The VOICE of GOD

KJV John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

I have a question about the voice of God. I remember one of my teachers telling me God only speaks to you through his Word. (The Bible)

I asked him if you were dropped off right now on an island all by yourself with no Bible would God ever speak to you again. His answer was :-(

I want to ask the question, what is the difference if one uses different terminology?
For example, one says to his wife,
1. God told me to go give Bob $200
2. I was quickened in the Spirit to give Bob $200
3. I was impressed of the Lord to give Bob $200
4. I feel led to give Bob $200
5. The Lord put it in my heart to give Bob $200

Is not all this the same thing? And can it indeed be the voice of God leading you?

Back to the Bible, no where in the bible does it tell Dan to give $200 to Bob.
Yes you can find a thousand verses to give, but, Joe, Tim, Mike and Ron all need money yet, only Bob received $200 because Dan says he heard the voice of God say, “GIVE BOB $200”

Does God speak to his sheep by the Spirit?

Can someone share your thoughts on this?

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JOSHUA MEYERS

Great question! I am looking forward to hearing people's answers too.

My view is that yes God very definatly does talk to His sheep by the Spirit (love the Bob example!) like when he told Phillip to run after that chariot! It didn't say that in the Bible (well at least not in His Bible) but God thr Spirit told him to do it. All through out the ook of Acts The Spirit was speaking to and giving guidance to His church.

However for me i am sad to admit than in the most part this is theory. I believe it but do not daily walk in it, i think the reason being because 1. I like to talk to God but am not very good and being still and waiting to hear what He wants to tell me and 2. Because i have not got used to 'practising the presence of God' throughout my whole day, so i am not in the conctant fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

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George Platt

let me try..

God's voice that comes via the impression of the Holy Spirit should always be aligned with His moral will and precepts pertaining all matters found in the Written Word, at the least, not contrary to It; furthermore, responding decisions should also be made in accordance to His wisdom.

a small example may be as such that,

God told Dan to give Bob $200 for (drugs or food or family crisis?) Or should Dan pay his own debt first? (if he'd been heavily in debt himself)....etc. etc.

I tend to think the specificity of this sort of voice or impression comes clearer if one is in a consistent and close walk in Christ, i.e. in both the Living and Written Word, and in prayer and meditation.

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D.Miller

Most of what I have seen regarding this subject is that your personal character and conformity to Christ will determine what you 'hear." Therefore it is risky to establish a doctrine of mystically 'hearing' God apart from maturity in the Word and in conduct.

That God 'speakes' to us is certain. For example there is this verse from James...

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Yet character is the filter by which we can hear God. For instance, what would a fool do with wisdom? Fools always want wisdom at the 11th hour, but would a fool even recognize wisdom if it was given?

In my experience, a person who can 'hear' wisdom is not a fool in the first place. (At least not an arrogant one ;-) )

If we get too confident of our ability to 'hear' God without the Word, we might associate our own inclinations with 'God's voice." (This is why Godly inclinations are a prerequisite for hearing Godly words.) For example an ex pastor of mine seemed to blur the lines between his own disposition and God's moods...when he was feeling melancholy the "spirit' must be feeling melancholy, and when he was in a jovial mood, the 'spirit' must be wanting to celebrate. Almost every Sunday, he would interupt the flow of worship services to tell the people that God wanted slower music now, or faster music...or he wanted testimonies. During the sermon he would veer off topic for a second and then explain his digression with a casual comment "Someone in here must have needed to hear that." (Implying that every word he uttered was spirit-led...)

Likewise, I can remember in times of personal distress I would pray with such sincerity untill I became convinced I had 'heard' from God. Indeed, sometimes these things would bear out and other times I wonder if I was hearing simply what I wanted to hear...looking back much of my prayers in those circumstances were immature...I was facing the wrong direction spiritually and yet I was 'hearing' the Lord and other people were 'hearing' the Lord for me as well.

The things we were 'hearing' are a GPS marker indicating how misguided, a passionate sincere Christian can be. The words we hear often indicate our sincere longings, fears, and beliefs.

Another example...once after a particular time of spiritual renewal a friend came to me sharing that the Lord had impressed upon him that I had fallen away. It actually pained me to tell him he was wrong...I didn't want to embarrass him. Yet he was often prone to give me words like this because he had assigned himself some role of a mentor in my life...and he couldn't accept growth in me. The 'word' he heard was just a reflection of his own beliefs about me.

Examples like this show me that the first order of business is not 'hearing' from God but applyng what we know to do from his Word and let Christ be transformed in us. Once we are more Christlike, our sense of 'hearing' will become more Christlike. So will our other senses and spiritual giftings. Even spiritual gifts are not safe in a person who is void of Godly character.

There is much interest these days in the experiences of a mystical union with Christ, such as hearing God inwardly. I readily admit my own personal journey has often taken me into this area of interest. However I am careful to not lean too much on these experiences...but regard them with healthy suspicion.

Not that I am suspicious of God's desire or ability to speak to me, but suspicious of me, a corrupt vessel, and my desire and ability to hear.

As someone wanting balance in this area, I admire the Whitefields, Edwards, and Wesley's. They were evangelicals precisely because they preached a living vital connection to Christ, but they always emphasized Christ-like character as the manifestation of this connection more then mystical abilities.

MC

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Mike Compton

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Ed Pugh

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JOSHUA MEYERS

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Zeke Oosthuis

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Ed Pugh

Thanks for pointing us back to the Word, MC.