Holy Spirit in Revelation
Text: (No specific text; topical — the series text II Tim. 3:16-17 remains foundational)
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Topical
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- State the distinction between inspiration and revelation — what each is and why the distinction matters.
- Define "revelation" from its Latin derivation and explain what "divine revelation" specifically is.
- Distinguish general/natural revelation from special/supernatural revelation — what each communicates, what the limits of each are, and which one Christ fulfills.
- Explain why man cannot know God without divine revelation, using I Cor. 1:20-21 and 2:11.
- Name the five modes of revelation and identify a Scripture text that illustrates each.
Thesis
Revelation and inspiration are distinct acts in a related chain: God reveals truth about himself; inspiration ensures that revelation is accurately recorded and transmitted in human language. Divine revelation comes in two forms — general (through nature) and special (through direct communication, visions, prophets, and ultimately through Christ and the inspired apostles). Man cannot know what God is like from nature alone; special revelation is necessary because God's will and moral character exceed what creation can communicate. The Holy Spirit is necessary at every point where human language is used to transmit divine truth.
Burden
The series on the Holy Spirit has addressed his work in inspiration (sermons 162-165) and creation (sermon 166). Revelation stands in a specific relation to both: it is what the Spirit ensures is accurately transmitted (his inspiration work) and is distinct from creation's natural revelation. The burden is to establish the distinction clearly — not because it is merely academic but because understanding where revelation comes from, and through what modes, determines whether a person looks to nature, to tradition, to experience, or to the specific modes through which God revealed his will.
Introduction
The distinction between inspiration and revelation is necessary but frequently blurred. Inspiration is the divine guidance of the human process of communicating what was revealed — it addresses the accuracy of the record. Revelation is the divine disclosure of truth about God to human beings — it addresses the content of what was communicated. Inspiration makes revelation reliably recorded; revelation provides the content that inspiration preserves.
What is revelation? The word comes from the Latin revelatio — the removal of a veil, the making known of what was covered. Divine revelation is specifically God's revealing truth regarding himself to man. It is not the general human discovery of truth about the universe; it is the specific divine self-disclosure. Every act of divine revelation proceeds from God and centers around him — because what is being revealed is God.
I. What Is Revelation?
"Revelation" means "unveiling," "making known," "declaring." The image is of removing a covering that concealed something from view. Before divine revelation, God's will, character, and purpose were veiled from human knowledge — not because they did not exist but because human beings, unaided, could not perceive them.
Divine revelation is God's revealing truth regarding himself to man. This is the genus: God is the subject who acts; truth about himself is the content; man is the recipient. The definition excludes human discovery or inference as the mode — revelation is given by God, not extracted from God by human reasoning.
Hence all divine revelation proceeds from God and centers around him. It proceeds from God — it is not something a human being produces or constructs; it is given. It centers around God — the subject matter is God: his nature, his will, his purposes, his dealings with human beings, and ultimately the redemption he accomplished through Christ.
II. Kinds of Revelation
Divine revelation comes in two distinct forms, each with a specific scope and specific limits.
General or natural revelation. God is revealed through nature: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Ps. 19:1). The creation testifies to the existence and power of its creator: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made" (Rom. 1:20). The laws of nature are laws of God; the regularities, beauties, and evident design of the creation reflect the character of the one who made it.
The Bible assumes this kind of revelation. Multiple Scriptures presuppose that the natural person, looking at the world, is without excuse for failing to recognize the creator (Rom. 1:19-20; Acts 14:15-17 — "In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness").
But the heavens reveal the glory of God, not his will. This is the limit of natural revelation: it can establish the existence of God, the power of God, and certain aspects of God's character visible in the creation (the precision of the laws, the abundance of provision, the beauty of the order). It cannot establish what God requires of human beings — his moral will, the conditions of forgiveness, the plan of redemption. These require special revelation.
Special or supernatural revelation. God chose to reveal himself in person to man: not only through the creation, which is his work, but through direct communication — speaking, appearing, sending. "In many portions and in many ways God spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets" (Heb. 1:1). The content of special revelation is what cannot be learned through nature: the specific will of God, the plan of redemption, the moral law, the terms of the covenant, and ultimately the person and work of Christ.
Christ is the Great Revealer of God. "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him" (John 1:18). The word translated "explained" is exēgeomai — to lead out, to unfold, to narrate. Christ is the full and final explanation of God: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Special revelation finds its apex in the incarnation.
III. Needs of Revelation
Why is special revelation necessary? Four reasons.
Man cannot know God without divine revelation. "Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (I Cor. 1:20-21). The world's wisdom — the best that human philosophical and intellectual effort produces — did not produce the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God comes through the "foolishness" of the message preached, which is a specific content revealed, not discovered. "The thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:11) — without the Spirit's disclosure, God's inner life is inaccessible to human inquiry.
Man sank in the depths of sin without the knowledge of God. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18). The nations that had only natural revelation did not rise to God — they suppressed the truth available in natural revelation and descended into the idolatry and moral corruption that Romans 1:18-32 describes. Natural revelation is real; human sin ensures that it is regularly suppressed rather than followed.
Revelation for man needs to be in the language of man. This is not a limitation on God; it is a consequence of how communication works. If God's revelation is to be received by human beings, it must be given in a form that human beings can receive — in human language, in human concepts, in the vocabulary of the culture being addressed. The incarnation is the ultimate form of this principle: the eternal Word becoming flesh, speaking in Aramaic to Galilean fishermen.
Language is not a perfect medium. It is the best available medium for communicating thought, but it is not perfect — words are imprecise, meanings shift, translation loses nuances, and different audiences bring different interpretive frameworks. This is precisely why the Spirit's assistance is necessary: human language, left to unaided human use, cannot reliably transmit divine revelation. Divine assistance — inspiration — is required to ensure that the divine content survives the human transmission.
IV. Modes of Revelation
The special revelation of God to human beings has come through five specific modes. Each is attested in Scripture.
God speaking directly to man. The most direct mode: the voice of God without intermediary. At Jesus' baptism: "a voice came out of the heavens: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased'" (Matt. 3:17). At the transfiguration: "a voice out of the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!'" (Matt. 17:5). The direct voice is the clearest form of special revelation — it requires no intermediary and no interpretation of natural phenomena.
Directly to Moses. Moses occupied a unique position in the modes of revelation: "He said, 'Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings'" (Num. 12:7-8). The mode of Moses' revelation was distinguished from the mode given to other prophets: direct speech rather than vision or dream.
Visions and dreams. The more common prophetic mode: "If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream" (Num. 12:6). Visions and dreams are indirect in comparison to Moses' direct speech, but they are genuine revelation — the content comes from God, given through an image or a dream-experience that the prophet then communicates.
Through the prophets. The accumulated prophetic revelation of the Old Testament was given through human agents who received it in one of the above modes and communicated it to the people. "I, the LORD, have spoken through the prophets" is the recurring formula. The Spirit's involvement in this mode is explicit: "Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (II Pet. 1:20-21).
By inspiration. The mode through which the revealed content was transmitted in written form — the mode that preserves all the others for every subsequent generation. "We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit" (I Cor. 2:13). "The things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment" (I Cor. 14:37). The inspiration mode is the bridge from the original revelatory event to the written Scripture that makes that event available to all who read.
Application
The distinction between general and special revelation determines where a person must look for the knowledge of God's will.
General revelation establishes that God exists and that he is powerful and good (Rom. 1:20). It is sufficient to render the person without excuse who has failed to acknowledge him. It is not sufficient to tell a person what God requires, how sin is forgiven, or how one enters the covenant community. For these, special revelation is necessary.
Special revelation is complete. The final mode — inspiration — produced the Scripture that contains the completed revelation of God's will. "In these last days [God] has spoken to us in His Son" (Heb. 1:2); the Son has come; the apostles who witnessed him have written; the Spirit who inspired them has finished his revelatory work. The canon is closed not by ecclesiastical decision but by the completion of the revelatory process.
The person who wants to know what God requires must look to special revelation: to the Scripture that is the product of inspiration, which preserved and transmitted the content of the revelation given through all five modes.
Conclusion
Divine revelation is God's self-disclosure — proceeding from him, centering around him, given in human language because its recipient is human, requiring the Spirit's assistance because human language alone cannot reliably carry divine content. It comes in two forms: natural (sufficient to reveal God's existence and power; insufficient to reveal his will) and special (given through direct speech, prophets, visions, and ultimately through the inspired Word). The Spirit's role in revelation is the necessary bridge between the divine content and the human reception of it.
Invitation
The revelation is complete; the invitation is in it. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The will of God — which natural revelation cannot communicate — is clear in the special revelation: believe, repent, confess, be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). The veil has been removed; the revelation is given; the invitation is open.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revelation | apokalypsis | Uncovering, unveiling — apo (away from) + kalyptō (to cover). The removal of what was concealing. | Used as the governing concept throughout: divine revelation is God's removal of the veil that concealed his nature and will from human perception. | The image of unveiling precisely captures what revelation is and is not. It is not human discovery (the discoverer pulls away a covering); it is divine disclosure (God removes the veil). The content was always there; the veil is what prevented the knowledge; revelation is the act of its removal. | I Cor. 2:10; Rev. 1:1 |
| Explained / Declared | exēgeomai | To lead out, to unfold, to narrate — the verb from which "exegesis" comes. | Used in John 1:18 for what Christ has done: "the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has exēgeomai-ed Him." | The word describes authoritative unfolding: Christ does not merely point to the Father; he unfolds him, leads the listener out into the full disclosure of who the Father is. This is why Christ is the apex of special revelation — he is the full exegesis of God. | John 1:18; John 14:9 |
| General revelation | (Conceptual) | The self-disclosure of God through the created order — available to all persons in all times through observation of the natural world. | Used in Section II.1 for what the heavens declare: the glory of God, his eternal power and divine nature. | The limits of general revelation are as important as its content: it reveals the creator, not the Redeemer; the power of God, not the plan of God; the existence of a moral order, not the specific conditions of forgiveness. Special revelation is necessary for what general revelation cannot communicate. | Rom. 1:20; Ps. 19:1 |
| Vision | horaō / horasis | A sight, a seeing — used for the prophetic experience of receiving revelation in a visual form. | Used in Num. 12:6 for the mode of revelation given to ordinary prophets: "I shall make Myself known to him in a vision." | The vision mode is less direct than Moses' "mouth to mouth" communication but more direct than inferring God's will from natural phenomena. The Spirit's involvement in the vision mode is explicit: the content comes from God, given through the Spirit, in a visual form the prophet can then communicate. | Num. 12:6; Acts 2:17 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| "The heavens declare the glory of God" | II.1a | Ps. 19:1 |
| "His eternal power and divine nature clearly seen" | II.1d | Rom. 1:20 |
| "He gave rains and fruitful seasons" — natural revelation | II.1d | Acts 14:15-17 |
| "Christ the Great Revealer of God" | II.2c | John 1:18 |
| "World through wisdom did not come to know God" | III.1 | I Cor. 1:20-21 |
| "No one knows thoughts of God except the Spirit" | III.1 | I Cor. 2:11 |
| "Wrath revealed against those who suppress the truth" | III.2 | Rom. 1:18 |
| God speaking directly — the baptism voice | IV.1 | Matt. 3:17 |
| Moses: "mouth to mouth, openly" | IV.2 | Num. 12:7-8 |
| "I shall make Myself known in a vision" | IV.3 | Num. 12:6 |
| "Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" | IV.4 | II Pet. 1:20-21 |
| "Words taught by the Spirit" | IV.5 | I Cor. 2:13 |
| Baptism for remission | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 168. Primary text: none stated; topical. OCR corrections: "Psa. 99:89-91" → corrected to "Ps. 19:1" for the specific heavens/glory text (the source OCR misread the numbers); "Divisions" → "Visions" (OCR error in the raw split, corrected). Doctrinal audit: the distinction between inspiration and revelation developed precisely — revelation is the content; inspiration is the preservation of the content in human language; general revelation's limits stated without dismissing it as meaningless (it renders the person without excuse); special revelation's completion in Christ and the closed canon developed from Heb. 1:2 without overstating the claim; the need for the Spirit at the point of human language transmission (because language is not a perfect medium) developed as the bridge between inspiration and revelation sermons; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
