Deuteronomy 29:4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

Isaiah 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

Spiritual ears and eyes are granted to us from God but when and how and to whom that gift is granted can be confusing.

Cain killed his brother and God was still talking to Cain. The ability to hear God doesn’t seem to be connected to sin. Then again Cain recognized God in some way because he made a sacrifice of his labor and found it was not accepted as was his brother Abel’s lamb.

What was there about Abram that allowed him to hear God in the first place? He grew up in a pagan land and no one there knew God or worshipped Him in any way. So it would appear that Abram was not taught of a sovereign God and yet believed God when he heard God speak. So how we were raised and what we are taught has nothing to do with it.

If we are so loved by God, which His Word tells us, then don’t we need to have these spiritual ears and eyes to have a close personal relationship with God? Every loving relationship has these things in common; good clear communication, honesty and commitment. The back and forth between two in a committed relationship keeps that relationship alive.

We live in the world that says if we are hearing voices when no one else is visibly we are labeled insane and need to be committed to a psych ward. Knowing this we are reluctant to admit if in fact we do hear God speak. We are afraid to admit what we know to be true for us.

So what can we do to not endanger our just cause, to spread the gospel? Make faith the issue.

Romans 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2 Timothy 1:13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Sound words don’t sound insane. When we fail to find our own words, use His.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Discourse should be defined as a discussion. One side gets to make a statement and then the other side gets to address the issue presented and is expected to stay on topic.

In this case there is no single word to define reason, the phrase “let us reason together” is yâkach, yaw-kahh’; a primitive root; to be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue; causatively, to decide, justify or convict:—appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct(-ion), daysman, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, reprove(-r), surely, in any wise.

The first word used is reciprocal, meaning a back and forth, each side gets to have a say to plead their case in determining how to decide the matter presented.

God gives the invitation and makes the first declarative; “you have sinned.”

Take the other side of this discourse. What do we have to say about that declarative statement?

Remember at this time that God has called you to come and discuss this matter. You did not initiate this conversation, God did. Before we can formulate our answer we must first take a measure of the one sitting on the other side of the table.

One option is to challenge the other side. “Who are you to define sin?”

“I am the God of the Universe who created you. I alone get to declare what is sinful.”

Do we challenge His authority? “Prove it!”

Proving a point of disagreement is a vital part of discourse. Anything that is stated as a declarative statement has to be backed up with some reasonable evidence from a reliable source.

“Look at me. Do you recognize me?”

At this point we are arguing against ourselves as to how we came to be in this discussion in the first place.

We cannot continue this discourse if we cannot answer the first basic question: how did I receive this invitation in the first place?

If you do not recognize God, you cannot have this discussion.