Does God Still Speak Today?

Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 08 January 2006 07:26

Hearing From God

Sermon Outline

Psalm 115

 ¹ Not to us, O LORD, not to us
       but to your name be the glory,
       because of your love and faithfulness.

 ² Why do the nations say,
       "Where is their God?"

 ³ Our God is in heaven;
       he does whatever pleases him.

 ⁴ But their idols are silver and gold,
       made by the hands of men.

 ⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
       eyes, but they cannot see;

 ⁶ they have ears, but cannot hear,
       noses, but they cannot smell;

 ⁷ they have hands, but cannot feel,
       feet, but they cannot walk;
       nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

 ⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
       and so will all who trust in them.

Does God Still Speak Today?

Some of us never think about it.

Some of us say "no" for theological reasons.

• Some people site Hebrews 1:1-2
• They believe that God has given us the complete revelation in the Bible
• Gary Frieson is an example of someone with this perspective. He says "Any decision made within the moral will of God is acceptable by God."

Some of us say "no" for practical reasons, based on experience. We haven't ever perceived God speaking to us and so we assume that God doesn't.

Believing that God does not speak today is...

Unwise

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Isaiah 55:8-9 "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

John 5:19 "Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

Unfaithful

Hebrews 10:19-25 ¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another?and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Jesus modeled for us dependance on God.

When the Bible portrays the Christian life, it assumes the Christian is hearing from God.

"Knowing" the Bible and "believing" in God is not enough. We must have the Holy Spirit illuminate it for us.