We Will Get To Know God By Hearing His Voice

James chapter 1 verse 12 All that God has prepared for us. This is where the Lord Took me to Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial for once he has been approved He will receive the crown of life Which the Lord has promised for all those who love him That's what the Lord has has prepared for us in the future is a crown And when I think about a crown the question is what kind of crown am I going to get and he says here it's going to be a crown of life And that gave me the clue of what this crown is going to be it's a crown of eternal life And I don't see this as a physical crown. I can't imagine myself walking around with a crown of it crown of any sort on my head But I thought of it, you know the expression from the crown of your head down to the bottom of your feet I thought of that crown being the very top of your head And God was telling James and Peter Paul says the same thing laid up for me ahead of is a crown of righteousness And God I felt like God was telling me I'm gonna complete This knowledge of me this knowing you eternal life is to know Jesus John 17 verse 3 I'm gonna complete that i'm gonna finally make it complete But it's it's for those who love him It's for those who have made their life a pursuit of knowing Jesus And I was reminded of again of that passage. We've seen in philippians chapter 3 Where paul also talks about this? Where paul talks about? knowing God And God has in store for me a Completion of knowing God to where I'll know him fully But it's given to those who in this life now Make it their ambition To know him and the contrast paul says here is everything that was gained. I consider it as loss I consider all things to be lost So I get I get a little formula for myself of what knowing Jesus is Knowing God knowing Jesus is 100 percent Jesus and zero percent me And God says i'm going to give you the crown of life one day Where it'll be all about me and there'll be no issue at all And paul was on this journey and he says look it's not like i've achieved this But i'm on this journey forgetting what lies behind I want to know God verse 8 So sorry verse 9 I want to gain Christ the end of it I may be found in him Not having my own righteousness verse 10 that I may know him And the fellowship is the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings But this was the trade-off That paul had to make He had to say I have to count all things at loss So that Jesus could be everything And so I saw this formula to being the way that I have to live my daily life Here's what it means to know Jesus every day What does it mean to practically know Jesus? To know Jesus should be to embark on that daily journey where I say Jesus you must be 100 And I must be zero percent. That's what Jesus said when he was on the earth. He said I do nothing Of my own initiative. I am nothing i'm zero so that the father can be everything and he did it perfectly Paul didn't do it as perfectly. So he was on this daily pursuit Of pursuing this formula of knowing Jesus where Jesus is everything and I am nothing I don't want to just be Jesus to be increasing and i'm being decreasing I don't want to go from 100 down to 99 down to 98. When will I get to zero? I want to zoom to zero Where I could strive in every situation that all of god's words comes out of me and none of my own Not that it's a slow decrease But that I can from day one desire that it could be all of christ In my life today None of sandeep in any of his reactions and what he thought of and the moment his flesh came in To choose to die to poke that earthen vessel So that the life of Jesus can come through Knowing Jesus is the only way I can live Matthew 4 4. But how do I know Jesus? by hearing god's word By hearing god speak to me. That's what he says man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word That proceeds that's how I can get life This eternal life can come to me every day if I hear him see this passage in john chapter 5 John chapter 5 verse 39 and 40. We may know these Verses You search the scriptures because you think That in them you have eternal life It is these that testify about me And you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life And I was thinking about this in the new covenant context I can read my bible every day I can Listen to cfc bible studies I'm just not it doesn't say that you read the scriptures you search it You're doing careful you're spending the time waking up early in the morning spend staying up late at night studying the scriptures Because you think that By applying a verse that you just did it that you just learned from some bible study you can have life it's the words of God, it's the scriptures And you think that just by that bible study or by reading god's word you can have life And god is telling me here that that's not no that's not just bible study and reading god's word it's more than that I have to take all of god's word that I do read I have to study god's word I have to pay close attention to god's word But then what god says what you need to do sandeep is you need to search the scriptures. That's not the bad part The bad part is now you don't come to me with all these words that you've learned And then ask god god, what are you trying to tell me? What is your word in this particular situation? Is it that verse or that verse or that other verse? I can't pretend that I can just use my logic and my intelligence and say well I can analyze the situation and I think proverbs 8 4 works as opposed to Exodus 14 6 or something. How's that going to work? And that's what I understand as being revelation Is I have to go with all of god's word every day as I search the scriptures as I do my best To study god's word. I have to do all the best I can to do it Listening to bible studies listening to sermons on sundays, but that's that's that's I could be no different than the pharisees I need to go to god and say god. What are you speaking to me? What is it that you are telling me? Otherwise, I don't know him I send emails to the prime minister every day. I read all of his speeches that he speaks every day Does he ever respond to you does he ever tell you anything? Well, then you probably don't know him You claim you know him you send him emails every day you talk to him every day Prayers You read all of his speeches Reading god's word, but does he ever talk back? No, he never responds to my emails never calls me. Well, probably the prime minister doesn't know you And so if I'm interacting with this god where I'm praying to him reading his word But if he's not talking to me There's no chance I'm living and so For me to know god Is for him to speak to me Not for me to read his word Not for me to study all the bible studies not for me to pray for me to know god. He needs to talk to me That's where the holy spirit is so critical only with the holy spirit Can I hear god only with the holy spirit can I see jesus That's what I understand too about romans 8 13 If you by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body you will live That's what it says romans 8 13 if you by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body you live If you put to death the deeds of the body you don't live But if you as you're putting to death the deeds of the body you're listening to the holy spirit Telling you Here's the word of god. Here's the sword. This is the particular sword sandeep today to fight lust Don't desire her beauty is the word that comes to me today and the holy spirit says now take this sword Two weeks from now that sword may not be sharp the holy spirit may be trying to say something else to me And if i'm not constantly seeking to listen I'll start using blunt swords swinging swords that don't really work all from god's word But not by the spirit The spirit's not in that anymore. It's just become a formula Just a verse I memorized that is why knowing god and revelation by the spirit is Is very tangible in the sense that I really need to listen to say god what is it you're trying to tell me And he can lead me away from temptation He can give me the special word that'll be needed for an important meeting later on where I was going to get Really shouted at by my co-worker But because I just didn't have bible reading but I listened To god it could come through a song that i'm listening to could come through a sermon could be coming through reading god's word But I have to know god Is it good enough that I get victory over sin, but I don't know god how is that good enough? There can be many other techniques psychology self-control that can get me to put to death the deeds of the body I won't live Because the spirit wasn't involved. I didn't listen. I wasn't listening lord. You need to equip me Man shall not live By bread alone by human techniques alone by everything that is of this world, but by words that proceeding all the time proceeding This is what I need to focus on. This is what I need to be majoring on Let me give you an example Let's say even for the children, let's say you're an eight-year-old girl Let's say you're at school And let's say you're having a difficult time at school because nobody wants to play with you Maybe you don't fit in Maybe all the other children have cliques and you've been told by your parents You got to love everybody And so you stand by yourself But you're too afraid even to tell your friends or your parents or your brothers or your sisters So you just keep it inside because you're scared. You don't know what it is The first time you're feeling with it and maybe daddy and mommy are too busy Sadly, maybe Maybe you're just too afraid to tell them. So you're sitting there going to school day after day Seeing that you're all by yourself. Maybe because you're a christian Maybe because all of the other children get to do something And your parents have said nope, you don't get to celebrate halloween you don't get to do yoga So you have to sit by yourself and you stand out But you don't want to tell anybody because it's so awkward you're eight years old So you just let it sit inside and you maybe cry at night Because these are new feelings for you, what do you do? I've experienced that maybe not at eight, but sometime i'm sure I experienced those kind of things I need to hear a word from god Eight years old remember samuel And i've thought about this in in terms of my own life But also in raising my children when I see these situations in school, it's so easy. It's so quick For me to be like I know what to do. I'm going to write an email to the principal I'm going to write an email to the teacher I'm going to exert my authority I'm going to create the way so that My child doesn't have to have issues at school I'm not against that. I'm not Against advocating and all of that, but the lord is showing me, you know, this is how i'm trying to get to speak to her She has to have some time when I get to speak to her It's going to be eight years old and 18 years old But i'm starting to send a little bit of something that feels a little too much for her Or for my six year old boy or for you as a 13 year old God's starting to show you something and he's allowing something that feels a little too much for you It is too much for you because you don't have a word from god But it won't be too much for you if you hear a word from god And i'm not saying now go read the bible for four hours But we need to hear a word from god spoken From the holy spirit Just to you And it'll bring rest and it'll allow us to walk all over the storms It could come from a song you're singing on sunday, it could come from a sermon somebody's speaking but much more than that Even from a young age god's trying to get us to say well just just open your bible and try to read And just be open And god will speak to me And that has to be the nature that has to be the culture That has to be my reaction every time i'm facing a trouble that I can't face I've got to say god you must be trying to speak to me This is not because you don't love me. It's not because you're trying to punish me You must be trying to speak to me What are you trying to say and the bigger the trial that the devil dare put on my life? The louder the lord is trying to speak to me And so i'm excited I'm not making this up. I've told myself if the trial gets tougher You got to get more and more excited because god is trying to tell you something even more loudly He's trying to impress something so deeply in your heart For every lonely child for every young woman who's just found out that she's lost her baby for every young man Who's just found out that he's lost his job? For every marriage that is on the rocks For all of us who just found out that maybe some of us just found out we got some sickness God is trying to speak to us Christ is right there on the doorstep. We don't need to We can cry we don't need to feel sorry for ourselves though. No place for that We need to cry out to him not just crying to our pillow let's cry out to him and ask him to speak to us And I i've seen this in my life. He doesn't always speak when I ask him to speak, but he always speaks God doesn't wear a watch He lives outside time. He doesn't work by my timelines, but he knows when he needs me when he needs to speak to me And he's always on time And if he's not speaking to me yet, he's trying to teach me patience for sure You know, what's the number one virtue of love if you were to write down write down love What would be the first word you'd use to describe love? You know the holy spirit said in 1 corinthians 13 It's not what we think not love is lovey-dovey feelings romantic feelings eating lots of chocolate Love is patient What a beautiful word that all of us can grab a hold of when it comes to love Love is patient And that's the best thing about it if god doesn't answer you just yet god's trying to give you his very nature which is love He's building in your patience, but he always speaks family of god. I've seen it over and over again It's become such a hallmark in my life. That's how the lord Talked god got me got a hold of me. The first time is when he spoke to me not in an audible voice, but Reminding me of a song that I had listened. I will never leave you nor forsake you. It's written back there I remember him speaking to me this when I was a teenager and that became Has become a life now where he's starting to speak to us and I see how Essential it is I see this verse in matthew chapter 6 verse 8 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth Verse 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven Family of god, what are the treasures we're going to store up in heaven? We know it's not money And I thought about this what are the treasures lord that I can keep in heaven I thought about all these in trials that come into my life I thought of all these situations that come into my life and god says I wanted this as an opportunity for you to store up trial and some treasure in heaven How was treasure going to be stored in heaven through the trial because through the trial God was going to say sandeep. Will you come to me? Will you come to me and wait for a word? Don't try to solve the problem Don't try to think about all the intellectual ways to solve the problem come to me and wait for a word And he speaks to me And maybe he'll speak to me from exodus 14 14 The lord will fight for you as you remain silent And it doesn't apply for anybody else but it applies for me at this moment and it brings peace And it brings life and revelation happens in my life where I see that verse in a brand new way That happened to me with so many different verses Luke 15 the story of the prodigal son the lord shone a light on it and opened up that verse that story to me Psalm 139 17 how precious are your thoughts to me that verse opened up to me A lot of these verses opened up to me in the midst of a trial And that's where the treasure was stored And I thought that lord when I get to heaven i'm going to see treasures that were stored treasures between jesus and me None of you have any idea about it. I don't know of any idea about your treasures, but when this Bad thing happened in your life What happened well, I just waited till the bad thing got over No treasure in heaven though This other sister same bad thing happened in her life She got a word from god treasure in heaven They say that the revelation chapter 14 we can turn there about the bride groom and the bride We see the lamb standing with the 144 000 And they sang a new song And nobody could sing that song Except those 144 000. I'm just thinking about this is just Lord jesus are there going to be songs that just you and I can sing in heaven together It'll be that kind of song And they'll say let's sing from psalm 139 17 In heaven And jesus will look at me and give me a knowing glance He said what do you what do you what make what what comes to mind when you think of that verse? July 18 2017. I remember what happened And I have a scar for that I remember when I was at work and that co-worker really came after me and sent me that nasty email And I was so tempted To get into bitterness or to be jealous or to not be forgiving But after many times of sinning in that way I came to you lord this time and you brought this verse alive to me And the storm was not stilled But I got a new song And I sang that song with you that day july 18 2017 And then they sing the next song They bring up the next song. It's matthew 4 4 and I say that's july 4th 2011 I remember that Another treasure in heaven another song I have in my mind and our lives are just filled With day after day week after week year after year of treasures in heaven new songs that have been sung between jesus and me Because that's when the holy spirit brought these words to life These weren't just words on a page Family, I understand why why the disciple the the authors of scripture said consider it all joy Because when the trials are coming Yes, you'll get scars maybe But that's where the songs come. That's where the treasures are and when the time and pressure increases That's when the carbon becomes a diamond That's when the pearls are formed under great pressure under great heat and a great time it's taking a long time Fear not doubt not a better diamond is being formed And I must hold on to that lord. You will speak to it and you can say a word It's been three days and lazarus is still dead. No worries lord You can speak a word you will surely come right on time so that you may be glorified I want to sing that new song. I want to store up treasures in heavens all these little things that we can do And I imagine me standing if i'm the bride and the bridegroom hanging holding hands with the bridegroom we heard about Walking with jesus and holding hands with him as we walk down What happens when you hold the hand of jesus? What's unique? About the hand of jesus as you hold his hand It's got holes in it i've never held a person's hand with holes in it That's got to feel weird And I thought about what i'd feel when I held the hand of jesus It's just different from all other hands in heaven It had holes in it What would I think about? I would think about his immense sacrifice As I hold that hand and I sing the new song about jesus And about his love for me from all these different verses in his word The hole will always be there i'll never be able to And even as I hold his hand every time as he's leading me here Family of god. This is the one hand This is how you'll know the hand of jesus from the hand of the devil or any other hand Look for the holes look for the nail pierced hands, which is the mark of always recognizing that jesus says when I come I'll be a reminder of the suffering that I took and I died to myself every day So you too will have to suffer As I hold my hand as we heard about that verse lord filled up to all the fullness of god How are we going to get filled up to all the fullness of god? The lord showed him how much he has to suffer That's what it says about paul how much he had to suffer And paul said it's worth it If I can hold that hand that has nail pierced hands, it's worth it And peter didn't like that Peter liked the revelation that jesus was the messiah Hmm he got that revelation, but he stopped at the second revelation, which is that jesus must suffer He wanted a clean hand He didn't want jesus hands to have holes in it And immediately he went from being having revelation to being the devil because he stopped hearing from god God revealed to him a wonderful thing and then he stopped and said I'll settle Then he went from being a disciple to being the devil being motivated by the devil And so I want to always hold his hand and recognize that as I see the holes in his hand It means that it's a sacrifice But much more than the sacrifice it's an indication of his great love, you know If I would think about a hand with holes in it, I would think that that is makes it a weaker hand But the holes in jesus hand makes it the stronger hand because the holes Tell me how much he loves me The holes will tell me that It's a statement of love The love the life with jesus is supposed to holding his hand It's a it's a life of suffering all who seek to live godly lives will have sufferings will have persecutions, of course but I don't want to focus on the suffering Because the joy is much more worth it and I don't I don't want to stand under the Sword the flaming sword and just let it kill me and kill me and kill me and stop No, lord, I want to eat of the tree of life All of my death to self is with great hope That I may taste of your resurrection power. That is why when paul I feel and paul said this He didn't say it in chronological order in philippians chapter 3. He says I want to know god and the power of his resurrection That's the biggest thing that I want and of course it means the fellowship of his sufferings But i'm focused on the resurrection life of jesus the life of jesus that can come for it And it must go through the flaming sword that must kill me But i'll go through it because of the joy set before me Because of the eternal life the tree of life because I get to know you lord. I'll wait for you I'll endure this affliction because you will speak to me You will give me life through one word that you speak to me Jesus has made it so easy for him to speak to us. Jesus has made it so easy for him to live with us family I hope that we will see that the christian life is a very simple life It's such a special life an easy love with jesus and me There's no such thing as a poor christian. How can we say that? There's a poor christian when he's filled us with the riches of his grace It's called Surpassing riches of his grace. There's no such thing as a poor christian. There's no such thing as a lonely christian How can there be a lonely christian when jesus said that he'll never leave me nor forsake me? There's no such thing as a discouraged christian How how can I be discouraged when the moment I turn towards him? He comes running towards me and tackles me with his love and throws a feast for me. There's no such thing as a christian failure Because we have jesus if jesus is with me i'm a success I don't care what the world tells me. I don't care what my bank account tells me I don't care what my past tells about me. A veil is dropped over my past. There's no such thing as a christian failure I have christ with me. It's such an easy life. I I enjoy this life. It's a life in the garden of eden God and me can commune together It's a life of fellowship. That's what john said this fellowship that I have with the father and son That's what I want you to have Let me end with this song the song has been very special to me. Oh, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine He brought a poor vile sinner into his house of wine I stand upon his merit. I know no other stand I'm hidden as we heard in his presence And held by his his own hand The bride eyes does not look at her garment But at the bridegroom's face I will not gaze at glory But at my king of grace Not at the crown he give it But at his nail pierced hands the lamb is all the glory in my eternal stand I want to sing the new song I want to pursue an eternal life, which is knowing jesus more and more in the days to come may god help us so all of these days we have been Thinking much about different aspects of the way of the cross and especially second corinthians four Which we have thought of a number of times today and previous days Always 24 7 verse 10 Carrying the dying of jesus So that the life of jesus may be manifested in us We are delivered to death verse 11 so that the life of jesus is manifested in us but There is something higher than that something higher Than the life of jesus being manifested in us and that is real unselfishness Real unselfishness That is in verse 12 I want death to work in me So that this life is manifested in others I can be willing to take up the cross So that I get resurrection power So the life of jesus is manifested in me It's good that's million times better than the average christians who are not interested in that but The greatest thing is when i'm willing to die So that the life is manifested in others that is the spirit of christ He did not die in order to have life in him He died In order that we might have life and brothers that is the highest Love Never seeks its own There can be a pursuit of holiness Which is selfish And when it is selfish it is not holy There is no selfishness in holiness It's very subtle It's like there can be a pride in one's humility. It's like that there can be a Dying so that I can Let the light shine through me and people see Oh, what a gracious christian that person is or Then like john the baptist i'm no longer satisfied to be just a voice I want to make myself visible Do you see great things for yourself? Don't seek them Seek to be hidden and unknown That's how it was with jesus. He You know, I really believe that one big difference between When people say brother zach, what's the difference between your church and other churches? There are many ways we can put it. We cover the old covenant new covenant all that language But let me I mean there are many ways we can talk about it We don't have pastors. We don't take money so many things But let me tell you another thing Most christian churches Talk about the last three and a half years of jesus life And We concentrate on the first 30 years of jesus life That is a very big difference. The christian world calls that the hidden years Most people don't think about it. They don't know anything about it Because there was no spectacular preaching or demons cast out or there's something spectacular about The last three and a half years and a lot of christians are pursuing that spectacular christianity And if I have to die in order to have that i'm willing to die So that I shall have this spectacular christianity And people will see what a blessing I am to so many families and how rivers are flowing from me To other places We haven't got there yet. That's a good step, but let's move on to verse 12 Where i'm willing to die that That life will be in others That I deny myself Conveniences comforts My own gain So that others can be blessed So that others can be helped That is true christianity Where I seek nothing for myself Let's pursue that brothers and sisters Because self comes in so many different dresses Even in holy dresses to fool us And the solution is to look at jesus and especially Those first 30 years when he was hidden Nobody knew and he never talked about it, but at the end of that time The father said this is my beloved son. I'm very pleased with him You know that statement of jesus of the father and the Baptism This is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased once I asked the father I said Dad, can you say that about me? That this is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased 30 years of hidden life. No No preaching. No nothing No ministry Nothing what the world calls ministry No church planting nothing Just a daily life at home And in our place of work of absolute faithfulness denying myself manifesting Doing the will of the father if you pursue that I believe you're on the right track. That is one big difference We pursue a hidden life So that others can come to the life of jesus Because ultimately the cross And when jesus died It was not for him to have the life The father but for others to have that life I want to say to you my brothers and sisters. That is the highest Let's pray our father Thank you for all the wealth you have given us today And we don't have to understand it all we don't have to hold it all in our minds We know that if our heart is right And we really want to be like jesus in the hidden life We know you will speak to us day by day And lead us into that life Where we'll become like you more and more. Thank you In jesus name. Amen