Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Design*

August 10, 2008

John 3:16

 

This is the second message of four on John 3:16.

The first was last week when I spoke on the first of the four D’s – Danger, the danger of perishing and the warning found in John 3:16: /For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish \\ but have everlasting life./

Today I’ll speak on the second D which is God’s design found in this foundational verse which Max Lucado calls the HOPE diamond of the Bible.

But, let’s begin again with Experiencing God Day-by Day:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”—John 14:6

If you are walking daily with the Lord, you will not have to find God's will—you will already be in it.

If you are walking with Him in obedience day by day, you will always be in the will of God.

The Holy Spirit's role is to guide you step by step to do God's will.

Walking closely with God each day guarantees that you will be exactly where He wants you to be.

You would have to reject all of the Holy Spirit's activity in your life in order to get out of the will of God.

The disciples never had to ask Jesus where they should go next.

They simply looked to see where Jesus was going and stayed close to Him! Jesus was their “way.”

They didn't need a map as long as they had Jesus.

Too often, we would prefer a road map of our future rather than a relationship with the Way.

It often seems easier to follow a plan than to cultivate a relationship.

We can become more concerned with our future than we are with walking intimately with God today.

Jesus will never give you a substitute for Himself.

He is the /only /way to the Father.

That's why it is critical that you clearly know when God is speaking to you  As Isaiah.

30:21 states, /Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

/

If you are disoriented to how God speaks, you will not understand when He is giving you a new revelation about what He is doing.

If you want to know God's will, take time to cultivate your relationship with Jesus and learn to identify His voice.

He is more than willing to show you the way.

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby has quite a lot to say about God speaking to His people.

For those of you who have been working through this study, this will ring a bell.

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says, If anything is clear from a reading of the Bible, this fact is clear: God speaks to His people.

He spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis.

He spoke to Abraham and the other patriarchs.

God spoke to the judges, kings, and prophets.

God was in Christ Jesus speaking to the disciples.

God spoke to the early church, and God spoke to John on the Isle of Patmos in Revelation.

God does speak to His people, and you can anticipate that He will be speaking to you also.

Years ago I spoke to a group of young pastors.

When I finished the first session, a pastor took me aside and said, “I vowed to God I would never, ever again listen to a man like you.

You talk as though God is personal and real and talks to you.

I just despise that.”

I asked him, “Are you having difficulty having God speak to you?”

He and I took time to talk.

Before long, we were on our knees.

He was weeping and thanking God that God had spoken to him.

Oh, don’t let anyone intimidate you about hearing from God.

One critical point to understanding and experiencing God is knowing clearly when God is speaking.

If the Christian does not know when God is speaking, he is in trouble at the heart of his Christian life!

God speaks by the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.

God speaks through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church or other believers.

Read some of what the Bible says about God speaking to His people.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. (Heb 1:1)

 

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jn 14:26)

 

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

(Jn 16:13–14)

 

“He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” (Jn 8:47)

 

In the Old Testament God spoke at many times and in a variety of ways.

He spoke through:

• angels (Ge 16)

• visions (Ge 15)

• dreams (Ge 28:10–19)

• the use of the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30)

• symbolic actions (Je 18:1–10)

• a gentle whisper (1Ki 19:12)

• miraculous signs (Ex 8:20–25)

• and others

 

That God spoke to people is far more important than how He spoke.

When He spoke, the person knew God was speaking; and he knew what God was saying.

I see four important factors each time God spoke in the Old Testament.

The burning bush experience of Moses in Exodus 3 is an example.

/ /

/When God spoke, it was usually unique to that individual.

/For instance, Moses had no precedent for a burning bush experience.

He could not say, “Oh, this is my burning bush experience.

My fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had theirs, and this is mine.”

There were no other experiences of God speaking this way.

It was unique.

God wants our experience with Him, and His voice, to be personal to us.

He wants us to look to Him in a relationship rather than depend on some method or technique.

The key is not /how /God spoke, but /that /He spoke.

That has not changed.

He will speak to His people today, and how He speaks will not be nearly as important as the fact that He does speak.

/ /

/When God spoke, the person was sure God was speaking.

/Because God spoke to Moses in a unique way, Moses had to be certain it was God.

The Scripture testifies that Moses had no question that his encounter was with God—The “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14).

He trusted God, obeyed Him, and experienced God responding just as He said He would.

Could Moses logically prove to someone else that he had heard from God through a burning bush?

No, all Moses could do was testify to his encounter with God.

Only God could cause His people to know that the word He gave Moses was a word from the God of their fathers.

When someone like Gideon lacked assurance, God was very gracious to reveal Himself even more clearly.

When Gideon first asked for a sign, he prepared a sacrifice.

“Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread.

And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD.

So Gideon said, ‘Alas, O Lord GOD!

For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face!’” (Jdg 6:21–22).

Gideon was sure that God had spoken.

/ /

/When God spoke, the person knew what God said.

/Moses knew what God was telling him to do.

He knew how God wanted to work through him.

That is why Moses raised so many objections.

He knew exactly what God was expecting.