The Voice of God [antikvár]

ORCIilOII» The words "and God said to ," followed by the name of a human being involved in the biblical record, are so common we are struck with a double wonder. The first is that the sovereign of the universe not only designs to stoop so gently to communicate with His frail creatures, but also that He is always so completely and fuUy in touch with the details of each of their circvraistances. The second is that given the grandeur of His being and the grace in His revealed nature, anyone would doubt His willingness and regularity at doing ^aX—speaking to each of us, per,)onally. That God today talks with His people is so basic to the Bible s promise and so abounding in the healthy and healing evidence of its finit among believers, it should never be doubted or rejected. But it is. It is denied by those who fear that an uncontrolled access to or an unpatroUed wall against such a warm, interactive relationship with God might surrender the subject of "divine revelation" to unlimited, hopelessly subjective definition. They fear, in short, that if anyone can say, "God told me," then anyone can usurp the role of God, either through intentional deception or innocent ignorance of His true Word. That is not an unjustified fear. The history of mankind is littered with the carcasses of multitudes who have fallen prey to such deception. From the time of the Fall of man xmtil the most recent headlines describing the destruction of a band of cultists, either emotionally damaged or physically dead by reason of the influence of an erratic "voice," the danger of deceptive "revelations" has continued. Still, the Lord Jesus Christ gave pointed instructions encouraging