July 2, 2025 • 75 mins
Drawing from examples throughout scripture—from Samuel learning to recognize God's voice through Eli's guidance, to Jesus himself setting the perfect example of listening before speaking—this message reveals why some hear God clearly while others strain to hear anything at all. The answer lies not in technique, but in heart posture.
Those with "uncircumcised ears" (bound by fleshly desires and rebellion) cannot truly hear God's voice. Many believers approach prayer as a monologue rather than a dialogue, speaking their requests and immediately concluding without giving God space to respond. This impatient, one-sided communication reveals our flesh-driven nature and unwillingness to wait in God's presence.
What's particularly challenging is how we often deceive ourselves with false security, believing our religious heritage, material blessings, or intellectual understanding of scripture means we're hearing God correctly. Yet the scripture reveals that "those whom the Lord hears are those who hear Him"—a paradoxical truth that points to the reciprocal nature of divine communication.
The path forward requires humility and a willingness to be corrected. We must learn to value hearing over speaking, to seek understanding through obedience rather than demanding understanding first, and to pursue God with the passionate determination of the bride in Song of Solomon who refused to rest until she found her beloved.
Are you approaching God like a lovesick bride desperate to hear His voice, or merely fulfilling religious obligation? The difference determines whether you'll truly hear what He's saying. Listen to this message and discover how to cultivate ears that truly hear.
"Message Our Father's Heart a Question or Response"
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May God bless you and make you prosperous in Him as you listen and obey His voice!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
j - Jesus M. Ruiz (00:03):
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are spent,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose and fulfill theirpurpose.
(00:27):
What Bishop said in thebeginning is well, actually just
right here at the end of thebeginning it was very important.
I want, I'm requesting, thatyou listen, that you hear today
what the message is, that youdon't so much focus on writing
(00:47):
this and going to this scriptureand that scripture, because
sometimes that will distract youand then you stop listening
because you're trying to get tothe scripture.
If there's a scripture to beread, it's gonna be up here.
If it's just me paraphrasing orgiving the word, just listen,
take notes, definitely, butdon't be so caught up in just
looking through all thescriptures, because they will be
(01:07):
up here and I promise you thatthis word that is going to be
shared with you today, I'll giveit to you in digital form and a
document and then you can studyand then you can really
meditate and dwell on.
But right now, your hearing isreally what God is needing right
now.
You need to hear right now.
It says faith cometh by hearing.
(01:28):
But it's not just hearing.
It's hearing the word of Godand we need to understand how
important it is to be able toaccurately hear and discern the
word of God at all times.
Something the Lord showed me Ican't remember what it was,
(01:49):
whether it was in thisfellowship or when it was way
back in Florida that regardlessof what you feel or what you
think, in consideration of theend times, and if you believe
that you're going through thetribulation or not, you know in
this fellowship I think we'veall come into the agreement and
understanding that there is apost-trib.
But simply knowing what isgoing to happen is not as
(02:13):
important as hearing the Lordthrough the midst of what is
going to happen, because you canget into the situation of
knowing the end of the story ingeneral, but you don't know the
end of your story.
And the Lord is speaking to hispeople and has been speaking to
his people and that is the mostimportant thing that has
(02:35):
brought about the deliverance ofhis people.
His people heard Him and didwhat he said.
It wasn't because they knew theend of the story that they got
delivered.
Moses didn't know the end ofthe story.
He had to hear the Lord and hehad to obey what the Lord had
said.
David had to hear the Lord andobey what the Lord had said.
(02:57):
Joshua went into the promisedland, had to hear the Lord and
obey with what the Lord had said, and that's what gave him the
victory after victory.
That's what gave all thesaints victory after victory is
the fact that they heard him andthey did what he said, not
because they knew the end of thestory.
The end of the story, as far asI'm concerned, is completely
(03:19):
unimportant.
It's going to help you have thefaith to understand what is
going on, and that's about it,because you have to hear the
Lord daily, I would say themoment by moment.
But in order for you to do that, there's some things that you
have to do on your end so thatyou can walk in that type of
(03:42):
fellowship, of covenantrelationship with God, that you
literally hear him every day,moment by moment for all
decisions, great and small.
It says in Romans 10 (03:50):
14,.
One of the rhetorical questionsPaul asked was how are they
going to hear without a preacher?
And so I'm starting off withthe fact that we have to come to
(04:15):
the understanding thatsometimes you're not going to
hear the Lord without a preacher.
This is not just talking aboutthe gospel, this is talking
about when you need to hear fromGod.
Sometimes the only way for youto hear from God is if you
listen to the preacher.
And there's a word in thescriptures called inquiring of
the Lord.
When we inquire of the Lord, itcan be done personally, it can
be done in your private prayercloset.
(04:36):
I'm not giving a message thatyou have to hear the preacher.
Only I'm saying sometimesyou're not hearing the Lord
unless you listen to what thepreacher, the man of God that
was sent of God, is saying.
But you can inquire of the Lord.
David inquired of the Lord andhe said I have desired of the
(04:57):
Lord one thing, and it's thatone thing that I'm going to seek
after, because I want to dwellin the house of the Lord forever
.
I want to be there all the daysof my life.
I want to behold the beauty ofthe Lord.
(05:17):
I want to inquire in His holytemple.
I want to come into the verypresence of God and hear God for
myself.
And you can.
That is a desire that youshould have, that I want to see
the beauty of the Lord formyself.
I don't want the high priest togo into the Holy of Holies.
(05:40):
For me to talk of the Lord, tobe in the presence of the Lord,
to see the Lord face to face,for me, there's got to be desire
in your heart to see foryourself the beauty of the Lord,
to be in his temple and in hispresence, to seek after God for
(06:02):
yourself.
So I'm not saying you shouldn'thave that.
I'm saying sometimes you're notgoing to hear the Lord unless
you listen to the preacher, butsometimes you have to go through
a man of God.
It says in 1 Samuel 9, 9, thatbefore time in Israel in the
past, when a man went to inquireof God, he came to the seer,
(06:27):
and the seer was what theycalled the man who heard God
before they started calling hima prophet.
And so with that one scriptureI'm saying that it's not a wrong
thing, because they did it inthe old covenant.
The church did it in the oldcovenant when they inquired of
(06:49):
God, they went to the seer, theprophet, the man of God, in
order to hear from the God.
And that man of God in 1 Samuel, 9, 9 was Samuel at the time.
And so I go back to 1 Samuel,chapter 3.
You could read 1 through 21.
(07:09):
I'm only going to highlightcertain points, so just listen
to the words that I'mhighlighting.
Samuel was a child.
Samuel had just been given tothe high priest Eli.
Hannah gave him up, promised tothe Lord if you give me a child
, I will dedicate him to you.
He will be yours all the daysof his life.
(07:30):
And Samuel ministered in thehouse of the Lord.
He ministered before the man ofGod, eli.
And he was a child, and his momdid that to him.
He didn't decide for himself oh, let me go serve the Lord in
the house of God.
His mom did that to him.
He didn't decide for himself oh, let me go serve the Lord in
the house of God.
His mom did that for him.
And it says the childministered unto the Lord before
(07:55):
Eli.
It says the word of the Lord wasprecious in those days and
there was no open mission.
In other words, when the Lordspoke and you heard him, it was
like a valuable commodity,because he wasn't speaking to a
lot of people, there was no openvision.
It wasn't like everybody washearing, from the north of
Israel to the south of Israel,to the east and west.
I mean, when you heard God, itwas like oh my God.
(08:17):
And so you went to the personto hear God because he wasn't
talking very much.
Went to the person to hear Godbecause he wasn't talking very
much and this was a time whereEli's age was catching up with
him.
He wasn't able to see as wellas he could.
And it describes how there wasone night.
(08:43):
Samuel was going to bed and theLord called Samuel.
It says and the Lord called, andI believe there should be a
comma there.
And the Lord called Samuel.
He called him by his name.
I'm highlighting that becauseit's important.
I want you to understand.
I want this word because iffaith really does come by
hearing and hearing the word ofGod.
(09:03):
Then when you hear that theLord called him by name, are you
hearing your name called?
Because he spoke to his peopleand he called them by name.
I'm just using Samuel as anexample, but you can go through
the scriptures yourself and youcan see how he called him by
(09:23):
name.
He said his name.
It says the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel didn't know what to do.
You know the story.
He went to Eli.
Yes, lord thy servant heareth.
No, no, no, no, go back to bed.
I didn't call you.
It says again.
And the Lord called yet againSamuel and he went to Eli.
(09:47):
I didn't call you, go back, golie down.
Because Samuel did not know theLord, neither was the word
revealed unto Samuel.
And the Lord called Samuelagain, samuel again, a third
time.
And he rose and he went to Eli.
(10:09):
Now Eli still doesn't get it,but at this moment the man of
God then perceives the Lord iscalling this child.
You see, it took a man of Godto help the child understand
that, hey, it's God speaking toyou.
And if this example is here,you have to understand that all
(10:31):
of the old custom and examplesare there for a reason.
I've talked about this in thelast issue.
They're there to teach you,they're there to lead you unto
Christ.
So it isn't any ill thing foryou to have to depend upon the
man of God in order to hear Godand to start discerning his
(10:53):
voice.
But we live in an age where weare so independent we're not
willing to humble ourselves andallow the man of God to help us
understand.
That was God, that wasn't God.
So when Eli perceived that theLord was calling the child, he
(11:15):
said when he calls again, say tohim speak, lord, for thy
servant heareth.
And Samuel went to lie downagain.
And this is what you gotta payattention to these, because it
says and the Lord came and stood.
He was right there.
(11:35):
It wasn't this metaphysicalvoice over I don't know where.
He was, there standing, wantingto speak to Samuel.
I lay this as a foundation offaith so that when you go back
into prayer that you realizeit's not this distant voice of
(11:59):
God speaking from millions andbillions of miles away.
He's right there to speak toyou.
But if you don't have the faithfor that, you're always going
to consider oh, he's just somevoice.
Oh, I hardly ever hear him.
I heard today, I hardly everhear him.
I hear him through this andthat and, yes, God speaks in
many different ways to us.
But I don't see why we live ina day and age where we have the
(12:22):
Holy Ghost and we don't get thepresence that God was actually
right there.
Wherever we were in our car, inour room, in our downstairs
basement, and have the sensethat he's right there and he's
ready to dialogue with you.
He says Samuel, samuel.
(12:44):
Then Samuel answered speak,speak, thy servant heareth.
And you can read for yourself inyour own time how he started
telling.
I'm going to tell you about Eliand blah, blah, blah and all of
this stuff.
That's going on.
But you know the story.
But I want to end and highlight.
In the end it says and Samuelgrew and the Lord was with him
(13:06):
and did let none of his wordsfall to the ground.
In other words, the words thatSamuel spoke, none of them fell
to the ground in vain.
What the Lord spoke throughSamuel was always fulfilled and
it's because of this that itsays all Israel, from Dan to
Beersheba, all Israel knew thatSamuel was established to be a
(13:29):
prophet of the Lord.
Do you see any self-promotionhere, the self-promotion of any
office of God should be throughthe testimony of the witnesses.
They should readily see.
There shouldn't have to be.
I have to put a title before myname.
Everybody should readily see.
(13:52):
That's a man of God.
He's speaking from on high andeverybody's gonna know it.
There shouldn't be an argument.
But in the church you knowthere's lots of flesh and the
flesh can never hear the Lord.
But I highlight to you becausesometimes in our lives there has
(14:12):
to be a period of ministeringunto the Lord before the man of
God there must be.
Allen made this comment in anemail the homme de Dieu, the man
of God.
And it's necessary in order foryou to practice your
(14:33):
discernment for hearing the Lord, you have to have a man of God
in your life to teach that toyou.
Even though Samuel understandwhere Samuel was.
Samuel was in the midst of adefunct Ichabod-like church.
Remember Eli and his sons?
Eli wasn't taking care of hissons.
(14:55):
He was letting them take bribes, letting them do this, letting
them do that.
Why wasn't there any open?
Why wasn't there an open visionfor the word of the Lord?
Because Eli, the man and thehead of the house of God, was
out of order and so were hischildren.
He wasn't doing anything aboutit.
But even in the midst of allthat, even when Eli was not
(15:17):
right with God, samuelministered to the Lord under his
tutelage and was still able tobe taught how to to the Lord
under his tutelage and was stillable to be taught how to hear
the Lord.
Even though Eli was in a badplace, he was still trained
under Eli, who was himself in anunrighteous state because he
(15:41):
was not dealing with hischildren.
So Samuel was stationed.
As he grew up, he wasestablished as a prophet of the
Lord and it says he was a leaderover a company of prophets.
It says in 1 Samuel 19,.
Now we went from chapter threeto chapter 19.
So he's grown, he's out on hisown right now.
(16:02):
But don't forget where hestarted and where he learned.
It says and Saul sentmessengers to take David,
because Saul, you know, wasafter David.
But that's not the point of themessage.
And when they saw the companyof prophets prophesying and
Samuel standing appointed overthem, samuel was now in the
place of maturity and leadership, like Eli was before him.
(16:27):
Eli taught him how to serve theLord.
Eli taught him how to hear theLord and discern.
This is the voice of the Lord.
Now he is now doing the samething.
He's over a company of prophetsand, as the spirit of God comes
upon them, they are nowprophesying and he is appointed
over them.
So in this section, let mereiterate for you the main
(16:55):
points.
Many times a man of God isneeded in order to hear the word
of God and to teach someone tohear the voice of the Lord.
Number two, inquiring of theLord can be done personally.
You can hear the Lord foryourself.
You can go into his temple bythe blood of the Lamb and come
(17:15):
into the presence of God andhear him for yourself.
But many times the one whodesires to hear the Lord should
be serving the Lord under theman of God.
God is able to reach you inyour faithfulness of service to
(17:36):
him, even if the man of God isnot right with the Lord.
For some reasonas I got into this, I'm
realizing right now, in thismoment, that I fit that
description.
I did not realize it until nowbecause I'm thinking back upon
myself.
I was in a charismatic church,but in that place that man of
God taught me to hear the voiceof the Lord, taught me to get
(18:00):
into the scriptures, to searchthem out and even though all the
things that he taught was notright, was not correct, was not
perfect, I began to hear thevoice of the Lord in that place,
but he was way out of order,immensely, and I won't even get
into the details, but I'mrealizing right now that I live
that example that I just nowgave you.
(18:21):
You have to understand youdon't have to be in the perfect
place with the perfect person tohear the Lord perfectly,
because God is a God that's inspite of God, in spite of who
you're with, in spite of themessed up church that's out
there.
I'm still gonna reach you ifyour heart is after me.
(18:41):
So who does the Lord hear andwho does He not hear?
I think that's importantbecause, putting it simply,
those who hear the Lord are theones whom the Lord hears.
Those whom the Lord hears arethe ones that hear him.
Kind of a funky little paradox,but I want to show it to you in
(19:06):
the scripture.
So if we'll turn to Exodus 3 (19:06):
7 , I'm only going to highlight
certain points, I believe inthis chapter.
The Lord is talking to Mosesand the Lord says I have surely
seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt and have
heard their cry by reason oftheir taskmasters, for I know
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their sorrows.
And what I'm highlighting verysimply is the Lord said I have
seen my people and have heardtheir cry.
The Lord sees and hears hispeople.
Don't think differently.
Don't let the enemy crowd inand think that you're too
insignificant to be heard of theLord, because if you're His, He
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hears and sees all that's goingon in your life.
In Psalm 34, it says the eyes ofthe Lord are upon the righteous
and his ears are open to theircry.
The righteous cry and the Lordheareth and delivereth them.
The Lord is nigh unto them thatare of broken heart and saith
(20:10):
it such as be of a contritespirit.
In Malachi 3.16, it says theythat feared the Lord, the Lord
hearkened and heard them.
For them that feared the Lordand thought upon his name, the
Lord hearkened and heard them.
For them that feared the Lordand thought upon his name, the
Lord hearkened and heard them.
(20:32):
And so, with these threescriptures, I realize that the
scriptures testify that the Lordis always watching and ever
listening to his people.
His people are righteous.
They cry in humility, with abroken heart.
(20:54):
They're not afraid to show howbroken they are, how contrite
they are, and they recognizethat He alone is the one to save
and deliver them.
They are the ones that trulyfear the Lord and meditate on
Him and His name.
These are qualities that I'mhighlighting to you, that, if
you don't have them, you need tostart developing them, because
this is something that has tocome from you, not the
(21:16):
righteousness.
I'm talking about the desire tohear him, to truly hear him,
because so many times we getinto prayer and we talk, talk,
talk and pray and pray and prayand pray and pray and pray and
pray in Jesus name, and we walkout the door and we didn't give
him an ear.
We do it in church.
(21:37):
We're so afraid of the silence,we're so afraid of that awkward
moment of not hearing anybodyand thinking there's something
wrong.
Oh, let's fill the air withsomething.
Why aren't we quiet to listen?
If I'm talking to you and I'mtrying to have a conversation
(21:58):
with you, and you start talkingto me and I'm about to respond,
and you just say "see ya! Whatkind of conversation did we just
have?
Not much.
You got to say what you wantedto say and then you left.
And we do that a lot.
We I'm talking about we we alldo that a lot.
We don't just sit quietly andlisten.
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How does he want to respond tothis?
He knows my trials, he knowswhat I'm going through.
It says in Jeremiah 6.10,.
There's a reason why some of usdo this.
There's a reason why some of uswill pray, pray, pray, pray,
pray, pray In Jesus' namegoodbye.
(22:41):
It says in Jeremiah 6.10,.
To whom shall I speak and givewarning that they may hear?
Behold, their ear isuncircumcised and they cannot
hearken.
Behold, the word of the Lord isunto them a reproach.
(23:03):
It's an offensive thing andthey have no delight in it.
In what his word, theuncircumcised Hearing the Lord
does not come to theuncircumcised of ear.
Now we know the worduncircumcised or circumcised has
(23:23):
to do with what?
Cutting what?
The flesh.
He's using that uncircumcisedor circumcised word to give you
an understanding.
Why can't they hear me?
They don't have the flesh cutout.
They can't hear me, they'rewalking in the flesh.
(23:50):
The word of God is a reproach,it's an offensive thing to
people walking in the flesh.
That's why they don't hear theLord.
Those of the flesh, do theytake delight in reading the word
?
No, they don't have anyinterest in that.
And it's a spiritual thingbecause, spiritually, the
(24:13):
demonic oppression that is uponthem, that causes, that, fuels
them to continue walking in theflesh, doesn't want them to do
that.
We've heard testimonies, funnytestimony children in high
school having trouble sleeping.
Why don't you go read the wordbefore you go to bed?
See how fast you go to sleep?
Why?
Because they're in the fleshand the enemy doesn't want them
(24:34):
to get in the word.
It says in Galatians 5, 17,.
Remember, those of the fleshtake no delight in the word, for
the flesh lusts against thespirit, it fights against the
spirit, it wrestles against thespirit.
The flesh is contrary to thespirit of God.
(24:55):
Jesus is not only the spirit ofGod, he is the word of God and
the flesh is always wrestlingand contesting against Jesus.
In Ezekiel 12 too you don't haveto turn there, I'm just going
to read it.
He says to Ezekiel, son of man,you dwell in a midst of a
(25:18):
rebellious house, and they haveeyes to see but they don't see.
They have ears to hear, butthey don't hear why?
Because they're a rebellioushouse.
A lot of you will hear themessage, but you won't hear why?
Because they're a rebellioushouse.
A lot of you will hear themessage, but you won't hear it.
You'll see, but you won't see.
Because there's rebellion inyou.
You can't hear the Lord withuncircumcised ears and you
(25:43):
cannot hear the Lord in themidst of a state of rebellion.
Those of the house of rebels donot hear, they do not see the
Lord.
They are rebellious.
Turn to this scripture.
This I do want to.
Zechariah 7.
Verse 11 through 13.
(26:12):
I'm asking, Bishop, you gotyour reading glasses.
Can you read out loud,commandingly, Zechariah, what
did I say?
Seven, verse 11 through 13.
Zechariah 7, verse 11 through13.
(26:35):
But they refused to hearken andpulled away the shoulder and
stopped their ears.
Then they should not hear.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
(26:55):
la, la, la, la, la, la.
I want to hear that.
No, la la, la, la, la, la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Uh, uh, no, the law.
No, I don't hear, I'm notlistening.
I'm not listening.
I'm not listening.
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
(27:21):
I'm not listening.
You got to do that sometimes, Idon't know.
The Lord just gave me that as Iwas reading.
I said I'm going to do that.
It looks ridiculous and foolish, but that's the way the Lord
sees rebellious children.
I don't want to hear you, shh.
And since they don't listen tothe instructing word of wisdom
(27:48):
when they cry out, does the Lordhear them?
You didn't want to listen to mewhen I was trying to help you.
You didn't want to listen to mewhen I came to you, and now you
can't suffer what you'resuffering, and now you want to
cry to me.
I'm not hearing you.
(28:13):
And what this shows me is thatthere must be, if you're going
to hear the Lord, there must bea willingness on your part to
hear the reproving andcorrecting word of God.
If you don't have that, you'renot going to hear the Lord.
If you're going to staystubborn in your rebellion, you
(28:37):
will not hear the Lord, becauseyou will do exactly what foolish
thing I just did in front ofy'all.
That's what the Lord sees whenhe sees looking to and fro
throughout the earth for thosebroken and contrite of heart.
And he'll come and he'll try tospeak to those, but they're not
listening, they don't want tohear.
(28:58):
It says in Proverbs 15, verse31 the ear that hears reproof of
life, they abide among the wise.
He that refuses instructiondespises his own soul.
But he that heareth reproof, hegets understanding.
(29:18):
The man who hears thecorrection gets understanding.
The fear of the Lord is theinstruction of wisdom and before
honor is humility.
I say this to my kids in mathand they don't believe me.
But I tell them you don't haveto understand why this works.
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You don't have to understandwhy is all of this stuff?
All you need to know is this isstep one, step two, step three.
Plug in the numbers, do themath and you'll get the answer.
Without the understanding.
And I was like that the teacherwould just show me.
Just show me the steps.
Don't try to explain to me.
(30:03):
Just show me the steps.
He showed me the steps.
I mimicked the steps.
I got the answer.
Steps, I got the answer right,I got hundreds.
That's all I did in math.
It was that easy.
Just show me how to do it.
The understanding came later.
I understood.
Oh, I get.
That's why that works.
Okay, I sometimes didn'tunderstand until I got into
(30:24):
college.
I sometimes didn't understandit until I taught it in the
middle of my high school class.
Then I understood it.
That was years later.
But my kids don't get that andwe as a people of the earth
don't get that.
You don't have to understand,you just have to do what I say
and then you'll get theunderstanding.
The obedience has to come first, not understanding.
(30:46):
I don't have to explain to you.
You wouldn't understand if Iexplained it to you.
So why bother?
Just obey me, trust me, I'mtaking care of you.
It says also in Proverbs 8, 34,that the man that heareth me is
watching daily at my gates.
He is waiting at the posts ofmy door, and what these two
(31:12):
scriptures describing is a manthat hears.
The Lord is the one who isdiligently seeking him.
He's daily watching for him.
He's at his gates.
He's waiting, he's just waiting.
And he's just waiting at hisgate.
He doesn't just come.
Oh, he's not here.
I'm leaving, goodbye, I'm going.
He is just diligently seekinghim.
(31:34):
This is how Proverbs describesa man that hears the Lord.
He's after my heart, he's aftermy heart and he won't leave.
He won't leave my door, hewon't leave.
He won't leave my door, hewon't leave my gates.
He's there, listening, intently, watching, like a watchman on
the wall.
(31:56):
Where is he?
Where is he?
Where is he?
I can't wait to hear him.
There's a focused effort on hispart to seek the Lord.
And for women, for women,listen to this.
Songs of Solomon 5a describes itin your perspective this way I
(32:20):
charge you, o daughters ofJerusalem, if you find my
beloved, tell him that I am sickof love.
I'm love sick.
I can't be apart from him anylonger.
I can't wait to find him.
It says in Song of Solomon 3,verses 1 through 4,.
By night I was on my bed and Isought him, whom I so loved.
I sought him, but I found himnot.
And I can't stay in this bedany longer.
(32:42):
I've got to get up and I risefrom my bed and I go about the
city and the streets and in theBroadway, and I'm seeking whom I
so love.
It because I saw him and Ican't find him.
And the watchman, they're allabout the city and I asked him
where is he?
Have you seen him?
And they don't know.
And after I left the watchman,the watchman.
After I left the watchmanverily, thereafter I found him,
(33:04):
whom I so love.
I held him and I would not lethim go.
I held him and I would not lethim go.
I was so lovesick for him thatwhen I finally held on to him, I
would not let him go.
(33:25):
This is a woman's perspective ofseeking after that valuable
thing, that man that impressesme so much.
I mean, he's gotten my heart aflutter and I can't stand being
apart from him, because the onlything that stops the fluttering
is to have him holding me in myarms and me holding him in my
arms, and I will not let him go.
The man that hears the Lord islike the woman that is
(33:50):
desperately seeking him, who hersoul love is, who longs for him
, to hold him, to not let him go, and she is lovesick, just
can't get over the fact thathe's not around.
I've got to get him.
I've got to get him, I've gotto have him.
This is my husband, this is myman, and it's that type of
(34:13):
desire that causes one to hearthe Lord.
Let us not forget also whatDavid said concerning being
heard of the Lord, because hesaid come and hear all ye that
fear God.
He's only talking to those thatfear God.
He says I cried with my mouthand he was extolled with my
(34:34):
tongue.
I cried out for him, I soughthim, I praised him, I thanked
him with my tongue, but if Iregard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me.
And then he says but verily,god hath heard me.
And so I end this section tosay these things those whom the
(34:56):
Lord hears hear him.
Those whom hear the Lord is theone who the Lord is listening to
.
He hears his people.
He hears the righteous.
He hears those that are brokenand contrite of heart.
They are the ones that fear theLord.
(35:17):
The uncircumcised of ear arethose who walk in the flesh and
they never hear him.
Why?
Because the word is a reproachto them.
They don't want to be corrected, they want to continue walking
in their flesh.
They take no delight in him norhis word.
Those that don't hear the Lordare the rebellious ones.
They have adamant hearts,hardened hearts, and when they
(35:40):
cry they are not heard, but, incontrast, it is the ear that
listens to reproof, it is theear that listens to correction.
It is the sign of a man that ishumble.
It is the sign of a man thatsays I know my ways are not
right.
I know that there is a betterway.
Teach me, teach me, teach me.
(36:04):
I'm crying out, teach meBecause I know my ways are not
right, I know my ways are notperfect.
And when you do this, the manthat hears the Lord gets
understanding and he developsthe fear of the Lord in wisdom.
(36:25):
This man is described as theone who is desperately,
earnestly seeking him, waitingfor him, watching out for him,
like a woman is lovesick for herhusband.
And the Lord does not hold ordoes not hear those that hold
iniquity in their hearts.
(36:47):
If we turn to Ezekiel 20, I wantto just give two examples, one
in the old, one in the new, ofthose who do not hear God.
In Ezekiel 20, verse 1,.
And it came to pass in theseventh year, in the fifth month
, the tenth day of the month,that certain elders of Israel
(37:09):
came to inquire of the Lord andsat before me, me being Ezekiel.
Then came the word of the Lordunto me, saying Son of man,
speak unto the elders of Israeland say unto them Thus, saith
the Lord God, are you come toinquire of me as I live?
Saith the Lord, I will not.
(37:30):
I will not be inquired of byyou.
Why would the Lord say that tothe elders of Israel?
Let's turn to verse 30.
Wherefore say unto the house ofIsrael thus, saith the Lord God
, are ye polluted after themanner of your fathers and
commit ye whoredom after theirabominations?
(37:50):
For when ye offer your gifts,when ye make your sons to pass
through the fire, you polluteyourselves with all of your
idols.
Even unto this day, I shall notbe inquired of by you, o house
of Israel, as I live, saith theLord, I will not be inquired of
by you.
That is like a reserved angerof the Lord.
(38:15):
How dare you come to me the waythat you are and think that I'm
going to listen to you and I'mgoing to deliver you, when you
let your children be passed inthe midst of the fire, when you
pollute yourselves with idols,when you will not change your
ways and you think I'm going tosit here and listen to all of
your requests and your petitions?
(38:36):
I will not be inquired of byyou?
This is mocking God.
Why do we mock God?
I mean it's insulting to cometo the Lord seeking him.
At the same time, you're gonnaharbor vile wickedness and idols
of abominations and you polluteyourselves when you're holding
(39:03):
tightly to the other loves inyour life.
In your life, in your heart,those other loves compete
against his pure and holy love.
He is not going to listen.
He will not demean himself andhe will not dignify the
competition.
That's out there.
(39:23):
He's not going to do it.
That's out there.
He's not going to do it.
He's not one to hold close tohis heart a harlot, a harlot
who's unwilling to break of herways.
He's not going to hold herclose if she wants to continue
going from house to house andbed to bed.
(39:47):
Men, you think about that.
Would you have in your ownbedroom your wife, who's
cheating on you, and love herintimately under the covers in
your bed and have the other guythat she's cheating with right
there in the room?
Would you?
What a detestable thought, adisgusting thought, because
(40:15):
whatever love she brings intothe room, are you going to allow
that man to get under thecovers with you and her?
Are you kidding me?
But that's what they thought.
They thought God would listento them and allow them to have
some intimate talk with oneanother while they're still
holding on to these other loves.
He will not demean himself, hewill not, he will not inquire or
(40:40):
be inquired of by you.
If we turn to John 8, 37, thisis the New Testament example,
the new covenant.
Jesus is talking to thePharisees and he says look, I
know you're Abraham's seed, butyou seek to kill me.
Why I speak whatever I haveseen of my father and you do
(41:06):
that which you've seen of yourfather.
When they answered and saidunto him Well, abraham is our
father.
When Jesus said unto him youwere Abraham's children, you
would have done the works ofAbraham, but now you seek to
kill me, a man that told you thetruth which I have heard of God
.
This did not Abraham.
(41:28):
You do the deeds of your father.
And they said to them well, webe not born of fornication, we
have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them if Godwere your father, you would love
me, for I proceeded forth andcame from God.
Neither came I of myself, buthe that sent me.
Why do ye not understand myspeech?
(41:50):
Even because you cannot,because ye cannot hear my word
Year of your father, the deviland the lust of your father will
ye do.
As far as I'm concerned,everybody thought the Pharisees
had a direct line to God.
(42:11):
They were held in high esteem.
Everybody looked up to them toinquire of the Lord and hear
what Jesus is saying.
And the Pharisees are anexample of what we do.
Look at all of the things thatjustify this.
Well, we're Abraham's seed.
Well, god is our father.
(42:32):
And they thought that, becausethat might have been true, that
that took care of everything.
Yeah, they heard the Lord.
Yeah, but we deceive ourselveswith our own thoughts, with our
own imaginations of God thatexalt themselves against the
(42:53):
knowledge of the truth.
We would rather entertainnotions of our own making or
notions that the world has fedus than accept the reality of
the truth found in his word.
We develop false senses ofsecurity.
That's what we do.
We just develop false senses ofsecurity.
That's what we do.
We just develop false senses ofsecurity, thinking that
(43:15):
everything is all right outsidethe truth and it isn't until the
Lord uncovers it, eitherthrough conviction I heard that
word today or we are utterlyembarrassed in public by it.
Do we then deal with it?
Some of us have false senses ofpurity.
(43:36):
Well, I'm a part of a godlyfamily.
I'm a first, second, third,fourth generation.
Apostolic, pentecostal,blood-bought, ghost rolling and
fire-baptized tongue-talking,you know.
And that's their security.
And maybe you don't have to gothrough all that nonsense.
(44:01):
Maybe you're just a part of agodly family.
Your parents really believe God, they trust in God, they hear
God, they're walking.
But you're a child in thatfamily and you just develop this
false sense of security that,because my parents are really on
fire for the Lord and doinggreat things for God, that I'm
safe and okay.
And so the message is for thechildren too you need to seek
(44:21):
the Lord for yourself, becauseyour father's and mother's faith
is not going to save you in theend.
It'll protect you temporarily.
It is a covering yes, but it isnot your key to your salvation.
Some people say, well, I justsimply believe in God.
And that's their false sense ofsecurity.
(44:42):
I'm okay, I believe in God.
Yeah, god exists, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah what the devils
believe, but they tremble Inyour life.
You believe in God and youdon't tremble and you're walking
in all this carnality and allthis wickedness.
You don't tremble before theLord.
Even the demons tremble beforethe presence of God.
(45:06):
Some of us have falseinsecurities.
Well, I have a steady income.
There's a lot of peoplestruggling around me, but hey,
I'm good.
Financial security, I got myretirement.
I'm good, I'm not going to haveany problems when I grow old.
I got all the money I need.
I'll last.
It doesn't matter what happenedin America and the government.
(45:27):
I have my money, I'm good, it'sin an IRA, it's pretty safe.
Or you own a nice home.
Look at this beautiful home.
How could God not be for me?
I have this great new car.
I have a stable job.
I haven't lost my job.
(45:49):
We have all of these falsesenses of security and think
that we're all right.
We develop these thoughts thatGod is for us because of all of
these material blessings.
And yet I think I told y'alllast week, when I was talking
about Saul, that Saul fell inthat very same way.
He had victory after victoryafter victory.
He had the people behind him,he had the elders behind him and
(46:13):
sometimes it even apparentlylooked like the prophet of God
was for him and everything wasgoing smooth.
And he just became moreprideful and more boastful.
And you can tell, because assoon as David came on the scene.
He got jealous.
But we do what Saul did, andgradually, if you read the story
of Saul, he grew further andfurther away from the Lord until
(46:36):
the Lord departed from him.
And that's what happens to ussometimes.
We must learn to aptly apply 2Corinthians 10.5 to our life.
It says it's casting downimaginations and every high
thing that exalted itselfagainst the knowledge of God and
bringing into captivity everythought to the obedience of
(46:57):
Christ.
You see, even our own thoughts,our own ideas must be brought
unto the obedience of Christ.
But you know what?
That can only be doneeffectively when you have a
heart of Christ.
But you know what.
That can only be doneeffectively when you have a
heart of humility.
If you don't have a heart ofhumility, you can't cast down
(47:17):
your own thoughts and vainimaginations because you don't
think that they need to be.
You don't even consider theidea that that's a wrong idea.
Who hears God?
Who hears God?
Who hears God?
John 8, 47,.
Jesus said very clearly he thatis of God heareth God.
(47:39):
Ye therefore hear them not,because ye are not of God.
The Pharisees in reality didn'thear God, I said before, even
though the eyes of the people,it appeared.
So Jesus said you don't hearhim because you are not of God.
And this is the generation welive in.
(48:01):
And Jesus, the Lord, is sayingthe very same words to many of
the popular preachers that wesee today you don't hear God.
You may have all the massesbehind you, you may have your
mega churches in millions, but Isay to you you don't hear God,
you're not of God.
Even the man born blind thatJesus healed, listen to his
(48:27):
words.
He says.
We know that God heareth, notsinners.
If any man be a worshiper ofGod and do with his will him, he
heareth.
You know what?
Then there are those of thetruth.
Pilate asked Jesus are you king?
Jesus answered him thou sayestthat I am king.
(48:50):
To this end was I born, and forthis cause I came into the
world, that I should bearwitness unto the truth.
Everyone that is of the truthheareth my voice.
Those that hear God are of God.
Those who hear God are of thetruth.
Those who hear God are of thetruth.
(49:11):
It says by John the Apostle thatas many as received them, to
them he gave power to become thesons of God, even to them that
believe on his name, which wereborn not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of thewill of the man, but of God,
prophetically flesh, nor of thewill of the man, but of God,
prophetically speaking.
(49:32):
God, we know.
God knows the end from thebeginning and, knowing the
decisions that every man isgoing to make, he has decreed
that those born of God have beengiven power to become sons of
God because they believe on hisname.
These are they that are of thetruth, but, in contrast, it says
(49:54):
in 1 John, 4, 5, and 6, theyare of the world.
Therefore, speak they of theworld, and the world heareth
them.
But we are of God.
He that knoweth God heareth us.
The we are of God.
He that knoweth God heareth us.
The apostle is speaking this,and he that is not of God
(50:16):
heareth not us.
And this is how we know thespirit of truth and the spirit
of error.
There is a stark distinctionbetween the world and the truth.
The world hears those of theworld.
Think about what you considerthe world Music, television,
(50:39):
hollywood.
You jump on their MBA, you jumpon their bandwagon.
You treat them like idols.
Of course you're going to belistening to them, and what does
that indict you, as Of theworld with them.
Those are the people thatlisten to the world, those that
are of the world, but those thatare of God, they hear God's
(51:02):
voice through the people whospeak God's word.
Those of God are heard by thosewho are God's.
The book of wisdom gives us somepractical insight for the
purposes of discerning this ofthe world of God or of the truth
, and it says, describing like achild, the type of person is
(51:27):
known by his or her behavior,whether his doing is pure or
right.
It says in Proverbs 20, 11,even a child is known by his
doings, whether his work be pureand whether it be right.
The hearing ear and the seeingeye, the Lord have made even
them both.
So I say to you that hearingand seeing the Lord have made
(51:50):
even them both.
So I say to you that hearingand seeing the Lord is based
solely upon the heart of theindividual.
If one is doing things that arepure and true, when he's given
the word of God, how do youthink he's going to respond?
He's going to agree.
He's going to agree.
He's going to confirm why,because his actions already
(52:14):
demonstrate that he agrees withthe word, that he did not know
and he'll listen to it and he'llreceive it.
But if you're walking inimpurity, if you're walking in
lies and deception and you'reworking in all the things that
are contrary to the word, what'sgoing gonna happen when the
word is brought forth to you?
No-transcript, and all that isis a sign to you.
(52:56):
This person is not of God, atleast not right now.
Move on, because right now, inhis state, he's impure, he is
unrighteous and he doesn't wantto have anything to do with a
pure, righteous and holy word ofGod.
So I summarize here that thosethat hear God oh, excuse me,
those of God hear God's words.
Those whom God hears are trueworshipers of God.
(53:20):
We know what a true worshiperis those that worship him in
spirit and in truth and thosewho do his will.
The worships of God are thosewho do his will.
The worships of God are thosewho do his will.
Those of the truth hear hisvoice.
The world listens to those ofthe world who speak of the world
(53:43):
.
Those of God hear God's peoplewho speak God's word and are
heard by those who are God's.
So what do we need to do?
What is one, what does anindividual need to do to hear
God.
I look at the example, thestandard Jesus.
What was the example that heleft for us?
(54:03):
And I'm going to go from old tonew to give you hopefully as
good a complete a picture, justto get the point across.
But there was prophesiedthrough Isaiah in chapter 11.
And I'm only going to highlightthe point that I want to
address right now.
It says and the Spirit of theLord shall rest upon him,
(54:27):
referring to the man, jesusChrist.
Christ, and made him of quickunderstanding.
Look at what it says in Isaiah49, verse 1.
(54:49):
Isaiah is speaking this, but ifyou have an ear to hear, you're
going to hear the spirit ofChrist.
Listen, o Isles unto me, andhearken ye people from far.
The Lord hath called me fromthe womb, from the bowels of my
(55:12):
mother, reminds me of Mary,reminds me of those others that
heard.
And he hath made my mouth likea sharp sword In the shadow of
his hand.
Hath he hid me and made me apolished shaft In of his hand
hath he hid me and made me apolished shaft In his quiver
(55:34):
hath he hid me.
And what I'm getting from theseverses is an indication that
the Spirit of the Lord didsomething with the man Jesus
Christ.
He made him of quickunderstanding.
He made his mouth like a sharpsword by the Spirit of the Lord
a polished shaft, a proven arrowthat when shot is going to hit
the target dead on.
It was the spirit of the Lordthat was found within the man
(55:58):
Jesus Christ, without had to dosomething, even though the
Spirit of the Lord decreed fromeons past, I rested upon him.
(56:19):
I made him of quickunderstanding.
I made him, I made his mouthlike a sharp sword.
Jesus was a man taught of God bythe eternal spirit of God that
dwelt within him.
It says in Philippians that hemade himself of no reputation.
(56:44):
The word there was kenosis.
It is the idea that God in allof his glory disrobed himself of
all of his glory, hisomniscience, his omnipotence,
all the things that made him God.
He took that all off and becamea man.
And that man was taught by theeternal spirit of God, was
(57:12):
taught by the eternal spirit ofGod, and he was taught through
revelation, knowledge, and thespirit of the Lord gave him
spiritual ears to hear and gavehim the heart of understanding.
He made him of quickunderstanding.
He made his mouth like a sharpsword.
So what I'm saying to you isthis as the man Jesus allowed
(57:34):
the Spirit of God to teach him,I told you that from the very
beginning you have to be wantingto be corrected, to be taught.
You have to have that idea, Iwant to be taught.
You have to have that idea, Iwant to be taught.
Jesus willingly, voluntarily,submitted to the Spirit of God
(57:59):
and his every instruction.
So the man Jesus matured inwisdom and in stature and in
favor with God and man.
Listen to these words in Psalm119, 97.
These words are prophetic andthey describe the attitude of a
(58:23):
man who set his face like aflint and purposely decided to
be a lover of God's law.
Everybody see that word mem.
It means love of God's law.
In this scripture it says oh,how I love thy law.
(58:46):
I wonder who's speaking here.
Let's see.
It is my meditation all the day.
I wonder who's speaking here.
Let's see.
Testimonies are my meditation.
(59:06):
I understand more than theancients, the elders, because I
keep thy precepts.
I have refrained my feet fromevery evil way that I might keep
thy word.
I have not departed from thyjudgments, for thou has taught
me how sweet are thy words to mytaste, yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth Through thy precepts, I get understanding.
(59:29):
Therefore, I hate and we thinkthat's David and it is David.
And there's also more than that, because we said so many times
before, through what was said in1 Peter, that it was the spirit
of Christ on the prophets ofold Peter, that it was the
(59:52):
spirit of Christ on the prophetsof old.
David was a prophet of old andhe had the spirit of Christ
speaking through him.
These are the words of the man,jesus Christ.
I loved his law.
I did not turn away from it.
It made me more wise than theelders.
I think of that scripture and Ithink of why in the world did
they put this small littletestimony about Jesus around the
(01:00:16):
age of 12, being left behind inthe city and asking questions
with the elders?
And I think of this scripture.
He left that, not in arrogance,but recognizing that because he
devoted his heart to lovingGod's law.
It made him wiser than theelders.
How many times did he askquestions to the Pharisees?
(01:00:39):
And they got stumped.
It was a life of him beingtaught under the tutelage of the
spirit of God in God's word.
As far as I'm concerned, thispassage is a prophetic cry under
the tutelage of the Spirit ofGod in God's Word.
As far as I'm concerned, thispassage is a prophetic cry and
declaration of the man, jesusChrist.
Look at what Jesus said throughthe Spirit of Christ that was
upon the prophets of old.
(01:00:59):
He said in Isaiah 50, the Lordhath given me the tongue of the
learned.
We think Isaiah's just sayingthat.
And it says that I should knowhow to speak a word in season to
him.
That is weary, sounds very muchlike what it said in Psalms.
He wakeneth morning by morning.
He wakeneth my ear to hear asthe learn the Lord.
God has opened my ear and I wasnot rebellious, neither turned
(01:01:22):
away my back.
And we think Isaiah is the onespeaking all of this.
And it says I gave my back tothe smiters and my cheeks to
them, that plucked off my hairand I hid not my face from shame
and spit it for the Lord.
God will help me.
Therefore, I shall not beconfounded.
(01:01:42):
Therefore have I set my facelike a fence and I know that I
shall not be ashamed.
And there is the words of theSpirit of Christ.
That wasn't Isaiah, that wasthe Spirit of Christ saying what
was happening to him during thedays of his flesh.
He was giving the prophetsglimpses.
That's why they couldn'tunderstand such a thing that God
, the mystery of godliness, wasmanifested in the flesh.
(01:02:06):
And these are the things thathe said.
These are the things that wereruminating in the flesh and
these are the things that hesaid.
These are the things that wereruminating in his heart.
And we're getting glimpses ofwhat was happening in the man,
and that is none other thanJesus speaking of himself
Through the prophets of old.
And we think it's strange to saythat the man, jesus Christ, was
taught of God.
Well, he was God.
John 8, 28 says this when youlift up the son of man, then
(01:02:31):
shall you know that I am he andthat I did nothing of myself.
But as the father taught me, hesaid so himself.
The father taught me, I speakthese things.
And if you understand that theman Jesus is our example to
(01:02:54):
follow, it makes all the sensein the world.
The man Jesus admits that theFather, the Spirit of the Lord,
taught him.
He taught him what he learnedobedience.
Hebrews 4.2.
To just being obedient doesn'tmean you're doing something
wrong.
It means you're learning totake the commands of someone
(01:03:17):
higher than you.
That's all there must be I saidit before there must be a
willingness in the man to betaught, because in doing so you
are going to be taught.
Then, to learn what you'rebeing taught, you must obey, and
(01:03:38):
this is what the man Jesus did.
It says in EcclesiastesEcclesiastes 5, verse 1, keep
thy foot when thou goest to thehouse of God, and be more ready
to hear Than to give thesacrifice of fools, For they
consider not that they do evil.
(01:03:58):
See what he ties into the foolsthat come to him.
They bring a sacrifice that Idon't listen to.
I don't regard.
Why?
Because they do evil, I don'tlisten to.
I don't regard why?
Because they do evil, I'm notlistening to them.
Be not rash with thy mouth andlet not thine heart be hasty to
(01:04:22):
utter anything before God.
Let your words be few.
This is there for a reason.
This is there to testifysomething to us and to teach us
something.
It says in James 1, who agrees?
Let every man be swift to hear,slow to speak.
According to these scriptures,jesus came not to destroy the
(01:04:45):
law, to fulfill it right.
Well, these scriptures are apart of the word of God.
So when Jesus went into prayer,how did he go into prayer.
He went in ready to hear.
He went in ready to hear.
He went in ready to listen.
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I don't do anything unless Isee the Father do it.
I don't say anything unless Ihear the Father say it.
I'm always ready to listen,whether I'm in prayer on the
mountain by myself or am I inthe midst of talking to the
Pharisees.
I have this attitude.
(01:05:28):
I have this humility that Idon't do anything unless the
Father says it or does it.
He was not rash with his mouth,he didn't utter this and that
when he went into prayer but hemade his words few and when he
heard this is another key he wasready to mix what he heard with
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faith.
And faith, regardless of whatthis world tells you is, when
you have the works of obedienceto the word of God, faith is not
simply belief.
You look at faith biblically,historically, through the
scriptures, and faith was alwaysI hear God and I do what he
(01:06:10):
says.
Abraham, I hear God, I do whathe says Jacob, I hear God, I do
what he says Israel, I hear God,I do what he says Joshua, I
hear God, I do what he says.
That's faith.
That's all faith is I hear Godand do what he says.
Paul was asking rhetoricalquestions.
(01:06:31):
Did you receive the Spirit bythe works of the law or by the
hearing of faith?
It says in Hebrews 4, 2,.
For unto us the gospel waspreached as well as unto them,
but the word preached did notprofit them.
Why?
Because it was not mixed withfaith in them that heard it.
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The word of God must be mixedwith faith, and faith is a
readiness to comply and to obey.
That is a heart of one who ishumble and saying I want to be
taught, I want to be taught, Iwant to be taught, I want to be
taught.
Teach me, teach me, becausewithout faith it is impossible
to please God.
And for he that cometh to Godmust believe.
(01:07:19):
You must believe that he is,and he will reward you for
diligently seeking him.
I can't stress that enough.
The individual must diligentlyseek him.
It's not a complacent.
Let me sit back on the couchand wait for the Lord to speak
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so that I can hear him.
There's a diligent seeking,there's.
I'm getting ready, I'm gettingon that line.
When I go on track, I'm gettingready to race, I'm not just
standing up, I'm getting ready,I'm getting my way forward, I'm
ready.
I'm getting on that line when Igo on track.
I'm getting ready to race.
I'm not just standing up, I'mgetting ready, I'm getting my
way forward.
I'm ready, I'm ready to go, I'mready to hear, I'm ready to be
taught.
James said Let him ask in faith,not wavering, for let not the
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man think that he shall receiveanything of the Lord if he is
tossed to and fro like the sea.
God will always.
God will always.
God will always honor thedecisions and actions that are
made in faith in him.
I understand, as young peoplein the faith, that we're not
(01:08:23):
gonna be sure and we're gonna beah, I'm not sure.
Then you don't know what to doand you start peddling back and
forth.
That's why you need a man ofGod.
You need a man of God in yourlife to teach you how to discern
the voice of the Lord.
But even if you are young andeven if you think you hear
something and you're not sureand you take the steps of faith
to do it, he will honor thatfaith.
He will not let you fall flatin your face and be ashamed
(01:08:46):
because you did it believing youwere hearing him.
He'll always teach you, he'llalways back you up.
He will not honor theinstability of your thoughts and
emotions as you go back andforth and then you do nothing.
He doesn't want us walking infear.
(01:09:08):
There's a quote that I'm notgoing to quote, I'm just going
to paraphrase it.
It says that the fear of theLord and the love of the Lord
cannot be separated.
It is only when you perceiveand get a revelation of his
majesty and his glory and how hetranscends all that we know.
(01:09:30):
It is at that moment that webegin to understand his mercy.
If we are not awed by God, hisdesire for us will not move us.
It won't.
I'm not going to be impressed,so why would I go after
(01:09:55):
something I'm really notimpressed with?
But when we catch a glimpse ofthat transcendence, knowing that
God in all of his glory, in allof his might, in all of his
omnipotence, in all of thegreatness, that awesomeness that
he is, and he wants to drawnear to me, or he wants me to
(01:10:16):
come close to him, it causes usto develop this love, because
the almighty God, in all of hisgreatness, great goodness, wants
me near to him.
Think of it in the world.
Brad Pitt comes into the malland all of the teenagers and
(01:10:42):
they're so awed at him.
And what if Brad said come withme, I want to spend some time
with you, you want to be with me?
I'm giving it to you in thenatural, because if you get a
(01:11:02):
revelation of God in the spirit,knowing that he wants you to
draw near to him, your heart isgoing to flutter.
I don't care whether you're aman or a woman, you're going to
be awed, so awed it's going tofloor you spiritually, it's
going to humble you.
If you weren't broken before,you're going to be broken now.
We must grow in the fear of theLord if we have any hope of
(01:11:30):
growing in a love for him.
So in order to hear him, youmust deliberately decide.
I want to love God's law.
Jesus may set the example.
I want to love God's law.
I want to meditate on his law.
(01:11:51):
There must be a willingness onyour part to be taught, to learn
through obedience.
There must be a readiness firstto hear.
You must be swift to hear, notspeak.
Hear, having very few words inthe presence of an almighty God.
(01:12:14):
There must be a readiness tomix the word of God with your
faith through compliance andobedience.
There's a lot of examples Iwanted to bring, but it would
take forever and I don't want todo that.
There's a lot of examples ofGod talking to man.
So I'm going to challenge you toconsider have you ever
(01:12:36):
considered taking notice of allthe testimonies of conversations
between God and man?
And you see, there's areciprocity between God and man
as they converse.
What I'm saying is that there'san exchange, there's a mutual
exchange.
There's a giving and a taking.
There's him speaking and theother person responding.
(01:12:58):
There's the other personspeaking and God responding.
There's an exchange between thetwo, between God and Adam,
between God and Cain, betweenGod and Noah, god and Abraham,
rebecca, between God and Jacob,between God and Moses and Joshua
(01:13:24):
and Gideon and Samuel and David, between Jeremiah and Ezekiel
and Hosea and Amos and Zechariah.
Look at all those conversationsand consider how much dialogue
there is.
It's not like God spoke and noone said a word to him.
It's not like no one inquiredof the Lord and then didn't get
a response.
Like when you read a book.
(01:13:47):
There's this exchange betweenthe characters in the book.
Do you see any one-worddialogues?
Consider that when you go thereRhetorical right now, because I
know you haven't even thoughtabout it but the conversations
between God and man are rich inthe exchange of communication
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between one to another.
And if that be the case, thatis a testimony to us.
That should testify to us.
What should I expect when I'mtalking and hearing God?
I should expect an exchange,and then I say if we have the
spirit of God residing in us,why don't we have this exchange?
(01:14:33):
I think the answer's found in alot of things that I've just
gone over and covered who hearsGod and who doesn't?
Some of it is just in thesimple fact that you come and
pray and pray and pray and prayand pray In Jesus' name.
Goodbye, that's your flesh.
You're walking in your flesh.
You won't even stop to hear God.
If you were blessed andappreciate listening to this
(01:14:55):
podcast and you would like tosupport us in our efforts,
consider lifting us up in prayerfirst.
Then remember these four socialmedia buzzwords share, like,
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(01:15:16):
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May God bless you and make youprosperous in Him as you listen
and obey His voice.
The vision received was that of blood cells
traveling throughout the body,supplying the much needed oxygen
and other nutrients to thediffering members of the body to
fulfill their purpose.
Once the blood cells are spent,they must return back to the
heart to be refilled beforebeing sent out again and fulfill
their purpose and fulfill theirpurpose.
(00:27):
What Bishop said in thebeginning is well, actually just
right here at the end of thebeginning it was very important.
I want, I'm requesting, thatyou listen, that you hear today
what the message is, that youdon't so much focus on writing
(00:47):
this and going to this scriptureand that scripture, because
sometimes that will distract youand then you stop listening
because you're trying to get tothe scripture.
If there's a scripture to beread, it's gonna be up here.
If it's just me paraphrasing orgiving the word, just listen,
take notes, definitely, butdon't be so caught up in just
looking through all thescriptures, because they will be
(01:07):
up here and I promise you thatthis word that is going to be
shared with you today, I'll giveit to you in digital form and a
document and then you can studyand then you can really
meditate and dwell on.
But right now, your hearing isreally what God is needing right
now.
You need to hear right now.
It says faith cometh by hearing.
(01:28):
But it's not just hearing.
It's hearing the word of Godand we need to understand how
important it is to be able toaccurately hear and discern the
word of God at all times.
Something the Lord showed me Ican't remember what it was,
(01:49):
whether it was in thisfellowship or when it was way
back in Florida that regardlessof what you feel or what you
think, in consideration of theend times, and if you believe
that you're going through thetribulation or not, you know in
this fellowship I think we'veall come into the agreement and
understanding that there is apost-trib.
But simply knowing what isgoing to happen is not as
(02:13):
important as hearing the Lordthrough the midst of what is
going to happen, because you canget into the situation of
knowing the end of the story ingeneral, but you don't know the
end of your story.
And the Lord is speaking to hispeople and has been speaking to
his people and that is the mostimportant thing that has
(02:35):
brought about the deliverance ofhis people.
His people heard Him and didwhat he said.
It wasn't because they knew theend of the story that they got
delivered.
Moses didn't know the end ofthe story.
He had to hear the Lord and hehad to obey what the Lord had
said.
David had to hear the Lord andobey what the Lord had said.
(02:57):
Joshua went into the promisedland, had to hear the Lord and
obey with what the Lord had said, and that's what gave him the
victory after victory.
That's what gave all thesaints victory after victory is
the fact that they heard him andthey did what he said, not
because they knew the end of thestory.
The end of the story, as far asI'm concerned, is completely
(03:19):
unimportant.
It's going to help you have thefaith to understand what is
going on, and that's about it,because you have to hear the
Lord daily, I would say themoment by moment.
But in order for you to do that, there's some things that you
have to do on your end so thatyou can walk in that type of
(03:42):
fellowship, of covenantrelationship with God, that you
literally hear him every day,moment by moment for all
decisions, great and small.
It says in Romans 10 (03:50):
14,.
One of the rhetorical questionsPaul asked was how are they
going to hear without a preacher?
And so I'm starting off withthe fact that we have to come to
(04:15):
the understanding thatsometimes you're not going to
hear the Lord without a preacher.
This is not just talking aboutthe gospel, this is talking
about when you need to hear fromGod.
Sometimes the only way for youto hear from God is if you
listen to the preacher.
And there's a word in thescriptures called inquiring of
the Lord.
When we inquire of the Lord, itcan be done personally, it can
be done in your private prayercloset.
(04:36):
I'm not giving a message thatyou have to hear the preacher.
Only I'm saying sometimesyou're not hearing the Lord
unless you listen to what thepreacher, the man of God that
was sent of God, is saying.
But you can inquire of the Lord.
David inquired of the Lord andhe said I have desired of the
(04:57):
Lord one thing, and it's thatone thing that I'm going to seek
after, because I want to dwellin the house of the Lord forever
.
I want to be there all the daysof my life.
I want to behold the beauty ofthe Lord.
(05:17):
I want to inquire in His holytemple.
I want to come into the verypresence of God and hear God for
myself.
And you can.
That is a desire that youshould have, that I want to see
the beauty of the Lord formyself.
I don't want the high priest togo into the Holy of Holies.
(05:40):
For me to talk of the Lord, tobe in the presence of the Lord,
to see the Lord face to face,for me, there's got to be desire
in your heart to see foryourself the beauty of the Lord,
to be in his temple and in hispresence, to seek after God for
(06:02):
yourself.
So I'm not saying you shouldn'thave that.
I'm saying sometimes you're notgoing to hear the Lord unless
you listen to the preacher, butsometimes you have to go through
a man of God.
It says in 1 Samuel 9, 9, thatbefore time in Israel in the
past, when a man went to inquireof God, he came to the seer,
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and the seer was what theycalled the man who heard God
before they started calling hima prophet.
And so with that one scriptureI'm saying that it's not a wrong
thing, because they did it inthe old covenant.
The church did it in the oldcovenant when they inquired of
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God, they went to the seer, theprophet, the man of God, in
order to hear from the God.
And that man of God in 1 Samuel, 9, 9 was Samuel at the time.
And so I go back to 1 Samuel,chapter 3.
You could read 1 through 21.
(07:09):
I'm only going to highlightcertain points, so just listen
to the words that I'mhighlighting.
Samuel was a child.
Samuel had just been given tothe high priest Eli.
Hannah gave him up, promised tothe Lord if you give me a child
, I will dedicate him to you.
He will be yours all the daysof his life.
(07:30):
And Samuel ministered in thehouse of the Lord.
He ministered before the man ofGod, eli.
And he was a child, and his momdid that to him.
He didn't decide for himself oh, let me go serve the Lord in
the house of God.
His mom did that to him.
He didn't decide for himself oh, let me go serve the Lord in
the house of God.
His mom did that for him.
And it says the childministered unto the Lord before
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Eli.
It says the word of the Lord wasprecious in those days and
there was no open mission.
In other words, when the Lordspoke and you heard him, it was
like a valuable commodity,because he wasn't speaking to a
lot of people, there was no openvision.
It wasn't like everybody washearing, from the north of
Israel to the south of Israel,to the east and west.
I mean, when you heard God, itwas like oh my God.
(08:17):
And so you went to the personto hear God because he wasn't
talking very much.
Went to the person to hear Godbecause he wasn't talking very
much and this was a time whereEli's age was catching up with
him.
He wasn't able to see as wellas he could.
And it describes how there wasone night.
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Samuel was going to bed and theLord called Samuel.
It says and the Lord called, andI believe there should be a
comma there.
And the Lord called Samuel.
He called him by his name.
I'm highlighting that becauseit's important.
I want you to understand.
I want this word because iffaith really does come by
hearing and hearing the word ofGod.
(09:03):
Then when you hear that theLord called him by name, are you
hearing your name called?
Because he spoke to his peopleand he called them by name.
I'm just using Samuel as anexample, but you can go through
the scriptures yourself and youcan see how he called him by
(09:23):
name.
He said his name.
It says the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel didn't know what to do.
You know the story.
He went to Eli.
Yes, lord thy servant heareth.
No, no, no, no, go back to bed.
I didn't call you.
It says again.
And the Lord called yet againSamuel and he went to Eli.
(09:47):
I didn't call you, go back, golie down.
Because Samuel did not know theLord, neither was the word
revealed unto Samuel.
And the Lord called Samuelagain, samuel again, a third
time.
And he rose and he went to Eli.
(10:09):
Now Eli still doesn't get it,but at this moment the man of
God then perceives the Lord iscalling this child.
You see, it took a man of Godto help the child understand
that, hey, it's God speaking toyou.
And if this example is here,you have to understand that all
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of the old custom and examplesare there for a reason.
I've talked about this in thelast issue.
They're there to teach you,they're there to lead you unto
Christ.
So it isn't any ill thing foryou to have to depend upon the
man of God in order to hear Godand to start discerning his
(10:53):
voice.
But we live in an age where weare so independent we're not
willing to humble ourselves andallow the man of God to help us
understand.
That was God, that wasn't God.
So when Eli perceived that theLord was calling the child, he
(11:15):
said when he calls again, say tohim speak, lord, for thy
servant heareth.
And Samuel went to lie downagain.
And this is what you gotta payattention to these, because it
says and the Lord came and stood.
He was right there.
(11:35):
It wasn't this metaphysicalvoice over I don't know where.
He was, there standing, wantingto speak to Samuel.
I lay this as a foundation offaith so that when you go back
into prayer that you realizeit's not this distant voice of
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God speaking from millions andbillions of miles away.
He's right there to speak toyou.
But if you don't have the faithfor that, you're always going
to consider oh, he's just somevoice.
Oh, I hardly ever hear him.
I heard today, I hardly everhear him.
I hear him through this andthat and, yes, God speaks in
many different ways to us.
But I don't see why we live ina day and age where we have the
(12:22):
Holy Ghost and we don't get thepresence that God was actually
right there.
Wherever we were in our car, inour room, in our downstairs
basement, and have the sensethat he's right there and he's
ready to dialogue with you.
He says Samuel, samuel.
(12:44):
Then Samuel answered speak,speak, thy servant heareth.
And you can read for yourself inyour own time how he started
telling.
I'm going to tell you about Eliand blah, blah, blah and all of
this stuff.
That's going on.
But you know the story.
But I want to end and highlight.
In the end it says and Samuelgrew and the Lord was with him
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and did let none of his wordsfall to the ground.
In other words, the words thatSamuel spoke, none of them fell
to the ground in vain.
What the Lord spoke throughSamuel was always fulfilled and
it's because of this that itsays all Israel, from Dan to
Beersheba, all Israel knew thatSamuel was established to be a
(13:29):
prophet of the Lord.
Do you see any self-promotionhere, the self-promotion of any
office of God should be throughthe testimony of the witnesses.
They should readily see.
There shouldn't have to be.
I have to put a title before myname.
Everybody should readily see.
(13:52):
That's a man of God.
He's speaking from on high andeverybody's gonna know it.
There shouldn't be an argument.
But in the church you knowthere's lots of flesh and the
flesh can never hear the Lord.
But I highlight to you becausesometimes in our lives there has
(14:12):
to be a period of ministeringunto the Lord before the man of
God there must be.
Allen made this comment in anemail the homme de Dieu, the man
of God.
And it's necessary in order foryou to practice your
(14:33):
discernment for hearing the Lord, you have to have a man of God
in your life to teach that toyou.
Even though Samuel understandwhere Samuel was.
Samuel was in the midst of adefunct Ichabod-like church.
Remember Eli and his sons?
Eli wasn't taking care of hissons.
(14:55):
He was letting them take bribes, letting them do this, letting
them do that.
Why wasn't there any open?
Why wasn't there an open visionfor the word of the Lord?
Because Eli, the man and thehead of the house of God, was
out of order and so were hischildren.
He wasn't doing anything aboutit.
But even in the midst of allthat, even when Eli was not
(15:17):
right with God, samuelministered to the Lord under his
tutelage and was still able tobe taught how to to the Lord
under his tutelage and was stillable to be taught how to hear
the Lord.
Even though Eli was in a badplace, he was still trained
under Eli, who was himself in anunrighteous state because he
(15:41):
was not dealing with hischildren.
So Samuel was stationed.
As he grew up, he wasestablished as a prophet of the
Lord and it says he was a leaderover a company of prophets.
It says in 1 Samuel 19,.
Now we went from chapter threeto chapter 19.
So he's grown, he's out on hisown right now.
(16:02):
But don't forget where hestarted and where he learned.
It says and Saul sentmessengers to take David,
because Saul, you know, wasafter David.
But that's not the point of themessage.
And when they saw the companyof prophets prophesying and
Samuel standing appointed overthem, samuel was now in the
place of maturity and leadership, like Eli was before him.
(16:27):
Eli taught him how to serve theLord.
Eli taught him how to hear theLord and discern.
This is the voice of the Lord.
Now he is now doing the samething.
He's over a company of prophetsand, as the spirit of God comes
upon them, they are nowprophesying and he is appointed
over them.
So in this section, let mereiterate for you the main
(16:55):
points.
Many times a man of God isneeded in order to hear the word
of God and to teach someone tohear the voice of the Lord.
Number two, inquiring of theLord can be done personally.
You can hear the Lord foryourself.
You can go into his temple bythe blood of the Lamb and come
(17:15):
into the presence of God andhear him for yourself.
But many times the one whodesires to hear the Lord should
be serving the Lord under theman of God.
God is able to reach you inyour faithfulness of service to
(17:36):
him, even if the man of God isnot right with the Lord.
For some reasonas I got into this, I'm
realizing right now, in thismoment, that I fit that
description.
I did not realize it until nowbecause I'm thinking back upon
myself.
I was in a charismatic church,but in that place that man of
God taught me to hear the voiceof the Lord, taught me to get
(18:00):
into the scriptures, to searchthem out and even though all the
things that he taught was notright, was not correct, was not
perfect, I began to hear thevoice of the Lord in that place,
but he was way out of order,immensely, and I won't even get
into the details, but I'mrealizing right now that I live
that example that I just nowgave you.
(18:21):
You have to understand youdon't have to be in the perfect
place with the perfect person tohear the Lord perfectly,
because God is a God that's inspite of God, in spite of who
you're with, in spite of themessed up church that's out
there.
I'm still gonna reach you ifyour heart is after me.
(18:41):
So who does the Lord hear andwho does He not hear?
I think that's importantbecause, putting it simply,
those who hear the Lord are theones whom the Lord hears.
Those whom the Lord hears arethe ones that hear him.
Kind of a funky little paradox,but I want to show it to you in
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the scripture.
So if we'll turn to Exodus 3 (19:06):
7 , I'm only going to highlight
certain points, I believe inthis chapter.
The Lord is talking to Mosesand the Lord says I have surely
seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt and have
heard their cry by reason oftheir taskmasters, for I know
(19:29):
their sorrows.
And what I'm highlighting verysimply is the Lord said I have
seen my people and have heardtheir cry.
The Lord sees and hears hispeople.
Don't think differently.
Don't let the enemy crowd inand think that you're too
insignificant to be heard of theLord, because if you're His, He
(19:49):
hears and sees all that's goingon in your life.
In Psalm 34, it says the eyes ofthe Lord are upon the righteous
and his ears are open to theircry.
The righteous cry and the Lordheareth and delivereth them.
The Lord is nigh unto them thatare of broken heart and saith
(20:10):
it such as be of a contritespirit.
In Malachi 3.16, it says theythat feared the Lord, the Lord
hearkened and heard them.
For them that feared the Lordand thought upon his name, the
Lord hearkened and heard them.
For them that feared the Lordand thought upon his name, the
Lord hearkened and heard them.
(20:32):
And so, with these threescriptures, I realize that the
scriptures testify that the Lordis always watching and ever
listening to his people.
His people are righteous.
They cry in humility, with abroken heart.
(20:54):
They're not afraid to show howbroken they are, how contrite
they are, and they recognizethat He alone is the one to save
and deliver them.
They are the ones that trulyfear the Lord and meditate on
Him and His name.
These are qualities that I'mhighlighting to you, that, if
you don't have them, you need tostart developing them, because
this is something that has tocome from you, not the
(21:16):
righteousness.
I'm talking about the desire tohear him, to truly hear him,
because so many times we getinto prayer and we talk, talk,
talk and pray and pray and prayand pray and pray and pray and
pray in Jesus name, and we walkout the door and we didn't give
him an ear.
We do it in church.
(21:37):
We're so afraid of the silence,we're so afraid of that awkward
moment of not hearing anybodyand thinking there's something
wrong.
Oh, let's fill the air withsomething.
Why aren't we quiet to listen?
If I'm talking to you and I'mtrying to have a conversation
(21:58):
with you, and you start talkingto me and I'm about to respond,
and you just say "see ya! Whatkind of conversation did we just
have?
Not much.
You got to say what you wantedto say and then you left.
And we do that a lot.
We I'm talking about we we alldo that a lot.
We don't just sit quietly andlisten.
(22:20):
How does he want to respond tothis?
He knows my trials, he knowswhat I'm going through.
It says in Jeremiah 6.10,.
There's a reason why some of usdo this.
There's a reason why some of uswill pray, pray, pray, pray,
pray, pray In Jesus' namegoodbye.
(22:41):
It says in Jeremiah 6.10,.
To whom shall I speak and givewarning that they may hear?
Behold, their ear isuncircumcised and they cannot
hearken.
Behold, the word of the Lord isunto them a reproach.
(23:03):
It's an offensive thing andthey have no delight in it.
In what his word, theuncircumcised Hearing the Lord
does not come to theuncircumcised of ear.
Now we know the worduncircumcised or circumcised has
(23:23):
to do with what?
Cutting what?
The flesh.
He's using that uncircumcisedor circumcised word to give you
an understanding.
Why can't they hear me?
They don't have the flesh cutout.
They can't hear me, they'rewalking in the flesh.
(23:50):
The word of God is a reproach,it's an offensive thing to
people walking in the flesh.
That's why they don't hear theLord.
Those of the flesh, do theytake delight in reading the word
?
No, they don't have anyinterest in that.
And it's a spiritual thingbecause, spiritually, the
(24:13):
demonic oppression that is uponthem, that causes, that, fuels
them to continue walking in theflesh, doesn't want them to do
that.
We've heard testimonies, funnytestimony children in high
school having trouble sleeping.
Why don't you go read the wordbefore you go to bed?
See how fast you go to sleep?
Why?
Because they're in the fleshand the enemy doesn't want them
(24:34):
to get in the word.
It says in Galatians 5, 17,.
Remember, those of the fleshtake no delight in the word, for
the flesh lusts against thespirit, it fights against the
spirit, it wrestles against thespirit.
The flesh is contrary to thespirit of God.
(24:55):
Jesus is not only the spirit ofGod, he is the word of God and
the flesh is always wrestlingand contesting against Jesus.
In Ezekiel 12 too you don't haveto turn there, I'm just going
to read it.
He says to Ezekiel, son of man,you dwell in a midst of a
(25:18):
rebellious house, and they haveeyes to see but they don't see.
They have ears to hear, butthey don't hear why?
Because they're a rebellioushouse.
A lot of you will hear themessage, but you won't hear why?
Because they're a rebellioushouse.
A lot of you will hear themessage, but you won't hear it.
You'll see, but you won't see.
Because there's rebellion inyou.
You can't hear the Lord withuncircumcised ears and you
(25:43):
cannot hear the Lord in themidst of a state of rebellion.
Those of the house of rebels donot hear, they do not see the
Lord.
They are rebellious.
Turn to this scripture.
This I do want to.
Zechariah 7.
Verse 11 through 13.
(26:12):
I'm asking, Bishop, you gotyour reading glasses.
Can you read out loud,commandingly, Zechariah, what
did I say?
Seven, verse 11 through 13.
Zechariah 7, verse 11 through13.
(26:35):
But they refused to hearken andpulled away the shoulder and
stopped their ears.
Then they should not hear.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
(26:55):
la, la, la, la, la, la.
I want to hear that.
No, la la, la, la, la, la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
Uh, uh, no, the law.
No, I don't hear, I'm notlistening.
I'm not listening.
I'm not listening.
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
I'm not listening, I'm notlistening, I'm not listening,
(27:21):
I'm not listening.
You got to do that sometimes, Idon't know.
The Lord just gave me that as Iwas reading.
I said I'm going to do that.
It looks ridiculous and foolish, but that's the way the Lord
sees rebellious children.
I don't want to hear you, shh.
And since they don't listen tothe instructing word of wisdom
(27:48):
when they cry out, does the Lordhear them?
You didn't want to listen to mewhen I was trying to help you.
You didn't want to listen to mewhen I came to you, and now you
can't suffer what you'resuffering, and now you want to
cry to me.
I'm not hearing you.
(28:13):
And what this shows me is thatthere must be, if you're going
to hear the Lord, there must bea willingness on your part to
hear the reproving andcorrecting word of God.
If you don't have that, you'renot going to hear the Lord.
If you're going to staystubborn in your rebellion, you
(28:37):
will not hear the Lord, becauseyou will do exactly what foolish
thing I just did in front ofy'all.
That's what the Lord sees whenhe sees looking to and fro
throughout the earth for thosebroken and contrite of heart.
And he'll come and he'll try tospeak to those, but they're not
listening, they don't want tohear.
(28:58):
It says in Proverbs 15, verse31 the ear that hears reproof of
life, they abide among the wise.
He that refuses instructiondespises his own soul.
But he that heareth reproof, hegets understanding.
(29:18):
The man who hears thecorrection gets understanding.
The fear of the Lord is theinstruction of wisdom and before
honor is humility.
I say this to my kids in mathand they don't believe me.
But I tell them you don't haveto understand why this works.
(29:41):
You don't have to understandwhy is all of this stuff?
All you need to know is this isstep one, step two, step three.
Plug in the numbers, do themath and you'll get the answer.
Without the understanding.
And I was like that the teacherwould just show me.
Just show me the steps.
Don't try to explain to me.
(30:03):
Just show me the steps.
He showed me the steps.
I mimicked the steps.
I got the answer.
Steps, I got the answer right,I got hundreds.
That's all I did in math.
It was that easy.
Just show me how to do it.
The understanding came later.
I understood.
Oh, I get.
That's why that works.
Okay, I sometimes didn'tunderstand until I got into
(30:24):
college.
I sometimes didn't understandit until I taught it in the
middle of my high school class.
Then I understood it.
That was years later.
But my kids don't get that andwe as a people of the earth
don't get that.
You don't have to understand,you just have to do what I say
and then you'll get theunderstanding.
The obedience has to come first, not understanding.
(30:46):
I don't have to explain to you.
You wouldn't understand if Iexplained it to you.
So why bother?
Just obey me, trust me, I'mtaking care of you.
It says also in Proverbs 8, 34,that the man that heareth me is
watching daily at my gates.
He is waiting at the posts ofmy door, and what these two
(31:12):
scriptures describing is a manthat hears.
The Lord is the one who isdiligently seeking him.
He's daily watching for him.
He's at his gates.
He's waiting, he's just waiting.
And he's just waiting at hisgate.
He doesn't just come.
Oh, he's not here.
I'm leaving, goodbye, I'm going.
He is just diligently seekinghim.
(31:34):
This is how Proverbs describesa man that hears the Lord.
He's after my heart, he's aftermy heart and he won't leave.
He won't leave my door, hewon't leave.
He won't leave my door, hewon't leave my gates.
He's there, listening, intently, watching, like a watchman on
the wall.
(31:56):
Where is he?
Where is he?
Where is he?
I can't wait to hear him.
There's a focused effort on hispart to seek the Lord.
And for women, for women,listen to this.
Songs of Solomon 5a describes itin your perspective this way I
(32:20):
charge you, o daughters ofJerusalem, if you find my
beloved, tell him that I am sickof love.
I'm love sick.
I can't be apart from him anylonger.
I can't wait to find him.
It says in Song of Solomon 3,verses 1 through 4,.
By night I was on my bed and Isought him, whom I so loved.
I sought him, but I found himnot.
And I can't stay in this bedany longer.
(32:42):
I've got to get up and I risefrom my bed and I go about the
city and the streets and in theBroadway, and I'm seeking whom I
so love.
It because I saw him and Ican't find him.
And the watchman, they're allabout the city and I asked him
where is he?
Have you seen him?
And they don't know.
And after I left the watchman,the watchman.
After I left the watchmanverily, thereafter I found him,
(33:04):
whom I so love.
I held him and I would not lethim go.
I held him and I would not lethim go.
I was so lovesick for him thatwhen I finally held on to him, I
would not let him go.
(33:25):
This is a woman's perspective ofseeking after that valuable
thing, that man that impressesme so much.
I mean, he's gotten my heart aflutter and I can't stand being
apart from him, because the onlything that stops the fluttering
is to have him holding me in myarms and me holding him in my
arms, and I will not let him go.
The man that hears the Lord islike the woman that is
(33:50):
desperately seeking him, who hersoul love is, who longs for him
, to hold him, to not let him go, and she is lovesick, just
can't get over the fact thathe's not around.
I've got to get him.
I've got to get him, I've gotto have him.
This is my husband, this is myman, and it's that type of
(34:13):
desire that causes one to hearthe Lord.
Let us not forget also whatDavid said concerning being
heard of the Lord, because hesaid come and hear all ye that
fear God.
He's only talking to those thatfear God.
He says I cried with my mouthand he was extolled with my
(34:34):
tongue.
I cried out for him, I soughthim, I praised him, I thanked
him with my tongue, but if Iregard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me.
And then he says but verily,god hath heard me.
And so I end this section tosay these things those whom the
(34:56):
Lord hears hear him.
Those whom hear the Lord is theone who the Lord is listening to
.
He hears his people.
He hears the righteous.
He hears those that are brokenand contrite of heart.
They are the ones that fear theLord.
(35:17):
The uncircumcised of ear arethose who walk in the flesh and
they never hear him.
Why?
Because the word is a reproachto them.
They don't want to be corrected, they want to continue walking
in their flesh.
They take no delight in him norhis word.
Those that don't hear the Lordare the rebellious ones.
They have adamant hearts,hardened hearts, and when they
(35:40):
cry they are not heard, but, incontrast, it is the ear that
listens to reproof, it is theear that listens to correction.
It is the sign of a man that ishumble.
It is the sign of a man thatsays I know my ways are not
right.
I know that there is a betterway.
Teach me, teach me, teach me.
(36:04):
I'm crying out, teach meBecause I know my ways are not
right, I know my ways are notperfect.
And when you do this, the manthat hears the Lord gets
understanding and he developsthe fear of the Lord in wisdom.
(36:25):
This man is described as theone who is desperately,
earnestly seeking him, waitingfor him, watching out for him,
like a woman is lovesick for herhusband.
And the Lord does not hold ordoes not hear those that hold
iniquity in their hearts.
(36:47):
If we turn to Ezekiel 20, I wantto just give two examples, one
in the old, one in the new, ofthose who do not hear God.
In Ezekiel 20, verse 1,.
And it came to pass in theseventh year, in the fifth month
, the tenth day of the month,that certain elders of Israel
(37:09):
came to inquire of the Lord andsat before me, me being Ezekiel.
Then came the word of the Lordunto me, saying Son of man,
speak unto the elders of Israeland say unto them Thus, saith
the Lord God, are you come toinquire of me as I live?
Saith the Lord, I will not.
(37:30):
I will not be inquired of byyou.
Why would the Lord say that tothe elders of Israel?
Let's turn to verse 30.
Wherefore say unto the house ofIsrael thus, saith the Lord God
, are ye polluted after themanner of your fathers and
commit ye whoredom after theirabominations?
(37:50):
For when ye offer your gifts,when ye make your sons to pass
through the fire, you polluteyourselves with all of your
idols.
Even unto this day, I shall notbe inquired of by you, o house
of Israel, as I live, saith theLord, I will not be inquired of
by you.
That is like a reserved angerof the Lord.
(38:15):
How dare you come to me the waythat you are and think that I'm
going to listen to you and I'mgoing to deliver you, when you
let your children be passed inthe midst of the fire, when you
pollute yourselves with idols,when you will not change your
ways and you think I'm going tosit here and listen to all of
your requests and your petitions?
(38:36):
I will not be inquired of byyou?
This is mocking God.
Why do we mock God?
I mean it's insulting to cometo the Lord seeking him.
At the same time, you're gonnaharbor vile wickedness and idols
of abominations and you polluteyourselves when you're holding
(39:03):
tightly to the other loves inyour life.
In your life, in your heart,those other loves compete
against his pure and holy love.
He is not going to listen.
He will not demean himself andhe will not dignify the
competition.
That's out there.
(39:23):
He's not going to do it.
That's out there.
He's not going to do it.
He's not one to hold close tohis heart a harlot, a harlot
who's unwilling to break of herways.
He's not going to hold herclose if she wants to continue
going from house to house andbed to bed.
(39:47):
Men, you think about that.
Would you have in your ownbedroom your wife, who's
cheating on you, and love herintimately under the covers in
your bed and have the other guythat she's cheating with right
there in the room?
Would you?
What a detestable thought, adisgusting thought, because
(40:15):
whatever love she brings intothe room, are you going to allow
that man to get under thecovers with you and her?
Are you kidding me?
But that's what they thought.
They thought God would listento them and allow them to have
some intimate talk with oneanother while they're still
holding on to these other loves.
He will not demean himself, hewill not, he will not inquire or
(40:40):
be inquired of by you.
If we turn to John 8, 37, thisis the New Testament example,
the new covenant.
Jesus is talking to thePharisees and he says look, I
know you're Abraham's seed, butyou seek to kill me.
Why I speak whatever I haveseen of my father and you do
(41:06):
that which you've seen of yourfather.
When they answered and saidunto him Well, abraham is our
father.
When Jesus said unto him youwere Abraham's children, you
would have done the works ofAbraham, but now you seek to
kill me, a man that told you thetruth which I have heard of God
.
This did not Abraham.
(41:28):
You do the deeds of your father.
And they said to them well, webe not born of fornication, we
have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them if Godwere your father, you would love
me, for I proceeded forth andcame from God.
Neither came I of myself, buthe that sent me.
Why do ye not understand myspeech?
(41:50):
Even because you cannot,because ye cannot hear my word
Year of your father, the deviland the lust of your father will
ye do.
As far as I'm concerned,everybody thought the Pharisees
had a direct line to God.
(42:11):
They were held in high esteem.
Everybody looked up to them toinquire of the Lord and hear
what Jesus is saying.
And the Pharisees are anexample of what we do.
Look at all of the things thatjustify this.
Well, we're Abraham's seed.
Well, god is our father.
(42:32):
And they thought that, becausethat might have been true, that
that took care of everything.
Yeah, they heard the Lord.
Yeah, but we deceive ourselveswith our own thoughts, with our
own imaginations of God thatexalt themselves against the
(42:53):
knowledge of the truth.
We would rather entertainnotions of our own making or
notions that the world has fedus than accept the reality of
the truth found in his word.
We develop false senses ofsecurity.
That's what we do.
We just develop false senses ofsecurity.
That's what we do.
We just develop false senses ofsecurity, thinking that
(43:15):
everything is all right outsidethe truth and it isn't until the
Lord uncovers it, eitherthrough conviction I heard that
word today or we are utterlyembarrassed in public by it.
Do we then deal with it?
Some of us have false senses ofpurity.
(43:36):
Well, I'm a part of a godlyfamily.
I'm a first, second, third,fourth generation.
Apostolic, pentecostal,blood-bought, ghost rolling and
fire-baptized tongue-talking,you know.
And that's their security.
And maybe you don't have to gothrough all that nonsense.
(44:01):
Maybe you're just a part of agodly family.
Your parents really believe God, they trust in God, they hear
God, they're walking.
But you're a child in thatfamily and you just develop this
false sense of security that,because my parents are really on
fire for the Lord and doinggreat things for God, that I'm
safe and okay.
And so the message is for thechildren too you need to seek
(44:21):
the Lord for yourself, becauseyour father's and mother's faith
is not going to save you in theend.
It'll protect you temporarily.
It is a covering yes, but it isnot your key to your salvation.
Some people say, well, I justsimply believe in God.
And that's their false sense ofsecurity.
(44:42):
I'm okay, I believe in God.
Yeah, god exists, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah what the devils
believe, but they tremble Inyour life.
You believe in God and youdon't tremble and you're walking
in all this carnality and allthis wickedness.
You don't tremble before theLord.
Even the demons tremble beforethe presence of God.
(45:06):
Some of us have falseinsecurities.
Well, I have a steady income.
There's a lot of peoplestruggling around me, but hey,
I'm good.
Financial security, I got myretirement.
I'm good, I'm not going to haveany problems when I grow old.
I got all the money I need.
I'll last.
It doesn't matter what happenedin America and the government.
(45:27):
I have my money, I'm good, it'sin an IRA, it's pretty safe.
Or you own a nice home.
Look at this beautiful home.
How could God not be for me?
I have this great new car.
I have a stable job.
I haven't lost my job.
(45:49):
We have all of these falsesenses of security and think
that we're all right.
We develop these thoughts thatGod is for us because of all of
these material blessings.
And yet I think I told y'alllast week, when I was talking
about Saul, that Saul fell inthat very same way.
He had victory after victoryafter victory.
He had the people behind him,he had the elders behind him and
(46:13):
sometimes it even apparentlylooked like the prophet of God
was for him and everything wasgoing smooth.
And he just became moreprideful and more boastful.
And you can tell, because assoon as David came on the scene.
He got jealous.
But we do what Saul did, andgradually, if you read the story
of Saul, he grew further andfurther away from the Lord until
(46:36):
the Lord departed from him.
And that's what happens to ussometimes.
We must learn to aptly apply 2Corinthians 10.5 to our life.
It says it's casting downimaginations and every high
thing that exalted itselfagainst the knowledge of God and
bringing into captivity everythought to the obedience of
(46:57):
Christ.
You see, even our own thoughts,our own ideas must be brought
unto the obedience of Christ.
But you know what?
That can only be doneeffectively when you have a
heart of Christ.
But you know what.
That can only be doneeffectively when you have a
heart of humility.
If you don't have a heart ofhumility, you can't cast down
(47:17):
your own thoughts and vainimaginations because you don't
think that they need to be.
You don't even consider theidea that that's a wrong idea.
Who hears God?
Who hears God?
Who hears God?
John 8, 47,.
Jesus said very clearly he thatis of God heareth God.
(47:39):
Ye therefore hear them not,because ye are not of God.
The Pharisees in reality didn'thear God, I said before, even
though the eyes of the people,it appeared.
So Jesus said you don't hearhim because you are not of God.
And this is the generation welive in.
(48:01):
And Jesus, the Lord, is sayingthe very same words to many of
the popular preachers that wesee today you don't hear God.
You may have all the massesbehind you, you may have your
mega churches in millions, but Isay to you you don't hear God,
you're not of God.
Even the man born blind thatJesus healed, listen to his
(48:27):
words.
He says.
We know that God heareth, notsinners.
If any man be a worshiper ofGod and do with his will him, he
heareth.
You know what?
Then there are those of thetruth.
Pilate asked Jesus are you king?
Jesus answered him thou sayestthat I am king.
(48:50):
To this end was I born, and forthis cause I came into the
world, that I should bearwitness unto the truth.
Everyone that is of the truthheareth my voice.
Those that hear God are of God.
Those who hear God are of thetruth.
Those who hear God are of thetruth.
(49:11):
It says by John the Apostle thatas many as received them, to
them he gave power to become thesons of God, even to them that
believe on his name, which wereborn not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of thewill of the man, but of God,
prophetically flesh, nor of thewill of the man, but of God,
prophetically speaking.
(49:32):
God, we know.
God knows the end from thebeginning and, knowing the
decisions that every man isgoing to make, he has decreed
that those born of God have beengiven power to become sons of
God because they believe on hisname.
These are they that are of thetruth, but, in contrast, it says
(49:54):
in 1 John, 4, 5, and 6, theyare of the world.
Therefore, speak they of theworld, and the world heareth
them.
But we are of God.
He that knoweth God heareth us.
The we are of God.
He that knoweth God heareth us.
The apostle is speaking this,and he that is not of God
(50:16):
heareth not us.
And this is how we know thespirit of truth and the spirit
of error.
There is a stark distinctionbetween the world and the truth.
The world hears those of theworld.
Think about what you considerthe world Music, television,
(50:39):
hollywood.
You jump on their MBA, you jumpon their bandwagon.
You treat them like idols.
Of course you're going to belistening to them, and what does
that indict you, as Of theworld with them.
Those are the people thatlisten to the world, those that
are of the world, but those thatare of God, they hear God's
(51:02):
voice through the people whospeak God's word.
Those of God are heard by thosewho are God's.
The book of wisdom gives us somepractical insight for the
purposes of discerning this ofthe world of God or of the truth
, and it says, describing like achild, the type of person is
(51:27):
known by his or her behavior,whether his doing is pure or
right.
It says in Proverbs 20, 11,even a child is known by his
doings, whether his work be pureand whether it be right.
The hearing ear and the seeingeye, the Lord have made even
them both.
So I say to you that hearingand seeing the Lord have made
(51:50):
even them both.
So I say to you that hearingand seeing the Lord is based
solely upon the heart of theindividual.
If one is doing things that arepure and true, when he's given
the word of God, how do youthink he's going to respond?
He's going to agree.
He's going to agree.
He's going to confirm why,because his actions already
(52:14):
demonstrate that he agrees withthe word, that he did not know
and he'll listen to it and he'llreceive it.
But if you're walking inimpurity, if you're walking in
lies and deception and you'reworking in all the things that
are contrary to the word, what'sgoing gonna happen when the
word is brought forth to you?
No-transcript, and all that isis a sign to you.
(52:56):
This person is not of God, atleast not right now.
Move on, because right now, inhis state, he's impure, he is
unrighteous and he doesn't wantto have anything to do with a
pure, righteous and holy word ofGod.
So I summarize here that thosethat hear God oh, excuse me,
those of God hear God's words.
Those whom God hears are trueworshipers of God.
(53:20):
We know what a true worshiperis those that worship him in
spirit and in truth and thosewho do his will.
The worships of God are thosewho do his will.
The worships of God are thosewho do his will.
Those of the truth hear hisvoice.
The world listens to those ofthe world who speak of the world
(53:43):
.
Those of God hear God's peoplewho speak God's word and are
heard by those who are God's.
So what do we need to do?
What is one, what does anindividual need to do to hear
God.
I look at the example, thestandard Jesus.
What was the example that heleft for us?
(54:03):
And I'm going to go from old tonew to give you hopefully as
good a complete a picture, justto get the point across.
But there was prophesiedthrough Isaiah in chapter 11.
And I'm only going to highlightthe point that I want to
address right now.
It says and the Spirit of theLord shall rest upon him,
(54:27):
referring to the man, jesusChrist.
Christ, and made him of quickunderstanding.
Look at what it says in Isaiah49, verse 1.
(54:49):
Isaiah is speaking this, but ifyou have an ear to hear, you're
going to hear the spirit ofChrist.
Listen, o Isles unto me, andhearken ye people from far.
The Lord hath called me fromthe womb, from the bowels of my
(55:12):
mother, reminds me of Mary,reminds me of those others that
heard.
And he hath made my mouth likea sharp sword In the shadow of
his hand.
Hath he hid me and made me apolished shaft In of his hand
hath he hid me and made me apolished shaft In his quiver
(55:34):
hath he hid me.
And what I'm getting from theseverses is an indication that
the Spirit of the Lord didsomething with the man Jesus
Christ.
He made him of quickunderstanding.
He made his mouth like a sharpsword by the Spirit of the Lord
a polished shaft, a proven arrowthat when shot is going to hit
the target dead on.
It was the spirit of the Lordthat was found within the man
(55:58):
Jesus Christ, without had to dosomething, even though the
Spirit of the Lord decreed fromeons past, I rested upon him.
(56:19):
I made him of quickunderstanding.
I made him, I made his mouthlike a sharp sword.
Jesus was a man taught of God bythe eternal spirit of God that
dwelt within him.
It says in Philippians that hemade himself of no reputation.
(56:44):
The word there was kenosis.
It is the idea that God in allof his glory disrobed himself of
all of his glory, hisomniscience, his omnipotence,
all the things that made him God.
He took that all off and becamea man.
And that man was taught by theeternal spirit of God, was
(57:12):
taught by the eternal spirit ofGod, and he was taught through
revelation, knowledge, and thespirit of the Lord gave him
spiritual ears to hear and gavehim the heart of understanding.
He made him of quickunderstanding.
He made his mouth like a sharpsword.
So what I'm saying to you isthis as the man Jesus allowed
(57:34):
the Spirit of God to teach him,I told you that from the very
beginning you have to be wantingto be corrected, to be taught.
You have to have that idea, Iwant to be taught.
You have to have that idea, Iwant to be taught.
Jesus willingly, voluntarily,submitted to the Spirit of God
(57:59):
and his every instruction.
So the man Jesus matured inwisdom and in stature and in
favor with God and man.
Listen to these words in Psalm119, 97.
These words are prophetic andthey describe the attitude of a
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man who set his face like aflint and purposely decided to
be a lover of God's law.
Everybody see that word mem.
It means love of God's law.
In this scripture it says oh,how I love thy law.
(58:46):
I wonder who's speaking here.
Let's see.
It is my meditation all the day.
I wonder who's speaking here.
Let's see.
Testimonies are my meditation.
(59:06):
I understand more than theancients, the elders, because I
keep thy precepts.
I have refrained my feet fromevery evil way that I might keep
thy word.
I have not departed from thyjudgments, for thou has taught
me how sweet are thy words to mytaste, yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth Through thy precepts, I get understanding.
(59:29):
Therefore, I hate and we thinkthat's David and it is David.
And there's also more than that, because we said so many times
before, through what was said in1 Peter, that it was the spirit
of Christ on the prophets ofold Peter, that it was the
(59:52):
spirit of Christ on the prophetsof old.
David was a prophet of old andhe had the spirit of Christ
speaking through him.
These are the words of the man,jesus Christ.
I loved his law.
I did not turn away from it.
It made me more wise than theelders.
I think of that scripture and Ithink of why in the world did
they put this small littletestimony about Jesus around the
(01:00:16):
age of 12, being left behind inthe city and asking questions
with the elders?
And I think of this scripture.
He left that, not in arrogance,but recognizing that because he
devoted his heart to lovingGod's law.
It made him wiser than theelders.
How many times did he askquestions to the Pharisees?
(01:00:39):
And they got stumped.
It was a life of him beingtaught under the tutelage of the
spirit of God in God's word.
As far as I'm concerned, thispassage is a prophetic cry under
the tutelage of the Spirit ofGod in God's Word.
As far as I'm concerned, thispassage is a prophetic cry and
declaration of the man, jesusChrist.
Look at what Jesus said throughthe Spirit of Christ that was
upon the prophets of old.
(01:00:59):
He said in Isaiah 50, the Lordhath given me the tongue of the
learned.
We think Isaiah's just sayingthat.
And it says that I should knowhow to speak a word in season to
him.
That is weary, sounds very muchlike what it said in Psalms.
He wakeneth morning by morning.
He wakeneth my ear to hear asthe learn the Lord.
God has opened my ear and I wasnot rebellious, neither turned
(01:01:22):
away my back.
And we think Isaiah is the onespeaking all of this.
And it says I gave my back tothe smiters and my cheeks to
them, that plucked off my hairand I hid not my face from shame
and spit it for the Lord.
God will help me.
Therefore, I shall not beconfounded.
(01:01:42):
Therefore have I set my facelike a fence and I know that I
shall not be ashamed.
And there is the words of theSpirit of Christ.
That wasn't Isaiah, that wasthe Spirit of Christ saying what
was happening to him during thedays of his flesh.
He was giving the prophetsglimpses.
That's why they couldn'tunderstand such a thing that God
, the mystery of godliness, wasmanifested in the flesh.
(01:02:06):
And these are the things thathe said.
These are the things that wereruminating in the flesh and
these are the things that hesaid.
These are the things that wereruminating in his heart.
And we're getting glimpses ofwhat was happening in the man,
and that is none other thanJesus speaking of himself
Through the prophets of old.
And we think it's strange to saythat the man, jesus Christ, was
taught of God.
Well, he was God.
John 8, 28 says this when youlift up the son of man, then
(01:02:31):
shall you know that I am he andthat I did nothing of myself.
But as the father taught me, hesaid so himself.
The father taught me, I speakthese things.
And if you understand that theman Jesus is our example to
(01:02:54):
follow, it makes all the sensein the world.
The man Jesus admits that theFather, the Spirit of the Lord,
taught him.
He taught him what he learnedobedience.
Hebrews 4.2.
To just being obedient doesn'tmean you're doing something
wrong.
It means you're learning totake the commands of someone
(01:03:17):
higher than you.
That's all there must be I saidit before there must be a
willingness in the man to betaught, because in doing so you
are going to be taught.
Then, to learn what you'rebeing taught, you must obey, and
(01:03:38):
this is what the man Jesus did.
It says in EcclesiastesEcclesiastes 5, verse 1, keep
thy foot when thou goest to thehouse of God, and be more ready
to hear Than to give thesacrifice of fools, For they
consider not that they do evil.
(01:03:58):
See what he ties into the foolsthat come to him.
They bring a sacrifice that Idon't listen to.
I don't regard.
Why?
Because they do evil, I don'tlisten to.
I don't regard why?
Because they do evil, I'm notlistening to them.
Be not rash with thy mouth andlet not thine heart be hasty to
(01:04:22):
utter anything before God.
Let your words be few.
This is there for a reason.
This is there to testifysomething to us and to teach us
something.
It says in James 1, who agrees?
Let every man be swift to hear,slow to speak.
According to these scriptures,jesus came not to destroy the
(01:04:45):
law, to fulfill it right.
Well, these scriptures are apart of the word of God.
So when Jesus went into prayer,how did he go into prayer.
He went in ready to hear.
He went in ready to hear.
He went in ready to listen.
(01:05:07):
I don't do anything unless Isee the Father do it.
I don't say anything unless Ihear the Father say it.
I'm always ready to listen,whether I'm in prayer on the
mountain by myself or am I inthe midst of talking to the
Pharisees.
I have this attitude.
(01:05:28):
I have this humility that Idon't do anything unless the
Father says it or does it.
He was not rash with his mouth,he didn't utter this and that
when he went into prayer but hemade his words few and when he
heard this is another key he wasready to mix what he heard with
(01:05:49):
faith.
And faith, regardless of whatthis world tells you is, when
you have the works of obedienceto the word of God, faith is not
simply belief.
You look at faith biblically,historically, through the
scriptures, and faith was alwaysI hear God and I do what he
(01:06:10):
says.
Abraham, I hear God, I do whathe says Jacob, I hear God, I do
what he says Israel, I hear God,I do what he says Joshua, I
hear God, I do what he says.
That's faith.
That's all faith is I hear Godand do what he says.
Paul was asking rhetoricalquestions.
(01:06:31):
Did you receive the Spirit bythe works of the law or by the
hearing of faith?
It says in Hebrews 4, 2,.
For unto us the gospel waspreached as well as unto them,
but the word preached did notprofit them.
Why?
Because it was not mixed withfaith in them that heard it.
(01:06:58):
The word of God must be mixedwith faith, and faith is a
readiness to comply and to obey.
That is a heart of one who ishumble and saying I want to be
taught, I want to be taught, Iwant to be taught, I want to be
taught.
Teach me, teach me, becausewithout faith it is impossible
to please God.
And for he that cometh to Godmust believe.
(01:07:19):
You must believe that he is,and he will reward you for
diligently seeking him.
I can't stress that enough.
The individual must diligentlyseek him.
It's not a complacent.
Let me sit back on the couchand wait for the Lord to speak
(01:07:39):
so that I can hear him.
There's a diligent seeking,there's.
I'm getting ready, I'm gettingon that line.
When I go on track, I'm gettingready to race, I'm not just
standing up, I'm getting ready,I'm getting my way forward, I'm
ready.
I'm getting on that line when Igo on track.
I'm getting ready to race.
I'm not just standing up, I'mgetting ready, I'm getting my
way forward.
I'm ready, I'm ready to go, I'mready to hear, I'm ready to be
taught.
James said Let him ask in faith,not wavering, for let not the
(01:08:01):
man think that he shall receiveanything of the Lord if he is
tossed to and fro like the sea.
God will always.
God will always.
God will always honor thedecisions and actions that are
made in faith in him.
I understand, as young peoplein the faith, that we're not
(01:08:23):
gonna be sure and we're gonna beah, I'm not sure.
Then you don't know what to doand you start peddling back and
forth.
That's why you need a man ofGod.
You need a man of God in yourlife to teach you how to discern
the voice of the Lord.
But even if you are young andeven if you think you hear
something and you're not sureand you take the steps of faith
to do it, he will honor thatfaith.
He will not let you fall flatin your face and be ashamed
(01:08:46):
because you did it believing youwere hearing him.
He'll always teach you, he'llalways back you up.
He will not honor theinstability of your thoughts and
emotions as you go back andforth and then you do nothing.
He doesn't want us walking infear.
(01:09:08):
There's a quote that I'm notgoing to quote, I'm just going
to paraphrase it.
It says that the fear of theLord and the love of the Lord
cannot be separated.
It is only when you perceiveand get a revelation of his
majesty and his glory and how hetranscends all that we know.
(01:09:30):
It is at that moment that webegin to understand his mercy.
If we are not awed by God, hisdesire for us will not move us.
It won't.
I'm not going to be impressed,so why would I go after
(01:09:55):
something I'm really notimpressed with?
But when we catch a glimpse ofthat transcendence, knowing that
God in all of his glory, in allof his might, in all of his
omnipotence, in all of thegreatness, that awesomeness that
he is, and he wants to drawnear to me, or he wants me to
(01:10:16):
come close to him, it causes usto develop this love, because
the almighty God, in all of hisgreatness, great goodness, wants
me near to him.
Think of it in the world.
Brad Pitt comes into the malland all of the teenagers and
(01:10:42):
they're so awed at him.
And what if Brad said come withme, I want to spend some time
with you, you want to be with me?
I'm giving it to you in thenatural, because if you get a
(01:11:02):
revelation of God in the spirit,knowing that he wants you to
draw near to him, your heart isgoing to flutter.
I don't care whether you're aman or a woman, you're going to
be awed, so awed it's going tofloor you spiritually, it's
going to humble you.
If you weren't broken before,you're going to be broken now.
We must grow in the fear of theLord if we have any hope of
(01:11:30):
growing in a love for him.
So in order to hear him, youmust deliberately decide.
I want to love God's law.
Jesus may set the example.
I want to love God's law.
I want to meditate on his law.
(01:11:51):
There must be a willingness onyour part to be taught, to learn
through obedience.
There must be a readiness firstto hear.
You must be swift to hear, notspeak.
Hear, having very few words inthe presence of an almighty God.
(01:12:14):
There must be a readiness tomix the word of God with your
faith through compliance andobedience.
There's a lot of examples Iwanted to bring, but it would
take forever and I don't want todo that.
There's a lot of examples ofGod talking to man.
So I'm going to challenge you toconsider have you ever
(01:12:36):
considered taking notice of allthe testimonies of conversations
between God and man?
And you see, there's areciprocity between God and man
as they converse.
What I'm saying is that there'san exchange, there's a mutual
exchange.
There's a giving and a taking.
There's him speaking and theother person responding.
(01:12:58):
There's the other personspeaking and God responding.
There's an exchange between thetwo, between God and Adam,
between God and Cain, betweenGod and Noah, god and Abraham,
rebecca, between God and Jacob,between God and Moses and Joshua
(01:13:24):
and Gideon and Samuel and David, between Jeremiah and Ezekiel
and Hosea and Amos and Zechariah.
Look at all those conversationsand consider how much dialogue
there is.
It's not like God spoke and noone said a word to him.
It's not like no one inquiredof the Lord and then didn't get
a response.
Like when you read a book.
(01:13:47):
There's this exchange betweenthe characters in the book.
Do you see any one-worddialogues?
Consider that when you go thereRhetorical right now, because I
know you haven't even thoughtabout it but the conversations
between God and man are rich inthe exchange of communication
(01:14:09):
between one to another.
And if that be the case, thatis a testimony to us.
That should testify to us.
What should I expect when I'mtalking and hearing God?
I should expect an exchange,and then I say if we have the
spirit of God residing in us,why don't we have this exchange?
(01:14:33):
I think the answer's found in alot of things that I've just
gone over and covered who hearsGod and who doesn't?
Some of it is just in thesimple fact that you come and
pray and pray and pray and prayand pray In Jesus' name.
Goodbye, that's your flesh.
You're walking in your flesh.
You won't even stop to hear God.
If you were blessed andappreciate listening to this
(01:14:55):
podcast and you would like tosupport us in our efforts,
consider lifting us up in prayerfirst.
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(01:15:16):
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May God bless you and make youprosperous in Him as you listen
and obey His voice.
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