When God Speaks: What the Bible and the Early Church Teach Us

For many years, I often heard Christians say things like, “God told me this,” or “God said that to me this morning,” or “God and I were talking about” We live in a generation where conversational revelation, God speaking in constant back-and-forth dialogue, is assumed to be the normal Christian experience. However, is that what Scripture teaches? Is that how the early church understood God’s voice? Or have we absorbed a modern idea without realizing it?

As I began digging deeply into Scripture and then into the writings of the early church (100–500 AD), something became very clear: the way Christians talk today about “hearing God” is drastically different from how Jesus, the apostles, and the first centuries of the church understood God’s voice.

This is not about attacking anyone’s experiences. It’s about pursuing truth. What I found is both freeing and stabilizing: God does indeed speak to His people, but not in the constant conversational way our modern church subculture often assumes.

Below is a walk-through Scripture and church history that helps us understand how God truly speaks today.

1. God Has Spoken: The Biblical Foundation

If we want to understand how God speaks, we must start with what He has already said not with experience, feelings, or stories.

God Spoke in Different Ways in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets, visions, angelic appearances, direct speech, and dreams. He communicated in many ways. It was not normative either; it was rare moments tied to significant events.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets” Hebrews 1:1

But that is only the first half of the sentence.

God’s Final and Climactic Word Is His Son

The writer of Hebrews continues:

“but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.” Hebrews 1:2

This is the shift in redemptive history. God’s final revelation is not a dream or vision or impression, it is Christ. Jesus entrusted His revelation to the apostles, whose writings form our New Testament.

The Apostles and Prophets Were Foundational

Paul tells us the church is:

“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:20 A foundation is laid once, not in every generation. The apostles and prophets delivered the faith “once for all” Jude 3

Apostolic Signs Were for Apostolic Witness

Paul speaks of:

“The signs of a true apostle” 2 Corinthians 12:12

Hebrews says:

“God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit” Hebrews 2:3-4 These signs authenticated the gospel at the beginning. Nowhere does Scripture teach ongoing apostolic signs for all ages.

Scripture Is the Sufficient, Final Voice of God

Paul writes:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Scripture is enough to make us “complete” and “equipped” for every good work. We don’t need a new revelation. We need faithfulness to the revelation already given. This is the biblical foundation. But what about the early church? What happened after the apostles died?

2. What Happened After the Apostles? 100–300 AD

One of the most shocking discoveries is how silent the early church is about the miraculous gifts after the first century. They talk about holiness, persecution, worship, unity, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, Scripture, bishops, and doctrine. They do not describe churches filled with tongues, prophecies, and ongoing apostolic miracles. That silence speaks loudly.

The Didache 70 AD: Prophets Become Scripture Teachers

The Didache mentions prophets, but they are not New Testament prophets delivering fresh revelation. They are traveling Christian teachers who must be tested by their character and doctrine. There is no mention of tongues, healings, or new revelations. This already shows that prophecy has shifted from revelation to Scripture-centered exhortation.

Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement early 100s: No Sign-Gifts Mentioned

Their writings focus on unity, obedience, holiness, and resisting heresy. There is no evidence that apostles, tongues, or miraculous gifts continued in their time. If tongues and prophecy were thriving, their silence makes no sense.

Justin Martyr mid-100s: Prophecy = Scripture Interpretation

Justin occasionally refers to “prophetic gifts,” but he never mentions tongues or miraculous revelation. Instead, he describes prophecy as the ability to understand and declare Scripture.

This is the standard shift we see that prophecy is not revelatory but rather scripture-focused.

Irenaeus 180 AD: One Second-Hand Reference to Tongues

Irenaeus gives the only early reference to something like tongues:

“We hear of many brethren who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages”

But notice: He says, “we hear of,” not “we see." It is not his own church, nor is it even in his own town. He doesn't know anyone personally, including himself, who has this language gift. He never gives instructions about it. It is clearly not normal and is fading fast as the gospel spreads.

This is evidence of gifts already fading, not flourishing.

Origen mid-200s: The Gifts Have Diminished

Origen openly writes: “The signs of the Holy Spirit were present at the beginning but traces of them are no longer seen.” By the mid-3rd century, a major theologian can say “signs have faded” without controversy. The foundation has been laid. The church has reached its normal maturity with a full canon.

3. Clear Testimony from 300–500 AD: Gifts Ceased and Scripture Is Final

By the time we reach the 300s–400s, the church is openly saying what Scripture already implied: the apostolic signs and revelatory gifts belonged to the beginning, not to every era.

Athanasius: Scripture Alone Is the Fountain of Doctrine

Athanasius declares: “These are the fountains of salvation In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness. Let no man add to these, neither let him take away from these.”

Scripture, not impressions, dreams, or private voices, is the final authority.

Cyril of Jerusalem: Do Not Believe Without Scripture

Cyril instructs believers: “Do not believe me unless you receive the proof from the Holy Scriptures.”

This is the opposite of “God told me.” movement we see today.

John Chrysostom: Tongues and Gifts Used to Occur Then but Now No Longer Take Place

Preaching on 1 Corinthians 12, Chrysostom explains:

“These things used to occur then, but now no longer take place.”

For him, tongues, healings, and prophetic signs belonged to the apostolic age.

Augustine: Tongues ‘Passed Away’

Augustine said:

“These signs were for that time that thing was done for a sign, and it passed away.”

Tongues served a temporary purpose to show the gospel moving to all nations.

By his time, the gift had ceased.

4. What All This Means: How God Speaks Today

Putting Scripture and early church testimony together gives us a clear, unified picture.

Apostles and Prophets Were Foundational

Their revelation completed the faith “once for all” Jude 3. There are no more apostles in the biblical sense, and no prophets giving infallible new revelations.

Tongues and Sign-Gifts Were Temporary

They authenticated the gospel at the beginning (Mark 16:20; Heb 2:3-4). They were signs of a true apostle (2 Cor 12:12). They faded quickly after the first century by the 300-400s, and the church openly declared them gone.

Prophecy Became Scripture-Centered Preaching

Rather than God giving new doctrinal revelation, pastors and teachers “declared the Word” already given.

Scripture Is the Final, Sufficient, Public Word of God

The early church constantly pointed back to the Bible as the standard for all truth. The Spirit Still Speaks, but Not with New Revelation. The Holy Spirit brings Scripture to mind. Convicts of sin. Leads us in holiness. Opens doors for ministry. Shapes our desires in accordance with the Word. This is God speaking, but not through new revelations.

The Conversational “God Told Me” Culture Is Modern, Not Biblical

The idea that God speaks all day long in back-and-forth dialogue has no grounding in:

Scripture, the first century, the early church, the church fathers, Orthodox Christian theology through the centuries. It is essentially a product of the modern Pentecostal and charismatic movements of the 1900s.

God guides. Yes. God impresses things on our hearts. Yes. God providentially leads. Yes.

But the everyday Christian life is not a constant state of private revelation. Rather, it is a continuous dependence on the Word. The movement of the 1900s has grown so popular and taken such root in our modern thinking that we are convinced we do not need to be immersed in God's Word, because if we talk to God all day, then we can justify not reading my Bible diligently. This is the great deception plaguing Christians. Satan knows that if he can keep you from studying the scriptures, he will have you deceived by the conversational voices.

I often struggle with "I talk to God all day," but yet that "god" never tells you to obey what He has already written? Are we talking to God, or are we talking to "a god" we are more comfortable with?

Conclusion: The Sure Voice of God Is the Written Word

If you want to hear God speak with authority, clarity, and certainty, the answer is simple:

Open your Bible. The Scriptures are the final, settled, Spirit-breathed voice of God for His people.

Everything else, impressions, thoughts, promptings, desires must be tested by that Word. They can be helpful, but they are not a revelation. They are not Scripture. They are not binding. And they are not the usual way God communicates His will.

The early church understood this. The apostles taught this. God Himself says this:

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 3:15

Where do we hear His voice today? In the Scriptures, He has given us.

The “God told me” Culture may be common, but it is neither biblical nor historical. The Word of God is enough. The Spirit of God is enough. Christ, the final revelation, is enough.

We don’t need a new revelation. We need renewed obedience to the revelation already given.