John MacArthur: HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TO YOU?

Dr. John MacArthur is—far and away—America’s greatest Bible teacher. In 2015, I had a burning desire to understand what the Bible really meant, however, everywhere I searched, all
I found was grossly undereducated men who called themselves “preachers” or “pastors” who were chiefly interested in:
1. Making money
2. Gaining popularity
3. Spreading a false gospel

It was quite obvious to me they had very little Biblical knowledge.

MacArthur, on the other hand, has a vast knowledge of the Bible and goes to great pains to explain it so articulately. I can honestly say that he changed the direction of my life. I am forever grateful to find such a wonderful teacher. Therefore, I’ve created this YouTube channel in order to propagate his accurate and thorough Biblical teachings.

MacArthur is not focused on making money, unlike many false Christian preachers today. You can download his sermons for FREE! Just click on this link to go directly to his sermons.

I pray that God blesses you with a deeper understanding of the Word of God!

[whynot]

John MacArthur talks like the Holy Spirit is no longer relevant because we have the Bible. The Holy Spirit is still very much speaking to Christians. Some churches go way off in the wrong direction because they seem to be only looking for a spiritual experience and ignore the Bible. Some churches go in the wrong direction because much like the Pharisees, they are lacking or ignoring the Holy Spirit. We need both the Holy Spirit and the Word. John thinks it's dangerous when pastors say they have received a word from the Lord... however, that's the way it's suppose to work. It's only dangerous if the word they receive goes against scripture... and making sure you are lined up with scripture is also the way it's suppose to work. If your church is Word only, or Spirit only, then your church is missing something big... and for people in that situation, maybe it's time to find a new church.

[hotwaterintub]

I thought I was a Christian for many years but now I am born again by the blood of Jesus.

[gilbertfrancis]

Jesus said, it's written and Holy Spirit reminds us of what is already written and spoken and anything else will only misguide believers.

[barbarasmith]

Pastor John says God only speaks in His Word, but what about all the verses that say in the last days (Since Jesus came) God will pour out His Spirit and various people will do things. like dreams and visions, He says His sheep will hear His voice. In Acts the Spirit spoke to people, other preachers say you can hear God speak. HOW DO WE know what to believe

[ExploringAlabama]

Isn’t the coolest part of all this reading all the professing followers of Christ argue with each other in the comments? No. It’s not. If you disagree then so be it. If you agree then so be it. We could all argue with each other for days and days but we look like fools in a world that’s perishing without hearing the gospel. Save your breath for them. Fight the good fight fellow believers! If your faith and hope of eternity rests in Christ alone, you are set. Now go.

[truss]

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
— John 10:27 (KJV)

So there's that.

[TimStark]

"Hearing God" does not mean "adding to scripture"

[j.aravena]

I was in a relationship with a girl, we both converted to christianity together and attended a church. The youth pastor is one of those who believe that God speaks directly to people, so my girlfriend believes him and left me because she was sure God told her to leave me. I found out she has OCD and it was all a compulsion... we had a 100% honest policy between us so she didn't lie or had any other reasons and we had an amazing loving relationship with aims to matrimony. What made me anger is that the pastor talked to her in the midst of her """revelation""" that she had to leave me, and told the pastor "God told me this", and the man just said "IF GOD SPOKE IT WHAT YOU GOTTA DO". I was facepalming the entire thing. Im not reformed but Im with them against this nonsense of "God spoke to me/told me this/ commanded this". Im not resented because of my personal situation and taking conclusions from there, but I agree that "God talking" would be adding to scripture, God only spoke on the plan of salvation which is already done with Jesus and later with the apostles spreading the gospel, the word is here, no more revelation. Adding to that I know studies about OCD, intrusive thoughts in relation to "religious people" (that is the term the study uses), how believers see patterns in randomness, studies about how we minimum have 1 auditive allucination in our lifes. I can probably explain all of those "God spoke to me" using psychology and its a pandemic out there, I lived it in a bad experience in my own church which affected me in the end and I see many others spreading the same heresy.

[eduardofernandes]

I think the argument that saying that hearing from God outside of the Bible is extremely weak.
"If Jesus is telling people what to do outside of scripture...This is a very dangerous situation because YOU ARE ADDING TO SCRIPTURE" - Well what if Jesus just tells you to start a specific business? What if he tells you to pray for someone specific? Are you adding to scripture? Of course you are not.
Did I misunderstand the argument or is the argument this weak? Anyone who agrees with MacArthur cares to elucidate me on this please?

[juanjcr]

Why we would need the Voice of the Spirit If we have a Book that override his Desires. The God of the Book the Book is No God . How Abraham was able to hear Gods Voice and Was justified by faith with out the book. How Chistians at primitive church were able to follow The Desires during the first years with out book.
Brother John is Dead Book with out substance of the spirit.

[chrisburton]

I suggest if you want to hear from God Read the Bible out loud

[desleymendoza]

"Do not despise prophecies,  but test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).

If we were being biblical, we would test every "word from God" by scripture, not dismiss them as dangerous. Pastor John is wrong here. And unbiblical.

[sherose]

Whats ever GOD DID to SPEAK PERSONALLY TO some one it all in scripture from the old and new in different ways dont. put GOD in a Box cause you werent aware of it.

[thulad]

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” - Hosea the Prophet.

[SheralkaRichards]

And in that book the Lord tells us that he speaks through visions and dreams. It's such a shame how poorly this question was answered. I have no more words.

[pauliberg]

Read and follow and study the scriptures...add or remove nothing.thankyou pastor John.

[YouDontWantItWithMe]

With all due respect to the pastor, nearly every church says they simply "follow the book". I'm no fan of charismatic either, but they would say that there are many instances in the Bible of God talking to people, and they simply believe that that still happens, because the Bible never said that it would cease to happen. Now, obviously, I think they are incorrect, but I don't think this pastors answer is sufficient.

[lonelybro]

As the Lord said, only those with ears to hear can hear..

[suenummy]

I'm not charismatic but God speaks to me in so many ways. I have to disagree with you about everything lining up with scripture because not everything can be found there. Like "do I take this job?", "do you really want me to infiltrate the Catholics and preach the Gospel?", "shall I take up skateboarding?" and "did you just tell me STOP now or that my flesh?"

If you gave your life to Jesus and let Him direct your paths, you'd be hearing from Him every step of the way. A relationship is what He's looking for, don't be caught on the wrong side "I never knew you".

[donpetty]

It isn't what "I think or believe about God and the Bible", it is what God does on this earth. I can't undo what has happened in my life, nor would I want to, as far as what God has done in it. I respectfully disagree with Pastor MacArthur when he "claims" that God doesn't speak to his people today through His Holy Spirit. On the other hand I agree with him that there are many who profess to be Apostles and Prophets today that claim to speak what they claim God has told them, but it's a lie. One has to make a judgement call using the Bible.

There are many who have really heard from God, however. He has given them promises for their life or for circumstances they are facing. The Holy Spirit is the one that does this, taking a verse or verses from God's Word and making it personal and specific to a person's life for a specific purpose. The person that discipled me in college, Bob A., told me in 1971 that God had given him promises for a wife and children that came from the Bible. He was and still is very committed to Christ. He was 28 then. He's about 83 now and has been a Navigator Rep. for about 38 years. He wasn't on Navigator staff when he discipled me and others. He's led countless people to Christ and discipled them.

In 1986, when he was going on staff with The Navigators, he was visiting people he knew and had discipled for the purpose of raising monthly support for himself. He was newly married, had been for a few years. He visited me and we went out to Sizzlin' Sirloin for lunch and to talk. He told me that he and his wife were trying to have children but were experiencing difficulty. He said they had been to more than one doctor and they all told Bob and his wife that they could never have children. I don't know the reason for the difficulty. He never told me. He repeated to me then, over lunch in 1986, what he had told me in 1971. God had given him a verse for children and he was standing on that verse by faith, regardless of what the doctors were saying about the circumstances. I believed Bob and began praying for them that God would give them children. It was a year and a half or maybe two years or a little more when I got word that they had had their first child. They eventually had four children.

I was at a Nav Conference, probably in 1972. One of the speakers at the conference had been a missionary to Africa for a few years, , he and his wife. (Jim and Jeri White) He was upset about how the conference was being led and presented. He felt it was more of the flesh than of the Spirit. As he spoke it seemed like God was forcefully speaking through him, or that God was confirming his message by way of the Holy Spirit. After he spoke, a number of the 75 or so guys in the room were in shock and I suppose the word would be "disbelief". They experienced something similar as what I did as he spoke, like God was speaking through him. There was little doubt. There was a lot of chatter about it.

In April of 1972, after having been brow beat for a period of time by Bob A, I was depressed and anxious. I had a cost accounting exam the next day, one of about four for the semester. The test score would be material to how I did in that subject. I needed to study and prepare for it. There was a Nav Rally that night and Bob refused to allow me to stay back and study. I had to go to the Rally. All I could think about was the exam while I was at the Rally. Finally, it was over. At about 10pm I went to study for the exam. But I was tired and after reading a few pages I realized I couldn't cover the material, about 4 chapters, in just a few hours. It was too complex for me to understand within a few hours. So, dejected, I left in my car and drove to a roadside park to pray. Arriving, I killed the engine. Several verses flashed through my mind before I started to pray, Philippians 4:6, 7, Hebrews 11:1 and Hebrews 11:6. As I opened my mouth to pray, God filled me with His Presence. I experienced His love, peace, and security to overflowing. One second I'm depressed and anxious, filled with worry. The next all of that has been taken away and I'm basking in His divine Presence. I sat there for a few minutes, thanking God for His love and mercy and what He had just done. Then I headed back to the house to go to bed. The next morning was the exam. God's Presence was still with me like it had been the night before, but I wasn't prepared for this test. I took it and left the classroom. I began to think about what I was experiencing. I wondered if I might have some power with God in this state. Something out of the ordinary. (I was 22) That evening, after dark, I went back out to the park where this had happened. A week or two prior to this I had tried to witness to another college student, Jim L. But Jim seemed very cold to what I was saying. So, this night at the park I prayed for Jim's salvation. As I prayed for him GOD SPOKE TO ME THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, confirming that Jim was going to be saved. This came from outside myself, from God, to me, via the Holy Spirit. I didn't know how or when, but I knew it was a done deal.

These two nights were hard to describe as far as how I felt. I did not know God showed up in this manner today. But, he did in my life. And this wasn't only for me. There were two other people impacted by what I experienced, Jim L and another guy I didn't take the time to talk about in this entry or it would be even longer than it is. On the third day, about noon, as I was standing on the grounds of the college, God removed my sensing His Presence. I begged Him not to take it away, but it was gone.

THIS IS WHAT GOD HAD DECIDED TO DO. IT WASN'T ABOUT WHAT I BELIEVED THE SCRIPTURE SAID.

In September, 1972, a few months after these events, I walked into the men's college dorm to get a room for the fall semester of college. As I was signing in someone whispered my name. I turned to see that it was Jim L, the guy I had prayed for and God had told me would be saved. We talked and he said he had been saved over the summer. He asked me if I would help him with prayer and Bible study. So, I discipled him as Bob had discipled me, except absent the verbal abuse.

Somewhere around 1993 or 1995, I was doing a Bible study and came across Ephesians 3:19 in the Amplified. Here it is:

19 [That you may really come] to know practically, through experience for yourselves ---- the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God ---- [that is] may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!

My experience of 1972 mirrors this verse. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers to "have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!" And I think other people have experienced something similar, such as Charles R. Solomon. I''d suggest researching him. After God spoke to him and gave him scripture promises for a ministry, he started Grace Fellowship International (GFI) in 1969. But, he had an Ephesians 3:19 experience similar to mine before that, IMO, based upon his diary entries. I found out about him through In Touch Ministries. They sent me one of his books.

There are other experiences I could tell you about when God showed up. He promises to in John 14:21:

"21 The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]"

So, what's the Lord speaking about there? That entire chapter is about the Holy Spirit and Jesus manifesting Himself to believers after He is resurrected. I'm not saying that we should seek these experiences. I'm saying that Jesus has promised, in scripture, to sometimes show up, to manifest and make Himself real to us. Our job is to seek to be obedient and believe. If He chooses to manifest Himself along the way, that's His prerogative. It's not our place to say that He doesn't do this, when He clearly does, both in Old and New Testaments. If you knew your Bible you'd understand this.

Jackie Pullinger comes to mind. Look her up and her ministry in Hong Kong. One more example of Christ showing up today in the lives of believers. People who don't know the scriptures, but are touched by the Holy Spirit and delivered from drug addiction.

God isn't pleased nor glorified when we speak beyond what we know and understand. I'm from a Baptist background, not Pentecostal. I can't speak in tongues. But I've been touched by the Spirit and have experienced being filled by the Spirit and God has told me, outside of scripture, that Jim L would be redeemed. It's not what I believe about what the scripture says. it's what God has chosen to do in my life. You can bark at the moon all you want and say it ain't so. It is so. It happened and it happens to others, as well. I shake the dust off my feet toward all those that don't accept it.