God seems to be talking to a lot of people these days and saving them. I find that interesting since He was quite discriminating in His personal appearances in both in the Old and New Testaments. In John 20:30-31, we see why: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe…”
It was never the purpose of dreams, vision, etc., to bring unbelievers to Christ. That responsibility fell upon the church through the preaching of the gospel. Consider just a few examples:
Acts 2:37 – “And when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts…”
Ephesians 1:13 — “In Him (Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation…”
1 Corinthians 1:21 – …it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”
Moreover, when God did reveal Himself, He still required a human medium through which to reveal divine truth. For example:
Jesus appeared to Saul on the Damascus road in Acts 9, but Saul was not told what to do to be saved until he went into the city and heard Ananias.
When an angel of God appeared to Cornelius in Acts 10, he was instructed to send for Simon Peter who “will tell you what you must do.”
Personal claims notwithstanding, men are not being instructed or saved in dreams or visions. They are not being saved driving down the road or lying in their beds.
People can only be saved when they hear, understand, and obey the gospel of Christ. Only then will they know the necessity and the means by which one calls on the name of the Lord to be saved (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13-18; Acts 22:16.)
The gospel is God’s power to save (Romans 1:16). Men have to hear that gospel, believe it, and obey that they might be saved from their sins (Mark 16:15-16).
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