God is The Liberator. ( Deuteronomy. 5: 6 )

      “I am the Lord thy God, Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage..”

Before revealing the contents of His Law, God revealed himself and reminded the Israeliteswho He was. He was the Lord their God. Here the Lord represents the Hebrew name that has come into our language as JEHOVAH. That name describes the I AM [ Exodus 3: 14 ]: He is the only God Who really exists. God reminded the people that He had free them from their bondage in Egypt.cThat reminder served two purposes.

1. The people were reminded od God’s power.  The God who was powerful enough to bring His people out of Egypt would be powerful enough to bring them into the land of promise. They needed not to afraid, as their fathers had been years before.
2. The people were reminded of God’s goodness to them. He had liberated them from generations of cruel slavery. Simple gratitude should have moved them to receive God’s law and to obey it gladly, and to move boldly into the promised land in spite of the dangers.

Wow, that’s a lot of questions! But certainly we have all struggled with them. In order to answer them, I would like to take two approaches. First, I would like for us to consider the character of God and then I would like to look at what the Bible says about how the Spirit communicates and what the Spirit says in the Scriptures.

1) I do not believe that we hear from God by going with our gut instincts or chasing after every whim or impulse that runs through our mind. I spoke to one pastor who prophesied often and asked him how he determined God was speaking to him. He said, “Well, I just say whatever comes to my mind and believe in faith that it is God speaking through me.” Wow! Is that what we are supposed to do? Just say whatever jumps into our head as, “Thus sayeth the Lord!”?? First, that is very, very dangerous. Consider the rebuke of the Lord through Ezekiel (13:2-3),

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolisha prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!”

It may be an act of “faith” to just step out and act upon every thought or urge a person has, but it isn’t necessarily faith in God, the Spirit or the Word. Consider God’s character. He so loves us and wants to reveal himself to us that he sent his own Son to die for us that he might make himself known and allow us to freely come to the Throne of grace. If God wants you to do something “specific” don’t you think he will make it clear? Didn’t he make it clear for Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and others? Many times God sent them distinct visions, spoke to them audibly, sent angels to communicate his message, or appeared in fire or blinding light. If God loves you enough to chase you down and die for your while you were his enemy, do you think he will leave his will and desires for you as vague and unclear ideas or impulses? Now I am not saying we dont have godly impulses we should respond to, but the point is, are we to say this is a direct message from the Spirit? I think not. When the Spirit told the church in Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabus for the work he had prepared for them, I dont think it was just some guy praying who had the thought, “Hmm, maybe Paul and Barnabus should be missionaries.” No, I think this was so clear and apparent there was no mistaking this message from God. It also likely came to ALL the leaders praying and not just one. So let’s get rid of the idea that God’s voice and Spirit are vague, mystical, foggy thoughts that only the faithful have the boldness to step out and test them. I think it is foolish to react to every thought as if it were the very voice of God and even more foolish to claim, “This is what God says…” Again, very very dangerous.

2) Let’s look at what the Bible teaches about what the Spirit does and how he communicates. The Bible says the Spirit came to take the knowledge of Christ and make it known to us. THe Bible says that the Spirit guides us in “truth.” The context of this is in reference to those who are spreading false teaching about the person and work of Jesus specifically. The Spirit is sent to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and coming Judgement. The Spirit grieves in us when we rebel against the truth. The Spirit gives us abilities to bless, teach, and encourage others in the body of Christ. The Spirit groans on our behalf according to God’s will in our weakness. He prays for us to God when we do not have the words or the strength. The Spirit reminds us of the Word of God and makes it alive in our hearts. The Spirit reveals to us the deep truths about Christ and the world that carnal men cannot and will not accept. Finally the Spirit works within us to sanctify us and make us holy to God through the fruit of goodness, patience, love, kindness, self-control, etc.

So, as we look at what the Spirit is sent to do we get a sense of how he communicates. He does not communicate through random throughts. He communicates through the revealed Word, he gives insight into the person of Christ, he guides us away from false teachings and into the truth of Christ, he convicts us, he greives in us when we backslide, he works in us to express the love of God to others, and most of all he transforms our character into the character of Christ as we put do death our flesh. THese things are no “mystical” or the result of spontaneous throughts. Rather the Spirit uses what God has already revealed to remind us, convict us, compell us, and renew us. He takes dead words on a page and makes them alive to us that we might serve Christ in the Spirit rather than through the law. He fills us with love for Christ and his commands so that the word becomes a living part of us.

Let me reiterate that as we look at the Word of God we see nothing about the Spirit moving through random thoughts or impulses. The still small voice of God comes to those who meditate on the Word of God and seek his counsel. Not to those who want to do some dazzling display of spiritual power and act out any impulse that jumps in their head. Remember, the enemy works through thoughts and ideas too. The way we battle against him is by clinging to the Word of truth and desiring it to become living and active in your life.

                                                                                                         Posted By: wormwood