God has been working with humanity from the dawn of creation to make sure we are obedient to His will. All through the Bible God has been speaking to humanity trying to guide us along the way so we would live holy and obedient lives. Our sinful nature leads us astray, but God continues to speak and continues to send judgment as a wake up call, then He will ask “Can You Hear me Now?"

by Dr. Henry Johnson

II think everyone is familiar with the Verizon Wireless advertising campaign with the slogan, “Can You Hear me Now?"?” The ads show a man who appears to be a Verizon network tester — moving from seat to seat in a stadium and asking “Can You Hear me Now?"?” In another commercial, he is riding a burro in the Grand Canyon - and he is asking “Can You Hear me Now?"?” It seems this man travels to many places to make sure the phone network is good, and as he goes from place to place he repeatedly says “Can You Hear me Now?"?” He is talking to a Verizon operator in a tireless quest to make Verizon the best network there is. There is also an ad that has a monkey with a cell phone making noise mocking the man. It is set up as if the monkey is saying “Can You Hear me Now?"?” The message being sent to the viewer is that Verizon is the company that cares and works tirelessly testing and improving their network for their customers. God has been working with humanity from the dawn of creation to make sure we are obedient to His will. There are many “Can You Hear me Now?” situations in the Word of God. In these situations, God is speaking to His people by showing that they have gone astray so God tries to get their attention. When they insist on not listening, God brings judgment upon them and that is God's way of saying “Can You Hear me Now?”. He does this to get our attention so we will repent and do his will.

God created Adam and gave him the command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Shortly after the command was given, God put Adam to sleep. He took one of Adam's ribs and created Eve. Then Eve got into a conversation with Satan that led to her and Adam into disobeying God's command. God came to have his walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day but they were hiding. God called for them and Adam answered. A conversation took place that revealed their disobedience so God punished them for disobeying His command. God told them the curses that would come into their lives as well as the serpent's life. The woman would have birth pains and have to submit to the man. The man would have to work the land. The serpent would have to crawl on its stomach. There would be hatred between the serpent and humans. After the curse was pronounced, God sacrificed animals to clothe Adam and Eve. They were put out of the Garden to work the land. God had given His command but since they disobeyed Him they were put out - God seems to be saying to them “Can You Hear me Now?” - can you understand that I expect you to obey me if you want to be my child.

Sin in our lives brings judgment. Sin causes God to ask us “Can You Hear me Now?”. Look at the Children of Israel. God had shown them favor. He had called them to be his people and He promised to be their God. He made a covenant with them through Abraham promising that they would be a large nation and a blessed nation. When they were being oppressed, God heard their cry and He delivered them from slavery. They weren't out of slavery very long before they doubted God and disobeyed Him. At the Red Sea, they doubted God so He parted the sea and delivered them from the Egyptians and killed the Egyptians who were chasing them. In the desert, they were disobedient as soon as Moses went up into the mountain to be with God they built a golden calf. This made God angry. When there was sin in the camp, God opened up the earth and swallowed up those who were guilty. He was saying “Can You Hear me Now?”. I know if I would have been there I would have heard him loud and clear.

David’s sin caught up with him.

Christian Friends, all through the Bible God has been speaking to humanity trying to guide them along the way so they would live holy and be obedient lives. The Bible continually shows us that the sinful nature of humans leads us astray. God sent His only Son to be our Savior but men took His life in their sinful way. God continues to speak and continues to send judgment as a wake up call, then He will ask “Can You Hear me Now?”. Well, dear friends, the day is coming that God will get tired and His wrath will be poured out and grace will be withdrawn.

In this 16th chapter of Revelation, we see the full outpouring of God's wrath upon those who rebelled against Him and who took the mark of the beast. The seven angels with the seven bowls pour out “the seven last plagues.” In the pouring out of these plagues “the wrath of God is complete.”

In the first four bowls, God's wrath was poured out on the earth, the sea, the rivers and springs, and the sun. Affected by these plagues are those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. God's judgment upon them was proclaimed righteous and just, because they had been guilty of shedding the blood of saints and prophets. God was saying “Can You Hear me Now?", but, amazingly, their response was to blaspheme God and they refused to repent and give Him glory.

The fifth bowl was poured out on the throne of the beast and his kingdom, resulting in darkness. The painful suffering of the wicked continued, as God was asking “Can You Hear me Now?” but their blasphemy and refusal to repent continued. The sixth bowl was poured out on the River Euphrates, preparing the way for the kings from the East. John then saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. These unclean spirits were described as the spirits of demons, they perform signs and gather the kings of the earth to the place called Armageddon, for the battle of the great day of God. At this point Jesus speaks both a warning and blessing, for those who watch and keep their garments will be blessed. He tells them that he is coming as a thief.

The seventh bowl was poured out and a loud voice from the temple in heaven cries out, “It is done!” The last bowl was poured out and immediately came thundering, lightning, and a great earthquake. The great city was divided into three parts, and cities of the nations fell. God remembered Great Babylon and gave her His wrath. This great city had received many warnings but rejected Him and mocked Him so God poured out his wrath on the city and those who rejected him. Every island fled away, the mountains were not found, and great hail from heaven fell upon men. The hailstones weighed 100 pounds. God grew tired of their disobedience and poured out His full wrath on them.

My dear brothers and sisters, God is a good God. He has tried to bring us back to him through many generations. He has asked “Can You Hear me Now?"—-seeking an answer from us—-wanting us to simply love and obey him. God will one day pour out his full wrath of those who continue fighting against him. He is giving us warnings every day. There are wars and rumors of wars. There is famine in the land. There are earthquakes in diverse places. God is saying “Can You Hear me Now?”. God loves us but he hates sin so He judges the sin in our lives. God is asking us today—"Can You Hear me Now?” because he wants us to get right with him before it is too late.

God has made a way for us to get right—-God sent His only begotten Son to die on an old rugged cross to pay our sin debt...God stands today and says “Can You Hear me Now?“...I've made a way out of now what for you...I've shed the blood of my only son for you so what will it take for you to come and be my child. Church are we listening to God? Are you listening to God? God is saying “Can You Hear me Now?"

Reverend Dr. Henry Johnson
12 November 2003
doctorj@praisenet.org
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