"Hearing the Voice of God" with Doug Batchelor

you're here I'm assuming because you here you've come to hear the word if you've come to hear me you wasted your gas but if we've come to hear what God has to say to us through his word and that's really worthwhile and that's our message today talking about hearing the voice of God what could be more precious and more important than hearing the voice of God you know animals in nature some of them have incredible voices I think once or twice I was in Central or South America and I heard off in the distance this howl and someone told me it was a howler monkey howler monkey is one of the loudest land creatures its voice can be heard three miles away if you're up close he's very annoying and have you ever heard howler monkeys yeah now elephants it's not the honk what do you call it when an elephant does their well trumpet it's not the trumpet of the elephant that's so loud an elephant does is a low Rumble and when elephants Rumble they can hear each other three miles away now six miles away howler monkey three miles elephants six miles away but they don't hear with their ears they hear with their feet because the rumbles are so low that somehow they transfer its seismically I suppose the loudest creature on earth is actually the song of the humpback whale that's louder than a jet taking off in fact it's a real problem for submarines if you got a pot of these whales and and during mating season the humpback males sing these long songs very intricate songs and they may be singing to a girlfriend that is 800 miles away yep because the way that sound transfers in the water it can be heard at least 800 miles away the voice of the humpback whale but of all the different voices God has given humans one of the most amazing and marvelous voices of all the human voice can produce a range of several octaves in sound by using just two weds like projections of ligament or muscles called vocal cords these sounds are amplified by built-in resonators in our heads called sinus cavities and it's amazing that in order to sing a high sia Sopranos vocal cords must vibrate meaning open and close 1200 times per second those of you who are Sopranos you can do a hi-c on the other hand the men who can sing the low bass it only requires 40 vibrations to reach that low C besides singing our voices are capable of producing the most complex variations in speech to control speech sounds 72 sets of muscles work with split-second timing and talking for one minute the tongue in the John the lips make at least 300 separate movements at the same time our vocal cords are vibrating and our respiratory muscles are voicing out just the right amount of air and if that isn't complex enough think of the many inflections in the voice capable of making and ranging up to nearly 500 audible pitches one can vary the tone tremendously from the shout to a delicate whisper trained singers can hold a note for a long time whereas an auctioneer can speak in a hyper fast staccato and yet the Bible says when Jesus came no man ever spoke like this man human voice is really an incredible thing you ever heard a computer program that's really done a good job of imitating human voice you can always tell it's computed well once you think you think I've got a computer program it sounds real probably what they've done is taped different words from a real human voice and then they link them together but they've not really gotten developed a computer program that can imitate the human voice some people have had remarkable voices PT Barnum made a lot of money because there was this Swedish singer named Ginny Lynn and she had a voice without artificial amplification that could be heard at great distances beautiful voice one of the greatest male voices not talking about singers that might be a Caruso but one of the greatest male voices according to history was a preacher by the name of George Whitfield George Whitfield was a friend of the Wesley's early in life he had such an incredible voice he went to the theater and he studied acting and back then a no PA system you would project from the stage and he learned to take what was already an incredible voice and project from the stage and then he was converted and God put that to good use he was kicked out of the churches of England for preaching the conservative Puritan message and so he began to do open-air evangelism and preaching preaching thousands of sermons over the course of his comparatively short life but he made history in that they say that probably more people could hear him without any artificial amplification than any other human he was called the trumpet of the Lord because God gave them this incredible set of pipes Benjamin Franklin even comments about George Whitfield in his autobiography they became good friends Whitfield worked for years to try to convert Franklin and but they were the good friends and Franklin printed many of his tracks and frankly being a scientist he had heard that 25,000 people were listening can you imagine me trying to preach to 25,000 people I need a PA system and we've got you know 500 year 25,000 people they say some of the ancient generals were to dress and harangue their armies before they went into battle and the whole army could hear them where there would be 20,000 people they'd get up on a prominent spot and they'd speak Bible talks about Jesus talking to thousands from a boat or from the shore and so what Franklin did is uh Whitfield was preaching from the steps of the Philadelphia Corps house and he began to pace off distance he was right up at the front and he paced off and he got nearly half a mile away and he could still hear him distinctly until it was interrupted by other background sounds on the street and then Franklin being a scientist he figured how many square feet each person takes up how many people could theoretically hear him gathered in a semi-circle he said 30,000 people could be gathered to hear him one-man trumpet of the Lord now not only was he a preacher with a loud voice he was a powerful preacher Franklin used to wonder why people would go to hear him preach because they said when they adhere Whitefield preach he would talk to them about their sins and it was so convicting he was so sometimes powerful in proclaiming their sins he thought why would anyone go but they came because they knew it was true and he'd go through a town and all the saloons would close Franklin comments he says after Whitfield went through community preach he says where before you'd hear cursing he said you would hear people gathered on the street singing Psalms this one man had heard about Whitfield and he wanted to hear him preach but he didn't want to give up his drinking but he was very curious to see the man that had such a powerful voice and a friend said look you better not listen to him because if you listen to him you'll be converted says no I won't be converted so I'm not about to give up drinking he said I don't even want to risk it he says I'm gonna go plug my ears well when he came to the place where Whitfield was about to start speaking it was so crowded he couldn't get anywhere near so like Zacchaeus he found a tree and he climbed a tree and up in the tree saw Whitfield was getting ready to go on this wooden platform and start preaching quite a ways in the distance they felt look I don't want to get converted so he wrapped his legs around the branch of the tree and he leaned against the trunk and he plugged his ears and Whitfield commenced preaching well back then they came to listen riding horses and so there are a lot of horse flies and horse his bite and this man saw a horsefly was buzzing around his face getting ready to land and he the horse fly landed on his nose so he pulls his fingers out of his ears to swat a horse fly and right when he did that was at the very moment when George Whitefield said he that has ears let him hear what the spirit saith and he was so convicted he figured he'd better keep listening and he was ultimately converted now most of us don't have problems talking and a lot of us talk much more than we should the Bible doesn't say he who has a mouth let him speak says he that has ears let him hear in fact seven times in Revelation Jesus makes that statement word for word he that has ears let him hear what the Spirit says he that has ears let him hear you know we've got the gift of tongues people talk about the gift of tongues but a lot of us need the gift of hearing because sometimes we struggle to hear what God is saying to us now when I talk about hearing the voice of God I am NOT talking about hearing God's speak audibly God has done that few times in the history we Paulo read about that and Deuteronomy where God spoke and giving the Ten Commandments you can read in Deuteronomy 433 did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard and live happened a few times in the Old Testament where God spa spoke audibly to people like Moses and Abraham and Jacob there are others Samuel and the New Testament that tells about from the baptism of Jesus a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and people heard that John 12 verse 28 jesus prayed father glorify your name then a voice came from heaven saying I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again there are the people who are standing by said they thought they heard thunder others said an angel had spoken to him jesus said this voice did not become come because of me but for your sake that they might believe then Jesus took Peter James and John up on the mountain and after they saw the vision of Moses and Elijah says then there was a voice from heaven and God said this is my beloved son hear him now here's my question for you why would God say hear him if it was not possible to hear him is it possible to hear the voice of God problem is we are not very good listeners most of the time I remember reading about President Franklin Roosevelt he would stand in these receiving lines you know he was president for returns not all of one of the terms or was it almost for terms I think he was voted into his fourth term and he he died and then of course Truman took over during World War two but he got so tired of receiving lines the president went to all these different functions and dinners and you'd stand there it was hard for him to stand he was basically wheelchair-bound but he could you know yet had polio when he was young he could stand if he had Secret Service propping him up or he had something to lean against we had a little stool with a pad kind of that he would rest on and he'd stand and he'd smile and they're receiving lines and people were always thinking what will I say to the president and they never were thinking what's he gonna say to me he said they don't listen to anything I say Karen and I were in a line we met vice-president pence a little while ago and and I was thinking what am I gonna say I wasn't thinking what is he gonna say and and so oh by the way I just said I appreciated scriptures that he used me he used several scriptures in his talk but so Franklin said to one of his attendants one time he says they're not paying any attention to what I say says watch this people were going through line he's smiling shaking hands he said I murdered my grandmother this morning and as the people came through his had murdered my grandmother this morning and someone said keep up the good work others say that's wonderful mr. president and then they start talking about whatever they wanted to share with the president would pay no attention to what he said and one dignitary for another country was listening carefully because he didn't speak good English and he said I've murdered my grandmother this morning I said well mr. president I'm sure she had it coming to her I heard about a stewardess you know they give these talks before the plane takes off and how many of you have been on a plane hundreds of times and you hear the flight attendant give their pre-flight talk and they say you know your exits are over here right laughter his lights go out you've got the lights going down the aisle make sure your trays are up and you see it and everyone's just you know looking there I got the earphones in the one flight attendant she just said and if we encounter turbulence and the cabin is depressurize the oxygen mask will fall down from overhead take the mask put it over your navel and breathe normally nobody even noticed she did that people don't listen Jeremiah sixteen twelve behold each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart so that no one listens to me you can just hear the pain and the voice of God because he knows we're not listening it's like a guy was telling his friend you know my wife is talking to herself he said oh that's nothing my wife's been talking to herself for years she thinks I'm listening people talk and I don't listen most of the time when someone's talking most of our listening is waiting for them to stop so we can then share what we are wanting to say we all like a good listener because they're so rare jesus said in Matthew 13 verse 14 in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says hearing you will hear and not understand and seeing you will see and not perceive for the hearts of these people have grown dull their ears are hard-of-hearing their eyes have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and they should understand with their heart so what's the hearing that God wants from us it's a hearing where we understand in our hearts so that I should heal them heal them from our sin so how do we know if we're hearing the voice of God I thought I might even ask for show hands but I changed my mind because it frightened me I was gonna ask if anyone here feels they have audibly heard the voice of God do you don't have to raise your hands I meet people every now and then that things that they've heard the voice of God and you've probably met people that they live in a very spiritual state and they say God told me this today and God told me that and usually they mean God spoke to their hearts or impressions or their spirits somehow but some folks just are really walking in the spirit cuz I know people will say yeah God called me to buy this kind of toothpaste and I was driving and I and God said this is where he wanted me to park and God told me to buy this dress and he met people like that right you know I'm talking yeah that's okay some people are just very sensitive to spirit and I know when I was a baby Christian I was listening for the voice of God in everything because I realized God was everywhere so I was talking to him all the time and I was looking for indications and impressions and guidance on things you know later you're maturing you realize God just wants me to use good judgment I mean you know I was asking God just should I buy the white corn chips or the yellow or which one is it your perfect will I want to be in your perfect will and then you know that's which one do you like I don't know but so some people they're always saying God told me this and God told me that and and so how do you know the voice of God I just used to wonder when God said to Abraham take your son your only son you'd want to know how do I know that's your voice God is that static I'm hearing you think that'd be the devil says kill your son but Abraham knew God's voice so well he knew it was a voice the Lord and then he took Isaac and when they went to the mountains God told him this is the mountain he told him leave your servants here he told him to stop before he sacrificed his son Abraham was very tuned in to God's voice how could that be well I think it's because he had heard the voice so many times he recognized it I know when when I get a call from Karen she doesn't need to say very much because you know air for the human voice all our voices are different and the human voice is so distinct that all she needs to do is go hi I know who it is that's all I need now people are calling our house Nathan sounds a little like me though he sings better than I do and they they'll hear him answer the phone mr. Doug he said no I'll go get them but you know sometimes kids start sounding like their parents but every voice is distinct and now they've got to software you know they you got an individual fingerprint and then they got software some of you've got smartphones where you it'll look at your iris now how many of you heard of that yeah it's got an iris recognition cuz your iris on your eye is very different and now they've got the software where your voice print is so unique that they have vaults and banks that it will only open for the manager it records and it measures very fine nuances in the voice and it can identify them I guess the wonder you know watch these nature programmes fifty thousand emperor penguins you know all the females come back from feeding so and they got all these chicks and they go out there and they're all squawking and the females are actually looking for the husband's chicks had never seen it before and this is this cacophony there's definitely cacophony there they are and just how they hear it with all the background noise is amazing to me you know one reason we don't hear the Lord is because of background noise there's so much going on I know when I lived in the mountains and quite literally there was less distraction I was thinking more about God you can kind of hear the voice but still small voice coming through a little better we're living in a culture now in the world where the devil has created so much background noise that it seldom quiet it isn't televisions gone and people walking around with the earphones and you really get run over because they're walking around they're earphones in their ears and and there's just constant noise if it's not the radio it's the TV it's the traffic but just this seems like we're surrounded by noise and then there's a problem when you get older it's harder to hear when there's background noise gonna get an amen I can hear okay if anyone here were to talk to me now I probably hear you but if you all start talking at the same time I can't make anything if I'm in a restaurant with a bunch of people I know we had a pastor's function where all the pastors and their wives came together and when they all put us in this small room in this Italian restaurant with tile floors and and the sound all bouncing off the walls and the idea was so we could get together and visit with each other I couldn't hear anything except talk to the person am i right and my left people across the table were going I'm going amen I had no idea what they said because when you get older something happens to your hearing I heard about this one grandpa he had a sign above his lazy boy it said I'm not deaf I'm ignoring you when you're young your hearing is you might not know but if you're helping your young your hearing is very good matter of fact they've discovered that you're hearing diminishes when you're 25 so that they've developed an app young people have an app now it's they call it the mosquito app that when their phone rings it makes a very high-pitched sound like it you know the mosquito that real annoying thing if you started swatting the air and their teachers can't hear it and so they're texting each other and they're the kids are all hearing teacher done here because if they found a frequency now all the kids right now while I'm doing this or going online they're looking for that app so they can download that app and they can be texting during church and all the kids are gonna be going wink wink to each other the adults are gonna be clueless but it is worthy of noting that it gets harder to hear as you get older it's harder to hear God's voice if you wait too long young people sometimes their voice their their hearts are tender and sensitive to the Holy Spirit best time to reach people is in their youth we did this youth program a few weeks ago thank you for letting Pastor Ross and I go to Michigan we thought that was very important because we are targeting kids like from 13 and under add 50% of those who accept Christ did it in that age span seems like the voice of God doesn't penetrate as easily as we get older we struggle to hear and the other reason I thought it was important to talk about this is because since we're not talking about hearing God's audible voice we're talking about hearing him speak to us in other ways that is so easy to misunderstand how do you know when God's speaking to you little girl heard her mom praying with a friend on the phone and she sat there awestruck for several moments and then when her mom pause she said is that God can I talk to him I thought she was talking to God because she's praying on the phone so how do we know first John 4:1 beloved do not believe every spirit but test the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world and I looked at some of the different things and there probably never dozen different keys that we could look at about how do you know when you're hearing the voice of God or how do you identify the voice of God though I'm going to give you four and you may want to write some of these down they won't be on the screen number one is what I'm hearing in line with script sure does the voice that you're hearing the impression receiving doesn't line up with Scripture Romans 10:17 so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God we measure what the voices are telling us by is this matching up with what the Word of God says Psalm 25 verse 5 lead me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation on you I wait all the dot all the day we're listening for what the word of the Lord says Deuteronomy 13 verse 1 if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign of the wonder comes to pass it does come to pass of which he spoke but then he says let's go serve other gods well that's not a true prophet so if you're hearing a voice and it's saying you know you don't really need to pay your taxes but the scripture says obey the laws of the land you want to believe that's the voice of God that says don't pay your taxes but it's probably not because the Bible says that we ought to do everything that is decent and we ought to live lives of integrity or if you think there's a voice that's saying my spouse is evil God wants me to find a new one and the Bible tells us that what God has joined together let not man put asunder that may not be the Holy Spirit or God's voice that's talking to you and if you think you're hearing a voice and it's saying I could probably buy this and not tell my spouse well that's not honest that's probably not the Holy Spirit telling you that the Bible says in Isaiah 8:20 to the law and to the testimony mean the law and the prophets the Word of God if it speaks not according to this word it's because what there's no light in them so right away you can eliminate a lot of false voices out there by just saying is what the voice is saying measuring with the Word of God but frankly a lot of things that we need to know about you're not going to find word for word in the Bible so what are some other ways you no if God is speaking to you second point and this may be one of the most important if you really want to hear the voice of God Bible says he that has ears let him hear how many of you want to hear the voice of God are you like that guy in the branch trying to plug your ears and still listen you know I want to come to church but God don't speak to me how do you like the Israelites saying Moses you talked to us but don't let God talk to us it's too much but don't we want to be led of the Lord don't you want to hear Jesus speaking to you all right one of the most important criteria if you want to hear the voice of the Lord are you willing to do what the voice says one of the central most important things if you really want to hear God speak to you is being willing to do what that voice says John 7:17 if anyone wills to do his will he will know concerning the doctrine whether it is from God whether I speak of my own Authority if you're willing to do as well I heard about story this man saw a lady walking down the road in England she used to sell buttons and whenever she she came to a fork in the road she'd take a stick and she'd throw it in the air and the guy saw her throw the air the stick in the air two or three times and and he said ma'am I can't help but wonder what are you doing she says I'm trying to decide which road to take why are you throwing this as well I throw the stick in the air and and where it points I go and if it's not pointing down the road I want to go down I just keep throwing it in the air say I want to hear God's voice as long as it's telling me what I want to hear what about when he says something you don't want to hear John 8:43 why do you Jesus is speaking why do you not understand my speech because you're not able to listen to my word you remember we read a verse a moment ago when it says some people thought they heard thunder others - no it was a voice from heaven and others the Apostles heard what the voice said that it was this is my son I have glorified your name and I will glorify they understood what was said why did some understand and some understand I think it's because God had those understand who were willing to listen who are willing to follow Jesus you know we're accountable for all that we know God knows that and if you don't have a heart that's willing to do God's will he's not gonna make you understand more than you need to know the Bible says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge not just because they don't know and this is Hosea 4:6 but because you have rejected knowledge and so we're accountable for what we know and so some people don't know because they don't want to know some people don't understand Jesus that I speak in parables that those who want to know the truth they will know you know God says the Lord said you'll search for me and you'll try you'll search for me and you'll find me when you search for me with all of your heart if you really want to know you'll know this man had some severe hearing problems he went to the doctor and the doctor gave him the hearing specialist gave him two very modern expensive hearing aids and the man was so pleased he came back a few weeks later doctor was gonna see if you need any adjustments I can actually adjust these with computer and it's very sensitive very clear this is this doctor testimony says you evidently now you've got 20/20 hearing in both your ears I don't know what they call it for hearing but it's perfect hearing in both your ears doctor said your family must be very happy man says I haven't told them yet you said but it's been very interesting and he said I changed my will three times they don't know I can hear them so do you want to hear what God is gonna say what if he's gonna point out some sin in your life do you still want to hear another very important criteria for understanding something very important to understand God's will is what the voice you're hearing the guidance is it supported by Christian counsel in other words it's not that God just speaks through his word God speaks through other people I'm hoping that's true or what are we doing right now listening to me if like I said if you're just listening to me that's dangerous we hope that God will speak through Christian counsel let me give you some verses on that proverbs 11:14 where there is no counsel the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety it's not does any counselor you want good counselors I'm always amazed in the Bible of the story of Rio Boehm when he had to make a tough decision that was gonna keep the kingdom together he had the choice of getting solomon's counselors or his friends I mean who would say no to solomon's counselors this is the wisest man who ever lived if he picks a counselor he's got to be like top tier right that's the a-team and young Rhea Boehm he said man they're old fuddy-duddies you know they're stuck in them and they're too conservative I'm gonna get my buddies tell me what to do and they gave him some advice and he lost half the kingdom the kingdom was split from that time on until for two hundred years after that because he's listened to the wrong counselor so when you're getting counselors it's not any counselors there's plenty of counselors out there you want counselors with integrity Christian counselors God speaks through people Ephesians 3:10 to the intent that now the manifold manifold is like on your car you got an intake and an exhaust manifold it's got many different ports the multiplying wisdom of God might be made known by the church within the church God has summer profits summer evangelist summer pastor summer teachers there are elders there are leaders there are people you can go to who have some age and experience and they will teach you they'll give you advice they'll counsel that through them might the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church acts 9 6 you remember when Paul had his vision on the road to a Damascus it says trembling and astonished he said Lord what do you want me to do and the Lord said arise go to the city and it will be told what you must do Oh Lord aren't you going to tell me no I'm going to tell you through a person his name man is Ananias God uses people to talk to people acts 10 4 through 6 and when he observed him he was afraid this is when Cornelius seized the angel said what is it Lord said your prayers and your arms have come up as memorial before God now send men to Joppa to the house of Simon whose name is Peter he's lodging with Simon a Tanner who's in the house by the sea he will come and he will tell you what you must do I want you to go get this man to tell you what to do spirit lead man God speaks to people through people that are connected by it with God that's why it's so important we're connected because other people may need our guidance and then the final point is another final point of my sermon final point of how do you determine is what I'm hearing consistent with God's character you know that old adage WWJD what does that mean what would Jesus do and there was a whole movement among evangelicals where all the young people were wearing these bracelets for a while that said WWJD what would Jesus do in every situation ask yourself what would Jesus do would Jesus go here where Jesus read this Jesus watch this what Jesus say that with Jesus by this and be asking yourself if this voice is telling me to do something that's inconsistent with Christ I think I'm hearing a voice it's telling me I can make a really good comeback to this person and put them in their place and they hurt my feelings and I've got a real clever comeback for them and is that what Jesus would do you know you have to ask yourself one Christ do Romans 12:2 do not be conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Holy Spirit that you might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God we need to test things say what is the will of God based on what first Peter Peter 2:21 for to this you were called because Christ suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps this is so simple friends but a Christian is a follower of Christ John puts it this way first John 2:6 he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk as he walked are we walking with Christ when you hear the voice is a voice a voice that is telling you to follow the example of Christ now Jesus said that he's got sheep if you're one of his sheep you will hear his voice john 10:25 I'm sorry John 10 verse 2 through verse 5 he that enters the door is the Shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and notice the sheep hear his voice he calls to his own sheep by name and he leads them out and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice yet they will note by note they will not follow a stranger but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of a stranger now this is not as familiar to us today as it was to those that heard Jesus first speak these words but back then a lot of shepherds in Israel they still have them today but there used to be a lot of them back then if you weren't a farmer you were a shepherd and there were a small number of watering holes sheep don't drink from rivers that are moving they like still water that's why it says Psalm 23 you bring me to still water so certain times a day were the right time of day for the sheep to drink and then later they'd eat and all these Shepherds would come and they'd visit with the other Shepherds and they would to the fat and talk and tell stories some of them may be true and all their sheep would get commingled there at the watering hole and the goats and they're all drinking and the Shepherds are talking and then finally it was time for them then lead them to their various pastures and the different Shepherds would walk away from the watering hole and they would give out this little call they all have their little whatever it was that they'd it's called they call their sheep and they call him by name or they call the bellwether sheep that was like the lead goat or sheep and they go WOW they'd follow their Shepherd another Shepherd give a call they'd follow that shepherd and sheep all recognized their Shepherds voice and Jesus said my sheep know my voice and they follow me do you listen to the voice of Jesus you know sheep are not born knowing the Shepherd's voice they learn the Shepherd's voice and then they follow the Shepherd's voice because that Shepherds gonna lead them to the best pasture in the best water it's gonna protect them from the wolf and the bear and the lion Jesus said they hear my voice now when we're asking about listening to the voice of God this is a very important subject because it's through listening to the voice of God we have opportunities to reach others have you ever had the voice of Lord tell you to say something to somebody and maybe you were afraid I wish I could tell you I've always listened to the voice of God and you read stories like Philip and the Ethiopian the Spirit of the Lord said to Philip I'll rise and go down to Gaza he doesn't know why he said that's where the spirits telling me to go I'm not sure why he figured there was someone or somewhere to preach so he goes and when he goes he's standing on the road and this entourage is going by is it's an official going down to Ethiopia having come from worship the temple and there's this chief treasurer for Candace the queen of Ethiopia and he's riding along in his chariot and he's reading out loud from Isaiah chapter 61 he's reading the prophecy or I'm sorry Isaiah chapter 53 we didn't prophesy about Christ and Philip knows this is an opportunity and the Holy Spirit says draw near to the chariot he hears the voice they go to Gaza now he said go to chariot and he ends up saying can you understand what you're reading so I need some help actually he says well you know I specialize in that very chapter well come on in my chariot tell me about it Needham and ends up getting baptized the Holy Spirit spoke to Philip not because God's always talking to his tell him what kind of toothpaste should I buy and what kind of mouth what God's not he main reason the spirit speaks to us so we can reach others it says in Acts chapter 1 and I will give you my spirit and you will be my witnesses the Spirit will speak to us and help us recognize opportunity to witness to others and you know sometimes I've heard that voice say say something to them and I was afraid I'm I thought long might be rude or others were there listening I thought it might be ridiculed or I was busy and distracted with other things and I didn't do it and I went away later and I felt so guilty I've actually driven by hitchhikers before and as I drove by them I've always said you should have stopped and picked them out I said well Lord I'm in a hurry and they kind of looked a little dirty and they say give me your car upholstery it's kind of clean and and I've arguing with this a mile down the road I can't shake the conviction I had to pick him up sometimes I've turned around sometimes I haven't sometimes I stifle the conviction I said how do you know that's the Holy Spirit telling me that maybe you're just hypersensitive other times I was convicted I turn around went back and I prayed with a person to let him to the Lord and I think then about the times when I didn't turn around or I didn't say something to somebody now I've never heard God speak audibly to me I've heard my conscience conscience like a trumpet in very loud tones bring conviction our guy I remember one story is as close to the Filip story I can get it was Sunday morning and I woke up and I had this impression that I was supposed to go to the local Pentecostal church and preach and I thought I'm not the preacher I'm a seventh-day Adventist why would I do that and I couldn't shake it and I'm fighting this impression and I'm walking around that morning I'm thinking there's other things I want to do today it's a beautiful morning I've got work I'd like to do and it was actually Easter Sunday what pastor is gonna want someone to walk in and take over their church and preach Sunday morning and I just thought I'm supposed to go to the local Pentecostal church it was actually called Faith Tabernacle in this little town and I couldn't shake the impression and so well I thought all right I don't know Lord if this is of you but I feel like I'm supposed to do it and so I got dressed and I drove off to the church I walked and I got there late because I wrestled with the Lord so long there already well into their worship service there at the part where they had prayer just before the sermon but in this church when they pray you walk in they're all praying in tongues and and it kind of reaches a crescendo the piano is going while they're praying and they're there they're praying and they're kneeling and they're prophesying they're doing their thing and then eventually it starts to settle down the piano slows down and that's the cue and so I sat down while they're praying I'm thinking in my mind I'm still supposed to preach today now I've got even said hi to the pastor I just walked in and found a seat in the back and while they're praying a sermon comes to my mind no it wasn't the mark of the beast and so finally they settle down and the music dies down and then people find their chairs and the ones who had been waving their arms they sat back down to the ones who'd been dancing in the aisles they kind of went back and everything settled down pasture comes up he's making some preliminary remarks and announcements and he sees me sitting back there and he goes brother Doug I see our pastor Doug is here welcome brother we're glad that year did you have a word you'd like to say for the Lord and I said well I said pastor you know us pastors I said I can't say just a word he's well why don't you come up and preach so I went up front and I preached I'm giving the short version of the story and I made an altar call and several people came forward some of them speaking in tongues and there was one lady that came forward and she knew that I was an adventist pastor and the next week she showed up at our church she ended up getting baptized becoming a member and I always thought the whole reason that experience happened is because the Lord wanted to reach that one lady and I think how often God is talking to us and there's people he wants to use us to reach well we don't hear his voice or we're so distracted with the background noise because that was one time I know I heard the voice of the Lord telling me to do something what are the chances you're gonna go visit a church and the preacher is gonna say you preach so I know you can hear the voice the Lord is real you know why we don't sometimes hear his voice sin mutes the voice of God in our lives parents were real worried about their I'd like a 14 month old baby seemed to have lost his hearing they just didn't couldn't respond wasn't responding to anything they said anymore and so they took him to the doctor doctor did a real basic examination soon he came out and he showed the parents to black-eyed peas evidently the kid during one of the meals had stuffed some black-eyed peas in his ears and he couldn't hear and I guess they weren't that uncomfortable because he didn't cry a lot he just was deaf once you removed that he could hear perfectly some of us can't hear God because we plugged our ears God will speak to those who have time to listen proverbs 28 verse 9 one who turns away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer is an abomination we plug our ears we don't want to hear from God and he said well I'm not gonna hear from you and I'm not going to talk to you now God will bring conviction but God's not can always answer our prayers psalm 66 verse 18 if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear and then you read in John 9:31 now we know that God does not hear sinner's but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will he hears him that's pretty clear first John 3:22 whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his Commandments and we do those things that are pleasing in his sight are we willing to listen to his voice you've got to be tuned in you got to say Lord speak like Samuel speak Lord your servant is listening heard about a years ago when they have the telegraph office and a man was applying for a job he saw the newspaper there was a job for someone to work in the telegraph office and and he was able to listen and produce code very quickly I remember years ago you couldn't even get your ham license unless you couldn't operate cut Morse code and and I never could figure it out I had a friend who was a ham operator and he was just so good at reading and producing code so this young man goes in the waiting room and he gets there late and the room is full of people waiting for this one position that's open so he sits down and you know in the Ark they could hear the telegraph office was next door and people were receiving and sending telegrams and soon this young man he jumped up and he ran into the office they were all waiting to be called in the office he run jumped up without even asking he barged into the office soon he came out smiling this what are you doing he said I got the job I said how'd you get the job he said you guys weren't listening all the time you were sitting here the Telegraph message was saying this is a message going out to those in the waiting room the first one who hears this and comes in gets the job they're waiting for the interview they weren't paying attention are we listening you know something else I've noticed about receiving the Holy Spirit we hear God's voice when we accept God's plan this is a very important point we hear God's voice when we accept God's plan God said Abraham Genesis 22:18 in you and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed notice because you obey my voice God did something through Abraham because Abraham listened have you read in Isaiah chapter 6 it says there in Isaiah 6 you read the first eight verses in the year the king as I had died I saw the Lord on the throne high and lifted up the Train of his robe filled the temple and on the right and the left were these angels that were declaring the holy holy holy Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of your glory and the temple shook from the voice of God and the angels that were there and Isaiah fell down on his face and he said woe was me I am undone I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts and because he confessed his sin God then sends an angel who takes with tongs a coal from the altar and he places it on Isaiah's lips and he said your sin is purged your sin is forgiven your iniquity is purged so after he sees the Lord he hears the voice of God his sin is purged then he hears the voice of the Lord saying who will go for us who will I send after his sin is purged he hears the voice of the Lord you notice after Jesus is baptized he comes up out of the water it says the heavens are open and there's a voice that says this is my beloved son it seems like we hear the voice of God a lot better after we accept the plan of salvation John 10 verse 27 my sheep hear my voice after you've committed to becoming one of the sheep you're gonna find you hear his voice a lot better problem is that if you get further away from the shepherd his voice gets weaker you know I Drive around town I listen to talk radio on 7:10 I listen to Christian talk it's sermons most of the day and because we broadcast from that channel I know where the towers are and it's a very simple law of am broadcasting the further away you get from the antenna the weaker the frequency and as I'm driving around town I can always tell when I'm getting closer to the antenna because the voice gets clearer the closer you get to the source of the voice the voice gets clearer something else that's interesting about radio have you noticed that it's clear at night you know some stations that come in better at night now I'm up in covilhã FM in particular I can barely hear family radio during the day but once the Sun Goes Down the interference in the solar storms you can hear it you and I seem to hear a little better when it's dark - what I mean by that is when you're going through a dark time people become very sensitive to the voice of God when they're going through trials isn't that right sometimes God has to send us through trials before we ever even hear his voice so are you listening for that still small voice it's not going to be thunder on the mountain you may hear God's audible voice Isaiah 30 said you your ears will hear a word behind you saying this is the way walk in it whenever you turn to the right hand to the left he promises you will hear his word first Kings 19 12 and after the earthquake and the fire and the and the storm then there was a still small voice and it said Elisha what are you doing here God often speaks in a still small voice you just got to be listening you know I remember reading about Helen Keller is kind of an interesting story from history that you know she was born blind well she wasn't born blind she actually got a disease and she became blind and in Deaf I think she had scarlet fever or something that completely took away her hearing took away her sight she did eventually learn to talk she had that famous teacher in Sullivan but some friends she was with a group of friends one time and they were listening to their radio back in 1925 and they said Oh Helen you know they're talking to her through Braille or or tapping on her hands and and they said if you could only hear this is so majestic we're listening to Beethoven's 9th it's being placed by the play by the best orchestra in the world in Carnegie Hall they're broadcasting it on the radio and she said well let me feel the speaker of the radio so she put her hand on the speaker of the radio and she was amazed to discover a matter of fact I'll read it to you it's in her words last night when the family was listening she wrote a letter to Carnegie Hall last night when the family was listening to your wonderful rendering of the immortal symphony someone suggested that I put my hand on the receiver to see if I could get any of the vibrations he unscrewed the cap and I lightly touched the sensitive diaphragm of the actual speaker itself what was my amazement to discover that I could fill not only the vibrations but also the impassioned rhythm the throb and the urge of the music the intertwine intermingling vibrations from the different instruments enchanted me this is a person entirely deaf her fingers were so sensitive from reading Braille that she put her fingers on this speaker I could actually distinguish the coronets the role of the drums the deep tone viola is the violin singing in exquisite unison how the lovely speech are the violins flowed and plowed over the deepest tones of the other instruments when the human voice lept up thrilling from the surge of harmony I recognized them instantly as voices I felt the choir grow more exultant and more ecstatic up curving swinging like a flame until my heart almost Stood Still the women's voices seemed an embodiment of the angelic voices rushing in harmonious flood of beautiful and inspiring sound the great chorus throbbed against my fingers with pun Yin pause and flow the composer of the symphony quelle heure enjoyed was Beethoven now you realize Beethoven I had written it a hundred years earlier while he was deaf perhaps one reason deaf person could hear it is because a deaf person had written it and perhaps the reason that we can hear the voice of the Lord is because God became one of us so he understands our speech so that we could hear his voice Isaiah 51 listen to me you who follow after righteousness Isaiah 54 verse 4 listen to me my people in give ear Isaiah 51 verse 7 listen to me you who know righteousness over and over God is appealing he wants to speak to us and he that has ears let him hear what the Spirit says do you want to hear the voice of the Lord if you submit to the gospel if we will unmute the the plugs in our ears so that we're willing to do his will and read his word he will speak to us we're gonna sing about it we don't sing the song very often it's a beautiful melody it's called I heard the voice of Jesus say only three verses want you to stand with me and listen to the words as we sing for 65 [Music] you know hearing is a gift they say if you live long enough you'll lose it hearing God's voice is a gift if you wait too long to listen to his voice the speaker breaks and you just don't hear it anymore so today if you hear his voice harden not your heart are there areas in your life maybe where you've been plugging your ears you know God's will but you're not wanting to do it he only wants to bless you anything God is asking you to do he's asking you to do it because he has your good in mind and so I would appeal to you to listen to his voice completely surrender to his will follow his plan for your life and then pray that you can hear that voice guiding you in opportunities to speak words of Christ to others amen set your desire dear father I pray that you will give us ears to hear help us remove from our lives things that are muting that voice help us draw closer to the Shepherd so that we can hear him broadcasting to each one of us I pray Lord that you'll give us discernment through your word through the example of Christ so we can separate the counterfeit voices that are out there from your true voice the Lord we know that the devil has a thousand distractions that make it difficult for us to hear I pray that you'll guide us to better understand what those things are that are muffling your voice to our souls forgive our sins Lord give us ears to hear and then hearts that are willing to listen and that we can also be witnesses for you as we seek your guidance in every affair of life we thank you and pray in Jesus name Amen if you'd be seated for just a moment one final announcement is don't forget this afternoon if you live in the area we will be have Bible questions and answers here we'll be broadcasting around the country to some of our Affco students but we'd love to have a live audience here you might enjoy it that's a four o'clock see you then god bless you [Music]

Channel: Doug Batchelor

Views: 473,677

Keywords: ellen g white, doug batchelor, amazing facts, seventh day adventist

Id: cpVHvtSaH0k

Length: 61min 47sec (3707 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 18 2019