Similar to Jack Deere, several authors have written books on how God reveals himself and His will to us. Most of these authors are correct to conclude that it was a widespread occurrence for God to reveal Himself. The problem with their views is when they claim that God speaks today just like He did then. Jim Osman points out that if that is true, “(1) Receiving revelation would be a common experience of all Christians. Accordingly, as far as revelation is concerned, there would not be anything special about the apostles and prophets. (2 Receiving revelation would be frequent and not extraordinary. We would expect to see directions in the ordinary common decisions of everyday life. (3) We would expect to read about promptings, nudgings; still, small voices, sensing peace, signs, and feeling led. We should expect to see ordinary Christians tuning in to God’s frequency, listening for His voice, or waiting on his whispers” (Jim Osman, God Doesn’t Whisper, 236). In addition, we should see people looking for agreement between signs and confirming events as they struggle to unravel the meaning of personal unctions from the Spirit.
The historical book that is often used to prove these conclusions is the Acts of the Apostles. Interestingly, this heading is already moving away from the activities of every Christian. Acts 1:8, which I take as the theme of the book, reads, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit comes upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This quote is not addressed to every Christian, as the promise was not addressed to every Christian (John 14-16, Luke 24:46-49). Acts fol w a period of about thirty years, dropping off around the time of Paul’s stay in Rome in house arrest. During this time, it covers the conflict between Jews and Gentiles and bridging that gap that separated them through the cessation of the old law system and the power of the gospel message. Luke’s record of this period marks a unique time that neither repeats itself nor is experienced by all Christians. However, the early saints were promised the Holy Spirit and given the gifts of the Spirit through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. Yet, this was an element associated with that period, not ours. God orchestrated the transition from the old Jewish system and old Jerusalem into the new one by miraculous manifestation of great power to confirm His approval. This does not have anything to do with the ordinary decisions of our time. I am open to h r any biblical evidence to the contrary but to prove the accuracy of your interpretation of your leadings, impressions, and Spirit-guided directives, you must be able to appeal to the objective Word of God. I’ll be waiting for your response.