WBS.017
FUNDAMENTALS
OF DISCIPLESHIP
HEARING THE VOICE OF IAUE – IV
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which Elohim hath prepared for
them that love him.
10 But Elohim hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of Elohim.
11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man
which is in him? even so the things of Elohim knows no man, but the Spirit of Elohim.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of Elohim; that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of Elohim.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with
spiritual.
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of Elohim:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned
16 For who hath known the mind of IAUE, that he may instruct Him?
but we have the mind of Messiah.
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“There are ways we can enhance our
ability to hear the voice of the Spirit.
There also are things that we can do that interfere with our ability to
hear the voice of the Spirit. Most
importantly, for the novice, there is a simple way to learn how to recognize
His voice, especially for those who think they have never heard Him speak to
them. “
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For those who love Him, Elohim has
prepared things that have never before been seen, never before been reported,
and never before been imagined by man.
This promise alone is quite amazing; but the apostle does not stop
here. He continues to tell us that these
unseen, unheard, unimagined things are currently
being revealed by the Spirit of Elohim to those who love Him.
To explain how Elohim is revealing these
secret things to those who love Him, Paul uses the illustration of no one
knowing the thoughts of a man except the spirit of that man. This is fairly clear. We do not really know what another person is
thinking, because we cannot get inside of his head and read those
thoughts. Only the spirit of the man,
resident within the man, can know the thoughts of the man. In like fashion, the thoughts of Elohim
cannot be known by any except the Spirit of Elohim. Now, here is the wonderful thing. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
we then have within us, the same Spirit that is within Elohim, making it
possible for us to know the thoughts of Elohim. (We will discuss
receiving the Holy Spirit in a later posting.) It is through this process that Elohim is making known
to man the things that have never been seen, heard or imagined.
How does He do it, though? How does He reveal the things He has prepared
for us? He SPEAKS them to us. That brings us back to the need to be able to
hear and comprehend the voice of the Spirit.
There is valuable insight that Paul gives us regarding this process.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of Elohim:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned
15 But he that is spiritual
judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
There
is a “natural” man, and there is a “spiritual” man. What is the difference? This is a question we must answer, because
the natural man has no ability to comprehend the things the Spirit would speak;
only the spiritual man does. It doesn’t
mean the natural man can’t “hear” the voice of the Spirit; it means that what
he hears the Spirit say makes no sense to him. In the Greek text, these two are referred to
as the “soulish” man and the ‘spiritual” man, as regards to the base of their
reasoning and decision making processes.
One is lead by his intellect and feelings; the other is lead by his
spirit.
For
weeks, we have discussed the distinction between doctrine which can be
intellectually perceived, and the Truth that animates doctrine which can only
be revealed by the Spirit. When combined
with these verses about the natural and spiritual man, their connection becomes
obvious. It is not enough simply to “hear”
the voice of the Spirit; we must be inclined to make sense of what we hear. If
what we hear is “foolishness” to us; then what is the value of hearing at all?
The
primary way that we can enhance our ability to hear and comprehend the voice of
the Spirit is to be…a spiritual man. We must cease reliance upon our intellect
and feelings. As servants of Messiah, we
must learn to trust and obey the leading of the Spirit. This will frequently feel like the wrong
thing to our senses; but then it is trusting our senses that is the
problem. It is not unlike a pilot flying
in the clouds. Up seems down; left seems
right; and while the mind tries to convince him his disoriented feelings are
correct, all the while there is an instrument panel that tells him exactly what
his position is. Pilots learn to trust
their instruments. It saves their lives.
Proverb 14:12; 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man; but the end
thereof are the ways of death.
You
can see how this takes us back to our first lesson in discipleship…to take the
Master’s yoke upon ourselves and learn of him meekness and lowliness of
heart. This most basic lesson inclines
us to be responsive to the Master and not to trust in ourselves.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
An
important part of the process is the retraining of our mind. Just as the pilot
is able to train his mind to trust his instruments, we can train our mind to
trust in the voice of the Spirit. We do
this primarily by learning how He thinks…by studying the Scriptures and
meditating on them day and night. When
He speaks to us, we will recognize His voice because it will sound familiar to
us.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of Elohim.
This,
then, is the first and most important issue to resolve in hearing the voice of
the Spirit---to resolve the war between spirit and mind; to become a spiritual
man, and not a natural man.
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