Introduction (Hebrews 1:1-2.)

This is the third message on our theme, Why I Believe In God. There are compelling reasons for believing in God. Our first lesson was, "The complexity of reality argues for God." We are fearfully and wonderfully made, as the Psalmist wrote. (Psa. 139:14.) Our world is complex. Evolution cannot explain the complexity and is not a sufficient reason for it. Secondly, moral law within us argues for God. Immanuel Kant wrote that two things filled him with wonder and awe: the starry heavens above him and moral law within him. We have thus far presented these two good reasons for believing in God.

Thirdly, we should believe in God because God has spoken. We have a message from God which bears the imprint of a divine being, not human beings. If a five year old writes you a letter, it will bear the traits of such a young person. If an aged parent writes to you, it will likewise bear the characteristics of their heart and understanding. If God has spoken, we should be able to see the difference between a word from man and one from God. Such differences are noticeable when reading the Bible.

We should be impressed with the great possibility that God has spoken. Imagine believing in Someone from whom you have never heard. What if we did not have a message from God?! Non-believers must deny that the Bible is His Word in the face of the repeated claims that it is.

Shakespeare never claimed that his writings were the words of God. Some have claimed some form of inspiration for Shakespeare, but not that God has spoken in his works. Some few religious materials claim to be a message from God, but none as emphatically as the Bible. We often find these words in the Scriptures: Thus saith the lord, The word of the Lord came unto me, the Lord spake unto me, The Spirit of the Lord spoke, Hear the word of the Lord, etc.

We honor the Bible because it claims to be from God and because it bears the imprint of Deity. It sounds as if it is from God. When Jesus spoke, they exclaimed that he taught as one with authority and not as the scribes. (Matt. 7:28-29.) It reflects the character, will, heart and authority of a Divine Being. Who, except God, would be so presumptuous as to speak about what happened in the beginning, what will happen in the future, and give an explanation for the existence and purpose of all things??

"God, who in sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." (Heb. 1:1-2.)

God not only as spoken, but He has done so in many times and various ways (NIV, Heb. 1:1). It is profitable to note some of the many ways in which the Bible says that God has spoken. We should notice that long before the words were written, what God said was made known orally. There is a long oral tradition of God’s words to man. He has spoken in various ways and on many different occasions. Here are a few of those ways:

1) Lots. "The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." (Prov. 16:33.) "And they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." (Acts 1:26.) The promised land was divided among the twelve tribes by the casting of lots. "The land shall be divided by lot, according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few." (Numbers 26:55-56.)

Determining the will of God by casting lots was done extensively in ancient days. Men today might frown upon the very idea that God spake in times past in this manner, but the Hebrew writer stated that God spoke in various ways.

2) The Urim and Thummim. (Exodus 28.) There is a great obscurity about these two stones and exactly how they made known the will of God. The two words mean "lights and perfection." The use of this method was a prerogative of the high priest alone. These stones were a part of the ephod of the high priest.

They are listed among dreams and prophets in one text. "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets." (1 Sam. 28:6.) After the Babylonian exile the use of the Urim and Thummim ceased. (Ezra 2:63, Neh. 7:65.)

3) Dreams. This method of God communicating with man extends from Genesis to Acts. The redeemed and the unredeemed experienced dreams as a message from God. (Pharaoh, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Joseph, Abimelech, Jacob, Laban, Pharaoh’s butler and baker, to Joseph the father of Jesus.) The ability to interpret dreams were given to some like Joseph and Daniel.

4) Visions. "Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:17.) Visions were similar to dreams in that they could occur during a dream, but there is also a difference. In the dream, the emphasis is upon what is seen; in a vision the emphasis is upon what is heard. "Of old thou didst speak in a vision." (Psa. 89:19.) When Peter had a vision from heaven, he heard a voice saying, Arise, kill and eat. (Acts 10:13.) God speaks in a vision.

5) Theophanies. These are remarkable manifestations or appearances of Deity to man. There are many such theophanies in Scripture. God has appeared and spoken in the form of human beings and angels. There is the "angel of Jehovah" in the Old Testament. Abraham experienced a theophany when the three men came to his tent. The Bible says, "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day." (Gen. 18:1.)

Moses experienced a theophany at the burning bush. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, Take off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon you stand is holy ground. (Exodus 3:5.) So also with Ezekiel, Daniel, John and others.

6) Angels. The Lord has often spoken through angels. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first was spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." (Heb. 3:1-3.)

The Law of Moses was given on Sinai through the disposition of angels. (Acts 7:53, Gal. 3:19.) An angel spoke to Joseph and Mary concerning the birth of Jesus. (Matthew 1.) Angels have been a favorite way in which God has spoken.

Involved in the concept of glory is both weight and number. Thus the glory of a forest lies in the number of its trees, and the glory of a nation lies in the number of its soldiers. Part of the presentation of the glory of God in Scripture, then, is that he is surrounded by a numberless host of beings glorious in themselves. This, in itself, is rich in its revelation-bearing value. The angels help us to understand the glory, majesty, splendor, and beauty of God. Without them we would lack one of the most profound biblical modalities for expressing the transcendence and majesty of God.

7) Inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are inspired of God. We have what the Spirit revealed to the apostles and prophets of God. They recorded it as they were guided by the Spirit.

8) The Son of God. In these last days, God has spoken to man through His Son. I believe in God because God has manifested himself in the flesh. (1 Tim. 3:16.) He came down to earth. (John 16:28.) More later on this significant way in which God has revealed Himself to us.

The modalities of special revelation are absolutely crucial to the concept of special revelation. The incomprehensible God can be known only in mediated knowledge. Some are ashamed of some of these ways in which God has spoken, saying that these belong to the superstitious age of ancient Israel. Remember though that the Hebrew writer said that God has spoken in various ways and at different times. The richness of revelation involves these many ways in which God has spoken.

We are affected by all these ways in which God has spoken. We should not think that we have been given a book printed in heaven and dropped to earth. We have the dreams of Joseph and Daniel recorded in the Bible. We have an apostle given by the casting of lots. Upon his testimony, in part, Christianity stands. We are the recipient of the work of angels.

However, the only person who needed to be convinced that the Lord was speaking to him by Urim and Thummim was the high priest. It was primarily for him. Ezekiel needed to be convinced that God was going to destroy Jerusalem. God appeared to him in his "war chariot." In order to preach effectively, Ezekiel needed to know that. Then, it was his job to tell Israel. How did Israel know that God spoke to Ezekiel? By what happened! That is the proof. Joseph’s dreams were primarily for his benefit. His parents did not know the meaning of the dreams, but Joseph found out in time through experience. Saul of Tarsus was the man who needed to be convinced that the Lord appeared to him. Once persuaded, then he would go forth and preach Christ. It qualified him to be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus.

Because evil people will often do evil things, even presumptuously speaking for God, the Bible contains severe warnings against such. There is an intensity of opposition throughout the Old Testament against the false prophet, and a constant New Testament warning against false apostles and false teachers. The Old Covenant demanded the death penalty against the false prophet.

"But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die." (Deut. 18:20.)

Paul declared an anathema upon the perverters of the Gospel of Christ who pose as true apostles. (Gal. 1:6-9.) People can easily claim to have received a word from the Lord, but woe to that person who falsely so claims. Who is the one person who knows for sure that God has not spoken to him? That person making the claim. He pretends to be someone that he is not. Thus, he is a "false" prophet, apostle, teacher. What he says is not true, and who he claims to be is not true. This is what makes a false teacher.

The Bible inveighs strongly against wrong kinds of methods or modalities like witchcraft, familiar spirits, wizardry, divination, astrology, sorcery, necromancy, exorcism, and enchantments. God does not make his will known through these methods.

False prophets, apostles and teachers do not nullify the fact that God has spoken. Rather, they emphasize the fact that He has! Counterfeiters of money do not prove that all money is false, but that there is a difference between the genuine and the false. Counterfeiters always come after the real, not before. There were no false apostles before the real apostles; they came after. Some false Christs came after the genuine One, not before. Jesus said that they would come. (Matt. 24:23-24.) Simon the sorcerer was tempted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit because he was so moved by the real power. Counterfeiters are like leaches riding along on the power and majesty of the living.

There is a sense in which we could say that even false prophets, apostles, teachers, Christs serve to highlight the great truth that God has spoken. This word is so powerful to man that some try to use the methods for their own benefit.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out in the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God." (1 John 4:1-2.)

The Bible teaches further a direct guidance of the Holy Spirit to those especially chosen of God. Jesus promised the apostles:

"Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you." (John 16:13-14.)

Paul declared that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God."

(2 Tim. 3:16.) Peter added, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21.)

"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." (1 Thess. 2:13.)

I believe in God because we have a message from God! How could you have a message from Someone who does not exist?? What a profound truth---God has spoken. There are entire books with just that title, and fittingly so.

What Scripture says, God says. This is extremely important. Either it is a true statement or it is false. A wedge has been driven between the living God and His written Word. The result is a weaken faith. Perhaps, the reason is that we have not said enough about the connection between human language and God speaking to man in his own language. The above passages state clearly that God has spoken and that Scripture is inspired of God.

God Has Spoken Through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2.)

I believe in God because He has visited mankind. Jesus is called Immanuel which means, God with us. (Matt. 1:23.) "Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person." (Heb. 1:3.) "Show us the Father and it sufficeth us. Jesus said unto him. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" (John 14:8-9.)

I believe that God has visited man because: a) Jesus bore the traits of a divine being, b) by God coming to earth, the question of his existence would be forever settled, c) the Bible declares that Jesus is the Word made flesh.