What to do to Hear God's voice Pt 2

[0:00] Hallelujah! We thank God you've tuned into this message by David Entry at Caris Church. No hand can help you with the fulfillment of your destiny but the Word of God.

[0:11] May God's hand align you further into your destiny through this word. In John chapter 10, verse 3 and 4, it says that, I think I'm reading from the New American Standard Version.

[0:24] Let me read from verse 1. It just says, Truly, truly, I say unto you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

[0:36] But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his sheep, his own sheep, by name, and leads them out.

[0:52] Verse 4 says that, and when he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

[1:04] Verse 27. Verse 7. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Here ends the reading of God's word.

[1:16] Father, thank you. Give us a listening ear, circumcised heart, so we can hear what your Spirit says to the church in Jesus' name. Amen. In our previous teaching last week, I spoke about hearing the voice of God, and I spoke about the voice of God.

[1:32] We have the word of God. We have the rhema and the logos. The rhema being the written word. The rhema being the noun word. The word that you can personalize. The word that talks to you. The word that jumps out to you, a group of people or a person at a particular time.

[1:50] And the Bible says, man shall not live by bread alone, Matthew 4, but by every rhema. That's the spoken word that we hear. And then I also spoke about three distinctive features of hearing God's voice.

[2:03] I said, number one, it's personal. So when God speaks to you, you know it's you. It's like, God is a person. That's so important to understand. God is a person and he's personal. So he's a personal God.

[2:18] He's not some abstract force and some ethereal or cerebral projection. Something that is in somebody's idea, somebody's mind and maybe. No, God is a personal God.

[2:35] He knows you personally and he relates with you personally. So the voice of God is personal. The voice of God is intangible. Which means you cannot always say that God must be a particular way.

[2:51] If God is going to speak to you, it must always be, you must hear. The Bible says on the day of Pentacles, there was a sound of a rushing mighty wind.

[3:02] So then you say, every time I hear, no, it's not like that. It's intangible. You can't restrict and limit the voice of God to a particular physical or tangible way.

[3:18] The voice of God is intangible. You just, sometimes you will not, most people who usually will tell, Pastor, I want to hear the voice of God. They're actually looking to hear something audible from outside.

[3:29] Hello? Hello? Hello? Oi! Oi! So you hear God calling you, Oi! Oi! Come back! Come back! Where are you going? Where are you going?

[3:40] It's the movies that we've been watching. Yeah, it's all that. But the voice of God is intangible.

[3:52] So it might never come, it might never come, Oi! But this. So even as I'm preaching, God can be speaking to you through the preaching. But not necessarily my voice. My voice can go as far as your ears.

[4:07] So my voice goes from my mouth to your ears. But it takes the Holy Spirit, if you want to speak to you, to take it from your ears to your heart. And then when it goes into your eyes, it's so personal that what you are hearing is different from what the other person is hearing.

[4:20] And so sometimes when we hear preaching together, people hear different things. The same words, but different. God speaks to us differently because He's a personal God.

[4:33] And our lives are personal. Our situations are unique and individual. So it's personal, it's intangible, and it's present. God is not speaking to you yesterday. He speaks to you today.

[4:47] In Hebrews chapter 3. Today, if you hear a voice, it's not tomorrow. It's today. It says that, whilst He said, today, if you will hear His voice, do not understand.

[4:58] So God, C.S. Lewis said that God is by nature, by nature God speaks. By nature God speaks. So if you go close to God, the first thing you will experience is not what you will see, what you hear.

[5:14] The Bible says, Adam and Eve heard the voice of God coming. They didn't see anything, but they heard the voice. So they ran and went and hid themselves. God said, Adam, where are you?

[5:25] So God, by nature, is a speaking God. So if you get close to God, naturally you will hear Him.

[5:36] You will hear God speak. Praise God. And then, so these are the three distinctive aspects of the voice of God.

[5:47] And we also spoke about the reasons people don't hear the voice of God. Did I? Number one reason is unbelief. Number two reason is unsuccessfulness or the practical disappointment.

[6:00] Number three reason is what? Undesirable examples. Number four? Uncertainty. And number five is unworthiness. I don't think God.

[6:12] These things will become like ear infection. So you can't hear. Or cocks in your ear, you know, they block your ears.

[6:23] You might have an infection, wax in your ears, or ear infection. You can't hear. Because there are certain things that the reason why people don't hear from God is they believe that maybe God can speak to them.

[6:38] They believe that God has stopped speaking. God by nature is a speaking God. Hebrews chapter one, verse one, it says, God who in time span spoke.

[6:49] Magadash Shahaya. Did you see that? So God who in, God who in various, this soundry means various. All right. God who in various times and in various ways spoke.

[7:00] Did you see that? He spoke in various ways. Even the time he used to speak to the prophet. In various ways spoke in time past to our fathers by the prophet. Has in these last days spoken.

[7:12] So God is always a speaking God. In the past he spoke and this last day spoken by the son. Praise the Lord. What should I do to hear God's voice? What are some of the practical steps that to hear?

[7:29] Point number one, near field connectivity. What's the meaning of that? What's the meaning of NFC? Airdrop. All we have to do is let the phones kiss.

[7:40] Give me your phone. So we bring your phone like this. And then as soon as the phones kiss. Ah, something is happening. Sorry. I'm sharing. I'm declined.

[7:51] See the phone. That's what happens when you kiss somebody. You just collect something quickly. Even when you are not ready. You collect something.

[8:02] When closeness. So closeness. If you want to hear from God. I said that God by nature is a speaking God.

[8:15] Okay. So when you go close to God. The first thing that happens is not what you see. That's why some time ago I taught this. In the realm of the spirit.

[8:27] Hearing precedes seeing. Revelation chapter one from verse nine. Or verse ten. It says, I was in the spirit on the lost day.

[8:38] And I heard. The voice was from behind me. But I heard. I heard behind me. A loud voice. That was a trumpet. And he said, the things that.

[8:49] Write these things that you see. Write your book and send it to the churches. They mention the seven churches. And then he said, then I tend to see. So he was hearing before he started seeing.

[9:01] I tend to see you. I tend to see you. Revelation chapter one. I tend. I tend to see the voice I spoke. And having turned. I saw.

[9:12] So you see. He heard before he saw. So the point here is that. If you go close to God. The first thing that happens.

[9:24] Is you begin to hear. How many of us would like to hear more from God? Logically. What does that mean? We are closer to God. Hearing God is not for church leaders.

[9:36] It's God's children. It said the scripture already said. I know. My sheep. And my sheep know my voice. He says.

[9:47] He says. My sheep hear my voice. In the verse three and verse four. He says. The one who doesn't come through the door is a thief. But the shepherd comes. And he says he will leave the sheep.

[9:59] Verse three. To him the doorkeeper opens. And the sheep hear his voice. Verse four. He says that. He says he will follow him.

[10:10] He will follow him. Because. They know his voice. So. When you become a Christian. One of the first things that happens to you. Is the voice of God. Is made available to you.

[10:22] So really. You shouldn't miss it in marriage. You shouldn't miss it in ministry. If you missed it in marriage. You miss it in ministry. You miss it in major landmarks in your life.

[10:33] Or turning points. Or junctions in your life. Is because. You are not close to God enough. Because when you remain. When you keep your closeness. Satan can never take you by surprise.

[10:44] So. It's a price worth paying. To stay close to God. Because when you stay close to God. You hear his voice. Close to God. You hear his voice.

[10:55] Those of you. Like husband and wife. You share the same car. Nowadays. Almost all cars. Have bluetooth. Connectivity. So you see. Maybe your wife was driving the car yesterday.

[11:06] And the bluetooth was first. So as soon as you came in. You were driving. Now he's picked your wife. Bluetooth. So now you have to. Because your wife. If your wife was not near. It's fine.

[11:17] But as soon as you come there. How many of you. Have. Some of you use. Ear. All those. Yeah. Bluetooth. Earbuds. And headphones. And.

[11:28] And then. You were having a conversation with somebody. And your phone was lying. There. And then you left. Or you were even using. The restroom. And your phone was lying on the window.

[11:40] And you were talking. Finished. And you got up. And went. You forgot that you've left the phone. As you. You'll be hearing. But then you begin to realize that. It's beginning to crack. It's beginning to break.

[11:51] Hello. Hello. Oh. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. You've moved so far from the phone. Now. They're connected. Blue.

[12:02] See. Hearing from God. Is like Bluetooth. You have to get close to God. Not only get close. And connect. So you can get close to God. And connect to God. Number one. How do you hear from God? Get close to God.

[12:13] Am I communicating to somebody? It sounds. It might sound very simple. But. Really. Access to God. If you want to access God. It's never complicated. It's not a complicated thing.

[12:26] Religion is very complicated. The reason why Christianity is different from. All other religions. Because it's not a religion. With every religion. It's like. When you go to school.

[12:39] You have good teachers. They teach you. They teach you. They teach you. Is that all? They teach you. And then you write an exam. And when you finish your exam.

[12:50] You pass. You graduate. The fact that good teachers are. Then when you graduate. Then you get the qualification. Am I right? Or you get a certificate. That's how religion is.

[13:03] So you need to get the teachers. Some of you have tried to do driving. Test. And you didn't get. You are not qualified. Even though you have one of the good driving instructors.

[13:15] So the driving instructor will come. Okay. Do it like this. Do it like that. Do it like that. Then you go and do the test. Driving test. And then you fail. You fail. When you fail.

[13:26] Can they give you the certificate? No. Why? You can say. But I enrolled. I registered. Yeah. You registered. But you know. With religion.

[13:37] You do everything. Okay. You have good. Some good rabbis. Good teachers. Good priests. And they teach you. That's what you have to do. You have to worship God like this. You have to do that. You have to follow it.

[13:48] Follow it. Follow it. Then when you get to the belly gate. Then you check. They check. If you have done everything. Then they let you in. Be accepted. How well can you do so. You do so well.

[13:59] God is so impressed. Sometimes you don't even know. How well you've impressed him. Until. Many people finish writing. And say. How is that? I don't. I tried. Let's see. Religion.

[14:10] All religions have. Work. Work. Work. They teach you what to do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do.

[14:21] Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do.

[14:32] Do. very first day you sign up to be a child of God, you let Jesus come into your heart, you got your pass. You got your boarding pass. So now what happens, the rest, the rest of all that happens with the boarding, watch this, with the boarding pass, it empowers you to live to please him.

[14:50] So in Christianity, justification comes before sanctification. That's what makes Christianity so sweet. And it's a good news. Christianity starts with the good news that God will give an expectation, meet it, live after you meet it, then you can.

[15:10] But Christianity is, no, no, I marry you. Whether you can cook it or you can't cook it, that I will forget it, I've chosen you. So Christianity is such a blessing that when you get born again, when you are in Christ, you have access to his voice because God is a speaking God.

[15:29] Number two, and then I'll end on that. You want to hear God's voice. You see, there is one thing, it's one thing hearing his voice, it's another thing obeying his voice.

[15:40] It's one thing hearing his voice, it's another thing. How many of us here can admit that you know you've heard God before, but you didn't obey it? You didn't obey it.

[15:52] Because God, this one, no, no, no, this one, no. No. So the reason why we are not hearing God's voice is because the previous instruction, the previous voice we heard, we didn't obey.

[16:14] It's one thing hearing is for Adam, I said it last week, Adam heard the voice of God, but obey the voice of the devil. God spoke to Adam but he obeyed the devil.

[16:28] So the voice you obey, that is what opens the treasure of God to you. He said, in Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 1, he said, Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

[16:50] Diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. Then these blessings shall come upon you. These blessings, when you obey his voice, it makes his treasures get open to you and he speaks to you more easily.

[17:06] If you are a Christian and you say, nowadays I don't hear the voice of God, I don't remember the last time I heard his voice, you should be thinking, when was the last voice I heard?

[17:16] Did I obey? Did I obey? So our obedience to the voice we have heard helps us or makes us able to hear him more and makes him more willing to speak to us.

[17:37] He will say it again. He will speak to us. And so, one of the prayers many years ago in the late 90s that I was taught to pray, which is a blessing, is God, give me grace to obey you.

[17:53] Give me grace to obey. Not just speak to me. Speak to me, but give me grace to obey you. Give me grace. Oh, for grace to obey when I hear. Oh, these are some of the prayers we should be praying.

[18:05] Oh, for grace to obey when I hear you. Oh, for grace to obey. Oh, for grace. Lord, give me that grace. I'm asking you for grace to walk in, so I can walk in obedience. Grace to walk in obedience.

[18:17] Grace to walk in obedience. A lot of people say, I want to hear from God. I want to hear from God. It's because they want to use God. As I said, God doesn't speak to you because of your position.

[18:27] He speaks to you because of your proximity. How close you are makes Him speak more to you. It's not because you are a church leader. It's not because you finished Bible school.

[18:38] It's not because you are very smart and intelligent. No, God doesn't speak to you because of your position. He speaks to you because of your proximity. When you get closer to Him. And then He speaks to you when you obey Him.

[18:50] Because the closer you are to Him, the more you'll be willing to obey Him. The last voice you heard, if you obey it, you'll hear Him more. Somebody say obedience.

[19:01] Obedience. And let me add this. I think this will be helpful. Number three is discernment. Everybody say discernment. Discernment.

[19:13] Discernment. You have to be able to discern His voice. There's one thing here in the voice. There's another thing. Do you know Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 3?

[19:24] He heard the voice of God. Samuel. Samuel. Samuel. He got up. Eli. Eli. Are you calling me?

[19:36] He heard the voice but he couldn't discern His God. Sometimes God can speak to you when you think it's your own mind. Because the Holy Spirit speaks. Bible says bears witness with our spirit.

[19:49] Sometimes the voice of God is so deep embedded in you you might even think it's your thoughts. And there are times too the danger is there are times too when you might think your thoughts is the God the Lord speaking to you.

[20:04] So you need discernment. Because you can be especially when it comes to what you've always wanted. A guy can come to you and say that hello.

[20:17] He said yeah the way he spoke hello I believe that God spoke to me. If you don't discern the voice of God there are three voices. It's either God's voice man's voice or the devil's voice.

[20:28] The voice of God is consistent with scripture. The voice of God gives you internal peace. The voice of God is generated by the spirit of God inside you.

[20:44] The voice of man it usually distracts you from the purpose of God. So by the time you realize you've entered a relationship you feel God said this your relationship but since you entered a relationship your spiritual life has gone comatose.

[20:59] Things are bad things are not working the way and the voice so the voice of man distracts you in just natural things but it distracts you from the purpose of God from the sweet fellowship with God.

[21:12] The voice of God even when things are bad it convicts. When you are living in sin it convicts you. The voice of man can excuse sin and it may not endorse it by its excuses you know it's all human beings you know God understands that's the voice of man.

[21:31] And the voice of the devil is opposite the purpose of God. So it always goes against the good will of God it always goes against what scripture has said the voice of the devil projects and promotes evil.

[21:46] So you must be able to tell the three. But the voice of God brings conviction the voice of God is consistent with scripture and the voice of God also brings desire to get closer to God.

[21:58] Even when God is correcting you it doesn't make you want to stay far from him. Anytime God is correcting you even though you feel convicted it draws you closer you want to be closer to God.

[22:11] So discernment Samuel went to David's house and he saw David's son and his thought said this must be the son the king. God said your thought is not my voice.

[22:24] At the same time when God was calling him and he heard the voice of God he thought it was his thought that it's something else. So sometimes the voice of God can come so close and if you are not careful this is one of the problems you'll be so familiar that you play familiarity you think oh this is nothing there's nothing it's not big me as familiar I just know I just know you understand so the voice of God to hear God's voice we don't have to be familiar to hear God's voice we actually okay let me just mention the point we have to come close number two obedience number three discernment learn to discern as you are growing you discern it more it comes with maturity it comes with as you obey God more you discern God more so sometimes a man of God can say I know when God is speaking because I've been on this road for so long this is how to me it comes across I see God speaking to you in your every watch this every major decision in your life seek God's face when it's God's voice when God speaks something to you usually there will be confirmation as well from his word or from trusted less list what do I mean other spiritual authorities in your life if you are taking a step and you believe it is God but everybody around you is opposite opposed to it by believers

[23:51] God said this is the one I'll marry God said I'll marry him God told me I saw different dreams and everybody including your spiritual leaders it's not a voice of God it's not a voice of God because if it's the voice of God there will be witnesses there will always be witnesses did you receive something thank you for listening to this message by David Entry we pray you have been strengthened and enlightened you can connect with David Entry on all relevant social media platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn you can also hear more messages from David Entry on all relevant streaming platforms and the Caris Church app don't forget to like and share the message be blessed you