Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the critical need for true hearing of God's Word, as prophesied in Amos 8:11, where a famine of hearing, rather than a lack of preaching, is prevalent. He explains that many are listening but not truly hearing, leading to spiritual thirst and fainting among believers. The sermon calls for humility and a heart posture that allows individuals to genuinely hear and respond to God's voice, rather than merely accumulating knowledge. Beach warns that without this true hearing, even the most profound teachings will not transform lives. He encourages the congregation to seek a deeper connection with God, asking for hearts that are open to His Word.

Amos chapter 8, verse number, beginning in verse number 11. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words. And they shall wander from sea to sea, north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint of thirst. Matthew chapter 13, verse 10, beginning. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly. But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables. Because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand. And seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. Lest at any time they should see, see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Verse 16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Amos 8, 11. The days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. This famine that God is sending in the land today is not a famine where there is a lack of preaching. It's not a famine where there is a lack of good Christian books. It is not a famine where there is a lack of even Bibles or devotions. But the Holy Spirit is talking about something that goes much deeper. Listen. Everyone listen carefully. It goes much deeper than hearing the Scriptures with this ear right here. There is a famine in the land today, and it is the hearing of the words of the Lord. Not the listening. You know you can listen to someone and not hear them. Parents, how many times have you listened to your child and you've not heard what they said? Students, how many times have you listened to your instructor but you haven't heard what they said? There is a lot of listening going on in the church today, but there is very little hearing of what God is saying. Seven times in the book of Revelation, Jesus said, He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. What God is doing in this hour that we're living in right now, brothers and sisters, is He is opening up the ears of a people who will hear His words. Not just listen with their ears, but who will hear His words in their heart. And they will say, Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, I hear You speaking. And when we hear His word and respond to it, it changes our life. The Bible says they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. Listen, brothers and sisters, the day is upon us when people are running to and fro all over the world trying to hear the word of the Lord. Sermons are not changing people. Not necessarily because what is being preached is wrong, but because those who are listening are not hearing. The Bible says that fair virgins and young men shall faint for thirst. This indicates that there is something inside of the church that is not being satisfied. And it's resulting in a fainting and a thirsting and a desperation that is unprecedented. There is nothing that is going to satisfy you. There is nothing that's going to quench your thirst or to strengthen your weak spirit except being brought to the position, to the posture, the heart posture, where you are able to hear the words of God is opening up the ears, the hearing ears of those who are seeking Him. And you know what the result is? You hear the Lord. And in hearing the Lord, you're changed. You see, to hear the Lord means that something is happening on the inside. You don't go somewhere to hear the Lord. To hear the Lord is the result of a heart that has been confronted by the truth of God and that has yielded to the authority of God's light, God's word. How many here want to hear God? How many have experienced reading your Bible or listening to sermons, but yet you know there's something lacking in your life? There's something missing. There's a thirst there. There's a fainting going on, even though you might be involved in good Christian activity, good Bible study. What's wrong? In order to hear the Lord, we have to humble ourselves before Him and turn from our pride. The Bible says in James, the book of James, chapter 1, verse number 19, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. That just means lay aside all evil, all abounding evil, all excesses of evil. Lay it aside. Don't be involved in governing your life after the desires of your sinful nature. Don't do it. Rather, it says, receive with meekness the reason why there is such a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. And remember, this doesn't mean there's not preaching or teaching or Bibles, but the famine is not hearing. The reason why we're not hearing God is because God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Let me tell you something. One of the greatest forms of deception that is coming upon the church today is we are content in the learning of all the scriptures that we have gained through our devotion and through our theology and through hearing good sermons. But in all the learning that we have gained, we have ceased from hearing God speak to us. And it's because we, in our hearts, no longer tremble at God's word. We no longer tremble in his presence. We no longer know that to fear God is the beginning of wisdom. Let me tell you, no amount of Bible knowledge will restrain you from sin. No amount of Bible knowledge will bring under control your sinful desires. No amount of Bible knowledge will satisfy that insatiable desire you have in your heart. And that's why the church is more knowledgeable in the scriptures today than she's ever been. But yet, she's more backslidden than she's ever been. It's a paradox. Because God has said in the midst of all your great preaching, in the midst of all the great access that we have to 101 different Bible translations, in the midst of all the access we have to good Christian books, God says, I'm sending a famine among you because the heart is not right with me. The heart is not right. And if the heart is not right, we don't hear God. We don't hear him. So what's the nature of the move of God in our midst this morning? Why is God coming and overcoming us with tears? What does it mean? Does he just want us to feel good and to weep in his presence? No. It's okay, though. But that's not his end. Does he just want us to be able to say, hey, guess what? I was at the Hackestown High School, and man, God's spirit really moved. You need to come and see. No. Why he did what he did this morning? Because he wants to get to our hearts. And he wants to give us hearts that hear. Because Jesus himself can come and appear right here this morning. If our hearts are not hearing him, we'll leave here, and we'll fall right back into the sinful patterns and sin-controlling patterns that have gripped our life. We can see angels flutter. We can hear heavenly music. But what good is it if our soul is famished because there is a famine of hearing the word of God? You want God's word. Now, when you hear God's word, you become the servant. He's the master. When you hear God's word, he's the boss man. When you hear God's word, there is a yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. You see, you can be blessed, healed, stirred, emotionally charged, but if you've not come to hear his word, it won't last. Come on, be honest. How many has experienced this? Of course. So what is God doing in our midst? What is God going to do in the body of Christ? What is God doing in the body of Christ as we're entering into the year 2000? That's an incredible thought, isn't it? I'll tell you exactly what the Holy Spirit is doing right now. Everywhere. On the seven continents of the earth, God is bringing a people out of spiritual famine into a land of abundance, into a land of hearing him speak. He's bringing a people into the land of spiritual abundance. Where there's water, there's bread, there's food. And let me tell you what God's going to do. While he's doing this, he's shaking the whole earth. The whole earth is going to rock to and fro like a drunken man. And those who are listening to sermons, tapes, reading books, having Bible studies, but are hearing God, are going to be shaken, and shaken, and shaken along with the world. God will have a people who we will gather, and many, many will seek no longer to be entertained, no longer will they seek to just hear good sermons, but they will seek to be joined together with those who are of a like mind, whose hearts are hearing the Lord. This is what's happening right now, and this is what's going to happen. So I encourage you to pray. Give me a meek, humble heart, Lord, that I might hear your word. Because if you don't hear God, you're going to miss it. You're going to miss it. Pray, Father. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for encouraging us, and ministering to us, and healing us. But most importantly, Lord, we ask that you give us meek, humble hearts so we can hear your word. We know, Lord, that the most important thing is to hear your word. And therefore, Father, we ask that you'll continue this great work of gathering us into your presence. Lord, I pray that we'll hear your word in our homes. We'll hear your word everywhere, and that that word will govern us. We declare war on everything and anything that contradicts the hearing of your word. In Jesus' mighty name, Lord. I want to say congratulations to Danielle and Michael. Danielle had their baby. Name? Nicole Grace, 14. Almost 9 pounds. Big baby girl. So...