Sermon Notes: “Listen Before You Speak”

Opening Prayer

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-17

• Text:
• Ephesians 6:10-17: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil…”
• Focus: Emphasis on the latter part of the passage, specifically the sword of the Spirit.

Introduction

• Theme: Spiritual warfare and the importance of discernment.
• Background: Understanding the battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces.

Key Points

1. Spiritual Warfare and Discernment
• Reality of Spiritual Battle: The real enemy is Satan, who uses lies and division.
• Role of Discernment: Essential for recognizing truth vs. lies to avoid deception.
2. Limits of Human Understanding
• Human Limitations: Inability to know the future or fully understand past events.
• Example: Home inspections can miss underlying issues, analogous to unseen spiritual realities.
3. Biblical Examples of Discernment
• Adam and Eve: Deceived because they didn’t seek God’s perspective.
• Church and Family Disputes: Often arise from limited personal viewpoints rather than divine perspective.
4. The Armor of God and Discernment
• Full Armor: Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation.
• Sword of the Spirit: Represents the Word of God, crucial for discernment.
• Interaction of Spirit and Word: Effective discernment requires both.
5. Spirit Behind Words
• Illustration with Radar: Example of a dog understanding the spirit behind words rather than the literal words.
• Application: We need to understand the spirit behind God’s words, not just the text.
6. Jesus and the Word
   • Isaiah 49:2, Revelation 1:16, Hosea 6:5, Hebrews 4:12.
• Scriptural References:
• Sword as Symbol: Represents righteous judgment and the power of God’s Word.
7. Logos vs. Rhema
• Logos: The philosophical term for Jesus as the Word of Life.
• Rhema: Refers to specific spoken or written messages from God.
• Application: Importance of understanding both general and specific messages from God.
8. Practical Application of the Word
• Scripture Reading and Meditation: Necessary for understanding and applying God’s Word.
• Speaking the Word: Applying Scripture with spiritual discernment, not just quoting it.
9. Guidance from the Holy Spirit
• Personal Application: Listening for God’s specific direction in our lives.
• Testing the Spirits: Through Scripture, prayer, and consultation with godly individuals.
10. Hearing God’s Voice Today
• Intimate Relationship: Key to hearing God’s voice is an intimate relationship with Him.
• Overcoming Distractions: Importance of being still and minimizing noise.
11. Challenges and Self-Reflection
    • Do I wish God’s voice were louder?
    • Am I avoiding silence out of fear?
    • Am I trying to earn favor through performance?
    • Does my life reflect a desire to hear God’s voice?
• Questions to Consider:
• Action Steps: Eliminating distractions and being willing to hear and act on God’s voice.

Conclusion

Ephesians 6:10-17
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

John 16:8
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;”

Deuteronomy 30:14
“But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”

Acts 3:1-8
“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.  And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!”  And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.  But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.  With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.“

Isaiah 49:2

“He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.”

Revelation 1:16

“In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”

Revelation 19:15

“From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Hosea 6:5
“Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.”

Books and Articles

Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God by Henry T. Blackaby (Author), Richard Blackaby (Author), Claude V. King (Author)

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Listen Before You Speak

You know, it’s kind of interesting that today’s message is on the Sword of Spirit, which is the Word of God. And also that it’s Pentecost, and that’s when the Spirit-filled people for the first time in mass numbers. Before that, it was very selective throughout the Old Testament. So it’s kind of neat that this all fell together today, that God worked it out that way. 

I’m going to open with a word of prayer. Lord, we thank You again for Your Holy Spirit. Boy, Lord, we take that for granted so often that as we follow You, we commit our life to You; as we saw those people in the film that commit their lives to You, there’s a new life within them, the life of God and Lord. We don’t want to take that for granted. We don’t ever want to forget it. And Lord, I just pray that we’ll continue to have a burning heart to see others come to know Christ too, to show Your love, to show Your salvation and the new life in Christ. Lord, that today would be a day where somebody says, Yes, Jesus, we thank You, Lord, that that’s what it takes. We ask You to take this time now and in our hearts that each one of us would take one more step of saying, yes, Jesus. Amen. 

Okay, we’re winding up. It’s Ephesians 6:10 through 17. We’ve heard this many times already. We’ve been working on this. Let me read our passage through again, and we’ll be focusing on towards the end of it, Ephesians 6:10, through 17: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world, forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, having done everything to stand firm.”

Then it goes on that there’s the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, whose righteousness is this? It’s Christ’s righteousness, not our own, that we put on, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith. I still think of that picture of a wall of faith, not just a shield, but when they all put their shields together and have them over their heads, that they’re like an impenetrable building moving. Then it says And take the helmet of salvation. Now, this is a little bit more on our part: take the helmet of salvation, our assurance there of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. So the background of this verse we need to remember is spiritual warfare, that there’s a battle, that we’re in a battle, and that Satan is the enemy. Not our neighbors, not our in-laws, not our kids, but behind all this stuff, there’s an enemy, and that’s Satan. And that, to use police terms, he’s got an MO, modus operandi, I think that’s Spanish for mode of operations or something, but he’s got a way of working within our hearts, and one way is to lie and divide. That’s really what it boils down to. He lies in order to divide us. And so we believe his lies, and by believing lies, it causes divisions among the body of Christ. Therefore, discernment is critical in the battle so we can discern what’s a lie and what’s the truth. Without spiritual discernment, even well-intentioned Christians can lose victories and fall into deception. There’s a strong tendency in our world and the culture that we live in, to rely on our own human reasoning, to observe situations, and to rely on ourselves. But the problem is that we lack complete understanding and complete knowledge. We don’t know the future. We don’t know fully what happened in the past if we weren’t there. You see, so we don’t have all the information necessary in order to have real discernment and to figure things out. There are always areas of our life that are unseen. For instance, now, this is on a simplistic view of it, but you can go to buy a house, and you hire somebody to have an inspection done, and they look the house over thoroughly. But there are always things within the house that are unseen. It can have tree roots growing in the sewer line, and it may not show up for months. So it is in the spiritual realm; it’s even more critical that we have discernment from God because He knows everything, and we can’t figure it out on our own. Adam and Eve thought the serpent’s offer was pretty good, but they didn’t go to God to ask Him for His opinion, and so, therefore, they were deceived and fell into sin. Churches and families have all kinds of disputes because people only understand situations from their own viewpoint and try to figure things out from that viewpoint, putting unity aside. They’re trying to use their own human intellect to figure things out. But with Godly discernment, we start to see life from God’s viewpoint instead of our own limited viewpoint. So there’s an intense battle going on, and our own self-centered will is in the middle of it, and that’s where the battle line is drawn. Satan always appeals to our will rather than God’s will, and when we fall for it, well, then he’s able to divide and conquer, and that leaves us vulnerable. It leaves us out there for him to work us over. We fall into all kinds of temptation; we have fears; we have anger, and all this stuff wells up inside of us because we don’t have the peace of God directing our lives. 

So you’re thinking, what does this have to do with Ephesians 6:17, okay, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God? I’m going to start by saying discernment is necessary in this situation, and the Word of God, coupled with the Spirit, gives us discernment. The two have got to go together, the Spirit and the Word. So we’re going to start by thinking of it this way: the Spirit behind the words is what really matters. Okay, because we can say words, but there’s always a spirit behind those words that may not be understood. So, the Spirit behind the words is what really matters. Now, let me give you an example from our family radar. Radar is our dog. Was our dog. He’s no longer our dog. Cute, isn’t he? Now, Radar was a good dog. Radar had discernment, incredible discernment. He could recognize the Spirit behind the words we spoke to him. Now, my daughter, Amy, didn’t think so. She was only about five, but she knew what it took for somebody to be saved and go to heaven: that they needed to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. So she said to Radar, Radar, do you love Jesus? Would you like to go to heaven? If you’d like to go to heaven and have Jesus save you, raise your paw. What did he do? Well, you know, you sit down next to Radar and talk to him nice. He’d always raise his paw, but no, she insisted that Radar knew about it, but you know, you could sit down. I didn’t do this in front of Amy, but you can sit down and say, Radar, if you want to go to hell. You know he knew my spirit was that I loved him and that Amy loved him. He didn’t understand the words, but he knew the Spirit behind the words. You know, we’d come home, and he’d be happy to see us, and as soon as we saw that the garbage can was tipped over, he’d run. We didn’t even say anything, but the spirit changed, and no matter how nice we talked to him, to get him out from under the bed or something, to beat him, he wouldn’t come out. He knew the spirit behind the words we were saying. 

Well, you know, the Spirit of God is what we need behind the Word of God and the words of God so that we really know what God is trying to say to us, and hopefully, we’ll respond. See. There are some scriptures that speak about Jesus and what He speaks to us, and what comes out of his mouth is compared to a sword. I’m just going to run through some quickly. Isaiah 49 says that speaking of Jesus, he has made my mouth sharp like a sword, and out of His mouth from Revelation, out of His mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. In Hosea, it says I have slain them with the words of my mouth. This is speaking of Jesus, and the judgments on you are the light that goes forth, so the sword and judgment go together. He’s judging people’s hearts. Jesus, in Hebrews, it says “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of people’s hearts.” You see? So when Jesus speaks to us, there’s a judgment involved. He’s bringing out what’s in our hearts. So, the sword is a symbol of righteous judgment in the Bible. And we know from Scripture that the Holy Spirit also brings judgment. In John 16, it says that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. So the sword of the Spirit and the words from Jesus involve judgment and righteous judgment. Judgement upon us, and judgment upon the lies that come into our lives from the enemy. And we always know that it’s a lie if it causes division. And so we have that Spirit of Christ within us now. We may not know everything, we may not know everything about the Bible, but we know that the Spirit of God lives within us and that we also have the mind of Christ. So true discernment is possible for every believer. 

Now, the Word of God is very multifaceted because people talk about the Word of God, and it can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, and it is very multifaceted. So what we’re going to look at, first of all, scripturally, the New Testament often talks about two specific words: the word logos in Greek and the word Rhema. Now, Logos is a philosophical term equating Jesus as God, most often. In 1 John 1, it says, The one who existed from the beginning is the one that we have heard and that we have seen. We saw Him with our own eyes. We touched Him with our own hands. He is Jesus, the logos of life, the word of life. Now, that’s not the word that’s used here in terms of the sword of the Spirit. The word that’s used in terms of the sword of the Spirit is more of a general term. It’s more like verbal or written words, a message, a discourse, a discussion, the way we use words, but also when the way we use words has a great impact, depending on the Spirit behind those words. So that’s why the Spirit must be tied to these more common words or discussions. Jesus, God’s word as Scripture. It starts there. We all agree that in Deuteronomy 30:14, it says, but the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. So, we need to read Scripture. We need to meditate on Scripture, not just memorize it, but truly meditate on it, to allow God to apply it to our life, to obey it. It sets moral boundaries that when we read the Scripture and agree to obey God, we fall under God’s umbrella of protection in our lives and then speak it, even as Jesus did when he was tempted; he spoke the word of God by the direction of His Father. We, too, need to speak it to defeat the devil, but when we’re guided by spiritual discernment, we’ll know what to speak. We don’t just cough out any scripture, but if we’re living obediently before God, we’ll know what Scripture is necessary when those lies come and be able to see through the lies. 

Now, we may not be able to know everything there is to know about the lie, but we’ll know something’s wrong. You know, did you ever have your child come to you, and you said, Well, what happened to the kitty? Well, I don’t know. Why is its hair all missing? Well, I don’t know. And you know something’s wrong there, but they say they don’t know. Do you believe them? No, not necessarily, you see, so the Spirit of God, behind the Scripture, is what’s important, that we are connected with the Spirit, and then we’re able to judge rightly. It’s not us judging, it’s God judging. So if we don’t have on the full armor of God, if we don’t have the truth, if we don’t have His righteousness, if we don’t have peace, if we’re not assured of our salvation, well, then we also will not be judging rightly. We will not have that discernment. All we’ll be left up to is our own intellect, our own observation of the situation. See, there’s a difference between speaking scripturally and speaking the Word of God. We can speak Scripture out. Anybody can do that, but speaking the Word of God is speaking God’s words from Him. It’s repeating what He’s saying to us. It’s a matter of the Spirit behind the words. See, a lot of cults use the Bible, and even Satan quoted Scripture. And on our own, we cannot understand the truths of God. 

In Acts 1:8, Peter and John were walking in the temple, and they saw a man there who was a beggar. He was crippled since birth, and it says as they were walking, they fixed their gaze on him. I can’t help but think that what was going on was that they were walking past this guy, and suddenly, they started to hear this little prompting to get this guy’s attention. You. Yeah, and they’re looking at them saying, Him, why? Why should I do this? You know, it’s sort of like I mentioned when considering this pastoral position. How, from once, I’m thinking, well, I hear this still, small voice, but at the same time, should I do this? Should I do this? Should I follow up on it? I think that’s what they were doing there. I think they were wrestling a little bit like, here’s this guy crippled. God’s telling me to stop and get his attention. So Peter says, Okay, look at us, buddy. And the guy looks at him and starts asking him for money. And they say, well, we don’t have any money, but we have Jesus Christ. Accept Christ and walk. And the guy gets up and walks. That was a matter of faith, but it was also a matter of listening. And we’ll find, as we mature as Christians, we get those subtle voices occasionally that kind of give us enlightenment into the situation we find ourselves in, maybe concerning a certain matter. And so we need to respond. And how is it we’re supposed to respond? Remember, God’s word spoken to us is discernment. It’s there for us. See, I don’t assign scriptural authority to these, these little voices, because you never know where they’re coming from, nor do I believe that they’re a substitute for knowing what the Bible says. They better agree with Scripture. However, God can take the scriptures that we already know or lead us to some new ones and then show us the application to our situation. It will be personal. It may not fit somebody else in that situation. It will be very real to us. It will be timely, and it’s going to stretch us to trust God and to give Him the glory the Holy Spirit works within the whole counsel of God. 

We can’t just rely on every thought that pops into our head. No, we’ve got to follow what it says in 1 John 4:1, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Well, some ways that we could test them is through the Bible. Does this agree with Scripture? Does it go against Scripture? Through prayer, just asking God to reveal to me the true nature of these thoughts, Lord, and what I’m thinking, and through the church, asking other godly leaders and people to help you think through this and pray through it, and faith. Is it going to challenge our comfort zone? I believe that’s a major one. God’s interested in building our character, and remember that we are in a battle, and it’s a battle for our self-centered will. So therefore, most often, when we hear God’s still small voice, it’s going to challenge us to step out of our comfort zone and into his will. So it’s of critical importance that you obey your commander’s voice, know your commander’s voice, and be able to listen and understand it when we’re in this battle. 

Some of you know Ken Brown, Ken and Pam were up here several weeks ago, sharing a little bit about how they were involved in this church for many years. Well, Ken is a patrol sergeant in Bellingham with the police department there, and as a patrol sergeant, he was telling me that his job is that when there’s a lot of action going on, to step back, to pull out of the scene, and to start to listen to his radio and to say, collect the information, and then he could start putting this information together to know what patrol men are where, and to start directing people to a certain situation in order to handle a chase scene or a bank robbery or anything like that. He can start to see the whole picture where those guys that are running around can’t see everything, but what they’re directed to do so it is with God. He’s back there. He sees the whole picture. He knows the future. He knows everybody’s hearts and all the events that are going on. And so we need to know His voice, just like the patrolmen need to know their commander’s voice, and listen to it and follow his direction. Because he sees the bigger scene. God sees the bigger scene, and he will give us direction, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense, even if it seems like it’s telling us to go the wrong way sometimes. God’s voice will always direct us perfectly, if we’re willing to listen to it. So, the Holy Spirit’s role is to enable us to understand God’s word. From God’s perspective, you might be thinking, Well, does God really speak to us today like that? You might be thinking, Well, I know he spoke to people in the past and throughout the Old Testament, to Moses, and to Abraham, but does he speak to people like that? Or maybe he only speaks to certain individuals today? How come I can’t hear from God like that? Has he changed? Has God changed? Okay, good.

Henry Blackaby says this in experiencing God, God has not changed. He still speaks to His people. If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience, you might be thinking, why am I hard of hearing? Then, how come I don’t hear God like that? I’ll tell you in a few minute’s time for a commercial break.

“I was reading about this guy named Bernie Krause, who records Nature Sounds for film and television. He was saying that in 1968, in order to get one hour of undisturbed natural sound, like no airplanes, no cars, it would take him about 15 hours of recording time. And he was saying that today, in order to get that same one hour of undisturbed sound, it takes him 2000 hours of recording time. It reminds me of the story of one of the great Jewish prophets, Elijah, who’s been going and going, and he’s just about at the end, and he’s just totally stressed. He’s totally fried and doesn’t even know if he wants to go on. And God says, Elijah, go up on the mountain because I’m gonna show up. And so Elijah goes up on the mountain. And so this wind comes on the mountain, and it shakes the mountain violently, but God isn’t in the wind. And then there’s this earthquake, but God isn’t in the earthquake. And then, like, this massive fire covers the mountain, but God isn’t in the fire. And then comes the still, small voice of God. Now there’s all this discussion about what exactly this voice is because some people think that the actual Hebrew word doesn’t even refer to a sound that you could hear with your ears, like an audible noise, and so some translators translate the phrase that God was in the sound of sheer silence. God wasn’t in the wind, God wasn’t in the earthquake, God wasn’t in the fire, God was in the silence.” [Noise 005 Rob Bell]

I hope that answered some questions. The key to knowing God’s voice is not found in some formula following certain steps or looking for miraculous signs. It’s knowing God’s voice comes from an intimate love relationship with our Heavenly Father. When we surrender to Him, it’s like this. If I had to change a flat tire, and I asked four people to tell me how to do that, and they were talking all at once, there’d be nothing but confusion. But if one of those voices was my father’s voice, and he was a mechanic. Now, whose voice could I focus on? Lean into, rely on it, surrender to it, and get to know your father’s voice. Because there are times when life is going to be loud, we can’t help that. But it doesn’t have to be all the time; be still and know that He is God. We want to please God, but we also want to do what we please. Being before the Lord seems unproductive. I mean, after all, shouldn’t we be busy? Don’t we have to do things for him? Don’t we have people to save? Whose job is it? It’s his job.

It’s interesting. On the package for this video, it says 10 minutes long, and the customer service department keeps on getting complaints saying theirs was only two and a half minutes. I thought, you know, we might need to have some straitjackets ready after this, some people just aren’t used to it.

So we’re in a battle. Are you experiencing victories? Can you hear your commander’s voice telling you where to go, what to do, and how to do it? Remember, we have limited knowledge and understanding. We don’t know it all, but God does. We need to be leaning into him, relying on him. Knowing His voice. Jesus knows what’s in people’s hearts. He knows what’s in the future. And even though we don’t have those attributes, we have the mind of Christ and the Spirit of God dwelling within us. If we just take advantage of it, we have the mind of Christ to direct our paths, but we’ve got to be determined to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength to love our neighbor, if we’re determined to seek Him out in His ways, we’ll hear His voice. We’ll speak the truth. We’ll have discernment over good and evil, and we’ll receive all the personal instruction we’ll ever need. God’s voice dims as we’re consumed with all the noise, all the performance, all the possessions, distracted by the world’s goodies; all this is shouting at our self-centered will, trying to get our attention off of Jesus. So, how do you get back on track? Well, let God give you the answer to that. Lord, do I really wish Your voice would be louder in my life? Do I sometimes avoid silence because I’m afraid of what You might say to me? Am I trying to earn favor with You through my performance when Jesus has already taken care of that? Do I really believe that You love me and will always want what’s best for me, even if I don’t understand it? Does my schedule, my time, and my life look like that of a person who really wants to hear Your voice? Lord, would You show me what are some things in my daily life that I need to change to eliminate some of the noise and Lord, am I really willing to do whatever is necessary to hear Your voice? Amen.

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