Listening to God's Voice: Faith, Protection, and Community

"Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip go south to the road the desert road the that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza so he started out and on his way he met an Ethiopian unic an important official in charge of all the treasury of the kandak which means Queen of the Ethiopian so this was a really important guy he was in charge of the queen of Ethiopia's treasury this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and on his way home was sitting in his Chariot reading the Bible the book of Isaiah the prophet not Bible reading the book of Isaiah the prophet ended up being in the Bible didn't it the spirit told Phillip go to that Chariot and stay near it then Philip ran up to the Chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet you understand what you're reading Philip asked how can I unless someone explains it to me so he invited philli to come up and sit with him this is the passage of scripture the unic was reading he was led like a sheep to the slaughter as a lamb before its sheerer is silent so he did not open his mouth in his humiliation he was deprived of Justice who can speak of his descendants for his life was taken from the earth the unic asked Philip tell me please who is the prophet talking about himself or someone else then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus as they traveled along the road they came to some water and the unic said look here's water what can stand in the way of my being baptized say that to me we'll do it right now let's go and he gave orders to stop the charot then both Phillip and the it didn't say stop the charot that's how high of an official he was he had someone driving his Chariot for him so he gave the order to stop the Chariot then both Philip and the unic went down into the water and Philip baptized him when they came up out of the water the spirit of the Lord suddenly took philli away and the unic did not see him again but went on his way rejoicing we never see the name of the unic we never really even find out anything else that happened about him but the tradition is that this unic took the message of Jesus back to Ethiopia and he carried the gospel back there and founded a church there in Ethiopia that's a tradition so you have to be clear about what's tradition and what we know for sure but this is a tradition all that started from an angel of the Lord said to Phillip go south to the road the desert road and so sometimes we don't know why the Lord is is telling us turn left turn right stop here go there I hope you're hearing that voice at times pick up the phone go to this place ask this question say this pray for this person I mean there's a lot of different ways that God delivers these messages but I believe they're from him in this case it was an angel it was a messenger of the Lord said to Phillip now one of the things that would have stopped this from not happening is philli decided not to listen to what that message messenger had said but he did listen and this Ethiopian unic got saved so the next scripture that I want to share with you it's a little bit longer than that one that's on the board right there I want to use verse 9 through2 UM this Psalm Psalm 91 is attributed to being one that Moses wrote but for those of you who got the flock note yesterday that I said that I knew what my favorite uh messenger Angel was I'm going to share that with you at the end of service today whenever we get towards the end which is still a little ways away but I got this response back from Carrie that said this was one of her favorites and so this is Psalm 91 9-12 if you say the Lord is my refuge and you make the most high your dwelling no harm will overtake you no disaster will come near your tent for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone it's great to go read the whole Psalm I'm just going to use that part this morning but God it says this verse 11 for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone it is qualifying back to verse n if you say the Lord is is my refuge and you make the most high your dwelling no harm will overtake you no disaster will come near your tent so that doesn't mean no problems will ever come just means he's got you no matter what he's got you I mean for us as Believers in Jesus Christ even death even if we die we know that we still have forever with the Lord we get to go spend eternity with him so even in the worst disaster our minds can possibly imagine even in death we're secure in the relationship with him and why is that it's because of him how about that is't that cool so the next one I want to use is in Daniel and it is in Daniel chapter 6 and I love that picture that is so cool to think about the lion protecting or the angel protecting Daniel from The Lion so for those most of you probably know the story of Daniel it was a total setup by the guys that were they had an attitude towards Daniel and they set it up to where the king basically had to put Daniel in this Lion's Den because he'd made a law and he couldn't not follow his own law so he had to do it U Daniel 67 says this the Royal administrators prefects set traps advisors and governors had all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any other God or human being during the next 30 days except to you which is the king your majesty shall be thrown into the lion's den so they set this up knowing that Daniel Prayed three times a day if you go read it it talks about how go read chapter 6 it talks about how Daniel Prayed three times a day they knew that well this decree was not going to stop Daniel from praying to the Lord and so they get the king to make this decree they go catch Daniel and and then they go to the king and say we got him well the king loved Daniel and he didn't want to do this but he had to do it because of the edict that he made so now I want to read you Daniel 6: 13- 24 then they said to the King Daniel who is one of the Exiles from Judah pays no attention to you your majesty or to the decree you put in writing he still prays three times a day when the king heard this he was greatly distressed he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him remember your majesty that according to the law of the mes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed so the king gave the orders and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den the king said to Daniel may your God whom you serve continually rescue you so as the king's putting him in the Lions then the king is praying that Daniel's God will protect him how about that so the king that's putting him in the Lion's Den is praying that God will protect him while he's in the Lion's Den verse 17 a stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den and the King sealed it with his own signant ring and with the rings of his Nobles so that Daniel situation might not be changed then the king returned to his Palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him and he could not sleep at the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the Lion's Den when he came near the den he called to Daniel in an anguished voice Daniel servant of the Living God are you a has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the Lions it's pretty interesting to think about a king that was so he cared so much for Daniel that that's he kept he stayed up all night he couldn't sleep he ran out there in the morning and he's asking Daniel you Daniel answered in 21 May the King live forever my God sent his Angel and he shut the mouths of the Lions they have not hurt me because I was found innocent in his sight nor have I ever done anything wrong before you your majesty the King was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den and when Daniel was lifted from the den no wound was found on him because he had trusted in his God then God arranged this he's a multitasking God those same people who set him up God had a plan for them too verse 24 at the King's Command The Men Who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lion's den along with their wives and children and before they reached the floor of the den the Lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones we were talking this morning about how there's just some hard things in the Bible weren't we miss Laura about the wives in the children perished also why well we'll have to ask him when we get up there he had a reason I'm just glad we know the scripture all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and those that are called according to his purpose so even when we see bad things happening that we don't understand even when we can't understand why God would allow this or how God would do it this way we still know that we can trust him we we still know that he loves loves us we still know that he has a purpose for all these things okay so now I'm going to get to my favorite no one mentioned this when I asked so I'm going to share it with you and uh you're going to know it right away when you see this picture Matthew 28 1-7 it was hard finding that picture too there were a lot of them that didn't have the angel sitting on the stone like it says in the scripture here let me read it after the Sabbath at dawned on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb there was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it I just love that Vision he just comes down at God's command he just rolls that stone away and that stone had some seals on it too listen he his appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow the guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men fell out they became like dead men was so scary I like thinking about it but I don't know that I would have liked to be there I like to think that I'd like to be there and you know that angel here here's here's what here's what scary Angels say usually from the very get verse 5 the angels said to the women do not be afraid yeah right for I know that you're looking for Jesus who was crucified he is not here he has risen just as he said come and see the place where he lay then go quickly and tell his disciples he's risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into gallilee there you will see him now I have told you Angel's like so I did my job now I've told you well he had a bunch of jobs right there one was to roll the stone away next was a set on it then was to tell them do not be afraid for I know that you're looking for Jesus who was crucified why is this my favorite the resurrection is the most important event for all of us as Christians if there is no Resurrection then the Bible's a lie there was a resurrection there is a resurrection from the dead that's for us we are going to get resurrected even if we die before he comes back that's why this is my favorite because the stone rolled away Jesus rose from the dead just like he said and I think this Angel is cool that he rolls that stone away and just sets on top of the stone that he rolled away and it's so amazing it's so bright so scary that the guards just fall wow I love it God has a purpose when he sends his Messengers God accomplishes what he wants to accomplish when he sends his Messengers I'm wondering if when we get to the Pearly Gates that he's going to say fear not because we don't know what we're going to see I mean we got some ideas about what the word says I mean I've had some teaching from uh um Allan baitman sitting back there that talked about the river it is a river that runs through Heaven you know the he uses the gold for asphalt I mean I don't know exactly what all we're going to see there but if these angels these angels are Eternal beings as well you think we're going to be walking through and you're going to go fear not fear not fear not fear not so there's all these giant Angels let's go let's go come get us Jesus right you ready I hope you're ready if you're not ready we're going to talk about that in a minute too but for this these things are in God's word so that we can grow our confidence in him that he's got us he continually shows us who he is he tells us who he is he proves it to us by how he loves us I mean would you forgive you most of us struggle with that idea of forgiving ourselves I know I have a million times now I pretty well come to the place where yeah I agree with him that I'm forgiven and I'm walking in God's grace and all my sins have been swept away by the blood of Jesus but there's times when I'm not feeling that that's why I need his word that's why I need his angels that's why I need you so are you confident that God still speaks we've spent all these weeks talking about voices and different ways that he speaks to us as a matter of fact all these scriptures that I've used this morning is still these are still ways that God is speaking to us isn't it what a great message I'm with you I got this I got you I'm with you he's going to send his angels to protect us fear not how many times do you need to hear that before you fear not apparently it's more than one once every day because they say there's 365 fear knots in the bible let me just ask you do you still have fear I heard a note that's great fear is a liar that's right just me saying that doesn't stop my fear sometimes though now we can take a hold of it take every thought captive when the fear starts creeping in wait a minute God says fear not but there's some scary stuff in my my life I don't know about yours but there's some scary stuff in my life and that's why he keeps telling us fear not fear not fear not that's why the Angels keep telling us fear not fear not I am with you I've overcome the world that's what Jesus told us he's overcome this world he's got us he really does have us are you in a place where you can hear him let me ask that a different way do you read your Bible if you read your Bible you can hear him because he's speaking to you right away amen these other ways that he speaks to us through people through Angels through his word we got to hear this morning from one of our ladies in Sunday school about how when she was 10 that she heard God's voice audibly that said go back in the house and go to bed what a powerful word from God huh go back in the house and go to bed the thing is she was about to run away in the middle of a swamp in the middle of a can field there wasn't anything around God protected her God told her go back in the house and go to sleep and she listened good thing she did I'm glad she did what has he told you well I can tell you a lot of things that he's told you because all you got to do is read the scripture and those are things that he's told you and we want to hear your testimony about the other things that he's told you that didn't necessarily come from studying God's word do you hear his voice man I've had a lot of different conversations with a lot of people there's some people here that did not have not just haven't heard it I haven't heard the voice of God and then there's others like my friend joyy who was the one that God told her to go back in the house and go to bed not everybody gets to hear that voice not everybody has the same gift God treats us individually it's an amazing thing that there's how many five and a half billion people on the planet we may be up to six billion now but every single one has an opportunity to have an individual relationship with the God who created us if you do hear that still Small Voice that's the Holy Spirit and Trevor is going to be talking to us in a couple of weeks about well I'm actually going on the Kyros prison ministry weekend that's what Trevor is going to be preaching about is the holy spirit's voice about how he talks to us now next week I'm going to be talking to you about the voices of the people that surround us the voices that we hear um just that gives me pause to stop and think about how many amazing mentors God has put in my life to speak life into me that he's he's put in my life to tell me come on let's go you're forgiven he loves you uh keep studying the word are you praying you know sometimes uh voices that we hear from the people around us aren't things that we want to hear you really think you should be watching that kind of a TV show well who are you well I'm somebody cares about you that's who I am and so sometimes those voices don't say things exactly the way we want them matter of fact if you look at these just a little bit different um let's say the unic so what if Philip hears this turn and go this way and he's like what are you telling me that for I don't want to turn and go that way well then God's will doesn't get accomplished cuz Philip didn't listen to God at least it didn't get accomplished in that way I have no doubt that if people say no to God God has somebody else that he's going to plug in there and he's going to accomplish what it is he wants to accomplish you see because God's plan does not rely on me I get an option to listen to him participate and follow but I also have the option of not if I choose not he's going to use someone else he's going to accomplish what he wants to accomplish there's no way around that so are you listening are you listening to his word are you listening to his voice have you had the Angels tell you something I want to hear it tell me not right now but I want to hear your stories I had someone recently tell me a story about an angel encounter that just really just blew me away you guys have heard me talk before about one of the pastors that used to be here he told me a story we were in a church together and he told me the story of two angels sitting on top of the speakers in the sanctuary at the church we were not here at a different church and he said you see those angels sitting up there and I'm like no I don't see them he said well those are old guard Angels those aren't the pretty white ones with the Bright Lights these guys have the armor and the scars you can tell these angels have really been through battles and uh I said no I don't see him I said but I know you though that's what I told him I said I know you you've never lied to me and if you say those angels are sitting there I'm going to believe you well had another one of those situations occur real recent that it it fell in the same way if someone you know and trust who is not a liar tells you about an encounter that they had we get to believe them because they're sharing their experience strength and hope they're they're sharing their walk they're sharing what they had with them matter of fact I wish I had the picture of it up here right now I'd put a picture of my wife up there because there was a time just a few months back when we thought she was going to pass away again she had had a a some some kind of episode that they ended up rushing her from uh the real Rehabilitation Center which is I really didn't plan on talk about this today they rushed her from the rehabilitation center that she was at over to a hospital that was nearby there and we spent the whole day with her looking like she was headed out of this world right and she's telling me I need to see my kids I need to see my kids she felt like she was going to die too so we get a hold of all our kids they rush to the hospital everybody's there Ron and Vicky Meek showed up there andy showed up there there were people that showed up from the church to be with us there but it was like we were saying goodbye to Patty cuz we thought she was passing away right so it was very traumatic and it was a very long day and I drove a little fast from Lewisville over to Los kenas I was in the triple digit let's put it that way and uh trauma fear talk about fear not really I had some fear but I had somewhere to take it at least so all this happened on a Wednesday and we were there I was there till late late she finally said get out of here it was like 11 o'clock at night and they had her on meds and she was going to sleep and I'm like okay I'm coming back in the morning I walked back in the next morning and Patty's like hi how you doing wait what she what she said God sent me back but she didn't say it like that she goes God sent me back oh he did did he yeah he did H see I'm still remembering the trauma and tragedy that I went through the day before thinking my wife was about to die and here she is smiling in the bed at me telling me God said for me to come back God sent me back she's all happy matter of fact she said why can't you just be happy for me I'm like I'm like I'm trying I have faith I believe God heals I I I know that he moves I know he's still alive and active and well and I'm looking at it but at the same time I'm kind of living in the tragedy of the day before well you know what she finally convinced me she finally convinced me that God told her to come back and that she was ready to go she wanted to get out of there she was tired of the hospital let's go get me out of here sign the papers let's go if they don't bring the papers let's I'm ready let's go so I get her down I got two pictures from that day I've got one of her in the hospital right when she's telling me God sent me back I got that picture and then I got another one when we in the car loaded up leaving the hospital wasn't very long after that was it was 15 20 minutes maybe it was really quick when Patty says I'm ready to go then uh you know Richard says okay I have one of her in the car he still speaks God still speaks he is with us he is for us even when we're stupid and fall off the edge of the world even when we say we're not going to trust him anymore even if I yell and scream at him I've done that before when she got sick I I said I'm never going to worship a god like you even when I'm telling him that he still loves me he still loves you even when you're angry even when you're afraid even whenever you're sick of life even when you don't know what's going to happen next even when you can't find anything to grab a hold of when people say how you doing hanging in there I've had a man that's been telling me for 19 years try floating it's easier hanging in there I I can't even sometimes it seems like I can't even find anything to hold on to hang in there and I'm like wait I have this big old God who loves me and he forgives me in spite of my mistakes and he says come on I love you come on I got a plan I got a way let's do this it's reminds me of this situation with Patty and her saying God sent me back it's like wait what how what I got questions y'all I got issues I got emotions I got thoughts but I got a God that's bigger than all of those he will lead the way he will show the way a matter of fact he'll stay on me and demand that I keep following him instead of running to my fear instead of running to my give up because I got some give up too he said keep going keep going I got you I love you I sent my son to die for you you're forgiven that's right I got a plan let's go that's that's God's voice still speaking to us have you been not listening have you been living in the fear have you been staying in the fear have you been running from him have you been listening to the wrong voice don't listen to the one that says you're no good I don't care if it's you I don't care if it's Satan but that voice does not love you like our God loves you w whichever voice it is that's telling you you're no good you sinned too much you're beyond God's help that is a liar I don't know if it's you lying to yourself or Satan lying to you but it's a liar the god that we know and love says come on I got you I got a word for you sometimes it's just a matter of what what's your word for me God oh oh okay it's right there ask him he'll show you have you been living in fear have you been doubting that he really has a plan have you been doubting his love for you go tell him right now you're sorry that you felt that way go tell him that you're sorry that you doubted him go tell him that you're sorry you hadn't been listening go tell him that you're sorry you hadn't been listening to the right voices whatever you need to tell him don't let me tell you what to tell him let the Holy Spirit tell you what you need to tell him ask him right now what do I need to deal with you Lord what is it there between you and I that I need to deal with Lord help me understand help me see help me know how to pray the Holy Spirit Will Reveal to you how to pray thank you for watching this today I hope you got something out of this message there are messengers some of them are Heavenly some of them are behind the pull pit but there are messengers that God sends to give you a message and the one that he really want you to hear is that he loves you that he has a plan for you that he's made a way for you and he wants you to follow him not lead him not fight with him agree with him and follow him he'll show you the way he'll give you the power to change he will help you be born again he will help you be born again again it's a great way to live you want to come do it with us great you want to do it on your own sorry about that it's it's lonely it's it's hard you get confused you get lost don't ask me how I know well yeah you can ask me how I know cuz I tried it for a really long time it's better with a group of Believers come to a Bible teaching church here at Louisville Lighthouse or find you one we'd love to have you be a part of this you want to get baptized you want to tell us how you came to Faith you want to tell us that you want to rededicate your life we love all that stuff and we would love to have you be a part of us here thank you for taking time to listen come and see us amen am" [00:07:04]