God is speaking, Are you listening? | Dr Phillip Richards

i want to get right into our bible lesson today and you know because we are god's family we're in we're in a place as i said here today where god is able to talk to us how many of you want to hear his voice today hold up your hand say lord i want to hear your voice today so in light of that here's what i'm going to be speaking on today is speaking are you listening oh hallelujah i want to begin reading out of psalm 50 at verse 7 out of the passion bible this morning and i want you to pay very close attention on what the word says to us today listen to me o my people listen well for i am your god i am bringing you to trial here and here are my charges i do not rebuke you for your sacrifices which you continually bring to my altar do i need your young bulls and goats from the fields as if i were hungry every animal of the field and forest belongs to me the creator if i were hungry do you think i would tell you why don't you bring me the sacrifices i desire bring me your true sincere thanks and show your gratitude by keeping your promises to me the most high honor me by trusting me in the day of your trouble cry aloud to me and i will be there to rescue you can someone say amen and now i speak to the wicked listen to what i have to say to you what right do you have to presume to speak for me and claim my covenant promises as yours for you have hated my instruction and disregarded my words throwing them away is worthless you forget to condemn the thief or the adulterer you are their friend running alongside them in the darkness the sins of your mouth multiply evil all of this you have done and i have kept silent so you thought that i was like you sanctioning evil but now i bring you to my courtroom and spell out clearly my charges before you this is your last chance my final warning your time is up turn away from all this evil or the next time you hear from me will be when i am coming to pass sentence upon you i will snatch you away and no one will be there to help you escape my judgment the life that pleases me is a life lived in the gratitude of grace always choosing to walk with me in what is right this is the sacrifice i desire from you if you do this more of my salvation will unfold unto you father today we thank you humbly and with grateful hearts for your holy word we thank you today father god for your people that are here we thank you lord that you have called us to your kingdom for such a time as this and now lord we ask you to grant into each of us today the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of your word lord open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the hope of your calling and what the glorious riches of the inheritance is in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of your power to us who believe according to the working of your mighty power which you rot in christ when you raised him from the dead and sent him at your own right hand into heavenly places oh father god once again i confess before this congregation that i can do nothing without you i ask you to think through my mind speak through my lips make my tongue as the pen of a ready writer i pray that jesus would be glorified in our midst today and all that you desire to speak speak lord and we will hear and everyone said amen how many of you believe beyond the shed of a doubt that we are living at the end of the age hold up your hand if you believe we're living at the end of the age we look around us and we all know it we see it in the physical reality is the fact that turmoil is everywhere we're facing things today as a culture and as a people that we never thought we would face if we know anything about what the bible says would happen in the last days we see all of the pieces of the puzzle being laid out in front of us and beginning to turn and come together not this way but this way as god's will is perfect and complete we also know according to second timothy 3 and verse 1 we know that perilous times will only increase in the last day we could go on and read it but in third second timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 13 paul lays out the case that the condition of men will be such that is it's indescribable all of us that are here today know that we no longer live in the days of leave it to beaver we no longer live in those days when you can just simply leave your doors unlocked and not have not used common cautious and self-awareness you can't live that way today it is a different day it is a different hour and i believe that the reason it is is simply because god is bringing the world to a place where it must hear his voice and in this hour there are so many things that would distract us to try to take us away from what the lord would have us to say but our text tells us this morning that there are two groups of people there have always been two groups of people we see that in the book from the book of genesis all the way to the book of revelation god is speaking to his people and god is speaking to the lost so today we're going to look at what god is saying god is speaking to his people first of all and then god is speaking to the lost so for us that are here today hold up your hand say i'm washed in the blood if you're born again you're washed in the blood of jesus and you belonging to him so we want to hear what he has to say to us today so god is speaking to his people much like in our text that he did to the seven churches in the book of revelation analyze what the lord has said to us and what we've read this morning first of all god is saying i'm not rebuking my people for their sacrifices we talk about giving and we must give there are good deeds that we do and those are all good but all throughout the word of god we are warned and we are warned about the fact that god does not hear us or move in our behalf because of our good deeds our good deeds do not move god good deeds and good works is a result or should be a result of the fruit of the spirit that lives on the inside of us but there are many in the body of christ today that are of the opinion that because i do all of these good deeds everything is right between me and god jesus said in matthew 7 verse 13 that we are to enter into the straight gate notice that enter into the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction many are those that go into that gate because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leads into life and few there be the find it i'm not going to take time to read the verses between verses 14 and 21 we're going to go to 21 in just a moment but in those verses jesus warned us about false prophets in the last day those verses jesus warned us about wolves in sheep's clothing and how that there are many voices in the world and how that even though there are many supernatural things that are happening in the world does not those supernatural things do not authenticate whether that voice it comes from god or the devil we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the bible tells us that in the last days not only will there be perilous times but that the enemy will also appear with lying signs and wonders our lord said in matthew 24 he said that false prophets will come forth with showing great signs and wonders that if it were possible he would deceive the very elect but then we get to verse 21 and jesus said in matthew 7 21 not everyone that says to me lord lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day lord have we not prophesied in your name have we not cast out devils in your name and in your name now notice this done many wonderful works but the lord is going to say unto them depart from me i never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity so god is speaking to his people and he's saying to his people bring to me the right kind of sacrifice it's good that you do good deeds but how do we do those good deeds and how is it that we are to give unto the lord well we should do it with our whole heart with our heart this morning as we were worshiping the lord and it's good to raise your hands to worship the lord can you say amen it's good if you so desire to lie prostate prostrate before the lord and worship him it's good to lie on your face it's good to go on your knees and worship the lord but you know many times people can do a lot of outward emotions motions but on the inside their heart is not right with god jesus said in mark chapter 7 verse 6 well did isaiah prophesy of hip of the hypocrites in jesus day as it is written this people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me for in vain they do worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men this is the hour when the lord wants to see a sincere and pure heart can you say amen say out loud god is speaking i am listening jesus was quoting out of isaiah 29 13. jesus and and isaiah said for as much as this people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but they remove their hearts and their minds from me and their fear and their reverence for me are a commandment of men that has learned by repetition it is so easy to get when we gather together to do things because this is the way we do it it's just repetition repetition but look at the rest of that verse of the amplified bible without any thought as to its meaning today we are so privileged to be in this place where the presence of the lord is not only with us and around us but on the inside of us today i know this is what your pastor was encouraging us to do to open up our heart as never before to cry out every day abba father father today i give you my heart again today father i give you my mind today i give you my body today i give you my time i give you all that i am god desires the right kind of sacrifice what is that it is the sacrifice or works that come from a true and sincere and clean heart psalm 51 17 in the amplified says this my sacrifice the sacrifice acceptable to god is a broken spirit we may not think about that much today but i'll be honest with you today my heart is broken for what i see in america my heart is broken for what i see in the world today never before have we faced such division and strife and anxiety never before have we seen neighbor against neighbor race against race and people from different cultures and background fighting one another as we do today but god goes on to say what i want is a broken and contrite heart broken down with sorrow for sin we live in a society where sin is so you is so accustomed we're so accustomed to eve on wickedness that it no longer moves us it no longer challenges us it no longer affects us and no longer grieves our spirit but as we listen to the voice of god what are the things the lord is wanting to do in the church is to prepare us for his coming can you say amen and the way he wants to prepare us for his coming is that our heart is right before him and i can tell you today if our heart is right before god the evil and the wickedness that we see all around us will vex your soul from day to day and you will hate the evil you will turn from the evil you will despise that evil and you will say o god o god today i love you with all of my heart today i love you with all of my soul today i give you my body as a living sacrifice i give you my time i give you all that i have and from my heart i am so truly grateful somebody raise your hands and praise the lord today hallelujah to grieve in our hearts for the sins we look around at our churches and i'm absolutely convinced that's not the case here forgive my voice a little bit i speak a lot i need god's strength in my voice but i'm grieved in my heart of what i see in many churches no longer is the word of god the standard in so many churches no longer is the word of god that which people honor and cherish it is taken so lightly it is they take the word of god and take this out and take that out and say i don't like what that says so i don't have to abide by it but we today even in this place if we want real revival we must as born-again believers walking with god be grieved in our heart because of the sin that's in the church i don't mean this church i mean in the church in the body of christ god is looking at our hearts lift up your hands say take my heart lord come on lift up your hand say take my heart lord say out loud look in my heart today i remember when samuel was called to anoint david and we find the text in first samuel 16 that when he went to the house and looked at david's house and and all of david's brothers and he saw a live so it was when they came they looked that he looked and saw alive and said surely the lord's anointed is before him but the lord said to samuel do not look at his appearance or on the height of his stature because i have refused him for the lord does not see as man sees for man looks at the outward appearance but the lord looks at the heart not only must our hearts be right before god as i said it must our heart if our heart is not grieved to tears because of the wickedness we see in our culture and in the church world as a whole then our heart is not close to the heart of god because god's heart is grieved so many times so many times and it's good to say lord i come to you with this need i come to you with this problem we're going to find that out he wants us to do that he wants us to trust him in time of trouble but very often when we come to him that's the only reason we come there are times we just simply need to come to him to say father god i want to bless you today father god i just want you to hear my lips tell you that i love you with all of my heart i love you with all of my soul and i love you with all of my strength thank you father for all your good gifts but lord i just want to bless you i just want to bless you i just want to bless you that's what he's looking for can someone lift up your hands and bless him today come on we can do better now lift up your voices lift up your voices and say lord i want to bless you today hallelujah thirdly god desires our gratitude he desires our gratitude how by keeping our promises to him it's one thing to say i love you lord but it's another thing to be a doer of your word david said in psalm 15 who is it that will abide in your tabernacle lord who is it that will dwell on your holy heel he who walks uprightly he who works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart he who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend and whose eyes a vile person to despise but he honors those who fear the lord now look very carefully he who swears to his own hurt and changes not he who swears to his own hurt and changes not if we're going to be people men and women that please the lord and be in a position to hear his voice in this last hour to abide in his tabernacle to be able as we're going to find out shortly enjoy all of our covenant protection and blessings that belong unto us we're gonna have to be in a position to listen very carefully more than ever before to hear his voice and then in order to hear his voice in other words in order not only to hear his voice but be in a position where he'll actually speak to us then we're going to have to be doers of our word god is a doer of his word we must be doers of our word i didn't say it david said it the holy spirit said it okay we're going to have to be we're going to have to keep our word and whatever we promise the lord we're going to have to be faithful to fulfill it and if we made promises to the lord and we have failed we need to repent of that and say lord forgive me help me to make a change and and realize that when i tell you something i must be a doer of my word like you are a doer of your word number four god is speaking to his people and he's saying unto us we must honor him here it is by trusting him in the day of trouble do you realize when we put our faith in god in the day of trouble and how many of you know we're living in a day of trouble we're living in a day of trouble so god said you honor me by trusting me in the day of trouble that was in our text look what david said in psalm 20 beginning of verse 1 may the lord answer you in the day of trouble hold up your hand say lord answer me in the day of trouble may the lord answer you in the day of trouble may the name of the god of jacob defend you how many of you glad that his name will defend you today how about the rest of you anybody else glad anybody glad that you have a hedge of protection around you in the name of the lord that the name of the lord protects you we have a hedge of protection around us in the name of the lord can you say amen say out loud my faith is in his name may he send you help from the sanctuary and strength and strengthen you out of zion how many of you need strength today hold up your hand say lord i've received strength today may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice now of course that was in david's day our offerings is the offerings of praise okay may he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose how many of you want the lord to help you fulfill all your purpose today we will rejoice in your salvation and in the name of our god will we set up our banners may the lord fulfill all your petitions david said i know the lord saves his anointed hold up your hand say i'm anointed say out loud i know the lord saves me he will answer him from his holy heaven and with the saving strength of his right hand david went on to say some trust in chariots and others and horses but we will remember the name of the lord our god hold up your hand see i will remember the name of the lord my god oh bless his holy name forever and ever are you glad that he's going to be with you in the day of trouble psalm 143 verse 7 says answer me speedily o lord my spirit fails there are times when your heart will fail there are times when you find yourself in this life because we are not yet glorified we do not yet have our glorified bodies thank god we have the down payment thank god we have the holy spirit living on the inside of us as the down payment of that which is to come are you glad about that today but we must realize we have not yet arrived and we're not going to arrive in this life every day in this life that we're going to face difficulties and so we cry out to the lord he in those moments when our spirit fails we cry out unto him and say do not hide your face from me lord lest i be like those that go down to the pit cause me to hear everybody take your hand and do this and say cause me to hear lord what you are saying to me today cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning for in you do i trust cause me to know the way in which i should walk anybody want to know the way in which you should walk today you're going to need to know the way to walk more and more every day in this hour deliver me o lord for my enemies in you i take shelter teach me to do your will for in you you are my god your spirit is good leave me in the land of uprightness revive me o lord for your name's sake for your righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble lift up your hands say lord i believe you're bringing my soul out of trouble so the lord wants us to trust him in the day of our trouble and then what did he say in our text to the believers to my people number five the fifth thing the lord said to his people that when we cry aloud to him oh praise god he'll be there to rescue us when we cry aloud to him he will be there to rescue us i keep asking you to do this but can you praise him for a moment can you praise him for a moment bless his holy day bless this holy day bless this holy day we cry aloud unto him and he will be there he will be there the nations won't be there the government won't be there the dollar won't be there the grocery stores won't be there the economy won't be there many people around you won't be there and the worst the darkness gets in this last day as i said people are going to be in such turmoil that the bible says their hearts will fear their will fail them for fear looking after those things that are coming up on the earth but praise god for you with i that are washed in the blood we are not afraid for you and i that are partakers of the divine nature we are not afraid it doesn't matter what darkness may come it doesn't matter what lie the enemy may come it doesn't matter what the government does or doesn't do it doesn't matter what party's in office or is not an office we do not put our faith in any man we put our faith today in the son of man for i declare today that my god is faithful our lord is faithful he will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear but will also with that temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it i declare today my god is faithful there's never been an hour when he's not been with me there's never been a moment in the darkness when he's not been the light in the middle of that darkness there's never been a day where my soul was afflicted that he didn't come my way and take me by the right hand and pick me up and say unto me it's all right son it's all right son i'm with you i will never leave you i will never forsake you can someone praise his holy name today glory to his holy day today glory to his only name today praise his holy dame today do we really appreciate the fact that jesus said i will never leave you the the hebrew writer as well said i will never leave you i will never forsake you so that we may boldly say the lord is my helper i will not fear what man shall do unto me glory to god glory to god isaiah 41 and verse 10 and the amplified bible says fear not whole blessed be god you'll have to pardon me a little bit i'm going to walk over here so i can see these folks you have to pardon me a little bit because today in my heart i'm so humbled by the presence of the lord in my life where will we be without him where will we be without him we don't have to be afraid i'm here to tell you today i'm 67 and not one day of my life has the lord ever failed me not one day not one moment not one hour he has been faithful when i've not been so faithful he has been so good has he been so good unto you [Applause] and in this hour god is speaking to his people and he's saying to us don't be afraid don't be afraid we have no idea we have no idea what tomorrow may hold you know what's going on all the pieces of the puzzle prophetically are being laid out israel's about to face if not the war or the battle of psalm 83 most definitely the battle of ezekiel 38. she's completely surrounded by enemies the entire world now knows if they didn't know it before they know now they cannot depend on america our economy is tanking the dollar is worthless all of these things with covid was nothing more than a biological weapon released upon the world and whether anybody wants to hear it or not is absolutely the fact the world being prepared for a world war even as i speak every day every moment of every hour in china or everyone who owns a smart device in china the government the ccp is constantly putting on their v on their smartphones rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric war with america war with the west war war war the war drums are beating we look around and we know that because of this plague that has hit the earth the food chain has been so disruptive disruptive because of all the layoffs i mean people can't even find i mean businesses are trying to find people to work everywhere and and they can't find enough help for people to work our system of dependency on our food chain and economy is so fragile that when one piece of the puzzle falls it all begins to fall apart and now we have shortages as never before not only is california and the west burning up without rain not only is the colorado river uh and and the base in the colorado river and basin with a hoover dam 160 feet lower than they've ever seen it before and water is running out and drought is all around that land but as i speak there's drought all around the world if you do any research and know the drought is so bad all around the world that even the mighty euphrates river is drying up as i speak and if you're familiar with anything in your bible you know that the bible says in the book of revelation that the day will come when god will dry up the euphrates river to make a way for the kings of the east to come down and attack in the holy land the antichrist that will be in battle at that day we could go on and on and on we can go on and on and on and talk about the fear and all of the stress and the unknowns but the one thing that i'm here to tell you from the lord today that in the middle of all of this is taking place i am not afraid you are not afraid we are not afraid god has not given you or me the spirit of fear but of love and the power and of a cell mind [Applause] fear not for there's nothing to fear oh but dr richards i thought you just talked about all these things yeah but god says there's nothing to fear why is that the case for i am with you anybody glad the lord is with you today and then he tells us this do not look around you in terror and be dismayed because i've talked about all those things and we could go on and on but we won't take time to do it don't look around you and tear and be dismayed for i am your god i will strengthen now look at this and harden you to difficulties yes i will help you yes i will uphold you and i will retain you with my victorious right hand of rightness and justice behold all they who are enraged and inflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded now why is that important today because the antichrist spirit as never before is putting pressure on the true believers as never before and they hate you they hate you for what you believe in they hate you for what you stand for they hate the name of jesus they hate the word of god and if you stand up for the word of god you stand up for the name of jesus they are the ones that are inflamed and raged against you but god says all those that are that are that way will be put to shame and confounded they who strive against you shall be as nothing and they shall perish you will seek those who contend with you but you will not find them they who war against you shall be as nothing nothing at all for i the lord your god will hold you by the right hand i am the lord and i say unto you do not be afraid i will help you come what somebody shout out loud a big praise the lord today i mean you can do better than that i'm using my voice better now come on hallelujah hallelujah so say out loud god is speaking to his people say out loud lord i want to hear you go like this lord i'm listening but in this hour god is also speaking to the wicked i don't have time today but we could go on and on talking about from a biblical perspective of how the bible tells us that he speaks to all the wicked through nature through the universe the sun itself rising every day is the voice of god speaking to the world who refuses to acknowledge him god says in our text that i read this morning that he's speaking to the wicked and one of the reasons that the lord is bringing the world to the finality of this age where we will be as members of the church caught away caught up to meet the lord in the air anybody looking forward to that we will be caught up to meet the lord in the air in spite of what some in the body of christ teach the bible still teaches we're going to be caught up to meet the lord in the air in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump praise god but god's bringing all of the world in that hour of testing for a reason because time as we read in our text is running out for the sinner what is it that god's saying to the wicked our texts that we read this morning lists all of these things number one what right do you have to presume to speak for me those that are wicked that think that they can talk about god as if he's nothing secondly god is saying to the wicked you have hated my instruction and disregarded my words throwing them away as worthless do we not see that in america have we not witnessed that since 1963 when prayer was taken out of schools you may not have ever experienced it you may not ever remember it but when i was in grade school grade school public grade school we took terms re turns every morning reciting the 23rd psalm and praying in our school room but they thrown away god's word as worthless thirdly god says to the wicked you refuse to condemn the thief and the adulterer what does he mean by that well very simply it's a fulfillment of isaiah chapter 5 where the world calls everything that is good evil and everything evil good and we see that in our culture we see that in our society today god also says number four to the wicked you run alongside them and into the darkness you run with them and you condone all of that evil number five god is saying to the wicked the sins of your mouth multiplies evil how many of you are so grieved by the words of those that are wicked today number six god says to the wicked and here's a big one i have kept silent and you thought that because i kept silent that i was sanctioning your evil there are those that say where is god i don't see him i enjoy my sin i enjoy what i'm doing he's never corrected me where is he even as peter said there would be those in the church that would say where are the promises of god for all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation that's in second peter chapter 3. but they're doing so in ignorance god is saying just because i kept silent doesn't mean i was sanctioning your evil and then number seven our text said now god now is the hour when god is bringing the wicked to his courtroom and when i said that my heart just breaks so many are not ready in that hour when judgment comes how many will go out into eternity without the lord but god is bringing the wicked to his courtroom and number eight our text says this is your last chance my final morning your time is up

Channel: Covenant Church

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Keywords: covenant church, josh morgan, Sheldon nickerson, Sara morgan, everlasting Covenant, Katie tennant, roy weese, covenant worship, church

Id: yYcJ_xJyRu8

Length: 43min 34sec (2614 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021