Does God Still Speak Today?

I am often asked by people whether or not God still speaks today and if He does, how does He speak.  There are many facets in the answer to this question and I will try to deal with them in this post.  Although there are those who say God doesn't speak to His people and in fact He never has, this is hard for me to accept because I believe the Bible is abundantly clear that God did and still does speak to humanity.  He does this in a number of ways which I will outline in this post.

God Still Speaks Today

In both the Old and New Testament there are numerous occasions where God spoke in an "audible" voice.  In the Old Testament He spoke audibly to Adam, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses and many others.  In the New Testament He spoke audibly at Jesus' baptism, on the mount of transfiguration, to Saul (later to become the Apostle Paul), Peter and others.  Although I have never heard God's audible voice, I believe it is completely possible for God to speak aloud so that people could hear Him if that was what was necessary.  There are two main reasons God doesn't speak more audibly today:

1. We have the full revelation of His Word and those in the Old and New Testament didn't. Because we have His Word we have what He would say to us.
2. We also have God's "Holy Spirit" dwelling in us to lead and guide us.

To Whom Does He Speak

The simple answer to this question is, that God speaks to all of us.  He speaks to the sinner and to the believer.  In speaking to the sinner He speaks through the method of "conviction" and to the believer through the Holy Spirit.  In John 10:27 Jesus informs us that "My sheep hear my voice." If we are a child of God, we will hear the voice of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Ways He Speaks To Us Today

I want to share with you six ways in which God speaks to us today.

1. Through His Word.  This is probably the most obvious and most frequent.  "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
2. Through the Holy Spirit.  God's Holy Spirit speaks to us by revealing things to us that are only spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:8-16); through bearing witness with our spirit (Romans 8:16); Quickening us (John 6:63).
3. Through an inward witness.  1 John 2:20 -- "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth."
4. Through peace of mind.  "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7).
5. Through the still small voice.  Sometimes it is just a faint nudging and prompting by the Holy Spirit that God speaks.  We have to train ourselves to listen to the still small voice.  (1 Kings 19:11-12).
6. Through dreams and visions.  We must be careful with this, because not every dream is God speaking.  Although if we are sensitive to God's Spirit, we will be aware of the times God is speaking to us through a dream or a vision.

Yes, God is still speaking to His people today.  The question is, are you listening?

-- Pastor Temple