Hearing God's Voice: Empowered Living Through the Spirit

 

Summary

In the midst of all our problems, it’s easy to think that the problems themselves are the issue. But the real challenge is that our ears have become deaf to the voice of God. The problems we face are often just symptoms of a deeper need: to discern and recognize God’s voice in our lives. When we learn to hear Him, we find the solution to a thousand problems, because His voice brings clarity, direction, and peace that no circumstance can provide. In a world filled with noise, confusion, and busyness, it’s essential to slow down and cultivate stillness, because God’s voice comes not in the chaos, but in the quiet.

Looking at the story of Pentecost, we see that God has always desired to meet with His people at appointed times. Pentecost, both in the Old and New Testaments, is a powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises. In the Old Testament, Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law at Sinai, marked by fire and divine speech. In the New Testament, it marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, again with fire and divine speech, but now available to all believers. This is not just a historical event; it’s a present reality. The Holy Spirit is not a distant or abstract force, but God Himself, dwelling within and empowering us.

There is a crucial distinction between the indwelling and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling happens at salvation, when the Spirit takes up residence in us. The infilling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit, is a separate and ongoing experience, empowering us to be witnesses and to operate in the authority and gifts God has given. This power is not for personal glory or just for “good church,” but to be light in the darkness, to serve, and to bring the kingdom of God into the world. The gifts and power of the Spirit are not reserved for a select few or for a bygone era—they are available to every believer today.

It’s important to recognize that the primary sign of the Spirit’s baptism is not speaking in tongues, but a burning desire to share the good news and to live out the gospel. The Spirit intercedes for us, empowers us, and enables us to do what we could never do on our own. We don’t need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to get to heaven, but we desperately need it to live out our calling and to avoid burning out in our own strength. The Spirit fills us so we can be poured out for others, and then fills us again, sustaining us for the journey ahead.

Key Takeaways

- The root of many of our struggles is not the problems themselves, but our inability to hear God’s voice in the midst of them. When we learn to discern His whisper, we gain wisdom and peace that transcends our circumstances. The solution to countless issues is found in cultivating a posture of listening, rather than just presenting God with our lists of needs. [01:11]

- Pentecost is more than a historical event; it is a living reality that bridges the Old and New Covenants. The parallels between Sinai and the upper room reveal God’s desire to dwell with His people and empower them, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of the world. The Spirit’s fire and speech are meant to transform us and send us out. [09:52]

- There is a vital difference between the indwelling and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling happens at salvation, but the infilling is an ongoing empowerment for service and mission. We are called to be continually filled, poured out, and filled again, so that we can operate in God’s authority and not burn out trying to serve in our own strength. [21:00]

- The gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are not about personal experience or spiritual elitism, but about equipping us to be witnesses and to bring the kingdom of God into every sphere of life. The true evidence of the Spirit’s baptism is a passion to share the gospel and to serve others, not just supernatural manifestations. [22:58]

- Receiving the Holy Spirit’s fullness is an act of faith, just like salvation. It’s not about earning or understanding everything, but about trusting God to empower us for the life He’s called us to live. We don’t need the Spirit’s baptism to reach heaven, but we need it to live victoriously and fruitfully here and now, as light in the darkness and as the hands and feet of Jesus. [28:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:11] - The Real Problem: Hearing God’s Voice
[03:14] - Pentecost in Acts: The Promise of Power
[07:17] - Old Testament Roots of Pentecost
[09:52] - Parallels Between Sinai and the Upper Room
[11:04] - Misunderstandings About the Holy Spirit
[12:37] - Jesus Delegates Authority
[14:34] - The Indwelling of the Spirit
[15:36] - Conversion and the Spirit Within
[16:48] - Indwelling vs. Infilling Explained
[18:17] - Water Baptism and Public Commitment
[21:00] - The Need for the Spirit’s Power
[22:58] - The Gifts and Mission of the Spirit
[25:37] - Faith, Experience, and Receiving the Spirit
[28:02] - Living Empowered: Why We Need the Spirit
[28:50] - Everyday Life with the Spirit’s Power

Study Guide

Small Group Bible Study Guide: Hearing God’s Voice and Living in the Power of the Spirit

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### Bible Reading

- Acts 1:4-5, 8
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ... ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

- Acts 2:1-4
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

- Romans 8:26-28
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

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### Observation Questions

1. In Acts 1:4-5, what specific instruction did Jesus give his disciples before he left them?
2. According to Acts 2:1-4, what were the visible and audible signs that happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost?
3. In Romans 8:26-28, what does Paul say the Holy Spirit does for us when we don’t know what to pray?
4. According to the sermon, what is the real root of many of our problems, beyond the problems themselves? ([01:11])

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### Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit instead of sending them out right away? What does this say about the importance of the Spirit’s empowerment? ([03:14])
2. The sermon draws a parallel between the giving of the law at Sinai and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. What does this parallel teach us about God’s desire for relationship with his people? ([09:52])
3. The sermon distinguishes between the indwelling and the infilling (baptism) of the Holy Spirit. Why is it important to understand the difference between these two experiences? ([21:00])
4. According to the sermon, what is the primary evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit? How does this challenge or confirm what you’ve previously believed? ([22:58])

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### Application Questions

1. The sermon says that our biggest problem is not our circumstances, but our inability to hear God’s voice. What are some specific “noises” or distractions in your life that make it hard to hear God? What is one step you can take this week to create more stillness? ([01:11])
2. The story of Pentecost shows God’s faithfulness to meet with his people. How can you make space in your daily or weekly routine to intentionally meet with God and listen for his voice? ([09:52])
3. The sermon talks about the difference between the indwelling and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked God to fill you afresh with his Spirit? If not, what holds you back? If yes, what changed in your life as a result? ([21:00])
4. The pastor said the main sign of the Spirit’s baptism is a burning desire to share the gospel and serve others, not just speaking in tongues. Do you feel this desire in your own life? If not, what might be missing? ([22:58])
5. The Holy Spirit empowers us to serve and be light in the darkness, not just to have “good church.” Where do you sense God calling you to step out and serve or be a witness this week? ([22:58])
6. The sermon says we don’t need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to get to heaven, but we do need it to live out our calling and avoid burnout. Are you trying to serve God in your own strength? What would it look like to rely more on the Spirit’s power? ([28:02])
7. The Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray. Can you think of a recent situation where you needed God’s help but didn’t have the words? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to pray through you in those moments? ([25:37])

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Close in prayer, asking God to help each person hear His voice more clearly and to fill them afresh with the Holy Spirit for the week ahead.

Devotional

Day 1: Discerning God’s Voice Is the Solution to Many Problems
The true challenge in life is not the problems themselves, but our inability to hear and discern the voice of God in the midst of them. When we focus only on the symptoms—our worries, fears, and needs—we miss the deeper invitation to stillness, where God’s whisper can guide, comfort, and direct us. In a world filled with noise and distraction, slowing down to listen for God’s voice is essential, for His voice comes not in the chaos, but in the quiet. As we learn to say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” we position ourselves to receive wisdom and direction that transcends our immediate circumstances. [01:11]

1 Samuel 3:9-10 (ESV)
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

Reflection: In what area of your life do you need to slow down and intentionally listen for God’s voice instead of just presenting your requests to Him?


Day 2: The Power and Purpose of Pentecost
Pentecost is not just a historical event but a present reality, marking the fulfillment of God’s promise to pour out His Spirit on all believers. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is both a celebration of the new covenant and an empowerment for daily living, equipping us to be witnesses and to carry God’s presence into the world. The same Spirit that filled the disciples in the upper room is available to us today, inviting us into a life marked by divine guidance, power, and transformation. [07:17]

Acts 2:1-4 (ESV)
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Reflection: How does knowing the Holy Spirit is available to you today change the way you approach your daily life and challenges?


Day 3: The Distinction Between Indwelling and Infilling
There is a vital difference between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which comes at salvation, and the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit, which empowers believers for service and witness. The indwelling Spirit marks the beginning of our transformation, while the infilling equips us to be poured out for others, to operate in spiritual gifts, and to live out our calling with power. Recognizing and seeking both experiences allows us to move beyond self-effort and into a life fueled by God’s presence and authority. [21:00]

Acts 1:8 (ESV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Reflection: Have you experienced both the indwelling and the infilling of the Holy Spirit? What would it look like to invite God to fill you afresh today?


Day 4: The Spirit Helps Us Pray and Live According to God’s Will
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in our weakness, praying through us and for us even when we do not know what to pray. This divine partnership means that as we lean into the Spirit’s guidance, we are empowered to face situations beyond our understanding, trusting that God is working all things together for good according to His purpose. The Spirit’s help is not just for moments of crisis, but for every day, enabling us to live in alignment with God’s will and to walk in faith even when we cannot see the outcome. [22:58]

Romans 8:26-28 (ESV)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Reflection: Is there a situation you’re facing where you don’t know how to pray? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to intercede and guide you today?


Day 5: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Empowers Us for Daily Living
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a requirement for salvation, but it is essential for living out the Christian life with power, resilience, and effectiveness. Just as a powerful car is equipped for more than just getting from point A to point B, the Spirit’s infilling gives us the strength, gifts, and endurance to be light in the darkness and to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus. Relying on the Spirit’s power prevents burnout and enables us to fulfill our calling, not by our own strength, but by God’s supernatural enablement. [28:50]

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Reflection: In what ways are you relying on your own strength instead of the Spirit’s power? What is one step you can take today to depend more fully on the Holy Spirit?

Quotes

The problems are not the problems. The problems really are the fact that the problems are symptoms, not problems. The real problem is that our ears have been deafened to the voice of God and learning to discern the voice of God is the solution to a thousand problems.
In the busyness of this world, in the confusion of this world and the loudness and the tumultuous moments of this world, I have to find a stillness where I'm leaning into him to hear him because his voice will not compete for anyone else's attention. [00:02:16]
His voice comes in the stillness, not in the shouting of my fears, not in the shouting of my worries, not in the shouting of my goings and my doings. His voice comes in the stillness. And so I need to slow down. Why? Because I can only repeat and reproduce what my ear hears. [00:02:44]
We have to model ourselves, pattern ourselves after the model and pattern that we see out of Samuel in not just a prayer but a posture of speak Lord your servant is listening. [00:03:12]
Pentecost is the second most important, or the second major of the feast, only to be outed by Passover, which happens, we call it Easter. Pentecost is 49 and one days after Passover. This happens every year. So after Easter, 50 days afterwards is Pentecost. [00:07:02]
It's these days of anticipation that the days between Passover and Pentecost were symbolic of the days that Israel was waiting between their departure in Egypt and their entrance into the promised land. A land flowing of milk and honey. I'm going to take you out of this bondage of where you have been and I'm going to bring you into a land prepared for you. But there will be days of waiting in between. [00:08:10]
He, you had a debt you could not pay. So he paid a debt he did not owe. And the old covenant was thus fulfilled. And then he offers us a new covenant that we now celebrate with the opportunity to celebrate it on Pentecost. [00:10:14]
His spirit would continually be present as their guide, their teacher, their comforter, their friend, not something internal any longer, but externally upon them. But it's not just for them, the 120 that were in the upper room. It's present and available for us today, here and now. [00:10:33]
We have such a wide array of backgrounds in here that we bring in our own thoughts and ideas that I'm not a betting man, but I'll put good money on it, that a lot of our backgrounds have errant flaws of understanding in who Holy Spirit is, in what he's called to do, and his availability for us today. [00:12:10]
He gives us the model and then he says, okay, now I need you to do it so that you can then impose the boundaries of the kingdom. That's what Jesus is talking about. It's this direct empowerment highlighting his divine nature and sovereignty and then the authority he's giving to the disciples signifies the breaking of Satan's power. [00:14:24]
We're not just making a mental decision. We are starting the process of conversion and thereby we have the indwelling of the spirit of God. Six foot two, blonde haired, blue eyed, North American Jesus does not live onside the confines of your heart. Physically, that doesn't fit, right? Newsflash, Jesus wasn't blonde haired and blue eyes. Just in case, if that like just blows your mind, we really should talk. Okay. Who lives on the inside of you? The spirit of God fully dwelling on the inside of you. [00:16:09]
Water baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. Water baptism is not salvation. Water baptism, when I embarrass her, she's not here so I can embellish the story even more. When I said, when I got down on one knee at Bistro 1907 in downtown Youngstown, Ohio in February 13th of 2021. And I knew the owner of the restaurant, so I had cameras set up all. Like I have brownie points for life for how I propose to my wife, right? [00:17:22]
We need this baptism to go out and it is the power. It is the unction. It is the availability. We have watch to then go be the light in the darkness, be the hands and feet of Jesus, be a city set upon a hill. Because if I don't have access to this power, if I don't have access to this oil, this unction, then I am attempting to burn as light in the darkness under my own volition. And I will inevitably at some point burn out. [00:20:25]
That's why we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And the problem is we have had such poor teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we are unaware that there is a difference between the indwelling he breathed upon them and then acts to the infilling where there came a sound as of a mighty rushing wind and the flames were upon the tops of their heads and filled the whole house where they were. [00:21:17]
He flows out from where he has filled and fills and given full access to dwell for the purpose of sending us out to operate in the authority. We're back in the authority that he granted to them to go out and have mastery and authority over demon spirits and over disease. This is how it works. [00:22:20]
It's not that the gifts died out with the apostles. That's errant teaching. And it's not that we have the gifts so that we can have good church. We have the gifts to go operate in the authority to impose the boundaries of the kingdom. That's why we need the power of Holy Spirit. That's why we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. [00:22:48]
Meaning, I'm constantly praying in the Holy Spirit. I'm constantly leaning on the power of Holy Spirit. I'm constantly leaning into the whisper of Holy Spirit. Leaning for direction. Leaning for instruction. And utilizing, hear me, the gifts while I'm leaning in. [00:24:54]
The prescriptive sign of the baptism of the holy spirit is that we have a yearning and a desire to tell others and show others the good news of the gospel so that's why the gifts are to jerusalem to judea samaria to the other ends of the earth watch that you will be able to operate sharing the gospel and when you get into those moments you will need at times some of those nine manifest gifts. [00:26:24]
But we receive the Holy Spirit the same way we receive salvation by faith. I believe I received when I prayed. Did you do anything for your salvation? It's not a trick question. The answer is no. If you're like, yes, I did. No, you didn't. We should talk. It's the same thing with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. [00:27:43]
You don't need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to get to heaven you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to live day to day to be light in the darkness to be a city set upon a hill to be the hands and the feet of Jesus or else you will burn yourself out trying to do and accomplish the work of the ministry that you aren't qualified or strong enough to do on your own that's why you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit whether you pray in tongues or not you need the power that showed up for the first time and is available to all followers of Jesus the Holy Spirit. [00:29:38]
In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, when he began to blow and whisper through that room. And there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind. [00:30:23]

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