- [Narrator] Welcome to a Grace Digital Production.
In this video,
we will cover hearing the voice of God.
Sometimes we need to take one day of the week
to wait upon God.
We may not have an idea of what will happen,
having no agenda,
having no prayer list,
sometimes just starting by reading the Bible.
But at the end of the day,
being fulfilled because the Holy Spirit has led us.
When we learn to wait on God,
He will show us hindrances in our relationships with Him
so that we can be free of them
in order to love and serve Him better.
Many of you are not where you are meant to be
with God right now.
The aim is not to accuse or condemn
but to help.
When we don't allow the Holy Spirit to guide us,
we can't hear the words of comfort, direction,
and wisdom He wants to give us.
One of the greatest needs
in our lives is to take time with God.
But most Christians don't give God much time,
a condition for which many of us need to repent.
Acknowledging the headship of Jesus.
Today, in the body of Christ,
something is out of place that needs to be corrected.
So what's out of place?
Well, we are not acknowledging the headship of Christ
in our lives.
Paul wrote in Ephesians,
"God has put all things under the authority of Christ
and has made Him head over all things
for the benefit of the church.
And the church is His body.
It is made full and complete by Christ,
who fills all things everywhere with Himself,"
Ephesians 1:22 and 23.
The language of choice used by Paul is interesting.
God has put all things under the authority of Jesus.
They were subjected to Him.
But He also gave Jesus to the church.
Having Jesus as head is most precious and beautiful blessing
for the body of Christ.
And Jesus is head over all things,
not over a few things,
not over most things,
over all things.
Can you honestly say in the presence of God
that Jesus is head over everything in your life,
that there is nothing that is outside His control,
nothing that is outside the expression
of His determined will for you?
In Ephesians, Paul wrote,
"Instead, we will speak the truth in love,
growing in every way more and more like Christ,
who is the head of His body, the church.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.
As each part does its own special work,
it helps the other parts grow
so that the whole body is healthy
and growing and full of love,"
Ephesians 4:15 and 16.
The whole body depends on the head.
It is only through the body's relationship with the head
that the body derives nourishment and can grow
and function effectively.
If the connection to the head is impeded,
the whole life of the body is instantly impaired.
Paul said, "Let no one cheat you
for your reward," Colossians 2:18.
Let no one disqualify you would better express
what Paul was saying here.
Don't let such a person deceive you and cheat you
out of the righteous inheritance God intends you to have.
This type of person takes delight and false humility,
vainfully puffed up by his fleshy mind, verse 18.
Such a person claims to be super spiritual
but is very carnal.
He is puffed up in his mind
so that he does not hold fast to the head
from whom all the body nourished and knit together
by joints and ligaments grows with the increase
that is from God, verse 19.
The New International Version says,
"He has lost connection with the head."
As soon as we lose connection with the head,
we are in danger of making mistakes,
getting in some form of deception
and some kind of false teaching,
something that is out of line with God's truth.
The only condition of safety for the body
and for each believer is to be rightly related to the head.
Every true believer has a divinely prepared,
direct connection with Jesus Christ
that you must not let anyone interfere with.
Pastors are lovely people,
but they cannot take the place of Jesus.
The function of a pastor is not to be your head
but to help you cultivate your relationship
with the one who is your head.
He/she is not to tell you the answers to all your problems
but to show you how to find the answers
for yourselves from Jesus.
Some people are lazy
and just want a human being to solve all their problems.
It doesn't work that way.
Also, some leaders are authoritarian.
They want to take control of people.
You have to have your own personal relationship with Jesus.
You have to be able to hear Him speak to you.
You have to be able to be directed by Him.
You have to have something inside you that tells you
when He is pleased and when He is not pleased.
You have to be sensitive to the head.
Functions of the head.
Now, let us discuss about four functions
of our physical heads
and how they relate to the headship of Jesus.
This is not a competent lesson in autonomy.
They are just simple practical perspectives.
As we review these four,
I want you to consider your relationship with Jesus
and the church's relationship today with its head.
It seems that our heads have four main functions.
To receive input,
every part of the body communicates with the head,
and the head gets information from all parts of the body.
To make decisions,
the head decides what the body is to do.
To initiate an action,
the key word is initiate
because the one who takes the initiative is the head.
To coordinate activity of other members of the body,
the spirit is how Jesus as the head communicates
with the body, directs the body,
controls the body, and preserves it.
So we are talking about a relationship with Jesus
and a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, "When the spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you into all truth," John 16:13.
Remember that Jesus said this to his disciples
when He was about to leave them,
indicating in effect,
"I can't tell you everything you need to know now,
but that doesn't matter because the spirit of truth,
the Holy Spirit is coming,
and he will guide you into all truth."
Jesus was saying that from that time forward,
His relationship with us would be effectuated
through the Holy Spirit.
He went on to say,
"He will not speak on His own
but will tell you what He has heard.
He will tell you about the future," John 16:13.
I believe the church should have direction
concerning the future,
divine guidance from the Holy Spirit,
not about everything
but for certain things we need to know.
Given the world situation,
for the church to go into the future
without the Holy Spirit's guidance
is to head toward disaster.
We have only glimpsed the troubles and the pressures
that are coming on the whole world.
We will need the Holy Spirit to warn us
of what is going to happen
so we won't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
One of the prayers
that we must pray regularly is to be always
in the right place at the right time.
Only the Holy Spirit can make that possible.
Then Jesus said,
"He will bring me glory," John 16:14.
It is worth mentioning again
that in connection with being able to hear
what God is saying to us,
glorifying Jesus is a distinctive mark of the Holy Spirit.
Today, many things that are said
to be the work of the Holy Spirit lack the mark
of glorifying Jesus.
Anything that exalts a human personality is not
from the Holy Spirit.
It may be spiritual,
but it is not from the Holy Spirit.
Whatever the spirit does is always to glorify Jesus.
If Jesus is not center stage,
the outline is not from the Holy Spirit.
Yielding to God's choice.
Although the head functions are essential,
let us briefly focus on the fourth function,
coordinate the activity of other members of the body.
Concerning our relationship with Christ,
this deals with the issue of the initiative.
Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:16,
"You didn't choose me, I chose you."
This statement is unequivocal.
There is no doubt about it.
He said, "I have chosen you 12."
Jesus continued, "I appointed you to go
and produce lasting fruit
so that the Father will give you
whatever you ask for using my name," verse 16.
I understand that only enduring fruit proceeds
out of the choice of God.
You can have all sorts of religious programs
and activities and elections in the church,
but if God didn't initiate them,
there would be no permanent fruit, whatever.
Jesus also said that, "The Father will give you
whatever you ask for using my name," John 15:16.
Do you understand that the ability to pray effectively
to the Father proceeds from the will of God?
We can pray all sorts of prayers,
but if they do not proceed from God's will,
we have no assurance that He will answer them.
So the initiative is expressed through choice
and the only aspects of our lives.
God is really involved in those He has chosen.
Anytime we take the initiative out of God's hands,
we have shut off the headship of Jesus.
An excellent example of dependence
on God's choice is in the book of Acts.
"Among the prophets and teachers of the church
at Antioch of Syria,
where Barnabas, Simeon, called the Black man,
Lucius from Cyrene,
Manaen, the childhood companion
of King Herod Antipas, and Saul.
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said,
'Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work
to which I have called them,'" Acts 13:1 and 2.
The New International Version says,
"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
while they were waiting on the Lord
without any agenda of their own,
the Holy Spirit said in effect,
'This is my agenda.'"
How often does the church come to God
with its own agenda it never asked Him,
"What is your will?"
You can't make your decisions,
write them out,
and then apply God's name as a stamp
because God is not a stamp.
He is the almighty God.
The scripture passage continues,
"So after more fasting and prayer,
the men laid their hands on them
and sent them on their way," Acts 13:3.
Where did the decision
to send out Paul and Barnabas come from?
It came from God by the Holy Spirit.
Before these men were sent out by the Holy Spirit,
they were prophets and teachers.
What were they after they were sent out, apostles.
Note that they are called apostles twice.
But "The people of the town were divided
in their opinion about them,
some sided with the Jews,
and some with the apostles," Acts 14:4.
An apostle is one who is sent forth
so anybody who has not been sent forth
cannot be an apostle.
Surprisingly, although the initiative proceeded
from God the Father,
through Jesus Christ, the Son,
through the Holy Spirit,
they were not called apostles
before the church had sent them out.
God does not bypass the church in appointing ministries.
When Paul and Barnabas ended
this particular ministry assignment, it says,
"Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria,
where their journey had begun.
The believers there had entrusted them to God's grace
to do the work they had now completed," Acts 14:26.
"From Attalia, they sailed back to Antioch,
where they had been committed to the grace of God
for the work they had now completed."
How many of us in the church today can say
that we have performed the work that we were assigned,
not just done part of it but completed the whole job?
The explanation for their fulfilling their assignment
is that the initiative proceeded from God.
The leaders of the church at Antioch heard
and followed His choice.
Anything else will not produce the same results.
Let us pray.
"Holy Spirit, I have come before you today,
and I praise you because you are holy,
and I thank you for dwelling in my heart.
Thank you for operating in my life.
You guided me into salvation,
renewed my dead spirit,
and you opened my eyes to the truth, thank you.
Help me to see you more clearly,
to recognize your movement in my life.
Make me more sensitive to you
so I can follow you more closely.
Still, I know that I am selfish and rebellious.
I need you to help me be obedient
when I recognize you're leading.
I need you.
I ask you for your help and comfort today.
You know my pain and anxieties very well.
Thank you for praying over me.
Help me to rest in your comfort today.
Help me to walk in you, the spirit of God.
Grow good fruit in my life.
You are the one who produces these in me,
love joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
I cannot live out these things on my own.
I need you, amen."
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