Who Speaks God's Words?

THE RELIGIOUS SCENE today is teeming with teachers and preachers claiming boldly to speak for God. History tells us of people who came out into the open believing that they had been divinely chosen and inspired by God to speak for Him. To prove their authority, they would cite their dreams or visions, claiming that they had felt a sudden urge to preach, which they believed wholeheartedly as an inspiration from God through the Holy Spirit. Today, many claim they are doing it to show their sympathy to the wretched condition of the poor and there are some who are inspired by the success of others in the field of religion.

Because these diverse claims seem as though they were true, many people believe them and they see no problem in believing these preachers either because they appear to be genuinely motivated by reasons cited above. It is not surprising then that many people are attracted to these preachers who succeed in making them believe in their "sincerity and deep spiritual devotion" in carrying out such a task of preaching what they strongly believe is a message from God.

Religious pluralism? 

Majority of preachers today say they are motivated by the mandate given by Christ to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28:19, New King James Version), which they call the "Great Commission." As a result, we see many "Christian" sects and denominations from the United States and other countries sending missionaries all over the world. Some eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism have come to the United States to propagate their faith as well. We see the proliferation of differing ideas and beliefs which adds to the confusion prevailing in this already chaotic world. Because of the preponderance of religions in the United States, many have adopted a stand which is commonly called "religious pluralism," a concept that all religions are on a par with one another. Anybody who supports this concept readily accepts the idea that God uses different media in communicating His message to people. However, with the presence of diverging, and conflicting statements from various sources, it appears as if God were a God of confusion and not of order, a situation which has led others to think that religion is an enigma with no immediate and possible solution. Because of this chaos, some have become disillusioned with religion or distanced themselves from religious people, some pronouncing themselves non-religious, and others calling themselves freethinkers or even openly denying the existence of God.

This sad situation is due to people who claim to speak for God yet are wanting in authority. However, their existence does not disprove the fact that there are indeed people today who genuinely speak for God. The Bible proves that there are those who truly speak for God. In the olden times, Moses and the prophets were sent to reveal God's will for the people during their times:

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets." (Heb. 1:1, Ibid.)

     In the New Testament times, the first one to be sent was John the Baptist. The Bible records that "God sent his messenger, a man named John" (John 1:6, Today's English Version), whose function was to preach repentance and to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:2-3, Contemporary English Version). When Christ came, Apostle Paul testified that, "God sent his Son to bring his message to us" (Heb. 1:2, Ibid.). Apostle John wrote that "The Son was sent to speak God's message" (John 3:34, Ibid.).

     When Christ ascended into heaven, He commissioned His apostles by telling them, "I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me" (John 20:21, Ibid.). To these apostles, Christ gave a specific command to "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all mankind" (Mark 16:15, TEV).

     So the Bible teaches clearly that since the beginning there have been people who truly speak for God, the ones who have been divinely commissioned or appointed to preach His words. Apostle Paul bears witness to this when he said:

"We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, 'Be reconciled to God!'" (II Cor. 5:20, New Living Translation)

     Paul, speaking on behalf of the ambassadors or those who were sent to speak for Christ, said, "God is using us to speak to you." Therefore, the messengers of God are the ones who speak for God or preach on behalf of God. What about if a preacher is not sent by God? What is lacking or wanting in a preacher who is not commissioned by God? Apostle Paul answers by saying, "how can they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom. 10:15, New International Version) Unless a person is sent by God, he has no authority to preach and he is not the true harbinger of His will.

Law and testimony

 In view of this, we could see that many preachers today are claiming boastfully that they are His representatives on earth now. However, it behooves us not to believe and accept what the false prophets say. In conjunction with this, how could we distinguish a genuine messenger from the false claimants? What is the yardstick that the Bible teaches by which to measure one’s claim to be a genuine messenger of God? The prophet Isaiah provided us with the answer:

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” (Isa. 8:20, Ibid., emphasis ours)

          A preacher must have both the law and the testimony. One who lacks any of these two essentials cannot be a genuine preacher. The light of God does not guide preachers who lack the law and the testimony. What is the law? The law refers to the words of God:

“They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets…” (Zech. 7:12, Ibid., emphasis ours)

          Many would be very quick to jump to the conclusion that they are indeed true preachers because they have the law. They thing that holding the Bible while preaching is proof of being a genuine preacher of God. However, this by itself does not guarantee that a preacher is speaking the true words of God. And even if he recite verbatim the words of God in the Bible, that still does not qualify him to be a genuine preacher. Aside from having the law, a preacher must have a testimony.

          When the Bible says that a preacher must have the testimony, others understand it as a “self-testimony.” Evidently, we see preachers telling their audience about their “confessions” or stories on how they came to be preachers. On the contrary, this testimony is not what the Bible is talking about because “self-testimonies” can also be fraudulent, misleading and self-serving.

          According to the Bible, whose testimony should a preacher have, or who must testify for a preacher during the Christian era? The testimony of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Revelation 19:10, thus:

“At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’.”(Ibid., emphasis ours)

          Notice that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Therefore, one who claims to be a genuine messenger of God must be backed up fully by a prophecy to authenticate his claim. Why is prophecy important? How did prophecy come? Apostle Peter proved the importance of prophecy by stressing the point that:

“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Pet. 1:21, NKJV)

          Prophecy came from God and not from man. It came through the holy men of God who were moved or inspired by the Holy Spirit. In view of this, not everyone could give his own explanation of the prophecy. Even though a person is learned and possesses tremendous human knowledge, he cannot readily understand and explain the prophecies of the Scriptures. Even if others take the scientific approach, such as by doing an exegetical analysis of biblical texts, diligent study alone does not guarantee understanding of the truth written in the Bible because according to Apostle Paul, there are those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”(II Tim. 3:7, Ibid.).

Testified by biblical prophecy

 Who are examples of true messengers of God who possessed not only the law or the words of God but also biblical prophecy which gave authenticity to their being genuine preachers? The Bible testifies that John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle, and even our Lord Jesus Christ, long before they appeared on the religious scene, had already been prophesied. The book of the prophet Isaiah contains some of the prophecies about them. John the Baptist was mentioned in the prophecy as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Isa. 40:3; John 1:19-23), Jesus Christ was the fulfillment (Luke 4:16-21) of the one prophesied in Isaiah 61:1 who says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those are bound” (NKJV), Paul was to be the “light to the Gentiles” (Isa. 49:6; Acts 13:39).

          There is no contention about the cited biblical facts that the three preachers mentioned above were prophesied. No diligent student of the Bible will ever question their authority to preach inasmuch as they were prophesied to fulfill such a divine function. The bone of contention today among preachers is “who truly speaks for God today?” Who has the right and authority to speak for Christ today? In response, we go back to what Christ said about His messengers, thus:

“He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16, NIV)

          Christ’s messengers speak for Him today. By listening to them, one listens to Christ. His messengers, therefore, are the ones who speak for God, who sent Christ. If people do not listen to them, they commit the sin of rejecting both God and Christ.

          The Church of Christ believes that Brother Felix Y. Manalo is the messenger commissioned by God to preach the gospel in these last days. His commissioning has been attested to by numerous prophecies written in the Bible, one of which says:

“You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’.” (Isa. 49:9-10, NKJV)

          The chosen servant of God mentioned in the prophecy would emerge from the “ends of the earth” which refers to the period of time when the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is near, the beginnings of which is signaled by a world war (Matt. 24:3,33, 6-7; Isa. 34:1-2). On July 27,1914, the First World War broke out (The Nations at War, p. 8) indicating the beginning of the period “ends of the earth”. It is in this very date that the Church of Christ was officially registered by Brother Felix Y. Manalo with the Philippine government.

          This prophesied messenger of God was likewise likened to a bird of prey:

“Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” (Isa. 46:11, NKJV)

          The “bird of prey” mentioned in the verse is a man who executes God’s counsel or words (Ps. 107:11). Hence, he has God-given authority and right to preach God’s words. The place of his origin is “a far country” in the “east”, particularly in the “far east” (Isa. 43:5, Moffatt Translation). The Philippines, where Brother Felix Y. Manalo began preaching the Iglesia ni Cristo, is “almost at the geographical center of the Far East” (Asia and the Philippines, p.169).

          The fulfillment of the many biblical prophecies in Brother Felix Y. Manalo proves that he, indeed, is the commissioned messenger of God in these last days.






Who Speaks God's Words?
by Jose J. Ventilacion
Published in GOD’S MESSAGE
September 2005, p. 28