Text: Ephesians 3:1-3
Many people claim to receive messages directly from heaven. But does God reveal His will directly to people today like He did with Paul and others? It is important that we know the answer to that question.
Define “Divine Revelation”
- Not natural revelation – what we can know about God from the created world (Romans 1:20; Acts 14:17)
- Not teaching from the Scriptures – that is simply teaching what has already been revealed
- Divine revelation is a message delivered by a person of God to men, making known God’s will – from the Father (Matthew 3:17), Jesus (John 18:37), and often the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13)
Jesus is the Spokesman for the Last Days
- Contrast between the time “long ago” and the “last days” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
- Jesus is the Word that was made flesh (John 1:14) – He came to testify to the truth (John 18:37)
- The book of Hebrews speaks of things that have been perfected in Christ – priesthood (Hebrews 5:10; 7:4-10), law (Hebrews 7:12), covenant (Hebrews 8:7-8; 9:15), sacrifices (Hebrews 10:4-5, 10), etc.
- First one mentioned is revelation (Hebrews 1:2) – perfected in Christ
His Will Was Revealed Through the Apostles
- The apostles were His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) – official spokesmen (John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:13)
- Qualifications to be an apostle (Acts 1:21-22) – they had to be eyewitnesses (1 John 1:1)
- There can be no apostles today – unless they are false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13)
His Will Was Revealed Through Prophets
- Prophets played an important role in the early church (Ephesians 4:11-12; 2:20)
- The gift of prophecy was given by the will of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 10) – through the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:14-17)
- The time of such miraculous gifts would cease – after the death of the apostles and after the will of God was fully revealed (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)
- There can be no prophets today – unless they are false prophets (1 John 4:1)
God’s Will Has Been Fully Revealed
- Through Jesus and His inspired apostles and prophets, we have all we need to know (2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3) – there is no need for modern day revelations (1 Corinthians 13:11)
- Those who claim to receive modern day revelations are liars (Romans 3:4) – they may be intentionally deceiving others or are deceived themselves, but the result is the same (2 Timothy 3:13)
- We must seek God’s will in His written word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
