YOUR INVISIBLE EARS: THE INWARD WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT

It’s one of those times when you know, that you know, that you know, something you shouldn’t normally know, but you can’t deny it. You call it a gut feeling. You can’t explain it. You just know that you know. Then when the time comes for you to act or speak, you do what you know to be true, even though it makes no sense, and proves to be the right thing to do or say. It’s one of those times, whether you're aware of it or not, that the Spirit of God is speaking to you: truth, necessary information, a feeling that no human being can deny, but so real you can’t shake it. This is one of the ways God’s Spirit communicates the truths of God’s Kingdom!

In previous articles, as we’ve looked at the subject of the truth pertaining to the Kingdom of God, we’ve defined truth, identified the filters that obscure it, discovered the multiple sources of the truth’s God desires to give us and then most recently focused on the operation of how marvelously the Holy Spirit communicates truth. I think you can see by now that we’ve barely scratched the surface of a wonderful, practical and complicated privilege afforded the believer. Furthermore, in our last few articles, we’ve learned that the truths of the Kingdom are not exclusively obtained from the Bible, but confirmed through the Holy Spirit’s varied manners of communications. Therefore, people without Bibles are not without a way to get the truths God needs to get across to them. In saying that, this means that the Holy Spirit will never contradict what the Scriptures say, who God is in character and much more.

In the last article we saw that the Spirit speaks in a variety of ways that many believers in the Church are clueless of, and  what's worse, untrained in. The next few articles will focus on various ways God presently communicates by the Spirit to bring truth to His people so they can practically walk with Him. This article will help you learnhow the Spirit speaks through the inward witness, conscience and perceptions.

The makeup of the inner, invisible human nature is an amazing and intricately interconnected spiritual instrument. Like a machine, when one part isn't functioning as it should, it affects every other element. Many years ago, fascinated by the numerous Hebrew and Greek words, and their definitions, I set out on a prospecting journey to identify and describe the hidden inward man. I tore apart each word, and hundreds of verses, in order to identify the makeup of what has been generally identified as spirit and soul. By cross referencing the hundreds of verses according to how each part was said to function, I began to discover what I've come to identify as the structure of the inner man. I say began to discover, because there is always more to learn. Nonetheless, I realized that in order to better cooperate with the Spirit of God, and recognize His communication, I'd need to know what was happening in my heart. As a result of those many years of research, I would like to offer the following chart as a general synopsis of the human makeup with a reminder there is always more to discover. 

The makeup of the inner man is probably one of the most interesting, complicated and wonderous aspects of the human being. No other aspect of created life on earth possesses these things. Furthermore, Paul wrote of the hidden man of the heart on numerous occasions, insinuating that God interacts with us through these components. At times the terms for spirit, heart, soul, mind, will, feelings, conscience and inner man are interchangeable. But a closer look at the entirety of the verses, and comparison of the Hebrew and Greek words with their various definitions, reveals a much more complex structure then the generalized viewpoint has come to accept.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: KJV

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. KJV
Rom 8:7- Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. KJV

One verse, that exemplifies this over-generalization problem, is found in Romans 8 where Paul writes that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit with the corroborating witness or agreed  knowledge that we are God's children. This is true without a doubt. But then, when examining the concept of the inward witness, one needs to take the study a bit further. It appears according to additional evidence from Paul's writings that the inward witness originates in the part of the human spirit known as the conscience. I say part of the human spirit, because an in-depth study of the aspect of the human spirit will reveal that the spirit has a type of mind, as different from the mind of the soul, and the mind of the flesh. The spirit is also directly related to numerous references related to the heart, but then there is significant evidence that the heart can also pertain to the soul ,or sometimes, seems to stand on it's own. Obviously, it's hard to draw distinctive lines between these since they're invisible components of the entire inner man. For that reason, in my next article I will to draw your attention to the subject of conscience, and it's role in hearing the communication of the Holy Spirit. But first, lets look at the idea of the inward witness and how the Spirit jointly works with this aspect of expression in the human being.

The inward witness can be best defined as a joint testimony, possessing a sense of agreement, or knowing whether something is true or not true. It is almost like a feeling, and it might be called a perception, or that still small voice, but, it is more-so that sense of unexplainable knowing that something is right, or conversely wrong, and that you find yourself agreeing with, but not always knowing why. From what I've observed, and what I believe occurs more frequently than any other means of expression used by God's Spirit, the Spirit of God communicates truth to the human being through the inward witness. In my walk with the Lord, depending on this witness has become as much a part of my life as breathing. Furthermore, it's a privilege available to all saints who desire to walk hand in hand with God. It is furthermore significant that the concept of bearing witness, as translated from the Greek word, marvelously reveals that its indicative of a joint venture, a cooperative communication with God.

Many a tragedy could be averted if the people of God would heed the witness in their inner being that makes them sense to do or not to do something. Let me give you an example.

About 20 years ago my husband and I drove to the Grand Canyon region for a vacation. While there we decided to stop and visit one of the canyon rim viewing areas frequented by tourists. We parked our car and were about to get out when I had the overpowering sense of "Don't Move". I grabbed my husbands arm and said, "We need to wait". No sooner had I gotten the words out of my mouth, that then a bolt of lightning struck the trunk of the pine tree right in front of our vehicle. You could smell the smoldering wood and the crack of the noise of the strike was sharp and hair raising. Had we gotten out of the car and ignored this witness, we probably would have been struck and hurt, or worse killed. That type of event puts the fear of God in you. Then, no more than an hour later, we were out on the view platform, railed in by iron fencing, when the Park officials announced all the people needed to leave the area. We headed to the awaiting bus that would take us back to the car, and were standing on the concrete sidewalk, when once again I had the urgent witness, "Get on the bus NOW!"  I hurried on the bus with Mike.  We had just gotten into caravan, when another bolt of lightning hit the iron railing striking several tourists who had ignored the warnings and were regrettably holding onto the railing when the strike came. Yow! I felt so sorry for the people who were hurt. Should I have said anything? I still don't know, because I didn't even have time to think about anything else until afterward. But that event made me seriously respect the inward witness of the Spirit.

We need to be instructed and helped in understanding of how God communicates through His Spirit to us for our help, comfort, and peace. Thankfully, this inward witness is not exclusive to people called to specific ministries. Here's another true story.

 A number of years ago, just into the first few days of the month long Institute course I was directing, one of my staff got word from home that her dearest uncle had suddenly become ill, with the possibility that he would die. Now obviously, I had to check my own motives, because I needed her help in the staffing of the school. But when I prayed about it, based on the inward witness, I did not sense impending death or major issues. However, I could not tell her what to do because she needed to hear from God for herself so she could know what she should do. So one day, while the entire group was out on a recreational trip, she came to me and asked if I could tell her what to do. I reassured her that I would support any decision she made. However, I suggested that before making a decision, she should simply get quiet before the Lord, listen to that inward witness in her heart, and then, ask God whether her uncle was in serious trouble or not. So, there on the sidewalk, in the center of Breckenridge, she stood there and prayed and waited. All of a sudden, she looked up at me and said, "He's going to be ok! I don't need to go home." She, therefore, stayed the entirety of the course because the witness she had in her heart from the Lord was exactly how things occurred. Now I know this is a tough issue, and some people would have said I was being insensitive to her need and released her to go home. But the truth is, I believe the enemy wanted to use the worry and concern about her uncle to distract her, and possibly pull her away from the things God had for her during that school. Thankfully,  because she listened to the inward witness of the Spirit, who showed her things to come, she learned a valuable lesson. Many years later she told me that one of the most powerful things she learned from me was that she didn't have to crumble when she faced difficult circumstances, and, if she paid attention to the inward witness of the Spirit, she could have peace and direction. What a marvelous testimony. Sadly, on more occasions than I like to remember, when I have been obedient to that inward witness, other people didn't  always understand it, even though what I had witness of proved out in the end. In those times I've had to stand alone, aware of their criticisms and judgments. Thankfully, God has vindicated me repeatedly, but it has had a price, and made me very cautious to share what the Spirit is communicating to me. 

You need to understand that carnally minded believers respond almost exclusively to the crisis, acquiescing to people's feelings, or reacting to natural conditions of the moment.  They do not understand the inward witness, and will even mock it. They aren't intentionally being hurtful, but they have not learned about this constant state of communication with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, it takes time to develop accuracy in this, so you may miss it, and those who mock you will remind you of that, because they feel it's their duty to do so. Consequently, as I encourage you to pay attention to that witness, and develop your discernment according to His character, His word, etc, I need to warn you, it may cost you being misunderstood by the people closest to you. Nonetheless, the rewards are fantastic, because you're in a joint relationship with your God! So be watching for my next article when I'll show you what aspect of your spirit the Holy Spirit communicates to: your conscience and points on how to grow in your relationship with the Lord for accuracy.