Creflo Dollar - God Speaks Through An Audible Voice
We've been talking about how God speaks through various things. God speaks through dreams, and God speaks through visions. God speaks through prophecies. God speaks through his Word. And I know we were moving into this, but the question often comes up, "Can God speak, or has God spoken in times past through an audible voice"? And for some people in the world today, they're thinking that there's just no way that happens. And you tell somebody that God spoke to you in a audible voice, they'll look at you like, you know, there's something really weird about you, something that's awful about you, something that's controversial or strange.
And you know, I found out that truth is controversy. I mean, you go up to a lady and she's overweight, and you tell her she's overweight, that's gonna be a controversy right there. Doesn't mean it was false, what you said, but you've got to understand that, as Christian people, we need to stick with the Word. We don't need to get our beliefs based on what the world says or what the news is reporting. And I think what the enemy tries to do is he's trying to, first of all, convince people that he doesn't exist. He's trying to convince people that he doesn't exist, that demons don't exist, and then that moves to the next level that God doesn't exist, that angels doesn't exist, and there's just no way that anybody can ever hear God's voice.
Well, is that so? Because, if that's the truth, if we can find anywhere in the Word where he has spoken audibly to anybody, then the possibilities are still the same today, that if God has ever allowed his voice to be heard by any man audibly, then that same possibility exists today. And I think just what we need to do is to show you in the Scriptures the number of times that God has spoken audibly to somebody. So if nothing else tonight, it can build your faith up to know that "What was that I heard"?
You know, God speaking to you, and you're like, "What? What did I hear"? And I'm telling you, this is true. This is something that I think will be a blessing to you, but it's just not talked about a lot. So tonight we're gonna look at how God speaks through an audible voice, and we'll begin in Revelations chapter 1, verse 10, and then verse 12. He says in verse 10, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice", so he says, "There's something I heard that came from behind me". So he's not talking about what he heard in his spirit. He says, "I heard something behind me, a great voice, as of a trumpet," and then, in verse 12, he says, "and I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks".
So I mean, John, the divine, in Revelation, he says, "Man, I actually heard a audible voice to the point that I turned to see who it was". And so here is God speaking audibly to John and beginning to reveal to him the wonderful, great mysteries of Revelation, and this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. So here's one illustration just right here at the very beginning. Now, let's look at Acts chapter 7 and verse 3, as it reiterates what Abraham heard, and Acts 7, verse 3, gives a little bit more details. He said, "And he said unto him", and referring to God speaking to Abram, or Abraham, he said, "Get thee out of thy country". So Abraham heard an audible voice before he had this relationship with God, before Genesis 22, when he was in his father's house, and he said, "Get out of thy country, and get from your kinfolks, and come into a land which I shall show thee". God said this.
You know, you've gotta be very, very open to be willing to hear from God to tell you to get out of somewhere, at someplace. You know, God knows exactly where everybody needs to be, and I'm telling you, you know, Abraham knew that by hearing this audible voice, "I better get," because the source of wealth was right there within family, and here is God telling him to contradict what the world understood and said, "Go for yourself. Get out of this country. Get away from your kinfolks". Now, Lot went with him. But he says, "Get away from all of that," and he says, "I'm gonna show you some stuff".
Well, I mean, he almost had to hear that audibly to know to do what he did there. And so now let's move on down, and we're gonna look at a lot of Scriptures here tonight. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 3, verse 19, and then go to chapter 4 and verse 1. And then you remember the story of Samuel and Eli and how they heard a audible voice and that whole story there? Look at this in 1 Samuel: "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground".
Samuel heard from God audibly, and when Samuel would say something, I mean, he's very powerful prophet. When Samuel would say something, you better take it to the bank. And God, if you'll see here, he said that he will let none of his words fall to the ground. And then look at chapter 4 and verse 1. It just simply says, "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel". Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. Now, one of the things you need to understand here is when God speaks audibly to you, it is so easy to deliver that Word: "I heard what God said. This is what he said". "I heard what God said, and this is what he said".
There's no issue of repeating what you heard God said. This was, oh, maybe 30 years ago. We were in the Coliseum in Los Angeles, and I came out on the stage, and I heard this, I mean, to the point, well, I turned, and the Lord said, "The woman on the front row with the white hair, tell her such-and-so," and I heard it. I mean, it was enough for me to turn my head. And I'm like, and that was easy. I just repeated what I just heard. Man, that woman fell out under the power of God, saying there's no way I could've known anything like that. And God healed her and delivered her, and I was kind of freaking out 'cause I'm like, "I just said what he just said".
It was pretty amazing to me, because I'm in front of these people, and I hear this audible voice, and I said it, and what happened? God didn't allow those words to fall to the ground. They had an impact on somebody's life. You need to be available for God to speak to you audibly. Somebody's life might be on the line. Some situation may be on the line, and you don't know how you know it except he said it. And this is very, very available today. It's very, very possible today, and so I need to go through the Scriptures, and let's look at these Scriptures in detail and see just what the Bible has to say about this audible voice of God that can lead, set free, and deliver people.
Let's look at Isaiah chapter 6:8, and I'll go back and forth to the King James and then the New Living Translation. Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8, he says, "Also I heard a voice. I heard the voice of the Lord". Now, what would you think if somebody came to you and said, "I heard the voice of the Lord"? See, you can't be moved by the world. They don't understand this. They're not reading it. I'm getting ready to show you what the Scripture has to say about it, and you're worried about what somebody has said, was going to respond to you when you say that.
Well, either you heard him or you didn't, but don't lie about it. You either heard him or you didn't. He said, "Also I heard the voice of the Lord", and what did he say? He said, "saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'" And he said, "Then said I, 'Here am I. Send me.'" Imagine the voice of the Lord coming to you and says, "Well, who shall I send? Who's gonna go and speak for me? Who's gonna go and do my bidding"? And Isaiah's just like, "Okay, it's gonna be me. I'll do it. I'll do the one. I'll be the one to do that".
I'm telling you, I'm believing God that you'll begin to hear the audible voice of God. I believe it comes when we dismiss our thinking from all of the clutter of the world. I believe it comes when we get in the Word of God. The Word of God, the written Word of God tunes your ear to be able to hear from him. You're not wasting your time when you're getting in the Word of God. It tunes your hearing. You know that was God, you see? But what happens, man, when that audible voice shows up and you turn to say, "Huh"? And sometimes I'm around the house, and I'm just kind of praying in the Holy Ghost early in the morning, and I think I hear something, and I'm like, "What'd you say, Taffi"? And she's sound asleep in there. I'm telling you, praise God, God will speak to his sheep, and his sheep will know his voice, but he'll speak audibly.
Look at this, Matthew chapter 3 and verse 17. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 17, and then we're gonna go to Matthew 17 and verse 5. But Matthew 3 and verse 17, now notice what he says: "And to a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased.'" You know the story. Here's Jesus being baptized by John, and "A voice from heaven", they heard it, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased". I tell you, that's powerful. Oh, I would've loved to have been in the assembly that day when a voice from heaven spoke, and it was heard. The voice of heaven spoke and it was heard, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased".
So nobody has to go and guess about it. Nobody has to go and spontificate and go and talk all this stuff about whether this is Jesus or not. The voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". You know, that voice is still available today. Look at Matthew chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17 and verse 5, he says, "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.'"
Now, again, you know, there was a time on the Mountain of Transfiguration where, you know, the disciples went with Jesus, and you had Moses, and you had Elijah, and you had Jesus, and God wanted to make it clear, a voice from heaven came out so that Peter and them could hear it, and this voice said, "This is my beloved Son. Hear him". Hear him. So John heard it, and Peter and John and James heard it: "This is my beloved Son. Hear him," not Elijah, not Moses. Elijah represented the prophets, and Moses represented the law. They both represented the law and the prophets. Jesus represented grace. He said, "Hear him". A voice said that. Come on, let's move on.
John chapter 12, verse 28 through 30. John chapter 12:28 through 30. The reality of this, to see these things in Scripture, hopefully, will just strengthen your faith. Verse 28, says, "Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" Verse 29, "The people therefore, that stood by, and heard the voice, said that it thundered. Others said, an angel spake to him". And in verse 30, "Jesus answered and said, 'This voice came not because of me, but for your sake.'"
I believe there are gonna be times in the future, I believe there are gonna be times in which where we're living now, where it's gonna take an audible voice of God to come for our sake, and I'm believing for that. And I'm thanking God for that audible voice that will be heard, that will be spoken by God will be heard by somebody on the earth for our sake. You can agree with me. We need to hear from the Lord right now. Our nation needs to hear from the Lord right now. Our leaders need to hear from the Lord right now. Our preachers and churches need to hear from the Lord, not a sermon. I believe in the audible voice of God to be heard, watch this, for our sake, amen.
Look at 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 17 through 18. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 17 to 18. Now check this out: He said, "For he received from God the Father. He received honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased.'" God is just gonna make sure you know who this is. Thank God he came and gave a personal, audible introduction of Jesus. "And this voice which came from heaven we heard", so it was spoken, and it was heard, "when we were with him in the holy mount". "We heard this voice. It was spoken. We heard it". Man, that's gonna happen. Y'all get ready for it.
Let's go to Acts chapter 9, verse 4 through 7. Acts chapter 9, verses 4 through 7. Now, look at this: "And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice", this is Saul now Paul, "He fell to the earth, and", Paul, or Saul, "heard a voice saying unto him, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?'" Verse 5, "And he said, 'Who art thou?'" So, obviously, Paul, or this time he was Saul, heard this voice, enough to respond, "'Who are thou, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom that persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.' And he trembling", I guess so, "He trembling and astonished said, 'Lord, what with thou have me to do?' And the Lord said unto him, 'Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.'" Verse 7, "And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man".
Oh, the people that stood there heard the voice, but only Saul could see the man. "They stood there speechless, hearing the voice," but only Saul saw the man. Man, I tell you, this is powerful, and I believe this kind of thing's gonna happen. There are some people on the planet that God has tucked away for a time such as this, and I believe that audible voice is gonna command them forth, gonna give them what they're supposed to be doing. And notice, Paul was a religious zealot. He was just so zealous about the Mosaic law, and half the stuff he did, he thought he was, you know, being obedient to the law. He was a religious man. But man, it took the voice of God, because of the stronghold that the Mosaic law had on him, it took the voice of God to break that religious bondage, call him to the ministry, listen to this, told him to go to the city, "And then, when you get to the city, I'mma tell you what you must do".
I'm telling you, man, there are certain things you're not gonna hear until you get to the place God told you to be. There are certain things you're not gonna hear until you get to that place called "there," that place called "there," and then you will hear some things. So if God's talking to you about "Go here," don't expect for him to say nothing else until you get where he told you to go, and there he'll begin to hear you, 'cause God's got all this stuff set up, who's gonna do what, where they're gonna do it, all that kind of stuff, and if you're really wanting the will of God for your life, you've got to be ready to hear God, don't be afraid to do what he tells you to do, and God knows where your faith is.
So if he has to choose to speak to you through a dream, a vision, a prophecy, or an audible voice, he knows how to speak to you to get through to you so you can do what you need to do. It's not as difficult as what people say: "Well, what if I miss it"? God knows how to speak to us in a way you ain't gonna miss it. You gonna know it was him. You gonna know it was him every single time. When the Lord told me to become a student of grace, I knew that was God. I knew that was God. I knew it with every fiber of my being that I was supposed to begin to teach this gospel of grace, and I knew it, and I knew I was supposed to be a student until Jesus comes back, continuing to learn, continuing to dig. You'll know it. God knows how to make sure you know what he telling you to do and what he's getting you to do, and this is pretty powerful, amen.
Let's look at Acts chapter 10 and verse 13. Acts chapter 10 and verse 13. He said, "And there came a voice to him," to Peter, and it said, "Rise, Peter. Kill and eat". I mean, again, breaking him from his tradition. A voice said, "Peter, go kill and eat". I'm telling you, God knows how to convince you. God knows how to put you in a place where you need to be. I'm so confident in that. I need you to be confident of that. I think that one of the major supernatural keys to this revival that is about to hit the earth is that men will begin to hear from God. And one of the things we've got to do, we've got to pursue peace. We gotta go after peace. We've got to get rid of the clutter. Satan constantly tries to attack our minds, to get us in clutter, to get us off focusing on God, and even to get you focusing on yourself or get you to focus on your past or get you to focus on your mistakes, anything except focusing on Jesus, why? God's getting ready to speak.
One word from God will change everything. I don't need a million words from God. One word from God will change every situation. It's getting ready to happen. Get yourselves ready for an invasion of God's leadership. Listen, God knows what he's doing, right? The devil thinks that, you know, he's winning, and he thinks, "Well, you know, I'm finally defeating God and the body of Christ".
Dude, you don't even know what you're talking about. One word from God... see, God's taking all the stuff that we've gone through, and he's using it to mature us to a place, to bring us to a place, to grow us up, to teach us how to walk like the mother teaches that two-year-old baby how to walk. He's encouraging us, and he's telling us to get up. God knows how to talk. God knows how to speak. I mean, some of the very things I'm doing right now, I've been convinced in my heart to do it because I'm being led by the Holy Spirit. That's the most powerful thing you can do as a Christian is be led by the Holy Spirit. You find yourself doing something?
Ask yourself a question: "Where is God in this? Is this Spirit-led? Is this something that God wants me to do," or is it something that you came up with? I don't want to operate and live my life by good ideas. I wanna live my life by God ideas, where they're anointed. I wanna know that I'm being directed by the Holy Spirit, because when you're directed by the Holy Spirit and you know God told you to do it, there's a strength that comes, there's a confidence that comes, there's an assurance that comes, and you hang on that, knowing that everything's gonna be all right because you got it from God, amen, praise God.
Now, look at Acts chapter 10:15. Go down a couple of verses. He said, "And the voice spake unto him again the second time, 'What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.'" He's trying to break him from his religious beliefs, and I'm telling you, God knows when it takes an audible voice. And you don't need to be going and being concerned about, "Well, is God gonna speak to me through prophecy or through a dream"? Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, God knows how to speak to you, and he knows the best way to reach you. He knows the best way to reach you, praise God, but I'm telling you, this world hadn't seen anything yet. There is a move of God, a move of the Spirit that is about to hit this planet and has already started.
And I tell you, the devil will never be able to recover from this. There's a lot of things that God has promised that are getting ready to take place. There's a lot of things that the wicked's gonna have to give up, praise God, and we are gonna be prepared in the position where God told us to be in, but a lot of that is going to be based on the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I can't do things on my own. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go except God show me what to do. I don't know where to go unless God showed me where to go. I don't even sometimes know what to say unless God fills my mouth with good things to say.