Following the Good Shepherd

00:00 - Speaker 1 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you to profit. He leads you, he will give you a word, he will whisper into your spirit. He's leading you to a place of plenty, a place of prosperity. In the Psalms they said Lord, you have brought us into a wealthy place. He didn't say I'm the God of nonprofit. 00:29 - Speaker 2 He said I'm the God that'll cause you to profit, to increase. That's where he's leading you to. Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 01:06 - Speaker 1 Oh, welcome to those of you joining us online. Nice to have you with us. I hope you're in another state, as many of you are. For some reason you couldn't come. You made it home from work at 10 am or something. But I know those of you joining us online, it wasn't the rain that kept you away. 01:33 Luke, chapter 1, starting in verse 26,. Typically a Christmas passage, but it has nothing to do with Christmas for our purposes here this morning. Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her Rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her Do not be afraid, mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord. God will give him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And then Mary said to the angel how can this be, since I do not know a man? How am I going to have a divine child when I can't even have a natural child? I've never been physically intimate. And the angel answered and said to her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now, indeed, elizabeth, your relative, that's John the Baptist's mom, has also conceived a son in her old age and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible. Say that with me, for with God, nothing will be impossible. There are a few core passages in the Bible that have forever marked me and shaped the way I relate to the Lord, the way I go about living life, really the way I go about pastoring, and this would be one of those passages, specifically this verse right here For with God, nothing will be impossible. In the Greek, that word for nothing is rhema, which means word or spoken word. And let me also just say this Whenever you hear something and it sounds like it's a departure from a traditional way of it being taught, or it's the first time you're hearing it, or you wonder, you're skeptical. 04:24 It's good to be skeptical. Just don't be cynical. And there is a difference. God doesn't mind skeptics. That just means you've been deceived a few times, you've learned some lessons and now you want to make sure that you're following the truth. There's a group called the Bereans in the Book of Acts and they listen to the apostles and then it says they went home and searched the scriptures themselves to make sure that those things the apostles preached were in there, whether these things were so. The Bible says so it's okay to be skeptical, cynical. You've gone too far. The Pharisees were cynical, those religious leaders were cynical and Jesus didn't even try to help or teach into or convert cynics. Skeptic's good, cynic's bad. So everybody should be somewhat skeptical. 05:09 And what I'm about to share with you right now, I encourage you to go and ask Chat, ask Grok, dive into the Greek yourself. I don't know if any of you still Google I certainly don't. What's Google? You know, I took my son to a movie Fantastic Four and right before the movie movie, Google had a commercial before the movie and I'm like, ah, you know, your time is up. That's why, for the first time all these years, you never advertised. Now remember that I was like, look, they're on their way out. They have to go now advertise their services because no one's Googling. But put it in and you'll find this. You'll find this. You'll find that that word for thing is rhema, which means spoken word, because the Greeks had such an understanding of the power of words and they believed words become things that the word for thing is the word word. 06:01 Here's a better rendition of that verse, a paraphrase or really a more accurate translation. For no word rhema. Get familiar with that word rhema. It means spoken word, for no spoken word, no rhema from God shall be without power. That's what this means. I know we love this verse in the English. It's a good verse. In the English there's been whole songs, all things are possible Based off this verse, dozens of songs based off of this verse. 06:33 But it'll really bless you when you understand that what the holy scriptures are communicating here, what Gabriel, the messenger of God himself, is saying, is no spoken word from God, no word of the Lord will be impossible for him to perform. In other words, God's word is so pregnant and as soon as he speaks it, it contains the power to fulfill that thing that he's promising to you. Mary has a legitimate question. Wow, gabriel comes in. He doesn't, like you know, butter her up or anything. He doesn't do any small talk, he just goes right for it. You're blessed, you're highly favored, and you've heard about the Messiah. He's coming through you. How are these things going to be? This is hard to bear, for with God, I know it's hard for you to bear, but no word of his will be impossible to perform. I'll read it one more time, exactly as it comes, for no word from God shall be without power. This means that whenever God speaks, his word is self-fulfilling. He himself supplies the power to perform it. 07:45 Why is this so important? This is so important because it means that one of the most important things we, as believers, can do is get a word from God. When you get a word from God, you can take it to the bank. When you get a word from God, you're unstoppable. When you have a word God, you're unstoppable when you have a word not just from the scriptures, but a spoken word directly from you, which is always backed up and supported by the scriptures. In other words, a spoken word from the Lord can never contradict what's already in his written word. Amen. 08:19 Somebody said God spoke to me and they say something completely unbiblical. Rest assured, God didn't speak to them. Spoke to me and they say something completely unbiblical. Rest assured, God didn't speak to them. But this should make us value the word of God, prize the word of God spoken to us and hungry to hear from God. I can do anything if I just have a word from the Lord about it. I can go through anything as long as I'm hearing from heaven. The loneliest feeling as a Christian is going through something and you feel like there's silence. Yeah, in fact, if you read the scriptures in the Old Testament thank God this isn't in the New Testament in the Old Testament, when it describes Israel in a cast off or depressed state, it says and the word of the Lord was scarce in those days. So scarce word of the Lord equals depression, equals a rut. Rich word of the Lord equals a prosperous life. 09:17 So 2021, for example, was a very, very rough year for me personally, because it was a rough year for the church. We had just gone through 2020. And if you're not from New York City, you know. When I share with other friends from around the country, they really don't know what I'm talking about. They didn't know how bad it was here, but if you were in California or New York in 2020, some of you are looking at me like you still don't remember how bad it was. 09:44 It's really funny about 2020 and COVID. It's like people have PTSD and they don't even want to think about it. They don't want to talk about it. Maybe they debated so much back then they don't even want to bring it up. Maybe they're embarrassed at how they behaved and they just wish it would go away. Yo, 2020 was crazy. People lost their minds. Do you remember people walking around with purple gloves up to their elbows and N95 masks? And you know, if you're six feet away, you're okay, but if you're five feet away, oh, respect my boundaries. It was nuts. We went from living a normal life to, all of a sudden, you can't come into church. That's when I just realized we have to own our own building so that nobody could ever block us from having church again. 10:34 And so the first thing that happened in 2020. We used to have four locations manhattan east village, manhattan midtown, bro, brooklyn, williamsburg and the Astoria here location Six weekend services, covid comes. The first location to immediately get hit was the Manhattan location. You know why? Because the average lifespan this is a fact. The average lifespan of a Manhattanite is three to five years. This is a fact. The average lifespan of a Manhattanite is three to five years. And don't think of your friend who lives on Avenue C or your grandma in somewhere where she's been. Your average lifespan of a Manhattanite is they graduate college, they come to Manhattan, they get a job. Three to five years, they stay, make good money, then go buy a house in Texas. 11:23 And so our phones start ringing off the hook, emails start coming in All of our leaders, all of these precious people. They say look, this was already by April and May, the moment they realized it wasn't going to be. Quote unquote. Two weeks to slow the spread. Remember that March 13th. Two weeks to slow to spread. After two weeks it wasn't two weeks we realized this is going on till the break of dawn. This is indefinitely. We start getting phone calls and emails saying look, we're leaving, especially anybody with kids or those who are married. We're leaving and guess where they were going? To Four main states North Carolina, south Carolina, florida and Texas. So we lost a lot of people and we're realizing, wow, our church may never, ever look the same. 12:12 Then, right around May, I started to kind of wake up a little bit, going, huh, this really seems like a lot of government overreach. This really seems like a lot of government overreach and there really seems to be a lot, a lot to do about a virus that has a less than 1% mortality rate. I feel like it's 2020, the way people are quiet and looking at me. All right, first service. I had doctors here nodding right at me, agreeing with me. Now we have Internet scientists still looking at me sideways. All right, let me put it another way If we did nothing this has nothing to do with my message, but I like it if you're perturbed Because you can't be so deceived in one area of your life and then be honest in another area, like if you're still in the matrix, if you're still believing everything you hear on the TV and you're trusting big daddy government and you're in a dangerous spot, you got to wake up. 13:13 If we did nothing back in 2020, we would have still had the same exact mortality rate If we did nothing. So how can you not remember? Well, good thing we have a control group and the control group is called the country of Sweden. And they did nothing and they lost less than 1%. We did everything. Businesses destroyed, churches decimated, people lost their jobs, people went nuts. We had people in our church who lost their minds, single people who couldn't leave their house. They could, but in their minds they couldn't leave their house. I would call them in September and there was still Clorox wiping their groceries. Still less than 1% mortality. It's the same thing. But people don't want to admit wow, I lived like a fool all those months for nothing. They can't do that. So they well. No, you know, we all had to do our part and love our neighbor. And, sorry, you did nothing. You know how, I know how any doctor who's honest, you say well, I have my, you have your doctors. Let me tell you what my doctors say. Sorry, my doctors weren't given the whole backing of the media empire. They paraded around their doctors. 14:31 An airborne respiratory virus, a corona Airborne respiratory. There's been others. You cannot mitigate it, you cannot manage it. The only way you could have mitigated it is. You put every single person in a bubble, hermetically sealed, for a month. We couldn't do that, like in space, you know, just cryogenically freeze everybody until the virus dies and then bring them back. So you could not manage it. Yet remember all of the fuss in trying to manage it, and I didn't do this in the first service, but you asked for it. I love you. You asked for it, so watch this. I'm talking about how bad it was in 21. I'm going to lose 50 people. 15:16 So I start challenging the COVID narrative. You know, we opened up. We were the first church in New York City to open up and they let us open. But we could only be at 25% capacity. And I said, look, I'm preaching, I'm not doing math every Sunday morning 25%, just open it up and whoever wants to come, come. And then people came, some people came. We haven't seen each other for months. Hey, how are you doing Giving them the pastoral side hug? You know, seen each other for months. Hey, how are you doing Giving them the pastoral side hug? You know, hey, how are you doing? Ah, people, literally, you remember the people that we've known for years, recoiled like the pastor's lava. The pastor's lava, ah, don't come near me so fine. You don't want to be side hugged, that's cool. But then they started pushing the vaccines. The vaccines you got to get a vax. If you were a big pro-vaxxer, like really big, I hope you got all eight boosters. Stand by your convictions, I'm kidding Relax. 16:20 It's touchy still. See, see how sensitive it is still. I thought we could laugh about it. Now it's 2025. No, still not funny, huh? Well, imagine how unfunny it was back in 2020. 16:35 And I, my wife and I, we just made a decision. We just said, look, this new vaccine has been around all of 15 minutes. We just, we just don't want it. I don't feel like it. My body, my choice. Also, I had COVID, so now I'm full, full of antibodies, so I don't need a vax, especially your vax. That doesn't work. The only vaccine you got to get every year and you can still get the disease you're vaccinated for. So I just said, look, if anybody else doesn't want to get it because there was a bunch of people they didn't want to be the guinea pig I said we'll provide a religious exemption and if you're a place of employment and receives it, great. Not every place did, but some colleges and some places did. 17:28 And when I announced that, people went nuts. You know that's how crazy it was. Like, if that's what I want to do and you don't like it, then don't do it. But why get mad at me? Then? I know why because the media brainwashed you and told you I was a grandma killer. That's why I was the enemy. I wasn't loving my neighbor, the way they used the language, even pastors manipulating people into de Blasio up there. 17:57 Y'all remember de Blasio with the burger and fries. He was going to give you a free burger and fries from Shake Shackack, I think it was if you got vaccinated sell your soul, I mean for. And then you wonder what it would be like under the beast system and an antichrist number and Christian, I will never take the mark of the beast. Wait. Fries and a burger whoa sounds good. So fries and a burger Whoa Sounds good. So I had people sitting right here in the second row glaring at me and then we lost even more people. Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, thank you. 18:50 I'm just having a thought here, why, even though you know I could have said this so much more diplomatically and not to potentially irk others and I don't do it because I don't like you I just think it's actually healthy if I do irk you a little, because I'm going to irk you one way or another sooner or later. That's just how it goes. I've learned, been doing this quite a while and the ones who scare me the most. I'm not even preaching now I'm sharing random thoughts, but over 23 years, the ones who scare me the most are the ones who beeline towards me after service and tell me how much they love me. Greatest sermon I love how you preach. Where's this church been all my life? Because usually within 30 days they're gone. They love me, but then they instantly I'll say one thing they don't agree with and then, if you want someone who's always going to agree with you, you don't want me to be your pastor, you want you to be your pastor. Amen, victor. 19:55 But it came with pain. Covid did a number on most churches. Even two years after, covid only had 50% of the people back that they lost. They were at 50% in 2019 levels. So we were hit and we were hit emotionally. Remember, pastor Mo? 20:13 It was a rough time. It was just we're looking around and it feels like we went to war and it was just like pockets of empty seats. People left and I needed a word from the Lord and this is what he gave me. It was either in service or during a staff meeting. I forget now which one, but I just heard in my spirit I'm going to prepare a ram in the thicket. I'm the God who prepares a ram in the thicket and instantly I knew that it was calling back to Abraham and how he went up into the mountain to sacrifice Isaac. But then he didn't sacrifice Isaac, but he still needed a sacrifice. He looked in the thicket in the bush and there was a ram caught there and he was so grateful. And that's when we that's where we get the name, where he said the Lord will provide, jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. That's what Jehovah Jireh means. The Lord will provide, he's the provider. 21:09 And so in that mess it was very difficult for me we had healthy people who just sat there all day watching CNN. Remember that death counter? Just imagine what that does to the human psyche. If I showed you automobile deaths and a constant counter, you'd never step foot in a car. Well, that's what they did with COVID. They're just showing how many people are dying. I know it's terrible. I know we had. 21:35 At the end of the day it was still less than 1%. What kind of pandemic? People still call it the pandemic. Look at any historical pandemic. Look at a real pandemic, like the bubonic plague Took out 35% of Europe. Not belittling people who passed from COVID, but was it worth the destruction? Was it worth? There's kids still who their math and reading comprehension skills are not up to par because of those devastating couple of years. Was it worth it when we would have most likely I believe, completely likely gotten the same result? 22:11 So the Lord says I will provide. In other words, don't worry. Don't worry, by the way, when you lose that many people. You know I have seven people on full-time staff, many of them have children. These are thoughts that I get, Lord, are we going to have to downsize everything? What's going to happen? What is our future? He said I will provide. 22:38 When he said that to me, I knew that within that word was the power to fulfill that word. All of a sudden, other people start coming to take their place. More people start coming from here, from there. Hey, how did you hear about this? Hear the craziest stories of how they heard about us? But the Lord just came and brought and brought and fulfilled his word. 23:04 You can do anything that the word of the Lord tells you you can. You can go through anything as long as you have the word of the Lord. I want you, I'm hungry for you to get a real now word. The end of 2025 look like for me, Lord, what does my best 2026 look like? And to get a word, a real word from the Lord. I say real word because I know there are people I'll get to that in a little bit Usually they're the most vocal ones. Does anybody have the? God told me? Friend, you got them right. Everything is God, told me. God told me. God told me. I was crossing the street Before that I was opening my sock drawer. Up there were blue socks, yellow socks. God told me to wear the yellow socks today. Listen, if your life's a mess but you're constantly quoting, God is speaking to you. Maybe sit down. Polish your satellite dish, because it's not receiving the right frequency. You've got to do some internal adjustments. 24:16 Christians are afraid of saying it like that, but they need to say it like that. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. I want to show you something from Isaiah, isaiah 48, 17. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you? Who leads you? He's the good shepherd. He leads you. He will give you a word, he will whisper into your spirit. Where is he leading? To you too. He's leading you to a place of plenty, a place of prosperity. In the Psalms they said Lord, you have brought us into a wealthy place. He didn't say I'm the God of nonprofit. He said I'm the God that'll cause you to profit, to increase. That's where he's leading you to. It's just our responsibility to get hungry and desperate enough to get a word from the Lord for our lives, because that word you can take to the bank. 25:34 Mary could, and that, by natural standards, was an impossible word to see fulfilled. John 10, 27. John 10, 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. If you're hearing right now, you don't hear from God. And if you're hearing a voice in your head saying you don't hear from God, that is not of God. 25:59 And many Christians, especially those who are just starting out, they feel intimidated, they feel spiritually insecure. They feel like, oh, God talks to the select few, to the special. He won't talk to me. You need to stop that thought right now and combat it with the word of God. The word of God says that God will speak to me. Jesus said you're my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. He is your father and he delights in speaking to you. He delights in leading you and guiding you. And I'll tell you what I don't believe the Lord delights in at all is Christians running around all over the country from conference to conference, seeking out prophets and prophetic people, asking them give me a word, what should I do? No, the best words don't come at a conference. The best words I've had, good, encouraging words I love it when someone with a prophetic edge speaks into my life but the real, life-changing words, they were always in a quiet time. They were always the Lord directly to me. Those are the ones that matter. 26:54 Why should somebody else know more about your life and where you're going than you? Under the new covenant, under the old covenant, that was so. Under the new, no, because you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. John 16, 13. However, when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak. Please shout, speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will shout it, he will speak, he will speak. Does God still speak today? He will speak, he will speak. Does God still speak today? He will speak, he will speak and he will tell you things to come. So you don't have to be in the dark. So you, yes, you can get a word from the Lord. He actually has an idea of where he wants to take you. You may be confused, but he's not. I know where he wants to take you Into a wealthy place, into a place that'll bring you profit and increase and success. Yes, hallelujah, hebrews 11.6. 27:59 I want to give you just some random practicals here, practical thoughts and I say random because they're in no particular order of importance. But this is important to get. But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Diligently seek him means inquire of, ask him questions. Notice it says he's a rewarder, not a subtractor. He's an adder untoer. He blesses you when you do what Ask him questions. 28:45 This is important because I've found that the vast, vast majority of times God will not offer up information. You have to ask him why. Because asking takes faith, asking takes humility and asking shows submission. So you won't just be going around your own life and going, doing whatever, and God's gonna interrupt you and speak to you. Does it happen sometimes? Yes, happened to Moses you and speak to you. Does it happen sometimes? Yes, happened to Moses, happened to Mary. But unless you got like an international level call on your life, that's going to shape the calendar for the next 2,000 years, probably he's not going to do that to you. You got to go to him because he's a God that must be sought. 29:26 You have to do the uncomfortable thing and actually, in prayer, ask God questions. Why do so few people ask God questions? I know because you feel silly, because you don't get the answer right away. You usually don't get the answer right away, so you have to do it by faith. Then later that night ask again. Don't ask in a state of anxiousness, but ask from just a posture of searching him. 29:57 Every time you ask, what you're saying is Lord, you're my Lord. I'm not carrying my own life in my hands. I don't want what I want, I want what you want for me. What should I do? Should I take that job? 30:10 My wife and I are going to Poland. We're ministering in Poland. I wanted to, normally every in a few weeks, but normally every summer I get to go away. Maybe if we had gone away I wouldn't have wanted to minister in Poland. Maybe I was like enough traveling. You know, usually by the time I get back and if I see one more suitcase, you know, but now I could do that. But every time, so every summer, we go away to Europe. This time when I would just go on kayak to look for flights, I'd just be like, no, I don't. And then again I'd go. I feel like maybe it's just me. No, the Lord doesn't. Lord doesn't want us traveling and I'm not going to go by myself. God forbid I go to another nation. The Lord doesn't want us traveling and I'm not going to go by myself. God forbid I go to another nation without the Lord. I only want to go where he wants me to go. That's the sweet spot, that's the blessed spot, hallelujah. 31:02 So ask those burning questions that you text people about, that torment you. There's people who can be tormented, but they'll never actually vocalize the question to God. Ask him. Will you hear the answer right away? No, maybe, probably not, but keep asking and maybe you'll hear an answer. This is how he works with me. Two days later, three days later, sometimes a week later, sometimes six months later, and I'll be doing something absolutely silly and unrelated, like going for a walk, driving my car, bending over to pick up a paper towel I dropped and when I do, the Lord just and I know it and within a second I got the complete answer and I know it's the Lord speaking, hallelujah, hallelujah. 32:00 So in learning how to hear from God, it is imperative that you know that you are a tripartite being. This will help you so much. How many of you want to get better at hearing from God? Yeah, that's awesome. And he loves you and, as we just read, he delights in talking to you, delights in speaking to his people. The most essential thing to know is that you are a tripartite being. 32:25 Paul in Thessalonians says I pray your whole spirit, soul and body would be preserved blameless, until the day of Jesus Christ. So know this that the real you is a spiritual being. That's the spirit. You are a spirit. You have a soul. That's not the same as the spirit. The terms aren't interchangeable. That's completely different. The soul is from the Greek psuche, where we get psyche from. It means your mind, your will and your emotions. So you have a soul and you live in a body. So God is the Holy Spirit. Where does he speak Into your spirit? You know how I joked the last several weeks. He's not the Holy Brain, he's the holy spirit. You can only engage him with your human spirit. You have a spirit. That's where you hear from God. I'm kind of without even realizing I'm pointing at my belly. That's where Jesus said. It is out of your belly, out of your spirit. 33:24 Even other faiths, even other religions that believe in a life force, an energy, even other religions that believe in a life force and energy, they've been able. They don't call it a spear, but even people talk about that she and even demonic stuff, what? But they always know it's at the center of man, it's at the core of man. This is where your spirit, this is where God will speak to you. I've never known someone who hears from God to say you know, I heard this voice in my head. I've known a lot of troubled individuals say you know, I heard this, my head Get away. I don't want to know what the voice in your head is saying. We have a deliverance team over by the blue lights to help you get rid of the voice in your head. No voice is in your head. It's in your spirit, deep down on the inside, and if you ever get deceived, if you ever get deceived, if you ever get troubled, you hear something that can lead you astray. 34:17 The devil really isn't the problem when it comes to mishearing God's voice. You know what the problem is your own soul, because the Bible says your own soul. It's not fully regenerated yet it's being renewed, it's in the process of being renewed. In the book of James it says to receive with meekness the engrafted word of God which is able to save our souls Psalm 23,. The Lord is my shepherd, he restores my soul. In other words, we need to have a brainwashing. 34:52 The battlefield is in the mind and we have to undo a lot of old, stinking thinking. But if we have an unrenewed mind, then we're going to mishear God. If we're trying to engage him with our mind, you can have somebody who's been traumatized and when they go and pray and say, Lord, what should I do? They're never going to hear correctly because if he challenges them or tells them to take a risk, they'll just want to keep sitting and playing it safe. So what are they doing? They're trying to interpret the will of God, but through their own broken soul. I mean, you can have somebody, just you can have a player come into the church, save five minutes, and all of a sudden God is telling him to date every girl in the church. No, that's not the Lord, that's your own broken soul, from how you were raised and grew up, whatever you endured, that's not God's way. Amen. 35:35 I can go on with this list, shall I? There's a lot of weird ways we say oh, God is leading me, God told me and it's really coming from a fragmented, broken, unrenewed mind. That mind. That's why it's so important to feast on the word of God. The word of God renews our soul and then we'll be able to hear more accurately and clearly in our spirit. Man, is this very quiet this morning. I'm not going to be moved by quietness, but is this helping you? At least let a pastor know. All right, it's helping someone, okay? Hallelujah, honey. Why am I so insecure? I just need to hear that validation and affirmation. It's my broken soul. In Proverbs it says the spirit of man, the spirit of man, is the candle of the Lord. He will guide you and illuminate you through your spirit. Man, hallelujah, hallelujah. 36:37 And if you haven't heard from the Lord in a while, if you don't even know what I'm talking about, which I don't believe you don't know what I'm talking about. You all have heard from the Lord, if you're saved, if you've received him as your Lord and Savior. You've heard him calling you. You've sensed that nudge deep down in your spirit, him calling you to himself, him calling you to repentance, him revealing his face to you. Yeah, if you haven't heard from him in a while, you may need to repent. Because he doesn't offer up new information if you've disobeyed previous information. 37:15 Some people treat God like a giant, not a roulette. But what's the one-armed bandit? The slot machine? Yeah, they. Oh, I don't like that result. Let me just go again. You can't inquire of the Lord, him speak to you and you go. How about? Again, you can't. You got to instantly obey the voice of your spirit, because if you don't instantly obey what the Lord is telling you to do, you will get a what the Bible calls a seared conscience. You ever see a steak that's been too seared? It's all rough and tough and like a. Your conscience needs to be tender before the Lord, but when you disobey and disobey and disobey, you can't hear the Lord anymore. 37:58 My pastor tells us my old pastor, he used to be a coke head. Then he got radically saved and he tells this story of how, when he fell back into the sin. And he said after he got saved, somebody offered him some cocaine and he heard His spirit went no, don't take that. Like shook him. But somehow he said nah, maybe a little bit. He rebelled. He said the next time he went for the cocaine he heard no, maybe a little bit. He rebelled. He said the next time he went for the cocaine he heard no, don't take that. He said nah, a little bit more. He said the third time he heard no, don't take that. And the fourth time he said he didn't hear a thing because he seared his conscience. 38:45 And that's why you can get Christians who are totally in sin going well, nothing's wrong with this. God doesn't even tell me it's wrong. Well, his word tells you it's wrong. That doesn't change. Here's what changes your conscience, god's spirit. Now you don't even hear him talking to you about it. Dangerous place to be in Hallelujah. 39:06 So I want to tell you, to make it easy, the number one way to hear from the Lord. This will help you Because there's over 20 plus ways people hear from the Lord in the Bible, but the most consistent way that he speaks is something called the inward witness. Consistent way that he speaks is something called the inward witness, the man by the name of Kenneth Hagin, who's a prophet of God. We have some of his books in the front. He was caught up in visions and experienced the Lord and he even said he said the vast majority of the way the Lord speaks to me, the way he gives me instruction, is the inward witness. 39:48 Go to that verse in Romans. I believe it's Romans 9. I'll get the whole verse for you, romans 9, 1. I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. 40:07 How many of you know you're saved? Look at that. The rest of you, boy, do I got a message for you when I'm done preaching? You know you're saved because the word of God declares you're saved, right. But also you have a witness in the spirit, don't you? Just when you check on the inside now, you're not led by your feelings. The word of God says you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart, you shall be saved. You've done that. You know you're saved, but also your spirit, it bears witness. 40:36 I remember what it felt like in here before I got saved. It was lonely, it was empty. It was like a big, giant void, like in the cosmos, in space, any face. Any of you know what I'm talking about. You're checking in. It's just like it would be like a bottomless well but never ended. That's how it felt. Now it's not like that. It's full. I know I'm saved. My spirit bears witness to it. The voice of your spirit is what the world would call conscience, or the voice of your conscience. Even unbelievers can hear their spirit. How much more someone with a newly created, born-again spirit. This is where, nine out of ten times I dare say, the Lord will lead you and guide you through the inward witness. What is the inward witness? 41:23 I don't like to say feeling, because it sounds so fleshly and carnal. A better word would be sense. Sometimes I use the word I feel. I don't feel that from the Lord. But really what I'm saying spiritually, I don't sense that's from the Lord. It's like I have a decision to make, for example, like going away this summer. Whenever I would think about traveling this summer, I would sense like sandpaper on the inside when the Lord wants me to do something. It's like a free, velvety feeling like silk. 41:58 Have you ever inquired of the Lord? And you get a red light, like an internal red light, anybody yeah, that's him saying no. You get a green light. That's him saying yes. And the more you do this and the more you inquire, the better you'll get at discerning, at figuring out what's just your own soul, what's the Lord. You have to be willing to make some mistakes. That's why it's good to start practicing small. Don't start with Lord should go into the bush of Africa. I think the Lord is sending me to the bush in Africa. I'm getting a one-way ticket. Start with small decisions, get good and practice hearing him. Everybody wants to hear from an angel, wants the sky to open up and get a vision, and they'll miss the supernatural because they're searching for the spectacular. Don't miss the supernatural because you're searching for the spectacular. 43:00 One of the most life-changing things was summer of 23 in my kitchen. 2020 was a great year, minus COVID, because I got into Bitcoin in 2019 and it exploded in 2020 and in 21. It was really good and then, whoa, I round tripped the majority of my profits. That's sad. When you start off with a few thousand dollars and watch you go to hundreds of thousands of dollars and you watch you go to millions, then you watch you go back down to hundreds of thousands and tens of thousands. Ouch, that's what happened to me. That's not fun. So it's the summer of 23. I'm in my kitchen and I'm talking to the Lord about it. Let's do this again. Except now. I'm not doing it in the middle of hype and euphoria and mania. Now it's the middle of the bear market. Nobody wants to even talk about Bitcoin. That's when you buy, when there's blood in the streets. Jp Morgan said that, by the way, that's his quote. Buffett said be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful. Everybody was afraid in the summer of 23. 44:12 I went to my kitchen and I just started playing around with some numbers on my phone and literally on a napkin and I got an idea. I said I'm going to get micro-strategy. This is an investment that netted me more than 5,000%. It's a little better than a 5.5% typical financial advisor will get you. I sat in the kitchen. I said Lord, should I do this? And in my spirit I didn't hear him say a whole bunch of words. I didn't see a vision, just in my spirit. It was like a bell started ringing. That's a bingo, and I knew. But more than normal, it was like, oh, I knew I was onto something. Lord, you really like this, don't you? And then I did the math on, if this trade worked out, what it would bring me, and I thought this is in the millions, Lord, is this this? And I sensed ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling, that's exactly what you're going to get. 45:12 Please, if you just learn, getting new, getting started with hearing from the Lord, don't start off with options trading. Please don't Start out with. Should I get my co-worker that sandwich? You're telling me, or no, you're saying, Lord, he likes sushi. Try that out and say do you like sushi? Okay, I'm learning how to hear from the Lord. Hallelujah, guys, I got to say you're very quiet. I have a few more points. I'm actually debating on whether going through with them or not. Yeah, okay, are we just going to blame it on the rain? Yeah, yeah, yeah, alright. 45:56 The three main ways to hear from the Lord. Number one inward witness. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, go home. This will change your life. The number one question Christians have, statistically, barna Research Center. The number one question is how can I learn to be led by the Lord? How can I interpret the will of God? I'm giving you the answer how to hear him for yourself how to be empowered. 46:31 Because when you get that word, you know what my wife said to me that blessed me so much. She said it multiple times. She said I've learned to trust. When you say God said, I can trust I have peace, I can relax, that was the greatest compliment she ever gave me. Because God forbid, she would say. And when you say God said I can trust I have peace, I can relax, that was the greatest compliment she ever gave me. Because God forbid, she would say. And when you say God said who knows what that means, you're always saying God said. And sometimes you're a flake, sometimes you're spot on and everything in between. Get good at hearing his voice and you're only going to get by making some mistakes but spending time in stillness and asking questions. 47:12 Also, what's really important is getting the Word of God in you, because the Bible says counsel in the heart of man is like deep water and a man of understanding will draw it out. The counsel of God, the Word of God is also known as the counsel of God. When you put it inside of your well, when you need it, you will be able to draw it out. Sometimes we don't hear from the Lord because we don't have a written word deposit, so he has nothing to draw from. The more written word you get inside of you, the more spoken rhema word he'll be able to deliver to you. 47:44 Is this making sense? So number one is Romans 9.1. It's the inward witness. Number two is Can you go to Romans 8.16 please? What the heck was Romans 9-1 then? How did I let that slip? Go to Romans 9-1. Alright, go to Romans 8-16. This is the verse for the inward witness. The spirit himself bears witness, with our spirit, that we are children of God. We have the witness of the spirit Romans 9-1. That's the still small voice. And we are children of God. We have the witness of the Spirit Romans 9.1. That's the still small voice. So the number one way the Lord speaks to us is a sense. He's not even speaking words yet. 48:40 Have you ever heard somebody say God told me? I hear this all the time, especially in prophetic circles. I was praying and God said son, that's not what I want you to do. And they're like it's a paragraph long. I'm like, wow, you hear God so accurately. You can write a whole paragraph. They're not. They're not. I know real prophetic men of God. They never claim to hear God that way. When he speaks, oftentimes it's like five words, but in that five words it's like several books have been just downloaded into you but you can't write whole paragraphs quoting him. People act like they're having this back and forth conversation that they can quote with God. It doesn't happen that way. There's a still small voice. That's not the voice of God, that's the voice of your own spirit. 49:34 Worship team, come on up, let's get communion ready. And number three is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10.19. While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said that is much stronger, that is much louder, that is much more authoritative than just the still small voice or the inward witness. The only time I think I ever heard that was when I was deciding what Bible school to go to. I was obsessing over it and second-guessing and doubting the whole time and finally I got this package and a brochure slipped out of it and it was for the River Bible Institute and I picked it up and I heard and this is where you will go. And it was the voice of the Holy Spirit. He had to tell me that loudly because I was being such a baby about it and second guessing and doubting the whole time. 50:52 We're going to receive communion and I'm going to lead you in an exercise in hearing from the Lord. In fact, hold your communion elements, please, thank you, thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. If you're happy and alive, notify your face. Thank you Jesus. That third week of September can't come soon enough. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Pray for me, please. I've never worked so hard in my life. Listen. The Lord's about to speak to you. This is like. Hold the communion elements. Thank you Jesus, hallelujah, hallelujah. Jester, you never get communion service anywhere like at CityLight personal service. Leave us a five-star review. See how they all come up to you personally. Serve you. I want you to close your eyes. Don't eat the communion yet. 52:55 I want you to say this with me and get ready to hear from God. 52:58 Are you ready? Get ready for him to speak to you. Say this Lord Jesus, I am your sheep. I hear your voice. I'm asking you to speak to me now. Please show me what is the biggest lie I'm believing about my life right now. Now, listen in your spirit One more time, Lord Jesus, what's the biggest lie I'm believing about my life right now? Now, I'm not going to give you like minutes and minutes of silence, because usually the Lord answers that question within a few seconds. 53:50 How many of you look up at me? How many of you you heard something in your spirit, you saw something in your spirit or you sensed something, and you know exactly what he's talking about? Let me see your hand. I'm not going to ask you to share it. Let me see your hand. Yeah, he's very quick to answer this question. Oftentimes we hear right away, then we get tripped up in our mind, but he's very quick. I already got texts from the first service people saying they immediately heard. Now let's ask him for the truth that'll dismantle that lie. Are you ready? Say Lord, Jesus, give me your truth. What is the truth that will replace this lie? Go ahead and listen. What is the truth that will replace this lie? Go ahead and listen. How many of you heard the truth? Yeah, that's the truth. By the way, that's the word of the Lord, and no word of God spoken will be impossible for him to perform. Go ahead and partake of the body, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. 56:09 The most powerful thing you can have is a word from the Lord. You can take it to the bank If you don't have one about your life in the short term. Get one. Ask him for one Hunger for him to speak to. You seek him with all of your heart. He won't leave you high and dry. He won't do it. You're his sheep and you hear his voice well, hallelujah, let's give the Lord a praise. Hallelujah, are you ready to honor the Lord with your tithes and offerings? Let's worship him with our giving. 56:47 The giving information is on the screens to either side of me. Give with faith, give with a glad heart, give and expect him to multiply it back to you, knowing that he's a God of abundance and a God of prosperity. Lord, I thank you that you multiply the gift back to every giver. Thank you for every seed in the ground that's been sown, that it comes back A mighty harvest. Lord, overwhelm your people with the goodness of God. Cause every cup to overflow. Hey Lord, let Holy Spirit surprises rain on your people. In Jesus' name, I just disrupt unbelief, I shake up doubt, swampiness. I break your power. In Jesus' name, Lord, I thank you for a soaking, stopping, wet end to 2025. I thank you, Lord, for adventures. In God, in Jesus' name, and thank you for your goodness. 57:57 Let's all stand. If you need to go. Go with great blessing. If you need prayer, make your way to my left, your right. If you're new here and maybe you want prayer, go to that blue lit area. There'll be a ministry team there to pray with you and for you. Don't be shy, don't be scared. They won't hurt you, they'll love on you. That's Christian. Speak for you, won't get hurt. They're going to love on you. Let's sing to the Lord one more song. Be blessed church. 58:30 - Speaker 2 This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.