If you believe in the gifts of the Spirit and the full ministry of the Holy Spirit, then you must believe in our capacity as Christians to hear the voice or receive the leading of God. For you that leading may come primarily from the Father, from Jesus, or from the Spirit. It doesn’t matter because each one is God and will give you the same direction and reveal the same heart.
When we start to hear God, we are also responsible for testing the spirits to see if what we are hearing or seeing is from God or another source. John is very clear about our responsibility when he says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God” (1 John 4:1-3). To our and detriment and their’s, most believers don’t practice testing enough. Too often we hear a voice or sense a leading and because it feels good we take off on it without questioning its authenticity.
Brad Jersak tells a story in his book ( Canyouhereme?) that is instructive. “On another occasion, a young man came to me voluntarily to test whether he was hearing God accurately. He felt that the Lord was telling him to sleep with his girlfriend. The voice had even used scriptures to justify this direction. He asked me how he could know whether or not this was the voice of God. I felt like arguing with him, but I have learned the hard way how ineffective this is. So, I suggested we test the source directly.
I spoke out, ‘We take up God’s invitation and our authority in Christ to directly test the source of this revelation. If it is the Holy Spirit, we welcome you. If it is another spirit, we summon you to present yourself before the Lord Jesus for testing.’ The young man answered, ‘I see a large dark cloud with lightening crackling around it, and the voice is coming from there.’ In my mind, I thought it might represent the power and the glory of God (/Ezekiel 1) or else the darkness might be our hint. But before I could ask another question, this fellow jumped in his seat. ‘I just heard a voice from behind me say, ‘Nice try,’ and then Jesus stepped up and blew the cloud away, There’s just a little gremlin-looking thing where the cloud was … ‘and who are you?’ we asked. It shrugged in defeat, ‘The spirit of the world.’ This was the messenger who had tried to masquerade as the Lord.”
If Brad had not pursued this testing, the young man could have assumed that the voice was from God. After all, he quoted scripture and appeared as an Old Testament image of God. I’m confident that the young man had invited this spirit by nurturing his fleshly desire to sleep with his girlfriend, otherwise he would have dismissed the voice immediately because it was clearly contrary to God’s word. Even when listening for God’s voice, we must be careful not to simply hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest. When I was involved in campus ministry years ago, it was remarkable how many young men in our college group had received a “word from the Lord” that they were to marry the same girl in our college group – perhaps, because she was the prettiest.
In testing the spirits, we should not be paranoid but should be careful or at least give due diligence in confirming that something is from God. Paul warned the church at Corinth. “And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14-15). These “disguised ministers of righteousness” can work through flesh and blood as they speak through misguided teachers, counselors, divisive church members, false prophets, or mistaken prophets. They can also masquerade as the voice of God as we hear them in our thoughts or see them in our imaginations.
There are several guidelines for testing spirits. Does the spirit or voice reflect the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5)? Is it consistent with the Word of God – the whole counsel of God and not just a proof text here or there? Does it draw us to Jesus and point is to holiness and integrity? Does it display love and build us up rather than tearing us down? Does it create peace in our hearts?
One of the best tests is to simply and directly ask Jesus if the word we heard was from him or a source other than God, just as Brad did. We can ask the Spirit to judge the voice by giving us peace in our hearts or by troubling us about it. It is also a great idea to ask a mature believer, who has heard from God for years, if it sounds like God to them. If we are concerned that God might be offended if we question “the voice” or the “prophecy,” remember that he is the one who told us to do so. When we ask, we’re not doubting him or his character, we are simply being careful with our own discernment. It’s a good practice to develop and a good practice to teach young believers.
