Research Media

Q & A Panel

These are questions and answers from the recent Night Church Q & A Panel with Pastor Paul Zink and Pastor Bill Davis.

1. How do we know when and if God is speaking to us? What if what you think God is speaking is really you and vice versa?

There are a number of elements that we can do when trying to discern God’s voice from our own. These include:

1. Test what you hear with the Scriptures. A married man could perhaps find himself getting entangled in a relationship with another woman other than his wife, and in the midst of this relationship, he senses a voice within him saying, “This new woman is your soul mate. Leave your marriage to be with her.” He wouldn’t have to dig too deep into the Scriptures to see that this is not the way God works and it goes against certain passages, such as Malachi 2:13-16. Test the things you hear from God to see if they line up with the way God generally deals in the Bible.
2. “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). If you feel like you are hearing God about something, but you are not sure if it is Him, bounce it off your spiritual leaders and ask them what they think.
3. Peace about the word or direction can also be a confirmation regarding the matter. On the flip side of that, no peace about it could be a sign that it is not really God (see Philippians 4:6-7). Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

On the same page, though, check the peace you have in these matters with the word of God and spiritual counsel. Peace in and of itself is not necessarily a confirmation that it is God. The man we mentioned earlier who is debating leaving his wife could very easily say, “I have such peace about this decision. It must be God.”

2. When you know God is revealing a destiny of greatness in your life and you can see how He has been preparing you for it from the womb, how do you overcome the enemy’s attacks of fear and self-doubt and get your eyes off of your own inadequacies?

Often times, attacks and obstacles can be sanctioned and used by God to keep us dependant on Him, so that we become keenly aware that we are thoroughly unable to do it on our own. Also, know that it is in the very nature and strategy of God not to use the skilled and talented to do His will, but to use the weak and those in need of His grace (see 1 Corinthians 27-29). These feelings might be just the confirmation that you have been chosen by God. Take some examples:

1. Moses describes the fact that he was not a good spokesman, unfit for his calling by saying, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10). God responds to him by saying, “Who gave man his mouth? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:11-12).
2. Jeremiah suffered from exactly the same problem. When God called him to be a prophet, he answered, “‘Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak, I am only a child.’ But the Lord said to (him), ‘Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go wherever I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.”
3. Paul, in order to keep him from getting too prideful about his ministry for the Lord, was given a “thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble and reliant on God for all he would do (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-10).

The metaphor of a caterpillar can be wonderful illustration for what it sounds like you are going through. The actual act of the butterfly breaking out of its cocoon is what enables it to have enough strength to fly. If someone were to come along and peel away the cocoon for the butterfly, it would never have enough strength to fly on its own. Sometimes, the challenges and trials that we face in living out our faith can be the very things that make us strong enough to overcome our next hurdle. In the midst of all of this, we should keep near us Hebrews 12:2 which says, “Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

3. How can you tell the Lord’s voice apart from your own thoughts? If you are spoken to or visited by God or an angel of God, how will you know that it is not the devil deceiving you?

Question #1 which addressed how we can know if it is God speaking with us can probably speak to this question as well. The only thing I might add to this is 1 John 4:1-3 which says: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

4. When the Messiah comes again, if we have unforgiveness or any sin in our heart, will we be caught up with him?

I think that the parable that Jesus teaches of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 suggests that if we are not ready when the Lord returns, then we will not accompany him. This parable ends by saying, “Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour (of his return).” The point, it seems, is that we need to live ready for his coming, which would include turning from sin and ridding ourselves of unforgiveness, so that we can join him, just as the wise virgins joined the bridegroom.

5. The Bible suggests that women should submit to their husbands, but what if a woman is unmarried? Should she still respect and do what a man that is not her father asks?

To put it simply, no. The picture of submission that is given to us in this passage in Ephesians is meant to be a picture of the Christ and the church. In marriage, there is a mutual submission that takes place. We (the church) do submit to Christ as women submit to men, but the Bible also includes in this metaphor the idea that Christ also submitted to the church by giving himself up for her on the cross which should be a model for husbands as well.

Other religions put women into subjection as a lower class citizen, but Christianity is not that way. In Christ, there is neither male nor female; both are equals (Galatians 3:28). Nowhere in the Bible do we see that a woman should submit to men other than husbands and fathers (except in the context of the ways that we all submit ourselves to spiritual leaders).

6. Who will we be ruling over during and after the millennium?

While we don’t want to be dogmatic and rigid about an answer to this question that we may not know all the aspects of, there are some things that we can say about it.

Scriptures such as Matthew 25:21 seem to point to this idea that the reward for faithfulness in things here in this life will lead to greater responsibility over things in the world to come. “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of the Lord.”

Paul seems to give some more insight into this question when he is addressing the fact that some Christians were taking lawsuits between each other to the courts of their day. He says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:3)

So, some suggestions that are made regarding the extent of our rule in the coming kingdom include rule over angels, while some suggest that it would include rule over other believers as well. Again, I would say that as we make these assertions, we should not be overly dogmatic in trying to interpret and expound on some of these difficult passages.

7. With the many new Christians that we have at this church, beyond the “Building Lives on a Solid Foundation” class, do you have any thoughts of sermons/teachings on “getting to the basics” like how to enter into the Spirit or how to receive/release God in your life?

What we would recommend for those of you who find yourself asking these questions is the Cleansing Stream Seminar. This is a 12-week encounter that is designed to disciple believers in the truth and understanding of God’s full provision for cleansing, healing and deliverance through the cross. The next 12-week session begins this August.

8. Is there any possibility that Ray Hughes, Phillip Cameron, Wellington Boone or Grant Jeffrey can come back for a visit? Any plans for nights of music with Don Potter or Leonard Jones? Any chance author/pastor Todd Bentley can come?

At this point in time, the only one of these individuals who is currently scheduled for a visit to New Life is Wellington Boone. He will be speaking at the New Life International Conference which will be taking place June 24th-27th. You might check back to the New Life calendar at a later date to see about other events and speakers that are scheduled for the future.

9. At what time did God cease to have the Jewish people stop making sin sacrifices?

The point in which God ceased to require sin sacrifices from the Jewish people was the moment that Jesus died on the cross, when he bowed his head, breathed his last, and said, “It is finished.” Matthew’s gospel describes that it was that moment when “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). What this signifies is the idea that access to the Most Holy Place was made available to everyone, because the sacrifice of Jesus had been made.

After Jesus death, the non-Christian Jewish people continued to make sacrifices at the temple until its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D., at which point the temple sacrifices ceased because the temple was no longer in existence.

A good passage to read in relation to this question is Hebrews 10. This chapter gives a good outline of the idea that the sin sacrifices of the Old Testament were types and shadows of the sacrifice that was made perfect by Jesus once and for all, so we are no longer in need of making sacrifices day after day, because of what he has accomplished.