Is God Still Speaking Today?
Many people are asking the question, “Is God still speaking nowadays?” Many who wonder about this are looking for an audible voice, a major miraculous sign in which God could “prove” Himself? In light of this, it is interesting that Jesus repeatedly condemned such clamoring for a sign, saying, “A wicked and perverse generation seeks for [such] a sign”. At first, this statement of Jesus seems harsh. Isn’t the seeking of a sign just a genuine request for assurance that we believe and obey the right thing? Then, what’s the reason for Jesus’ strong rebuke?
Well, there is a basic problem with such a request. It assumes that we always act properly on what we know to be true. In other words, “Just tell me what is true and right and I’ll act upon it.” But nothing could be further from the truth. For example, we certainly know that we should put others first and treat others the way we like to be treated. But do we really do this? If we are honest, the answer is no. Some of us may even be flattering ourselves: “Well, at least I do it better than most people I know.” But even such flattery, far from acquitting us, actually increases our condemnation, showing our insistence to judge ourselves better than others.
You see, our problem in knowing God’s voice is not primarily in His providing proof, but in our acting on what he has already made clear. It is not in His proving that He has spoken, but in our proving that we are truly listening.
Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
~Matthew 12:38-42 NASB
