Quietness – Part 2

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, April 22nd. Are you truly joyful? Do you experience deep peace and tranquility in your soul? If these feelings only arise when life is going your way, the series Helps to Holiness reveals the importance of building quietness into your life every day, regardless of your circumstances.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:25

If you’ll notice, all the way back through the Bible, God used quietness in the life of his servants. When Moses, in his very noisy first 40 years of his life, attempting to do God’s work in his own strength, in his own way, God set him aside and sent him to the backside of the desert. And for 40 years, Moses experienced the quietness of a shepherd. Before that, he had grown up in the noisy, tumultuous civilization of Egypt, in the very height of everything that was happening. He was in the very household of the Pharaoh himself. Before God could get to Moses and prepare him for leadership for the nation of Israel, he had to get him quiet. Then slip to the New Testament to the Apostle Paul. Before Paul began his ministry, God set him aside, sent him into the desert for a period of time in order to get him out of the noise of his conversion experience, the noise and the tumult of those who were after him, in order to instruct him and teach him and give him a sense of direction for his life. And I want us to see in this fourth chapter, 1 Thessalonians, some very specific and clear commands that God has given to us who are believers about quietness. Now, you don’t expect a lost man to be quiet. He may keep his mouth closed, but a man can keep his mouth shut and be as loud as ever. So we’re not talking about just verbal silence. Now I want you to notice several things. First of all, I want us to notice, and I hope you’ll get your pencil and paper out. And first of all, let’s look at this matter of the command that God gives us through the Apostle Paul to be quiet. And notice how he says it. He says, “…study to be quiet.” Well, how in the world do you study to be quiet? He says, study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you. In order that you may walk honestly toward them that are without and that you may have lack of nothing. Now, let’s look at this for a moment. What he’s saying here is, in this phrase, study, he says, diligently pursue, endeavor, have ambition for… The capacity to be quiet. Now let me tell you what that does not mean. When he says we have decided to be quiet, that does not mean that we can’t have a bubbling personality. It doesn’t mean you can’t be happy and charming and personable. It doesn’t mean you can’t laugh and enjoy life. But rather, it simply means quietness is an inner sense of rest, that is based on your confidence that He has everything under control. You see, inner tranquility and quietness is based on your confidence in Him that He has everything in your life under control. Now, if you’ll just take that and run it through the spectrum, if He’s in control of your life, there’s no need to be lonely. If you’re totally confident He’s in control of your life, you won’t be upset. If you’re totally confident that He is in control of your life, you won’t be worried and frustrated about life. You see, it is a study of the inner tranquility of the mind and heart regardless of outside circumstances. Listen, the worst and most destructive kind of noise is not audible noise but mental, emotional noise. They will harass you. They will try you. They will disturb you. They will make your soul wretched on the inside. You can smile on the outside and you may fake the world out. But my friends, you’re not quiet until you’re quiet on the inside. And this is the kind of quietness he’s speaking of here. Now, look in Psalm 46. And the 10th verse, and this is probably the one that you know the best. Psalm 46, verse 10. Be still and know that I am God. That is, get quiet. Just be quiet. That is, just shut out the noises. quieten the mind, still the emotion. And you see, oftentimes God is trying to say something to us, and it’s not that He’s not speaking. We can’t hear Him because there’s too much static. There is emotional static, I’m afraid. Emotional static, I’m guilty. Emotional static, I’m lonely. Emotional static, I’m anxious. Emotional static, I’m frustrated. There’s mental static. I’m thinking about tomorrow and yesterday and this person, that person, what I must do, this debt, that financial problem. Be still, he says, and know that I’m God. How many of you have said to me, well, now, I’ve been praying and I think I’m about to hear what God has to say, but how do you tell the difference when God is speaking and when the devil is speaking? How do you know it’s not the devil telling you to do something instead of God? Listen. Listen. When you get quiet, it will be very, very evident as to whether it’s God or the devil. Now, I may tell you two or three things to look out for, but I believe when you learn to be quiet, you’ll learn to be able to discern who is doing the talking at that time in your life. Now, listen. Quietness is essential to hearing from God. Quietness is essential to getting your direction from God. When mentally, emotionally, and physically we learn to be quiet, I’ll tell you, my friends, something will happen to your spiritual life for the simple reason you’re going to hear from God. Your relationship to him is going to take on a cutting edge like you’ve never known before. And then you’re going to ask yourself the question, why have I been a Christian so long and have not learned to be quiet and to be still? Now watch this. You know why we won’t get still? Because our interest and our desires, we place above the interest and the desires of God. And I’ve been guilty of that just like you have. It’s easy. In fact, it is easier not to be quiet than it is to be quiet. That’s why he said study. Do you know any place the Bible says study to be hurried? Study to rush? Study to get in a hurry? You don’t have to study to get in a hurry. You just act normal. You just live in your society like you’re living it. You must study to be quiet because to be quiet means there must be a cessation or a change or a halt in my lifestyle. Sometimes we’re wise enough to get quiet, and sometimes God has to get us quiet. Depends upon whether we’re listening intensely enough or not. Now, let’s look at something else here in this passage, and that is the consequences of this quietness. Now, watch this. Verse 11. And that you study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you. Now, there are three things I want you to notice in this verse. Three consequences he mentions here. First of all, the first consequence relates to a man’s work. He says, study to be quiet, and what? Work with your own hands. When a man is quiet, when he learns to be quiet, you know what he’s going to learn to do? He’s going to learn to do his job, whatever that is, better. You say, where’d he get that from? Because when a man learns to be quiet, he automatically learns to concentrate. He says, work with your own hands. When a man is able to concentrate, when he knows how to experience inner quietness and peace, his mind’s not divided. He can focus his attention upon what he’s doing. He can make a wise decision. But a man who’s clamoring all the time, who’s got lots of noise emotionally, physically, spiritually, or rather mentally, when he has all of this, he’s got to make a wise decision that affects many people. And I tell you, my friend, divided minds make foolish decisions. And divided minds are noisy minds who cannot make, oftentimes, the wisest decision. Think about this matter of quietness. The second thing I want you to notice, he says, not only our work, but verse 12, our walk. Listen. He says, we are to study to be quiet in order that our walk may be honest toward them that are without. Now, you know what he’s saying? Watch this now. He says that tranquility of heart, learning to be quiet, the ability, the capacity to be quiet is essential to our proper spiritual influence on those who are outside the church. Watch this. He says that you may walk honestly toward them that are without faith. if our relationship to those outside the church is going to be right, if our influence in their lives is going to be what it ought to be, it’s going to stem from a heart that has learned to be quiet. For you see, it is the quiet heart that is the listening heart, receiving heart, submissive heart, believing heart. And when I ignore that, and continually rush hither and yon, and my life is noisy, both mentally, emotionally, and physically, and there is no quietness, then I’m not listening, then what happens? We allow things to creep into a life that hinder and hurt our influence. The third thing. That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing. Now watch this. A man’s work, a man’s walk, and a man’s wealth is related to his ability to be quiet. You say, oh, rich men, quiet men? No. They’re not happy men either. Just because they’re wealthy. Now, there’s some wealthy folks who are very happy. They know how to be quiet. But you see, now watch this. You and I know that wealth is not limited to coins and paper. That wealth not only is material, but it is spiritual. A man who is really successful is successful, first of all, in his spirit… And from there outward to what he possesses. A man who has lots of money and is dead on the inside is a poor man faking the world out. And here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying that a man’s work, that a man’s walk, and that a man’s wealth is related to this ability and capacity to be quiet. tranquilized, not with pills, but the presence of God, and the presence of God whereby he’s able to trust him, totally confident that he has everything under control. I believe there are three things, three areas, that you and I have to deal with when it comes to learning to be quiet. The first one, number one, is our schedule. You cannot jump up in the morning and rush off and be busy all day and rush home and come in and rush around and rush to bed and be quiet. And you laugh at that, but that is exactly what a majority of people do. Now, some people’s pace may not be as fast as others, but they’re rushing. Now watch this. First of all, the schedule. If you’re going to… You see, he said, study to be quiet. If I’m going to study something, I’m going to have to look into it. I’m going to have to look at this side and that side. I’m going to have to open this. I’m going to have to read. I’m going to have to work at what I’m studying at. He says, first of all, study to be quiet. How? First of all, I am to re-evaluate my schedule and I’m to ask this question. Am I allowing any time in my daily schedule to get by myself… Don’t talk to anybody. Get away from other folks and just be quiet. That is, quiet from audible sounds. Second thing I must deal with, not only my schedule, but my surroundings. And that’s what we’re implying there. Find some place. You say, well, you don’t know about my house. It doesn’t make any difference. You can go in some room and close the door and ask folks not to disturb you. Or you can get quiet when everybody else is gone. But you see, there must be a readjustment of schedule. There must be a readjustment of surroundings. But you know the third thing and the most important one of these you’re going to have to deal with to get quiet? Readjust my schedule. Readjust my surroundings or relate to my surroundings. And thirdly, I’m going to have to learn to deal with sin. Because the greatest noisemaker in the world is not dynamite. nor a locomotive, nor a jet, the greatest noise maker in the world is that quiet little sin that keeps exploding and harassing you every day. You see, you can’t live in sin and quietness at the same time. Now watch this. You see, You can get audibly quiet from everything around you, but if your conscience is stinging you and clamoring and if a sense of guilt keeps condemning you and crying out to you and shattering your peace, there is no quietness unless the conscience is clear. There is no quietness unless sin has been confessed. So that the greatest conflict you and I will experience toward quietness is allowing sin in our life. Now listen. You may have a little difficulty with your schedule, but you can schedule some time to be quiet. You may have a little difficulty with your surroundings, but my friend, if you have any difficulty with sin, it is totally our responsibility, no one else’s. Now, let me just end up by mentioning one other thing. How do you cultivate quietness? Now, we’re talking about studying to be quiet. Well, let’s do something about it now. How do you cultivate quietness in your life? Well, If you’re going to cultivate quietness, is there anybody here who could not give God 15 minutes tomorrow? I mean, you know, just 15 minutes anywhere, but 15 minutes that you just be quiet. Now, I’ll tell you what’ll happen. As soon as you get quiet, it’ll be like the whole world caved in on you. Everything is going to come tumbling in on you. You’re going to think about everything imaginable and don’t get discouraged. Remember, he said, study to be quiet. Have you ever gone into an examination and never studied one bit? Yeah, you got an F too, didn’t you? All right, now watch this. Don’t get by yourself tomorrow or this afternoon for 15 minutes and say, I’m going to be quiet. And after about three minutes, it won’t work. There are a lot of things that won’t work on the first try. But he said, be diligent, pursue. Now, when you pursue something, man, you go after it. You work at it. You diligently endeavor to accomplish that thing. So first of all, check your schedule. And watch this next one. Second thing, break the noise habit. Now what do I mean by that? Don’t come in the house and flick on that television. Don’t come in the house and flick on the radio. Don’t get in your car and flick on the radio. You see, we are part of our problem. You say, I don’t like to be by myself. You know why you don’t like to be by yourself? There may be several reasons, but you know one reason? Listen, there are a lot of folks who can’t stand quietness. Now watch this. Now some people may have a problem with being afraid of circumstances, but now watch this. A lot of people dread quietness worse than anything in the world because when they get quiet, they start thinking about others. And the best way to eliminate that is just get enough noise going that you don’t have to look at yourself. Break the noise habit. You’ll never learn to be quiet creating your own noise. Third thing, and that is the confession of your sin. We say, well, what does that have to do with quietness? I’m going to tell you what it does. Listen. We said that quietness has to do with the mind and the emotion. Listen, if you’re going to learn to be quiet, you must learn to deal with sins immediately. Once it hits your heart, confess it, that gets it out. If you leave it in there, it’s going to start noise. It’s going to get static, so confess your sin immediately. The next thing I want you to notice is learn to practice in your praying Not to say anything. Just get on your knees or kneel beside your bed or lie on the bed and just don’t say anything. Just tell the Lord you want him to help you concentrate on him. Now, you’re going to have a hard time at that. I can tell you that. You’re going to have a hard time concentrating on him. But just tell him, Lord, just give me wisdom to think about you. Let me give you a little hint here. Just begin to think about God as the creator and creating the world. Think about what he’s done for you. Think about some very… Be able to visualize what you know God has done. And as you begin to focus on what he’s done, you’ll be able to transfer that to what he is. Then when you’re able to do that, then you’ll begin to see what he is in your life. That’s why he said work at it, study it. Then… Practice obeying God. Now watch this. If you’ll turn to Proverbs chapter 1, this matter of obedience. Now watch this. In Proverbs chapter 1, notice what he says, because obedience and quietness go together. You see, if your heart is continuously disturbed and you’re harassed, that’s an indication of something. Watch this last verse of the first proverb. Whoso hearkeneth unto me. that is, listens to me, shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. You see, listening to God and obeying God and quietness go together. Then the last verse I want you to notice is in Job chapter 34. Job chapter 34, and let’s look at that for a moment. Verse 29, listen. Watch this now. Job 34, 29, when he, that is when God gives quietness, who then can make trouble? That’s why Paul said, study to be quiet, for when God teaches you how to be quiet, you can’t be troubled by the world.

SPEAKER 02 : 19:31

Thank you for listening to part two of Quietness. Have you heard about the Charles Stanley Institute? As the discipleship training branch of In Touch Ministries, it offers free, trustworthy, biblical instruction to help you grow in your faith. If you’d like to know more about the Charles Stanley Institute or In Touch Ministries, visit us at charlestanleyinstitute.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.