To Hear is to Obey
TO HEAR IS TO OBEY
All God's people can hear the Voice of God. God does speak, and those who know the Lord Jesus Christ by experience ought 10 he able to hear His Voice daily for their problems, and according to their needs. He is a loving God, and if we have accepted Him as our personal Saviour, then we shall hear His Voice, according to John 10:27, But it is only in our spirit that we can hear His Voice and not in the flesh. Men try to hear the Voice of God with their ordinary hearing, but there is no gain in so doing though there have been a few occasions when I have heard the Voice of God with my physical ears. However, we can hear His Voice in our spirit every day and many times a day.
We have a spirit, a soul and a body (Gen. 2:7) When God made man He breathed His own spirit into him. Bones, blood and muscles make the body, intellectual reasoning, emotion and will-power make the soul; conscience, intuition and worship are faculties of the spirit. These are the three main parts of man: body and soul and spirit. Because of sin death enters our spirit as well as our body. Every thought, word and deed we do against our God, we do by killing our conscience. If I want to tell a lie, my conscience pricks me, sc, to tell a the, I must kill my conscience. Unknowingly we bring death into our spirits, by our thoughts, words and deeds. Thus as sinners we have a dead spirit, a darkened soul, and a defiled body. We are unable to hear the Voice of God, or feel His presence. or touch Him because of our * dead spirit.
There was a man of God called Eh. He became dead spiritually because of sin, God spoke to the child Samuel _ during the night. Samuel heard the Voice of God, but Eli, the old priest, could not hear Him because of his spiritual deafness. Similarly. all of us have a dead spirit and a seared conscience. We do not know how to worship God nor do we know Him. We cannot know God nor His movements. We also have a darkened soul and therefore we misuse our brains, and become haughty and proud and puffed up in our knowledge. We boast of our emotions and become stubborn in our wills, and then our body becomes defiled. Even though you may have a beautiful face others can see on it the marks of hatred, greed or hypocrisy. —
When we receive into us the life of Jesus Christ again we undergo a threefold change. The love of God can only be poured into the same spirit. It cannot be put into my bones, blood or muscles. God is a spirit and ‘before that pure life can come. into my spirit God must cleanse me, purge me and purify me completely. We claim by faith His precious blood. for our cleansing because His blood alone contains everlasting life. Our blood contains physical life. We can go on living only; as long as our hearts are beating.
In paralysis there 1s no movement in the affected part of the body, even though the heart goes on beating. Some war casualties have lost many parts of their bodies all at the. same time ‘and yet they go on living. "God declared a tong time ago in Lev. 17:11.. ‘The life of the flesh ts the blood’. The Lord Jesus Christ did not sin and He was perfectly holy, having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and+He could challenge His enemies:. “Which of you convinceth mo of sin?” (John 8:46). No one dared to take up the challenge. That is why His blood has purchased for us everlasting life, and also saw no corruption (Ps. 16:10).
When a man dies, that very second his body starts to disintegrate, so men use ice, or spices to keep the body in better condition. But the body of our Lord saw no corruption, and in that same body He rose again. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood hath eternal life.” We receive that truth by faith, for by His blood we are cleansed and filled with His eternal life, and it is then and only then that we are able to feel the presence of God. ‘
In this way we undergo a threefold change from a dead _ Spirit, a darkened soul and a defiled body, to a quickened spirit, an enlightened soul and a cleansed body. Even though we cannot see the change in a man’s spirit, yet we can see it in his face when he receives this new life.
. A man may be dark and ugly, with thick lips, but when the life of God comes into him his face becomes charming and attractive. There is attraction and beauty in —those who receive that new life. a charm that does not come through physical or artificial means or education. Worldly people can adopt worldly ways to decorate themselves by wearing rich clothes and jewels. They imagine they look beautiful, but if we ask the neighbours what they think about them, they may not answer openly, but we can tell that they think them vain, haughty, ugly and hypocritical. Is this not true? But God gives a different colour and beauty, and we do not require worldly possessions for that glory.
In this new life we find a proportionate work going on in the body, the soul and the spirit. when we are indwelt by the Spirit of God. Then we can hear His Voice daily, saying: “This is the way, walk ye in it, My son, be careful, take heed. My child, come unto Me, let Me show you something: let Me teach you something.” Sometimes when we are fast asleep we wake up suddenly as if we heard a Voice calling to us. This has been my =~ experience many times. IT have been fast asleep and have heard Someone call me by my name clearly. When I woke up I saw nobody there. I thought at first it was a dream or my-imagination. When I] went to sleep, again I heard the Voice and woke up. Sometimes this would happen for three times, and then would come a Voice Saying: “My child get up, I want to speak to you.” What a privilege, what an honour it is to receive God's Word day by day according to our need for ourselves and for our neighbours.
Before the Lord Jesus came into my life I was an atheist. I said: “There is no God!” I used to make fun of those who believed in’ God. I heard the Voice of God one day clearly, on the 16th of December [929, saying: “My son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”” That is how I began my walk with God, The life of God came into me, and when that happened I underwent a three-fold change of the spirit, soul and body. I was given a quickened spirit, an enlightened soul and a cleansed body. Soon after‘ that I began to read the book of Genesis in the month of January 1930. I found these words again and again in the same chapter: ‘God said,’ ‘God said.” I found these words repeated 500 times and this very fragment was a4 blessing to me: ‘God speaks, God speaks.’ So I said,”"“Oh God speak to me, I want to hear Thy Voice. I have no ambition for any other experience, The longing of my soul is that you should speak to me and show me Thy way day by day”. I believed like a child. Even though it may take some time to learn the lesson that God must speak, the fact Remains that when He becomes real} He does speak. A day came when I began to hear His Voice every day.
That is why I want you also to hear His voice ‘and learn the lessons He wants ta teach.;
We are now going to see the second way of hearing His voice. First we saw how the heaven was opened at the time of Christ’s baptism. .Saul became Paul when he heard the Voice of God (Acts 9:3), He saw divine light - and not sunlight. It suddenly began to shine round bim very brightly. When he saw the light he fell down, You may not se¢ such a light as Saul saw.. But the same light can move into all of us without being seen.
Now when they take an X-ray photo you cannot see - the rays. For ordinary photos, there must be either sunlight or some other light. But when you have your photo taken in the hospital. they take you into a dark room. You think the light will come but you just hear; a click. You go home and your photo is shown to you. What happened? You wonder how they could see your insides in the dark, when next day the doctor says “Mr. M., look at your lungs in this photo”; for you could not see this outwardly. Divine light comes into us in: the _ same way,;.
Many names are given to the Lord Jesus Christ in John 8:12. He is the Light of the world arid He is the I divine Light to show us our inward condition, What cannot be seen outwardly can be seen by divine light. The most experienced doctors cannot see your inward condition by looking at you. They can only find it by taking an X-ray photo.
In the same way divine light comes into us, and the sins which were hidden for so many years now come to light. It happened to me, though I did not see the light with these ordinary eyes. It was by reading that tiny fragment in John 3:3 ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you’ that my eves were opened. I had been saying about the Bible, “This book does not belong to me but to the Europeans and Americans.” But these words went on ringing in my ears, ‘I say unto thee, I say unto thee.’ I replied “Lord in that case. I am a sinner. I have uttered _ words of blasphemy against You. I tore the Bible in 1919." Then I knelt down and I saw many things from my past life which I had forgotten entirely.
This same thing happened to Saul. First he saw the light, then he knelt down. Then he heard the words, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Saul thought he saw something new. He thought he was serving God and was free from sin. He also thought he had a great zeal for God. But now he discovered he was God’s enemy, Unknowingly he had been doing damage to the things of God, He was, no doubt, a sincere and God-fearing man, fully familiar with the Word of God, but he I had never seen the divine light. He had been trying to; follow God intellectually, but he had not seen his inward condition. Now he saw the whole light coming to him and cried as in Rom. 7:18. “To will is present in me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” But the Lord Jesus Christ said in a few words: “Unknowingly you have been doing damage to my work.” Only the light coming into us can show us how much damage we are doing to God's work and to ourselves. Only the light of God can show us our true condition.
Just as the X-ray can show us the true condition of our body, so also the microscope is used to show the true _condition of the blood..
There are some coughs that cannot be cured by cough mixtures. Doctors in the olden days used to think that the person was possessed by a demon when the cough could not be cured by treatment or cough mixture. When doctors began to examine the blood through microscopes they found out the cough was due to too many white corpuscles, and when proper treatment was given the cough subsided. Patients might say: “What a wonderful doctor this is! I drank barrels and barrels of mixture but that never cured me. But this clever doctor just by giving me two injections has cured me”. How-- ever, it was really the discovery of the microscope that brought success,
Let the light of God come into you fully, Do not hinder it, In the beginning it will be a very humbling experience. Saul was extremely proud of his knowledge and cleverness, but the light of God brought bim right down upon his face, That man was carrying many papers in both arms, with authority from the priests allowing him to put into prison any believer he came across. His brain was full of ideas and his hands full of warrants. He was racing to capture the believers at Damascus, but both his ideas and the papers flew away. There he was in the dust and the Lord was saying to him, “You are wasting your time, money and energy. You are kicking against the pricks, You yourself will be hurt. Saul, do you think you can stop My work:? ‘You do not know how much damage you are doing to yourself.”
As long as we live our own life, however sincere we may be, we are kicking against the pricks everyday and doing damage to ourselves, and becoming more and more deaf and blind spiritually. Saul was blind for three days that he might acknowledge his spiritual blindness before God. Instead of asking: “Who art thou Lord?” he might have asked other questions such as you are asking m your mind now, The Lord answered: “l am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.” The name Jesus means, He shall save His people from their sins! The Lord said to him: “When you hate and persecute my people you are doing it to Me, but I am the Saviour, Even though you hate My name and blaspheme it,» yet I love you, Saul. Even for you I shed My blood and gave My life.”
The Lord is saying this same thing to you. You may know all His names and respect Him, but the question is: Has He forgiven your sins? Has He delivered you from your sinful nature? Has He come to live in you? I. By way of example, there is a very clever, wonderful doctor and people flock to him from great distances. When I say this to others, they may question me: “But has he cured you? Did you ever go to him?” If I were to answer “No, but my wife says so!” they will turn around and ask: ‘But what about you?” The Lord Jesus Christ says: “I am Jesus, I am the Saviour. I died for your sins.” If you say He has become your Saviour, have you thanked Him for dying for your sins? Have you got the assurance that your sins are gone? Has He delivered you from your sinful nature? Has He come into you?
Saul replied to the Voice: “Lord! what wilt thou have me do?” The Lord asked him to go to Damascus where he would be told what he was to day. Even though he was well known he had first of ail to obey God and do exactly what God told him. The Lord did not tell him many things personally (Acts 9:6). An unknown person was sent to him; Ananias, by name. He was an ordinary person and not an apostle, We do not know much about him. Those who are wealthy and in high positions want well-known persons to talk to them, and not ordinary people, “I want a man with a title to talk to me of spiritual things,” they think. God says: “Humble yourselves'™. If the Lord wanted He could have Himself explained to Paul all the way of Salvation, but He did not do that. He sent Ananias to explain to him. That was. the Voice of God to him and Saul humbled himself and believed whatever Ananias told him. “Now I know this Wonderful Way’, he thought, “My sins have gone. I have been persecuting Him who died for me.” Then be was baptised through Ananias, From that time onward he heard the Voice of God a number of times.
Through all his life and ministry, by listening to the Voice of God, Saul went on to do His will (Acts 16).; The Lord began to work mightily in Galatia ane Mysia, and when Paul wanted to go into Bithynia, the Spirit suffered him not. Then he asked, “Lord, can wet stay in. Galatia?™ Then the Lord said. “No. The same way Mysia. Then came the Voice of God: “Come over to Macedonia”. Though it was on the other continent, he obeyed. That is how the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ entered into Europe. Saul and those with him heard and obeyed and when trouble came in Acts 18:9, what a privilege it was to suffer for His name.
When you have to face any difficulty or hardship, or have enemies in the office of neighbourhood. then comes the Voice carly in the morning or at mid-day; “Fear not. Tam with thee.” These words will strengthen you and encourage you and give you victory, How many times I have heard these wards, “I am with thee.” for the last thirty-seven years, This can be a daily experience and there is no need for you to be dejected and depressed and say, “Take away my life”.
In Acts 27, the ship was m great danger, and the 276 people in the ship had no hope that they were going to live. They were afraid because of the terrible storm. They had cast out the tackling to lighten the ship, and the sailors even attempted to flee, but Paul stopped them. That night God had spoken to Paul: “Fear not Paul. Thou must he brought before Caesar and lo! God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” This Voice of God brought faith, Outwardly it was impossible that they would be saved, and there was not the least hope left, but God had assured him that he and the 276 people’ were safe. Paul had eaten well and slept well. He was not afraid, and now he encouraged the others to eat also.
A little trouble will take away sleep and no sleeping tablet can give sleep at such a time. But at such a time and in such circumstances. there comes the Voice of God, “Fear not, f am with thee.” It is the consciousness of God's presence which gives us assurance that it is God's voice and not man’s voice. First of all, God's presence is realized by praising God and reading His Word, and then we hear His Voice. If I find my faith increasing I know it is not man’s voice, and by later experience we come to recognize the Voice more readily.
Sometimes when a husband goes far away and returns without informing his wife, the wife is able to recognize his return by merely hearing his cough inside the compound and says: “There is my husband’. “Where is he’? somebody may ask her. She replies “I don’t know exactly where he is, but I can hear his voice.’ Hf, however, a wife is not on good terms with her husband and someone asks her where he is, she will say, “I don’t Know’, even though he is on the verandah!
If you want to hear the Voice of God, let the Lord Jesus Christ come and rule in your heart. Receive His divine light and do not be afraid to confess your sin. Remember He died for your sins. Accept Him as your loving Saviour, then speak to Him as your Friend day by day, for you can talk to him anywhere on any matter, and He will surely talk with you. Remember only this. when you hear His Voice, obey at once,
Chapter 3