Today's encouragement comes from Hebrews 1:1 & 2a, where we read these words:
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fa-thers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . . "God used to speak to His Old Covenant church and to the world through pro-phets. Sometimes they would have dreams, visions, or other means of re-ceiving His (God's) communication. Since Jesus Christ's ministry formally be-gan (at His baptism by John), God has *only* spoken through Him (“His Son”). The Lord employed special ambassadors (as in the apostles of the NT), and He still speaks through *His* church's truly-called clergymen today. But, even by means of *His* (God’s) pulpits, it is always and ultimately Christ speaking.
Why is all this significant and important? For a number of reasons; among them are these: Christians need not heed *any* "extra" revelation (like Mo-hammad's, or Joseph Smith's); and, with regard to doctrine, believers need heed *no one* who is not properly-ordained and/or covenanted in *Christ’s* church's ministry.
[Puritan quote of the day: "All the world is now seeking and tiring out them-selves for rest; here [in Christ] only it can be found.” —Thomas Shepard, in, "The Sincere Convert"]
