How to Hear the Holy Spirit (James 3:13-18)

How to Hear the Holy Spirit (James 3:13-18)

13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

 

Intro)

Our lives are filled with choices. We are constantly faced with small, large, simple, and complex decisions that can have a tiny or enormous impact on our lives. We all want to make the right choice, the best choice, so when we’re faced with too many choices, we agonize over what to do.

What will bring the best outcome? What will please God? What is the right decision as a Christian? For Christians, the answer is simple: Do what will make God happy. The problem is that it’s not always clear to us what His will is.

But God told us how to decipher His will. He tells us what He wants (Psalm 32:8). He is our shepherd and as His sheep we must listen to Him and hear for His voice (John 10:14-15). As His children, we must be able to hear and recognize His voice (John 10:27).

Every decision we face offers a path that God wants us to take. Many people claim that they can’t hear God or even say that God does not speak to them. But this simply isn’t true.

We can all hear God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. When we follow the Holy Spirit, we are guided to God’s will.

John 14:26, “26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 16:13, “13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all

truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

Following the Holy Spirit will guide us to fulfill God’s will. Jesus’ work is the Holy Spirit’s work. Jesus followed the Holy Spirit during his time on earth and fulfilled God’s will to its entirety (Luke 4:1, John 3:34). So then, how can we be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize His voice?

Some of us can recognize a person just by the sound of their voice. Others are more difficult to identify. The voices we recognize are those we are close to and familiar with. Like this, to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit we need to become familiar and close to it. Today I will talk about a few of the methods God uses to speak to us.

 

Body)

A) He Speaks to Us Through the Bible

The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, thus it is the easiest way for us to hear God’s voice. Some people hear God through dreams or visions, but God’s communication is rarely so mysterious.

The Bible is the foundation for God’s communication with us. The Bible transcends time and society, illustrating God’s message to all people across generations.

Some of us expect to hear God’s voice in a new way, specially tailored for us and our situation. But God has already said all He needs for us to hear through the Bible. Waiting for a special and supernatural voice to speak to you through the clouds is flawed faith. The Bible should never be taken lightly. When we read the Bible regularly and become familiar with His message for us, we hear His voice speaking to us clearer each day.

From the Bible, the most basic commands God gives us is the “Ten Commandments”. It tells us exactly how God wants us to live. God’s will and voice is not an impossible puzzle mere mortals can never solve. It is laid out for everyone literally in plain text. Yet we insist on a more transcendental method and complain that God is difficult to figure out.

For example, let’s say your mother is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and you and your family must care for her. But after time, you and your spouse grow exhausted and wonder if taking care of her is the best decision. At this point, you turn to God and seek His answers.

But God has already given His answer through the Bible. He tells us in His Ten Commandments to “honor thy mother and father”. This isn’t a commandment that is stuck in the Old Testament. It is God’s will that is still very much valid and it is expected we maintain it today. God expects us to use our own wisdom and conscience to uphold His commands.

Yet many in this situation would pray and wait for God to appear in their dreams and tell them to send their mother to a retirement home. But God does not work that way. Even if you did have such a dream, would it make sense that God would say this, He who tells us to honor our parents in the Bible?

It would be closer to our own wishful thinking manifesting itself into “God’s will” for our own sake and comfort. But the Bible is clear. What God wants is clear. His answer is clear.

Of course the Bible can’t specifically address every personal problem you may face in your entire life. However, God is always speaking to us when we read the Bible. If you read the Bible and pray on its message daily, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much of its message you can apply in your daily life.

Psalm 119:105, “105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Hebrews 4:12, “12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  

Earlier in my ministry, I was an associate pastor at a church in Gangreung. The church fell into hard times and I had to leave. At the time I was lost and couldn’t do anything but pray to God asking, “Where do I go now?” It was during this time a Bible verse came to me, “I will be with you wherever you go.”

This scripture gave me the reassurance and strength to start a church in Pyeong-taek with 3 junior pastors. All of them are now full pastors, leading churches in Pyeong-taek. one of them has a church in Daegu. And here I am, all the way in New York. God spoke to me that day through the scripture. When we know what to listen for, we will hear Him everywhere.

B) He Speaks to Us Through Prayer

Contrary to common belief, prayer isn’t a one-way conversation. It’s not a time for us to tell God all that is on our minds. It is a time to talk to God, yes, but it is also a time to listen.

Then, how does the Holy Spirit speak to us in prayer? Again, many will expect a supernatural voice, a mystical vision, or miraculous event to take place. But the reality is that God moves us and our hearts.

When God speaks to us through prayer, we feel an indescribable feeling of awe, confidence, joy, or peace. It’s different from any self-made version of such emotions. You really can’t describe it if you haven’t experienced it firsthand.

To experience this requires us to come before God in truth and sincerity. If we don’t, our prayers will often be tainted by our own thoughts, worries, and desires. We twist our own greed and desires into “God’s will” and convince ourselves what we want is what God wants. And then when things fall through, we’re disappointed and blame God.

We must remember that God’s voice will differ from our own. But even with the difference, God’s voice gives us a sense of peace and comfort, one we can never find on our own. David says after experiencing such peace in Psalm 3:6, “6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.”

Con)

I will close the sermon with today’s scripture:

“13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

 

090119 . Ik Sun Ahn