|
Supernatural
Biblical Guidance 4
Understanding
the Holy Spirit's Voices & Guidance
by
Pastor John Hamel
“The spirit of man is the candle of the
Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” (Proverbs 20:27)
Notice that our
text Scripture does not say, “The body of man is the candle of the Lord,”
nor does it say, “The mind of man is the candle of the Lord.”
Somebody once said
concerning supernatural guidance, “God gave me a brain and He expects me to
use it.” To which I responded, “Not always. He doesn’t want you
to use your brain when it’s telling you to disobey the Bible. He
doesn’t want you to use your brain when it’s telling you to disobey all the
forms of supernatural guidance outlined in the Bible.”
This is why the
Apostle Paul tells us that we are to renew our mind on the Written Word of
God. (Romans 12:2) A mind that has not been renewed on the Word of
God will tell you to do wrong things and to obey wrong voices.
A
human being can get into big trouble when attempting to reason the things
of God out with their mind. Yes, God gave you a brain. However,
He does not intend for you to use it to override His Word or His
supernatural guidance.
We are studying
supernatural guidance in this series. We have covered some very
foundational yet pertinent information up to this point.
We have seen
that man is a spirit
and it is through man’s spirit that the Holy Spirit is offering
guidance.
We have seen that the primary way the Holy Spirit guides,
next to the Bible, is what we have called the “inner witness” of the Person of the Holy Spirit.
In this lesson we
will be studying the second most common way through which the Holy Spirit
speaks to His people.
This is often referred to as “the still small
voice” or “the still small voice of our own human spirit.” It is also
referred to as “the inward voice” of the Holy Spirit. This is how we
will refer to it throughout this study.
The
Inward Voice of the Holy Spirit
“I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not, MY CONSCIENCE ALSO BEARING ME WITNESS IN THE HOLY
GHOST,” (Romans 9:1)
Even as the outer
man, the physical man has a physical voice, the inner man or the spirit man
has a voice of its own. Your human spirit most definitely has a voice
and it will speak to you. The Apostle Paul referred to this inward
voice of the Holy Spirit as “conscience.” Paul knew that the Holy Spirit
was living on the inside of his spirit, making him the Temple of the Holy
Spirit. (1Corinthians 6:19)
Paul is revealing
here that when the Holy Spirit speaks into the human spirit, it rises up
into the human mind and becomes what is commonly called “the voice of conscience.”
Anyone who is familiar with Paul’s Epistles (Letters) knows that he never
violated his conscience. He realized that his conscience was his
spirit saying what the Holy Spirit was saying to him. This inward
voice is not as forceful as the actual voice of the Holy Spirit, which we
will talk about later in this lesson. The inward voice of the Holy
Spirit can actually be rather placid or mild in comparison, yet when you
hear it, it is as clear as a new bell. If
you are Born Again, you can trust the inward voice
or the voice of conscience.
“Therefore if any
man be in Christ, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Corinthians 5:17)
The Bible reveals
that at the New Birth everything about your spirit becomes brand new.
As we explained in the first lesson of this series, this change occurs in
the human spirit, not in the body, not in the mind. This is a very
safe and reliable means of guidance because your spirit is now new with
nothing but the life and nature of God within it. A Born Again human
being can avoid a multitude of heartaches simply by following the voice of
conscience. It is the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to your human
spirit.
Many years ago I
woke up around 3:30 am and began to pray
in the Spirit. My wife was pregnant and I had been
perceiving that there was some sort of a problem. I prayed in the Spirit for about 1½
hours when suddenly a quiet, clear, firm voice rose up from my spirit into
my conscience and said, “Change doctors.” I knew it was the inward
voice of the Holy Spirit. I very wrongly began to reason that there
was going to be a delivery problem, so I figured we had some time to make
the change. Boy, did I ever figure wrong. Within a matter of
days we were standing in a cemetery saying a temporary goodbye to a little boy who had
returned to the God Who had sent him. A complication had arisen and
we needed a more experienced doctor.
We do not blame God
for what happened, nor do we blame our young, inexperienced
physician. The Holy Spirit did His part by speaking to me. The
young doctor did his part by operating in what little knowledge he
had. I did not do my part by obeying the
inward voice of the Holy Spirit immediately. This is one lesson I
will never forget and one that you can learn from as well. I am a
Born Again man. The voice that rose up out of my spirit into my
conscience was the inward voice of the Holy Spirit and I am without excuse
for my lack of promptness in obeying Him.
On the other hand,
if you are not Born Again, God does not live in your spirit and you are not
the Temple of the Holy
Spirit. I realize that some people are not going to like this.
However, unsaved people cannot trust anything that rises up out of their
spirits because they are in union with Satan and are
his children. (Ephesians 2:1-3) An unregenerate spirit will permit a
human being to do practically anything and find a way to justify it.
“Unto the pure all
things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing
pure; but even THEIR MIND AND CONSCIENCE IS DEFILED. They profess
that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and
disobedient, and UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK REPROBATE.” (Titus 1:15,16)
An unregenerate
spirit is defiled and is capable of permitting anything. An unsaved
human being simply cannot trust their conscience. These are not
fighting words. These are Bible words and they stress the importance
of being Born Again in order to hear from God accurately.
The
Actual Voice of the Holy Spirit
"And the child
Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was
precious in those days; there was no open vision. And
it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his
eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went
out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was
laid down to sleep; That the LORD called Samuel: and
he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for
thou calledst me. And he said,
I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down."
"And the LORD called
yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I;
for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down
again. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the
LORD yet revealed unto him. And the LORD called Samuel again the
third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou
didst call me.
“And Eli perceived that the LORD had
called the child. Therefore Eli said unto
Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call
thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in
his place. And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other
times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I
will do a thing in Israel, at which both the
ears of every one that heareth it shall
tingle." (1Samuel 3:1-11)
Here we find the
Lord through the agency of the Holy Spirit speaking to Samuel in what is
commonly called “the audible voice of God.” It was so clear, and it
came with such authority, Samuel actually thought that it was Eli calling
from the other room, three times. This would be the third most common
way that the Holy Spirit speaks to Believers when there is no Scripture
addressing their need.
First, He will
speak by the inner witness. Second, He can speak by the still small
inward voice. Third, He can speak by what we are calling the actual
voice of the Holy Spirit. This voice is far more authoritative than
the still small voice. The question has been asked, “Is it an actual
voice that you hear with your ears?” I have heard the actual or the
audible voice of the Holy Spirit. It certainly comes across as if
everyone present could hear it. However, the audible voice of God
rises up out of the human spirit and usually only the one being addressed
can hear it. This is not to say that God cannot address a group
audibly because He certainly has done so on numerous occasions. (Matthew
3:16,17; Mark 9:1-9)
There is a major
difference between the inward still small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking
to our spirits and bearing witness with our conscience and the actual voice
of the Holy Spirit. When you hear it, you will find yourself looking
around to see who spoke to you because it is as real as the voice of
another human being, even more so. It will definitely set you to
thinking.
The Apostle Peter
heard the actual voice of the Holy Spirit after his vision in Acts chapter
10.
“While Peter
thought on the vision, THE SPIRIT SAID UNTO HIM, Behold, three men seek
thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing: for I have sent them.” (Acts 10:19,20)
Notice the Holy
Spirit “said” to Peter. The Holy Spirit did not impress Peter nor did
He bear witness with Peter’s conscience. He actually “said” something
to Peter.
When I first heard
the actual voice of the Holy Spirit as a baby Christian, I just about
jumped out of my skin. I was working for a Hollywood Production
Company driving semi-trucks for popular entertainers. My semi was
sitting out front, loaded with over one million dollars of sound, lighting
and stage equipment. Believe it or not, I was praying in the Spirit
before going on the road and the actual voice of the Holy Spirit said,
“Don’t go.” It scared the fire out of me. I went all through
the house looking to see who was speaking to me but I knew that I was
alone. He spoke to me again, “Don’t go.”
To make a long
story short, I disobeyed Him and paid a bitter price. By the time I
got to my destination I realized the trouble I was in. I handed the
keys to the truck over to another individual and flew home
immediately. Let it suffice to say that within weeks I had gotten
completely out of that industry and answered the call of God to go to Bible School and enter full
time Ministry. You can read the details of my disobedience and its
consequences by clicking on “The Albuquerque Fire Pit.”
Was the voice that
said “Don’t go” supernatural? Absolutely. Was the voice
spectacular? Beyond all doubt, yes. Is it the primary way God
guides all Believers? Absolutely not. Because I was a baby and particularly
dull at that time, the Holy Spirit had mercy on me and spoke in an audible
voice. He wanted me out of that industry and He wanted me out
immediately.
Since then I have
learned to trust my life to the inner witness first, the still small inner
voice of conscience second and the actual, audible, much more authoritative
voice third. These forms of supernatural guidance are followed by dreams, visions, prophetic utterance and even Angelic visitation at times. I
have experienced all of these, multiple times, but I do not sit around
waiting for them to occur. I build first and foremost on the written
Word of God and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.
Do
Not Sit Around Waiting for the Spectacular
People who make the
mistake of insisting on the more spectacular forms of guidance are
frequently accommodated by the devil. He knows when we are disobeying
God, rejecting the inner witness, insisting on dreams, visions, prophecies
and Angels. He will step right up to the plate with his counterfeits
and knock the will of God for your life right out of the park if he hears
you insisting on the more spectacular forms of supernatural guidance.
The inner witness
may not be spectacular but it is absolutely supernatural. Learning to
be led by the inner witness does take a little trial and error at first,
but the Holy Spirit will protect you and keep
you on track. If you are going the wrong way you can be sure He will
correct you. (Isaiah 30:21)
Learning to be led
by the inner witness can be illustrated by learning to play the
piano. You start off with little things, hunting and pecking, finding
your way around the keyboard. At first it seems that you will never
learn and that failure and inability will plague you forever. But
suddenly, through persistence, one day you realize, “Hey, I’m really doing
this. I really am being led by the Spirit of God
supernaturally.”
Keep in mind that
there are many voices besides the voice of the Holy Spirit clamoring for
your attention. Learn the Bible. Demand Scripture for
everything.
Everything the Holy
Spirit says and does can be backed up and proven with Scripture, multiple
verses of Scripture in context. (Deuteronomy 17:6; Matthew 18:16;
2Corinthians 13:1)
Be blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
Home
l Bible
Training l Top l Beliefs l
Contact
|
