What Is God Saying?
If I were to tell you I had a close relationship with someone I had been introduced to at one time long ago but had no real interaction with since that introduction, you might think me to be dishonest.
You might deduce this by asking me what that person has been up to and what he has said to me lately. My inability to provide any information about your questioning would reveal the absence of a close relationship and bring my claim of having one into question.
Jesus came to earth and revealed the truth concerning the Father with great clarity because He was the only one truly close to the Father and capable of giving an accurate picture of what the Father is like. That means the testimony of Jesus concerning the Father is the authoritative testimony above all others.
John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
When Jesus walked the earth, it rattled the Jews because He said and did many things that challenged their perspectives of God and their long-held ideas and self-made traditions.
In their minds, if they knew for certain Jesus was “The Christ,” it would end their questioning Him. But would it?
John 10:24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
Paul, like Jesus, was able to say, 1Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Having Jesus living in you and working through you according to the power of the Holy Spirit is a great privilege. But to realize these things, He must be heard speaking in real time within our Spirit. We must be acquainted with the sound of His voice in our innermost being. Otherwise, we cannot comply with what Peter said, and others will not be convinced of our close relationship with God,
1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Speaking as an oracle is speaking as though God is speaking through you to someone. In other words, it is as though you are hearing Him speak to you what needs to be spoken, and you are yielding yourself to His voice that is alive within you. But this cannot be done if you do not know what God is saying. Only those engaged in an active, close relationship with Him will be confident to speak as oracles.
Peter is warning against being quick to offer opinions and speculations. Others cannot be blessed and benefitted by such things. They need the power that comes with the word of God that is alive and active.
I encourage you to draw near to Him today by faith in Jesus and grow in your knowledge of His love and goodness so that the sound of His voice becomes even more distinctive within you.
