Those Who Believe in Personal Guidance of the Holy Spirit – Part 2

Woodland Hills Church of Christ

Hearing the Voice of God?

Sunday Evening Question

Introduction: Question: “How would you go about explaining to someone who believes that the Holy Spirit moves them to do a particular action (indwelling) or is involved in how a particular situation played out (of course always in their favor), the difference between how the Holy Spirit works and the providence of God? A friend is quite zealous for Jesus, yet has this idea that everything is the Holy Spirit guiding and telling her what to do (as in she believes she has visions).”

1. Understanding “Why”: Why is it such a great temptation to desire for the Lord to speak directly to us or give us some kind of personalized guidance?
   1. It is comforting. We can feel more confident in all our daily dealings and trials that God is by our side. This seems to be a violation of 2 Cor. 5:7, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”
   2. Studying the Bible is challenging and difficult. It is far easier to rely on direct messages than to grapple with scripture. It is likely that most people who believe in direct guidance would not ascribe this to their motives. However, it is their lack of knowledge of God that causes them to seek this shortcut. This same desire is revealed in 1 John 2:18-20, 27; 4:1-6.
   3. They grew up being taught to listen for the voice of the Lord or to look for other ways in which God was trying to guide them.
2. Biblical Basis for Personalized Guidance? [Where do we learn that the Holy Spirit is giving personal guidance apart from the scriptures in ways such as, dreams, visions, internal messages, signs, feelings, urges, etc.?]
   1. The scriptures that are usually used refer to God’s prophets, apostles, or those who had spiritual gifts in the first century.
   2. These gifts were given by the apostles laying on of hands: Acts 6:6; 8:14ff; 19:1-6; Romans 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:6.
   3. 1 Corinthians 13: exposition
3. God’s Method of Delivering Messages
   1. Deuteronomy 18:15-18
   2. John 16:7-13
   3. Ephesians 3:3-5
   4. 1 Corinthians 2:10-16
   5. Jude 3
4. The Common Belief of Direct Guidance (this has been happening long before Christ)
   1. Jeremiah 23:15-32
   2. 1 Kings 22
   3. Colossians 2:18 – “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind”
   4. “Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind” (CSB)
      “Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind” (NET)
5. Three Ways to Interpret “Guidance” Other Than by the Lord
   1. You believed that God would be speaking to you and therefore you became hyper-aware of the thoughts and urges that came into your mind. When a thought made sense to you, you concluded it was from God. Or, when you had a strong desire for something, you convinced yourself God was giving approval. In other words, it came out of your own brain.
   2. The thoughts or guidance came from Satan. See 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10.
   3. The thoughts/guidance came as a strong delusion from the Lord because you do not have “the love of the truth so as to be saved.” See 2 Thes. 2:11
6. Followup question: Do we need the Holy Spirit in order to understand the Bible?
   1. Common passage that is used: 1 Corinthians 2:12-16
   2. The Holy Spirit wrote the word, but in order to understand it, we need the Holy Spirit? Implications of this position?
   3. The Holy Spirit couldn’t write clearly & understandably?
   4. Unbelievers can never understand the word and become believers (Cf. Romans 10:17)
   5. Why did God even send the Spirit to reveal the word?
   6. The biblical answer: Ephesians 3:3-5; 5:17

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