There were two doctrines that spawned the Reformation and today stand as the principles of the Christian faith. One is ‘sola fide; meaning by faith alone and ‘sola scriptura’ meaning by scripture alone. It is the idea that only the Bible has the authority to bind the consciousness of believers and we should recognize no other authority including church offices, civil magistrates, and church creeds and confessions. Only the Bible is inspired and claims infallibility, that it is impossible to be in error. The Bible is also inerrant. Infallibility says the Bible cannot err and errant means that it does not err because it is divinely authored. One other term used to describe the Bible is the word sufficient. That means the scriptures are always true, always applicable, and perfectly sufficient to meet all our spiritual needs. I have said all of that because I am sure you have heard people say “The Lord spoke to me” or “God said to me.” Christian television has an endless parade of supposed prophets and teachers and apostles claiming that God has spoken directly to them either audibly, or in ‘some still small voice.’

Even Christian bookstores are filled with books and DVD’s promising to teach you how to hear and discern the voice of God. The fact that God speaks to people in a direct, quotable sense outside scripture often goes uncontested today. However, these types of pursuits are an implicit rejection of the authority and sufficiency of scripture. God has spoken ultimately and finally in the 66 books of the Bible and does not speak to people today outside of scripture.

One of the modern charismatic movement’s most prominent features is its acceptance and promotion of the belief that God speaks today to people in dreams, visions, impressions, hunches, signs and wonders and even in an audible voice. There was a book first published in 1990 called “Experiencing God,” by Henry Blackaby, who introduced this erroneous charismatic doctrine to the non-charismatic churches. Blackaby writes, “If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience the ability to hear God speak audibly is not the result of some method but comes from an intimate love relationship with God, the more you love God, the more clearly you can hear him.” Sarah Young has published a devotional book called “Jesus Calling,” in which she claims is based on the conversations she had recorded between her and God on pen and pencil.

This idea that God speaks to people outside the pages of scripture is nothing more than modern day Gnosticism. The ancient heresy of Gnosticism taught that there was a sharp divide between the physical and spiritual realm, and that you could gain salvation only by gaining special, secret revelation. To do so you had to disengage all forms of rational thought. But the Bible never invites us to disengage our minds when it comes to the things of God. God gave us a mind because he wants us to use it. We know God by knowing his word. These erroneous preachers teach a heresy that states God speaking to people in an audible voice should be the normative experience and since it isn’t they must be very special. But the Body of Christ is not divided between the haves and the have nots. There are not some Christians who get a direct line to God through dreams, visions, and audible voices and the rest have to make do with the Bible and the Holy Spirit. Then how do they support the idea of God speaking audibly to Christians? Where does the Bible say that?

I Kings 19:12 (KJV) says, “And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” The ‘still small voice’ is how many people claim to hear from God. The phrase is borrowed from an episode in the life of that O.T. prophet Elijah. But is that what the text means? In I Kings 17, Elijah is proclaiming God’s judgment on Israel in the form of a drought. In ch.18, he defeats the prophets of Baal and then in Ch. 19, flees from Jezebel. Afraid for his life Elijah falls into despair and invites the Lord to take his life. But the ‘angel of the Lord’ provides him provisions to sustain him on his journey to a cave on Mt. Sinai. There he encountered manifestations of God’s power via a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. The Bible says the Lord was not in them but after the fire Elijah heard a ‘sound of a gentle blowing or a low whisper. Elijah heard something quiet but it came from outside the cave so he wrapped his face in a mantle and went and stood at the entrance to the cave and a voice came to him asking, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” But nowhere in the text does it instruct us to follow Elijah’s example.

This is not a pattern or prescription to hear God’s voice. It was but a unique and specific instance even for Elijah who often heard God speak. It wasn’t routine in the O.T. and neither is it today. Moreover, the voice Elijah heard was not some mental impression and it was external to him. It was not within him but outside him. Elijah walked out of the cave and God spoke to him audibly and unmistakably. A second scripture those who advocate that God speaks to men today is John 10:27. “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.” This is the most widely used and abused passage. Robert Morris says its teaching is clear, Jesus is our Good Shepherd and we are his sheep and the Good Shepherd guides his sheep by His voice. But the context is clear. The Good Shepherd is calling his sheep to salvation. He says the sheep hear my voice and know my name and I give them eternal life. The effectual calling is the sheep to repentance and faith, not telling us where to buy our Thanksgiving turkey.

Another scripture those who advocate God speaking to them in an audible voice is Heb. 13:8. “Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.” This verse has nothing to do with God speaking to his people. But false teachers use this passage to say that God is immutable, that it does not change, and if he spoke audibly to people in the O.T. and N.T, he will do so today. But there are a lot of things God did in the Bible that he does not do today. In the O.T., God made an ax head float for Elisha (II Kings 6). In Numbers 22, he spoke through a donkey. Is he any less God because those miracles do not continue today?

Yes, God did speak audibly to some people in the Bible but not as often as many think. He never spoke audibly to Hezekiah, Ezra, Nehemiah or Esther. And for 400 years between the Old and New Testament, he didn’t say anything to anyone. And listen to this, God even spoke audibly to an unbeliever by the name of Saul and when God did speak, those who he spoke to knew exactly what he said and who said it. Today, those who say God spoke to them do so with ambiguity, subjectivity and individuality. Those constructs have no biblical support or precedent.

So how does God speak to us? In Heb. 1:1-2, the writer affirms that God does speak to people. But how does he speak? He speaks in many portions and many ways. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush and though lightning, thunder and fire on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 3). He spoke through a dream to Jacob (Gen. 31). He spoke through visions to Abraham (Gen. 15) and Isaiah (Isa. 6). He even spoke to Balaam through a donkey (Num. 22). But those who heard him speak looked forward to the time of God’s ultimate redemption plan. They received only bits and pieces and were waiting for it to be fulfilled in God’s Son. The standard for O.T. prophets was perfection, not in conduct, but in accurately communicating the message. It was blasphemy to say God said something when he didn’t say it. God told Jeremiah some prophets speak from their own mouths not from the mouth of the Lord. He says, I did not speak to them but they still prophesied. He said, I hear the prophets say, I have a dream but they were false dreams (23:16, 23, 25). So God does not take lightly those who put words in his mouth. Sam Stone says prophets and their words today can be fallible and they should precede their words with, “I have a strong inner impression that might be from God.”

Can you imagine the prophets in the Old and New Testament saying “I think what I am saying to you might have come from God?” Jeremiah said the word of the Lord came to me (Jer. 1:4). Hosea said the word of the Lord came (Hosea 1:1). John heard his voice like a loud trumpet (Rev. 1:10). There is no validity in ascribing to God the ideas and inclinations that are more likely the product of your imagination or that of the pizza you ate last night. The writer of Hebrews says God once spoke to his people in many portions and many ways but today he has spoken to us in His Son. He speaks to us through his inspired word (I Tim. 3:16-17).

What have these modern day prophets given us when God spoke to them? Mohammed’s new revelation gave us Islam. Joseph Smith’s new revelation gave us Mormonism. Mary Baker Eddy’s new revelation gave us Christian Science. Every cult has begun with a man or woman saying God has spoken to me and let me tell you what he said. When the Bible speaks, God speaks, and there is nothing more to be added to what he has already said. The cannon is closed, settled and sealed.

So what does it mean when we say the word is all sufficient? Let me state that the belief that God speaks outside of scripture is a denial of its sufficiency. God’s people are not to seek after signs (Mt. 16:4) and are to guard against being taken captive through philosophy and empty deception (Col. 2:8). Instead, we are to let the word of Christ dwell within us. We are to hold fast to sound doctrine. A closed cannon is not boring or cold.

Jeremiah said God’s word was like a fire within me and a hammer that shatters a rock. (Jer. 23:29). God’s word is not boring but alive. It is both living and active. It renews our minds, illuminates the meaning of scripture and empowers us to obey God. If hearing God’s voice audibly was essential to the life of a Christian, I would think the Bible would give us instructions on how to do so. Some kind of tip, something to help us. But it doesn’t. It gives instructions on church polity, qualifications for leaders, holding on to sound doctrine, defending against false teachers and holy living in general. But nowhere do you find instructions on how to hear God’s voice. Peter doesn’t. James doesn’t., John doesn’t. Even Jesus doesn’t. If you want to hear God speak to you today, read your Bible. If you want to hear him audibly, read it out loud.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent word. What more can He say than to you He hath said – To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

What more can He say to you than what He has already said in His word.

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The Rev. Dr. James Barnes is currently the pastor of White Memorial Church in Milroy.