Hearing God’s Voice
Anytime
Session Two:
Biblical Assumptions &
Framework
Bill Perry
Assumptions
What do you see here?
Assumptions
A college professor asked his class what they saw.
They said, “God.” He went up and examined the
chalk particles and said, “All I see is chalk dust.”
Assumptions
Theological perspectives…
Assumptions
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God never speaks to anyone at any time.
Assumptions
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God never speaks to anyone at any time.
God himself doesn’t speak but communicates
only through the Bible and through Jesus
(Hebrews 1:2).
Assumptions



God never speaks to anyone at any time.
God himself doesn’t speak but communicates
only through the Bible and through Jesus
(Hebrews 1:2).
God speaks only to his choice servants like
apostles, pastors, prophets, mystics, etc.
Assumptions




God never speaks to anyone at any time.
God himself doesn’t speak but communicates
only through the Bible and through Jesus
(Hebrews 1:2).
God speaks only to his choice servants like
apostles, pastors, prophets, mystics, etc.
God speaks to his people and seekers as he
chooses.
Assumptions





God never speaks to anyone at any time.
God himself doesn’t speak but communicates
only through the Bible and through Jesus
(Hebrews 1:2).
God speaks only to his choice servants like
apostles, pastors, prophets, mystics, etc.
God speaks to his people and seekers as he
chooses.
God speaks all the time to whoever will listen,
even unbelievers who reject him.
Assumptions
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Which one
of these is
most true?
God never speaks to anyone at any time.
God himself doesn’t speak but communicates
only through the Bible and through Jesus
(Hebrews 1:2).
God speaks only to his choice servants like
apostles, pastors, prophets, mystics, etc.
God speaks to his people and seekers as he
chooses.
God speaks all the time to whoever will listen,
even unbelievers who reject him.
Assumptions

God speaks to his people and seekers as he
chooses.
Observations

Genesis 1:3 -- “Then God said, ‘Let
there be light’; and there was light.”
Observations


Genesis 1:3 -- “Then God said, ‘Let
there be light’; and there was light.”
Genesis 3:8 -- “And they heard the
voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day…”
Observations
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

Genesis 1:3 -- “Then God said, ‘Let
there be light’; and there was light.”
Genesis 3:8 -- “And they heard the
voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day…”
Revelation 22:16-17 -- “I, Jesus, have
sent my angel to testify to you these
things… And the Spirit and the Bride
say, ‘Come!’”
Observations

Conversations within the Godhead:
Psalm 2:7-8 -- “The Lord said to me, ‘You are
my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of
me, and I will give you the nations for your
inheritance…’”
Psalm 110:1, 4 -- “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit
at my right hand, till I make your enemies
your footstool…You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
Questions:
Do the 3 Persons of the Godhead only speak
to each other in connection with what goes on
in human history? Or, being changeless and
distinct Persons throughout all eternity, have
they regularly been speaking for
that endless duration?
Questions:
Do the 3 Persons of the Godhead only speak
to each other in connection with what goes on
in human history? Or, being changeless and
distinct Persons throughout all eternity, have
they regularly been speaking for
that endless duration?
Consistency requires that they continually speak.
Questions:
Did the conversations among the
Persons of the Triune God suddenly
stop when the Bible was completed?
Questions:
Did the conversations among the
Persons of the Triune God suddenly
stop when the Bible was completed?
The obvious answer is no,
their conversations continued.
Questions:
Did the conversations among the
Persons of the Triune God suddenly
stop when the Bible was completed?
Is God’s communication with human
beings limited to just the Bible and/or
Jesus?
Questions:
Did the conversations among the
Persons of the Triune God suddenly
stop when the Bible was completed?
Is God’s communication with human
beings limited to just the Bible and/or
Jesus?
Let’s consider that.
Ways God has communicated
that are recorded in the Bible
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Written Word
Pastoral Advice
Friend’s counsel
Sermon
Holy Spirit
Quiet inner voice
Word within believers
Jesus
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Father from heaven
Prophet
Prophetess
Prophecy (gift)
Dream
Trance
Vision
Spoken from a leader
Ways God has communicated
that are recorded in the Bible
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Word of knowledge
Word of wisdom
Gift of tongues
Interpretation of
tongues
Angel
Animal
Demons
T
o
g
e
t
h
e
r
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Discernment of spirits
Handwriting on a wall
Physical phenomena
Creation (Ps. 19)
Whistling (Isa. 7:18)
Urim (1 Sam 12:8)
Thummim (Ezra 2:63)
Casting lots
T
o
g
e
t
h
e
r
Framework for God’s voice
Jesus in John 10:
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v. 3 -- “the sheep hear [their shepherd’s]
voice…”
v. 4 -- “[the sheep] know [their shepherd’s]
voice.”
v. 16 -- “And other [Gentile] sheep I have
which are not of this [Jewish] fold I must
bring, and they will hear my voice…”
v. 27 -- “My sheep hear my voice and I
know them, and they follow me.”
Framework for God’s voice

John 17:26 -- “And I have declared to
them your name, and will declare it,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them, and I in them.”
Framework for God’s voice

John 17:26 -- “And I have declared to
them your name, and will declare it,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them, and I in them.”
“Declare” from gnorizo (Grk.) = make
known
“Declare” (gnorizo)
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John 15:15 -- “No longer do I call you
servants, for a servant does not know what
his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I heard from my
Father I have made known to you.”
Philippians 4:6 -- “Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God.”
Framework for God’s voice
John 17:26 -- “And I have declared to
them your name, and will declare it,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them, and I in them.”
Fulfilled:
 Romans 5:5 -- “…[T]he love of God
has been poured out in our hearts by
the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Isaiah 55:6-8
“For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways," declares the LORD. "As
the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts.”
Conclusion

“God relishes surprise. We want lives of
simple, predictable ease, -- smooth, even
trails as far as the eye can see -- but God
likes to go off-road. He provokes us with
twists and turns. He places us in
predicaments that seem to defy our
endurance and comprehension -- and yet
don't. By his love and grace, we persevere.”
-- Tony Snow (1955-2008), White House spokesperson,
political commentator, news anchor and writer
Conclusion
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“When we think of God mainly as an
emergency rescue kit, we need to be
rescued from that kind of thinking.”
-- Richard Altork, American
missionary in the Philippines
(Soul Food 10, #2474)
Conclusion

“How I long to become more childlike each year with
my heavenly Father instead of more hesitant, more
calculating, more insistent that he guarantee the
results before I’ll take a step of faith. Rather than
becoming more cautious as I age, I want to become
more daring in my walk with God. Instead of being
obsessed with landing safely and looking good, I
want to leap with humble, joyful abandon toward my
heavenly Father’s arms.”
-- David McCasland, Radio Bible Class’s Daily
Bread writer