Hearing From Heaven： Getting Orders From Headquarters

It's going up, I'm hoping, hearing from heaven. And what I'm going to do, I just want to read Revelation 10 for you. And if you have your Bibles, we want to hopefully get back in the habit of bringing our Bibles, having it open, highlighting what God is speaking to you. Because a lot of times what He speaks to you won't come back later. That's why I have a notepad next to my bed. Because if I think of something, I've got to write it down. I've learned over the years not to say, well, in the morning I'll write that down. Because I get up, I'm like, what was that? So, bring your Bibles. Phone Bible doesn't count. It does, it does. But here's what happens. You know, because I do it. I was at a church in Anaheim last Sunday. Me and Morgan went to a church. And then here comes text messages, Instagram, Twitter, and you're like, oh, what's that? It gets so distracting. So if you can just only have the Bible app, then you are good to go. But if you get text messages and emails at the same time, it's counterproductive. Just saying. Revelation 10, it's about the mighty angel with the little book. And John, who wrote Revelation, actually eats the little book. I have to tell you. I'm looking at commentaries, and I'm like, Lord, we need some help here. Because Ellicott's commentary, the pulpit commentary, what does Spurgeon say about this? What did Matthew Henry say about this? It's like, there's so much speculation, but God, we need food. We have marriages falling apart. We've got people struggling. And we need to hear from Heaven. So what I did is took, instead of going verse by verse and different commentaries, and well, it could mean this, it could mean this, it could mean this. I'm gonna take it and also go topical on how we can hear from Heaven and gleam some principles and some points from this. It says here in Revelation 10, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand, and he sat on his right foot on the sea, and on his left foot on the land. So he has this picture of this angel. You're not gonna probably see it up there. Unless you can keep up, that's pretty good if you can. But so we have this vision of this angel separating the sea from the land, and he cries out like a lion roars. And when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from Heaven. That's where this comes from. I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them. Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to Heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created Heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no delay any longer. But in the days of the sounding of the seven angels, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets. Let's stop there for a minute. Let's go back to verse one. Anybody would like to unpack all that? Take a shot at it? There's so many different views. And of course, your view is going to be not skewed, but it's going to be interpreted by your book, your view of revelation. Preterist, partial preterist, all millennial, dispensational, post-millennial, pre-millennial, all of your view of eschatology or who you've been following really, right? The teachers who we follow really influence us. And you're going to look at this a little bit differently. And because we don't know exactly what this means, I'm not going to come up here and say, oh, this is exactly how it's going to pan out. This is how it's going to play out. But I believe we can pull important principles from here, especially in the opening verses, verse one, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven. So John sees this mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud. Often clouds are signs of God's judgment because in order to really understand revelation, you've got to understand the Old Testament. I think John had a pretty good idea of the Old Testament as he's writing Revelation. And so clothed with a cloud could be a sign of impending judgment. God's judgment. And a rainbow was on his head. See, we got to take back the rainbow sometimes. We got to take back the rainbow. It's a sign of God saying, I will no longer judge the world. Yet those under the judgment and condemnation of God flaunt it and they call it pride. The very thing that caused the rainbow, it's like they've got everything mixed up. It's a sign of God not judging the world. Yet in our pride, we shake our fists at God. Take back the rainbow. It's a place. It's something that God gave us. Not to mock Him, but to be thankful for what He has done. And so this angel, his face was like the sun and his feet were like pillars of fire. That's powerful because I didn't want to forget, I wanted to encourage you, listen to Jim Garlow's message on heaven from November 5th. So if you were not here, listen to that. Go back and listen to that and get an idea, a glimpse of what heaven will be like. And wasn't that so encouraging too? 32 people or more came forward, gave their hearts, their lives to the Lord. The different speakers have different ways of doing things. And I've been praying about this since yesterday. I think it's important to share with you because people have asked me, and it's a good question. In regard to altar calls, why don't we do them? Jim did, that was very powerful. And it was kind of a setup. I knew he'd be speaking on heaven and he asked and I said, absolutely. Because we want to throw that out there. But I want to give you, I think it's important to give West Side Christian Fellowship a glimpse into what God is doing. So when I first began, first began, 2001, 2002, you'll never guess where I spoke. It was a Wednesday, I'll never be invited there again, but Wednesday night, a Wednesday night at the vineyard. Just let that sink in. And I gave the call and 25% of the room responded. Oh man, I'm doing pretty good. My pride comes up. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I would preach. Thank you, thank you, thank you, come forward, thank you, thank you. And God really began to deal with me. An older man came up and he said, you know, you don't need to say thank you. You're not doing anything and they don't need to thank them. And I started to rate success by how many people would come forward or raise their hand. Man, God really moved. Wow, look at this, look at this. Unbelievable. And God would deal with me. Would you still do that even if you didn't even know? Would you still preach your heart out? So a lot of people wrongly judge me for not doing that, not knowing what God has done in my heart. Because it can be an area of pride. There's nothing wrong with it. Is it biblical? Absolutely. Is there a biblical model that says we have to do it that way? Not at all. I've worked at Greg Laurie's conferences down in the field of Anaheim. Many of you don't know. And I would see people come forward. And what are you doing? My friend told me, come forward and get a Bible. So I also saw that, and they will rightly tell you, Billy Graham Crusade, Greg Laurie, they will tell you that not everyone is converted. The numbers are not what they, just because a certain amount walk forward. And so it was a process. And I would also find, when I would go and travel and speak, and it became about, man, Lord, nobody really came forward. And you'll find people starting to say, well, I know there's people here. You're not stepping out in faith, or God's not moving. And it can become kind of dangerous if you're not careful. Now, Calvinists will love that we don't give out altar calls because they don't believe in those. Armenians will wonder why we don't do them all the time. Again, your view on how God saves an election and soteriology and things like that. But that's how God has dealt with me in the past. And you don't know it. Maybe we tell you, sometimes we don't, but a lot of people, every Sunday, we hear from people texting us, hey, this person came to faith in Christ, this person came to faith in Christ, this person. So it happens all the time. Now, is it incredible to see? I've talked to Yvette about this. Many of you know Yvette and Ron, and we love to see it. It's incredible. But, that's where we're at as a church. I just want to make sure we're not letting pride come in and look at what I've done when I spoke versus I have no clue what God is doing. We're going to throw the invitation out there. We're going to throw the call to repentance. And I don't think it hinders salvation. I truly don't. I don't think it hinders salvation. We have this, hey, if you need to accept Christ, we need to talk to you in the prayer room, we want to pray with you, you need to get baptized. You know, and so it's one way of doing things. And it's a good way of doing things. Maybe God will prompt me sometime to do it. And so that's why I was so excited that Jim did that because you can actually see, you can see what God is, so that to me was a picture of what God is doing often that you just don't see. And I don't see. 32 people on a Sunday? Did I get jealous? No, actually, believe it or not, I didn't. I was so happy. So I'm like, ah, Lord, well, I know what's going on behind the scenes. Not that many every Sunday, I'm pretty sure of that. Because when you, and I know when he talks about heaven, when you talk about eternity, when his mom was given that near-death experience, when souls are on the line and you're thinking about where you're going to spend it, that's powerful. That's going to move the hearts. That's going to lead people to salvation. So in a nutshell, I thought it was important to explain to you because people were asking me, well, why don't we do that? Why don't you do altar calls? I hope you only knew. And it became a way to rate pastors and preachers. Now, Pastor Shane spoke, 25% of the room raised their hand, they came forward, the whole place was full. Why is that not happening in my ministry? Or why can't I? And see how it becomes more of our works and thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, versus what is God doing behind the scenes. Now, does that mean it's right? I can't say that. I think God gives us a lot of different ways of doing it. As long as the Gospel is preached, and like Peter, you throw it out there, it's really, it can also be, I mean, I could talk about this for a while, the flip side is, and I've talked to people that are not saved. And they'll say, but I came forward at a crusade. I walked forward and I said the prayer. I walked forward and I said the sinner's prayer. Isn't that now are I saved? Not necessarily. Not necessarily did you repent of your sin, confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and cry out to God to save me. Because just going through the motions, saying something, there's nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer. I've seen videos that mock it. And I've seen people rely on it too much. Yeah, I've seen people where it's like, can you say that, oh, I'm not sure if I'm ready. Okay, well, just squeeze my hand if you agree with me then. Well, no, wait a minute. You can't do that. That's sneaky. Because they're wanting to get numbers. That's another thing. I would see people, and I'm not gonna mention the denomination where they'd have to send in a report every month. How many salvations? How many baptisms? And you don't think those numbers were doctored? I know for a fact they were. And so I just think, I just wash my hands of it. Say, Lord, you know, you'll save. We'll do baptisms. And maybe we'll do that from time to time. I think it's great. I think at Grace Fest and different guest speakers, maybe I'll be prompted to do it sometime. But that's the story, that's the history behind the altar call. It actually started, I believe, in the 1700s. It was initially called the Mourner's Bench. And people like, gosh, I think it started with Wesley. John Wesley, probably. The Mourner's Bench, where at the Methodist movement, they would preach and the Whitefields and the Wesleys, I don't know if Whitefield did it, but they would say, okay, here's a Mourner's Bench. And for those who are concerned about your soul, sit there and let us know. And then it turned into the altar call and people like Mordecai Ham. You don't hear that name much, but do you know that that's who Billy Graham, when he walked down the sawdust trail, they would put sawdust down in the old tent revivals. I love those old tent revivals. I'm reading about it. Mordecai Ham was preaching and Billy Graham walked down the sawdust trail. And so the altar call has a strong history there. And again, there's nothing wrong with it. I think it's great if you do it right. But it's not something you have to do. And if you're not doing it, you're outside of God's will because the Bible doesn't actually promote that. It doesn't give any examples. When Peter preached the 3,000, what must we do to be saved? Repent and believe. Now, could he have said, and those who did come forward, maybe. We don't know. The Bible doesn't say. So, gave you a snapshot of what we believe. The altar call, when we do it, why we don't do it sometimes. And that's my six minute version. All right? So make sure you see that message. Hope that was helpful because I'm even wondering, I wonder if people probably think, why don't you do that? You have 32 people, but they're not, you know me, 12 people came forward, 15 people came forward, 10 people came forward. And really, are they saved? God knows. And it's wonderful. But I want to encourage them, if you're hearing this or you know somebody who did come forward, get baptized. Get baptized. I brought clothes. We have clothes every Sunday. First service, second service. And we've had baptisms, you know, every Sunday. Salvation's every Sunday as far back as I can remember. I mean, I'm not talking years, but I mean, months and months and months. Raquel prays with somebody. Lori prays with somebody. Morgan prays with somebody. Morgan, you guys don't even, I should toot her horn sometimes because she is doing amazing things, talking to the younger women and leading people to salvation. I pray with people. Pastor Abram does, and Tim and Amy and Joe. People are coming to salvation because we ask them, well, we can pray for you, but do you know Jesus? Well, I'm considering it. I'm thinking about it. Well, let's begin there. And I like that approach better because we can talk to them. We can lead them. We can tell them what it really means and what their decision is going to lead to. So that was a long rabbit trail. Let's get back on track. So this descriptive picture gives us a glimpse of God's awesomeness. It gives us a glimpse of God's awesomeness. And he had a little book in his hand. Now, what does this mean? Well, I can tell you 40 different opinions, but let's keep reading. So the angel had this little book in his hand and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. Wouldn't this be incredible to see? And he cried out. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Again, that number seven is of completion. And they uttered their voices. And I was about to write. John was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, no, no, no, don't write it. Don't write it. Seal it up. Now, what we don't know is, is he releasing things later in Revelation that we'll read about? Things that have been sealed up, but now we know because John was able to release them later as we go through Revelation, you'll see. And this voice said, hey, God shared things with you. I didn't even write this note down, but I'm thinking of it right now. Sometimes when God shares something with you, don't share it with everyone else. Sometimes you've got to be like Mary. And she pondered these things in her heart. What about Nehemiah? And he pondered these things in his heart. I know we can get excited about what God is doing in our heart and in our lives, and we want to tell others, but be careful because there's a lot of dream killers out there. I'm very careful who I share my stuff with nowadays. They will kill your dream. I don't know about that. That's where I get the word negative Nelly from. And downer Debbie. Negative Nick for the men. You haven't met the dream killers yet? Aubrey, you know, right? Young adults, when you start to share what God's, oh, I don't know, that's pretty expensive. I don't know, I don't know if you're designed that way. I might share it sometime. But it's kind of funny, when we did a 10 year anniversary video. And my mom was actually in it. And it was actually before she passed away. And we were able to share it. She says, when Shane became a pastor, I was worried for a little while. You know, because, I don't know, he was kind of, you know, came from the school of hard knocks. And a tough dad, and just toughness and hardness. And you know, type A, fight, fight, fight. And she never killed the dream. She encouraged them, but others did. Others did. Oh, I don't know, you have to go to school for that. I heard that a lot. You have to go to school. I don't think you're called, you didn't go to seminary. Do you have a chapter and verse? I mean, I have one that says, when they saw that they were untrained and unlearned men, they knew that they had spent time with Jesus. I don't need a master's degree, I want a degree from the master. I want to hear from God. I want to hear, be led of the Holy Spirit. Now, the critics will say, well, you can't just hear voices and do it. No, of course you need sound doctrine. You need teaching. You need to go through systematic theology. Of course you need that. But at the end of the day, what is God saying to you? How is God speaking to you through His Word? Grounded in Scripture, of course. The dream killers. I still remember it today, a church in Lancaster. When we first started our church, people were coming and then they would stop coming and they said, well, this church said that you're not a real church because you didn't go to seminary. Well, what's a real church? Ironically, we have more people coming here now than they do. God has a sense of humor, doesn't He? You've got to be open to His will because He will confuse you sometimes. A friend of mine I know, it's actually they're starting a church today in Quartz Hill. And I'm like, Lord, really? I've been praying for my hometown and start something for 13 years. Really? He's got a sense of humor. I'm telling you. God is not concerned with what you want. You have to submit to what He needs and what He wants to do. Are you okay with the rabbit trails? Okay, watch out for the dream killers. Be careful who you look to for counsel. Be careful who you look to for counsel. And so we heard this voice that said, silt up these things. What is a little book? Well, a book, obviously, something important to transmit information. We know that much about this little book. It is something important to transmit information. And I thought of something as I was putting these notes together. You can't hear from heaven if you don't read what heaven wrote. Some of you need to get back to burying your face in the Word of God. That is the only solid truth that we can anchor our lives to. His Word is like a burning fire in my heart. Get in that Word. Then you'll know what heaven is speaking to you. I don't know what God is doing. I don't know what to do. Are you buried in His Word? Look to those principles. Look to the Word of God and God's Word alone. Let it direct you. My Word is like a fire. It's like a sword. It will devour. It will cut. It will lead. It will direct. It will come alive. And it will guide you. It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Look to it. Get back into the Word of God. Get direction from God's Word and His Word alone. But I don't know if you follow Mike Winger at all on YouTube, he's got a great channel. He said, Bible study isn't done until you apply it. I second that. I second that. So many people know the Scripture, but they live in deception because they're not applying it. Apply it to your life. Now I have some encouragement. Many of us would say, Shane, I'm trying. I've fallen. Thank God God doesn't judge you on perfection. He judges you on direction. Getting back up and falling forward. That's why you need to go back and listen to Wednesday's message from Bishop George on God can use anyone. Even the leper. The leper that came to Jesus. He said, Lord, if You are willing, if You are willing, will You cleanse me? Somebody that they would have nothing to do with was an outcast. Used of God? Are you kidding me? A leper wasn't gonna be used by anyone. They would be cast out to die. And Jesus said, I am willing. I am willing. Well, what do I need to do? You just need to turn. You need to turn to Him completely and unashamedly and unconditionally. Now, can you do that perfectly? No, I'm still trying. I'm still blind sometimes walking through the darkness. But God is there to hold your hand and to direct you and to get you back up and on solid footing. Ellicott, in his commentary, it's one of the commentaries I use, he said, dull ears. Dull ears there are who hear the thunder but never hear God's voice. Isn't that so true? Dull are the ears who hear the thunder but they never hear God's voice. Dull are the ears, look at what's going on in the world. Look at what's going on in our nation. And they still won't turn back to God. The twilight zone. Unbelievable, the lies and the manipulation that we've put up with. Thank God the new Speaker of the House, we're releasing some video footage. Ah, don't get political. Oh, geez, give me a break. If it doesn't come from the pulpit, where's it gonna come from? Dim eyes there are which see no trace of the divine craftsman in all of nature. The thunders are not to be written down, they are for those who have ears to hear. You can't write down thunder. I remember George Whitefield was preaching, it's in his journal, and the newspaper wanted to record his sermons. And he goes, okay, here's the note, but you're not gonna be able to write down the thunder. When the fire fell and the thunder of God's Word came across, the people would be touched and changed. And it's hard to convey the work of the Spirit. Sometimes I talk to you about the deeper things, right? The filling of the Holy Spirit, and when God comes and just the atmosphere is thick with God's presence, and all these things that make conservatives uncomfortable, they're biblical, but it's hard to explain those things unless you experience them. How many people, they talk about Acts 2, but oh my goodness, if they were there when the Spirit came upon them. Sometimes we get so nervous about the Holy Spirit that we're not open for the deep work. And that great theologian, Megan Rapinoe, it's in the news this week, the soccer star, she hurt her Achilles heel, now she's out. She said, this proves there is no God. I would say it actually proves there is. To wake you up. To wake you up. The things we come up with to prove there is no God, it is pride, it is pride, it is pride. To shake our fists at God when we see the thundering, we see the chaos, we see the confusion. We see clearly the creation of a creator. Wouldn't common sense just tell you to look around and say, hey, you know what, I might wanna find out who did all this? Who did all this? Mount Everest to Tioga Pass to Yosemite to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Feel some John Denver coming up in me. Isn't that funny? We would go camping and my mom would take that eight track tape, you guys don't know what eight track was, you know? Big, thick, eight track, it's like this big and you would take it out, and we would, but those times, my mom and dad and fishing and hunting and camping, and you remember, it's like, oh, you know, the memory is so powerful and influence is so powerful. Influence, what you listen to and who you listen to is so important. Have you guys seen that thing that's going viral with especially young adults on TikTok, how they're actually praising Osama Bin Laden? And they're reading his letter and they're like, people are like, what's going on? Influence, influence, influence. They've been taught that America's evil and deserved it by liberal professors who are godless and perverted. Hey, I'm calling it out. I have to go home and answer to God, not people. This is an important point. John said, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven. I heard a voice from heaven saying, do not write anything down. So let's stop here for a minute. Hearing God's voice prevents many mistakes because even a good thing isn't always a God thing. Amen? I've told our leadership team and at staff meetings, hey, that's a good idea, but is it a God idea? Because that's going to be pretty exhausting. Because guess who it always falls back on? Let's do this, let's do this, let's do this. Or you, right? Good thing, but is it a God thing? Right, Carrie? We can relate to that this week. We're like, it's a good thing to have children's ministry Christmas Eve, but is it a God thing? Because nobody wants to help. They want their kids in the service. So let's have the kids in the service, right? So good thing, God thing. Remember that. Seek God to find out, is he truly leading you? Because you can get too busy. I was about to write. This is so, John was about ready to write something in the Bible, but God stopped him because he heard from heaven. See, I'm convinced that God will speak if you listen. The problem is, many times we don't listen. How many of us can relate? I was about to move. I was about to marry. Ooh, let's bring this home. I was about to invest. I was about to buy. I was about to send that text. I was about to do something, but I heard from heaven. Not only will God direct, but there are also warning signs, warning signals. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Do you ever know when you're ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit? One good indication is the heart rate. I know I shouldn't do this, but ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, that inner alarm clock, and it's not very always loud, is it? You've got to hear that still, small voice of the Spirit. He said, so up these things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them yet. I put in yet, of course, but obviously He's hopefully gonna expound upon them at some point, or maybe they were just for John. But another key of hearing from heaven and getting orders from headquarters is timing, timing, timing when it comes to God. How many people know something about or have been in real estate? Not too many. Lending, buying a home. So in real estate, they say location, location, location. I remember back in the day when I was in real estate, believe it or not. Should tell you guys my story sometime. It's funny what God has a sense of humor. But I got a call from Rosemond in 2010. The market wasn't too good, was it? So I've got a house in Rosemond, okay, I'll come out there. I want about 500,000 for it. I'm like, oh, I don't think that's gonna happen. You're not even close. Okay, well, I think we can get up there. I'm like, okay, well, boy, oh boy, oh boy. I don't know, this isn't gonna be worth it, right? Because, I mean, back then, short sales things, you know, 130,000, 140,000. It was in Rosemond too, and even out here. I drive by tracks where they're 150,000, now 500. It's just absolutely amazing. Be prepared. I don't know what's going on, but there's a lot of, you know, wish I could go into detail. Maybe we'll have David Thies give a message sometime on what's going on in the national economy. It's not pretty. It's just, I don't know what to say, but other than don't plan on anything, just be ready. But anyway, I drove out there, and she goes, let me show you the backyard. So I walk out there, it's like, oh, maybe, yeah, I think 500,000 might be right. They were up against the runway, and they had two huge, what are those garages to build? 150,000 hangers. Yeah, they had two hangers, two hangers right on the runway. I'm like, if I had a pile of slices, I'm interested. Can you imagine that? Just getting your brain out of your backyard and go? Location, location, location. Remember that with God. Timing, timing, timing. God plants the seed, but you want the fruit. Maybe that'll sink in when you drive home. God plants the seed. Here's what I'm gonna do in your life. Here's the seed, but we want the fruit. And sometimes it takes years for things to grow. There's some type of, I can't remember, I don't wanna butcher it, but bamboo in China. I think it's like this high in six years. But then in like six months time, it grows 30 feet. And often God does things like that. So to hear from heaven, it's timing, timing, timing. That's why as you wait upon the Lord, you will renew your strength. Wait upon the Lord and renew your strength. So now Revelation 10, verse five. We're gonna go through verses five through seven. The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it. And basically he goes on just to say, this is God, this is powerful. He created everything. And because of that, there should be no delay any longer. But in the days, the sounding of the seventh angel, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished. And he declared to his servants, the prophets. What is a mystery in the Bible? Well, it's not something found on Oprah. It's not this, a mystery in the Bible is something that God has not yet revealed. Or sometimes something we don't understand. The Godhead is described as a mystery by Paul. You know what the Godhead is? The Trinity. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. But he reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Theologians call it three persons of the Godhead. Now persons, what kind of thing? Trust me, you'll get a headache if you try to unpack this too much. It's one of those things, it's a mystery. We know it's true, God is one, but he reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that's why we don't embrace something called oneness Pentecostalism that says, for example, when Jesus was on the cross, God was on the cross. When Jesus was at the Jordan being baptized, it was like a ventriloquist. The Spirit really didn't descend on him like a dove, and the Father didn't speak from heaven. They're just one, Jesus only. But we see throughout Scripture, Elohim, the plurality. God uses the term to describe his nature. And that is described as a mystery, and rightly so, because I haven't yet figured it out. If you have, I'd love to speak to you afterwards. I'll be in the prayer room. Tell me exactly how the Godhead works. And while you're at it, tell me exactly how Christ being fully man and fully God works. Or that the hypostatic union of renounced sex. That was from construction. There's another term, hypo-something, and it's water and pressure. I always get them confused. Prophets are simply servants. As he declared to his servants, the prophets. And I don't know where you're at in this whole spectrum of Christianity, but sometimes people put prophet on their business card. Or apostle such and such. Be careful, be careful. This is not about self-exaltation. And any time it says prophet such and such, I run the other way. Because the true prophets of God are humble. People will tell you they're prophetic. You don't need to go announcing your calling to everyone. But they are simply servants. Prophets in the Bible, God would call a specific person to be his servant. Were they popular? Prophets are rarely popular. Why? Because God calls them, Isaiah, I called you. Jeremiah, before you were even born, I formed you in your mother's womb. Ezekiel, I'm going to call you. Amos, you're just a shepherd, but I'm gonna call you. Obadiah, I'm gonna call you. Nahum, I'm gonna call you to go preach to Assyria. Jonah, I'm gonna call you. You're my servant to what? Go speak my truth to the people. My servant. That's why they were called prophets. A prophet is a servant of God that, what do they do? They proclaim what God is saying to the people. God chose, I don't know why he just doesn't take a big lightning bolt and ride it in the sky. Repent. He calls people to preach repentance. And that's why you'll hear sometimes in the church that term, have you heard five-fold ministry? Sometimes people get weird with it. Conservatives don't like the term, and I don't know why, it's in the Bible. Five-fold isn't, but Jesus said, I have called some to be prophets. Jesus said it, not me. Don't, I've called some to be prophets, some to be apostles, some to be pastor, teachers, and evangelists. And there's different callings, right? You know the Greg Laurie and the Evangelist, they'll go and they'll evangelize. An apostle is a sent one. They'll go and plant churches. They're sent by God. That's why Paul was, they had the apostles. They were sent ones. And the prophets, prophetic voices, you can think of Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, A.W. Tozer, those voices that just aren't, they're not real, I don't like that guy. Man, shut up. They're just, they're stirring me. They're convicting me. That's a servant of God called to convict. They're not gonna be the bring up a stool and the nice pastor shepherd's heart and just loving and nurturing and wanna encourage guys and we're just doing so good and just wanna bless all of you during this Thanksgiving season. We're just gonna reach out and love the community and you guys, you're doing so, you're just such a, just gonna cry. You're just a great job. I love you, I love you. Does God call those people? Yeah. Thank God for them. But some of us got a little fire, right? We got a little, we got a little ruffling some feathers in us because that's how God designed you. And I told you, I learned years ago that I'm not gonna run and hide for my calling. When my mother-in-law introduces me, she said, hey, let me tell you about Shane, you're either gonna love him or you're gonna hate him. Okay, whatever. It's like, oh, there's... Right, it's just that, and I can't apologize. The truth offends, but my attitude shouldn't. Correct? That's what I have to work on until the day I die, just so you know. All of you do too, so don't look at me, it's funny. And so the prophets, he sent his servants, the prophets. Actually, I think it was right before the fall of Jerusalem or during the fall of Jerusalem. You can read 2 Chronicles. It says, God had compassion on his people. So what did he do? He sent his servants, the prophets, rising them up early and sending them because he had compassion on his people. But they mocked his messengers, they despised his word, and they scoffed at his prophets until the anger of the Lord arose against his own people until there was no remedy. And that is my big concern with America today. They're mocking and they're scoffing at God, but thank God for His remnant. Thank God for His church. And then John eats the little book. Do we have time for John eating the little book? Then the voice which I heard from heaven... See, he heard... Oh, we do have to keep going because I've got some points I have to share with you. Then the voice which I heard from heaven... See, John is hearing the voice from heaven. When you're in right relationship with God, if you're struggling with knowing God's will or hearing His voice, could it be that you're drifting from the shepherd? Because the closer you are to the shepherd, the more you hear His voice. So go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth and do what with it? He's going to eat it. God often leads us one step at a time. Remember that. His Word is a lamp to your feet one step at a time and a light to your path. And the angel said to him, give me the little book. Oh, so I went to the angel, and he said, give me the little book. And he said, take it and eat, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth. Isn't that interesting? So this little book... Now there's a lot of speculation on what this means. This little book was sweet as honey, but when it got to his stomach, it was bitter. In Psalms, there's lots of references that God's law is sweeter than honey. So it could be, and I think I agree with some of the commentators, the law of God is sweet. What God is saying is sweet, but the ramifications of His judgment are going to be bitter and hard to swallow. Because that's what we're going to keep reading as we go through Revelation. Does anyone know who Matthew Henry is? He was a commentator. 1700s, John Wesley would travel with just a commentary of Matthew Henry and the Bible. He said, let us seek to be taught by Christ and to obey His orders, daily meditating on His Word that it may nourish our soul, and then declaring it according to our several stations, meaning where you are in life. The sweetness of such contemplations will often be mingled with bitterness while we compare the Scriptures with the state of the world and the church, or even with that of our own hearts. So he's basically saying, like the Bible, there's a time for peace, a time for war. And things are beautiful, but they're also ugly, aren't they? What's that old saying? The best of times and the worst of times. It could be what he's dealing with here. So he took the little book, and he ate it, and it was sweet. But his stomach became very bitter. And now he said, now you must prophesy against many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. In other words, now John is going to prophesy, as we keep reading through Revelation, different people, different nations. And that's why I can't gravitate towards the belief that a lot of this has already ended in Revelation. There's still some things that seem on the horizon, obviously, what is coming up. Matthew Henry again. Most men feel pleasure in looking into future events. And all good men like to receive a word from God. But when this book of prophecy was thoroughly digested by the apostle, the contents would be bitter. There were things so awful and terrible, such grievous persecution of the people of God, such desolation, that the foresight and foreknowledge of them would be painful to his mind. So here are the things I wanted to share. I might wait until I speak again, because I don't want to run through these, but I think they're so important. They're gonna help a couple people today. Maybe I'll go back to them. But if you want to hear from heaven, here's a couple keys I'm going to leave you with. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So you are a product of who or what you listen to. So if you're not, think about this. God actually inspired the Bible. Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the actual breathed words of God, and we don't have time to read it. That's the best way you're gonna hear from heaven. Scriptures will come alive, principles will leap out, and you'll be guided by the word of God. So you can hear from heaven today. You can go home, open the word, and hear from heaven. And that faith will rise up. Anybody having a hard time with their faith right now? You look at the news, it's like, my faith is faltering, people are walking away. I don't know what to do, my faith is getting weak, I'm drifting from God. If you go back to the word of God, faith comes by hearing the word of God. So the more you read the word of God, the more you get encouraged. And the reason is there's three primary influencers working to influence us. Number one, the flesh, and it's lust. Did you know the flesh lusts? What the flesh does, here's why it's hard to hear from heaven, we wanna wait on God, we wanna hear from heaven, the flesh seeks immediate gratification. Feed me, feed me, feed me so I can destroy you. Not really, but kind of. I mean, can you imagine if you just gave the flesh full control? How many of you would be back in rehab if you gave the flesh full control? Six feet under is right too. But think about that, it would destroy us so there is a restraint on it, but the influence is still there. So every waking hour, that flesh is influencing us. And it's hard to hear from heaven if we're listening to that voice and feeding that voice. And then of course the devil, how does the devil influence us? Well, the Bible talks about him firing the darts. The firing the darts. So what he does, I believe, and we can look at teaching on this sometime, is the flesh is pulling us a certain way. He will fuel and he will feed that direction. Right? The flesh wants to get just bitter, right, or angry, and then here comes the fiery darts. Oh, you shouldn't put up with that. Did they not say hi to you today? Look how they treated you. Look what they said. I bet, I bet, you ever hear that? Like you come up with this whole scenario. You don't even know if it's true. Who comes up with that whole scenario? Who plants that thought in your mind? Right? I bet Phil and Carrie are mad at me. I haven't seen them in a while. They're not, I haven't texted them in a while. I bet they're, I bet, oh, fertile soil, isn't it? That's how the devil works, the fiery darts. Discouragement. And he'll keep that going and fueling the flesh. But then thank God for the third influence. God leads and convicts us. Joy follows the right decision. Another way to hear from heaven. Small, daily choices are the key. Small, daily choices, correct? Because making the right choice. Remember, it's often not the big things. Like there's no way I'm gonna fall down to the ground right now. But it's not too hard to do this, right? One step at a time. One compromise at a time. One wrong choice at a time. This isn't too bad, right? And then bam, how did I get here? How did I get here? That's why the Bible talks about nipping it in the bud. Not the exact phrase, but removing sin. When sin fully grown brings forth death, abort the sin at the first incidence. Confess it. Bring it to others. Bring it to the light. And then you get over the right choices. How many of us, I talk to men a lot of times too, you know, you're going online and you know you probably shouldn't be going online and then that choice leads to a different choice. See, it's one step at a time. How many people are in fractured marriages right now or divorced because of choices they started to make years ago that could have been halted? Could have been stopped? But praise God, don't live in regret. That's why I put this at the end. Joy follows. Joy follows. Maybe I didn't put that, it's in my notes. There we go. Kim was ahead of me, good job. Joy follows the right decision. Joy follows the right decision. Here's why good decisions are so hard to make. The flesh, I want to feel the instant gratification now, so I make the decision now and please the flesh. Now I'm depressed. Where God's decisions say, this is hard, I'm depressed, I don't like it, I make the right decision, now I have joy. Delayed gratification versus immediate gratification. Immediate gratification, it feels good now and then I have depression, or man, this is hard, I'm struggling, but I make the right choice and then joy follows. That's how God's Word works. Now we can go to the next one. Here's what I wanted to point out here. Change your course immediately for clarification. So if you're in disobedience, you're confused, you know you're not on the right path, thank God He doesn't make you follow a 20-stage checklist that takes a couple months. All right, all right. By February, if you do this, go to church every Sunday and Wednesday and you have to come to morning worship at six a.m. for the next six months, then you'll get back in my will. No, he says now, change course now. Change course now. Prodigal son lost everything, he's eating with the pigs. I love what the Bible says, and when he came to himself, choice. That quick. Some of you need to come to yourself this morning. Some listening to this need to come to themselves, run back to the Father, stop eating with the pigs, make a decision. Yes, it's difficult. And then I put in here how to know if God is closing a certain door. Because we don't want to force doors open when it comes to hearing from heaven. And I wanted to do a whole sermon on this at some point, because it's so important. But when you want to hear from heaven, get directions from God, don't force doors open. The Spirit forbade them a few times in the Book of Acts. Thank God for closed doors. What's that old song? Thank God for unanswered prayers. How many of you can say, thank you, Lord, I didn't marry such and such. Oh, maybe they're sitting next to you, so you can't do that. So, thank God for unanswered prayers. Because God knows, God knows best. But many times I see, even myself, I've tried to force doors open. Have you done that before? Force doors open. How to know if God is closing a door? I just want to share two things with you quickly. Number one, you have to really know, is it God's will? Is it God's will? Like, okay, Lord, I'm pretty sure you want me to do this. And so, when you're in God's will, you're going to have delays and distractions and setback and discouragement. Welcome to God's will. So when you know something is God's will, for example, many of you don't know, some of you do if you've been here a while, but the radio stations that we purchased, did you know they didn't let me on the air about six years ago? They said, okay, we'll think about it, put something together, we'll put something together. They said, no, thanks, you're not really a good fit. We do more Calvary Chapel. It was Calvary Chapel. Well, I don't know what that was about, but I knew it was God's will. So I kept pushing and pressing, and Morgan said to email the station in LA. We did, and that's where the radio ministry started. And that's how, but I knew it was God's will. I knew, okay, Lord, you want, but there's other things where, I don't know if this is God's will. You ever pursue somebody in a relationship and God closes the door and you don't want to keep pursuing that. He closes the door. So number one, try to find out, Lord, is this your will? Is this your will? Is this something you want me to do? And again, this would take a whole teaching, but I thought it was important to let you know to be careful. Lord, are you closing the door? Or is this something you want me to pursue even though I'm discouraged? And He'll show you. Lord, I need confirmation. I need confirmation if this is something you want me to do. I've never known God to leave a person hanging, have you? Now, waiting? Yes. Hanging? No. What's the difference? Hanging is I've got to make a decision now. I've got to know tomorrow. I've got to make a decision. And what am I supposed to do? Sometimes you'll step out in faith, of course, but God will keep you waiting, but not hanging. The finality of faith. The finality of faith. Finally, when we hear from Heaven, at some point, you have to step out in faith. Often, it's the last step and it's the most challenging. Okay, Lord, I think I heard from You. Anyone been there? I think I heard from You. I'm going to do this and I'm going to step out in faith. Because before that point, it's really just a concept in our mind, right? We're struggling with it. We're going back and forth. We're not too sure. It's not too hard, you know? But now when we have to actually step out, so there will be faith involved. It's the last step and it's the most challenging. And then the final point, praise God, sermon's almost over. The power of peace. Let me tell you, peace is so important when it comes to hearing from Heaven, following God's will. I don't know if this verse applies to us today though, does it? If any time in the history of the Bible, this verse is for us today. They didn't have TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and the news telling you how bad everything is. And how your 401k isn't going to be there, neither is your retirement, and the banks are paying you for it. Falling apart. And the treasury bill and the deficit and all kinds of garbage. Trust me, it's not pretty right now. Be anxious for nothing. That's half the reason why I don't tell you a lot of things. I don't want to increase anxiety. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, buy and supplication. What's supplication? It's a petitioning God. It's persevering in prayer. With thanksgiving, oh, I'm glad he put that there. That means my Debbie Doughter has to leave. My frantic King Fran. So, okay, I'm not supposed to worry about this upcoming election. I'm not supposed to worry about this. I'm going to take everything to prayer and thanksgiving. Lord, I'm thankful. And there's so much to be thankful about. Just think about it. Just think about how much thankfulness. Running water, hello? Talk to Bishop after the service and ask how many people in Uganda have running hot water? How many people have ice? Not many. No, ice. Ice. You go in your refrigerator and put ice in a cup. No, not too many people know that luxury, have that luxury. Or a little box in the hallway. 69's a little cold. 71, 72, 73. The heater turns on. Ask him how many people have that in their homes. In Uganda. You are so blessed in this country for a Christian to complain. No, it's hard. I'm not preaching at you. I'm sitting in the audience. It's hard. Why is it hard? Because I've become comfortable. And now you're shaking me out of my comfort zone. Kind of reminds me, I have a little puppy. He's a year old now. He'll follow me everywhere I get. Before in the morning, he just follows me. And he goes and sits right where I'm sitting on the couch. He knows, he's like fighting. He doesn't want to get down. I have to grab him. He's comfortable. He's not, and so I have to take him. I have to go, go, go on the floor. Whoops, there's my, must be losing weight. Falling off easy. Sorry. I have been fasting though for this sermon. So I want to bless you guys. But that's what happens. We become comfortable. And then when God, when something knocks us off of our comfort, how many people have 401ks and retirement in Uganda? Ask him. If they don't get their next meal many times. Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Kaiser. Are you kidding me? And we complain and we complain and we complain. Me too. Guys, can you imagine if we got back to thankfulness? Lord, thank you. Doesn't mean you're happy. Oh yeah, take my 401k. I don't want any retirement. I don't, I mean, yeah, it's like, oh man, this stinks. More than anything, what I'm upset about is what we're leaving for our children and grandchildren. That's what really ticks me off. These perverted drag shows and these pride parades and all this garbage that is going to destroy our nation. Lying and deceiving the wicked news. But in all of that, we should be thankful. And let your requests be known to God. And with as long, see, here's the thing. And I've had people tell me, but Shane, the peace of God, it says the peace of God will rule my heart. Why isn't it? Well, are you following the other thing? Are you following the precursors? Are you following the orders from headquarters to receive that peace? You can't miss one of these and have the peace of God. You can't be anxious and fearful and thankful. See, the peace of God flows into a heart that is open because of all these things. And this peace will guard your heart. It will guard your minds through Christ Jesus, your Lord. That's how truly know often, peace of God is in your heart as you're making decisions and hearing from heaven. But I had to put a warning in there. I have to put this warning because I hear this a lot and so do you. Do you ever run into those people? You know they're in sin, right? You can't have two wives, my friend. You can't be cheating on your wife or you can't be doing this type of very, and here's what they say. It happens a lot. But Shane, I have peace about it. But I have peace about it. You ever hear that? Come on. You know you're in sin. You are as caught as they come. Can we be honest this morning? But I have peace about it. I've had wives call me. Their kids are at home. He's at church with his girlfriend. Like, we need to have a meeting this week. Hello. Man, I've tried. I've done all I can do. You don't know what I'm going through. I have peace about it. What happens? They are continually suppressing the truth via disobedience and it offers them false peace. This is how even a Christian caught in sin can easily say, but I have peace about it. They don't have true peace. They've made up their mind to disobey God and have peace about that decision. So don't let those jokers fool you. Now, I should clarify. Somebody might say that you disagree with, hey, I have peace about this, and you don't agree with it. I'm not talking about that. We saw this a lot when the, I can't say the word, so let me jab. YouTube. They got little bots that go, your video has been, they remove one video a week now from YouTube. You broke our guidelines and you talked about, so if you're listening later, or here, go on Rumble. Go on Rumble, Rumble, Rumble. Go on Rumble. Free speech. So, but that happened a lot. Some people had peace about, you know what I'm talking about? Shringe, 21 gauge. No, maybe they use insulin needles. Those don't hurt. So, some people said I have peace about it, and they want to keep their job. They're going to do it. Others, and I had to deal with, you know, letters of exemption, religious exemption. It was like, and I genuinely knew good people who had peace about it. Many times, you know, elderly, and they're told by their doctors, and hey, they have peace about it. God knows their heart. God's going to, you know, God's going to be with them. If they have peace about the decision, it's who they're listening to. It's the doctors they're listening to. And then others who know Big Pharma and have seen many inconsistencies, we don't have peace about it. And so you did see the war going on, didn't you? People actually left this church because of my view on the mask and everything. And they have peace about leaving. And I agree that if you have, so I just want to make sure you know I'm not talking about that here, right? This is in willful sin, not gray areas. Not gray areas. Now you'll be happy. I did a survey recently of dozens of people, and only 1% is regetting the next time around. So we, you know, sometimes more information comes out and we realize, you know, some things later. But that's not what we're talking about. I just want to be clear here. This is in blatant sin. And you know those people, right? They're living with their boyfriend or living with their girlfriend, pastor. I just have peace about it. No, you don't. You're caught in lust. You're not in church. You're not in the Word of God. You have false peace. The Bible says even transgression feels good for a season. Did you know that? Even sin feels good for a season. I remember, 1990s, hitting Las Vegas for the weekend. Oh, that felt good till Monday. Jet skis on Laughlin. When we figured out we could fit a 12-pack of Corona under the seat. Come on, let's not play church today. Come on. 1990s, I had tons of peace. Mom, don't pray for me. Be quiet. This church stuff, they're just wimps. We had a different word. I'm not going to use it. I had peace about sin because it felt good for a season. But for whom the bell tolls when the price had to be paid and the cost came with following Satan in that darkness, there is a price to be paid. Oh, if I could go back, I would go back to 12 years old when I gave my heart to the Lord up on that mountain by Wrightwood and begin seeking Him like never before. Oh, if I could go back. But I can't and neither can you and it makes you who you are today. Because if I could go back, I would have never met Morgan. I wouldn't have my five beautiful kids. God takes the broken, I'm sorry guys, this is hard. Because God will take the broken things and rebuild your life. Those who have been forgiven much, love much. Those who have been forgiven much, love much. And the reason I get emotional about this is because so many people live in their brokenness. They live there. There's so many success stories here. But you don't know about the people back in rehab. People I've given the microphone to back on crystal. Back on meth. Back smoking dope every day. Opened the door to the demonic again. So many victories, but oh God, the devil's winning too. And it's because they live in that brokenness. God can't use me now. I've done too much damage. My life is a mess. I've fallen again. And I wanna go and I wanna scream, get back up. Get back up and let that brokenness not be a stumbling block, but a stepping stone. Now you can come to this altar and cry out to God and say, created me a clean heart. God, I wanna leave here with the fire of the spirit again. I want that fire of God in my heart. And God can take you out of that misery and give you the joy, the peace that surpasses all understanding because now you're on the right path. Get back up and fight again. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. Isn't it interesting? I mean, you can look at what Bruce Willis is going through right now. And Matthew Perry, I followed, you know, I was praying for him for many years. I just have a heart for these guys. I know like, so you follow Dana White recently got in really good shape. My friend of mine, Gary, is the one who helped him and did that testing on where his blood work and everything was. And, you know, it just had my passion, but seeing him so lost, so lost. That's why Jesus said, if the woman, if you drink of this water, man, let that sink in. Oh woman, if you drink of this water, you will never thirst again. Oh, there'll be detours to your destiny. There'll be distractions. There'll be discouragement. There'll be ups and there'll be downs and you'll fight like hell. But when you drink of this water, you will never thirst again. Once King Jesus fills your soul and fills your heart for real, for real, you can't play games with God. I would love to preach that sermon sometimes at a high school. You can't play games with God. You've got to make that commitment. Don't miss this opportunity, guys. If one thing I know, it's God gives us opportunities. Three times in the book of Hebrews, it says, if you hear my voice, harden not your heart. When you hear my voice, harden not your heart. When you hear my... Three times in one book, there's nothing greater on the planet than the preaching of God's Word.