When I was a student at Lincoln Christian College, the college conducted an annual week of evangelism. During these weeks the college would prearrange dozens of trips to literally every part of the world. Students would head off to various destinations to spend a week gaining real life experience on the frontlines of ministry. One year, not knowing what to expect, I signed up with the group going to Chicago. We had a blast working with a new church plant, receiving a tour of a Christian radio station, walking the streets, and visiting various sites. But one day we ventured into Chicago's south side, which has a notorious reputation for being infested with drug lords, gangs, crime, and violence. There we painted a porch and fixed up the home of a woman who had an incredible story.
The woman's name was Pearl. She had spent her entire childhood and early adult years strung out on drugs, selling her body to feed her unquenchable addiction, moving from place to place, using people and being used. But the Pearl we met was a kind, gracious woman with a big heart. She was a woman of great esteem, respected in her community. She ran a daycare for the children in her neighborhood so single mothers could work and support their families without having to turn to a life of crime. She began confronting the problems in her neighborhood, running off drug lords, challenging the gangs, and sticking up for those disenfranchised by society. She held multiple Bible studies throughout the week, exhorting her friends and neighbors to get their lives back on track by embracing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Her example of godliness was an inspiration to all of us who were there that day.
When I was there I wanted to know how she escaped her drug addiction and life of prostitution to discover a new life in Jesus Christ. She told me about a day when she was sitting in a room listening to her radio. She was zapped of any will to carry on because she had hit rock bottom. But then, through the radio, God spoke to her and not in a metaphorical way. He spoke literally. Audibly. Personally. By name. Unmistakably. God spoke to her. And for Pearl that was her defining moment, the turning point. After that she fully committed herself to Jesus Christ and unapologetically obeyed the word that God had spoken to her. She became a light shining in a very dark neighborhood.
Has God really spoken?
Meeting Pearl that day energized me for weeks. But I remember thinking, "What a startling claim for a person to make. 'God has spoken to me.' "
Do you realize that this is the claim upon which virtually every faith is based? God has spoken. We have heard his voice. He has revealed his truth. Such a claim is not to be taken lightly nor is it to be thrown about flippantly. Such claims should be carefully investigated and searched out. We are going to spend the first part of this year studying the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews begins with a startling declaration not unlike Pearl's claim. God has spoken! Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV) reads, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
I have been pouring over these words for two weeks, soaking up their meaning. I fear that we have somehow grown numb to the full strength of these words. Today whenever someone says that God has spoken, they are often greeted with yawns and glazed looks. We barely give such claims an ounce of our imagination or a spoonful of our time. We flippantly brush them off and discard them along with the thousands of other empty boasts we hear on any given day. But what if? What if it really is true that God has spoken? What if God has broken the silence? Should we care? Should we tune in? Should we listen? Should we take notice? Should we investigate? Should we respond? What should we do?
Twenty years ago, J.I. Packer wrote a profound book titled God Has Spoken. As I flipped through that book I found myself being convicted by his writings. He contrasts the way men throughout the ages approached the scriptures, with how we in our modern condition approach scripture. Those before us revered the word of God. They were awestruck by the mystery of its divinity. They believed that they were hearing Christ and meeting God every time they read their scriptures. They savored the word of God and were humbled by the notion that God would speak to them.
But then there are those of us with a casual, patronizing, superior attitude. We set ourselves above scripture. We act as if we already know its contents inside and out. We act as if we are in a position to dismiss the word of God, to fault the Holy Scriptures as being neither a wholly safe nor a wholly sound guide to the ways of God. Packer writes, "The present state of our churches makes it hard to doubt that God has begun to forsake us in these days, as a judgment for our irreverent disregard of His written Word."
Some tough words, but a good occasion to pause and reflect. Does it really matter that God speaks? Does it change anything? Does it excite us? Does it perk our curiosity? Does it make us tremble in humility and fear? If God spoke audibly to you this afternoon, would it have any effect on you?
A pattern of speech.
Hebrews speaks of the inspiration of God's word. Hebrews tells us that God has had a pattern of speaking to men throughout history. Hebrews tells us that God has broken the silence. That God has spoken. That God speaks today through his written word and through his Son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews says that in the past God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Upon the simple declaration that God speaks, rests our entire system of faith. We believe that God loves us so much that he chooses to be known by us, that he values us so much he refuses to be elusive, or wholly mystery, or secret. We believe that God has spoken plainly and consistently throughout the ages, from the time of Moses to the prophets, in the person and work of Christ and on into the present church age.
We believe that what God has to say is worthy of our time, our energy, our obedience, our attention, our time, our investigation, our consideration, our personal sacrifice, everything that we have, and everything we are. We believe that God's word is living and active and sharp. We believe that his word transforms, refreshes the soul, is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness ,is sufficient unto salvation, is our sole guide to life in this age and the age to come, and that it isn't neutral.
We believe that the Holy Bible is the word of God and not just a word of God competing among many other words from God. We believe that Jesus Christ embodies the word of God. We believe that Jesus is the personal manifestation of God to all men in all times, that Jesus came to be the truth walking and living and dwelling and dying among us. We believe quite simply that God has spoken and that God still speaks today.
Whenever an author writes a book he lays out his thesis in the introduction. The thesis of Hebrews is that God has spoken through his Son Jesus Christ and because of this fact, every dimension of our lives must be yielded in obedience. This morning I want to talk about the uniqueness of God's word to us through Christ. Consider Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV) again. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
God has a track record of speech.
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways."
God does not speak to us in a vacuum, divorced of all context or history. He has gradually unfolded his revelation to us over thousands of years. With each successive revelation God confirms and builds upon the foundation of earlier revelations so that there is an overall unity and congruence. The importance of this cannot be overstated. God's track record of speech throughout history allows us to discern truth from error in the present. Years ago a pastor of a Pentecostal church claimed that she had received a revelation or special word from God. A lady in her congregation had been attending regularly while her husband attended a nearby Christian church. One Sunday the alleged word of the Lord came to this lady pastor of that Pentecostal church and she instructed the woman to divorce her Christian husband.
When these situations arise, how should we discern if it's God who has spoken and not some demon or indigestion from last night's supper? It's simple. We ask if the revelation is consistent with God's track record of speech throughout history in the Bible, or does it contradict God's track record of speech? There are two much more dramatic examples. The Islamic and Mormon traditions claim to build on the foundation of prophets and Jesus Christ. The Islamic faith considers Jesus to be a prophet, but they believe that Mohammed was the last prophet. The Mormons claim that Jesus came to America to preach the gospel. Christianity claims to build on the foundation of the prophets and the Jewish faith.
These are fantastic claims, but do they hold any water? Do they pass the acid test? Are the claims these faiths make consistent with earlier revelations from God? One of the purposes of the book of Hebrews is to demonstrate the compatibility between Christianity and Judaism, to show how Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets. If Christianity or any other world religion fails this simple test, it is invalidated on the principle of track record. God does not contradict himself with each successive revelation.
Gods confirms his speech with works.
In Hebrews 2:3-4(NIV) the writer of Hebrews asks, "...how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."
As part of God's track record a very obvious pattern of revelation has emerged. Whenever God is revealing fresh revelation he confirms that revelation with extraordinary signs, miracles, and gifts. When God revealed himself to Moses there was a burning bush, a pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, seven plagues, and the provisions of manna and quail. Elijah, the great prophet, had a supernatural showdown with the prophets of Baal and Ahab. He restored a young boy to life. He was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Likewise, Elisha did many works and wonders. Jesus cast out demons, healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, gave health to the sick, walked on water, calmed the seas, and raised the dead.
Mark 16:20 (NIV) tells us this about the early Church. "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." With each progressive stage of revelation God confirmed his speech with miracles, signs, and wonders as a testimony to the credibility of the messenger.
Today people wrestle with the miraculous signs found throughout scripture and ask, "Why doesn't God work like that today?" One obvious answer is that the intensification of miracles we find recorded in scripture most always signaled a major progression in God's revelation. God was confirming his speech and vindicating his messenger, whether it be Moses, the prophets, Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, or whoever. But it is also important to point out that God confirms his word with miracles today. As we obey his word, trust his word, and preach his word, he confirms its validity by changing lives and rescuing us from the grip of sin.
God's speech comes at a great price.
Hebrews 11:32-38 (NIV) explains that those who served as the mouthpieces of God paid an enormous personal price. "And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground."
I don't know of very many men who would be willing to suffer and die for a lie. God's messengers were so confident and trusting that God had spoken that they willingly gave up their lives. They became Christian martyrs. As we will see throughout this series, even the Son of God, Jesus Christ, had to give up his life in order for men to believe that God had spoken. But what else is God to do in order to get us to stop and listen? How can God get us to take notice? To respond? To believe? To trust? To obey? To gain salvation?
God has spoken.
We believe that God loves us so much that he chooses to be known by us, that he values us so much he refuses to be elusive, or wholly mystery, or secret. He died for us!
We believe that God has spoken plainly and consistently throughout the ages, from the time of Moses to the prophets, through the person and work of Christ, on into the present church age. He has confirmed his word!
We believe that what God has to say is worthy of our time, our energy, our obedience, our attention, our time, our investigation, our consideration, our personal sacrifice, and everything that we have and everything we are. God has already made the ultimate sacrifice.
We believe that God's word is living and active and sharp. We believe that it transforms, that it refreshes the soul ,that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, that it is sufficient unto salvation, that it is our sole guide to life in this age and the age to come, and that it isn't neutral. We believe that the Holy Bible is the word of God, and not just a word of God competing among many other words from God. We believe that Jesus Christ embodies the word of God. That Jesus is the personal manifestation of God to all men in all times, that Jesus came to be the truth walking and living and dwelling and dying among us. We believe quite simply that God has spoken, and still speaks today.
I'd like to conclude with the words of 2 Peter 1:19-21 (NIV)."And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
God has spoken. Are you listening?