Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for hearing the voice of God and for abiding in Christ has been received with thankfulness, and we join with you in asking the Father to keep you rooted in His love and in His Word.
You have asked rightly that your life be shaped by abiding in Christ and His words abiding in you, and by the Word as a lamp to your feet. The Scripture teaches us that in times past God spoke in many ways through the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Hebrews 1:1-2. That final and full speaking does not pass away, and it is why the prophet Isaiah directs us to the law and to the testimony, for if we do not speak according to that word there is no light in us. Any dream, vision, impression or prophecy must be tested by that same Word, and held only as it agrees with it.
You have quoted Joel rightly, that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and Peter declared that this was fulfilled at Pentecost. It was not upon the twelve only, but upon the hundred and twenty, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. Before the cross that grace was given sparingly and for a time departed from the people, but after the cross and the taking away of the curse, the Spirit was shed forth abundantly as an earnest of our inheritance and as the Spirit of adoption. He is given not as a passing wonder but as the pledge of salvation purchased by the blood of Christ, who lives to make intercession for all who come to God through Him. And the Spirit draws near especially when one continues in prayer and in charity, with a pure heart and a sincere faith and a good conscience, which you have rightly named as the goal of our instruction.
For this reason we encourage you not to seek voices in the noise and pollution of the world, nor to chase dreams and visions as if they were the surest sign of God's favor. God did speak in a dream to Joseph and to the wise men, and He did warn Abimelech and others, and Job says God may speak in a dream to turn a person from wrongdoing and keep him from pride. Yet those workings were to point to Christ and to call to repentance, not to replace the clear Word that remains. If God in His mercy does give a warning or a comfort in the night, receive it with humility and test it by Scripture, by prayer, and by the counsel of faithful believers, always asking whether it leads you to turn from sin, to abide in Christ, to love as He loves, and to obey what is already written.
So we pray with you and for this husband, his wife, their children and household, as you have asked in agreement. Father, keep them abiding in Your Son and in Your words, keep them abiding in Your love, keep their feet guided by the lamp of Your Word. Grant them a pure heart, sincere faith, and a blameless conscience. Preserve them from temptation, from sin and falsehood, from fear and deception and every work of the evil one, and deliver them from evil. Lead them not into pride but keep them lowly as little children before You, trusting that nothing is impossible with You and that You are able to save to the uttermost those who come to You through Jesus. Fill them with Your Spirit in the true sense, not for curiosity but for holiness, for power to witness, for love and obedience, and for hope of the inheritance to come. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior and intercessor, amen.
You have asked rightly that your life be shaped by abiding in Christ and His words abiding in you, and by the Word as a lamp to your feet. The Scripture teaches us that in times past God spoke in many ways through the prophets, but now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Hebrews 1:1-2. That final and full speaking does not pass away, and it is why the prophet Isaiah directs us to the law and to the testimony, for if we do not speak according to that word there is no light in us. Any dream, vision, impression or prophecy must be tested by that same Word, and held only as it agrees with it.
You have quoted Joel rightly, that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and Peter declared that this was fulfilled at Pentecost. It was not upon the twelve only, but upon the hundred and twenty, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. Before the cross that grace was given sparingly and for a time departed from the people, but after the cross and the taking away of the curse, the Spirit was shed forth abundantly as an earnest of our inheritance and as the Spirit of adoption. He is given not as a passing wonder but as the pledge of salvation purchased by the blood of Christ, who lives to make intercession for all who come to God through Him. And the Spirit draws near especially when one continues in prayer and in charity, with a pure heart and a sincere faith and a good conscience, which you have rightly named as the goal of our instruction.
For this reason we encourage you not to seek voices in the noise and pollution of the world, nor to chase dreams and visions as if they were the surest sign of God's favor. God did speak in a dream to Joseph and to the wise men, and He did warn Abimelech and others, and Job says God may speak in a dream to turn a person from wrongdoing and keep him from pride. Yet those workings were to point to Christ and to call to repentance, not to replace the clear Word that remains. If God in His mercy does give a warning or a comfort in the night, receive it with humility and test it by Scripture, by prayer, and by the counsel of faithful believers, always asking whether it leads you to turn from sin, to abide in Christ, to love as He loves, and to obey what is already written.
So we pray with you and for this husband, his wife, their children and household, as you have asked in agreement. Father, keep them abiding in Your Son and in Your words, keep them abiding in Your love, keep their feet guided by the lamp of Your Word. Grant them a pure heart, sincere faith, and a blameless conscience. Preserve them from temptation, from sin and falsehood, from fear and deception and every work of the evil one, and deliver them from evil. Lead them not into pride but keep them lowly as little children before You, trusting that nothing is impossible with You and that You are able to save to the uttermost those who come to You through Jesus. Fill them with Your Spirit in the true sense, not for curiosity but for holiness, for power to witness, for love and obedience, and for hope of the inheritance to come. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior and intercessor, amen.
