Hearing God’s Voice!

INTRODUCTION:

Last weekend was Easter weekend. We had an awesome Good Friday service and an explosive Resurrection Sunday service. It was our First Fruit Sunday and I know that something exploded in the spirit! We are moving forward and the resurrection power of Jesus is within you and me!

It is the month of April and our theme for this month and May is: Prayer and Fellowship. What is the foundation of prayer? Fellowship with the Father is the foundation of prayer!

God wants to have a personal relationship with you. God wants you to hear His voice. There is an old song that some of you will know about God talking to us. Many years ago a boy heard this song and asked his mother: “Who is this Andy guy in the song?” His mother said to him that there is no Andy in the song. The boy said to his mom: “But mom the song says: and He walks with me and he talks with me.” Who of you know the song?

I remember that my dad used to listen to this song sung by Jim Reeves.

Video Clip: ‘In the garden’

God wants to walk with you and talk with you!

Relationship with God is of the utmost importance!

 

SCRIPTURE READING:

Genesis 3:8-10 NLT
(8) When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. (9) Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (10) He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

 

TEXT:

Genesis 3:9 NKJV
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:9 AOV
Toe roep die HERE God na die mens en sê vir hom: Waar is jy?

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY:

We see in the Bible that God started to talk to Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis and that He end up talking to John in the book of Revelation. God spoke throughout the Bible. But is God still speaking to us today?

Dallas Willard said: ‘If God doesn’t speak today, then the greatest disservice we could ever do to people is to tell them they can have a personal relationship with God!’

In our scripture reading, we see some of the saddest words in the entire Bible. I think it is also the saddest words God heard up to that point from man!

Adam, His son, the one He loved said to God: “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid.” The reason people are afraid to hear the voice of God is sin. God walked and talked with them in the cool of the day. God did not create people and gave them a book and said to them: “Figure it all out for yourselves!” No, He created people and He walked and talked to them. He fellowshipped with them.

God wants to fellowship with you today. He wants to walk with you and talk with you.

Sin separated us from God, but Jesus restored the ability to us to walk and talk with God in our garden, in our dominion. I can teach this message today, I can teach doctrine, theology and I can teach you the principles in hearing God’s voice. But I cannot teach you to live and to develop a personal relationship with God. Nobody can! Only you can do it. Only you can get to know the voice of God through your relationship with Him.

How do I know my wife’s voice when she calls me on somebody else’s cell phone?

When I answer and she say: ‘Hallo Michael, it is Carien.’ I don’t ask her: ‘Carien who?’ Why? Because I have a relationship with her and I know her voice!

John 10:27 AB
The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

We must spend time with Jesus, we must fellowship with Him. Know His voice!

Relationship with God is and should be our highest priority!

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS OUR HIGHEST PURSUIT:

We see that God spoke of 2 specific trees in the Garden of Eden: The one was the tree of life. The other tree wasn’t the called the tree of death although it actually was, it was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God never created and designed you to choose between good and evil! He created and designed you to hear His voice! He never wanted us to know good and evil. He never wanted us to judge: Is it good or is it bad? Something must not be bad or good. It must be God! Something can be good but not be God. Good can actually turn out bad!

God gave us something when we sinned. It is called our conscience. Our conscience tells us what is good and what is evil.

Webster’s Bible dictionary: ‘Conscience’:

‘Internal or self-knowledge, or judgment of right and wrong; or the faculty, power or principle within us, which decides on the lawfulness or unlawfulness of our own actions and affections, and instantly approves or condemns them.’

That is actually not what our conscience is supposed to do. It is supposed to bring us to Christ.

People will ask: “How will you know what is good or bad for your life?” They will answer: “My conscience will tell me.” Wrong answer! God will tell you! If your conscience is not cleansed by the blood of Jesus, you will try to serve God out of your own effort and that is dead works! As long as you have a guilty conscience, you will try to do something good to receive God’s favour instead of going to God in the blood of Jesus to receive God’s grace and His forgiveness!

Hebrews 9:14 NLT
Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God…

This is the only way to become the righteousness of God. It is the only way to be in the right standing with Him. It is the only way to stand in a relationship with Him. God did not design you to live by your conscience. He created you to live by His voice. Take note, I am not saying that God does not want us to have a clear conscience. I am saying that God is greater and bigger than our conscience.

We read in 1 John 3:20 (GNB) that: ‘If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.’

The Word of God says in 1 Timothy 1:5 that we must live with faith and a pure conscience. Who can tell me, where does faith come from? Romans 10:17 tells us faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Live by hearing the Word of God and you will have a clear conscience!

Somebody once said: “I can do nothing that violates my conscience!” What if God tells you to?

“God will never tell me to do something that will violate my conscience!” God is not limited to your conscience! For example: God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. That would definitely violate my conscience! The point is: God did not create us to live by our conscience but by His voice! Our relationship with God is and should be our highest pursuit!

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS OUR HIGHEST PASSION:

Be passionate about your personal relationship with God. Be passionate about fellowshipping with God. Be passionate about walking and talking with God!

Luke 10:38-42 NKJV
(38) Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. (39) And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. (40) But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” (41) And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. (42) But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Are you like Martha? Are you distracted? Are you worried and troubled, very busy?

Or are you like Mary, listening to the voice of Jesus, listening to His voice?

That is the one thing needed! That is how you will get to know His voice and His Word.

When God wanted to speak with the Children of Israel personally, they were afraid of His voice (Exodus 20:19). Only Moses drew near and God spoke to him as a man to his friend. Why? He drew near to God. He listened to God’s voice. He developed his personal relationship with God. He fellowshipped with God and Joshua did the same!

Exodus 33:11 NKJV
So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

 

CONCLUSION:

Matthew 4:4 MSG
Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

We must yield to the Spirit of God. Give over to God.

We must surrender to God like never before!

There must be a higher level of urgency spending time in God’s presence, spending time in prayer, praying in tongues, fasting and spending more time in the Word, fellowshipping with God. We need to move closer to God!

The foundation of prayer is fellowship with the Father.

God wants to walk with you and He wants to talk with you!

Relationship with God is our highest priority, our highest pursuit and our highest passion.