Wilderness Experiences-Wilderness Voices

Wilderness Voices/Wilderness Experiences

Sermon notes 2022.08.14

William Akehurst, HSWC

The Wilderness Experience can make us feel all alone, under pressure, lost, and even wondering if GOD has abandoned us. But that's not the case. HE leads us in the wilderness, if we would only quiet ourselves amid the distractions and tune in to hear HIS voice.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led* you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (Obey or Abandon)

3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Why would GOD lead us into the Wilderness? Deut 8:2-3

1. To Humble

2. Test

3. And know what is in your heart

4. And whether or not you will obey or abandon HIM

Remember the Disciples Prayer?

*Matthew 6:13a And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

Do you want to be tested? Of course not. Testing is painful. Think about it…JESUS was ‘tested’ as far as the CROSS! Yet HE went there with JOY amidst the pain and suffering for YOU and ME.

Jesus also was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights…

(Tempted=Tested)

Jesus was also tempted* by the devil, and combatted these temptations by releasing GOD’s WORD into the atmosphere…“IT IS WRITTEN” Matthew 4:4,7,10

Sidenote: *1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Personally, I believe that the LORD will take us “to the edge AND OVER!” if that’s what it takes for us to come back to HIM. To come to that place, when there is no other way to go except to run to JESUS. In John 14:6, Jesus said…”I AM the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to the FATHER except through me.”

“IT IS WRITTEN”: There is significance to using, declaring, decreeing, speaking GOD’s WORD into the situations we find ourselves in. JESUS knew this, and we should too. Why?

GOD’s WORD is ALIVE and COMPLETES AND ACCOMPLISHES ITS PURPOSE.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

So, in the wilderness, we that we can’t do it on our own, we need the LORD.

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Satan’s voice came at JESUS, but JESUS returned it back with Scripture.

Doesn’t it amaze you in how many voices come pounding at you when you’re all alone “in the wilderness”?

Everything hits from all sides, and we can get really worked up over it. But what we really need, is to settle down and…

Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I AM GOD; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

And that while everything seems in turmoil with so much noise and distractions…be still…and listen…

1 Kings 19:11-12

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

So we need to settle down and listen for HIS voice…that still small voice…

Psalms 46:1-3

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

Again remember…46:10 “Be still, and know that I AM GOD; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!