We have some regulars that are
absent this morning. We have some precious visitors
in our midst, those who were here years ago and came home,
Sarah and Seth. All three of my children are
here. John's here with his woolly face this morning. Buddy's not
here, but John is. Joanne, we're just happy to have
all of you. Pray that God speak to you. Open
your Bibles, if you will. The First Kings. First Kings
chapter 19. This is after the incident that
happened on Mount Carmel, where Elijah challenged He fought the
prophets of Baal and put them to shame and eventually put them
to death. Then he got a threat from the
palace. After all that bravery and gallantry,
he got a threat from the palace and said, kill my prophets. Old Chester Baal said, you kill
my prophets and God will do the same to me if I don't kill you
before the sun goes down. And he just took off running
in fear. And he ran till he could run
no more back through the woods and fell down to rest and sleep
under a juniper tree. And God sent an angel to fix
his breakfast while he was sleeping. And the angel said, now go back
to sleep. You've got a long way to go.
And he went back to sleep, and he woke up again, and the angel
had some more food and said, eat good. He said, you've got
to go 40 days on this food. And so he did. And he went 40 days, as directed
by the Lord. And he came to this cave, and
waving to hear the voice of God, Then in verse 11, he said, Go
forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. God's going
to talk to him. And behold, the Lord passed by,
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces
rocks before the Lord. What a powerful, powerful wind. But the Lord was not in the wind.
God didn't speak to him. And after the wee-end came an
earthquake, shook that old mountain, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire,
great fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after that,
a still, small voice. God spoke to Elijah in a still,
small voice. It has been so in every generation
that men want to see a miracle. They want God to speak to them
through an earthquake or a fire or the wind or some great miracle. And God still speaks like he
always has in a still, small voice. Before we enter into this
message, I want to bring out one point. And some of you will
know how to be thankful for it, and some of you won't. But the
very fact that God speaks is such a wonderful thing. The very
fact that God stops to speak to us. You know, he told Israel
one time through Jeremiah the prophet, he said, all I've seen
of you is your back. You show me your back, not your
face. He turned away from me. and said, I'm going to show you
my back. And I said, I'm just going to let you go. He said, you've sinned so much
and so long and so grievously, there's no remedy. Told you everybody,
the prophet said, don't even bother to pray for them. I'm
not going to hear you. They're doomed. They brought
upon their heads their own destruction by turning their backs upon God.
And God turned His back upon them and just let them go. Gave
them up to their own heart's way, their own wills, and they
were destroyed. I want to talk to you this morning
a little bit about that still, small voice. Arthur Pick one
time years ago wrote a wonderful, wonderful message about Hebrews
chapter 1 and verse 1. The first word in that letter
is God. spake in times past unto our
fathers by the prophets. In these last days he speaks
to his son." And the title of that message was, God Speaks. And what a wonder it is that
God speaks. Why would he stop and speak to
us in any language except fury and wrath? Why? That's all we deserve. What is
man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that
thou visitest to see Him? An old lady one time wrote a
special little hymn. She'd been to church in a meeting
up in New York City. She'd been several days, sometime
meetings back then, went on morning and night. for two weeks. And she went to her three days,
it was just like she didn't get anything at all out of the service.
Nothing. She saw people around over here,
one weeping, and over here, one weeping and rejoicing in the
Word of God. Her whole heart was just like,
just dead, dead. And she staggered back. She was
blind. Fanny crossed me. She staggered
back to her little room and sat down and wrote these words. Pass
me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry while on others
thou art calling. O God, don't pass me by. Don't pass me by. Well, I hope God will be pleased
to speak to some heart here this morning, to all of your hearts.
He's well able. Do you want to hear from Him?
Do you need to hear from Him? He speaks in a still, small voice. That's what I want to talk about
this morning. One way or another, God calls
all men and all women. Several ways He calls all men
and all women. In that great day, the last day, God, I hope He says to none of
you here this morning, I call, but you refuse. He'll be able to say that to
all who refuse His call. He calls all men, sincerely. I called, but you
refused. You said it not to all my counsels. Now I won't hear your cries." God calls sinners. Let me show
you something first. Hold your place. I want you to
let it go. Turn to Romans. I want to show you a couple of
things in the book of Romans. There is something within the
soul of every man that makes him God-conscious.
There is no such thing as a true atheist in all the world, because
God created man. He left his mark on him. Left
his mark on him. Look at verse eighteen. The wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and
unrighteousness who hold the truth, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. That word hold there is a powerful
word. It means they suppress it. It's
like they bind it up. They won't let it speak to them.
They press it down and they ignore it. They hold the truth. They
hold it back, hold it down, suppress it. And this is a truth that
they all have. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, every single one of them. For God hath
showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation to the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made. even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that every man who ever lived upon the face of this earth is
without excuse for not calling upon the Lord. They know something. They know there's a God. His
eternal power and Godhead is manifest in them and all around
them. God speaks. And look at verse
21, When they knew God, they knew there was a God. They glorified God, neither were
they thankful. They became vain in their imagination
and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. They changed the glory of the
incorruptible God. into an image made like to corruptible
men, to birds, four-footed beasts, creeping things. And God gave
them up. Let them go. Let them go. I call, they refuse. I call, they suppress the truth.
They held it down. created images of divinity in
their own mind, created their own gods, their own idols, and
walked in their own ways before God when they knew it was wrong. Once again, look at Romans 2, verse 14. God
speaks to all men. when the Gentiles which have
not the law." God never gave His word, His worship, to any
nation except Israel. But these Gentiles, these heathens,
never heard the truth, never saw a Bible. They do by nature the things
contained in this book. These having not the law are
a law unto themselves. They know right and wrong. They
know the difference. And this merely shows that the
work of the law is written in their hearts. And on top of that,
God has given them a conscience. And they either accuse or excuse
themselves. They sear their consciences sometimes
until it's hardly workable, but they can't kill it. It remains. So God speaks to man, and he
has a foundation through which he speaks. The work of the law
in their hearts. God's seal is upon man. He's
God's workmanship. And God gave him a conscience.
Every man has a conscience. And one day that conscience,
according to Isaiah, will be like a worm that keeps creeping
and crawling and dies not. Throughout eternity it will be
condemned. They'll have no refuge. Let me
show you just three or four things quickly this morning. God calls
sinners, sinners, sinners through his creation. Look at Psalm 19,
just a moment. Psalm 19. God calls sinners through
his creation. Psalm 19, verse 1. The heavens,
the three heavens. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. How does it declare the glory
of God and show forth His handiwork? It shows His eternal power and
Godhead. Nobody else could do it had it
to be God. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night
showeth knowledge. And there is no speech and no
language, for this voice of God is not heard." Nowhere. The heathen, the most darkest
place in the world. They look at the stars, the moon,
the sun, God's earth, God's glorious heavenly work. And they know
there's a God. And they either bow to the God,
the true God, who made the heavens and earth, and seek Him, or they
make their own idols and their own gods and worship Him. The wisdom and power of God,
this world was here before we got here, Did it happen by chance? Big bang explosion? Einstein
didn't have much use for God, but he said there was a wisdom
behind this creation. Infinitely above anything of
man. Infinite. And he was exactly
right. Are we creatures of chance in
a world of chance? Or were we created by God? Are we creatures of the great
Creator? Can life and beauty come out
of lifeless ugliness, slime and sludge? That's what some men
think, teach, and believe. But if that were true, then we
are our own gods responsible to no one but ourselves. There's
no heaven and no hell and no judgment to come. But that's not true. We are creatures
of God. There is a still, small voice that often tells us His truth. God calls sinners through providence.
Acts chapter 17. Turn there just a moment. Acts
17. Now, the Apostle Paul had been
to Mars Hill, and he observed all the superstition, all the
idols. And then it came his turn, and
he stood up. And verse 22, in the midst of
Mars Hill, he said, You men of Athens, I perceive that in all
things you're too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the
unknown God. They afraid they missed one,
so they made this extra inscription. Whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, the God you don't know, let me declare him to you. I'll
tell you about him. First of all, He's the God that
made the world and all things therein. Seeing that He is Lord
of heaven and earth, He dwelleth not in temples, neither is He worshipped with
men's hands, as though He needed anything. He doesn't need anything
from us, seeing it is He that giveth all things. Life and breath and all things. And my friends, that's more than
the fact that one time way back yonder He gave man breath. Breathed
into Adam's nostrils and he became a living soul. He gives us every
breath that we draw. He sustains us. Our breath, our
heartbeat, He sustains us. And he hath made of one blood
all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth
hath determined the time before appointed the bounds of their
habitation, that they should seek the Lord.
God did all this. And it's quite evident to a man
that will think that they should seek the Lord, if happily they
might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from
He's not far from every one of us here this morning. Not far. For it is in Him, He's here this
morning. Where there's life, there's God. For in Him we live and move and
have our being. As certain of these heathen poets
had written before, we're the offspring of God. Why did they go about worshipping
other gods? But men do, and men will continue
to do it unless God speaks to them in a powerful voice. But God speaks to all men. Let me show you one place in
Job. Turn back to Job, verse 36. I mean, chapter 36. I have turned here many times
during my ministry, and it's a wonder to me, a wonder to me. Verse 24 of Chapter 36. Notice how clearly this is stated. God says, Remember, don't you
forget to magnify God's work which all men see. God speaks. God has a witness. All men see
it. All men hear it. Every man may see it. Man may behold it afar off. Behold, God is great. And we
know Him not, neither can the number of His years be searched
out. And this is that great God and
how He speaks, one of the ways. God is great. He make us small
drops of water and large drops of water. And
you say, well, what's that? What kind of witness is that?
It's a witness to the eternal power and Godhead of God. You can't do it. Your church
can't do it. The Pope can't do it. All the
people united in this world cannot do it. God does it. Now, look on down. Verse 5 of
Chapter 37, the next chapter. God thundereth marvelously. with His voice. Great things doeth He which we
cannot comprehend and understand and explain. What are these great
things? He sends us snow. Only God can do that. Only God. Last week He sent several inches
out in Denver, shut down the airport. Who shut down that airport
out there? Mother Nature? God Almighty. He saith to the snow, Be thou
on the earth, and it be. It be, whatever He says. Likewise
to the small rain, to the great rain of His strength, the floods.
Who sends those mighty floods? Our great God, according to His
will, His purpose, God does. Don't blame the weatherman if
you don't like it. And please don't blame God. Just
bow and say, it's the Lord. Let Him do what seems to Him
good. You fuss, you're fussing against
God who sent it. He sealeth up the hand of every
man that all men may know his work, the witness of God. God
speaks to men. They just put their fingers in
their ears and will not hear. God sends these floods. The beasts go into their dens
and remain in their places until it's over. Then they venture
out. I've been working in the field,
in the crops. God sent a rain and we had to
unhook the horses and run into the barn and wait until it was
over. It was our purpose to finish
the crop. It was God's purpose to stop us. And He did. Whose purpose was prevailed? Always God's purpose. He never
loses. He never fails. The beast goeth into the dens,
out of the south cometh a whirlwind out of the north, and cold out
of the north. By the breath of God, frost is
given, and the breadth of the waters is straight, and ice is
formed over the waters. Also by watering he weareth a
thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud, he is turned round
about by his counsel. I never see the clouds any more.
And I look at them every day, that I don't think about the
purpose of God. Every cloud is following God's
counsel. And whether it brings small drops
of rain or a flood, it's God's counsel. Whether it brings snow,
small snow or great snow, it's God's counsel. God's in charge
of this world, this world that He made, and men need to acknowledge
God and be thankful. And these clouds turned round
about by His counsel that they may do whatsoever He commanded
them upon the face of the earth and the world. Now listen to
this. He causes all these things. whether for correction, or for
his land, or in mercy. Listen to this, Mr. Job. You
don't know why God did it. Not your business to know why
God did it. But you listen to this. You stand
still, and you consider the wondrous works of God. Don't you forget
to acknowledge the works of God. That's how we started in chapter
36. Remember, all these works of God that every man may behold,
even a far off, acknowledge them as being the works of God. Being
the works of God. Stop and think and consider. This is all the voice of God
Almighty. Acts chapter fourteen. One other
place and we'll move on to the next point. Acts chapter fourteen. These men came down wanting to
worship God, wanting to worship Paul, the apostles, saying, Sirs, why do you do these things?
We're just men like you who worship us, men who like passions with
you, preaching to you that you should turn from these vanities
of man-worship unto the living God which made
heaven and earth and the sea and everything therein. Turn
to that God. Give up these vanities. Who in
time past, now listen to this, who in time past suffered all
nations to walk in their own ways, all except Israel. But look at that next verse.
He just let them go. He never gave them his word.
He never sent them his preachers. Just let them go their own will,
their own way. And yet, he left not himself
without witness, in that he did good, It gave us rain from heaven,
fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
God did all these things. That was a testimony to the goodness
and the greatness, the power of God Almighty. He gives us
the harvest time, and the seed time, and the sunshine, and the
rain in its due time, causes things to grow, and we live,
and we live. Next, God calls sinners through
His Word, through His creation, Through His providence, He speaks
to all men, calls all men, all men. But some men are called through
the Word. All who hear it are called through
the Word, through His preaching. This book is the Word of the
Holy Spirit, the voice of God. This Word. Acts chapter 7 verse 51, You
stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always
resist the Holy Ghost when you resist the Word of God. As your fathers did, you do too,
just like your fathers whose carcasses fell in the wilderness.
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
showed before the coming of the just one, of whom you have now
been the betrayers and the murderers." Man, God speaks through His Word. Whether men receive it or whether
they reject it, it doesn't change the fact that God speaks. God
speaks through creation, through His providence, and through His
Word. And when sinners hear, they either
believe and submit or they resist, set themselves against God and
His Holy Spirit. That is true with each of us
here this morning, this very moment. We either submit or resist. We either receive the truth of
God or we hold it down. permitting it not to work in
our hearts. How many times have some of you here say that you
plugged up your ears and you didn't want to hear that? Finally,
God prevailed. Old Ralph Barney used to say
that God calls all men. Those who hear the preaching
of the Word, some of them, they just stick their fingers in their
ears and they just walk away from it. And God lets them go. And some who stick their fingers
in their ears and start walking away from it and God just keeps
talking. And they have to turn around
and come back. Do you remember Lydia sitting at the lakeside
with some other ladies talking about God and reading the scriptures?
The Apostle Paul came to him and he sat down and he opened
the Bible and started reading the Scriptures to him. And the
Bible said, God opened Lydia's heart and she attended unto the
things which God said. God opened Lydia's heart. May God open every heart here
this morning. Speak to you. You know, there's so many in
the world because of false prophets who are waiting for some earthquake
or some mighty wind to blow or some fire sign from heaven before
they'll believe. But God gives his word for the
obedience of faith. He doesn't say, wait till you
hear a sign, see a sign, something before you believe it. He says,
this is the Word of God, believe it. Receive the testimony of
God concerning His Son. For some men are too willing
to do anything but believe and obey the Gospel. Through the
Gospel of Christ, the still, small voice of God calls sinners
unto repentance. Through the gospel. Through the
gospel. The gospel is the power of God. I think David read that this
morning. And that word there is dunamis. It's the word from
which we get dynamite. The message, the gospel message,
that story, is the dynamite of God. And knocking sinners off
their high horses and bringing them down in the dust. is gloriously
saving them. That gospel, that message. That gospel. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by that gospel. The preacher had us all this
work. Well, the truth of God, begins to work
in the souls of those to whom God speaks. The truth of God. Turn to one place. 2 Corinthians
10, just a moment. 2 Corinthians 10, just a moment. The Apostle Paul says concerning
what he's engaged in, his ministry, his life work. He says in chapter
10, verse 3, though we walk in the flesh, this is not a fleshly
battle we're in. Not a fleshly battle. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. The weapons of our warfare Not
carnal, not fleshly, but mighty through God. Mighty through God. Opening men's hearts. Speaking
in a still, small voice. Pulling down strongholds. What
are these strongholds? The Word of God pulls down. You
hear the Word of God and God gives you an ear to hear. Casting
down imaginations. and every high thing that has
exalted itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ, casting out of your
mind all those false notions you had of God, what you thought
God was, and putting the truth in its place. All the notions
you had about sin and grace and righteousness and salvation and
putting the truth in its place. And boy, it's dynamite too. It'll
get the job done. It did with me and it did with
some of you. It'll get the job done. You learn, first of all, that
your sin and guilt is against God. David said, Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this with wickedness in
thy sight. Every sin, it might be against a mother, a father,
a child, or a neighbor, but every sin ultimately is against God
who made the law. Against God. And when God begins to work in
your heart, And that still, small voice through His Word begins
teaching you. You realize that your sin is
against God. You can't hide it. Not from yourself. You can hide
it from others, sort of. You can't get rid of it. You
can't ignore it. God won't let you. Just keep
bringing it back to your attention. You can't forget it. And somehow,
truth and reality continue to come back to plague me, me, all
the days of my life. Truth and reality. I can't forget my sin and neither
can you, if God ever showed it to you. You live with it day
by day. And you could cry out, oh, my
sins, my sins, my sins, my guilt. And then you find out worse than
that, that it's not just what you've done and what you do,
it's your nature. That's what I am. Christ said, you've heard it
said of oh, this and that, but let me tell you the truth. If
you ever lusted after a woman in your heart, you're an adulterer
in the eyes of God. You ever hated a man with no
good reason? You're a murderer in the eyes of God. It's a heart
thing. It's a heart thing. Man looks
on the outward appearance, but God looks right in here. From
where? From which come these evil deeds,
these foul things? Come from inside. Manifested
outwardly. What makes us do something wrong
in here? That's where they came from.
That's where they came from. We have an exceedingly sinful
nature. Sin is what we are. Can't get rid of it. Can't change
it. In the eyes of God, by nature,
I am sin. And so are you. And if that still small voice
is working in us, one day we'll be like those at Pentecost and
say, what shall we do? What shall we do? What can we
do? I desperately need God's salvation. I'm guilty. I'm condemned. And the Holy Spirit, through
the same word, still small voice, shows us Christ. We see Him as
a substitute. We see Him coming down here for
sinners. And boy, that's what I am. Living
all of His days for sinners, to make them righteous in the
sight of God. And finally, at the end of his
days, when his hour was come, when he said, by now it's come,
let's go to Jerusalem. It's time for me to die. The
Bible said he had no sin. He did no sin. He didn't know
what sin was. He really didn't, by experience. And all of the sins of all of
God's people were poured upon Him and placed upon Him and charged
to Him and made His. And God punished Him instead
of punishing us. And that still small voice continues
to tell you that all the days of your life. One moment we say, Oh, my sins,
my sins, my sins. And yet by the grace of God we
say, Oh Jesus Christ the Savior, what a Savior, wash my sins away. He is the answer to our needs.
He is the sinner's representative substitute and surety before
God. Everything, listen to this, everything
that God ever required of me, Christ did it for me. Have you ever heard of a better
salvation than that, David? Everything. And boy, there's
a long list against me. And the bottom line is hell lies
ahead. But he took care of that too. God forsook him, his own son,
because he had my sin on him. And his soul was made an offering
for sin. And he poured out his soul unto
death, even the death of the cross for the Savior. It's still a small voice. through the Word of God, said,
Look to Him. Look unto Me, all ye into the
earth, and be ye saved, for I am God. There is no other. There
is none else. And that still small voice, and
this is my last point, continues to cause the soul to cast itself
more and more upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I've been preaching a long time.
I've been a church member a long time. But that doesn't make my
need of Christ any less. The more I learn of myself, the
more I realize that my need of Christ is greater than I'll ever
know. All that I do is full of sin.
Whether it's something I do, secular or religious, even hearing
and reading and prayer and worship is full of sin. Oh, I need a
Savior. And I am so full of unbelief,
that sin which doth so easily beset us. God says it, and I
read it, and I claim to believe it, but I just don't fully rest
in it. And I have to say with you, Apostle
and Lord, I believe, but help thou mine unbelief. Help mine
unbelief. And I've learned that you can't
trust yourself to anything, anybody, any work, but Christ and His
work. And if you trust Him, you shall
be saved, no doubt about it. Do you know this voice of God?
Has He spoken to you and convinced you? Still a small voice of God. Will you resist the Holy Ghost,
as many do? Will you refuse the sincere call
of God, as so many do? Will you make excuses as so many
do, for we believe and submit to God and obey the gospel. Obey the gospel. Believe God
for righteousness and justification and full salvation. Believe God. May God bless his words to every
heart without him blessing all of us. All that I've said is
good for nothing. May God bless his word. Okay,
David.