Tyler Lynde: All right, let's look at John, chapter 10, verses 1 through 5, and that's where we're going to start this morning.
Tyler Lynde: We're in a sermon series right now called Encounter.
Tyler Lynde: It's all about understanding the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde: God desires for each one of us to have real encounters with the Holy Spirit that lead to godly transformation in our lives and in the lives of others around us.
Tyler Lynde: Last week, we began to talk about the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks to us.
Tyler Lynde: Aren't you glad about that?
Tyler Lynde: How many of you experienced that in a more profound way this week?
Tyler Lynde: Even Amen, very good.
Tyler Lynde: Today we're going to be continuing this thought.
Tyler Lynde: We, as believers in Jesus, have the God-given ability to hear, to recognize and to discern the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: So the title of today's message is Hearing the Voice of God for Yourself, part 2.
Tyler Lynde: Or two or dos Whatever you want to put in your notes is part two.
Tyler Lynde: So John, chapter 10, verses 1 through 5.
Tyler Lynde: And let's read this together.
Tyler Lynde: Truly, truly, I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Tyler Lynde: Who's the shepherd of the sheep?
Tyler Lynde: Jesus, excellent To him.
Tyler Lynde: The gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Tyler Lynde: When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Tyler Lynde: A stranger, they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know his voice.
Tyler Lynde: A stranger, they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray together.
Tyler Lynde: Father.
Tyler Lynde: We thank you for your word this morning.
Tyler Lynde: We thank you that your word brings life and light.
Tyler Lynde: And, lord, we pray that you would illuminate our hearts, that you would speak to us directly, that you would help us, help our faith to be strengthened, encourage us that, lord, that you desire to have a relationship with us that is dynamic and real.
Tyler Lynde: And, lord, we ask that you would help us in every way to connect to you as our Father, and we thank you for it in Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde: So how many of you remember cartoons from your youth?
Tyler Lynde: And almost every cartoon had a rendition of this.
Tyler Lynde: So I don't care if you were watching Bugs Bunny or Donald Duck or Elmer Fudd or whatever.
Tyler Lynde: You had one of these scenes somewhere along the way where the individual, whoever it was, was coming up to a very important decision.
Tyler Lynde: They had to make a very important decision, and the decision could take things one way or another way.
Tyler Lynde: And so what did you see appear on each shoulder?
Tyler Lynde: On one shoulder, you had an angel, and on the other shoulder you had what A devil right.
Tyler Lynde: And the angel would say something like you know that you want to be really nice to that person, you don't want to hurt their feelings.
Tyler Lynde: And then the devil would say kill them, or whatever the case was.
Tyler Lynde: You know that you want to be really nice to that person, you don't want to hurt their feelings.
Tyler Lynde: And then the devil would say kill them, or whatever the case was.
Tyler Lynde: You know.
Tyler Lynde: And so they were in this valley of decision, and I'm not trying to take that illustration too far or to make a huge, you know, biblical explanation out of that, but it is true that we do hear a lot of voices, isn't that correct?
Tyler Lynde: There are a lot of voices that are vying for our attention, and when we're in the point of trying to make a decision, we have to know how to hone in to the voice that matters, and that's the voice of the Lord right and the voice of his spirit as he speaks to us.
Tyler Lynde: The Trinity itself is characterized by the relationship that they have with each other and the common purpose that they share, and we who are followers of Jesus are a part of God's family.
Tyler Lynde: How much time do you spend on a daily basis reminding yourself that God is your father?
Tyler Lynde: Wow, think about that.
Tyler Lynde: If we could just meditate on that for a bit.
Tyler Lynde: Wow, think about that.
Tyler Lynde: If we could just meditate on that for a bit.
Tyler Lynde: We're part of God's family and his desire is to have constant fellowship with us.
Tyler Lynde: In John 10, as we just read, jesus uses a common metaphor of being the good shepherd and we being his sheep.
Tyler Lynde: And again, I'll just refer to the couple of sermons in the beginning of September.
Tyler Lynde: Mark did a great job of explaining a lot of that, what that motif means, and giving so much definition and clarity on that that I don't feel like I need to address it much this morning.
Tyler Lynde: But what is God really saying in John 10?
Tyler Lynde: He speaks of his genuine care for the sheep, which is never ending.
Tyler Lynde: It never ends.
Tyler Lynde: He also explains that there are strangers who attempt to use their voices to lead the sheep astray and harm them.
Tyler Lynde: But before we get into new material, let's just quickly run through a review of last week.
Tyler Lynde: We first learned that Christians have the ability to hear and obey the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: Aren't you thankful for that?
Tyler Lynde: Some ways that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the word of God, through sound biblical teaching, through other people, through supernatural means, and some of those examples are the gifts of the Spirit, dreams and visions, signs and wonders, angelic visitations and the audible voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: The Holy Spirit also speaks to us through our circumstances.
Tyler Lynde: We could spend a lot of time on that, couldn't we?
Tyler Lynde: And then, finally, we said that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through an inner voice or an impression that we have on the inside, and I just wanted to say something a little bit more about that, because I think this is probably the most common way that most of us hear and discern the voice of God in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: Okay, that most of us hear and discern the voice of God in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: Okay, so many times we can know that it is God speaking to us, because it's not something that we would have thought of on our own.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense.
Tyler Lynde: So one of the ways that I can initially discern that possibly this could be God speaking to me is I wasn't thinking about it.
Tyler Lynde: It was kind of out of the blue.
Tyler Lynde: It just came into my conscience, into my soul, into where I recognized what it was, and so I needed to pay attention to it.
Tyler Lynde: Okay, that's one thing.
Tyler Lynde: The other thing is, a lot of times when God speaks to us in this way, we don't like it at first.
Tyler Lynde: Can we be honest with each other?
Tyler Lynde: Sometimes, when God speaks to us, it hurts a little bit before it heals.
Tyler Lynde: I remember one time when I was going through a little bit of a crisis of faith because of everything that had happened, with my dad walking away from our family and from the church, and I was really concerned about where I was in my relationship with God, and God helped me with that by saying you don't really know me.
Tyler Lynde: That's what I felt like God was speaking to me in my heart.
Tyler Lynde: Now my first thought was and this is what I said to him I said what do you mean?
Tyler Lynde: God's good, he's fine with clarifying.
Tyler Lynde: He doesn't mind that.
Tyler Lynde: I said what do you mean?
Tyler Lynde: I've been serving you for 20 years.
Tyler Lynde: At that point in my life, right For 20 years, at that point in my life, right For 20 years, and I've been in the ministry for the last five years.
Tyler Lynde: What are you talking about?
Tyler Lynde: I don't really know you, he said.
Tyler Lynde: You only know me through the eyes of your teachers.
Tyler Lynde: You've never taken the time to know me for yourself, and so that could have shut me down and put me in a deep, dark depression, but it didn't do that.
Tyler Lynde: You know what it did?
Tyler Lynde: It inspired me to open the Word of God and to begin to read all of the passages concerning who God the Father is and who God the Son is and who God the Spirit is.
Tyler Lynde: It started me on a year-long journey where I journaled through every single verse that talked about the character and nature of God as found in the Bible.
Tyler Lynde: And you know what I discovered for myself?
Tyler Lynde: Some of the things that I had read and heard and believed were not accurate according to the whole counsel of Scripture, the whole Bible, and so God began to recalibrate some of my thinking, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity.
Tyler Lynde: Does that make sense?
Tyler Lynde: So sometimes, when he speaks to us in that inner voice, it's not like we immediately go.
Tyler Lynde: Yes, sometimes it makes us think, sometimes it takes us back a little bit.
Tyler Lynde: Right, we also talked about the fact that believers can learn how to hear the acronym hear the Holy Spirit clearly by making it a habit to listen to the Holy Spirit, expecting to hear the Holy Spirit in whatever way that he chooses to speak, anticipating growing in your ability to discern the voice of Holy Spirit and responding in humble obedience to what the Holy Spirit is truly saying.
Tyler Lynde: Okay, so let's start.
Tyler Lynde: This morning, there are a lot of voices around us, am I right?
Tyler Lynde: If you don't believe me, we're only a few weeks away, maybe less than that, three weeks away from an election.
Tyler Lynde: And how many of you know?
Tyler Lynde: Depending upon the channel you tune to or the radio station that you're listening to, you're going to hear a lot of chatter from a lot of different sides and all kinds of angles.
Tyler Lynde: Right, we need to be able to discern the voice of God in the day and time that we're living in, maybe more than ever before, because we have all of this knowledge, all of this opinion that is always being spoken.
Tyler Lynde: It's like people are not holding back their opinions anymore, and now we have social media, which gives a platform for people to espouse their opinions and to talk about things that they believe to be absolutely true, even if they are found later to be false right.
Tyler Lynde: So we really need to be able to know how to hone into and discern the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: We must be aware of voices that are not from God, and in this passage, in John 10, it says a stranger they will not follow.
Tyler Lynde: That is our story, that is our testimony, that is the end goal that God has for us as believers in Jesus that we will not follow the voice of a stranger, but they will flee from him, for they do not know or discern or understand or listen to the voice of strangers.
Tyler Lynde: In our passage today, jesus continues to talk about us being like sheep, those who follow him as their good shepherd, hear and obey his voice.
Tyler Lynde: And we don't follow the voice of strangers.
Tyler Lynde: Easier said than done.
Tyler Lynde: Because why is that the truth?
Tyler Lynde: Because, remember, the still small voice is a lot of times in competition with screaming voices, voices that are so loud and piercing that it's like we can't turn away.
Tyler Lynde: It feels like that we have to pay attention to them, right?
Tyler Lynde: So let's talk about the first voice that we need to avoid.
Tyler Lynde: It is the voice of our flesh.
Tyler Lynde: The voice of our flesh is opposed to God's will.
Tyler Lynde: No, but I'm a pretty good person, I mean overall, from an overarching standpoint.
Tyler Lynde: I make good decisions, I think good thoughts, I speak good words.
Tyler Lynde: I'm a great person.
Tyler Lynde: Actually, I'm not even a good.
Tyler Lynde: I'm a great person.
Tyler Lynde: Everybody who knows me loves me, right?
Tyler Lynde: Everybody who knows me loves me, right.
Tyler Lynde: What do they love about you?
Tyler Lynde: If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, they love the God that's in you, because we can't even know love without knowing the love of the Father, right?
Tyler Lynde: So let's be careful with how we, you know, congratulate ourselves and want to give ourselves a reward for being the world's greatest people.
Tyler Lynde: Okay, because the voice of our flesh is opposed to God's will.
Tyler Lynde: 1 John, chapter 2, verse 15, says this do not love the world or the things in the world.
Tyler Lynde: Again, culture crying out to us, screaming out to us.
Tyler Lynde: This is the way you should go.
Tyler Lynde: This is the way you should live your lives.
Tyler Lynde: This is the way that you should raise your children.
Tyler Lynde: This is the way that you should be married or not be married.
Tyler Lynde: This is the way.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know we don't need another way.
Tyler Lynde: John 14, six tells us.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life.
Tyler Lynde: No one comes to the Father except by me.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus is the way.
Tyler Lynde: It goes on to say if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Tyler Lynde: For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.
Tyler Lynde: And the world is passing away and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world.
Tyler Lynde: And the world is passing away and the lust of it.
Tyler Lynde: But he who does the will of God abides when.
Tyler Lynde: How long?
Tyler Lynde: Forever, forever.
Tyler Lynde: We are not to love this world or the ways of this world.
Tyler Lynde: This isn't the physical creation.
Tyler Lynde: By the way, we went out yesterday and had an amazing day, my family and I.
Tyler Lynde: We drove up to Kentucky.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you ever heard of Sonny's Barbecue?
Tyler Lynde: Okay, I'm not sponsored by Sonny's.
Tyler Lynde: I don't receive any kind of kickbacks, although if you're watching and you want to send us a coupon, that'd be great.
Tyler Lynde: But the nearest Sonny's is like an hour and 15 minutes away from our house and I've been wanting to go there since my birthday in September, and so we just decided to get in the car and drive up there and have Sonny's.
Tyler Lynde: And so we did that yesterday with our boys, levi and Ben, and had a great trip.
Tyler Lynde: It was beautiful outside.
Tyler Lynde: Some other people did some other things yesterday.
Tyler Lynde: Mark, did you do anything yesterday?
Tyler Lynde: Were you busy?
Tyler Lynde: Huh, a little something, miss Amy.
Tyler Lynde: I noticed, I got a little picture and on that left hand there's something that well, there's a little bling.
Tyler Lynde: So Mark and Amy got engaged yesterday, yep, in the middle of God's creation.
Tyler Lynde: So the earth is good and the fullness thereof, right.
Tyler Lynde: The earth is good, but the world is not good.
Tyler Lynde: The system of the world that is comprised of Satan's dominion and his way of doing things.
Tyler Lynde: It's the very opposite of what is godly and holy and spiritual.
Tyler Lynde: We have to make sure that our desires line up with God's desires.
Tyler Lynde: We are led astray when we listen to the voice of our flesh leading us into temptation.
Tyler Lynde: So what are these three things?
Tyler Lynde: The lust of the flesh is the cravings of sinful man that are opposed to God's will and God's way.
Tyler Lynde: What is it that we crave that is against God's purpose or God's plan?
Tyler Lynde: It is the basis for rebellion against God and the pursuit of all things that can be defined as selfish in nature.
Tyler Lynde: Have you ever realized?
Tyler Lynde: I realized, when we had our firstborn son, jordan, who's a wonderful blessing to us, but he was born Caesarian, and he was born after Amy was in labor for a very long time I can't even remember the hours, but it was a couple of days.
Tyler Lynde: It feels like right, is it that long?
Tyler Lynde: It was a long time.
Tyler Lynde: We try not to go back there too much in our memory bank to that portion of things, right.
Tyler Lynde: So when Jordan was born and we brought him home, amy's mom stayed for a while for a day or, and helped around the house and helped with the baby and helped with Amy.
Tyler Lynde: Amy was pretty much bedridden.
Tyler Lynde: She couldn't do much at all.
Tyler Lynde: When Amy's mom went home, I realized something very quickly.
Tyler Lynde: What do you think I realized?
Tyler Lynde: Tyler, you are a very selfish man.
Tyler Lynde: I never thought of myself as selfish before, but, boy, I realized when this kid needed everything from me and my wife needed everything from me too, which was so different from her normal way.
Tyler Lynde: She's such a giver.
Tyler Lynde: I realized, lord, I need help with this because I, in my sinful nature, in my flesh, I'm a selfish, I can be a selfish person.
Tyler Lynde: So what kinds of things are the lust of the flesh?
Tyler Lynde: What about materialism?
Tyler Lynde: Having to have the latest, greatest, whatever it is and when I say these things, please understand, I've been dealt with by the Lord this week as well Egocentricity, always thinking about myself and how I'm going to benefit from something.
Tyler Lynde: Exploitation, taking advantage of other people so that I can get ahead in life.
Tyler Lynde: Lust of the flesh?
Tyler Lynde: How about racism?
Tyler Lynde: This is an outworking of the lust of the flesh.
Tyler Lynde: Or how about neglecting those in need?
Tyler Lynde: These are all evidences or things that we can point to that say I'm dealing with temptation in this area.
Tyler Lynde: Right, and moving on to the lust of the eyes, anything that entices the eyes, especially sexual lust.
Tyler Lynde: We live in a day when, literally in the palms of our hands, we carry computers that have storage that's beyond our belief and with just one accidental push of a button we can get to a place where we shouldn't get to and we can linger there and it can become a problem that becomes an addiction in our lives.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know we can't blame the phones.
Tyler Lynde: We have to blame lust, which is a desire to have something that we actually never.
Tyler Lynde: Even if we were to get what it is that we desire, we wouldn't be fulfilled by it.
Tyler Lynde: That's the sick part about lust it can never be fulfilled.
Tyler Lynde: So we're talking about pornography.
Tyler Lynde: We're talking about covetousness.
Tyler Lynde: We're talking about never being satisfied.
Tyler Lynde: These are voices that we hear on a daily basis that attempt to take us away from the will of God and from his way of doing things, and we need to stand against them.
Tyler Lynde: Take us away from the will of God and from his way of doing things, and we need to stand against them.
Tyler Lynde: How about the last one?
Tyler Lynde: The pride of life, pretentious hypocrisy that causes one to glory in themselves or their possessions.
Tyler Lynde: Look at what I've done.
Tyler Lynde: Look at what I've accomplished.
Tyler Lynde: We can't wait for somebody to ask us what we do for a living, because we're a fill in the blank and we're very proud of it.
Tyler Lynde: We can't wait for somebody to ask us about our house, because we have the biggest house on the block and it's amazing.
Tyler Lynde: We're driving new cars and all of this has been done because we're so good.
Tyler Lynde: I'm speaking pretty plainly because these are the kinds of thoughts we have, folks.
Tyler Lynde: Let's be real.
Tyler Lynde: Can we just be honest with each other?
Tyler Lynde: These thoughts try to infiltrate our lives and try to direct us and lead us and steer us in the wrong direction.
Tyler Lynde: This is very familiar because it started in the very beginning.
Tyler Lynde: Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, succumbed to the temptations as they saw that the tree was good for food, lust of the flesh.
Tyler Lynde: The tree was pleasant to the eyes the lust of the eyes and it was a tree to be desired.
Tyler Lynde: For what purpose?
Tyler Lynde: To make one wise, the pride of life.
Tyler Lynde: Look at me, look at my accomplishments, look at what I know.
Tyler Lynde: Yeah, they knew something.
Tyler Lynde: What did they know?
Tyler Lynde: They knew that they were sinners and they needed to try to cover it up.
Tyler Lynde: The first shame ever experienced happened in the Garden of Eden and every single one of us born since then has been born in sin and shame and has given in.
Tyler Lynde: Before we came to Jesus, it wasn't even given in.
Tyler Lynde: It was a way of life.
Tyler Lynde: We lived according to the flesh, according to our fleshly desires.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know that's not the end of the story?
Tyler Lynde: Because Jesus, like Adam and Eve, was tempted by Satan.
Tyler Lynde: He was tempted as he was taken into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit after his baptism and he resisted the temptation of the enemy.
Tyler Lynde: On every turn, satan said turn these stones into bread, and that's the lust of the enemy.
Tyler Lynde: On every turn, satan said turn these stones into bread, and that's the lust of the flesh.
Tyler Lynde: What did Jesus say?
Tyler Lynde: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Tyler Lynde: And then what does Satan do?
Tyler Lynde: He took him to this high place and he said all the kingdoms of the world, everything that you can see with your eyes, I will give to you, if you will just bow down and worship me.
Tyler Lynde: All the kingdoms of the world, everything that you can see with your eyes, I will give to you, if you will just bow down and worship me, the lust of the eyes.
Tyler Lynde: If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from this high temple wall and the angels will protect you.
Tyler Lynde: The pride of life, when Jesus say.
Tyler Lynde: He said thou shalt not tempt the Lord, your God.
Tyler Lynde: And on that last one, the one where he said bow down and worship me and I'll give you all the kingdoms, he said get out of here, depart from me.
Tyler Lynde: I will worship the Lord, god only Lord, god only.
Tyler Lynde: He defeated every temptation.
Tyler Lynde: The Bible says that he was faced with every temptation known by man, yet without sin.
Tyler Lynde: Why is this important for us?
Tyler Lynde: Because not only did he do all of that, but then he gave himself into the hands of a holy God and took upon himself the wrath of God, all of the punishment that every person that has ever given into temptation deserved.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus took it upon himself on the cross and he said Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing.
Tyler Lynde: And he said it is finished, and the curse that came upon Adam and Eve and all of the rest of humanity up until that point in time was removed and we have the ability by grace, through faith, to put our faith, hope and trust in a living Savior and not only to be forgiven of our sins, but listen to how good our Heavenly Father is.
Tyler Lynde: He writes on our account, not guilty, and he also writes always did the right thing, always said the right thing, always thought the right thing, always had the right motivation.
Tyler Lynde: What, how scandalous the grace of God truly is.
Tyler Lynde: How amazing our God is that he would care that much for us to call us his children, my friends, just like Jesus did.
Tyler Lynde: We must understand that we must hide God's word in our heart that we might not sin against him.
Tyler Lynde: The word of God is essential when it comes to resisting temptation.
Tyler Lynde: Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, says I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
Tyler Lynde: The living sacrifice part is the part that's hard.
Tyler Lynde: Why?
Tyler Lynde: Because we have to do it every day, sometimes many times a day.
Tyler Lynde: We have to remind ourselves wait a minute, my life is on the altar, I have given my rights up and I am following Christ.
Tyler Lynde: Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Tyler Lynde: Do not be conformed to this world.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you know the world wants to conform you.
Tyler Lynde: The culture of this world wants to conform you, and I don't care what side of an issue it is.
Tyler Lynde: The culture of this world wants to conform you, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that, by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Tyler Lynde: Do you want to be able to understand the will of God?
Tyler Lynde: Do you want to be able to hear the voice of God?
Tyler Lynde: Do you want to be able to hear the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: Don't be conformed to the culture of this world.
Tyler Lynde: Don't give in to the voice of your flesh.
Tyler Lynde: Understand, know the word of God, hide it in your heart so that you may not sin against him.
Tyler Lynde: Romans 8 is a beautiful chapter that I encourage you to go home and read as well.
Tyler Lynde: It talks about the difference between those who walk in the flesh and those who walk in the spirit.
Tyler Lynde: And here's the deal.
Tyler Lynde: It's not us walking in the spirit, in our own strength.
Tyler Lynde: We're walking in the very spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and he lives in us and he can overpower us and encourage us and help us and strengthen us and lead us and guide us, and all of those things.
Tyler Lynde: So, first, the voice of our flesh.
Tyler Lynde: Secondly, satan is always attempting to get us to believe his lies.
Tyler Lynde: You ever heard the voice of Satan?
Tyler Lynde: Maybe not Satan himself, but I'm sure you've heard the voice of demonic influence.
Tyler Lynde: I'm sure that you've heard it, even maybe at times, from people that you love.
Tyler Lynde: Satan loves to use those closest to us to mess with us.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you are thankful that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness?
Tyler Lynde: People are not our enemies.
Tyler Lynde: Satan is our enemy.
Tyler Lynde: Jesus makes it clear just a few verses after the ones we read in John 10.
Tyler Lynde: In verse 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and to destroy.
Tyler Lynde: What is Satan's MO?
Tyler Lynde: What is his mode of operation?
Tyler Lynde: What is his job description?
Tyler Lynde: To steal, to kill and to destroy.
Tyler Lynde: He hates us because we're a part of God's family.
Tyler Lynde: Ultimately, he hates God.
Tyler Lynde: But if you can't get to the parents, what do you do?
Tyler Lynde: You try to get to the children, and that's what Satan attempts to do over and over again.
Tyler Lynde: Satan always condemns.
Tyler Lynde: So if the thoughts you're hearing are negative, destructive, vicious or accusing, it's not God, it's the enemy.
Tyler Lynde: Vicious or accusing, it's not God, it's the enemy.
Tyler Lynde: God doesn't talk to us like that.
Tyler Lynde: Does he correct us?
Tyler Lynde: Does he discipline us?
Tyler Lynde: Does he sometimes scold us?
Tyler Lynde: Does he all of those things?
Tyler Lynde: Absolutely yes, but he never beats us up, he never abuses us.
Tyler Lynde: He never leaves us feeling hopeless or helpless or without an answer to the problem.
Tyler Lynde: He's with us and we are his own.
Tyler Lynde: How does Satan do this?
Tyler Lynde: Satan tries to remind us of our past failures.
Tyler Lynde: How many of us live in our daily lives wrestling with an old version of ourselves?
Tyler Lynde: What I did before, what I used to be, how I used to live.
Tyler Lynde: Satan tries to make your past seem like it's in the present.
Tyler Lynde: It's one of his greatest weapons.
Tyler Lynde: Here's the reality, folks.
Tyler Lynde: He's a liar.
Tyler Lynde: If he's speaking to you, here's what you can know for sure.
Tyler Lynde: It's not the truth.
Tyler Lynde: Run from it, flee from it, resist it.
Tyler Lynde: He loves to throw up our past sins, our past rebellions, things we're so embarrassed about that we can't tell any other soul on the planet.
Tyler Lynde: These are the things that he loves to remind us of.
Tyler Lynde: When God is asking us to step out and to be a blessing to somebody else, to minister to somebody else or to change in an area in our life, and he's giving us a lifeline, a way that we can do that, satan tries to tell you oh, you think you're going to do that.
Tyler Lynde: You're a liar, you're a thief.
Tyler Lynde: This is what he says to us.
Tyler Lynde: You're a thief, you're a liar, you're no good.
Tyler Lynde: Just settle down.
Tyler Lynde: Just settle down, just lay down, just embrace who you are.
Tyler Lynde: You're never going to change.
Tyler Lynde: In the words of a man named Carmen, which some of you will never know who that is.
Tyler Lynde: When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.
Tyler Lynde: There is a day coming when Satan and every demon that exists in the heavenlies will be called to account.
Tyler Lynde: They will bow their knees and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, because they'll have to, and they will be thrown into the pit of hell and locked up forever and ever and ever.
Tyler Lynde: Satan also tries to scream at us through our present circumstances.
Tyler Lynde: He loves this.
Tyler Lynde: Oh, remember what the doctor said You're going to be sick the rest of your life.
Tyler Lynde: Look at your checking account.
Tyler Lynde: Do we have checking account?
Tyler Lynde: Look at your credit card statement.
Tyler Lynde: You're not going to be able to dig out of that.
Tyler Lynde: That relationship that's broken.
Tyler Lynde: No hope, it's over.
Tyler Lynde: This is the voice of Satan screaming at us.
Tyler Lynde: Where is your God?
Tyler Lynde: That's the one he loves the most.
Tyler Lynde: You know where our God is.
Tyler Lynde: He's with us.
Tyler Lynde: He's with us through the miry clay.
Tyler Lynde: He's with us through the fire.
Tyler Lynde: He's with us through everything that we face in this life.
Tyler Lynde: Satan also tries to terrify us through fear about the future.
Tyler Lynde: I was tempted to ask for a show of hands, but I won't do that.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know that since 9-11, especially in America, there has been such a release of fear Terror and fear, loathing, reeling what's going to happen next?
Tyler Lynde: And here's the one that he whispers is it really worth it to follow Jesus?
Tyler Lynde: If you follow me, I'll take care of you, I'll keep you safe.
Tyler Lynde: Is God really going to be faithful in the future?
Tyler Lynde: James 4, verse 7, says submit yourselves, therefore, to God.
Tyler Lynde: Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Tyler Lynde: Submit yourselves, therefore, to God.
Tyler Lynde: Listen to him, listen to his voice, submit to his word.
Tyler Lynde: Make sure that you're in fellowship with one another.
Tyler Lynde: Keep yourself in a place where you can be healthy in your relationship with God, but don't just stop there.
Tyler Lynde: We are called if you want to fight something.
Tyler Lynde: Some of you have it in your heart to fight something.
Tyler Lynde: If you want to fight something, resist the enemies.
Tyler Lynde: Temptations is lies.
Tyler Lynde: Stand up against them and say no, you won't.
Tyler Lynde: I'm a child of God and you're not going to talk to me like that.
Tyler Lynde: Do you ever talk to yourself this isn't, I'm not getting you in trouble with this question.
Tyler Lynde: Do you ever talk to yourself?
Tyler Lynde: I'll tell you what I do.
Tyler Lynde: If my mind starts to wander in a place that it shouldn't go, I say mind shut up in the name of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde: Strong words, I know, but you know what's stronger than that?
Tyler Lynde: The temptation that wants to lure me into thinking about something I don't need to think about.
Tyler Lynde: Resist it, stand against it.
Tyler Lynde: If you're having a problem with pornography, get rid of your internet, lock down your phone, do whatever it takes Resist.
Tyler Lynde: Resist when Satan brings a lie to you.
Tyler Lynde: Speak the truth to him.
Tyler Lynde: That's what Jesus did.
Tyler Lynde: He spoke the higher truth.
Tyler Lynde: You see, satan doesn't come out and just blatantly lie where it's so convincingly obvious, he laces it with elements of truth so as to try to confuse you.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know the Holy Spirit that resides on the inside of us is not fooled, is not tricked, ever, ever, and if we listen to him, he will lead us and guide us into all truth.
Tyler Lynde: We must continually remind ourselves of the truth that we know in Christ.
Tyler Lynde: John 10, 10, verse B.
Tyler Lynde: Let's not forget that I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.
Tyler Lynde: That's Jesus's purpose, that's our good shepherd, that's the MO.
Tyler Lynde: He's walking with us and he wants us to live this life above the fray, above the chatter, above the discontentment that this world tries to throw on us, above the lies, the realm of lies that Satan world tries to throw on us.
Tyler Lynde: Above the lies, the realm of lies that Satan wants us to live in.
Tyler Lynde: Saints, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he might.
Tyler Lynde: If he feels like it, he will flee from you.
Tyler Lynde: We have become far too passive In our approach to sin and temptation and the lives of the enemy.
Tyler Lynde: I encourage you, I beg of you, stand up, having done all to stand.
Tyler Lynde: Stand, therefore, understanding that the battle is not ours.
Tyler Lynde: The battle belongs to the Lord, but the Lord has called us to be in his army to be a part of it.
Tyler Lynde: Lord has called us to be in his army to be a part of it.
Tyler Lynde: So let's move on to something nice.
Tyler Lynde: How do you know it is God who's speaking to you.
Tyler Lynde: So when you hear a voice, when you sense something on the inside, you have this kind of inner knowing that we've been talking about, or even you have this audible voice that you hear.
Tyler Lynde: Whatever the case, you have a dream, a vision, whatever it is.
Tyler Lynde: How do you know it is God who's speaking to you?
Tyler Lynde: Number one can you guess what?
Tyler Lynde: It is Pretty simple.
Tyler Lynde: Look at scripture.
Tyler Lynde: Is the Bible in agreement with what we think we are hearing.
Tyler Lynde: Now, I don't mean one half of one verse somewhere, because all of us can create a doctrine that we like at a one half of a verse, right?
Tyler Lynde: Don't get me started on that.
Tyler Lynde: So I'm talking about the full counsel of Scripture.
Tyler Lynde: So you know.
Tyler Lynde: What does the Bible say about any particular subject?
Tyler Lynde: Right?
Tyler Lynde: If this is not in alignment with what the Word of God says, I'm not going to count it as the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: Right?
Tyler Lynde: We must have the full counsel of Scripture.
Tyler Lynde: What all the Bible says about any given topic?
Tyler Lynde: If it doesn't line up with what the Bible teaches, it's not from God.
Tyler Lynde: There is no new revelation that divorces itself from Scripture.
Tyler Lynde: Please hear me.
Tyler Lynde: There is no new revelation that divorces itself from scripture.
Tyler Lynde: Please hear me.
Tyler Lynde: There's no new revelation that is greater than the scripture that's already been provided to us.
Tyler Lynde: And if somebody tells you there is run, run, number two seek godly counsel.
Tyler Lynde: How do you discern whether what you're hearing is from God?
Tyler Lynde: Talk to somebody that's mature in the Lord.
Tyler Lynde: Explain it to them.
Tyler Lynde: Ask them about it.
Tyler Lynde: Ask them to help you to discern.
Tyler Lynde: I'm having a hard time really understanding if this is God speaking to me.
Tyler Lynde: I think that it is, but can you help me to discover if this is really God?
Tyler Lynde: God is faithful to confirm his word.
Tyler Lynde: I'm so grateful because I am Gideon.
Tyler Lynde: If you know the story of Gideon, he kept asking God to confirm what God was saying because he was scared, he wasn't sure if it was really God speaking to him.
Tyler Lynde: And so, god, you know what God did.
Tyler Lynde: He smote Gideon.
Tyler Lynde: No, he confirmed it multiple times over.
Tyler Lynde: Because you know why.
Tyler Lynde: He knew Gideon, he loved Gideon.
Tyler Lynde: He understood what it was going to take for Gideon to be able to be obedient.
Tyler Lynde: God is faithful to confirm to us.
Tyler Lynde: I think it is frustrating, though.
Tyler Lynde: After, like the 18th time God confirmed something to us, we go really, are you sure?
Tyler Lynde: Is that really you, god?
Tyler Lynde: A bird flies by and goes yes, it's God.
Tyler Lynde: You're like.
Tyler Lynde: I didn't hear that.
Tyler Lynde: Nothing wrong with seeking godly counsel.
Tyler Lynde: I encourage it, encourage it.
Tyler Lynde: Peace or torment this can't always be the gauge, but all of these things together can help us If God asks us to do something.
Tyler Lynde: It may be difficult, we may not want to do it, we may want to run from it, but eventually, if we listen and we pay attention, there will be peace that will come with it.
Tyler Lynde: God will provide us a sense of peace and the grace that's needed to be obedient to him, even if it's a difficult thing.
Tyler Lynde: How many of you have experienced that?
Tyler Lynde: Yeah, it's an amazing thing.
Tyler Lynde: Number four ask yourself what is the impact that this will have on others.
Tyler Lynde: How do I know if this is the voice of God, one of the ways you can test it?
Tyler Lynde: How will this impact other people?
Tyler Lynde: Why is that important?
Tyler Lynde: Because God cares about his kids.
Tyler Lynde: God cares about his family.
Tyler Lynde: God will not tell us to do something that will harm other people and is against his commands to us.
Tyler Lynde: Now, that doesn't mean he's not going to ask us to say something that's very difficult to say or very difficult for somebody else to hear, but he's not going to tell us to harm somebody else.
Tyler Lynde: God will never if you don't get anything else out of this message, get this God will never ask us to sin.
Tyler Lynde: It's weird that you have to say that, but it's true.
Tyler Lynde: God will never ask you to sin.
Tyler Lynde: How many times in my life have I seen well-meaning people think that they heard from God that they were supposed to leave their spouses and pursue somebody else because they were the real husband or the real wife that God had for them.
Tyler Lynde: That's sick and it is not God.
Tyler Lynde: That's obviously somewhere deep in there.
Tyler Lynde: I didn't realize that was so egregious to me, but it is true.
Tyler Lynde: It is true God will never ask us to sin.
Tyler Lynde: How do well-meaning people become parts of cults?
Tyler Lynde: Because they get into this realm right here, where they start believing that God is asking them to sin.
Tyler Lynde: Next thing is tested against God's characteristics, his character and his nature, the fruit of the spirit.
Tyler Lynde: Knowing God, his word and his characteristics gives us a good picture of what God does and does not want us to do, right?
Tyler Lynde: If it's not in line with God's character and nature, then we need to be careful.
Tyler Lynde: Right?
Tyler Lynde: God's not going to ask us to do something outside of that.
Tyler Lynde: Next, does it bring glory to God?
Tyler Lynde: What you're hearing should always lead to God as the recipient of glory.
Tyler Lynde: If it brings glory to yourself alone, then that's not from God.
Tyler Lynde: But if it brings glory and honor to God, then there's a good chance that you're hearing the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: And here's just a little sub point you must discern the timing, because we assume when God speaks to us he means now, and sometimes he does mean now, but a lot of times he speaks to us and forewarns us about something or gives us direction.
Tyler Lynde: That's meant for the future, but we bring it into the context of the present.
Tyler Lynde: We try to make it happen Right.
Tyler Lynde: How about Joseph with his dream?
Tyler Lynde: 17 years later he says what you meant for evil, god meant for good.
Tyler Lynde: This was all a part of his plan, but along the way I'm sure it didn't feel like that.
Tyler Lynde: So the second question I ask God when I discern that he's speaking something to me, is I ask him when do you want me to do this?
Tyler Lynde: It's important.
Tyler Lynde: We need to know the timing.
Tyler Lynde: So let's finish with some hindrances to hearing God clearly.
Tyler Lynde: And again, these are all basic, but we need to have them, we need to know them, we need to know them.
Tyler Lynde: We need to know them right.
Tyler Lynde: There are some things that scripture teaches us that hinder us in our relationship with God.
Tyler Lynde: Number one is unrepented sin.
Tyler Lynde: Not sin itself, but unrepented sin, sin that we haven't brought before the mercy seat of God and asked for forgiveness and cleansing.
Tyler Lynde: 1 John 1 speaks to this so beautifully.
Tyler Lynde: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
Tyler Lynde: If we say we have fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Tyler Lynde: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
Tyler Lynde: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Tyler Lynde: If we what Confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Tyler Lynde: Friends, we should be quick to repent, because another thing the Holy Spirit will do is convict us, not condemn us and say look at you, there you go again.
Tyler Lynde: That's Satan's voice.
Tyler Lynde: The Holy Spirit says hey, tyler, remember we're not doing that anymore.
Tyler Lynde: I'm here to help.
Tyler Lynde: Lean on me, lean on me Right and then also come back, son, turn around.
Tyler Lynde: It's amazing, when we turn around, god's right there.
Tyler Lynde: We always think that he's the one that's deserted us and we're the ones that turn from him.
Tyler Lynde: He's as close as the mention of his name, pride.
Tyler Lynde: This is another thing that causes a problem in our relationship with God.
Tyler Lynde: God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
Tyler Lynde: Which one of those do you need Resistance from God or grace from God.
Tyler Lynde: I need grace.
Tyler Lynde: You know what it takes Humility, acknowledging your need, being honest with the Lord.
Tyler Lynde: There are some less egregious things or things that we would think would be less egregious.
Tyler Lynde: One is just being busy.
Tyler Lynde: Sometimes being busy is a blocking point from us hearing the voice of God.
Tyler Lynde: We're busy at work, we're busy at play, we're busy doing everything else except for having time with God, and another form of that is distractions away from God, and sometimes these can be really good things.
Tyler Lynde: We think of distractions away from God as being evil things and sinful things, but sometimes there are things that like for me I don't know how many of you are considering yourself doers.
Tyler Lynde: What I mean by that is like, if you see something that needs to be done, you'd like to just do it and get it done right, and you especially would like to check it off your list, even if somebody else does it.
Tyler Lynde: You want to be able to check it off the list right Because you're a doer.
Tyler Lynde: You're a doer, you're a doer, and how many of you know we need to spend time knowing God and being with him just as much, or probably even more, than the doing part, and so sometimes, in my desire to do, I forget to be in his presence, to be still and know that he is God.
Tyler Lynde: And here's another one unresolved conflict with others.
Tyler Lynde: So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you.
Tyler Lynde: Leave your gift there before the altar and go First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.
Tyler Lynde: My friends, life is too short to hold on to things like that.
Tyler Lynde: Let's clear it up as much as within our ability to be able to clear a relational issue.
Tyler Lynde: Let's do that.
Tyler Lynde: You know some of you are waiting for an apology from somebody that I'm telling you is never going to come.
Tyler Lynde: How do I know this?
Tyler Lynde: Because I've experienced it.
Tyler Lynde: But you know what you have the power to do.
Tyler Lynde: By the grace of God, you can choose to forgive in spite of not ever receiving an apology, and you can also pray for a blessing for that person.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, bless them.
Tyler Lynde: Meet them where they're at, show them who you are when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses.
Tyler Lynde: Unforgiveness is a horrible thing because it puts the person who's exercising it in their own prison.
Tyler Lynde: We think it's punishing somebody else, those people who did those things, but it's only harming ourselves.
Tyler Lynde: I pray, by God's grace, that you have the ability, and I have the ability, to realize that the door's already been opened.
Tyler Lynde: It's not even shut, it's not locked.
Tyler Lynde: Walk out.
Tyler Lynde: Another area of resistance is a lack of faith in God.
Tyler Lynde: James, chapter 1, verses 5 through 8.
Tyler Lynde: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given him.
Tyler Lynde: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind, for that person must not suppose that he's speaking to you.
Tyler Lynde: Exercise faith in this area.
Tyler Lynde: Put your hope and confidence and trust in a God who doesn't promise something, and then withhold Now the way he speaks to you.
Tyler Lynde: We've talked about, I think I've tried to throw everything I could possibly throw into the kitchen, hoping that it would apply to somebody in the room.
Tyler Lynde: Because God is so creative in the way he approaches his relationship with each of us, aren't you grateful for that?
Tyler Lynde: And finally, this might be the saddest of all a lack of effort, people who just don't even try to hear from God.
Tyler Lynde: James 4.7 says Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Tyler Lynde: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
Tyler Lynde: These are not my words, these are his words.
Tyler Lynde: Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Tyler Lynde: Let's put our hope and confidence and faith in a God that loves us, has chosen us to be his children, and who speaks to us and wants us to hear him, to know him, to discern his voice and to follow his voice.
Tyler Lynde: So, in conclusion, if you want to hear the voice of God, remove the barriers in your life and make time to listen to him.
Tyler Lynde: To listen to him, create an environment of stillness and solitude where you can lean into his quiet and still voice.
Tyler Lynde: Once a year, our elder team goes away and does a prayer retreat where we're asking God to speak to us for the upcoming year.
Tyler Lynde: So it won't be this week coming up, but it will be the week after, for a few days.
Tyler Lynde: We ask that you begin to pray with us even now that we would hear the voice clearly concerning what God wants to do with this church in 2025.
Tyler Lynde: And as a precursor to that, amy and I are going to go away for a few days this week and we're going to spend some time praying and fasting and seeking the Lord and asking Him to speak to us and to speak to me from a visionary standpoint concerning what God might have for our lives and also for this church.
Tyler Lynde: And, by the way those two things run together, they're not opposed to each other.
Tyler Lynde: Together, they're not opposed to each other.
Tyler Lynde: But we're doing that intentionally, because we recognize our need to make room, to make space, to take time.
Tyler Lynde: I know not everybody can afford to do that.
Tyler Lynde: You can't afford to take two or three days off at a time and go somewhere.
Tyler Lynde: But how many of you know that?
Tyler Lynde: He's as close as the mention of his name?
Tyler Lynde: There were times when I was working in a secular job that I would go in my car during my lunch break and I would sit in there and I would speak to God, but I would also listen.
Tyler Lynde: I would take time to listen to him during my lunch break because that's the only time that I really had, but I was making time for God, right?
Tyler Lynde: Well, I hope that this has been encouraging to you over the last couple of weeks.
Tyler Lynde: I appreciate your attentiveness and my hope more than anything is that, not that you will remember my words or think that, wow, that was an amazing sermon, but that you will begin to once again and well, let me say it this way, for those of you who have made this a priority in your life to hear the voice of God, I pray that God would put it on your heart to help other people around you to do the same, that you would be those wise counselors, that you would be those who would walk with people so that they can learn how to do this, how to know and discern God's voice.
Tyler Lynde: I pray for those of you who once did hear the voice of God regularly but, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem like that's happening much anymore.
Tyler Lynde: I pray that this will give you hope to kind of tune back in, to take the time and make the effort to listen more closely and carefully.
Tyler Lynde: And I also pray for those who feel like you've never heard the voice of God, that this will become such a part of your everyday life that a year from now, you'll look back on this time and you'll say I cannot believe how different my life has become because of the realization that God, the creator of the universe has time to care for me and to speak to me and to lead me in the direction that I should go.
Tyler Lynde: Wouldn't that be amazing?
Tyler Lynde: Imagine a church full of people who could discern the truth about a circumstance and situation, and not all the hype that goes on around us.
Tyler Lynde: Imagine what a difference we could make.
Tyler Lynde: Let's pray together.
Tyler Lynde: Maybe, if you want to stand, you can.
Tyler Lynde: I just want to quickly circle back around to the fact that there may be somebody here this morning that doesn't yet know Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Tyler Lynde: The good news is that the very first time that you may hear the voice of God is in this very moment, because the Holy Spirit may be calling you even now to acknowledge your need for a savior, to repent of your sins, to turn away from your old way of life and to put your faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ, who lived and who died and who rose again and went to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Tyler Lynde: Put your hope in Jesus this morning and just pray a prayer to him, a simple prayer of acknowledging your need.
Tyler Lynde: Lord Jesus, would you save me?
Tyler Lynde: Change my heart, change my mind.
Tyler Lynde: I want to be a part of your family, lord.
Tyler Lynde: We pray for that right now.
Tyler Lynde: If there's anybody here, or anybody that's listening online, lord, that finds themselves in that place.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, we believe that you want many more children as a part of your kingdom, and so we ask that you would speak by your Holy Spirit, that you would draw them, that you would do the work that only you can do, and that they would put their faith and hope and trust in Jesus, even now.
Tyler Lynde: And, father, we pray for the rest of us as well.
Tyler Lynde: Lord, we ask for those who have maturity and a listening ear and hearing your voice, and who aren't influenced by much by the voice of the flesh or the voice of Satan.
Tyler Lynde: I ask that we would see the need and have the desire to be disciples of others, to walk with them, to help them on their journey.
Tyler Lynde: And, father, for those who are struggling with giving into the flesh, lord, I pray, in the name of Jesus, that you would cause us to listen to your voice and that your voice would rise above the voice of temptation, and that we would flee from temptation, that we would run away from it.
Tyler Lynde: In Jesus' name and Father, also for those who have been inundated by Satan's evil thoughts.
Tyler Lynde: We take authority over every lying spirit that has tried to operate to speak to individuals that are hearing this and we command you, in Jesus' name, to stop, stop your work, stop your lies, and we declare freedom over the minds and the hearts of every individual in the name of Jesus Freedom to hear, to know and to discern the voice of God and Lord.
Tyler Lynde: We ask you for that.
Tyler Lynde: Unstop our ears, lord, our inner ears, that we might hear you the way that you desire for us to hear you, and we thank you for this in Jesus' mighty name.
Tyler Lynde: Amen.