Discerning the Voice of God ORDINARY 11 SINCE WE HEAR MANY VOICES, WE MUST LEARN TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AND SUBMIT TO GOD S. I. IDENTIFYING THE VOICES (EXODUS 3:1-15) God wants to meet and speak with us. A. GOD LISTENS AND SPEAKS TO PEOPLE (1-9) B. WHO AM I? (10-12) C. WHO ARE YOU? (13-15) II. EVALUATING THE VOICES (MATTHEW 16:21-28) There are fundamentally four voices that speak to us. God expects us to test them and evaluate them. A. LISTENING TO THE RIGHT VOICE (16-17 / LAST WEEK) B. LISTENING TO THE WRONG VOICE (21-23) C. THE NATURE OF THE RIGHT VOICE (24-28) III. THE DESTINATION OF THE VOICE (ROMANS 12:9-21) Thinking clearly about the source of the voice and the destination of the voice will help us to evaluate whose voice is speaking. A. LEADS TO LOVE (9-15) B. LEADS TO HARMONY (16-17) C. LEADS TO PEACE (18-21)
Discerning the Voice of God Ordinary 11 Last week we worked through the passage where the Apostle Peter declared Jesus to be the Promised Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. Jesus responded to Peter s declaration by informing him that God gave that thought to Peter as a gift. Jesus made it sound as if God revealed this truth to Peter, Peter heard it, understood it, and verbalized it. In this morning s text, Peter will hear another voice, understand it, and again verbalize it. This time however, Jesus identified that voice as Satan s. If you have been with me here, you know I react strongly against people who claim to have heard a word from God. The reason is not that I don t believe God speaks to us; the reason is that I don t think the people I have heard use this language have enough discernment skills to determine the source of the message. If people want to apply what they hear to their own lives, I m okay with that. However when they want to apply it to others lives; I m not okay with that. I will teach later that I think voices have basically four sources; God speaks to us, the devil speaks to us, we hear our own voice speak to us, and voices of our culture; friends, family, media, etc. We are called to identify these voices, evaluate them, and respond to them appropriately. The Apostle Paul said this: 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (II Corinthians 10:3-5 / TNIV). I think we could easily substitute the word voices for thoughts. In other words we all have thoughts and voices in our heads. We must identify where those thoughts come from and where they lead; and how we should we act on them. This morning, I would like to talk about discernment and how we go about discerning the voice of God. God does speak to us and expects us to listen. A couple of months ago, God was looking down on earth and noticed that evil seemed to be running amok. He sent down an angel to take an accounting. The angel went back and reported to God that 95% on earth was evil and only 5% was good. Just to make sure, God sent another angel who returned with the same accounting; 95% evil 5% good. Based on this, God decided to send emails to the 5% of the people who were good. His intent was to encourage them, comfort them, and give them a little something to help them along in life. Do you know what the email said? Oh, you didn t get one? Sorry about that Page 2
IDENTIFYING THE VOICES (EXODUS 3:1-15) The main idea of this morning s texts is this. SINCE WE HEAR MANY VOICES, WE MUST LEARN TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THEM AND SUBMIT TO GOD S. God created us to fellowship with Him and to be in a constant intimate relationship with Him. GOD LISTENS AND SPEAKS TO PEOPLE (1-9) Communication is important in any relationship so it is not surprising to learn that God listens and speaks to people as described in verses 1-9. Last week we saw that Moses was a miracle baby. Even though Pharaoh commanded that every Hebrew male child born should be thrown into the Nile River and drowned, Moses mother put him in a basket, floated him down the Nile, and Pharaoh s daughter discovered him and adopted him. As Moses grew up, he started to identify with the Hebrews suffering even though he lived safely in the palace. He ended up killing an Egyptian soldier in order to save a Hebrew slave. When he tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews, word got out that Moses killed the Egyptian soldier. At that point he was rejected by the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Moses fled Egypt to Midian where he met a girl whom he married. He settled there in the desert and herded sheep with his father-in-law s family. One day while tending the sheep, Moses noticed that a bush was on fire, but the bush itself wasn t being consumed. Moses was curious so he went to investigate. As Moses approached, God spoke out of the bush and said that he was approaching holy ground. God commanded Moses to take off his sandals and stop. Recognizing this to be the voice and presence of God, Moses took off his shoes, fell down on his knees, and hid his face. The Divine creator and sustainer of the universe was now directly communicating with Moses. There are a couple of things we need to point out. Moses was not looking to talk with God this way. This was totally God s initiative. At this point, Moses had no desire to become a leader. He was content to be a simple shepherd with a close-knit family. Secondly, Moses is not nonchalant about this encounter. He is frightened out of his mind and is bowed down in worship. When I hear people who talk about God speaking with them, and they are matter-of-fact about the experience, I am suspicious about who has been talking to them. An authentic word from God ought to leave us with a sense of God s majesty, our sinfulness, and an experience of God s holiness and grace. Further, because God s thoughts and ways are much higher than ours, the chances are that God s words will not simply confirm what we think or what we want to do. There is a holy character to God s words that should be at least a little unsettling. Next, God makes sure to let Moses and us know that He knows the situation of His people and He has heard their cries. Further, God knew where to find Moses. Sometimes we feel as if God doesn t hear our prayers; or if He does, He doesn t care about answering them. The text is clear that God sees everything and records all injustices. He knows exactly where we are, what situation we are in, and even Page 3
knows what we want. He loves us and wants the best for us; even though we may not understand God s timing or His actions. Let me just recap where we are in discerning the voice of God in our lives. First, God loves us and desires for us to be in a personal, intimate, and passionate relationship with us. Communication is imperative in building good relationships. God hears us and understands us. He speaks to us through the Bible and through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, God is holy; His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways. Therefore, if what we are hearing is the authentic voice of God; it should be of a nature that far surpasses our own wishes and desires. It should leave us with a bit of uneasiness that a holy and perfect God would even communicate with us. There is a pure nature and character to the voice of God. WHO AM I? (10-12) Moses clearly understands this and immediately asks in verses 10-12, Who am I? that you should want to use me in Your plan, let alone even talk to me. At this point, God drops the real bombshell on Moses. Not only has God seen the suffering and oppression of His people; not only has God heard their cries; God has now chosen and commissioned Moses to go and lead them to freedom and the Promised Land. God told Moses simply to go. God did not ask Moses to bring one or two extra sheep to sacrifice at the worship service; God has told Moses to go back to Egypt where Pharaoh would like him dead and where the Hebrews hate him. Further, God is telling him to go and deliver arguably the weakest nation of slaves from the strongest nation on earth. Moses was completely content to be where he was. This command was so noble and so overwhelming that Moses felt his smallness next to the power and presence of God. How must the disciples have felt when Jesus told them to feed the crowd of 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish? How do we feel when we know that God wants us to witness to unbelievers and love one another with humble and sacrificial love? How can we not feel small and overwhelmed standing in the service of God? This is not something Moses wanted to do. When Moses asked, Who am I? God answered, The one whom I have chosen. Most of the time I have heard people talk about hearing God s voice, it has been in conjunction with what they want or desire. When they attach God s voice to it, there is no room for any more discussion. God has told them what to do and they will do it. The interesting part is that it requires no sacrifice on their part. The suffering and sacrifice is usually borne by others. I would say that if this is the case, we ought to go back and reevaluate if this indeed is the voice of God or our own voice. When God speaks to us, the sacrifice and suffering is usually to be borne by the one to whom God is speaking. I have used this example before but I will use it again because it is simple. Let s say that my wife and I had an argument. I get in my car telling myself that by the time I Page 4
get home from work she should realize how wrong she was. That is not God s voice. That is clearly either my voice or the voice of Satan. On the other hand, as I start to turn the key in the ignition, another voice says, If you belong to Me and want to call yourself a Christian, you must go back in the house, apologize, and make things right with your wife now! I can say with almost 100% certainty that is the voice of God. The sacrifice will be on my part. I must humble myself to apologize and make things right. To be sure, my voice and Satan s voice will argue against carrying this out. The answer to the question, Who am I? is I am a child of God who must learn to think, speak, and act like Jesus. WHO ARE YOU? (13-15) When God commands me to these humbling tasks, I want to ask, Who are You? as Moses does in verses 13-15. This is no insignificant question. If God speaks to us, it will require us to humble ourselves and act in ways that make us vulnerable to the mistreatment of others. After all, if I go to my wife, humble myself, and apologize; she may think she was right and won the argument. There is a great deal of risk in obeying God. I want the reassurance that God is Who He says He is. I want to make sure that when I humble myself and place myself at risk that God will be with me and comfort me. Jesus said He would never abandon us. The Scripture says that God will never leave us nor forsake us. God said that when we humble ourselves He will lift us up. At this point Moses wants that reassurance. Things look bad in Egypt. There doesn t seem to be anything worth going back for; except that God was telling Him to go back. It is important to Moses that He know Who God is. God revealed His Name and character to Moses. The Name comes from some form of the Hebrew word for to be. The traditional pronunciation comes from the Latin which is Jehovah. The more accurate translation would be something like Yahweh. It can mean something like, I am Who I am, I will be Who I will be, or I am Who I will be. And then later God shortens it to I am. God made it clear that He was God from the beginning; forever. He was the God Who met Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of the suffering nation of Israel, and He is the God of Moses. He will be the God of the nation of Israel as they settle into the Promised Land. He will be the God Who judges the living and the dead for all eternity. The answer to Moses and the answer to us when we ask God, Who are You? is I am God. The God we worship is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When Jesus was debating the religious people of His time in the 8 th chapter of John, He said that Abraham saw His day and rejoiced. The religious people said that Abraham lived 2,000 years earlier in history and Jesus wasn t even 50-years-old yet. Jesus answered, Before Abraham was, I am. Clearly the grammar is not correct but the message was. Jesus was taking on the Name of God; Yahweh. When you hear the voice of God telling you to be humble, remember He is God; we will spend eternity in heaven with Him. I have enough bad things I have thought, said, or done to reminisce about; I want to have some good things to reminisce Page 5
about in eternity with God. We know from the rest of the Bible that Moses was not such an easy sell and that he argued with God before finally going; but it would definitely be important that he know this was the voice of God and that God would be with him. It would involve a great deal of sacrifice and suffering on his part. There was no personal gain in this for Moses. If we stay grounded in the Bible and God speaks to us, we can ask ourselves a couple of questions that will help us verify if this is the voice of God we are actually hearing. Is the nature of the message way above our own holiness and character? Is this message asking us to bear the sacrifice and suffering? Is the message consistent with the character and nature of God in the Bible? The starting point for our quest for discernment is this. GOD WANTS TO MEET AND SPEAK WITH US. EVALUATING THE VOICES (MATTHEW 16:21-28) As I examine my prayer life, I find that too much of it is a monologue in which I inform God of my needs, wishes, and desires. I don t spend an awful lot of time listening. But if there is something to learn in Matthew 16:21-28 it is this. Evaluating the voices we hear is very important. THERE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY FOUR VOICES THAT SPEAK TO US. GOD EXPECTS US TO TEST THEM AND EVALUATE THEM. Let me take a moment to review the four basic voices we hear in our minds; God s voice, Satan s voice, our own voice, and the voice of culture which includes our parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and the media. The problem is that they all sound somewhat alike and therefore it is critical that we discern the source of each voice. LISTENING TO THE RIGHT VOICE (16-17 / LAST WEEK) Last week in verses 16-17 we saw the Apostle Peter listening to the right voice. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of God, Jesus made it clear that God had revealed this to Peter and Peter verbalized it. As we said earlier in this sermon, it is a right assumption to think that God wants to communicate with us. He has chosen to communicate with us through the Bible, through the church, through nature, through the incarnation of Jesus, and through the voice of the Holy Spirit. I think most of God s communication is clear and easy to understand. However, take a moment with me to reflect on how God s voice comes to you. For me, I hear God speaking to me in my own personal reading voice. For example, if I were silently reading a book, I hear the words in my own voice. That is the same voice I hear when God the Holy Speaks to me. I hear the words in my own voice and in my own vocabulary. How do you perceive God s voice? LISTENING TO THE WRONG VOICE (21-23) I can t speak for anyone else but me so let me go on. In verses 21-23 we find Peter listening to the wrong voice. Perhaps only a few moments have passed since Peter heard the voice and confessed Jesus as Lord. At this point, Jesus starts to explain His mission of suffering, humiliation, and death. All of a sudden, Peter Page 6
blurts out that such a thing should never happen to Jesus and certainly it will not happen to Him. This time however, Jesus informed Peter that voice came from Satan. After all, Satan tempted Jesus with the same temptation. If Jesus simply bowed down to Satan, Satan would turn over all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus without having to suffer, be humiliated, and killed. Let s get back to Peter. It seems to me that Peter had the same presentations of thoughts to his mind. Without thinking, both voices sounded the same. For me, both voices are identical in sound. They both come to me in my silent reading voice. Let me complicate things even more. My own reasoning in my head is done through my reading voice as well. How can I distinguish between these three sources? The fourth voice seems to be easy to recognize. I can identify for the most part my father s voice, my mother s voice, and other voices from culture. However when I start to reason about these voices, the reasoning again takes place in my voice. Let me give you an example of Peter acting on his own voice. At the Last Supper, Jesus predicted all the disciples would abandon Him. Peter swore he would not do this. He was determined to fight to the end with Jesus and to die with Him. So when they were approached by soldiers in the garden, Peter grabbed a sword, determined to die with Jesus, and wildly cut off a guy s ear. This was clearly Peter acting on his own voice. In all three incidents in Peter s life, Jesus pointed out that the sources of the voices or thoughts were God s voice, Satan s voice, and Peter s own voice. Here is what I can promise you. Satan s voice will sound very clever and very smart. Let me give you an example. When wronged by another person, have you ever started to reason; if she says this then I ll say this. If he does this then I ll do this. Usually the comebacks that come to us in our minds are very clever and we become very eager to use them. We ll show those people how clever we can be. Pay attention to that voice because that is the voice of Satan. When the voice comes to us to forgive and to restore the person, that voice comes from God. The reasoning that goes on as to which decision we will make is generally our own voice. How do we determine which voice to listen to in the end? THE NATURE OF THE RIGHT VOICE (24-28) The nature of the right voice is described in verses 24-28. The voice of Jesus will be encouraging us to lay down our lives and our self interests. The voice of Jesus tells us to sacrificially love not only our friends and family; but to love those who have actually wronged us. The voice of Jesus tells us to pick up our crosses and to follow Him. Jesus knows that His way includes humiliation, suffering, and death; mostly death to our pride and egos but sometimes even physical suffering and death. Jesus came to give people life and set them free from the bondage of sin, Satan, fear, and death. His voice will encourage us to carry on with this mission. The voice of God will also remind us that our reward and our minds should be on heaven; not what we can gain on this earth. I hope that we are starting to see how to discern these voices or thoughts. We are to capture them, evaluate them, and make sure they conform to and are consistent with the nature and character of Page 7
Jesus. THERE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY FOUR VOICES THAT SPEAK TO US. GOD EXPECTS US TO TEST THEM AND EVALUATE THEM. In other words, we need to be reading and studying our Bibles. We need to be studying what Christian scholars are saying, we must be humble, loving, and self-sacrificing. The goal here is to identify the voice and the thought and see if it conforms to what we know about Jesus and if it matches His nature and character. THE DESTINATION OF THE VOICE (ROMANS 12:9-21) Ignatius Loyola said that as we evaluate the voices we hear, we must observe where the voice is coming from and where the voice is leading. In Romans 12:9-21 we are invited to look at the destination of the voice. THINKING CLEARLY ABOUT THE SOURCE OF THE VOICE AND THE DESTINATION OF THE VOICE WILL HELP US TO EVALUATE WHOSE VOICE IS SPEAKING. That sounds esoteric, but I think it is simple enough. We have already talked about the source of the voice and how to evaluate that. Here we want to further evaluate by looking at where the voice will lead us. LEADS TO LOVE (9-15) In verses 9-15 we can see that God s voice leads to love. But notice the character and nature of this love. This is not some sappy notion of romantic love or some self-serving self-absorbed love. We are talking here about Jesus type love; love that is not selfish, love that is concerned about the well being of others, love that prays for and forgives those who wrong us, love as described by the Apostle Paul: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails (I Corinthians 13:4-8a / NIV). If this is the direction in which the voice is leading, it s a good chance it s God s voice. This kind of love comes with the expectation of sacrifice and suffering in order to bring joy into others lives. The destination of this voice is sacrificial love. LEADS TO HARMONY (16-17) In verses 16-17 we see a course that leads to harmony. Proud people will almost always miss the voice and will of God. The only time they will come to recognize God s voice is when God pronounces judgment on them. And even then their own self-righteousness may cause them to miss that. Harmony does not mean unison. In other words, in the community of God, everyone is not supposed always to think the same thing. Harmony depends on diversity. Let s talk in musical terms. If everyone sings the same note at the same time, the song will sound okay. However, if different notes are blended together and sung together, it gives us a rich sound. The key is that all the notes must be sung together as the composer designed the song. A good conductor is also important. Harmony in the church is dependent on Page 8
all humbling themselves and submitting to the leading of God the Holy Spirit. God brings us to church with very different backgrounds and experiences. As we humbly listen to one another s stories, and as we listen for the voice of God; we will be led to unity in harmony. The fundamental truth that brings us together is that we were all headed for an eternity in hell. Further, we have all richly earned our way to an eternity in hell because of our sin. There is no one who deserves any less than that. We were all saved the same way. We confessed our sins to God and we surrendered our lives to Him in faith. God freely forgave us of our sins and cleansed us from all our unrighteousness. No one here today is any better or any worse than anyone else. If someone were to dare look around and judge others, that person doesn t understand what brings us together here. Love, forgiveness, humility, and grace promote harmony. If the voice you hear leads to division, that voice is probably not God s. If the voice you hear leads to godly harmony, that is probably the voice of God. LEADS TO PEACE (18-21) The voice of God will lead us to peace as described in verses 18-22. I need to remind us that peace in the Bible does not refer to the absence of conflict. Peace in the Bible means being right with God no matter what circumstances we face. If the voice we hear leads to revenge or getting even in some way, that voice is not from God. Forgiving people who offend us and stepping back to make room for God and that person to work things out is a destination that comes from the voice of God. Voices that lead us to godly love, to harmony, and to peace, generally come from God. THINKING CLEARLY ABOUT THE SOURCE OF THE VOICE AND THE DESTINATION OF THE VOICE WILL HELP US TO EVALUATE WHOSE VOICE IS SPEAKING. Let me just sum some tools that will help us discern the voice of God. When I was a kid, a long time ago, typically the cartoons would portray the situation like this. A person would be presented with a situation. An angel would appear on his right shoulder and tell him what the right thing to do was and encourage him to do it. On his left shoulder, a devil would appear and encourage him to do the selfish thing and encourage him to do it. The person would then have to evaluate the voices, make a decision, and act on it. Since Satan is an imitator, a fraud, and often appears as an angel of light, we must take these thoughts or voices captive, evaluate them, and make sure they conform to the nature and character of Jesus. Immersing ourselves in Bible reading and Bible study will make us more skillful in discerning the voice of God. Humility goes a long way in discerning God s voice. If the voice simply affirms what we think, agrees with our wants and desires, and requires no sacrifice on our part; the source of that voice is probably not God s. If the voice leaves us with a sense of sorrow for sin, a plan of repentance and things that require humble sacrificial love; that voice is probably from God. The encounter should leave us with a sense of how sinful we are and how loving and gracious God is. Page 9
Looking at the destinations of sacrificial love, harmony that brings diversity into unity, and peace through all situations; generally signal that the voice belongs to God. This will be a good starting point for us to start learning about discernment. SINCE WE HEAR MANY VOICES, WE MUST LEARN TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AND SUBMIT TO GOD S. As a spiritual director, Ignatius Loyola used to take people through his spiritual exercises. He would instruct them to expect to hear both God s voice and the Devil s voice. He put it like this: For people who are trying to live a life pleasing to God, the good Spirit strengthens, encourages, consoles, removes obstacles, and gives peace. The evil spirit tries to derail them by stirring up anxiety, false sadness, needless confusion, frustration, and other obstacles. He gave the retreatants two simple rules to help them discern which spirit was speaking: 1. Where is the spirit coming from? 2. Where is the spirit leading? That seems to be adequate for now. But that assumes we know the God of the Bible; that requires us to read, study, and know our Bibles. It assumes that we are humble and willing to submit to God. As I said, this is a good starting place. Page 10