Summary God Speaks: Hearing, Trusting, and Living the Word

God Speaks: Hearing, Trusting, and Living the Word Introduction This sermon is written to the Youth audience: teenagers and young adults living in a more and more noisy and skeptical world. In the age of digital communication when thousands of voices are competing with each other and truth is being considered relative these days, it is more important than ever before to hear and react to the authoritative Word of God. The aim is to get them out of just knowing about the Bible to being responsive to it. The sermon will cover all these issues as to how God reveals Himself in the Scripture, trustworthiness of the Scripture, how the Scripture through discipleship nurtures the day-to-day discipleship, and how hearing should transform into obedient acts. Young people need to be given direction, identity, and purpose as they grow. This message will remind them to hinge their lives on the stability of God and His Word. The God Who Reveals: The Nature and Purpose of Divine Revelation God has made the first move to make Himself known to humankind so that people can know Him personally and enter into right relationship with Him. This is referred to as divine revelation, and it takes place in two major forms; general revelation and special revelation. Psalms 19:1-4 states that the heavens declare Gods glory, which gives credence to the fact that even creation testifies about the existence, power and wisdom of God. The general revelation offered can be reached by everyone and renders them without excuse. But though general revelation manifests that God is real and glorious, it does not manifest His saving purposes and His will in a detailed way. That is why special revelation, the direct communication of God in scripture and eventually through Jesus Christ is important. According to Hebrews 1:1-2, God has spoken to our ancestors in the past through the prophets, but has spoken to us in these last days through His son. This emphasizes the progressive revelation of God who culminates into the person and work of Jesus, the living Word. In a culture of spiritual confusion and moral relativism, the nature and purpose of divine revelation is important to young believers. The divine revelation makes us aware that we cannot know God on our own conditions; we know Him because he mercifully does make himself known. It demands a sense of reverence toward Scripture which is not only a religious book but the authoritative document of the self-disclosure of God. According to theologian Millard Erickson, revelation is simply the communication of truth by God about himself to human beings and it is the root of all theology and discipleship. When young people accept this as true they find they are able to seek God, not only in the subjective realm of experience, but in the objective realm of His Word. It welcomes young followers to hear, and take action and get transformed by the One who continues to talk even today, through His Word. The Authority of Scripture: Trusting the Inspired Word of God The Bible is neither a man-written book of religious thoughts and beliefs but the Word of God, inspired, inerrant, and authoritative. According to 2 Timothy 3:16–17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” This implies that the Scripture is written by God Himself; it has divine force and it is utterly faithful. Similarly, 2 Peter 1:20–21 clarifies that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from human interpretation, but rather from divine inspiration.” These verses confirm the thought that the Bible was not the work of human guesswork, but divine initiative, given by God through the instrumentality of men as lead on by the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of inspiration says that all of the words in the Scripture are true of God, and the doctrine of inerrancy says that there is no error of all that the Scripture properly interpreted and refers to. In order to have a firm foundation in Christian life, one needs to acknowledge the authority of Scripture. In a society where truth is a relative value system the Bible offers a fixed norm in the areas of doctrine, ethics and spiritual nurture. According to Millard Erickson, the Bible has to be the norming norm, or it has to be used to balance all beliefs and actions. To the young believers this entails submitting their opinions, cultural burdens and choices in life to the value of God’s Word. The authority of scripture is a summons to Christian obedience and not out of legalism but out of love and faith in the God who speaks truth. By allowing youth to embrace Scripture as the inspired and authoritative Word of God, the youth are empowered to develop a spiritual sense or discernment, clarity of theological thought, and stability in moral thinking. The Scripture is the living Word of God shaping hearts, minds and lives. Believing its authority grounds believers in a world of noise and confusion and brings them into further closeness with the God who speaks on its pages. The Word and Discipleship: Feeding on God’s Truth Daily In Matthew 4:4, Jesus tells Satan that man cannot live by bread alone but the words that come forth out of the mouth of God. In this, Jesus confirms that the way the body has to be nourished on a daily basis, the soul also needs a daily feed on the Word of God. Spiritual liveliness relies upon scripture as it gives the truth that is used to guide as well as convicts, and sustains the believers. In John 17:17, Jesus prays to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” This means that the Word of God is the main tool that God employs in the process of sanctification. God’s truth in confronting sin, renewing the mind and bringing to discover the will of God transforms disciples inside out, and empowers them to live the character of Christ in all aspects of life. Bringing Scripture to the forefront in everyday activities is an absolute necessity to true spiritual development. Keith Johnson says theology cannot simply be learning new things but should be being transformed by the truth of God through the Word. This transformation occurs when, and only when, believers use clear Scripture to read, reflect, and practice the Word enabling the truth of it to fill their minds, decision-making, and interactions. In everyday exposure to Gods Word, youth especially, who are forever being affected by social media, peer culture and opposing worldviews, find deliverance, identity and purpose. It helps them to love, forgive, serve, and stand to the truth. When the Bible is the breakfast and supper of spiritual life, it feeds upon obedience and wisdom. In this manner, the Scripture is not a religious obligation but a divine call to walk beside God, to mature in holiness, to bring everlasting fruit. The daily feeding on the truth of God transforms the disciples into trustworthy believers who are ready to live in a world which needs the light and truth of God. Doers of the Word: Obedience as the Fruit of Revelation The last and necessary way of responding to divine revelation is to be obedient. God speaks to inform us and to transform us. James 1:22–25 issues a compelling challenge: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James makes a comparison that a person who also hears the Word but does not do it is like swearing in a mirror and forgetting how one looks like. But the doer of the Word is contrastingly the one who is blessed in his action. In this statement, we can understand what discipleship is all about, it is not about what we actually know about Scripture but about the way we apply it. Without doing there is a spiritual deception causing believers to think they are progressing when they are not. Obedience is therefore the fruit and a pointer to a life actually influenced by whatever God has revealed. To young people in particular, such instruction is essential at a time when the world has more information than change. According to Keith Johnson, right knowledge of God should translate to right living; theology and discipleship should be intertwined. Applying obedience to Scripture is not only about following the rules, but also about following the example of Christ in everyday life. It involves the forgiveness of our offenders, refusing to compromise our culture, actively sacrificing our lives to serve others, and seeking justice and purity. When young people become a doers of the Word, their lives become living testimonies of the truth and power of God. Thus, experiencing the truths of Scripture should be modeled as a routine rather than as a once-in-awhile activity. Obedience brings the beauty of the Word of God into the real world and brings the character of Christ to be seen in the world.