The Voice of God

The Voice of God
8-13-08
Jesus’ sacrifice purchased the gift of His voice within every believer (Jn 14:26 & 16:13). This is the Spirit of Prophecy, the Testimony of Jesus, and comes to the listener through the Holy Spirit. Satan tries to discredit all that the Holy Spirit tells us. He is more effective in paralyzing the kingdom of God through the doubt of the believers than by killing them off. In fact, he leaves strong doubters so that he can perpetrate false teachings through them and paralyze the effectiveness of the Body of Christ.
A man who doubts that he hears from God would rather listen to others. It makes him feel safe, and he avoids the torment of satan working against his faith. In fact, eventually this man will fall prey to the lying spirits which hold up his filthiness as the reason not to come to God in prayer with a true listening heart. You see, satan knows how great the value of the free gift of God is, this voice inside the believer. His goal is to discredit that treasure within.
God chose to fill the believer with an exceedingly wonderful treasure. His plans for each one of us begin before we are born. He has all of our successes perfectly planned out so that we may prosper. So great are the plans of God that, should we look at them and know them, we would be amazed at their glory. This glory is alluded to when Paul writes about the transcending power which is exceedingly great (2 Cor 4:7). God’s plan is that we will become His righteousness, embodied in our flesh (2 Cor 5:21). The manifestation of God’s glorious righteousness can only be seen in the life of those who walk in faith, not doubting.
It is certain that God intended us to hear Him. The strength of our faith is tested in our obedience to what we hear from God. If we do not mix His Word with faith in our hearts, His words do not benefit us (Heb 4;2). Also, He is a just God and would not punish us wrongfully for hardening our hearts and not listening to Him. Yet God warns us 3 times that “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . . “ (Heb 3:7,15 & 4:7).
We know that we have an enemy that works to defeat our faith. Since satan seeks to defeat our faith by discrediting the free gift of Christ (His voice within us) and by holding our sins up and invalidating Jesus’ blood sacrifice for them, how should we answer him? First we must hold up the sin-sacrifice, Jesus’ blood. It is stronger than satan’s accusations against us. When we resist him strongly and firmly, he must go. But if we hate the struggle and become double-minded, loving the comfort of doubt, he will not go. This battle is ours, not the Lord’s, for it is written “They overcame him (satan) by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their Testimony . . “ (Rev 12:11). We overcome our enemy by believing in the work Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, and by believing His Life is in us, speaking Life-giving words to us. This is the fight our faith takes on: believing.
The second answer we give to our enemy is the Testimony of that glorious Life within us, the Word of God. We hear and obey Him, being transformed through our obedience from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18). We have mixed the Word of Life with faith in our hearts and have successfully resisted satan’s plans, desiring rather to believe God has a wonderful plan for our own life, as well as for a kingdom to come. The temporary discomfort of battling satan’s lies and our own doubts and fears then gives way to the prize of overcoming and living a victorious life. It is a battle worth winning.