33. Is God Still Speaking?

LONNIE: Welcome to Exploring the Word. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into the wealth and wisdom in the Bible.

JEANNIE: Thanks for joining us. Today we start with a question sent in by one of our Discover students. A woman named Dawn wrote us to ask this: “How do I know if a prophecy is from God or from man?”

LONNIE: She’s wondering about how we test the claims of various prophets. Just because someone claims to be conveying a message from God, doesn’t mean they are.

JEANNIE: Right. It’s a pretty basic question. How do we know when some message is truly inspired and when somebody is just making it up?

LONNIE: This is an important subject for anyone wanting to make spiritual progress in their lives, for anyone wanting to grow. Now at first it may seem that this issue was settled long ago. Christians believe God spoke to us through the Bible. Scripture is the Word of God. This is the revelation. And this book is done. We’re not going to add to it. We’re not going to make amendments.

But I’d like you to listen to a couple of verses about the way we grow. I’d like you to think about how revelation relates to this.

At the beginning of his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul talks about his prayer for these believers. He says he prays:

“. . . that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord...increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9, 10

Paul prays that believers will increase in knowledge, grow in knowledge. He does this often in his letters. He tells the Colossians about putting on the new man "who is renewed in knowledge." (Colossians 3:10) He prays that the love of the Philippians "may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment." (Philippians 1:9)

The Apostle Peter expands on the same theme. He urges believers to:

"grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18.

A little later in this letter Peter says, “Add to your virtue, knowledge...in increasing measure.” 2 Peter 1:5,8

So, it’s clear from the New Testament that people of faith are supposed to keep on learning. We’re to grow in our grasp of the truth. Well, that brings up a question. If we are to keep on learning, does God keep on speaking? Is he still speaking today—in various ways? Are there things He’s saying today that we’re missing?

Most all of us want to grow. We want to stay alive spiritually. We want to keep learning new things. And so we sometimes wonder: Is God speaking in new ways?

Christians believe God’s revelation came to us in the Bible. The truth is settled, in that sense. Nothing is going to supersede this book.

But other people can sometimes shed new light on an old book, right? Some pastors or teachers can uncover new insights in familiar verses.

And so most people of faith look for leaders who will teach them or guide them into a fuller understanding of the truth.

But how do you know who’s on target, and who’s taking you on a detour? That’s a big question. How do you know who’s speaking from God’s point of view and who’s caught up in their own agenda?

Finding a spiritual guide sounds like a great idea. But we need to be careful. Following the wrong guide will lead us to the wrong place! We need to be aware of the many spiritual pitfalls out there and not let someone lead us off a cliff.

A young man named Bill wanted to find God. He'd been searching for some time, trying to make contact with the spiritual world through New Age and metaphysical techniques.

One morning he was meditating in his apartment when the room around him seemed to flood with light. And he thought he saw a brilliant figure standing before him. The figure said a few words of encouragement and disappeared.

Bill got the idea that he’d just met a Tibetan monk named Djwhal Khul who was said to channel messages to the living. He was thrilled. Now he had a direct link to the Master.

So Bill started listening to this inner voice, what he called his “higher self.” The voice told him to break up with his girlfriend – immediately. So he did.

The voice told him to scrap his car and buy a new Plymouth. So he did.

The voice told him to sell all his possessions and fly to Scotland for training in New Age practices. He obeyed.

Much later Bill would look back and describe this time as a "nightmare of slavery." He was not so much guided by this inner voice, as jerked around by it. His spiritual guide, Djwhal Khul, ruined a great relationship with a sweet, sensitive young woman, and left him penniless and jobless.
Please listen carefully to something the Apostle Paul wrote. Some misguided men in Corinth were preaching a distortion of the gospel which Paul had championed. He told believers there to beware of:

“. . . false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:13, 14

Bill was blinded by the light. He wasn't running into the truth. He was running into chaotic impulses. Bill never tested that voice. He never challenged it. He followed it compulsively. Listen to the Apostle John, writing in 1 John 4:1:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

The apostle is asking us to be skeptical. Don’t just swallow everything you hear. Test the spirits. Test their claims.

How do we do that? Here’s one good way the prophet Isaiah talks about. Look at Isaiah 8:20. This prophet had a concern. God’s people were seeking guidance from the wrong sources, from mediums and wizards. And he said this:

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

To the law and to the testimony. These are references to Scripture. Isaiah is saying, “Check it out with ‘this word.’” If someone claims that God is speaking in the present, check the message with what God has been speaking in the past. They should be consistent. They should be mutually reinforcing.

Look at the law and the testimony, the whole of God’s revelation. New claims have to fit into that picture.

How do we keep on growing, keep on learning?

By being OPEN to the Word, the WHOLE Word.

You know, Jesus once gave us a very interesting method of finding out what’s true:

“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17, NIV)

This may seem a little backwards at first. After all, doesn’t finding out God’s will come before choosing God’s will? But Jesus says that a willingness to do what God wants actually helps us find out what it is. In other words, the way to certainty goes through obedience.

The Apostle John echoes this theme in his great letter on knowing:

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:3, 4

Keeping God’s commandments is a way of truly knowing God, knowing who He is. Obedience is the way to be sure. A desire to follow God is the way to keep from being fooled, keep from being taken on detours.

That’s another reason this test is so important: speak according to the law and the testimony. The focus has to remain on God’s principles, not our opinions.

Listen, you can’t really find what you’re trying to avoid. And when deep inside we don’t want to follow God’s commandments, we aren’t likely to bump into Him, right? When you don’t want to obey, you’re not likely to find the One claiming our allegiance.

Do you see someone who points away from “the law and the testimony?” That’s a red flag. They’re avoiding something. They’re running away from the truth—and are trying to take you with them!

One of Bill’s problems was that he received input from only one source: An inner voice he identified as the Tibetan monk, Djwhal Khul. No other sources of information. Nobody else could ask questions – questions like, why are you dumping this wonderful girl?

But eventually something happened to Bill – after he hit bottom. This young man began reading the Bible itself more carefully. He began to see the bigger picture. He began to understand the great conflict between good and evil. He expanded his perspective. The books of a Christian writer named Ellen White proved particularly helpful. This woman painted a very vivid picture of the Christ and Satan in cosmic battle over human souls.

That picture opened up Bill's eyes. He realized, with a shock, that he'd been following the wrong voice for years. He'd been serving the wrong master. He'd been manipulated. He'd been used.

It took time, but Bill slowly began to think more clearly and sanely. He let go of his obsessive behavior. And he discovered, in a relationship with Christ, real freedom, a release from oppression.

Now let’s look at a second important way we can check things out, we can test truth claims. In fact let’s look at the rest of that passage in 1 John about “test the spirits.” The Apostle John was dealing with the problem of false religious teachers. How could ordinary believers test their claims?

“By this you know the Spirit of God; Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God.” 1 John 4:1-3

John said, "Check out what these people are saying. See if they acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh."

Why this test? Because at the time the apostles were dealing with the gnostic heresy. Gnosticism maintained that only spirit was good, all matter was evil. They couldn't imagine God actually becoming a man. So they tried to explain away the Incarnation in various ways.

John was saying, in effect, make sure these teachers are telling the truth about Jesus Christ. Make sure that the clear testimony of apostles and eyewitnesses isn't overshadowed by some human philosophy.

Friends, the revelation in the Bible comes to a climax in Jesus Christ; it centers around Jesus Christ. So anybody who claims to have a message from God must end up throwing the spotlight on Jesus. He must CENTER on Jesus Christ, the LORD Jesus Christ. No other person, no other leader, no other voice, can supersede the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anybody who takes you off on a detour, away from Jesus, away from His grace, away from His love, is not speaking for God. He’s not even in the ballpark.

A man named David was having great success marketing condos in Chicago – seven days a week. He was completely caught up in business. But he did have one other thing on his mind: a lovely woman he'd met in Baltimore named Donna. They still kept in touch. And one day Donna called to tell him about a book she'd been reading: "This Present Darkness." It was a Christian novel about the battle between the forces of good and evil.

Well, this reminded David of some of the Christian books by Ellen White he'd read as a teenager. Donna was interested in these writings. On her next visit to Chicago, he presented her with a copy of "Steps to Christ."

David had some idea that this little book described a religion that really worked. He told Donna: "Everything else makes sense only in a relationship with Jesus. I don't have it. But I know it's important."

In other words, David found himself recommending a faith he’d never really experienced. It was a little bit like selling condos he'd never lived in.

Well, as it turned out, Donna did take her own "Steps to Christ." The book showed her how in a beautiful way, and she began a relationship with Jesus.

After this, Donna kept calling David with more and more questions about the Bible. So he was forced to look into Scripture to try to come up with some answers.

And he began to realize that his fast-paced lifestyle was killing him. He needed spiritual rest. He needed Jesus. He’d never really invested the right kind of time in that relationship.

Soon David and Donna committed their lives to Christ in baptism. Donna was seeing God at work in her life – more and more each day. And David had finally found the relationship with Christ that had always eluded him. He was finally growing in the truth.

How do we keep learning? By being open to the Word, the whole of the Word, and by centering on Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s also how we can test other people’s truth claims. Do they expand us more and more in the truth of Scripture? And do they center us, deeper and deeper, in the person of Christ?

JEANNIE: Lonnie, I noticed, in the wonderful examples you gave, that there’s a common denominator: the writings of Ellen White. They helped Bill get into the Word and they helped David rediscover Jesus.

LONNIE: I guess it’s time for a little “truth in advertising.” I used those examples because Jeannie and I have come to appreciate this Christian author very much. She’s been an inspiration to us.

JEANNIE: She sure has. Ellen White’s books have been a part of my life since I was a child. I was always taught that her writings help shed light on the Bible – and that we should never use them, or use any other Christian writings, to take the place of the Bible. But her books have been a great resource in my devotional reading. In fact, they helped lead me to Christ.
In high school Ellen White’s book, "Steps to Christ," had a big impact. I felt like an infant wanting to take those "baby" steps toward a deeper relationship with Jesus. During other time of my life, different stages of my life, other books have become favorites. As a freshman in college I read her book on the life of Christ, "Desire of Ages." It was actually a class assignment; at first it was just homework. But in time it really helped me to grow into a deeper love relationship with Jesus. It was like a biography of a fascinating person that you just can’t put down. She makes the events recorded in the Gospels so vivid. I felt like I was really getting to know this Christ as a Person.
“Desire of Ages” is now a Christian classic. All kinds of people have been captivated by the author’s beautiful descriptions of Jesus and His extraordinary love for us. I think God really got down deep into my heart through that book. It was a significant part of my conversion, my coming to understand and appreciate that Jesus really does love me.
Later I began reading a series of Ellen White books called the "Conflict of the Ages." That gave me a wonderful overview of biblical history. And it answered all kinds of questions, questions about how evil began, questions about the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The “Conflict of the Ages” takes us from the beginning of time down through the ages to the glorious climax of history in Christ’s return to earth. So, for me, Ellen White, has simply been one of those great Christian friends, a Christian companion who’s helped me see God much more clearly. Today I know that I can totally and completely put my trust in Him. He doesn’t make mistakes.
LONNIE: Ellen White’s books have been an inspiration in my life too, Jeannie. They’ve helped me mature as a believer. So I’ve used her as an example of God continuing to speak through people – first of all because we’ve enjoyed her as an author, but also for this important reason: she doesn’t take the spotlight off Scripture. In my opinion, she simply makes the great themes of the Bible shine brighter. She doesn’t take us on a detour.
So I’d like to challenge you today. Is your grasp of the truth growing? Are you making discoveries in the Word today?
Paul gives us a wonderful admonition about the way we grow:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

God wants us to prove what His will is, to demonstrate that it is good, acceptable and perfect. And that can happen through the renewing of our minds. God wants to give us wisdom – not just impulses. He wants us to grasp principles – not just hear voices. Impulses can lead the vulnerable into obsession. But God's wisdom leads us to maturity.

Do you ever feel that you've been blinded by the light? Do you ever feel trapped in the wrong kind of religion? Are you being seduced by some charismatic teacher who claims to have a lock on the truth?

There's a great battle going on today for the hearts and minds of men and women. The conflict between Christ and Satan is very real. Please don't allow yourself to be seduced by the dazzle of the Enemy – masquerading as an angel of light.

God's light is very different. God's truth sets us free. We need to open ourselves to His wisdom. We need to listen to His Word in all its richness. We dare not just close our minds around what is comfortable, what we want to hear. We need to listen carefully as disciples. We need to listen to all that God has to say to us, above all, through the whole of the Word of God.

Are you willing to follow God's clear principles – wherever they may lead you? Are you willing to start building your life on His wisdom?

Let's make that commitment just now as we pray.

Dear Father, we need Your help in order to grasp the truth. Our minds take so many detours. We're manipulated. We become obsessed. But You can transform us by the renewing of our minds. Please give us Your wisdom. Please help us to absorb Your Word in a way that will enlighten our hearts and minds. Help us to appreciate all that we have in Jesus Christ, as Savior and Lord. Help us to see Him clearly as the way, the truth and the life. Keep us standing on the right side during the final great conflict. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

JEANNIE: As our homework assignment for next week we’d like you to look at a story in the Gospel of Luke. It’s the account of how two disciples met up with Jesus, quite unexpectedly, after His crucifixion.

LONNIE: It’s the encounter on the Road to Emmaus and you’ll find it in Luke 24:13-27.

JEANNIE: Next week Lonnie will be talking about the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, and we’d like you to look at this passage and ask yourself, “What does this say about communion, the Eucharist? Does it shed any light on what it means?”

LONNIE: So remember, take a look at Luke 24:13-27. Until next week, God bless you. Never stop Exploring the Word. And remember, God really does love you.