Recognizing the Voice of God

Tonight we are coming to the “voice” of the Spirit. Again I would like you to remember that what I am giving you is fragmentary, the reason being that there is ever so much more to be said about the subject than we have time to say. But the things I do say ought to be helpful to many of you. First I would like to chat along the line of the means of recognition, or the means by which we can recognize the voice of the Spirit. Now there are three of these principal means and they are: revelation, association and cultivation. Three diverse means of recognizing, that is, identifying, or if you prefer, discerning the voice of the Spirit: 1). Revelation 2). Association 3). Cultivation The first one, Revelation, is in I Samuel 3:1-10. This is a very remarkable passage. “And the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” I Samuel 3:1 Here perhaps, I need to make a bit of an explanation. You know that all languages change. Words change their meanings over the years, or centuries. The same is true of the Bible. In the Bible we have words which meant something different in the days in which the Bible was translated. For instance, Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come to Me.” We are not using that terminology today. We do say, “Permit them to come.” The word has changed its meaning over some four centuries. We have here the word precious. The word “precious” means today what it did not mean some 400 years ago when the Bible was translated. Today we would express the very same thought by “scarce.” The word of the Lord was scarce, or unusual or rare would be another good synonym, in those days; there was no open vision. That is to say, there was no public revelation. God did not speak to the people of Israel at that time except under very, very rare circumstances. The reason was God did not have a channel, a man through whom to speak, so He raised up Samuel. “It came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.” I Samuel 3:2-5 Notice something also in passing. Samuel here was a little boy serving in the temple. He heard the voice of the Lord, which he did not recognize. He heard his name being called, but he did not recognize the fact that God, by His Spirit, was calling Samuel. So we are told he answered, “Here am I.” “And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me.” He mistook the voice of the Lord for the voice of Eli. Today too, as God speaks (and God speaks), it is possible to mistake the voice of the Lord for another voice. We are coming into this area, this evening. “And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.” I Samuel 3:6-7 In the Hebrew language, the word in the Hebrew here can be translated either word or voice. In fact, in the Hebrew Bible, it reads voice, and that would be better. “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the voice of the Lord yet revealed to him.” Here we have our first consideration, namely that in the final analysis, the recognition of the voice of the Lord is a matter of revelation, something which God Himself will disclose to us in a diversity of ways. I’ll come back to this a little later. We will read on. “And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And Eli perceived (at long last) that the Lord had called the child. (God still calls children, as well as adults) Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He call you, that you shall say, Speak, Lord; for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. (Here is a very, very remarkable verse. After that we’ll come back to the other) And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears.” I Samuel 3:8-10 And in verse 11, the Lord spoke to Samuel. While we are on this verse, I would like to share with you an experience that I have had some years ago that has been very, very real to me ever since. You know that I have been teaching in Bible school for many years, and in 1951 or thereabouts, I was going through a very great personal crisis. I can tell you briefly what it was. I was directly involved in our Bible school in a great visitation of the Lord, a tremendous revival in 1951. That same year, I was teaching in a camp meeting, also in the States, and the Lord gave us a tremendous move by His Spirit of such a character that people came as far as Chicago to the East coast (1,000 miles) to get in on the camp meeting. Then in the fall of the same year, I was teaching in a night school in Philadelphia. We had a visitation of the Lord for 5 consecutive Monday nights. The school met only Monday evenings. Well somehow, some criticism arose and I was challenged by two of our leading brethren. They were telling me that this revival in the night school ought not to continue. They said, “We would like you to tell the students that you believe God is finished working.” What was behind that was a pastor. The pastor of the largest church became critical, and I think jealous. He was behind it because his people would testify in the meeting and say, “All of you ought to come to night school. God is moving in the night school.” And he did not like that. Those who were in the night school encouraged others to come, “If you want to see the move of God, come to the night school,” and the pastor did not like it. So he complained to our officials, and they felt obligated to do something about it. So they said, “We want you to tell your students that you believe the revival is finished.” We had about 200 students at that time in the night school. I said, “What if I do not believe it?” Because I did not know. They said, “Tell them anyhow.” When I heard that, it shook me. Here my own brethren who were supposedly over me in the Lord, told me to tell an outright lie to those students. They said, “We believe God is finished working.” I said, “How do you know? you were not there.” They wanted me to stop it, and I told them that I would not. Well, the thing shook me. There were other things in connection with it, and I was so discouraged. In fact, I became despondent in my spirit to such an extent that I was at the point of overthrowing the whole thing and turning my back on everything. That is how I felt. I am not saying I would have done it, but I am saying that is how I felt. The first night I could not sleep. The next night, I fell asleep for sheer exhaustion. Now were coming to verse 10. Did you notice what it said, “And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times.” What I am telling you here is the absolute truth. This is not the first time I have told it on Queen Street, but many who are here, were not here before, and I feel that I ought to go over this again briefly. I was awakened in the middle of the night by someone walking up the three steps of our cottage. We had a cottage, then later, the school built us a nice house, but then we were living in a camp cottage. I heard someone walk up the three steps of that cottage, and I knew immediately that it was the Lord’s steps. I heard Him take hold of the doorknob on the outside and open the door, the venetian blinds rattled. I heard Him take hold of the knob on the outside. I heard it because the knob always rattled, and He opened the door. As He did, the venetian blinds rattled, as they always did. I heard Him step through the door, take hold of the knob on the inside. It squeaked as it always did. He pulled the door shut and I heard the blinds rattle again as they always do. I heard Him walk through the dinette, step by step. I heard Him turn around. I could hear as He turned and He faced our bedroom. As He turned to face our bedroom, He spoke in an audible voice. I heard the Lord speak in a deep masculine voice, a rich masculine voice. I heard Him speak in an audible voice, and I am not taking that back for anybody. He had come to tell me that He was with me, and would protect me against my enemies. With that, I heard Him turn back, turn around again facing the dinette and the door. I heard Him walk through the dinette. I heard Him take hold of the knob of the door on the inside. It squeaked. He opened the door, the blinds rattled. I heard Him step through and take hold of the knob on the outside and shut the door. The blinds rattled and I heard Him go down the three steps and He was gone. Here was a precise repetition of I Samuel 3:10 with a slight difference. I will read it with that difference. “And the Lord came, and stood, and spoke.” That was just as real as you are sitting in this auditorium tonight. You might say, “How did you know it was the Lord?” “I knew.” “How did I know?” “I just knew.” God gives you things and you just know. Remember what Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” How do sheep know His voice? In what school do they learn the recognition of His voice? You have lots of sheep in New Zealand, and you have shepherds. Who teaches the sheep? Does the shepherd send them to school? We do in the States. Does the shepherd sit down and say, “Little sheep, here is lesson No. 1, I will tell you how to recognize My voice.” They do not go to school, they are not even taught, yet Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice.” He refers to the sheep of the shepherd. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. In what college did they learn it, in the sheep’s college? No, they learn that through association. That was the other word I gave you. They learn the shepherd’s voice through association. No one taught the sheep. They grow up with Him, they associate with Him, they stay with Him and gradually through that association, they get to know the recognition of His voice. Here is a point for you. If you are interested in developing the voice of the Spirit, there is nothing better that I know than to spend lots of time in the presence of the Lord. Through that association, you simply get to know the voice of the Spirit of God. In addition to that, there is revelation. Now that brings us back to verse 7. “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the voice of the Lord yet revealed unto him.” Revelation is a matter of disclosure, of making apparent that which is hidden or unknown, and gradually the Spirit of God will enlighten our spirits as we commune with Him and cause us to learn the recognition of His voice. Association You have heard me mention a number of things, particularly how the Lord has awakened me many times during the night. (This may be my 4th visit to Auckland.) I will take a little more time with this. We have a secret in Isaiah 50:4. I am going to insert this because it is relevant here. The prophet Isaiah is here speaking prophetically as though Jesus were the speaker. Bear this in mind. Isaiah is speaking as though Jesus were speaking of Himself. “The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary; He wakens morning by morning, He wakens my ear to hear as the learned.” Isaiah 50:4 I will give you the idea from the Revised Version: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I should know how to sustain with a word him that is weary.” Here is a ministry for all of us. There are so many people in such a great need of a kind word spoken at the proper time, especially a word that has come from God. I was sitting one year in my office in the school studying. I felt impressed to go and visit the office of another teacher. I was not in the habit of doing a lot of visiting in the school. I am the kind of fellow that rather stays by himself. I am the loner type. I keep to myself, but I had this impression. So I went over to this teacher’s room. I had no special reason. I said, “Brother, I just had it on my heart to pay you a little visit.” And that man broke down in heavy sobbing. That man just sobbed and sobbed, and I sat there waiting for him to get finished. I said, “What is the trouble?” He mentioned his problem and the Lord gave me a few words, a very few words to say to him. Later on, he told in chapel to the students how Brother Beuttler walked in just at the right time and brought him the right words in his deep distress. Well those things come from the Lord. Those of you that like to have a ministry, or those of you that say, “What good am I? I’m no preacher. I’m no prophet, I’m not this and I’m not that.” For every one of us, there is room to get a word from the Lord for those that are weary. What a ministry there is in that. Before we left school, a former student, who is now a pastor, saw me on the campus. He said, “Brother Beuttler, I would like to see your wife before you people leave,” because we resigned and left the school. It was getting too heavy for me and I am not a youngster anymore. Then he made this remark, “You know, one day I passed by and talked to your wife, and she just had the right word for me that has helped me to this day.” There is a ministry for all of us. Where did Jesus get the wonderful words and wisdom? He Himself said, “The words I speak to you are not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.” Jesus attributed all that He said, and all that He did, to the Father. He should know. In one place He said, “As the Father has taught Me, I speak these things.” Jesus was taught by the Father, and now we will come back to Isaiah: how to speak, what to speak, when to speak, to whom to speak. You get this in verse 4, that I should know how to “speak a word,” that is the substance, what to speak; “in season,” this is when to speak. You know there is a lot to knowing, when to speak. I had surgery for cancer some years ago and it was not going well. The Doctor did not think I would pull through. I was in very, very bad condition. One day a student of ours, a graduate visited me. He said, “Brother Beuttler, what kind of medicine are they giving you?” And I told him. He said, “Oh, is that it. I know somebody else that got operated on for the same thing. They gave him the same medicine, and he died anyway.” That was not a word in season. Can you imagine? What are we doing in Bible school with these fellows? What are we teaching them? Now having said that, I must tell you the rest. I got home all right, but things were not well, and I was beginning to fail. Things got so bad I could go no more. I was in my office at the school. Wife was working at the school in her office. I said nothing to her. I could not work anymore. I knew I was finished. I said, “God, this is the end. I cannot go on.” I was losing ground, operation or no operation, and I went home. I lay on the living room floor, I think for about two hours, and I did some thinking. I knew I was finished. I could hardly go about, especially up the steps. I lay there and thought of my age, which was not 70 yet. I will be that next year. I thought of the many, many opportunities for ministries all over the world. Folks, the Lord has opened up the whole world for me and that’s no exaggeration. I do not know where to go next. There is so much to do. And I reviewed that. Finally I talked to the Lord. I said, “Lord, you know what? Isn’t it a shame that there is so much opportunity for ministry and from all appearance, I’ve had it? Father, I cannot go anymore. I will not need another Pan American ticket. I will not need a passport or visa. (Now for you people, I don’t need a visa, not for 30 days, but then I’ll be gone, but some countries you do.) I won’t need it. I have only one more little journey left, and that is a couple of miles to the graveyard. Lord, do not You think it is a shame?” That’s how I did. Then I said, “Father, there is so much to do by way of teaching Your word. If You want me to travel some more, You will have to do something for me.” I heard nothing, I saw nothing, I felt nothing except I somehow realized after a bit that I seemed to be all right. So I said, “Beuttler, you seem to feel all right. Why keep lying on the floor?” I got up and felt okay. I went back to school and had a spring in my step where before I could barely make it home. I went up two steps at a time, went back to work. I do not know when that was. How many years ago was that, Elizabeth? About six years ago, and I’ve been going ever since. Within 4 weeks, I went on a 40,000-mile trip around the world, and I have been going ever since. I have made several round-the-world trips since then, and others. I get two check-ups every year and the Doctor said, “If I didn’t know what was wrong, I would never believe it. There is no problem, nothing amiss. Are you traveling again?” I said, “Sure will.” He said, “Good for you.” Here I am, remarkable. That was parenthetical, but it might encourage some of you. You never know who is in an audience with what problem. We are coming back to Isaiah 50:4. I had said to you that the Father taught Jesus how to speak – that is what it says, “a word;” when to speak, “in season;” to whom to speak, “to him that is weary.” That’ is, the discouraged - those who want to call it quits. Do you know what the quits are? Do you have the quits in New Zealand? (laughter) Is that a sickness down here too? The quits is a contagious disease, especially in Bible School. When one wants to quit, another wants to quit. Peter had the disease when he was in Bible school. He said, “I go fishing.” The others said, “We will go with you.” They got it right away. Here is the secret. This brings us back to us. I told you about the Lord awakening me during the night. Folks, to those of you that this appeals, here is a great secret for you that many a preacher has never discovered, and I say that with full awareness of what I am saying. “He wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear.” Now here is where you have, shall I say, the school of the Spirit, in which the Father will teach you the ways of His Spirit. Years ago, the Lord awakened me often exactly at 2:30 during the night. I mean 2:30 on the dot, sometimes night after night, and I would be up half an hour, an hour, two hours, 15 minutes (seldom though), once in awhile through the rest of the night. What for? To get teaching. One night I was sitting there. He had awakened me at 2:30, and I had a chair all ready with a pillow next to the stove where I would be cozy, because it was winter at the time. I like this warm weather of yours. This is lovely. He awakened me, and I sat there in a conscience awareness of His presence, and there was a certain feel to that presence. I do not know how many of you can follow me here, but do not throw it away, put it on the shelf if you need to. Some day the Lord might take it off for you. That has happened many times. People have said, “Brother Beuttler, I heard you say such and such a thing. I did not know what you were talking about, and wondered if you knew yourself. Then I decided not to throw it away. I’ll just keep it. Would you believe it! One day the Lord came and took that and opened it up for me. Now I know.” So do not throw it away. Put it in your spiritual pantry or shelf or whatever - not in the garbage can. I am telling you good things, even though some might not understand them at this time. I was sitting there in a conscience awareness of His presence. This presence had a certain feel to it. You see the Spirit of God has (this is so hard to put into words. How shall I put it?). The Spirit of God manifests Himself to us, giving us a different perception with a different feel to it, and a different feel is associated with a different purpose. I had that particular feel, and did not know what it meant. I said, “Lord, what kind of a Spirit is this?” Now I knew it was the Holy Spirit, but you know there are different kinds. Isaiah speaks of the Spirit of burning, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. Now it is all one Spirit, but different aspects of the same Spirit. I hope I am not losing you now. So there are different feels to this thing. And I said, “Lord, what Spirit is this?” And I got an answer. And the Lord said to me, right on the inside, not in an audible voice, and yet He said it, “It is the teaching Spirit.” I said, “Oh, so that is it.” It is the teaching Spirit, that is to say, the Spirit of God now present in His capacity as a teacher. With that He gave me, brought to mind a certain portion of Scripture, particularly I Corinthians 14. He opened up that chapter for me night after night. I saw things in there I had never seen before - the teaching Spirit. I will tell you a little something in connection with this. Many, many times the Lord has awakened me at 2:30. One day I said to the Lord, “Lord, why at 2:30? Why not 2:45 or 3:00?” Although that time happened, it was mostly 2:30. I got no answer, but you know, I can be a pest. (Laughter) I am right now dealing with Pan American on a change of my ticket, and I am a real pest. I know the business, as I sure gave that girl work. Well, you know what a pest is - persistent. I told the Lord time and again as the weeks went by, “Lord, why 2:30? Surely there is no hour which is the magical hour.” Do not fall into a snare here and say, “Lord, I want you to wake me up at 2:30 like Brother Beuttler.” Do not do that, do not give Him orders. If you want to move into this, you can say before you go to sleep, “Lord, I make myself available to you anytime during the night, if and when it pleases You, to call me.” Do not go beyond that. Do not say, “Lord, I want You to wake me up tonight at 2:30 on the dot.” He will not. I can promise you that right now. That will not work. Make yourself available. That is all that you need to do. What will happen then? “Nothing!” you say. “I would be surprised if it did.” “Then what is the use of saying it?” And the next night you say, “Father, I want You to know that I’m making myself available to You for Your visits, for the presence of Your Spirit, anytime during the night.” And the chances are, nothing happens. And the third night, nothing might happen. Nothing might happen for a week, for two weeks, for a month, but I am convinced that if you mean it in your heart, sooner or later, something will happen. You ask, “Why not right away?” This is a very delicate thing. It is, as I would call it, the King’s College, the school of the Spirit - and tuition is very high, not in terms of dollars, but in terms of obedience, sincerity and persistence. The chances are that the Lord seemingly will pay no attention for days or weeks - seemingly. He pays attention all right, but does nothing. Finally, the Lord may be convinced, “This has been going on now for some time, and I think he means it.” One night you go to bed and this could happen. You say, “Oh, what’s the use? I’ve done it for so often now. I’m just discouraged.” You give up, and lo and behold, He comes. You cannot put the Lord in a straight jacket, or fix a schedule for Him. But if you will make yourself available for the school of the Spirit, and class is usually during the night, if you will respond, you are on the way far beyond what you would imagine. I will give you Scripture for that. Now I do not expect that all of you are able to follow me. But then, remember what Jesus said, “All of you cannot receive these sayings save (or except) to whom it is given.” I dare say there are numbers of people here tonight to whom these things are given because God wants you to enter His school of the Spirit. “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, Oh God, beside You, what He has prepared for him that waits for Him.” Isaiah 64:4 We read from this same scripture in Corinthians the other day if you remember. I do not know whether you notice a difference. We read, “God has prepared for them that love Him.” Isaiah has a different rendering. Isaiah said, “For him that waits for Him.” In case you do not realize it, I am taking you here into one of the greatest secrets of access into the light and the knowledge of the Spirit of God, believe you me. As I told you the other day, “Eye has not seen” for those that comply with this provision, God has things in store, which we neither read anyplace, nor hear anyplace, nor can even conceive in the heart. We would never, never think of it. Paul said, “For them that love Him,” Isaiah said, “For him that wait for Him.” Now in Corinthians it says, “As it is written.” Paul was quoting Isaiah, yet in quoting Isaiah, Paul made a change. Oh, that puzzled me. Isaiah said, “For him that waits for Him.” Paul said, “For them that love Him.” When I first noticed the difference, I was puzzled because Paul spoke by the Spirit, Isaiah spoke by the Spirit. Now if the Spirit quotes Isaiah, why does the Spirit change it? Cannot He quote Isaiah correctly? That was my question. And yet that cannot be, so why the change? Here again, I was a pest. I pestered God for months about this difference. Time and again I would say, “Father, I still want to know why did Paul not quote Isaiah correctly?” One day the Lord let me in on the secret. This is what the Lord gave me. Paul and Isaiah are saying the same thing. Isaiah is speaking about the act of waiting, whereas Paul is speaking about the motivation behind the act. In other words, this waiting is not the waiting of a selfish beggar looking for a handout, but the waiting of a yearning lover. So God has some things beyond our imagination. We would never think of it. We would never believe it for those that will wait for Him in love for Him. So I talked to the Lord about this hour of 2:30. One day I got the answer. It also took a long time, and I know why it takes a long time. Some of these things take a long time for this reason, because some of these choice things, which belong to the area of the Spirit, are not for those who are half-hearted and indifferent, or casual. These things do not lie on the surface to be scooped up. They are treasures hidden in secret places. They are things which have to be searched for with all diligence. You have that in Proverbs 2:1-5, if ever you want to read that. There are things that are only for those who have a high appreciation, set a high value on these things and search after them with all diligence. And God keeps us waiting sometimes a long time because it is only for those who are dead earnest, and will not take no for an answer. One night, I got the answer to the question, “Lord, why 2:30?” This is what He gave me, “I am awakening you at 2:30, because by 2:30 you have had enough rest, so you can stay up with Me for awhile, and yet there will be enough time left after I get done so you can go back to sleep and get some more rest, for the work of the day.” I thought that was so considerate. “By 2:30 you’ve had enough rest so you can stay awake with Me. When I get finished, there will be enough time left for you to get some more rest so you’ll be ready for your work.” I think that is terrific! I’ll tell you something. This thing involves tremendous self-discipline. With this, you cannot go to bed at all hours of the night. I try to be very careful with that now. Oh, this takes much self-discipline. When we were in school, it is easier of course, because you go by the bells. We just would not stay up. Even now, I’m very, very careful. You cannot keep me up half the night talking about nothing. There is a school that comes at night. It is the King’s College that requires an obedience that is more than the usual obedience. This is what Jesus had, “He wakens morning by morning, He wakens My ear to hear as the learned.” Jesus was awakened. That is what it says. I believe the book. Jesus was awakened by the Father and taught morning by morning what He should say, to whom He should say it, when He should say it. This is why Jesus said, “As the Father has taught Me, I speak these things.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “The words which you hear are not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.” Where did He get those words? From the Father. This is what He said. We will cover one more point, and that will suffice. I have mentioned revelation, and association, and now lastly, cultivation. Cultivation “But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Hebrews 5:14 Here is this matter of discernment, which involves the recognition of the mind, and the voice of the Lord, which to an extent, is a matter of cultivation. The more we practice, the more time we spend in the conscience presence of the Lord, and let our spirit become attuned to His Spirit, the more we learn the recognition of the voice of the Lord. That can become a very, very fine means of differentiation of the various activities of the Spirit of God. Many times over the years in school we had the Spirit of God settle down over the class. I used to say: “Students, just hold steady. If the Lord gives you an utterance, give it. If He does not, do not try to make one up. Let’s just sit in His presence.” Some used to wonder, “What’s the use? We are not doing anything but sitting in His presence.” In the school, we have done that for hours at a time - sitting in the conscience presence of the Lord. This hones your spiritual senses so fine that your discernment becomes sharper all the time. We had a revival in school, and at the end, or what appeared to be the end of the service, I felt that someone in the audience among the students had an utterance in tongues. I thought it was tongues. It could have been prophecy, but I thought it was tongues. I did not want to say anything, or call for it. I do this sometimes, but I would rather not, because it has its risks. I just stood there and waited. A girl gave a beautiful utterance in tongues. Another girl gave what was supposed to be an interpretation, but it was not. She said, “Thus saith the Lord,” although that does not need to be said all the time. I think a few times perhaps. Anyhow, she gave what was purported to be an interpretation, and in my spirit, it just did not click. Do you know what I mean? It struck me as unnatural. That is too strong a word. It fell flat in my spirit; there was no response. I knew that interpretation was no interpretation, so I waited hoping that whoever had the interpretation, the real one, would give it, but it did not come. Finally, trying not to hurt the girl, I said, “I am still waiting for the interpretation.” Then another girl gave the interpretation. It was such an electrifying utterance that with it the Spirit of God fell on that chapel and we stayed in the chapel for three more hours. We had dinner at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon. Now this girl told me later, “Brother Beuttler, I had the interpretation, but when that girl gave what was supposed to be the interpretation (I knew it wasn’t), I did not feel like I wanted to give it and embarrass the other girl. So I said, ‘Lord, if you want me to give this interpretation, you make Brother Beuttler say something that will give me the freedom.’ Right away you said, ‘I’m still waiting for the interpretation.’” That gave her the freedom. These things are a matter of discernment. You cannot go by the matter of sound. The Spirit of God moved in a great way, and the Lord had given me such a sharp discernment to direct the meetings, that one time I felt the working of the Spirit was being held up. I said in my heart, “Father, is something wrong in this chapel?” At once I knew that one of the girls in the back about the second row from the last, in the middle was holding up the move of the Spirit. I did not know exactly which one, but one of those girls was holding up the move, and I pointed my finger there and said, “You girls back there, one of you girls are holding up the move of the Spirit.” When I said that, this girl shot up out of her seat with a scream and ran up to the altar and confessed sin, and got right with God, and went back to her seat, and the move of the Spirit went on. It was remarkable, the finest discernment given by the Spirit of God. The more it was used, the sharper it became. We are here in a remarkable work of the Spirit’s discernment. I will give you one more instance and we will close for tonight. During this same revival, one morning there was a very heavy hindrance in the meeting from somewhere. I said, “Students, I cannot speak anymore. I have such opposition. I do not know where it comes from. Let’s look to the Lord and ask whether He will show us what is wrong.” They prayed and, as they prayed, the Lord opened (it seemed) my eyes, and I saw a whole company of evil spirits at the ceiling arranged in the form of a U, halfway up the chapel. That is what was wrong. I told the students what was up, and I said; “Now let’s pray again and ask the Lord to show us what to do with these spirits.” I did not know what to do with them. They were up there gaping at us and they were the hindrance. Let me say here, many a time in a service there is an unaccounted for hindrance in the work of the Lord. We wonder what is wrong. At times there is spirit interference even making an onslaught against the work of God. This is what they did there. And I said, “Students, let’s pray again.” So they prayed, and the Lord gave me the answer at once what to do. So I told the students, “I’ll ask for your cooperation. We’re going to get rid of these spirits. The Lord showed me what to do.” So I said, “Let’s all stand.” The girls were on this side, the fellows on the other. I said, “Girls, will you please walk up and stand in front of the platform?” They all came up. “Fellows, will you please do the same?” They came up. “Girls, will you all hold hands with each other, and fellows, you do the same.” This is what the Lord had revealed to me by His Spirit in a moment. This came by revelation in a moment of time. Then I stepped forward and asked for the empty open hand of the girl nearest, and of the fellow, so we all held hands. I said, “Now while all our hands are held, keep them holding and raise them up toward heaven.” 400 hands holding each other were lifted up. I said, “Now, we are to affirm the victory of Jesus over these spirits.” These spirits were up at the ceiling watching. Those students prayed like the thunder of Niagara Falls, if you’ve ever been there. They let go a roar of the affirmation of Jesus Christ over these spirits, and these spirits went like this and were out of that chapel. I looked over the chapel and saw (I saw - do you hear what I say, I saw) a thin, white cloud near the ceiling of the chapel in the rear. The cloud rotated slowly and expanded and thickened. Finally it covered the entire ceiling, a slowly revolving billowing cloud like. Then the Lord gave me the freedom to talk to the students. I said, “Students, now I can tell you what happened.” I told them how the spirits fled, how they had gone far away; because the Lord let me look out into the spirit a vast distance to show me that there were no satanic spirits anywhere even near the chapel. Then I said, “Now the chapel is filled with the glory of the Lord.” When I said that, the power of God fell and God poured out His Spirit for several hours. Now our discernment, our ability to distinguish, to discern in these areas is greatly helped by continuous exercise, an exercise when we sit in the presence of the Lord and reach out with our spirits toward His Spirit. As I said before, there is the opportunity to get our discernment so finely honed that we are more and more able to differentiate the voice of the Spirit from any other voices, and even discern the mind and the purpose of the working of the Spirit of God in many instances. So tonight, we have the school of the voice of the Spirit, which is a matter of revelation, and a matter of association. And as we respond to the Spirit of God, to His drawing presence, and draw aside, you will find He will lead us more and more into the secret of the realm of the Spirit of God. The Lord bless you. I hope I have given you some help in your desire to know the Spirit in a real and personal way.

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Recognizing the Voice of God

Walter Beuttler

Walter Beuttler (1904 - 1974)

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