Chapter III: God HATH Spoken

But the other word in our text is also important—the word “hath.” It is present perfect tense. It means that God has already spoken. Our text does not say that God is continuing to speak but that God _hath_ spoken, indicating that at the time this fact was recorded God’s revelation to the world through Christ had already been made. It had not all been put in written form, but the gospel had already been revealed. It was already in existence among men. The apostles had already been preaching for a number of years. At the time they finished committing the gospel to writing (about A.D. 96), it could truthfully be said that revelation was already complete.

Our text does not say “God is speaking,” or “God continues to speak,” or “God will speak,” but “God _hath_ spoken.” Of course, as far as you and I are individually concerned, as we read and study his word, we are still hearing his message. But the point is that that message was completely delivered unto the world nearly two thousand years ago. No additions have been made to it since then and no addition will ever be made to it. God _hath_ spoken. His message is complete. It is, therefore, final. Those who claim a later revelation are making a false claim. Those who are waiting for a future revelation are waiting in vain. This very simple clause with just three words in it indicates that God’s message to us through Christ is complete. God _hath_ spoken. This being true, we need not expect another revelation.

This truth is further emphasized by other statements in the Bible. For instance, in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, and beginning with verse 16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Or, as one version says, “that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” So the word God hath spoken is complete. It’s all we need. It furnishes the man of God completely unto every good work. Therefore, we need not expect any further revelation.

Notice the word “scripture.” The word “scripture” means that which has been written. The word that God hath spoken has been put in written form. We no longer receive it from the lips of the apostles, or from the lips of those who first proclaimed it unto the world. After God had spoken through them, they put his word in writing and it has been passed down to us through the ages that have followed. By the providence of God it has been translated into our own mother tongue so that we may read it and study it for ourselves. Our testimony then is not an oral one, but a written one.

In the 20th chapter of John, verses 30 and 31, we read, “And many other signs, truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe.” Notice that word “written.” The source of our faith has been put in written form. This fact refutes the claim that God is speaking directly to people today. He _hath_ spoken. His word has already been delivered.

During my recent meetings in Georgia and North Carolina, I heard two men say that God had spoken to them audibly. One man said he was passing through a pine thicket one day and God spoke to him. I asked him what God said to him. He replied, “God told me I needed a saviour.” Well, God had already told him that, two thousand years ago. We have that revealed in the Bible. I have never talked to a man who could tell me what God had said to him unless he got it from the Bible. When a man thinks he hears God speak today, if anyone honestly thinks such a thing, he is simply recalling something that he has read in the Bible, or learned from somebody else who read it in the Bible. God’s message was completely delivered nearly two thousand years ago. Thus it is seen that every word of our topic is important. The Almighty God hath already spoken unto us.