Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, July 5th. Knowing God's will is based on knowing how to hear from Him. Let's continue the Life Principle series with part two of Listening to God, Walking with God. Walking with the Lord is the will of God for every one of us. Walking in the will of God is not always easy, but it is His will and His purpose and His plan. And in order to walk in the will of God, you and I must learn a very valuable lesson, one of the most valuable lessons you'll ever learn. We must learn to listen to Him because listening to God is essential to walking with God. And that is the theme of this entire message, walking with God. What is absolutely essential to make that a reality is learning how to listen to God. And somebody says, well, okay, I get that, but suppose I don't listen.
Well, let's think about it. If you don't listen to God, you're going to listen to somebody else. Maybe something you read, there's still somebody else's writing. Or television, radio, in other words, if you don't listen to Him, you're going to listen to somebody else. And you know what's going to happen? You're going to be easily deceived because this Book is the truth. And all, listen, all so-called truth either falls or lives on the basis of whether it contradicts the Word of God or not.
You will be easily deceived. Therefore, you will do what? You will drift into sin because this Book is the anchor. If I believe this Book and I listen to what God says and I listen purposefully, I'm going to follow what He says. Otherwise, I'm going to listen to other people. And I'm going to be easily deceived and I'm going to drift into sin. And then I'm going to make excuses for my sin.
Well, so and so, so and so. Here's what they believe. And you know, there are people who do not believe the Word of God and I, here's what they'll say. They'll say, well, part of it's true.
So, let me ask you. Now, if part of the Bible is true, who becomes the judge as to what's true and what's not true? Who becomes the judge? Well, you become the judge. Now, if that's true, I can tell you exactly human nature is human nature.
It never changes. That's why God gives us another nature, His nature. And so, what happens? If you read the Word of God and you don't believe it's all true, you will, listen, here's what you will do.
It's just natural. You will believe the things that agree with the way you want to live. And if you want to sin in a certain way, you say, you know what?
All the Bible's not true and I just asked Apostle Paul and, you know, that's what Peter said. But in other words, because now you've become the judge and you naturally will believe what suits your desire and the way you want to live. Very important how we live our lives and the fact that we learn to listen to God. And I would simply say this, if you don't learn to listen, not only are you going to drift into sin and make excuses, you're going to hurt other people. I think about parents who do not believe the Word of God.
What happens? They don't believe the Word of God or they say to their kids, you can't believe all of that. And the boy says, well, Dad, the pastor said you shouldn't drink. Well, he's just a pastor. It's none of his business what I do. Well, Dad, isn't it in the Bible that we should be disciplined in every area of our life? Well, listen, now don't get into that.
You know what you do? You hurt people who are around you. And not only that, ultimately it's disastrous. When you decide not to listen to God or you fail to learn how to listen to God, eventually it's going to be disastrous.
You're going to make decisions that are very unwise, very disastrous, and very hurtful to other people. So the question is, okay, then in order to listen to Him, what's necessary? Let's think about it for a moment. How do we listen to Him? How do we know when He's speaking?
How do we know that it's not us and somebody else? Well, put it this way. If I'm going to learn to listen, I've got to get in the world of God. Because I'll hear people say, well, here's what God said to me.
And I'll, I can tell them, no, it's not. And the reason I would say that is because if it contradicts the Word of God, God didn't say it. God is not a God of contradiction. Do you think He says I'm not a God of confusion? If I told you something was true and the Word of God says it's not true, then what am I doing? I am contradicting the Word of God.
I'm creating confusion in your mind and heart. And so, the Word of God is the basis. If I'm going to listen to Him, I have to start with the Word of God. In days to come, I musticed with the Word of God. Secondly, I must have the Holy Spirit, watch this carefully, living on the inside of me to interpret.
Now, watch this. God speaks to His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who speaks to our Spirt, our mind, our heart as we would call it, and gives us an instruction and helps us to see what's going on. So, there must be the Word, there must be the Holy Spirit, then there must be prayer. And prayer is talking to Him and listening to Him.
And so often, we spend all of our time doing the talking instead of listening. And somebody says, Well, my goal is to read through the Bible in one year, wonderful goal. But let me just say this, it is more important that you read a portion every day and listen for God to speak to you and give you instruction and that you implant it within your soul, that you absorb it in your life, that you begin to say, How can I live this out every day than just reading through it all one year?
That's wonderful, but if you're just having to read, read, read, read, read, read, read so you can get through it. Listen, that's not the motivation for the Word of God. The motivation of the Word of God changed my life. So, there must be prayer. There must be the Word of God. There must be the work of the Holy Spirit. And then, of course, sometimes He speaks to us through circumstances. He knows exactly what He's doing and why He does it. He speaks to us through circumstances. Now, watch this carefully.
Here's the reason I've said to you over and over and over again. When you read the Word of God, you learn how God worked in the lives of people in the Old Testament and New Testament. That's how you learn how He worked. How does He work today? Same way.
Circumstances are different, same way. In other words, God hasn't changed. He says He doesn't change. And so, He works through circumstances. And so, something happens in your life and you think, God, well, why did you allow this to happen?
Or what's happening, Lord? And oftentimes, it's through circumstances that He guides us. He closes this door and opens this door. He shows us this and helps us that realize that this over here is error. So, He speaks through circumstances to us.
And those circumstances can be one of many things. And then, of course, sometimes He speaks to us through others. And I would certainly like to believe that every single Sunday, not some Sundays, every single Sunday with all of my heart, I do my best to prepare the message of absolute undeniable, inescapable truth so that you who hear it can absorb it and know it's the truth. Apply it to your life and grow in your Christian life.
That's our only motive. And so, we have to, oftentimes, listen to others about things. And sometimes, it's a mother speaking to her child and God speaks to that child through that mother. How many times did I realize as I looked back when my mother said something to me, it was straight from God.
But now, here's the bottom line. Whenever God speaks, He never speaks in a way that contradicts His Word, no such thing. If you hear somebody say, well, now here's what I believe, and I believe this is what God told me. If it contradicts the Word of God, He didn't tell them that. Somebody says, well, suppose they misinterpret a verse. Okay, then, you see, you can't just pluck a verse out of context and say, well, here's what I think this means.
How does it fit the whole context of the Word of God? Does God love us unconditionally? Yes. Does that mean that everything is just going to be sweet?
No. Well, I want a God that makes everything good and comfortable. Well, you've got, then you have to create your own because He's not that kind of God. You say, well, how can God love me and at the same time, let all these things happen to me? Because, listen, His goal is not ease, comfort, pleasure, and prosperity. His goal is to grow us into Christ like this. And so, there is a right interpretation.
And that interpretation must fit what God has been teaching all down through the Scriptures. If you don't learn to listen to Him, you're going to make mistakes. You don't learn to listen to Him, make bad decisions. Don't learn to listen to Him, listen, you're going to hurt other people. You're going to drift, you're going to make excuses for it.
And what happens? That's why I say in front of the most important lessons of all the Scripture, He's the Lord. He's the Lord, if He's the Lord, I'm to listen to Him.
If He's the Lord, I'm to follow Him. How am I going to know what to do if I don't hear what He says? He may be speaking clearly through the Word of God, which is His primary way of speaking to us. But the question is, am I listening?
Now, one last thing I want to share with you. There are requirements for listening to Him. How do we learn to listen? We start with meditating upon the Word of God, which may mean. Let's just take, for example, the first psalm. Look at that for just a moment. And I'm not going to teach you how to do this by going through this, we could.
But I just want you to watch this. Listen to this, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, doesn't stand in the path of sinners, doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful, his delights in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He'll be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit and its seasons. Its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does he will prosper, the wicked are not so. They're not like that.
They're like chaff, which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor send us in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Now, a young child can get that message. And I'll tell you what, I'm not going to tell you what I've been through, I'm going to tell you what I've been through. I'm going to tell you what I've been through, and I'm going to tell you what I've been through. I'm going to tell you what I've been through. You say, what's the message? The message is living a life of obedience to God, otherwise that's what's going to happen. You're going to be like Chad.
Life's not going to count. So, if you take a passage and you meditate upon it, you see, you say, well, how long should I read that? Here's what I've discovered. I've read the message that I've read for days and sometimes off and on for weeks, and all of a sudden, at some point, I'll say, yes, I finally got it. Thank You, Jesus.
You say, well, you ought to be smarter than that. Well, maybe I ought to be, but I'll tell you this, God, listen to this, God speaks to us when we're ready to hear Him. He speaks to us, that is, we get the message when we have done certain things. He speaks to us, God speaks to us, He asks for Morgasson to begin listening to him. I mean, I tell you, that's a distinction between what I had said and what I had to say, to get up to disorder with the Word of God.
Secondly, I must listen to Him prayerfully. Father, what are you saying to me? For example, in that passage, Lord, is, am I standing in the sitting, that is, am I fraternizing with people who are going to lead me away from You?
Oh, Lord, help me, show me how to apply that to my life. And so, what are you trying to say to me? And you said to Him, now Lord, as I read this passage, what are You trying to say to me? And for example, suppose you come to this part that says, but His delight, that is the person that God's going to bless, He delights in the law of the Lord. He delights in the Word of God. That means the Word of God's very important.
If that's true, then I've got to be meditating on the Word of God, so prayerfully, meditating upon the Word, meditating it upon the Word of God. And so, what are you trying to say to me? And you say, Lord, as I read this passage, what are you trying to say to me? And you say, Lord, as I read this passage, what are you trying to say to me? Amen? With a submissive spirit, whatever You say, God, enable me to abide by it.
It isn't enough. Remember, we said purposeful listening, not passive. We said purposeful listening, not passive. We said purposeful listening, not passive.
And so, what do you do? You listen with that in mind. Then I must listen expectantly, expecting God to speak. Now, when somebody says, well, I pray, but you know, nothing ever happens. God isn't going to talk to me. Well, you might as well quit praying.
But don't. Expect God to speak, listen to this carefully, to your spirit. You say, well, I'm not perfect.
You know what? You're looking at somebody else who's not. Nobody's perfect. Nowhere does He say you must be perfect to hear me. Now, if there is known willful sin, I can tell you exactly what God's going to say.
You say, what's that? He's going to keep pointing His finger right back to it. You say, well, I haven't heard God say anything. Well, what you didn't hear Him say is you got to get rid of that. I'll have to listen submissively, listen intently, listen carefully, listen with purpose, expectantly, and listen carefully, listening patiently. As I said, sometimes I have read a passage and I knew that God had something to say to me, but I didn't get it.
I couldn't quite get it. And some major decisions that I've made, I've read the same passage over and over and over again until finally it all came clear. Now, you say, well, why would God do that? Sometimes it's because He wants to alter our thinking about something.
Listen, He wants to work in our life to the point that we can't believe that what we're hearing could be true. That's what faith's all about. Faith's all about facing those situations and circumstances when it looks like there's no way in the world for me to be able to do that.
And what happens? We go to a scene and we sit down and we're just listening to the Scripture of God. They send us each other and I keep reading and keep reading and keep reading and keep reading and keep reading and yes, it's like it's implanted within us.
It's growing within us. God's doing something within us and what is He doing? He is maturing our faith and as we listen to Him, what happens is we become more and more confident, more and more courageous, more and more bold, more and more sure, And then when you start listening, your life is going to change, and secondly, you're going to hear Him more often.
Why? Because now that you're willing to listen, God's ready to say what He wants to say to you in such a way that you will one day finally say, you know what? One of the most important lessons I ever learned in life is to listen to God. When all hell is broken loose in your life and you don't know where to turn and everything is upside down, what do you want most of all? Don't you want a word from God?
Don't you want to hear Him say to you, my son, my daughter, I have everything under control. I'm going to guide you through this. I'm going to empower you. I'm going to strengthen you.
I'm going to use this incident in your life to make an impact in the lives of others. He's willing to speak if you're willing to listen. But we must listen intently, purposefully, not passively. And think about this, why go to church somewhere and spend an hour and walk away with nothing?
It's a bad investment of your time. But what about coming and spending an hour and God pouring truth into your life? Truth into your life that you're going to pour into other people's lives. If you, listen, if you don't hear another sermon, this has nothing to do with me personally.
It has to do with the nature of the Word of God. If you never hear another sermon and you simply practice what you've heard in this message about learning to listen to God, it will change your life. But it depends upon where your values are in life. If you value something else more than you know and you value something else more than you value learning this awesome lesson, you may never learn it. We spend our time on things we value the most. We love those things we value the most. I don't know of anything any more important in life. And listening to the God of this universe, the Sovereign of the universe who has all power to meet every single need that I have, answer my prayers, give me direction, strengthen me, encourage me, help me, aid me, heal me, whatever. What's more important than that?
Is it not true? Don't you really and truly want to walk intimately with that kind of person? You can, but first of all, you must learn to listen. And Father, how grateful we are that You talk to us. How grateful we are that You make it simple and plain. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Times we've misinterpreted You. Times we've not really wanted to hear what You had to say.
But You just keep on pouring it on us until finally we're able to live submissively, continuously surrendering to Your will and Your way, knowing it is always the best way. I pray for somebody who is listening who's never trusted You as their Savior. Give them the courage to admit that their life's a mess, that they need You.
They've tried everything else. They desperately need You. And assure them that You're willing to forgive them of their sins if they're willing to ask You. You'll cleanse their hearts, their life. You'll change everything about them, and that they can listen to You and You'll speak to them. That's my prayer, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Part 2 of Listening to God, Walking with God. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
