I’ve found in my own life that hearing God’s voice correctly is usually the key factor in achieving true spiritual success. In the coming days I’m going to deal with an extremely important, practical question directly related to our theme. The question is this: How can we be sure that it really was God’s voice we heard? I’m going to explain to you three important ways (or three kinds of confirmation) in which we should look for confirmation that we have heard God’s voice aright. The first is agreement with Scripture. Does what we believe God has spoken to us agree with the Spirit and the tenor of Scripture? This is of tremendous, even supreme importance. Let me present to you two interrelated facts. The first fact, it’s the Holy Spirit who brings God’s voice to us. The second fact, the Holy Spirit is the author of all Scripture. This is stated in many passages of the Bible and I’ll just quote one.
All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16
“Inspired by God” carries with it the implication that it was the Holy Spirit that inbreathed the Scriptures, that motivated and directed the writers of Scripture. So the Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of all Scripture. Behind all the human writers there is one divine person responsible for the accuracy and authority of Scripture. That divine person is the Holy Spirit. It’s He who brings God’s voice to us and it’s He who is the author of all Scripture. And one thing we know, the Holy Spirit never contradicts Himself. So He will never bring to us the voice of God saying something that does not agree with Scripture.
So, the first way to be sure that you’ve heard the voice of the Lord is to check what you believe you’ve heard with Scripture. Does it agree with the words, with the Spirit, and with the principles of Scripture? If not, be sure it was not God’s voice that you heard. We must be very careful to reject all Satan’s counterfeits. Satan has many counterfeits for the voice of the Lord. Be sure that what you heard agrees with Scripture!
Father, first of all I want to praise You and thank You, again, that You want to speak to me! I realize that it is so important for You to speak to me, that Satan actually does everything to counterfeit! So I ask You to help me to discern Your voice, help me to know the Scriptures, so I can’t be easily deceived. In Jesus’ Name, amen!
