Sermon Quotes: "Suprising Guidance"

“Guidance is a word, that for many Christian people evokes both fascination and fear. The fascination is felt because Christians do in fact want to be divinely guided and know that there are many places in the Bible where guidance is promised to faithful believers. The fear arises because they suspect that it is hard to get guidance right, and they anticipate disaster should they get it wrong. They know of cases where guidance has been claimed for crazy and ruinous conduct, and this knowledge keeps fear very much alive. The fascination and the fear are fed by a nagging sense of uncertainty regarding God’s ways in guidance and of his elusiveness in fulfilling the promises he has made about it. As it is said of some people that you never know where you are with them, so some believers come to feel about God because of what they or their friends experienced when they sought God’s guidance at a difficult time in their lives. When they thought they were following clear guidance or when they felt requested guidance had not been given, trouble came, things went wrong, hopes were dashed, and their sincerity in seeking to be guided seemed to go for nothing. This has left them bewildered and sore, as if they had been let down. It is bad for believers to live with such feelings, and it dishonors God when they do.” J.I. Packer

“One of Christianity’s greatest glories is the bonding in Christ that happens often in a comparatively short space of time, and often between those who were previously relative strangers.” Bruce Milne

“All the biblical narratives of God’s direct communications with men are on the face of it exceptional, and the biblical model of personal guidance is quite different…God’s regular method of guidance is a combination of providence and instruction…Impressions need to be suspected before they are sanctioned and tested before they are trusted. Confidence that one’s impressions are God-given is no guarantee that this is really so, even when they persist and grow stronger through long seasons of prayer. Bible-based wisdom must judge them.” J.I. Packer

“God-given warnings of trouble to come are not necessarily admonitions to take avoiding action; they may rather be tests of our sincerity, requiring of us continued obedience with eyes wide open to the consequences.” J.I. Packer