Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:07 Hey, welcome to village church, sermon Q and a. Hey pastor Michael here with you and I am in the studio with Vicki basing you're our communications manager and, uh, uh, the month of may, 2021, we preach the sermon series through Exodus 21 to 24 whole bunch of laws, um, after the 10 commandments to really solidify the nation of Israel. And so a question that came out of these Ms. Vicki, you ready for it? I'm ready. Bring it on. Do you remember the question? Because I completely forgot it.
Speaker 1 00:00:35 Does God still speak audibly? We'll speak.
Speaker 2 00:00:39 I was like looking at you and I'm like, wait a minute. What is the question it's gone and it's gone. It does God
Speaker 0 00:00:44 Still speak audibly today? So, um, question for you, have you ever heard, um, the audible voice
Speaker 1 00:00:51 Of God other than in TV shows? No. Um, so personally I have not, um, I've had other people tell me that they have, and it's been hard for me to believe I'm being honest because I don't feel that God communicates that way anymore. I think that era is kind of behind us where he speaks directly to people. I think he gives us tools to hear his voice, but I don't think that he, you know, comes to you in the dream. Um, generally speaking of missing, it's impossible. Absolutely not. God can do anything. Um, but by and large, the days that the profits are kind of back way back.
Speaker 0 00:01:26 Yes. So like, it feels, wouldn't it feel logical if there was a God who loved you and won a relationship with you, that he would actually speak to you in a way that was sensory. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, it was love that, right? Like we're so relational, like you and I are talking right now and, and he's like, I'm gonna, I'm going to withhold my voice. I mean, it feels strange, right? Yeah. But so what do you think changed? So you go from, uh, you go from the old Testament were profits, particularly because of the common man, didn't get to hear the audible voice of God. I mean, you had Moses who had access to, um, God as a friend of God. And, um, and that was pretty petrifying. Nobody wanted to go near that because he was so scary. Um, you get profits it's, it's hard to tell whether David heard the audible voice of God. Um, but, uh, he definitely had a strong sense of the voice of God, you know, but then you get to the apostles, you get the Jesus there, death resurrection, and, and, um, Jesus actually shows up, uh, resurrected Christ with Paul in prison and says, take heart. You know? And I mean, just encourages him and ministers to him in that moment. But like what changed? Um, uh, is it one of those things we were saying? I, I really just have no idea why God is doing it, or is there something like measurable that has changed
Speaker 1 00:02:40 Well about it a little bit further. I would say, you know, when Jesus comes and he comes to earth and he has a relationship with people on this planet, literally our planet. And he goes through all these, you know, human experiences alongside the apostles, alongside people who are seeing him, we see God incarnate here in Christ. And when we go beyond that, it's kind of one of those things where we've made this record. There's the Bible, the word of God is literally breathed from God written down for us, Jesus Christ on this earth as God do we need to hear the voice of God anymore? We have the absolute right.
Speaker 0 00:03:18 That's a good question. Do we need to, or want to, yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 00:03:22 Yeah, because if I want to hear it, which I do every day, I don't know. I don't know any decision.
Speaker 2 00:03:28 Right. Am I going crazy? Did I actually hear it?
Speaker 1 00:03:33 But, uh, but at the same time, you know, I think that God is drawing us to his word, to the stories of Jesus, to the ministry of Jesus so that we can be drawn into a relationship with Jesus, because really that's what it's about. If you could just go and like knock on God's proverbial door and say, Hey, you know, what do you think about, you know, what college should I go to? And he tells you, why would you need to have a relationship with Jesus? Why would you need to be in his word on a regular basis? Why would you need to spend time in prayer? Why would you, there is no relationship. So by him taking this part of relationship away by not sitting down and talking with you, he's pushing you to a different kind of relationship. That's more intentional on your side, showing him your love and your commitment to him.
Speaker 0 00:04:17 I think one of the parts of I've just saved my relationship with God is I look through scripture. Uh, it sort of drives me nuts, going to be honest. I don't totally understand it is that for God, one of the highest values is faith. It's the way we are saved. Um, it is how we, like, I mean, whether you trust God or not is like it determines whether or not he has your heart. I mean, heart and trust are just there together. If you trust him, he has your heart. If you don't trust him, he doesn't have your heart. Your heart goes to whatever you trust. I mean, all throughout the old Testament, the things that God values the most, um, it is not face-to-face, it's, it's really your heart. And it's interesting. I'll give it an analogy. Um, a dude goes to war, right.
Speaker 0 00:05:04 And does, does his wife have, or does he have his wife's heart? Yeah. Wait, which way am I saying no, is the wife, does the man have the wives heart? And will she wait? You know what I mean? And it's interesting because what happens in the distance? It's a test. Will the man be faithful when he's at war, when he's lonely, will the wife be faithful when she's, when she's at home and she has all of these things going on in her life, what if their kids at home, what if it would be easier to divorce him? And, you know, I mean like, but it's interesting that the distance, uh, tests one of the highest values. Yeah. So like, what good is it? If you have proximity, but you don't really have the heart, you know? And I, it is very striking to me that, um, God has chosen a method all throughout human history, which is to hold back his audible voice and then to push forward his written word. And then his spirit, which is in us very striking me. I I'm very, I'll be honest, like frustrated at times by it because I'm like, God, you have my heart not give
Speaker 1 00:06:03 Me your face. It would be so much easier to just tell me and his
Speaker 0 00:06:06 Response. He doesn't say this, but his response, his response is like, well, I gave you my word and you have my spirit. Yeah. You literally have everything. You need to figure out everything you need to do. Oh, by the way, you have my people who also
Speaker 1 00:06:20 And get counsel from. Yeah, exactly. So I appreciate the way he's done it,
Speaker 2 00:06:27 But if we're being honest, but if we're being honest, I would prefer the voice of God. I'm like, are there other ways, God, that you can get my heart, you know? But it is.
Speaker 0 00:06:35 It's very interesting the way he's, he's held that back.
Speaker 1 00:06:37 Well, we, as humans, we always want the easy way. Yeah. We always want the fast way. I mean, especially in American culture, we have, you know, the immediate gratification. Like I want the answer now. I want to know now, like, I don't know how many tough decisions we as a family have faced over the past year are still facing. And it'd just be like, okay, God, like, I'm going to sit down with you for an hour and I'm going to pray and I'm going to do it really well. So just love to hear you answer me directly with great ease.
Speaker 0 00:07:01 Yeah. I, you, you and I have had a conversation in very different ways, but the principle comes down to this. If you don't work for something, you don't really appreciate it. Um, and, and there's something about if I were to give my kid, like for her to give ax, my son he's eight. If I were to give him a Lego set that I built and be like, I built this for you. He'd be like, cool. But if he built it, he would be like, check out what I made. But if we built it, he'd remember it forever. You know what I mean? It's, it's an interesting dynamic that, um, yeah, the God is, is, uh, up to something very differently in different ways than I could possibly like grasp my head around. You know, I'm just struck by all this it's, uh, I just, in my brain, I want it to be different. I want it to be, but like the idea that we have to work for it to really. And so when you're praying, right, like you don't just go pray for it and then you have it right away. But when you spend an hour or a week or a month or a year praying for something, and then you get clarity, man, your hearts resolve to that clarity is exponentially different than if you're like, Hey Jesus, what's up, Michael,
Speaker 2 00:08:02 Do I go left? Or right. You go left here. Which school do I go to go to that school? You're like, all right, well
Speaker 1 00:08:06 You're like, great. See you next time I need some right. Or like when I think about getting to
Speaker 0 00:08:10 Know my wife, right. Uh, I, I must imagine that God's love language is quality time because he's like, well, I guess one more
Speaker 2 00:08:16 Time with me to get that answer more, you know? And, uh, but when I spend time with my wife, it's like, she's a deep
Speaker 0 00:08:21 Well, and um, it takes some times like a long time to get down to like the core of what's there, you know? And, and then when as years go by, you know what I mean? Like I appreciate that if it was just always easy. Um, so it's weird how many, there's so many reasons why God might withhold all of this, but, uh, I love the instant gratification there.
Speaker 1 00:08:39 Yeah. Well, and the best things are the things that you work for, right? The things that took you a long time to master get to you have that sense of, you know, satisfaction. But also there's kind of this element of, you know, like, wow, you know, I did that, I've arrived. And I don't think we ever in our relationship with guide, I think you can always go further, deeper, be more close with him to the, to your deathbed. Um, but you know, the more time you spend with God, the more clarity you get in other areas of your life, the more time you spend in his word, the more truth that you can be exposed to more time you spend with his people. Yeah. I mean, it's just an incredible, well, I mean it's yep. So
Speaker 0 00:09:14 I'll give that, uh, one last closing warning. Um, I wouldn't, when people tell me they heard the audible voice of God, I'm typically pretty skeptical. The reason I'm skeptical is because it's not normative. Um, for sure. Um, number two, is it often, I would say actually almost always, um, is done by somebody in more of a prosperity leadership role. It's almost like a, um, a subtle way of communicating that I have proximity to God in a way that you guys don't, you know, elitist, but you know, like listen to what it's manipulative. And I'm not saying everybody who says that is, but like almost every, I'm trying to think of an exception. I can think of one. Um, but then there's a group of people who will say, oh, I heard the audible voice of God. But then when I probed, they're like, well, it wasn't technically audible, but it was as if it was like, well, that's, that's very different,
Speaker 2 00:10:00 You know, audible audible means. So I just get fair warning to people,
Speaker 0 00:10:05 Hey, yeah. Uh, be wary and careful of those circumstances. And if they did hear the audible voice of God, it doesn't mean they're more godly or God likes them better. Um, if that actually did happen, but I think your skepticism's natural, but God is speaking through his spirit, through his word, through his people everyday, all the time. And we have access to each of those. So, which is amazing. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, I want to let you back. We've got more questions on sermon Q and a about our sermons, especially through the decision series that was done in May, 2021. Come back, we got more for you.
