In this issue of The Prophetic Messenger we will discuss knowing God's voice.

1. To Know God's Voice We Must Spend Time In Prayer
In Luke 18:1 it says " And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" We as Christians must spend time in prayer before our Lord Jesus Christ. How can we know the voice of God when very little time is spent to get to know Jesus? In John 10:3-5 Jesus said "3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." Jesus said "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." We are living in a day when there are many strange voices speaking out in the world but a Christian (which is a sheep), who knows the voice of Jesus will flee from those strange voices.

In Philippians 4:6 it says " Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." We must not be what I call a "pray and do" Christian. We as Christians must wait on the Lord for His answer to our prayers. We see an example in Acts 6:1-4 which says "1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." We see from this passage that as the church grew the Lord led the apostles to choose seven men to help in the daily ministration so they could continue to pray and to do the work of the ministry.

2. When We Are Baptized In The Holy Ghost, He Will Show Us Things To Come
Jesus said in John 16:13 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." All through the word of God we see the Holy Ghost speak through His people in prophecy. In II Peter 1:21 it says "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." We will look at a few examples in the scriptures.

a) Apostle Paul
The Holy Spirit gave the apostle Paul many prophecies about the last days. In II Thessalonians 2:3 it says "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" Also, in I Timothy 4:1 it says "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

b) Jesus
Jesus Christ spoke many messages on prophecy and one of the most quoted is in the gospels when Jesus was at the mount of Olives. In Matthew 24:3-14, 21-27 it says "3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come........ 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

3. Three Voices We Deal With As Christians
There are three voices that we deal with as Christians. They are God's voice, the devil's voice, and our own spirit. We will look at an example of each of these voices.

a) God's Voice
The prophet Elijah heard the voice of God when he fled to a cave from Jezebel. In I Kings 19:9-12 it says "9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." It's that still small voice, the voice of Jesus Christ, that we must know in this hour of great testing.

b) The Devil's Voice
We see the devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness. In Matthew 4:1-11 it says "1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." In this passage we see that the devil also quoted scripture at Jesus to try to deceive him.

c) Own Spirit
The third voice is our own spirit. In Jeremiah 23:16 it says "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD." Also in Ezekiel 13:1-8 it says "1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; 3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. 5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. 6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD."

In closing, we see these powerful warnings to Christians about false prophets and how important it is today to walk in the Spirit and know God's voice. We have an audio tape available titled "Knowing God's Voice." If you are interested in ordering it, email us, or write us for the price and ordering information.

Apostasy. Read this article in the next issue of The Prophetic Messenger.

As Christians if we want to live in victory and if we want to be able to share the Word Of God with others we must know the Word of God ourselves. Let's see what the Bible says about this. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11. " If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." John 8:31. We encourage you to put the following scriptures in your heart: Matthew 10:39, John 3:17, I Samuel 30:6, Proverbs 28:5, II Corinthians 10:3, Ecclesiastes 8:12, I John 2:6, Amos 5:10, I Corinthians 13:6, John 4:41. Use only the Old King James version of the Holy Bible. (If you have any questions about this please see the book New Age Bible Versions, by G.A. Riplinger ©1993, ISBN 0-9635845-0-2.)

To order the book Why Are So Many Christians Confused About Bible Prophecy? send a check or money order for $20.00 with your name and address to: Mysteries From The Word Of God Ministries, P.O. Box 6391, Vancouver, WA 98668. You can also order on-line at www.bookonprophecy.org or order it at your favorite book store ISBN 0-9711584-0-1

We invite you to worship with us on Sundays! Our church is called The Ingathering Fellowship. We meet at 9400 NE 72nd Ave, Vancouver, WA (The Barberton Grange).
Sunday School is from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. Church service begins at 1:45 pm. If you would like a map, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Mysteries From The Word Of God Ministries, P.O. Box 6391, Vancouver, WA 98668. Request the map to the church service.