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discerning the Holy Spirit

 

The Holy Spirit is a person. Just like Jesus is one person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is another. Jesus walked among the villages of Israel and taught in local synagogues, but very few people had the opportunity to be with Jesus during these few years of his public life. Knowing his time would be short, Jesus told his followers that after his departure, he would send someone to carry on the work that he started.

This new person would remind Jesus’ followers of the things Jesus taught them. He would encourage them and empower their work. Jesus even said that it is better that this second person comes, than if Jesus himself had stayed. Really? Better than Jesus?

Yes!

 

The Holy Spirit is not limited to being with a small number of followers, in one local place for just a short time. The Holy Spirit indwells every follower, in every place, for all time. Everyone who follows Jesus has unlimited access to this person that Jesus recommended to us. The Holy Spirit is always with us, because he lives inside us.

 

And that raises a practical question. How does he speak to us, and lead us? How do we recognize the inner voice when he is leading us?

 

God has always spoken with people in ways that we are able to discern his voice. Our job is to tune in to his voice. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd.

“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”
— John 10:3,4

Over time we learn to recognize Jesus’ voice and the voice of the Holy Spirit. Just like you can recognize a person’s voice on the phone, you will come to recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice when he speaks to you. Like everyone else, he has a distinct voice.

 

Discerning the Holy Spirit’s Voice

  1. Conviction of sin

    When speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said,

    ‘And when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.’ John 16:8

    Most of us already recognize this voice when we hear it. It’s the voice of conviction. The thing we need to discern here, is the difference between the voice of conviction (the Holy Spirit) and the voice of condemnation (Satan). Satan wants to condemn you, but as Jesus said, the Holy Spirit moves past the conviction of sin to include righteousness. Conviction is a positive work of the Holy Spirit that turns us from sin, and leads us to life.

  2. Escaping Temptation

    Satan’s voice will always lead you into temptation. The Holy Spirit’s voice will always lead you out of temptation. If you learn to pause when you are being tempted, you will discern the difference in their voices.

    1 Corinthians 10:13 says,

    “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

    That way out of temptation comes through the voice of the Holy Spirit. He will lead you to good decisions that will provide a way out of temptation.

  3. Consistent with Scripture

    The scripture says, “Do not steal.” But what if you have a voice in your head telling you how great it would be to steal a chocolate bar when no one is looking? Could that be the Holy Spirit? The answer is “no”. The Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something contrary to scripture.

    The Holy Spirit will always be in perfect harmony with scripture because the scriptures themselves are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Peter gives the example of the prophets.

    For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.  2 Peter 1:21

    The better acquainted you are with scripture, the easier it is to confirm the voice of the Holy Spirit because one will never contradict the other.

  4. The Tone of his Message

    The Holy Spirit’s voice always reflects the love of God. There are characteristics of the Holy Spirit’s voice that are distinct from the characteristics of Satan’s voice.

    ·      Satan’s voice fosters fear.  The Holy Spirit’s voice is peace.

    ·      Satan’s voice brings condemnation. The Holy Spirit’s voice is restoration.

    ·      Satan’s voice is prideful. The Holy Spirit’s voice is humble and gentle.

    The voice of the Spirit is always consistent with the fruit of the Spirit, and

    “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22,23

  5. Compelling to act

    The Holy Spirit will prompt us to participate in God’s work. As we pay attention to his voice each day, he will nudge us.  The apostle Paul describes this as an inner compelling.

    “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  Acts 20:22,23

    Discerning the compelling voice of the Holy Spirit can be challenging. It can be hard to know if a compelling is of the Holy Spirit, or a distraction of Satan, or even a subconscious inner longing of our own heart.  In order to process all of these possibilities, we need to  engage two more disciplines of Discerning

    • Part 3: Discerning circumstances, and

    • Part 4: Discerning in Community.

 
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For Your Spiritual Formation

 

  1. How would you describe the difference between conviction and condemnation?What has been your experience of listening to the voice of one over the other?

  2. Being tempted to sin often comes with a sense of urgency to act. Finding a way out of temptation often requires slowing down and discerning your options. 

    1. Why do you think Satan’s voice and the Holy Spirit’s voice are so different in this way?

  3. Satan will tempt us to participate in things that reflect culture rather than scripture. He will often question the relevance of scripture in a modern culture. 

    1. How have you experienced this conflict?

  4. One of the ways we recognize a person’s voice is by their distinct sound.  It is the intangible quality that is familiar to those who know it.

    1. How would you describe the intangible qualities of the Holy Spirit’s voice? 

    2. How do you know it when you hear it?

  5. Have you ever experienced the Holy Spirit’s compelling voice of direction? 

    1. How did you know it was the Holy Spirit leading you?