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You will know the truth and the truth will set you free

How Do We Know the Voice of God? 

 

Renette Vermeulen 

 

                                                          

  [Acknowledgement to the person who published this image]

This promise in the Old Testament is still real for New Testament believers today — but now, God does not speak in a voice from “behind” us, but from “inside” our spiritually born again human spirits or “hearts,” where the Holy Spirit constantly lives, (1 Cor. 3:16-17.)  God the Holy Spirit speaks to us most clearly and unalterably “by His Son, [His New Covenant, written Word, the true context of the Bible...] through Whom also He made the worlds…” (Heb. 1:1-2.) 

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Jesus declared in Jn. 12:48 KJV, “He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the Word that I have spoken, [as recorded in the true context of Scripture,] will judge him in the Last Day…” (Jn. 1:1-14.) 

 

Contents 

Þ Preachers teach believers to follow audible voices not Scripture 

Þ The book ‘The Shack’ is not fiction but deception

Þ Churches encourage contact with ‘angels’ and ‘friendly spirits’ to speak to believers

Þ How can “voices” deceive us if they identify themselves as angels and the Holy Spirit? 

Þ How can believers be deceived if the Holy Spirit of Truth lives in them? 

Þ Old Testament ‘mediating’ and ‘guiding’ prophets Versus the gift of prophecy in the New Testament

Þ How will we know the Voice of the Holy Spirit opposed to a false ‘holy’ spirit? 

Þ Does the Holy Spirit still speak in an audible Voice as He spoke to believers in the New Testament? 

Þ Does God only use ‘learned’ and ‘church ordained’ prophets? 

Þ People ask why false prophets can also prophecy truth? 

Þ Examples of how the gift of prophecy function in the New Testament 

Þ Why true, Scriptural “equipping and edifying of the saints” must take place

 

PREACHERS TEACH BELIEVERS TO FOLLOW AUDIBLE VOICES  NOT SCRIPTURE 

Eric Gilmour of Sonship International stated in his interview with Daniel Kolenda, “If you are caught in doubt whether [the voices you hear are] from God, you must praise yourself into a state of neutrality so it is true either way to remove yourself from the doubt. Jesus matters not your actions… [What a lie!  “He who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,” 1 Jn. 2:4.] If you fear you can be deceived by hearing voices, the fear will enslave you to deception.” No, your sinful disobedience to the commandments of Scripture will enslave you to deception: 1 Ths. 5:21-22.  Proverbs 9:10 KJV, “The fear of [or healthy respect] for the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom,” (1 Jn. 4:1-4.)

Hearing voices is not contrary to the Word of God but may be contrary to the things written in the Scriptures. The Only True and Final Word of God we have, is His Word written in the context of Bible Scripture, (Heb. 1:1-14; Ps. 119:115, 160!)  Disobedience to the True context of Scripture is disobedience to the God of the Bible.  Nevertheless, Gilmour continued, “False prophets were not [debunked] for prophesying wrongly, but because their origin was wrong; their source was off. We know our source is Jesus.”   

If their source were Jesus, they would have remained in the Truth of His Word and be on their guard against deception.  Deuteronomy 13:13,5,8 commands, “[False prophets] have gone out from your midst to entice away [the believers,] saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods… you have not known… [They] must be put to death, because they talked rebellion and turned away from the Lord your God…  You must not consent to him or listen to him, nor let your eye pity him, nor spare him, nor conceal him. But you should surely kill him… [in New Testament/Covenant terms, “expose and reject him,]” (Eph. 5:11.) 

Believers, who cannot discern these antichrist anti-scriptural statements as lies, need to repent from whatever is keeping them from “hearing” the True “Voice” of God, as every word that God ever wanted us to know and understand while we are here on earth is written in the contextual truth of the Bible.  Psalm 119:113, 169, “Establish my steps and direct them by means of Your Word; let not any iniquity have dominion over me [through my disobedience to Your written Word.] ...Give me understanding [and spiritual discernment] according to Your [written] Word [of assurance and promise…] Deliver me [from deceivers and deceptive voices] according to Your [written] Word [and in Holy Spirit power!]”  (John 14:26; 16:13-15.) 

How sad is it that believers do not view God’s contextual Word as absolutely enough for them, as He commands right through the Bible. Instead, they choose to run after fallacies that were cultivated by the witchcraft of Gilmour and ‘countless’ other false teachers, which even result in best-seller books and movies such as “The Shack,” (1 Sam. 15:23-24.)  That book is not fiction but deception; grounded on long discussions with the pagan trinity, the three separate ‘divine persons’ (gods) in ‘agreement,’ which the Roman Catholic Church Christianized as church dogma. Opposed to The Inseparable, Omnipresent Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as taught in the entire Bible, the author of that book makes Father God into an African American woman called Elousia, as well as into Papa, a native American male scout. He turns the Lord Jesus Christ into a false Jesus who said, “You can call me Jesus if you like. After all, it has become my common name.”  What blasphemy!  Philippians 2:9-10 declares that Jesus is the Name above all Names!  As in Roman Catholicism, the Holy Spirit is introduced as Sophia, the goddess of wisdom in the occult and “Mother Mary” in Catholicism; ‘god’s wife.’  She also manifests in this book as Sarayu.  This false spirit says, “God’s voice had been reduced to paper…” Papa added strange things like, “We’ll do things on your terms and time, not ours… We do not have final authority among us… We are submitted to you, [god,] in the same way you are submitted to us, as we want you to join us in our circle of relationships…” [Acknowledgement to Wikipedia and Brian Smith for exposing this.]

How can any true believer follow such blatant lies about The Most High and Holy God and His eternal Word without realizing they are committing idolatry and witchcraft? Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:37-39, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.”  Until heaven and earth pass away, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, lying wonders, and all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because [so-called believers] did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [Jesus Is Truth and Love.  If we do not love, (agape in truth and deed,) the truth of His Word, (Jesus Himself,) God will allow] strong delusion, that we should believe the lie and that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” (Jn. 1:1-3; 2 Ths. 2:9-12.) 

Salvation is a personal choice.  God did not make hell for His beloved, blood-cleansed believers, but for the devil and his demons. "He has no desire that anyone should perish, but have eternal life."  Yet, He will not violate our free will and choices. 

Þ Without ever doubting that the God of the Bible is capable of speaking to anyone in an audible voice if He so wills, it is incredibly dangerous to teach people to ‘listen for’ and thus follow audible voices instead of grounding them in the contextual truth of Scripture, (Mt. 7:21-27.)  Sadly, all end-time cults have originated from leaders that were led by audible voices instead of relying on the written Word of God in the Bible, and their unscriptural teachings have become commonplace.  But by “testing the spirits” behind those voices according to the true ‘measure’ of Scripture, it becomes evident by the way in which those voices introduce themselves, and the familiar and joking way in which they speak, that none of those spirits can be the Most High, Holy God of the Bible, (1 Ths. 5:21; 1 Jn. 4:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17.)

Every time Jesus withstood Satan in the wilderness, He said, "It is written... It is written... It is also written..." (Matthew chapter 4.)  When Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, He “began at Moses and all the Prophets and expounded to them in all the Scriptures, [our Old Testament was the Scripture available at the time,] the things concerning Himself.”  And later, when He appeared to His disciples behind locked doors, “He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures and said to them, ‘Thus it is written…’” (Lu. 24:25-27; 44-46.)  When the Holy Spirit sent Philip to the man from Ethiopia, who was reading from the Scriptures, he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?’”  (Acts 8:29-28; KJV.) 

Þ So, when Jesus proclaimed, “My sheep know My voice,” He was not referring to His audible voice. “My sheep hear My Voice” is a metaphor for “My teaching, My Word,” the written Word, as found in the Bible, (Jn. 1:1-16; 10:27-28.) From the context of this and other passages, Jesus was speaking to those who would accept and understand His teaching; His Gospel Truth, (Rom. 12:1-2!)  Concerning His Teaching, Jesus has nothing to add to what He already said in the Gospels and explained through His disciples in the Epistles, (Heb. 1:1-14.) After Jesus ascended into heaven, His teachings were recorded for us on paper, because His disciples could not hear Him preach in an audible voice anymore.  If we now want to ‘hear’ Jesus’ ‘words,’ we must read the Bible in context to understand what He is saying to us.  As He did in the Old Testament, Jesus recorded His “Voice” or Word for us in the Scriptures so we can know His Truth and obey His will. 

Þ Jesus also referred to the inward guidance of His indwelling Holy Spirit, the Teacher and Helper, Who will always lead His believers into the “all truth” of Scripture, (Jn. 16:13,16.) We can never loosen the Holy Spirit and the written Word from each other, (Jn. 1:1-14.)  The Holy Spirit is the Only Real Teacher, Who always teach and remind His believers what Jesus said (as recorded in the contextual truth of Scripture,) to glorify Him above all else, (Jn. 14:26; 16:13-15!)  If we reject the Truth of Scripture, we reject Jesus, the Word or Voice of God and the Truth of God, (Jn. 1:1-14; 14:5-11.) 

Þ The true context of the passage in John Chapter 10 is not about hearing Jesus’ audible voice.  This passage is where Jesus made a clear distinction between Himself, (The True Shepherd, Word of God, Door to heaven, Narrow Gate, Way, Truth, Light, and Life,) and false shepherds, the paid “hirelings,” who open demonic doors to the spirit world in various ways to “steal, murder, and destroy” the body of Christ, (Mt. 24:1-31; Jn. 10:1-10.) What better way could Satan find to deceive believers than to speak deception in audible voices that mimic the final, true, and only Word of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Yet, Kenneth Copeland, (dedicated mason and dangerous false teacher,) SOLM or Servants of the Lord Ministries, ‘Lion of Judah,’ and many other great deceivers teach believers to “constantly hear god’s voice audibly” by connecting to Him through praise, worship, transcendental meditation, supposedly ‘soaking in his presence’ through ‘contemplative prayer and music,’ and many other occult techniques.  They can only reach a false god, (Satan,) that way.  Thus, in all these teachings on ‘how to hear god’s voice,’ they never mention a single Bible verse — unless they are abusing the Bible to ‘force god’ to speak audibly. Those “voices of god” all oppose Scriptural truth and loosen believers from God’s written Word, which is God’s One and Only, true ‘Voice:’ His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, (Jn. 14:6.) 

· Such occult mediation to supposedly hear God’s voice through the emptying of the mind and hypnotic trances, as modelled in yoga, other occult techniques, and prolonged repetitive ‘praises and prayers’ to allegedly ‘connect with God,’ [what happened to the indwelling Holy Spirit,] are forbidden throughout God’s Word, (Deut. 18:10-14.)  Believers must always be in control of their spirits, be vigilant, and have “sober minds, as their adversary the devil walks about… to [find someone off guard to] devour,” (1 Cor. 14:32; 1 Pt. 2:8-9.)  Joshua 1:8, “THIS BOOK [THAT CONTAINS GOD’S WORD] MUST NOT DEPART FROM YOUR MOUTH, BUT YOU MUST MEDITATE [THINK OVER OR PONDER] ON THE WORD DAY AND NIGHT THAT YOU CAN OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT IS WRITTEN IN IT...”  Psalm 19:14 teaches, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, [thinking about the Word to understand what is written,] be acceptable in Your sight, O  Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer…”  Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:5-13, “[Do not be hypocrites…] When you pray, go into your room and shut your door, pray to your Father, Who is in the secret place, and He Who sees in secret will reward you openly… And do not use vain repetitions [occult practices] as the pagans do, for they think they will be heard for their many words.  Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  [Then Jesus taught us how to pray acceptably to God according to His model prayer in verses 9-13.]  So, why do believers fall for occultism in churches while God answers all sincere prayer in His own way, time, and according to His will?  (1 Jn. 5:14-15!)  Answer: Jesus’ prayers seem not spectacular enough to them.  They are into religious showmanship and sensationalism, not humbleness in Christ. 

CHURCH CLERGIES ENCOURAGE CONTACT WITH ‘ANGELS’ AND ‘FRIENDLY SPIRITS’ WHO SPEAK TO THEM

God gave me the incomprehensible privilege to minister to broken-hearted people and believers who were deceived by church doctrine and unscriptural, abusive practices in churches.  So, I have great empathy for the victims of abuse.  The Christian dabbling in the occult aside, I know how relentlessly our enemy the devil preys on lonely, grieving, rejected, neglected, and other abused people, (1 Pt. 5:8.)  Of course, our omnipresent God is always “there” and remains in control.  The Lord so dearly loved the whole world or everyone on earth, “that He gave His only begotten Son, [His Word in the flesh: God Himself in the body of a human being,] that whoever [personally] believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life,” (Jn. 1:1-14; 3:16.) 

Þ Thus, Jesus God Himself is the last man that spoke direct, New Revelation, New Covenant Word to all humanity during His time on earth, (Heb. 1:1-14.)  Since then, all sincere Bible teachers can only interpret the written Word of God by speaking the Words of Jesus, as taught by the Holy Spirit, (2 Tim. 3:16-17.)  Jesus Was, Is, and always Will Be God’s manifested Word — The Word that became ‘flesh,’ (Col. 2:9.)  Thus, Jesus Christ constantly emphasized that, as a man here on earth, His Words were “not His own” or from the mouth of a mere human, but “from [God the Father in heaven] Who sent Him,” (Jn. 12:48-49; 7:16: 14:10.] 

· Disobedience to Jesus’ commandment to test the spirits to see if they are of God, results in the fact that ‘friendly ghosts’ turn themselves into deceased loved ones, orbs, and “angels of light,” “christ Jesus,” and the “holy spirit,” to ‘befriend’ and ‘comfort’ those in need, loneliness, mourning, and other distress.  Instead of protecting people against such deception by teaching them God’s Scriptural truth, many churches encourage contact and conversations with ‘angels’ or ‘friendly ghosts.’  Through the ages, ‘angel worship’ or actually Satan worship constantly replaced worship to the true God. 

As witnessed in churches worldwide, running after voices instead of clinging to Jesus’ Scriptural Truth, causes great “lawlessness” or abuse of Biblical Truth.  Jesus warned in Mathew 7:21-27, when believers come to enter into heaven by saying they have prophesied, cast out demons, and done many wonders in His Name, He will declare to them, “I never knew you.  Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!  Whoever hears [My Scriptural teachings] and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the Rock…” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture was given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Hebrews 4:12, “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.  Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 

HOW CAN “VOICES” DECEIVE US WHEN THEY IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS ANGELS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT?       

Mostly, Satan’s deception is so subtle, deceived people do not have a clue that they are being controlled by evil spirits.  The enemy simply shape-shifts into Jesus, the ‘father,’ or the ‘holy spirit’ to make himself acceptable to believers, and tell them exactly what he knows they want to hear, (2 Cor. 11:4, 14-15.)  This is why disobedience to Jesus’ Word to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God,” (even if the spirit tells us he is Jesus,) causes spirits to start conversing with their victims in comforting, audible voices — or by authoritively “speaking into their thoughts,” (1 Jn. 4:1-4; 2 Cor. 10:4, 14.)  These ‘good, friendly’ ghosts can also speak “guidance,” manifest strange spiritual experiences, and bring unscriptural “revelation” in ‘trusting’ voices.  They can also impersonate a deceased person, (which is impossible, read Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,) or laughingly joke with the terrified and oppressed to “give them joy and comfort.”  This is not insanity; it is demonic control with the aim to enslave people with counterfeit feelings of being ‘special;’ experiencing a “special” calling; holiness, ‘unconditional ‘love’ and acceptance, peace, comfort, and security. 

On the other hand, many people testify that after they opened themselves to ‘prophets’ or so-called ‘deliverers,’ they persistently experience confident voices telling them what to do; foul sexual thoughts, corrupt desires, and familiar and unfamiliar voices.  They also hear voices that constantly curse God; feel perpetual fear, consuming guilt, confusion, are terrorized by demonic nightmares, or threatening voices speaking into their “minds” to intimidate the living daylights out of them.  These spirits can also materialize or show themselves to their victims as sexual molesters, spirit ‘lovers,’ torturers, special guardians, ‘playmates,’ Jesus, the holy spirit, holy angels,’ and so forth. 

Þ A common example of unknowingly participating in the occult is longingly speaking to a deceased loved one; (see Ecclesiastes 9:5-6; Lu. 16:27-31.)  Don’t fall for the deceased-loved-one deception.  God forbade us to try and speak to the dead, (Deut. 18:10-13.)  If an already deceased person ‘speaks’ to humans, it is a demon masquerading as that person.

Þ Psychologists use occult visualization techniques like “safe place” therapy, and it is not uncommon that a “spirit friend” will ‘hide’ with the “patient” until the person ‘calms down.’  They also stage séances through New Age/occult Regressive Therapy, and Role Play exercises like “Gestalt Therapy,” where ‘patients’ must ‘imagine’ they are confronting their ‘abusers’ while sitting opposite them in an empty chair. (See Jesus’ commandment in Matthew 18:15-20 on how to deal with abusers.)  Satan will never ignore such golden opportunities to get a hold on people’s “minds” or thoughts by attaching demons to them.  Picking up such ‘spirit friends’ is easy; getting rid of them can be complicated. 

Many ‘personal’ or ‘familiar’ spirits got a hold on believers when they were abandoned, rejected, and abused as children.  Or when believers submitted to false church doctrine and unscriptural spiritual practices.  Or when they consulted “mediating” and “guiding” prophets, who supposedly have “words” from God for everyone; witchdoctors, so-called “deliverers,” etcetera.  In this way, those false ‘ministers’ impart more and more of their deadly doctrines, and more and more of their false spirits by laying their dirty hands on people, and practising their many occult and other unscriptural techniques to enslave people to Satan. 

Þ False Christian prophets also “reveal” to unwitting people in “words from God” that they were “abducted by aliens,” sexually abused, and maltreated in the most inhumane ways — even in so-called ‘prior lives,’ which supposedly constitute their many spiritual, emotional, and physical problems.  One must be careful and not blindly accept what these ‘ministers’ say and suggest you do, (1 Ths. 5:21; 1 Jn. 4:1-4.)  It is Satan’s forté to confuse and deceive us, to lie to us to control us, and to use fortune tellers such as Christian prophets to lead us into satanic bondage, (Jn. 16:8-15.) 

Þ For instance, if ‘prophets’ or so-called ‘deliverers’ suggest bizarre things that allegedly occurred while the person has no recollection of any such thing, it never happened.  (So-called aliens are not “higher intelligent beings from outer space,” but government experiments [scroll down on the page; fuelling demonic deception.)  However, if people accept the lie, the ‘minister’ attaches controlling demons onto them through the power of suggestion “to believe the lie,” (2 Ths. 2:9-12.) 

►►► An easy way to “test” the truth of what I just said, is to remember that the Spirit of Truth came to “convince the whole world, [everyone on earth,] of sin, righteousness, [Jesus, the Way out of sin,] and of judgment [should we reject Him,]” (Jn. 16:8-14.)  The Holy Spirit of the Bible is not a “tattletale” - said with utmost respect to our Omniscient God. 

Þ This means that during the New Testament Covenant era, the Holy Spirit speaks directly into the mind of every person on earth supernaturally “know” they are saved or lost, committing sin, etcetera, (Jn. 16:13; 1 Ths. 5:23.)  That is why none of our own problems and sins will be a surprise to us, which must allegedly be “revealed” by fortune tellers disguised as ‘prophets.’  We might have forgotten about a certain sin or problem, which God may remind us of, but we will definitely “know” all about it.  God declared in 1 Cor. 2:11, KJV, “For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, [he himself knows deep down in his own ‘heart’ and mind.]  Even so, no one knows the things of God [that are really true] except the Spirit of God.”  Should we sincerely accept and follow The Holy Spirit of the Bible, “He will guide us into all truth” to glorify Jesus and no one else,  (Jn. 16:13.) 

Þ The Holy Spirit will not draw unnecessary attention to Himself, the abused believer, or any minister of God’s Word.  And He will certainly not work on personal problems outside our personal frame of reference. For instance, He will not bother to ‘reveal’ things to us which we were too young to remember.  Little children before the age of accountability all belong to Jesus “by default,” and God has ways to protect them no human being can ever fathom, (Mt. 19:13-15.)  When He “calls His disciples out of darkness into His marvelous light,” all those ugly things are left behind in darkness in any case, (1 Pt. 2:9-10.)  If, however, we do know of crimes such as child molestation that were committed against us, we must deal with the situation according to Jesus’ commandments of the Moral Law, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 18:15-20: 5:21-24. 

HOW CAN BELIEVERS BE DECEIVED IF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF TRUTH LIVES IN THEM? 

In the days of Noah and Lot humanity had a special, personal relationship with demons.  To attain more and more demonic power, they worshiped Satan ritually in grand temples ruled by oppressing, ‘mediating’ priests; ministering between them and the devil.  They brought Satan ritual human and animal sacrifices, and even had “holy” sexual intercourse with him and his demons, even on the altars of their temples, (Gen. 6:1-7.)  As a result, they were completely dedicated to Satan and possessed by countless demons, who were their spirit guides, teachers, and constant companions. 

Sadly, the same trends of demon worship increasingly materialized during the church age that came into being during the latter part of the first century at Antioch, when Jesus’ true believers, The Followers of The way, fell into Roman Catholic apostasy, (Acts 9:2; 11:26.)  In this way, millions of believers through the ages severed themselves from God’s Protective Scriptural Truth and thus, also from the way in which the True Holy Spirit of the Bible manifests His gifts, works, and presence.  Jesus Himself unceasingly warned in the Gospels and through His disciples in the Epistles about the “great tribulation” of deception or total spiritual darkness, which will rule the last of the end-time, (Mt. 24:1-31; Daniel Chapters 7-12:4.)  The Lord Jesus said, the last of the end-time we are living in is like the days of Noah and Lot.  It is a massively corrupt time; controlled by false pagan and Christianized gods, so-called christs, teachers, and those who pretend to be ‘mediating’ prophets.  These “christs” supposedly ‘stand between god and man,’ and always lead people into “lawlessness” or disobedience to Scripture.  Their teachings of how to follow ‘personal’ voices have become a great part of this deception to ultimately commit the

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