Has God Spoken to You?

Richard Hollerman

(Part 1)

Do you believe God speaks to you?

Do you “hear” the “voice” of Christ in your heart?

Does the Holy Spirit talk to you?

What does the Word of God say about this?

Does God speak to you?  To be specific, does God literally, directly, personally, and even audibly speak to you?  Does He speak to your friends, family members, acquaintances, or fellow church members?  Does He want to speak directly and regularly to all people, separate and apart from the Scriptures, the written Word of God?

These are intriguing questions that have concerned and captivated devoted people since the beginning.  The question of personal revelation from God also is very much a contemporary concern, since millions testify that God indeed has spoken to them and regularly talks to them.  It may happen in prayer, in the middle of the night, or in the midst of their workaday activities.  It may be to their mind alone or it may also be to their ears.  It may be meant to comfort, to instruct, to direct, or to rebuke.  Multiplied millions of religious and not-so-religious people have testified to an experience of personal revelation from the Lord!

If God were to reveal His will and messages directly to the Christian today, would there really be a need for the Bible?  Would the written Word of God, the Scriptures, be a relic of the past or a superfluous document, unneeded by the one specially favored with “inside revelation” directly from the eternal God?  These are some of the questions that we need to explore!

Last night I was speaking with an acquaintance about spiritual matters and he asked me, “Richard, does God speak to you?”  I cautiously but deliberately replied, “No, God hasn’t spoken to me.”  He then stated that God speaks to him all of the time and that He will speak to every Christian everyday!  I responded with two comments.  First, I said that I am convinced that probably 99% of those who think that God is speaking to them surely are mistaken since they are not even saved.  And, second, if God were to speak to a person, surely He would not just speak about general and non-essential matters.  Definitely a merciful God would reveal to the person the need to repent and be forgiven of sin.

Now that I reflect on this encounter, I believe that there was a lack of communication in our encounter.  I was referring to one thing and this acquaintance was referring to something entirely different.  I was referring to a literal speaking but he was referring to certain impressions or feelings in his mind.  Yet some in our day do claim that God does speak to them—literally, personally, directly, and sometimes even audibly.

This experience does bring up an extremely important matter that affects the whole religious world in our day.  It affects you and it affects me.  We have all heard people make claims and have read of assertions made by religious people to the effect that God has spoken to them either on special occasions or on a regular basis.  We often hear such statements as the following:  “The Lord laid it on my heart!”  “The Lord spoke to me!”  “God told me that I was to . . . .”  “The Spirit revealed it to me!”  “The Lord spoke to my heart!”  “I heard from God!”  “Do you hear from God?”  “Doesn’t the Lord speak to you also?”  “What has God been telling you recently?”  “God said to take this job (or move to that city, or wear those clothes, or give this money, or marry this person, etc.)!”

If someone hasn’t “heard” the “voice” of God in this way, he or she is deemed to be unspiritual, legalistic, or even lost!  Someone recently told me, “I am absolutely certain that God most definitely speaks to people today by the Holy Spirit. . . . There is no question that God speaks to His children today.  I would question someone’s salvation if they thought otherwise.”

One popular writer and speaker writes, “Learning to hear from God and be led by the Holy Spirit is very exciting.  God wants to speak to us about the plan He has for our lives. . . . We talk to our children all the time—why wouldn’t our heavenly Father talk to His children? . . .  God wants to speak to us about the good plan He has for our lives” (Joyce Meyer, How to Hear from God, p. vii).  Meyer goes on to testify: “God also speaks through our conscience, our desires, and an audible voice.  Hearing the audible voice of God is rare for most people and nonexistent for many.  I have heard the audible voice of God three or four times in my life” (Ibid., pp. vii-viii).

What can we say about this familiar aspect of religious experience in our day?  Does God speak to people today and is it something that most people have experienced?  Let’s discuss this important topic of whether God actually speaks directly to us today.

God Spoke to People in the Past

It is true that the Lord literally, directly, personally, audibly communicated with certain people at certain times, in certain circumstances, in past ages.  Consider several examples.

God spoke to Adam and Eve.  Scripture says, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die’” (Gen. 2:16-17).  When Adam and Eve sinned against God’s command, the Lord again literally spoke words of judgment and promise to them (cf. Gen. 3:9-19).

God spoke to Cain.  After the sin of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden, tragedy continued.  Cain murdered his brother Abel.  After this incident, God asked the murderer, “Where is Abel your brother?”  Scripture proceeds to record continued communication between the Lord and Cain (cf. Gen. 4:5-15).

God spoke to Noah.  Centuries after the time of Adam, the world had become sinful and corrupt (cf. Gen. 6:1-12).  God literally spoke words of warning and instruction to Noah, the lone righteous man on earth: “Then God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before me. . . . Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood’” (Gen. 6:13-14).  After rescuing Noah and his family from destruction, God again spoke directly to this man (Gen. 9:1ff).  This was literal, verbal, and audible communication.

God spoke to Abraham.  Several more centuries passed and God once again spoke to man.  The text says, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house. . .’” (Gen. 12:1).  Many other times God literally spoke to His servant Abraham (cf. 12:7; 13:14; 15:1, 13; 17:1; 18:13, 22ff; 21:12; 22:1; cf. Acts 7:2-3).  There may have been months or years between such appearances and communication, but these were literal communications that could be quoted verbatim.  We have a record of these messages in the Scriptures today.

God spoke to Job.  After Job’s severe physical distress, God spoke to him out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1-41:34) and Job replied (42:1-6).

God spoke to Moses.  When Moses saw the burning bush on the mountain, the Lord Yahweh spoke to him (Exod. 3:4-4:17).  He also spoke to Aaron, Moses’ brother (4:27-28).  God spoke to Moses in relation to judgment on Egypt and Israel’s deliverance (6:1ff; 7ff).  Repeatedly, through the years of wandering in the desert, God literally and directly spoke to Moses (cf. Exodus-Deut.).  “The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exod. 33:11).

God spoke to Joshua.  The successor of Moses was Joshua and the Lord directly communicated with him (Josh. 6:2ff).  He gave instructions about the fall of Jericho and the defeat at Ai (7:10ff; 8:1-2).

God spoke to Samuel.  We remember the delightful account of God’s communication to the child Samuel who lived with Eli, the priest.  During the night, the Lord literally called to Samuel, but the boy thought Eli had called (1 Samuel 3:3-5).  A second time, the Lord called, saying, “Samuel!” (v. 6).  The text then explains, “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him” (v. 7).  A third time, God called and he thought it was Eli calling (v. 8).  A fourth time, the Lord called, “Samuel!  Samuel!”  The boy knew it was not Eli this time.  He answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (v. 10).  God proceeded to give a special message to this young lad, Samuel, who was destined to become a prophet of the Lord (vv. 11-14).  Again, we see that God indeed did literally communicate, but it was in the form of audible words that could be quoted.

God spoke to David.  We remember that David, the man after God’s own heart, earnestly desired to build a temple for the God he loved.  But the Lord had other plans.  He literally spoke to David, “You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me” (1 Chron. 22:8; cf. vv. 9-10; 28:3).  The Lord literally spoke in words that would be quoted!

God spoke to Solomon.  After Solomon, the son of David, became king of Israel, the LORD God appeared to him in Gibeon in a dream at night.  He said, “Ask what you wish me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5).  Solomon responded to the Lord, asking that He give to the king “an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil” (v. 9; cf. vv. 6-9).  God literally answered Solomon, saying that He would give him wisdom, riches, and honor.  He then promised, “If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days” (v. 14).  This was a revelatory dream, in which God actually spoke a message of literal words.

As we have seen, at various times in the period before Christ, the Lord God did literally speak to chosen people, often for the benefit of other people.  Prophets would receive a message from God and would then communicate it to Israel or the nations.  Jeremiah was one such prophet: “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you’” (Jer. 1:4).  God spoke directly and literally to Hosea (1:2), Jonah (1:1-2), and other prophets of the Lord.

Because God did literally reveal His will by speaking to chosen persons, the Hebrew writer was able to say, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (1:1-2a).  God once spoke through the prophets, but Christ Jesus became the last primary way that God would speak to mankind.  It is interesting to note here that when God “spoke” to the people of Israel, He didn’t do so directly and audibly—but He did so “in the prophets.”  God could speak through the agency of prophets without literally “speaking” to each individual Israelite.

            God Spoke to Christ Jesus, His Son.  As we might expect, there was the very closest relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son during His stay on the earth.  There was direct and intimate communication from the Father to the Son, as well as from the Son to the Father.  For instance, at Christ’s baptism we receive some hint of this direct communication: “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased’” (Mark 1:10-11).  Later, while on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, God again spoke directly from heaven (cf. Matt. 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17).  Shortly before He died for our sins, Christ prayed, “Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:28).  The record then informs us of the response: “There came a voice out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again’” (v. 28).  The Son literally spoke to the Father in prayer (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; 11:1) and the Father literally spoke to the Son.  But there must have been continual intercommunication between the Father and the Son.  Since Jesus was both human and divine (John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9), we can’t fully comprehend the manner and form of all this inter-divine communication.

The Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Angels Spoke to Paul and Other Believers.  Particularly in the book of Acts, we read that Jesus Christ the Son, or the Holy Spirit, or an angel spoke to certain leading individuals.  Interestingly, we know of no instance in which God the Father directly spoke to a person, other than in Revelation (cf. 1:8; 21:5-6).  Let us notice several of these incidents.

The Lord Jesus spoke to Saul (Paul) on the way to Damascus, instructing him to go to the city for further instructions from Ananias (Acts 9:4-6; 22:7-10; 26:14-18).  This was actual communication with words that could be quoted.  Even Paul’s companions heard the sound of Christ’s voice (Acts 9:7; 22:9) and saw the light.  Jesus also spoke to Ananias, instructing him to go with a message for Saul (Acts 9:10-16).  Jesus also spoke words to Peter on the housetop (Acts 10:13-16; 11:7-9).  In a vision, the Lord Jesus spoke words of encouragement to Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:9-10), and later He twice spoke encouraging words to this apostle in Jerusalem (Acts 22:18-21; 23:11).

he Holy Spirit told Philip to speak to the Ethiopian (Acts 8:29), and told Peter to go to the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:19-20; 11:12).  The Spirit also spoke to the prophets and teachers of Antioch, instructing them to send Paul and Barnabas out with the gospel (Acts 13:2, 4).  Later the Spirit must have spoken to Paul in Asia Minor, as he and his companions traveled to Troas (Acts 16:6-7).  On his last journey to Jerusalem, the Spirit (either directly or through prophets) spoke words of warning to Paul (Acts 20:23; cf. 21:11).

Even angels sometimes literally communicated the will of God to people.  For instance, an angel of the Lord spoke to the apostles in the Jerusalem jail and released them (Acts 5:19-20).  An angel told Philip to preach to the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26).  An angel instructed Cornelius to send for Peter to receive words of salvation (Acts 10:3-7, 22, 30-32; 11:13-14).  Later, an angel spoke to Peter in the jail and released him (Acts 12:7-8).  While on his way to Rome, Paul received words of encouragement from an angel (Acts 27:23-25).  “Angel” comes from the Greek angelos, which means “messenger.”  Angels brought God’s messages to men and women on earth.

Angels played a prominent role in communicating God’s words in the time of Christ’s birth.  An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, bearing a message on Christ’s birth (Matt. 1:20-21).  When Jesus was born, the angel announced the good news to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-15).  Later, an angel in a dream warned Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt (2:13) and then commanded Joseph to return to the land of Israel (2:19-20).  In these cases, angels communicated God’s message in actual words.

Several other references may be gleaned from the pages of the New Testament.  Paul prayed for healing from his “thorn in the flesh,” and the Lord literally replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).  This was enough for Paul; he accepted the condition as the Lord’s will (v. 10).  Perhaps there was also some literal communication from the Lord when Paul languished in prison, about to die for his faith (cf. 2 Tim. 4:17).  Evidently, the Lord Jesus directly communicated with John the apostle in Revelation (cf. Rev. 1:11, 17-20; 2:1ff.; 22:16), as did the angel (cf. Rev. 1:1; 19:9-10; 22:6, 8-11).  As we mentioned earlier, God the Father also communicated actual words (1:8; 21:5-6).

It is interesting to notice that although there seems to have been a fair number of times that the Lord communicated to people, normally it was under unusual circumstances or crisis situations or times of major decision or turning points in apostolic history.  This direct communication did not seem to be a normal, ordinary, everyday experience—even in the life of the apostles and prophets.  Apparently it was a special and extraordinary occurrence.

God Can Communicate

We would not want to suggest that God cannot communicate directly, literally, verbally, and audibly.  Scripture says that God definitely can and has spoken to men and women.  But is this something that should be expected of true Christians today?  Several points may be made:

1. Communication is verbal. By this we mean that communication involves actual words and not mere feelings.  From what we have discovered from the Scriptural evidence above, if God spoke something, it could be quoted in actual statements.  It was not a mystical, “better felt than told,” experience.

 

2. Communication is important. When God spoke to people He told them how to change the course of their life, how to carry out His will, or what to say to Israel.  Further, Christ or the Spirit revealed major elements of the gospel and directions on how that gospel was to go out to the lost.

 

3. Communication is spoken. Normally this was audible communication (except that conveyed in a dream or trance) that other people could hear.  It was not just limited to the heart, soul and mind.

The Place of the Apostles

It might be good to remember that the apostles were specially chosen to represent Christ on earth.  The word “apostle” comes from the Greek apostolos, which literally means, “one sent forth.”  The apostles were particularly selected and sent forth to communicate His will and His truth to His people, true Christians.  They were also the witnesses to the resurrection (cf. Acts 1:2-3, 8, 21-22; 2:32, 37; 5:32; 10:38-42; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:1-10).  They were the divine means of communicating saving truth.  Jesus said, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Matt. 10:40; John 13:20; this promise was extended to others as well—Luke 10:16).

The Lord Jesus promised the apostles: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you [the apostles] all things, and bring to your [the apostles’] remembrance all that I said to you [the apostles]” (John 14:26).  He said further, “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you [the apostles] into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you [the apostles] what is to come” (16:13).

The Spirit would teach the apostles “all things” and bring to their “remembrance” all that Jesus had said to them, and would “guide” them into “all the truth.”  This shows how important the teaching of the apostles was and is to our spiritual welfare.  The apostles were a unique body of men who received truth from God and communicated this truth to mankind (cf. John 17:8, 14, 18, 20; Acts 1:3).  Their words are authoritative for they came from the Lord Himself through the Holy Spirit.  Thus, Paul wrote, “If anyone is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commands” (1 Cor. 14:37; cf. 1 Thess. 2:13; 4:2; Heb. 2:3-4; 13:7; 2 Peter 3:2).

Because the apostles held such a vital role in the communication of truth, we can see why the Lord or the Spirit would particularly speak with them in a way that He would not normally communicate with others.  This we should bear in mind as we consider direct and personal revelation from God.

A Small Survey

While originally preparing this study, I wrote to a number of people I knew and asked them about their own experiences with revelation from God.  About a dozen responses were received.  Since that time, I’ve talked to a number of people, asking them their own experiences of personal revelation.  We might notice some of their responses.

I asked this question: “Do you believe that God has ever actually ‘spoken’ to you?”  Most respondents answered No.  Some qualified this.  One person said, “Yes . . . . Most often through verses that ‘come alive’ to meet a certain circumstance.”  Another answered that God has “subjectively” spoken to him through providence, circumstances, and ‘still small voices.’”  Another one answered Yes, and elaborated, “Providentially, by casting of lots, through my conscience, by chastisements, with blessings, through Scripture, and through enlightenment through dreams.”  Yet another said, “No except through Scripture.”  One person added, “The very nearness of God has been felt in prayerfully reading His recorded Word and drawing near to Him.”

One woman wrote, “I experience a ‘sense’ of his communication with me, which is rooted in knowledge of the Scripture.  I also ‘sense’ his presence, meaning I have an awareness of His nearness.”  One man said, “Yes, I have heard God’s voice, but not with my ears.”  He went on to say that he has had “feelings” in his heart “leading [him] to make certain decisions” as well as thoughts and ideas and dreams.  A woman commented, “I have had one experience where I simply ‘knew’ what God was saying.  It was during my salvation experience.”  Another respondent said that God’s Spirit “guides” us in “our circumstances, choices, decisions, and actions.”  A woman said, “[I’ve] received an impression in my ‘heart’ or ‘spirit’ that I had been confronted with the truth.”  She went on to illustrate this by saying that she had read two verses then God gave her a special message.  “God did not say all that to me audibly, but He gave me those thoughts, and I was sensible to them, and believed them. . . .”

One friend wrote these words: “I am absolutely certain that God most definitely speaks to people today by the Holy Spirit.  He has spoken to me over the years . . . at least 15 times.  I knew that it was not my own thoughts. . . . I have heard other people say that they have heard an audible voice. . . . I believe Satan speaks to our minds as well.  After all, that is where the battle lies and, then there are our own thoughts too.  But I tend to believe that most of them are either from God or Satan. . . . Yes, angels appear to people today, I believe, just like they did in times past. . . . There is no question that God speaks to His children today.  I would question someone’s salvation if they thought otherwise.”  Again, “From some of your comments I have been troubled.  You don’t seem to give much, if any, credence to the fact that God speaks with His children today.  I don’t recall you ever telling me that God had spoken to you before.”

Another friend shared his experience: “There were many times in my earlier spiritual life when God spoke to me and I was not fully aware of what was going on. . . . My grandmother, who was and is experienced in recognizing the voice of the Lord, informed me how to distinguish His voice from other voices, thoughts, etc. . . . God spoke to me on many occasions and currently speaks in various ways. . . . God speaks in many aspects: dreams, visions, circumstances, His Word, through people, and other ways.  In order for me to understand the voice of the Lord, a strong relationship was developed.  A strong Godly relationship sharpens one’s sensitivity to the Spirit.”

He further said, “My grandmother is a strong prayer warrior, who clearly hears from God. . . . Adhering to this spiritual upbringing, my grandmother constantly sacrifices her daily pleasures in order to be available for God’s use.  She is used in various gifts such as word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophesy, tongues, healings, and so on.”

When I asked another friend whether God, Jesus, or the Spirit speaks to him, he said that Jesus is the one who speaks to him.  I asked whether He speaks to his ears or heart.  He replied that the Lord speaks to his literal ears but the message goes to his heart.  I then asked how often he thinks Jesus speaks to him; he replied that this happens every day.  I was never able to receive an answer how Jesus speaks literally to his physical ears without his fellow employees hearing the voice.  The friend says that Jesus also speaks to his wife and children.

Yet another person responded: “I am inclined to think that our feelings of God speaking to us, the closeness of His presence, are more in the category of responsiveness on our part to His great truths in connection with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17; Galatians 4:6).  At least, this is from the viewpoint of my experience.  I don’t like to sound judgmental, but there is so much delusion in the world.  If God speaks to us, in the manner some would say, does this imply that the Bible is not a closed book and it can be added to?  I very much believe that God is a personal God, but I have problems with so much that is said by many.”

Here are some comments from another friend.  She writes, “I believe that God created us in order to have a relationship with us.  We are not just robots to God; we are beings whom He loves.  In fact He calls us His children and His bride . . . His brothers and sisters.  These terms imply a relationship involving communi-cation. . . . Neither God nor Satan has ever spoken to me in an audible voice. . . . I feel that the most common way that God speaks to us is by the Holy Spirit speaking to our spirits.  However, there are many testimonies of people who were in unusual or desperate situations and they had the testimony that they heard an audible voice speaking to them supernaturally.

This woman continues, “I believe there are various ways in which the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.  As we read the scriptures, He reveals the meaning of them to us; as we pray and meditate, He gives us insight and revelations about God’s will; as we listen to preaching and testimonies of others, we are impressed with truth.  These are all ways in which God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit speak to us.”

One man wrote, “Richard.  There is a great need for such a booklet.  Many have the false idea that God speaks to them and this causes a great deal of spiritual confusion.  Several have shared experiences with me but none of them compares with what we read of in the Bible.  Besides, the Bible teaches us that the Scriptures furnish us with all the revelation that we need (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3; John 14:26; 16:13).

This wide range of responses shows the spectrum of views people have on personal revelation.  Much that we have written in this booklet addresses these answers.

Dangers and Dilemmas

Let’s discuss some of the obvious dangers associated with presumed communication from God.  I shared some of this with the friend whom I mentioned in the beginning and we should bear these points in mind.

Many have been deceived by imaginary communication.  On May 13, 1917, three devout Catholic children from Fatima, Portugal imagined that a lady appeared to them while they were tending sheep.  She was on a cloud and was brighter than the sun.  The lady told them that she would appear every month.  On October 13, she revealed to them that she was the Virgin Mary and they should repeat the rosary every day in her honor and that a chapel should be built for her.  The Mary they claimed to see and hear gave a false message and definitely was not the Mary of the Bible.  Many aspects of these claimed encounters between Mary and the children were patently inaccurate and false.  Since these alleged appearances and communications, millions have made pilgrimages to Fatima to show their devotion to Mary—a false “Mary” that differs radically from the true Biblical Mary.  This famous encounter shows how deceived masses of people can be about alleged communication from God, angels, and so-called saints.

Numerous “Word of Faith” or “Health and Wealth” evangelists and teachers claim that God regularly speaks to them.  They say that He gives them divine information, secret knowledge, and prophetic messages, however these messages are both false and frequently bizarre, revealing that both the prophet and the followers are greatly deceived.  Dozens of examples could be cited which show that God has not communicated truth to certain people, yet they either imagine that God has spoken or they want to deceive others into thinking that God has spoken to them.

Many have communicated false teaching by claiming that God has spoken to them.  Many preachers, teachers, and self-proclaimed prophets say that they have a message from the Lord, but that message is not in harmony with the written Word of God.  Jeremiah wrote of Judah’s false prophets who said, “I had a dream, I had a dream!”  They claimed to speak for God, but God said they “prophesy falsehood” (Jer. 13:26).  They were “prophets of the deception of their own heart” (v. 26).  They did not bring God’s message, thus Jeremiah charged them, “You have perverted the words of the living God” (v. 36).  Today, millions of people in America and in other countries are listening to false teachers who claim to have “heard a word from God” but fail to communicate the truth of God!  Any truth that they do proclaim is contaminated with serious error!

A few days ago, I was at a copy center binding books to distribute and had a long conversation with a very pleasant woman who was copying her literature.  The woman explained that she and her husband have a ministry of teaching individuals and groups certain “truths” they have learned from the Scriptures about natural eating.  Her system was based on Genesis 1:29.  As I understand her convictions, she claimed that we are meant to eat only seed-bearing plants, nuts, and fruit.  I commented on the fact that we must also take Genesis 9:3-4; Mark 7:19; Luke 24:42-43; John 21:9-13; Acts 10:9-16; 1 Cor. 9; and Romans 14 into consideration.  (I could have also suggested Acts 10:41 and 1 Timothy 4:3-5.)  I admitted that I also eat a very careful and nutritious diet, but I could not say that we are bound by Genesis 1:29 because of what Moses, Jesus, and Paul stated.

This dear lady said that she was praying on one occasion, seeking direction from God about what to do with this teaching, and He “spoke” literal words to her, telling her to teach it to others!  Thus, she obeyed!  She now teaches classes of men and women.  I asked her what she does with the inspired command of Paul: “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:11-12).  I pointed out that woman’s silence in a public context is actually a “command of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:33-36 with v. 37).  She indicated that she would need to think about that but she really did “hear” the Lord “speak” to her about beginning this teaching ministry.  This illustrates the kind of problem that arises when someone is convinced that he or she has “heard” from God to do something that conflicts with the Word of God.

Many have been deceived about their salvation by accepting false revelation.  When someone is convinced that his inner impressions, feelings, ideas, mental imaginations, or leadings come from God, he thereby assumes that he is in a living relationship with God!  He is convinced that he is a child of God, that the Holy Spirit in his heart is revealing these ideas and thoughts to his mind.  Sadly, generally he is not open to the fact that he may actually not even be saved!  He is unwilling to look at his own spiritual condition and at his assumed salvation experience to determine whether it is in harmony with the Word of God.  Paul speaks of some who “did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10).  The apostle then says, “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (vv. 11-12).  They would rather trust their “revelation” experience than trust in the living Word of God!

Each year I used to go to a “Word of Faith” conference and seek to distribute Christian tracts to the departing Charismatics.  Many became incensed when I attempted to show that they are following a false teacher (such as Kenneth Copeland) who speaks enticing religious lies (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4).  Usually they are unwilling to “test” or “examine” themselves to see if they are in the faith (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).  Just five minutes ago I opened my mail and received a letter from a dear Pentecostal acquaintance from another state.  Within the letter, she offered this quotation: “The man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.”  Vast numbers of people who falsely believe they have had an “experience” of personal revelation are unwilling to examine a Biblical “argument” that would disprove their experience!  I’ve heard people say, “I know what I’ve experienced!  I don’t need to listen to you!”

Many are confused about the inner impressions.  We noticed earlier that sometimes the Lord Jesus spoke to the apostles or others.  On occasion, the Holy Spirit spoke to individuals.  An angel also spoke to people.  In the Old Testament period, apparently God Himself spoke to certain leading men (unless this was a pre-incarnate revelation of Christ Himself, a Christophany).  It is significant that those who think they are receiving inner messages often are confused as to who is actually “speaking” to their mind.  Is it their own mind speaking?  Is it their reasoning, their spirit, their conscience?  Could it perhaps be Satan suggesting something?  Could it be a demon or evil spirit?  Could it be God the Father or maybe the Lord Jesus?  Is it an angel?  Is it the Holy Spirit?  With such a variety of sources to their thoughts, surely this must be perplexing.  Generally people don’t allow this to deter them but they continue to maintain that “someone” has spoken to their “heart.”

This shows another danger of relying on one’s inner impressions, promptings and thoughts.  Satan has thousands of years of practice in deceiving people (cf. 1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9), and he has millions of demons at his beck and call to work his devious plans on earth.  Satan is able to work in one’s heart and mind so as to deceive one into thinking that this inner working comes from the Lord (cf. Acts 5:3; John 13:2, 27).  But, actually, rather than coming from the Lord, these thoughts might originate from the enemy of the Lord!

            Many assume that God is communicating common and everyday messages.  Not long ago, my wife and I were visiting Niagara Falls on our marriage trip.  We marveled at the raging white water that flowed in Niagara River and proceeded to the Falls.  If you were drifting along a raging river a half-mile upstream from a deadly waterfalls, would you want someone on shore calling out, “Have a beautiful day!”  Would you want them to call out to you, “Hope you enjoy the scenery!  Have fun in the water!”  No, you would want the person to warn you of the treacherous danger before you!  You would want the observer on shore to exclaim, “There’s danger before you!  Escape with your life!”

Consider this: Would God be giving inner “impressions” and “messages” about which store to shop, which gasoline to buy, which person to visit, or which toothpaste to use—when major areas of Biblical truth remain unknown?  If God were to actually speak to a person, why wouldn’t He reveal to the Methodist the error of the bishop system?  Why would He not give inner communication to the Catholic to show the error of praying to Mary and other Catholic saints, or revering a “universal bishop,” the self-professed “Vicar of Christ” on earth?  Why would He not tell the Pentecostal or Charismatic the errors of “positive confession,” of women preachers, of immodest clothes, and of the pastor system?  Why would He not reveal inner messages to show the error of infant baptism, carnal warfare, worldly television, humanistic education, denominationalism, unconditional security, unholy living, and a hundred other false ways?  God is not one to give inconsequential messages when one’s spiritual understandings are faulty or one’s spiritual welfare is in jeopardy!

Many assume that God will reveal saving truth through inner impressions.  It may be that some people are so captivated by “listening” to inner voices or “hearing” inner messages, that they assume that God will reveal saving truth to them by this means.  Actually, when God did literally speak to people in the New Testament, it normally was to people already saved.  If someone needed to be saved, the spoken or written Word was the means of such salvation.  Even when God confronted an unsaved person, it was only to point that person to a messenger of truth.

For example, an angel appeared to Cornelius but he told this centurion to call for Peter in Joppa (Acts 10:1-7).  Why was he to be reached?  The angel said, “He [Peter] will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14).  We see that the angel did not proclaim the gospel himself, but directed Cornelius to someone else who would communicate this truth.  When the Lord Jesus appeared to Saul (Paul) on the way to Damascus, did He speak the gospel to him?  No, but the Lord said, “Get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do” (Acts 9:6).  There, Ananias did speak to Paul and led him to salvation (cf. Acts 9:11-18; 22:10-16).  The Lord didn’t directly reveal truth to the Macedonians, but He directed Paul to go there to proclaim the truth of the gospel (Acts 16:9-10).  The Lord has chosen to communicate saving truth by means of the spoken and written Word of God (cf. Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-48; John 17:20; 20:30-31).

Does God Really Speak?

Does God really speak to men and women today?  Indeed, He does!  In one of our beloved hymns, we sing, “Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of Thy tone. . . .”  God does speak—but we must ask how He speaks and under what circumstances.  If we don’t believe He speaks in any way, we should not ask Him to do what He will not do!  Let’s discuss this a little further.

We have seen that during the Old Testament period and even in New Testament days, direct personal revelation was quite rare.  Yet it did happen.  Naturalists or anti-supernaturalists would hotly deny the speaking ability of God.  Others may strongly affirm that God will not speak today, and they also may have a naturalistic bent.  However, if God would wish to speak directly to you or me today, He has the ability, the power, and the wisdom to do so.

Does God speak to people?  In the days of His flesh, Jesus literally spoke to people.  He gave the parable of the Good Shepherd and the sheep (cf. John 10:1-30).  He said, “The sheep hear his [the shepherd’s] voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (v. 3).  Just as the sheep hear the voice of the earthly shepherd, so Jesus’ disciples heard His voice: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (v. 27).  In our Lord’s parable, the sheep actually, literally, audibly did hear the voice of the shepherd.  And people actually, literally, audibly did hear the Savior’s voice and followed Him.  In a secondary sense, we too “hear the voice” of Jesus as we are attentive to His words and follow Him in life.

If we do not literally hear the voice of Jesus with our literal ears as they did, we do hear His words as we are spiritually open to His special revelation.  Although we did not hear our Lords’ words literally spoken on that occasion (in John 6), we “hear” His words when we receive them with open, honest, and loving hearts—hearts that are sensitive to the truth of God communicated through the words of Jesus (cf. John 10:16).  As we stated earlier, we earnestly sing, “Lord, speak to me that I may speak . . . .”   We also sing:

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,

And it told Thy love to me;

But I long to rise in the arms of faith,

And be closer drawn to Thee.

Just as people heard the prophets when they heard “the utterances of the prophets” (Acts 13:27), so we hear Jesus when we are open to His utterances or words.  Just as people “heard” Moses and the Prophets when they received their words (Luke 16:29), so we “hear” Jesus when we receive His words.  When Israel refused to obey the words of the Law of God, Moses said, “You would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God” (Deut. 8:20).  They listened to the Lord’s “voice” when they listened to and obeyed His words.  When they did not respond to and obey His words, they did not “hear” His “voice.”

We too can hear God’s “voice” when we hear and heed His words (cf. Heb. 3:7-8).  And God continues to “speak” when He communicates His will through His word (cf. Heb. 12:25).  Paul said that the Jews were “entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom. 3:2).  The term “oracles” comes from the Greek logion, which is translated as “the very words of God” by the NIV and which Vine says refers to “all the written utterances of God through OT writers.”

Notice a few other examples of God’s “voice” and our “hearing” God’s word, and notice carefully whether His people actually, literally heard His audible words.  God says, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession. . .” (Exod. 19:5).  Did Israel continue to obey God’s “voice”?  Yahweh God said that He would send his angel to Israel to guard them (23:20), then He said, “Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him” (v. 21).  Did Israel literally hear the angel and obey His voice?  In Numbers 14:22, God speaks of rebellious Israelites with these words: “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice.”  Here God is referring to their spirit of disobedience and this is what He means by not “listening” to God’s “voice.”

Before God led Israel into the land of promise, He told His people that they would be scattered because of their sin, but He gives this promise: “When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice” (Deut. 4:30).  When they return to God, would they literally “listen” to His “voice”?  Later, God tells His people, “. . . so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God” (8:20).  They did not “listen” to God’s “voice” when they disobeyed His commands.  Moses calls on Israel to obey the Lord by saying, “. . . if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God” (13:18).

These passages could be multiplied but the ones cited above show that “listening” to the “voice” of God means to give heed to God, to submit to Him, and to obey Him.  It doesn’t mean that Israel would literally, directly, and even audibly hear the voice of Yahweh God.

W.E. Vine points out that the Hebrew sama means, “to hear, hearken, listen, obey, publish” (Expository Dictionary).  He goes on to say, “This word occurs throughout the Semitic languages including biblical Hebrew and Aramaic.  Sama occurs in all historical layers of Hebrew, and about 1,160 times in the Bible.”  He says further, “’Hearing’ can be both intellectual and spiritual.  Spiritually, one may ‘hear’ God’s Word (Hum. 24:4), or ‘learn’ it from God.”  When God’s people “hear” God’s Word, they seldom actually hear His literal voice; rather, they obey His words, conveyed to them through God’s prophets and the Biblical writers.

The same is true today.  Today, we continue to “hear” God and Christ when we are open and receptive to their Words that come to our minds and hearts through our own Bible reading, through the taught Word, and through the proclaimed message of the Lord.  In this way, every true Christian most definitely “hears” the voice of His Savior!  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).  When the spiritually dead “hear the voice” of Jesus by learning the gospel, they will spiritually live!  If one does not “hear” Jesus, he cannot have spiritual life!

Jesus also says to Christians who have become lukewarm and apathetic, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).  When an unfaithful Christian “hears the voice” of Jesus by learning His words calling for repentance, by being convicted of sin, and choosing to “open the door” to Christ’s presence and fellowship once again, that repentant person has “heard the voice” of Jesus the Lord!

We tend to be unmindful of the power and effectiveness of the word of God.  That word gives life, gives salvation, gives knowledge, gives growth and maturity.  It gives a knowledge of the will and ways of God.  We must be open to the “voice” of God today just as much as those who literally heard the voice of Jesus when He walked on earth.  The Spirit continues to work powerfully through the living and powerful Word.  Jesus declared, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

In the book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, we notice some helpful information.  This book is the “revelation” (or unveiling) of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants.  “He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John” (Rev. 1:1).  John, therefore, wrote these words that came from God, saying, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy” (v. 3a).  Therefore, God gave the revelation to Jesus who, through the Spirit, through the angel, communicated to John the apostle.  This revelation was to be sent to seven assemblies of saints in Asia Minor (v. 11), and individuals in these assemblies were to read the revelation to those who would hear.  After each message especially directed to the needs and concerns of an individual congregation (chaps. 2-3), we read a statement like this: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7a; cf. 2:11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).  Notice that the individual Christian in each assembly was to “hear what the Spirit says.”  The Spirit was “saying” something and the believer was to “hear” what the Spirit “said.”  The believer would “hear” the words of the Spirit by listening to the words read by the public reader of the assembly.  This shows that we too can “hear” the words of the Spirit (or Christ or God) as we hear (or read) the words of John, Peter, Paul, and the other writers of the New Testament.

God definitely has “spoken” to His people—in the past and in the present.  The question is how does He normally speak to them?  Acts 28:25 gives us some idea of this.  Paul said, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers.”  This passage shows that the Holy Spirit did “speak”—but how did He speak?  He spoke “through” a certain agency, the agency of a prophet.  The Spirit spoke “to your fathers”—but did He speak directly to each individual Israelite’s heart and mind?  No, He used the means of a prophet to speak.  Likewise, God normally speaks to us through the prophets and apostles, His chosen messengers.  Obviously, the words of the Spirit through the prophet were meant to touch each heart, but it was through the prophet’s word rather than subjectively, inaudible to the heart.

This fact becomes clear in various New Testament passages.  Paul writes, “By revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief” (Eph. 3:3).  Notice that a “revelation” was given by God to Paul, the apostle, and then this revelation was committed to writing.  Paul continues, “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (vv. 4-5).  This further states that God revealed His will and mystery to the “apostles” and “prophets” in the Spirit.  It was not revealed to the common Christian.  According to this inspired text, the Christian—like you and me—must “read” and “understand” the mystery of Christ that has already been revealed through God’s chosen spokesmen.  Although this may have special reference to the revelation of Christ Himself and the revelation of God’s acceptance of the Gentiles (cf. Eph. 2:11-3:13; Col. 1:24-27; 2:1-3), there is a principle here: God normally “spoke” to His people through the agency of apostles and prophets (including the New Testament writers)—and not directly to each individual believer.  When we read or “hear” Paul, we are actually hearing the Lord!  When we read the words of Peter, we are actually hearing the Holy Spirit!

The Present Emphasis on Personal Revelation

Let’s discuss briefly the modern emphasis on receiving personal “revelation” from God.  While this may be particularly prominent in Charismatic and Pentecostal circles, it is frequently found in most denominations—from Baptist to Nazarene, from Methodist to Independent, from Catholic to Lutheran.

Joyce Meyer, a popular speaker and writer, emphasizes the importance of “hearing” from God regularly.  She writes, “Through Christ, and the power of His Holy Spirit, God wants to speak to you on a One-to-one basis, every day.  He wants to lead you step by step to the good things He has in store for you. . . . And He wants to reveal truth to you that will set you free from worry and fear” (How to Hear from God, p. 9).  She continues, “I remember many times when God informed me of things in the future. . . . I had been a believer for many years before I learned that God wanted to talk directly to me on a daily basis so I could confidently walk in the fullness of His plan for my life” (pp. 12-13).  Has God spoken to Meyer daily—directly and personally?

Ken Copeland, the renowned “Word of Faith” televangelist, explains, “God has given you inner ears to hear His Spirit with [sic].  But you’re responsible for seeking out this revelation knowledge.  God isn’t doling out revelations one at a time.  Instead, He sent the Holy Ghost, and He has all the revelations in Him.  When we get ourselves in a position to receive by meditating the Word, praying, and fellowshipping with the Lord, we begin to receive those revelations from Him.  So it’s on our end that the responsibility lies now” (Voice of Victory, Vol. 18, No. 8, p. 3).

Kenneth Hagin, Copeland’s mentor, says likewise: “God speaks to Christians by His Spirit in our spirits.  In other words, God speaks to us by the inward witness or the inward voice.  Some people call it ‘the still, small voice,’ but really, it’s the inward voice of the Holy Spirit in our spirits” (The Word of Faith, Aug. 1990, p. 15).

As we stated, this personal “leading” or “revelation” from God is not limited to Charismatic circles.  Andy Neckar, a Baptist, claims that God was leading him to a Baptist Church: “I was led into a Baptist church when I was saved.  (Southern Baptist).  I have since joined the Independent Baptist Fellowship as I grew in faith. . . . He led me to this Baptist church. . . . Growing in faith not only led me out of the Southern Baptist churches, but the Spirit led me to understand that the King James Version of the Bible in the English Languange and the Textus Receptus/Masoretic text in all other Bible translation word is an accurate translation of the Greek and Hebrew  Scriptures which were given in the very words determined of the Holy Spirit” (“Some Things Abound [sic] Me,” Christian News and Views, emphasis mine).  The Spirit “led” this man to the Southern Baptists, then “led” him to the Independent Baptists, and the Spirit “led” this man to understand that the King James Bible is perfect!

Diane Kilmer was a missionary and teacher in Japan, along with her husband.  She was on her knees praying for the third time for a certain request.  Kilmer explained, “Suddenly a voice said loudly, ‘No!  Now get up and don’t ask me again!’  I jumped up and began quickly wiping tears away and readjusting my attitude before it occurred to me that the voice was God’s and that he had spoken into my head . . . in English!  That was my point of discovery that conversational prayer with God is available today. . . . Usually (although not always) a brief phrase or a few sentences come into my mind which answer the question” (Integrity, Summer, 2000, p. 22).

Oral Roberts is well known to millions of charismatics and others around the world.  He has publicly claimed to hear from God.  Notice this report:

Oral Roberts couched the expansion of his parachurch conglomerate in terms of visions, not corporate ledgers or cost-effectiveness. In May 1980, he wrote supporters to say that he had spoken with a 900-foot vision of Jesus Christ, who assured him that Roberts’s City of Faith medical complex would be completed.  Later, he reinforced that sort of spectacular revelation with a second message from God that his medical facilities eventually would find a cure for cancer.  (http://religiousbroadcasting.lib.virginia.edu/powerpolitics/C7.html)

Roberts claimed that he built his $150,000,000 City of Faith “on direct orders from God.”  Furthermore, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Roberts sent out “millions of letters saying Jesus appeared to him and told him God has chosen Roberts to find the cure for cancer.”  Only a few years later, the Oral Roberts University School of Medicine and the City of Faith hospital were to be closed.  Was Roberts mistaken?  (“The ‘Misleading’ of the Holy Spirit,” Guardian of Truth, April 14, 1991, p. 14).

Charles Stanley, the Baptist televangelist and past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, claims: “The Holy Spirit living within us and speaking to us ought to be the natural, normal life-style of believers.  We can claim His presence, direction, and guidance. . . . The Holy Spirit within us will answer our petitions, speak to our hearts, and give us directions” (How to Listen to God, pp. 15, 86).  He claims that since Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8), He will speak today as He did in the past (v. 133).  He goes so far as to say, “We must make absolutely certain that we are fully convinced and persuaded that God does speak to us personally” (p. 128).

Peter Lord, a Baptist preacher, says that God “speaks” even in little, everyday things.  He says, “[God] wants us to be sensitive to the inner voice when He speaks to our spirit.”  He goes on to relate, “I lay back on the pillow, a still voice urged, ‘Go up and go to the motel lobby.’  I turned over, ignoring the prompting.  But it came again.  ‘Go to the motel office.’  ‘God if that is You—Your voice—keep letting me know,’ I prayed as I shut my eyes.  Fifteen minutes later I was still awake.  The same impression kept coming. . . . My emotions cried, ‘Rest.  Sleep.’  But an inner witness said, ‘Go’” (Fulness, Sept.-Oct. 1980, p. 29).  Based on this inner impression and “voice,” Peter felt like he submitted to God.  “I went in obedience to Him.”

Bernard Ramm gives one qualification of the Biblical interpreter: “Utter dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct.”  He goes on to give this example: “Aquinas used to pray and fast when he came to a difficult passage of Scripture.  Most of the scholars whose Biblical studies have blessed the church have mixed prayers generously with their studies.  The heart must be kept sensitive to the indwelling Spirit who in turn has inspired the Word” (Protestant Biblical Interpretation, pp. 13-14).  We would not doubt that prayer for God’s wisdom must be combined with Scriptural study, but we can see even the danger here.  Thomas Aquinas was a prominent false teacher in the medieval Catholic Church and promoted innumerable false doctrines as the fruit of his study of the Scriptures with the help of apostate Roman tradition.  Did God lead him to these false doctrines?  How can Ramm give this renowned Catholic false teacher as an example of one who was sensitive to the Holy Spirit?

Jo Kimmel emphasizes the importance of hearing the “voice” of God and takes this to some extreme: “God is speaking all the time, all the time, all the time, as Frank Laubach has said.  I believe he is, but we need to learn to recognize his voice. . . . God speaks to us today if we have ears to hear, and one beautiful way he speaks is through other people. . . . God often speaks through people in a prayer group.  For instance, the group grows quiet and waits in silence.  As thoughts come to various ones, these are shared. . . . Those in the group find God speaking to them and ministering to them through the others in the group.  One time God spoke directly and pointedly to me through a woman who was teaching a class at the Church of the Brethren Seminary in Chicago” (Steps to Prayer Power, pp. 82, 87).  We continue to see the extreme danger of relying on inner impressions when vast false doctrine—such as a woman teaching and serving—is involved.

Harold Rogers says that prayer is “dialogue” and not “monologue.”  In other words, he claims that it is two-way and not one-way.  He explains, “Prayer is more than monologue, it is a dialogue.  It is listening, learning to listen with mind, body, and soul. . . . To pray there must be two dimensions at least, talking or thinking, and more definitely listening. . . . By learning to listen, listen, listen, and then respond in obedience to his direction” (Learning to Listen, Lord, pp. 31, 32).  In agreement with many others, Rogers would deny that prayer, by definition, means utterance to God alone.  On the contrary, the Greek euchomai means, “to pray”; proseuchomai means, “to pray”; and erotao means, “to ask” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).  It means communication to God rather than communication from God.

Arthur L. Johnson, in his helpful book, Faith Misguided: Exposing the Dangers of Mysticism, discusses this question of prayer.  Notice this excerpt:  “Some believe that a relationship with God can properly be personal only if there is a continuing two-way conversation between the persons involved.  Thus, to have a personal relationship with God necessarily means that we speak to God in prayer about the various details of our daily lives, and He, in turn, responds in some direct manner.  Since the Bible does not tell us what to do about diaper rash on the baby, a car that will not start, or buying a thousand shares of stock, Scripture alone is not seen as God’s response to our part of the conversation.  Therefore, according to this viewpoint, to have a personal relationship with God, God must respond in some direct manner.  The principles revealed in the Bible and brought to our consciences by the Spirit of God are deemed an inadequate response on God’s part.  Because most Christians do not expect to hear God speaking out loud to them in words, it seems natural to expect an inner impression as God’s part of the conversation.  Lacking these inner impressions, a person might doubt that he has the personal relationship to God that he should have.  God is not talking to him” (pp. 141-142).  He then notes, “God ‘speaks to us,’ first and foremost, through the prepositional information found in the Scriptures.  The Bible is God’s ‘letter’ to us, His ‘instruction book,’ His verbal part of the conversation.  We speak to God in prayer; He speaks to us through His Word” (p. 143).

Many teachers and writers speak of the inner “voice” that communicates to the mind or heart.  James Robison, for instance, says, “The still, small voice is not necessarily an audible voice you hear with your physical ears.  It is heard within your spirit, and you hear it with your spiritual ears” (Hearing God Speak, p. 4).  On the other hand, some go so far as to claim audible communication from God.  This is especially true of certain well-known Charismatics.  For instance, after Ken Copeland told God that he was coming to “visit” with Him, he believes that God did actually speak to him.  “The Lord spoke to me and said, ‘Son, you don’t know how that thrills the heart of a Father.’  I heard Him speak to me in words you hear when you talk with a friend.  I heard it in my heart as if it were an audible voice” (Prayer: Your Foundation for Success, p. 85).

While some seem to be open to any “voice” that comes their way, other teachers warn of hearing different “voices” in their heart.  Robison cautions his readers, “We must be constantly alert and watchful in discerning the spiritual voices.  Some time ago, after two days of prayer and fasting, God showed me that Christians hear the voice of satanic influence on the same wavelength they hear God on.  No matter how pure or perfect your heart is, you will hear both voices on the same level.”  He continues, “Many times I hear the voice of God tell me to do something.  I know it’s God’s voice, and I know it’s His will for me to do what I’ve heard from Him.  But, immediately, the voice of the enemy begins to tell me how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, etc.  That’s why we must be extremely careful in determining that the voice we hear is actually God speaking to us” (Hearing God Speak, p. 5).  Robinson’s ominous words of warning, “You will hear both voices [Satanic and divine] on the same level,” shows the troubling experience some have in determining the source of these “inner voices”!

As we have seen, today vast numbers of devoted professing Christians emphasize their assumption that God speaks to them.  They would contend that if one questions this widespread practice, he must be unspiritual!  Conversely, truly spiritual Christians who are Spirit-filled will definitely “hear” the “voice” of God, of Jesus, or of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis.

Many Cultists Claimed to Hear from God

We are aware that an experience like “hearing” from God cannot be disproved by citing cases of obvious deception.  On the other hand, it is interesting that so many leaders of false movements did claim to receive personal revelation and claimed that this “word from God” was what led them to begin their cultic doctrines and false movement.  Think of several of these cases:

Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and the Son materialized and appeared to him in a vision in 1820 in the woods near Palmyra, New York.  Then, in 1823, he said that an angel named Moroni appeared at his bedside and told him of buried golden plates that contained the Book of Mormon.  Later, in 1829, he claimed that Peter, James, and John sent John the Baptist to Pennsylvania, where Joseph was residing, and conferred on Joseph and Oliver Cowdery the “Aaronic Priesthood”!  These personal appearances and revelations provided the origin of the worldwide cultic movement, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” otherwise known as the Mormons, a group that promotes polytheism, claims that God was once a man, and who teach a vast array of false doctrines!

The present Mormon view is that God continues to reveal His truth to Mormon leadership.  The ninth article of faith of “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” states: “We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.  Revelation can be defined as communication from God to us.  It can also be defined as the unveiling of that which is hidden . . . . Revelation always has been the foundation of God’s true Church.  Only through revelation can God make known His divine truth.”  Millions of deceived and lost Mormons are depending on special revelation to lead them right—but this is leading them to further falsehood, away from the true God of Scripture!

Beginning in 1844, Ellen Harmon (Ellen G. White was her later married name) claimed to receive visions from God that revealed some of the main false teachings of the Millerite movement that became known as the Seventh Day Adventists.  One source says, “About 1847, Ellen G. White had a vision regarding the Sabbath.  She was taken into the holy of holies in the heavenly sanctuary where she saw the ark, the Ten Commandments, and a halo of gold around the Sabbath commandment.”  Her followers believed that she had the “Spirit of prophecy” for their group.  She handed down many false teachings through her manifold writings (scholars since have concluded that she plagiarized much of it).

In 1945, Sun Myung Moon (“Shining Sun and Moon”) claimed to have received a vision of his position as “God’s true son” and “the truth of God was sealed” into Moon’s hands (Message to the World Unification Family).  This Korean false prophet began the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies.  Exalting Moon to deity shows that his revelations were false or fabricated and once again shows the danger of believing that God has revealed esoteric knowledge to one’s heart.

Long before the foregoing personalities, Swedenborg was born in Stockholm Sweden in 1688.  J. Arthur Hills writes, “In 1743 he had spiritual illumination, with tremblings, voices, lights, etc. and began to have access to the spiritual world, or to think that he had.”  In 1745, this man claimed to receive special revelation from God that he would become “both a seer and a revelator of the things of the spiritual world, and simultaneously of the spiritual truth and doctrine which underlies the literal and symbolic sense of the sacred Scriptures” (quoted in The Kingdom of the Cults).  He subsequently wrote profusely, producing many books that differed drastically from the literal word of God.  His followers comprise the Swedenborg Society, clearly a small but widely scattered cult still in existence.

Jim Jones, a dynamic, charismatic, liberal preacher from California gathered hundreds of disenfranchised followers to him.  In time, Jones discarded the Scriptures as authority and claimed to be God!  As blind followers of the blind, more than nine hundred of his disciples moved with him to Guyana in South America where they all committed suicide through his instigation and deception.

In the 1960s, David Berg (also known as Moses David, Mo, Father David, or King David) became a leader among a following of Jesus People.  David claimed to speak for God, or actually be God, distributing his “Mo Letters” to his followers.  “God” spoke through Berg, “Should ye not print for them the Mo Letters? . . . Give them My letters. . . . I will feed them My words” (Cults and New Religions, Ankerberg and Weldon).  Within several years, Berg promoted a doctrine called “Flirting Fishing”  in which his female followers practiced “evangelistic” prostitution for the name of “The Family” (earlier known as “The Love Family,” and earlier yet, “The Children of God”).

In April of 1913, during a Pentecostal camp meeting, John Scheppe had a spiritual experience one night.  He received a “revelation” or mystical experience that led to a Modalistic (or Sabellian) view of the Godhead.  This doctrine claims that Jesus is the God of the Bible and it fails to see a proper distinction between the Father and the Son.  This view grew into the Apostolic movement, sometimes called the “Jesus Only” movement, though adherents like to refer to this doctrine as “Oneness.”  Millions of followers are found worldwide, with the United Pentecostal Church being the largest apostolic denomination in the United States.

A well-known false prophet named William Branham, preached in the 1940s until his death in 1965.  He claimed to be the angel of Revelation 3:14 and 10:7, one who received special revelation from God.  He also claimed to be Elijah whose ministry would end with Christ’s return.  This false teacher has many loyal followers even today, although he never was resurrected as some followers expected.  He astounded people with his healings, miracles, and supernatural knowledge.  (See “William Branham, Apologetics Index.)  Again, a claim to personal revelation from God does not say this has happened!

 Most Messages Do Not Come from God

Thus far, we have seen that God normally speaks to us through the Scriptures.  While this does not absolutely demand that God never speaks to individuals directly, it does show that it is not His normal means of communication.  Yet, millions of people assume that God has indeed spoken to them—and continues to speak to them, even daily!  How can we know whether such messages come from God or from Satan?  We can know this by comparing the claimed messages with the already-revealed Word of God!  Jesus said to the Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).  God’s Word is truth and all personal revelation must be judged by the living and abiding word of God (Hebrews 4:12).  Consider the following examples of the kind of personal revelations that are being promoted today.

If you were to hear someone make one of the following claims, what would you think?  Would you conclude, “Well, this person testifies that God has spoken to him, so He must have spoken!  Who am I to question his personal experience?”  On the contrary, would you say, “We must go to the Scriptures and determine God’s will from what He has already revealed as truth.  On this basis, we can judge whether a message is true or false.  While we may not be able to conclusively say that the person did ‘hear’ from God, we may be able to conclusively say that the person did not ‘hear’ from God.”  Note these examples, along with the truth of God from Scripture.

• “God spoke to me and said that I must be more diligent in praying to Mary by repeating the Rosary (Catholic prayer beads)!” (Matt. 4:10; 6:7-8; Eph. 2:18; 5:20; 1 Tim. 2:5).

 

• “The Lord spoke to me and said that I must baptize my little baby!” (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38-41; 22:16; Romans 6:3-7).

 

• “God told me to send a donation to Ken Copeland, the popular Word of Faith televangelist!” (1 Tim. 6:3-5; Acts 20:29-31; 2 Peter 2:1-3).

 

• “The Lord revealed to me that I should join the Episcopal Church” (Matthew 15:13-14; Romans 16:17-18).

 

• “God told me to set the Bible aside and to just listen to Him!” (Acts 17:11; Psalm 119:105; Matthew 4:4).

 

• “The Holy Spirit told me, a woman, to go the hair stylist and cut my hair short!” (1 Corinthians 11:14-15).

 

• “God spoke to my spirit and told me, a woman, to become a pastor, teacher and evangelist!” (1 Timothy 2:11-12; 3:1-2; 1 Cor. 14:33-37).

 

• “The Lord revealed to me in a dream that I should join the Air Force and become a fighter pilot” (Matt. 5:38-42; Romans 12:17-21; 2 Cor. 10:3-4; 1 Thess. 5:15).

 

• “God showed me that I should stop using Christian curriculum in teaching my children and should put them in the worldly secular schools!” (Ephesians 6:4; Deut. 6:6-7; Phil. 4:8; Col. 2:8).

In the imaginary (but realistic) examples above, we can see that although someone may claim to have a special revelation from God, that supposed revelation may conflict with either direct Scriptural commands or general Scriptural principles.  When such a contradiction occurs, we know immediately that the professed revelation is faulty.  It may be questioned whether this conflict ever happens.  Indeed, it does!  In fact, many messages in personal revelations do conflict with the teaching and principles of the Word of God.  Notice a few of the examples that have come to my attention (and such examples could be multiplied):

• Jennifer Cisowski, a 21-year-old woman from Florida, killed her eight-month-old son to prove her faith in God. This young woman, from Abiding Word Church in Chaplin, Connecticut, claims that “voices” told her to “throw her child in the stones” so she threw her child down the stairs to prove to the Lord and to cast evil spirits from her boyfriend.  Did Jennifer hear the “voice” of God to murder her child (Rev. 21:8)?

 

• Glenda Cauthen, of Fort Worth, Texas, claimed that “God had called her” to “receive something personal from God.” She took away the Bibles of her family and proclaimed that God had anointed her to judge and save the world.  Her minister, David Faircloth, explained, “She would talk as though God was talking through her.  They would hear a really low-key voice coming through her.”  In her bizarre story, Glenda said that her oldest son, Clayton, was slain because “God ordered Clayton Cauthen’s sacrifice.”  Glenda herself committed suicide as her other family members looked on.  She ordered that her body be placed inside the house and claimed that she would return from the dead in three days, three weeks, or three years.”  (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sept. 17, 2001).  Glenda never returned from the dead!  Was she listening to God?  Did God really tell Glenda to kill her son and proclaim these bizarre teachings (Rom. 13:9)?

 

• Deanna Laney was a minister to youth, sang in the church choir, and spoke in tongues at the First Assembly of God Church. Laney, a mother from New Chapel Hill, Texas,  believes that God told her to kill her two children—8-year-old Joshua and 6-year-old Luke.  She explained, “I feel like that I obeyed God, and I believe there will be good out of this. . . . I feel like he will reveal his power and they will be raised up.  They will become alive again.  They will be healed completely.  They will walk on the Earth” (Star-Telegram, March 2004).  According to reports, “she thought God was ordering her to kill the boys as a test of faith” (Star-Telegram, April 5, 2004).  “Laney felt compelled to follow the order of God because she believes he is infallible and would never direct her to do wrong” (Star-Telegram, April 3, 2004).  One witness stated that “Laney was convinced she was chosen by God—just as Mary was chosen to bear Jesus—to kill her children and then to serve as a witness after the world ends” (Star-Telegram, April 2, 2004).  Did God really tell Laney to murder her sons?  Did she receive personal revelation from God?

 

• Karen Dammann, a lesbian/homosexual Methodist minister from Washington state, claimed that “God called her into the ministry” and she states, “I just can’t believe that God makes a mistake” (Star-Telegram, March 2004). Did God make a mistake—or did Dammann make the tragic and immoral “mistake”?  Did she fail to really hear the “call” of God?

 

• Paul Hill was executed at Florida State Prison in 2003 for killing an abortion doctor and his security escort. Hill claimed that God told him to kill the abortionist because of his murder of unborn babies.  “I expect a great reward in heaven,” said Hill, “I am looking forward to glory.  I don’t feel remorse.”  He said that he would kill again if he had the opportunity.  (Star-Telegram, Sept. 3, 2003).  Did God speak to Paul Hill?  We don’t question that the abortionist is a murderer and worthy of death (Romans 13:1-6), but is it true that God personally directed Hill to take this into his own hands?

 

• Roberta Dupre and Beverly Stambaugh were found guilty of swingling 1,000 investors out of $2,000,000. The jury rejected Dupre’s claim “that the Lord had encouraged her to lure the investors with pledges that $1,000 could become $1 million if a secret bank account were unlocked”—so that the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos’ fortune could be tapped.  (MSN News, Oct. 25, 2004).  Did God have Dupree and Stambaugh to do this?  Did they receive personal direction from God?

 

• Valarie Owen grew up as a Baptist then received what she thought was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Lord then “told her that she would be used extensively in a healing ministry.”  Several years later “the Lord instructed her to be ordained for the work He had called her to do.”  Since then, this self-proclaimed healer and teacher has been part of the Word of Faith Bible Institute.  Did God really “instruct” her to be ordained to this ministry (1 Tim. 2:11-12)?

 

• David Mitchell, who called himself, “Emmanuel,” and who claimed to be a prophet to the homeless, lived in a teepee outside Salt Lake City. Mitchell, bearing a gun, abducted a 15-year-old girl from her bedroom in the middle of the night and kept her confined for nine months until the police rescued the young girl.  The reports stated that Mitchell believed that “God had told him to take her as another wife.”  One source stated, “It was a religious thing.  This guy just wanted another wife, and God told him that was the one” (“Miracles Do Exist,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 13, 2003).  Did God tell Mitchell to kidnap this innocent girl and hold her captive?

 

• A woman I know who had been married about three times wanted to marry a fourth time. I shared my Biblical study booklet on divorce and remarriage with her, a work that discusses God’s prohibition of remarriage after a forbidden divorce and how this constitutes adultery.  When she told me that she was moving in with her boyfriend (soon to be her adulterous husband), I told her that arrangement would be fornication and adultery, according to God.  She indicated that she had already talked to God about this and He had revealed to her that He would approve of this relationship.  When I said that the Lord had already revealed His will about remarriage and adultery in His written Word, she was undeterred, saying that God had revealed to her that it would be acceptable.  Again, this shows how deceptive our thoughts, our heart, and our emotions are.  Only a firm reliance on God’s eternal Word is safe!

 

• Valeri Barinov, during the Communist era of the Soviet Union, claimed to become a Christian. This is his testimony: “In those beginning years, other Christians said that rock music was not good, and so I sold my guitar and didn’t even listen to music for about four years.  I just read and studied the Bible.  In 1971 I became a member of the registered Baptist Church in Leningrad.  A lot of people told me I should cut my hair and change the way I dressed.  But the Lord showed me that He created me with long hair and jeans.  And He made it clear that my place was to bring the Good News to young people through rock music.”  Did God really show Valeri these things (1 Cor. 11:14-15; Eph. 5:19; James 1:27)?

 

• Merilee Berry, a woman minister in the liberal Disciples of Christ denomination, says that in her younger years, “the Lord tugged at her heart, calling her to enter professional Christian ministry.” “The Lord first called me to ministry when I was 17,” Berry said.  The minister continued, “If God calls you, answer it, because he will not stop” (Star-Telegram, Feb. 8, 2003).  Did God “call” Berry to a public preaching and pastoral ministry, in light of 1 Cor. 14:33-37; 1 Tim. 2:8-12)?

 

• Kenneth Hagin, the father of the Word of Faith movement, claims that God led him into his ministry from the beginning. He explains, “In March 1944, while I was praying, I saw in the Spirit and I knew that when I reached 65 years of age, two of the main outreaches of my ministry would be radio and the printed page. . . . Then the Lord said to me, ‘The printed page is still the best way to spread the message on a worldwide basis.’”  In 1949, Hagin was in his church building.  He  recalls this experience later: “The Spirit spoke to me as I was waiting there in my church.  The Spirit said, ‘I am going to take you on to revelations and visions.’ . . . Then in 1950 the visions began to come.  Eight times Jesus Himself appeared to me and talked to me.  There were also other visions.”  Again, Hagin says, “When the Lord appeared to me in a vision in 1950, I saw our ministry affecting the whole world. . . . The Lord showed me that He would raise up a ministry of many—not just one individual—but a whole army of people.”  Further, “in 1973, the Lord instructed Brother Hagin to conduct the first annual Campmeeting. . .” (The Word of Faith, Feb. 1989, pp. 10, 11; How you Can be Led by the Spirit of God, p. 101).  Did God really have something to do with this false teacher’s message and ministry all of these years?  Did the Holy Spirit speak to him?  Did Jesus literally appear to him?

 

• Another incident in Hagin’s life is worthy of noticing. In 1959, Hagin was sitting on his bed in El Paso, Texas, when he heard footsteps.  He claimed that Jesus literally walked into his room!  According to this false teacher, “He had on a white robe.  He wore Roman sandals.  (Jesus has appeared to me eight times.  Every time except this time His feet were bare.  This time He had on sandals; that’s what I had heard.)  He seemed to be about 5 feet 11 inches tall.  He looked to weight about 180 pounds.”  What was the message that Jesus brought?  “Then the Lord said this to me, which is not just for my benefit, but for yours, ‘If you will learn to follow that inward witness, I will make you rich. . . . I am not opposed to my children being rich.  I am opposed to their being covetous.’  I [Hagin] have followed that inward witness and He has done just what He said He would.  He has made me rich” (D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, p. 64).  Did Jesus really appear to Hagin?  Did He bring this gospel of prosperity to him?  Does God want us to pursue earthly riches (cf. Mark 10:23-25; 1 Tim. 6:9-10)?

 

• Charles Stanley, the popular television speaker whom I mentioned earlier, wrote of the Spirit’s leading him to become the Baptist Convention president: “When God speaks, one of the most prevalent signs is a sense of calmness in the spirit. . . . The process of being elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention was one of the most tumultuous conflicts in my life; yet I had perfect peace. Months beforehand I had prayed and sought the mind of the Lord as to what I should do regarding the possibility of being nominated as president.  On occasion, I spent a week at a time praying, being quiet and listening to God.  On the night before the Convention met, I again waited upon the Lord and listened to Him.  As a result of His guidance, I allowed my name to be nominated. . . . The time that I had wrestled with the Lord and listened to Him assured me that I must allow my name to be placed in nomination.  When that sort of peace comes to us, we know we’ve heard from God, and we are confident it is His Voice” (How to Listen to God, pp. 61-62).  This illustration show the extreme danger of relying on hearing an “inner voice” and assuming that a “peace” in one’s heart affirms God’s will.  If God did not create the Southern Baptist Convention, if He does not approve of denominationalism, and if He does not put a man into an unscriptural office such as president, whose voice did Stanley hear?

 

• Robert Whitworth relates this account: “According to Pat Robertson, God told him to stay out of politics. In his 1972 autobiography, Shout It From The Housetops, the Republican Presidential hopeful wrote that in 1966 he did not campaign for his father, a U.S. Senator from Virginia, because God told him not to.  A passage on page 195 of the 1972 paperback edition reads, ‘”I have called you to My ministry,” He spoke to my heart. “You cannot tie My eternal purposes to the success of any political candidate . . . not even your father.”’ However, the ‘God-told-me-to-stay-out-of politics passage’ was cut from a glossy, hardback of the book issued last October, 1987 to commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network” (God Told Me to Tell You!, p. 26).  The logical question would be: Did God tell Robertson to stay out of politics or to get into politics?  As we know, this televangelist sought to become a United States presidential candidate!

 

• Pat Robertson himself relates an incident in his own life: “When somebody says to you, ‘God spoke to me,’ you can say, ‘Okay, let’s talk about it. What did He say?’  A fellow came to me once and said, ‘God told me that He’s coming back on Sunday, and I need to go on television to tell everyone about it.’  ‘Well, brother, as I read the Bible, it indicates that nobody knows the day nor the hour when the Lord is going to return, not even Jesus Himself,’ I replied.  ‘I really don’t think God gave you a special insight into Christ’s return.’  ‘God’s going to smite you if you don’t give me access to television,’ he threatened.  ‘I’m sorry,’ I answered, ‘I guess I’ll just have to take that chance.’ Sunday came, and Jesus didn’t.  The erstwhile ‘prophet’ wound up in the mental ward of the local hospital” (Bring it On!, pp. 232-233).  Apparently the personal revelation was false!

 

• Another account by Robert Whitworth is shocking: “In Kentucky some people founded a unique nudist church and campground. One of their group had a vision.  He heard the Holy Spirit say, ‘Go home and take off your clothes, and tell the family to do the same thing.’  The brother, Bennie, came from Texas to ‘See the glories of God revealed.  I have preached all over Florida and saw people healed when they disrobed and prayed’” (God Told Me to Tell You!, pp. 30-31).  Did the Holy Spirit tell this deluded man to establish a nudist church, a violation of countless passages?  Some would accuse us of speaking against a prophet of God and quenching the Spirit of God!  But the question is whether this man was a deceiver, a fraud, and a false teacher!

 

• Robert Tilton of Texas was revealed to be a false prophet of the “wealth gospel” brand and he lost his church. Earlier, when he was on television, he uttered the following words: “One of the ways that God speaks to me is through dreams.  Every now and then, I will have a vision, a slight vision. . . . Several years ago I had a dream and in that dream I saw a multitude of people in front of me but yet they were in front of me one at a time.  And I heard the Lord.  He was about maybe thirty feet behind me and like He was up in the air.  I don’t know if He was tall or what, but I know He was about sixty feet [sic] behind me. . . . I can help you today because I am sent by God, by the Spirit of God to you.  Those of you who has [sic] some kind of problems, God has anointed me to help people break the mountain of problems down—to pull them down.  I know that I know what I know! . . . YOU NEED TO SEND FOR IT TODAY, A 1,000 dollars [sic], you need to send for whatever it is.  If this is you, you need to release your faith today for $1,000.  ‘You say how do you know I’m supposed to?’  I know this: The Bible says, ‘Believe His prophets and so shall ye prosper.’  I know this: that God has already spoken to you, the figure. . . . We are going off the air, those of you that was [sic] just ministered to, you need to offer a thanksgiving offering, SOMEONE GAVE $500 THE OTHER DAY.  YOU NEED TO GIVE $1,000 TODAY BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T DO WHAT God TOLD YOU TO DO THE FIRST TIME.  There it is again.  God told you a different figure, and you haven’t done it.  You need to do . . . it’s better to obey God than to obey man” (God Told Me to Tell You!, pp. 38-40).  Did God reveal all of these things to a money-hungry fraud and false teacher?

 

• Jim McKeever seeks to answer the question, “What do I do if a bunch of people decide to come and take my food? Do I give it to them?  Do I kill them?  How far do I go in protecting my food supply?”  He answers, “You must do whatever God tells you to do at the moment.”  Then he elaborates, “I believe God might lead one Christian family to protect their food with all their might, even to the point of killing those who would attempt to steal it.  I also believe that God would lead other Christians to give most or all of it away” (Christians Will Go Through the Tribulation, pp. 149-150).  This shows the confusion that can prevail when we depend on God’s “leading” apart from the Word.  McKeever thinks that God would “lead” a Christian to murder those who would want food, but the Word plainly says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20-21).

 

• Some cases of personal revelation are frivolous. Notice this from Larry Lea: “Several years ago one of my dear pastor friends said, ‘Larry, when I was praying for you the other day, I had a vision.  I saw you with great big “Mickey Mouse” ears. Everything else about you looked normal except for those elephant-sized ears.  When I asked the Lord to tell me what the vision meant, the Spirit of the Lord spoke back to me and said: “Larry Lea has developed his hearing.  He has developed his spiritual ears.”’”  (Charisma, Aug. 1988; quoted by John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, p. 57.)  Did the Spirit of God actually speak about these Mickey Mouse ears?  Did this preacher actually see this vision?

 

• Kenneth Copeland claims that Jesus gave him the following message. You can judge whether it harmonizes with Scripture: “Don’t be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you’re God. . . . They crucified me for claiming that I was God.  But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me.    That’s what You’re doing” (Voice of Victory, Feb. 1987; quoted by John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, p. 57).  Was this a message from Jesus Christ to Copeland—or was it a blasphemous message from Satan, the enemy of our soul (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-2)?  Was Copland deceived or a deceiver?

 

• Does God “lead” a man into the military? One author gives this testimony, “In 1961 I sensed that God was leading me to teach at the Air Force Academy, where I could minister to cadets.  But to do this I needed to obtain a master’s degree.  I had no deep ambition to return to school, but I did so to allow God to send me to the Air Force Academy.  Education or status was not the goal, but obeying God was” (Your Job: Survival or Satisfaction?, p. 66).  The writer assumed that God “led” him to teach Air Force cadets and he further assumed that He was “obeying” God when he did this.  Was he accurate—or was he deceived?

 

• Notice this website announcement by Paula Hewell from Plano, Texas: “Pastor Paula is an ordained minister of the Gospel and has been active in ministry for 34 years. She has a five-fold ministry and operates in the office of teacher and the prophetic.  Pastor Paula flows in the anointing of the Holy Spirit in healing, miracles and the gifts of the Spirit.  Their ministry ushers God’s people into the Presence and Glory of God.  God confirms His Word with signs and wonders as she ministers in teaching and anointed singing.”  According to this, God, through the Spirit, supposedly works in this “ordained minister,” a “partner” of Kenneth Copeland.  Has Paula heard from God—or has she been greatly deceived, according to the written Word of God (1 Tim. 2:8, 11-12; 3:1-2; 1 Cor. 14:33-37)?

 

• The name of Oral Roberts has been well known since the 1950s when he could be seen on television from coast to coast and around the world. In 1987, Roberts claims that God threatened to “call him home” if he did not raise $8,000,000 for his medical center.  Two years later, Roberts did need to close his facility and he asked the Lord why.  He says that the answer came: “God said in my spirit, ‘I had you build the City of Faith large enough to capture the imagination of the entire world about the merging of My healing streams of prayer and medicine.  I did not want this revelation localized in Tulsa, however. . . .’  As clearly in my spirit as I’ve ever heard Him, the Lord gave me an impression, ‘You and your partners have merged prayer and medicine for the entire world, for the church world and for all generations.’ He said.  ‘It is done.’  I then asked, ‘Is that why after eight years you’re having us close the hospital and after 11 years the medical school?’  He said, ‘Yes, the mission has been accomplished in the same way that after the three years of public ministry My Son said on the cross, “Father, it is finished.”’”  MacArthur comments: “We may gasp at Oral Robert’s hubris, but he is not the only charismatic who thinks he is receiving private revelation from God.  Most charismatics at one time or another feel that God speaks to them in some specific manner, either through an audible voice, an internal impression, a vision, or simply by using them as a vehicle to write a song, compose a poem, or utter a prophecy” (Charismatic Chaos, pp. 47-48).  Is this an example of religious lies given for the sake of advantage—“in their greed they will exploit you with false words” (2 Peter 2:3)?  Is it an example of utter deception?  Whatever it is, this shows again the danger of false personal revelation!

 

• Sometimes a person believes that God has revealed information about the future. James Robison tells of a conversation between national religious leaders.  He first speaks of Billy Graham’s words and then others: “’God has shown me that we have less than a thousand days left as a free nation if we do not see some sort of an awakening.’  Bill Bright was alarmed.  ‘That is the precise message God has given to me, too,’ he said.  ‘Three years if something doesn’t happen.’  Adrian Rogers agreed.  ‘If we don’t see a turn, we won’t have anywhere to preach the gospel’” (Thank God, I’m Free, p. 130).  The book was copyrighted in 1988, which appears to make false witnesses of all three preachers since nothing like a genuine spiritual “awakening” has been observed.  This again shows the danger of relying on inner voices and impressions and then communicating the messages to others.

 

Many of these examples involve self-professed prophets who claim to have “heard” a word from God.  We’ve seen that fraudulent claims are found frequently today, especially in certain charismatic circles.  God’s view of them would be similar to His view of the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day:  “I did not send these prophets, but they ran.  I did not speak to them, but they prophesied” (23:21).  The doom of the false prophets of our day is just as certain.

 

Go to Part 2

(We realize that many of the men and women referred to herein are now dead. They still have much to show us!)