Many people (including well known preachers) claim God speaks to them. They may say, “The Lord spoke to me,” “The Holy Spirit” said to me,” or “God told me” something. It is not uncommon to hear people claim God spoke to them as a casual friend.
The next time you hear someone saying God spoke to them, do not believe it. In the Bible, when God or a heavenly messenger spoke to someone, the reaction was fear. The idea that God speaks to someone and the person can regard it as a casual conversation is absolutely foreign to the Bible. When God speaks, people collapsed or were overcome (Rev. 1:17). See, too, Judg. 13:22; Dan. 10:7; Mk. 16:5; Lk. 1:12; 2:9-10; Acts 10:1-4; Heb. 12:21).
In addition to these passages, two more verses are very helpful: Jude 3 and Heb. 1:1-2. According to the first two verses in Hebrews 1, God has now spoken to us “in His Son.” He has not spoken through Joseph Smith, Billy Graham, Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts, or anyone else. Jude 3 says the faith has been confirmed “once for all time.” God gave the truth in the first century (compare Jn. 16:13-14), and that is all. If we refuse to read and accept the Bible, no other message will be given.
Do not believe the false claims about people receiving messages from God. Remember, Satan masquerades as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). He would love to have you believe false teachers who preach a message other than the Bible.
Find the truth about God and become a New Testament Christian. Find out more about New Testament Christianity by running some Internet searches for “church of Christ” and “churches of Christ.” You may also want to visit http://www.abiblecommentary.com for Bible study information.
Remember, in order to be saved and enjoy all God’s blessings (not the least of which is salvation), a person must have faith (Jn. 8:24), be willing to repent (Lk. 13:3), and after confessing Christ as Lord, the final step is water baptism (Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 3:20-21). Bible baptism is by immersion only (“burial,” Rom. 6:4), and once it is done, heaven puts that person “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3). After proper baptism a person has their sins forgiven (Acts 2:38).