Session 3: Hearing from Heaven: How to Know the Voice of God (Justin Peters)

well good afternoon good afternoon I hope every joy to be with you it truly is this is a great honor for me and one of the one of the tremendous just unspeakable blessings that God has given me in my ministry is that I have been graciously given by him opportunities to preach all around the world I think I've been in 27 different countries on every continent except Antarctica and I know of no plans to go there in the media future but it does not matter where I go in the world everywhere I go in the world I find the impact of this church and the Ministry of gty everywhere I go and I am so profoundly grateful for that just briefly one little story one of the ones that stands out in my mind about six years ago I was in Uganda preaching with a friend of mine named Mike Miller a pastor in Oklahoma and we were in kabuki village out in the middle of nowhere Uganda and we were doing a pastors conference there and a number of pastors had walked in from miles away and needed to use the restroom and I was walking down this little dirt path to what they would call a restroom and Kabuki village but walking down this dirt path and there was a pastor walking towards me coming to the conference and he was in a suit a very ratty ratty tattered suit but of course that's all that that he could afford very just unimaginable poverty in this area and we were talking and he we introduced ourselves and he told me he was a pastor and he had walked four miles away and I happened to look at what he was holding under his arm and it was a John MacArthur Study Bible way out in the middle of nowhere Uganda and and I just it's just I'm so profoundly grateful for John MacArthur's ministry and for the ministry of grace to you and all of you who work at grace to you thank you thank you for what you do let's go to the Lord and word of Prayer and we'll begin father how grateful we are to be able to gather as your children who have been adopted into your family through the merits of Christ father is this conference is centered on the sufficiency of Scripture may may you impress upon our hearts in our minds that very thing that your word is not only in there and it is sufficient for us and everything that we do everything that we believe everything that we do in church is a corporate body it is so completely sufficient for us follow me we have a renewed confidence in that these things we ask and pray in Christ's name Amen leave me well I know many of you probably think that I can't preach without PowerPoint but I promise I can but I am going to use PowerPoint in this presentation because of the topical nature of it hearing from heaven hearing from heaven how does God speak to us today undoubtedly you have heard people say this well God has spoken to me and he's told me that you are to do such-and-such pastor God has spoken to me and he's told me to tell you that our church needs to go this direction and it is just ubiquitous out there in the evangelical world whatever evangelical means nowadays that God speaks to people in still small voices maybe audible voices dreams visions hunches all of these things and you hear this so commonly has it ever made you stop and wonder what's wrong with me you know why don't I hear God speak to me that way is there something wrong with me is there something wrong with my relationship with the Lord these people have a closer walk with God than I do what's wrong with me and if you have ever had those thoughts I hope that this session will be an encouragement to you as we look at how God does and does not speak to us today now as we begin I want to define a couple of terms because these are widely misunderstood revelation revelation refers to God revealing new information that has been previously hidden so God revealing new information that up until this point has previously been hidden revelation is not happening anymore today you hear people say this all the time though well God gave me revelation on this well no he didn't because God is not revealing anything new that has not already been revealed in Scripture now what may have happened to you is illumination illumination refers to the enabling work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers in order to understand and appropriate the truths of Scripture revelation is not happening anymore today illumination however is illumination should be a regular part in fact of the Christians life as the Holy Spirit helps us to understand and appropriate the written word of God this notion of God speaking today outside of the confines of Scripture can be traced back to a movement known as Pietism and there's a lot that could be said about this but Pietism was a reaction to what was at least perceived to be a highly intellectualized almost cold orthodoxy coming out of the Protestant Reformation was anything but but some people perceived it to be rather too intellectualized and so in the late 1600s early to mid 1700s its movement began known as Pietism Philip spinner was the father of Pietism and he was no heretic but he began to deviate just a little bit from the sufficiency of God's Word and as Pietism grew as is the case error always baguettes more air and then you get to men like count Nicholas von Zinzendorf who we could say was a heretic but this kind of goes back to the movement known as Pietism in a more modern version divine revelation knowledge you've probably heard of this term the term was first coined by ESSEC W Kenyon Kenyon is the grandfather of what we call today the Word of Faith Movement New Apostolic Reformation he's the one that first this term kenyan had believed in two different types of knowledge the first of these is sensory knowledge that which we get through our five senses sight sound taste smell and touch the other kind of knowledge is revelation knowledge and this is supernatural knowledge that comes only from God now according to Kenyon the catch to this is that these two spheres of knowledge are mutually exclusive and what that means is is that reasoning or logical thought is of no value so if you really want to go deep with God if you want to get to the deep secret hidden things of God you've got to disengage your mind put the old noodle in park I'm going to show you some more modern expressions of this you may have heard of the practice known as lectio Divina this is a practice that was in doubt endorsed by a pope benedict xvi in 2005 this is a Catholic discipline highly highly mystical very unbiblical lectio Divina has been practiced by some modern evangelical names and we'll talk about these one of which is Beth Moore now I want to now let me say in the all sense in this presentation I'm going to show you a lot of clips from a lot of different people very wide with a spectrum of modern evangelical preachers some of the clips are from ranked charlatans and heretics some of the clips are from people that we would not put in that basket and I am doing this not to lump everybody in this presentation in the same basket I am purposely have a wide range here to show you how ubiquitous this belief is that God speaks today outside of Scripture Beth Moore very very troublesome teacher unfortunately lot could be said of her but Beth Moore I want to read this quote to you from her book praying God's words he says what little I know I want others to know before God tells me a secret now if he's telling you a secret he says he knows up front I'm going to tell it so I'm not sure how secretive that is but he says she says by and large that's our our deal so Beth Moore has this secret deal with God this is Gnosticism this is a modern-day version of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism also from Beth Moore in her book entitled when godly people do ungodly things and this is rather ironically subtitled eight arming yourself in an age of seduction but Beth Moore says this she says I heard the voice of God speak to my heart come and play I love that he said come not go come that meant he was already there I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of his silent voice I'm not sure how a silent voice has a tone but she said I could tell by the sweet tone of his silent voice that he was smiling I could have outlined his expression with my finger now other than that just being a little bit weird she goes on and she says I built a snowman I laughed with God he laughed with me I am so in love with him I am so in love with him Beth Moore wants you to believe that she has such an intimate relationship with Jesus that she hears he not only hears him but can even see the expression that is apparently on his face and God wanted jesus wanted her to go and play with him and so they built snowmen together you see Beth Moore has such a deep relationship with Christ far deeper of course in what you have this is an ancient versus modern-day version of the ancient heresy known as Gnosticism now a few clips watch this from Rick Warren last week we began a new miniseries on understanding how to hear the voice of God very few things are more important than this because you can't have a relationship to God if you can't hear God if all you do is ever talk to him in prayer and you never hear God speak to you that's a one-way relationship that isn't much of a relationship so if you never hear God speak to you then you we don't have much of a relationship with God this from Priscilla Shire hi I'm Priscilla Shire and I'm hoping that you'll join me for a six-week journey as we talk about how we can hear and discern the voice of God in our lives do you really expect and anticipate that the divine voice of God can be heard by you do you really think that he loves you enough to die for you but doesn't love you enough to then talk to you do you really think that he loves you enough to die for you but does not love you enough to talk to you what an insult what a slight to the Word of God God speaks to us today all the time through the scriptures now she may not have meant it that way and I want to say that that the the sincerity is of these individuals is not what I'm calling into question sincerity is not what matters truth matters now this from Charles Stanley so you're are you asking if God speaks specifically and the answer is yes he does let me give you two or three examples speaking about buying groceries on a particular day I had a very short period of time and so I wanted to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving my time was really running out I thought well I shouldn't do this now I said God just show me what it is like God said go to this store buy the turkey now against some of my will I went I walked right in straight to the right place the right pound of Turkey walked right out paid and got back in the car in less than about twenty five minutes did God tell me to go yes he did so close is Charles Stanley's relationship with God that God even tells him where to go to buy his Thanksgiving Day turkey now I'm guessing that probably most of us and your gods never told us to where where to buy our turkeys but you see this is this is how close he is with the Lord and they buttress them so they use these claims to lift themselves up whether knowingly or unknowingly they're do it to lift themselves up to let you know just how close of a relationship with God they have and if you don't have that kind of relationship if you don't have that kind of intimacy with God then there's something wrong in your relationship with him now Sam storms is someone who would share our view of soteriology a more reformed view of soteriology but Sam storms is also a continuous - charismatic and I want to read you this out of his book practicing the power Sam storm says this to be the recipient of prophetic revelation from God whether in dreams impressions trances visions or words of knowledge and words of wisdom can be nothing short of euphoric the experience brings feelings of nearness to God and a heightened sense of spiritual intimacy that isn't often the case with the other of the Chara's model this is an unfortunate integration of the non apostolic gifts the gifts of teaching Mercy administration exhortation hospitality the gift of giving all of these gifts as card-carrying cessationists all of us would affirm those gifts but those gifts are somehow lesser and if you don't experience the apostolic gifts that the sign gifts if you don't experience those gifts and you just don't have the same nearness with God as you're supposed to this is a very unfortunate degradation of the more normative gifts the non apostolic gifts and this goes against scripture of course this goes against what Paul says teaches in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 again this is a modern day version of Gnosticism so if you are someone who gets dreams and visions and you hear still small voices and God speaks to you maybe even audibly you're half but if you're one of these poor souls and all you have is the Bible and your indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God well then you're just a have-not you're just not as spirit you just don't have the same nearness with God as the haves do this is Gnosticism I would submit to you that the resource the book that is singularly most responsible for introducing charismatic theology into at least theoretically non charismatic churches is experiencing God by Henry Blackaby that came out in 1991 if you go back before 1991 at least in non charismatic churches almost everyone would have understand understood that God speaks to us through the Bible we speak to him in prayer today hardly anybody understands that and I believe experiencing God is singularly most responsible for introducing this knows these notions into non charismatic churches experiencing God Henry Blackaby says this if you have trouble hearing God speak you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience so this is very very important you should be hearing God speak to you regularly and if you don't then you're in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience now I'm going to show you a video clip of a man named Sid Roth and I want to offer you a disclaimer before I do I just want you to brace yourself because what you're about to see is one of the most disturbing one of the most shocking videos that I've ever come across and that's saying a lot in in given what I spend a lot of time study but this is shocking but I want to show you just how far this can go okay watch this from Sid Roth his television show entitled it's supernatural that peers on TV and watch this Sir Arthur welcome to my world where it's naturally supernatural I have read of the great men and women of faith one in particular intrigues me so much his name Smith Wigglesworth he had some of the most outrageous miracles I ever heard of in my life let me give you one example some parents had a two month old baby dying in the hospital the parents kidnapped the child took the child to a Smith Wigglesworth meeting and Smith looks of the child looks at the parents and say can I do what God tells me to do well what would you do if he were the parents child is dying anyway right now he takes the baby two-month-old throws the baby against a wall the baby then the babies on the floor hey have you ever seen Sonne play soccer he's have you ever seen them kick a soccer ball he does that with the baby the baby falls into the congregation no crime it's a dead 100% healed [Applause] is that not shocking friends this went out a worldwide television and lest you think that oh nobody would believe that the very fact that they put in a worldwide television is self-evident proof that people do believe this and let's keep in mind that one of the charismatic mantras is this well what God does for one you'll do for you and people are sitting at home and they're watching this and these people they claim to hear from God and a person sitting at home and he's thinking wow well God told Smith Wigglesworth to throw a sick baby against the wall my kids sick my neighbor's kid is sick what God does for one he'll do for you the very fact that they aired this on worldwide television is self-evident proof that people are dumb enough to believe this is a very dangerous thing to say God told me to do such-and-such you see how extreme this can get how do you know God told you to do that well Henry Blackaby says I sensed God's call I prayed and sensed God wanted me to I began to sense a great urgency we begin to sense God leading us our Turks sensed God had one God wanted us to do such-and-such one of our members felt led to do this same verbage that the charismatic movement uses well how do you know this how do you what does God's when God spent what does that sense feel like well we're never really told this from Bill Hybels Bill Hybels up until about a year or so ago as a pastor wrote this book the power of a whisper and he says this in his book he says without a hint of exaggeration I can boldly declare that God's low volume whispers have saved me from a life of sure boredom and self-destruction it's a very ironic statement for him to make given that what has happened bill hybels God says in Jeremiah is not my word like a fire declares the Lord and like a hammer which shatters a rock doesn't sound very boring to me you see this is a denigration of the authority and the sufficiency of God's Word now they would not say that in so many words but that is exactly what it is this from Robert Morris Robert Morris tells us that prayer is a two-way street so when we pray we are to pray to God and then we are less weird to listen for him to talk back to us watch this from Robert Morris you know if we said we're going to have a class on prayer you say that's I need that and even the disciple said teach us to pray but let me remind you that hearing God is the second half of prayer because if you can't hear God why would you pray now one reason is to make our requests and petitions be known to God but God never intended prayer to be a giving of our to-do list to him every morning he intended prayer to be communication between a father and his children and if you'll just take some time and start to listen you'll be amazed that you'll speak this is ubiquitous then we hear this all the time that prayer is a two-way street we are to pray to God and then we are to listen for him to talk back to us and maybe you have done this before and I don't mean to mock here I know a lot of people are very sincere when they do this very misguided but very sincere but we hear this and so you hear this and you've got something going on in your life you've got some crisis situation you've got a decision to make and you're not real sure what to do you really feel like you need some direction from the Lord and so you go to the Lord you're very sincere the TV you turn the TV off the kids are in bed and you sit down at your kitchen table or your study or wherever you do your praying you sit down and you pray you go to the Lord and you tell the Lord what's going on in your life say Lord this is what I'm facing I'm not sure what to do Lord speak to me I'm listening and you get real still and you listen real hard and then after just a few seconds what happens a thought right just kind of just kind of flashes through our minds and we think Oh was that you Lord or was that me was was that God or was that the pizza I ate tonight I mean happen how do you know when it's God speaking to you how do you know that that still small voice is really of God if God is supposed to be speaking back to us when we pray you remember what the disciples asked Jesus in Luke chapter 11 Lord teach us to praise the ball is sitting on the proverbial tee waiting for Jesus to knock it out of the park in affirm what Robert Morris and the vast majority of evangelicals believe today that prayer is a two-way street Lord teach us to pray what did Jesus say okay here's how you do it you talk to God and then you get real quiet and you listen for that still small voice is that what he said no he didn't say that at all he said when you pray say this Lord hallowed be thy name nothing about listening for some still small voice nothing about listening for God to speak back to you so this whole notion of prayer being a two-way street that is foreign to the Word of God there's nothing in the Bible about that at all so what of this still small voice we hear this all the time God speaks to us in quiet whispers and still small voices one example of this this is a tweet from Beth Moore Beth Moore says there's a time to give up and a time to keep trying sometimes the time to keep trying feels a whole lot like the time to give up the only difference is the still small voice of the holy spirit within you saying try again it's not the same old Monday if the brand-new mercy so so you've got to listen for this little still small boy so where does this still small voice comes from come from comes from first Kings chapter 19 let's look at it first Kings 19 this is in the King James Version and he said go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind which rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice literally in the Hebrew the sound of a quiet whisper and it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering end of the cave and behold there came a voice unto Him and said what doest thou here Elijah this is where the still small voice comes from dear friends the still small voice was not some inner impression inside Elijah's head it was not internal to him it was external to him notice it says that he went out of the cave to the entrance and there he clearly heard the voice of God so it's not something internal it's not some notion inside of his head it was an external voice so can we please do away with this whole still small voice thing it was never intended to be some inside impression it was external not internal but this is something that has worked its way into our evangelical lingo and few people understand what this really is it's a terrible misuse of it speaking of terrible miss uses my sheep hear my voice watch this from Robert Morris all right so John chapter 10 look at verse 1 we're talking about were sheep and we could hear God most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way saying is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens now watch this carefully and the Sheep watch hear his voice you need to say those three words here he is boys so John 10:27 to me is the most concise and comprehensive verse in scripture about hearing God it is when Jesus says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me practically every single book every sermon that is out there about how to hear the voice of God cites John 10:27 this is the go-to text for God speaking to you somehow inside your head and some inner impression my sheep hear my voice well let's look at this John 10:27 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me this is this is universally used as the proof text that God speaks to us today outside of the confines of Scripture my sheep hear my voice but let's look at it in context beginning in verse 26 Jesus says but you do not believe why because you're not of my sheep my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me we see right there that the voice of the shepherd is connected to believing in the shepherd and look at verse 28 and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand dear friends this is not talking about God telling you where to go to have lunch one day where to go buy your Thanksgiving Day Turkey this is salvation this is regeneration this is the effectual call my sheep hear my voice and I know them they follow me and I give eternal life to them before you and I came to Christ we were lost sheep lost sheep wandering around out in the pasture of life gray using minding in our our own business but all of a sudden we hear a voice and we lift our heads up and we see the shepherd and we go to him what a terrible trivialization of such a majestic beautiful passage of Scripture of the Good Shepherd giving life to his sheep not telling them where to go have lunch one day this is a terrible trivialization of such a beautiful deep majestic passage of Scripture I give eternal life to them they will never perish no one will snatch them out of my hand the Shepherd holds his sheep in his hand if you've ever wondered about eternal security dear friends if you are his sheep he is holding you in his hand and you're not getting out of that and as if that were not enough and it is but as if it were not enough look at what Jesus says in verse 29 he says my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand as if his hand was not enough and it is but as if it wasn't he he wraps as it were the father's hand around that of his own what a beautiful passage and what a terrible trivialization to reduce this text to something like God telling you where to go to get your Thanksgiving Day Turkey uh-oh Jesus calling by Sarah young Jesus calling is the hottest-selling devotional book on the market anywhere and it has been for seven years now it is light years ahead of everything else out there light years ahead of it this is no ordinary devotional book now I'm going to show you excerpts from Jesus calling I'm copied and pasted word-for-word no edits on my part here straight out of Jesus calling straight out of the introduction of Jesus calling Sarah young says this she says during the same year in 92 I began reading God calling a devotional book by two anonymous listeners these women practiced waiting quietly in God's presence pencils and papers in hand recording the messages they received from him God calling is indeed a book I have one on myself it was written back in the 1930s by two anonymous female mystics we don't know who these ladies were but two anonymous ladies but these ladies claim to practice waiting in the presence of God practicing hearing God's voice and with more practice it's like they tuned in to just the right frequency and when they hit just the right frequency God started calling them and they began to write down what he said this was seryeong's inspiration for Jesus calling Sarah young says this I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible but I yearned for more you see the Bible just was not enough for Sarah young and you know what that is the mindset of the vast majority of professing Christians today the Bible just is not enough for most people we've got to have something more I yearned for more anytime I hear somebody say well yeah I know God speaks in the Bible and I know that's his word but I need something more here's my question here's my question have you mastered this book from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:20 one you have completely mastered it there is nothing else that you can glean from this but no more drops of truth you could possibly squeeze out of its pages you have mastered it from cover to cover if the answer to that question is no and it is [Applause] then please don't tell me the Bible is not enough you don't even understand what you have in black and white right in front of you please don't tell me the Bible is not enough but it wasn't enough for Sarah young and sadly it is not enough for the vast majority of professing believers today Sarah young says this I decided to listen to God with pen in hand writing down whatever I believed he was saying houston we have a problem just like the ladies who wrote God calling and they wrote down what he said Sarah young tuned into just the right frequency when she hit just the right frequency Jesus started calling her and she began to write down what he said and if you have a copy of this book I should say well I starts they read it don't read it but if you happen to have one you might notice that all of the devotionals in there 365 of them all of them are written in the first person for jesus christ i jesus am such-and-such i will do this I will do that they're all written in the first person for Jesus if Jesus really is calling seryeong and she is writing down what he is saying you know what she's doing she's writing scripture that's what she's doing she's writing scripture because God cannot speak less authoritative Lee on one occasion than he does on another friends if God is speaking God is speaking and whatever he says carries the exact same Authority as does John 3:16 in Romans 10:9 and 10 and it's not just Jesus calling but every time someone says God spoke to me and said quote da-da-da-da-da then whatever's inside those quotation marks that has just as much authority theoretically as any verse in Scripture and so you know what we ought to do we add-on we ought to add that to this book because it should have the same authority we should add it to this book there's just one problem with that this book says do not add to this book this from Beth Moore what God began to say to me about five years ago and I'm telling you it send me on such a trek with him that my head is still whirling over it he began to say to me I'm gonna tell you something right now Beth and boy you rocked this one down and you say it as often as I give you a Doran's to my bride is paralyzed by unbelief my bride is paralyzed by unbelief my bride is paralyzed by unbelief did you know that I didn't know that the but apparently it must be the Bride of Christ the church is paralyzed by unbelief never mind that the Bible itself says the gates of Hell will not prevail against it but apparently the churches is paralyzed by unbelief this is new information new information because it is not recorded anywhere in Scripture but it must be true because God told her to tell us that not only did he tell the Beth Moore to tell us that but he actually told her to write it down this is not an isolated statement by the way from Beth Moore it's not an isolated statement her book when godly people do ungodly things Beth Moore says this she says I am being as honest as I know how to be when I say that I did not write these pages by simple preference I wrote them because had I not the rocks in my yard would have cried out what God does with what he has promised is his business I entrust this message entirely to the one who delivered it while I sat bug-eyed so if we were to believe Beth Moore then she was just this passive recipient she emptied her mind and God began to speak to her and God delivered this message to her wash CSAT bug-eyed it has she not done at the rocks in her yard would have cried out nothing like applying that text to yourself unbelievable unbelievable this is very common this is as I said ubiquitous in the evangelical world and watch this clip from Matt Chandler so let's talk about what prophecy isn't what prophecy isn't the thus saith the Lord look right at me is over look at me when this text is talking about prophecy it's not talking about the way Jeremiah prophesied or Isaiah prophesied or know that that's closed that's kin and I so you will never prophesy in a way that's on par equal to anywhere near the inerrant infallible Word of God that's closed shut and so the best you've got the best you've got is the humility to say I think the Lord would have me lay this before you a couple of points to be made in this passage now I will say as this sermon this particular sermon has a watch that Matt Chandler to his credit did begin by saying I don't want you to rely on me for your church if you don't go to this church he said I won't need to go to your local church and that's important don't you basically don't just rely on TV preachers for your church and that is commendable in and of itself but there this is full of error he says that when God he firms that God speaks to us today but it's it's he says it's not as inspired as Scripture it's not like what God said to Jeremiah it's not like what God said to Isaiah that's canonized that's closed but God still speaks to us today that is a false dichotomy that makes no sense as I said difference if God is speaking God is speaking and whatever he says should be just as authoritative as any verse in the book God cannot speak less authoritative Lee on one occasion than he does another God cannot speak in the Bible and really really really mean it but when he speaks to us today outside of the Bible he still means it but he doesn't mean it quite as much as he meant it here how does that work if God is speaking God is speaking this is a degradation of the authority and especially the sufficiency of Scripture Sam storms his book entitled practicing the power the foreword interestingly was written by Matt Chandler but notice how Matt Chandler says the best we can do today is say I feel like the Lord is saying such-and-such Sam storms picks up on this he says dramatic pronouncements aren't helpful avoid saying things like thus saith the Lord or this is the word of the Lord for your life says avoid those things they aren't helpful we have found that it is better to introduce prophetic utterances with statements such as I have a strong inner impression that I believe is from the Lord I had a sense from the Holy Spirit or I had a dream which involved several of you so we shouldn't say things like thus saith the Lord we should say instead well I feel like the Lord is saying such-and-such this whole premise rest on a fatally fault assumption that somehow prophecy in the New Testament is a degraded version of prophecy in the Old Testament they all have to affirm that Old Testament prophets were held to a standard of 100% perfection and what they spoke and if any prophet so-called prophets spoke something that was not from the Lord well we all know what was called upon to do to that so-called prophet he was to be put to death and so they've got to somehow degrade New Testament prophecies it's just not the same we're not held to the same standard there's nothing in scripture to indicate that that is the case New Testament prophets were held to the same standard as Old Testament prophets there's no digression in the gift of prophecy from Old Testament to New Testament but what did this whole notion that I feel like the Lord said to me I feel like the Lord said this to me well let's look in Scripture the word of the Lord came to Abram the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the word of the Lord came to Elijah even in the New Testament when the Holy Spirit spoke he spoke very clearly very precisely set apart from me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them I feel like the Lord might have said to me to tell you said nobody in the Bible ever that is not something that you will find anywhere in the scriptures dear friends if you have to wonder whether or not God spoke to you he didn't if you have to wonder whether or not God spoke to you he didn't when God spoke in the Bible his and it wasn't nearly as often as what a lot of people think some people have this idea that God was just speaking all the time everywhere and you know all throughout the Bible to everyone he really wasn't there were major characters in the Bible who went their entire lives never heard God say anything nehemiah never heard God say anything but when God did speak it was crystal clear there was no ambiguity about what God said there was none of this was that you Lord or was that me you won't find that modeled anywhere in scripture whenever God spoke people knew exactly what he said and they knew exactly who was who said it the only exception that was the boy Samuel when he got when he heard God calling him by name three times but even at that samuel still knew exactly what God said he just was a little unclear first who was who said it but he knew exactly what he said but he was just boy nowhere in the Bible will you find anyone saying something like I think the Lord might be trying to tell us such and such that is the concept that is absolutely foreign to the Word of God now have you ever thought about this all of these books on how to hear the voice of God the power of a whisper Robert Morris's book frequency priscila shires book knowing the voice of God all of these books I mean bookshelves and Christian bookstores practically sag under the weight of books telling you you know seven easy steps to know the voice of God have you ever wondered if hearing the voice of God was so vitally important for us as New Testament believers why are there absolutely no instructions anywhere in the New Testament about two acts how to actually hear the voice of God you ever wondered that in the four Gospels we have the record of the life and Ministry of Jesus Christ in the book of Acts we have a record of the early church and the spread of the gospel in the pastoral epistles we have loads of instructions about doctrine about theology about church polity about the qualifications for elders about how to resolve conflict amongst believers we have loads of instructions about this we have lots of information about eschatology in the future events in the end times all these things but there is nothing in the New Testament outta here the voice of God nothing if this was such a vitally important part of the voice of the believer don't you think there would be something in the New Testament telling us how to actually hear the voice of God it's not in there why isn't in there because it's not necessary it's not necessary number one God is only speaking to us today in the Bible number two when God did speak in the biblical days everybody knew exactly what he said no need for instructions on how to hear the voice of God there are warnings about adding to or taking away from Scripture old and new testaments take your pick oh yeah but that that instruction in revelation 22 that warning there the about adding to the words of this book that's just talking about the book of Revelation you know we can add two other books that's okay no we believe in what is called the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture if you add to one book you have added to them all we're not to add to nor take away anything from the Word of God and yet this whole notion of God spoke to me and he said quote dah dah dah dah dah then what you are doing you are adding to the Word of God you may not admit that that's what you're doing but theoretically that is exactly what you're doing and the Bible warns us not to do that watch this clip from Matt Chandler this clip really made the rounds about a year or so ago watch this what I'm asking you to do is be brave ask here step out approach and just say hey while I was praying the Lord brought you to my mind and even if it sounds crazy you just trust him it's going okay Danny let's do it Lord what would you want me to encourage Danny with and then I quiet again trying to listen and then automatically in my head there's a picture of a ship a pirate ship and then there's there's like cannons on the pirate ship and there's a shark chasing the pirate ship not at that point like nope no not gonna happen right and here's what I want you to do oh you just step out and you can even emit like we're growing together we're gonna fail and there's gonna get weird it's gonna be awful like I'm just gonna go to Danny and I'm gonna be like hey brother you heard my sermon I was praying Danny was a pirate ship it's a short chasing it we're cannons I'm not gonna interpret that for him I'm not gonna be like what I think that means is that maybe you're stealing some stuff from people and Jesus is the shark and you need to repent and I'm not gonna interpret that flow I'm just gonna go and in a great deal of humility I'm just gonna be does that make any sense to you no it doesn't make any sense [Applause] at all on any level does that make any sense you know every day every time we have a dream every time we you know see something in there maybe a little bit off you know we think oh that's that's I wonder if God's trying to tell me something here Bill Hybels writes in his book the power of a whisper how he's he was seeking a word from the Lord and now God wasn't speaking to any but he was out fishing one day and there was a Bud Light beer can that literally floated by his boat and he says in his book he said ah I stared there I sit there staring at the can he said I wondered is this a message from God if so what does it mean am I supposed to drink Bud Light he says am I supposed to tell my people not to drink Bud Light and then he says is there a message inside the can yeah this was a pastor you know and he thinks God's trying to give him messages through Bud Light beer cans floating back past his boat how are we supposed to make sense out of any of this no it doesn't make any sense this from Lou Engel sitting on the stage will Bill Johnson Benny Hinn yeah you know last days language of the Holy Spirit is drinks but she was just a dream wait a mean just a dream who knows what angels had to fight through to break into your world to give you their thoughts that you just say it's just a dream I think the church needs to stop saying it's just a dream [Applause] but dear friends that is exactly what it is it's just a dream there are no significance to your dreams they're just dreams I dreamed one time that I was being chased around a Kentucky Fried Chicken by four tornadoes my my doctor may tell me not to go to KFC but I don't think that was God trying to tell me not to go to KFC so how does God speak to us today let's let's go to the text Hebrews 1:1 and to God after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days he has spoken to us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made the world the writer of Hebrews says that in the old days in the in the days of the prophets and the Old Testament God spoke in a lot of different ways indeed he did God spoke to Moses up on the mountain through a storm and thunder God spoke to Elijah through that still small voice which was an external voice audible external voice in numbers chapter 22 God even made a donkey talk so God did indeed speak in many different portions in many different ways but in these last days says the writer of Hebrews he has spoken to us in his son friends Jesus is the final speaking of God the final speaking about everything that God has to say he has said to us in his son Jesus Christ and we have a perfect inerrant infallible all-sufficient record of that in his word Jesus is the final speaking of God now I don't want you to misunderstand I don't want anything old Justin says that God doesn't speak to us anymore today yes he does God speaks to us right here this is how God speaks to us well I just enough had these dreams I've had these I've had these dreams and they came true what do you what do you make of that I've had these experiences Justin you know I was driving and I always turn left on this particular road every day I always turn left but the something just told me no to take a ride and I turned right and I ran into someone who needed my help Heidi how do you make sense of that I can't exegete your experiences all I can do is exegete Scripture but speaking of experiences let's look at one such experience Peter writes about it second Peter chapter one Peter says for we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty this is the Transfiguration Matthew 17 for when he received honor and glory from God the Father such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory this is my beloved son with whom I am well-pleased and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we are with him on the holy mountain this was the Transfiguration this was Peter James and John and they were there in Jesus before their very eyes was transfigured with Moses and Elijah in his is the the Vail of his flesh was peeled back and they saw his the majestic glory Jesus transfigured in his full glory what an experience what did Peter say about this he said but we have the prophetic word made more sure made more certain what's the prophetic word this is the prophetic word the written word of God was more certain than that and I don't doubt that many of you here or watching have had some experiences I don't doubt that but whatever you think your experience may or may not have been no matter you know if God woke you up in 3 3 o'clock in the morning to pray for someone turns out that person needed prayer at 3 o'clock in the morning you know whatever your experience was and I'm not doubting God's providence and all of our experiences but whatever your experience was I guarantee you one thing your experience didn't approach what Peter experienced God waking you up at 3 o'clock in the morning pray for someone that that doesn't begin to approach what Peter James and John experienced and if they could say of the written word of God that the written word of God is more certain than that I'm promise you it's more certain than anything you think you may or may not have experienced the Word of God is more certain than anything that we could experience we cannot exegete experiences we can only exegete the Word of God in difference no matter how real experiences may seem to us if that experience does not plumb with the Word of God then we have done exactly what Paul told us not to do in 1st Corinthians 4:6 he says do not exceed what is written when we exceed what is written when we exceed biblical parameters we're actually opening ourselves up to demonic influence and demonic suggestion we cannot interpret the Bible by what we experience we must interpret our experiences by the Bible by the prophetic word made more sure well the Bible doesn't tell me where to go to college the Bible doesn't tell me who to marry tells you marry believer but it doesn't really tell me who the Bible doesn't tell me what job to take or what house to buy or which car I should buy you know the Bible doesn't tell me what should I be an engineer or a dentist how do I know God's will for my life how do I know God's will for my my life here's how you know God's will for your life read study and obey God's Word read study and obey God's Word if you're not doing that then nothing else matters anyway read study and obey God's Word and then if you've got some situation in your life you've got some decision to make and you're not real sure what it is to do some crisis and you're not sure the right thing to do or you you want to know God's will for a particular thing that's going on in your life or in your church or whatever reach studying God's work obey God's work pray for wisdom James tells us that if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God now if you're not reading and studying and obeying God's Word then don't bother praying for wisdom he's not going to give it to you but if you are pray for wisdom and then seek godly counsel the Bible says there's wisdom there safety in a multitude of counsel and if I've got something going on in my life or my ministry and I'm not sure what to do you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna seek godly counsel the first person I'm going to go to is my wife Cathy talked about it with her first in it both of us together decide you know we need some other voices on this I've got some men in my life that I go to from time to time and I'll say brothers this is what's going on in my life this is what's going on in the ministry give me your counsel what do you think there's wisdom in doing that so read study and obey God's Word pray for wisdom seek godly counsel and then proverbs 3:5 and sixes trust in the Lord with all of your heart lean not unto your own understanding but in all of your ways acknowledge him and he might direct your paths he'll direct your paths if he's got nothing better to do he will direct your paths how does God do that I don't have the slightest idea I just know he does friends he spoke the universe into existence I think he can direct our paths you don't have to worry oh well if I choose this when I really should have chosen this you know everything's just gonna fall apart and you know unravel like a like a row of dominoes relax relax he spoke the universe into existence he can certainly direct your paths read study and obey God's Word pray for wisdom seek godly counsel and then make a wise informed decision trust the Providence of God and do whatever you want to do you don't have to seek a special word of knowledge or will for your particular life or your situation in fact we don't even see anyone in the New Testament doing this we see the Apostles just doing things look as a couple of examples Paul writes in Titus Paul says I have decided to spend the winter at the capitalists the couplers you know Paul didn't say I prayed and asked the Lord to give me a word of knowledge of where I was spending with I decided to spend the winter in the Kabbalists Paul stayed in Athens by himself and he sent Timothy because we thought it best we thought it best to do it you just see the Apostles doing things and on occasion like in Acts chapter 16 you see God's providence hindering them from doing things that they had planned on doing like Paul wanted to go into Asia in the Spirit of Christ hindered him closed that door and so Paul went to Europe and Turkey modern-day Turkey and the gospel leaped from one continent to the next and Lydia was converted so you see God occasionally just providentially altering their paths but you don't see the Apostles Oh Lord show me your will for my life they just did things they went out and they preached the gospel they did things and dear friends Paul makes a beautiful statement to the Colossians he says this in Colossians chapter 3 says let the word of Christ dwell richly within you let the word of Christ dwell richly within you the more the word of Christ this book dwells richly within us the more that our thinking the more that our decision-making will just be naturally conformed into what God would have us to do so let the word of Christ dwell richly within you read study and obey God's Word and you will be making wise god-honoring decisions in closing these things cannot coexist these things cannot coexist a belief that God still speaks today outside of Scripture and a belief an affirmation of a closed canon of Scripture those two things cannot exist if God is still speaking today outside of Scripture and whatever he says just as authoritative as any verse in this book and so we should add it to this book and so we have an open Canon of Scripture if God is still speaking outside of Scripture then this is not closed this is still an open canon you cannot have your canonical cake and eat it too this cannot coexist a continuous position on the apostolic gifts and the sufficiency of Scripture you cannot hold to a continuous position on the apostolic gifts the gifts of prophecy in the sense of foretelling the future the gift of miracles and healing gift of tongues interpretation tongues those apostolic gifts if you believe that all of those apostolic gifts sign gifts continue today those sign gifts are by nature revelatory they are revelatory in their nature so if those gifts continue then you cannot also affirm the sufficiency of Scripture they are mutually exclusive positions and even the most careful quote unquote of charismatic s' cannot with a clear conscience and the logical consistency hold to the sufficiency of Scripture they are mutually exclusive positions once you take a continuous position on the apostolic gifts then the sufficiency of Scripture is out the window it's gone it's gone they're mutually exclusive does God speak to us or you know you hear people say well God gave me a burden for so-and-so God laid you on my heart we we hear that kind of lingo can God do these things it's not a matter of whether or not he can do anything God could do it of course God can do whatever he wants to do you know God could put a leprechaun in my refrigerator if he wanted to but I've got no reason to think that he will and an awful lot of reasons to think that it won't it's not a matter of God's ability okay and I hear oh you're putting God in box you're saying God can't speak to not saying he can't it's not that he likes the ability question is whether or not he is in Hebrews 1 1 & 2 Romans 10 all these things very clear that God speaks to us in his word not outside of Scripture and it's not a matter of his ability but you know God laid you on my heart God to give you an example I grew up in Mississippi and one of my good childhood friends is a man named Chad and Chad still lives in Mississippi Kathleen I live in Montana I hardly ever see Chad anymore but from time to time you know I'll be doing whatever during the day and I might think about Chad and you know maybe I'll pray for Chad did God bring Chad and my remembrance I don't know maybe I just thought about Chad you know so there we don't have any mechanism to know when God may or may not be laying someone on our heart or you know to use that lingo we have no mechanism to know that so it's really a moot point it doesn't matter just do like the Apostles and just do things read study and obey God's Word this from Spurgeon Spurgeon says I have little confidence in those persons who speak of having direct revelations from the Lord as though he appeared otherwise than by and through the gospel his word is so full so full so perfect that for God to make any fresh revelation to you or to me is quite needless to do so would be to put a dishonor upon the perfection of that word indeed dear friends if you want to hear God speak to you there's one way I guarantee you you will hear gossipy read your Bible if you want to hear God speak to you audibly read it out loud [Applause] 100% guaranteed he will he will speak you will hear him speak how firm a foundation ye Saints of the Lord is laid for your faith and what in his excellent word what more can he say been to you he has said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled what more can he say to us dear ones than what he has already said in his word God's word is sufficient let's close in a word of Prayer father what a just an unspeakable comfort it is to us to know that you are sovereign that you have provided for us your word that is not only an heir and that is not only infallible it is also sufficient that it is everything that we need to grow in the Grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ it's everything that we need pertaining to life and godliness father restore in us a confidence in the sufficiency of your word for the glory of Christ our King it's in his name we pray amen

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 204,649

Rating: 4.7695322 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You, Truth Matters Conference, The Sufficiency of Scripture

Id: 5ZEEdgr5nbA

Length: 66min 3sec (3963 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 08 2020