Knowing God Part II
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Romans 8:14
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God
Two weeks ago I spoke to you about Knowing God. The word of God says that eternal life is not just life extended after death, but knowing God. And knowing God is more than knowing about him or doing things for him, it is a personal experiential relationship. When we are born again our spiritual senses are made alive to God’s presence which makes knowing him through experience possible. After all, how can you know a God who is a spirit, when our primary ways of knowing things by experience is through our bodies five physical senses -touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. The world we live in values only the experiences we can have through our physical senses, and not the spiritual world. We must realize Spirit preceded matter. The invisible God created all that we see out of nothing.
God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don’t
need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life
out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the
’beginning !!."
"Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God.
"Well, " says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the
likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man."
"Well, that’s interesting . Show Me. "
So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.
"Oh no, no, no..." interrupts GOD "Get your own dirt."
The second thing we must realize is that spiritual things are more important that physical things and physical experiences. God has created us for relationship with him, and nothing this physical world offers can satisfy that part of us. The writer of Eccl. said “God has put eternity in our hearts”. Many people on earth keep trying to satisfy the God shaped hole in their souls with physical things. They think a new car, Lover, House, Better job, more money, fame, beauty, popularity, etc will satisfy this hunger, but it never does, because it can’t. The hunger is for a relationship or walk with God on the spiritual side. .
The Third thing is that there is a spirit world that interacts with our physical world. Frank Peretti’s books show this better than any other although they are fiction. Piercing the Darkness and This Present Darkness. Some understand it is a spiritual hunger and pursue spiritual thing, but they are the wrong spiritual things. Such as Meditation, Yoga, Psychics, Fortune tellers, Wicca, New Age Philosophy, Scientology, etc. The Spirit world is powerful and deceptive, and so God gave us a rock solid guide to direct us through it - the Bible.
Transition So what does the Bible tell us about knowing God in a personal way. Let’s Look at the WORD.
ONE POINT IN THIS MESSAGE: GOD COMMUNICATES WITH HIS PEOPLE.
This is the one and only point of this message. Remember this one thing - God Communicates with his people. You must believe it to receive it. The Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is communicating with his people. Although his exact message may be for the people of that day we can gain principles from it. However, maybe more importantly, God is showing us how to receive communication with Him, by recording how saints of old did it.
I was saved at around 9 years of age. I went to church all my life. I was filled with the Spirit at Bible college. I got a degree in Pastoral Ministries, but was not aware that God really wanted to communicate to his people, except reading the bible. A friend of mine gave me a book “the third wave of the Holy Spirit” by C. Peter Wagner that opened my spiritual eyes to this dynamic. I then became friends with an Assemblies of God pastor named Ken Pagano, and God opened my eyes to a whole new world of faith. I begin to read book I could get my hands on about hearing from God. Books by Loren Cunningham, Jack Deere, Cindy Jacobs, Charles Kraft, John Dawson, and John Wimber.
Around 1992 or 94 I went to a Wesleyan Youth Convention in Cincinnati and heard Marilyn Hontz. She is Wesleyan pastor’s wife from Central Wesleyan in Holland Michigan. As she shared my heart leaped with joy, because she was the first Wesleyan I had heard speak on this wonderful adventure of Hearing God.
I Three hindrances to God’s communication with us:
1. Lack of Faith - Don’t believe he does (No one told us)
2. Disobedience - Sin separates us and dulls our hearing
3. Crowded Life (heart) - No time for God
II Six Ways God Communicates with Us
1. The Holy Spirit Guides from Within (guide you into all truth, led by the Spirit)
-Not like the god in the video from Evan Almighty.
-In part one Joyce Meyers shared how that it was her being baptized in the Holy Spirit that introduced her to intimacy with God.
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Lu 4:1 -
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
Ro 8:14 -
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Ga 5:18 -
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
John 16:13
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
Hontz p 9 "a voice inside my heart
Principles or Walking with God
-p96 Waking the dead (John Eldredge)
A Discipleship Program from a successful church in the Midwest was given to John Eldredge.
Member of the church
Take course on doctrine
Be Faithful in attendance in worship and small groups
Course of Christian Growth
Live demonstrating evidence spiritual growth
Complete course on evangelism - Look for opportunities
Complete course on finances, marriage, parenting
Complete leadership training course, hermeneutics course, spiritual gifts course, biblical counseling course.
Participate in missions
Carry significant local church ministry load.
He questioned it. No doubt a great deal of helpful information was passed on. Question: A program like this–does it teach a person how to apply principles, or how to walk with God? Not the same thing. Change the content and any cult could do this. Many self help guru’s have principles for a better life. (Dr Phil, Oprah, etc But only Christianity can teach you how to walk with God.
2. Dreams/ Visions
The Cincinnati Reds rookie center fielder Josh Hamilton shared his story in ESPN the magazine. How that drug addiction nearly destroyed his life. He was in rehab 8 times. When he quit using his dreams returned, but they were often dark and haunting and stayed with him long after he awoke. Within a week of sobriety in Oct 2005 he show up at his grandmothers in Raleigh in the middle of the night coming off a crack binge. He had the most haunting dream. He was fighting the devil, an awful looking thing. He had a stick or bat or something, and every time he hit the devil, he’d fall and get back up. Over and over he hit him, until he was exhausted but the devil was still standing.
He woke up in a sweat as if the fight were real and gripped by terror. He said he got up and went down the hall to grandmothers room and crawled under the covers with her. The devil stayed out of his dreams 7 months as he stayed clean and worked on his marriage.
In June 2006 he got word he had been reinstated by Major League baseball, and a few weeks later the devil reappeared. It was the same dream, with an important difference. He would hit him and he would bounce back up, the ugliest and most hideous creature you could imagine. The devil seemed unbeatable: He couldn’t knock him out. But just when he felt like giving up he felt a presence by his side. As he turned to look he saw Jesus, battling alongside him. We kept fighting, and he was filled with strength. The devil didn’t have a chance. He woke up and felt at peace. He wasn’t scared and the lesson was clear. Alone He couldn’t win this battle, but with Jesus he couldn’t lose.
3. Through other people -Prophesy, Testimony
Call from Father in Law page 8 Hontz
4. Illuminating the Word of God- Hontz p4-5
“For many years I read the Bible simply for information and knowledge, not with the idea that God wanted to involve me in his plans for the day.” Marilyn Hontz p14
I read until I sense the Holy Spirit pointing out a verse or a passage for me. Wrote it down.
Read the Bible for inspiration not information
Read for transformation, not just information.
If we want to recognize God’s voice we’ve got to be in the word every day. Hontz p23
5. Preaching and Teaching -
Beverly had a question for God about Spiritual dryness, in the night God told her I was going to preach on the topic Sunday.
6. Thoughts given in prayer- Answers in prayer
I went to visit Malinda’s mother in the hospital two weeks ago, because her pastor was elected DS and hadn’t been able to be there. I felt I was to pray for her staff infection to go away, but not for the cancer they feared was back. I honestly reasoned God will not take the cancer away with her age and all. But in the middle of my prayer I felt I should pray for the cancer to go away also, so I did. And she got a cancer free report this past week. I am not taking credit. I am saying I would not have even asked if God hadn’t prompted me to.
Conclusion: I have several computer programs that I realize can do much more than I ever do with them. I just get by using the basics to do what I want done. I don’t take the time to read the manual, or training video. As I played around on power point yesterday I realized I am really experiencing far less than is provided. But then I realized many Christians also live far below their privilege. They get just enough to go to heaven, and not enough to enjoy the trip. God has provided so much more, but we are content with so little. Can we get to heaven without learning to hear his voice, maybe, but why would we want to.
Sources: “Waking the Dead” John Eldredge, “Listening for God” by Marilyn Hontz
