Is God Speaking?
The Voice? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsHave you ever felt you've heard from God but aren't sure? What do people mean when they say God led them to do something?
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Communion: Mentally leave the W/C. How would you walk in if Jesus was to lead you in communion right now?
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
This is my body given for you. John 10:17&18: I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my one accord.
This is my choice: This is my body, do this in remembrance of me and what I did for you.
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
This cup, this juice, this grape in a symbol of the forgiveness of your sin and you being made right with me comes from my sacrifice on the cross and the shedding of my blood.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Take and drink and remember what I did for you.
13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
The Voice: Is God speaking?
If you are what we call a truth seeker and you have not put your faith and trust in God yet. This is what Christians believe. The day we opened up our heart to Jesus and asked Him to be the Lord of our life, God’s Holy Spirit came in and lives inside of us.
When that happens God’s Spirit starts to talk to our spirit. Weird I know. (School cussing with the homies)
He guides and directs, comforts and corrects. He speaks to His children.
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Chuck Swindoll: We and He are supernaturally interwoven and inseparable.
God has spoken to His people in various occasions when He spoke to them in the Bible. He Spoke in a voice they literally heard:
He spoke to Samuel as a child in the temple (1 Samuel 3). He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and told him to free His people from Egypt (Exodus 3). He spoke to Elijah not through an earthquake or a great wind but with a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12).
I can honestly say I have never heard the audible voice of God but I have felt a nudging or prompting from the Spirit. And when I listen it is awesome.
Have you ever heard a Christian say God led them to say or do something? How do we know it is Him and not us or something else? There are times we think we have heard or felt a nudging or prompting from God but we are not quite sure.
Let’s talk about discerning or knowing if it is the voice of the Spirit of God.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Vs. 17: not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
Then just a little later this happens.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Vs. 23: Get behind me, Satan! You do not have the in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.
Get behind me Satan - seems like Jesus in suggesting that Peter is being used as the mouth piece for satan. - Stop Him from going. It is going to ruin my plans for humanity.
God can speak and satan can speak.
Sometimes it’s hard to recognize God’s voice. When an idea comes into your mind, you wonder if it’s an instruction from God, a deception from Satan, or just something you want to do. But it’s important to know how to discern God’s voice, because it can have eternal consequences.
A lot of evil gets blamed on God when people say, “God told me to do it!”
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Test: A term used to test the purity of a metal.
How to test if it is real Gold. Gently drop your gold item into the water. Real gold is a heavy metal and will not float, so if your gold item floats you know it is not real gold. Panning in the High Sierra's. Fools Gold.
Also, if you notice rust or tarnishing on the item after being in water, this is also a sign it is not real gold since gold doesn't rust or tarnish. Buy a gold necklace at a swap meet that you think is real.
2. Every thought, nudge, or prompting needs to be tested.
So how do we test and confirm it is Gods voice?
3. God’s voice will never contradict the bible.
God will never contradict his Word. So you can ask yourself: “Does that idea in my mind right now agree with the Bible?”
God doesn’t say one thing and then change his mind and say something else. If he said it, it’s true—and it will always be true.
19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
God is consistent. He isn’t moody. He doesn’t change his mind. He will never tell you to violate a principle that he’s already given in his Word, the Bible.
So, when you’re wondering whether you’re hearing God’s voice, the first question you need to ask is, “Does this thought line up with what God has already said?” If what you’re thinking contradicts something that God has already said in the Bible, then you know it’s wrong.
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
God’s Word is eternal, because truth never changes. If something was true 5,000 years ago, it was true 1,000 years ago, it is true today, and it will be true 5,000 years from today.
People might say, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” No! God said it, and that settles it—whether you believe it or not!
God won’t contradict himself. So, when you’re trying to recognize his voice, the best starting place is to ask yourself, “Is this idea in harmony with the Word of God?”
Ill: The Lord told me to leave my wife because she is holding me and the ministry back. What?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
4. Does my church family confirm what I heard?
14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Ill: Church member heard from God and sent us Pastors and church leaders a letter.
God told me the end of the world is going to happen in 2012.
5. In time we will know if it was God or something else.
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Ronald Weinland, who previously predicted the world would end in 2011, 2012, and then 2013, predicted in 2018 that Jesus would return on June 9, 2019. Prior to the date occurring he began to express some doubts regarding his own prediction.
6. Confirm it with the peace that comes from the Lord
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.