Sunday,
April 28, 2013
DO YOU HEAR THE
SPIRIT?
I have some news for you. The Holy Spirit told the leaders of a church
in Albuquerque to call Tom Taylor to be their pastor. Do any of you know Tom Taylor? So does that report interest you at all? Do you find anything interesting about that
statement, "The Holy Spirit told the leaders of a church in Albuquerque to
call Tom Taylor to be their pastor"?
For the record, I just made that up, but I did want to see if it sparked
any interest in you.
Does the living God speak
today? Is it more accurate to say,
"God spoke?", or to say, "God is speaking?" Commenting on John's words, "In the
beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John
1:1), A. W. Tozer answers that question like this...
An intelligent plain man,
untaught in the truths of Christianity, coming upon this text, would likely
conclude that John meant to teach that it is the nature of God to speak, to
communicate His thoughts to others. And
he would be right. A word is a medium by
which thoughts are expressed, and the application of the term to the Eternal
Son leads us to be believe that self-expression is inherent in the Godhead,
that God is forever seeking to speak Himself out to His creation. The whole Bible supports the idea. God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by
His nature continuously articulate. He
fills the world with His speaking voice.
That was how Tozer began his little
essay entitled "The Speaking Voice" (from The Pursuit of God). Toward the end of that same essay he says...
The Bible will never be a living
Book to us until we are convinced that God is articulate in His universe. To jump from a dead, impersonal world to a
dogmatic Bible is too much for most people.
They may admit that they should accept Bible as the Word of God, and
they may try to think of it as such, but they find it impossible to believe
that the words there on the page are actually for them.
I share those thoughts with you in
order to prepare you for a related question, and here it is: "Does the Spirit of God speak
today?" Could the Holy Spirit tell
the leaders of a church to call a particular pastor? If so, how does He speak? We know He speaks through the Bible, for He
is the author of the Bible, but does He also speak directly to the heart of the
child of God? For example, the Spirit
teaches us through the Word that we are to be students of God's Word, to allow
it to renew our minds. But suppose a
young person is trying to decide whether or not he should go to a Bible
school. Can the Holy Spirit give Him a
direct answer? A young lady believes
that marriage is of God, because she is taught so by the written Word, but can
the Holy Spirit show her whether she is supposed to marry, and if so, can He
tell her whom she is to marry? Could the
Holy Spirit wake you up in the middle of the night and prompt you to read a
specific portion of scripture?
I want to answer that question by
pointing you to three biblical texts. The
first is in John 10, where Jesus is speaking.
I am not going to read all of the first 30 verses of this chapter, but I
would encourage you to do so later. In
this chapter Jesus speaks of Himself as the good Shepherd who lays down His
life for the sheep. The sheep are those of
us who belong to Him. Now let's read John
10:4-5, 14-16, 24-30...
And when he brings out his own
sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they
do not know the voice of strangers....
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life
for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also
I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one
shepherd"... 24 Then the Jews
surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You
are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered them, "I told you,
and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear
witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I
said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone
snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater
than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and
My Father are one."
Jesus says that His sheep, His
followers, know His voice. Jesus'
followers can distinguish His voice from the voice of others, even from the
voice of those enemies who are trying to steal His sheep. The big question is simply this: How does Jesus speak to His followers? Is it through the words we have in the
Bible? It certainly is, and we have many
of His words recorded for us in the New Testament. Praise God!
But is Jesus restricted to the words of the New Testament? Or, can He speak more directly to us through
the Holy Spirit? I maintain that the
context suggests He does indeed speak in a more direct way. It is important that the sheep be able to
hear directly from the Shepherd. That is
not to make light of the New Testament in any way. This is the foundation for all Jesus has to
say. But surely there is also the need
for Him to speak directly to the sheep.
II.
Acts 13:1-4
The second text to which I direct
you is Acts 13. Let's read Acts
13:1-4...
Now in the church that was at
Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was
called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the
tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy
Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
have called them." 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on
them, they sent them away. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went
down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Remember the beginnings of the
church at Antioch (this is Antioch of Syria, almost 400 miles north of
Jerusalem; see map). Chapter 8 began
with the scattering of many of the disciples in Jerusalem, because of the
persecution that arose after the martyrdom of Stephen. While Philip went to Samaria and Peter spoke
the word to Cornelius in Caesarea, some of them went much further, even as far
as Antioch. At first, those who were scattered
proclaimed the good news of Jesus only to Jews, but then there were some of the
disciples in Antioch who dared to present the message to Greeks, to non-Jews,
to Gentiles. And guess what? Many of them received the message and were
converted.
Now in the church of Antioch there were certain prophets and
teachers. Who were these prophets? We have a tendency to simply interpret
prophets as preachers, seeing them as any preacher today. I don’t think you can find that in the New
Testament. Here in the book of Acts this
term “prophet” is used here in 13:1 for the 18th time. However, the first 16 occurrences speak either
of the Old Testament prophets or of Moses’ statement that God would raise up a
prophet like unto him, which, of course, was none other than Jesus Himself. Let’s go back to chapter 11 to find the 17th
occurrence of this term. Acts 11:27,
"And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto
Antioch." So who were these
prophets who came from Jerusalem to Antioch?
They were not representatives of the Jerusalem church, who were sent to
investigate what was going on at Antioch.
Barnabas had already been sent to Antioch for that purpose. It is not stated that they were sent by the
Jerusalem church at all. They simply
came to Antioch. Only one of them is
named, and that is Agabus. Let’s read
about him in 11:28, "And there
stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there
should be great dearth [famine] throughout all the world: which came to pass in
the days of Claudius Caesar."
So we see that Agabus, speaking in
accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, told them that a famine was
coming. Agabus was fulfilling his
function as a prophet. God, through the
Spirit, revealed to him that there would be a famine, and he relayed it to the
believers in the church at Antioch. It
appears that was the role of the prophet in the New Testament. He simply relayed to others what God revealed
to him.
Verse 1 tells us that there were
five prophets and teachers. That may
mean that each of the five was both prophet and teacher, or it may mean that
some were teachers and some were prophets.
Whichever way you take it, the five of them were ministering the Lord
and fasting (continuous action). But
what does that mean? Several
translations render it, "As they were worshiping the Lord..." The word for “ministering” is the word that was used in the Greek
translation of the Old Testament to designate the official service of the
priests and Levites. Here it may speak
of the leading of public worship, but the details are not given. Some take it to mean that they were serving
the Lord by teaching the Word. Others
believe it simply means they were praying.
Not
only were they ministering to the Lord, but they were also fasting. They were voluntarily refraining from eating
for a time. This fasting gives a sense
of intensity and perhaps urgency. These
men were setting aside time to seek the Lord.
Now let's read all of verse
2, "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit
said, 'Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called
them." That word translated
"said" means "said."
It is the normal word for communicating information through speech. The Holy Spirit said. How did the Spirit speak? We are not told, but he did speak. Many believe that He spoke through one of the
prophets in the group, and perhaps He did.
The important thing is that the Holy Spirit spoke, which stressed the
fact that this mission endeavor of Paul and Barnabas was initiated by the
Spirit. The five of them did not just
decide it was a good idea. In this case
the Spirit told them what to do. They
had no question about the instructions.
And as we see in verse 3 they obeyed: "Then, having fasted and prayed, and
laid hands on them, they sent them away."
Yes, these men (or perhaps it is the entire church) sent Paul and
Barnabas on their way, but we are reminded again in verse 4 that the initiative
came from the Holy Spirit. Verse
4, "So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went..."
This passage raises the question: "Is that something the Spirit could do
today?" Could the Holy Spirit tell
the leaders of a church to call a specific man to be a leader in that church? Can we expect that kind of direct
communication from the Spirit, or was it just for that day and not for us? Keep that question in mind, as we now move to
chapter 16.
III.
Acts 16
The third text is in the sixteenth
chapter of Acts. The first missionary
journey of Paul was followed by the Jerusalem Conference, where Paul and
Barnabas reported to the church in Jerusalem that many Gentiles had come to
Christ. After much discussion, the
leaders acknowledged that it was indeed the will of God that Gentiles could be
saved without becoming Jews. After Paul
and Barnabas spent some time teaching the believers in Antioch, Paul suggested
that they go back and check on those who had been converted during the first
missionary journey. However, Paul and
Barnabas disagreed concerning whether or not they should take with them John
Mark, who had forsaken them during the first journey. As it turned out, Barnabas and John Mark
headed for Cyprus, which Paul and Silas began what is called the second
missionary journey, visiting the churches which Paul and Barnabas had started. Now let's pick up the story, as we read Acts
16:4-10...
And as they went through the
cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by
the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in
the faith, and increased in number daily. 6 Now when they had gone through
Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to
preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into
Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came
down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia
stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help
us." 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to
Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
After Paul and Silas had completed
their follow-up work, they weren't satisfied.
They desired to preach the gospel in other regions. When they left Antioch of Pisidia, they could
have continued due west and gone into Asia (today what we often call Asia
Minor). Apparently that is what they
wanted to do, but "they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the
Word in Asia" (vs. 6). So they then
decided they would turn north into the region of Bithynia, but the Spirit did
not permit them" (vs. 7). Since
these options were closed, they basically passed between Asia and Bithynia and
continued to the west. While they were
in the city of Troas, Paul had a vision during the night. In that vision, a man from Macedonia was
pleading, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (vs. 9). And where do you think that vision came
from? Surely it was the work of the same
Spirit who had forbidden them to preach in Asia and Bithynia.
Clearly the Holy Spirit spoke
directly to Paul and Silas concerning where they were to preach the
gospel. Often we are told that we must
not take the historical events of Acts to be the norm for Christians in our
day. Also, it is sometimes pointed out
that those Christians did not have the New Testament. While it is true that they didn't have the
New Testament, we need to see that whether or not they had the New Testament
had nothing to do with this direct communication of the Holy Spirit. It would have made no difference. The New Testament would have told them that
the norm for all Christians is to proclaim the gospel, but they already knew
that. Someone might argue that unlike
us, Paul didn't need the New Testament, as he was the one who wrote almost half
of it. But think about it. The New Testament stresses the spreading of
the gospel, but nowhere does it tell us specifically where we are to spread the
gospel, except that we are to make disciples of all nations, of all peoples,
indicating that believers are to spread the gospel far and wide. There is nothing in the New Testament that
would have forbidden Paul and Silas from preaching the gospel in Asia or
Bithynia and pointed them to Macedonia instead.
We don't know why the Spirit didn't want them to preach in Asia and
Bithynia, but it may have been so they could reach Macedonia that much
sooner.
The reason I am calling our
attention to this text is to point out that there is no reason to believe that
the Spirit cannot do the same thing in our lives. Paul knew well the truths of the New
Testament, but the Spirit determined that he needed specific directions
concerning where to preach. I emphasis
that this was direct communication from the Spirit. Paul did not deduce these directions from the
Old Testament or even what he had learned from the Lord during his time in
Arabia. There was a specific time when
the Spirit told them where not to go and then where they were to go. Can the Spirit speak that directly to us
today?
Surely Jesus will speak to us by His
Holy Spirit, whose ministry is to glorify Him.
In Rev. 2-3 we have letters to seven churches. Rev. 2:1, "Unto the angel of
the church of Ephesus write..." Who
is the speaker? It is the Lord
Jesus. If you go back into chapter 1,
the context makes it clear that Jesus was speaking to John, telling him what to
write in each of these letters. Isn't it
interesting what we find toward the end of every single one of these seven
letters. What is it? "He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22). Jesus is speaking, but it is the
message of the Spirit. Jesus speaks
through the Spirit.
Someone may protest by saying,
"But we don't hear the Spirit speaking to us that directly
today?" That may be true in some
cases, but some right here this morning would argue the point and insist that
the Spirit does speak to them in a direct manner. Of course, we have a tendency to point to
those who claim to hear directly from the Spirit a message contradictory to the
scriptures. Ultimately, we don't judge
the Bible by our experience, but our experience by the Bible. I find nothing in the scripture which
indicates that the Spirit cannot and will not speak to us, even as He spoke to
Paul.
If we don't hear the Lord speaking
through the Spirit directly, why not? I suppose
there are many reasons, but I want to suggest three...
1.
Unbelief
2.
Disobedience (compromise)
3.
Noise and Busyness
As you have gathered by now, this
morning we are dealing with the question of whether or not we can believe that
the Spirit speaks directly to people, even as he did to those five church
leaders and later to Paul and Silas. I
can't say with authority that if we don't believe the Spirit speaks to us
directly today, we will not hear Him speak in that way. On the other hand, it is not likely. If a person does not believe that God can
regenerate him and forgive him through the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, God is not going to save Him, because chooses to save those who repent
and believe. In the same way, the Spirit
is most likely to speak directly to those who welcome and expect Him to speak
in that way.
Conclusion
Please don't misunderstand. I am not saying we should abandon our
Bibles. Praise God for His Word! After all, it is the Holy Spirit who is the
author of the written Word. The better
we understand our God from the record of the Bible, the better will be able to
hear Him speaking in the world around us.
God's final and complete word is in Jesus Christ, and it is the written
Word that points to Him. Nor am I
suggesting that the Holy Spirit will ever tell us to do something contrary to
the written Word of God. What I do want
to emphasize is that our relationship is not with a book, not even the Bible;
our relationship is with the living God.
Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and can distinguish it from the
voice of others. How do we get to know
the voice of a particular person? By
spending time with that person, by hearing His voice on a regular basis. When we come to the Bible, our goal is not simply
to learn truth, but to fellowship with the Lord Himself.
We see from that Spirit-authored
Word that the Holy Spirit spoke directly to Agabus, to the church leaders at
Antioch, and to Paul and Silas. There is
no reason to believe that if they had been in possession of the New Testament
the Spirit would not have spoken to them.
Many tell us we have to choose between the Bible and the direct guidance
of the Spirit. Paul was steeped in New
Testament truth, but he still heard the direct instructions of the Spirit, and
those instructions didn't contradict biblical truth in any way. John Piper puts it like this: "I want to have my keel deep and stable
in the once-for-all Biblical revelation of God, and I want to have my sails
unfurled to every movement of God's Spirit upon the deeps."
We spent some time thinking about
how the Holy Spirit speaks of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Last week we looked specifically at how
desperately we need Him to convict us of deep-seated sins such as self-confidence
and the fear of man. Praise God He does
bring such conviction, and some of you are experiencing that conviction. Now I want to challenge us to think about the
Spirit's ability and willingness to give us specific direction in our daily
lives.
If you are somewhat skeptical about
the Holy Spirit giving specific direction to present-day believers, talk to the
Lord about it. Ask Him. At the same time, be aware that our own
attitudes and actions can be a hindrance to hearing His voice.
Go back to the conversion of Saul on
the road to Damascus. He is the man we
know as the apostle Paul. At that point
the Lord not only revealed Himself to Saul, but He also shared with Saul much
of His plan for him. Through Ananias,
whom the Lord sent to Saul, He told him he would bear His name before Gentiles,
kings, and the children of Israel, adding that Saul would suffer many things
for the Lord's sake (Acts 9:15-16). So
this man had great insight into what the Lord had done and what He would do
with His life. Nevertheless, as we have
seen, on one occasion the Holy Spirit spoke directly to Paul and showed him
where not to preach and where to preach
So it is with us. From the written Word we know about
redemption through Jesus Christ. Though
God has revealed Himself so completely in His creation and in our conscience
that man is without excuse, only through the Bible do we learn of His
redemptive plan. It is through the
written Word that we see the depth of our sin and what Jesus did at the
cross. This is our firm foundation. Nevertheless, He has left us to live here on
this earth one day at a time, and by His Spirit He gives us guidance. Praise His name.
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