http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=912
Hearing God in the Twenty-First Century
In the Garden of Eden, God spoke directly to Adam, commanding him to
refrain from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
(Genesis 2:16-17). Centuries later, “the word of the Lord came to Abram
in a vision” while he dwelt in the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:1). The
patriarch Jacob received a message from Jehovah via the “Angel of God,”
Who spoke to him in a dream (Genesis 31:11). The Lord spoke directly to
Moses at the burning bush on Mount Horeb (Exodus 3-4). The angel Gabriel
brought messages from God to Zacharias, who was dwelling in Jerusalem
(Luke 1:11-21), and to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who lived in Nazareth
(Luke 1:26-33). Even Saul, who was on his way to Damascus to imprison
any Jewish Christians he might find, received a “heavenly vision” (Acts
26:19; cf. Acts 9). A list of God’s appearances and messages to men
seems almost endless. No Bible believer can dispute the fact that God
has revealed messages to men countless times, either directly or through
avenues other than written revelation.
The question often asked today is, “How do we hear God
now?”
Does He still communicate to people through dreams and visions like He
did in biblical times? Should we expect Him to call upon us directly at
any moment to do some great work, like Saul was called to do? Will God
send an angel to me to disclose more revelation than what is given in
the Bible? Or, similar to how Eli instructed Samuel, should I “go lie
down” and wait on Jehovah to reveal some message to me (1 Samuel
3:9-10). In view of the fact that for millennia God communicated to
people either directly or through avenues other than written revelation,
why do some today claim that God communicates to man
only via the Bible? Just how is it that we “hear God”
today?
According to Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”
(Hebrews 1:1-2, emp. added). In another contrast between the prophets
of old (namely, Moses and Elijah) and Jesus, God instructed Peter,
James, and John, saying, “This [Jesus] is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.
Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5, emp. added). Jesus
informed His listeners on one occasion of the reason we must “listen” to
Him: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which
judges him—
the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48, emp. added). For one to be pleasing to God, he must learn and obey the words of Jesus.
But how do we “hear” Jesus? According to the New Testament, people come
to know Jesus and His words by way of the of the apostles’ teachings.
Consider the following line of reasoning from the Scriptures.
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The night of Jesus’ betrayal, He prayed to the Father, saying, “I do
not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that
they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent
Me” (John 17:20-21, emp. added). The “their” of verse 20 refers to those
for whom Jesus was praying in the preceding verses (17:6-19)—the apostles. Jesus prayed for the unity of future believers, which He stated would be based upon the apostles’ “word.”
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On that same night, Jesus told the apostles: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me;
and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:20, emp.
added). After Jesus’ resurrection, and before His ascension into heaven,
Jesus told these same disciples: “As the Father has sent Me, I also
send you” (John 20:21). To receive the apostles’ teachings, then, was to
receive Jesus.
But how do we receive the apostles’ doctrine today? Since all of the
apostles are dead, via what method do the apostles speak to us in the
twenty-first century? Paul answered this question in Ephesians 3:1-5.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you
Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known
to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets (emp. added).
Today, a person can understand “the mystery of Christ” through the
written revelation of men like the apostle Paul, who received the Truth
“through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12).
Still, some ask: “Haven’t other men who have lived through the
centuries, even into the twenty-first century, been inspired by God to
reveal His message?” Actually, the Bible indicates that
all Truth necessary for salvation
was revealed during the lifetime of the apostles. The night before
Jesus’ crucifixion, He promised His apostles that after His departure
from them, the Spirit would come and guide them “into all truth” (John
16:13), teaching them “all things,” and bringing to their remembrance
“all things” that Jesus taught them (John 14:26). After His crucifixion
and resurrection (but before He ascended into heaven), Jesus then
commanded these same disciples to “make disciples of all the nations…
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20, emp. added). The “faith…was
once for all
delivered to the saints” in the first century (Jude 3), so that since
that time Christians have had “all things that pertain to life and
godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Hearing God’s will in the twenty-first century is as easy as picking up
the providentially preserved Bible and reading what Jesus’ “apostles
and prophets” recorded for our benefit. God’s revelation thoroughly
equips us for every good work (cf. 2 Timothy 3:17), so that no
modern-day messages, dreams, or visions are needed. Nearly two thousand
years ago, God revealed “all truth” to the apostles and prophets, who
recorded it “by inspiration.” This “truth” is the standard by which all
people are to live. And anyone teaching a contrary message will suffer
eternally (cf. Galatians 1:8-9).
