Series: “Be Still & Hear God” - Part 4
"How to Recognize God's Voice"
Pastor Jerry
1 John 4:1-6
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We’re going to conclude the sermon series today,
“Be Still & Hear God!” We’ve been looking at how to hear God’s voice. All around you there are sounds going on. There are sound waves going through this building right now. You can’t see them. You can’t hear them unless you’re tuned in.
The same is true with God.
God is trying to speak to you. But unless you’re tuned in, you’re not going to hear Him. So how do you know when an idea is from God? How do you know when an idea is from Satan? How do you know when an idea is your own idea?
If you confuse your desires with what God wants you to do the results can be fatal.
“What you think is the right road may lead to death.” Proverbs14:12 (GN) It’s very important to know when it’s God talking to you.
The fact is one moment it could be the devil talking to you, one moment it could be God talking to you, one minute it could be you just talking to yourself. The Bible says this in 1 John 4:1
“Don’t believe everything you hear just because somebody says it’s a message from God. Test it first to see if it really is.”
If you want a good example of how quickly we can flip flop, look at Matthew 16, the story of Jesus talking to Peter. Jesus says to Peter,
“Peter, who do you say that I am.” Peter says,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus says to Peter,
“You’re right, Peter. That idea didn’t come from human wisdom. God gave you that idea.” Now a few minutes later Jesus says to Peter,
“You know I’m going to have to go to Jerusalem and I’m going to have to die on the cross for the sins of people.” Peter goes,
“Wait a minute, Lord! You don’t want to do that. Jesus says,
“That idea is from the devil! Get behind me, Satan.” Same guy. Two different impressions within just a matter of minutes. It could happen to you and me. One minute you’re listening to God. One minute you’re listening to yourself. One minute you‘re listening to the devil.
So how do you know if it’s God talking to you?
Jesus said in John 7:17
“Anyone who wants to do God’s will can test this teaching and know whether it is from God or whether I’m making it up.” Today we’re going to look at f
ive ways to know if an idea in your mind is from God or not. All five of these tests form a very strong filter. You can’t pick and choose. No. It takes all 5, or, it’s not God talking to you. If an idea passes all five of these tests you can know with confidence that you have heard from God.
So let’s look at these five ways to test an idea from God.
- Does it agree with the Bible?
God will never contradict what He’s already said in His word. Luke 21, Jesus said,
“Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away.” Truth stands the test of time. T
he truth of God never changes. The vast majority of God’s will for your life is right here in the Bible. All you’re got to do is read it.
So the better you know God’s word the more God will be able to talk to you.
- Does it make me more like Christ?
God’s number one goal is to make us like Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5
“In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.” God obviously would not put an impression in our lives that would lead us in a direction opposite the major goal He has for our lives. So how do you know it’s not an impression from God? Jam. 3:17
“The wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.”
God’s going to give impressions that promote harmony and not conflict. When God gives you an impression, He is concerned about the impact that impression is going to have on somebody else. Is it going to hurt somebody else’s life? If you really hear from God it makes you full of mercy.
- 3. Does my church family confirm it?
You need the wisdom and counsel and advice of other godly people in your life to help you stay on track.
God never meant for you to go through life as a Lone Ranger, on your own.
That’s why He created the church family because we need each other. We need spiritually mature friends to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from.
Ephesians 3:10 says this
“God’s intent is that through the church the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” God shares His wisdom with His body and if God has genuinely spoken to you, then other mature believers will confirm it.
God wants us to learn from each other, to share with each other, to get the wise counsel of each other.
- Is it convicting rather than condemning?
Let me explain the difference.
Conviction comes from God. Condemnation comes from the devil. The purpose of conviction is to correct something that’s out of whack in your life. The purpose of condemnation is just to put you down.
Notice what the Bible says, Romans 8:1
“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” God never attacks your value. C
ondemnation comes from the devil. The devil is the one who wants to make you miserable.
So what is conviction? The Bible tells us in Revelation 3. God says
“Those whom I dearly and tenderly love I tell their faults and convict and discipline. So, be earnest and repent.” God tells you what’s wrong in your life. He tells you the solution.
Condemnation doesn’t go away. It just stays there. If you still feel guilty after you’ve confessed a sin, that guilt is not from God. It’s from the devil. Too many people mistake their own low self-esteem for the voice of God. They think that it’s God saying,
“You’re worthless. Nobody likes you.” That’s not God. That’s Your own voice. Or it is the devil.
It is not God. The Bible says in Rev.12:10
“Satan is the accuser of believers.” Not God.
- Do I sense God’s peace about it?
If you get an impression and it makes you feel overwhelmed, you ought to question whether that impression is from God.
Because God wants us to sense His peace, not live under stress. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33
“God’s not the author of confusion.” He wants to make sense in our lives.
The only time pressure is legitimate for us as believers is when God has told us to do something specifically and we haven’t done it yet.
God wants to encourage us. There is a word for something in our lives that drives us away from God’s peace. And that word is
“worry.” The Bible talks about the difference between our worries and God’s peace in Philippians 4: 6-7 says,
“Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He’s done. If you do this you will experience God’s peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and your minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
One of the clearest signs of impression from God is when all of a sudden you sense peace
– God’s peace – in the midst of the storms of difficulty in your life.
These five ways are ways to test an impression from God. They are: Number 1,
does it agree with the Bible? Number 2,
does it make me more like Christ? Number 3,
does my church family confirm it? Number 4,
is it convicting rather than condemning. And number 5,
do I sense God’s peace about it?
If you use these filters you will know whether you’re hearing from God or not. Learning to hear God speak is more than
hearing God’s word. You must also
act on what you hear. Be still & Hear God! But when you hear God speak …you must obey!
