A few years ago when our church was meeting in the Shangri-La Mall, we had all kinds of drop-in visitors. They ranged from the famous to the infamous: celebrities, politicians, professional athletes, socialites, wannabes, and has-beens. We also had loads of “normal” people and our fair share of not-so-normal people. But never did we have a visitor like “Mary.”
Our worship leader had just finished the last song and Pastor Ferdie grabbed the microphone to welcome visitors and make a few announcements. (As usual, no one was listening to announcements. Does anyone in any church ever listen to announcements?)
The auditorium was full. The only empty seat was in the front row, right next to me. It was empty because Pastor Ferdie was standing on stage making those announcements no one was listening to. During the announcements, an usher seated a (late) first-time visitor in Pastor Ferdie’s seat. In a few seconds, I sensed two eyes boring holes through me. I turned and, as suspected, the visitor was indeed staring at me with wild eyes and a sinister smile. The lights were on, but no one was home.
About this time, Pastor Ferdie gave the cue for everyone to introduce themselves to the people sitting around them. She went first.
“Hi, I’m the Virgin Mary. And my three-year-old nephew is the Second Coming of Christ.”
I wanted to say: “Great, I’m Joseph the carpenter. I’ve been looking for you all my life. Will you marry me?”
But I realized that answering a fool according to her folly might cause a major scene, so I decided to respond by saying, “Nice to meet you. And what makes you think you are the Virgin Mary?”
“Because God told me.”
How could I argue with that? God said it. She believed it. That settled it. Or, did that settle it? How do we know if it is really God speaking to us, and not our own imagination or a demon?
By now, Pastor Ferdie was finished and was ready to turn the microphone over to me. As I got up to preach my sermon, I quickly scribbled a note and handed it to the usher sitting right behind me. “This girl thinks she is the Virgin Mary. Might disrupt service. Keep an eye on her.”
I made it through my sermon unhindered. Mary behaved—just sat there with that strange smile and those wild eyes.
But Mary was deceived. Someone or something told her she was the Virgin Mary. She may have been a virgin and her name may have been Mary, but she was not “The Virgin Mary.” She was not hearing from God. She was wrong. How can I be sure she was wrong? How do I know God did not tell her that? How can any of us know if we are hearing from God?
First of all, I must say that I believe God still speaks to His people. I believe the gifts of the Spirit and the voice of the Spirit are just as necessary and available today as in the book of Acts.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them (Acts 13:2).
The Holy Spirit interrupted their prayer meeting and told them to send out Barnabas and Saul as cross-cultural church planters. We need the Holy Spirit to speak like that today.
How did Barnabas and the others know that that was God speaking? Better yet, how can we figure out who told that poor girl she was the Virgin Mary?
Following are four (but not the only four) ways to know if what we are hearing is really from God.
