The Word of God is full of many instances when God spoke to men via His spirit and sometimes directly via His voice. No one who believes in Christ would argue these facts. The area of great concern though comes into play when people begin to discuss the idea of God talking out loud to them today or visiting them in person.
We have run into many people in our ministry walk that claim they have heard God's voice or God is directly speaking to them. Is this possible? Does God indeed still speak openly to men and woman?
The only truth we have in the matters of faith is God's Word so let's see what it tells about God's voice today.
If you read the Old Testament you will see that God moved and spoke through special anointed men called Prophets. Then there was a long silent period after the book of Malachi of some 400 years until God was moving and speaking again through New Testament prophets like John the Baptist and Apostles like Paul. This is how we have the established Word of God today known as the bible of 66 divinely inspired books. It holds the clues and truth we need to determine if God does still speak to people/just anyone directly or has He gone silent and left us His written Holy Word?
***I believe the scriptures are clear, God is done speaking to man and in its place we have the sealed finished Word of God.
Let me share why I teach this is true:
In the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1-2 it gives us great insight into this truth:
Now some will still say well yes but God can still speak to us (anyone) directly today; but that just can't be and here are additional reasons why:
*The word of God is sealed so how could He be speaking and adding to it? Deuteronomy 4 and Revelation 22
*In Ephesians 2:20
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The truth of God came through Apostles, Prophets and Jesus Himself. It is FINISHED and needs no more speaking from God lest we keep building on a completed foundation.
*In Jude 3 it tells us the faith was ONCE delivered for all. It is not still being delivered to some by God's voice, it is done! ( the Greek word is hapax and it means once for all )
*Here we see it is the written Word that makes a man compete. We do not need to hear God's voice we Have the Word.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Matthew 10:20
*Here we see the early NT body was living by and keeping the Apostles doctrine NOT seeking their own voices from God
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:32
Those who try to defend God still talking out loud try to use these verses to say see God spoke in these cases why not now?
Matthew 3:7, Mark 1;11, Luke 3.22, Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35 ( and He did speak but these were all about and to Christ himself ..not to just anyone )
They also use these verses as well:
Hebrews 12:26, Revelation 19:5, Revelation 21:3, Acts 7:31, John 12:28-30 (but again; these were all spoken to the Prophets and not to just anyone)
When you really do your bible research you will learn that God rarely spoke out loud and whenever He did it was to His Son or special Prophets and Aposltes, not just regular believers. This is why it is so hard for a biblical Berean believer to accept God is speaking out loud to a bible teacher in his closet, a faith healer in Africa or a homemaker in Texas.
God was talking once.... but NOT anymore per scripture!
Some still will use this verse John 10:27-28 that says His sheep hear His voice. Clearly this is the voice of the Spirit and the Word of God; NOT God talking to them directly lest all of God's people would be hearing God's audible voice and that is confusion.
It is clear that God does speak in these ways today:
Matthew 4:4.....via the Word
John 16:13....via the Spirit
2 Timothy 2:21...via other saints
Romans 8:28... via situations
But none of that is out loud so it proves little in this case.
Some in the NAR / Word of Faith circles use verses that they say proves God speaks through dreams and visions. They use these verses often:
Joel 2:28
Acts 2:17
The truth is these are NOT yet in place as these will happen AFTER the terrible day of the Lord. See this article on that topic:
https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2018/09/joel-2-dreams-and-visions-explained.html
Note: In the Old Testament, God did use dreams like in Daniel 7:1 but again it was through a Prophet not a regular believer.
The evidence of God NOT speaking out loud today is overwhelming. As I see the false groups and cults saying God is speaking here or there and doing false signs and wonders, I realize and we know in the last times great deception will come. Men will saying Jesus is here or there ( Matthew 24 ) and Jesus said do not believe them and do not be deceived.
Sadly many people want to have a special conversion experience or they are deceived by devils or just convinced by their own made up theology that God will speak to them but it is not so.
Do not be fooled by emotions, the last day deception, the enemy or false conversion experiences. God is NOT talking to men today but He is speaking via His Holy Word the bible alone.
Satan is a master deceiver, if you hear an audible voice (even if nobody else hears it), it is not of God.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Matthew 24:26
Satan comes as an angel of light so make sure your conversion is in Christ and not built on unbiblical, mystical, false ways.
Note: Not once did God ever speak out loud to a NON Prophet / Apostle person... why would we expect He do it today once we have His perfect Word?
In closing:
Jesus often talked about the written Word of God :
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matt 4;7
It is that written, finished and sealed Word we have today that we must rest in and NOT allow others to say they are still getting info from God, hearing His audible voice as that will cause MUCH confusion and deception.
If you want to hear God speak, read your bible out loud.
***********************************************
See our bible resources below esp the gospel and let me know how I can help you in the faith?
Jim
We have run into many people in our ministry walk that claim they have heard God's voice or God is directly speaking to them. Is this possible? Does God indeed still speak openly to men and woman?
The only truth we have in the matters of faith is God's Word so let's see what it tells about God's voice today.
If you read the Old Testament you will see that God moved and spoke through special anointed men called Prophets. Then there was a long silent period after the book of Malachi of some 400 years until God was moving and speaking again through New Testament prophets like John the Baptist and Apostles like Paul. This is how we have the established Word of God today known as the bible of 66 divinely inspired books. It holds the clues and truth we need to determine if God does still speak to people/just anyone directly or has He gone silent and left us His written Holy Word?
***I believe the scriptures are clear, God is done speaking to man and in its place we have the sealed finished Word of God.
Let me share why I teach this is true:
In the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1-2 it gives us great insight into this truth:
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
I am not sure it could be any more clear! That verse alone should show us a change in how God deals with man but there is more. Now some will still say well yes but God can still speak to us (anyone) directly today; but that just can't be and here are additional reasons why:
*The word of God is sealed so how could He be speaking and adding to it? Deuteronomy 4 and Revelation 22
*In Ephesians 2:20
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The truth of God came through Apostles, Prophets and Jesus Himself. It is FINISHED and needs no more speaking from God lest we keep building on a completed foundation.
*In Jude 3 it tells us the faith was ONCE delivered for all. It is not still being delivered to some by God's voice, it is done! ( the Greek word is hapax and it means once for all )
*Here we see it is the written Word that makes a man compete. We do not need to hear God's voice we Have the Word.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
*Here we see the Spirit of God speaks IN non Prophet believers, not to us from outside.For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Matthew 10:20
*Here we see the early NT body was living by and keeping the Apostles doctrine NOT seeking their own voices from God
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:32
Those who try to defend God still talking out loud try to use these verses to say see God spoke in these cases why not now?
Matthew 3:7, Mark 1;11, Luke 3.22, Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35 ( and He did speak but these were all about and to Christ himself ..not to just anyone )
They also use these verses as well:
Hebrews 12:26, Revelation 19:5, Revelation 21:3, Acts 7:31, John 12:28-30 (but again; these were all spoken to the Prophets and not to just anyone)
When you really do your bible research you will learn that God rarely spoke out loud and whenever He did it was to His Son or special Prophets and Aposltes, not just regular believers. This is why it is so hard for a biblical Berean believer to accept God is speaking out loud to a bible teacher in his closet, a faith healer in Africa or a homemaker in Texas.
God was talking once.... but NOT anymore per scripture!
Some still will use this verse John 10:27-28 that says His sheep hear His voice. Clearly this is the voice of the Spirit and the Word of God; NOT God talking to them directly lest all of God's people would be hearing God's audible voice and that is confusion.
It is clear that God does speak in these ways today:
Matthew 4:4.....via the Word
John 16:13....via the Spirit
2 Timothy 2:21...via other saints
Romans 8:28... via situations
But none of that is out loud so it proves little in this case.
Some in the NAR / Word of Faith circles use verses that they say proves God speaks through dreams and visions. They use these verses often:
Joel 2:28
Acts 2:17
The truth is these are NOT yet in place as these will happen AFTER the terrible day of the Lord. See this article on that topic:
https://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/2018/09/joel-2-dreams-and-visions-explained.html
Note: In the Old Testament, God did use dreams like in Daniel 7:1 but again it was through a Prophet not a regular believer.
The evidence of God NOT speaking out loud today is overwhelming. As I see the false groups and cults saying God is speaking here or there and doing false signs and wonders, I realize and we know in the last times great deception will come. Men will saying Jesus is here or there ( Matthew 24 ) and Jesus said do not believe them and do not be deceived.
Sadly many people want to have a special conversion experience or they are deceived by devils or just convinced by their own made up theology that God will speak to them but it is not so.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
Do not be fooled by emotions, the last day deception, the enemy or false conversion experiences. God is NOT talking to men today but He is speaking via His Holy Word the bible alone.
Satan is a master deceiver, if you hear an audible voice (even if nobody else hears it), it is not of God.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Matthew 24:26
Jesus is not in secret chambers, neither is God's voice speaking out loud in your privacy.
Satan comes as an angel of light so make sure your conversion is in Christ and not built on unbiblical, mystical, false ways.
Note: Not once did God ever speak out loud to a NON Prophet / Apostle person... why would we expect He do it today once we have His perfect Word?
In closing:
Jesus often talked about the written Word of God :
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matt 4;7
It is that written, finished and sealed Word we have today that we must rest in and NOT allow others to say they are still getting info from God, hearing His audible voice as that will cause MUCH confusion and deception.
If you want to hear God speak, read your bible out loud.
***********************************************
See our bible resources below esp the gospel and let me know how I can help you in the faith?
Jim
God be praised
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