THE PURSUIT OF GOD

1. THE PURSUIT OF GOD The Speaking Voice Chapter 6

2. Up to now… 1 – Following Hard After God 2 – The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing 3 – Removing the Veil 4 – Apprehending God 5 – The Universal Presence Today: 6 – The Speaking Voice

3. Some suggested take-aways from the series • God is pursuing us • God wants us to pursue him • We can find him if we seek him • If we have God we already have everything • If we don’t have God we have nothing • God removed his veil; we need to remove ours • God is everywhere but we must seek to see • Find God is truly the only priceless thing

4. The Speaking Voice • A Question: How do you hear God? • We, in fact, can hear God, see God, and feel God. • We “see” God in the Creation – Rom. 1:20 • We “feel” God by his love, his peace, and all the fruit of his Spirit – Eph. 3:17-19; Phil. 4:4-7; Gal. 5:22-23 • How do we “hear” God?

5. John 10:1-6 1“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

6. The reality is that, as Tozer discusses, Jesus is called in essence, “the Word” (John 1:1, 14). • John 1:1-5 – 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

7. Word = logos = λόγος(Gr.) • Logos was a word out of Hellenistic philosophy; John used more than just a word—he used a then current philosophical word and concept the early Christians were familiar with to describe Jesus. • John was writing first to the early church at the end of the first century, to assure them that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and that they could lived convinced and convicted lives in that view. He was clearly countering the Gnostic reinterpretation of Christ. They “got” it.

8. However, logos is more difficult for us to understand because we have a more literal and specific view of the English word into which it is translated, “Word”. • The early Greek view and later Gnostic view of philosophy centered on knowledge (gnosis, Gr.), and how we “know” what we know. Gnosis is the common Greek word for knowledge. • In modern philosophy the study of knowledge, what we “know” and how we know what we know, is known as “epistemology” (from a more formal Greek word for knowledge, epistēmē).

9. How Does God “Speak/How Do We Hear Him? • We “hear” him first perhaps in the Creation. • We “hear” him within our own “God-image-bearing” selves. • We “hear” him through the prophets and seers of God who have lived through the ages. • We “hear” him through the inspired Scriptures. • We “hear” him through the visualized gospel of Christ.

10. 6. We “hear” him through his people—Israel and now the Church (collectively and individually), teaching and preaching Scripture, as well as in the authorized decisions it makes and delivers. 7. We “hear” him by the Holy Spirit that he gives us when we are saved.

11. 1. We “hear” him first perhaps in the Creation. • Rom. 1:20 – For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

12. Psa. 19:1-4 – 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.2 Day after day they pour forth speech;    night after night they reveal knowledge.3 They have no speech, they use no words;    no sound is heard from them.4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,    their words to the ends of the world.

13. 2. We “hear” him within our own “God-image-bearing” selves. • Gen. 1:26-27 – 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

14. Gen. 4:26 – At that time people began to call on[i] the name of the LORD. • Rom. 2:14-15 – 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness…)

15. 3. We “hear” him through the prophets and seers of God who have lived through the ages. • Heb. 1:1 – In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways… • Eph. 4:11 – 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

16. Eph. 4:11 – Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers… • 1 Cor. 12 – 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them…7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

17. 4. We “hear” him through the inspired Scriptures. • 2 Tim. 3:16-17 – 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. • 2 Pet. 1:20-21 – 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

18. 5. We “hear” him through the message and gospel of Christ. • Heb. 1:3 – The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. • John 1:1, 14 – 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

19. John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. • Rom. 10:17 – Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

20. 6. We “hear” him through his people—earlier Israel and now the Church • Collectively and individually, teaching and preaching Scripture, as well as in the authorized decisions it makes and delivers. • Acts 15:28 – It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements… • Eph. 4:11 – 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”

21. Col. 3:16 – 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

22. 7. We “hear” him by the Holy Spirit that he gives us when we are saved. • 1 Cor 2:10-18 – through Spirit-led interpretation of God’s word read and heard • Phil. 2:12-13 – through our spirit-led urges and action • James 1:5-6 – through our God-given wisdom • Matt. 16:19 – through our responsibility to lead, “bind”, and “loose”. • 1 Cor. 12 – through the Holy Spirit manifestations in whatever ways he chooses

23. Eph. 4:11 – through leadership gifts Jesus himself gives • Acts 16 – through opened and closed doors • Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11 – through divinely guided and protected outcomes • 1 John 2 (Heb. 8/Jer. 31) – through a Spirit-anointed “knowing”

24. How Does God “Speak/How Do We Hear Him? • We “hear” him first perhaps in the Creation. • We “hear” him within our own “God-image-bearing” selves. • We “hear” him through the prophets and seers of God who have lived through the ages. • We “hear” him through the inspired Scriptures. • We “hear” him through the visualized gospel of Christ.

25. 6. We “hear” him through his people—Israel and now the Church (collectively and individually), teaching and preaching Scripture, as well as in the authorized decisions it makes and delivers. 7. We “hear” him by the Holy Spirit that he gives us when we are saved.

26. Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, “Speak, for Thy servant heareth.” Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice. Amen.