LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE VOICE OF GOD THROUGH “THE INNER WITNESS!”

Today, I am speaking on “How to recognize the voice of God through the Inner Witness.” The inner witness is the king of perceptions. The “Inner Witness” is the number one way God speaks to (or leads) His children by the secondary way today. 

By the Inner Witness God, the Father communicates with His children through His Holy Spirit. 

In Kings 17:2-4, the Bible says, “And the Word of the Lord came unto Prophet Elijah, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” 

How did the Word of the LORD come unto Elijah? The Word of the LORD came unto the prophet’s spirit-man from the Spirit of God. It is so real that it seems audible.

The Inner Witness is a confirmatory perception. All the other perceptions (Revelation flash, Intuition, Conscience, Burden, Understanding, and Impression) MUST be confirmed by (1) the witness in your spirit-man and finally by (2) the Word of God. 

What is the Inner Witness? The “Inner Witness” is the way in which the Holy Spirit communicates SPIRITUAL FEELINGS to your spirit-man as a Born-Again believer. Thereafter, your spirit-man will REVEAL God’s perfect will to your mind. 

The “Inner Witness” of the Holy Spirit takes two forms when you are praying and/or thinking about doing a certain thing:

i) A peace and joy in your spirit-man. By the “Inner Witness” the Holy Spirit gives you peace or a joy in your spirit-man, when you are doing or mentally picturing doing something, which is God’s, perfect will. 

If what you are thinking of doing is the will of God, the more you pray about it, the more you think about it, the better you would feel about it on the inside of you. It is not a physical feeling but a feeling in your spirit-man. The more you think about it, the better you feel about it. You have a velvety-like feeling in your spirit-man. That is the green light. That is the go-ahead signal. That is the “Inward Witness” of the Holy Spirit to carry on with that which you are thinking of doing. 

Do you realize that the “Inner Witness” is the presence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5:22? And the two manifestations of this fruit are joy and peace. 

ii) An uneasy (horrible) feeling in your spirit-man. The Holy Spirit will give you an “Inner Witness” of an uneasiness and tightness in your spirit-man if you are thinking of disobeying any of the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. 

 

For instance, if you are thinking of stealing your roommate’s cash, or committing immorality, the Holy Spirit will give you an “Inner Witness” of an uneasy feeling not to do it. That feeling is not physical; it is from your spirit-man. 

That’s a check in your spirit-man. That’s a red light or a danger signal in your spirit-man. That’s a stop signal right in your spirit-man.

The Inner Witness is not a voice. It is a knowing! The “Inner Witness” has to do with “spiritual feelings” within your spirit-man. 

You perceive something in your spirit-man! We call this voice of the inward man “conscience.” We also call this voice the “Still Small Voice.”

Does this mean that the voice of your spirit-man is the “Still Small Voice?” Precisely yes! This is the voice heard in the realm of THOUGHTS. 

The “Still Small Voice or the Inward Voice” could be: a) The voice of the Holy Spirit, b) The voice of satanic spirits, or c) The voice of your human spirit.

Your spirit-man speaks to you through your conscience. The Holy Spirit also speaks to you through your conscience. 

How then do you know which is which? The difference between them is that:

1. The Still Small Voice of the Holy Spirit is more AUTHORITATIVE than when it is just your spirit-man or the satanic spirit speaking. 

2. The Still Small Voice of the Holy Spirit is accompanied by an “Inner Witness” of the Holy Spirit – joy, peace or an uneasy feeling in your spirit-man. 

For instance, while praying for a particular issue, a voice speaks into your THOUGHT telling you that God wants you to believe with certainty that your expectation will be granted – your wife that has been barren for so long will miraculously give birth to a baby boy.

The voice in your thought is saying this, even though your wife is physically incapable of bearing a child, according to the doctors. But if you have tremendous “peace and joy” in your spirit-man at the same time as you hear these thoughts, then this is God speaking to you. Remember that God spoke in this manner to Abraham (Gen. 18, 22).

 

Simply put, the Holy Spirit within you receives messages from Jesus in order to reveal the mind of God concerning His plan and purpose for your life to you. The Holy Spirit then speaks to your mind (which is located in your brain) through the voice of your spirit-man, your conscience. 

It is in your mind that understanding comes. And this UNDERSTANDING comes only if your mind is thoroughly renewed (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23).

3. The Still Small Voice of the Holy Spirit never condemns you. For instance, when what you have done or what you are about to do is wrong, it is your spirit-man that judges (condemns) you. 

“For if our heart (spirit-man) condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, then have we confidence toward God” (1 Jn. 3:20-21).

Why is it that the Holy Spirit never condemns you? The Holy Spirit never condemns you because God the Father won’t; He is the One that justifies. 

“Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33-34). 

Where does the Holy Spirit speak to a Born-Again believer? The Holy Spirit speaks to you deep down in your heart (spirit-man) telling you that you are a child of God or telling you whatever God the Father is saying concerning the issue at stake. 

How long do you have to wait for the Holy Spirit to speak to you in this manner? Sometimes, you may have to wait a while to get quiet enough in your mind and spirit-man in order to recognize this type of guidance.

The Holy Spirit gives the Christian A WITNESS, A SPIRITUAL ASSURANCE or A SPIRITUAL FEELING in his spirit-man which now speaks to the Christian’s (subconscious) mind.

What is the implication of this? This implies that God speaks to a Christian about different issues by giving him an “Inner Witness” in his spirit-man.  

When you get Born Again, your spirit-man and the Holy Spirit unites (become one) with one another.

In 1 Corinthians 6:16-17 the Bible says, “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."  17 But he who is joined to the Lord is ONE SPIRIT with Him.” 

The person who is joined to the Lord becomes ONE SPIRIT with Him. Therefore, since your spirit-man becomes one with the Holy Spirit, your human spirit can easily find God’s perfect will concerning any issue.

The Holy Spirit will guide [lead] you through your spirit-man. Romans 8:14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” 

How does the Holy Spirit lead a child of God? Romans 8:16 gives us a clue on how He does this. “His Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts (spirit- man) and tells us that we are God’s children” (NLT). 

  

How does the Bible say you know you are a child of God? You know that you are a child of God by the “Inward Witness.” The Spirit of God bears witness with your spirit-man that you are a child of God. 

Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly (spirit-man).” 

The human spirit is the searchlight of the LORD, which penetrates and searches all the inward parts of man to expose every hidden motive. This Scripture is saying that God speaks to the Born-Again believer through his spirit-man. 

If my spirit-man is the lamp of the LORD, that implies that God gives me enlightenment and understanding of Himself (His thoughts, His perfect will) through my spirit-man. 

All “Inner Witnesses” must be verified to see if they agree with the Word of God. An inner witness of the Holy Spirit will never disagree with what God has said in His written Word.

The Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit originates in your non-physical, non-material spirit-man. Your spirit-man spiritually feels the “Inner Witness” of the Holy Spirit, which is dwelling right there, in your human spirit. Such witness is the “joy and peace” in your spirit-man. 

The Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit is not felt in your brain or in your physical body but in your spirit-man. When your spirit-man is spiritually feeling an “Inner Witness” of joy and peace, your renewed human mind which is located in your soul, will be aware of this fact. That’s how God made it. Your spirit-man lets your physical brain know the spiritual feelings from the Holy Spirit that are occurring at this time. 

Your spirit-man lets your physical brain know the spiritual feelings from the Holy Spirit that are occurring at this time. Anything you think is an Inner Witness will not be from God unless it is in agreement with the written Word of God. 

A feeling will not be an Inner Witness from the Holy Spirit if it is telling you to do something that will contradict God’s Word. 

For instance, at times, you feel like marrying an unbeliever, embracing someone who is not your spouse, not paying your tithes, not getting fully committed to Christ, not going for prayer meeting or Bible Studies, not attending your lectures or even writing your exams. 

Some other times you feel like smoking, drinking alcohol, dressing in a manner that will drive people away from Christ. This kind of feeling is not an “Inner Witness” from God. 

Also, a feeling will not be an Inner Witness from the Holy Spirit unless it guides you into allowing Him to rule over all of your daily thoughts, feelings and actions (Matt. 6:33). If the feeling is encouraging you to be self-reliant, self-centered or proud, then this feeling is not an Inner Witness from the Holy Spirit.

As a Christian, you should never do what your emotions tell you to do (2 Cor. 5:7). Why? Because your human emotions or physical feelings are not an infallible guide of right or wrong (Rom. 8:1-2). 

Human feelings even in the life of Christians can still be full of anger, resentment, un-forgiveness, fear, hurt, loneliness, depression, and frustration. 

Your human emotions originate from your soul, which is located in the physical brain in your skull. These feelings originate in the emotion centers in your brain and are transferred to your body by the autonomic nervous system. 

In other words, they originate in your soul, which comprises of emotions, desire, will and mind (conscious, sub-conscious and un-conscious mind).

This is how it works: your feeling about a particular issue depends on your thoughts – the things you think about. 

Your thoughts depend on the words you hear or the pictures you behold.

Beloved, if you patiently wait for God to speak to you, He will direct your path and speak to you about many things. As you learn to develop your spirit-man and follow that “Inward Witness,” God will guide you in every area of your life.

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit! 

Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor) 18.07.2021