Communications With God, 12-1-68

by Wesley A. Swift - 12-l-68

As we turn in our subject this afternoon---"Communications with God" this is one of the most valuable subjects that you and I could discuss. Because there is no more important area of subjects to discuss than to have communications with God, and be informed on all things. More than this the communications with God is a very vital subject, for the household of God. To the family of God, to the descendants of God. To the race which HE established, to the kingdom which He established. And from the areas of the direction and how to bring about all these things, all of this requires communication with God.

We are in a strange and peculiar time. For in our time we find that the National Council of Churches, and the World Council of Churches no longer hold a solid position on the Deity of God. The embodiment of God as the man Christ Jesus or the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact just a few weeks ago we listened to one from the World Council of Churches as he said that God is just a vast feeling of emotions, that could be called back by people as a force of nature. Not a real personality but just a kind of moving emotional thing. Then another man inside these two councils of churches said that all gods are a kind of man's expression, as to what he believes as the highest principal. Thus God is a principal and therefore we should worship this principal as a common force of all human advancement.

As I listen to these men, not only is this a kind of extreme thinking of theology, but they do not have any concept of God. When ask to pray then these men will be seen in public and they will say pious things, but they never mention what they mean by them, nor do they ever mention the god that they serve. HE is just an illusive God to them. In fact the strange thing is that as they move in to pray at this function or that function, they say a beautiful piece and then that is the end of that measure.

Now; we may say that this is one extreme of theology today, and that they do not have any communication with God for they do not know that God exists. They do not know who is, or where he came from or where he is going. All that they know is that he has a kind of spirit, which they also have. Such a mind as operates in an agnostic or evolutionists, which brings man out of protoplasm, and asks you to believe that all of these changes came out about because of a million to one chances. Of course the modern scientists know that the natural selection is not from the million and one chances as cast off from this theory of evolution. But at the same time these Clergy of today who move under the influence of the National or World Council of Churches have no communications with God.

At the same time there is no area more responsive than a church which moves under the spirit of God and makes this known to their constituents There is no more important area for a pastor of the church than to have communication with God, for he needs the messages that might be available to him thru this communication which would guide him in his work, which is for the salvation of the kingdom and for the building of the kingdom of God. By the same token the average fundamentalists today has very little communication with God, either. You might say, but how is that? Well, he knows that he is, and he understands all of that. He knows of the blood atonement and the return of Christ and so forth, but he is so busy trying to get his sermon for Sunday because he does not hear from God. Even tho he says that he believes all of this his vision is rather vague. In fact, he has lots of prayer. He prays at every function, he prays at his church. He prays all of the time. He thanks God for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And a lot of Christians do this also, they thank God for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and maybe they squeeze two or three minutes out of the rest of the day to talk to God on the side, but then they are real busy so they do not talk to God very much.

But I want you to know, that even the fundamentalists is also too busy. He will grab the phone and talk for a few minutes then hang it up. So what good is a telephone in a situation like that. Do you know, my friends, that this is the way the average person, the average clergyman prays to God? They never wait for an answer. They just tell God then hang up for they never wait for an answer. Probably today less than 25% of the real church is in real communication with God. So you say but how do you communicate with God?---Well the bible is full of communications with God. In fact if you take the communications with God out of the scriptures then you do not have very much left. And in the Scripture we start out with the very beginning of the records that we have in the book of Genesis. And as Daniel and other carry forward these things we see that the communications with God was a very important part of the situation. Yet the powers of darkness want to cut off man's communications with God. The principal powers of Lucifer wrestled with an Angel 21 days to block a message coming to Daniel that God was sending to him.

Going back into the book of Genesis we see that when God wanted to embody his own offspring in the body of Adam that Angels came down and walked and talked with Adam. And this was just an open conversation with this man of earth--Adam who walked with God. In fact before the fall of Adam then Adam not only walked with God but he heard God as he spake to him. This was a common experience because the spirit of Adam was of the spirit of the Eternal YAHWEH. For remember that Adam had come out of heaven and into earth. And it was not until this violation of divine law, for God had told Adam what he was not to do. For he was not to contaminate his blood stream with those of this 'tree of knowledge and of evil. ' For those of this 'tree' were already in violation of God's law and had knowledge of good and evil. As Adam looked the world over, he said but there is no help mate for me among this people. And God said: --I know this.---So he put a deep sleep on Adam and HE prepared Eve out of Adam so that they might be one flesh for they were his offspring.

Now; we note here that after the fall then Adam was hiding in the brush for he knew that he was naked. And this was not just nakedness of the body but of the covering that had covered him entirely. So in this circumstance then what was Adam doing, but hiding in the brush. So God comes down and walks in the garden, and he called to Adam in a clear and audible voice. And finally Adam comes out of hiding and he admits as to the things that he has done. And God talks with Adam and tells him as to the things that shall have to be done because of his fall. He promises Adam that the 'seed of the woman' (Israel) shall bruise the serpents head. Then he tells him the story of the Messiah, that he himself will become embodied in human form, and of all of these things to come. And God speaks with an audible voice.

I want you to know that communications with God in the book of Genesis was in an audible voice, speaking to his offspring, his embodied children. Of course now the embodied children were now in a fallen state and did not have the spiritual communications available that they once possessed. All thru the scriptures we find that the communications with God came from a conversation that God was holding with man. And in this book of Genesis we find that when the time was come for the flood of Noah's time that God spake to Noah. And God said to Noah: "come now, thou and all of thy house into the Ark. for indeed I have seen righteousness before me in this generation.” And here we find all of these things which God spake to Noah, how he told Noah all of these things that he was to do. And coming over into the eleventh chapter of Genesis and again we see how God said: behold as he saw the building of the tower of Babel. And HE talks to people, communicates to people his thoughts.

And in the 12th chapter, then God calls Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeas and where we ask would Abraham get into communications with God, if God did not come to him. But the LORD said unto Abraham:--'Get the out of thy father’s house and from this land, unto the land that I shall show thee.'

HE spoke to Abraham and he told him that he would make his name great, and that he would bless him and make his seed a great nation and a company of nations. Then He would bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee. And in this all of the family that was in earth was to be blessed. So Abraham departed the land as the LORD had spake unto him. Thus, he heard the audible voice of God.

Later the LORD would come to Abraham when he was 99 years of age and he would say:---I am Almighty God, I will make my covenant with thee, and walk before me perfect, and I will multiply thee extremely. And Abraham fell on his face, as he heard these words:--"Behold my covenant us with thee."--"Thou shall be a father of many nations, and I will make thee fruitful and I shall establish my covenant between thee and me, and thy seed after thee for an Everlasting covenant, so that I may be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” So Abraham had talked to god. He heard Him, and he knew he had an everlasting covenant with God, thru communications. For he heard God and he knew that he talked to him, that God spake to him. So this had to be an audible voice, forever since the fall then the covering of glory was gone from Adam man and his descendants so there was no inner spiritual communication so it had to be an audible voice of God's talking to Abraham.

This had to be a choice vessel that could receive this. Just like the High Priest who would go into the Holy of Holies and then thru the use of the ‘Urim’ and the 'Thummim’ they would get the direct voice for the knowledge of God. This was a mechanical contrivance which God had prepared so as to get in touch with his sons and his daughters. God said that he did not give them a new heart. So they had a heart of stone, and they would have this until he made a new covenant with the house of Judah and the house of Israel. And with this new covenant I will give them a new heart, a heart of flesh, and I will write my laws upon their hearts and upon their minds. Thus the communications with God was hearing his voice and understand his words.

Come over into the book of Exodus, and we find that Moses is keeping his father-in-law’s flock and so God set a bush on fire to attract the attention of Moses. And here in the third chapter of Exodus, then Moses turned aside to see this bush that was burning but never burned. And as YAHWEH saw that Moses was paying attention then he called to Moses from out of that burning bush and Moses said, "Here am I.” And he was told to take off his shoes for the place where he was standing was hallowed ground. So Moses would not be able to stand the electric charge that surrounded this place unless he grounded himself. So Moses had to take his shoes off in order to stand in the presence of God.

And Moses standing here before this burning bush heard the voice of YAHWEH who said; "I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Isaac and Jacob. And Moses fell upon his face, so he did not see the face of the LORD. And Moses listened as YAHWEH said that he had heard the cry of his people in Egypt, because of their taskmasters. So he was to send Moses to take his people out of Egypt and to lead them to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, and all of those in the old land that HE gave to their fathers. So Moses was to go to the children of Israel in Egypt and tell them that their Father YAHWEH had heard their cry. And Moses then said, but if I go to the children of Israel and say that the God of their fathers sent me then they will say:--"What is HIS name?" So they say they have no communication with God so they want to know his name, so they can determine who HE is. --

Now; I know what the King James version says but it is not properly translated. Here it says that:---"I am that I am.” But it should say, "YAHWEH, the Eternal hath sent thee." And Moses was to go to the children of Israel and say unto them---'YAHWEH, hath sent me unto you.' So Moses went back to Egypt and he spoke to the children of Israel and he said that you can go down thru the courses in many places, where in we do not have time now to go thru but then we come over to the Law at mount Sinai, and God spake there in an audible voice, unto Moses. He told him to take the tablets and carve the law into the stone. And we are told that the LORD had descended in a great cloud-covered vehicle, and that he had proclaimed the name of YAHWEH. And that HE, the Almighty YAHWEH had commanded him to drive out before him the Amorites, the Hivites, the Perezites, and the Jebusites and the Canaanites out of the land which I will send thee to. And you are not to make a covenant with any of that old land, lest it be a snare unto thee. For you are to destroy their altars, and cut down their groves. And you are to worship no other God, for YAHWEH, thy God, is a jealous God.

So once again Moses said; this is what we are to do, for I heard HIM, and He commanded me as to what we are to do. You are never to make a covenant with any of those people who will be in that land, for this will destroy you. After all this is God's world and He is going to rule it and we are his people. This was communication with God. This is the message left for us---I have communication with God. Yes, it was an audible voice that they heard. And it was a very vital voice.

I think as we turn into the book of Samuel, as how God called to Samuel who was in the temple and at this time was very old. Samuel slept in the entrance to the temple so that he could attend the various altar fires and so forth even when a small boy. And we find here that as Samuel laid down to sleep the LORD called to Samuel. And he ran to Eli and said: here am I, thou callest me. But Eli said, I did not call you, go lay down. Well, Samuel had never met the God of Israel, so he did not know him. But Samuel laid down and then again he heard the voice saying; Samuel, Samuel, in an audible voice. So he gets up again and runs to Eli, but Eli said, 'I did not call you, go lay down and go to sleep'. Well Samuel goes back and when about to sleep again he hears a voice saying; "Samuel, Samuel." So again he gets up and runs to Eli, but Eli then explains,--saying, 'That is the God of Israel who is calling you, so when you hear him again then you say, “hear am I, thy servant." Then later God stood at the foot of Samuel's bed and called again to him, and Samuel said, "Yes, LORD, here am I." Then God told Samuel that he was going to raise him up to be a great prophet in Israel. That he would unveil his mind and will thru Samuel, to Israel. That he would make him spiritually alert to his will thus Samuel could guide the people of Israel. And the boy Samuel as God spoke these things to him was thrilled with this knowledge of the most High God. So we see again that this was the system of communications that runs thru the Old Testament, for God was communicating with his people in earth.

Joshua, remember, talked to God. And Gideon was hiding when God came along hiding behind a corn crib, and God came along and told him to get out from behind that corn crib and gather up the children of Israel for they were going to fight. And Gideon said that the God of Israel, Isaac and Jacob called me. This was direct communications.

In the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, we find that God called his prophets also. And we turn to the time when the king died, and Isaiah said, 'I seen the LORD, high and lifted up and his glory filled the temple.' And Isaiah said that he seen the Seraphims, and they were saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy and the whole earth was filled with HIS Glory'. This Temple was filled with radiance and light, and God talked with Isaiah, and he talked with Jeremiah. And the LORD also made Jeremiah a high priest. And the LORD spake unto Jeremiah. And the word coming to Jeremiah was:---"Thus saith the LORD God of Israel. Write thee all of the words that I have spoken unto thee, and put them in a book." Thus you now have the book of Jeremiah. For God put the book of Jeremiah into the Consciousness of Jeremiah.

Thus, God had a way of contacting his people Israel. He did this thru the prophets and he did this thru the patriarchs, and thru men he raised up for leadership.

In the New Testament, the Apostles like Matthew, Luke and John, they communicated with Him and Paul then also, and they gave you the necessary book of the Gospel and the book of Acts, because they WALKED WITH HIM. They saw HIM as YAHWEH, NOW YAHSHUA, EMBODIED God and they listened to HIS voice. They saw the miracles that he performed and they heard the words that he spoke. They heard the words to the Judean Jews and they heard all of this, from the mouth of God. They heard his voice as he embodied as a man, talked to men telling them the things that they needed to know. There was no question but that these were the instructions of God for they had God there with them to make those instructions. In fact what had such an effect on Mark, Luke and Matthew and John, was the fact that HE said he had to go away and they saw HIM crucified. And as HE dropped his head and said, "It is finished," they thought that their communication with God was gone. But of course the power of the resurrection demonstrated to them the power thereof and the super natural face of it. But they waited until they were charged with supernatural power, or spiritual power, thus they waited in Jerusalem until they had this power from on high. Again that covenant that was made back in the days of Joel was fulfilled, and the promise in the book of Jeremiah, as he said: "I make a new covenant with the house of Judah and the House of Israel. And I write my law in their hearts. And now I give them a living temple, and a heart of flesh, or a living heart until each man became a high priest in his own holy temple.

This is one reason why Peter declares to and you have unveiled in the writings of the Apostle Paul, that your body is the temple of the holy spirit. That you are embodied in a physical temple and that your spirit came down out of the heavens and is no embodied in a physical body. And you can now have communion with God. And he has now blotted out your transgressions as far as the east is from the west, and he remembers them against you no more. And that all men, in the household of God and in this family of God have communication with God in their own holy of Holies. Jesus said: 'I stand at the door and knock, and if any man will hear me, I will come in and I will eat with him, I will dine with him and I will break the bread of life.' This is vitality of truth.

Now; again we turn in the New Testament age and we have advanced into the literal new age of having God abiding In you spiritually. With His word in their holy of Holies. Every Christian, in fact every Israelite today has this ability to communicate with God, in a very complete sense.

Now; we turn to the Apostle Paul who was stopped on the road to Damascus and he heard the voice of God. Then as he starts to respond, the God starts to utilize him and he takes him on heavenly trips into the plains of spirit. And he shows and tells him all of the things which he used to tell you before the earth was framed, and all of the covenants of God, and all of the things which God said concerning his kingdom from before the foundation of the world, is opened up in the mind of the Apostle Paul. And Paul was told to write these things in a book and he declares them in his epistles. And He writes of the Most High God and then he says: Your God is the Temple of the Holy Ghost. And as you move into all of the Epistles that you have in the scriptures. Then God speaks out of this inner temple. And as the Apostle Paul speaks then he speaks as tho with the voice of God. He speaks with authority because he moves under the pattern of inspiration. The ministers and pastors of the church today are supposed to speak with authority, under the inspiration of God. There is no other excuse for them to be ministers. Many of the ministers today make their sermons without God and then get up to make their prayers, and then never take time to listen for an answer. These people are not going to move your nation very far out of this area of darkness.

I want you to know that this also goes with people. They better take time to hear the voice of God. For God's voice is there, and not only does he work inside the areas of the heart, but there are problems that can be satisfied by hearing directly from God himself. And as your spirit is filled with the knowledge of God then you find yourself answering without speaking out loud. You then go along and whether you know it or not you pray without speaking.

So what does this mean, simply that your life is filled with the knowledge of the kingdom, the knowledge of the word, the knowledge of things transpiring. And you find yourself, not talking to yourself but talking to God and he is answering you and bringing back into the consciousness of your Holy of Holies answers that are true and positive. This, my friends, is communication with God.

This is the way it was with John who gave you the book of Revelation, which Christ gave to him to give unto the church. He was in the spirit on the LORD'S day and suddenly he heard the words: "I am Alpha and Omega,” and John then fell on his face as he saw the glory and Majesty of God. And the voice said: 'come on, John, stand upon your feet. I am none other than the one who walked with you. Write this book of Revelation for it is communication with God.’ This is communications concerning the strategies, and concerning the Antichrist, and the triumph of the Kingdom, and eventually the victories of the power of God. This is victory over Mystery Babylon over the economic programs that are striving to be over God's kingdom, and with the design to control the world. Communication came directly and became absolute in that time.

I want you to know that there never ceased to be communication with God. When your pilgrim fathers landed here, on that rock bound eastern coast they got out of their ships and dropped to their knees to pray. And this was not the first time they had prayed, you can be sure of that. And they were thanking God for having brought them safely there. And they were in communication with God, as they put up their rough hewn logs and assembled to pray. And they realized that their church was the center of their civilization and culture. And they built their culture around that church. And the man that you selected for their pastor was a surveyor and a country gentlemen.

And now the business men say that they do not have time to pray. But I want you to know that the older men knew that they were in trouble. This man at Valley Forge dropped to his knees in the snow to pray. He knew that he was in trouble and he was in anguish for the condition of his troops. And he had communication with God. In Face God gave a great vision to George Washington. He showed him success in the coming civil war. And he showed him the world wars and the attacks made by the Negroes and the Communists. He showed him the riots and the battling in the streets. But all of this meant deliverance to George Washington, this son of the Republic. And then as he sees the light coming and the glory of God, and he hears these words: 'Son of the Republic look and live.’ and the last things he sees is this mighty work of the Kingdom of God, and Christianities place. And thus George Washington was in communication with God. And this man altho a business man when he became President was not too busy to take time to pray. This was not just a piece that he recited this was a prayer to make contact with his Father. Thus God showed to George Washington the things he needed to know as to what our nation had in store for it.

Thus, communication with God is a very vital thing. And I want you to know that it is time that people pay more attention to the things of God. Instead of just telling God and then going about their business.

It is true that 'all Israel is going to be saved'. He talks about his Grace and how his people will perform. But I want you to know this that people will walk in darkness when they could walk in the great light of the goodness of God. We do not have the time to talk about this anymore now. But I want you to know that this day in the era you are living. The covenant that you are living under, the reopening of the covenants of God's spirit, the ability to receive an answer from God. The guidance of God is the guide for the transformation of your history.

So as you and I pray to our Father, the whole concept of life and living is tuned to the program of Christ and his kingdom, and to the victories which He has ordained. And to the triumph which is ahead. And as we are guided in these areas even as Moses was guided by the spoken word and Gideon was guided by the spoken word while Jeremiah had the spoken word given to him as a quotation.

Now; inside of you then Christ says: 'I stand at the door and knock. And any man who opens that door then I come in and sup with you. And the bread of life not only guides you, but it also promises success to the household of God's kingdom. There is never going to be a period of such importance as the one you are now living in, concerning getting the guidance of God, for survival from day to day.

So as we talk about the communication with God, from the ‘Urim and the Thummim', to the heart of stone, to the relief in the heart of flesh. To the law written in your heart that in the magnitude of God's holy spirit, we have before us again, in this area of development, that which has never occurred to any other race on the face of the earth, from the foundation of the world until this time. And to this hour we look forward to the things that are coming to pass. We are positive that they are coming to pass. We believe the word of God. And it becomes an area of communication with us under the guidance of His Spirit.

End of message.