What would most Christians consider the most exciting and personal kind of spiritual experience?

From what I’ve gathered from people over the years, it would be for them to hear a personal, audible message from God to them.

For them that would be the spiritual crème de la crème.

To know that God was speaking to them personally, entrusting them with a message from him, would be the most exciting to them.

 

That’s talking generically, but what about we, ourselves, how would we like to hear the audible voice of God?

If a close brother or sister in the Lord, asked you in confidence, how would you like to actually hear the voice of the Father, what would you say?

Imagine, the excitement and the power in hearing the voice of the Father.

Can we imagine a more credible word from the LORD than that?

How many spiritual experiences could top that?

Well, Peter had a chance to experience exactly that, and recounted the experience many years later.

The gospels give the account when the LORD Jesus took Peter, James, and John up into the mount, where he was transfigured.

That is where Peter, along with the others, actually heard the voice of the Father:

 

Matthew 17:1 ¶  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

4  Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7  And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8  And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

 

Wouldn’t you like to have an experience like that?

How clear to you would be the prophecy if you actually heard it by audible voice from the Father himself?

As great as it would be to have a mountain top experience like that, seeing Moses & Elijah, and seeing the Lord transfigured, yet hearing the voice of the Father would top all that.

Years later, towards the very end of his life, Peter recounted this awesome experience, in his second epistle:

 

II Peter 1:16 ¶  For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

18  And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 ¶  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

20  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

 

What?

Did Peter actually say that having the written word of God is a more sure word of prophecy than actually hearing the audible voice of the Father?

Most of us really don’t believe what Peter wrote, and we believe it completely the other way around.

We consider that hearing an audible voice of God a more sure word of prophecy than the written word of God.

 

That is why most of us are so moved when we hear another Christian, particularly a preacher, say, “The LORD told me”.

Even though, many people use that expression, without having had heard an audible voice, and they actually meant that the LORD laid it on their heart”.

However, the majority of us who hear them say, “The LORD told me”, take them literally & believe that this other Christian actually heard the voice of God.

Then, if the majority of us believe that the preacher gets audible messages from God, we would then believe we are getting new revelation straight from God’s mouth.

It could be anything, even false doctrine, but we would not think so, since the preacher got it “straight from God’s mouth”.

Many of us, then, wouldn’t dare consider double checking on what was preached, like the Bereans did, as we may consider that an act of no faith or blasphemy.

 

Have we lost sight of what we actually have in our laps?

Do we not have the written word of God, right before our eyes?

How much does the LORD think of his written word?

 

Psalm 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

 

The LORD has magnified his word above all his name!

How high & magnified are the names of the LORD?

Yet, the LORD magnifies his written word above even that.

 

However, we don’t.

Someone has come along to us, like that fellow in Genesis 3, and asked us, “Yea, hath God said?”

Someone has come to convince us that the written word of God was only truly inspired, inerrant, and perfect, in the original autographs.

Bummer! Only a few blessed souls actually got to read the word of God, then?

The rest of us will simply have to make do with a less than perfect, subject to correction, copy of what “once was” inspired?

But wait! Scholars of ancient Hebrew & ancient Greek have let us know that they will come to our rescue!

They say that they will be able to give us a closer look at what had been in those original autographs.

They say that they will get us closer to what “had been” the inspired words of scripture.

We would then have to think, too bad that the LORD couldn’t keep his word, like he promised:

 

Psalm 12: 6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

 

So, have they convinced us that they will be able to pick up the ball, that they have convinced us that the LORD dropped?

Isn’t it actually blasphemous to think that the LORD can only have his word inspired in the original autographs?

How weak would he be to give his word inspired, but then lose the perfect, inerrant, inspired words,

to then have to depend upon language scholars to get closer to what he lost, rather than on his mighty power to keep his word?

The Word of God (with a large “W”), in the flesh, Jesus, was buried for only three days and three nights.

The Word of God did not remain buried, as he is not dead, but alive for ever more.

Yet, someone tells us that the written word of God (small “w”) remained buried for 1900 year, in a cave by the “Dead” Sea.

Then we end up thinking higher of that, than what is in our laps?

Shame on us!

We have a more sure word of prophecy.

Especially when we have the preserved, written word of God in our laps, and some believe actually that.

We would do well to magnify the written word of God over the scholarship of ancient Hebrew & ancient Greek.

We would do well to magnify the written word of God over the teaching that the word of God is no longer perfect, inerrant, and inspired.

We would do well to magnify the written word of God over a claim of someone today saying, “the LORD told me”.

 

However, will we do that?

After all, Eve & Adam believed another account more than the word of God, about eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Why do we feign ourselves to be superior to Adam & Eve?

Do we not make the same mistake as them?

Do we not let someone else say something “about” the word of God, to cause us to doubt, somewhat, the book that is in our laps?

Even if it is to convince us that the word was only inspired & inerrant in the original autographs, and not in the copy on our laps.

 

                          Gino