[This sermon is adapted from Rick Warren's sermon with the same title.]
We continue our series on “Conversing with God”.
• The 1st session on ‘how to hear God’s speaks’ we talked about our attitudes - whether you get the message or not, depend very much on your attitude. We want to cultivate an open mind, allocate time to listen, eliminate the distractions, and cooperate with what God says
• The 2nd session on ‘how God talks to you’ we talked about the four most common ways. First, God speaks through the Bible, the number one way. He speaks also through teachers, the impressions He put in our minds, and painful experiences.
Today, we want to learn how to recognise God’s voice.
• If God gives us impressions in our mind, then we want to know how best to understand them. Read 1 John 4:1-6.
Not all thoughts are God’s thoughts.
• It can be our own thoughts, from our fleshly desires. Sometimes, we like to talk to ourselves. I like to have somebody intelligent to talk to, so I talk to myself! We can easily confuse our own desires with God's will.
• Or it can come from Satan. The Bible says there are false prophets and ‘the spirit of anti-christ’ can also plant thoughts into our mind.
So how do you know when it's really God?
• This may not be a big issue if you're just trying to decide what restaurant to go to after church.
• But if you're talking about who to marry or a major career change, this is a major issue.
• You need to hear from God. God wants to talk to you. So how do I know when God speaks to me?
1 John 4:1 “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.”
The Bible says TEST IT. We must learn to distinguish God's voice.
• I want to share with you the ways you can use to test an impression. They form a filter and they are all inter-related.
• If an idea does not pass these tests you know it's not from God. You can disqualify it.
1. DOES IT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE?
God never contradicts His written Word.
• Luke 21:33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
• God will never tell you to violate anything in this book. Never!
• If something is clearly written here, you don’t even have to discuss it. It’s the truth, for eternity to come.
God does not say one thing one time and another thing another time. He is consistent.
• If He said it in the past, He's going to say it in the future. He is always consistent. He is never inconsistent.
• We get into trouble when we doubt God's Word, when we don't listen to what it says.
• Whatever is plainly stated in the Scriptures, you don’t even have to pray about it.
• I don’t pray about tithing, I just do it. I don’t pray about going to church on Sundays. I just get up and go. I don't pray about telling other people the good news, I just do it. Because it's right here in God's Word.
2. DOES IT MAKE ME MORE LIKE CHRIST?
Phil 2:5 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”
2 Cor 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…”
Jesus is the standard by which we measure everything we do. Our goal is to be like Christ.
• God has given us a “ruler” by which we measure our attitudes or ideas.
• He would not tell us to do anything that does not reflect the character or beauty of Christ. Or do anything that contradicts or hinder us from reaching this goal.
For example, James 3:14-16 says: 14 But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
• In other words, whatever thoughts you have that causes bitterness, envy or selfish ambition cannot have come from God.
• Any idea of promoting self, or how to achieve fame and glory, cannot be from God.
Next verse 3:17 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
• So this becomes a filter that you can use to test your thoughts. Jesus is our model. Would He do this?
3. DOES MY CHURCH FAMILY AFFIRM IT?
When you become a believer, you did not just get a new relationship with God your Father, you get a new relationship to other people. You become a member of God’s family, the church.
• Eph 3:10-11 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• God is going to proclaim the truth through His church. In other words, our ideas can be tested through the Body of Christ.
• We are to consult mature Christians in the church, who are grounded in the faith and have a little more Bible under their belt than we have.
If God has spoken, He can confirm it through other believers.
• The most common reason why people mess up their lives is because they try to live their life without any accountability to anybody else, without any advice, any counsel, or any guidance.
• Prov 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
When we try to live a Lone Ranger approach to the Christian life we're going to fall flat on our face.
• Be open to the counsel and correction of fellow mature Christian brothers and sisters, who have been believers longer than we have.
• Then you will not have to make a lot of unnecessary mistakes in life. You will not fumble and fall, waste time, energy, and money on decisions you should never have made in the first place.
So consult whenever in doubt. If you really heard from God, other Christians are going to confirm it.
• If many mature Christians question your decision, you should too. If you can’t find anyone in the church to agree with the decision, don’t do it!
• God speaks through the Body as a whole. We need each other. That’s why we need the fellowship!
4. DO I SENSE GOD'S PEACE ABOUT IT?
John 10:2-5
2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.
There must be a sense of peace and assurance, not fear or anxiety, regarding what God is telling you.
• Someone says, “Satan drives you, but the Holy Spirit guides you.”
• If you feel pressured or under stress to make a decision, chances is that is not of God. That's not the way God works.
If God speaks to you and you think it is truly from God, it's going to bring peace to your heart. You would want to follow it. You are happy following it.
• God guides. His Spirit is there to give you a sense of calmness and peace about your decision.
• Worry and anxiety are never from God.
GOD ALWAYS SCOLD
A lady kept coming to her pastor every Sunday after service and shares, “God told me this…” And every week it was a scolding. Every week it was something she was doing wrong. Some were not even wrong, just questionable. But she was always beat up.
Finally one day, the pastor asked, “Does God ever says anything nice to you?”
Her God always scolds! We got bored down by our own narrow-minded perspective of God.
• We think all God does is to beat us up and tell us everything we have done wrong.
• We don’t understand GRACE if we always think that way. Our sin and mistakes have been paid for.
• God treats us as His children. We, as His sheep, love His voice. We follow Him with delight.
• There is a sense of joy and peace and gladness, just hearing Him speaks to me!
Conclusion:
Communication breakdown between us and God can happen because of sin.
• Sin blocked the channel. You will feel very distant from Him.
• Unclog it. How? Confess your sin and tell God you’re sorry. Do that and restore your fellowship with God.
• Remember it is by grace, not because of your performance. God will come near and speak to you.
Hearing God out is important. Recognising His voice is important, if we do not want to fumble and fall.
• So pray and take time to listen, especially for major decisions of your life – like career choices or life-time partners.
• God does not want to play games with you. He is concerned about your life.
• The more you seek Him, the more you know Him. The more you understand Him, the easier it is to hear His voice when He speaks to you.
• If you seldom talk to Him, His voice will sound strange to you. You do not recognise it. So draw near and talk to Him often.
A young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the address that was listed.
When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. Sound of a telegraph clacking away. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the interview room.
The young man completed his form and sat down with 7 other waiting applicants. After a few minutes, he stood up, walked across the office and entered the interview room.
Naturally the other applicants sat up and started wondering what was going on. How can this man be so bold? They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any calls yet. This young man would surely be reprimanded for budging into the room like that.
After a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man."
The other applicants began complaining. And then one spoke up, "Wait a minute! I don’t understand. We were here earlier and never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair."
The employer responded, "All the time you have been sitting here, the telegraph has been clacking out this message in Morse code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his."
With practice and some experience, you will be able to hear Him and hear Him well.
