Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Good Morning, village Church. Good morning. Good morning. My name's Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the Village Church. Welcome to week two of our three week series on the Holy Spirit. I said this last week, but I, I gotta say this again. Holy moly, there is so much in the scriptures about the Holy Spirit. And so what we've been doing is we've been focusing this three week series on specifically the three big things that Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit in John Chapters 14 through 16. And just to give you an overview, three things last week. The Holy Spirit helps Christians bring glory to Jesus. Uh, next week the Holy Spirit helps Christians by convicting of sin and righteousness. And then this morning, the Holy Spirit helps Christians know truth and reality. All right, so this morning we're gonna be processing a really big question.
Speaker 1 00:00:58 How do I truly discern the voice of the Holy Spirit? Now, what's been really encouraging is our women's ministry, many of you are in a Bible study where you've been talking about the Holy Spirit. And over the last couple weeks, amount of women who have asked me questions about the Holy Spirit has been super encouraging. And almost all of the questions at the end of the day really come back to this. I want to know that I know when I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit because there's so many competing voices in my brain. All right, open up your Bibles. John chapter 14, verse 16. Jesus is about to be arrested in a few hours. He's teaching, uh, the disciples some of the most important lessons that they need to know before he is killed. And he has to teach them about the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 00:01:51 And we've identified so far is that really as they received this teaching, none of this is gonna make sense to them because they have not yet received the Holy Spirit. And so really what they know of the Holy Spirit is fairly limited, but in about, I think it's 52 to 53 days from this night, from this teaching, they are gonna receive the Holy Spirit of Pentecost when the spirit of God leaves the temple and fills each and every believer, and then everything Jesus taught is going to make sense. So three times in John chapters 14 to 16, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of truth. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna walk through each of these instances. Um, I want to share with you six facts about the spirit of truth. And then we're gonna do at the end is we're gonna build generally a biblical theology of how you and me as believers in Jesus can discern and distinguish the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Speaker 1 00:02:54 Sound good? Awesome. John chapter 14, verse 16. This is the first instance where Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth. He says this, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper. By the way, the first helper is who Jesus is church. So just say, Jesus, you're gonna get it and he's gonna be your helper. He's gonna be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth. And the word truth here is the Greek word for Olathe. And overall the word conveys the idea that's of something that is genuine and something that is accurate, something that is real. And really there's an acknowledgement that there's a whole bunch of quote unquote truths and a whole bunch of quote unquote realities. And but there's gonna be something fundamentally different about what the Holy Spirit is gonna bring to the followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 00:03:48 He's gonna break through all the chaos, all the muck, all the mayer, all the false realities, all the false religions. And he's gonna bring to the followers of Jesus the objective truth, the truth, the reality about life, about why we're here, about where we're going, about salvation, about forgiveness of sins and and there's all these competing ideas. But the Holy Spirit is gonna break through and he's gonna bring the truth by which all other realities are judged, solicited what he says next in verse 17, the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it, it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and he will be in you. Our from John 1417, we learn our first of six facts about the spirit of truth. Number one, the world cannot make sense of the spirit's truth, right? Right off the bat, Jesus wants these disciples to know that there are some realities in this world.
Speaker 1 00:05:02 There are some truths in this world that you can only know them if you have the Holy Spirit. And, and, and I want you to like go a little bit deeper here cuz it's not just like a mental knowledge, right? Because if you were to give the demonic realm of theological quiz and they had to answer a bunch of facts, they're probably gonna get an a plus, right? But there are some facts in realities that our heart and mind cannot love and hold dearly and passionately unless the Holy Spirit does something powerful inside of us. There's uh, a passage in First Corinthians chapter two. I I would strongly encourage you if you've been thinking about the Holy Spirit at all lately, read this whole chapter. But I wanna read one verse chapter two verse 14, and here's what the apostle Paul says, the natural person, and this is him referring to people who are not Christians.
Speaker 1 00:05:57 Somebody who is never truly trusted in Christ, the person who does not have the Holy Spirit in them. He says the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God. Have you ever talked to somebody who's not a Christian and they're like, no, I don't believe, no, I don't get it. Because in order to believe and to get it, this is a work of the Holy Spirit. He says, for they the things of the spirit of God, they're folly to him. They look at you and they think you, you believe that literally God became flesh and Jesus it was murdered than rose from the dead on the third day. Like you really are gonna believe this kind of nonsense and foolishness. Now, if you, if you notice, I wanna talk to like people in the room who've trusted in Christ for a moment.
Speaker 1 00:06:42 If you ever noticed that, even if you wanted to deny that reality, you couldn't. It's like there's something deep down inside of you that says, I I I literally can't let it. I can't let it go. It's in my, it's not just in my mind, it's in my heart and in my soul. He says they're folly to him. And then he says He the natural person who doesn't have the spirit of God referring to the things from the spirit of God, he's not able to understand them because they are things that are spiritually discerned. Meaning there are things the Apostle Paul teaches. There are things that Jesus teaches that we read in the Bible and and, and don't get me wrong again, mentally, cognitively they can make sense of it. That's not the issue. It's not a brain issue. It's a hard issue that there are some things in this world that can only be loved and understood if you have the Holy Spirit within you.
Speaker 1 00:07:37 In fact number two about the spirit of truth comes from verse 17. Also the spirit's truth. It's not just gonna be in your mind, but it's gonna be in your heart and soul. He says this, the spirit of truth, you know him, he dwells with you and he will be in you. Now this is a reference to promises in the Old Testament about what's gonna happen when the Holy Spirit comes, when there's a new covenant with God's people. And the spirit again is gonna move from, from being in the temple, going to the Spirit and it's gonna be moved to actually indwelling or filling every single person who believes in Jesus Christ. But previously the only thing they knew of the Holy Spirit is that sometimes in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would fill someone to accomplish a goal or a task or sometimes the Holy Spirit would land on prophets or kings to help them lead in the name of God.
Speaker 1 00:08:37 Um, if you guys remember this, you've probably sung the song created me a clean heart. But don't worry, not gonna sing it. But Psalm 51 11, David Sind with Shiba Nathan the prophet confronts him and he's crushed. And listen, listen to what David wrote about, about the Holy Spirit. He says, cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit for me this, this is the, this is the the disciple's, old Testament, old covenant understanding of the Holy Spirit. It can be given and taken away, but the promise of the new covenant is the Holy Spirit will be in you and it will be in you forever. Now let, let's be straight here. If you're being honest, if the Holy Spirit's presence in you is contingent on your behavior, how many of you would've probably had the Holy Spirit taken away from you By now?
Speaker 1 00:09:31 Most every single one of us I know I would have. And this is one of the greatest delights of the new covenant blessing of the Holy Spirit. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ, good luck getting rid of him. You're stuck with him once for all and forever. Even when you like try to quench him, he is still there and you can do nothing to get him out of your life. Ah, try. But, but this is why like we read this in Psalm 51 11, take not your Holy Spirit for me that is, that is an old covenant prayer. That is not a new covenant prayer because what Jesus says in the new covenant, he will be in you. He'll be with you. You cannot get rid of him and he will take the truths of Jesus and the gospel and they will move from just being in your mind to being in your heart and your soul.
Speaker 1 00:10:17 In fact number three, about the spirit of truth, the spirit's truth will not just be in you individually but in your entire church family so that it might be corroborated. Verse 17, the spirit of truth. You know him for he dwells with you and he will be in you. This is not the singular use of the word, this is the plural use of the word. He's not just in one of you, all of you who profess faith in Christ, you have one and the same spirit. And one of the ways that you know the spirit is moving is because the movement of the spirit is corroborated amongst the people of God. It's one of the greatest aspects of unity because it's not just me and the spirit and you and the spirit, the same spirit moving in each of us if it's really from the spirit as moving in the same direction.
Speaker 1 00:11:15 All right, next we jump to John 15, verse 26. This is the second time in the same teaching where Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of truth. Here's what happens in 1526 he says, but when the helper comes whom I will send you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. In fact number four, the spirit of truth will speak truth about Jesus specifically to your heart and to your soul. The idea of bear witness is this idea that um, there are accusations about the nature of the character and the will of Christ that are coming against you. And the Holy Spirit stands as your helper, as your advocate in a court of law and says, that is wrong devil. You are lying. And he stands with you to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 00:12:18 The Holy Spirit and the Father are obsessed with glorifying Jesus and they are obsessed with making sure each and every one of us glorify Jesus. The real Jesus and the demonic realm wants to spread lie after lie about who he is, why he came here, what he did on the cross. If they could get the whole world to believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was basic mythology, they will have won. But the Holy Spirit in you will not settle for that. The Holy Spirit in you testifies with your spirit that Jesus Christ is God and he's not just generically God, he is your personal God. He is your Lord and he is your savior. He is fully manned and he is fully God. And that when he died on the cross as our sinless substitute atonement, that God the Father, put all of his righteous wrath and anger on the body, soul and emotions of Jesus.
Speaker 1 00:13:17 And Jesus willingly did that for us in our place and that Jesus was raised on the third day and that Jesus today sits at the right hand of God as the king of kings and he is coming back to judge the entire world and he will usher in a new heaven and a new earth and there will be a resurrection, not just for Jesus but for you. Now listen, if I had said anything contrary to what I just said right now, if I would've said Jesus was fully man but not fully God, half of you would stand up and walk out if I said listen, if I said there are multiple ways to eternal life, Jesus is one of them. If some of you brought tomatoes just in case <laugh>, they'd be flying and the rest of you would say, let 'em go. And then you'd walk right out those doors.
Speaker 1 00:14:10 Do you know why? It is? Because the Holy Spirit has imprinted not just on your mind but your heart and your soul, fundamental and eternal truths about who Jesus is. This isn't because you've had incredible teaching, it is because the Holy Spirit is in you and will not let you stray. You may even doubt and struggle and wrestle. And as you go through this doubting, struggling process, the Holy Spirit will ground you and you will land in objective gospel truth. That is the work of the Holy Spirit inside of you. And that is why I can get up and say this with a whole bunch of genuine, sincere brothers and sisters in Christ. And none of you are walking out because the Holy Spirit is committed to making sure that the real Jesus and your mind, your heart and your soul gets all the glory and that you don't stray and that all the lies that are propagating in the world about him, the Holy Spirit defends your brain. He defends your mind, defends your heart from those because he loves you.
Speaker 1 00:15:11 The last time that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of truth is found in John 16 verse 12 and 13, he says, I, I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. And what Jesus is acknowledging and he's already acknowledged this early in the, in his teaching and this this evening that he's with them is that he's told them really difficult things. He's told them that he's gonna die. The world's gonna hate them. They're all gonna get killed. They, they've heard a lot of really challenging things and Jesus identifies that they're afraid. Jesus identifies that they're troubled. Jesus identifies that they're anxious. I have a hunch when I die, if we could go back and like watch a video, if that happens in heaven of like this entire event, I bet you a handful of these disciples are genuinely in tears as they ponder a world where they don't have the physical presence of Jesus with them.
Speaker 1 00:16:12 They don't understand they will, but they don't. They don't. Yet in verse 13 he says, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth for, for He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. In fact number five, about the spirit of truth, the spirit of truth will tell the disciples how the world will end and how the kingdom of Jesus is gonna be established. Now this, this might seem strange to you, but aren't you so glad that that the Holy Spirit confirmed with the apostles that Jesus is coming back, that the world would get darker, that he will come back and he will judge a living in the dead. That he will make all things right and there will be a resurrection of all who have lived to those who have believed in Jesus to eternal life and those who've rejected him to eternal death and that everybody who's believed in Jesus will be raised a new life and reigned with him over a new earth where sin is vanquished from the world and you and I have resurrected bodies.
Speaker 1 00:17:22 Aren't you so glad we don't have to wonder about any of that? And and, and and Jesus I imagine this moment it's like, look, I could tell you a whole lot more. You guys are overwhelmed. I get it when I leave. The spirit's gonna come and he's gonna tell you all of this and you're gonna document it and you're gonna document in such a way that it's gonna be handed from church to church to church. And it is ultimately gonna make its way to billions of people all around the globe so that the people of God will never ever have to wonder in the future what's coming next. Fact number six about the spirit of truth and the spirit is our guide to truth and reality. Now this takes us into our one singular. So what? And I know you're super excited cuz you're thinking he's almost done. Oh I'm not. It's the longest. So what in all of human history, here we go learn to truly distinguish the true voice of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1 00:18:24 I don't, I don't think the best question is how do I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? If you hear the audible voice of the Holy Spirit, you're probably one in a million. And if you do hear somehow the audible voice of the Holy Spirit, you're gonna know without a shadow of a doubt, it was the voice of the Holy Spirit. The vast majority of us will never hear the audible voice of God until the new heaven of new Earth be godly. Men and women can hear from three different spirits. And I want you to be crystal clear on this because there are three spirits that the Bible teaches operate in the spiritual realm and communicate in spiritual ways. And for us to understand these three spirits will help us better learn how to distinguish and identify when the Holy Spirit himself is speaking.
Speaker 1 00:19:23 Three spirits. Number one, the first is my own spirit. Sometimes my spirit agrees with the Holy Spirit. I mean really after I would expect for all of us who are believers in Jesus, if you're spending time in the word of God, you're spending time in prayer, spending time with other people, you're spending time worship should be in the Lord, I would expect that over time more and more your spirit and the spirit of Christ are gonna be aligned. Amen. This is good. But sometimes I confuse my spirit with the voice of the Holy Spirit. The problem is that my spirit is profoundly selfish. My spirit is prone to self glorification. My spirit is prone to self-preservation. And then sometimes my spirit is kind and sometimes my spirit's forgiving and sometimes my spirit is gracious. Sometimes I don't know which spirit I'm gonna encounter with myself every day.
Speaker 1 00:20:27 Could you just be clear on something my spirit? It's not the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. And your spirit, it's not the Holy Spirit. It's a good thing but it's not the thing. And even if my spirit wants something good still doesn't mean it's from the Holy Spirit declaring that something is directly from the Holy Spirit. I want to just warn all of us. Be careful that is a sacred moment where you are almost taking on a prophetic role to build the kingdom of Jesus Christ and glorify him cuz that's what the Holy Spirit is, is gonna do. Be careful that you are speaking and representing the Holy Spirit accurately because the Holy Spirit probably enjoys being misrepresented as much as you do three different spirits. To distinguish number one, my own spirit, number two, demonic spirits. And I'm not talking about possession and I'm not even talking about oppression.
Speaker 1 00:21:43 I'm talking about a different category of demonic influence. And every Christian needs to come to grips with this. You and I are not above the influence of demonic ideas and spirits. There is a reason why the Apostle Paul over and over and over again tells us, be renewed, renew your mind, align your mind. Have the mind of Christ and warns us about demonic philosophies and ideas and different things and demonic practices because we even as believers can be susceptible to demonic teachings or ideas or practices or even voices. Now here's the trick in scripture. Paul calls Satan and demons who influence believers. He says this, they masquerade first Corin or second Corinthians 1114 As what an angel of light meaning demonic voices don't always influence you to do bad things, but they influence you to do things contrary to what the spirit of God is up to.
Speaker 1 00:22:56 Demonic spirits live in the spirit realm. I don't know what they can see and what they cannot see, but I do know they can see some things just as angels can see some things. Just as the Holy Spirit works, there's a realm by which they work. And when they figure out what God is up to, all they have to, all they have to do is follow the fruit. Like when God starts moving and bearing spiritual fruit, they see it, they understand it and all they need to do is get you to do the right thing that isn't aligned with the Holy Spirit. Like you might be trying to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit in thinking it's the right thing, not realizing it's actually a distraction that's possible. The notion that demons only tempt us to do bad things, it's too narrow. We need to open up our eyes and understand there's a lot of things influencing us from the culture to our own, own spirit, to the demonic realm.
Speaker 1 00:23:46 And none of them, by and large have the things of God in mind for us. But here's the third Spirit, it's the Holy Spirit. Let's be honest, most Christians, we hear the voice of our own spirit about a hundred times more frequently than we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. Cuz we have a lot to say whether or not you're an introvert and say it. You have a lot of thoughts. Amen. Introverts, we're always thinking what I wanna I wanna do is I wanna help you. There's, there's generally speaking, five ways to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is not terribly complicated, but I think it could be profoundly helpful as we try to discern and distinguish what am I being influenced by in this moment? Five things. The voice of the Holy Spirit is usually quiet. We learn from Moses that the voice of the spirit is not found in the whirlwind.
Speaker 1 00:24:46 What I have found personally is Jesus was up to something when he got away from everybody and went to be with the Father alone. There's something that special that happens when God's people turn off our phones and get away from other people, even just for a minute or two or 10, that there's something about the quiet when the Holy Spirit's voice is a little bit louder, we can hear it now, one of the things that I've I've learned is that for me, getting away allows me to hear the voice of the spirit. So every year I go on a a seven to 10 day just alone hiking journey by myself. And I pray and I I'm gonna tell you guys, I go where there's almost no reception. Uh, this year I'm going 120 miles in the desert and it is excruciating cuz I'm an extrovert and all I wanna do is call people.
Speaker 1 00:25:40 That's all I, I just wanna talk and it takes three days at least for my brain to just settle down. And what has been striking to me is that the voice of God is never as clear as it is when I'm alone and isolated. And what I've learned is that this practice has been one of the most profound things for me in my life. But what I've also learned is I can actually just take it into my every day. I got five minutes alone in the car, 10 minutes alone in the car, I'm turning off my phone, I'm turning off the radio, I'm turning off everything. Uh, holy Spirit, I just, is there anything you want to tell me? Is there anything you wanna encourage me with? Align my heart, lies you want to expose and, and and. And I've just found that the Holy Spirit tends to be much more responsive when things are quiet.
Speaker 1 00:26:22 And number two, the voice of the Holy Spirit. It's usually immediate. I need to explain this. I don't mean that it happens immediately other that is not my experience. What I mean is this. He usually doesn't speak concerning things about the distant future but the Holy Spirit usually speaks about about things happening in the immediate future in in the New Testament. This is just striking for me. The Holy Spirit never looks to future circumstances to make today better unless it is drawing our heart and mind to our future hope. The coming of Jesus, the new heaven and the new Earth in our resurrection. When the Holy Spirit speaks in the New Testament, there is one interesting hallmark and I'm gonna go through every example and show you. The Holy Spirit tells Christians only the next right thing to do and I hate it <laugh>, I want the next seven steps.
Speaker 1 00:27:31 The spirit is rarely concerned with providing how the whole thing's gonna work out to fill up the evangelists. Acts 8 29 and the spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. That's all he said. Now who's on the chariot? A guy who needs to hear the gospel. He preaches the gospel, the guy gets saved. It's awesome. All the Holy Spirit said is go to that chariot. And everything became obvious the moment he got there to the apostles Acts 13, two while they were worshiping and fasting. Interesting the context the Holy Spirit said set apart for me, Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them. That's it set apart Barnabas and Saul to Peter. Acts chapter 10 verses 19 to 20. Well, Peter was pondering the vision. He had this vision and he's trying to figure out what it means. The spirit said to him, behold three men are looking for you rise and go down and accompany them without he hesitation for I've sent them take away get up three guys are coming, they're good.
Speaker 1 00:28:51 That's it. Get up. Go. Acts 16, six. Paul was redirected by the Holy Spirit says they went to the region of frig and glacier having been, here's what it is, forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia only message that came through. Don't go to Asia and preach the word, don't do it. That's it. What you're gonna notice is every single time in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit speaks. It is only for the next right thing. Number three, the voice of the Holy Spirit is usually humble. Not self exalting but Jesus glorifying. What's interesting is that even in the face of danger, this is where you see some of this humility most, most visible. So if you're driving and somebody cuts you off and gives you the middle finger, what do you want to do back when? Reviled. Reviled in return just like Jesus <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:29:52 That's by the way not what it says <laugh> when reviling he did not revile when cursed. Bless there, there is a humility that comes with the voice of the Holy Spirit. It does not seek for your vengeance, does not seek to make much of you. It seeks to keep you quietly in your place. While Jesus gets much glory, the second Timothy one, seven, here's what the apostle Paul says to this young pastor, God gave us a spirit not of fear. When you're being reviled and punished and tortured, like you don't have to be afraid. But here's what it is. It's of power, of love and self-control so that when people mock you and criticize you and slander you, you, you now have a humility. Resident humility with the spirit once coming from you is humility that glorifies Christ where you are under control. I found the voice of the Holy Spirit is number four.
Speaker 1 00:30:54 Usually peaceful, not anxious. Do you guys, I mean rhetorical questions, so don't raise your hand, but if you have like ruminating thoughts over and over and over again in your head that create a lot of anxiety and you can't go to sleep and they just keep you up all the time, could we just agree that's not the voice of the Holy Spirit. The voice of the Holy Spirit is shalom, it's peace. That might be your own spirit not under control. It might be the voices of demonic spirits just tormenting your brain of which you have authority to cast them out in Jesus' name cuz you're a believer.
Speaker 1 00:31:28 Acts chapter 20, verse 22 to 23, when you think about what I'm about to read to you in light of the Holy Spirit brings peace to the Apostle Paul. Now behold he says this to the Ephesian elders, I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit. I have no choice. I have to go not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me and every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. And he doesn't go, oh no, I'm so scared cuz he has the spirit of power and of love and of self-control. And as as he processes this, he's like, guys, it's gonna be okay. The Holy Spirit has told me this to prepare me. And it's interesting that even if the Holy Spirit tells you that what's coming next is gonna be hard, it's not to create fear and anxiety.
Speaker 1 00:32:34 It's so that you can prepare your heart to rely on him. When things get really challenging, the voice of the hoist spirit reminds me today is manageable. Not because tomorrow's gonna be better because I actually don't know that tomorrow will be better. But because he is with me, because he loves me and because legitimately he is working out all things for good, that there's going to come a day when I look back and say, I didn't see how you could possibly make right the things that were done to me or I didn't see in my friend's life how you could possibly turn this thing around or I didn't see in the world how this could possibly work for good. When I think about Ukraine and China and Russia and America and, and weird things happening, I, I could not see your hand over the timeline of history.
Speaker 1 00:33:29 But when we see everything from the big and the little through the lens of Christ with resurrection bodies, we're gonna look back and be like, you kept your word. You made up for it. And you worked all things out for good to those who love you. Paul was killed, all the disciples were killed but one, and somehow the Holy Spirit didn't promise them that life would be easy but helped them have the spirit of power, of love and of self-control. The Holy Spirit, the voice of the Holy Spirit is usually validated and I think the voice of the Holy Spirit is typically validated pretty quickly And and the debate about whether or not it's the voice of the Holy Spirit, it's actually settled in the church family. And there is a, a organizational chart if you will, there's a hierarchy by which the discernment of the spirit happens at the top of the org chart.
Speaker 1 00:34:27 Validation has to come from the word of God. Will the Holy Spirit who inspired the word ever contradict what's in the word? The answer is no. And if the Holy Spirit is going to testify to you or say something to you, it should not contradict anything God is up to in the Word. And so that's the first line of defense is what we're saying. The Holy Spirit is communicating to us. Is it in the word upholding biblical principles. Next on the org chart, validation must come from appointed church leaders. And we saw last week in Ephesians four that when Jesus sat on the throne, he gave three big gifts to the church. He gave number one the Holy Spirit to every believer. Number two, he gave the spiritual leaders, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. And then he gives every individual spiritual gifts or spiritual ministries We see is that God has given spiritual leaders for the protection of the church.
Speaker 1 00:35:25 Next in the org chart, validation must come from your ma mature church family, specifically believers who have been walking with the Lord and are in step with him. Now don't get me wrong, I can find anybody to validate anything. But what I want to know is that it is upheld by the word of God. My spiritual leaders support this in the mature believers around me. And then last on the org chart, validation this is so important is you. It's me, it's the individual because what we all have to believe, what Michael fueling has to believe is that I by myself am vulnerable. I am easily deceived by my own spirit. I am easily deceived by my own idols. And God has graciously given me this church family to help me discern accurately the true voice of the Holy Spirit. In 2007 and 2008, um, I desperately wanted to leave Village Church. Some of you have heard portions of the story. I've mentioned this in front a few times. My wife and I had a very strong disagreement. It was probably one of the biggest disagreements we've had in our marriage. And I believed with my whole heart that God wanted me to go start something new. She believed with her whole heart that I was wrong.
Speaker 1 00:36:52 I was hurt, I was mad. I didn't feel safe. And in my self-preservation and hurt, I could not imagine a world where the Holy Spirit would ask me to stay here I made two big errors. Number one, I mistook my spirit for the Holy Spirit. Number two, I felt prey to the assumption that the Holy Spirit wouldn't ask me to do something that felt excruciating. But then as I open up scripture, I see he does this with believers all the time. But one decision I made years prior to this moment, God did my entire decision making process. I'm a man under authority. I see in scripture that God takes that very seriously. So I made a decision years prior that I would not leave Village Church unless I was fired or the elders asked me to or they gave affirmation. Knowing that I can trick myself knowing that I and my discernment of the Holy Spirit in me, particularly when it comes to big things, sometimes I am the most easily deceived.
Speaker 1 00:38:06 And they prayed and they said no. And at that time I hated the decision and I was the interim pastor for about a year and a half. Looking back I was not clearheaded. I was in self-preservation mode. And God gave me the word my wife and my elders to protect me from me. Fast forward a year and a half later, I still wanted to leave. Some people think, oh I'm sure you wanted to stay, that it's not the case. And privately the people I was speaking with knew that was not what I wanted. The leaders of the church at the time approached me not just to be the interim guy but the lead pastor. And I did not want the job, but I had already pre-made decisions. And so we agreed. I asked them, um, would you interview all the members of the church? Would you come back and give me your decision as a crew? And in my heart I decided if they're not unified, I'm not gonna do it. And I knew they wouldn't have offered it if they weren't unified. In fact, I tried to sabotage it. I asked for two guys to be on the decision making team that didn't like me very much. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:39:23 When they came back after interviewing almost all the members, they had a unanimous vote and I was upset. It was not what I wanted. I had dreams, I had plans and I was in self preserver preservation mode. I was looking out for me. My wife was right number one, I'll never preach that again. Now I'm kidding. <laugh> <laugh>, let's get be isolated as like a, it's like a video clip and replayed it over and over again at my home just for fun. <laugh> and the Lord quickly changed my heart. Pastoring Village Church has been one of the greatest delights of my life. The Lord healed me almost immediately. It was profound. I mean I still, it's some mental things to work through. Went through a lot of counseling, all the things that you would do when you go through some of that stuff and, and it ended up being one of my greatest joys in life. But I'm telling you, I needed protection from me because I wasn't okay. And I'm so grateful that the Lord put in place a church family structure from the word to spiritual leaders to mature believers that protected me from myself.
Speaker 1 00:40:42 Ev everyone who hears from the Holy Spirit must check themselves diligently because I stand here personally testifying it is very easy to mistake the voice of the Holy Spirit for other voices. Okay, so here's a question, but Pastor Michael, what if I've checked all the boxes and I am confident I have heard from the Holy Spirit and I know what the Holy Spirit wants. I've, I've gone through I, I mean the word the elders, mature believers, my own self. Like we're all on the same page. And I wanna give you some counsel from the word of God. Number one, it's good and normal that you would have confirmation of the voice of the Holy Spirit. This process that I gave can actually happen very quickly. There are amazing spiritual leaders and mature believers all throughout the church who would love to help you confirm the move or the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life. Like this process does not need to be arduous or slow, particularly when you need to move right now. That being said, I found that it is almost never to a person's benefit to say these words God told me or the Holy Spirit told me. So this next, this next last section of the message, don't worry. Last section is for, is for those of you who come from spiritually abusive backgrounds or backgrounds that are hyper charismatic where the voice of the Holy Spirit was used as a weapon.
Speaker 1 00:42:14 The scriptures model, I think a more humble way to articulate when you sense the Holy Spirit leading in a direction. And uh, I'm gonna read to you from Acts chapter 15, verse 22 to 28 and three times you're gonna watch a phrase come up and it will be bolded so you can see it. And I want you to watch how the early church articulated their conviction of the move of the Holy Spirit. Here's what it says then. And here's the phrase, it seemed good. To whom? To the apostles and the elders with the whole church. There's a, that's a loaded statement cuz the apostles could have just said, submit and obey. But did they do that? They brought in the elders and did they stop there? They brought in the entire church. You want to talk about collaboration co corroboration like confirmation. This is profoundly humble.
Speaker 1 00:43:13 The men with the authority could have quenched everybody and said, shush, this is what we're doing. And they didn't. It seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among themselves and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, they sent Judas called Barabbas and Silas leading men among the brothers with the following letter, the brothers, both the apostles and the elders to the brothers who are of the Gentiles and Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Greetings verse 24. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and have troubled you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it's seemed good to us having come to one accord. Do you think that's an easy process by the way, for the people of God to come to one accord? Probably not. You have demonic influences, selfish influences your own spirit, your own idols.
Speaker 1 00:44:06 And somehow we all gotta get on the same page. Takes work, but it's worth it. It seemed good to us having to come to one accord to choose men and send them to you with our beloved par Barnabas and Paul men who have risked their lives. So the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And look at verse 27 and 28. We therefore sent Judas and Silas, lots of people. And if you wanna know what actually happened, go read the end of the Slater. But here's the most important part for this morning. Who will, who will tell you the same things by word of of mouth for it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements. Here's the phrase, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit. How? How would you respond to this? The Holy Spirit told me, God said verses it seems good to the Spirit. One is close fisted and feels like a punch in the face. The other understands that we are one church family. Corroborating the move of the spirit. It seems good, is a humble way. After having vetted out and working together with the people of God. It seems good from the Holy Spirit,
Speaker 1 00:45:21 Discerning the voice of the Spirit is a privilege. At times it can be really hard. But when the spirit leads, communicates and speaks, it's clear. And you have been given and I've been given the word of God leaders, the mature family and our own Holy Spirit inside of us to corroborate together what he might be up to. And we have this absolute pleasure to say, spirit, what do you want? I want to be in step with you. I want to know what truth is. Uh, thank you Holy Spirit for protecting my mind and heart against lies about Jesus. And now what I feel like many of us need is what's the next right thing to do? I think sometimes we don't hear from the Holy Spirit because we're asking him to give us more than he ever intended to give or model that he would give in scripture.
Speaker 1 00:46:12 Here's the deal. If you go to him and say, spirit, what is the next right move that might be a more realistic biblical prayer that will probably get answered quicker than give me a timeline of how the next six months are gonna work so I can plan and prepare in advance for all of it. He probably won't do it. But if you go before him and say, I want to just know what is the right next thing, I just have a hunch the Holy Spirit is so good and gracious, it will uphold the word. Your leaders will support you. Mature believers will come around you and the spirit in you will resonate with them. Now, some of you, you might be here and you're like, pastor Michael, I don't understand a thing you are talking about. This makes no sense whatsoever. What is the Holy Spirit?
Speaker 1 00:46:51 And you might be here and you might have this poll and you don't know where it's coming from and, and you might find your heart tenderizing to the biblical truths of who Jesus is. That is the Holy Spirit at work in you. And you have the ability to respond to him and to say, I am gonna make a decision to believe and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. When I was reading those truths about who Jesus is, that he is fully God, fully man, died in the cross for your sins, was raised from the dead, did you find for some reason your heart agreeing with those things? Did you, did you find yourself saying, I've actually never apologized to God and professed my faith in him. That is the Holy Spirit drawing you to that. And if you're here today, I just have great news.
Speaker 1 00:47:40 God is ready to forgive you, adopt you, give you the Holy Spirit if you would trust in Jesus Christ. And then what I want you to remember is this, the drawing of Jesus is from the Holy Spirit. It is his gift to you. And when you trust in Jesus, he gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And you will, like the disciples did at Pentecost, finally understand what does it mean to really have the Holy Spirit, not just out there, not just summoning me, but in me, forming me, shake me into the image of Jesus. And so if that's a decision that you've never made and you wanna made that decision today, I just wanna encourage you, pray to God, tell him you believe in him, ask and to forgive your sins. And then tell somebody you came with come tell one of us up front.
Speaker 1 00:48:22 We would honestly just love to celebrate with you and help you take a next step with the Lord. Now this time, I wanna pray for each of us and we're gonna celebrate communion together. Father, love you and um, really just thankful for salvation for your spirit. You, you have drawn all of us to salvation. I know there's a part of us, I would love to take credit for that. But Lord, when we step back and look at your word, we just give you a hundred percent of credit and glory because our salvation is of you, from you, through you, into you. And so, Lord, as we even partake of communion, as we have a time of silence here in just a bit, would you just bring to memory different ways that you have been good to us? If there's sin we need to repent to of God, I pray that you would bring that to our brain as well and remind us that the blood of Christ covers all of our sins once and for all and forever. And so we do this in remembrance of you and to give you glory and we do it all in Jesus name, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen Will church. Amen.
