Speaker 1: When I get an idea in my mind, how do
Speaker 1: I know where that idea came from, that impression, that thought?
Speaker 1: How do I know it didn't come from the devil,
Speaker 1: or it came from the bad Burrito eight last night,
Speaker 1: or it came from my own thoughts. I just bought
Speaker 1: it up. I mean, you talk to yourself all the time.
Speaker 1: I talk to myself all the time. I am my
Speaker 1: own best friend, and you're talking. You have a running
Speaker 1: conversation with you throughout the day. How do I look?
Speaker 1: How do I feel what's going on? How should I
Speaker 1: handle that? Respond to that? And it's very easy to
Speaker 1: sometimes be confused on is this God telling me to
Speaker 1: do this? Or is this just something I want to do?
Speaker 1: Do you know what I'm talking about? Is this really
Speaker 1: just my idea? Or did God give me this idea?
Speaker 1: Or did it come to the devil? Or is it
Speaker 1: some bad tape that I'm playing in the past. It
Speaker 1: is extremely important you know how to discern when it's
Speaker 1: God talking to you, because if you don't, it can
Speaker 1: be fatal. The Bible says this Proverbs chapter fourteen, verse twelve.
Speaker 1: What you think is the right road may lead to death.
Speaker 1: In other words, it can be fatal. And you know,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of evil gets blamed on God
Speaker 1: when people say, well, God told me to do this.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in First John, forur to one, don't
Speaker 1: believe every message you hear just because someone says it's
Speaker 1: a message from God. Test it first to see if
Speaker 1: it really is. I want you to learn seven ways
Speaker 1: to test an impression from the Bible, because the fact is,
Speaker 1: one moment you can get an idea from God, and
Speaker 1: the next moment you can get an idea from Satan
Speaker 1: in a split second. Let me give you a classic
Speaker 1: example of it. One day, Jesus is with it twelve disciples,
Speaker 1: and he turns to Peter, one of the twelve, and
Speaker 1: he says, Peter, who do you say that I am?
Speaker 1: And Peter says, well, Lord, you are the Christ, you
Speaker 1: are the Messiah. You are the son of the Living God.
Speaker 1: And Jesus looked straight at Peter and he says, brought on, Pete.
Speaker 2: He says, you have spoken the truth.
Speaker 1: He said, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.
Speaker 1: In other words, Peter, that idea didn't come from you,
Speaker 1: That idea came from God.
Speaker 2: He said, you're right. You spoke the truth.
Speaker 1: I am the son of God, and that idea that
Speaker 1: was put in your mind came from God. It wasn't
Speaker 1: revealed by flesh and blood. Immediately, Jesus says to Peter, now, Peter,
Speaker 1: I've got to go to Jerusalem and I'm going to
Speaker 1: be crucified and I'm going to die there. And Peter
Speaker 1: imediately says, that's nonsense. Lord, you can't let them do
Speaker 1: that to you.
Speaker 2: And not five.
Speaker 1: Seconds later, Jesus looks at Peter and says, get behind me, Satan,
Speaker 1: what's he saying. He said that thought didn't come from God.
Speaker 1: That God thought, Peter, that you just spoke came from
Speaker 1: the devil. That's how quick you can miss it. One
Speaker 1: minute you can be saying you're right, that thought came
Speaker 1: from God and upon this rock, this truth, I will
Speaker 1: build my church, and the very next second you're saying
Speaker 1: something and Jesus looks and says, Peter, you didn't get
Speaker 1: that one from God.
Speaker 2: That's the devil.
Speaker 1: Because the devil did not want Jesus to die, because
Speaker 1: die in dying on the cross, he would die for
Speaker 1: the sins of mankind and allow our salvation. And he
Speaker 1: didn't want that to happen in that way, and knowing
Speaker 1: that he said that thought is from the devil. Now
Speaker 1: how do you know, Well, he says, test it. Look
Speaker 1: at the next verse. Jesus said in John seven seven.
Speaker 1: Anyone who wants to do God's will. Now that's the key.
Speaker 1: You got to want to be willing to do it
Speaker 1: in advance. Anyone who wants to do God's will can
Speaker 1: test this teaching and know whether it's from God or
Speaker 1: whether I'm making it up. Jesus says, you know what,
Speaker 1: You can test what I say and you can then
Speaker 1: know for sure that it's from God.
Speaker 2: Now how do you do that? Well, that's what we're
Speaker 2: going to look at.
Speaker 1: We're going to look at seven ways to test and impression. Now,
Speaker 1: these seven tests form a filter, and if you get
Speaker 1: an idea from God, or you get an idea in
Speaker 1: your mind, you're going now, did I just.
Speaker 2: Think that up? Or is that from the devil?
Speaker 1: Or is that some old tape that my great grandmother
Speaker 1: said or something, or is that really from.
Speaker 2: The Holy Spirit?
Speaker 1: You test it by these seven tests, and if it
Speaker 1: passes all seven, then you can know for certain it's
Speaker 1: from God. Now you can't pick and che you can't say, well,
Speaker 1: in that past test one, three, five, and seven, but
Speaker 1: it didn't pass two, four and six. No, No, it's
Speaker 1: got to pass all seven. But if an idea that
Speaker 1: you have passes all seven tests, then you can know
Speaker 1: absolutely certain. And God wants you to know this that
Speaker 1: you have heard from God. Now, God put that idea
Speaker 1: in your mind, and it is something he wants.
Speaker 2: You to do.
Speaker 1: All right, let's look at these seven tests from the Bible.
Speaker 1: The first test, there's seven questions. The first question is
Speaker 1: does it agree with the Bible? Does the idea that
Speaker 1: I've got in my mind right now, that thought, that impression,
Speaker 1: does it agree with the Bible. Because God's will will
Speaker 1: never contradict God's word what he's already said. God doesn't
Speaker 1: say one thing and then change his mind and say
Speaker 1: another thing. If he said it, it's true and it
Speaker 1: will always be true. See, God is consistent. God isn't moody.
Speaker 1: God doesn't change his mind. God will never tell you
Speaker 1: to violate a principle that he's already given in his word,
Speaker 1: the Bible, the Word of God. He won't tell you
Speaker 1: to ignore this book. He'll never tell you to disobey
Speaker 1: this book. So The first question you ask is does
Speaker 1: this line up with what God has already said? And
Speaker 1: if what I have in my mind contradicts something God
Speaker 1: has already said, then I know I'm wrong that it
Speaker 1: didn't come from God. Because truth is eternal. Notice these
Speaker 1: verses Luke twenty one thirty three. Jesus says, heaven and
Speaker 1: earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Speaker 1: God's word is eternal. The earth is an eternal, the
Speaker 1: universe is an eternal, but God's word is eternal because
Speaker 1: truth never changes whether you believe it or not, because
Speaker 1: God cannot lie. I lie lie, but God cannot lie.
Speaker 1: And so God always tells you the truth. And if
Speaker 1: he told you in this book to do something, then
Speaker 1: He's never going to contradict it. So the first question
Speaker 1: to ask is is this idea in harmony with the
Speaker 1: word of God. For instance, let me give you some examples.
Speaker 1: In the Book of Romans, the Bible tells us pay
Speaker 1: your taxes. We are commanded as good citizens to pay
Speaker 1: our taxes. And Jesus said, render under Caesar the things
Speaker 1: that are Caesar, and unto God the things that are God's. Now,
Speaker 1: if all of a sudden you get an idea of
Speaker 1: God told me to not pay my taxes this year.
Speaker 1: That wasn't God. Okay, that wasn't God, because God has
Speaker 1: already said pay your taxes, and he's not going to
Speaker 1: contradict it.
Speaker 2: If I go over here to the Book of Proverbs.
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of principles for how to have a
Speaker 1: successful business in the Book of Proverbs. And one of
Speaker 1: the principles, as God says, I bless businesses integrity, businesses
Speaker 1: that are fair in every business dealing, businesses that are just,
Speaker 1: businesses that are honest.
Speaker 2: And so if you get an idea that, well, you
Speaker 2: know what.
Speaker 1: I could make a little bit bigger profit this year
Speaker 1: if I just shaved a little I know it wouldn't.
Speaker 2: Be quite right.
Speaker 1: If I was a little dishonest, my profits could increase.
Speaker 1: That idea did not come from God because it contradicts
Speaker 1: what God has already said. The Bible says that even
Speaker 1: if some angel showed up and came along and said, oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, I've got some new revelation, I've got
Speaker 1: some stuff to add to this book. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1: But here's the new stuff. This is the new revised,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna update we're gonna give you in one
Speaker 1: or two or more other books besides the Bible. God says,
Speaker 1: you know that's not right. In fact, here's what the
Speaker 1: Bible says. Galatians, Chapter one. Let God's curse fall on anyone.
Speaker 2: Including myself.
Speaker 1: Paul says, who just any other message, even if an
Speaker 1: angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message? Says, No, No,
Speaker 1: the Bible's not enough. You got to add this to it.
Speaker 1: You gotta add this revelation. You got add this book.
Speaker 1: You gotta add this thought. If anybody else adds to it,
Speaker 1: he goes, let him be cursed. The Bible says this
Speaker 1: again in Revelation. You may not add to what God
Speaker 1: has already said.
Speaker 2: What am I saying?
Speaker 1: The vast majority of God's will for your life is
Speaker 1: already here.
Speaker 2: It's right here in this book. Now.
Speaker 1: The second test is just as important. All seven of
Speaker 1: these are important. The second test is when I get
Speaker 1: an idea, I ask, does this make me more like Christ?
Speaker 1: Does this idea make me more like Christ? Jesus is
Speaker 1: the standard by which I evaluate every thought, every idea,
Speaker 1: every philosophy, every opinion, every fad, every opinion. I hold
Speaker 1: it up against Jesus Christ. Why because God's purpose in
Speaker 1: your life is.
Speaker 2: To make you like Jesus.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this many times. Why doesn't God just
Speaker 1: take you to heaven? Why did God put you on
Speaker 1: earth for eighty years and then take you to heaven.
Speaker 1: Why doesn't just create you and take you to heaven.
Speaker 1: Why does He put you here on earth for eighty years?
Speaker 1: He ever thought about that? I mean, you could have
Speaker 1: just taken you straight to heaven. He puts you here
Speaker 1: because life is a test and a trust and a
Speaker 1: temporary assignment. He wants you to practice the things you're
Speaker 1: going to do in heaven, and he wants you to
Speaker 1: become like Jesus Christ in character. That's going to involve
Speaker 1: some problems and going through the things Jesus went through. Now,
Speaker 1: life is tough. Everybody agree with that life is hard
Speaker 1: because nothing works on this planet correctly. Everything is broken.
Speaker 1: Every body is broken, every mind is broken, every relationship
Speaker 1: is broken.
Speaker 2: There is nothing perfect.
Speaker 1: There's no perfect marriage, no perfect economy, no perfect church,
Speaker 1: no perfect country. The weather is broken all because of sin.
Speaker 1: Heaven is going to be the place where we relax
Speaker 1: and have fun. Right now, God is more interested in
Speaker 1: your character than your comfort, and he wants you to grow.
Speaker 2: Up and become like Jesus. Now look at these verses.
Speaker 1: The Bible says, in your lives you must think and
Speaker 1: act like Jesus Christ. God says, Jesus is the model.
Speaker 1: And in the next verse, we take every thought captive.
Speaker 1: In other words, we test every thought. We test every
Speaker 1: thought so it's obedient to Christ.
Speaker 2: So we ask. It means that when I get an idea,
Speaker 2: the first thing I ask.
Speaker 1: Is, now, would Jesus do this? Would Jesus think this?
Speaker 1: Would Jesus feel this way? Would Jesus act this way?
Speaker 1: Because he's the standard, he's the second filter. What would
Speaker 1: Jesus do is a good question. It's a good question
Speaker 1: because I want to be like Christ. Now God gives
Speaker 1: us specific checklist because he said, well, what's Jesus like?
Speaker 2: Well, he's the fruit of the spirit.
Speaker 1: God says, Jesus is love, and he's joy, and he's peace,
Speaker 1: and he's patience and kindness and gentleness and goodness and
Speaker 1: meekness and self control. But here's another passage I want
Speaker 1: us to look at.
Speaker 2: James. Chapter three gives.
Speaker 1: Us some things that Jesus is and some things that
Speaker 1: Jesus isn't. And if you get an idea, this is
Speaker 1: a good filter or grid to test the idea.
Speaker 2: If you harbor bitter envy.
Speaker 1: And selfish ambition, such wisdom, in other words, those thoughts,
Speaker 1: those ideas, those impressions, such quote wisdom that's of the devil.
Speaker 1: You know where those ideas came from, the wisdom that
Speaker 1: comes from God. The idea is the impressions, the thoughts
Speaker 1: that come from God. That wisdom is pure, it's peace loving, considerate,
Speaker 1: it's submissive and full of mercy, it's impartial and sincere. Now,
Speaker 1: notice he says, here's a test. There are two things
Speaker 1: you can know and idea is not from God, and
Speaker 1: there's seven things you can know. It is an idea
Speaker 1: that is from God. He says, Now, if you get
Speaker 1: an idea and it's from God.
Speaker 2: It's going to be one of these things.
Speaker 1: Pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, you know,
Speaker 1: impartial and sincere. Now Tom is going to come and
Speaker 1: teach us. The third filter.
Speaker 3: The third way you test an impression is you ask
Speaker 3: does my church family confirm it? Does my church family
Speaker 3: confirm it? You ask other mature believers, what do you
Speaker 3: think about this idea, my check with God's word, my
Speaker 3: check with the other filters. But does my church family
Speaker 3: confirm it?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 3: Why is this one so important? Because you were not
Speaker 3: meant to live life all alone. You were meant to
Speaker 3: live life in relationship to other people. And so you
Speaker 3: go to others, other mature people who are trying to
Speaker 3: follow Christ as well well, and you say, what do
Speaker 3: you think about this? This is why it's so important
Speaker 3: that you have a church family. Listen to what the
Speaker 3: Bible says about this in Ephesians three ten. God's intent
Speaker 3: is that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God
Speaker 3: should be made known. Through the Church, God's wisdom is
Speaker 3: made known into all eternity and to each one of
Speaker 3: us individually. He wants to use other people in your life,
Speaker 3: in my life. Now, what does this mean. This means
Speaker 3: that if God has genuinely spoken to you, other believers,
Speaker 3: other people who are following Christ are going to confirm
Speaker 3: it when you talk to them about it. Oh yeah,
Speaker 3: that makes sense. Oh yeah, I can see that. This
Speaker 3: also means if you get an idea and impression something
Speaker 3: from God and you think, maybe I should do this
Speaker 3: for this area of my life or for a relationship
Speaker 3: or for my business, and you have a resistance to
Speaker 3: telling anybody else about it, that should be a huge
Speaker 3: red flag. I don't want to tell anybody else. It's
Speaker 3: either you know, I look at myself. I like to
Speaker 3: think things through and make plans, and if I'm resistant
Speaker 3: in telling somebody else, a lot of times it's just
Speaker 3: my pride. I just want to feel like I made
Speaker 3: it up all by myself. It's either my pride or
Speaker 3: it could be in the back of your mind. You
Speaker 3: know it's the wrong thing to do, and you know
Speaker 3: what they're gonna say when you tell them, so you
Speaker 3: just don't want to tell them. You test the impression
Speaker 3: with other people because you realize that they're going to
Speaker 3: confirm it. If you get some idea, crazy idea that
Speaker 3: you can't find any other person who's trying to follow
Speaker 3: Christ to confirm it, guess what is wrong. So you
Speaker 3: just throw it out, you drop it, and you realize,
Speaker 3: I'm going to go on to the next idea. If
Speaker 3: mature believe what I'm saying is this. If mature believers
Speaker 3: question it, you should question it too. Now, why does
Speaker 3: God want us to get advice from other people? Because
Speaker 3: he wants to save us from a lot of things.
Speaker 3: The wisdom of the righteous can save you. Now, what
Speaker 3: can it save you? It can save you a lot
Speaker 3: of time, waste of time and doing the wrong thing.
Speaker 3: It can save you a lot of pain, pain and
Speaker 3: making a mistake. I'd rather learn from somebody else's pain
Speaker 3: than have the pain myself. Can you agree with that one,
Speaker 3: No doubt about that. It can save you a lot
Speaker 3: of embarrassment. It can even save your reputation. Sometimes it
Speaker 3: can save your life. That's how important advice from other
Speaker 3: people can be in your life. One of the biggest
Speaker 3: reasons we mess up our lives is either we have
Speaker 3: no godly friends. No one else in our lives that
Speaker 3: we can talk to is trying to follow God and
Speaker 3: live life the kind of way He's made for us
Speaker 3: to live. Or I've got some friends, but I just
Speaker 3: won't listen to him. In this case, I just want
Speaker 3: to do what I want to.
Speaker 2: Do no matter what.
Speaker 3: So I got to build godly relationships into my life. Now,
Speaker 3: this is why every one of us we need something
Speaker 3: in our lives.
Speaker 2: You probably know what it is.
Speaker 3: We all need a small group. You know this already.
Speaker 3: In fact, most of you're in a small group, but
Speaker 3: maybe you were in one and you've gotten out of one,
Speaker 3: you've never been in one, and it's the time. It's
Speaker 3: just the hassle. If you're not in a small group,
Speaker 3: you're skating on thin ice and you.
Speaker 2: Don't know where the thin ice is.
Speaker 3: You need some other people in your life that you
Speaker 3: can bounce some things off of. Relationships aren't just every
Speaker 3: once in a while I'll try to call you. Got
Speaker 3: to build them in on a regular basis. I can't
Speaker 3: tell you how many times in our small group someone
Speaker 3: has said something and I wasn't even thinking to ask
Speaker 3: him about it, but just what they said it caused
Speaker 3: me to think in a different direction, in a different way.
Speaker 3: That's the power of relationships. What God wants to do
Speaker 3: in our lives. You need a small group for feedback
Speaker 3: when it comes to hearing from God impressions from God.
Speaker 3: Proverbs eleven fourteen says in the multitude of counselors there
Speaker 3: is safety. So if you want to make fewer mistakes,
Speaker 3: then you get all the godly advice that you can get,
Speaker 3: and you follow it with one big disclaimer on that one.
Speaker 3: There are some people they've got an idea and they
Speaker 3: go ask ten people and they realize it's wrong, so
Speaker 3: then they go ask ninety nine people, just looking for
Speaker 3: one person who will agree with them. I'm not saying
Speaker 3: to do that. What you do is you just find
Speaker 3: some people that are trying to follow Christ, trying to
Speaker 3: live the kind of life God's given us to live,
Speaker 3: and you ask them and you will allow them to
Speaker 3: be a part of testing God's impressions in your life.
Speaker 1: Now, the fourth test is a test that will save
Speaker 1: you an awful lot of money if you'll really listen
Speaker 1: to it. I have met so many well meaning Christians
Speaker 1: who've gone off and started businesses and then they failed
Speaker 1: and they lost a lot of money from it because
Speaker 1: they didn't go through this fourth test. And they would say, well,
Speaker 1: you know it passed the first three.
Speaker 2: I want to start this business. Does agree with the Bible?
Speaker 1: Yet it's not unbiblical? Does it make me more like Christ?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: I can become more like Christ. And starting this business?
Speaker 1: Does my small group confirm it? And the church family
Speaker 1: and other mature they say, yeah, you'd be.
Speaker 2: Good at that.
Speaker 1: Try that, But they didn't really look at the fourth test.
Speaker 1: And the fourth test is this is it consistent with
Speaker 1: how God shaped me? Is this idea that I've got,
Speaker 1: this impression, this thought, is it consistent with how God
Speaker 1: has shaped me? Now, before you were born, God decided
Speaker 1: what he wanted you to do with your life, and then.
Speaker 2: He formed you.
Speaker 1: He shaped you for that specific task. He doesn't want
Speaker 1: you to be somebody you're not. He doesn't want you
Speaker 1: to pretend to be a copy of somebody else.
Speaker 2: He made you to be you. We've talked about this
Speaker 2: often over the years.
Speaker 1: It's called your shape, shape, your spiritual gift, your heart,
Speaker 1: your abilities, your personality, and your experiences.
Speaker 2: These are the five things that make you.
Speaker 1: The Bible says this in Ephesians two ten. We are
Speaker 1: God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
Speaker 1: Did you know that God created you to do good works?
Speaker 1: Why are you here on this earth? God created you
Speaker 1: to do good works, and they're unique to you. We
Speaker 1: are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
Speaker 1: which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Speaker 2: Before you were even born.
Speaker 1: God knew what he wanted you to do, so he
Speaker 1: shaped you for that work. The Bible says, we're his workmanship.
Speaker 1: That word in Greek is the word poema. It means poem.
Speaker 1: We get the word poem from it. You are God's masterpiece.
Speaker 1: You are God's poem. You are God's work of art.
Speaker 1: There's nobody like you. Quit trying to be somebody else.
Speaker 1: You are God's workmanship, He's You are his handicraft, and
Speaker 1: he broke the mold when he made you. Shape determines purpose.
Speaker 1: You are shaped in a certain way. God has given
Speaker 1: you certain abilities and talents. If you have a musical
Speaker 1: ability and you're shaped and music, God expects you to
Speaker 1: use it. He never gives you a talent. He wants
Speaker 1: you to waste. The Bible says this in Romans twelve
Speaker 1: to six. God has given each of us the ability
Speaker 1: to do certain things well, which implies that there are
Speaker 1: certain things.
Speaker 2: You don't do well.
Speaker 1: Okay, no good at everything. And that's why we need
Speaker 1: each other. And that's why we need a small group,
Speaker 1: because we help each other out. So in this question,
Speaker 1: you want to ask what am I good at? What
Speaker 1: do I love to do? But more than what do
Speaker 1: I love to do? What am I really good at?
Speaker 1: You discover a lot of God's will by something looking
Speaker 1: at how God has shaped you. Now, just because you
Speaker 1: love to do it doesn't mean you should do it.
Speaker 1: And when you're doing what you're good at doing, people go, hey,
Speaker 1: you're good at that, okay, And they will tell you
Speaker 1: if you get an impression from God that is totally
Speaker 1: opposite of what you are shaped to be, it didn't
Speaker 1: come from God.
Speaker 2: You can know it didn't. That idea did not come
Speaker 2: from God.
Speaker 1: It may have been something my parents wanted me to do,
Speaker 1: and I feel pressure to do it because they wanted
Speaker 1: me to do it, or my wife wants me to
Speaker 1: do it, or my husband wants me to do it,
Speaker 1: but I'm not shape to do it, So don't do it.
Speaker 1: Because your shape determines God's will for your life, and
Speaker 1: that's where you're going to find fulfillment, not trying to
Speaker 1: be somebody that you think you ought to be. God's
Speaker 1: leading will not contradict what He's gifted you to do.
Speaker 1: Number five the fifth test, does it concern my responsibility?
Speaker 2: Does it concern my responsibility? Now? If it's not your.
Speaker 1: Responsibility, why should God talk to you about it?
Speaker 2: In other words, if.
Speaker 1: God wants to talk to somebody else, he can talk
Speaker 1: directly to them. Every believer has direct access to God.
Speaker 1: He doesn't really need to go through you, and so
Speaker 1: stop trying to get God's word for somebody else. Is
Speaker 1: it your responsibility? A good example of this again is
Speaker 1: going back to Peter. Peter at the end of Jesus'
Speaker 1: time on Earth. Jesus looks at Peter and says, Peter,
Speaker 1: one day you're going to die for me. You're going
Speaker 1: to be martyred. They're going to put you in chains.
Speaker 1: And he's telling Peter in advance, you're going to die
Speaker 1: a horrible death because you're going to be martyred for me. Now,
Speaker 1: Peter isn't happy with that. He immediately looks at his
Speaker 1: buddy fellow disciple John and goes, what about him?
Speaker 2: Human behavior? Human behavior? What about John?
Speaker 1: And Jesus basically says, it's none of your beeswax, It's
Speaker 1: none of your business, okay. And Jesus says this here
Speaker 1: in John twenty one twenty two. Jesus says, if I
Speaker 1: want him, that's John, the other disciple. If I want
Speaker 1: him to remain alive till I return, what is that
Speaker 1: to you? You must follow me. In other words, don't
Speaker 1: worry about what other people. Don't try to figure out there.
Speaker 2: You follow me? What is that to you?
Speaker 1: And when God speaks to you, He's gonna speak to
Speaker 1: you about you in your current situation, about things you
Speaker 1: need to change, not somebody else. It's gonna be your responsibility.
Speaker 1: It'll be relevant to you. See, it's quite presumptuous to
Speaker 1: assume that you can hear God speak for somebody else.
Speaker 1: You need to be very very careful about that. Here's
Speaker 1: what the Bible says Romans fourteen. Who are you to
Speaker 1: judge someone else's servant? In other words, that person isn't
Speaker 1: your servant. That person's God's servant to his own master.
Speaker 1: That's God. God is his master to his own master.
Speaker 1: He stands or falls and he will stand for the
Speaker 1: Lord is able to make him stand, So you quit
Speaker 1: picking on.
Speaker 2: Him or her? Says, who are you to judge to
Speaker 2: his own master?
Speaker 1: He stands or falls, and he will stand for the
Speaker 1: Lord is a to.
Speaker 2: Make him stand. Now you've all heard this phrase. God
Speaker 2: told me to tell you.
Speaker 1: That phrase has done more damage than you could possibly imagine.
Speaker 1: God told me to tell you I'd be very careful
Speaker 1: in that one. He said, Wait a minute, does God
Speaker 1: ever speak to you rick through other people?
Speaker 2: Of course he does.
Speaker 1: Does God ever speak to other people through you, Rick,
Speaker 1: of course he does. But you must be very, very careful.
Speaker 1: And there are three guidelines I want you to write down.
Speaker 1: You must write these down because otherwise you're going to
Speaker 1: get into trouble on this one.
Speaker 2: Three guidelines.
Speaker 1: If God is going to speak to you about somebody else,
Speaker 1: you need to follow these three guidelines. Number one, be
Speaker 1: patient and pray. Don't immediately go and just blab it
Speaker 1: to that person. When God has given you a word
Speaker 1: about somebody else, you wait, You be patient, you pray,
Speaker 1: You make sure you heard from God, and you give
Speaker 1: God a chance to speak to them directly. First, all
Speaker 1: we are saying is give God a chance, give him
Speaker 1: a chance to speak directly. In fact, sometimes God will
Speaker 1: tell you what he intends to tell somebody else so
Speaker 1: that you can pray for them so that they will
Speaker 1: be receptive to receiving it. When God tells them directly,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have any intention of you saying it anyway,
Speaker 1: but he's telling you so you can pray for them,
Speaker 1: and God will give you an insight into somebody else's life,
Speaker 1: and you can pray for them and say, God, may
Speaker 1: they be receptive when you tell them that. Okay, so
Speaker 1: you be patient, you pray, you don't be in a hurry.
Speaker 1: Second thing, you need to understand God will use you
Speaker 1: to confirm what he said to them. Now that happens
Speaker 1: all the time. Okay, that happens all the time. Sometimes
Speaker 1: God will tell you something and you will say it
Speaker 1: to another person and they'll go, you know, I've been
Speaker 1: feeling that and I just wasn't sure that it was God,
Speaker 1: but I was thinking about that and I felt like
Speaker 1: God was telling me to do that. And often God
Speaker 1: will use a human being to confirm in another person's
Speaker 1: life what he has already said to them directly.
Speaker 2: It's yeah, you did hear me correctly.
Speaker 1: This happens to me all the time, and I'll say
Speaker 1: things to somebody and they go, oh, you know what.
Speaker 1: I really felt like God was telling me that, and
Speaker 1: that's just a confirmation. That's very, very common. So you
Speaker 1: got to be patient and pray. You got to realize
Speaker 1: that it's usually going to be for confirmation. Third thing,
Speaker 1: God usually uses you without you being conscious of it.
Speaker 1: So when God wants to speak through you to another person,
Speaker 1: it's usually going to be done in a way that
Speaker 1: you don't even know He spoke through you, and that
Speaker 1: is so cool.
Speaker 2: And that happens all the time.
Speaker 1: You're at a small group and somebody will say something
Speaker 1: and they don't even realize what they're saying, but it
Speaker 1: hits you like an arrow straight to.
Speaker 2: Your heart and you go, WHOA, that was meant for me.
Speaker 2: And God just spoke to you through the mouth of
Speaker 2: somebody in your small group.
Speaker 1: I mean, people tell me all the time, Pastor Rick,
Speaker 1: when you teach, I feel like you're speaking directly to me.
Speaker 1: I feel like you've been reading my mail. I'm not
Speaker 1: reading your mail. I'm not even reading your email.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: All I'm doing is I'm getting up and teaching the
Speaker 1: word of God. And one thought will go and hit
Speaker 1: somebody here, and another one will hit somebody over here
Speaker 1: and somebody and I'm not even aware of it, but
Speaker 1: you are aware of it because God wanted it for you,
Speaker 1: and he had me say something that he wanted you
Speaker 1: to hear, even though I didn't know what it was
Speaker 1: that you needed to hear.
Speaker 2: Now that happens all the time.
Speaker 1: Roman's fourteen says this about concerning my own responsibility. We
Speaker 1: will all be judged one day not by each other's standards,
Speaker 1: thank God, or even our own standards, but by the
Speaker 1: judgment of God. Because God is just right, fair and true,
Speaker 1: and nobody's going to say you're not fair. It is
Speaker 1: to God alone that we will have to answer for
Speaker 1: our actions. Now number six, Tom's gonna come and teach
Speaker 1: on these last two filters. Is it convicting rather than condemning?
Speaker 1: That's the sixth text. Tom's gonna explain this. Is it
Speaker 1: convicting rather than condemning?
Speaker 3: If you missed this one, the difference between being convicting
Speaker 3: and condemn You're going to find yourself even though it
Speaker 3: passes all the other tests, constantly making decisions because you've
Speaker 3: thought you've heard God's voice, but really it's this voice
Speaker 3: of condemnation. So what's the difference between conviction that the
Speaker 3: Bible talks about where God convicts us when we've done
Speaker 3: something wrong so we can get right, and this general
Speaker 3: feeling of condemnation. Conviction comes from God. He gives it
Speaker 3: to us to correct us. So I say something to
Speaker 3: one of my kids that I shouldn't have said, or
Speaker 3: to my husband and my wife, God says you should
Speaker 3: talk like that. That's conviction and He does it to
Speaker 3: correct us, because he loves us, because He wants us
Speaker 3: to live the right kind of way and enjoy the
Speaker 3: kind of lives that He made us to live. He
Speaker 3: wants to develop our character. And conviction is something that
Speaker 3: God is just saying in my life. This needs to change,
Speaker 3: so I know what he needs to change. On the
Speaker 3: other hand, condemnation comes from Satan, and it's just to criticize,
Speaker 3: it's just to accuse you. It's motivated by Satan's hatred
Speaker 3: for you, and it just gives you this overall feeling.
Speaker 2: I'm a jerk, I'm worthless. Why did I do that?
Speaker 3: If you've ever and I think we've all felt this way,
Speaker 3: just felt vaguely guilty, just this cloud, this dark cloud
Speaker 3: of guilt hanging over your head, but you couldn't put
Speaker 3: your finger on it. You just felt bad all the time.
Speaker 3: That is That is condemnation. And when you feel that way,
Speaker 3: that's not from God. If you feel I'm worthless, I'm useless,
Speaker 3: I'm nothing, I'm not worth a thing. That is not
Speaker 3: God's voice. How do I know that Roman's eight one?
Speaker 3: There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ, Jesus, God,
Speaker 3: does not speak that way. He does not speak with
Speaker 3: a voice of condemnation. So anytime you feel that way,
Speaker 3: you can know that's not God's voice. And I know
Speaker 3: a lot of people to try to get rid of
Speaker 3: this general feeling of condemnation, they'll do all kinds of
Speaker 3: crazy things, thinking somehow.
Speaker 2: You're following God's voice.
Speaker 3: It is never his voice. He never attacks your value.
Speaker 3: Now will he point out your sin? Oh, yeah, of course,
Speaker 3: But he doesn't attack your value. You're his child, You're
Speaker 3: the one that he loves. That's not the way that
Speaker 3: God speaks Revelation three, verse nineteen. Here's how God speaks
Speaker 3: in my life. Here's how God speaks in your life.
Speaker 2: Those whom I.
Speaker 3: Dearly and tenderly love, I tell their faults, and I
Speaker 3: convict and I discipline, So be earnest and repent, changing
Speaker 3: your mind and attitude. That's how God speaks. Condemnation is
Speaker 3: like this dark cloud of guilt. When God speaks, it's
Speaker 3: like a pinpoint of light. He tells you exactly, this
Speaker 3: is what's wrong, and this is how you change it.
Speaker 3: So now let's change it together. That's how he speaks
Speaker 3: in my life. That's how he speaks in your life.
Speaker 3: He tells you the solution, and then as soon as
Speaker 3: you confess, as soon as you change that feeling of.
Speaker 2: Conviction, it goes away.
Speaker 3: It doesn't last for the rest of eternity. Condemnation is general,
Speaker 3: it's vague, and it never goes away. Conviction it's specific,
Speaker 3: it's clear, and it goes away as soon as you
Speaker 3: respond to it. Let me give you another picture of this.
Speaker 3: It's like the court system. In our court system. You've
Speaker 3: seen all these courtroom dramas, or some of you are
Speaker 3: in court every day of your life.
Speaker 2: In our court.
Speaker 3: System, there's really two stages. If you're convicted or condemned.
Speaker 3: First you have the first you have the stage where
Speaker 3: you have all the sentencing going on and you have
Speaker 3: the conviction you are guilty. And then after that does
Speaker 3: come the sentencings from the judge and you are condemned
Speaker 3: to this certain punishment. That's our court system. God's system
Speaker 3: is not the same. God's system doesn't have two parts.
Speaker 3: It has three parts. First comes the conviction, the feeling
Speaker 3: I've done something wrong. I know I shouldn't have gone
Speaker 3: that way. And then secondly, here's the good news. Jesus
Speaker 3: takes the condemnation. That's what the Cross is all about.
Speaker 3: Jesus died on the cross because he loves us, and
Speaker 3: he took our condemnation for us. And so then, third,
Speaker 3: when I recognize that I am forgiven, I am set free.
Speaker 3: That's Godd's system of justice. It's an awesome system of justice.
Speaker 2: It's a good news God.
Speaker 3: And so when I'm convicted and I realize I've done
Speaker 3: something wrong, how long should that feeling that I have
Speaker 3: of conviction last in my life? It should last only.
Speaker 3: It should last only as long as it takes me
Speaker 3: to repent. If it takes me a month to repent,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna feel conviction for a month. If it takes
Speaker 3: me a year to repent, I'm gonna feel.
Speaker 2: It for a year.
Speaker 3: But if immediately, as soon as God says it, I
Speaker 3: respond to it, then I know, okay, He's speaking to me.
Speaker 3: You just recognize so many times we mistake our low
Speaker 3: self esteem for God's voice. The Bible says this about Satan.
Speaker 3: Satan is the accuser of believers Revelation twelve, verse ten.
Speaker 3: He wants to accuse you. You've got to understand how
Speaker 3: Satan works with your sin when it comes to sin.
Speaker 3: Before you sin, Satan minimizes it.
Speaker 2: Have you noticed this?
Speaker 3: And then after you sin he maximizes it. Before you sin,
Speaker 3: he says, Oh, it's.
Speaker 2: No big deal, nobody's doing it. Don't worry about it.
Speaker 3: And then the minute you sin, you hear Satan's voice saying,
Speaker 3: how could you do that and call yourself a Christian?
Speaker 3: How in the world could you are the worst slime
Speaker 3: in the universe that you did that? That's how he speaks.
Speaker 3: So what do I do? I realize that is the
Speaker 3: voice of Satan and not of God. So I'm going
Speaker 3: to look to God and when I feel conviction, I'm
Speaker 3: going to immediately respond Is it conviction, convicting, or condemning.
Speaker 3: That's one of the tests. And then you come to
Speaker 3: the seventh test, and that test is do I feel
Speaker 3: do I sense God's peace about it? Do I sense
Speaker 3: God's peace about it? If you feel pressured, if you
Speaker 3: feel overwhelmed, if you feel confused about a decision that
Speaker 3: you're trying to make. It might be about money, it
Speaker 3: might be about some ministry in your life, it might
Speaker 3: be about your kids, and you're constantly feeling confused. One
Speaker 3: of the reasons for that is in yourself, probably, and
Speaker 3: not in God's voice. The Bible says this about God.
Speaker 3: God is not the author of confusion one Corinthian's fourteen
Speaker 3: thirty three. He is not the author of confusion. So
Speaker 3: if I'm feeling confused, guess what, it's some other voice.
Speaker 3: It's not God's voice speaking in my life.
Speaker 2: Those of you that are parents.
Speaker 3: Want do you want your kids to feel pressured or
Speaker 3: confused when you ask him to do something? No, you
Speaker 3: want him to understand what to do and then respond
Speaker 3: and do it. And God's the perfect father, so he
Speaker 3: wants us to understand what he's asking us to do.
Speaker 3: Do I sense God's peace about it in my life now.
Speaker 3: The only time pressure could be legitimate is if God's
Speaker 3: told me to do something and I keep saying no.
Speaker 3: Then the pressure does build, but there's always peace when
Speaker 3: I say yes to what He's asked me to do.
Speaker 3: Satan wants to drive us compulsively, and God wants to
Speaker 3: draw us compassionately. Satan wants to drive you compulsively. I
Speaker 3: think we've all got some OCD in us, and Satan
Speaker 3: wants to take advantage of our compulsions and use those
Speaker 3: to drive our lives. But God instead, he wants to
Speaker 3: draw us compassionately. He's like a good father, He's like
Speaker 3: a good shepherd. He wants to draw our lives. Do
Speaker 3: I sense God's peace about it? I've always loved what
Speaker 3: Peter Lord used to say, ninety percent of what God
Speaker 3: wants to say.
Speaker 2: To you is encouragement.
Speaker 3: And if all you ever hear from God is negative messages,
Speaker 3: Something's wrong.
Speaker 2: The wires have been crossed.
Speaker 3: Do I sense God's peace about it as I'm listening
Speaker 3: to him. If you're trying to figure out what God
Speaker 3: wants you to do, and you feel like God's told
Speaker 3: you to do something, and increasing anxiety is happening because
Speaker 3: of what you feel He's told you to do, something's
Speaker 3: crossed up. Because the Bible says this in Philippians four
Speaker 3: six to seven, Here's how God speaks. Don't worry about anything. Instead,
Speaker 3: pray about everything, Tell God what you need, and thank
Speaker 3: him for all He's done. If you do this, you
Speaker 3: will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than
Speaker 3: the human mind can understand. Dan His peace will guard
Speaker 3: your hearts and your minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 3: When God speaks, it does not create anxiety and worry.
Speaker 3: It creates the exact opposite. And in fact, one of
Speaker 3: the great signs that you've heard God's voice is you're
Speaker 3: in the midst of a storm and everybody else around
Speaker 3: you is worried and running around, and you have this
Speaker 3: piece that you cannot explain even as you're walking through
Speaker 3: that storm. That's one of the signs I'm listening to him.
Speaker 3: I'm hearing from him because I have his peace in
Speaker 3: my life.
Speaker 2: But notice in that.
Speaker 3: Verse it says if you do this, you will have
Speaker 3: God's peace. It's not just a matter of hearing from him.
Speaker 3: It's also a matter of acting on what you hear.
Speaker 3: In fact, I love this next verse. Proverb of twenty two,
Speaker 3: Verse seventeen tells us the three things we need to
Speaker 3: do as we hear God's voice. Hear God's impressions, Listen
Speaker 3: to this wise advice, follow it closely, for it will
Speaker 3: do you good, and then you can pass it along
Speaker 3: to other people. So it's not just hearing from God.
Speaker 3: You do these three things. First, you listen, you hear it,
Speaker 3: but then you follow it, you do what it says,
Speaker 3: and then you pass it on to other people.
Speaker 1: If you could hear God clearly in the past, but
Speaker 1: it's not so clear anymore. I mean the transmission has
Speaker 1: gotten fuzzy. The lines are messed up and jammed, the
Speaker 1: message is muted.
Speaker 2: It's not getting through.
Speaker 1: What's the problem if you could hear God clearly in
Speaker 1: the past, but you can't. Now here's the problem. You
Speaker 1: have allowed sin to come between you and God, and
Speaker 1: you need to pull out that blockage and then you'll
Speaker 1: be able to hear him clear again. It may be
Speaker 1: a relationship you need to let go of. It may
Speaker 1: be a habit you need to let go of.
Speaker 2: It may be a.
Speaker 1: Hurt that you've held onto and said I am not
Speaker 1: going to let that person off the hook. And that
Speaker 1: has created a barrier between you and God.
Speaker 2: And God can't.
Speaker 1: Hear your prayers and you can't hear him speak to you.
Speaker 1: And what you need to do is confess that area,
Speaker 1: that block and say, God, that's wrong. And I want
Speaker 1: to confess it and I want to change. I want
Speaker 1: to turn away from my sin. I want to turn
Speaker 1: back to you. I want to be able to hear
Speaker 1: from you, and you'll be able to hear him again. Well,
Speaker 1: what if I've never ever heard God speak to me
Speaker 1: in my life. I've never felt it. Then you need
Speaker 1: to get to know Jesus Christ. You need to begin
Speaker 1: a relationship. You may have been in church all of
Speaker 1: your life. You can have Churchianity without Christianity. You can
Speaker 1: have religion without a relationship. You can know all about
Speaker 1: God and not really know him. Now we can settle
Speaker 1: that one right now. The Bible says this, he who
Speaker 1: belongs to God hears what God says. That's the mark
Speaker 1: that you belong to God. You can hear him. The
Speaker 1: reason you don't hear is that you don't belong to God.
Speaker 1: You've never been saved, you've never been born again, you've
Speaker 1: never stepped across the line in faith. You've never put
Speaker 1: your total life in His hands. And this is the
Speaker 1: day to do it. Let's bow our heads. I'm going
Speaker 1: to pray a prayer right now. And if you've never
Speaker 1: heard God speak to you, you need to begin a
Speaker 1: relationship to him today. You can say something like this
Speaker 1: in your heart. Just follow me and say me to God,
Speaker 1: Dear God, I want to know you, and I want
Speaker 1: to hear your voice, and I want to know what
Speaker 1: you want me to do with my life. Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: I don't understand it all, but I thank you that
Speaker 1: you love me, that you made me, that you shaped
Speaker 1: me for a purpose, that you forgive me, and you
Speaker 1: take away my condemnation. Show me the things in my
Speaker 1: life that are keeping me from hearing you. I want
Speaker 1: to confess them, and I want to get rid of them,
Speaker 1: and I want to follow you and trust you from
Speaker 1: this day forward. I ask you to accept me into
Speaker 1: your family and help me to hear your voice and
Speaker 1: feel your presence the rest of you. You've already opened
Speaker 1: your life to Christ. You join me in this prayer, Say,
Speaker 1: Dear God, I want to hear you when you talk
Speaker 1: to me this week, and more than that, I want
Speaker 1: to do what you tell me to do. I'm choosing
Speaker 1: your way in advance, and I want to pass on
Speaker 1: what you tell me to others so I can grow.
Speaker 1: Help me to use these seven tests this week. As
Speaker 1: I listen to you in your name, I pray Amen