Pressing into His Presence

How God Speaks To His People -part 2

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Shelley Quinn

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Series Code: PHP

Program Code: PHP000019


00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Has the Holy Sprit of God
00:04 ever impressed a thought upon your mind?
00:07 Please join us today, as we continue our Bible study
00:10 on the many ways God speaks to mankind.
00:35 Welcome to "Pressing in to His Presence."
00:37 On this series in prayer, we have reached the point
00:40 where we have pressed into God's throne
00:44 through earnest prayer
00:46 and now we are training our ears to hear
00:48 what the Lord would say to us.
00:51 On our last program,
00:52 we considered four of the ten ways
00:55 the Bible identifies that God uses to speak to mankind.
01:00 We looked at scripture
01:02 as the premier method of divine communication
01:06 then we added His prophets and His son Jesus Christ,
01:10 the appearance of angels and creation.
01:13 Today we will consider six remaining categories.
01:18 If you're following along in the companion book
01:21 "Pressing in to his presence"
01:23 we are starting this program on page 161.
01:28 Our next category of divine communication
01:31 is answered to prayers and a dynamic example of this
01:37 is found in 1 Kings 18:37-39
01:42 where Elijah called on the Lord saying
01:45 "'Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know
01:49 that you are the Lord God,
01:51 and that You have turned their hearts back to you again.'
01:55 Then the fire of the Lord fell
01:57 and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
02:00 and the wood and the stones and the dust,
02:03 and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
02:05 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces,
02:09 and they said, 'The Lord, He is God!
02:13 The Lord, He is God!' "
02:16 Elijah prayed earnestly and God answered.
02:20 His answer was not audible
02:22 but Elijah and everyone around him knew God had spoken.
02:27 When a childless Hannah prayed passionately
02:31 God answered by giving her a son, Samuel.
02:35 And after Peter and John were arrested
02:37 their fervent prayers, here they are in jail,
02:40 but their fervent prayers joined with others
02:43 brought a remarkable release.
02:46 And another stunning example
02:48 is Acts 4:29-31 listen to this.
02:54 They are praying the disciples and they say
02:57 "Now, Lord, look upon their threats,
02:59 and grant to Your servants
03:01 that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
03:04 by stretching out Your hand to heal,
03:07 and that signs and wonders may be done
03:09 through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.
03:12 And when they had prayed, the place were
03:15 they all assembled together was shaken,
03:18 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
03:21 and they spoke the Word of God with boldness."
03:26 They knew, even though they didn't hear
03:29 that God it's spoken.
03:30 God testifies to His nearness and He knits our hearts to His
03:37 when He speaks to us through answered prayers.
03:42 Yet, another divine means of communication
03:47 is signs and circumstances.
03:50 The angle of the Lord whom most Bible expositors agree
03:54 is Jesus Christ called Gideon,
03:58 to command a group of His people
04:00 to go up against a vast invading army.
04:04 An in secured Gideon wasn't sure
04:06 of the time of his visitation
04:08 and he wanted to make certain, it was God who spoke to him.
04:13 He prayed in Judges 6:36, 37 asking God to prove His call
04:19 by having dew on the fleece of the sheep only while making
04:24 the threshing floor, dry ground.
04:27 Gideon asked for sign and divine grace granted it.
04:30 The next morning he was able to ring a bowl full of water
04:34 from the fleece of the wool,
04:35 all the surrounding ground remained bone dry.
04:39 All though privileged by this sign from the Lord
04:42 Gideon's faith was still immature
04:44 and he humbly asked for second sign.
04:47 God allowed and answered the second testing.
04:51 Reversing the sign is Gideon requested
04:55 and the next morning after dew covered the ground
04:58 but the fleece was fluffy and dry.
05:01 In our next program, I want to share with you
05:04 my own Gideon experience just as he questioned
05:07 whether he is really hearing from the Lord,
05:10 so did I and asked for sign.
05:13 God is so gracious to us
05:14 to have faith as small as a mustered seed.
05:18 He causes it to increase and as faith matures
05:22 we do not require signs for certainty.
05:26 Okay, that explains signs
05:28 but does the Bible support divine circumstances?
05:32 Jesus said in Revelation 3:7, 8
05:37 "These things say He who is holy,
05:40 He who is true, 'He who opens and no one shut,
05:43 and shuts and one opens' I know your works.
05:47 See, I have set before you an open door,
05:51 and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength,
05:56 have kept my word, and have not denied My name."
06:01 when God opens a door for us to do His work
06:04 He is communicating His will to us.
06:08 Paul determined to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
06:12 because he said "A wide door of open opportunity
06:17 for effectual service was opened to him."
06:21 And in his letter to Colossians,
06:24 Paul requested prayer
06:26 that God may open a door for him to speak the word.
06:31 So we clearly see from scripture
06:33 that God communicates with His people
06:36 through circumstance and opportunities.
06:40 Now another well known means of Divine communication
06:44 is through visions.
06:46 Acts 2:17 says "And it shall come to pass in the last days,
06:51 says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
06:56 Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
06:59 your young men shall see visions,
07:01 your old men shall dream dreams."
07:05 When we think of visions from God,
07:07 we tend to think of prophets like Daniel or Ezekiel
07:12 or Apostle John on the island of Patmos,
07:15 where he received the vision of the Book of Revelation.
07:18 Yet, the Bible reports that this still he gives
07:25 plenty of reports of believers like you and me
07:28 who receive visions.
07:29 And I just have to add this thought to tell my mind,
07:32 today, I mean right now during our day and age
07:37 I know that it is happening particularly among Moslems.
07:41 We are getting reports from all over the world
07:44 how Moslems are getting visions
07:46 that the Lord is Jesus Christ is God.
07:50 So, now let's look at some of the reports
07:53 of believers like you and me
07:54 who received visions from the Lord.
07:57 Acts 9:10-12 says this "Now there was a certain disciple
08:03 at Damascus named Ananias,
08:06 and to him the Lord said in a vision, 'Ananias.'
08:10 And he said, 'Here I'm, Lord.'
08:12 So the Lord said to him,
08:13 'Arise and go to the street called Straight,
08:16 and inquire at the house of Judas
08:18 for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.
08:22 And in a vision he seen a man named Ananias coming in
08:26 and putting his hand on him, so that he receive his sight.'
08:31 " So we see here that the God called a little known disciple
08:34 Ananias to minister to Saul of Tarsus,
08:38 who had formerly been determined
08:40 to do Christians harm.
08:42 And at the same time he gave Saul a vision
08:46 to receive Ananias as God's representative.
08:49 Now off course the result was
08:52 that a murderous Saul experiences
08:55 both a character and name change
08:58 becoming the super active sprit filled Apostle Paul.
09:04 But it was not only those God call to special service,
09:08 who received visions.
09:11 In Acts 10:3-5 gives us another account it says
09:18 "About the ninth hour of the day
09:21 he saw clearly in a vision an angle of God coming in
09:26 and saying to him, 'Cornelius!'
09:29 And when he observed him, he was afraid and said,
09:32 'What is it, Lord?'
09:33 So he said to him, 'Your prayers and your alms
09:38 have come up for a memorial before God.
09:41 Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon
09:44 whose surname is Peter.'
09:47 " You see Cornelius was a pious Gentile
09:51 one who's heart searched for God.
09:54 And as a Roman centurion,
09:55 he had been generous toward Jewish people.
09:58 God gave him instructions through a vision
10:01 to invite the Apostle Peter to his home
10:04 that he and his household might receive the good news
10:09 of the forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ.
10:12 And in the mean time God had given Peter a vision
10:16 to prepare his heart for ministry to a Gentile.
10:20 In vision Peter saw a great sheet bounded four corners,
10:25 and filled with unclean animals.
10:28 And he heard the command to rise and eat.
10:31 Now knowing that God had forbidden
10:33 the eating of unclean animals
10:35 that had not been sanctified by His word
10:37 Peter pondered this symbolic meaning of this.
10:42 He wondered what the interpretation
10:44 of this vicious vision was.
10:46 But then he shared that interpretation with Cornelius,
10:51 and it's recorded in Acts 10:28
10:55 where he says, he explains that although
10:59 it was unlawful for a Jewish man
11:01 to keep company with a Gentile.
11:04 That God had shown him in the vision not to call
11:07 any man common or unclean.
11:11 This serves as a wonderful example of praying
11:14 for understanding of any vision that is symbolic.
11:17 God will not contradict Himself,
11:20 He will clear any confusion in our minds
11:23 as we pray for His true meaning.
11:27 Now, another means of divine communication is dreams.
11:32 An example of this is found
11:34 in the Old Testament Book of Daniel.
11:37 A pagan king Nebuchadnezzar
11:40 and a prophet of God Daniel were given dreams
11:44 that described the future of world history.
11:48 Neither man understood the dreams
11:49 until they were later explained in vision.
11:53 Other familiar incidences of dreams
11:55 include Jacobs ladder,
11:57 the council to Joseph to take unto him
12:01 Mary the mother to be of Jesus as his wife,
12:05 and the warning of wise men from the east
12:07 to avoid return to Herod
12:08 after they found the Christ child.
12:11 You know, God frequently communicated His will
12:15 to Gentiles through dreams,
12:17 including Pharaoh's chief butler and baker.
12:21 Pharaoh himself a midianite warrior
12:24 and Pilate's wife.
12:27 At the time that I wrote the book
12:29 Pressing in to His Presence
12:31 I was praying for a highly educated man from Mexico
12:35 whose life had been turned upside down.
12:39 He had been devoted
12:41 to the religion of his family roots
12:43 until he received a vivid dream from God
12:47 that called him out of darkness,
12:49 in to his marvelous light.
12:51 And he read the Ten Commandments
12:54 twice removed he became converted
12:56 and became a Seventh-day Adventist
12:58 which caused a huge uproar in his family.
13:02 But imagery of his dream caused him to become
13:06 seeker of truth and God lead him
13:09 with instruction in his dream.
13:11 And his influence on family members
13:13 for Bible study turned many
13:16 to embrace the same wonderful truth.
13:19 Now a common or I should say,
13:22 an uncommon means of communication from God
13:28 is the audible voice of the Lord.
13:32 At any time the Bible mentions the audible voice of the Lord,
13:37 it is easy to comprehend that it is an all inspiring event
13:44 for humans to hear His voice.
13:47 Revelation 1:14, 15 describes His voice
13:53 as the sound of many waters like the roar of a water fall.
13:59 says
14:02 that the voice of "The Lord is powerful.
14:06 The voice of the Lord is full of majesty."
14:10 This privilege was granted,
14:13 the privilege of hearing the audible voice to Peter,
14:16 James and John at the time of Christ transfiguration
14:21 when Peter suggested making a tabernacle
14:24 there for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
14:27 Mathew 17:5-7 tells us that
14:33 "While he was still speaking,
14:36 behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
14:40 and suddenly a voice came out of the heaven,
14:45 the voice said,
14:46 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
14:50 Hear Him!'
14:51 And when the disciples heard it,
14:53 they fell on their faces and they were greatly afraid.
14:58 But Jesus came and he said, 'Arise, and don't be afraid.'
15:05 " You know, the Apostle Paul shared the same privilege.
15:11 He had much the same fearful reaction
15:14 as recorded in Acts 9:3-7 here,
15:20 he was on the road to Damascus
15:22 and he heard the voices saying to him Saul,
15:26 Saul why do you persecute me?
15:29 I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
15:33 Scripture says that Paul was trembling and astonished.
15:38 And the men who journeyed with him
15:40 and heard the voice stood speechless.
15:44 And further, you talk about trembling.
15:48 Can you imagine being at Mount Sinai,
15:52 when the Lord descended up on the mount with fire
15:55 and in His majestic and powerful voice
15:59 He spoke to Moses?
16:01 The Bible record says that God answered him by voice.
16:07 And Exudes 20:18, 19 says this
16:11 "Now all the people witnessed the thunderings,
16:15 the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet,
16:19 and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it,
16:23 they trembled and stood afar off.
16:26 Then they said to Moses,
16:27 'You speak with us, and we will hear,
16:30 but let not God speak with us, lest we die.'
16:36 " It is an inspiring knee knocking event
16:41 to hear the majestic audible voice of the Lord.
16:46 From scriptural accounts it would seem
16:48 it is also a some what rare event.
16:51 In the majority of incidents today
16:54 when God's people say they hear His voice
16:58 I believe it is the inaudible voice of the Lord
17:01 but when God is speaking not to our ears outwardly
17:07 but something that is heard inwardly.
17:11 This brings us to our final listing
17:14 of divine communication.
17:16 The still small voice,
17:19 this expression comes from the Bible
17:23 it's the account of Elijah when he was hiding in a cave
17:26 trying to avoid the wicked queen Jezebel.
17:29 And it's found in 1 Kings 19:11, 12
17:35 "Then He said," this is He being God.
17:39 "'Go out, and stand on the mountain
17:41 before the Lord.'
17:42 And behold, the Lord passed by,
17:44 and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains
17:47 and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord,
17:50 but the Lord was not in the wind,
17:52 and after the wind an earthquake,
17:54 but the Lord was not in the earthquake,
17:56 and after the earthquake a fire
17:58 but the Lord was not in the fire,
18:00 and after the fire a still small voice.
18:06 So it was, when Elijah heard it,"
18:09 that still small voice
18:11 "that he wrapped his face in his mantle
18:13 and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
18:17 Suddenly a voice came to him, and said,
18:20 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
18:25 " All those sensational signs accompanying
18:27 God's message to Elijah it was none the less
18:30 His still small voice that spoke.
18:33 I have come to understand,
18:35 that when God speaks in this manner
18:38 it is the power of His Holy Sprit
18:40 who is impresses His thoughts, up on our minds?
18:44 The Apostle Paul was well acquainted
18:46 with this still small voice.
18:48 In Acts 20:22, 23 he wrote that he would not know
18:55 what would happen to him when he went to Jerusalem,
18:59 but he said the Holy Sprit testified to him
19:02 in every cities saying,
19:04 that changes and tribulation awaited him.
19:08 And the Book of Acts reports numerous occasions
19:11 when God impressed His thoughts up on His followers
19:14 by the still small voice of His sprit.
19:17 While Peter meditated on the vision of the sheets
19:20 and unclean animal's scripture says, the sprit spoke to him.
19:26 But you didn't have to be an apostle
19:28 to hear the still small voice.
19:30 Philip was one of the first seven deacons
19:33 of the early church.
19:34 He heard God still small voice telling him
19:38 to go to the Jerusalem, Gaza road
19:41 which resulted in baptism of an Ethiopian treasure.
19:47 Let's look at Acts 8:29 "Then the sprit said to Philip,
19:55 'Go near and overtake this chariot.'
19:58 Then Philip opened his mouth,
19:59 and beginning at this Scripture,
20:01 preached Jesus to him."
20:04 As a group of Antioch believers,
20:07 believers just like you and me
20:09 as they fasted and prayed in Acts 13:2
20:13 the Bible tells us that the spirit spoke telling them
20:18 to separate Barnabas and Saul to him for the work
20:22 to which he was calling them.
20:25 And at one point Paul and Timothy
20:28 were forbidden by the sprit, to preach in Asia.
20:32 And then Agabus whom the New Testament
20:35 describes as a prophet, he took Paul's belt,
20:40 he bonds his own hands and feet,
20:43 this is what he said
20:48 "Thus says the Holy Sprit."
20:51 So that's the still small voice of the Lord,
20:54 Agabus is speaking about.
20:56 "Thus says the Holy Spirit,
20:59 so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man
21:03 who owns this belt, and deliver him
21:06 into the hands of the Gentiles."
21:09 You see, hearing the still small voice of God,
21:14 was not unusual for New Testament believers.
21:18 In Luke 12:11, 12 this is what
21:22 Jesus promised to His followers.
21:26 He said "Now when they bring you to the synagogues
21:31 and magistrates and authorities,
21:33 do not worry about how or what you should answer,
21:37 or what you should say.
21:40 For the Holy sprit will teach you
21:43 in that very hour what you ought to say."
21:50 He is talking about the Holy Sprit,
21:53 the still small voice of the Lord
21:56 impressing his thoughts
21:58 up on the minds of the believers.
22:00 How comforting these words from Jesus
22:04 must have been to His disciples?
22:06 I am convinced, the Lord continuous
22:09 to impress His thoughts up on the minds of His people,
22:13 through the power of the Holy Sprit.
22:15 I've asked audiences around the world
22:18 how many of you know that you know
22:21 that God has impressed a thought up on your mind?
22:24 Two thirds of them raised their hands.
22:27 You know, before I didn't understand
22:31 how to be still before God.
22:34 Before I started this process I didn't have a clue.
22:38 He had to break through,
22:40 all of my world win activities to gain my attention.
22:45 And I wonder how many times I ignored His gentle whisper
22:50 before I allowed Him to train my ears.
22:53 Forgive me, Lord.
22:56 Still whenever I hear someone say,
22:59 God spoke to me and said-- soon as I hear that,
23:03 a caution flag flaps furiously in my mind,
23:08 signaling to pay close attention to the report.
23:12 If it doesn't line up with the Bible,
23:16 and scriptural principals
23:18 I know it did not originate from heaven.
23:21 The Holy Sprit, listen the Holy Sprit
23:25 will never contradict God's written word
23:29 which endures forever.
23:31 The person who receives a message
23:33 in compatible to scripture
23:36 might be hearing a voice, but it is not God's voice.
23:41 The misguided message either originated
23:44 from their own desires,
23:45 which would not necessarily evil
23:47 or from a demonically inspired source.
23:52 Yet, I know many Christians today,
23:55 who are convinced
23:56 God has impressed His thoughts up on their minds.
24:00 Now sharing some thing that God has spoken to my heart
24:04 I realize I should say.
24:06 God impressed this thought upon my minds
24:09 by the power of His Holy Sprit.
24:12 When I say that, that phrase seems
24:14 to put people more at ease,
24:16 because many people have received
24:18 these impressions from the Lord,
24:20 from time to time.
24:23 But how often I forget to socially correct
24:26 and I simply say, God said to me
24:30 that's probably sounds really strange to people
24:34 who don't know how to listen for a voice
24:37 that cannot be heard audibly.
24:40 Hearing from our Heavenly Father
24:42 is a privilege of God's children
24:45 that shouldn't be ignored,
24:47 and it shouldn't be taken for granted.
24:49 Most of the time we are too rushed to listen
24:52 but we haven't trained ourselves to listen.
24:57 Let me read to you what Isaiah 50:4, 5 says.
25:02 This is the Amplified Version.
25:04 "The Lord God has given me the tongue of a disciple
25:08 and of one who is taught, that I should know
25:11 how to speak a word in season to him
25:14 who is weary.
25:16 He wakens Me morning by morning,
25:19 He wakens My ear as a disciple as one who is taught.
25:24 The Lord has opened My ear,
25:27 and I have not been rebellious or turned backward."
25:32 In the prophetic messianic message of Isaiah 50,
25:37 the servant of the Lord,
25:38 proclaims that God awakens my ears to hear.
25:43 The ears of Christ were trained to--
25:47 they were anointed His will to hear the Father's voice.
25:51 We are predestined to become like Christ,
25:55 to develop His character, to develop His habits,
25:59 and we need to learn to have our ears opened
26:04 and trained to listen for the Holy Spirits prompting.
26:08 As we abide in Christ, we are to walk as He walked.
26:14 Let me-- just recap this
26:16 and then I want to give a word of caution
26:18 because this is important.
26:21 Right now we have looked,
26:22 in our last program in today's program
26:25 how God has spoken to us, and still speaks to us today.
26:31 Number one was scripture,
26:33 God that is His primary way to speak to us.
26:37 The second way He spoke to us
26:38 was through prophets and His son Christ Jesus,
26:41 through the appearance of angels,
26:44 through creation and creatures, through answered prayers,
26:49 through signs and circumstances,
26:52 through visions, through dreams,
26:55 through His audible voice which is extremely rare,
26:59 and then His still small voice.
27:03 Why is this so important?
27:07 Why is it important to know the way that God Speaks?
27:13 Because we have to know the real way
27:16 to avoid the counterfeit.
27:18 There is a teaching that is running ramped
27:22 in the church today, in many churches
27:25 and it is a Middle Eastern form of praying of going in
27:29 and emptying yourself, and meditating,
27:32 and receiving what they think or massages from God.
27:36 But they are not.
27:37 And if we don't know the real we won't know
27:40 how to identify the counterfeit.
27:43 So it's critical, that we understand the real.
27:47 Well, our time today has slipped away.
27:50 Please join us next time as we consider
27:54 what the Bible has to say
27:56 about the type of people with whom God communicates
28:00 and you will be surprised its people like you and me.
28:04 God bless you. Join us next time.


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Revised 2015-01-01