CSB17 Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go and join that
chariot."
God spoke to Philip. The Holy Spirit gave Philip specific directions that
were more specific and detailed than what Philip could have known by reading
the parts of the Bible that Philip had available. First, the Spirit told Philip
to “"Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to
Gaza" (Acts 8:26 CSB17). Then the
same Spirit told Philip to go up to a chariot he saw. Philip obeyed this
guidance from the Holy Spirit and the result was that a man heard the good news
about Jesus, believed it, was saved, and was baptized.
We know that God speaks to all people who are willing to listen through His
Word, the Bible. But does God still also speak to people personally and
directly with words of encouragement, insight, or direction which are more
direct? In other words, does God still, at least sometimes, speak to people
today the way that He spoke to Philip in the book of Acts? In this blog post, I
will call this way of God speaking to people direct revelation. I
believe that God does still speak to people by His Spirit today and does
sometimes provide direct revelation. In this post, I will:
1. share some ways in which the Bible
leads us to expect direct revelation to continue today,
2. respond to some common objections
Christians raise to continued direct revelation today,
3. offer some pastoral advice and (hopefully,
prayerfully) helpful thoughts about seeking, receiving, evaluating, and
following direct revelation and,
4. share some examples of direct
revelation.
Four Ways
that the Bible Leads Us to Expect Direct Revelation Today
1. There
are examples of God speaking to all kinds of people throughout the Bible.
God spoke
directly to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28-30), He asks Cain why he is angry
(Genesis 4:6-7), and He directs Hagar to return to her mistress (Genesis
16:8-10). God tells Jacob not to be afraid to move to Egypt (Genesis 46:2-4).
God tells Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 4:27). On one occasion
God tells Moses to strike a rock to produce water (Exodus 17:5-6), and on a
different occasion He tells Moses to speak to a rock (Numbers 20:8). God told Balaam
not to curse Israel (Numbers 22:12). The Lord gave Joshua detailed instruction
for how to conquer Jericho (Joshua 6:2-5). The Lord tells first Manoah’s wife,
then Manoah, about the son she would give birth to (Judges 13). God gave Elijah
directions and encouragement through a soft whisper (1 Kings 19:12-18). Two
times God told Jonah to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:2).
This pattern
continues in the New Testament. Zacharias is told by an angel that his wife,
Elizabeth, will have a son (Luke 1:13). God tells Joseph to flee to Egypt
(Matthew 2:13), later tells him to return (Matthew 2:19-20), and then tells him
not to stay in Judea (Matthew 2:22). The Lord told Ananias to go and pray for a
man named Saul (Acts 9:10 ff). God speaks to this same Saul (now called Paul)
multiple times: telling him to leave Jerusalem (Acts 22:18), guiding him to go
to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10), encouraging Paul to keep speaking (Acts 18:9-10), warning
him of bonds and afflictions (Acts 20:23), and promising him that he and those
with him on a ship in a storm would survive (Acts 27:23-24).
More
examples could be given from both the Old and New Testament, and indeed I have
saved some relevant examples for discussion below.
The whole
Bible is given to teach us. Why include many examples of God giving specific
directions and personal encouragement to people throughout the Bible if God was
going to stop doing this? When we read examples like this it is normal for them
to stir in us an expectation that God will sometimes speak directly to us and
to others today. Nothing in the Bible even comes close to being an explicit
statement that God would stop speaking to us personally and directly at some
point (we’ll examine the one verse I know of that people occasionally claim
means this below, but you’ll see it doesn’t). Far from giving us reasons to
think God might stop, the Bible gives us reasons to expect Him to continue.
#2 We are
commanded to seek to prophesy.
CSB17 1 Corinthians 14:1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and
especially that you may prophesy.
CSB17 1 Corinthians 14:39 So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to
prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other tongues.
ESV 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise
prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
All prophecy includes what we are calling direct revelation, but not all
direct revelation is prophecy. Direct revelation involves God speaking directly
to a person. Prophecy also involves God speaking directly to a person, but with
prophecy there is the added element that God gives a message to one person
which He wants that person to share with someone else (or in some cases, to
share with many people). If you examine prophecy throughout the Bible, I think
you will see that the definition I have given here very consistently fits the
biblical example.
Paul wrote 1 Corinthians not only to the church at Corinth, but also to
“all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” (1
Cor. 1:2 CSB17). In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us to seek to prophesy. Paul
includes prophecy as one of the spiritual gifts which Christians in Rome might
have (Romans 12:6). Paul explains to the Corinthians that sometimes when people
prophesy in church and a visitor is present, “The secrets of his heart will be
revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming,
‘God is really among you’" (1 Cor. 14:25 CSB17). Agabus was a prophet and
God spoke through him to warn that Paul would be arrested when he went to
Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-11).
Why would God give us direction to seek to prophesy, command us not to
despise prophetic utterances, and provide examples of Christians in the New
Testament who prophesied, if He was going to stop all prophesying? While I
don’t think that prophecy is as common as private words of direct revelation
intended only for the person who receives them, the Bible does lead us to
expect at least some words of prophecy to be given. This requires direct
revelation to continue.
3. Peter declared that we are living in a time of
widespread direct revelation!
CSB Acts 2:16 On the contrary, this is
what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters
will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream
dreams.
18 I will even pour out my Spirit on
my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter declared that Joel’s prophecy about the last
days was being fulfilled. Joel prophesied that there would be a widespread work
of the Holy Spirit resulting in prophesy, dreams, and visions. In this context,
dreams and visions are referring to dreams and visions from God, and so these
are also forms of direct revelation.
Joel said that this widespread work of the Holy Spirit would occur in “the
last days.” It appears that the “last days” started on Pentecost. Since we come
after that, and since Jesus has not yet returned, we must still be living in
this “last days” timeframe. In fact, John tells us that we are living in “the
last hour” (1 John 2:18).
Based on Peter’s interpretation of Joel, we should expect more
direct revelation (in the form of prophesies, dreams, and visions) during these
final days, not less. Below I’ll share evidence that God is, in fact, giving
many people supernatural dreams today.
4. Our intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father
makes it seem likely that He would continue to speak to us directly and
intimately as He did throughout the lives of people in the Bible.
CSB17 Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his
Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
Although this fourth reason for expecting direct revelation to continue
today may not be as direct, I have always felt it is important. When we are
born again and become part of God’s family, the Bible does not picture our
relationship with God as distant. He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus said,
"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23 CSB17). Paul writes,
“For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk
among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16
CSB17). We know that the Holy Spirit lives in us once we are saved. This
certainly sounds like the type of relationship where it would not be surprising
to have God speak into our thoughts.
Objections to continued direct revelation
About 24 years ago, while attending Bible seminary, I had a professor who
was strongly opposed to the idea that God might speak directly to anyone today except
through the words of the Bible. Overall, he was a good professor who taught God’s
truth. But on this issue, I disagreed strongly with him and wrote a paper to
share why I believe God still speaks to people today (this blog post draws
heavily from that paper, which I still have). I probably spent more time researching
for this paper than on any other topic I studied during seminary. I studied
both sides of the issues. In a recent discussion on Facebook, I saw some of the
same objections raised that I heard 24 years ago. These objections come from
sincere, Bible believing Christians and thus deserve consideration. As you will
see, I find these objections to be quite weak once they are carefully examined.
Objection #1: Paul taught that prophecy would cease when
the Bible was complete
This objection, which is rarely raised (perhaps because it is so easily
shown to be based on a poor interpretation of Scripture) is nevertheless worth
mentioning because it is the objection which is most directly based on a
passage of Scripture. Paul wrote:
CSB17 1 Cor 13:8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it
will come to an end.
9 For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part,
10 but when the
perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a
child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
12 For now we see
only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
Paul says that prophecies “will come to an end.” When will this happen?
Paul tells us it will happen, “. . .
when the perfect comes.” Some have interpreted “when the perfect comes” as
referring to something like when the last book of the New Testament was
finished, or when the last of the Apostles died, or perhaps when the process of
the church collecting and recognizing the inspired books of the New Testament
was complete. They reason that once we have the whole Bible, we no longer need any
more prophecy. Sometimes this reasoning is extended to say we no longer need
any form of direct revelation.
It seems very unlikely that Paul was referring to the completion of the
Bible when he wrote “when the perfect comes.” Paul is more likely referring to
the same time he mentions in vs. 12 when he writes, “For now we see only a
reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
I will know fully, as I am fully known.” When will we see God face to face? Not
when the Bible is finished, but when this current dark age comes to an end and
Jesus returns and we who are in Christ are resurrected to eternal life.
Likewise, Paul did not come to know God fully, compared to his partial
knowledge when writing 1 Corinthians, when the Bible was finished. Paul must be
referring instead to the end of the age and the resurrection. That makes a lot
more sense.
But aside from the passage in 1 Corinthians 13, some Christians still question
the need for continued direct revelation . . .
Objection #2 Direct revelation is no longer needed
because we have the Bible
It is true that we have the Bible and that the Bible is God’s revelation to
us and it is completely true. But does that mean there is no longer any value
to God speaking to us directly in addition to speaking to us through the Bible?
I don’t think so. Let me explain why by sharing some examples of direct
revelation from Scripture where the direct revelation was helpful for reasons
that still apply to our lives today even though we have the complete Bible.
Example 1: David received different directions for different
battles.
In 1 Chronicles 14 we find short accounts of two different battles that
David fought against the Philistines. Before the first battle, David seeks God’s
guidance and God simply tells David to “go up”:
ESV 1 Chronicles 14:10 And David inquired of God, "Shall I go up
against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?" And the LORD
said to him, "Go up, and I will give them into your hand."
However, when David seeks God’s direction for the next battle, God gives
David different guidance. He still directs David to attack, but God directs him
not to simply launch a frontal attack:
ESV 1 Chronicles 14:14-15 And when David again inquired of God, God said to
him, "You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them
opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops
of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to
strike down the army of the Philistines."
Sometimes God gives directions through direct revelation which contains
specific details for a specific time and place which are not addressed by
general principles in the Bible. So, today, God might speak to someone about
serving in a specific ministry, or a specific nation overseas, or about reaching
out to a specific friend, or He might give guidance concerning any of a number
of details which are not covered specifically in the Bible. Should we expect
God to give direct revelation to guide us in every such situation? No, I’m not
saying that, and the Bible does not lead us to expect that. But there is no
reason that God might not sometimes give such direction when, according to His
wisdom and the need of the hour, it is helpful. I can’t see how our need for
this is less than David’s was. A New Testament example of this was mentioned at
the beginning of this blog post. God guided Philip to travel on a specific road
and to go share the gospel with a person in a specific chariot that Philip saw.
I don’t think evangelism works this way most of the time, but I don’t see any
reason at all why God might not sometimes do something similar today when He
wants a certain Christian to share with a specific unbeliever at just the right
time and place.
Example 2: Peter receives encouragement to go eat with Gentiles,
and share the gospel with them.
In Acts 10, Peter receives some direct revelation. God directs Peter to go
with some men to the house of a Gentile named Cornelius:
CSB17 Acts 10: 19-20 While Peter was
thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, "Three men are here
looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all,
because I have sent them."
Men were coming to ask Peter to come
and share the gospel with Cornelius and his household. Should Peter have needed
new direct revelation to know that it was a good idea to go with people who
wanted to hear the gospel? Probably not. Peter had heard the Great Commission
repeatedly directly from His risen Lord. The Great Commission explicitly
included going to the Gentiles (note: the Greek word for “Gentiles” is the
exact same as the Greek word for “nations” used in the Great Commission). So
why did Peter need direct revelation? When we read the whole story, we can see
that even though Jesus had already given the Great Commission, there was a lot
of uncertainty about things like eating non-kosher food with Gentiles. Peter
was uneasy about this himself, and other Jewish Christians would likely be
upset by him going to share the gospel in a setting where he ate with Gentiles
(in fact, it appears that they did get upset). So, even though Peter should not
have needed new directions to go and share the gospel with Gentiles, maybe He
did need a little extra encouragement to do so. God can give us encouragement in
many ways to do what we should already know we should do. In Peter’s case, the
encouragement included a vision and some words of direct revelation.
Why shouldn’t God give similar
encouragement to Christians today when He wants us to do something that, even
though we should already know based on the Bible that it is a good thing to do,
we nevertheless are afraid to do? What if God calls someone to leave a good
paying profession to serve Him in a place and ministry where their finances
will likely be difficult? Of if God wants someone to leave the relative safety
of a nation like the US and to serve Him in some especially dark and dangerous
corner of the world? Isn’t there already enough information in the Bible to
indicate that such decisions are good? Yes. But might we still benefit from
some additional encouragement from God? Of course! And one way He might give
such encouragement is through direct revelation. This would be especially helpful
if the direct revelation was in some ways confirmed. I’ll share a relevant
story concerning my wife and myself below.
Objection
#3 If there is new direct revelation, we would need to keep our Bible in
three-ring binders so we could keep adding new pages.
I heard a
statement similar to this third objection over twenty years ago while in seminary,
and I heard it again in sometime in the last few weeks. It is true that everything
in the Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Every word in the Bible came
to us via direct revelation. However, it is not true that every example of
direct revelation is recorded in the Bible. We are told that Philip the evangelist
had four daughters who prophesied, yet we do not have any words of their prophecies
in the Bible. This means there is no need to add new direct revelations to our
Bibles!
Why are some
words of direct revelation included in Scripture, while others are not? One
simple reason may be that God intended for some things He revealed to be read
and believed by all people all around the world, while other things He says are
intended only for the person He speaks to, or perhaps to a small local audience
like one local church or one family.
We need to
keep in mind that the Scriptures we have today were verified to be God’s Word
through a long process. In terms of the New Testament, a key element for verifying
that a document truly contained God’s Word was that it was written by an
Apostle or by someone working closely with an Apostle so that Apostolic
approval could be seen. The Apostles themselves were verified to be authentic
spokesmen for God both because God worked public signs and wonders through them
and also because they were willing to suffer for the gospel. Expecting new
personal direct revelation is not at all the same as expecting new books of the
Bible, which would require a verification with roughly equal evidence to what
God gave for the New Testament. I don’t expect God to reveal new books of the
Bible, but I do expect Christians to sometimes experience some of the types of personal
words from God that read about in stories in the Bible.
Of course,
some false prophets have claimed to receive revelation from God equivalent to
the Bible, and this leads us to the final objection I will discuss here:
Objection
#4 False claims of new direct revelation have caused too much damage.
Let’s be clear,
a huge amount of damage has been done by false claims of direct revelation from
God. The false religions of Islam and Mormonism are built on such claims. Some preachers
today milk money from the gullible while jetting around in private planes and
claiming to hear from God. Jesus warned that “Many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many” (Matt. 24:11 CSB17). That has certainly happened.
But should we then assume that all new claims of direct revelation are
false? False prophecy is nothing new. All throughout the Old Testament there
were false prophets. It seems that false prophets often outnumbered the true
ones. And yet, God kept sending true prophets. God expects us to use
discernment. I’m not saying it’s easy, but God never promised it would be. Consider
this exhortation from John:
CSB17 1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out
into the world.
Notice that John did not say that all new prophecy would be false. In fact,
why would we need to test the spirits and be on guard against false prophets if
every prophet after John (the last author of the New Testament) was false? The
warning and the need for testing indicates that some new direct revelation will
be true. We mustn’t throw out the baby with the bath water. The bath water may
indeed be a filthy ocean of false prophecy and deception. But in this case, the
“baby” represents God’s words spoken to the hearts and minds of his people in
ways and at times in which He deems it helpful.
While direct revelation can be used to bring helpful guidance and needed
encouragement, there are obviously dangers involved. For this reason, I want to
share some pastoral advice.
Pastoral Advice
1. Read your Bible. Meditate on God’s Word. Study it and think about it all
the time. God consistently speaks to us through the Bible. If we, or someone we
know, thinks God has spoken to them directly, the Bible will help us evaluate
it. And even when we have truly heard God speak to us directly, we will need
biblical principles to help us respond correctly.
2. Pray a lot. Pray in private and pray with other Christians. God can
speak to us anytime He chooses, but there are a number of examples in the Bible
where God spoke while someone was praying.
3. Don’t treat all cases of direct revelation the same. If you think God has
spoken to you directly and wants you to change careers and move with your family
to the other side of the world, it is reasonable to seek significant confirmation
that this is really from God and not just an idea that popped into your mind. However,
if you are waiting for your food at McDonald’s and you think you feel the
Spirit prompting you to reach out to a stranger who looks sad and ask some
gentle questions that may lead to an opportunity to pray for them, you really
don’t need a lot of special confirmation. Just say a quick prayer and go for
it!
4. Be humble. If you think God tells you something about someone else or if
you think God is giving you direction for someone, be humble. There is biblical
precedence for God working in this way, but there is also biblical support for humility.
Practically, I recommend saying something more like, “I think God may have
shown me . . .,” rather than, “Thus sayeth the Lord . . .”. You probably do not
have the prophetic track record and reputation of Isaiah or Paul, so it’s ok to
be cautious and humble.
5. If someone thinks God told them something and they turn out to be wrong,
it’s not the end of the world. They probably just confused their thoughts for
God’s voice. With experience, they will gain better discernment. Of course, if
the person didn’t follow the advice in the point above and if they proudly insisted
that they knew something based on direct revelation, then their error will be
more serious and possibly cause some serious harm. In such a case the person in
error may need to be gently confronted and if they don’t repent a process of
church discipline might be called for.
6. We need God’s help so that we don’t quench the Spirit by despising prophecy
on the one hand, and so that we do not fail to guard ourselves and the church
against false prophets on the other hand. Thankfully, God is always ready to
help us!
7. Direct revelation can be encouraging but remember that God leads us in
many ways. A calling or ministry decision is not less valuable or important if
it was not prompted by direct revelation. God very often leads us through the
Bible, other Christians, providential circumstances, and wisdom He gives us.
Actual examples can help us think about difficult issues, so I’ll close
with one example of direct revelation that my wife and I experienced and then
share about a widespread way in which God is speaking to many people today.
Examples
Example #1: Our Calling
I had a NROTC scholarship and majored in Mechanical Engineering. I met Hope in college and proposed to her several
months after I entered the navy. I served on nuclear submarines. I was young
and ambitious and thought I would go on to command a submarine one day and
perhaps after that to serve as an admiral. Hope expected to be a Navy wife for
many years until I retired. We were both committed Christians, but we had never
discussed the possibility of full-time ministry, much less the possibility of
moving to the other side of the world to work among an unreached people group.
In 1989 I
was serving on a submarine homebased in Groton, Connecticut. Our church was
holding renewal services (similar to revival services). These services were originally planned to
last one week but due to the large crowds and the sense of the Lord’s working and
blessing, they continued for several nights a week every week for around six to
eight weeks. I was able to attend only a
couple of times the first week because the submarine I was stationed on went
out to sea. Hope continued to attend as
often as she could.
One night
the speaker’s message was from the book of Job. He emphasized that we must be
willing to give up everything we value for God. Hope had been frustrated since
moving to Groton because she had not been able to find a teaching job. At the end of the message she went forward to
surrender her teaching to the Lord.
The speaker
had said nothing about missions in his message.
Yet, while praying that night Hope distinctly heard the Lord say to her,
“You will follow your husband overseas and teach your own children and others about
Jesus.” It was not an audible voice, but
what Hope heard in her mind was clear and specific. Hope immediately understood this as a call to
go overseas to share the truth of God with the unreached.
Hope thought,
“How can I follow my husband overseas if Mark doesn’t know this is God’s will?”
She decided to send me a cassette tape of the message from the service that
night with a short note. I received the
small package with the cassette tape when my sub pulled into port in the
Caribbean. Hope did not tell me what she had heard God say to her. That type of news is better shared in
person. She only encouraged me to listen
to the message on the tape. So, in a
room available for off duty crew members, I put the cassette tape into my
Walkman and I listened.
That very
night the Lord led me to the conclusion that He had prepared me and gifted me
in such a way that I should go overseas to share the gospel with the lost. I
was so excited about this that I remember walking outside at night and praising
God. This was a radical change of plans,
to say the least. I talked with Hope on
the phone, but I did not share this new calling, for I thought that something
this big was better shared in person.
Little did I know that God had already told her!
Our
submarine returned to Groton right before Thanksgiving. I told Hope what the Lord had showed me and
she in turn told me what she had heard God say.
The way that God unexpectedly gave the same calling to each of us while
we were separated by hundreds of miles was a clear and miraculous sign for
us. By God’s providence, my cousin, who
had just recently returned from serving the Lord in Africa, was visiting family
nearby and we met with him that same week.
He encouraged us in our new direction, and our church also affirmed and
supported our calling. And it came to
pass as God said it would when he spoke to Hope. I had to finish my time in the Navy. Then we spent three years studying at a Bible
seminary. After that we moved overseas and
shared God’s truth and love with others for fourteen years there.
The
supernatural nature of our calling gave us extra strength to persevere many
times when it was very difficult.
Example
#2: Dreams that lead
Muslims to Jesus
While living
in a Muslim majority nation for fourteen years, I was blessed to meet quite a
few people from Muslim backgrounds who had become Christians. Some of these
became close friends whom I knew for years. Many of them reported a similar
experience. At some point before becoming a Christian they had a supernatural
dream in which they either saw Jesus or saw something that led them to believe
in Jesus. These dear brothers and sisters faced a great risk of persecution
when they became Christians. I don’t think they were making up these dreams.
Besides hearing such testimonies from multiple Muslim converts myself, many
others have reported the same thing. The Gospel Coalition has a good, moving article on Muslims having dreams that led
them to Jesus.
Conclusion
God still
speaks today! The main way He speaks to us is through the Bible. But He also
still speaks to us directly. This might involve Him speaking words and ideas
into our minds, or giving us a supernatural dream, or occasionally even giving
someone a prophetic word intended for a limited audience. We need to use
discernment. At the same time, we should be thankful when God speaks to us in
any way. He really does walk with us and talk with us along life’s way.
Other
Bible related questions I have discussed on my blog:
