeing God
through the people around you.
We don’t know what Archippus’s task is, but apparently he was not following through
with something, or it looked like he might not follow through. Paul is concerned about this, so he
says, “See to it that you complete the work you have received.”
What a difference it makes in community when someone not only takes on a task, but
follows it through to completion. Many of us have lived in families where things like
procrastination or committing and not honoring the commitment were acceptable or
commonplace.
To be the person that we want to be in our little circles, some of us here need to do a heart
check on this issue and resolve, Whatever ministry I’m involved in, whatever task I have
undertaken, whatever commitments I have signed up for, I will see through to the finish. I’m not
going to let barriers or discouragements or obstacles stop me. When I promise to the community
to take on something, you can depend on me.
Friends, communities are built on this. God himself is the God of the covenant, the God
who promises and keeps his promise. Paul’s word to Archippus and to all of us is this: “See that
you complete the task that you have received. Don’t lose enthusiasm. Don’t just let it slide.”
When you see faithfulness, you are seeing God’s presence in that person. In a letter to the
church in Philippi Paul wrote about God’s faithfulness with these words: “He who began a good
work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
In his final words in Colossians 4:18, Paul says, “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own
hand.”
Most likely he dictated his letters, but here at the end he says, “This part I write with my
own hand.” This is so poignant. Paul says, “Remember my chains.”
As Paul wrote these words, it was his chains that were dragging across the letter. He
heard them every time he moved his pen. It was his chains that bound him to a Roman guard
who never left his side. But this is not a plea for sympathy.
Paul didn’t even bother to ask people to pray that he be released from his chains, because
his chains—a sign of disgrace and weakness in that world—had become for him a symbol of the
power of the gospel. They were part of his story.
What’s amazing here is that Paul doesn’t say, “Remember my brilliant words; remember
that I am an apostle; remember my leadership; remember my amazing spiritual maturity.” He
says, “Remember my chains. It’s because of those chains that the gospel is being spread to Rome
itself. They could chain me, but couldn’t chain the gospel.”
Paul in effect says, “Remember my chains, for I do not write as one who doesn’t know
the cost of following Christ. I, too, have my own little cross to bear, for my story is not a story
about a title or a position or a diploma or glory.”
Paul was in chains because he wanted people to know the nearness of God to them
through a relationship with Jesus Christ. God shows you through the people around you his
nearness, his presence, his character, and his love. And, if you live out these ten diagnostics in
your life, you may be helping other people see that God is closer than they think as well.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
God is closer than you think pt 4
Week 4: The Voice
I want you to think for a moment about expectations. When Christmas or your birthday
comes, you have expectations about the gifts you’ll receive. When you’re about to receive a visit
from a friend you’ve not seen for a long time, you have eager expectations about what that visit
will be like. When a relative has long overstayed their welcome—you have even greater
expectations about when they will leave!
But there’s another side of expectations—the expectations that are placed on you by
others—and your own expectations as well. Someone from John Ortberg’s church made a list of
unspoken expectations that the average person in their community and church has, based on the
culture in which they live: [Pastors, feel free to make your own list that fits your community.]
• You will have good health, live a long life, be slim and physically fit, be toned, have
great hair, make-up, and body shape.
• You will be intelligent, articulate, and computer savvy.
• You will get into a good school and do well in school. Of course you’ll be popular.
• You will be sexually desirable without being promiscuous.
• You will pursue all your gifts and talents to the point of mastery.
• Of course you’ll marry a Christian (who has met all these criteria).
• Once married you’ll communicate wonderfully, your life will be filled with romance,
and as a couple you’ll share chores and have regular date nights.
• Your home will be beautiful (all the walls are naturally painted this year’s cool
colors).
• Your home will be clean, well-decorated, and organized. The landscaping (and your
home will be landscaped professionally) will be picturesque.
• All your meals will be gourmet, low-fat (or low-carb, or high-protein). When you
have children, all the baby food will be made from scratch.
• The kids will be naturally cute, healthy, smart, well-behaved, get into the right
schools, escape all danger of peer culture but still be well-liked and popular.
• As a Christian you’ll do ministry, be wise, respected, humble, have a daily quiet time,
be a prayer warrior and a knowledgeable Bible student.
• Your goal is to be rich without being snotty, confident but not abrasive.
• You will create family traditions, with your holidays being beautiful and meaningful.
• Your children will be raised in the faith, and you won’t do anything to damage their
spiritual relationship with God.
• You will maintain deep friendships, extended family relationships, write letters,
remember birthdays and anniversaries and send gifts, keep in touch with old friends,
come to Bible study, stay relaxed, friendly, and easygoing … did I leave anything
out?
All of these expectations are the result of various voices that have spoken into our lives
through the years.
There are other voices which speak into our souls that shape us as well. Some are voices
of affirmation:
“I believe in you.”
“You are important to me.”
“I know you can do it.”
“I love who you are.”
And others are voices of minimization:
“You’re an idiot!”
“You can’t do anything right!”
“You’ll never accomplish much in life!”
“Why aren’t you as good as your brother (or sister)?”
Painfully, some of those negative voices may have even come from home. A demanding
parent. A demeaning sibling(s). Or a parent who wasn’t demanding—they were silent—and you
never heard their voice of love or affirmation.
Add to those voices the voices we hear from TV, radio, print media, work, etc.—and
there are a lot of noises competing for our attention.
Out of all the voices … what if the voice that was booming through your heart and mind
was God’s and you heard it clearly? What if, during the course of every day, you recognized and
responded to God’s voice speaking directly to you? Do you think that might have a reorienting
effect on your days? How can we hear the voice of Jesus—our Shepherd—and lock in on that
voice and follow him?
When we talk about being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, it means that we know
what he desires and we follow through. We can pick his voice out from all the others—and we
don’t veer away from where our Shepherd leads. Jesus had some pretty profound things to say
about this. Listen to how he describes the relationship he has with his true followers:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father.… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me.” (John 10:14–15a, 27)
In the original language, the word that Jesus uses for “know” doesn’t mean to simply be
aware of something. It means to have an intimate relationship that is trusting and safe.
Around here we talk a lot about becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus. How do you
know if you are one? How do you really know? What’s the indicator? According to Jesus, a key
indicator of our followership is if we are listening for his voice and responding immediately to
what he says. We’ll talk a little later about how to distinguish his voice.
In the New Testament, the word for a fully devoted follower is “disciple.” It means to be
a student or an apprentice to someone. It was quite easy to tell if someone had entered into that
kind of learning relationship in the first century. Disciples like Peter, James, and John had made
a decision—to spend every day with Jesus to learn from him how to be like him. They watched
him, studied him, talked with him, worked with him. He had invited them to be his students—his
friends and partners. That’s how they spent every day. That’s what it meant to be a fully devoted
follower.
It’s important to understand that mostly they did the same activities as everyone else.
They ate, slept, worked, played, and learned. They just did them all with Jesus, and they couldn’t
believe they got to do this. Sure, they had left a lot of things—jobs, families, friends,
security—but they did that with great joy. They couldn’t believe they had an opportunity to be
with Jesus and listen to him.
For the disciples, the worst day of their lives was Good Friday when Jesus died. They
thought their lives had died with him. The best day of their life was Easter Sunday, when Jesus
defeated death and was raised again to life. Jesus said that now nothing—not even death
itself—nothing could keep his friends, his students, his disciples from being with him. Jesus’
final words, recorded in the gospel of Matthew are, “I am with you always, even to the very end
of the age.” Always.
That promise of Jesus is just as true for you and for me today. If you have asked Jesus to
be your forgiver and to lead every area of your life, then you can be assured that he is with you
and will never leave you. And not only that, but he desires to be in a conversational relationship
with you as well.
It’s strange and scary that in many Christian circles we have lost touch with the fact that
God actually speaks to us. In fact, that thought alone can be a bit unnerving for most of us. We
feel like it would be presumptuous to think that we might possibly have “heard” from God. And
even scarier that he may want us to either do something or change something. So like a little
child, we theologically stick our fingers in our ears and make noise with our life so that we can’t
hear his voice.
Besides, many of us have been taught through our religious upbringing that God only
speaks directly to the “paid professional”—the clergy—who will interpret what God said for
everyone else.
When it comes to hearing God’s voice, one of the things that holds us back from
believing he could be speaking to us is the list of misguided, wrong, or evil deeds done because
someone has claimed to have “heard” from God.
A guy named Roger Barrier has written a book called Listening to the Voice of God and
in it he tells about an experience he had with one of these misguided persons before he got
married. Here’s how he tells it:
“One evening I was sitting beside my fiancée in a little church we occasionally attended
during college. Shortly before the service began a woman spoke quietly to Julie.
“‘I have a word from the Lord for you,’ she said. ‘You will be like the prophetess Anna
in Luke 2. You will be widowed after seven years and spend the rest of your life ministering in
sweet service to God.’
“My first instinct was to tell the intruder I doubted God told her anything—that she had
imagined it. If God had something to tell Julie, he was perfectly capable of telling her himself,
but I held my tongue and looked at the young girl who would soon be my wife.”
Barrier continues, “I hate to admit that I worried occasionally during the first seven years
of our marriage. On the evening of our eighth anniversary, I intentionally stayed awake until
midnight. As I stood in the bathroom, I finally knew that woman’s dismal forebodings were
nothing more than a figment of her misguided imagination.”
Think about that … over seven years of worry because someone claimed to have “heard”
from the Lord. Even so, far worse things have been done in humanity because some person or
group claims to have “heard” from God.
On a personal level, every one of us knows the sin and junk in our lives, and we think
that there’s no way that God would choose to speak to us. We begin to subconsciously—and
sometimes consciously—rule ourselves out from the possibility that God could even want to talk
to us. We think:
• I’ve done too many wrong things in my life … there’s no way that God would have
much interest in me.
• I’m not a good enough Christian yet. When I get to the place where my act is cleaned
up … then maybe I’ll be ready for God to speak to me—but he wouldn’t choose to do
that any sooner.
• I don’t know enough of the Bible … when I know more, then he might choose to
speak to me.
• God wouldn’t be interested in me … I’ve never done much good in my life—it’s not
like I’m an important person in the church or anything.
I’ll try to say this as subtly as possible: DON’T YOU BELIEVE A WORD OF IT! Those
are the voices that need to be ignored, discounted, and rejected. If you have those words or
anything like them going through your mind when we talk about hearing from God, then it’s
your place to say something like:
“On the basis of the authority of the Bible I reject those ideas as contrary to it. When I
asked Jesus into my life, he joined me right then. Imperfect, a sinner, not knowledgeable about
the Bible—he loves me ‘as is’ and wants a relationship with me just as I am.”
Over the last three weeks we’ve talked about God’s promise to pursue a relationship with
us. We’ve spent time studying about our choice to be with Jesus—that he doesn’t force us into a
relationship with him, but it’s entirely up to us. And we talked last week about the Holy Spirit’s
role of guiding and empowering us each day. Each of these builds on the other.
And if all this is true—and it is—that God wants a relationship with us, that we can
choose to have a relationship with him (or not), that God places his Spirit in us to guide us, then
we’d best become students at hearing God talk to us.
The truth is that God is not distant, but close—closer than you think. Listen to these
verses from the pages of the Old and New Testament which reflect God’s ongoing voice being
heard:
“And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God …” (Genesis 3:8)
“The LORD … said to Abram …” (Genesis 12:1)
File: Week 4_The Voice.doc Page: 8
“God said to Moses …” (Exodus 3:13)
“The LORD said to Joshua …” (Joshua 1:1)
“The LORD said to me [Isaiah] …” (Isaiah 8:1)
“The word of the LORD came to him [Jeremiah] …” (Jeremiah 1:2)
“The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel …” (Ezekiel 1:3)
“The Spirit told me [Peter] …” (Acts 11:12)
The same God who spoke in the Bible is the same God who speaks today. As we talked
about last week, for those who are Christ-followers, God has placed his Spirit within you as a
gift to lead, guide, empower, convict, comfort, and equip you. It is a gift you can never lose—but
one which you can quench, subdue, and ignore because he will not force his way on you.
In fact, you have to decide if you want to hear from God or not. The writer to the
Hebrews writes this warning: “See to it that you do not refuse him [God] who speaks.” (Hebrews
12:25)
Pay very close attention to this: the desire to hear from God also means a desire to obey
him and not refuse him. So if we really desire to hear his voice, it means that we are ready and
willing to submit to what he is going to say and follow through with immediate obedience. It
does not mean that we are going to weigh it out and decide through selective listening what
we’re going to do with it.
We’re going to take a closer look at a couple biblical accounts of God speaking and then
list some guidelines to help us discern God’s voice through each day.
One of the most famous Bible stories of God speaking and making his presence known is
centered around the prophet Elijah. The incident occurs in 1 Kings 19, but first let’s get some
context by checking out 1 Kings 18, which describes a huge spiritual victory that takes place on
Mount Carmel.
There Elijah meets evil King Ahab and a huge gathering of people, including 450
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Elijah sets up the ground rules for the
confrontation about to take place. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to set up an altar of
rocks, sacrifice a bull and put it on the altar—and pray for Baal to send fire from heaven to
consume the sacrifice. When they are done, he gets a turn. Whoever gets an answer has a real
God. Fairly straightforward rules of engagement.
To make a long story short—but it’s worth your reading when you go home—Elijah
wins. God sent such intense flames from heaven that even the rocks of the altar burned up. The
prophets of Baal lost big-time. In fact, they didn’t survive the day.
However, even though Elijah won, even though God got glory … the king and queen
were pretty angry about losing their prophets and so they were gunning for Elijah’s life. So he
takes off and hides in the desert wanting to die. Now take a look at 1 Kings 19:9–13:
“There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him:
‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
“He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have
rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’
“The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the
LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and
shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was
an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the
LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he
pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
“Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
God was showing Elijah that, yes, he can do huge and spectacular things to make his
presence known—like sending down fire from heaven. But lasting spiritual work doesn’t happen
in big “extravaganza” moments of God’s power, but in the ongoing quiet of his voice and
presence in the lives of his followers.
One of the best books you can read on discerning God’s voice is called Hearing God by
Dallas Willard. In it he writes: “The still, small voice—those inner promptings—is still the most
preferred and most valuable form of individualized communication for God’s purposes.”
Another account of someone hearing God’s voice in the Old Testament occurs in 1
Samuel 3. It’s the story of a young boy who was dedicated to serving God at the tabernacle by
his mom. Beginning at about the age of three, Samuel grew up serving in God’s house.
Eli is the high priest and Eli and God are watching out for this little boy, Samuel. One
night Samuel is lying in bed, and he hears his name. And he figures Eli called him, so he runs
into Eli’s room. “Here I am.” And Eli says, “I didn’t call you.” It happens again, and he runs into
Eli’s room again and Eli says, “I didn’t call you.”
Did you ever know of kids who interrupt their parents’ sleep at night for all kinds of odd
reasons? But Eli finally realizes what’s going on. Look at 1 Samuel 3:7:
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been
revealed to him.”
So when it happens a third time, Eli knows that God is speaking to Samuel, but Samuel
does not know it’s God.
In other words, it’s possible for God to speak to somebody and for that person not to
know it’s God speaking. Learning to discern the voice of God is an acquired skill. It’s learned
behavior. And the ministry of Eli is to help Samuel learn to recognize the voice of God in his
heart.
I want to point out right now one of the most critical variables in entering into a life of
partnering with the Holy Spirit, and it is a beautiful phrase. Take a look at 1 Samuel 3:19.
Samuel is learning from Eli how to discern God’s leading, God’s guiding, God’s whispers in his
life. The Bible says:
“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up”—and here’s the phrase—“and he let none of
his words fall to the ground.”
In other words, Samuel let none of God’s words go unheeded. Anything God said,
Samuel did. Any time God said, “Go,” Samuel went. Any time God said, “Speak,” Samuel
spoke. He let none of God’s words fall to the ground. He caught them all. He said, “God speak,
your servant listens.”
I want to tell you, in this whole business of learning to discern the voice of God, being
immersed in Scripture, having wise friends to get counsel from, and so on—those are all
important. But perhaps most important is that you make the decision to say, “God, speak, and
whatever you tell me to do, I will do. Even if it feels a little awkward or a little hard, I will let
none of your words fall to the ground.”
If you have a prompting and you think its from God, and it’s consistent with Scripture,
and it moves in the direction of the fruit of the Spirit—toward love and toward joy and peace,
etc.—do it! Don’t let a single word fall to the ground.
If it’s to encourage somebody, to share your faith, to do an act of kindness, to confront in
love, do it. Don’t let a single word of God fall to the ground. And some of you today need
guidance. And your prayer today just needs to be, “God, guide me.” God really does that.
In his book, Listening to the Voice of God, Roger Barrier offers ten excellent guidelines
for discerning God’s voice. You might find these helpful …
1. God tends to speak with gentle leadings. Don’t be looking for the spectacular “fire from
heaven,” but listen for the gentle whisper, the inner promptings. Let your spiritual ears
become sensitized to God’s voice.
2. God’s voice produces freedom. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:30)
3. God tends to speak when I am seeking him. The prophet Jeremiah reported God as saying:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek
me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12–13)
4. When God is speaking, there is a sense that everything is under control. God wants us in
control of our faculties and decisions. God related that “the spirits of prophets are subject to
the control of prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). Paul warns in 2 Timothy 2:24–26 that Satan
wants to ensnare and control people when he speaks. Paul’s hope is that the Christians “will
come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will.” When self and Satan speak, there is an inner sense that something is out of control.
5. God convicts of specific sins. John 16:8 teaches that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world
of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” As Barrier writes: “My experience
is that when God convicts of sin, his voice is quite specific: ‘Yesterday at 2 p.m. you did
this.’ Satan and self, on the other hand, often accuse in broad generalities, leaving me with an unfocused sense of haunting guilt centered around poor choices, questioned priorities,
unfinished responsibilities, or unmet expectations. Now when I feel accused or have a
nagging sense of unspecified guilt, I pause and consider why I feel so guilty. If there is not a
definite sense of conviction about a specific sin, I know the feelings are not from God’s
Spirit.”
6. God speaks with 100 percent truth that can be tested by the Bible. Make sure that your
prompting is in agreement with the overall teaching of Scripture and with basic biblical
themes. Anybody can pick one or two verses out of context, twist it around, and build a cult.
You want to try to keep it all in balance with Scripture. That’s why it is so important to be
sure that you’re spending regular time each day reading the Bible, building it into you, so that
it’s the framework for your thinking, for your responding.
7. God’s voice always leads to a deep, abiding sense of peace. Sometimes that peace comes
when we surrender to his voice and not let his words “fall to the ground.” Obedience
sometimes precedes peace. For example, Philippians 4:7 promises, “The peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
That sounds great and it’s a very true promise from God. And yet many people claim
that verse and wonder why they don’t have peace. But they don’t realize that it’s predicated
on the obedience of the previous two verses. Philippians 4:4–6 says: “Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
8. Get wise counsel from Christ-followers you trust!
9. Make sure that what you are sensing is from God really agrees with the character and nature
of God. For example, God’s voice wouldn’t approve of a couple living together outside of
marriage or of an extramarital relationship so that a person can be “happy.” Those things
would be contrary to what the Bible teaches and contrary to God’s holy and pure character
and nature.
10. Ask yourself, “Does this agree with my conscience?” You need to know that it’s real natural
to ask yourself, “Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, after going through this checklist—I
could be mistaken about God’s promptings? Could I possibly have missed something and be
heading way off-base?”
I love what Dallas Willard says about this. He writes: “Of course you could be wrong.
God doesn’t intend to make us infallible by his conversational walk with us, but you are
usually correct.”
In other words, don’t minimize, don’t rationalize. Don’t compromise.
So here’s how it’ll play out in our lives this week—how we’ll make the choice to be with
Jesus and listen for his voice—to begin to increase our sensitivity to hearing the voice of our
Shepherd.
Tomorrow you’ll have some leisure time. Of course, in our society, there’s one primary
activity that people engage in during leisure time, so it leads to the question: “Would Jesus watch
TV?” Well, it depends on what’s on.
If you watch TV, watch it, but watch it with Jesus and talk to him about what you see. If
he wants to change your habits, he’ll speak to you about that. You can trust him to do that. He
really will.
When you read tomorrow, read with Jesus. Talk with him about what you’re reading. The
newspaper then becomes an invitation to pray for the world, for what’s happening on the streets
of your neighborhood, your city, in Washington, in Afghanistan, and in the West Bank. Just talk
to God about the world.
Tomorrow, whatever the day holds—household errands, interruptions—every one of
them is an opportunity to be with Jesus. When you forget, and you will, when you mess up, and
you will, here’s a real important rule just for tomorrow: no beating yourself up. No failing
tomorrow because every moment is another chance. God just keeps sending them. That’s grace.
Every moment is a chance for you to be with him.
Tomorrow night when you lay down your head on the pillow, review the day. Thank
Jesus for going with you. Thank him for his gentle whispers. Remember the moments when you
heard his voice. Decide if you’d like to spend another day with him on Tuesday. If you would,
invite him because he’d love to.
One thing you must do is decide. You will not drift into this way of life. Our culture will
not make it happen; you must decide. So I’m going to give you a moment right now to decide.
I’m going to invite you to write one last thing on your bulletin right now, so take your pen.
Maybe it’s just one word like, “yes,” to express your heart or, “together,” to remind yourself that
you’ll go through the day together. Maybe it’s a phrase, “I’ll walk with you.”
Right now, as you write that on your bulletin, tell Jesus, “I want to spend tomorrow with
you, listening to your voice.” Put that paper someplace where you’ll see it all day, maybe on
your desk, taped to a mirror, or maybe in your calendar. Remember that this same offer came so
many years ago to Peter, James, and John, and it changed their lives.
This is the best offer you’ll ever have. You will never in your life—I don’t care what
happens, I don’t care how much money you make or what ladder of success you climb—you will
never have another offer like this one. People miss it all the time. People miss it every day, day
after day, until the end of their lives. Some people go through their whole lives and they never
take it. It’s your day. Don’t miss it.
Let’s pray. [Let the room become still and silent] “Speak God … your servants are
listening.… [LONG PAUSE] … Amen.”
I want you to think for a moment about expectations. When Christmas or your birthday
comes, you have expectations about the gifts you’ll receive. When you’re about to receive a visit
from a friend you’ve not seen for a long time, you have eager expectations about what that visit
will be like. When a relative has long overstayed their welcome—you have even greater
expectations about when they will leave!
But there’s another side of expectations—the expectations that are placed on you by
others—and your own expectations as well. Someone from John Ortberg’s church made a list of
unspoken expectations that the average person in their community and church has, based on the
culture in which they live: [Pastors, feel free to make your own list that fits your community.]
• You will have good health, live a long life, be slim and physically fit, be toned, have
great hair, make-up, and body shape.
• You will be intelligent, articulate, and computer savvy.
• You will get into a good school and do well in school. Of course you’ll be popular.
• You will be sexually desirable without being promiscuous.
• You will pursue all your gifts and talents to the point of mastery.
• Of course you’ll marry a Christian (who has met all these criteria).
• Once married you’ll communicate wonderfully, your life will be filled with romance,
and as a couple you’ll share chores and have regular date nights.
• Your home will be beautiful (all the walls are naturally painted this year’s cool
colors).
• Your home will be clean, well-decorated, and organized. The landscaping (and your
home will be landscaped professionally) will be picturesque.
• All your meals will be gourmet, low-fat (or low-carb, or high-protein). When you
have children, all the baby food will be made from scratch.
• The kids will be naturally cute, healthy, smart, well-behaved, get into the right
schools, escape all danger of peer culture but still be well-liked and popular.
• As a Christian you’ll do ministry, be wise, respected, humble, have a daily quiet time,
be a prayer warrior and a knowledgeable Bible student.
• Your goal is to be rich without being snotty, confident but not abrasive.
• You will create family traditions, with your holidays being beautiful and meaningful.
• Your children will be raised in the faith, and you won’t do anything to damage their
spiritual relationship with God.
• You will maintain deep friendships, extended family relationships, write letters,
remember birthdays and anniversaries and send gifts, keep in touch with old friends,
come to Bible study, stay relaxed, friendly, and easygoing … did I leave anything
out?
All of these expectations are the result of various voices that have spoken into our lives
through the years.
There are other voices which speak into our souls that shape us as well. Some are voices
of affirmation:
“I believe in you.”
“You are important to me.”
“I know you can do it.”
“I love who you are.”
And others are voices of minimization:
“You’re an idiot!”
“You can’t do anything right!”
“You’ll never accomplish much in life!”
“Why aren’t you as good as your brother (or sister)?”
Painfully, some of those negative voices may have even come from home. A demanding
parent. A demeaning sibling(s). Or a parent who wasn’t demanding—they were silent—and you
never heard their voice of love or affirmation.
Add to those voices the voices we hear from TV, radio, print media, work, etc.—and
there are a lot of noises competing for our attention.
Out of all the voices … what if the voice that was booming through your heart and mind
was God’s and you heard it clearly? What if, during the course of every day, you recognized and
responded to God’s voice speaking directly to you? Do you think that might have a reorienting
effect on your days? How can we hear the voice of Jesus—our Shepherd—and lock in on that
voice and follow him?
When we talk about being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, it means that we know
what he desires and we follow through. We can pick his voice out from all the others—and we
don’t veer away from where our Shepherd leads. Jesus had some pretty profound things to say
about this. Listen to how he describes the relationship he has with his true followers:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father.… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me.” (John 10:14–15a, 27)
In the original language, the word that Jesus uses for “know” doesn’t mean to simply be
aware of something. It means to have an intimate relationship that is trusting and safe.
Around here we talk a lot about becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus. How do you
know if you are one? How do you really know? What’s the indicator? According to Jesus, a key
indicator of our followership is if we are listening for his voice and responding immediately to
what he says. We’ll talk a little later about how to distinguish his voice.
In the New Testament, the word for a fully devoted follower is “disciple.” It means to be
a student or an apprentice to someone. It was quite easy to tell if someone had entered into that
kind of learning relationship in the first century. Disciples like Peter, James, and John had made
a decision—to spend every day with Jesus to learn from him how to be like him. They watched
him, studied him, talked with him, worked with him. He had invited them to be his students—his
friends and partners. That’s how they spent every day. That’s what it meant to be a fully devoted
follower.
It’s important to understand that mostly they did the same activities as everyone else.
They ate, slept, worked, played, and learned. They just did them all with Jesus, and they couldn’t
believe they got to do this. Sure, they had left a lot of things—jobs, families, friends,
security—but they did that with great joy. They couldn’t believe they had an opportunity to be
with Jesus and listen to him.
For the disciples, the worst day of their lives was Good Friday when Jesus died. They
thought their lives had died with him. The best day of their life was Easter Sunday, when Jesus
defeated death and was raised again to life. Jesus said that now nothing—not even death
itself—nothing could keep his friends, his students, his disciples from being with him. Jesus’
final words, recorded in the gospel of Matthew are, “I am with you always, even to the very end
of the age.” Always.
That promise of Jesus is just as true for you and for me today. If you have asked Jesus to
be your forgiver and to lead every area of your life, then you can be assured that he is with you
and will never leave you. And not only that, but he desires to be in a conversational relationship
with you as well.
It’s strange and scary that in many Christian circles we have lost touch with the fact that
God actually speaks to us. In fact, that thought alone can be a bit unnerving for most of us. We
feel like it would be presumptuous to think that we might possibly have “heard” from God. And
even scarier that he may want us to either do something or change something. So like a little
child, we theologically stick our fingers in our ears and make noise with our life so that we can’t
hear his voice.
Besides, many of us have been taught through our religious upbringing that God only
speaks directly to the “paid professional”—the clergy—who will interpret what God said for
everyone else.
When it comes to hearing God’s voice, one of the things that holds us back from
believing he could be speaking to us is the list of misguided, wrong, or evil deeds done because
someone has claimed to have “heard” from God.
A guy named Roger Barrier has written a book called Listening to the Voice of God and
in it he tells about an experience he had with one of these misguided persons before he got
married. Here’s how he tells it:
“One evening I was sitting beside my fiancée in a little church we occasionally attended
during college. Shortly before the service began a woman spoke quietly to Julie.
“‘I have a word from the Lord for you,’ she said. ‘You will be like the prophetess Anna
in Luke 2. You will be widowed after seven years and spend the rest of your life ministering in
sweet service to God.’
“My first instinct was to tell the intruder I doubted God told her anything—that she had
imagined it. If God had something to tell Julie, he was perfectly capable of telling her himself,
but I held my tongue and looked at the young girl who would soon be my wife.”
Barrier continues, “I hate to admit that I worried occasionally during the first seven years
of our marriage. On the evening of our eighth anniversary, I intentionally stayed awake until
midnight. As I stood in the bathroom, I finally knew that woman’s dismal forebodings were
nothing more than a figment of her misguided imagination.”
Think about that … over seven years of worry because someone claimed to have “heard”
from the Lord. Even so, far worse things have been done in humanity because some person or
group claims to have “heard” from God.
On a personal level, every one of us knows the sin and junk in our lives, and we think
that there’s no way that God would choose to speak to us. We begin to subconsciously—and
sometimes consciously—rule ourselves out from the possibility that God could even want to talk
to us. We think:
• I’ve done too many wrong things in my life … there’s no way that God would have
much interest in me.
• I’m not a good enough Christian yet. When I get to the place where my act is cleaned
up … then maybe I’ll be ready for God to speak to me—but he wouldn’t choose to do
that any sooner.
• I don’t know enough of the Bible … when I know more, then he might choose to
speak to me.
• God wouldn’t be interested in me … I’ve never done much good in my life—it’s not
like I’m an important person in the church or anything.
I’ll try to say this as subtly as possible: DON’T YOU BELIEVE A WORD OF IT! Those
are the voices that need to be ignored, discounted, and rejected. If you have those words or
anything like them going through your mind when we talk about hearing from God, then it’s
your place to say something like:
“On the basis of the authority of the Bible I reject those ideas as contrary to it. When I
asked Jesus into my life, he joined me right then. Imperfect, a sinner, not knowledgeable about
the Bible—he loves me ‘as is’ and wants a relationship with me just as I am.”
Over the last three weeks we’ve talked about God’s promise to pursue a relationship with
us. We’ve spent time studying about our choice to be with Jesus—that he doesn’t force us into a
relationship with him, but it’s entirely up to us. And we talked last week about the Holy Spirit’s
role of guiding and empowering us each day. Each of these builds on the other.
And if all this is true—and it is—that God wants a relationship with us, that we can
choose to have a relationship with him (or not), that God places his Spirit in us to guide us, then
we’d best become students at hearing God talk to us.
The truth is that God is not distant, but close—closer than you think. Listen to these
verses from the pages of the Old and New Testament which reflect God’s ongoing voice being
heard:
“And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God …” (Genesis 3:8)
“The LORD … said to Abram …” (Genesis 12:1)
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“God said to Moses …” (Exodus 3:13)
“The LORD said to Joshua …” (Joshua 1:1)
“The LORD said to me [Isaiah] …” (Isaiah 8:1)
“The word of the LORD came to him [Jeremiah] …” (Jeremiah 1:2)
“The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel …” (Ezekiel 1:3)
“The Spirit told me [Peter] …” (Acts 11:12)
The same God who spoke in the Bible is the same God who speaks today. As we talked
about last week, for those who are Christ-followers, God has placed his Spirit within you as a
gift to lead, guide, empower, convict, comfort, and equip you. It is a gift you can never lose—but
one which you can quench, subdue, and ignore because he will not force his way on you.
In fact, you have to decide if you want to hear from God or not. The writer to the
Hebrews writes this warning: “See to it that you do not refuse him [God] who speaks.” (Hebrews
12:25)
Pay very close attention to this: the desire to hear from God also means a desire to obey
him and not refuse him. So if we really desire to hear his voice, it means that we are ready and
willing to submit to what he is going to say and follow through with immediate obedience. It
does not mean that we are going to weigh it out and decide through selective listening what
we’re going to do with it.
We’re going to take a closer look at a couple biblical accounts of God speaking and then
list some guidelines to help us discern God’s voice through each day.
One of the most famous Bible stories of God speaking and making his presence known is
centered around the prophet Elijah. The incident occurs in 1 Kings 19, but first let’s get some
context by checking out 1 Kings 18, which describes a huge spiritual victory that takes place on
Mount Carmel.
There Elijah meets evil King Ahab and a huge gathering of people, including 450
prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. Elijah sets up the ground rules for the
confrontation about to take place. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to set up an altar of
rocks, sacrifice a bull and put it on the altar—and pray for Baal to send fire from heaven to
consume the sacrifice. When they are done, he gets a turn. Whoever gets an answer has a real
God. Fairly straightforward rules of engagement.
To make a long story short—but it’s worth your reading when you go home—Elijah
wins. God sent such intense flames from heaven that even the rocks of the altar burned up. The
prophets of Baal lost big-time. In fact, they didn’t survive the day.
However, even though Elijah won, even though God got glory … the king and queen
were pretty angry about losing their prophets and so they were gunning for Elijah’s life. So he
takes off and hides in the desert wanting to die. Now take a look at 1 Kings 19:9–13:
“There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him:
‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
“He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have
rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.
I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’
“The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the
LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and
shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was
an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the
LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he
pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
“Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’
God was showing Elijah that, yes, he can do huge and spectacular things to make his
presence known—like sending down fire from heaven. But lasting spiritual work doesn’t happen
in big “extravaganza” moments of God’s power, but in the ongoing quiet of his voice and
presence in the lives of his followers.
One of the best books you can read on discerning God’s voice is called Hearing God by
Dallas Willard. In it he writes: “The still, small voice—those inner promptings—is still the most
preferred and most valuable form of individualized communication for God’s purposes.”
Another account of someone hearing God’s voice in the Old Testament occurs in 1
Samuel 3. It’s the story of a young boy who was dedicated to serving God at the tabernacle by
his mom. Beginning at about the age of three, Samuel grew up serving in God’s house.
Eli is the high priest and Eli and God are watching out for this little boy, Samuel. One
night Samuel is lying in bed, and he hears his name. And he figures Eli called him, so he runs
into Eli’s room. “Here I am.” And Eli says, “I didn’t call you.” It happens again, and he runs into
Eli’s room again and Eli says, “I didn’t call you.”
Did you ever know of kids who interrupt their parents’ sleep at night for all kinds of odd
reasons? But Eli finally realizes what’s going on. Look at 1 Samuel 3:7:
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been
revealed to him.”
So when it happens a third time, Eli knows that God is speaking to Samuel, but Samuel
does not know it’s God.
In other words, it’s possible for God to speak to somebody and for that person not to
know it’s God speaking. Learning to discern the voice of God is an acquired skill. It’s learned
behavior. And the ministry of Eli is to help Samuel learn to recognize the voice of God in his
heart.
I want to point out right now one of the most critical variables in entering into a life of
partnering with the Holy Spirit, and it is a beautiful phrase. Take a look at 1 Samuel 3:19.
Samuel is learning from Eli how to discern God’s leading, God’s guiding, God’s whispers in his
life. The Bible says:
“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up”—and here’s the phrase—“and he let none of
his words fall to the ground.”
In other words, Samuel let none of God’s words go unheeded. Anything God said,
Samuel did. Any time God said, “Go,” Samuel went. Any time God said, “Speak,” Samuel
spoke. He let none of God’s words fall to the ground. He caught them all. He said, “God speak,
your servant listens.”
I want to tell you, in this whole business of learning to discern the voice of God, being
immersed in Scripture, having wise friends to get counsel from, and so on—those are all
important. But perhaps most important is that you make the decision to say, “God, speak, and
whatever you tell me to do, I will do. Even if it feels a little awkward or a little hard, I will let
none of your words fall to the ground.”
If you have a prompting and you think its from God, and it’s consistent with Scripture,
and it moves in the direction of the fruit of the Spirit—toward love and toward joy and peace,
etc.—do it! Don’t let a single word fall to the ground.
If it’s to encourage somebody, to share your faith, to do an act of kindness, to confront in
love, do it. Don’t let a single word of God fall to the ground. And some of you today need
guidance. And your prayer today just needs to be, “God, guide me.” God really does that.
In his book, Listening to the Voice of God, Roger Barrier offers ten excellent guidelines
for discerning God’s voice. You might find these helpful …
1. God tends to speak with gentle leadings. Don’t be looking for the spectacular “fire from
heaven,” but listen for the gentle whisper, the inner promptings. Let your spiritual ears
become sensitized to God’s voice.
2. God’s voice produces freedom. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:30)
3. God tends to speak when I am seeking him. The prophet Jeremiah reported God as saying:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek
me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12–13)
4. When God is speaking, there is a sense that everything is under control. God wants us in
control of our faculties and decisions. God related that “the spirits of prophets are subject to
the control of prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). Paul warns in 2 Timothy 2:24–26 that Satan
wants to ensnare and control people when he speaks. Paul’s hope is that the Christians “will
come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will.” When self and Satan speak, there is an inner sense that something is out of control.
5. God convicts of specific sins. John 16:8 teaches that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world
of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” As Barrier writes: “My experience
is that when God convicts of sin, his voice is quite specific: ‘Yesterday at 2 p.m. you did
this.’ Satan and self, on the other hand, often accuse in broad generalities, leaving me with an unfocused sense of haunting guilt centered around poor choices, questioned priorities,
unfinished responsibilities, or unmet expectations. Now when I feel accused or have a
nagging sense of unspecified guilt, I pause and consider why I feel so guilty. If there is not a
definite sense of conviction about a specific sin, I know the feelings are not from God’s
Spirit.”
6. God speaks with 100 percent truth that can be tested by the Bible. Make sure that your
prompting is in agreement with the overall teaching of Scripture and with basic biblical
themes. Anybody can pick one or two verses out of context, twist it around, and build a cult.
You want to try to keep it all in balance with Scripture. That’s why it is so important to be
sure that you’re spending regular time each day reading the Bible, building it into you, so that
it’s the framework for your thinking, for your responding.
7. God’s voice always leads to a deep, abiding sense of peace. Sometimes that peace comes
when we surrender to his voice and not let his words “fall to the ground.” Obedience
sometimes precedes peace. For example, Philippians 4:7 promises, “The peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
That sounds great and it’s a very true promise from God. And yet many people claim
that verse and wonder why they don’t have peace. But they don’t realize that it’s predicated
on the obedience of the previous two verses. Philippians 4:4–6 says: “Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
8. Get wise counsel from Christ-followers you trust!
9. Make sure that what you are sensing is from God really agrees with the character and nature
of God. For example, God’s voice wouldn’t approve of a couple living together outside of
marriage or of an extramarital relationship so that a person can be “happy.” Those things
would be contrary to what the Bible teaches and contrary to God’s holy and pure character
and nature.
10. Ask yourself, “Does this agree with my conscience?” You need to know that it’s real natural
to ask yourself, “Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, after going through this checklist—I
could be mistaken about God’s promptings? Could I possibly have missed something and be
heading way off-base?”
I love what Dallas Willard says about this. He writes: “Of course you could be wrong.
God doesn’t intend to make us infallible by his conversational walk with us, but you are
usually correct.”
In other words, don’t minimize, don’t rationalize. Don’t compromise.
So here’s how it’ll play out in our lives this week—how we’ll make the choice to be with
Jesus and listen for his voice—to begin to increase our sensitivity to hearing the voice of our
Shepherd.
Tomorrow you’ll have some leisure time. Of course, in our society, there’s one primary
activity that people engage in during leisure time, so it leads to the question: “Would Jesus watch
TV?” Well, it depends on what’s on.
If you watch TV, watch it, but watch it with Jesus and talk to him about what you see. If
he wants to change your habits, he’ll speak to you about that. You can trust him to do that. He
really will.
When you read tomorrow, read with Jesus. Talk with him about what you’re reading. The
newspaper then becomes an invitation to pray for the world, for what’s happening on the streets
of your neighborhood, your city, in Washington, in Afghanistan, and in the West Bank. Just talk
to God about the world.
Tomorrow, whatever the day holds—household errands, interruptions—every one of
them is an opportunity to be with Jesus. When you forget, and you will, when you mess up, and
you will, here’s a real important rule just for tomorrow: no beating yourself up. No failing
tomorrow because every moment is another chance. God just keeps sending them. That’s grace.
Every moment is a chance for you to be with him.
Tomorrow night when you lay down your head on the pillow, review the day. Thank
Jesus for going with you. Thank him for his gentle whispers. Remember the moments when you
heard his voice. Decide if you’d like to spend another day with him on Tuesday. If you would,
invite him because he’d love to.
One thing you must do is decide. You will not drift into this way of life. Our culture will
not make it happen; you must decide. So I’m going to give you a moment right now to decide.
I’m going to invite you to write one last thing on your bulletin right now, so take your pen.
Maybe it’s just one word like, “yes,” to express your heart or, “together,” to remind yourself that
you’ll go through the day together. Maybe it’s a phrase, “I’ll walk with you.”
Right now, as you write that on your bulletin, tell Jesus, “I want to spend tomorrow with
you, listening to your voice.” Put that paper someplace where you’ll see it all day, maybe on
your desk, taped to a mirror, or maybe in your calendar. Remember that this same offer came so
many years ago to Peter, James, and John, and it changed their lives.
This is the best offer you’ll ever have. You will never in your life—I don’t care what
happens, I don’t care how much money you make or what ladder of success you climb—you will
never have another offer like this one. People miss it all the time. People miss it every day, day
after day, until the end of their lives. Some people go through their whole lives and they never
take it. It’s your day. Don’t miss it.
Let’s pray. [Let the room become still and silent] “Speak God … your servants are
listening.… [LONG PAUSE] … Amen.”
God is closer than you think pt3
Week 3: The Presence
The late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ told this story of a famous oil field
called Yates Pool:
“During the Depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr.
Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on
the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his
family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
“Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no
doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil
company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission
to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
“At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a
day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, thirty years after the
discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000
barrels of oil a day.
“And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and
mineral rights. Yet he’d been living on relief. He was a multi-millionaire living in poverty. The
problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.”*
I think that many Christians today—though they have salvation through Jesus
Christ—are still living in spiritual poverty because they haven’t begun to live in the power of
God’s presence within them. It is as though we are living in the land of Christianity, but unaware
that beneath the surface—in the depths of our souls—there are riches at our disposal which God
has made available to us.
Two weeks ago we talked about God’s promise and desire to be with us. From cover to
cover the Bible talks about God’s steps to have that relationship with you and with me. Last
week, we looked at our choice to be with him—that it isn’t pushed on us, but that we make the
decision on whether or not to be with him.
After that decision is made, how do we move toward living in God’s riches instead of in
spiritual poverty? The very premise of our adventure during these six weeks is that we desire a
closer relationship with God, right?
Do you know one of the most amazing verses in the Bible? It’s John 16:7. It is when
Jesus tells his disciples that instead of coming closer to them, he is going away from them. As he
tries to prepare them for his departure, he says these words:
“I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away.”
Just for a moment, consider the disciples’ shock. Imagine if you were in their place.
Your life has been turned upside down by this man.
For three years you’ve been captivated by his every word.
You lived to hear him teach.
You lived to watch him heal.
You lived to see him love.
You left everything to follow him, convinced that he held the key to the future of the
human race. You’ve bet the farm on it.
And now he says he’s going to leave? That’s the end of your world!
You’ve sacrificed everything for him … and now you’re going to lose him!
But then Jesus has the audacity to add: “—and it’s a good thing.”
Sure. Kind of like what parents say before they spank their child: “This is going to hurt
you, but it’s good for you.”
But Jesus is quite serious and gives the reason why it’s a good thing that he leaves. He
says: “Because unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him
to you.”
Now I want you to think about that for a moment. That’s a staggering statement.
We often think: “I’d give anything to have lived when Jesus did—to hear his voice; to see
his face; to watch him perform miracles.”
But Jesus says, “No. It is better to live in the era of the Spirit than it is to walk with me on
the earth.” Jesus is saying we are more fortunate than the disciples were. You and I have an
advantage over those who actually walked with him!
Since Jesus says it, it must be true … so doesn’t it make sense that if we want to be close
to God we had better thoroughly know and lean on the person of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t we
be crystal clear on his identity and ministry?
For Christ-followers to miss this would be disaster.
In the Bible, the image Jesus uses of the Spirit in our life is a river.
Take a look with me at John 7:37–39:
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in him were later to receive.”
The King James version reads: “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
The word that’s used for “belly” is koilios—it means the “center of your being; the
deepest part of your authentic self.” The belly is that place that gets tied up in knots when you’re
anxious, where squadrons of butterflies fly in formation when you’re afraid, where you are
angry, or unsatisfied, or unhappy.
You may be able to manage your face. You maybe be able to make it look confident
when you’re dying inside. You may fool people by forcing your body language to appear relaxed
when you’re under stress. But your belly is not fooled. It is your inner core. It is where every
major emotion gets registered. It is where you carry the real truth about strength and weakness
with which you face life.
Jesus is basically saying, “If you follow me right down in your guts, your belly—you will
be flowing with energy, hope, love, and power.”
Did you notice in verse 39 what this picture of flowing waters stands for? The Holy
Spirit. This new kind of life is tied to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He’s in you.
For the most part, Israel is desert. The audience to whom Jesus was speaking didn’t see
many rivers. What they saw were wadis—troughs that ran through the sand. Wadis were usually
just dry gulches, but after a rain storm they would be filled with water.
So for the people Jesus was teaching in Israel, a full river is life. The opposite, a dry
gulch, is death.
The Bible uses the images of rivers and streams to depict spiritual reality: there is a flow
of God’s presence and power that gives life.
For example, Psalm 46:4 reads, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God.…”
In Jeremiah 17:7–8 the prophet wrote:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be
like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit.”
If a river flows unobstructed, all kinds of good things will happen. It will nourish trees. It
provides a home for fish and plants. It gives drinking water to human beings.
But if a river gets dammed up; if it gets blocked, obstructed, polluted, cut off—there’s
death:
“As the deer pants for the water,
So my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
In the desert country, when all the wadis are dried up, a deer is going to die if it doesn’t
find water.
The way this applies to our lives is to understand that it is not primarily a statement about
our level of desire. It’s not primarily talking about how much we want to come to church and
sing songs of worship.
It’s a simple observation of fact. It is the predicament of the human race, even if we’re
not aware of it. If the water—availability of Spirit—is blocked off, we will experience loss,
unsatisfied desire, spiritual death.
We see this again in the very last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:1–2:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of
the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And
the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
From the opening scene of Genesis to the closing chapter of Revelation, God creates,
redeems, and then re-creates a world that is to be full of life. The life he creates and offers flows
like the power and purity of a river.
Jesus says that he came so that you would be filled with life—that if someone asked how
you’re doing you would say, “I’m living the most complete, filled up, God-centered, peaceful,
empowered life you could imagine.” I wonder how many of us would answer that way today?
Let’s look at exactly what Jesus said. Turn in your Bibles to John 10:10…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
Over the years I’ve noticed something quite interesting. In some churches almost the only
thing they say about Jesus is how he’ll get you into heaven after you die. They don’t elaborate
much about life on this side of heaven. It’s almost like a fatalistic, foregone conclusion that we
simply slog along until we finally die and go to heaven.
Yet when you read the Gospels Jesus almost never talks about getting people into heaven.
Jesus talks about getting people into life.
Of course that includes life beyond the grave. But it always starts here.
Who does the thief represent? The thief is the Evil One, Satan. We should expect
opposition as Christ followers, but not be fearful of it. The Bible reminds us that “the one who is
in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Turn to any book in the New Testament, and you see this picture of amazing life painted.
For example, 1 Peter 1:8 says:
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
A little later Peter says of the people he’s writing:
“You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your
brothers.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Peter is saying that these first-century Christians have rid themselves of malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander. They have humbled themselves under God’s mighty hand.
How many here would say this pretty much describes you?
That you are filled with inexpressible joy?
You are ridding yourself of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and slander?
When people are around you, they notice your belly is flowing with rivers of living
water?
If you’ve more or less mastered humility—raise your hand!
Here’s what I think happens.
Many people hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. They are overwhelmed by this
vision of hope, and they say, “Yes! I want Jesus in my life!”
And so, for a time, there’s a kind of honeymoon period. They are drawn toward Scripture
in a new way. They get excited and want to tell other people about Jesus. They love to worship.
And some things change in their life. Coarse language gets cleaned up. Certain addictions
may be overcome. They get involved in serving in the church.
But over time this process of change seems to stall. And instead of my life looking like
this amazing picture painted in the New Testament, it looks like this:
—I yell at my children.
—I worry too much about money and my job.
—I get jealous of people more successful or attractive than me.
—I use deception to get out of trouble.
—I pass judgment on people all the time.
When I read the New Testament words about putting off the old nature and being a new
creature in Christ, I’m not jumping with joy at the change. Instead of feeling inspired by them,
these words make me feel discouraged or guilty or confused or just tired.
I get overwhelmed with all the stuff I’m supposed to do. And so I’m stuck with this gap
of what I’m supposed to be as a Christian and what I’m actually experiencing. Have you ever
been there?
Do you know what people do when they’re not closing the gap? These are real strategies.
A lot of people try harder.
They think, “The problem with this gap in my life is I’m just not being heroic enough in
my effort.”
I see this in a lot of you. “I’ll close the gap by sheer spiritual elbow grease—I’ll get up
earlier, pray longer, read another book, listen to more tapes, learn new disciplines, serve more,
work hard to be nicer to my family.”
Then you hear about somebody else who gets up at 4 a.m. to pray, and you feel
guilty—so you resolve do that too. Even though you’re not a morning person.
Even though at 4 a.m. you’re dazed and confused and groggy and grumpy and nobody
wants to be around you. Even Jesus doesn’t want to be with you at 4 in the morning!
But you say to yourself, “This is hard, exhausting, and miserable—so it must be
spiritual.”
You do your absolute best to keep it up for days, weeks, or even months—but you can’t
sustain it. And when you stop, you feel guilty. Pretty soon you start something else.
I’ll tell you a secret that deep inside you may already know, but are afraid to admit—
You’re tired. Not just physically tired. You are weary in your soul.
You are one of those to whom to whom Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Those are confusing words to you right now, because for you, coming to Jesus is
exhausting. But he wants to close the gap. He wants you to experience rivers of water … the
Spirit … flowing through you. And trying harder isn’t going to sustain you in your journey.
Other people who aren’t closing the gap between who they should be in Christ and who
they are simply pretend.
They know they’re supposed to be different, so they decide to “fake it till they make it.”
When you talk to them, their life is a miracle a minute. They smile a lot. Every prayer
gets answered. Every decision is a word from God. Every sentence ends with “praise the Lord.”
These Christians get good at impression management. One woman John Ortberg knows
had a son who was going through severe depression. But his depression violated the family
image of everything they were trying to portray as “Christian.” And do you know what her
counsel was to her son? She told him to smile because “fake happiness is better than genuine
depression.”
For the pretenders, inside … when everything’s quiet … and they’re alone—the gap’s
still there.
Others try to close the gap by rededication.
One of the places you’ll especially see this in some churches is in their youth groups.
John Ortberg experienced this quite often when he grew up. Here’s how he describes it:
“We’d be sitting around a campfire and the speaker would tell a real emotional story.
He’d say, ‘Last year, there was a group of teenagers who were driving home from this very camp
who got in a car crash and died.’
“Every year it was the same story. By the end of high school it was amazing we had any
teenagers left to go to camp—they apparently kept dying in crashes on the way home!
“But the rededication didn’t close the gap between who we knew we were supposed to be
and who we were.”
Some people try to close the gap by switching spiritual venues.
I have seen this hundreds of times.
Somebody grows up in a non-charismatic church and thinks, “If I just go to a charismatic
church, where they take a different approach to tongues/healing/prayer/worship—that will close
the gap.”
Someone else grows up in charismatic church and thinks, “Things here are so experienceoriented
and shallow; if I just to a church that’s got some deep theology.…” And so they go to
real “heady” church.
Some people choose to go to a church that takes some particular approach to teaching or
evangelism or the sacraments or social action—and they think, “If I just went to another kind of
church—that would close the gap.”
Sometimes it’s like watching a giant game of musical pews.
And some people don’t try to close the gap any longer—they just give up.
They’ve tried all the supposed solutions and feel completely discouraged. Or hopeless.
So inwardly they decide such a different way of life is really not possible. They stay a
Christian. They keep going to church. They maintain their involvement in church life. They sure
hope they’re going to heaven when they die. But they decide that not much can be done about
that gap in this life. So secretly, they give up.
Some of you have.
[PAUSE]
But what if there is another way?
What if Jesus was right?
What if it is possible for you to come increasingly alive with love, joy, peace—and it’s
not by trying harder?
What if the Spirit of God is like a river, flowing all the time in your life?
What if your job isn’t to try harder or run faster or get up earlier?
What if God is at work all the time, in every place that you are?
What if your job is simply to jump in the river?
Your job is to figure out, from one moment to the next, “How do I just stay in the flow?
How do I not do those things that close me off to the Spirit? How do I keep myself aware and
submitted—so that those rivers of living water are running through my belly? How do I learn to
flow with the Spirit?”
Let’s take a look at John 16:12–15 where Jesus teaches about some of the roles the Holy
Spirit has in our lives:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only
what he hears, and he will tell what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what
is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the
Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
The Spirit is a funnel through whom the blessings of God come to us. The Christian life
is life lived in the Spirit.
In the passage I read earlier from John 16:7, the word Jesus used for “counselor,”
referring to the Holy Spirit, in the original language is parakletos. This is an extremely rich
word.
It comes from two different Greek words: kaleo—which means “to call” and
para—which means “alongside.” The picture is of someone called to come alongside another
person and stand by them.
It could be translated “comforter,” “helper,” or “advocate.” It was a word which was used
in that day in the legal arena. The parakletos was one who would serve the defendant, acting as a
character witness or a kind of legal counsel.
This word is used only one other time in the New Testament. It’s found in a shorter letter
of John called 1 John, where he writes:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we
have one who speaks to the father in our defense [parakletos]— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.” (1 John 2:1–2)
With the Spirit as our counselor we do not have to live in fear about judgment of God, for
Jesus stands next to us, in effect saying: “On the basis of the cross, this one is mine. They are
innocent. This one belongs to me.”
Turn to John 14:16–18 and let’s look at it together. Jesus is talking with his disciples and
he says:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I
will come to you.”
He says he’ll send “another parakletos”! Who is the first one? It’s Jesus. And he tells his
friends that he won’t leave them as orphans. They won’t be alone and on their own. In fact, he
gives them this amazing promise about the Spirit:
“For he lives with you and will be in you.”
Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit of almighty God is inside you. He takes up residence
in your life!
Think about your need for a good counselor. Have you ever made a dumb decision? Do
you ever worry about things even though worrying didn’t do you any good? What about people
problems?
I once saw a cartoon of a woman with frazzled hair. She wore a haggard expression and
had dark circles under her eyes. Her face was lined with care and she was saying: “When I woke
up this morning I had one nerve left and now you’re getting on it!”
Does anybody here have people problems? Do some of you have a problem managing
anger? Do some of you beat yourselves up all the time for things that aren’t your fault?
Jesus says he will send what Lloyd Ogilvie calls “the Greatest Counselor in the world.”
I believe there is a deeper adventure of the Spirit open to us. I’m jealous of that for you
and me.
Let me ask you, if you had the ideal counselor—whether a professional counselor or a
trusted friend—wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing?
For example, you would know that you are accepted. With the perfect counselor, you
could say anything and they would always listen. They’d never turn away or reject you or laugh
at you. As you spent time with that counselor, healing and change would begin to take place.
Time spent with the perfect counselor would yield perfect wisdom in your life. Your
ideal counselor could diagnose you with great accuracy. You would find yourself filled with
insight and clarity, guided toward truth and able to make decisions which yield far less negative
consequences and have exponential benefits.
With the ideal counselor, you wouldn’t be stuck with the status quo … but empowered
for change and better living.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to pay for your counselor’s time. Better yet, it would
be nice if your counselor could just go with you wherever you are.
All of this is what the Holy Spirit does.
I have said to the Spirit,
“I want to be your counselee.
I want to have deep, private sessions with you.
I’m tired of trying to solve my problems myself.
I’m tried of carrying life-draining anxieties.
I want to ruthlessly follow your counsel.
I want you to be my counselor.”
The greatest counselor in the world helps us grow. And some of the ways that people
grow in the knowledge of God and insight into the Bible is through the work of the Spirit within
them. That’s why, when someone becomes a Christ-follower, the truths in the Bible become
more clear to them—there’s a partnership taking place because of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Listen to what the apostle John writes about this in 1 John 2:20 and 27:
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.… As for
you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach
you.”
Does this mean we don’t need pastors or sermons anymore? (I know some of you are
getting excited.) Does this mean we can just stop paying their salaries? (More of you are getting
excited.)
The answer to both questions is no! You see, there were people in the church who were
teaching false doctrine—they were creating dissension and fear. These false teachers claimed
that they had special authority based on a superior anointing of the Spirit.
John is encouraging the Christians to whom he was writing (and us today) by basically
saying: “You all have the Spirit. Don’t just be like sheep. Don’t let someone intimidate you by
claiming superior spirituality. You as much as anybody are in direct contact with Spirit of God.”
Another role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is that of guiding us.
When Jesus was teaching he referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s role
of guidance by saying:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
To illustrate, let me tell you about a young man named Scott. Scott had asked Christ into
his life when he was young, but through the years he just drifted away from God and desired to
simply control his own destiny—call the shots—live his life however he wanted regardless of the
consequences.
By the time he was in his mid-thirties everything he held onto for security was slipping
through his fingers. As a result of back surgery he could no longer work. His closest friend had
died. He was losing his home … if there was a bottom to be hit in his life he was there and
excavating to go deeper.
Full of despair, Scott was driving around town asking God to show him what to do. He
saw a road sign that said “Dead End” and that was how he felt. For some reason, he decided to
see what was at the end of the road. When he reached it, he found a church.
It wasn’t Sunday, but Scott pulled into the parking lot to cry and pray. He had tried other
churches through the years and never felt accepted. But because of his prayer for guidance he
decided to give this one a try the next Sunday.
He showed up and continued to come, week after week, and found the healing and hope
through Jesus and that community of Christians which he had longed for all his life.
The Holy Spirit can even guide drivers to their destination. You may have a GPS in your
car or use Mapquest—but they fall way short of the directing work of the Spirit of God!
What was prompting Scott to turn down that road? The Holy Spirit.
The Spirit gives us insight into truth. The Spirit gives us guidance. The Spirit also gives
us wisdom. Listen to this promise from the Bible found in the book of James:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
God gives wisdom that we need through the Spirit.
Usually we’ll approach someone and say, “I have a problem.” Then we proceed to lay it
out in great detail and finish by saying, with great emotion: “I need your wisdom on this. Please
give it.”
The Bible is quite clear that it is good to seek counsel from wise people around us. But
wouldn’t it make sense to first go to the Greatest Counselor?
Here’s what we should do.
This week when you face a situation that needs wisdom, insight, and guidance, whether
it’s a:
• Significant decision
• A tough parenting situation
• A relational challenge
• A dilemma at work
• A need for time management
First, stop. Be still—even at work, just take a moment to quiet your heart.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and insight.
And listen.
The Spirit will bring Scripture to mind. You will have insights—sometimes a nudge to
make the right choices. He’ll guide! But you must listen.
When we partner with the Spirit through the course of each day, a greater dependence on
him builds within us. We become sensitized to his presence. It is as though he is flowing through
us with the freshness of a mountain river.
No longer will we be seeking to close the gap by trying harder, or pretending, or
switching, or even giving up. But we will discover that from within rivers of living water are
flowing from our belly … and the fullness of life that Jesus promised will be ours because God is
closer than we think.
*SOURCE: Untapped Spiritual Resources, by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, IL. Citation: Bill Bright, “How to Be
Filled with the Spirit” (Campus Crusade publication)
The late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ told this story of a famous oil field
called Yates Pool:
“During the Depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr.
Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on
the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his
family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
“Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no
doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil
company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission
to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
“At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a
day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, thirty years after the
discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000
barrels of oil a day.
“And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and
mineral rights. Yet he’d been living on relief. He was a multi-millionaire living in poverty. The
problem? He didn’t know the oil was there even though he owned it.”*
I think that many Christians today—though they have salvation through Jesus
Christ—are still living in spiritual poverty because they haven’t begun to live in the power of
God’s presence within them. It is as though we are living in the land of Christianity, but unaware
that beneath the surface—in the depths of our souls—there are riches at our disposal which God
has made available to us.
Two weeks ago we talked about God’s promise and desire to be with us. From cover to
cover the Bible talks about God’s steps to have that relationship with you and with me. Last
week, we looked at our choice to be with him—that it isn’t pushed on us, but that we make the
decision on whether or not to be with him.
After that decision is made, how do we move toward living in God’s riches instead of in
spiritual poverty? The very premise of our adventure during these six weeks is that we desire a
closer relationship with God, right?
Do you know one of the most amazing verses in the Bible? It’s John 16:7. It is when
Jesus tells his disciples that instead of coming closer to them, he is going away from them. As he
tries to prepare them for his departure, he says these words:
“I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away.”
Just for a moment, consider the disciples’ shock. Imagine if you were in their place.
Your life has been turned upside down by this man.
For three years you’ve been captivated by his every word.
You lived to hear him teach.
You lived to watch him heal.
You lived to see him love.
You left everything to follow him, convinced that he held the key to the future of the
human race. You’ve bet the farm on it.
And now he says he’s going to leave? That’s the end of your world!
You’ve sacrificed everything for him … and now you’re going to lose him!
But then Jesus has the audacity to add: “—and it’s a good thing.”
Sure. Kind of like what parents say before they spank their child: “This is going to hurt
you, but it’s good for you.”
But Jesus is quite serious and gives the reason why it’s a good thing that he leaves. He
says: “Because unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him
to you.”
Now I want you to think about that for a moment. That’s a staggering statement.
We often think: “I’d give anything to have lived when Jesus did—to hear his voice; to see
his face; to watch him perform miracles.”
But Jesus says, “No. It is better to live in the era of the Spirit than it is to walk with me on
the earth.” Jesus is saying we are more fortunate than the disciples were. You and I have an
advantage over those who actually walked with him!
Since Jesus says it, it must be true … so doesn’t it make sense that if we want to be close
to God we had better thoroughly know and lean on the person of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t we
be crystal clear on his identity and ministry?
For Christ-followers to miss this would be disaster.
In the Bible, the image Jesus uses of the Spirit in our life is a river.
Take a look with me at John 7:37–39:
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those
who believed in him were later to receive.”
The King James version reads: “Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
The word that’s used for “belly” is koilios—it means the “center of your being; the
deepest part of your authentic self.” The belly is that place that gets tied up in knots when you’re
anxious, where squadrons of butterflies fly in formation when you’re afraid, where you are
angry, or unsatisfied, or unhappy.
You may be able to manage your face. You maybe be able to make it look confident
when you’re dying inside. You may fool people by forcing your body language to appear relaxed
when you’re under stress. But your belly is not fooled. It is your inner core. It is where every
major emotion gets registered. It is where you carry the real truth about strength and weakness
with which you face life.
Jesus is basically saying, “If you follow me right down in your guts, your belly—you will
be flowing with energy, hope, love, and power.”
Did you notice in verse 39 what this picture of flowing waters stands for? The Holy
Spirit. This new kind of life is tied to the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He’s in you.
For the most part, Israel is desert. The audience to whom Jesus was speaking didn’t see
many rivers. What they saw were wadis—troughs that ran through the sand. Wadis were usually
just dry gulches, but after a rain storm they would be filled with water.
So for the people Jesus was teaching in Israel, a full river is life. The opposite, a dry
gulch, is death.
The Bible uses the images of rivers and streams to depict spiritual reality: there is a flow
of God’s presence and power that gives life.
For example, Psalm 46:4 reads, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of
God.…”
In Jeremiah 17:7–8 the prophet wrote:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be
like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat
comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit.”
If a river flows unobstructed, all kinds of good things will happen. It will nourish trees. It
provides a home for fish and plants. It gives drinking water to human beings.
But if a river gets dammed up; if it gets blocked, obstructed, polluted, cut off—there’s
death:
“As the deer pants for the water,
So my soul pants for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)
In the desert country, when all the wadis are dried up, a deer is going to die if it doesn’t
find water.
The way this applies to our lives is to understand that it is not primarily a statement about
our level of desire. It’s not primarily talking about how much we want to come to church and
sing songs of worship.
It’s a simple observation of fact. It is the predicament of the human race, even if we’re
not aware of it. If the water—availability of Spirit—is blocked off, we will experience loss,
unsatisfied desire, spiritual death.
We see this again in the very last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22:1–2:
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of
the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And
the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
From the opening scene of Genesis to the closing chapter of Revelation, God creates,
redeems, and then re-creates a world that is to be full of life. The life he creates and offers flows
like the power and purity of a river.
Jesus says that he came so that you would be filled with life—that if someone asked how
you’re doing you would say, “I’m living the most complete, filled up, God-centered, peaceful,
empowered life you could imagine.” I wonder how many of us would answer that way today?
Let’s look at exactly what Jesus said. Turn in your Bibles to John 10:10…
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.”
Over the years I’ve noticed something quite interesting. In some churches almost the only
thing they say about Jesus is how he’ll get you into heaven after you die. They don’t elaborate
much about life on this side of heaven. It’s almost like a fatalistic, foregone conclusion that we
simply slog along until we finally die and go to heaven.
Yet when you read the Gospels Jesus almost never talks about getting people into heaven.
Jesus talks about getting people into life.
Of course that includes life beyond the grave. But it always starts here.
Who does the thief represent? The thief is the Evil One, Satan. We should expect
opposition as Christ followers, but not be fearful of it. The Bible reminds us that “the one who is
in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Turn to any book in the New Testament, and you see this picture of amazing life painted.
For example, 1 Peter 1:8 says:
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,
you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
A little later Peter says of the people he’s writing:
“You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your
brothers.” (1 Peter 1:22)
Peter is saying that these first-century Christians have rid themselves of malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander. They have humbled themselves under God’s mighty hand.
How many here would say this pretty much describes you?
That you are filled with inexpressible joy?
You are ridding yourself of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and slander?
When people are around you, they notice your belly is flowing with rivers of living
water?
If you’ve more or less mastered humility—raise your hand!
Here’s what I think happens.
Many people hear about the good news of Jesus Christ. They are overwhelmed by this
vision of hope, and they say, “Yes! I want Jesus in my life!”
And so, for a time, there’s a kind of honeymoon period. They are drawn toward Scripture
in a new way. They get excited and want to tell other people about Jesus. They love to worship.
And some things change in their life. Coarse language gets cleaned up. Certain addictions
may be overcome. They get involved in serving in the church.
But over time this process of change seems to stall. And instead of my life looking like
this amazing picture painted in the New Testament, it looks like this:
—I yell at my children.
—I worry too much about money and my job.
—I get jealous of people more successful or attractive than me.
—I use deception to get out of trouble.
—I pass judgment on people all the time.
When I read the New Testament words about putting off the old nature and being a new
creature in Christ, I’m not jumping with joy at the change. Instead of feeling inspired by them,
these words make me feel discouraged or guilty or confused or just tired.
I get overwhelmed with all the stuff I’m supposed to do. And so I’m stuck with this gap
of what I’m supposed to be as a Christian and what I’m actually experiencing. Have you ever
been there?
Do you know what people do when they’re not closing the gap? These are real strategies.
A lot of people try harder.
They think, “The problem with this gap in my life is I’m just not being heroic enough in
my effort.”
I see this in a lot of you. “I’ll close the gap by sheer spiritual elbow grease—I’ll get up
earlier, pray longer, read another book, listen to more tapes, learn new disciplines, serve more,
work hard to be nicer to my family.”
Then you hear about somebody else who gets up at 4 a.m. to pray, and you feel
guilty—so you resolve do that too. Even though you’re not a morning person.
Even though at 4 a.m. you’re dazed and confused and groggy and grumpy and nobody
wants to be around you. Even Jesus doesn’t want to be with you at 4 in the morning!
But you say to yourself, “This is hard, exhausting, and miserable—so it must be
spiritual.”
You do your absolute best to keep it up for days, weeks, or even months—but you can’t
sustain it. And when you stop, you feel guilty. Pretty soon you start something else.
I’ll tell you a secret that deep inside you may already know, but are afraid to admit—
You’re tired. Not just physically tired. You are weary in your soul.
You are one of those to whom to whom Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Those are confusing words to you right now, because for you, coming to Jesus is
exhausting. But he wants to close the gap. He wants you to experience rivers of water … the
Spirit … flowing through you. And trying harder isn’t going to sustain you in your journey.
Other people who aren’t closing the gap between who they should be in Christ and who
they are simply pretend.
They know they’re supposed to be different, so they decide to “fake it till they make it.”
When you talk to them, their life is a miracle a minute. They smile a lot. Every prayer
gets answered. Every decision is a word from God. Every sentence ends with “praise the Lord.”
These Christians get good at impression management. One woman John Ortberg knows
had a son who was going through severe depression. But his depression violated the family
image of everything they were trying to portray as “Christian.” And do you know what her
counsel was to her son? She told him to smile because “fake happiness is better than genuine
depression.”
For the pretenders, inside … when everything’s quiet … and they’re alone—the gap’s
still there.
Others try to close the gap by rededication.
One of the places you’ll especially see this in some churches is in their youth groups.
John Ortberg experienced this quite often when he grew up. Here’s how he describes it:
“We’d be sitting around a campfire and the speaker would tell a real emotional story.
He’d say, ‘Last year, there was a group of teenagers who were driving home from this very camp
who got in a car crash and died.’
“Every year it was the same story. By the end of high school it was amazing we had any
teenagers left to go to camp—they apparently kept dying in crashes on the way home!
“But the rededication didn’t close the gap between who we knew we were supposed to be
and who we were.”
Some people try to close the gap by switching spiritual venues.
I have seen this hundreds of times.
Somebody grows up in a non-charismatic church and thinks, “If I just go to a charismatic
church, where they take a different approach to tongues/healing/prayer/worship—that will close
the gap.”
Someone else grows up in charismatic church and thinks, “Things here are so experienceoriented
and shallow; if I just to a church that’s got some deep theology.…” And so they go to
real “heady” church.
Some people choose to go to a church that takes some particular approach to teaching or
evangelism or the sacraments or social action—and they think, “If I just went to another kind of
church—that would close the gap.”
Sometimes it’s like watching a giant game of musical pews.
And some people don’t try to close the gap any longer—they just give up.
They’ve tried all the supposed solutions and feel completely discouraged. Or hopeless.
So inwardly they decide such a different way of life is really not possible. They stay a
Christian. They keep going to church. They maintain their involvement in church life. They sure
hope they’re going to heaven when they die. But they decide that not much can be done about
that gap in this life. So secretly, they give up.
Some of you have.
[PAUSE]
But what if there is another way?
What if Jesus was right?
What if it is possible for you to come increasingly alive with love, joy, peace—and it’s
not by trying harder?
What if the Spirit of God is like a river, flowing all the time in your life?
What if your job isn’t to try harder or run faster or get up earlier?
What if God is at work all the time, in every place that you are?
What if your job is simply to jump in the river?
Your job is to figure out, from one moment to the next, “How do I just stay in the flow?
How do I not do those things that close me off to the Spirit? How do I keep myself aware and
submitted—so that those rivers of living water are running through my belly? How do I learn to
flow with the Spirit?”
Let’s take a look at John 16:12–15 where Jesus teaches about some of the roles the Holy
Spirit has in our lives:
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of
truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only
what he hears, and he will tell what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what
is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the
Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
The Spirit is a funnel through whom the blessings of God come to us. The Christian life
is life lived in the Spirit.
In the passage I read earlier from John 16:7, the word Jesus used for “counselor,”
referring to the Holy Spirit, in the original language is parakletos. This is an extremely rich
word.
It comes from two different Greek words: kaleo—which means “to call” and
para—which means “alongside.” The picture is of someone called to come alongside another
person and stand by them.
It could be translated “comforter,” “helper,” or “advocate.” It was a word which was used
in that day in the legal arena. The parakletos was one who would serve the defendant, acting as a
character witness or a kind of legal counsel.
This word is used only one other time in the New Testament. It’s found in a shorter letter
of John called 1 John, where he writes:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we
have one who speaks to the father in our defense [parakletos]— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole
world.” (1 John 2:1–2)
With the Spirit as our counselor we do not have to live in fear about judgment of God, for
Jesus stands next to us, in effect saying: “On the basis of the cross, this one is mine. They are
innocent. This one belongs to me.”
Turn to John 14:16–18 and let’s look at it together. Jesus is talking with his disciples and
he says:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I
will come to you.”
He says he’ll send “another parakletos”! Who is the first one? It’s Jesus. And he tells his
friends that he won’t leave them as orphans. They won’t be alone and on their own. In fact, he
gives them this amazing promise about the Spirit:
“For he lives with you and will be in you.”
Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit of almighty God is inside you. He takes up residence
in your life!
Think about your need for a good counselor. Have you ever made a dumb decision? Do
you ever worry about things even though worrying didn’t do you any good? What about people
problems?
I once saw a cartoon of a woman with frazzled hair. She wore a haggard expression and
had dark circles under her eyes. Her face was lined with care and she was saying: “When I woke
up this morning I had one nerve left and now you’re getting on it!”
Does anybody here have people problems? Do some of you have a problem managing
anger? Do some of you beat yourselves up all the time for things that aren’t your fault?
Jesus says he will send what Lloyd Ogilvie calls “the Greatest Counselor in the world.”
I believe there is a deeper adventure of the Spirit open to us. I’m jealous of that for you
and me.
Let me ask you, if you had the ideal counselor—whether a professional counselor or a
trusted friend—wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing?
For example, you would know that you are accepted. With the perfect counselor, you
could say anything and they would always listen. They’d never turn away or reject you or laugh
at you. As you spent time with that counselor, healing and change would begin to take place.
Time spent with the perfect counselor would yield perfect wisdom in your life. Your
ideal counselor could diagnose you with great accuracy. You would find yourself filled with
insight and clarity, guided toward truth and able to make decisions which yield far less negative
consequences and have exponential benefits.
With the ideal counselor, you wouldn’t be stuck with the status quo … but empowered
for change and better living.
It would be nice if you didn’t have to pay for your counselor’s time. Better yet, it would
be nice if your counselor could just go with you wherever you are.
All of this is what the Holy Spirit does.
I have said to the Spirit,
“I want to be your counselee.
I want to have deep, private sessions with you.
I’m tired of trying to solve my problems myself.
I’m tried of carrying life-draining anxieties.
I want to ruthlessly follow your counsel.
I want you to be my counselor.”
The greatest counselor in the world helps us grow. And some of the ways that people
grow in the knowledge of God and insight into the Bible is through the work of the Spirit within
them. That’s why, when someone becomes a Christ-follower, the truths in the Bible become
more clear to them—there’s a partnership taking place because of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Listen to what the apostle John writes about this in 1 John 2:20 and 27:
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.… As for
you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach
you.”
Does this mean we don’t need pastors or sermons anymore? (I know some of you are
getting excited.) Does this mean we can just stop paying their salaries? (More of you are getting
excited.)
The answer to both questions is no! You see, there were people in the church who were
teaching false doctrine—they were creating dissension and fear. These false teachers claimed
that they had special authority based on a superior anointing of the Spirit.
John is encouraging the Christians to whom he was writing (and us today) by basically
saying: “You all have the Spirit. Don’t just be like sheep. Don’t let someone intimidate you by
claiming superior spirituality. You as much as anybody are in direct contact with Spirit of God.”
Another role that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is that of guiding us.
When Jesus was teaching he referred to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s role
of guidance by saying:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
To illustrate, let me tell you about a young man named Scott. Scott had asked Christ into
his life when he was young, but through the years he just drifted away from God and desired to
simply control his own destiny—call the shots—live his life however he wanted regardless of the
consequences.
By the time he was in his mid-thirties everything he held onto for security was slipping
through his fingers. As a result of back surgery he could no longer work. His closest friend had
died. He was losing his home … if there was a bottom to be hit in his life he was there and
excavating to go deeper.
Full of despair, Scott was driving around town asking God to show him what to do. He
saw a road sign that said “Dead End” and that was how he felt. For some reason, he decided to
see what was at the end of the road. When he reached it, he found a church.
It wasn’t Sunday, but Scott pulled into the parking lot to cry and pray. He had tried other
churches through the years and never felt accepted. But because of his prayer for guidance he
decided to give this one a try the next Sunday.
He showed up and continued to come, week after week, and found the healing and hope
through Jesus and that community of Christians which he had longed for all his life.
The Holy Spirit can even guide drivers to their destination. You may have a GPS in your
car or use Mapquest—but they fall way short of the directing work of the Spirit of God!
What was prompting Scott to turn down that road? The Holy Spirit.
The Spirit gives us insight into truth. The Spirit gives us guidance. The Spirit also gives
us wisdom. Listen to this promise from the Bible found in the book of James:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without
finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
God gives wisdom that we need through the Spirit.
Usually we’ll approach someone and say, “I have a problem.” Then we proceed to lay it
out in great detail and finish by saying, with great emotion: “I need your wisdom on this. Please
give it.”
The Bible is quite clear that it is good to seek counsel from wise people around us. But
wouldn’t it make sense to first go to the Greatest Counselor?
Here’s what we should do.
This week when you face a situation that needs wisdom, insight, and guidance, whether
it’s a:
• Significant decision
• A tough parenting situation
• A relational challenge
• A dilemma at work
• A need for time management
First, stop. Be still—even at work, just take a moment to quiet your heart.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and insight.
And listen.
The Spirit will bring Scripture to mind. You will have insights—sometimes a nudge to
make the right choices. He’ll guide! But you must listen.
When we partner with the Spirit through the course of each day, a greater dependence on
him builds within us. We become sensitized to his presence. It is as though he is flowing through
us with the freshness of a mountain river.
No longer will we be seeking to close the gap by trying harder, or pretending, or
switching, or even giving up. But we will discover that from within rivers of living water are
flowing from our belly … and the fullness of life that Jesus promised will be ours because God is
closer than we think.
*SOURCE: Untapped Spiritual Resources, by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, IL. Citation: Bill Bright, “How to Be
Filled with the Spirit” (Campus Crusade publication)
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