The Spirit Speaks

Thinking today about how the Holy Spirit speaks to us, that the Holy Spirit does speak to us.

! And it's important that we remember that God wants to speak to us probably more than we tend

! So learning to recognise this voice of the Spirit means

is an enormous challenge to us,

but it's an essential thing that we need to learn to do.

There is a voice that we are called to recognise.

And the calling of every Christian, every follower of Jesus,

is to be open and to grow in that recognition

of hearing God speak to us by his spirit.

Because a lot of people will hear us make those kind of claims

and think, well, come on, hearing God.

It was the comedian Lily Tomlin that said,

when we speak to God, we're praying.

When God speaks to us, we're mentally ill.

Now, in the depths of that joke,

there's a very serious reality that people will look at

anybody that claims to hear from God

and think that it's madness.

To a world that doesn't know God, it is.

But, you know, it's always been central to the claim

of authentic Christian faith

that if you seek to follow Jesus,

you expect to hear from him.

Jesus himself said,

my sheep hear my voice

and they follow me.

So, in a world of so many competing voices,

so many competing claims to truth,

in a world of so much noise,

learning to hear God's voice

is absolutely essential.

But how?

Where do we begin with that?

Well, that's what we're going to think about

over these next few minutes.

So, the reality is,

is that as we seek to navigate through life,

all of us,

and literally all of us,

whether we believe in God or not,

all of us process competing thoughts,

competing ideas,

competing voices.

How do we process them

and how do we filter out that which,

maybe from God,

which is of God's Holy Spirit

and that which is not?

I think the first thing I want to say

is that much of the time,

possibly most of the time,

when we hear God speak,

it's not so much in the midst of the dramatic,

but rather in that gentle whisper.

Somebody called Carolyn Arends

writes this.

I have friends who hear God

in dramatic ways.

An audible voice.

A vivid mental picture.

An unforgettable dream.

For the most part,

these experiences are foreign to me

and when I hear about them,

I'm intrigued.

Sometimes I'm jealous.

I confessed my frustration about this

to my spiritual director,

lamenting my thwarted attempts

to coax God to speak to me

in spectacular modalities.

Sure, I told her,

I know scripture is the preeminent means

through which God communicates

and that all divine conversation

will be steeped in

and consistent with the written word.

God has revealed much to me

in the pages of the Bible.

But still, I complained,

many Christ followers

seem to have scripture

come alive for them

with a vividness

and specificity beyond my ken.

What am I doing wrong?

Does God think I'm not ready

for anything too direct?

Her response

stopped me in my tracks.

She said,

you don't have to try so hard.

It's God's responsibility

to speak to you

in a way that you can hear.

Her words took me aback

and then made me laugh.

Maybe God actually knows

my frequency better than I do.

See, in my human relationships,

anything too theatrical

shuts me down.

My perceptions,

my ideas and my friendships

all tend to develop

at a slow burn.

So why am I surprised

that the God

who knows me inside out

communicates with me

on my wavelength?

A gentle but

insistently recurring thought.

A well-timed word

from a prayerful friend.

A fresh bit of context

that illuminates

a scripture passage.

An encounter with beauty

that backdoors

into my consciousness

and opens me to wonder.

Does that mean

that I will never hear

from the Spirit

in dramatic fashion?

Not necessarily.

Looking at the biblical record,

God is not only

omnipresent,

but he's omnilinguistic.

Endlessly creative

and able to reach

each person

in just the right way

at just the right moment.

I should not be surprised

if at some point

God surprises me.

But it does mean

that I can relax

and trust

that while it's

genuinely wonderful

that some of my friends

frequently encounter

the Trinity

in the whirlwind

or the fire,

others of us

are no less blessed

to most often

meet God

in the still,

small voice.

So how do we discern

that?

How do we discern it?

Whether it's

in the fire

and the thunder

and the dramatic

or whether it's

in that gentle whisper.

I want to suggest

that in the broadest sense

there are three

different voices

that will be

perhaps competing.

when I say voices

I don't necessarily

mean audible voices

they might be

probably most of the time

they're not.

But three voices

firstly the self

secondly

the enemy

and thirdly

God's spirit.

how do we recognise

the voice

of the self?

Well the self

is that negative

part of us

that will tell us

the very selfish stuff

that will try

to pull us away

from God's voice.

Generally speaking

it tends to be

quite urgent

and impulsive

and quite

comfort seeking.

the self

that will

put ourselves

before others.

That voice

that says

you deserve this.

It's a voice

that doesn't

really want to pray

it wants to scroll.

Jesus warned us

about it

when in the

Garden of Gethsemane

he said

that the spirit

is willing

but the flesh

is weak.

So we need

to be aware

of that dimension

of the self

and to recognise

when that voice

is actually

really just

looking out

for our own

needs.

On the other hand

secondly

there's the voice

what we could call

the voice

of the enemy.

The voice

of the enemy

is generally

very subtle.

It tends

to be very

condemning

and it

is very

deceptive.

the voice

of the enemy

tends to speak

in half-truths

that are

laced with

lies.

I think

back to

firstly

the story

in the Garden

of Eden

of Adam

and Eve

in temptation

where

the enemy

comes to them

and says

to them

did God

really say

that you

must not

eat the fruit?

It

questions

truth.

Or I

think of

Jesus in the

wilderness

facing temptation

from the enemy

that says

if you are

the son of

God

do this.

is it

the voice

of the

enemy

will always

attack

identity.

It will

attack

who God

is

what God

is like

and it

will attack

your identity

in him.

So if you

ever hear a

voice that

begins to

question

well God

doesn't really

love you

he's not

interested in

you.

You could

never do

great things

for God.

You're not

really a

Christian.

God isn't

really that

kind.

he's not

really worth

believing in

and it

doesn't make

sense it's

not credible.

Well that's

not the

voice of

God telling

you that.

You need

to learn to

recognise the

voice of

the enemy.

If the

voice you

ever hear

is accusing

if it's

isolating

if it's

manipulative

that's

not God.

The

third

voice

the

voice of

God's

Holy

Spirit

is

peaceful

it's

clear

it's

consistent.

God's

Spirit will

bring

conviction

but never

condemnation.

So

sometimes we

may hear

God speak

to us in

such a way

that we'll

say to

you look

this thing

going on in

your life

right now

that's not

right.

It's not

right and

it's not

good.

But let's

deal with it.

it will

challenge you

but it

won't

crush you.

When you

hear the

voice of

God

breaking in

like that

it will

call you

out.

If there's

something going

wrong in

your life that

needs to be

dealt with

it will

call you

out.

But most

importantly it

calls you

back.

Not to

condemn.

not just

to make

you feel

awful about

yourself but

to bring

you back to

that right

relationship with

God that

will give

you life in

all fullness.

God's

spirit never

pressures.

He never

manipulates and

he never

brings shame.

So if

there are

those three

potentials going

on all the

time then when

we hear a

voice but it

could be the

selfish instinct

or whether it

could be the

voice of the

enemy accusing

or manipulating

truth or

whether it

could be the

Holy Spirit of

God himself.

How do we

make those

discernments?

I don't think

there's any

formula for

this but I'd

share the

following three

thoughts.

Firstly the

voice of God

will always

only ever

align with

the Bible.

So if

there's

sensing that

there's

something that

seems to be

in tension

with what

scripture

teaches it's

probably not

going to be

the voice

of God

because God's

voice always

aligns with

scripture.

See if we're

to grow as

Christians we

need both

God's word

and God's

spirit in our

lives.

There's that

old saying

if you seek

all word

but no Holy

Spirit then

you dry up.

In other

words if you

believe that

actually you

just read

the Bible

but you

just read

the Bible

and there's

no prayer

and there's

no sense

of encounter

with God

in a living

way.

If your

approach to

knowing God

is just a

matter of

reading

verses and

verses and

verses and

digesting it

it might be

interesting but

if it's just a

cerebral exercise

something you do

with your mind

so much of

that you'll

just dry up.

on the other

hand on the

other extreme

if our

approach is

just seeking

the experience

of the Spirit

but we

ignore the

word of God

if we just

go chasing

after one

experience

after another

after another

well you'll

just blow

up.

See all

word but no

spirit you dry

up.

If you only

pursue spirit

but never

interested in

God's word

then you blow

up.

It's only

when there's

word and

spirit working

in our lives

that we

grow up.

And

scripture may

not always be

what we want

to hear.

When we read

the Bible it

can be profoundly

disruptive.

It can challenge

us but it

will always be

what we need

to hear.

So if we're

serious about

hearing God

speak we need

to seek God's

Holy Spirit

as a living

encounter in

a very real

personal way

but we must

always do so

with scripture

as well.

Word and

spirit if we're

to grow up.

The second

thing is

that when

the spirit

speaks we

can know that

it's the spirit

speaking if

what is brought

is peace and

clarity.

clarity.

You see

God only

ever brings

peace and

clarity.

Yes he may

disturb us

but ultimately

he brings us

back to that

sense of

peace.

If we hear a

word that's

speaking to us

and it might

be rattling

us a bit

yes it might

be rattling

us a bit

but it's

what we need

to hear to

bring us

back to

that peace.

In 1 Kings

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19

we read of

how Elijah

expected to

hear God

in the

thunder

and yet

God came

in the

whisper.

You see

God's voice

doesn't yell

it settles.

God's voice

doesn't shout

to compete

but whispers

to draw you

close.

So firstly

then God's

voice you will

recognise it

when it aligns

with scripture.

Secondly it

will bring

peace and

clarity but

thirdly God's

spirit will

draw us

closer.

When we

hear God's

spirit speak

to us it

may not

straight away

draw us

closer to

answers but

he will

draw us

closer to

him.

When the

spirit speaks

to us it

always leads

to a deeper

closer connection

with God.

And often

perhaps most

of the time

that comes

with just

that thought

that image

where we're

praying and

it just

comes back

to us

and it

comes back

to us

and it

comes back

to us

in ever

greater

strength.

And it

won't have

neon flashing

lights saying

this is God

speaking to

you.

But it

will come

and it

will perhaps

be confirmed

by something

that somebody

else may say

and then you

may find

yourself

reading

scripture

and you

will find

that it

seems to be

confirmed

there by

something

that you

read.

So long

as we

handle it

with humility

and are

open to

the sense

that you

know

this

sense

this is

God

speaking

it

could

it

might not

be

God

speaking

it

could

just

be

the

human

self

but

it

just

could

be

God

speaking

if we

hold

that

biblical

God

prayerfully

and ask

him to

confirm

that

and I

believe the

Holy Spirit

will confirm

that

and bring

ever greater

clarity

you see the

key thing

is is for

us to

spend time

every day

in prayer

and I'm

not just

talking here

about setting

aside a

specific time

although that

is vital

that we

set time

a day to

focus on

prayer

but the

purpose of

having that

time that we

set aside to

read the

Bible and to

pray is

not that we

then have this

compartmentalised

moment where

we do God

for ten minutes

and then we

get on with

everything else

but rather

that it might

energise and

breathe into

the whole of

the rest of

the day

such that

through the

rest of the

day we

are practicing

the presence

of God

seeking his

presence

seeking his

voice in

the midst

of all of

the most

mundane

tasks that

we face

listening to

him in

every

interaction

in every

conversation

in all

that we

do

expectant

to hear

from his

Holy Spirit

you know

there's that

old saying

isn't there

you can

become too

heavenly minded

to be of

any earthly

good

well actually

the opposite

is true

the problem

is not being

heavenly minded

enough

that it is

when we are

truly heavenly

minded

when we are

seeking the

presence of

God

right here

right now

in the midst

of the

ordinary

that is

we are

in that

poise to

hear what

he may

have to

say to

us

and it

calls for

discernment

I'm going to

share one

last image

with you

and then

we are

going to

pray

it comes

from the

fourth

century

monk

John

Cassian

and

John

Cassian

said that

we

the primary

mark of

spiritual

maturity

is to

become

an

increasingly

prudent

money

changer

in the

Roman

Empire

it was

quite

common

for there

to be

a lot

of

counterfeit

coins

around

so money

changers

if they

were to

be prudent

had to

learn

how to

discern

the real

thing

from a

fake

and if

you were

a prudent

experienced

money

changer

then you

were so

familiar

with what

a real

coin was

like

that the

moment a

fake one

dropped into

the palm of

your hands

you could

tell whether

it was the

wrong metal

the wrong

weight

or the

wrong

engraving

bring a

slightly more

up to date

example

I knew

somebody

worked for

Apple

and apparently

they were

so used to

handling

iPhones

all day

that somebody

once gave

them a

just was

really excited

about this

really super

cheap

iPhone

they bought

in the

marketplace

and they

showed it

to him

and the

moment they

put it

in his

hand

he said

that's not

a real

iPhone

there's

Apple on

it

yeah but

it's not

a real

one

yeah but

it says

it came all

boxed up

and you switch

it on

it's all got

all the

stuff on

yeah but

that's not

a real

one

how can you

tell that

I handled

these all

day

it's the

wrong

weight

it's the

wrong

feel

it's a

fake

we're

called to

become

prudent

prudent

iPhone

holders

money

changes

you know

to go back

to that

image from

the Roman

Empire

if you

are so

familiar

with dealing

with the

real thing

you can

spot a

fake

very very

quickly

and this

is a

lifelong

challenge

for us

it's to

grow in

the sense

of knowing

that God's

spirit is

around us

and there

before us

listening to

him

searching

for him

such that

when we

hear his

voice

we know

it

let's pray

together

now

Lord God

we are

so often

surrounded by

so many

competing

voices

so many

claims to

truth

so many

things that

get said

to us

or things

we may

read

things that

are broadcast

far and

wide each

day

so many

messages

so many

different

competing

claims to

truth

Lord we

thank you

that it

is actually

your desire

that we

hear you

and that

you want

to speak

to us

and that

you've shown

us that

through coming

to us

in Jesus

and through

giving us

your word

so Lord

wherever we

are at

right now

in our

own life's

journey

help us

to hear you

more

help us

to be ready

and to be

expectant

help us

to be like

a prudent

money changer

able to

discern

that which

is false

from that

which is

real

give us

courage

when we

hear your

voice

to hold

on to it

to follow

it

and to

trust it

knowing

that we

can always

trust you

because you

long for us

to live

life

fully

help us

to hear

your voice

even this

week

in whatever

situations

we face

and wherever

we go

speak to

us

and move

among us

that we

may live

our lives

in the way

that you

long for us

to do

in Jesus

name we

pray

Amen

Amen