Is That You?
1 John 4:1-6
We are in the third week of our Holy Spirit series, “The Forgotten God.” We’ve been challenged and reminded of both our desperate need and quite often our neglect of the Holy Spirit. The truth is we cannot do anything of eternal value without the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew this so before He went to the cross, He promised the disciples that he would not leave them alone. He was going to send his Holy Spirit to be with them. And it is that Spirit which speaks to us, leads us and guides us as we seek to follow Jesus. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will actually teach and inform us of the things of God. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all Truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13 In fact, Paul says in I Corinthians 2:10-16 the Spirit searches the deep things of God and reveals God’s thoughts to us.
The challenge for us is to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. If we’re going to move closer to the Holy Spirit, it is important for us to understand the Holy Spirit is not a thing. The Holy Spirit isn’t some impersonal force or power that we are supposed to learn how to control for our own purposes, like Luke Skywalker and the force from Star Wars. The Holy Spirit is a personal being with whom we enter into a relationship. The foundation of any relationship is communication; the ability to relate. And yet, it is also the most difficult part of relationships, especially when the other person is very different from you. Take, for instance, the communication between men and women. Quite often, it seems men and women speak two entirely different languages. John Gray put it this way, “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” It’s hard enough for men and women but the challenge of communication is greatly amplified when it comes to communicating with someone like the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t just someone different from us, the Holy Spirit is divine! Couple that with the fact that you can’t exactly see or touch the Holy Spirit and you get a sense of how challenging it can be.
What makes it even more challenging is that our Scripture today tells us there are other spirits or voices communicating to us besides the Holy Spirit. We live in a world where we are bombarded with voices telling us what is true, how to live and what to believe, like the talk show hosts Steve Harvey, Dr. OZ or Oprah, or Madison Avenue and the 3000 ads we’re exposed to every week or even the Internet where anyone with a blog or website can call themselves an expert. All promote their own worldview and path to happiness through consumeristic, materialistic, quasi-spiritual values. In a world filled with so many voices, how do we learn to recognize and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit?
One way the Holy Spirit deals with this is to bring us into communion with God. Jesus prayed in John 17:22-23, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.” The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to bring us into deep communion with God. I love what Paul says in Colossians 1:27, “This is the great mystery…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus isn’t out THERE somewhere. It is Christ who dwells in us. It’s that proximity to God that begins to rub off on us. We start to want what God wants and to care about what God cares about. Our heart begins to beat in time with God’s heart. Why? Because we become like those we spend time with. The proverbs writer puts it this way: “Iron sharpens iron.” And the deeper communion we have with God, the more natural it will be for us to recognize voice of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me…they listen to my voice and they follow me.” John 10:14-27 It’s kind of like when a good friend calls you on the phone, you instantly recognize their voice. It is close communion with God that enables us to recognize his voice.
Even so, there are times when we aren’t quite sure if it’s the Holy Spirit leading us. So how can you know? Test it! 1 John 4:1 says, “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.” How do we test the spirits? First is scripture. God has already said an awful lot about what we are supposed to do, and how we are supposed to live in the Word. How familiar are you with what God has already said? A lot of us want to hear the voice of God, but we never break open the Word of God. But know this: God is never going to contradict what he has already said in his Word. Ever! That’s why it’s so important to read His Word daily which explains God’s will and expectations for following Jesus and to know it. So test what you hear with God’s Word.
A second test is one another. The Spirit often speaks the loudest and clearest in community. We struggle with this in our culture because we are so individualistic and reclusive. The greatest sin we commit as Americans is making our faith personal and private. When we do, we negate one of God’s greatest gifts to us: the wisdom and guidance of the faith community. That’s why Jesus created the church and why the disciples were in a small group together. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another…and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Draw upon the collective wisdom and listening power of brothers and sisters with whom you are walking in faith.
A third test is the Great Commandment. In Matthew 22, Jesus is asked of the 613 laws, which is the greatest commandment. In answering this question, Jesus boiled it down to two things. First, “Love God with all your heart, soul and mind: and second, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” When you find yourself feeling an impulse or nudge that you might think is from God, ask these two simple questions: “Does this lead me to loving God more?” and “Does this lead me to loving others more?” If the answer is yes to both, then you can trust that it is from God.
For some of you, all of this is may be exactly what you’ve needed to hear. You’ve had a hard time trying to figure out if what you are experiencing is in fact the Holy Spirit and now you know how to test it. Then there are some of you, who feel like this conversation is way ahead of where you are right now. For you, the problem isn’t that you are having trouble figuring out if what you are hearing is the Holy Spirit. The problem is that you aren’t hearing anything at all. If that’s the case, se what might be getting in the way of your hearing. It’s like going to many restaurants in New Orleans which have no sound proofing, it’s just voices bouncing off the walls, the floor and the ceiling and you can barely hear yourself think let alone the person talking across the table from you. There’s just too much blocking your hearing.
First, check your motivation. In other words, when it comes to the Holy Spirit, what are we after? Are we merely looking for answers, or maybe some good advice about how to live a better life? Or, are we after intimacy with God, becoming more like Jesus and obeying Him? Too often we come to God with self-centered motives. Think about the times when we are most concerned with being led by God. It’s usually when we find ourselves in a bind, when we aren’t really sure what the next right thing to do is, when we’re in a crisis and we don’t know how to respond, or when we have multiple options in front of us and there’s no clear direction. And so where do we turn for help, and often its not the first place. It may be the self help section at Barnes and Noble, the internet or to a friend but eventually we turn to God. When we cry out to God, are we concerned with being led by the Holy Spirit for our own needs or is it about God, His will, our obedience and His kingdom? Many times, selfish motivation interferes with hearing God’s voice in our lives and receiving His leading.
Second, check your purity. Nothing interferes more with hearing the voice of God than unconfessed and unrepented sin. So is there an unconfessed and unrepented sin in your life? Did God just bring something to mind? That’s the Spirit speaking. One of the roles of the Holy Sprit is to convict, to point out areas in our lives where we are not living as we should or loving God or loving others as much as we should. The Holy Spirit calls to mind or to our attention the areas where I am not following God’s will or God’s commands, where I have made it less about God and other people, and more about me. If we’re having a tough time discerning God’s voice, maybe we need to deal with a sin in our life first. When God convicts, we have to respond. That may be the most difficult thing of all. Hebrews 3 says, “Today, when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” If we’re honest, when this happens, it isn’t that we aren’t able to recognize if it is the Holy Spirit, we just don’t like what he’s saying. It’s a lot easier to keep doing what we’ve been doing than it is to change and do what we are supposed to do. Most of the time, we already know it, we just don’t want to do it. But until we do, we will have difficulty hearing God’s voice.
Third, check your volume. Maybe your life is too busy and loud. From grocery lists, to emails, to soccer games, to school, to to-do lists and work there is very little silence and solitude in our lives. Are you taking anytime to be still and listen for the small voice of God? I know it’s not easy, but you need to create some margins, some empty space where you can be quiet and listen. Maybe you can start getting up a half hour earlier than everyone else in the house or go for a walk on your lunch break, but spend some time just being quiet and listening.
Fourth, check your comfort level. God is much more interested in your character than your comfort. From my own experience, I have felt closest to God when I needed Him the most because I was outside my comfort zone or knowledge and skill level. The Holy Spirit isn’t going to lead you to pursue the American dream; the Holy Spirit is going to lead you to be a part of expanding the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. Why would we need a Comforter if we are already comfortable? If you are feeling disconnected from God, then I want to encourage you to get a little uncomfortable. Move outside your comfort zone. Reach out to someone who is different from you, or get involved with a ministry outside your area of expertise or with people vastly different from you. Or maybe there is a broken relationship you need to try and make right, even if they’re the ones who hurt you. Jesus said, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.” Matt. 18:15 No one likes confrontation but unresolved conflict in our lives can dull our hearing of the Holy Spirit just as much as staying within our comfort zone.
Fifth, check your awareness. Remember, the Holy Spirit isn’t somewhere else. The Holy Spirit is within us, and all around us. I truly believe the Spirit is speaks to us. The question is, “Are we aware of it?” We need to raise our awareness level that God can speak to us anytime, anywhere and through anyone, even an ass, I mean donkey, like when God spoke to Balam. I was part of a small group of men who met every Thursday morning at 6:45 am and we always started with this question, “What have you been hearing from God?” When you have to answer that question every week, it heightens your sensitivity and awareness of the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Because the last thing you want to say is, “Nothing” because is speaking. The Spirit is speaking to you regularly. You just aren’t paying attention. Heighten your awareness.
In our Scripture today, John calls us to test the spirits to see if they are from God. He isn’t writing to a bunch of scholars or pastors. He’s writing to a group of normal, every day people, like you and me. Yes, you can do it! It’s something you can do because through the power of the Holy Spirit, normal, every day people are capable of profound levels of discernment, hearing God’s speak and receiving His leading and then doing supernatural things. Pursue God with everything that is in you. Trust the Holy Spirit is doing his job, and test the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the “Just do it!” Amen
