Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120008
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00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible
00:02 and a friend and sit back as we explore 00:04 God's word together on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 Welcome to the program engineered 00:23 for people like you and me that want to know 00:25 more about what the Bible says. 00:26 I got that from John, he is pretty good in directing. 00:29 He's directing me from a distance. 00:31 But that's good saying and so thank you so much 00:33 for tuning into the program that truly does say 00:35 what the word of God says, "we don't settle 00:37 for second best or substitutes if it doesn't 00:40 come from God's word, we don't want it." 00:42 Amen. And we're not gonna give it. 00:43 So get your Bibles, your friends, your pens, 00:45 hit the record button, because we are going to 00:47 dive into the best book ever written, 00:50 still the number one best seller of the word of God, 00:52 that's why House Calls us here. 00:54 Good to have you here, John. 00:55 It's great to be here John, yeah-- 00:56 Looking forward to another program. 00:58 I tell you we had a really good program 01:00 that we are gonna continue on today about listening, 01:03 the art of listening for the voice of God. 01:06 One of the arts that are lost today 01:09 and our ears have been burned up 01:10 and our ears have been taken captive 01:12 and we are slaves mentally to something 01:15 other than what God is saying. Tickled. 01:17 Tickled, but you know, I tell you. 01:19 But we have a good program, so just stay tuned 01:21 and John I'd like you to begin the program with prayer, 01:26 we always like to do that today. 01:27 We're gonna spend little less time on questions, 01:29 because we wanna really dive into our topic today 01:32 and go head and cover it 01:34 and to do a justice with this program. 01:35 Let's do that. Our father in heaven, 01:37 we ask here for Your presence 01:39 to guide and direct our thoughts today. 01:41 And we pray for a blessing that can only come from 01:44 Your hand and that is a knowledge of Your word. 01:46 And to be able to listen for Your voice, 01:48 please speak to each and everyone of us 01:50 who are--both John and I and those who are listening 01:53 who are viewing this program today, 01:55 in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 01:58 Well, friends, as you know we have 01:59 Bible questions and comments that come to us periodically 02:02 and we have quite a bit, matter of fact 02:04 I look on our website today. 02:06 And if we haven't got into your question yet, 02:08 be patient because we have about 400 pages 02:12 of emails that come, some times-- 02:14 Over, over a long period of time. 02:16 Over a period of time that is. 02:18 And we have to filter through those. 02:20 What really helps is if your question is 02:22 small and concise and condense. 02:25 Because when we open a page and its starts 02:26 folding many pages down, we just kinda-- 02:29 it overwhelms us and we just say, 02:31 "If we have to try to figure out 02:32 what you're trying to ask us then it really 02:34 probably not gonna get addressed." 02:35 I want to bring a little clarification 02:36 to your statement too, because the lot of it 02:38 includes spam, the stuff they get through, 02:41 we get put on email list. Yeah. 02:42 So you know, out of one whole page, 02:45 there could be maybe five questions. 02:47 Out of page of 30 to 40, so maybe even 50. 02:51 But it does take some filtering through. 02:53 But we appreciate all of you who are 02:55 sending in these questions, 02:56 because every time we sit down, they are great ones. 02:59 Right, if you could be so artistic as to 03:01 at the very beginning of your email, 03:02 put Bible question, we could see a jump out right away-- 03:07 Exactly because we don't want those advertises 03:09 and you know nowadays it's impossible to get an email 03:11 without an advertise to try to find a way in and they do, 03:14 that's how it is in the Google world. 03:16 Anyhow what's our question for today, John? 03:18 What do you have for? 03:19 I got a question from Randy and he says, 03:21 "Hi, gentleman, I cannot understand or know 03:24 how to reconcile the Chapter 1 John 3 03:29 with the rest of scripture in regard to the severity of sin." 03:33 He says, it looks like that my sin is evidence 03:37 that you do not have the Holy Spirit in you. 03:40 And so let's take a look at 1 John Chapter 3 03:43 and I kinda give you a few principles here to follow 03:46 and also the context of sin and its nature 03:51 and what John is speaking up here in this specific chapter, 03:55 1 John Chapter 3. Okay. 03:57 First of all, I want you to notice verse 2. 04:01 Let's build in the context or build up to 04:05 where we're going here first. 04:07 The verse 2 says, beloved, now we are. 04:11 When? Now. 04:12 Now we are the children of God 04:15 and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, 04:18 but we know that, when He is revealed, 04:20 we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 04:23 Praise the Lord. And everyone--verse 3, 04:26 everyone who has this hope in Him 04:28 purifies himself, just as He is pure. 04:31 So you'll see the context here is 04:33 when we see Jesus we will be like He is, 04:37 we will see him as He is and we will be like Him. 04:40 And because we want to have that experience, 04:43 John is telling us that we need to be 04:46 engage in the process of purifying ourselves, 04:50 submitting ourselves to the purification 04:52 of the Holy Spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit 04:55 of our lives, purging ourselves from sin. 04:58 That is what the purification process is. 05:00 If you look at water that's purified, 05:02 it removes all the foreign elements, 05:04 it removes all the bacteria, all the stuff that should not be 05:08 that is unhealthy for us equated the Christian life 05:11 that is to removal of sin from our lives. 05:14 So that's the context with which 05:16 we begin to read chapter 3. 05:19 Then of course it defines what sin is in verse 4, 05:22 whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness 05:25 and sin is lawlessness or sin is transgression of the law. 05:29 So breaking the commandments that equates to sin 05:32 and then he says, "And you know that 05:35 He was manifested to take away our sins 05:37 and in Him there is no sin. 05:40 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. 05:43 Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor knows Him." 05:47 That's where the beginning of the trouble that Randy 05:50 has given in this question and others have had 05:53 with regard to this chapter. 05:55 There are two possibilities here, 05:59 number one if you read it literally, 06:02 it seems to be saying that if you commit a sin 06:04 or if you make a mistake in your life, 06:05 if you're going throughout the day 06:06 and you get angry at someone, you yell at him 06:08 and tell him off, then it says, 06:11 look you've never known Christ. 06:13 But we know that's not true because he is writing to 06:16 individuals who have already become children of God. 06:20 So he begins to qualify what he means by sin 06:23 in the very next couple of verses 06:25 and this is the key to the whole chapter. 06:29 Little children, verse 7, let no one deceive you, 06:34 He who practices righteousness is righteous, 06:39 just as He is righteous. 06:42 John is telling us that it's not the commission of a sin, 06:45 a single sin that determines whether you or not you are-- 06:48 you know God, follow Him, or unrighteous entirely. 06:52 It is the practice of sin that takes you away from God, 06:57 that puts you out of the will of God, 06:59 and the practice of righteousness 07:01 that keeps you in the will of God. 07:03 Practice is the issue here. 07:06 And if you pickup verse 3, you would say 07:08 then practice makes what? Perfect. 07:12 Practice brings about spiritual maturity. 07:14 Practice is what purifies, 07:16 allows God to purify your heart. 07:19 So when it comes to our Christian walk, 07:21 John is saying, "I want to engage 07:23 in the practice of righteousness. 07:26 In the repeating everyday, day in and day out, 07:29 the performance, the engaging in the work 07:31 of purity in your life bring holiness into your life." 07:34 Those things in your life that Paul speaks of 07:37 adding to your faith virtue and virtue knowledge. 07:41 Paul also speaks on what you should think on, 07:44 think on things that are pure 07:45 and edifying and all the others, 07:49 many--I'm thinking of all the different translations 07:52 to Bible when it comes to that verse. 07:54 But things that appear in your life 07:56 to allow God to bring those things that are holy 07:58 and not things that are sinful. 08:01 And then of course look at verse 8, 08:03 He who sins and that would equate with those who are 08:06 doing the opposite of practicing righteousness, 08:08 but are practicing unrighteousness. 08:12 He who sins is of the devil, 08:14 for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 08:15 For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested 08:18 that He might destroy the works of the devil. 08:22 So when sin is mentioned here, 08:26 it's mentioned within the context of the practice of sin, 08:30 not the occasional deed or misdeed, 08:33 but the trend of the life, the trend of 08:36 how you are living the Christian life. 08:38 That's right. I think you said it well, 08:40 I mean I can't really add a whole lot to that. 08:42 This is not speaking about the fact that 08:44 people won't--in the process of growing won't make mistakes, 08:48 but we are not looking to practice-- 08:50 That's right. In these areas that we fall. 08:53 We are not looking to stay there 08:54 and sharpen our skill for evil, 08:58 which is in fact where a fall that-- 09:02 if you stay on the ground-- let's put it this way. 09:06 When we're growing up, we had this three-second rule. 09:10 And some of you may know exactly 09:12 where I'm headed right away. 09:13 If you drop something on the ground, 09:15 if you could pick it up before three seconds are done, 09:17 and you-- it's okay. 09:20 But if you leave it down there all day long 09:23 and go to pick it up and eat it. 09:26 Now some of you probably say, "that's gross, 09:28 I wouldn't eat it anyway if it fell on the ground." 09:30 Well, here is the key, it depends on where it falls. 09:32 That's a big part of it. 09:33 If it falls in a, you know, a pile of mud, 09:36 if it's down there a second it's too long. 09:39 If it falls on the carpet or maybe 09:41 if your floors are clean, that's all conditional. 09:44 I'm not saying practice that, but here's my point. 09:47 The longer it stays down there, 09:50 let's go to the next level. 09:51 If you fall into dirt, sin, 09:56 and you stay there and wallow in it. 09:58 Begin to practice or live that life. 10:00 Oh, I love the way this might feels, 10:02 oh and you walking around and people see you, 10:05 what happened to you? 10:06 Oh, I fell, I've been in mud all day. 10:10 And then the next day, you are in mud 10:11 and the next day you are in mud, your life is filthy. 10:13 You see, why would you wanna be around a person like that. 10:15 He fell and he loved it. And that was the problem. 10:19 It goes according to the proverb, 10:21 the pig returns to wallow in his mire 10:24 and the dog returns to his vomit. 10:26 So that's the person who just loves to practice 10:28 unrighteousness, but the Lord is saying 10:30 as long as the trend of your life is you are practicing 10:32 righteousness, I like that text that you just read here. 10:35 Little children, let no one deceive you. 10:39 He who practices righteousness 10:41 that is justification is justified. 10:45 He who practices righteousness that is sanctification 10:48 is justified just as He is justified. 10:51 And I'm putting those other words in there, 10:53 because when you practice righteousness 10:54 you are being sanctified. 10:57 He who practices righteousness, 10:59 the sanctifying effective it is righteous 11:04 just as he has been justified. 11:06 The Lord justifies you, you practice that, 11:08 that sanctification and that's the righteousness 11:11 of Christ that he imputes to you 11:13 because he has imparted to you remains. 11:16 And so that's the beauty of that. 11:17 All right. Very good. 11:19 Let's go to one more question here, 11:20 because we gonna spend some time on our topic today 11:22 by listening to the Lord. 11:24 Isaiah 66 verse 17, turn there with us 11:27 if you have your Bible, very important passage. 11:30 And this is speaking about the second coming 11:32 of the Lord, the coming of Lord. 11:33 In general sense, let me turn there. 11:35 I have it on my page, but I want to read 11:37 more than just that particular verse. 11:39 Isaiah 66 verse 17. Okay, here we are. 11:46 We are there, we are there. 11:48 Okay, start with verse 15, 11:52 for behold, the Lord will come with fire, 11:56 and with his chariots like a whirlwind 11:58 to render his anger and fury 12:02 and his rebuke with flames of fire. 12:06 For by fire and by His sword, 12:09 the Lord will judge all flesh 12:11 and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 12:15 And then He points out to category, 12:17 those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves. 12:21 That's those whose righteousness is not from Christ. 12:24 In other words, they say as Isaiah 4, he points out, 12:28 they will say, "I'll eat my own bread, 12:30 I'll wear my own apparel, I'll have my own clothing, 12:33 I'll have my own righteousness." 12:35 But he goes on further. 12:37 It says to go to the garden, that's the groves. 12:41 When you look at the Old Testament, 12:43 many of those who worshiped false God went to the groves 12:46 that were set up in gardens. 12:48 He says, I'm gonna deal with those who go to the gardens, 12:51 and then what happens? 12:54 After in idol, to go to the gardens after an idol 12:58 in the midst and look what they do? 13:01 Eating swine's flesh and the abomination 13:06 and the mouse shall be consumed together, says the Lord. 13:12 So the question was, does this verse mean 13:14 God will destroy those that defile 13:16 their body by eating things, the Lord said 13:21 was an abomination unto them and it's sure? 13:24 Yes. It's exactly what He is saying. 13:26 Any comments before I go any further, John? 13:28 No, I think that's good. 13:29 I think the context here is clearly the second coming, 13:32 the coming of the Lord, right? 13:34 We've covered this several times about how God-- 13:36 when Jesus comes that He will consume 13:38 the wicked with brightness of His coming, 13:40 a fire will be kindled, the earth will melt 13:42 with fervent heat, all these other things. 13:44 So this is in context of the second coming 13:46 and He continues to punish those who are 13:52 doing these abominations which include eating swine's flesh. 13:55 And it comes back to the principle of New Testament, 13:58 you find--let's just go couple of examples very quickly. 14:00 In the Old Testament when they had the tabernacle, 14:03 whether the temporary one or the temple the permanent one. 14:07 There were no unclean animals included in that at all. 14:10 Not only that the temples of the--the body temple 14:14 the Lord establish from the very beginning in Genesis. 14:16 That nothing that is designed as my 14:18 sanitation department should go into my temple. 14:22 So they couldn't bring pigs and swine's flesh and mice 14:28 and rats and rodents to the altar to sacrifice, why? 14:32 The main reason is because nothing unclean 14:34 could represent Christ, but secondly 14:36 and most importantly in the context of your question. 14:39 Our 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 17, 14:42 if anyone defiles the temple of God, 14:45 God will destroy him, for the temple of God 14:49 is Holy which temple you are. 14:52 Yes. That's right. 14:53 Your body is the temple of God, 14:55 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19, or do you not know that your 14:59 body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, 15:02 whom you have from God, and you are not your own. 15:05 1 Corinthians 10:31, whether you eat or drink 15:07 or whatever you do, do all through the glory of God. 15:10 And our example in the Bible and Daniel 1 verse 8, 15:12 Daniel determined in his heart 15:15 that he would not defile his body. 15:18 And so the question is, does God have 15:20 any right over our bodies? 15:23 Absolutely, we gave him that right 15:25 when we gave our life to Him. 15:26 Right, and so to say I know I belong to you Lord, 15:30 but you can't tell me what to do, 15:32 far too many people nowadays. 15:34 And let me just give you another added to mention. 15:36 I don't want to spend lot of time on this. 15:38 But there are people that are poking holes 15:40 in God's temple, there are people that are tattoo. 15:44 There is the other sin today 15:45 not just defiling of the inside, 15:48 but the defiling of the outside. 15:50 They are becoming like Dennis Rodman, this society. 15:53 You remember Dennis Rodman. He was a basketball player. 15:55 You may not have heard his name, 15:57 but if you punch it upon the internet, 15:58 you will see exactly what I'm talking about. 15:59 There are some people that walk around 16:01 looking like coloring books and the Bible even forbids 16:04 the tattooing of the flesh. 16:06 Because once again its God's body temple, 16:09 the poking of holes and nose rings 16:12 and tongue rings is just like there is abuse to the body. 16:15 And God is saying, don't you know 16:18 that your body is my temple and then the abuse of 16:22 promiscuity and homosexuality and all these, you know, 16:25 sexual crimes, the body is under an assault 16:28 and all of those categories, everyone of those 16:30 is a candidate for being defiled-- 16:33 and everyone of those not a candidate for being defiled, 16:36 but everyone of those candidate for being loss. 16:38 Now here is the question, if a person 16:40 has a tattoo can they be saved? 16:42 If you turn your life over to the Lord, of course you can. 16:45 Any of those categories I mentioned 16:47 once you repent and turn your life over to the Lord, 16:49 He can bring you into saving relationship. 16:51 That's what I'm saying because I've seen people that-- 16:55 I was working with Pastor John in the evangelistic series. 17:00 And it was a summer time and he had a tattoo 17:03 of a woman and a heart on his arm. 17:08 And I said, pastor, we are going visiting, 17:11 put a jacket on it. He said, why? 17:13 I said that tattoo of a woman and a cross on your arm. 17:18 He said, you know, I used to be a motorcyclist. 17:21 I used to be hardcore Harley rider. 17:26 And I said so does that help when you go to your visits? 17:31 He said, you know, I've given my life to the Lord 17:34 and I didn't necessarily agree with His philosophy, 17:37 His philosophy, but he said 17:39 that's there to remind me of where I came from. 17:43 Couldn't argue with that, I left that between him 17:45 and the Lord, but I said but still put on a jacket. 17:48 Because I don't want to see, we go and give people 17:51 Bible studies, they don't know all that, 17:53 unless you explain that to them, 17:55 they'll have a different interpretation of a man 17:57 who's studying the words of God 17:58 and he has a woman and I'm not gonna say 18:00 what kind of-- what the woman look like, 18:03 but woman and a cross on his arm 18:05 and it didn't look godly at all, 18:07 it looked very provocative. 18:09 So bottom line is getting back 18:11 to the eating of the swine's flesh, yes. 18:13 We cannot defile our temple and still be saved. 18:16 All right. Good. 18:18 Well, we're gonna just stop right there today. 18:20 We have some great topics, 18:22 but if you gonna send any questions to us, 18:24 if you have any comments to send, 18:27 anything you want to say to us about anything we've covered, 18:29 send those to housecalls@3abn.org 18:33 that's housecalls@3abn.org, 18:36 or let me put it this way, if you're sending mail, 18:40 you know where to send it. 18:41 So thank you so much for all you do for the program, 18:43 your prayers, your financial support. 18:45 And even if you come and volunteer, 18:46 we won't mind that either. 18:48 But John take us into our topic today, 18:50 "Listening to the Voice of God," 18:51 we laid some foundation, but now let's dive into it. 18:54 Yeah, we have several ways that God speaks to us. 18:59 He established the relationship with us, 19:01 a saving relationship with us, 19:02 so that he can communicate His will to us. 19:05 Transform our lives and change us. 19:07 And these are some of the things we're talking about 19:08 when we answer these questions as well. 19:10 But how do we listen and become 19:15 effective listener for God's voice. 19:17 How do we know that He is communicating to us His will? 19:20 How do we know it's God's voice and not the voice of another? 19:23 So there are several ways to do that 19:25 and the first step is to understand 19:28 that there are four ways that God communicates to us. 19:31 We already begin to cover the first way 19:34 which is He communicates to us His will, 19:37 His voice through the written word. 19:39 And the supreme written word is, the word of God, 19:42 the Bible and that becomes the test 19:45 by which all other communication is comes under. 19:49 It's the way that we test any other way 19:53 or communication that we think that we're hearing from God, 19:57 we test it according to God's word. 19:59 The second way is through audible means 20:02 and we cover some of those. 20:04 The third way is through our thoughts and impressions 20:07 and then the fourth will be everyday circumstances of life. 20:10 But I think we are in the middle of the word of God 20:13 being that test for all other communication 20:17 that God brings to us. 20:18 This is the first thing that He gave us. 20:20 A matter of fact, go with me to the book of Timothy. 20:23 I'll tell you which one right now, 20:24 I'm--look at that, I just returned. 20:28 And I'm amazing. All right. 20:33 Okay, here we are. 20:35 1 Timothy, you know what's amazing about this, John, 20:38 and the beauty of this topic is that the Lord wants us to 20:43 really focus our hearts and our lives 20:48 on what He says first. 20:53 I like what my parents used to say 20:55 when I was growing up, I would come home sometimes 20:58 with an excuse as to how I got in trouble. 21:02 And I would say, well, so and so said 21:04 and so and so said and so and so said 21:08 and my mother would say, but what did I say? 21:11 What did I say? Exactly. 21:12 I don't care what anyone said, what did I say? 21:16 If you do what I said, you don't have to 21:18 worry about getting in trouble. 21:21 But if you ignore what I say, 21:23 then that's where you in danger. 21:24 And we find here in the word of God that Paul makes it 21:29 very, very clear that listening 21:31 to God's word is the first element. 21:34 As a matter of fact as I'm going, 21:35 I want to just segway into that with this text. 21:38 You find this phrase throughout the Bible, 21:39 "Thus says the Lord, thus says the Lord." 21:44 And that's what this text here in 2 Timothy Chapter 4, 21:47 is speaking to us, "Thus says the Lord." 21:53 I came back to my parent. What did I say? 21:55 Thus says the parent. 21:58 Today we can't get to heaven with thus says the pastor 22:01 or thus says my church if it's not connected 22:04 to God's word and here is the reason why. 22:06 And I like that John, you said, use the Bible first. 22:08 Here it is, 2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 16, 22:12 all scripture is given by inspiration of God 22:19 and is profitable for doctrine. 22:22 Be careful if your church says 22:23 it doesn't teach doctrine and uses the Bible, 22:26 you are in trouble, run for your life. 22:29 I mean, really. Yeah. 22:30 We don't teach doctrines, they have this term 22:32 nowadays, we are non-denominational. 22:34 Well, if I go to the bank and I want money, 22:37 what denomination is gonna be? 22:38 It's gonna be a penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, 22:41 or a half a dollar or a silver dollar. 22:42 Some denomination one, five, ten, 22:45 fifteen-- whatever the case, 22:46 not fifteen but one, you get the point. 22:48 It's gonna be one of those denominations 22:50 and there is no such thing as 22:52 a non-denominational church and that's the danger. 22:55 So they say, we don't teach doctrines, 22:56 so you are safe here. Now you are in danger there. 23:00 The Bible is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 23:05 for correction, for instruction in righteousness 23:09 that the man of God may be complete, 23:12 thoroughly equipped or furnished for every good work. 23:16 But I read this, I want you to read verse 14 and 15 23:19 because this is what I left out and this is why 23:23 the word of God is so vitally important. 23:25 This is why it's the first line of defense. 23:28 You got that? Yeah. 14 and 15? 23:31 "But you must continue in the things 23:33 which you have learned and been assured of 23:36 knowing from whom you have learned them 23:38 and that from childhood you have known 23:40 the Holy Scriptures, which are able to 23:42 make you wise for salvation 23:44 through faith which is in Jesus Christ." 23:46 Okay, the Holy Scriptures, they are able to 23:49 make you wise, be careful and the reason 23:51 I'm going backward here is because 23:53 the premise that Paul is dealing-- 23:56 the situation he is dealing with, 23:59 he is trying to prevent people from being deceived. 24:03 That was the whole context of this. 24:04 We often start with verse 16 and 17, 24:07 then we jump back to verse 14 and 15, 24:09 but look at verse 12 and 13. Okay. 24:16 Verse 12 says, "Yes all who desire to live godly 24:20 in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 24:23 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse 24:27 deceiving and being deceived." 24:30 John talk about that deception and the context of 24:31 the word of God being left out as a first line of defense. 24:34 Why there's so much deception today? 24:36 If you--there are many today who are--they are gauging 24:40 the truth by the feeling they get. 24:42 I think you've mentioned that in the last program. 24:45 I know its truth when God gives me that feeling in my bosom. 24:49 Here right here, I just-- 24:50 when I get that feeling then I know its truth. 24:54 Feelings are very-- can be very deceptive 24:57 and we have to be very careful with feelings, even emotions. 25:00 The word of God--the Bible is an intellectual book. 25:06 There is an element of connecting 25:08 and reasoning with God and listening to His voice 25:10 and letting Him communicate His will to us. 25:12 That goes beyond a feeling and we must test 25:15 our feelings in light of the word of God. 25:18 Or we're gonna be deceive, that's the way God, 25:20 I think this is the handbook that God has given us 25:24 to keep us from being deceived and that's why it's got to be 25:26 the first line in the way that God speaks to us. 25:29 Now I do want to be careful and not getting so much 25:32 on the word of God in this because we won't have 25:34 time to cover the rest of the things 25:37 as to how to be an effective listener. 25:38 But do need to say that the word of God 25:41 is the way that we test all other communication from-- 25:46 that we receive in our Christian walk. 25:48 And that would be audibly or even 25:52 on the written word level, it could be through books 25:55 or other kinds of things that people say are good, 25:59 this is a great book, you've to read this. 26:01 God really spoke His will to this. 26:02 Well, it is good book as long as it lines up 26:04 with the word of God, right? 26:07 There is a whole another denomination that advocates-- 26:09 another book that's greater light 26:12 or that is light as the word of God is light. 26:14 Well, I'll tell you if you read both books, 26:16 they don't agree with each other so you gotta be careful. 26:19 So other written word has to be compared 26:21 with the word of God, but secondly 26:23 in an audible way, God can speak to us. 26:25 And I just want to kinda give an example of that here we go. 26:27 But there's a story, a friend of us told. 26:31 And they were driving around-- driving through town, 26:34 going over to somebody's house. 26:35 They were going in Angwin, California 26:37 on a very narrow road. 26:38 For those of you who live in Angwin, who are been there, 26:40 Brookside road or Brookside Drive there. 26:43 Very narrow and he was going around an area 26:45 that's had a kind of a blind corner and all of the sudden, 26:48 he slammed on his brakes 26:50 and pulled over to his right and stopped. 26:53 And the moment he did that. 26:56 A car coming the other direction barreled around 26:57 the corner in their lane would have hit them for sure. 27:01 And his wife said, wow, and it's a good thing you pulled 27:05 over right when you did, I didn't even see him coming. 27:08 And he said, no, it's a good thing you told me to pull over. 27:11 She says, told you to pull over? 27:13 He said, yeah, you said pull over now and stop. 27:17 She said, I didn't say a word. 27:20 He said, I heard you specifically say, 27:21 pull over now and stop. 27:24 She said, I didn't say anything. 27:25 Well, that was an angel. That's right. 27:27 That intervened to keep them from that accident. 27:30 There are ways God communicates His will to us 27:33 that comes through angels possibly. 27:37 The Bible speaks of angles visiting us 27:38 that we are completely unaware of as being angels. 27:42 He also communicates His will to us 27:44 potentially audibly through friends, 27:46 through family who are godly people. 27:49 That's another way we hear the audible will of God. 27:52 Someone prophesying as to Christ will, 27:54 but that prophesying always is measured by, what? 27:56 The word. The word of God. 27:58 This is the key that we must measure 28:01 everything in light of the word of God. 28:03 But that will be the second one audibly. 28:05 That's right. Anything else-- 28:07 Because even if a group of individuals 28:09 and I like the fact that you tied it 28:11 right back to the word of God 28:13 because we're building on-- 28:14 we're a building a cake here-- 28:16 well, not a cake, we're building a structure here, 28:20 but the foundation of that structure is the word of God. 28:23 Okay, now, let me use that example. 28:26 God clearly spoken in that respect 28:28 because he would not have heard what he heard 28:33 and end result was God just spares your life. 28:37 Right. See. 28:39 Or the angels could have, however, God did that. 28:42 You know, we tried to figure out 28:43 how God does certain things-- 28:45 in fact that He does it just what makes the difference. 28:48 But if you would say that the Lord use angels 28:51 in the same-- in the same sense 28:53 of the story of Balaam, he used a donkey. 28:57 I did a sermon called "Dumb and Dumber." 28:58 Who is the dumber? The donkey or Balaam. 29:00 But Hebrews 1 verse 14 speaks of the angels role. 29:05 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to 29:08 minister to those who will inherit salvation?" 29:11 So the angels of God are really busy. 29:14 The Lord didn't send an email to Mary, an angel, 29:17 the angel Gabriel came and spoke-- 29:18 Even the name angel, what does it mean? 29:20 Messenger. That's right. 29:21 So a messenger with a message. 29:23 So that's wonderful, but I like the fact that 29:26 you tied back to the word of God, 29:27 because when you mentioned about impressions 29:30 through friends, these audible impressions. 29:32 When a person's mind is guided by the word of God, 29:35 then you could say, oh, that's a godly woman, 29:37 that's a godly man. But you know what? 29:39 The way that you will continue to know that that 29:41 person is being led by God's inspiration 29:43 is always check it out. That's why I say, 29:46 the first one the written word 29:47 is all encompassing through 29:49 the writing but the key here is, 29:51 the written word, the Bible, that's the foundation. 29:55 Then you have the number two, the audible 29:57 we just spoke about that. Then you have-- 29:58 But let's now run away from that too quickly. 29:59 Go ahead, go ahead. 30:01 Because, you know, John, you and I, 30:02 we are techie in some degree-- 30:05 and where I know lot of guys that are really techie. 30:07 They read computer magazines. 30:08 They are staying upon 30:09 the latest gadget that's coming out. 30:13 When we speak about those gadgets, 30:15 we speak intelligently because we have 30:17 informed ourselves. 30:18 What's a Geiger or a nanosecond. 30:20 You know what a gigabyte? What are all those things? 30:23 And my sister called me one day and she said, hey, 30:26 I have--I got a hard drive with six--with 20 Geiger's. 30:30 Let's say when on earth is a Geiger. 30:34 I like that thought. It's got 20 Geiger's. 30:37 I said, no it's gigabytes. 30:39 Well, I don't know what Geiger or-- 30:41 they really matter to me. 30:42 The whole point of the matter is 30:44 I'm going back to the word of God here. 30:46 In 2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 10, 30:48 it's gonna take you a while to get over that one, John. 30:50 Yeah, you told me that one before. 30:52 Yeah, she said I got 20 Geiger drive. 30:54 I said, no, that's gigabytes. 30:55 I don't know what that means. 30:57 Anyway but tying your back when you speak if you speak 31:01 intelligently of the word of God. 31:03 I've been in circles where people have been 31:05 highly intelligent, very well educated, 31:08 but when I start to speaking about the word of God. 31:10 All those intellectual esoteric minds 31:12 were captured, because they said, wow! 31:15 you've entered into an enlightened area, 31:18 a place where the light of the divine one is shining 31:21 that many people that are intellectual just on 31:23 the basis of human wisdom have not entered. 31:25 Right. But here's the reason, why? 31:27 Second Timothy 3 verse 15, 31:29 the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise. 31:34 See that's true, the entrance of your word 31:36 gives light, David the Psalmist says, 31:38 "So yes, through the impressions, 31:40 through the audible, through the speaking 31:42 through friends, those three methods 31:44 all tie back to the foundation of God's word." 31:47 And obviously we are pastors so we would expect that, 31:50 you know, God uses us to communicate a message to 31:53 the people who come out each Sabbath to worship. 31:58 And so the audible word is very important. 32:00 Now the third one as we transition to the third way, 32:02 he communicates to thoughts 32:04 and impressions by the Holy Spirit. 32:06 Now we've all been convicted of something at some point. 32:11 Just in general, we think thoughts and we say, 32:13 you know, that's really important, 32:15 you know, we realize, you know, 32:16 that could be a life changing thought 32:19 or impression that we just received, 32:23 and so God does that as well. 32:25 He can speak to us through our mind 32:28 and through the Holy Spirit to give us 32:30 thoughts or impressions that are communication of His will. 32:34 Again it goes back to measuring those thoughts and impressions 32:37 according to the word of God, we always go there. 32:40 But He does that also through thoughts 32:42 and impressions and so that's the third method 32:44 in the way that He speaks to us. 32:46 And that is most often through the work of the Holy Spirit. 32:50 I don't deny that angels ministering 32:52 can also breathe a word to you as well. 32:55 I do believe that, that can happen too. 32:57 But the Holy Spirit residing in us, 32:58 that's why Jesus said so importantly 33:02 that when the Holy Spirit comes, 33:06 when He ask the father to send 33:07 the Holy Spirit, He's gonna enter into your life 33:10 and thus bring a voice from the inside to speak His will 33:15 and to prove establish His will 33:17 and prove His will in your life. 33:19 And you find in the scriptures, 33:20 it's so wonderful and I appreciate this topic, 33:24 John, because when we are in difficult situations, 33:31 the impression that even comes into our lives are like, 33:35 one of the reasons I like read in the word of God 33:37 is because the other thing the spirit does 33:39 and I like this, you've mentioned Holy Spirit, 33:41 you've mentioned through impressions. 33:43 What He also does is He 33:44 brings back to our remembrance. 33:47 Those things we've learned and so when a person says 33:51 the spirit spoke to me, I listened very carefully 33:54 because a lot of times people give authority 33:56 to what they say by just throwing 33:58 the spirit into the midst. It's a vicarious authority. 34:00 Yeah, very, very important. Vicarious authority. 34:04 They say, you know, God spoke to me and told me 34:05 to tell you and I'm thinking, let me still pray about it, 34:10 because I don't know if whether or not God spoke 34:11 to that person especially if I don't know him from Adam. 34:15 But in fact, you find that the Lord sometimes speaks 34:18 in a way that's almost inaudible, 34:21 but unless you're listening, it is inaudible. 34:23 It is audible but it's a thought or an impression, yeah. 34:25 And I like this one in I Kings 19 verse 11, 34:30 behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind 34:36 tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 34:39 before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. 34:42 And after the wind and earthquake, 34:44 but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 34:47 And after the earthquake a fire, 34:49 but the Lord was not in the fire. 34:52 And after the fire a still small voice. 34:58 So what it was when Elijah heard it, 35:00 that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out 35:03 and stood in the entrance of the cave, 35:05 suddenly a voice came to him and said, 35:09 what are you doing here, Elijah? 35:10 You see, God was impressing him through 35:12 all this magnificent powerful displace, 35:15 but God wasn't--and this is the point I want to make. 35:19 Sometimes you may be captured 35:21 by the excitement of an environment 35:25 and God may not even be in that. 35:29 That's why sometime I'll find the text 35:31 and give it to you, but I'll give it back to you 35:32 while I look for this text. 35:34 So if the Lord is speaking to you, 35:35 sometimes He speaks to you most effectively 35:38 that still small voice, the impression that you get 35:42 as you sit and abide in His presence 35:45 and listen for Him to speak to you and communicate. 35:48 Now we're gonna get to some of these things 35:49 because we're gonna provide you with some steps 35:51 that you can take. Very good. 35:53 To be a more effective listener for God's voice. 35:55 We're now giving you the ways God communicates to us. 35:58 Then we're gonna get you to the steps 36:00 that you can become a better listeners for God's voice. 36:04 The fourth way in which God communicates to us 36:07 is through the everyday circumstances of life. 36:09 And we can't go by this very quickly either, 36:12 because God communicates His will at times 36:15 through just the circumstances that are around us. 36:18 And I'll tell you a story 36:19 and it's not specific story necessarily, 36:22 but several times in my life as I look back 36:25 at there those times, you know, 36:27 20/20s it's great high in-sight vision. 36:30 As I look back at those circumstances, 36:32 I can see God was not opening the door 36:35 for a certain thing, but I pushed 36:38 and forced my foot through it to make it happen. 36:42 And if I paid more attention to the circumstances 36:45 and the fact that it was hard to make this thing 36:48 come to for wishing to work. 36:50 I would have seen that through circumstances 36:52 he was actually closing the door 36:54 on something that I thought I was doing for His will. 36:59 So in that respect, He didn't speak to me, 37:00 He didn't speak to me audibly, 37:02 he didn't speak to me through thoughts and impressions 37:04 that were specific although he may have been 37:05 trying to convict me at times, 37:07 but he used circumstances to try 37:09 and close the door and something 37:10 that wasn't in accordance with His will. 37:13 And we need to be in tune for whether or not 37:16 we are forcing something to happen 37:18 or we're seeing that God's clearly opening 37:20 a pathway for us to go, do you understand? 37:23 So in that respect, it's different than 37:25 written word obviously, than audible, 37:27 than thoughts and impressions, 37:28 it is the everyday circumstances of life 37:30 that God works and becomes important. 37:33 I'm reading a book right now 37:34 and doing some studies on the book of Esther. 37:38 The name God is not in that book one time. 37:42 But what you can see clearly throughout that book 37:44 that it is speaking to us, saying that the circumstances 37:48 that have happened throughout the book 37:50 are clearly God's leading and the events that are happening. 37:54 God isn't mentioned, God isn't even alluded too. 37:58 God is clearly through the circumstances 38:00 in Esther's life and Mordecai's life 38:03 working through circumstances to reveal His will. 38:07 I see you're looking for something there. 38:09 Yeah, when you talked about how God blocks our path. 38:13 Well, who came to my mind, I just made illusion 38:15 to him earlier, a Balaam. Yeah, there we go. 38:19 He was determined, Balaam was a man 38:21 that had become selfish and he had 38:22 become motivated by financial gain. 38:26 And I liked the story, I just preached a sermon, 38:28 it's so clear in my mind. 38:29 The Lord made it very clear that Balaam 38:31 was not to have any kind of allegiance 38:33 to the nations around him that were 38:35 going to be destroyed by the children of Israel. 38:37 That God sent them in the battle 38:39 and I think I counted 28 specific times 38:41 or independent times that the phrase in the Bible, 38:44 Israel defeated and then the name 38:47 of the nation followed to indicate 38:49 who they brought down by God's strength. 38:51 But Balaam was a man who was motivated 38:54 for financial gainand he said to the princess of Balak. 39:02 He said, first of all he turned the messengers away, 39:07 because he says I'm not supposed-- 39:09 God told me not to go. 39:11 He said the Lord refused to allow me to go which means, 39:14 I would have gone if he let me. 39:16 God was saying in no uncertain terms, "Don't go". 39:20 Secondly, Balak sent princess 39:22 and people are more and higher honor. 39:26 And so this is what blew me away 39:27 and this is where you have to get the story out of this. 39:31 Balaam said, if you filled my house 39:34 with gold and silver, I will not go. 39:38 Forget this, but spend a night. 39:40 I'm gonna talk to the Lord and see what He says. 39:43 Is that ridiculous? It's crazy. 39:46 And don't people do that. He begins to justify. 39:48 Right, don't people do that sometimes? 39:50 I know God said, remember the Sabbath day 39:53 to keep it Holy, but I need the money. 39:56 Oh, I need to think about it to make sure 39:57 that God gives me that feeling. 40:01 Somebody said to me once and I gave this-- 40:03 I made it very clear and I thank the Lord 40:05 for this because I'm very careful 40:06 not to think of myself in the position of authority 40:09 to give people permission to do 40:10 something that God says, don't do. 40:12 I'm speaking like a New Yorker, 40:13 so you listen like a New Yorker. 40:15 One person said to me, he was having a challenge 40:18 with the Sabbath and I didn't know until 40:20 his baptism was just the next day. 40:22 Everything was clear. Everything was all done. 40:25 He and his wife were ready for the baptism 40:26 and then his wife mentioned, 40:28 but you know he's still working on the Sabbath. 40:32 He hasn't given-- they haven't 40:33 given him the Sabbath off yet. 40:36 Do you think he should wait? 40:37 And at that moment the Lord impressed me 40:41 to say to him, no, don't wait. 40:44 But what about my Sabbath? 40:46 I said, okay, I'm going to 40:49 give you a letter I'll do my part. 40:52 And I said, don't think for a moment 40:54 that I'm giving you permission 40:56 to violate a direct command of God. 40:59 I am never able to say wait 'cause today 41:02 is the day of salvation, but I'm not able to say 41:05 God will understand if you violate the Sabbath 41:08 a couple of more weeks as long as you accept Him. 41:11 I said, I can't say either of those, 41:12 but let me do my part and I know 41:15 God will honor you for honoring Him. 41:17 Ran home, got the letter, gave it to him, 41:19 took it to work as soon as they got to work 41:22 and gave him the letter, he called his wife saying, 41:23 I'm on my way back home. 41:25 It was like 3 o'clock in the afternoon on Friday. 41:26 I'm on my way back home. 41:28 They told me, no problem, God will-- 41:32 they'll honor the timeframes. 41:33 And he has told me ever since then, 41:35 he said, I've taken Fridays off. 41:37 I left certain time and taken the-- 41:39 and just allow that time without pay to just go by. 41:43 I leave always before the Sabbath comes in. 41:46 And you know, my point is this, God will honor you, 41:49 but in that situation God impressed me as to-- 41:52 I would often say to a person, no, 41:54 wait till you get that whole situation resolved. 41:57 But the Lord impressed me. 41:58 This man and this woman wants to honor God. 42:02 God will honor him for standing up 42:04 because he didn't have to tell me. 42:07 And praise the Lord, God responded right away 42:09 that's through the impressions. 42:11 That's through spirit of God-- 42:12 We're kinda going back and forth here 42:14 to because we kinda got to circumstances of life, 42:16 but you can see all these various ways 42:18 that God just communicated to us. 42:20 And so with this foundation then 42:23 is to the ways God communicates to us. 42:25 What are some steps that we can take to engage 42:29 a more effective listening skill-- 42:31 Okay. All right. For God's voice. 42:33 And we wanna just kinda give you 42:35 or share with you several ways in which we can do that. 42:38 And I wanna start with number one. 42:40 Which is pray for and nurture Christ's abiding 42:45 presence through His spirit. 42:48 Jesus said in the context too 42:52 to the disciples as He was leaving, 42:54 just before He ascended to heaven. 42:55 He said, I want you to go now and I want you to 42:57 gather together and pray in the upper room 42:59 and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon you 43:02 before you go out to do the will 43:05 that I'd given you, which is fulfilling 43:06 the great commission of spreading the gospel. 43:08 He also said in the context within John Chapter 14, 43:13 He talks about praying to the Father 43:18 that He would send another comforter, 43:21 that comforter would dwell with them 43:23 and that in fact bring Christ into the life to help them 43:27 to live the life that God has given them to do. 43:30 So one of the ways that we can become 43:32 a better listener is to first of all make sure 43:35 that we are walking and living and doing everything 43:39 we do in the name of God in His spirit. 43:43 And that is first and foremost 43:45 after praying and seeking God's face, 43:47 we had another program on this recently. 43:49 Seeking God's face and asking for the outpouring of 43:52 the Holy Spirit in their life, in your life. 43:55 Without His spirit working in you, 43:58 He cannot communicate His will to you in ways 44:02 that will become fruitful in your life. 44:05 I think if it is a dollar bill torn in half. 44:08 I remember somebody, I was at a big convocation, 44:11 somebody gave me a dollar, 44:13 a dollar bill torn in half and they said, 44:16 if you go look for so and so in this big hall, 44:22 they'll have the other half of the dollar bill 44:24 and you'll know that I spoke to them. 44:29 See and that's the whole key. 44:31 The Holy Spirit, half of the bill, 44:35 the word of God, half of the bill 44:38 and when God is-- when you're praying 44:40 for the abiding presence of Christ 44:42 through His Holy Spirit, we get the whole dollar bill. 44:46 And it comes together so beautifully, 44:48 so when Jesus pray for the spirit of God, 44:51 the spirit of God became the helper, 44:53 I will give you another helper 44:55 or the other word we use, another comforter. 44:58 And that comforter is gonna lead us and guide us, 45:00 because we need the spirit of God 45:02 because He helps us, discern the voice of God. 45:06 If you don't wanna follow the word of God, 45:07 the spirit is not gonna come in, 45:09 because I think as in Acts Chapter 5 from verse 29 to 32, 45:13 you'll find in that context there, 45:16 the Bible--the writer, Luke says, 45:20 "The Lord gives His spirit to those who obey Him." 45:25 And that's a future step to obedience. 45:27 So we'll get to that point. Okay. 45:30 So praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 45:32 without the Holy Spirit working in your life 45:34 having been invited to be a part of that Christian walk, 45:38 you can do nothing but walk in the flesh 45:41 because there's no way to walk 45:43 in the spirit if the spirit isn't in you. 45:46 So walking in the spirit comes as a result of praying for 45:50 and nurturing the presence of the Holy Spirit. 45:53 That's right. Okay. So that's step one. 45:56 Now I like the way you brought the word into that too 46:00 because step two is study the word of God. 46:04 Okay. Okay. 46:05 So let's talk about the-- how this kind both go 46:08 in harmony together. All right. 46:12 Step two studying the word of God, 46:14 if you look to John Chapter 16, 46:18 in fact let's go there here. 46:20 John Chapter 16, verses 13 and 14. 46:24 It says there, however, 46:25 when He the Spirit of truth has come. 46:29 Has come where by the way? Into our hearts. 46:31 Into your life, right, into your heart. 46:33 He will guide you into all truth, 46:37 for he will not speak on his own authority, 46:39 but whatever he hears he will speak 46:42 and he will tell you things to come. 46:44 He will glorify me, for he will take of 46:47 what is mine and declare it to you. 46:49 So you see here that first step the Holy Spirit coming in. 46:53 Second step then He can be 46:55 the guide for you into all truth. 46:58 And He does that through the word of God. 47:01 So when we say, you know, the word of God 47:03 is the authority as we already established that. 47:05 Now we're saying as a step to study it. 47:09 That doesn't mean just read the story 47:11 so those who are nice but study it by topic. 47:14 Study it by, you know, earnestly seeking 47:17 and searching for God's will on whatever matter, 47:19 whatever issues that you are seeking 47:21 His will in your life for. Right. 47:23 And you can only understand it if you're praying 47:26 and asking for the Holy Spirit to do that 47:28 in your life because He dwells within. 47:32 John, actually when I prepared this topic, 47:37 I struggled with a bit what comes first? 47:41 Right. I mean, good question. 47:42 The Holy Spirit comes first and then you can know 47:45 the will of God or do you read God's word and say, 47:48 Oh, I need to start with the Holy Spirit 47:50 and then you pray for the Holy Spirit. 47:52 Let me tell you the answer, both. Right. 47:55 That's why the steps we're giving you are cumulative. 47:58 You can't say, step one, not step two. 48:00 These are all part of becoming 48:03 a better listener for God's voice. 48:07 One Holy Spirit asking and praying 48:10 for the Holy Spirit to come in. 48:11 Number two, study God's word. 48:12 Those both are essential to be a listener for God's will. 48:16 Very important that's why when you think about 48:17 the Holy Spirit, you know, the whole context 48:19 I find it not coincidental by any means that every message 48:24 to every church in the New Testament 48:26 in Revelation particularly. 48:28 It always ends by saying, he who has ears to hear, 48:32 let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. 48:35 But he doesn't disconnect that from the word. 48:39 See that's what you're just saying. Okay. 48:41 Now we got two steps. What's our third step? 48:43 Well, our third step is of course building 48:46 on the previous one and that is we need to recognize 48:50 that there are competing voices. 48:53 Now this is the key because you may think 48:56 you're hearing God's voice, but it may not be God's voice. 49:00 And so I wanna suggest to you a few things here. 49:03 Number one, there are three sources 49:05 of conviction that we can have. 49:08 Three sources that come as conviction to our hearts. 49:11 Number one that source is God. 49:13 That's the conviction we want, right? 49:15 That's the one we really want the most. 49:17 Number two, Satan, the enemy. 49:20 But there's a third, yourself. 49:24 There are such things as personal convictions. 49:26 I sat across from somebody not too long ago 49:31 and we were talking about this conviction that they had-- 49:34 that they said was from God that we adjust our music 49:38 according to how they see it and I mentioned to her, 49:42 I said, you know there are three kinds of convictions, 49:45 the sources of our convictions. 49:46 There's God and there is Satan. 49:49 And I don't mean to suggest because I disagree with you 49:51 that you're listening to Satan's voice. 49:52 I believe you are so personally convicted 49:54 about this issue that you're making it, 49:56 you're championing it from your own resource. Right. 49:59 And so it may not be from God. 50:01 It may not even be from Satan, although we need to 50:03 be concerned if it's from Satan, but there are 50:05 personal convictions individually 50:07 that we can arrive that, that aren't legitimate, 50:09 aren't true, because they don't lineup 50:10 with the word of God, so be careful 50:13 of even personal convictions about things. 50:15 Right. And that's why the Bible says, 50:17 beloved, 1 John 4 and verse 1. 50:20 Beloved, do not believe every spirit. 50:23 That's not only every voice that impresses you, 50:28 but it says, test the spirits, whether they are of God, 50:32 because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 50:35 And the Bible says, prove all things, 50:39 hold fast to that which is good. That's right. 50:42 So these competing voices, I tell you, 50:45 Pastor Wintley Phipps had a song, 50:47 "I choose you again and again. 50:49 He said, in the world of many voices amidst to call-- 50:52 in the world of many choices 50:53 amidst to call of many voices. 50:56 When they all call out to greet me, 50:58 I turn my eyes to thee. 51:00 Very beautiful lyrical rendition of the fact that 51:03 yes, we are living in a world that's calling you-- 51:06 the telemarketers are calling you. 51:09 The credit services to give you a package deal 51:13 on whether or not you know, 51:14 what's on your credit report is calling you. 51:16 Other churches are calling you. 51:18 People are calling you to share 51:19 their issues or their problems. 51:21 None of those things in and of themselves are the problem, 51:23 but if you don't get your voice, your heart tuned 51:27 to listening to the God who's calling you. That's right. 51:31 Then you don't have the wisdom to even deal 51:32 with all those other issues you get burnout. 51:34 And that's the way--that's the reason why Isaiah 8:20, 51:36 talks about to the law and to the testimony, 51:38 if they speak not according to this word. There you go. 51:41 Then there is no light in them. 51:43 You do not want to hear or listen to a voice or anyone 51:46 that is against or speaking 51:49 not in line with the word of God. 51:51 You know, just to show how much John and I 51:53 think a lot alike, John put this syllabus 51:55 together for this program, but as he mentioned 51:58 about competing voices right away to my mind came 52:01 1 John 4:1 and this right in your syllabus, 52:03 I didn't even see it there. 52:05 Yeah. It's right in there. 52:06 That shows you that truly God has given us this ability 52:10 to understand the impressions that God makes on both of us. 52:15 Now how with that impression, 52:16 this is the perfect example that's why I'm using it. 52:19 God impressed him to write in here 1 John 4:1. 52:22 God impressed me to look up 1 John 4:1. 52:24 If we both gave you the scripture and you check it up 52:27 by the word you say, they're both right. 52:30 Impression and guidance both correct, 52:33 but the word of God was the measuring tool. 52:35 Okay, that's the third one. What was the fourth one? 52:38 Here's another one. Number four, remove all of the noise. 52:42 It's so important to remove the noise 52:46 and I'm not talking about just audible noise. 52:50 I mean there is thought noise. 52:52 There is busyness that is noise. 52:55 There is all kinds of noise and God is saying, 52:59 be still and know that I am God. 53:01 Oh, I like that. You know, comes back to you, 53:03 you'll see the passage right in here underneath 53:05 this of Elijah the one you've already brought up here. 53:08 It wasn't until the quiet came and the noise was gone 53:12 that God could actually speak to Elijah. 53:14 Is that amazing that was-- I'm at a loss for words. 53:20 That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Yeah. 53:23 You know, John, this brings to me whenever 53:25 I go to New York City and I mention New York City 53:27 because I was raised in New York City. 53:28 I was born in New York City. I'm a New Yorker. 53:30 Okay, but I'm-- I live in the Midwest 53:33 where I could hear birds, I could hear little-- 53:37 I could hear the groundhog coming up 53:39 the steps to eat the black oil seeds. 53:41 I could hear the raccoon sliding over-- 53:45 sliding our screen door open at night 53:47 waiting for his crackers and his food. 53:49 I mean those are the noises that you miss in the city 53:51 and the other thing about that is when you, 53:53 when you're in a city there is so much noise 53:56 that's why the cities are so ungodly. 54:00 It's hard to remove all the noise. 54:04 Yeah. When you're in a building that had 30 storeys, 54:07 28 apartments on one floor, banging elevators, 54:12 music next door, cars down the road. 54:16 It's meant to-- it's meant to distract you 54:18 from the true voice you're trying to listen to. 54:21 Psalms 4:4, meditate within your heart 54:23 and on your bed and be still. 54:25 Psalms 46:10, be still and know that I am God. 54:28 That's right. All right. All these things come into play. 54:31 Okay. Number five, Wait! 54:35 Sometimes you just gonna wait on the Lord. 54:37 Good. Good. You're praying and you're listening 54:39 for His voice and you don't hear it. 54:41 It doesn't mean get going, it means wait. 54:45 And sometimes in less we're waiting, 54:47 we're willing to go through that process of waiting. 54:49 We're not going to hear finally 54:50 when He speaks to us what His will is. 54:52 That's right. So we gotta wait too. 54:55 And waiting can be very difficult to do 54:57 sometimes I know, but those who wait 54:59 on the Lord will renew their strength as-- 55:02 I'm waiting Lord, but hurry up. 55:05 Hurry up and wait, some people say. 55:07 That's what Isaiah. Say that one more time. 55:09 Isaiah 40:31, those who wait on the Lord 55:12 shall renew their strength, they shall mount up 55:13 with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, 55:15 they shall walk and not faint. 55:17 But will wait on the Lord. 55:18 Isaiah 30:18, for the Lord is a God of justice, 55:21 blessed are all those who wait for Him. 55:23 The blessing comes. Wonderful. 55:24 That's right-- God we've waited for Him. 55:27 There are a couple of others. 55:28 Number six, is that where we're at? 55:29 Yeah, number six. Number six is, obey. 55:31 When you hear be ready to respond, look to obey. 55:34 We talked about when God speaks being 55:36 an active listener is one who's willing to put 55:38 into practice what God is telling you. 55:40 Right. You don't say, well, 55:42 I don't wanna hear that one and then let's wait 55:44 for the next voice when you tell me something to do next. 55:45 No, God will say, no, I want you to do 55:47 this first and then we'll move forward. 55:49 I like--let me go back to, wait. 55:51 It doesn't mean wait till the more opportune time. 55:53 It means wait on the Lord. 55:55 God is--I'm waiting in your presence, Lord. 55:57 It doesn't mean delay. Right. Thank you. 56:00 Exactly. Wait does not mean delay. 56:01 Wait patiently sometimes for Him to work out 56:04 His will and to communicate His will. Right. 56:06 But obedience is always part of the listening, 56:10 active listening, hearing and responding to God's will. 56:13 The Bible always speaks of obedience 56:15 in the context of hearing God's voice. 56:17 He gives the spirit to those who obey. 56:19 Without obedience, you don't have God's spirit. 56:21 He's not going to give you more if you cannot 56:23 be obedient with what He's given you already. 56:25 And if you're not getting rid of that one sin 56:27 that He's telling you to remove, 56:28 obedient to that, it doesn't move on to the next. 56:31 That's right. And cap it off for me. 56:32 The cap--the last one, believe. Right. 56:34 Let not one who doubt think that he would receive 56:37 anything from the Lord, we've got to believe 56:40 that God will do what He says, work forward, 56:43 move forward on that on the basis of faith 56:45 and then we know that we're walking 56:47 in God's will and hearing His voice. 56:49 That's right. I tell you, John, this is beautiful 56:51 and thank you for putting that together. 56:53 We all have to learn to listen and if you have 56:56 a voice tuned to the voice of God, 56:58 you'll know that what you're listening for 57:00 is the best thing, any comments on that 57:03 before we segway out of this. 57:04 We all--everyone of us want to hear God's voice. 57:07 And practicing these steps and knowing how 57:09 He communicates to us is the first step 57:11 in a knowledgeable way of being 57:14 an effective listener and walking in God's will. 57:17 Well, friends, you know, 57:18 we believe in listening for God's voice that's why 57:20 we start of the best foundation in word of God. 57:22 When you start there you will hear because 57:24 God will speak clearly, so turn your ears toward 57:27 heaven today, God has something to say to you. 57:30 Walk on His word and you will not be led into darkness. 57:33 God bless you. Have a great day in Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17