God Told Me
6 Considerations On Why His Word Is Sufficient
For the record, I want you to know that God has never audibly told me anything. Any true word from God is found in Scripture. That is how He speaks to us. The past several months, I’ve had a growing concern about emergent church movements and how they affect the Church (with a big “C”). We have discussed some of these within the context of our Bible studies. One of the biggest movements is a movement called the NAR, the New Apostolic Reformation. Here’s the thing, people are mimicking what is coming out of this movement without even knowing they are mimicking the basic tenants of the NAR. The NAR emphasizes experience, feelings and mysticism over the Word of God. It is heavy on my heart today because many I know are involved with this. Very likely, you are seeing this kind of unbiblical and dangerous doctrine take hold of people you know. It is becoming popular in Christian circles everywhere. This kind of doctrine that states there is new biblical revelation is not new at all. If we look at the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, both of these religions claim to have extra-biblical revelation. Therefore, what I want to do here is a mini-lesson regarding this movement not only to help you spot this ungodly doctrine when you see it, but to also help you to stay away from it and respond to it when faced with it. It seems harmless. It is not.
Exercise 1
Write down 2 Tim. 4:3-4.
1. A Well-Meaning Error
I have a sweet friend who says the following to me just about every time I see her; “God told me to tell you ___________”. She’s always very specific. I am always uncomfortable when she makes specific statements that God gave her. It’s not that what she tells me is bad. It’s that she is speaking for God. I’ve even had well-meaning people give me written notes of what God told them to tell me. Communication like this is becoming more and more common in Christian circles. When I read through Scripture, there are definitely times when God spoke to certain people. God spoke to Adam. God spoke to Moses. God spoke to Abraham. But these were extraordinary situations and they were for certain purposes. God communicated with prophets in the Old Testament in order for them to pen Holy Scripture. In the New Testament, God’s audible voice was rare. We had the voice of Jesus Christ recorded by the apostles for purposes of spelling out His redemptive plan in pen and ink. Once the Old and New Testament were completed there was no need for God to speak audibly to us anymore. We had His Word. Is God audibly speaking to people today?
Not according to the end of the Bible! And claiming that God is audibly speaking or even that the Holy Spirit has imposed some kind of thinking without Scripture to back it up, violates Deut. 5:11. How does it violate this commandment?
2. A Dangerous Error
To say that God is speaking to you or tells you something outside of Scripture is to negate the sufficiency of His Word. One of the most popular and dangerous books on the market is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. I have the book! Someone gifted it to me. I’d bet that most of you have that book as well. Why do I say that Jesus Calling is a dangerous book? I say that because this book and those that she wrote after it, chronicle her dialog with God.
Below is just a small example of how she writes in this book:
When you trustingly whisper My name, My aching ears are soothed. When you walk through a day with dependence on Me, My aching heart is soothed. I am aching to hold you in My everlasting arms, to enfold you in My love.
Sarah Young - Jesus Calling
Scripture wasn’t enough for her. She said in her writings that she wanted “more”. Sarah Young states that she is a channel for God. “God told me” is not a focus on God, but on the person sharing the information.
When someone tells you that God told them something specific, here’s some questions to ask yourself and perhaps the person who made the statement:
Exercise 2
We must never forget the warning given in Rev. 22:18. What is it?
3. His Word Is Sufficient
If we want to hear from God, we have His Word! If you are praying about what to do regarding a specific situation, go to His Word. You may say, “But my specific dilemma is not in Scripture”. Here’s what direction I’d give you.
Is what you’re thinking about doing prohibited by Scripture? If it is, then God’s answer is no. He says so in His Word.
Is what you’re thinking about doing going to cause you to glorify God?
Can you be open and transparent with what you’re thinking about doing?
Listening for ambiguous, mystical messages provides Satan with all sorts of opportunities to tempt, confuse, pervert, and deceive.
Dr. John MacArthur
God’s Word is objective truth. It is absolute truth. It is the root through which all of our doctrine, beliefs, and actions should derive.
I’ve had more than one person contact me and tell me that God told them to tell me something. My spiritual antenna goes up immediately when I hear those words and so should yours. Is the Bible, the Holy Word of the Living God enough for you? It’s not enough for Sarah Young. She needed more.
Exercise 3
What does Hebrews 4:12 have to say about Scripture?
What does this verse mean? If something is living, we must ask ourselves how this pertains to a written document. How can a document be new every day and be living?
4. Truth Is Revealed Through His Word
Have you ever read the same verse for the 401st time and realized that every time you read it, God takes you one step deeper in truly understanding the message? Or perhaps, the 401st time you read it, you finally get it?! There are layers and layers and layers to the Word of God and if we lived and studied it 1000 years, we’d never even get close to fully grasping it……because it is alive! Because it is alive, it is sufficient. Some people claim that Scripture was written thousands of years ago in cultures that we do not understand and therefore, is not pertinent to us today. If Scripture is alive, it is:
Always reliable.
Always relevant. Regardless of the culture in which it was written, the precepts of God’s Word never change.
Always applicable to your situation, for your faith and your life and your service to God.
5. False Doctrine
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with what to say when someone says to me, “God told me….” I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, especially those who mean well. I don’t want to come off as judgmental and a know-it-all. Yet, as we live in these last days, we are going to have to confront this type of false doctrine. We must do it gently and with great care.
What must be avoided in any case is people saying, “Thus saith the Lord” or “The Lord told me.” Speaking like this is not only highly presumptuous but is taking the name of the Lord in vain…It is using God’s name – the worst possible kind of name dropping – to elevate your own credibility. You are not thinking of the Lord’s credibility but your own when you bring in HIs name.
RT Kendall
The individual who made the above statement is from the charismatic movement and even he understands the danger of attributing to God something that comes from one’s own thoughts. Is Scripture enough for us in our crazy world?
Exercise 4
What does 2 Timothy 3:16-17 say?
6. Contemplative Prayer - A Dangerous Practice
Contemplative prayer is one of the practices that has invaded many of our churches, prayer groups, and individual devotion time. It goes along with the whole “God told me” mentality. Contemplative prayer begins with something called centering. Centering is a meditative practice by which the individual clears his/her mind in order to focus attention specifically on God. Sounds innocent enough. Even sounds good. Yet, are we trying to have some mystical connection with God? Have you ever been in a meeting where you’ve been asked to clear your mind and go on a little journey (called guided imagery) where the leader is guiding you in an experiential type of prayer? I’ve been exposed to this dozens of times. This is a page straight out of the New Age movement and it is a cultish practice. You will find this type of practice nowhere in Scripture.
A couple of years ago, when I was working at the VA as a chaplain, there was one chaplain who loved to do guided imagery as her morning devotion. I generally left the room when she started her mantra. It often went something like this:
I want you to close your eyes and just focus on your breathing, allowing your body to calm down from your head to your feet. Now I want you to imagine that God is standing on a path with you and you’re going to tell Him about your pain……..
Friends, this all may seem harmless. It is not! As believers in Christ, we must uphold the Word of God as the basis for truth and authority. Guard yourself against anyone who claims they speak for God. Of all times in history, it is important for us to be clear about the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Bottom line is that God does still speak to us. He speaks through His Word. So, the next time someone says to you, “God told me…….”, ask for the Scripture they received that “word” from.
Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to Him (the Holy Spirit). I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by persons – I hope they were insane – who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them. There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the revelations of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may spare them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages….Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Ghost. If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God. Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the Word of God already – He adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other, go to bed and wake up in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice and no longer insult the Holy Ghost by laying their nonsense at His door.
C.H. Spurgeon (From a sermon entitled “The Paraclete,” Oct. 6, 1872)
