Is God Real to You? – Follow Up

Note from the Moderator: Many people have often been surprised to hear me claim
that God actually audibly speaks to us today. I thought that it might be spiritually
beneficial and interesting to our readers to share with you a recent discussion that I had
regarding this topic with a sister in the Lord, named Marrissa. With her permission, I
have published part of our email discussion below.

Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:32 PM
Subject: RE: “Is God Real to You?” – article

Hi Eric,
I’m not sure if the entire “list” is going to get this response or not. However, your article
prompted me to really think about God speaking audibly to you. I, personally, find it
amazing (and even a little difficult) to comprehend what it is like to actually hear God’s
voice. Can you explain it? Have you ever asked Him specific additional questions that
He’s answered?

Also, there are so many people who go through fertility problems. Why do you think He
chose you, specifically, to talk to about your questions?

I can’t stop thinking about what it must be like to actually be able to hear God. Why do
you think He doesn’t just audibly talk to the rest of us and make it easy?

God bless,
Marissa M.

From: Sharing The Way [mailto:info@sharingtheway.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: “Is God Real to You?” – article

Hi Marissa,

I want to first thank you for your excellent questions! They reflect a real hunger and
thirst for the truth and a deep desire to really know God, and I am honored that you have
allowed me the opportunity to share His words with you as well as some of my
experiences with Him.

You have asked me four questions in your letter below. But in a sense, I feel that they
are all four summed-up in these two questions: 1) Does God really speak to people
today? 2) And if so, then why doesn’t He speak to everybody? Let’s look at some
revealing Scriptures and promises that God gives to us in the Bible that might help answer
these questions:

1) DOES GOD REALLY SPEAK TO PEOPLE TODAY?

The answer is absolutely yes! But the problem is that most people don’t believe it is
possible. Therefore they don’t ever hear God or listen to Him. Notice these Scriptures:

John 10:26-27 – Jesus said, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as
I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

John 8:46-47 – Jesus said, “Why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s
words.”

Heb. 3:12-15 – “Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’ lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said:
‘Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the [day of]
rebellion’.”

Notice that in all three of these Scriptures, there is a correlation between “believing” and
“hearing”? They clearly state that in order to hear God, you must first believe! The
Scriptures confirm this. “For it is impossible to please God without faith [belief]. For he
who comes to God must believe that He is [exists], and that He is a rewarder [a giver or
answerer] of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6).

Jesus told a disbelieving Pontius Pilate that “everyone who is of the truth hears My voice!”
(John 18:37). To which Pontius Pilate blankly replied, “What is truth?” Obviously, he
didn’t recognize or believe that Jesus Christ and the Bible were the Truth. Therefore, he
didn’t hear from God anymore. The Bible says that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). And
it also says that Jesus who came down from heaven as the actual Word of God incarnate
in human flesh is the literal embodiment of that Truth. For He said, “I am the Way, the
Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). In
other words, unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are in Him, you will not
“hear” from Him on a regular basis. You might “hear” from Him once or twice, just like
Pontius Pilate did. But unless you value Him, and believe in Him, and pursue after Him
with all of your heart in faith (in a state of belief), you will in no wise have any fellowship
with Him! Fellowship consists of an on-going relationship with Him based on
communication. And yes, this includes both talking with Him and hearing from Him.

Let me show you from the Scriptures what I mean. Take the example of Cornelius in the
Bible. Here is a man who sought a relationship with God from his heart. He pursued God
with what “little understanding” he had. In other words, because he was faithful with
what “little” God had spiritually given him, God gave him more, just as He said that He
would (see Matt. 25:21,29). Notice the story of Cornelius in Acts 10:1-48. Cornelius
loved God and served Him with what little he spiritually had [that is, with what he
spiritually understood]. So because of his faithfulness, God gave him more by sending His
servant Peter to him to give him (and his entire household) the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit is the very mind, nature, and spirit of Jesus Christ (I Cor. 2:10-16; Phil
2:5). It is how and by what means we live in Him and He in us. It is how we have
fellowship and communion with God. It is primarily how He communicates with us –
through His Holy Spirit! Notice, the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak of His own agenda, but
whatsoever He hears from God that He will speak to us. For Jesus said this: “He [the Holy
Spirit] will guide you into all Truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak. And He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me,
for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14). The Bible also
says that without the Holy Spirit a person is not God’s. Notice: “Now if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him, then he is not His” (Rom. 8:9).

Jesus speaks to us by and through His Spirit. Notice this in the Scriptures. In times past,
God primarily spoke to His people by the mouths of prophets and apostles. But that is
now not the case! Notice – “God who at various times and in different ways spoke in time
past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…”
(Heb. 1:1-2). When you have the Spirit of Christ [the Holy Spirit] dwelling in you, you
hear from Jesus Christ (God) quite often. In fact, He speaks to me through His Holy Spirit
almost everyday. And what He has to say and what He shows me is always incredible!
God literally talks to me – and not to me only! But to everyone who has His Holy Spirit.
The Bible is full of New Testament examples of this. Notice:

Acts 9:4-5 – “Then he [Saul/Paul] fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the
Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Acts 9:10 – “Now there was a certain disciple [believer] at Damascus named Ananias.
And to him the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias’. And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ So the
Lord said to him…”

Acts 10:13 – “And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter! Kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘Not
so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ And a voice spoke to
him again the second time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common’….While
Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him…”

Acts 8:29 – “Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot’.”

Acts 18:9-10 – “Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid,
but speak, and do not keep silent. For I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt
you. For I have many people in this city.”

Acts 13:2 – “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now
separate to Me Barnabas and Saul [Paul] for the work to which I have called them’.”

Acts 23:11 – “But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer,
Paul. For as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at
Rome’.”

Remember all of these examples given above happened after Jesus’ crucifixion,
resurrection, and ascension into Heaven. He was (and is) speaking from Heaven where
He now sits on the right hand of God the Father (Heb. 12:2). Jesus is the same
yesterday, today, and forever (Heb.13:8). Since I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit
awhile back, Jesus has spoken to me many times audibly, as well as sometimes through
visions and dreams. It is amazing to realize that the Scriptures speak of these things, and
yet, most of us just sit in churches all of our lives never realizing it. In one sense, we
don’t believe that Jesus is just “as alive” today as He was then! This is a big reason why
most people don’t hear from Him today! They don’t believe that He really is alive and that
He is as REAL today as He was in the first century! But I can assure you that He is very
real, and that He is very much alive and involved with His people today.

2) WHY DOESN’T GOD SPEAK TO EVERYBODY?

This is a good question. Perhaps, it is best answered by Jesus Himself. Jesus’ own
disciples asked Him why He so often spoke to the masses of people in parables. He
answered them and said, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the
Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matt. 13:10-11). God is simply
not calling everybody to know Him at this time – only those who are destined to know Him
now are being called by Him. And that doesn’t necessarily mean that all of those who are
destined to be called by Him at this time are going to respond to Him either. Everyone is
still given free will and free moral choice. Let me explain. Please look at the
following Scriptures:

Rom. 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called…”

I Cor. 1:26-28 – “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise [men] according
to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things
of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the insignificant things of
the world and the things which are despised [looked down upon] God has chosen.”

Matt. 20:16 – Jesus said, “For many are called, but few chosen.”

John 6:44 – Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws
[calls] him.”

Also, notice that God made the gospel [“the good news”] a mystery – hidden from most of
the world so that most of the world would not understand Him or know Him! Notice how
many times the word “mystery” is used in the Scriptures below (these are not all the
Scriptures either). God truly has hidden His Plan from the majority of the world!

Mark 4:11-12 – “He [Jesus] told them, ‘The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been
given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may
be ever seeing, but never perceiving, and ever hearing, but never understanding…”

Rom. 16:25 – “Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the
proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long
ages past …”

I Cor. 2:7-8 – “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom that has been
hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this
age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

Eph. 1:9 – “And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good
pleasure, which he purposed in Christ.”

Eph. 3:1-9 – “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you
Gentiles– Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given
to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already
written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the
mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now
been revealed by the Spirit… This mystery is that through the gospel… Although I am
less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given to me to preach to the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the
administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created
all things.”

Eph. 6:19-20 – Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given
me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Col. 1:25-27 – “I have become its [the Church’s] servant by the commission God gave me
to present to you the word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept
hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has
chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Col. 2:2-3 – “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so
that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may
know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.”

Rev. 10:7 – “But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the
mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the
prophets.”

God is working out His Plan here on this earth that very few know of or are even aware
of. It is impossible to know and understand the “mysteries of God” without the Spirit of
God. Even the Scriptures say this! “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers
of this age knew… But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God… No one knows the things of God except
the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is
from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God… But
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:7-14).

The world as a whole does not, and cannot, know God or the things of God. Because they
do not have His Holy Spirit. But don’t worry, Marissa, the Scriptures also promise that
God will give His Holy Spirit to them who ask Him and to those who obey Him (Luke
11:13; Acts 5:32). The problem is that most people don’t ask Him or seek after Him to
know Him intimately. Because they really don’t believe in Him, they don’t put forth the
effort that it takes to really get to know Him. They are too preoccupied with this world
and what it has to offer. That is why Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness. For they shall be filled!” (Matt. 5:6).

I hope this helps explain some things. Please let me know if I’ve raised more questions
than I’ve answered. May God be with you.

Eric Wheeler
eric@sharingtheway.com

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