## God Speaks, Today

## Hebrews 1:1-2

Read: Hebrews 1:1-2

Between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, there is a period of some 400 years. Often this is referred to as the 'silent' years. 400 years without hearing from God, and then John the Baptist seems to burst onto the scene with a message directly from God to all who would listen. It seems that there are many in this day and age that want to claim to speak for God. But God doesn't need to have anyone speak for Him…He has spoken in the past and He still speaks today!

I. God is Not Silent

A. God has spoken individually

1. God has always communicated with mankind; He wants to connect with us.

2. He is not an idea to be thought about.

3. He is a person to be listened to and understood and enjoyed and obeyed.

4. He is a speaking Person.

5. Prior to the fall of man, He walked and talked with Adam in the garden of Eden.

B. God spoke "by the prophets".

1. This was the typical means that God used to communicate with His people in the Old Testament.

2. He chose to use men as go-betweens.

3. It was God's way to call a prophet and then inspire the prophet to speak and to write to the people what He wanted said.

4. When the fathers heard and understood the prophets they heard God speaking.

C. God spoke by the prophets "… at sundry times and in divers manners…"

1. This assures us that God is not withdrawn and uncommunicative.

2. This verse stresses the variety of God's communication.

3. There is great comfort and encouragement in this truth.

4. It tells us again how much God desires to communicate with us.

5. He wants us to understand His desires and goals for our lives.

II. God Spoke Through His Son, Jesus.

A. God has now spoken not just by prophets, but also by his Son.

1. Some thought that Jesus was just a prophet, but He was so much more.

(John 9:17) "They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet."

2. Here is where Islam makes a great mistake about Jesus.

3. Jesus is not only a prophet like Moses or Isaiah.

4. He is far above Mohammed in glory; He is the Son of God...and that means He is God.

5. He is the creator of the universe. Cf v2

B. Jesus made it clear that He was God.

1. He said, "I and my father are one."

2. He told Philip, "…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…"

3. He has spoken by coming to us in the person of his Son.

4. Who Jesus was, what He said and what He accomplished by dying and rising from the dead is God's Word to us.

5. This is what God has said, and what we should hear.

III. God Speaks Today Through the Word.

A. The Bible is not just a book; it is a library.

1. We have the collected writings of some 40 different authors.

2. The span of time is several hundred years.

3. Yet the message is so simple and clear that even a child can read and understand.

4. How is that possible?

5. Paul told Timothy how that can be.

(2 Tim 3:16) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

B. "…Given by inspiration of God…"

1. This phrase literally means that the Bible is God breathed.

2. This is the same phrase used when God gave life to Adam…He 'breathed into his nostrils the breath of life'.

3. This means that the Bible is alive!

(Heb 4:12) "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

4. God speaks to us today through His word, are we listening?

C. It is better than personal experience.

Note: 2 Peter 1:15-21

1. This is the apostle Peter who is writing.

2. He is writing to assure his readers that Christianity is not tradition; it is not just following stories that have been passed down through time.

3. He reminds us that he was an eyewitness to the majesty and glory of Jesus Christ.

4. That he was with Christ on the mount of transfiguration when he heard the very voice of God speak from heaven.

5. He reminds us that what we have in the Word of God is more reliable that his eyewitness account…more reliable than what he heard with his own ears.

6. Why? "…holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

C. The Bible is the Word of God.

1. God speaks to us today through His Word.

2. In it He tells us why we need to be saved.

(Rom 3:10) "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

(Rom 3:23) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

(Rom 6:23a) "For the wages of sin is death;"

3. In it He tells how we can be saved.

(Rom 5:8) "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

(Rom 6:23b) "…The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

(Rom 10:9-10) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. {10} For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

4. In it He tells us who can be saved.

(John 3:16) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

(Rom 10:13) "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

5. In it He tells us how to live after we have been saved.

(2 Pet 1:3) "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:"

(2 Tim 3:16) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Some may seek for spectacular signs and wonders, others may claim great miracles and manifestations of God's power, but God speaks to each of us today through His Word. We need no priest, no prophet, no holy man, we have His holy Word. Are we listening to what He has to say to us today? Are you a child of God? Have you been born again? God's Word is very clear on this matter. Come to Him in faith trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as atonement for sins, and be saved today. Whatever the need this morning, God speaks thru His Word.