Unquestioning Obedience
UNOQUESTIONING OBEDIENCE
Do we believe with all our hearts that by learning that secret of hearing and discerning the Voice of God, we can have all our questions answered, and all our problems solved?
We read in Num, 7:89 that the Voice of God came only when the work of the tabernacle was finished by Moses and had been carried out according to the pattern shown to Moses by the Lord on the mount. In Exodus 40:34 we read that God's glory filled the Tabernacle, and His Voice began to be heard from between the cherubim in the most Holy Place. When any man wanted to find the will of God he had to come to the High priest. and the High priest had to hear the Voice of God speaking from the most Holy Place. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is our everlasting heavenly High Priest, and those who accept Him as their personal Saviour are indwelt by Him, Their bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
There is no need now for anyone to go to an earthly High Priest, Man can speak to God Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ, the High Priest, and get an answer and hear the Voice of God daily. But one thing is necessary. Ail those among us who desire to hear the Voice of God, must be sure that they are indwelt by the Spirit of God, We have already seen that when the Spirit of God comes into us we undergo a_ three-fold change. As sinners we have a dead spirit, a darkened soul and a defiled body. God is Holy and before He
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CO ee I can come into us, He has first of all to cleanse us by the precious Blood of Christ from) every inward defilement caused by thought, word or deed. Just as in the Old Testament period men could see the glom of God resting on the Tabernacle, so also those who are born again after conscious of the presence of God in them and with them always. That experience cannot come by human activity. They are conscious of the divine presence of the One who has the right to guide and to help them.
It is only sin that will prevent us from feeling His presence, but sin can be forgiven again and again and cleansed by His precious blood.
When our Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down as a dove and the voice from heaven was heard. He care into this world that heaven might be opened for us and the Holy Spirit might rest upon us, to guide us in all things and to enable us 10 hear the Voice of God every day. There are different ways in which that Voice can be heard and obeyed. God is a spirit, and His Voice is also spiritual. Thus you cannot feel the Spirit of God by your hands or feet. We feel Him in our spirit and see Him, and hear Him. His is a spiritual Voice, and though there are occasions when God's Voice can be heard by our physical ears, these occasions are few, Our spirit, however, can register the Voice of God clearly day by day, but to hear that voice we have to be sure our spirit is purified (Matthew 5:8, Acts 10: 14). “Holiness, without which no man can see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
We have seen how the Lord chose to speak through different witnesses, In Acts 8, God’s witness was called Philip. The Lord used him mightily in a place called Samaria. The Samaritans were hated by the Jews, and despised by them, but Philip went as a witness to preach the Gospel to a people who were despised. God began to use him mightily. Unless he had been a transformed person, he would never have gone to Samaria, for it required divine love to compel him to go to those people. But God used his ministry mightily in that city. Then suddenly came God's command: “Arise and go south”. He obeyed God straightway. He was being much used of the Lord in Samaria, and his ministry and service were very much needed there. He could have said in his heart: “The work I am doing is such a great work, and it 1s God’s work. All these new believers have to be strengthened and built up in the Lard. How can I leave such an important work and go to a lonely desert?”
God never explained to him why he should leave Samaria and go into the desert. As we have seen already God never tells us too much at one time, but we, as human beings, are curious to know things beforehand. That is our human weakness, but God only speaks a few words at a time. He does not give a big programme to begin with. God told Philip: “Arise and go to Gaza,” without giving him the reasons for the need for him to go there. Yet as he obeyed he found the reason.
This is a primary condition for hearing the Voice of God: you must be willing to go and do what God tells you to do without argument, You will find very often that your mind comes in the way. You will begin to question and argue with God. If so, it will take much longer for you to hear His Voice, but if you get your ear sensitive and clear, you will hear the Voice of God clearly.
Some years ago, as I was praying at midnight before lying down, there came the Voice of God saying, “Go out with the Gospel”, My reaction was, “Who will be out at this time of the night?) but I put on my coat and took the gospels and went out. I found two men walking ahead of me, I asked them, “Will you kindly stop for a minute?” They asked: “Why do you want us to stop?” I replied, “Just as I was about to lie down I heard the Voice of God and He told me: ‘Go to the right side, go to the right.” I have a message for you two”. One of the two young men said to me, “You are quite right. God has sent you for my sake I am tired of life. Give me God’s message.” I had the joy of showing him the way of Salvation,
I have found by experience that as I go on obeying without questioning, the Lord goes on giving me further instructions. This is what happened to Philip. He went into the desert. There he saw a man travelling in a chariot, but even then God did not tell him why He had asked him to go, Philip could have thought, ‘It looks as if I am running like a thief after this chariot!” but he never questioned God. In Acts 8:30, Philip ran to the chariot and heard the man reading from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah,
Herein lies the secret, Whatever the Lord tells you to do, do it quickly and joyfully. One day I saw a man walking in front of me, God told me, “Go and stop him’. I went and put my hand on his shoulder and he stopped and asked me, “Why have you stopped me. I am a very busy man”, He started to walk on. Again I stopped him, and he said the same words, adding: “Why are you wasting my time like this?” I replied, “It is because the Lord has sent me”. The man retorted: “I don't believe it. Don’t waste my time any further”. Once more I went after him and stopped him entreating him: “Please stop a while.” Then he replied, “To be frank with you, I am tired of my his and f am on my way to commit suicide’. Then I told him, “I am not stopping you from doing that. You can do it now or afterwards. You won't lose anything by giving me half an hour. Then you are free to go where you like to commit suicide. I promise you I won't stop you”. So he agreed. We both went to a nearby park. I took my Bible and after a short prayer gave him the message. Again I prayed with him and told him: “Now you are free to go and commit suicide”, But he replied, “My desire to commit suicide has gone. When can I sec you again?” He visited me once or twice and was born again.
The secret is to obey the Lord implicitly. No matter what time of the day it is, whether it is midnight, or dawn, or the heat of the noon, a very clear and deep impression will be made by the Holy Spirit on your spirit to compel you io do or say something.
God never told Philip what to preach but we can see clearly that what he spoke and said was constrained by the Spirit, He went to the chariot and heard the Ethiopian read Isaiah 53. It was a wonderful prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. This prophecy was made in detail 750 years before the time of Christ. When he heard the Ethiopian reading the passage he knew why God had asked him to go on the road to Gaza. Straightway his spirit received the divine message and by the Holy Spirit he put the question to the Ethiopian, “Under- Standest thou what thou readest?” In this silent way the Lord puts His thoughts and words into us, and often we find that when we begin to speak, words flow like a Stream. To his question the Ethiopian answered, “How can I, unless some man guide me?” (verse 31). He allowed Philip to get into the chariot and sit with him. If Philip had asked the man to stop that chariot as soon as he came near, the man might have refused to do so, thinking that Philip might be a thief wanting to harm him.
In America many people stop passing cars for a lift. - sometimes the car will stop and give the man a lift, sometimes not. Sometimes the man in the car may become suspicious and drive on without stopping. This could have happened to Philip. but he was not using human wisdom, but was obeying the instructions of the Holy Spirit. The Ethiopian himself stopped the chariot and invited Philip inside. “Please come and sit with me and explain this passage.” he said. Then Philip explained the passage so clearly that he convinced him of the meaning and of the death of Jesus Christ for the sake of sinners: You find that as you obey God's Word that He will put His words into your mouths, according to His promise in Matt. 10:20, Luke 12:12; 21:15. Not only will you hear the voice of God leading you and guiding you step by step, but you will also find the Holy Spirit touching your lips and putting His own words needed for the person you meet.
I met a young man once in a railway station at midnight. I gave him a tract and Gospel and told him, “Don’t delay, decide now for the Lord Jesus Christ”. He replied, “I cannot decide now. I will think about it”. I asked him, “Suppose you had lost Rs. 5, will you say ‘I will look for it tomorrow or the day after?’” He questioned me, “Who told you I had lost Rs. 5?” I said, “No one. I did not know at all”. The young man said, “Just now I went to the booking office and bought a ticket and took it and the change in a hurry but when I counted it I found I was short of Rs. 5. I went back and asked the booking clerk but he refused to listen. This is why I am upset at losing the Rs. 5”. Now I had not known anything about it. Just a few simple words had softened his heart and he received the message. In this way God will put the right word into your mouth for your friends and relations, Even though you do not hear the Voice of God clearly vet in a silent way the living Lord is pouring His wards into your mouth to use you as His mouthpiece. Then you will be a source of inspiration, strength, and joy to many people. What a joy it is to obey His Voice. Don’t question. Don’t argue with Him.
Many years ago I woke up at 4 a.m. and heard a party singing near the window. Those words came to me clearly: Isa. 33:17. “Thine eves shall see the King in His beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off’. This happened for three mornings at 4 o'clock. I heard the party singing and heard the words, I thought the Lord was giving me the text for the message on Sunday morning. So on Sunday morning I gave a message on that text, On Monday morning also I did the same. I asked, “Lord, what ts Your message to me from these words? You have been sending them to me for the last four mornings.” Then the Lord told me to get ready to go to a far-off country. So straightway I applied for a passport. I believed that God had spoken to me to get ready even though I had had no invitation from anybody. In those days we had to apply at Delhi for a passage. Within a few days I got the reply that I was given a passage on a particular ship for a certain day. I had not yet received the passport but I believed that God had His heavenly plan for me. Normally it takes a month to get a passport. I saw God working and moving on my behalf and got it within a week.
In my quiet time I got the words, from Ezra 8:1 “In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month.” These words came to me very forcibly in my quiet time. Again I prayed, “What is the meaning of these words to me?” The Lord told me, “I want you to be in London on 5th June 1946.% So I went to Bombay and saw the ship’s company. I asked them, “Is there any ship which arrives in London on 5th June?” They replied, “Yes, there is, Sir, but there is no vacancy on it.” IT went twice and asked, “Has anyone cancelled their passage?” They answered, “No, Sir, But another ship will be leaving next week and we can give you a passage on it.” God had told me definitely that I was to be in London or the 5th June, and it was not certain that the next ship would reach there on that date. Anyhow I booked my passage on the second ship and we arrived in London on the 5th June but the first ship got in four days after we did, as their engine was out of order. The second ship was a fast ship and as I obeyed E got in at the right time.
Later a verse came to me in my quiet time from. Zech 9:10 “... from sea even to sea.. .”, The Lord told me. “You have to cross another sea and go further”. I went to every shipping company and every air company and got the same answer, “No room”. I believed that as God had spoken I was to find a way. One morning I was reading Isa. 43:16. ‘Thus saith the Lord which maketh a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters.” So I was certain I would get my passage and went to the shipping office and asked: “Sir, is there any chance for me today”. The man replied, “Well, Sir, there is just this one possibility. If the High Commissioner can recommend your case you can get it. They usually do it for government servants”. I decided to go and try. I went to the High Commissioner's office and the man there asked me, “Are you a Government servant”? I replied, “No sir, I am God's servant”.
“That will do," he replied and I got the passage. When I got to New York I got a message that somebody in New York, Reuben Lawson by name, was waiting to see me, I had not seen him for many years. I had met him in 1930, and that too only for a@ short time. I had no idea as to his whereabouts for the last 10 years. How did he find out that I had arrived there? Anyway when TI got off the ship there he was. He told me, “You have come to America because of prayer. I] have been praying for somebody who knows Hindi because we want to record messages for those Indians who are ia America. This morning I overheard one Mr. Chambers saying, ‘Brother Bakht Singh is coming to New York’. That is why I have come to meet you”. The very first day after landing I recorded a message. I had the privilege to record thirty messages; one per day, each message of a duration of thirty-five minutes. Til today they are being broadcast in South America.
I can say truthfully and with all humility that I have no desire to see any country, or city in any country. or to buy anything. I have but one desire and that is to be in His perfect will and to be used by Him as His witness. That is how God goes on working quietly day by day in us. If you are willing to be used by Him to show someone the way of salvation, or to comfort someone, or help someone, then you will find it easy to hear the Voice of God. You won't argue of question; whatever He commands you, whatever He says, you will obey. He will give you the message for the persons concerned: a heavenly plan for the right person. I can tell you so many stories to prove this and of the honour one has to hear God’s Voice every day at every step.
Be willing to obey. Whatever He says that do without question. Have you obeyed His first call: “If any man hear My Voice and open the door, I will come into him”? (Rev. 3:20). Make sure that the living Lord Jesus has come into you. A dead man cannot hear the Voice of God. If you are not born again you are dead spiritually. If God has not forgiven all your sins then you are deaf, dumb and blind spiritually. We appeal to you to first receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your living Saviour and Friend, and then by faith say daily: “Speak to me, Lord, lead me and help me day by day. O Lord, I want to live for Thee. Till you speak to me, I cannot be used by Thee. You can send me anywhere or keep me anywhere. I only want to be in Your will. Oh Lord, give me the privilege of sharing Your joy with somebody else.” Then, as you listen, you will hear His glorious Voice, and as you obey you will be filled with His joy unspeakable, and will have the privilege of being guided by Him in every detail of life.