House of Hope Online

March 3, 2024

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Last week was the one-year anniversary of the House of Hope Online Blog and Podcast, and we celebrated with a special episode in which our son Will and daughter Laura made their debut on the podcast, and shared their vision and perspective on the importance of turning to the Lord for direction, and seeking Him through worship.  I encourage you all to give it a listen.

Today, the Lord is leading me to focus on a couple profound statements that Will and Laura made, and to reinforce their words with scripture.

The first statement that spoke into my spirit came from Will, who said: “Being led by the Spirit of Truth will change our lives.”  A little later, when describing how he wanted his sons to listen to the podcasts so they will learn: “Every problem they face can be solved by getting with the Lord and opening their Bible and letting it to lead them into truth.”

In describing the early days of the House of Hope, Laura said: “…we wanted to stay in the Spirit, to focus on Jesus, and just allow the Lord to minister to our spirits…”  She also said: “…when we hear from God, it is always consistent with the scripture…”  She added, when we worship in Spirit and in Truth, God invites us in by saying: “Come to me and I will fill your spirit…”

In Revelation 4, the Apostle John agrees that God is inviting us into the Spirit to be filled.

Revelation 4:

 1 ¶ After these things I looked, and behold, a door [standing] open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like [the sound] of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

The Spirit of God is inviting us.  He wants us to see in the Spirit and to hear in the Spirit.  He wants to speak into us and disclose what we need to know.  In the same way, Jesus invites us in Matthew 11.

Matthew 11:

 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

We had Matthew 11:28 a couple of weeks ago and we said the term “heavy-laden” in the Greek means spiritual anxiety.  So, when we have uncertainty about anything, even as a young teenager, we can take Will’s advice, and accept Jesus’ invitation to rest and peace.

Both Will and Laura emphasized the importance of accessing the Spirit of Truth for wisdom, direction, and ministry.  What they said is consistent with Jesus’ promise about the Spirit of Truth:

John 14:

 16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

 17 [that is] the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, [but] you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.

So, Jesus promised us the Spirit of Truth as another Helper that will be with us forever.  Further, He said the Spirit of Truth will abide with (live with) us and be in us. 

How Do We Know We Are Hearing from God?

We have an advantage over the unbeliever because Jesus said the world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth, but we can because He is in us.  But how do we know we are hearing from God, or that our preachers are really hearing from the Holy Spirit?  In John 15, Jesus gives us an important key for discerning the Spirit of Truth.

John 15:

 26 ¶ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, [that is] the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,

Jesus said the Spirit of Truth will bear witness of Him.  The expression “bear witness” means to give evidence or testimony that something is true.   In other words, the Holy Spirit would never tell us anything that does not glorify Jesus the Messiah as the only way to eternal salvation. In addition, whatever the Holy Spirit tells us will be consistent with the Word of God.  Since Jesus is the Word, the Spirit of Truth will always bear witness to Jesus.  In fact, if what we hear conflicts with scripture or biblical prophecy, then it is not the Holy Spirit speaking.  The Word is our true litmus test.

In John 16, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.

John 16:

 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

One of the things that Will referred to last week was the increase in evil and deception in the earth, and how that was leading to a spirit of confusion among our school-age children.  The Holy Spirit brings clarity by guiding us into all truth and by disclosing what is to come.

To discern the Spirit of Truth, it is important that we become familiar with the Holy Bible, which is the inerrant word of God.  In 1^st Thessalonians 5, the Apostle Paul encourages us to seek the Spirit, and to welcome prophecy, but he also warns us to examine what we are hearing carefully.

1^st Thessalonians 5:

 19 Do not quench the Spirit;

 20 do not despise prophetic utterances.

 21 But examine everything [carefully]; hold fast to that which is good;

 22 abstain from every form of evil.

We examine everything carefully by holding it up to the scripture and ensuring it is consistent with the word of God.

What Does the Voice of God Sound Like?

We talk about hearing from God a lot, so it begs the question: “What does He sound like?”  The scriptures give us a few possibilities: 1) the sound of a gentle rush of wind, 2) a still small voice, or 3) an audible voice.

1. The Sound of a Gentle Rush of Wind: The sound of the gentle rush of wind is often described by those who have been part of great revivals, such as the one which began in 1994 at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, which today is called Catch the Fire Church.  While an audible voice may not be discernible, those who “hear in the Spirit” can discern and speak the word of the Lord while the sound of a gentle wind is occurring.  The sound of the rushing wind is described as the way the prophet Elijah heard God’s voice in 1^st Kings 19.

1^st Kings 19:

 12 And after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.

 13 And it came about when Elijah heard [it,] that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice [came] to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (NASB)

• The Still Small Voice: The still small voice is similar to the sound of a gentle wind in that it is not an audible voice.  It is the way I typically hear from the Lord.  Hearing of a “silent voice” has biblical basis in the King James Version of verse 12, where the phrase “gentle blowing” is termed “a still small voice,” and the Hebrew word for “still” means “calm, quiet, silence.”  So, I can “hear” His voice but there is no sound.  It is much like a thought, but it is distinctive from my own thoughts because it is clearly Godly wisdom. In Isaiah 55:9 God tells us His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, just as the heavens are higher than the earth.  I recognize His thoughts because they are heavenly wisdom, that is first pure, then peaceable. 

James 3:

 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

• The Audible Voice: The audible voice has biblical basis and is the way some of us hear from the Lord.  The following passages are three examples, two from John in Revelation, and one from the Apostle Paul’s conversion in Acts 9.

Revelation 1:

 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet,

It is interesting that John was in the Spirit, and then he heard a loud voice behind him like the sound of a trumpet.  Note it was not the sound of a trumpet, but it was “a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet.”  He heard a loud voice that was bold, and it was announcing the word of the Lord in the same way a sound of a trumpet call will help us hear the commencement of the Rapture.

Revelation 4:

 1 ¶ After these things I looked, and behold, a door [standing] open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like [the sound] of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

While John again hears a voice speaking that has a sound like that of a trumpet, this example is different because in Revelation 1, John was already in the Spirit when he heard a voice behind him.  In Revelation 4, he is invited into the Spirit.  The distinction is significant because it means God may speak audibly to us even when we are not trying to hear from Him.  I recently told the story about when God whispered to my wife Nancy just days before her dad died: “Nancy, I love you!”  She was not praying nor seeking to enter His presence at the time.  In fact, she was driving her vehicle and thought the voice came from behind her, just like John in Revelation 1.

The third example of an audible voice is from Acts 9, which details the conversion of the Apostle Paul, whose name was Saul before the conversion.

Acts 9:

 1 ¶ Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,

 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

 3 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;

 4 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

 5 And he said, “Who art Thou, Lord?” And He [said,] “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,

 6 but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.”

 7 And the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

 8 And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 10 ¶ Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Behold, [here am] I, Lord.”

 11 And the Lord [said] to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”

 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem;

 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Thy name.”

 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

 17 And Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized;

 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,

 20 and immediately he [began] to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

 21 And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and [who] had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this [Jesus] is the Christ.

Several takeaways here:

• Verses 1-6:  Not only was Saul not in the Spirit, but he was also persecuting Christians when God spoke to him.  He received specific instructions from the Lord to go to Damascus and await next steps.  This is an encouragement that the Lord can direct us even when we aren’t praying.  I am reminded of my own conversion experience when I was pounding the roof of my car in frustration and the Lord had me pull over and gave me a seven-step plan to solve a problem I was having. The Lord was proving His existence to me just as He proved to Saul that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.
• Verse 7 proves God may speak to us in an audible voice because the men who were with Saul heard the voice but did not see anyone.
• Verses 10-12:  God spoke to Ananias in a vision.  Again, He gave him specific instructions, while at the same time He gave Saul a vision that a man Ananias would come to lay hands on him to retore his vision.  Sometimes God speaks to us in a vision.
• Verse 13: Notice Ananias had concerns about Saul because of his past as a persecutor and even murderer of Christians.  This shows we can have a back and forth with the Spirit of Truth when He speaks.

Closing

And so, I want to encourage you all today, as my children did last week, that the Spirit of Truth will change our lives, as He did for John and Paul.  Every problem our heavy-laden children face can be solved for them by the Spirit of Truth, who invites us into the Spirit to “Come up here, and I will show you…”  Trust that God wants to speak to you.  You may hear an audible voice, a gentle rush of wind, a still (silent) small voice, or He may speak through a vision.  In any event, do not quench the Spirit of Truth, nor despise prophecy, but examine everything, and hold onto that which is good and consistent with scripture.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for speaking to us and for showing us in the scriptures how we can hear You in the Spirit.  Thank You for loving us so much that You guide and direct us, You counsel us, and You correct us when necessary.  You are an awesome Abba Daddy!  Draw us into Your Holy Spirit to seek the wisdom from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. In Jesus’ name we ask.  Amen.