Hearing from God (Part One)
(From a Radio broadcast of Bro. Julius Adewumi)
Radio Discussion between Bro. Julius Adewumi, and Bro. Ron Rucker.
Bro. Julius:
We discussed "walking in the spirit" in another broadcast. This has to do with communication back and forth with the Spirit with whom we walk. In this discussion, we will narrate the ways to hear from the Spirit. Therefore the topic is "hearing from God."
What are the ways the Lord uses in talking to Christians? What are the ways He uses in talking to individual Christians?
Bro. Ron: The Lord can talk to us through his word. You may have something that you are seeking the Lord about. He may talk to you through the scriptures. You can also fast and after the fast the Lord can give you a word of exhortation or revelation for whatever you are seeking the Lord.
Bro. Julius: Do you mean revelation of the bible verses? That is, the lord revealing the scriptures to your understanding. That is one way. That is a very important way, because in order to fully understand the scriptures, we need revelation of the word of God. We know the bible is written by men of God, and most of the time it is coded, and has to be decoded to understand the spirit behind whatever was written. Especially when it comes to doctrines. A preacher or a prophet may receive a doctrine from the Lord from specific sayings in the bible, and they may preach it. Some hearers may reject the doctrine because they do not have their eyes opened by the Lord to the doctrine. It brings to mind the word of apostle Peter concerning the writings of Paul when he said: "even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." (2Pet.3:15b-16).
The revelation of the word is what the Lord Jesus said he will use to build his kingdom when he said, "Thou art Peter, the rock, And upon this rock, I will build my church". He was not building the church upon Peter as some groups thought, but he was building his church upon the basis that just as flesh and blood did not reveal to Peter who Jesus is, but the Father has revealed it to Peter, everyone that comes to Jesus must also have a revelation in their heart from the Father. That is why the Lord Jesus said "No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." (Jn.6:44). He also said "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. and they follow me."(Jn.10:27).
The Spirit behind the word, behind those bible verses, has to be revealed to the searching heart in order to fully understand the purpose of God laid out in the scriptures. The word of God comes to individual by revelation. Somebody can preach it. But in order for the other person to assimilate, and understand the word, it has to be revealed to the other person by the Spirit of the Lord. God has to open the hearer's understanding to believe.
I personally experienced the lifting a scale off my eyes when I read a particular verse of the scriptures one time, which opened my eyes to the revelation of the particular mystery. After that day, no matter what anyman says, they cannot shake my belief on that revelation. That is what each man needs, in order to be fully convinced by the scriptures, on any doctrine. My example pertains to a teaching which I first did not get, and I simply put it at arm's length; neither for, nor against it. But in 1979 I was ministering to some friends in Germany and they have heard about the teaching and they posted the question to me. Since they were divided on the topic and I was neutral, I decided to read the passage again with them. As I read the passage, the Lord lifted a scale off my eyes and I saw it! I was able to better explain the passage .
(The topic was concerning women covering their head: Apostle Paul said the hair is given to the women for a covering, i.e. not another clothing. The women are to wear their hair long. 1Cor.11:1-16)
Many key doctrines like this has to come to individual saint of God by revelation. Otherwise, people will argue without knowledge.
Bro. Ron: I also experienced the revelation of the word in my life specifically one time. For a while in my Christian walk, I couldn't understand the preaching that Jesus and God being one. So I sought the Lord in prayer, and fasting. And one day, I had just forgot about it. I was sitting at my desk and was reading scriptures, and a similar thing that happened to you when you said, like a scale was lifted off your eyes; in my own case it feels like something dropped into my spirit, and at that point, I cannot explain it, but at that point I know and understand the revelation of Jesus and God being One.
Bro. Julius: Amen! The Spirit of God is moving worldwide. You were in America when you received that. On that same teaching about the God-head, I received a similar experience while reading the scriptures, back in Africa. The word dropped into my heart from the Lord, I could feel it dropping through. No wonder the prophets of old always said "the word of the Lord came to me". The word comes many times and you can feel it arrive.
Do you have any particular bible verse which the Lord used to confirm the God-head to you?
Bro. Ron: As a matter of fact, yes.
Bro. Julius: Let's hear it! May be it's the same bible verse the Lord used for me. It was marvellous to me when the Lord gave me the word. (Bro. Ron was opening the bible). Well, looking at where you are opening, it's not the same verse as mine. Isn't it wonderful that the Lord can supply many verses to confirm his word? "At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be confirmed".
Bro.Ron: It was John 14:8-11, where Philip asked the Lord "shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us", and the Lord Jesus answered him and said, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" When the Lord dropped the revelation into me, I saw it then.
Bro. Julius: Amen! That is correct. Now let me show you the verse upon which the Lord shined his light of revelation to my heart about the God-head being One. It was in Revealtion 1:8. As I read the verse which said "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty", a word like a voice just dropped into my heart which completed, so to speak, the statement by saying "EVEN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WHOM YOU ARE AWAITING". It was like turning ON a light switch in my heart. I could see it. I immediately saw how the God-head is One. The Lord Jesus Christ whom we all are awaiting is he which is, which was, and which is to come -- the Almighty. There cannot be two or three Almighties! Amen!
Bro. Ron: Praise the Lord.
Bro. Julius: We are discussing how the Lord talks to Christians. So far, we have talked about revelation of the word. This is the word being revealed to our spirit, by a voice. The voice is actually the Lord speaking to you. Just one word sometimes, or one sentence, and a whole revelation is conveyed. He is almighty God. Whether a scale lifted off like my testimony above, or a word dropped into the heart, they are all centered on revealing bible verses to the believer.
What other ways does the Lord use to talk to Christians individually?
Bro. Ron: You know in the bible the scripture said his voice is like a voice of thunder or the voice of multitudes. When I first became a Christian, one time I was in prayer, the Lord spoke to me and it literally shook me. At that point faith was activated in me. The Lord had spoken to me that way.
Bro. Julius: The Lord can speak in several ways to us. Revelation of the word of God from the bible to an individual as we have discussed is one method. There may be thousands of words in life which are not in the bible, but these, that are written, have enough guidance. God can refer us to these scriptures to guide our lives. He can use any of these bible verses to instruct us, or to direct our lives. He only need to give one word, or remind us of the bible verse which will quicken us to what we should have done, or what we should do in a particular circumstance. Then the believer has to know the bible very well. The more reason we must study the scriptures daily as the bread of life.
The Lord can also use the bible verses to make us understand a doctrine by opening our eyes, because it is written that it is the devil who has blinded the eyes of men of the world so that they cannot see the light of the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are still some blindfold which remains upon many, even believers. That is why every believer does not assimilate every word at the same pace.
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