Let's take another area that deals with the voice of God. Many times the voice of God that is within you is the voice that you should be listening to. But the voice of God in someone else is not yours. It belongs to them and to them alone. God can speak to each and every one of us, and maybe the message that He has is directed for you and you alone. Yet the voice that He has in someone else is directed specifically and only for them. There are situations like that. For example, when I was born upon the earth, my parents gave me a name. They registered it with the world through a birth certificate and people testified, "We gave this baby the name of Paul De Revoire." They did a good job. You can't refute it. It is recorded. And the whole world will testify to that name. "Your name is Paul De Revoire. It is documented. We have witnesses - doctors, parents and friends that will verify - 'Yes, your name is Paul De Revoire.'"
A number of years ago I heard the voice of God - the voice within me. There were others involved who also confirmed this same voice that said, "You are no longer the name the world gave you. You are now Paul Revere. You are to be a midnight messenger. You are to wake up the people. You are to bring them back to God. Go look for the lost." And the world immediately rejected the name Paul Revere. They said, "No. We have witnesses. We have a birth certificate. It has been recorded." I was rejected by my earthly parents who said, "No! We gave you your name. You are still Paul De Revoire." I said, "No. I've been reborn. God spoke and He said this is my new name." What a conflict. The voice within them affirmed the name they had given from the beginning. But the voice within me said, "No, the name is Paul Revere."27 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so 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. And I have acted upon that name, I have implemented it. Everywhere I go, I announce, "Hi. I'm Paul Revere. I'm an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ.28 2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. He has sent me into the world to recover the lost."
People who meet me for the first time usually accept my name. Some people say, "That is quite an unusual name, do people give you a bad time about it?" and we laugh and have a good time. But the people who have known me in the past, still have problems. "We'll always know you as Paul De Revoire," they say as if that excused them.29 Mark 6:3 "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him."
Tell me, "Where is the voice of God? What is my name?" We have a conflict. Is it the name that I was given at the time I was born into the world? Or is it the name I was given when I was reborn into Christ? Where is the final authority? Where is God's voice? I think it's a peculiar situation. My earthly parents are not the final authority on what my name is. Neither is my neighbor who may have known me many years by that old name. Neither is the Department of Motor Vehicles, whom I may have entered into a relationship with at some point in time. They are not the final authority on what my name is. Neither is the court the final authority. In fact I heard one judge declare, "The Department of Motor Vehicles is not the final authority on what one's name is." Then who is the final authority? The voice within you.