Hearing God's Voice: Discovering His Whisper by Derek Prince

Derek Prince explains the concept of hearing God's voice and its importance throughout different dispensations.

He highlights the requirement to listen to God's voice in various biblical passages, including Exodus 15:26 and Deuteronomy 28:1-2.

Prince emphasizes that listening to God's voice is essential for a life free from sickness and problems.

He also explains how obeying God's voice leads to provisions, blessings, and becoming a unique people, blessed above all others.

It's good to be with you again at the beginning of a new week, sharing with you keys to successful living, which God has placed in my hand through many years of personal experience and Christian ministry. My theme for this week is Hearing God's Voice. I believe you'll find it exciting and inspiring. The Bible reveals that God has dealt with the human race in different ways in different periods of human history. God's different ways of dealing with the human race in different periods, theologically, the title for that is dispensations. So what I'm saying is, over the recorded history of the human race in the Bible, we find various different dispensations. That is, different periods in which God dealt in a specific way with the human race. then later in some respects he changed his way of dealing. We would call that changing from one dispensation to another. That's the technical theological word. Now I'm saying this because I want to point out certain facts about the dispensations ways in which they differ and then one important way in which they do not differ. let's take three main dispensations that are generally recognized in the Bible the first is the dispensation of the patriarchs that means the fathers of families people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob even before them people like Enoch and Noah in that period, in that dispensation God dealt primarily with individuals and with their families and they related directly to God. Then there came the dispensation which is often called the dispensation of the law when God began to deal with Israel specifically as a collective nation and he put them under a special law which was special for Israel and a law that did not apply entirely to other nations. And during this period, this dispensation for most of the time Israel had a temple and a priesthood. So the outstanding features of that dispensation were the law, the temple, and the priesthood. And then there came what we usually call the dispensation of the gospel, which is really a proclamation to the whole human race, irrespective of their race or their nationality. And this proclamation of the gospel requires from each person an individual response. So you see we can discern three major dispensations, the patriarchs, Israel under the law, and then the dispensation of the gospel in which we are still living today. And as I've already said, God's requirements in these different dispensations were somewhat different. However, in the midst of all the differences, there remained one unvarying requirement, one thing that God always required. I wonder if you know what that was. I wonder if you can guess what I have in mind. I believe it's very, very important that we see this. I believe the one unvarying requirement which never changed from dispensation to dispensation was the requirement to hear God's voice. I believe that was what always marked out those who belonged to God and made them different from all other people. It was that they had learned to hear God's voice. I'd like to give you now some examples from the Pentateuch, from the first five books of Moses, all of which show the unique importance of hearing God's voice. The first is found in Exodus 15 verse 26. Israel had come to a stage in their journey through the wilderness where they were very thirsty. There was a pool of water there called Marah, but when they wanted to drink the water, they couldn't because it was bitter. And Moses prayed to the Lord. The Lord showed him a certain tree. When he cast the tree into the water, the waters were healed and the people could drink. And in the context of this, the Lord said this to Moses. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. what is the primary requirement? if thou will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God the Hebrew says if you will listen, listening I interpret that to mean that we have to listen to God's voice with both our ears the right and the left that is to listen, listening God said to Israel if you'll do that you'll never be sick I'll keep you healthy I'll be your doctor I'll accept responsibility for your physical well-being. Now there was a time in my life when I was sick in hospital and doctors couldn't heal me and at that time I had to seek God for how I could receive healing from him and as I studied the scriptures in that context I discovered that almost every place where God speaks about being healed the emphasis is on what we listen to just as it is here. If thou will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, I will put none of these diseases upon thee. I believe that's true today. I believe that those of us who learn to listen to God with both ears, to listen to God's voice and obey him, can lead a life that's free from sickness and many other plagues and problems. And then a little further on in the book of Exodus, in Exodus 19, when Israel came to the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses went up, and the Lord spoke to him and gave him a message to the children of Israel. And this is what the Lord told Moses to tell Israel. Exodus 19, 3 through 6. Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, For if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation. Notice again the primary emphasis, the first condition. If ye will obey my voice, then my will will be worked out for you. You'll be a unique people, different from all other people, living on a higher level, living in an area of provision and blessing unknown to other people. But the primary requirement is if ye will obey my voice. I'd like to point out just three phases of God's dealings with Israel as revealed in that passage. First of all, God says that he brought Israel to himself. That's the primary purpose of redemption always, to come to God personally. Secondly, God said, I want you to obey my voice. That's what leads us into the provisions of God. Thirdly, he said, if you'll keep my covenant, God's covenant is the way he settles and finalizes his relationship with the people. And fourthly, he said, you'll be a kingdom of priests. You'll be a unique people, blessed above all other peoples, distinct from all other peoples. That's the order, brought to God, obeying his voice, keeping his covenant, and so becoming a kingdom of priests. Now I want to move on to the fifth book of the Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy, and I want to read a few verses from the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. These words were spoken by Moses to Israel just before they entered their inheritance in the land of Canaan. They were a kind of recapitulation of God's requirements, and again one of the things that's most strongly emphasized is hearing God's voice. This chapter sets forth two different things that could come upon Israel. The first are the blessings for obedience. The second are the curses for disobedience. And in each case, whether it's to be a blessing or whether it's to be a curse, it's determined by whether they do or do not hear God's voice. Listen to the first two verses. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Notice it begins and ends with listening diligently to the voice of the Lord. And the result of listening diligently to God's voice is, all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee. Now let's look at the opposite side of the picture, a little further on in the same chapter, chapter 28, verse 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Isn't that very clear? How foolish if we neglect. If we hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord, all these blessings. But if we do not hearken to the voice of the Lord, all these curses. See, that is the continuing requirement of God from his people in all ages, all dispensations. Basically, it's very simple. If you want to be my people, if you want to enjoy my blessings, hearken diligently to my voice. Listen with both your ears to my voice. But if you fail to listen, if you will not listen to me, then it will not be blessings, but it will be curses, particularly in the matter of healing. If thou will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, I am the Lord that healeth thee. But also beyond healing, to all other provisions and blessings of God, The key is, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God. In my introductory talk yesterday, I explained that God has dealt with mankind in different ways at different periods of history. In theological language, we call these different periods of God's dealings with mankind dispensations. I gave some brief examples. The dispensation of the patriarchs when God dealt with men and individuals in a personal relationship. Then the dispensation when God put Israel under the law and dealt with them through the law and they had a temple and a priesthood. And thirdly, the dispensation in which we are now living today, the dispensation of the gospel, a universal proclamation of God to all mankind which requires an individual response from each one who hears it. However, I also pointed out that in the midst of all these differences, there was one unvarying requirement, and that was to hear God's voice. In this connection, I shared with you some very powerful scriptures from the Old Testament, which I just want to quote again briefly because they have such a tremendous impact when they're put together. The first was in Exodus 15, 26. The Lord said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is right in his sight and will give ear to his commandments and keep on his statutes. I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians for I am the Lord that healeth thee. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God the guarantee is complete continuing health. The Lord becomes your personal physician. And then the words that the Lord spoke to Israel from Mount Sinai when he brought them there to make a covenant with them. Exodus 19 5 and 6 Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation God wanted to make a covenant with Israel to bring them into a special relationship to make them a special kind of people a kingdom of priests a holy nation but the condition was if ye will obey my voice and then just before Israel entered the promised land in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28 Moses reminded them of God's requirements and of the results that would follow if they kept God's requirements also of the results would follow if they did not Deuteronomy 28 1 and 2 and it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Notice it begins and ends with listening to the voice of the Lord and the result is all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee But then the opposite side is presented in Deuteronomy 8 But it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Not listening to the voice of the Lord brings upon us all the curses. See, there's the dividing line, the watershed between the blessings and the curses. All the blessings are for those who hearken diligently to the Lord's voice. But just the same, all the curses are for those who do not hearken to the Lord's voice. Now, later on, through the prophets, God reminded Israel of this primary requirement which he had first laid upon them through Moses. And it's summed up very briefly, succinctly and vividly in the prophet Jeremiah chapter 7 verses 22 and 23, where God is reprimanding Israel for not understanding what he required of them and not obeying him. And he says this, for I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. God says you're so busy with your burnt offerings and sacrifices, but that wasn't the primary thing that I required of you. There was something more primary than that. And then he goes on, but this thing commanded I them, saying, obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my people. I believe that sums it up as simply and as clearly as it ever can be stated. Obey my voice and I will be your God. That's the unvarying requirement of God from age to age and dispensation to dispensation. Many things may change, but this remains unchanged. Obey my voice and I will be your God. But alas, Israel did not do what God required. And so Jeremiah goes on in chapter 7, verse 24, the next verse. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and the imagination of their evil heart and went backward and not forward. What was Israel's great problem? We can put our finger on many outward manifestations of the problem. But the inward essence of the problem is stated there, they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear. Notice it's all to do with what they listened to. They didn't listen. They didn't bow down their ear. They didn't hear the voice of the Lord, the God. They didn't receive what God had for them. They missed the whole of God's purpose and plan. You remember God said in Exodus 19, if you will obey my voice, then you'll be a peculiar treasure. you'll be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. The one essential requirement is that you hear and obey my voice. Obey my voice and I will be your God. I want to say that with the greatest emphasis to you today. If you really want to belong to the Lord, to walk in his ways, to enjoy his blessings, that's what he's saying to you, just as he did to Israel. Obey my voice and I will be your God. Now we'll move on to the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. And I want you to see that in this vital, essential respect of hearing the voice of the Lord, nothing is changed. Other things are changed, but this essential requirement remains unchanged. Listen to some verses from the 10th chapter of John's Gospel, where Jesus presents himself to his people as the Good Shepherd. this is what he says about the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep that is between the Lord and those who are his people John 10 verse 3 through 5 to him that's the shepherd the door keeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out what's the mark of the sheep of Jesus? they hear the shepherd's voice the next verse when he puts forth all his own he goes before them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice what's the great basis of our relationship with the Lord Jesus? we follow him, why? because we know his voice the next verse a stranger they simply will not follow but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers. Everything turns around hearing and knowing the voice of the Lord. His sheep, his people hear his voice, recognize it and follow him. They will not follow deceivers. They will not follow false prophets and false teachers because it's not the voice of the Lord. They know the voice of the Lord. They're not deceived by false teachers. And then in John 10, 16, a little further on, Jesus had been talking up till now about those that believe in him among the people of Israel. But now he goes on to people from other nations. And he says, I have other sheep which are not of this fold, not of the Jewish fold. I must bring them also, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd. Again, what is it that's going to draw believers to Jesus from amongst all Gentile nations? how is it they come to him it says they shall hear my voice that's the distinctive mark of those who come to jesus and i think it's interesting in this context that it says they shall become one flock with one shepherd what's the way to christian unity i don't believe it's organization i don't believe it's doctrinal or theological discussion primarily i believe it comes as we all learn to hear the voice of the Lord. They shall hear my voice, Jesus says, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd. How? Through hearing the Lord's voice. And then it's all summed up in John 10, 27. Jesus is speaking again. He says this, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. There are three things that mark out the true followers of the Lord, his disciples, his people. First, they hear his voice. Second, he knows them. He recognizes them. He acknowledges them. Thirdly, they follow him. You see, it's not a question of denominational labels. Jesus isn't talking in terms of Catholics or Protestants or Baptists or Methodists or Presbyterians or Pentecostals. He's not saying my people come from any particular denomination or group. but he's saying the distinctive mark of my people that which singles them out from all other people that which makes them different and makes them mine is they hear my voice I know them, they follow me and we realize of course that in Bible times and Bible lands a shepherd did not drive his sheep he led them and he led them by the sound of his voice they didn't follow him by watching him primarily they followed him by listening to him and they always went where they heard the shepherd's voice so you see in actual fact if you apply that analogy and it's a totally scriptural analogy it is impossible to follow the Lord unless you hear his voice it must be through hearing his voice let me say this in love and I must close Jesus did not say my sheep read the Bible I believe it's essential to read the Bible but it's not sufficient because many people read the Bible but don't hear the voice of the Lord. It's not reading the Bible that enables us to follow him. It's hearing his voice. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. In my previous talks this week, I've explained that the great unchanging basic requirement for an ongoing relationship with God is to hear God's voice. In other respects, God's way of relating to mankind changed with the change of dispensations. But this one requirement of hearing God's voice continues unchanged throughout all dispensations. I pointed out in my talk yesterday that this requirement is very succinctly summed up in the prophet Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 23 where God says through Jeremiah to his people Israel, obey my voice and I will be your God. I believe that says it, that states it, that's what God requires of his people in all ages, all dispensations, from different cultures, different backgrounds. Many things may change, but this one thing never changes. God says, you want me to be your God? Obey my voice. Obey my voice and I will be your God. Many Christians don't realize that the basic requirement of the New Testament is just the same. It hasn't changed. In John chapter 10 verse 27, Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. What marks out the true followers of Jesus? It's not a denominational label. it's not a certain form of worship it's not adherence to some particular doctrine it's hearing his voice my sheep the ones that belong to me hear my voice and i know them and they follow me those three things go together begins with our hearing the voice of jesus when we hear his voice he knows us he recognizes us he takes note of us we he acknowledges that we are his. And then we follow him. I pointed out yesterday that according to the pattern of a shepherd and his sheep in Bible lands, sheep followed the shepherd. The shepherd didn't drive them. The sheep followed the shepherd and they followed because they heard his voice. And if they didn't hear his voice, they couldn't follow. And I believe that's just as true in the relationship between Jesus and us. If we don't hear his voice, we can't follow him. We have to hear his voice before we can follow him. That's what makes us his sheep. His sheep hear his voice. He knows them. They follow him. Now today I'm going to point out three distinctive features of hearing God's voice. Three features which are significantly different from much of what is traditionally accepted as normal religious conduct or activity. This message of mine in many ways is very revolutionary. It sounds simple, but when you really take it to your heart and begin to apply it, you find that it will change a whole lot of things that you're doing in your life. It will change your standards. It will change your values. It will very probably change the way you live. the three features of hearing God's voice that I want to point out are these I'll state them then I'll comment briefly on each of them firstly hearing God's voice is personal secondly hearing God's voice is intangible and thirdly hearing God's voice is present in the sense of time it's not past it's not future it's always present just grasp those three features it's personal it's intangible and it's present in time now let's think a little bit about what that indicates first of all hearing God's voice is very personal every voice is individual and unique no two voices are exactly alike voices are one of the most individual features of human personality. That's why Jesus said about his sheep, they won't follow a stranger, because a stranger's voice is different. You see, our protection is hearing the Lord's voice, relating to him individually, personally, not just relating to a historical figure, not just relating to some movement or some doctrine, but relating to the Lord himself through his voice. I heard a rather remarkable statement made. I have never really checked on it, but I hear that there is a way of designing a safe, perhaps for use in a bank, in which the thing that opens the safe, that triggers the combination, is a certain voice, maybe the voice of the bank president or the bank manager. And no other voice can cause that safe to open. that just shows us how absolutely distinctive and individual a person's voice is there's a voice that can open that safe that will not open to any other voice and you know to me that's a parable because i think that's what the heart of the believer should be like i think our heart should be like a safe something that treasures the most valuable things we have and i think that there should be only one voice that opens up that safe, the voice of the Lord himself. We come into terrible grief and problems if we open the safe door of our heart to the wrong person That what causes most of the tragedies and problems in the world today is people open their hearts to the wrong person Think of your heart from now on as a safe, with a combination in the door, and that combination will respond only to one voice, the voice of the Lord. You know when you open to the Lord, you'll never be harmed, you'll never be deceived, you'll never be disappointed. but many of you have learned from experience if you open the door to the wrong person if you respond to the wrong voice many harmful troubles and problems can result you see that's the shepherd-sheep relationship David said in Psalm 23 verse 1 the Lord is my shepherd I shall lack nothing out of that personal relationship every need of David was assured that it would be supplied but Jesus says my sheep hear my voice how can the Lord be our shepherd only if we hear his voice but if we hear his voice then he's our shepherd and all our needs are supplied isn't that beautiful cultivate hearing the Lord's voice I'm going to speak more about that in later messages the second feature of hearing the Lord's voice that I mentioned is this it's intangible you know what I mean by intangible? It can't be touched. We can't apprehend it with our sight. We can't apprehend it with our feeling. There's only one sense that apprehends a voice, and that is the sense of hearing. You see, most of our religious associations relate us to something tangible. When we talk about religion, we think about something in space and in time, a building, a church, certain kinds of furniture, pews, pulpits, maybe stained glass windows, organs, certain kinds of clothing. In some churches they wear special vestments. In most churches people dress up a little bit different to go to church. Certain kinds of books, prayer books, hymn books, books with stiff covers usually. And in the days when I was a regular churchgoer they were usually black there was a certain kind of a field of associations which was tangible it was in space and time it was associated with a place and with things but hearing god's voice has got none of those features it's not restricted to any particular place it doesn't have any kind of uniform or clothing or furniture or building it's just out there it's very in a way tricky it's it's almost dangerous you've got nothing to cling on to all the old associations all the crutches as luther called them have been taken away and you're just in that intimate personal relationship with the lord an intangible relationship the third feature that i wish to point out about hearing god's voice is that it is always present in the sense of time. Hearing God's voice is never in the past and never in the future. It's always now. Only now can we hear a voice. A book we can pick up and read and put down and say it's over there. Or we can say, I'll look at it again tomorrow. But a voice is only now. A voice has no past. A voice has no future. It shuts us up to the present. You see, what I've noticed about religious people is much of their thinking is always about the past or the future. Christians talk about what happened in the days of Moses or what happened in the days of Jesus or in the days of Peter. That's all in the past. Or they talk about what will happen when we go to heaven, how beautiful that will be. Well, I agree with that. But we're not living in the past. We're not living in the future. We're living in the present. and a lot of religious people really hardly live because everything for them is either past or future but when you realize that you've got to relate to God through hearing his voice then that forces you into a present relationship, a present experience it was interesting when the Lord appeared to Moses in the desert and sent him back to deliver his people out of Egypt Moses had a very practical question this is recorded in Exodus chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 Moses said to God suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me what is his name then what shall I tell them God said to Moses I am who I am that is what you are to say to the Israelites I am has sent me to you you see I am is present it's not past it's not future God's name is present God's living now our relationship with God needs to be now. And as we learn to hear God's voice, we have that present, personal relationship with the Lord. In my talks this week, I've explained that through all the different dispensations of God's dealings with men, the one great, unchanging, basic requirement for an ongoing relationship with God is to hear God's voice. Yesterday, I dealt with three distinctive features of hearing God's voice, which make it significantly different from much of what is traditionally accepted as normal religious conduct or activity. The three features that I mentioned were these. First, hearing God's voice is personal. It involves a direct, intimate, person-to-person relationship with God. Second, hearing God's voice is intangible. We can't just locate it in a building. We can't tie it down to some familiar situation. It isn't something that we apprehend with our eyes. It isn't something that we feel with our hands. The only sense that apprehends it is the sense of hearing, and that's not tied to any particular time or place. Thirdly, hearing God's voice is present in time. It's not past. It's not future. A voice has no past a voice has no future a voice is always now and so when we relate to god through hearing his voice we're relating to god in the eternal now god told moses the name by which he was to be known to israel was i am i am that i am that's always true god always is there's a certain sense in which he's in the past and in his he's in the future but essentially we know god always in the eternal present, the great I am. And that is part of what comes of hearing his voice. It's always present in time. Today I'm going to speak about one particular result of hearing God's voice, which is of inestimable value. There's no way we can express the value. And this result is faith. Hearing God's voice produces faith. Many people long for faith and struggle for faith and run to and fro seeking faith, but they don't achieve it because they haven't discovered the secret of faith. Faith comes by hearing God's voice. This is stated in Romans chapter 10 verse 17. So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ or from the word of Christ. So faith comes from hearing, hearing from the word of Christ. We need to understand that in the New Testament, Greek, there are two distinct words, each of which in English is translated by the English word, word. These two distinct Greek words are logos, L-O-G-O-S, and rhema, R-H-E-M-A. Now, if we don't see the difference, we won't grasp the meaning of what I'm saying today. Let's look at Logos first. Logos is one of the great concepts of the Greek language. Let me say that I studied Greek since I was 10 years old, and I'm qualified to teach it at university level. I only say that just so that you may know I have some idea of what I'm talking about. Logos is one of the great concepts of the Greek language. It has all sorts of meanings. It means mind, counsel, reason. It's comprehensive. Really, Logos in the Bible is the mind of God. It's the counsel of God. It's God's total purpose. For instance, listen to what David says about it in Psalm 119, verse 89. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. another translation says your word oh lord is eternal it stands firm in the heavens that's god's logos his total counsel it never changes it's eternal it's out of time it's in heaven it's settled from beginning to end it's there all the time always it's the mind and counsel and purpose of god this logos this counsel of god is summed up in a person john chapter 1 verses 1 2 says this, in the beginning was the word Logos, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. So Jesus is also the personified Logos. He's the total counsel and purpose and mind of God. You remember Jesus said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. I represent everything the Father is, everything the Father does, everything the Father wills, every plan, every purpose, I represent it. That's logos. And it's settled forever in heaven. It can't be changed. It's eternal. Now, the word rhema has a different meaning, though at times, of course, they overlap. The word rhema means specifically a spoken word. It is not a rhema unless it's spoken. God's word, God's counsel is settled in heaven forever. Whether it's spoken or not, it's there. it's eternal but a rhema is only a word that is spoken now listen to what jesus says in matthew chapter 4 and verse 4 and he uses the word rhema he answered and said it is it is written man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god every rhema that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Every proceeding word. So there's the counsel of God, if you can picture it. Eternal, unchanged, complete, in heaven. But we don't know the whole counsel of God. We can't apprehend with our finite minds the whole counsel of God. But God measures it out to us in a rhema, in a word that's spoken to us, in a word that becomes personal, in a word that we receive personally. So man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The total counsel of God is imparted to us in portions as we're able to receive it, rhema by rhema by rhema. The implication of what Jesus said is that God has a rhema for us each day. Man shall not live by bread alone, but every day the proceeding word of God, the word of God, the rhema that comes out of the mouth of God shall be his portion for that day. So that's the difference between logos and rhema. Logos eternal, in the heaven, unchanged, rhema coming down to us, personal, a word that we hear, something that's spoken. And so you see in Romans 10, 17, it has to be rhema. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the rhema, the word of Christ. If it weren't spoken, we couldn't hear it. We can't hear the logos. That's eternal. That's the counsel of God in heaven. But we hear the rhema that brings that little portion of God's counsel we need at any given moment to us personally. And that's how faith comes. Listen, I hope I will not offend you, but the Bible doesn't say faith comes from reading the Bible. Lots of people think it does. Why not? Well, be honest. Many times you read the Bible and hear nothing. All you have is black marks on white paper in front of your eyes, and you can go through that process for an hour and get no faith. But another time you can just pick up the Bible, open it, and one sentence leaps out of the page, and he says, that's it. That's what God's saying to me right now. I can't tell how many times that's happened in my life. Sometimes quite accidentally, I just open the Bible. The Holy Spirit focuses my eyes on a verse. God says, that's it. That's my rhema. And when you hear that rhema, that's a lot more than reading the Bible. That's the personal word of God. That's God's voice speaking to you. And faith comes by hearing the spoken word of God. See, it all centers around hearing God's voice. Obey my voice and I will be your God If thou shalt listen diligently to the voice of the Lord then none of the diseases will come upon you I want to go back again for a moment to Romans 10 17. Faith comes from hearing, hearing from the rhema of Christ. I want to explain something to you which I've learned and experienced, which is of inestimable importance and value if you can grasp it. It's how faith comes. You see, I lay in a hospital bed for a year on end as a Christian. The doctors were not healing me. I knew that my only hope was in God. I kept saying to myself, if I had faith, I know God would heal me. But then I always said, but I don't have faith. And then one day Romans 10, 17 came to me, faith cometh by hearing. And I leapt at it. Faith comes. If I don't have it, I can get it. And then I looked at the rest of the verse, and I pondered, and I prayed, and I sought God. And gradually God opened it up to me. And when he opened it up to me, how faith comes, I received the faith for my healing. I thank God for the ministry of doctors and nurses, but they weren't able to heal me. Healing had to come to me that time direct from God. And it came when I heard the rhema, the spoken word of God. It brought faith. So you see there's a process by which faith comes. Lay hold of this. There's three stages in the process. First of all, God's word, God's rhema, God speaks. Secondly, your response, hearing. You're open to the word of God. Later in these talks I'll explain more about hearing. Thirdly, out of hearing, faith comes. Now usually there's an element of time in hearing. Hearing isn't usually something instantaneous. we have to get into a certain attitude we have to come to a certain frame of mind we can sit reading the bible or maybe listening to a sermon and it's just words flowing past us but then we settle down into a kind of inner stillness our mind is at rest our busy mental processes are suspended for a moment we're hearing and out of that hearing faith comes let me advise you cultivate this ability to hear be open to what God says to you personally it'll be in line with scripture it'll never be out of line with scripture but it'll be scripture quickened made alive, made personal by the Holy Spirit that's how faith comes that way, by hearing the voice of God in my talk yesterday I explained one specific result of hearing God's voice which is of inestimable value. One result which, if nothing else ever followed, would make it well worthwhile to hear God's voice. And that result is faith. Hearing God's voice produces faith. The scripture that I centered on was Romans 10, 17. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing from or by the word of Christ. Faith comes from hearing. first of all I pointed out that faith comes so if you don't have it you can get it you don't need to go on without it secondly it comes from hearing thirdly it comes from hearing the rhema the spoken word, the living word the life quickened word the word that's quickened by the Holy Spirit I explained that there are two Greek words for word in the New Testament logos which is the divine, eternal, unchanging council of God settled forever in heaven which no human mind can fully apprehend and rhema the word that's spoken by God to us individually and personally quickened by the Holy Spirit that brings that part of the logos the total counsel of God that we need at any given moment down to us and makes it personal makes it vivid faith comes by hearing this personal word of God this word spoken maybe by human voice but anyhow by the Holy Spirit it's as we hear this spoken word that faith comes. Now today I'm going to speak about the distinctive lifestyle that results from hearing God's voice. People who learn to hear God's voice lead a life that's different from other people. They just can't be the same. I want to return to a scripture that I quoted in my talk yesterday. Matthew chapter 4 verse 4. Jesus is answering Satan's temptation to turn the stones into bread in the desert and this is what is written but he answered and said it is written man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God the word there is rhema every rhema that proceeds out of the mouth of God the verb proceeds is in the continuing present tense every proceeding word, every word as it proceeds out of the mouth of God. You remember I said that hearing God's voice indicates a direct personal relationship with God. We're in tune with God right there, right then. It's not past, it's not future, it's here and now in the present. That's the continuing proceeding word of God for that given moment, for that given time, for that given situation. That's what we live on. Jesus was speaking and comparing that rhema with bread. He said, man doesn't live by bread alone, but he lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And in a certain sense, he was comparing that with natural bread. And as natural bread feeds the natural body of man, so that proceeding personal word of God feeds man's inner being, his spirit. It nourishes his spirit. And we need the one just as much as we need the other. To keep our bodies alive, we need natural brain. But to keep our spirits alive and healthy, we need the spiritual brain, the proceeding word, the personal word, the voice of the Lord coming to us. Now this comes only through the Holy Spirit. You see, if you hold a Bible in front of you. All you have actually is white sheets of paper with black marks on them. You can't hear that. No one can hear black marks on white paper. It's impossible. How can that ever become a voice, a spoken word that you can hear? There's only one power in the universe that can turn those black marks on white paper into the voice of God. that power is the Holy Spirit so you see we're totally dependent on the Holy Spirit it's the Holy Spirit who brings to us in any given situation the rhema the word of God that we need that quickens it that imparts life to it that makes it a living voice and so through hearing that word of God we are related to God the Holy Spirit it's God the Holy Spirit who's guiding us and directing us all the way, every day, by the rhema that he gives us. See what Paul says in Romans 8, 14. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. So what makes us sons of God? Being led by the Spirit of God. See, there are many different ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives, but I want to distinguish two. First of all, we are born of the Holy Spirit. And that makes each of us a newborn child, a baby. Peter said in his first epistle, as newborn babies desire the pure milk of the word. But that doesn't make us mature, grown-up sons of God. How can we become mature, grown-up sons? Only by being led by the Holy Spirit. And all who are being led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God, not children, not babies, but mature sons. And notice that's a continuing, ongoing present. All who are being continually led by the Spirit of God. It's not something that just happens once or even once a week, not just in church on Sunday or whatever day you may go to church. But it's something that's going on all the time in our daily life. It's our daily brain. It's hearing the voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. And as we hear the voice of the Lord, we're directed. My wife and I have a prayer that we regularly pray whenever we go about any kind of business. Our prayer is that we may always be in the right place at the right time. We've discovered it makes a lot of difference. We spend a good deal of our time in Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem many means of communication we're used to here in the States are not so accessible. A lot of people don't have phones. A lot of people don't have cars. The mail system is extraordinary. I remember we once posted a letter from one address in Jerusalem to another. It took 17 days to arrive. So how can you communicate with people? Well, one of our solutions is we pray to be always in the right place at the right time. It's amazing how often, without planning it, we meet the very person we need to meet at the very moment we need to speak to them because we're in the right place at the right time. Who organizes that? The Holy Spirit. He prompts us. He says, today's the day to go to the bank. You go to the bank and there's the very person standing in front of you in the line, waiting to cash his check. Or, don't catch that bus, catch another bus. That's the rhema, that's the spoken word, it's the ongoing direction of the Holy Spirit. That's what makes us mature sons of God. We're born again by the Spirit of God to be little babies. But to grow up, we have to hear the voice of the Lord. We have to be led continually by the Holy Spirit. To close my talk today, I want to show you that this lifestyle that I'm talking about, of hearing God's Word as daily brain, of having the Holy Spirit speak to us daily and personally, was the lifestyle of Jesus himself. He didn't merely preach it, he practiced it. In the prophet Isaiah chapter 50 verses 4 through 7, there's a beautiful prophetic picture of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus, of his ministry, and in particular of his ongoing daily relationship with God the Father. And this is what it says, Isaiah 50 verses 4 through 7. The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, this is Jesus speaking, to know the word that sustains the weary. You know, Jesus was able to speak that word that sustained the weary. Now how did it come? Listen. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. That was the secret of Jesus, that God woke his ear every morning, that every morning he heard his father's voice speaking, guiding him, giving direction, instruction, strength for the day. He goes on. The sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious. I have not drawn back. and here's a very clear prophetic picture of Jesus. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I hid not my face from mocking and spitting. Why was Jesus willing to go through with all that he went through? How was he able? How did he receive the strength? The answer was by hearing the Father's voice. Every morning he heard from his Father before he communicated with human beings. Then he goes on, because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. So you see, Jesus began each day listening to the Father. And here are some of the results that followed from his listening to the Father like that each day. First of all, he had words of encouragement for others. secondly he received personal direction for each day himself thirdly he received obedience you know hearing God's voice produces obedience fourthly he received strength to go through all that he had to go through he needed more than human strength he needed supernatural strength and he received that through hearing the father's voice fifthly he received determination he said I've set my face like a flint I'm not turning back all that came to Jesus through hearing the Father's voice and hearing God's voice will do the same for us as it did for Jesus we need to cultivate that habit of letting the Lord waken our ear each morning it's good to be with you again at the beginning of a new week sharing with you keys to successful living which God has placed in my hand through many years of personal experience and Christian ministry. This week I'm continuing with the theme that I commenced last week, hearing God's voice. In my talks last week, I explained that the great unchanging basic requirement for an ongoing relationship with God is to hear God's voice. In the Old Testament, It was summed up in one brief phrase by the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 7.23. God says, Obey my voice, and I will be your God. That's the great unvarying condition. In all ages and dispensations, God says the one thing that matters, ultimately, is obey my voice, and I will be your God. In the New Testament, Jesus stated this as the one distinctive mark of all who would truly be his disciples. in John 10 27 he says this my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me that's the mark of the true disciples and followers of Jesus in all ages it's not a denominational label it's not some doctrinal emphasis but it's those who hear his voice and follow him and without hearing his voice, we cannot follow him. So hearing his voice is essential to being a follower of Jesus. Then I explained last week that the result of hearing God's voice is true faith. Romans 10, 17. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of Christ. Then as we cultivate the practice of hearing God's personal word to us each day, it becomes the fresh daily bread that nourishes us spiritually, and through it we receive daily direction and strength for our ongoing walk with God. Now, in my talks this week, I'm going to deal with the practical outworking of my theme. I'm going to ask and answer the question, how can we hear God's voice? I want to turn, first of all, to the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. Many times Jesus spoke about having ears to hear, and particularly so when he was teaching in parables. For instance, in Mark 4.9 we read, Then Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And in Mark 4.23, a little further on in the same chapter, If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. What does that mean, having ears to hear? Obviously, Jesus was not referring to physical ears. Presumably, all the people who were listening to him were in possession of two physical ears, at least the great majority of them. Most of them were not physically deaf. But Jesus still said, if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. So what was he talking about? I believe that he was talking not about outward physical hearing and physical ears, but about an inner condition of the heart. I believe the essence of what we're saying is that we have to hear God with our heart. There's such a thing as having a heart to hear God, a hearing heart. I'll turn to an example from the life of Solomon. early in Solomon's reign as king of Israel says the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him a very vital question 1 Kings 3.5 at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream and God said ask for whatever you want me to give you that's a situation that I'm not sure most of us are ready to face suppose God appeared to you and said ask for what you want and I'll give it to you What would you ask for? Well, let's read Solomon's answer. 1 Kings 3, 7 through 10. This is what Solomon said. Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. your servant is here among the people you have chosen a great people too numerous to count or number so and now here's Solomon's request he was confronted with a situation that was too big for him he knew he couldn't handle it what was he to ask for this is what he says so give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this great people of yours and the comment is the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this now where the translation says a discerning heart the Hebrew says literally a hearing heart that's what we're talking about a heart that can hear God and Solomon received it as a gift from God God gave it to him because he asked for it let me pause and ask you this have you ever asked God for a hearing heart? Do you realize that it's with your heart you hear God? Do you realize that this is going to make all the difference in your life, whether you can hear God's voice with your heart? You see, it's with our heart that we hear the voice of God, not with our physical ears. In my talks last week, I gave what seemed to me to be rather a vivid example of a bank that has a safe, and the safe is programmed electronically to open only at the voice of the bank manager. And his voice, like every voice, is unique. There's no way to copy that voice. So the only one who can open that safe is the bank manager when he says certain words in his voice. Well, I believe that your heart and my heart are like that. The heart is the safe. It's the place where we keep the things that really matter to us. Proverbs 4.23, the words of Solomon again, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. What you have in your heart is going to settle the course of your life. So your heart is a safe that keeps things much more precious than those that are kept in a bank safe. And I believe that every child of God should have a heart that's a safe, that's programmed only to open at one voice, the voice of the Lord. You remember what Jesus said? My sheep hear my voice. They follow me. He said they will not follow a stranger because they don't recognize his voice. How important it is to have a heart that will open to the voice of the Lord and will not open to the voice of an alien or a stranger. What kind of a heart is that? It's a hearing heart. We have ears to hear, not physically, but in our spirit. In the innermost depths of our being, we have a heart that responds to the voice of the Lord. Now I want to talk for a moment out of scripture about the opposite condition, spiritual deafness. The Bible, both the Old and the New Testament, have much to say about people who are spiritually deaf. Jesus said of those who could not understand his parables in Matthew 13 verses 13 through 15 that they were spiritually deaf. This is how he expresses it. He said, this is why I speak to them in parables. Though seeing, they do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. You will be ever hearing, but never understanding. You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused. They hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. There is a picture of people who have no heart to hear the voice of the Lord. They've become inwardly deaf. And there's one word which I think is very significant. It's a frightening word. This people's heart has become calloused. Their heart doesn't respond. It's not sensitive any longer. Compare what God said about Israel in the Old Testament in Psalm 95 verses 7 and 8. He said, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert. And then he goes on about those people who did harden in their hearts. For 40 years I was angry with that generation. I said they are a people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger they shall never enter my rest. See I believe there are many of God's people today who never really enter God's rest. They're always wandering in the wilderness but they never enter the promised land. The reason is they haven't learned to hear God's voice. The only way to enter God's rest is to hear his voice. If you put those two accounts from the New Testament and the Old Testament together of people who were deaf in their hearts, spiritually deaf, there are two significant words that describe the condition of their hearts. The two words are calloused and hardened. That's the kind of heart that does not hear. so what's the application what's the opposite of being calloused and hardened I would say the key word is sensitive we have to cultivate inward sensitivity toward the Lord and toward his voice let me give you a vivid picture have you ever seen a blind person reading braille have you seen their fingers skimming over those little dots on the paper if I were to brush my fingers over those dots, they would mean nothing to me. I would just feel something a little above the surface. But a blind person has so sensitized his fingers that those dots mean something to him. They are words. They have a message. I believe that's what it means to cultivate a sensitive heart toward the voice of the Lord. It's to have our hearts so sensitive that when God speaks, we hear his voice. It means something to us. I believe that's the real key to blessing, to entering our inheritance. It's so grieving to think of the people that wandered in the wilderness when they could have been in the promised land, all because they had not cultivated a sensitive heart toward the voice of the Lord. Let me challenge you to do that, to cultivate a sensitive heart. Let me begin my talk today with a brief personal comment. In my own life, I find that hearing God's voice correctly is usually the key factor in achieving true spiritual success. I can't think of anything at this time that seems more important to me in my own personal walk with God than learning to hear God's voice and hearing it correctly. In my talk yesterday, I explained that we hear God's voice not with our physical ears, but with our heart. We were challenged yesterday by Solomon's prayer, Give me a hearing heart. and we read that the Lord was pleased with that request. I asked you yesterday, I'll ask you again today, have you ever asked God for a hearing heart? Conversely, we saw that when God's people failed to hear God's voice, the two words used to describe their heart condition were hard and calloused. This means that in order to hear God's voice, we must cultivate sensitivity in our hearts in the same way as a blind person reading Braille cultivates sensitivity in his fingers. A blind person can get results out of Braille with his fingertips that an ordinary person could never achieve. The reason is he's cultivated a special kind of sensitivity. And I believe we have to cultivate a similar kind of sensitivity in our hearts if we really want to hear God's voice correctly. You see, one thing about God is, he doesn't shout. Very rarely do you read about God shouting. Some people's picture of God is just a big man shouting with a loud voice, but that's not God at all. Matter of fact, we'll look at some examples in the course of these talks where God spoke in a whisper. Well, today I'm going to deal with four specific requirements for achieving this kind of sensitivity of heart. the first two requirements go closely together and I would describe them as attention and humility. Let me just say those two words again, attention and humility. These requirements are stated many times in the book of Proverbs and we need to bear in mind that Proverbs was written by the man who had asked God for a hearing heart by Solomon. Let me give you just three passages from the book of Proverbs where these two requirements are joined together. Proverbs 4 verse 20. My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings. the two requirements attend incline thine ear to incline your ear means to bow down your head to bow down your head is a mark of reverent a respectful humility you're not arguing with God you're not dictating to God you're waiting to hear from God the inclined ear is an essential part of hearing from God Proverbs 5 verse 1 my son attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding Again the same two conditions, attend and bow the ear. And then again in Proverbs 22 verse 17. Bow thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. The implication of the first part of that verse, bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise, is that if we don't bow down our ear, we won't hear. If we don't have the right attitude, the attitude of humility, respectfulness, reverence, then we will not hear. So it says, bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. You see, always it's the heart that hears the voice of God, and we have to apply our heart. We have to attend. We have to focus our attention. Let me sum up those two requirements briefly. First of all, to hear God's voice, we must give him our undivided attention. Attend. Apply thine heart. now that's totally contrary to contemporary culture where most people are used to listening to at least two things at one time I remember when I had teenage children that were still in high school I remember seeing one of my daughters sitting there at the kitchen counter doing her homework and watching a television program at the same time and my mind reeled I've been a student, I've been a teacher, I've been a professor at a university and I absolutely could never do that. If I'm watching television, I cannot focus on my homework. If I'm focusing on my homework, I could not intelligently watch television. Now, I'm not saying she didn't achieve any results. I'm sure she didn't achieve the maximum. But that's typical of contemporary American culture, culture in the Western world. People are afraid of silence. You know that? They always want some noise going on, background music, something somehow to distract them. But if you want to hear God's voice, you can't afford to be distracted. You've got to focus both ears and all your mind on God. You have to cultivate attention. It's a gift or a quality that many people just don't possess today. Secondly, as I've said, we have to bow down our ear. We have to be humble and teachable. Many people read the Bible or pray to God with their own preconceptions. They believe they know what God should have said. They believe they know what God is going to say. And if God actually has said something different or does say something different, they're simply unable to hear. They're made deaf by their own preconceptions. Most people who belong to any kind of denomination read the Bible with their own denominational slant. they think well if it's not in my denomination's teaching it isn't in the Bible believe me I don't think there's any denomination of which that is completely true there are things in the Bible that we don't hear many times in church and if we only expect to hear from God what we've heard may be in church we're spiritually deaf we'll miss what God is saying to us So the first two requirements for hearing God were attention and humility. Let's look at the next two now for a while. I would say the next two requirements are time and quietness. Let me say that again. Time and quietness. How remote those two words are from our contemporary culture. Two things that almost nobody has today are time to be quiet. and yet this is stated so many times in the book of Psalms about hearing God. For instance, in Psalm 46 verse 10, it says, Be still and know that I am God. Out of stillness we hear God's voice. An alternative translation of the same verse says this, Cease striving and know. And the alternative version in the margin of that is, let go, relax, and know that I'm God. Put those together. Be still and know. Cease striving and know. Let go, relax, and know. What does that speak to you about? To me it speaks of quietness and relaxation, and this requires time. We hear from God very many times when we take time to wait for God. God doesn't always speak the first instant that we would like to hear. Psalm 62 verse 1 says this. They are the words of David. My soul waits in silence for God only. Tremendous words. My soul waits in silence for God only. You have to wait. You have to be silent. and your attention has to be focused on one person only, God. And then in Psalm 62 verse 5, just four verses further on, David addresses his own soul and tells his soul how to wait. My soul, wait in silence for God only. Have you ever said that to your soul? My soul, wait in silence for God only. The emphasis is on waiting in silence. for God. Being in an attitude of attention, of reverence, of quietness, of relaxation, our hearts and minds focused on God. I want to say that there is no better preparation through which we can achieve this attitude than the preparation of worship. This is beautifully brought out in another psalm, Psalm 95, verses 6 through 8. Come, let us worship and bow down, and again the emphasis is on humility. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you would hear his voice, do not harden your hearts always that warning against hardening our hearts if we want to hear God's voice so how do we prepare our hearts well there is no better way of preparation than that which is outlined in those words I've just read to you let us worship let us bow down let us kneel let us come to God with reverence let us open our hearts to him let us worship him, acknowledge his greatness, his majesty, his sovereignty, his wisdom the Lord is a great God, the scripture says we need to give him all the respect and all the reverence of which we're capable we need to appreciate the tremendous privilege of hearing from God that the almighty God, the creator and sustainer of the universe will speak to us individually today there's little respect for authority in our contemporary culture but God still demands respect and if we come to him we must come to him with respect respect that's expressed in worship in humbling ourselves before him in kneeling before him if need be in acknowledging his greatness in opening our hearts to him so when you want to hear from God approach him with worship In my two previous talks this week on hearing God's voice, I've established the following main points. First of all, we hear God's voice with our heart, not with our physical ears. Therefore, we must cultivate sensitivity of heart. The two words describing the hearts of those who were spiritually deaf were hard and calloused. secondly there are four specific requirements for achieving this kind of sensitivity of heart and they are as follows first attention second humility third time fourth quietness we looked at the words of david when he said my soul waits in silence for god only then we said also yesterday that the best preparation is worship. Come, let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord, our Maker. And then the psalm goes on, Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. So preparation for hearing God's voice is best achieved by worship. The truth that I'

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