The Reason You are Told that God No Longer Speaks.

Well said...and in a friendly manner. Two thumbs up. (if you remember Siskel and Ebert)

Anyone adds to God's word when they think God speaks to them.

I think are in error here.

Peter was using THAT prophecy (Acts 2:16,17) to explain the outpouring of the Holy Ghost...which is the promise of that prophecy...which promise applies to ALL those God calls (not just the Jews) as Peter goes on to say in verses 38 & 39:

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Love in Jesus,
Kelby

A quote from scripture can be used for malicious purposes, like when Satan quoted scripture while trying to get Jesus to sin. Jesus did not hesitate to 'call out' this misuse. That's why I brought it up when I couldn't see how it was helpful. (Thank you for clarifying)

Two answers here:

1. The title of the thread is the statement of my proposition (<--I had to look that word up to find the right one) and my first post is mapping how that conclusion was reached, so people can consider whether it makes sense or not...and people can examine/discuss any points of disagreement.
2. I think Matthew 15:14 is a warning to anyone who starts from a position of blindness. To me, that means it is a valid warning to all of humanity. And I think it is foolish to trust the person(s) who taught us if we've never actually confirmed that GOD actually sent them. The stakes are too high for that kind of blind trust. And I don't think people realize how hard it is to question a base doctrine, once it has been trusted without verification. That's why I brought up the topic.

I need to go do other things so I'll have to stop there for now.

Love in Jesus,
Kelby

Scripture does not support you views. Scripture thoroughly furnishes us instead. And there is no pre-trib rapture or 7-year tribulation. So your mind is probably trying to process information from a bad source.

When God saved me, he spoke very clearly to me. What he said was John 3:16, although it took me years to realize it was that verse.

After that, I spent a lot of time reading the Word, and praying. God spoke to me not in a loud voice, but a small still one. Again, it was all scripture. As I got to know the Bible better, God didn't need to point out verses, just help me remember them. But I always knew he was close. That even includes the time I turned my back on him, because of the cruelty showed by Word Faith people. That time, he didn't tell me verses, just that I was to read the Psalms 5 chapters a day. It took months for me to pick up my Bible, but when I did, I felt God smile on me. And did I ever learn a lot during those two years. The Word opened my eyes and broke my chains. At the end of 2 years, God called me to seminary for the second time. The first time, I disobeyed, and ended up sick after that. So I followed through, and doors were opened wide. What an opportunity to learn from international missionaries and God-loving scholars. And God still speaks with me, through his Word, but also through that small still but powerful voice.

The message is very different message now than when I was. New Christian, 40 years ago. Although I may yet live a long time, God is pointing me to follow Jesus to a new home. And that is a glorious thing. And it may take a lot of years to get to the point when God judges me ready to make that journey.

I know a lot of non-charismatics don't like to hear a conservative Christian talk about a voice that isn't the Word itself. And that is your right! I just know God has been walking beside me, and the Holy Spirit teaching me and discipling me for so long. I think I know the Bible well enough to stand on these verses:

"The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice." John 10:2-4

Someone else posted this verse, I just wanted to quote the passage. We need to hear God's voice, as he says we should. We also need to recognize his voice. And we need to follow Christ daily. That is a simple passage, we should memorize, and do it! Whether it's through the actual written Word on paper that God illuminates, Or that small, special quiet voice. That is what the Bible says, and I have been so fortunate God has never led me astray, and even when I was wandering I heard his voice calling me back home!!

Scripture does not support this. I think it leads people astray.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Scripture says Gods People can hear Him Speak.

Jesus is the Word of God.

Most people are honest enough to admit that they are (or at least were) "blind". In other words, we admit that we didn't know God, or had difficulty understanding what is really being said in the bible. And although perhaps embarrassed, we were humble enough to receive instruction from someone who is willing to guide us.

Then, at some point, we met someone who said "Hey, you need to know about God (or Jesus). Let me teach you."

And we said "Ok. That sounds good." And we began to let them lead us, or perhaps to take us to someone even more knowledgeable. And they began to teach us how to "see" certain scriptures.

However, there is a danger hidden within this scenario, and Jesus warns us about it. He said "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch".

The question becomes "Wow, that's a scary thought. How could I find out if the person that leads me is blind?"

Well, you could ask the person leading you how to recognize a "blind leader". And I almost guarantee that they will give you an answer that does not point at him or herself as a blind leader.

What most will do is to point you to the scriptures to find the answers....encouraging you to revisit the scriptures they've told you are the most important ones... and that they've been teaching you how to interpret. Please don't miss the importance of the previous sentence. They know what you will find if you look at the scriptures the way they have taught you.

Now you're left with a problem.... How can you know the TRUTH if you may have been taught to "see" by the blind?

If you look at the scriptures by the way you were taught, you will only find the answers you’ve been taught to find...“Seeing” the scriptures through the eyes of your leaders, whether they are blind or not.

If you try to look at the scriptures without what you’ve been taught, you’re only left with yourself...and you’ve already admitted that you were blind before learning from your leaders.

So what should you do about this problem?

Simple… When we can’t “see” and don’t know who to trust, we need to directly ask the only person we can truly trust (God) until he answers.

God cannot lie. And he will only speak truth...even about your leaders. If they are blind leaders, God would tell that truth to you if you ever gain the ability to hear from God directly...and THAT is the reason you are told that God no longer speaks.

Does God speak? Yes. He says “My sheep hear my voice”. And he cannot lie. <--that means he still speaks and at least some still hear..

So... Have you heard his voice? If not, you should be asking sincerely why not, and how you can. But I recommend that you ask the one you can trust, not the ones you should have asked about before trusting them with your eternity. (You need to go to God, not man...not even me, if you REALLY want to know the truth.)

BTW, Just because you can’t see clearly doesn’t mean you can’t hear.

Love in Jesus,
Kelby

“He that hath an ear, let him hear.”

This notion that God doesn't speak unto us now days is preposterous. People who do not understand how to operate in the Spirit thus put it forth. The rest of us are like, REALLY???????????????

Correct, God is a Spirit, not a human with a mouth, he this speaks as such in spite of what those say who think God doesn't speak unto us anymore. They are the EXACT SAME TYPE who moaned and belly-ached about Moses when he came down from the Holy Mountain of God with the Commandments. They SAW all that God did for them in Egypt, etc. etc. , but yet they did not understand, because God in those days was the EXACT SAME as today, God's doesn't change, except the Blood has been applied and we have continual access to the Holy Spirit.

As a human, if you want an apple do you speak to yourself, go ger that apple, cut it IP in small pieces and eat it. Or do you just think it VIA YOUR Spirit Man? Likewise, God doesn't have to physically speak to us to communicate. he simply does it in the Spirit realm, and only those in tune with God hear that voice.

This notion that God doesn't speak unto us now days is preposterous. People who do not understand how to operate in the Spirit thus put it forth. The rest of us are like, REALLY???????????????

So your position is that you are a blind leader? If so why do you want to lead others into the ditch with you? You have done this in the past. Start out stating that you do not know something and then plow forward expecting to go deeper into error and somehow arrive at the truth?

For the cause of Christ
Roger

Does God speak? Yes. He says “My sheep hear my voice”. And he cannot lie. <--that means he still speaks and at least some still hear..

So... Have you heard his voice? If not, you should be asking sincerely why not, and how you can. But I recommend that you ask the one you can trust, not the ones you should have asked about before trusting them with your eternity. (You need to go to God, not man...not even me, if you REALLY want to know the truth.)

God speaks to us through his Word. Before his Word was given in full God spoke through the prophets, and then through his Son, and then through the apostles. But now today God's Word is in full.

Therefore, God speaks to us through his completed Word.

If he still speaks new words today, then who are the prophets that are receiving and recording these words?

I would caution anyone who is trying to hear voices.

I might suggest you read Acts 10 again, because even this single chapter supports most of the things mentioned throughout this thread (and others) such as:

1. God spoke to Cornelius (a non-christian) by an angel
2. God began to open Peter's understanding by giving him a vision,
3. God also spoke to Peter IN that vision
4. God spoke directly to Peter outside the vision
5. God gave the Holy Ghost to those who heard...causing them to speak in tongues.

When this chapter starts, neither Peter nor those believers that accompanied Peter believed that Gentiles could be saved because of:

1. Their current understanding & beliefs,
2. What they had been taught in synagogue, and
3. the bulk of the scriptures... the Law & prophets... their "Bible".

In other words pretty much everything they understood on this topic was against the idea of the Gentiles being on equal footing with Jews. None of these learned the truth through careful study of the scriptures. They needed God's direct intervention, which is what this thread is saying people will need if they want to KNOW the truth, not just THINK they know.

The bible tells us we can't trust our own heart, saying "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked". Jeremiah 17:9
The bible tells us we cant trust other humans, saying "Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders" - Jeremiah 9:4
The bible tells us we CAN trust God "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding"

The problem is that most "leaders" are blind leaders...not knowing God's voice and not teaching others how to reach him, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus:


If you don't want to hear God's voice (and therefore continue to lean on your own understanding of scriptures, or trusting whatever man taught you) that's your right. But please don't try to keep others from reaching him. Because God still speaks.

Love in Jesus,
Kelby

You see there in lies the problem, the scripture I just posted literally says these things will occur people would have dreams and visions and how often may I ask did people receive prophetic dreams and visions in the bible?
The scriptures not only support my position they are a reoccurring theme all throughout the bible.

It isn't as if I asked for these things to happen to me they just happen out of nowhere, even if I ask for them to happen they don't when I ask they happen only when he decides. as for the pretrib rapture and seven year tribulation firstly I never stated what rapture I saw or what tribulation I experienced but I think you have been here long enough to know that interpretation is quite a powerful force in these kind of topics.

Maybe you don't believe in a pretrib mid trib post trib or whatever however this also doesn't make you right. If you study the scriptures there is evidence to support all those views depending on how you look at it so sometimes instead of holding to our own views and beliefs so tightly we have to learn to loosen our grip a bit to see the truth we would have missed otherwise. until you are able to do this all you will see in the scriptures is your own view and thus even if the truth is revealed to you it will remain hidden.

I only just saw this post and I have to say I am disappointed. I don't know what history you have had with Kelby but as far as I have seen she is a very Godly person who speaks with honesty and truth, to call her a blind leader accusing her of leading people into a ditch is uncalled for. If you disagree with kelby about this subject that is your right but you have no right to call her a blind leader from via disagreement