Believe it or not even the world rests upon the premise that God is within you - that you have the voice of God. It is also known as the voice of the people. There have been a number of people who have come together for common cause, they have formed cities, counties, states and nations. These people have come together, in union, and they declare that the voice of the people is the voice of God. In other words, each and every one of the members coming together with the voice of God within each of them, in union, becomes the voice of the people, or the voice of God. Now these people, because there are so many of them, have representatives. One man represents a collection of people, and he represents the voice of God, the voice of the people. And these representatives make and break laws. They set them into place, and they do it in the name of God, in the name of the people.12 Preamble - Constitution of the United States of America - We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As long as everybody agrees that this is the voice of God, there are no problems. They can make lots of laws and declare that these laws came from God. But what happens if you say, "Now wait a minute. My conscience, or the God that is within me, does not match up with the God that is within all the rest of the people." You have a conflict. The law, which is the voice of all these other people, says, "You shall do this, or you shall not do that." Then they have a remedy of punishing you, such as requiring you to pay fines or be imprisoned for your actions. You're up against a system that wants to destroy you because they claim you do not have the voice of God. If you truly had the voice of God, it would be the same as the voice that is within them - since God cannot be divided. God could not possibly put out two messages.
That is the dilemma we have today. Most of society has bound together and declared God's desires and God's wishes. But if we stop for a moment, we will notice that this society is burdensome. It is heading more and more toward the destruction of the people, rather than the saving of the people. Heavy, heavy burdens.13 Matthew 23:4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." There are a few people, call them prophets, call them people being reborn, who are waking up and saying, "Now wait a minute! Something is not right. We know that the tree is represented by its fruit. Once you see the fruit of the tree, you know the nature of the tree. And if the fruit is bad, then so is the tree."14 Matthew 7:18-20 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
These people are saying, "How could God possibly be bad? How could God possibly have rotten fruit, evil fruit?" And they're stepping back and saying, "If God has spoken through all these people, how could all of these people be wrong?" And yet that is our current dilemma.
We are in a situation where all these people claim the voice of God within them, and they have en masse come together and declared God's voice and implemented God's programs. Therefore, anyone who goes against the systems they have established has gone against God. And yet the few people who come out from them are declaring something is wrong. The voice that is within them says that they must come out, they must be separate and be not partakers.15 2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." They can no longer join in with the voice of the masses.16 Exodus 23:2 "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice." And they are persecuted, punished, and imprisoned because they are responding to a voice within themselves rather than the voice of the masses. What a dilemma.
Imagine the disciples who were being sent out by Jesus and the Voice. The Holy Spirit was directing their course and that course was against the city authorities, against the masses, and against the Pharisees and Scribes.17 Acts 17:6-8 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king; Jesus." And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. "We must obey God rather than men."18 Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men." Now that's a bold statement. Here are the masses who claim to have come from God in the first place. But the apostles are claiming that the people's voice is that of mere men - not the voice of God. Yet isn't the voice of God within us? What's wrong? This doesn't make sense.
Jesus declared, "You don't know my Father, for your father is the devil."19 John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Maybe the people aren't listening to the voice of God. Maybe there is another voice that is inside. Maybe the voice that the people are responding to isn't God's voice!20 John 8:47 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." Maybe there's another voice - the voice of the devil. And the devil deceives and steers them away from sound advice - the voice of God.
It's easy to do. Haven't we all been ensnared sometime in our lives - been convinced of something that isn't true, something that is false? We acted on things that we thought were true, but in reality were false. And somewhere down the road when the fruit is born, all of a sudden we say, "Oh my goodness, we've been deceived! We've been taken down a road that leads to death. What are we going to do?" Immediately we stop doing whatever it is because we recognize it wasn't the voice of God. Maybe that explains why there are a few prophets. The prophets look at the situation and say, "This is not the voice of God. God is not of destruction, God is of life and of forgiveness - there has to be a problem." When they pull out of the norm - that which the masses have declared is the word of God, they're not truly pulling away from God. That is only what the masses would like them to believe. They are pulling away from Satan. They are pulling away from the deception and the lies, in obedience to God.21 Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues."
We all have a responsibility to prove all things.22 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. Each and every one of us must prove all things. That is our responsibility. When you find that the people are listening to the voice of Satan, you have an obligation - you stop doing it. You stop participating with the voice of Satan.23 Acts 2:40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." You don't wait until tomorrow - you start today.24 Hebrews 3:15 "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
Why is Jesus your mediator? Because He gives you instruction on how to discern the two voices. How can you tell that which is the voice of Satan versus the voice of God? He gives you parables so you will know the truth. He tells you how to enter the Kingdom and what the Kingdom is like. By applying these simple principles, you will be able to discern. You will learn. He's not saying you won't make mistakes again, but at least these principles will make it a little easier, the road will be a little smoother. He declares it is a narrow and straight way. He warns us that even the elect will be deceived.25 Matthew 24:24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." You have to remember, Satan's very jealous of the power of God, and he wants it for himself.26 Isaiah 14:13-14 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'