YOU CAN HEAR GOD — Episode 4: Hearing God in Scripture

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Week number four in our series

that we've entitled, You Can Hear God. You Can

Hear God. How many of you believe that you can

hear God? We can hear God. Look at the person

who didn't raise their hand and tell them you

can hear God too, even though you didn't raise

your hand. You can hear God. If you are in Christ

today, if you are born again, you have already

heard God because it's impossible to be a Christian

without hearing God. You got to hear God bringing

the gospel alive to you and then you respond.

Romans 8, 14 says this, for all, everybody say

all. For all who are led by the Spirit of God

are children of God. All who are led by the Spirit

of God are children of God. And last week we

talked about this. Who we are or who we become

is determined by something. Who you are and who

you are becoming is determined by something.

It's determined by who you listen to, and who

you follow. How many of you recognize that from

life experience? Did anybody ever listen to and

follow the wrong person? Anybody? And then you

wind up in the wrong place because you've listened

to and followed the wrong person? If we listen

to and follow the right person, we're going to

wind up In the right place. And who we really

need to listen to and follow is God. We really

need to listen to and follow the Holy Spirit.

Because a characteristic of being a Christian

is that we are led. How are we led? We're led

by hearing and following the Spirit of God. Those

that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons

of God. We've been looking at this set of verses

in John 10, verses 1 through 5, and it talks

John 10:1–5

about us knowing the voice of God. It says this,

I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over

the wall of the sheepfold, rather than going

through the gate, must surely be a thief and

a robber. But the one who enters through the

gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper

opens the gate for him and the sheep recognize

his voice and come to him. Everybody say recognize.

He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them

out. After he has gathered his own flock, he

walks ahead of them and they follow him because

they know his voice. Everybody say no. They won't

follow a stranger. They will run from him. Because

they don't know his voice. So this text tells

us that the shepherd speaks. When the shepherd

speaks, the sheep recognize and know his voice.

And then the shepherd leads and the sheep follow.

Now to understand this, I mean, I'm going to...

Give this illustration again because everybody

wasn't here. But during this time, there would

be a sheepfold. It would be a large fenced -in

area. And if the shepherds needed to do something,

and even overnight a lot of times, they would

bring their sheep to the sheepfold so that they

could go home and sleep. But I'm not just talking

about one herd of sheep. I'm talking about...

Five or six shepherds, maybe more, maybe less,

would bring their sheep to the sheepfold. So

it would be hundreds of sheep. Let's just, in

our minds, let's just think, okay, every shepherd

has 50 sheep, and we've got five shepherds. I'm

just making up these numbers just so we can understand

it. We have five shepherds, so we have, how many

sheep do we have, Lucas? I've been working on

your third grade arithmetic. All right. We have

250 sheep. Everybody say 250. 250 sheep. But

they're five different herds. But this is the

way it worked. The shepherd, one of the five

shepherds could walk into the sheepfold and just

begin to talk. He didn't have to scream. The

sheep weren't branded. They weren't marked. He

could just go in there and talk so that all the

sheep could hear his voice. And then when they

opened up the gate and the shepherd walked out

of the sheepfold, every single one of his sheep

would follow him out. But let's just say there

are 250 and 50 of them follow him out. The other

200 stay in the sheepfold because they're not

following a voice that they don't know. They're

not following a shepherd that they don't know.

And I shared about being in Romania and the shepherd

walking out. You know, we had a bunch of loud

noise going on and a bunch of scary things happening.

And, you know, they were just sheep all the way

across the road and in this lady's yard. She

was out in the front yard swinging a broom trying

to get the sheep out of her yard. The van driver,

I was in the van. He was up on the sheep blowing

the horn. I mean, you could touch the van and

touch the sheep. But they wouldn't move. Well,

they moved, but they didn't move. You know what

I mean? Because the lady was swinging a broom

at them, the ones that were close enough to get

hit by the broom, they were moving because they

didn't want to be close to the broom anymore.

But they weren't leaving. They were just moving

around trying to get another sheep closer to

the broom. The ones in front of the van were

hearing that loud noise, and it was scaring them,

but they were just moving away from the loud

noise. They weren't moving out of the road because

they heard a horn. But then all of a sudden,

the shepherd walked out from behind the house

and the lady's voice swinging the broom was louder.

The horn on the van was louder. I could hear

both of those things. I could see the shepherd's

mouth moving, but I couldn't hear him talking.

But he was talking. And he walked from behind

the house. And he walked across the street and

he walked in the field across the road. Every

single one of those sheep followed him. Why did

they follow him? He was their shepherd. He was

their shepherd. They knew their shepherd. They

knew the voice of their shepherd. Even with all

the other loud voices around them, they knew

the voice of the shepherd. And they chose to

follow him. Sheep recognize and know the voice

of their shepherd. The shepherd leads and the

sheep follow. Today, we're focusing in on what

I believe is the main way that we hear God. Now,

if you haven't heard the first three messages,

go on podcast and listen to them. It'll give

you a whole lot more foundation for where we're

going today. I believe the most important way

and the most common way that all of us will hear

God. I mean, there's probably not going to be

a big angel showing up, a big nine -foot angel

showing up to talk to you. I'm not saying He

can't, but that's not the most common way. You're

not going to have a vision. of Jesus walking

in your room every day to tell you what He wants

to tell you today. He can. He has. It's documented.

But that's not the most common way that we're

going to hear God. We're going to hear God through

His Word. We're going to hear God through His

Word. And I've got a question. How does a book

written 2 ,000 plus years ago become God's voice

to you and to me today. How does it become that?

Well, it's not just because it's a 2 ,000 year

old book. It's more than that. How does it become

God's voice? How does it become God's voice to

you today? Him speaking to you today about what's

going on in your life today. How does that happen?

Here's how it happens. Hebrews 4 .12. The Bible's

different than any other book. The Word of God

is alive and powerful. Everybody say alive. Everybody

say powerful. The Word of God is alive and powerful.

It is sharper than the sharpest two -edged sword,

cutting between soul and spirit. Between joint

and marrow, it exposes our innermost thoughts

and desires. I'm going to say something, don't

get mad at me, but apart from the Holy Spirit,

the Bible is just a book of words, just like

any other book. Some of you are looking at me

funny. There are people who read the Bible like

a textbook, and it doesn't really do anything

for them. Just like any other book. There are

people in universities that teach the Bible that

have never met the author. But they can teach

a class on the Bible. But the living word, the

word of God is alive and powerful. It flows from

our living God. The living word flows from our

living God. It's Him exhaling His truth to us

and you can read it and never get it. How many

of you have read the Bible and you just never

got it before? We've looked at the verse every

week, I believe, but the Holy Spirit, God the

Holy Spirit, He takes what God has said and He

makes it alive. He makes it understandable. He

makes it applicable. He makes it personal. It

becomes a living word. But God is involved in

that. Because we have to hear the rhema Christos.

Those are the Greek words that we talked about

multiple weeks already too. Faith comes by hearing

and hearing by the word of God. It comes by the

anointed utterance, the empowered utterance of

God. That's when it becomes alive. The living

word, everybody say living word. The living word

does something. The rhema Christos does something.

The empowered utterance from God does something.

It always brings revelation. It always brings

revelation. It reveals to you. It reveals to

me. And these are some important things. This

isn't the only thing the Word of God reveals

to us, but these are some very important things

the Word of God reveals to us. It brings revelation

of who God is. It's important that we know who

He is. Because there's a lot of just imagination

of who God is. That's why there are people who

say they worship God and their God is just a

product of human imagination. And they're sincere.

But they're sincerely wrong. They are worshiping

a God of their imagination or the imagination

of people who have been before them that have

convinced them. Right? So it's important that

we know who God is. That's one of the reasons

why we did that whole series on how God has revealed

Himself to us and all those names that we went

through. I think we went through, I don't know,

14, 15, 16 different names of God. To find out

who God is. But we find that through the revelation

of the Word of God. Not just from human imagination.

And there's probably times in all of our lives

where we're just worshiping the God of our imagination

because we really don't know who He is because

we haven't spent time in His Word to see who

He really is. That's an oh me or an amen moment

or something. The living Word also brings us

revelation of what God has said. What has He

said? It gives us revelation of His ways. It

gives us revelation of what He wants. And it

gives us revelation when we're connected with

the Spirit of God, when we read the Word of God

and He's causing it to come alive. It's a revelation

of a now application. Everybody say now. A now

application. That's important. If we're going

to be led by the Spirit of God, to be the children

of God, these things are important. They're important.

We're going to look at several stories today.

I'm going to read them. I could preach a whole

sermon on each one of these stories, but I'm

not going to do it because we're just focusing

on, our topic today. Don't try to. Somebody say,

help him Jesus. Because I'm always just wanting,

I could preach three or four sermons here. Luke

Luke 24:13–32

24, verse 13 through 32. That's a lot of verses.

Listen to the story. That same day, everybody

say resurrection day. That's when this story

is taking place. That same day, two of Jesus'

followers were walking to the village of Emmaus,

seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along,

they were talking about everything that had happened.

As they talked and discussed these things, listen,

Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking

with them. That's an awesome way to hear God,

right? But God kept them from recognizing Jesus.

He asked them, what are you discussing so intently

as you walk along? They stopped short. Sadness

written across their faces. Then one of them,

Cleopas, replied, You must be the only person

in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things

that have happened there the last few days. You

must be the only one who hasn't heard about Jesus

and Him being arrested and whipped and beaten

and crucified and He was in the grave for three

days and then all of a sudden He's not there

anymore. You must be the only person who has

not heard about this. Jesus goes, What things?

The things that happened to Jesus. The man from

Nazareth, they said. He was a prophet who did

powerful miracles. He was a mighty teacher in

the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading

priests and other religious leaders handed him

over to be condemned to death and they crucified

him. We had hoped he was the Messiah. We had

hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue

us, to rescue Israel. This all happened three

days ago. Then some women from our group of his

followers were at his tomb early this morning,

and they came back with an amazing report. They

said his body was missing, that they had seen

angels who told them that Jesus was alive. Jesus

is alive. Some of the men ran out to sea and

sure enough, his body was gone. Just as the women

had said. Then Jesus said to them, you foolish

people. Listen, what did he mean when he said

that? He said, he's basically saying, how do

you have all this information and still miss

it? How do we have all this information and still

miss it? All of us missed it. All of us have

missed it. And all of us do miss it at times.

How do we have it and miss it? Jesus said, you

find it so hard to believe all that the prophets

wrote in scriptures. He's saying, can't you put

two and two together and connect the dots? Wasn't

it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have

to suffer all these things before entering his

glory? I mean, isn't it just spelled out in black

and white for you? How are you missing it? Then

Jesus took them through the writings of Moses

and all the prophets, explaining from all the

scriptures the things concerning himself. By

this time, they were nearing Emmaus and the end

of their journey. Jesus acted as if He were going

on. Like, it's been nice walking with you guys

and talking with you, but He acted like He was

going to just keep walking. But they begged Him,

stay the night with us since it's getting late.

You don't want to be out on this road in the

dark all by yourself. Just come on to our house.

Stay the night with us since it's getting late.

So he went home with them. As they sat down to

eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he

broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, everybody

say suddenly. Suddenly their eyes were opened

and they recognized him. And at that moment,

he disappeared. How would you have liked to have

been sitting there that night? Well, they said

to each other, listen to what they said. Didn't

our hearts burn within us as he talked with us

on the road and explained the scripture to us?

Something was happening on the inside of us.

Look to the person beside you and say, something's

happening. This story tells us these men knew

the Scriptures. They knew the prophecies. They

were good Jews. They were even followers of Jesus.

Because they said, you know, some of the people

with us, some of the ladies who were part of

our group, some of the other guys who were part

of our group went to the tomb. I mean, they were

connected. They knew the Scripture. But Jesus

took the Scripture, He walked them through Moses

and the prophets, and He explained what the Scripture

said concerning Himself. And in the process,

something was happening. Their hearts were burning.

Jeffrey shared a verse last week. The Spirit

of the man is the candle of the Lord. Everybody

say candle. A candle is not good unless it's

burning. Right? Their hearts burned within them.

Now, here's a Greek word for hearts. When they

said our hearts burned within us, it's kardia.

Now, there are other meanings. It's never saying

that it's the blood pump in your chest. All right?

But one of the definitions, everybody say one.

And the most important one with what we're talking

about today is this. Their thoughts and their

feelings. Their thoughts and their feelings.

It's the core of who you are. And it says that

their thoughts and their feelings were burning.

And that word, there's the Greek word for burned.

And this is not the full definition, but it's

part of the definition. It's an inward flame

or a light of illumination and revelation. So

when they said our hearts burned within us, they

were like, boy, our minds and our feelings. I

mean, it's just like all this started becoming

real and started coming together. You know, we

talk a lot about negative feelings, but there

are good feelings too. They're good feelings.

They're faith feelings. With this inward light,

they had heard the prophecies, but the prophecies

in the Old Testament writings had never been

illuminated. They've never received revelation.

They never became real. Just like when we read

our Bibles sometimes and we just read and it's

just words on a page and it doesn't become real.

So we can say that our hearts are burning when

it starts coming alive to us and it's the living

Word of God. Our hearts begin to burn within

us. They'd heard the passages before, same Scripture,

but a different experience. When Jesus opened

the Scriptures to them. It's something we need

to recognize. We can read Scripture without seeing

what the Scripture is revealing. Now, the Holy

Spirit's work in this, He's not giving us a different

Bible. He's not telling us something that doesn't

agree with the written Word of God. You know?

What He does is He opens our understanding to

what God already said. He opens our understanding.

Luke 24, later in this chapter, verse 45, it

says this, Jesus opened their minds to understand

the Scriptures. Just like the Holy Spirit wants

to open your mind. When you read the Word of

God, the Holy Spirit wants to open your mind

to understand it. I mean, I've been in Bible

studies before and I've listened to what somebody

said and I'm just sitting there going, that's

not even what this says. That's not even what

this is saying. I don't know if you recognize

that or not, but we need God to help us know

what it says. Don't just listen to every teacher.

Don't just listen just to me. You know, we can

be motivated to believe the wrong thing. Hello?

How many people in this world are motivated to

believe the wrong thing? How many people even

within Christianity are motivated to believe

the wrong thing? That God's out to get you. When

the Bible says every good and perfect gift comes

down from God, all the good things in our life

come from God. But I've heard messages from Christian

pulpits saying that God's going to get you. And

they were using Bible verses to support it. They

were saying things about God that were moving

God away from being good or moving God away from

being love. Come on. Don't just listen to me.

I look back over my own preaching and there were

some times when I look back at my own. I mean,

I had a good heart and I was behind. I mean,

you know, I wanted to be sharing the right thing,

but I didn't know the right thing to share. I

was going on human reasoning and human interpretation.

No one's too spiritual for that not to happen.

No one. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. Guidance,

leading, revealing to us. When we read our Bible,

the goal isn't to finish today's Bible reading

plan as fast as you can. Who's been guilty of

doing that? You're trying to complete a Bible

reading plan, so you just, okay, I don't really

have time, but I'm going to take time. I'm going

to stop, and I'm going to read it, and I'm just

going to speed read it as fast as I possibly

can because I've got important stuff. We wouldn't

say it out of our mouth, but in our minds. There

are some things really pressing. I'm going to

give Jesus a quick three minutes, but that's

all I've got to give him today. Come on. I'm

telling the truth with my hand up. The goal isn't

to speed read through the Bible as fast as you

can. The goal is hearing the author while you're

reading his words. I want to say that again.

The goal is to hear the author while you are

reading his words. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.

So we're going to break down these things. And

it might not be everything, but these are important

things. Revelation that we're going to receive

from the word of God. The first one is revelation

of who God is. Revelation of who he is. Because

like I said, we often choose reading the Bible

over taking time to listen. Because we're trying

to accomplish something. Listen to me. Reading

the Bible is going to always lead you to a person.

That's why it's written. To lead you to a person.

To lead you to a relationship. Not to lead you

to more religious information. But to lead you

to a person. We begin to recognize His voice

when we're developing a relationship with the

shepherd. It'll help us to Recognize His voice

when we begin to know who He is. And the greater

our relationship is with Him, the more intimate

our relationship is with Him, the more revelation

we're going to receive. Because it's coming through

relationship, not through information only. There

is information. But the information makes a huge

difference when it's wrapped in relationship

and not just intellectual knowledge. Christianity

isn't primarily knowing more information about

God. It's knowing God. Knowing God. And when

we open up our Bibles, When we open them up every

day, when we open them up every day, I'm just

waiting on you to get it. When we open our Bibles,

one of the things we need to ask the Holy Spirit

is, help me. God, you are the author. And I want

to know the author. And I want to know what the

author, What does this reveal to me about who

you are? God, show me who you are today. When

I read my Bible, show me something about you

that I haven't recognized or I have recognized,

but it's not on the front burner anymore. Help

me to see who you are as I read. Help me to know

you, your character, your nature, your faithfulness,

your goodness, your priorities. God, help me

to see you and know you as I read this scripture.

This is another familiar story. Matthew 16. We

read this every message of a series that we did

recently. Matthew 16, verse 13 through 17. In

Matthew 16:13–17

our door series, this was one of the main ones.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked his disciples, who do people say that

the Son of Man is? Now these are people, these

are religious people. He's just asking, what's

everybody saying about me? Jesus asked his disciples.

Well, through human reasoning. Everybody say

human reasoning. Through human reasoning of the

prophecies. Well, they replied, some say John

the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah

or one of the other prophets. Everybody say human

reason. Human reason. They were taking the word

of God and what they had heard about the word

of God. They were taking it. and coming to a

conclusion based on human reasoning and intellect.

But then Jesus asked him, but who do you say

I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah,

the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, you're

blessed, Simon, son of John. Because my Father

in heaven has revealed. Everybody say revealed.

Everybody say revelation. Because my Father in

heaven has revealed this to you. You did not

learn this from any human being. This is not

human intellect and reasoning. This is revelation.

Everybody say revelation. Revelation of who?

Jesus is. So we need to know who God is. And

we can know who God is through the revelation

of the Word of God. It's important. Then we need

revelation of what God has said. Or we could

put it this way. The real interpretation of Scripture.

What God is saying. What God has said. And the

more clearly we see who God is, the easier it

becomes to recognize Him speaking. Because if

you don't know who God is, you can come up with

some weird interpretations if you don't know

who God is. Here's what Jesus said in John 14,

26. But when the Father sends the advocate as

my representative, just in case you don't know

who the advocate, his representative is, he said,

that is the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say he

was going to do? He will teach you everything.

Everybody say, he's our teacher. And will remind

you of everything I have told you. He will teach

you and remind you. John 16 verse 13 says this.

John 16:13

Jesus said, when the spirit of truth, everybody

say the Holy Spirit. When the spirit of truth

comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will

guide you in all truth. So when, at the moment

we are born again, the Holy Spirit moves on the

inside of us and takes up residence on the inside

of us, He is in us, He is with us. And when we

acknowledge Him, especially when we're reading

Scripture, He's going to be our teacher. He's

going to be our reminder. Has anyone... Has anyone

been in a situation where you were talking to

someone and all of a sudden a Bible verse pops

in your head that has to do exactly with what's

going on? You think that's just happening in

your brain and in your intellect? No, you're

hearing the Holy Spirit. He's reminding you of

this verse so that you can speak this verse In

your situation or to the person that you're talking

with. He's reminding you. He's teaching you.

He's guiding you into all truth. We've got to

read our Bibles while we're listening to the

voice of the author. We've got to be conscious

of that. Because we want to know. Because here's

the problem. If we depend solely on human intellect

and reasoning, we can read the same words and

arrive at a very different conclusion. We all...

Look at the person beside you and say, all of

us. We all need the Holy Spirit to light our

candle for God's Word to burn. in our hearts.

We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth

that He inspired. Now, has anyone ever received

an email or a text before? Everybody? Are we

good? Do you know what an email and a text is?

Okay, great. Have you ever received an email

And when you read it, you said, I wonder what

they meant by that. I wonder what they meant

by that. I wonder if they were being ugly. I

wonder if they were being ignorant. I wonder

if they really meant the way they said it. I

wonder what their intention was. Was their intention

to help me or to hurt me? Was their intention

to condemn me? We don't know, do we? Because

all we have is some words written in an email.

Same thing with a text. I wonder what their ulterior

motive is in this text. Are they trying to put

pressure on me? Or do they really love me? Hello?

Come on. We don't know. We don't know. Unless

we talk with the person and understand why they

wrote what they wrote. I mean, it's not every

email. I mean, some of them are so straightforward,

you don't try to read in stuff, but sometimes

you, you know, are we okay or are we not? It's

just open to interpretation. Right? Unless we

really know the person, it's open to interpretation.

Same way with the Bible. Who knows what the author

intended to say better than the author? And he

invites us to allow him to be part of the interpretation.

1 Corinthians 2, verses 12 through 14. We have

1 Corinthians 2:12–14

received God's Spirit. Hallelujah. Not the world's

spirit. Listen, we have received God's spirit

so we can know the wonderful things God has freely

given us. Because we're not going to know them

without Him. We received His spirit so that we

can know the wonderful things. Verse 13. Paul

is saying, he's speaking to the Corinthians,

he's saying, When we tell you these things, we

do not use words that come from human wisdom.

Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He had more

religious intellect than probably anybody in

the whole area. He had been trained by the best,

and he was the best student. But he's talking

to the Corinthians and he's saying, when I tell

you these things, I'm not using words that come

from my human intellect. Instead, I am speaking

words given to me by the Spirit. And I'm using

the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.

The Spirit's words explaining spiritual truths.

But people who aren't spiritual can't receive

these truths from God's Spirit. If you're just

trying to do it in your own reasoning and intellect,

you're not going to get it. It all sounds foolish

to them. They can't understand. For only those,

everybody say only those, for only those who

are spiritual can understand what the Spirit

is saying, what He means. So we need Him. The

next revelation that we need to see when we're

looking in the Word that God is wanting to give

us as He speaks through His Word, we need to

have revelation of the ways of God, God's ways.

God's ways. God's ways. We could put it this

way. God's heart behind what He's doing. God's

motive behind what He's doing. We need to understand

that. Psalm 103 verse 7 gives us some very interesting

Psalms 103:7

information. God made known His ways to Moses.

His acts to the children of Israel. I'll read

that again. God made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel. The children

of Israel knew what God did. They start saying,

baby, come back. Okay, I'm not listening right

now. I'm looking somewhere. Hallelujah. Aren't

you glad that I just don't preach to the back

wall and I actually look at you? Maybe you want

me to look at the back wall and not look at you.

Israel knew what God did. But Moses learned how

God worked. Moses learned who God was and his

heart and his motivation, the things that he

was driven by. Everybody said love. That's the

most important thing. I mean, that's his character.

The Bible says God is love. God is good. He may

do some other things, but He is love and He is

good. Moses learned how He worked. Everything

he did, everything he said was out of love. Everything

he said, everything he did was good. Israel knew

what He did. I mean, they knew about the water

coming from the rock. They knew about the manna

that was out on the ground. They knew about the

quail that flew in. The quail that flew in. They

knew about that. They knew what He did. But they

didn't know Him. They didn't know His ways. Let

this sink in. God not only wants to show you

what He can do, He wants to teach you His ways.

And reading the Word, Scripture, that's the primary

source of where we discover the patterns of God's

ways. Where we can see Him working. And when

we repeatedly see God's faithfulness in Scripture,

God is faithful. When we see His faithfulness

again and again and again and His love again

and again and again, His goodness again and again

and again, we'll start seeing His faithfulness

and love and goodness in our own lives. It'll

become more real to us. We can become more confident

in it, more established in it. We can move from

the point of saying, well, I wonder if God loves

me or I wonder if God is good or I wonder if

God is faithful. We can move beyond that to say,

I know He's good. I know He is loved. I know

He is faithful. And there's nothing that happens

in this world that's going to keep me from knowing

that. I don't care what I see because I know

something. I know the ways of God. I know it.

I know Him. I know it. When you understand His

ways, this is important, if you know His ways,

you'll become less likely to attribute things

to God that contradict His character. When you

understand God's ways, you'll become less likely

to attribute things to God that contradict His

character. Obviously, the insurance companies

do not know the ways of God. They have no concept

or understanding of the ways of God. You know

why? Because they try to exclude all the disaster

and pain and suffering out of the policy. You

know, we're not covering acts of God. Well, it's

not an act of God. Jesus said, I came to give

you life and to give it to you more abundantly.

But He says there's a thief, there's an enemy

who came to steal and to kill and destroy. And

listen, when you know who God is and you understand

His ways, if something has to do with sickness,

pain, death, disease, you know, killing, disaster,

when you know His ways, you can say, that's not

God. How many people in this room have attributed

something to God that wasn't God? Once you came

to know Him a little bit more, you say, well,

I can't believe God's doing this to me. And then

when you grow a little bit, you say, that wasn't

God doing that to me. I shouldn't have attributed

this situation to God because that's not who

God is. Here's another one. Through the Word

of God, we're going to find revelation of what

God wants. Do you know what God wants? Do you

have a revelation of what He wants? Well, Caitlin,

you know, hopefully we're going to have a baby

today or tomorrow. But I know what she wants.

When she gets home from having Elisha, I have

made a solemn oath and a solemn promise to give

her what she wants as soon as she walks in the

house. Because she has been craving this her

whole pregnancy and Jeffrey won't let her have

it. Because of cold cut meats, there can be listeria

and that can hurt the baby. And they found that

out. Hey, we ate a bunch of cold cut meats when

Jeffrey was... In the oven, but we didn't know

any better. But he came out okay. But I know

what Kayla wants. And they just opened. Hey,

it even hurts worse because they put a brand

new Jersey Mike's right across the road from

their housing development. They live in Greater

Groves and there's a brand new Jersey Mike's.

There's signs all over the place. She keeps getting...

Getting a Facebook message saying, we're now

open. What do you want? As soon as she walks

in the door with Elisha, she's going to get a

Jersey Mike's ham and provolone sub. Mike's way

with extra pickles and mayonnaise with a cup

of pickles on the side. Because that's what she's

been wanting for months and months and months.

She told me what she wanted, and I'm determined

to give her what she wants. Now, don't remember

the illustration. Remember the application. The

Word of God tells us what God wants. Tells us

what God wants. We can find out what He wants

in His Word. How determined are we to say, I'm

going to give to God what God wants. I'm going

to give to God what God wants. God don't want

you to go to Jersey Mike and get him a soap.

Ephesians 5 .17 says this, Therefore, listen,

do not be unwise, but understand what the will

of the Lord is. When we don't know God's will,

it's saying that we're unwise. Because He gives

us His will in His Word. And when we read His

Word connected up with the Holy Spirit, telling

us and showing us, He's going to show us what

God wants. We can know what God wants. Scripture

clearly reveals God's will concerning some very

important things. It's always, everybody say

always, it's always God's will to walk in love.

You never have to go to God and say, God, how

do you want me to respond to this person? Because

you already know His will. He's already told

you. Come on. We're all happy about the sub,

but now we're just like closing down a little

bit. We're always supposed to walk in love. We're

always supposed to forgive. We don't have to

go to God and say, God, this person did this

to me, this to me. What do you want me to do?

Do you want me to hit them over the head? No,

God wants you to forgive. Well, I'm just going

to read the list instead of trying to halfway

preach every word here. It's always God's will

for you to serve. Serve others. Serve His kingdom.

It's always God's will for you to pray. It's

always, always, always God's will for you to

be thankful. Well, it just happened to me. I

have no reason to be thankful about it. Always

be thankful to God. Not always for what happened

to you, but in what happened to you. It's God's

will for you to be thankful. It's God's will

for you to live generously. You don't have to

ask Him. It's God's will to honor other people.

Not to dishonor people, but to honor people.

Always God's will. It's always God's will to

control your words. Think about it. To speak

in agreement with what He said about the situation

that you're going through. It's always God's

will for you to control your words. It's always

God's will for you not to worry. He straight

up calls it sin. It's always God's will for you

not to worry. It's always God's will for you

to seek first His kingdom. Seek Him first above

the things of this world. Always God's will to

seek His kingdom. So you don't have to ask Him

about those things. Because He's already made

it very clear. Listen, don't ask God for a new

word when He's already given you a clear word.

If He's given you a clear word in that situation

that you're in, you don't go to Him and say,

God, I need a new word. My word's the same. Forgive.

My word's the same. Honor. My words are the same.

Be careful what you speak. Careful what you speak.

My words are the same. But we always want Him

to give us a new word. Hello? When He's already

given us a clear word about what we're in right

now. Everybody say, last one. Last one. We probably

should have preached a whole series just on this

one message. But when we look into the word of

God, we need to be looking for a revelation of

the now application. Everybody say now. Because

we see application, but if it's a living word,

we need to see a now application. Again, not

just reading for information. We need to be asking

God, how do I apply this to my life? How do I

become a doer of your word? Not just hear it

today, but how do I become a doer? And how does

this apply to my life today? What's the now application?

Acts 8, verses 26 through 35. As for Philip,

Acts 8:26–35

An angel of the Lord said, we're not talking

about angels, right? Everybody say angel. As

for Philip, an angel of the Lord said, go south

down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem

to Gaza. So he started out and he met the treasurer

of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under

the candake, the queen. Of Ethiopia. The eunuch

had gone to Jerusalem to worship. And he was

now returning, seated in his carriage. He was

reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Everybody say Isaiah. It's very rare during this

time for a person to have just one of the Old

Testament books in written form. I mean, you're

talking... handmade paper, beat out reeds and

woven together, and you're writing on it, and

it's all handwritten. There's no printing press.

It's a very big deal. He has gone to Jerusalem,

most likely bought this scroll of Isaiah, and

he's taking it back to Africa with him. And he's

reading it. He was now returning, seated in the

carriage. He was reading aloud from the book

of Isaiah. And now, listen, we've already had

an angel speak to Philip. Now we have the Holy

Spirit speaking to Philip. Everybody say, voice

of God. Go over and walk along beside the carriage.

Philip ran over. And heard the man reading from

the prophet Isaiah. And Philip asked him, do

you understand what you're reading? Do you understand?

And listen to what the man said. The man replied,

how can I? Unless someone instructs me. I mean,

he could read. He had a brain. He was very smart.

He was the treasurer of Ethiopia, the whole nation.

Very smart man. Very respected man. Very educated

man. And he says, how can I understand it without

somebody teaching me, without somebody instructing

me, without somebody guiding me and helping me?

How can I understand? And he urged Philip. to

come up in the carriage and sit with him. The

passage of Scripture he had been reading was

this. This is a God moment, people. He was led

like a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb is silent

before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

He was humiliated and received no justice. Who

can speak of his descendants? For his life was

taken from the earth. And the eunuch looked at

Philip and he said, tell me, what's this talking

about? Tell me, was the prophet talking about

himself? Is Isaiah talking about himself? Or

is he talking about somebody else? I believe

Philip got the biggest grin he could possibly

get on his face right there. I'm glad you asked,

buddy. Let me tell you about it. So beginning

with that same scripture, Philip told him the

good news about Jesus. Hey, this is talking about

the Messiah. And guess what? He just came. I

met him. I heard him teach. And then he was.

He was crucified and he rose again from the grave

and he saw over 400 people saw him after he rose

from the grave. Let me tell you about who Isaiah

is talking about because I know him and you need

to know him too. You can know him. Philip told

him the good news about Jesus. Listen, the Ethiopian

was reading scripture. He had the text. He has

the information. The words are on the page. But

it took a helper, a guide, a teacher for those

words to become personal revelation to him concerning

who Jesus is. See, revelation doesn't necessarily

mean God is saying something He's never said

before. Revelation can be the Holy Spirit showing

you How what God has already said applies to

you right now. And that's what Philip did in

the carriage. What was written had been said,

been written, been said, hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds of years. But the now application,

everybody say now application. The now application

took a helper, a guide, a teacher. Does anybody

know from the verses that we read today who the

helper is? Huh? Say it out loud, please. Holy

Spirit. Who's our teacher? Who's going to show

us? Who's going to guide us? Yeah. So why do

we think we can read our Bibles without Him?

We'll be just like this guy in the carriage,

just... In our own intellect and reasoning, that's

all we got. So, we need to ask ourselves these

questions. Take a picture of it if you have to,

but when you're reading your Bible, we need to

ask the Holy Spirit these questions. Ask God

these questions. Holy Spirit, help me, lead me,

guide me. Guide me into all truth. Take what

the Word says and make it become alive, a living

Word in me. Show me as I read. Show me what I

need to see about who God is so I can know God.

Show me what He is saying. I don't want to depend

on my own understanding. I want to trust in you

that you are going to reveal to me what you are

saying. What does this say about your character,

who you are? What does it say about your ways?

What does it say about your will? For me, what

do you want? I know you don't want a Jersey Mike's,

but what do you want? Because I want to give

you what you want. Holy Spirit, what are you

showing me right now? Is there anything in this

text that I read today, is there anything that

you're showing me right now? That I need to apply

to my life. That I need to become a doer of.

Not just a hearer of, but a doer of. You want

to hear God? Do you really want to hear God?

This will help you. It'll help you. Or you can

just keep speed reading until you get to whatever

it is that's more important to you today. It's

up to you. We need to hear it, yeah. Because

you can own a Bible. You can read a Bible and

never hear the author. You can read chapters,

a chapter a day, you know, ten chapters a day.

You can read chapter after chapter after chapter

and still never receive revelation. I've done

it. So I know what I'm telling you is true. But

when we approach Scripture in relationship with

the Holy Spirit who is in us, who communicates

to us spirit to spirit like we've looked at in

former weeks, when we're in relationship with

Him, we're not just reading words on a page anymore.

We're listening. We begin to see who God is.

We begin to understand what He said. We begin

to learn His ways. We begin to discover what

He wants. We begin to recognize how His Word

applies to my now moment. Help us, Jesus. So

from now on, don't read the Bible just to finish

the chapter. Read the Bible to hear the author.

This online worship experience was brought to

you by the friends and partners of Elation Church.