Three Voices

What voices are you listening to?

There are many voices speaking today.

How do we know we are hearing the voice of the Lord?

-Understand the voices that speak

We hear 3 different voices: the flesh, Satan (demons), spirit.

Voice of our Flesh.

A lot of times we can mistake the voice of God with the voice of the flesh. Believe it or not, our flesh often can have a lot of influence over us. We can be driven by the desires of our flesh more than the spirit. I have seen people so clearly wrong but in their “heart” and “mind” God spoke to them about a certain decision that clearly does not align with his Word. I believe many people want something so bad they will be deceived into listening to the voice of their flesh instead of the still small voice of the spirit.

Judges 14:1–3

Samson and the Philistine Woman of Timnah

14 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

What voice was speaking? The flesh.

It is important to recognize the voices that speak to us.

James 1:13-15

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Galatians 5:17

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Galatians 5:19-21

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[a]drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[b] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:24

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

In Judges 6: 11-17

11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

When God called Gideon, He called him a man of valor. According to Judges 6:15, the flesh said, “15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the entire tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least of my entire family!”

Another example is that when God spoke to Abram in Genesis 12. God calls him to leave what he knows and Abraham instead of looking at his present circumstances he doesn’t let doubts arise but takes a step of faith listens to the Word of the Lord.

Our flesh can,

- lead us to doubt God's promises.

- It can allow us to be guided by emotion rather than spirit.

- It can make us compromise what he says in his word.

                           Voice of Satan (demons)

-Believe it or not, Satan's voice is everywhere.

It's heard on TV shows, movies, Facebook, TikTok, etc. His voice screams abandon God, lust, believe in yourself.

Satan's voice speaks in many ways, sometimes dark and terrifying, but sometimes also cunning and undetectable.

1 John 4:3 “3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

Antichrist - an opponent of the Messiah.

There's no doubt that in this world there is a strong antichrist spirit that raises its voice against Jesus. Every movie or program constantly uses God's name in vain. Christianity is the most persecuted religion. In the United States, there is an increase in witchcraft, atheism, and New Age. There is filth on the internet even if you're not looking for it. All of these things are man -made but inspired by Satan. Demonic shows and movies that are all literally antichrist. Things have increased in the last 10 years in unimaginable ways. The spirit of antichrist is active and on the move more than ever.

Example in Scripture of Satan speaking bluntly

Matthew 4:8-9 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Satan flatly told Jesus to worship him. Satan is telling us the same thing bluntly through television, showing us that it is better to live in sin. If we abandon God, we can live the way we want and live our best lives now.

Jesus said in,

Matthew 6:24,

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Satan also speaks deceitfully

Satan can influence those you know and trust to come to you.

Matthew 16:22–23

22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord![a] This shall never happen to you.”23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[b] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

                           Voice of the Spirit

-We need to discern everything we hear through the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Scripture: Acts 17:10-13

Paul and Silas in Berea

10 Immediately the brothers[b] sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they entered the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed , with not a few high-ranking Greek women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was being proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they went there also, stirring up and stirring up the crowds.

2 Timothy 2:15

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[a] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Another way to defend yourself from these voices is the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

1 John 2:27

“27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.