How Does God Speak to Mankind?
 

(Reprinted from The Watchman Magazine: http://www.watchmanmag.com)
A few years ago while in preaching in Lithuania, a nice young woman came up to me and asked if she could tell me something. When I told her that I would be happy to speak with her, she launched into a truly bizarre story. She told me that God spoke to her out of a spaceship. This close encounter of the strange kind left her absolutely certain that she knew all that she needed to know about spiritual matters. However, her claim to be the recipient of divine communication did not stop at that galactic vision. She further claimed that, after the space ship, God spoke to her through a horse, a cow, a light fixture, a frog and an image of the Madonna.

Though she seemed sincere, I did not decide to abandon Bible study and begin searching the night sky for a heavenly spaceship, nor did I launch out in pursuit of an intelligent looking frog. I seriously doubt any of those reading this article would suggest such methods for determining God's will either. Why? Because we recognize that God does not deliver His truth through a holy cow, but through the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:14-17). It is just that simple.

Why do people not use the same simple logic when trying to determine if the teaching they hear in the religious world is the truth of God's will? When a man behind a microphone or a television camera purports to speak for God, why do otherwise rational people blindly accept his word rather than comparing his teaching to the known source of God's will -- the Scripture? Denominational preachers and other teachers of error are characterized by diverting a hearer's attention away from the fact that their teaching is at odds with the plain statements of God's word. They tell the hearer that people cannot understand the Bible alike and that it was never intended as the source for unity. Thus, the modern pulpits and airwaves are filled with preachers asking us to trust them to guide us to God's will. They would have us cease efforts to eliminate error and promote truth by depending on the Bible. How does God declare His will?
Factors Essential to Understanding God's Speech to Man
 

Paul's instruction in 2 Timothy 2:15 will help us to answer our questions about what God expects of us and how we can know His will. The Bible says: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

The word translated "rightly dividing" refers to teaching accurately or expounding soundly. Thus, God teaches us something through the Bible and we are to accurately determine what that message is. Unlike the teaching done by many in the denominational world, the Bible says that we can understand the will of God. We are told, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). Other passages confirm that we can and must come to a knowledge of God's truth (2 Peter 1:1-4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 7:17; Matthew 7:7-8).

This end can only be reached as one is "diligent" in using God's word. The King James Version uses the word "study" to translate the word rendered "be diligent" in most other English versions of the Bible. The original word carried the sense of "making every effort" to do a thing. This does not suggest a lackadaisical and indolent approach to Bible study. One is not diligent in the use of the Bible when he casually looks at it for a few moments two or three times a week or less. Diligence demands a systematic and thorough examination of God's word every day of one's life. It requires an intense effort and an exhaustive search of all that God has said within His word. It is never satisfied with learning only part of God's will, but searches for all that He has said on any subject.

If people studied a subject in school or in their jobs as they study Bible subjects, confusion and contradiction would predominate in those areas, too. Understanding the subject and reaching proper conclusions takes extra effort in all areas of life.