Sunday, 9th November 2014

The still small voice - Pastor Muyiwa Olubowale

Text
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with
the sword.Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying,So let the gods do to me, and
more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to
Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a days journey into the wilderness, and
came and sat down under a broom tree.And he prayed that he might die, and said,It is
enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers! Then as he lay and
slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him,Arise and eat.
Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he
ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came back the second time,
and touched him, and said,Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you. So he
arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights
as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in
that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, What are you
doing here, Elijah? So he said,I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the
children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets
with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life. Then He said, Go out, and
stand on the mountain before the LORD. And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and
strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the
LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the
earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the
fire a still small voice.
(I Kings 19:1-12 NKJV)

!
INTRODUCTION:
Recap from last week:We started the topic: Knowing the will of God, we discussed that man is
Spirit, Soul and Body.
We discussed what the will of God is and why it is important.
Today we will discuss in detail the Spiritual faculties by which we know Gods will.
KNOW. HEAR. SEE.
1. At creation from the beginning in Genesis, God gave man the ability to know His will.
2. Man was created with the ability to hear the voice of God.
3. God also gave man ability to see him- his face! His presence.

And the LORD God commanded the man,saying,Of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat; (Genesis 2:16 NKJV)
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the
garden. (Genesis 3:8 NKJV)
In the New Testament, the born again, have these abilities to know, hear and see are
embedded in the faculties of the regenerated Spirit though the Holy Spirit.
Kenneth Hagin, said he used to recite to himself 'I am a Spirit being, I have a soul and I live in
a body'
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
(Proverbs 20:27 KJV)

The LORDs light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. (Proverbs 20:27
NLT)
God enlightens us or guides us though our spirits.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
(Psalms 32:8 NKJV)

!
A. KNOWING
From the Greek word iseido = Be aware, have knowledge, perceive, be sure, understand,
convinced
We know the will of God by the Inward Witness. This is the primary and number one way by
which we know his will.
Greek=summartureo=testify jointly, corroborate by evidence (from the spirit) Union with and
together!
Its like a green light, a buzzer within your spirit. Remember the Urim and Thummim from last
week message, which was the means by which God spoke to the priests in the old testament.
(Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate Leviticus 8:8 NKJV)
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the
judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he
and all the children of Israel with himall the congregation. (Numbers 27:21 NKJV)

Its a 'check'.
Its a silent GPS Navigator!
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:14, 16 KJV)
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God
hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. (1 John
5:10 KJV)
He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the
testimony [possesses this divine attestation] within himself (1 John 5:10 AMP)
For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.
(Psalm 18:28 AMP)
'We seek the sensational and miss the supernatural. Let's learn that God leads all of His
children primarily by the inward witness' Kenneth Hagin
B. HEARING
Hearing is an ability that both the outward and inward man has.
Gods original plan was for us to hear His Voice all the time as in the garden of Eden.
We can only hear Gods voice thru the voice of the Spirit (both thru the voice of our spirit and
the voice of the Holy Spirit.
In the NT, the Greek word voice is 'phone' and translated to mean: a tone, articulate, saying,
a noise. The inward man which is a spirit, has a voice. This is known as the conscience and this
is the STILL SMALL VOICE.
The Holy Spirit within us has a voice as well. What happens is that our own spirit picks it up
from the Holy Spirit.


Jesus is our Shepherd - the Good Shepherd and we are His Sheep: The gatekeeper opens the
gate for him, and the sheep recognise his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by
name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and
they follow him because they know his voice.They wont follow a stranger; they will run from
him because they dont know his voice. (John 10:3-5 NLT)
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27 NKJV)
The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they
follow Me. (John 10:27 AMP)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20 NKJV).
a) Voice of the inward spirit is like listening to a conversation on the mobile phone. If it's very
noisy, or the reception is poor, you may not hear clearly. The Still Small Voice is what Elijah
experienced in our Text from I Kings 19.
b) Voice of the Holy Spirit is like listening to a conversation on a mobile phones speaker phone.
It's louder and more importantly, authoritative!
For both you still need a quiet environment and you need to be still before God: Be still and
know that I am God.
We can only hear the voice when we are in fellowship and in tune with the Holy Spirit
We also need to be quiet and seize from the soul!
We must not use the soul to hear the Spirit because they cannot connect.
We must be Spirit conscious to hear!
Its like a GPS Navigator with vocal instructions
Every Christian must develop capacity to hear God.
The voice of the Spirit is always there to lead us but we must learn to listen.
Listening is the most important and most difficult aspect of communication.
We must learn to communicate with the Spirit.
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
(James 1:19 NKJV
Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener],
slow to speak, ...(James 1:19 AMP)
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,This is the way, walk in it, Whenever you turn
to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21 NKJV)
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me? (Acts 9:4 NKJV

CONCLUSION
God has given every believer the ability to know His will.
We need to develop that ability and seek to know Gods will about everything. God leads us by
the inward witness and the Still small voice.We must take time to listen and hear with the
Spirit. Hearing is made possible by been Spirit Conscious and putting things around us into
quiet mode!

Next we will discuss how we can develop the faculties of Knowing and Hearing