Silence the Third Voice: Keeping Your Joy Beside Still Waters
Dr RJ Sing, 40 min, Part 3 of Experiencing God's Divine Favour
Originally recorded as “Experiencing Divine Favour”
Sermon outline
God's voice says the Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want, so shut out every voice that contradicts it, guard your joy and peace, and nothing will be able to hold you back.
Main text
- Psalm 23:1-6
Opening
He holds up the new monthly Chronicle and the theme for April, and tells those who have had losses not to give up but to sow in the time of loss. Before teaching he gives what he calls a warning from the pastor about a third voice, and a word about honour. He then welcomes the church with Romans 10:17 and says they are camping on Psalm 23, which he is breaking into bite-sized pieces so they never forget it.
Before the message: silence the third voice
In the Garden of Eden there was God's voice, and the voice of Adam and Eve, who were one. They were safe and blessed until they let in a third voice, which was satanic. That voice still comes through a neighbour, a friend, a colleague or even someone at church, and it brings criticism and strife. Keeping it out is your responsibility, not God's, and you replace it with the word of God.
Illustration: Of the twelve spies, two came back with a good report and ten with a negative one. He hopes that is not the ratio in church that day.
“It's your responsibility, not God, to keep out the third voice out of your Garden of Eden.”
- Joshua 1:8
- Numbers 13:26-33
- Genesis 2:24
- Genesis 3:1-6
Keep a culture of thankfulness and honour
We live in a negative and unthankful society where a generation has lost respect for older people. The church must preserve thankfulness and respect, both for those in authority and for those who went before us, however educated we may be. When you honour your parents and your elders, God honours you. He adds that a pastor stands in the office of a priest, and that judging him as a mere man is where people begin to lose ground.
Illustration: Over dinner, an elderly woman visiting from Scotland told him that in Britain too the youth have lost respect for older people.
“We must not lose respect for authority.”
- Exodus 20:12
Make God's word supreme: blessings overflow
He reads Psalm 23 in the King James and then in the Living Bible, and stops at 'blessings overflow'. The psalm says nothing about the country you live in or the economy you face. Each person must make the individual decision to put God's word above everything they are experiencing, and keep reminding themselves that they are blessed.
“You must make a very individual, personal decision to make God's word supreme over everything in your life.”
- Psalm 23:1-6
- Deuteronomy 28:6
- Hebrews 13:6
Recap: the language of faith, and secrets one and two
He recaps earlier weeks: death and life are in the tongue, and Satan cannot curse you but wants you to speak fear and doubt over yourself. Secret one is that the Lord is my shepherd, the redeeming, resurrected and returning great shepherd, so you will not starve, beg or lack any good thing. When the third voice says you will lack, silence it with the first voice, the word that created the heavens and the earth. Secret two is that he makes me lie down in green pastures: God provides physically, and your home, your business and your church are green pastures.
Illustration: The angel called Gideon a mighty man of valour while Gideon was calling himself the least. God-made people have the buoyancy of God: they float and never sink to the bottom.
“That's the difference between self-made and God-made.”
- Proverbs 18:21
- Psalm 23:1
- Genesis 1:3
- Psalm 119:105
- Judges 6:12-15
- Psalm 23:2
The third point: he leads me beside the waters of peace
David's words carry a sense of satisfaction that God is with him, and they picture the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Peace and joy go together: lose your joy and you lose your peace, and joy is your strength. A pastor's responsibility is to feed the sheep, but keeping your joy is your own. When joy goes, he knows a person is listening to the third voice, functioning without the unction to function.
Illustration: A doctor asks you to stick out your tongue because he is looking for symptoms. In the same way he looks at faces for the joy of the Lord. He also describes watching a young couple on the beach, the girl giggling the whole time, and wanting believers to have that kind of joy.
“Don't let things move you. You are destined by God to move things.”
- Psalm 23:2
- Acts 20:24
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Proverbs 17:22
- Jeremiah 15:16
By my God I have leaped over a wall
If you keep the peace and the joy of the Lord, no wall will hold you back. People at work who dislike you cannot stop you when you have God's approval. They will leave, and God will promote you in front of them. If the waters are turbulent, speak to them: go in ten minutes early, bind strife and speak peace over the workplace, the business and the home.
Illustration: A family of four can have fifty fights in a month, so imagine a church of people from many backgrounds. He does not play referee. In his prayer time he speaks peace over the church and commends the people to the grace of God.
“God gets a certain amount of glory when He promotes you in front of your enemies.”
- Psalm 18:29
Stay in your Garden of Eden: the journey called faith
Do not let someone walk you out of the place where God is making you flourish. Isaac wanted to leave in the famine, but God told him to sow in that land, and he reaped a hundredfold in the same year. God is growing your confidence in him step by step, as he did with the pastor himself. Failure is a stepping stone, so keep trying until the door opens.
Illustration: He was once so analytical that before a holiday he wrote out a packing list, the exact route, the stops and a budget. God had to teach him to step out for land and projects running into hundreds of thousands and even millions with not a cent in the budget, and God came through again and again.
“Your failure is a stepping stone to success.”
- Genesis 26:1-3
- Genesis 26:12
- Deuteronomy 28:13
- Genesis 22:17
Putting it into practice
- Shut out critical voices and replace them with the word of God.
- Stay thankful, and honour older people and those in authority.
- Guard your joy as your own responsibility and let nobody steal it.
- Speak peace over your workplace, business, home and church.
- Stay planted where God has put you and keep stepping out in faith.
Closing
He says the message is short and he will continue next week. He prophesies that those who keep their peace and joy will leap over every wall, and declares them an unstoppable force. With Adrian on the keyboard he tells the church to talk their way to success and leads them in a confession of wealth, strength and peace over their marriages, homes, families, church and workplaces.
Declarations he led
- I'm not allowing you to steal my joy.
- I'm wealthy. Strong. Abounding in the blessings of God. I have the peace of God. Nothing moves me. The Lord is with me.
- I speak peace over my marriage, my home, my family, my church, my workplace. Everything is blessed because of me. My hands are blessed. My confidence is rising.
In his words
- “When strife comes into your life, it is a blessing blocker.”
- “It is too expensive to lose in the economy of God.”
- “We function, but we don't have the unction to function.”
- “Your joy belongs to you.”
- “Talk your way to success. Talk your way to victory.”
Every scripture in this message
- Joshua 1:8
- Numbers 13:26-33
- Genesis 2:24
- Genesis 3:1-6
- Exodus 20:12
- Romans 10:17
- Psalm 23:1-6
- Deuteronomy 28:6
- Hebrews 13:6
- Proverbs 18:21
- Genesis 1:3
- Psalm 119:105
- Judges 6:12-15
- Acts 20:24
- Nehemiah 8:10
- Proverbs 17:22
- Jeremiah 15:16
- Psalm 18:29
- Genesis 26:1-3
- Genesis 26:12
- Deuteronomy 28:13
- Genesis 22:17