“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
I had a moment of clarity today after reading a Facebook post from a friend concerning the question of whether or not God still speaks today. As I thought about it, my thoughts turned to a recent conversation with my son-in-law concerning the word of God which, at the time upset me a little. He insisted that the Bible is not a “text-book” and that even without it people will come to faith. I took issue with him because the word of God declares in (Roman’s 10:17) that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Which is to say that salvation involves hearing the written word of God. I believe that word is spoken both in our ears by the witnessing disciple and into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The word the disciple shares comes from the written word and along with it the drawing word of God’s Spirit speaks from God’s heart into our own. These together work to bring a person to Jesus for salvation. My moment of clarity was in realizing that the Lord was using my son-in-law to remind me that God is still speaking today. But now, rather than a “thus says the Lord” to the masses its a “thus says the Lord ” to me.
To regard the Bible merely as a text-book is to view it on an gnostic or intellectual level only. But as I see it, the Bible is, among other things, a record of God’s interactions with mankind. The Bible itself is an authoritative record but it does not conclude the conversation. God still speaks today. His word, far from being a text book serves not only as a record but also as a proof text. As an authoritative record of what God DID say it serves as an indicator of what God WOULD say. You can be sure that any communication between you and the Lord today will NOT contradict what He has already said.
There was a time in the Biblical record when God was apparently silent, we call that time the Intertestimental Period. The 400 years between His concluding words to and through the prophet Malachi and the words spoken by the angel Gabriel to Zachariah and Mary mark a time when no word came from God.
But we insist that God still speaks today – 2022 years after Jesus walked among us; how can that be? The answer is simple, in the days of the prophets, the Holy Spirit did not indwell people; He abided ON rather than IN them. God gave and recalled His Spirit at a time of His choosing (for an example see 1 Sam. 16:14-15) but not so today. Since the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus the Holy Spirit is made a permanent resident in every believer (John 14:17). The indwelling Spirit of God serves as the guarantor of our inheritance with Jesus (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5 and Eph. 1:14) as well as spiritual teacher, mentor and enabler. About the Spirit, Jesus said:
“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:25–26
It is by the Holy Spirit that God speaks and His conversation continues with us to this day. As I awakened to this day, a point was immediately impressed upon my spirit from God. What I heard this morning was this: you can go out and cut your lawn today and continue to maintain that which will eventually belong to someone else or you can set your mind on My kingdom and its priorities. That this was not my flesh or conscience talking is clear as my flesh is not going to demand that I share the gospel with others. Without a doubt the Spirit of the Lord was speaking.
God still speaks to us today. Through others led by His Spirit, through His word, through music and through the created world around us – God still speaks. The psalmist wrote in (Psalm 19:1-4):
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.“
Paul also pointed to the natural created world in (Romans 1) when he wrote that man will have no excuse with regard to knowing or turning to the Lord because everything He has made directs our attention toward the Creator. The wind, the waves, the hammering thunder of Niagara, a babies heartbeat, bird songs, whale calls, dolphins chatter, thunder; these are some of the voices God uses to get our attention. He is still calling, still speaking and still trying to get our attention today and His purpose in speaking to us is to call the lost to Jesus Christ- to salvation in His name and after that, to develop and sanctify the believer.
Can you hear Him? Are you listening?
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