Ezk 37 Voicing God

Hey, am I good to go?

Good to go Wayne. Ezekiel 37.

We've been talking about that

for the last couple of weeks and so...

Oh, a Ryan, Pastor Ryan, can you give out the notes?

We've been talking about Ezekiel 37 for the last

few weeks and

while Ryan's giving out the notes, I'll just read it. Ezekiel 37.

The hand of the Lord was upon me and he brought me out by the Spirit and the Lord set me in the middle of a valley.

It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them and

I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

He asked me, son of man, can these bones live? I said, O sovereign Lord, you alone know. Then he said to me,

Prophesy to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones. I will make breath enter you and you will come to life.

I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin.

I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

So I prophesied as I was commanded and as I was prophesying

there was a noise, a rattling sound and the bones came together, bone to bone.

I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to it,

this is what the sovereign Lord says, come from the four winds of breath and breathe into these slain that they may live.

So I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them and they came to life and stood upon the feet of a vast army.

I want to talk about how to voice God here on earth.

So if you look at your notes, it says voicing God and that's a critical part of what

churches are supposed to do on earth and we are supposed to do. So that's what we'll be talking about.

So when you think of the voice of God guys,

there is the voice of God,

which was heard clearly by people in the Old Testament and the New Testament and

so in 2nd Peter 1, 16 to 18, Peter is

saying that hey, we are not following some cunningly devised fable.

We were there on the mountain when we heard the voice from

the glory as in he's referring to the sovereign God of the entire universe,

the Alpha and Omega and Peter and John actually heard it. If you go to 2nd Peter,

this is 40 years after it happened and Peter is still so excited about it that he starts writing and even as you read it,

you realize that it's left such an impression on him. 2nd Peter 1,

16 to 18.

Here's what he says,

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for we received honor and glory from God the Father

when the voice came to him from the majestic glory saying,

This is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased.

We ourselves heard this voice that came from the heaven and when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

So there is this thing called the voice of God which they actually heard and this is in the New Testament.

40 years later, he's still so caught up with it that he says you guys don't know why I am willing to lay my life down

because I have heard him who the beginning and the end of the entire universe

of whom there is no end.

This is who we are dealing with when we talk about

Ezekiel 37 or when we talk about voicing God. This is not some guesswork.

This is not some ah, maybe it is maybe it is and no this is the ability of a people in whom God dwells

to be able to voice him and

it's such a cool

responsibility and privilege that we must do everything to cultivate not in fear

but with excitement the same kind of excitement that Peter is showing here.

So there is that voice of God then there is a voice of God in creation the voice of God in creation.

If you go to Psalm 19

There's one place in Psalm 19 where it says

Day in day out night in night out even though there is no sound creation speaks

Psalm 19

Psalm 19 verse 2 to 4

Psalms 19:2–4

And it's this that then Paul takes in Romans and says man has no excuse to not seek God

because creation gives evidence of him. He borrows the idea from Psalm 19 where it says in verse 2 to 4

Day after day they pour speech night after night they display knowledge

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard

Ah, love it eh?

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard their voice goes out into all the earth

their words to the ends of the world and what are we talking about verse 1 the heavens declare the glory of God the skies

proclaim the work of his hands the voice of God is evident in creation on a daily basis in every

speech in every language a

Man has no excuse to not seek God the question often asked is oh well

How unfair is it that people do not know about Jesus and so they will die without knowing Jesus?

How can a fair God do that this fair God has given so much evidence that if you even slightly look up at God

He just is waiting to burst forth onto your screen

But that's for another day

The third way God speaks is through the word through the word in the word

So there is the voice then there is his voice in creation then there is the voice in the word

Yep, there is the voice in the word Hebrews 4 verse 12

Hebrews 4:12

that

The word of God is alive. So it's not some dead thing on a piece of paper

I mean, how is it that a that a guy who hasn't been to church and I'm really dissing him right now only to lift

Him up later who hasn't been to church in the last five months reads Matthew 4 12 or 16 and is convicted that he should now

Forgive those around him. How does that happen man?

The word has power in it it has a voice that begins to speak because it's alive

It says it's like a two-headed sword that begins to cut

Up

We've fallen into the trap of thinking that as long as the gospel is preached everywhere, that's good enough God will come hey

There is a voice in the word that must come out and that voice is to the word is given by his people now

It does happen this way to where you're reading the word and it convicts

But if the preaching of the gospel could save everybody thousands would be saved by now

There is the word and the voice of the word must come out and it comes out through a people which we'll talk about later

Amen

So there is the voice of God in his word just like it happened with him

Just like it's happened almost to everybody here

Where at some point the word of God did something in you started life in you man changed you turned you around

Delivered you broke you free created something in you amazing how the word of God does this

Read it to listen to it

Faith comes by hearing the voice of God in the word

Got to change that around a little faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God must be

Understood as faith comes by hearing the voice of God in the word

This has been his favorite way of giving life of destroying things

This has been his favorite way of giving life of destroying things and of rebuilding things

Trace back God to the beginning of time

The beginning of time not to the beginning of God the beginning of time trace him back to the beginning of time

And the one thing you see him doing again and again is he uses his voice

He uses his voice to create he uses his voice to build he uses his voice to tear down imitate God

The fourth way that God speaks is through at one time his holy prophets and now through ones who preach

It says in Ephesians 3 5 that God used to speak once upon a time through his holy prophets

And now again he's speaking through his apostles and prophets

That's an efficient way of speaking through his apostles and prophets

And now again he's speaking through his apostles and prophets

That's in Ephesians 3 5 and then when you go to Romans 10 where it says how will they hear unless someone preach

God's word goes out through ones who preach and who are the ones who preach not preachers but you

And then the last one God's voice goes out through the ministry of his body as in us

Every time we minister man he speaks to people through our ministry

Every time we minister he speaks to people he speaks to people through our ministry

Paul put it this way when he wrote to wrote to the Corinthians he said in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 3

2 Corinthians 2:3

The guys don't you know that you are our apostles you are the letters that we have written

It's not written with ink but it's written by the spirit so that others can read

God's voice goes through my conduct man God's voice goes through the things I do

My God I am a letter people can read

2 Corinthians 2 verse 2 and 3

2 Corinthians 2:2

People must when I meet your friends they must tell me what they read

Not because they read the Bible but because today they spent time with you and they read you

That is so cool that I can go spend time with somebody and people read God and God is voiced

Any questions?

Different ways God speaks man

He voices himself Ezekiel 37 is about voicing God

Can God speak directly? Yes he can but do you notice in Ezekiel 37 that he chooses not to

He could have easily gone into that valley and said to the bones just like he said during creation

Let there be and he could have created but Ezekiel 37 shows the nature of God since he moved and began to live amongst men

That listen if you are my body then you are my mouthpiece

Hello we can't just be the body and say you can have my body but you can't have my mouth

Jeremiah 17 or Jeremiah 15 I think

Jeremiah 15 God actually says hey Jeremiah if you don't separate the nonsensical and the vile from that which is wise you can't be my mouthpiece

One of the things God loves using the body for is to be his mouthpiece

Us as his mouthpiece

See the thing is guys it says in John 5 21 that the father can raise the dead and give them life and the son has life in himself and he can give life too

So the father and the son can give life but he has chosen to use our words to give life

How did Jesus give life Lazarus come out? How did God give life? Let there be light

What else which other way did he give life? He would breathe and there would be life

God uses words to give life

He can he still does that but for some strange reason he says if you are my body and you are the visible image now of the invisible Jesus at present then please use your mouths and begin to let the world know who I am what my nature is like what I want what my will is what I dislike do it through your conduct and your speech

It is fascinating how in every episode one thing that is emphasized again and again by Paul is hey guys make sure your speech is wholesome

To the point that James says in James chapter 3 that a man who has command of his tongue is a man who has perfected himself

James 3 · chapter mention

Yep Ezekiel 37 4 to 6 God is speaking and he could have easily gone into the valley of bones spoken directly to the bones but he doesn't instead he outlines what he wants Ezekiel to say and then Ezekiel says in 37 7 and 37 10

So I prophesied as I was commanded so I prophesied as I was commanded not as I named and claimed it not as I willed it not as I wanted it but I prophesied as I was commanded which is why this church put such an emphasis on continuously learning how to hear God and there will never be an end to it

Like I always say next year my hearing will be better than it is next this year so there's never going to be an end to this why is it that hearing is such an important quality in the church because once we hear the word of God we can do what he commands us to

Besides the written word there is this thing called the living word and the living word is not a thing it is a person and it is Christ and he is speaking because Deuteronomy 8 3 and Luke 4 4 say that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God

It's not an occasional thing that happens it proceeds from the mouth of God there is something called the proceeding word and there is something called the preceding word the preceding word is what God had already said the proceeding word is what God is still saying and continues to say live by the preceding word and like Moses you will strike the rock when you should speak to it

Live by the proceeding word and suddenly you begin to be where God is this is why hearing must be continually cultivated if you can't hear don't throw up your arms in resignation none of those children do they get up and they start again

Hand mama and papa are so encouraged because the kid gurgled something and the mother thinks it said mama and then they keep that on for the they take videos of that and show everybody who comes to the house for the next six months parents are delighted where do you think the delight comes from the delight comes from the father if you can hear this much praise God blessed are you because you're listening to an invisible person with an inaudible voice and you're listening to a child

with an inaudible voice and tomorrow when you listen this much more this is why churches do not put an emphasis on listening

It is a work of the enemy to raise up a people who are good at everything good at theology good at hermeneutics good at all those big words but not good at hearing

Desire it a passionately grow in it there'll never be an end to it 60 years from now you'll still be you'll still be learning

Don't worry I'll come back in

Kind of getting hot

Kind of getting hot

So Ezekiel prophesies and he begins to cause the bones to rise guys your voice and I've said this before your voice is a forerunner your voice is a forerunner as it as in it runs before the real thing comes in your voice is a forerunner and therefore it prepares or

Opens the way of the spirit before you even get there your voice goes before you a your voice goes before you think like that think like that my voice once I hear a command from God must go before me because it goes ahead and prepares the way for the things of God to happen

Why do you think God would send prophets ahead of anything he wanted to do? Why do you think he sent John the Baptist? Because whenever God is about to do something he always does it only after speaking about it God speaks before he does. These are patterns it's not that God is predictable but he does give us glimpses into certain patterns of his nature and then he reveals it in the word where he actually says in Amos that I do reveal things in将士

I do reveal things to my prophets before I do it or he says in other places that I will send someone before to announce what I'm going to do John the Baptist prepare either way Elijah to change Israel from apostasy to alignment with God there's all Paul sent him so that Jew and Greek can become one Peter sent him so that the Holy Spirit could fall upon both Jew and the Jews gathered in Jerusalem Joel sent him ages ago to tell people that the Spirit of God will fall Abraham sent

him to declare that all nations shall be blessed God announces far ahead of time what he is going to do which then means that we as for runners must do the same.

This is why you'll hear me saying things about what acts 29 will do sometimes three years down the line because I don't even know how to do it.

So I pretend that I know it to impress you but I really have no idea.

But my voice must go ahead.

How to do it.

I'll figure it out later, but I can't hold back what God is saying.

He wants to do with us and the same with you when I speak to you individually.

I say things.

I don't know how they're going to happen.

I have no idea.

I look wise, but I'm not.

And then I said and you'll have to wait and thank God.

God is merciful and he lets you in on it.

Your voice is a forerunner.

Any questions?

Thing is guys vocalize immediately what God is saying because once you vocalize your faith, it identifies you with the words with the works with the expectations and the heart of God vocalize.

Your faith because when you vocalize your faith, it identifies you with the words the works and the expectations that you have and the heart of God.

People don't like saying what they think God is going to do because they are scared that if I say it and it doesn't happen, I'll look foolish.

Silence is an attractive option because it spares you ridicule.

It spares you active engagement of faith and spares you from wrestling with God.

So in that sense, silence is an attractive option, but it's really not an option because it allows conditions that exist presently to continue.

Did you hear that silence is not an option?

Silence is an attractive option.

Did you hear that silence is not an attractive option because it allows conditions that presently exist to continue.

Elijah would interrupt the woman as she would talk about but I only have this much flour and this much oil and I'm going to die shortly.

He keep interrupting.

Could you just stop your whining and go make me some cake?

And so there was this need to interrupt what sometimes people say.

This is not a name it claim it thing.

This is not create your destiny with your own words.

This is the ability to agree with God when he has commanded or shown something so visible that I must say it and vocalize my faith because it brings me into a place where there are expectations, works and words from the heart of God.

That I am now identifying with and once you identify it with it, it becomes you or you become it.

If you get pregnant, announce it.

Don't wait for three months.

If you're going to get a job, announce it.

Don't wait for till you get the job.

What are you saying?

You know, I've got a job.

I'm going to get a job.

What are you saying?

You know, I've got a strong feeling that I'm going to get this job.

It hasn't come yet.

But I just want you guys to know that there have been three jobs like this that I didn't get.

But I got this sense that I'm at the brink of a breakthrough.

So I just want to let you know.

What you sense God saying either from his nature or his word or from a promise or a direct word or some kind of way where God has conveyed, hey, I got you back.

Voicing God.

To announce God once your bacon's fried, even a chef in Denny's can do that.

But announce it before you have a fire.

Now God will have to show up.

That's the difference.

And then people are watching it because you might fall flat on your face, which is a present reality.

But this is the fun of it.

What if you fall flat on your face?

Well, you can do what Kamal did.

Get up, come back looking handsomer.

I'm making fun of his pain, but his pain is now so long ago that he doesn't remember.

It's really good to have you back, Kamal.

He didn't have pain at all.

There you go.

Huh.

Wow.

Awesome, man.

Did he crack jokes while he was in hospital?

You should have asked the doctor.

You should have asked the doctor.

Doctor, what's your level of pain right now?

Silence is not an option, guys.

I mean, Acts 4, 29, 30.

Oh God, look at their threats and grant us the boldness to speak your word.

Grant us the boldness to speak your word without compromise.

And as we do, would you cause the hand of your holy son to fall flat on your face?

Oh God, we're in a situation where we're not allowed to speak our word.

We're not allowed to speak our word.

We're not allowed to speak our word.

We're not allowed to speak our word.

And as we do, would you cause the hand of your holy servant Jesus Christ

to be stretched out in signs, miracles and wonders?

And the place shook and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

That aside, Psalm 8, verse 2 goes into effect.

Psalms 8:2

Psalm 8, verse 2 says that

Psalms 8:2

Out of the mouth of babes, I have ordained strength

because of your enemies so that you can silence the avenger.

Out of the mouth of babes, I have ordained strength

because of your foes so that you may silence the avenger.

As in Jacob, I know there are no, there's no cattle in the stall.

There are no figs upon the tree.

But I really want you to believe what I've already said.

And I want you to begin to speak.

Declare your expectations, Jacob, off me.

Because you know me as faithful.

Have I ever failed you?

Nope.

Okay, then begin to speak, Jacob.

Begin to speak.

Because out of the mouth of babies like you,

childlike people like you, Jacob,

I have ordained strength.

What kind of strength?

Strength that makes you strong, Jacob.

Strength that makes others strong, Jacob.

And strength that dismantles the ploys of the enemy

because it silences the avenger.

Because of your foes sometimes,

burst out in praise-filled, faith-filled statements of God's intent.

Voice God.

It's being taken away from the church, not by the world.

Not through persecution.

Let's not kid ourselves.

This ain't persecution.

It's being taken away from the world by a culture

that seeps in and takes away our voice.

You know, on Mount Sinai,

you know, on Mount Sinai,

when God appeared in Deuteronomy 4 verse 12, it says,

Deuteronomy 4:12

God spoke to you out of the fire.

You heard the sound of his words, but you saw nothing.

You didn't see a form.

You only heard a voice.

The great thing is now God's voice has form.

Guess what form it has?

You.

How lovely are on the mountains are the feet of them that

proclaim good news.

This is why my once I start speaking this way,

my conduct has to match not my speech.

My conduct has to match the nature of God.

It's not practice what you preach.

It is practice the nature of God so that you can preach the nature of God.

My conduct has to match the nature of God.

If I am going to start speaking on behalf of God and the speaking comes first,

God isn't waiting for perfect vessels because he'd have to wait till the cows come home.

He can make them come home soon.

But the point is this that God first starts with speech and then goes

continually trying to change me to make my practice match his nature.

So don't be afraid of I can't speak till I'm perfect.

You won't be.

Look at you.

That was supposed to be encouraging.

It's so don't don't wait for perfection.

Start speaking and as you speak and you find that our shots.

I am actually speaking for God something strange begins to happen man.

You begin to shape up.

This is the odd thing.

I mean, I remember a guy telling me about this man who used to work for Xerox USA from the head office used to be really high up and he

would whenever he would go on meetings.

He would dress up so well because he represented one of the largest companies in the world would dress up extremely well board planes come back looking like really well dressed.

Why because he said I represent this company and once I start speaking for them.

I have to behave the part it is strange how once you start speaking for God you start behaving the part.

God has this amazing ability to start you working for him and as soon as you start working for him you have a desire to change because you know now that I got to match what I say from him with who he is.

So the more silent you are the easier it is to live undercover in plain clothes.

The more you speak for God or the more you speak on behalf of God the more you speak from the nature of God the more you work.

Let's forget speaking the more you act on behalf of God the more you will find your conduct changing.

The more you work let's forget speaking the more you act on behalf of God the more you will find your conduct changing.

Any questions.

You are the form that the voice takes now.

I love Isaiah 61 verse 1 Isaiah 61 verse 1 puts it this way.

Isaiah 61:1 Isaiah 61:1

The spirit of the Lord is upon me.

And then the spirit of the sovereign God again that same God who spoke on that mountain when Peter and John were there the spirit of the sovereign God is upon me.

And then when you read three times in one verse is this word that is repeated again and again to proclaim freedom to the captives to proclaim the year of favor to proclaim the good news.

There is a voice being given.

Why can't the spirit of God do it himself?

Why can't he do it with everybody like he did with Pavan?

He chooses not to because he decided that he will move out of a temple move into a people.

They will be called his body.

They will be called his bride.

He will be their bridegroom.

She will speak for him.

They will speak for him.

This is decided and so it shall be.

You give words for me you give words form God speaks before he acts God speaks before he acts Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 beautiful words.

Hebrews 1:3

He is the invisible radiance.

He is the invisible image of the visible radiance of God or easy visible radiance of God.

He is the invisible radiance.

He is the invisible image of the visible radiance of God or easy visible radiance of the invisible image invisible God.

And then it says and he upholds all things by his word.

He upholds all things by his word.

Sure gravity keeps us rooted on the ground.

Sure.

There must be gravitational forces that keep the planets in orbit.

But behind it all is one who upholds the entire system with imitate him.

Imitate him not to rule not to dominate imitate him to be an echo chamber for him.

That's all you are echoing the heart of God.

Derek Derek Derek.

Echo the heart heart heart.

Derek was sleeping is only woke up.

He almost said yes Lord and then he saw me.

Guys you are a spirit word being John 3 6 says that you flesh gives birth to flesh spirit gives birth to spirit.

Guys you are a spirit word being John 3 6 says that you flesh gives birth to flesh spirit gives birth to spirit.

And Jesus is talking to Nicodemus.

He's talking about how to get born again.

And he's so in John 3 6 it says you were birthed by the spirit.

You were not you're not just flesh and blood that your mom gave birth to something transpired some years ago whenever it happened.

You're a spirit word being John 3 6 spirit gives birth to spirit this Jacob the outer body.

Sure.

My dad and mom had a part to play in it.

But the person I am right now was birthed by the spirit of God man.

And then in first Peter 2 verse 23 it says you were not conceived from mortal sperm but from immortal seed called Christ.

1 Peter 2:23

This is my real makeup because this body will decay one day.

I'll have a brand new body.

The point is is that I am a spirit word being.

So operate out of the substance that you actually are.

Your spirit word being.

Operate out of the substance that you actually are begin to cultivate continuously and I'll never tire of saying this begin to cultivate continuously hearing.

Oh man.

It is the one pursuit of my life that I thank God is active every day and will keep increasing every day.

Don't measure your increase in did God speak today.

Measure your increase in one year from now our shucks father doing much better in this area than you than I used to don't measure it daily.

That's like I don't know whether you tried it.

I've tried it and I've stopped.

I mean you go stand on the weighing machine yesterday and then you go stand today and nothing changes man even though you didn't eat from yesterday to today.

And then you decide okay, you won't drink water for the whole day.

Maybe I'll go stand on the evening and I go stand on the evening.

I haven't eaten anything.

I haven't drunk anything and I've gone up by 200 grams.

How's that possible?

Do not weigh yourself every day.

Do not weigh yourself period doesn't bring it.

The point is this guy that you don't measure your increase in did God speak today.

The point is this guy that you don't measure hearing every day.

You measure it over a period of time and trust me others will see it before you see it because it's an actual change that's happening.

His spirit becomes keen.

I was writing this line yesterday and I began to cry.

I won't cry today.

I thought I would but no emotions are coming up right now.

So too bad.

The invisible spirit yearns jealous Jealousy for visibility through me.

The invisible Holy Spirit.

Yearns Jealousy.

For visibility through me.

The invisible Holy Spirit yearns Jealousy for visibility through me.

Because he actually thinks like I've said before he actually thinks this body belongs to him.

And he has absolute right to because in first Corinthians 6 19 or thereabouts it says don't you know that your body is the temple that you've been purchased at a price.

You no longer belong to yourself that you belong to him and that the Spirit of God lives in you.

And so for the Spirit of God when I wake up in the morning, it's like how long let's go.

I mean this body is mine.

This mouth is mine.

These eyes are mine.

We've got places to go things to do get up Jacob.

And then once I do it's this thing that he desires Jealousy that can I become visible through you so that Christ may be made evident.

One of the ways God becomes visible is through voice.

man…

God's that works happen when God's words are vocalized.

God's works happen and that's the word and the Sprinkle.

God works happen when God words are vocalized. God works happen when God words are spoken.

God works happen when God words are spoken. I'm not saying that's the only way, I'm saying it's

again a pattern that you will see in Jesus's life, in the life of all the famous prophets

and the guys lined up in Hebrews chapter 11, in the life of Paul and others. God works happen

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

when God words are spoken. And when these works happen, they voice, it's like a virtuous cycle,

they voice the presence of Jesus in that place. God works happen when God words, you know,

someone asked me a question a couple of days ago, very excitedly the person asked me the question,

how has your last week been? Any miracles? And it just made me sit back because the question

that was excitedly asked was, hey, so how was your last week? Any miracles? And I thought to myself,

things did happen but no miracles. And I went back and I said to the Lord, Father,

we've got to work on this now. Any miracles? And last week there were no miracles, there were amazing

God encounters, God conversations, God doing things, but there weren't any miracles. I don't

want people to come and ask me, so how was the last two weeks? Any miracles? And me saying,

hmm, great things happened. I don't want to do that. I can't make God do things. It's out of

question. He isn't anyone's puppet. But there must be an expectation of a mega sized God in my life.

You know, there's a theme that I want to introduce between now and Christmas and perhaps it'll spill

into the last year, next year. And here's the theme. Present God and present God. Present God,

as in may God's presence be in your life or in our midst. Present God, as in may his presence

be evident. When people walk in, may they see the way you are, the way we are, the way we sing,

and may his presence be known. So that's one side of it. Present God. And the other side of it is,

present God, as in present him to people. Let him be known through you. Present God and present

God. We'll talk about it next week. But this is something I really want to explore as a church.

How do we do that? Where we can present God wherever we go accurately and yet we present God

because we've learned how to, for the lack of a better word, host. We've learned how to become

conscious of his presence, not host his presence. This belongs to him. We'll talk about that more

next time. Remember, God works happen when God words are spoken. Romans 15, 16. Paul is saying,

for Paul it never occurred that words and works don't go together. In Romans 16 or 15, 19 he says

that, hey guys, I went around proclaiming and as I went around proclaiming, the Holy Spirit empowered

my proclamation but the Holy Spirit also did signs, wonders and miracles. For him, God works and God

words went together. And like I said here, God works happen when God words are spoken. You will

find that there is a greater proclivity towards God works in your life and around you when God

words are spoken. And they're not spoken out of bravado. They're not spoken out of wishful thinking.

They're not spoken out of quoting scripture. They are spoken because somewhere deep inside you,

you have begun to come to a place where you are absolutely assured of the goodness of God. And

you're absolutely assured of the fact that his presence is in you. We'll talk about that next

week. I don't know enough about it yet. I can fake it but I already let you in on that secret.

Guys, Jesus put it this way and I pray God that it becomes your desire to. The words I speak to

you are spirit and life. The words I speak to you are spirit and life. Desire that. The words I

speak to you are spirit and life. It's the hardest with the people closest. Make mistakes with them.

They usually don't leave but with the rest of the world, just make sure. Hey, Bernice, can you hear

with this on my neck? Kind of? No? Okay, just in case people thought this was an ornament, it's not.

Yeah. Okay, so guys, here's the thing. Desire that whenever you meet with people, desire that

two years from now, it's very natural for you to speak words of spirit and life. Because Jesus

said the words I speak to you are spirit and life. In John 5 25, the second part, I love what Jesus

says and who do you think is going to do it through? Jesus says it this way. He says, soon the dead will

hear the voice of the Son of God. The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. Those who hear it

will live. This he is saying just shortly before he goes to the cross. Who do you think that this

voice will go through? The dead will hear the voice of the Lord and they will live. It is a replay of

Ezekiel 37. Thousands of years before that, Ezekiel says, I don't know, God, what do you want to do?

And God says, prophesy, breathe and they will come to life. And then Jesus, a thousand years later,

is saying, soon the dead will hear the sound of the voice of God and they will live. Through whom?

And they will live. John 10 16, this verse blew my mind. Not only, God's not interested in just

His children hearing His voice. He says, I have many other sheep that are not yet part of this fold.

I am going out to go and get them and when I speak to them, they will hear my voice and respond to.

Hallelujah! That the voice of God is not limited to believers. The voice of God, the dead shall

hear. The unbeliever shall hear. The hard-hearted shall hear. The ones whose heart is not open to

God will hear. That is what the voice of the Son of God does, man. It brings life. If He only brought

life to those half alive, then what's the point? This is God. He is good at giving life to the dead.

This is why if we can align ourselves with the ways and the will of God in different circumstances,

different times, different days, just so malleable, then the sheep that are not in the part of the

flock yet will hear the voice of God and enter the sheep fold. This was the whole idea of the

river flowing from the throne of God. Wherever it went, it changed that which was dead into pools

of water where fish were teeming and the fishermen stood by En Gedi and they cast their nets and they

hauled in the fish. This is not for believers only, man. We have the privilege of hearing and now

calling in. Long ago when Gisela had a farm in Chilavak, Yarrow, one of the things I'd like to

do is go stand on the edge of the farm and there used to be a shepherd on the other side and he'd

make all kinds of strange noises, man. And he'd, I couldn't even, he'd do something like that and all

these sheep would come running from different corners. Bob, right? Yeah. It's amazing how a

word in season can bring those that, how did you come to God? Because someone at some point said

something that clicked. What made me tick was when a guy came and said to me, you won't even

get the scraps that fall off the table. What a word to draw someone into Christ. But that made

something alive in me, man. Hey, we are, we are so fortunate that we get to explore all this, hey.

What's scary is you will never get this opportunity in heaven. You only get to try all of this out

here. Once you're in heaven, it's over, man. I mean it's a new beginning but it's over. This,

this you won't get anywhere else. This you only get here. Be in no hurry to die.

People must hear the sound of their origin. I know some of you heard Eddie talk about this. We even

wrote a song around this but for the sake of the tape and for ones who are new, Eddie talked about

this bird in South Africa that was a rare kind of an eagle that was dying in a zoo and so they

decide to shoot it and they bring it out and they throw it on the ground and the guy who was doing

it was hoping that the eagle would somehow try to fly but it's just lying there, wings flopped over

and not moving and so they try shooing it or doing whatever makes birds fly and it still doesn't

react. It's just lying there not moving and so they decide well there's no other choice but to

shoot it and so as they prepare to shoot this bird, an eagle from the same breed starts circling

the sky out of nowhere and it begins to call and as it begins to call this eagle on the ground,

slowly begins to fluff its wings and it keeps calling, keeps circling the sky and this eagle

begins to gain some strength and then begins to take a couple of ginger steps, starts flapping

its wings and before you know it, as this eagle in the sky keeps circling and calling out, this

eagle begins to move, run, fly and take off to meet that eagle in the sky. The first time I heard

this story, I thought about the gosh man and Eddie put it this way, when you hear the call of your

origin, something happens within you. When you hear the call of your origin, something happens

within you. It bursts every bond. It infuses a kind of strength that is divine, where suddenly

something transpires inside. Tomorrow you may not have the same emotion but you have something

inside you that begins to now tick. I pray God that we become that eagle in the sky that's calling

out. I pray that when you come here on a Sunday like this, during the time of worship or during

the teaching, that out of the word, the voice of God may go out and begin to do that very same

thing inside you so that for the rest of the week you become the eagle in the sky. I remember writing

a song after that and it says, we are the something of the eagle calling, we are the

sound of the eagle calling, deep calls to deep from the mountaintop. There is something man about

deep calling to deep. God can do that for unbelievers, God can do that for you. I pray God that you really

take this to heart man because it actually works. Faith comes by hearing guys but hearing the voice

of God, hearing the voice of God. It's the only thing I want to do when I teach. God as I teach,

can your voice just begin to come out of my teaching because that does things to you man.

I've sat on the teachers man who are brilliant scholars and academics and you're struggling

not to fall off to sleep even though you've slept for 11 hours and then you sit under some

people and you haven't slept through the night and you're traveling and your eyes are like this

because something is happening inside of you. I hope that something is happening inside of you

right now because I saw you falling off to sleep. You don't know who I'm talking about.

Guys let me begin to end. You know we don't need to be frightened of this voice like the guys in

the Old Testament were frightened. In Hebrews chapter 12 it says that when they heard the voice

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

they were scared. They didn't know him. They didn't know him. They thought he was such a

fierce fiery kind of God and yet in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 26 it says we haven't come to a mountain

Hebrews 12:26

like that that cannot be touched. We have come to Jesus and Jesus is gracious. Jesus is gracious

but here's the odd thing even though he is gracious his voice has the ability to change,

to redirect, to separate you, to refine you. Let it happen. Do not refuse the divine voice.

So why are you saying that Jacob? Because guys as you begin to hear God and he begins to ask you

to do things do it happily. Jesus is gracious. Jesus is gracious. Do it happily. Do not be afraid.

When he says something do it. Take the risk. Fall if you have to. Get up wonderfully. Start

again. I'm not afraid of God. It is the greatest victory in my life this year. While I was sitting

here and singing one of the songs, the first song, Your Love is Amazing and I was telling God,

Father this year has been brilliant because I'm not afraid of you at all.

I'm not afraid of God. What a relief. He is gracious. His voice is gracious. Listen to it

and take a risk. Hearing becomes easy when you see it succeed. Hearing becomes something that is nice

when you do not attempt it. There's always a doubt. Here's the odd thing though. Eutronomy 8 says,

God humbled Israel in the desert and fed them manna so that they would learn that man shall

not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I know I've said

this before that bread was a means of self-sustenance. Self-generated self-sustenance

was what bread meant. What was God's intent? I want to wean you away from all forms of

self-generated effort and self-sustenance so that you live no longer by anything but by the word

that proceeds from the mouth of God. Here's the thing. When you don't, God will humble you. What

does God will humble you mean? Humiliate you? No. Make you low? No. God will create circumstances

that make you dependent on him. Learn fast. Circumstances get easier. God humbling you is

not God humiliating you. God humbling you is not God bringing you low. God humbling you is making

you dependent on him. What does he want to do? Bring you to the end of your rope quickly. Why?

Blessed are those that are bankrupt for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who are at

the end of the rope for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those that are poor in spirit

for theirs is the kingdom of God. All three means the same thing. I find that whenever I am working

things through my effort, my connections, my expertise, my spiritual gifts, my talents,

my abilities that God at some point will say Jacob enough and he'll start humbling me. And

what is it? It is that even though I'm doing my best with all the connections I have, I'm not

getting the results. And finally, nowadays I come, the great thing about my life at present is I

come to God faster. That's all. Instead of taking 20 days, I come in three days. Saying I was trying

it for three days, it really didn't work and now I got it. I'm sorry I didn't get it immediately.

Three days was long enough. Look at me. And then now that I'm dependent on him, he's able to bring

it up as quickly. I'm saying to some of us, man you're trying so hard. You're trying so hard.

And I'm telling you something, this is true too. And the thing is at some point if you don't stop

your constant machinations to put life together, he will bring you to a place of dependence. Why?

Because he wants to be a father. Eric's story, remember I talked to you about this. Eric's son

decided he wanted to build a playhouse with chairs and bedsheets. So he starts building a

playhouse. Huge playhouse at the corner of the house. And so Eric said, son let me help you because

there were certain parts of the playhouse that weren't standing straight. So he said let me help

you. But Luke said no dad, I want to do this myself. And so he's trying to fix the playhouse and doing

everything he can. Took hours, finally got it done. And Eric said, son you need my help. I need to pull

this and pull that. No, no dad, I don't want your help. Could you just leave me alone? I want to do

this playhouse myself. And then he sets everything else, goes into the playhouse and the whole thing

collapses on him. So now there's a kid under the house. And so then Eric, like every good father

should, crawled into this collapsed house. And sitting there with his son, he began to reconstruct

the playhouse. And bit by bit they put the chairs and the right things together till the playhouse

began to look like a playhouse. But Luke worked on it for hours. Why? Because we do not come to the

end of ourselves. Come to the end of yourselves when? And now the conclusion. Really I mean it.

I'm doing pretty good for time. When I'm away for a week, my god I long to come back and preach long

because most other places I get only 35 minutes. And like I said in that, in Chad's church they even

put up a clock. Like not even a clock like that. A clock that's ticking down. And then in this

church that I went to recently, it was one of the satellite churches. They got this Oscar thing man

where the keyboard guy comes up and starts playing. So while I was preaching there, I told him to go

and sit back. He felt so embarrassed he had to go sit down because I said I'm not going down. I'll

tell you when to come up. So guys the other thing about the voice of God is this voice when spoken

as commanded shreds the satanic realm. This voice when spoken as commanded shreds the satanic realm.

It paralyzes the devil. Shreds the satanic realm. It paralyzes the devil. The three most frightening

words that Satan ever heard was it is finished. It was the death knell. But those words needed

to be spoken. Remember one thing guys, Satan does not read your mind. We've been taught that Satan

reads your mind. He doesn't. He knows your pattern so he can bring the same thought pattern again and

again so that you get duped into thinking he reads your mind. The devil does not read your mind. The

Bible says there is just one who knows the thoughts of your mind, who knows the deep thoughts of your

mind and that is God. If Satan doesn't read your mind, a silent prayer is not effective. Words have

to be spoken. The voice of God according to the Bible and I'll show you the scriptures and we lend

them with that. The voice of God has the ability to shred the satanic realm and it has the ability

paralyze the devil. Over the last 14 months I've seen it so many times it is exhilarating. I relish

it. I lick my lips after it's done. The reason I'm not sharing much of it is either because I'll

have to name people or because I haven't been either given permission by God or by men to share

it. Otherwise one day I'd love to share how words can wreak havoc in the demonic realm.

In Isaiah 30 verse 31 it says the voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria. That's how it starts.

Isaiah 30:31

In the message it reads even more beautiful but in Isaiah 30 verse 31 the voice of the Lord will

Isaiah 30:31

tear the Assyrians apart. He will strike them down with his mighty rod. Assyrians in this case is a

power or a force that brought terrible brutality, bondage and like ravaging to Israel and the voice

of God will tear the Assyrians apart. In Psalm 29 verse 2 to 4 it says the voice of the Lord will

Psalms 29:2–4

break the cedars. It will twist trees around. It will shake the desert. There is the voice of the

Lord that begins to cause streams of water in the desert but there is also the voice of the Lord

that breaks and shatters. It is not a loud voice even though in the Psalms God's voice is portrayed

as lightning and thunderbolt and his voice thundered that there was a mighty cataract or a

waterfall. The truth is God doesn't need to speak loud for things to happen. Psalm 18 verse 13 the

Psalms 18:13

voice of the Lord resounded and it scattered the enemy. The voice of the Lord resounded and it

scattered the enemy. Let me conclude with Isaiah 30 verse 31 to 33. I've decided during times of

Isaiah 30:31–33

worship that if there are any of the young men standing with their arms folded that I'll go stand

right next to them and start clapping in their ears so that they can start clapping too because

sometimes we just need a little bit of encouragement. So I did that today. So if you go to Isaiah 30.

Isaiah 30 verse 31 to 33. See if you can read it from the net. Let's read it from the NIV first

Isaiah 30:31–33

and then go to the message. Isaiah 30 verse 31 to 33. The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria.

Isaiah 30:31–33

With his rod he will strike them down. Every stroke the Lord lays on them with his punishing

club will be to the music of timbrels and harps as he fights them in battle with blows of his arm.

Now let's go to the message. Here's what it says. Starting from verse 30. God will sound out in

grandiose thunder displaying his hammering arm furiously angry showering sparks cloudburst storm

hail. Oh yes at God's thunder Assyria will cower under the clubbing. Every blow God lands on them

with his club is in time to the music of drums and pipes. God in all-out two-fisted battle fighting

against them. The idea is there is a thing to being animated in praise and worship because it

visits upon the enemy's head the fury that is reserved for him and rightly so. Use these weapons

man. As you go this week may you desire to speak words of life may you desire to align yourself

with God's voice and then begin to speak his voice because Isaiah 60 puts it this way. Arise

and shine for your light has come and the glory of the splendor the weight and the magnificence

the cupboard of God has risen upon places where there was great darkness. I send you into great

darkness this week. I go with you as God directs us. We don't have to go into the wilderness to

fast for 40 days and 40 nights but may the Holy Spirit lead you into places where there is thick

darkness so that your words bring light in life. Salt brings flavor light displays the color. Go

and be that eh. I pray God that for us. Let's just pray. Father I just love the title voicing God.