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Can You Hear a Word from God?

Genesis 15:1-6 reads:

"After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.' But Abram said, 'O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.' And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, 'This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.' And he brought him outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness."

Anybody remember Dr. Seuss? He wrote a lot of books that had some really cool truths to them, and he did it in such a cool way. He published a children's book entitled Horton Hears a Who. The book is about an elephant named Horton who hears voices coming from a little speck of dust. Horton places the speck of dust on a clover bloom and does his best to protect the tiny residents inside from the other animals who cannot hear the voices rising from that dust particle. Horton learns there is a whole race of people living inside that speck of dust, called the Who's, living in a town called Whoville, and they need a protector to keep them from being blown about by the wind or destroyed by other means. The other animals in the jungle don't believe Horton. They give him a hard time about his belief that there are tiny inhabitants in a particle of dust. They actually try to destroy the particle of dust. They tie Horton up. Eventually, all the Who's in Whoville join their voices and shout in unison so that they might be heard by the animals who have tormented Horton about his strange beliefs. They are finally heard when the tiniest Who of them all, a tiny yo-yo-throwing Who by the name of JoJo, lifts up his voice and breaks through.

There are two great moral lessons taught in Horton Hears a Who. First is kindness to all people, even when others refuse to be kind. That should be our goal. The second is that even the smallest of the small is an important person.

You may wonder what this has to do with our text today. The answer lies in the fact that Horton heard a voice one day that forever changed his life. How many of us have had our own Horton experience, where we heard a voice from the Spirit of truth, from the Counselor, lining up completely with God's word? In our text today, Abram hears the word of the Lord, and this word from God changed his life. In Abram's day, he was just one insignificant person among throngs of other people. But God had a specialness he wanted to do in Abram's life, and so Abram was of supreme importance.

In this passage, Abram receives a word from the Lord concerning three things: his fear, his future, and his faith. What he heard changed his life forever. He received a word from the Lord and it revolutionized his life. Of all the possessions we have in the world, none can compare to the word of God. To be able to hold in our hands the complete and perfect revelation of God to man is a treasure without equal. And in this passage, God had a word for Abram. But he also has a word for you and me today.

A Word About Abram's Fear

Abram had just returned from a great military victory. During the course of that campaign, he made a bitter enemy in King Chedorlaomer, a king mighty enough to come against Sodom and all the other villages of the plains and overthrow them. Surely Abram would have feared a counter retaliatory attack from this king from the east. But God had a word to comfort him in his fear.

There is a certain type of peace that comes from knowing God. The first time the phrase "fear not" is used in the Bible is right here. Thank God it won't be the last. People may encourage us to walk in peace and "fear not," but their words many times are empty and without power. However, when the Lord comes by and speaks peace to your heart, fear must take flight.

The Great "I Am"

This same truth is illustrated in John 6:17-21. The disciples got into a boat and started across the sea toward Capernaum. It was dark, the wind was strong, and the sea grew rough. When they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land where they were going.

That phrase in verse 20, "It is I," deserves a closer look. In the original Greek, Jesus says ego eimi, which literally means "I am." This phrase can be translated two ways depending on context: the common English idiom "it is I," or the more literal "I am." Most English Bibles choose "it is I, don't be afraid," since Jesus was simply identifying himself to frightened disciples, and that is a perfectly valid reading. However, many New Testament scholars believe Jesus intentionally chose these words because he was, in fact, demonstrating that he was God. The phrase directly echoes God's own self-identification in Exodus 3:14, "I am who I am." Later, in John 8:58, Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I am," a statement that caused an uproar because everyone understood exactly what he was claiming. And in John 18:5-6, when the soldiers came for him in the garden, Jesus said, "I am," and they drew back and fell to the ground.

The sequence in John 6 makes this even more striking. Jesus feeds the five thousand, sends the disciples across the sea, and then comes walking on the water, something the Old Testament attributes uniquely to God. Job 9:8 says that God alone "stretched out the heavens and treads upon the waves of the sea." Psalm 77:19 describes God's path as going through the sea. Jesus then does the very thing only God is described as doing, and declares the very words only God has spoken: "I am. Do not be afraid." This combination should lead us to conclude that Jesus was revealing his divine identity while calming his disciples. He is the great "I Am." Welcome him into your boat, and he will calm your storm as well.

Protection and Reward

Returning to Abram, we see that real protection comes from trusting God. Abram need not fear the attack of his enemies, for the Lord was camped about him, providing perfect protection day and night. Psalm 34:7 declares, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them." Colossians 3:3 adds, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Those who belong to the Lord are sheltered by him always.

If that weren't all enough, there is also a reward that comes from knowing God. Abram is a man who has left home and family to follow God, but as of yet he has not received even the slightest hint of all that has been promised. He is a man who just gave up much when the king of Sodom offered him all of those riches and he turned it down in Genesis 14:21-24. So now the Lord comes by to remind Abram that if one has the Lord, they possess everything. How sad it is when conmen and charlatans try to take the incredible rewards we have in Jesus and reduce it down to pathetic worldly wealth. What a travesty. What a ripoff. Just stop and think for two seconds: what earthly treasure can compare to God's love, his grace, his mercy, his salvation, forgiveness, God's presence, peace, power, heaven, eternal life, and eternal hope? When we have him, we possess it all. Even when we have very little of this world's goods, the true child of God is not to be pitied today. They are to be envied. When we have him, we have all that is his.

Romans 8:16-17 says, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." There's a whole parallel teaching in Luke 15, when the prodigal receives the father's ring upon returning from the far country, but that's a message for another day.

A Word About Abram's Future

Let's talk about a word about Abram's future. The focus here is verses 2 through 5. Abram is concerned. He's burdened about all the promises he has received. Now, these are not questions of doubt. They are honest questions, and God doesn't mind honest questions at all. Abram knew where to take his burden, and as a result, he received the answers he sought. There's a lesson for you and me in that today. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God"; and then what happens? "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

So God's answer in our text today brought hope to the old man's heart. Once again, how did that happen? With simplicity, with power, and with magnitude. Let's look at those three real quick.

The Simplicity of God's Promise

In verse 4, we see the simplicity of God's promise. It is stated in the simplest and clearest terms. Abram is assured again that he will have a son, and that this son will be his heir. All of God's promises are made in the same manner. He speaks very clearly in his word. Oh, that we would learn to take him just straight up at his word and believe all that he tells us without whining and uneasiness. God is looking for us to have childlike faith. He says so in Luke 18:17: "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Whenever I see "shall not enter it," I kind of want to know what's going on there, don't you?

The Power of God's Promise

Now look at verses 4 and 5 and see the power of God's promise. God's promise says something specifically about God's power. Can he do what he's promising? Abram's an old man, well past the days when most people think of fathering children. God's promise is designed to overcome the laws of nature and to do what people say cannot be done. It would do the people of the Lord good to learn that we have an able God. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us." How sad it is people reduce that down to "he's able to do all these worldly things for me, make me significant." That's not what's being said here. Abundantly all that we ask or think is salvation. We need to remember that he is a God who operates in the realm of the all-powerful, and his sovereignty over our life and the blessings we receive are great, but the greatest blessing of them all is salvation and forgiveness of your sins. Matthew 28:18 says, "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'" That means Jesus is our substitute, and with all of that authority, he chose to take the wrath that I deserve upon himself on the cross so that now I don't have to suffer that wrath. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Luke 1:37 says, "For nothing will be impossible with God." We do not serve a God of the "can do." We serve a God of the "has done" before we even exercise our little tiny faith. His plan is already in motion, and he is working out his will through his sovereign power. Our job is to try to be as obedient as we can with the hand we've been dealt. We will make mistakes, we will stumble, but every day, in keeping with repentance, we serve the Lord, and there'll be a joy that comes out of that in the midst of heartache.

The Magnitude of God's Promise

Now look at verse 5 and see the magnitude of God's promise. Abram was concerned about a single heir to his fortune. God was concerned with giving him heirs more than he could even count. God wanted Abram to know that he was about to receive a blessing so big it would blow his mind. We see we serve a God of abundance today. Think of John 10:10. He wants to do more in our lives than we can imagine. If we can get a hold of that today, it would revolutionize our praying and our faith. God is not just enough today; he is more than enough. He's not interested in doing the ordinary and run-of-the-mill. He wants to leave us in wonder and in amazement at his power when he comes through. He likes to blow our minds. And when he is all we have, he is more than enough for every situation. Do you believe that?

Many in our twisted, visible-Christianity culture want to reduce it down to material possessions, or money, or getting the best parking spot right near the door. How sad and shallow that is: driving around in your Ferrari with the license plate that says BLESSED. Oh, happy day, right? God's gifts and true blessings have to do with so much more than money and status and stuff. Stuff you truly only appreciate for twenty-one days, and then it's the same old, same old again. Just stop and think about it for two seconds: what earthly treasure can compare with God's love, his grace, his mercy, his salvation, his forgiveness, his presence, his peace, his power, the rock-solid promise of heaven, eternal life, and eternal hope? If that's not good enough for you, if he needs to pad your bank account or make you something special, you've got a spiritual problem. That needs to be enough: the Jesus of the Bible, and that understanding of the immense gifts and blessings you have as a child of God.

Have you ever been around a multi-millionaire who's dying, maybe of liver cancer, who needs a new liver? They will give up all of their wealth for that liver to live a couple more years. There's nothing on this earth worth more than the blessings that Jesus offers us through his saving grace and the promises of God, holding on to that in total faith for our future so that we fear not.

The Faith That Changes Everything

Then in verse 6, Abram believed God, and God counted his belief as righteousness. Tell me what's a better verse in the Bible. I dare you, I double dog dare you. This is one of the simplest and yet greatest verses in all the Bible. Elsewhere in Scripture it says, "By faith we please the Lord, and only by faith." It tells us about Abram's faith, and what it teaches us about his faith should be true about our own faith as well. Do we get the object, the depth, the payoff of what Abraham's faith is trying to teach us today?

The Object of His Faith

Look at the object of his faith for a second. There's a little word there: the word in. Now, I don't know what's wrong with my annunciation, but when I use voice-to-text, every "in" comes out "and" and every "and" comes out "in." So if you ever get a voice text from me, just know a lot of times I don't even proofread it before I send it off. I had to apologize to a friend one time when he was looking for people to help him move. I voiced a text and sent it and went and looked, and oh my goodness, I had said, "When we put out the all-call, the people of the church show up," and what he received was, "When we put out the alcohol, the people of the church show up."

The word "in" tells the tale here. Abram has moved beyond hearing the word of the Lord and believing the promises of God into the realm of casting himself totally in faith upon the Lord himself. Do you see the bigness of that? He doesn't just believe the word anymore. He believes God. He is like Job, who in Job 13 says, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him." Abraham put all his trust and faith in the Lord. Has your faith made that transition? It is one thing to believe what the Bible says about God and his promise. It's another thing altogether to move from intellectual acceptance of the facts to absolute trust in his person, and God will credit it to you as righteousness. Here's the hard cheese of it: one belief intellectually leads to hell, and the other belief, going all in with Jesus, leads to heaven. Which one do you have today?

The Depth of His Faith

Notice also the depth of his faith. God will create more depth in your faith day by day. Bit by bit, brick by brick, he will continue to take you on a sanctification journey, and you will get deeper with the Lord. Abraham believed in spite of the obstacles. No doubt others around him thought he was a fool when he stated that God was going to give him an actual heir at his age. But he still believed God. What a challenge to you and me today. Our faith in him should be unassailable and unwavering. People may mock us because we believe this: we believe in a Redeemer who lived a perfect life and died in our place on the cross, who took the wrath we deserved upon himself, that we believe in heaven. They may think we are fools when we speak of being saved and knowing the Lord. But if you are saved, then let no trial, no naysayer, no devil cause you to waver in your faith.

The Payoff of His Faith

See, the payoff for Abram's faith is something we can take away today. Faith in God always pays off big, and Abram's was no exception. When Abram believed God, God erased Abraham's sin and applied his own perfect righteousness to Abram's account. Did you get that when we read the text today? God looked at Abram as being a just and righteous man. How cool is that? Salvation has always been a work of faith, and salvation is in and of itself the big payoff. Abram wasn't saved by keeping the law. It had not yet been given. Abraham was not saved by being circumcised. It had not yet been commanded. He was saved by simple, childlike faith in God.

So what was the message Abram believed? It was a message about a promised son, was it not? That is the same message that saves the sinner today. It's the verse that's on hats and t-shirts, the one held up in the stands at football games, the one everybody points to: John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son," the promised Son, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

You will probably live your whole life and never hear voices coming from a speck of dust. At least, hopefully you don't. However, God has a word for your life. Abraham heard a word from the Lord. He believed that word, and it forever changed his life. And the question is: has the Lord spoken to some need in your life today? Is there some battle you need peace about? Is there some storm you need calmed? Is there some area of your life where you need a sovereign God to move? Has your sin been dealt with biblically, or are you still wandering around in it with an intellectual knowledge of the Scriptures but without salvation? Are you saved? Are you walking in the perfect will of the Lord today? Have you received the payoff for your faith in Christ, perfect righteousness given to you on that day? And do you believe in that payoff so strongly that you act as if you have it today? That's why, when you sin, you don't just sin against other people. You sin against your holy God. You choose not to do a thing, not merely because it would hurt your spouse, your children, or your job, but because you don't want to sin against the God who saved you. If he has spoken to your heart today, come to him in confession and prayer, and he will richly, richly bless you.