How Does God Communicate with Us?

How does God communicate with us? How can you tell when He’s communicating with you? What do you do when you receive a message from God?

Samuel had the same questions.

Samuel Learns to Recognize God’s Voice

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

 
 ² One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel.

 
 Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
 But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
 ⁶ Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

 
 “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

 
 ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
 ⁸ A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

 
 Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

 
 ¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

 
 Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

 
 ¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. (1 Samuel 3:1-11)

 

So, how do we become listeners to hear God speaking to us? How can we emulate Samuel's words of "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening" in our own lives?

First, we need to understand how God communicates.

How Does God Communicate?

Let’s list the methods God used in Scripture.

1. Direct verbal communication. Sometimes, God communicates with people directly, as in the case of God with Adam and Eve, or Jesus with Saul on the Damascus Road, not to mention Jesus’ earthly conversations.

 

2. Through angels. God sent His angels to speak to various persons in the Bible, including Hagar and Mary the mother of Jesus.

 

3. Via dreams. Joseph and Joseph are great examples of this form of communication.

 

4. In visions. The prophets Daniel and John both had visions.

 

5. Through prophets. God gave His words to deliver to the people both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Some of the prophets words were forms or foretelling; some were forth-telling. In other words, sometimes a prophet tells the future. Other times, they simply reveal a true statement from God.

 

6. Through punishments and blessings. God communicated His pleasure or displeasure by either sending plagues and war on the disobedient or by providing protection and bounty to those who were following after Him.

 

7. By Divinely ordained consequences. An example of this is found in Numbers 5:16-22 in reference to a woman accused of adultery:

"'The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. ¹⁷ Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. ¹⁸ After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a cursenot harm you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— ²¹ here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. ²² May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

 
 “‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”

The adulteress woman and the innocent woman were both to drink the same water mixed with dust, but only the guilty woman would receive the negative consequence.

 

8. Through nature. David acknowledged God in saying that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. And in Romans 1:20, we read, 

"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."

There are also those odd stories about a talking donkey that was trying to protect his master from an angel and a great fish that swallowed and then spit out a recalcitrant prophet.

 

9. Through miracles. Though this may overlap with some of the others, a miracle is always communication from God. From the parting of the Red Sea to feeding 5,000+ people with extremely inadequate supplies, God used those stories to teach the people something about Himself.

 

10. Casting lots. In 1 Samuel 10:20-22, God used this method to help the people choose their first king.

When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.²² So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”

 
 And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.”

The Apostles did the same thing when they chose Matthias to replace Judas as one of the Twelve.

 

11. Through His Presence / the Holy Spirit. One of my favorite stories is found 1 Kings 19:11-13:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

 
 Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

 
 Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

In 1 Corinthians 2:10-16, Paul tells us that God’s Spirit living inside us communicates with us and helps us to know what God is thinking.

 

12. Through Scripture. God reveals His will and His heart for us through the words of the inspired writers. Deuteronomy 30:9-10 reads,

“The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

And Romans 15:4:

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

I especially appreciate how the writers of the New Testament often referred to or quoted the Old Testament to validate their arguments.

So, these 12 methods are all ways that God communicated with people in the Bible. Each one has at least one example in both the Old and the New Testament. The question is: Does God still communicate with us in these ways?

Does God Still Speak in All of These Ways?

The short answer is yes. Though the modes of communication may have changed slightly, He has not retired a single one of them.

God still:

• speaks to people directly,
• delivers His message through angels,
• gives us dreams,
• provides visions,
• uses what others say (whether they be “prophets” or preachers or a Christian friend),
• disciplines us and blesses us,
• allows us to suffer the consequences of our or others’ sins,
• confronts us with the wonder of nature,
• shows His power in miracles,
• guides us through life’s circumstances (such as open and closed “doors”),
• nudges us with the Holy Spirit, and
• teaches us the Scriptures and the writings of other Christians

God may not have communicated to you in these ways, but there are plenty of trustworthy Christians, both historical and contemporary, who have claimed that God has used these methods to speak to them.

What If I Don't Hear God Speaking to Me in All of These Ways?

God does not speak to everyone in the same way. We all have different personalities and different spiritual gifts. You should, however, experience God speaking to you in some of these ways.

If you are open to God communicating with you, He will. But, like the boy Samuel, you may need to learn to recognize His voice and the ways that He wants to speak to you.

What if God Doesn’t Communicate with Me Often?

Most of these methods of communication are rare in a person’s life. I think of Abraham, the “father of faith,” who did have multiple conversations with God. But he also lived to be 130 years old, and if you count how many times God spoke to him, it doesn’t even add up to once per decade!

The godliest Christian isn’t claiming to see angels or to witness miracles every day. Most of the dreams you have are random nonsense or brought on by what you were thinking about that day. God doesn’t use that method of communication very often, and He may never use it in your life.

But other methods He can use every day. We can all witness the evidence of His power and care in the natural world every time we look at our own bodies or step outside. We should be able to feel His Holy Spirit working in us, recognize His teaching through Scripture or devotional reading, and receive His insights from the words of our fellow Church members around us.

If you don’t find God communicating with you in those ways on a regular basis, ask Him to open your heart and mind.

How Can I Tell if It's Really God Speaking to Me?

We’ve all heard the stories of people claiming to receive a word from the Lord that just doesn’t sound right. Other people do grievous things because “God told them to.”

I’ve found 5 ways to test whether what you’re receiving is from God or not.

1. Remember that God will never contradict Himself. As 1 Samuel 15:29 says,

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

God isn’t going to say one thing in Scripture and then, tell you something completely different. He isn’t going to tell your spouse to lead your family one direction and tell you the opposite. He isn’t going to tell the church down the road one truth and tell yours something that would turn the Body of Christ against itself.

In some cases, both people or both bodies of believers could be wrong, but both can’t be right. So, test everything by what the Scriptures have revealed and what the historical Church has held to.

 

2. Compare it to what you know of God. Just as He communicates in the same ways over and over, His message doesn’t change very often. If you feel that God may be telling you something or directing you to do something that He’s revealed to or told other people to do, the chances are high that He’s giving you that same message.

If God is telling you something completely new, even if it doesn’t contradict Scripture or historical Christian teaching, question it. Why would God tell you something He’s never told anyone else?

 

3. See if others can confirm what He's saying. I love how the story of Moses and the burning bush ends. God has been directly communicating with Moses, and Moses keeps trying to get out of what God is telling him to do.

Exodus 4:13-14:

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

 
 ¹⁴Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.

Ha! God had already been talking to Aaron, and he was already on his way. When God tells us something, and then, someone else says that God was communicating the same thing to them, that is a very indication that what you’re receiving is true.

In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus says,

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

We can be confident when our Christian brothers and sisters agree with us. We know that we have more of a chance of being in God’s will when others can confirm it.

 

4. Wait for the message to come again. Similar to waiting for others to confirm the message, there’s wisdom in waiting to see if God will repeat what He’s saying. Gideon set the fleece out twice. If God wants to communicate with us, He’ll give us more than one opportunity to receive it. He may say it once in our Scripture reading, once in the sermon that week, once in something a friend says, and confirm it with an inward nudge from the Spirit.

If you only receive a message once, there’s more of a chance that it wasn’t actually from God.

 

5. It's not you. This one’s a little harder to define, but I believe that you can tell when something is outside of your thought pattern or outside of your control. You can recognize an outside influence guiding your thoughts, feelings, or circumstances. Your mind wasn’t going in the direction that communication came from. It was like Someone else just interrupted your thoughts. Or maybe there’s something you really don’t want to do, and if it was up to you, you wouldn’t. But there’s Something else pushing you.

Taken together with all of the other tests, this can be another strong confirmation of God’s activity in your life.

What Should I Do with What God Tells Me?

God doesn’t tell you something for no reason. So, when He does communicate with you, here are the two things you should do.

1. Believe and obey. When God communicates with us, it needs to change us in some way. Maybe it strengthens our faith, or draws us nearer to Him, or gives us a new perspective on who we are in Christ, or challenges us to live up to our salvation. Whatever the purpose, we can’t walk away from it the same. We need to respond in faith and obedience.

As James 1:22-25 says,

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

 

2. Share with others. Here’s where we’ll finish our story about the boy Samuel.

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶ but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
 Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

 
 ¹⁷ “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.” (1 Samuel 3:15-18)

When God reveals something to us, it’s never for ourselves alone. God wants us to take that message and use it to encourage, teach, inspire, or convict others. God communicated with you, and now, He wants to use you to communicate with someone else.

So, with Samuel, let us say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

What Does It Mean to Love God?

Saint Augustine, a bishop back in the 4th century, said, “Love God and do what you want.” Love God and do what you want. That’s all Christians have to do. Can you believe that? We just have to love God and then, we can do whatever we want. Sounds easy, right? We can love God. And we can certainly do whatever we want. Count me in for that deal.

But what does that statement mean? “Love God and do what you want.” Well, the first word there is love, right? So, what does the word love mean? We all have things and people that we love, so what does it mean to love something or to love someone?

What if I said, I love tacos? And really, tacos are my favorite food. But can I really love tacos? I can feel positively toward tacos. What if I said I love my wife, too? I say I love tacos, I say I love my wife. Does that mean that I feel the same way about Mindy as I feel about tacos? Of course not. If I did, my marriage would be in real trouble, wouldn’t it?

Because when I say I love the taco, I’m saying I enjoy the taco because of what it does for me. It tastes good. It fills my gut. But I don’t have to do anything for the taco, do I? It’s there for me and I don’t have to do anything for it. I don’t have to worry about whether the taco is happy or not. I don’t have to express my gratitude to the taco for letting me eat it.

But my wife is different. I love her and that means something different that loving the taco. I do things for my wife, I try to make her happy, because I love her. I want to please her. What if that taco doesn’t taste very good one day? Do I still love it? Of course not. I throw it away or maybe just don’t enjoy it as much. What if Mindy does something that makes me angry? Do I stop loving her? I might not feel very positively toward her right then, I might not enjoy her company right then, but I still love her.

Or what if I just got kind of lazy in my marriage, and I still told Mindy I loved her, but I never did anything for her? I never spent any time with her. Would you say I was really loving her? I mean, I’m saying I love her;I’m just not doing anything to express that love.

The point is that love is not simply an emotional state that you’re in. Love is not simply feeling positive about something or someone. Love, real love, is action. You can express love with your words, but you also to have express love by what you do.

Deuteronomy 6:1-12:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. 

 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Moses has just given the people the Ten commandments: You shall have no other gods other than God, You shall not make an idol, You shall not misuse God’s name, Keep the Sabbath, Obey your parents, Don’t murder, Don’t commit adultery, Don’t Steal, Don’t lie about other people, Don’t be jealous of what other people have.

After giving these commandments to the people, Moses says, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” and teach your children to do the same. It’s almost as if Moses is saying, “You’ve heard the rules, you’ve heard the Top Ten of God’s commands, so now, let me give you the summary statement: Love God. Love God with all that you are and all that you have.”

He could have said, “Love God and do what you want.” Because if we love God, if we truly love God, He will be the one that we worship, we won’t misuse His name, we’ll want to take at least one day out of our week to take a break in our normal schedules to worship and learn about Him, we won’t reject the good and Godly advice that our parents give us, we won’t murder or harm another person that God has made in His own image, we won’t dishonor the spouses that God has given us and God’s plan for marriage and sexuality by cheating on our spouses, we won’t rob someone of what God has blessed them with, we won’t tell falsehoods about another one of God’s children, we won’t be ungrateful to God and think that He hasn’t blessed us enough to the point where we’re wanting what belongs to someone else.

Loving God is obeying His commands. Love is an emotion, but more importantly, it’s action. Love is always shown by what you do. When Augustine said, “Love God and do what you want,” what he was saying was that if you love God, you won’t want to do anything that displeases Him. The things you want to do will be those things that make Him happy, just like I try to do things that please Mindy because I love her, just like you try to do the things that please the people you love. We love God and we show that by our actions.

Well, now that we know what it is to love God, the last question we want to ask today is, Why should we love God? Why should we want to do the things that please Him? Again, Deuteronomy, starting in verse 10 of that chapter, says,

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

The reason the Israelites were commanded to love God and follow His commands was because God was the one who had freed them from their bondage of slavery in Egypt. He was the one who was bringing them into the Promised Land of Canaan and was blessing them in their daily lives. By doing these things, God had shown love to the Israelites and so it was proper for them to return that love out of their thankfulness for the things God had done.

It’s the same with us and more so. God has not taken us out of slavery in Egypt, but He has delivered us from our slavery to sin. And our Promised Land is not a piece of earthly ground, though God does still bless us in this life, our Promised Land is Heaven, the place where we live eternally with God Himself.

God has loved us by what He has done. He has proven His love. Now, let us love God by what we do. Amen? Amen.

How Much Can We Love God?

This might sound like a strange question, but I think the answer is comforting to us. Let's take the example of Peter as our guide.

Matthew 26:31-35:

Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Can you imagine that conversation? Jesus says, “You’re all going to disown me.” And Peter says, “No, I’m not.” Then Jesus says, “Yes, you will, and you’ll do it more than anyone else. You’ll deny three times.” And Peter says, “No, I won’t.”

Of course, we all know that it’s usually not a good idea to argue with Jesus, right? Because that’s not an argument that we’re going to win. And we know how things turned out with Peter.

Matthew 26:69-74:

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

He denied Jesus. Not only did Peter deny that he was one of Jesus’ followers, a Christian, but he denied that he even knew Him!

In the same way, I wonder if we ever deny Jesus. We might not out and out say, “No, I’m not a Christian,” or “I don’t know Jesus,” like Peter did, but I wonder if sometimes our actions or our silence can be a denial of Jesus.

If I choose to sin, and I do something that I know God doesn’t want me to do, what am I saying there? I’m saying, “In this moment, I am not a follower of Jesus. I’m a follower of myself. I’m a follower of my desire. I’m not a Christian. I’m a Steve-ian. Because I’m denying Christ’s lordship over my life, and I’m doing what I want to do.” I deny Christ by my actions.

Or what if I’m having a conversation with someone who isn’t a Christian, but I can tell that they need to know Jesus? Should I tell them about Jesus, even though I’m nervous to say something – I don’t know how they’ll react – or should I keep quiet, mind my own business, and pretend that I don’t know Jesus either?

I think that when we don’t tell others about Christ, or when we’re embarrassed to talk with others about our beliefs, that’s a denial of Christ. We’re basically saying, “No, I don’t know Him.”

Christians need to be bold and confident. We know what God has done for us. We know what Jesus has done for us. And we know that He can do it for other people as well, that He wants to do it for other people. We have the words of life. We know the way to salvation. We can’t keep that hidden. It is our God-given responsibility to swallow our nervousness and tell people how they can be saved, or at least invite them to church so they can hear how to be saved, because we’re not doing anyone any favors by not telling them.

So, Peter denied Jesus, and I’m sure we remember Jesus and Peter’s next conversation after Jesus rose from the dead.

John 21:15-17:

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love Me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.” The third time He said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

The interesting thing about that conversation is the words that Jesus and Peter are using for “love.” In Greek, which is what they were speaking, there are three words for love. There’s “eros,” which is romantic love. It’s where we get the word “erotic.” There’s “phileo,” which is the kind of love you have for your family or friends, like Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. And there’s “agape,” which is the perfect, unconditional love that God has for humanity.

Here’s how the conversation went, using those words: Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love Me with a godly love more than these?”

Jesus is looking at the rest of the disciples who were there with them, and He’s asking Peter if Peter loves Him more than the rest of the disciples love Him because it was Peter who said he would never betray Jesus, even if everyone else did, as if to say that he loved Jesus and was more committed to Jesus than everyone else. Obviously, that wasn’t true because Peter did deny Jesus, so Jesus is asking, “Peter, do you still think you love Me more than the rest of these guys?”

And listen to what Peter says. “Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love You like a brother.”

Jesus had asked Peter if he loves Him with the perfect love of God, but Peter says that he loves Him like a brother. He’s saying that he knows he didn’t love Jesus perfectly. And Jesus simply answers, “Feed My lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love Me like God love?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You like a good friend.”

This almost sounds like that first part. Jesus is questioning Peter again to let His point sink in. Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.”

The third time He said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love Me like a brother?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

You see, it’s at this point that Peter finally realizes what Jesus is doing. Peter denied Jesus three times and so now, Jesus is giving Peter the chance, three times, to reaffirm his belief in Christ. But He’s also helping Peter to understand that he can’t love Jesus perfectly.

He said, “Lord, You know all things;” Peter is saying, “You know that I’m not perfect. You know that I made a mistake. You know that I denied You.” And finally Peter affirms the third time, “You know that I love You like a brother.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter’s come to the realization that he can’t love Jesus perfectly. He can’t love Jesus like God loves us. He can only love Jesus with the human love of a family member or a close friend. And that’s all Jesus is asking for. He never demanded that Peter love Him perfectly because He knew that Peter couldn’t love Him perfectly. But he could love Him as much as he was able with that human kind of love.

It’s the same way with us. We can never love God as much as God loves us. We can’t out-love God, or even match it. All we can do is receive God’s love, thank Him for it, and then do the best we can with what we have.

Our love will not be perfect – we will make mistakes in our love to God – but our love will be genuine and real and human. And that’s all God wants from us. Amen? Amen.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did Jesus have this conversation with Peter and let Peter know that He knew he had denied Him? Why couldn’t Jesus just have never mentioned Peter’s denial and let it go?

(Jesus was giving Peter the chance to confess and acknowledge his guilt so that he could be forgiven rather than carrying his guilt around with him.)

2. People sometimes say that God can’t use us or bless us if we’re not a mature enough Christian or if we’re not doing everything God wants us to do perfectly. What does Peter and Jesus’ conversation say about that? Did Peter have to be perfect for God to use him or bless him?

(Peter could never be perfect, yet Jesus said “Feed My lambs, take care of My sheep.” Jesus uses imperfect people because the only people there are are imperfect people. If you want God to use you, if you that desire, He will do it. If you are committed to God, He will bless you, even if your commitment to Him isn’t always perfect. Remember, God’s love is perfect even when ours isn’t.)

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Find more surprising answers to interesting questions on my Theology 101 page!

What Does Jesus' Prayer "Father, Forgive Them" Mean for Us?

From Luke 23:

³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Him to be executed. ³³When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left. ³⁴Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up His clothes by casting lots.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

I wonder. Did Jesus, in pain, as He hung upon the cross, weak from the beatings He had received, whisper, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Or did He gather whatever bit of strength that He had left and shout, "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM! THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING!"?

What would it have been like for the Pharisees and the priests and the Roman soldiers to hear Jesus utter this prayer? Would they have been suddenly struck by a sense of guilt – that they had tortured and mocked and killed this man who was now pleading for them? Or would their hearts have become even harder?

What would it have been like for His disciples to hear Jesus utter this prayer? Would they have resented such a sentiment? Would the anger and hurt that they must have felt toward their Master's false accusers have kept them from seeing the beauty of Jesus' words? Or would they have recognized the generous spirit of their Teacher and thought, "That's the Jesus I know! right to the very end"?

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Jesus was often very polemical and very biting in His speech toward the Pharisees, especially when they came to test Him or to denounce Him. Yet He was always merciful toward His opponents as well. He prevented James and John from calling down fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village that would not welcome Him. He restored the ear of one of the guards who had come to arrest Him after His disciple cut it off. He drove several demons out of a man whom they had possessed, but then allowed the demons to enter into a herd of pigs, simply because they begged Him to. Now, Jesus is seen praying for those who were murdering Him.

Earlier, Jesus had delivered a sermon in which He taught people to love their enemies and to pray for those who were doing them wrong. Now, on the cross, Jesus is seen as perfectly embodying that command. He is living – and He is dying – what He preached.

Not only is Jesus seen praying for His enemies, obviously in an attitude of forgiveness toward them for His own part, but He is pleading with God for them. He is advocating on their behalf. While they are killing Him, He is speaking up for them, defending them. And I think we can believe that because Jesus was and is the Christ, because Jesus was and is God, His prayer, "Father, forgive them", was granted.

But the Pharisees were not the only enemies that Jesus had. The Pharisees were not the only ones responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. In Romans 5:10, we are called God's enemies before we were reconciled to God. Our sins separated us from God and even put us at enmity with God. And because of our sins – yours and mine - a perfect sacrifice was required to atone for and cover our guilt.

So Jesus, who was completely innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever, came to earth and willingly suffered the death that was reserved for only the worst criminals in the Roman Empire in order to make peace between us and God, in order to reconcile us to God, in order to give us God's forgiveness.  "Father, forgive them…"

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, saying,

"He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

And 1 John 2:1-2 reads: 

"If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

John is telling us that not only did Jesus become an atoning sacrifice for our sins, the One who takes our guilt and punishment, but He also speaks to the Father in our defense. He is our advocate, pleading with God on our behalf, just as He pled for the Pharisees and the priests and the Roman soldiers so long ago. And because Jesus is the Christ, because He is in fact God, His pleadings for us are effective.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let Jim save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
  

 ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked Him. They offered Him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If You are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.”

Jesus could have saved Himself, couldn’t He have? He could have called the whole thing off and climbed down off that cross and healed His own wounds in an instant. But Jesus didn’t save Himself, because He was saving others, because He was saving us. The priests and the soldiers just didn’t get it. Thankfully, we do. Thankfully, we know that Jesus didn’t save Himself because He was doing it, He was dying, so that His prayer would be answered. “Father, forgive them.”

 ³⁸ There was a written notice above Him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The Romans meant that sign as an insult to the Jewish people, saying that once again they had put down a Jewish rebellion, showing that this man, this Jesus, who claimed to be king, had been defeated by the awesome power of Rome.

The thing is that Jesus was the King of the Jews. He was the descendant of King David and King Solomon. By birthright, He would have been king. But Jesus was so much more than that. He was God, and He was God’s Son. He was the King of the Universe, and His power was infinitely more than that of Rome. 

But in that moment on the cross, Jesus chose not to use any kind of political power, or military power. The power that Christ wielded on the cross was the power to stay where He was, despite the pain, the power to save you and me and anyone else who will give their allegiance to Him as their King. “Father, forgive them.”

 ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!”

 ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 

  ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.”

The amazing thing here is that Jesus was about to die, and yet this criminal knew that Jesus was still going to have a kingdom. Because this criminal saw that Jesus was more than just a man, didn’t he? He got it - this criminal got it – when the priests and the soldiers didn’t.

 ⁴³Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Because this man had faith, Jesus says that he will be in paradise. “Father, forgive them.”

Paradise originally meant garden. It’s the same word used for the Garden of Eden – the Paradise of Eden. And in Revelation 2:7, Jesus says: 

“To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

That Garden of Eden, that paradise, has been moved to Heaven, and because this criminal has faith in Jesus, even while Jesus is dying right there beside him, Jesus promises him that he will go to Heaven and walk in the Heavenly Garden of Eden. This man is forgiven because of his faith in Jesus. “Father, forgive them.”

We have also been forgiven, and we will also walk in the Heavenly Garden of Eden – you may know some people who are walking there now – because we also have faith in Christ, just as this criminal did.

Father, forgive us, and thank You for forgiving us. Amen? Amen.

Did Judas Go to Heaven or Hell?

Where did Judas go after he died? He betrayed Christ. He committed suicide. But the answer of where Judas is now might surprise you.

From Matthew 26:

 ¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, He said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Jesus knew that He was going to die, didn’t He? He knew He was going to be crucified, that He was going to have to go through the awful pain of that death. And He willingly went through with it because of His love for us, because of His deep over-riding desire to forgive us and to provide a way for us to come back to God. Jesus would rather come to earth and die than continue to live in Heaven without us. That’s amazing, isn’t it?

 ³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill Him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

John 12:1-6:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.”

So, Judas wanted to sell that expensive perfume and then keep the money for himself. He was a thief, a greedy man, who was only looking out for himself. Here this woman is, worshipping Jesus, at least in part because Jesus had raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead, and Judas… is not worshipping. He’s not remembering the awe of Jesus calling Lazarus, a man who had been dead and in the tomb for four days, back to life. Instead, he’s thinking about how he can make a quick buck.

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

Judas is thinking about money, and Jesus and this woman, Mary, are thinking about how Jesus is about to die for the sins of the world. Talk about Judas not having his priorities straight. Judas is right in the middle of the biggest thing God has ever done since the creation of the world – God, in the body of Jesus Christ, is about to die – and Judas is being distracted, thinking about how he can make some money.

But I wonder how many of us can get distracted too. I wonder how many of us concern ourselves with our daily living or want we want to do, and don’t notice or don’t pay attention or don’t give enough priority to the things of God.

We live in this world, and we have to take care of things in this world, but we are not of this world. Our priority, our loyalty, our future and eternal home is beyond this world. As believers, we need to be about bigger things than the daily grind while we’re here because we know that getting that next paycheck, or taking care of that next thing on our to-do list is not all there is to life. Life is about something so much bigger, something so much more beyond, something so much more eternal than our daily routine.

Judas, apparently, didn’t realize that. Hopefully, we do. I often wonder how Judas could have been right there with Jesus for three straight years and not have been affected, not have been changed, by being with Christ. There are some Christians who go to church every week and who claim to have known Jesus for years, and yet it’s obvious that they have not been changed. It’s obvious that, like Judas, they haven’t let Jesus affect them.

I say that we will not be like that. We will not be like Judas. We will take our faith seriously. We will allow our faith in Christ to change us, to shape us, to grow us, into what God wants us to be. We will have a faith that looks beyond ourselves and our daily ups and downs to a God who is in control of everything, and who has called us to higher things, to the God who wants us to be involved in His activity in this world.

Judas had the opportunity to take part in God’s work, right there by God’s side, and he wasted it. We will not waste the opportunities that God gives us. We will not waste our lives like Judas did. Amen? We will make our lives count for God and for His eternal purposes.

¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
 

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Is it any surprise that Judas, this thief, this greedy man, was willing to betray Christ for a few coins?

I wonder what we are willing to betray Christ for. We betray Christ every time we sin. Every time we accept Satan’s temptation instead of standing strong, instead of staying loyal to our Savior.

Satan has all kinds of things he can tempt us with, and he knows each of our weaknesses. Judas’ weakness was money. What is your weakness, and what are you doing to make sure that you stay strong in that area so that you don’t end up sinning and betraying Jesus like Judas did?

The thing is that Judas went looking for trouble, didn’t he? He went to the priests, and he said, “What are you willing to give me?” Sometimes, we go looking for trouble too. We know what our weakness is and yet we still go to the places, we still talk to the people, we still buy the products, that encourage us to sin in that area.

If Judas had recognized his weakness and decided to stay away from the priests, he would never have betrayed Jesus like he did. In the same way, the first step in our fight to keep ourselves from sinning and betraying Jesus is to consciously avoid those things, those places, those people, that tempt us.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
 

 ²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
 

 ²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
 

 ²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
 

  Jesus answered, “You have said so.” …
 

 ³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane…
 

 ⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

Luke 22:48:

“but Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”

“Are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?” Can you imagine? Judas goes up to Jesus, calls Him ‘Rabbi’, a respectful term for ‘Teacher’, and then kisses Him affectionately, knowing the whole time that he’s come to betray Him.

I wonder if we ever betray Jesus like that. Sometimes, Christians will come to church, and they will say that they believe in Christ and that they serve God, but then, they betray Him by their sinful actions afterward. They respect Christ with their mouth one moment and sin against Him the next. That’s the Judas kiss.

Friends, I say that we will not give Jesus the Judas kiss. I say that when we say that we love and serve Christ, we will mean it. I say that our actions and our lifestyle will match what our mouth says. We will be sincere, genuine Christians. We will not be hypocrites, but will serve the Lord in truth.

From Matthew 27:

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
 

 ³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
 

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
 

 ⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

We’ve talked about how bad of a guy Judas was. He was greedy, he was a hypocrite, he betrayed Jesus, and now, we see him committing suicide. But I wonder, where did Judas go when he died? Is Judas in Heaven? I think most Christians would assume that Judas went to Hell.

But I’m not too sure about that. I think that Judas gets a bad rap among Christians. Judas is someone who did something wrong. But how many of us have ever done anything wrong?

So, Judas does something wrong, but then, when he realizes the consequences of his mistake, when he realizes the consequences of his wrongdoing, he feels bad about it, doesn't he? He goes to the priests and says that he has sinned, and he returns the money. How many of us have ever done something wrong and then felt bad about it afterward?

So, Judas feels bad about what he's done. Judas had some serious remorse for his sin. He felt terrible. He was guilty, and he knew it.

Let me ask you: Is that enough for God to have forgiven Judas? He felt bad about it, he confessed his sin to the priests, and he gave back the money. I’m not sure there was anything more Judas could have done in order to ask for God’s forgiveness.

I think that if I had been Judas’ pastor, I would have told him that God forgave him.

But I don’t think Judas would have believed me.

Because here's where Judas made his real mistake, his fatal mistake. It's tragic. Judas is the most tragic person in the entire Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Because in Judas, we see the perfect picture of someone who was, most likely, forgiven by God but couldn’t forgive himself. Judas made a mistake, he had sinned, and he felt bad about it, but he didn't know, or he wasn't willing, to take the next step.

God forgave Judas, but Judas couldn’t forgive himself. He couldn’t let go of his own guilt, those all-too-recent memories of what he had done. Instead of acknowledging God’s forgiveness, Judas went out and killed himself. He chose to hang on to his guilt and take it to his grave instead of allowing himself to feel and experience the forgiveness that God had given him.

We can be like that too. We’ve come to God, we know we’ve been forgiven, but we still have those memories of the things we’ve done. We still feel that guilt. God says our guilt is gone – it’s forgiven – but we still carry it with us. We know that God has forgiven us, but we haven’t forgiven ourselves.

Don’t make the same mistake that Judas did. If you feel guilty about something, if you’re still haunted by the memories of things you’ve done in the past, don’t carry that guilt with you anymore.

When you continue to carry that guilt, that’s letting Satan keep you down. That’s letting Satan remind you of your past mistakes, your past failings, your past sins, instead of letting God remind you of His love, His forgiveness, all the ways He’s changed you, and the future plans He has for you.

I say that we will not let Satan keep us down anymore.

  

 

If you’re still in doubt about Judas or anyone else’s fate after death, here are a few more questions to ponder.

Is there any sin that God can’t forgive?

As Christians, we would say that the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, not suicide.

Do you have to confess and ask for forgiveness for each individual sin that you commit for God to forgive you?

I hope not, because who can remember every single sin except God alone? So, if we die with unconfessed sins, that doesn’t mean we go to Hell. Everyone dies with unconfessed sin because no one can recount every failing they’ve ever had.

When you believe in Jesus and ask God to forgive you for your sins, what sins is He forgiving you of?

When we accept Christ, His death covers every sin that we’ve ever committed as well as every sin that we ever will commit. As long as we stay in Him, our sins are covered.

Do people who commit suicide automatically go to Hell?

No. Even that sin has been paid for if they believe in Christ, though our hope would be that their belief in Christ would keep them doing such a thing. Still, we must remember that a person's mental state can cause them to do things they would spiritually oppose.