Jesus was the greatest voice in history

JESUS WAS THE GREATEST VOICE IN HISTORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Luke 9:35 35A voice came from the cloud, saying,
"This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listento him."
John 10:27 ESV / My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me.
DAVID JEREMIAHWROTE, "Ofall the voices we hear in the course of a
day, none is more essentialto how we live our lives than the voice of Jesus!
Throughout history there have been many great orators and countless
inspiring speeches,but none can compare to the words of Jesus. No one ever
spoke as He did. His words are perfect, infallible and unfailing, always
truthful and trustworthy. He never spoke a false syllable or struck a wrong
note. The wisdom of God is concentratedinto every sentence. His words are
powerful. His voice causeddemons to flee and storms to evaporate. His words
are practical. He spoke the language ofeveryday people. He told simple
stories. By listening to Him, we learn how to live rich, full, and blessedlives.
His words are peaceful. He spoke the words, “PeaceIleave with you, My
peace I give to you.” This is more than just a saying — it is a spiritual truth —
a promise from our Lord and Savior

THE VOICE OF JESUS
by Rex Yancey
The voice is lookedupon as indicative of character. It is the pulsating, living
mirror of the soul-life of the speaker.
I like actors who do very little speaking like Clint Eastwood, andSam Elliot.
"Go ahead, make my day!" You know these guys are tough without them
giving you a commentary on how tough they are.
One of the tragedies ofdeafness is that one is deprived the joy of hearing the
human voice.
Naturalists inform us that the finest birds give forth the sweetestsongs,and
converselythe most ferocious beasthas the most blood curdling growl. I had a
little wren that nestedin my shop. He would perch on top of the house and
sing his little heart out with the most melodious notes I have ever heard.
Human beings are frequently characterizedby the same qualities. The most
refined individuals seemto have well-modulated and melodious voices, while
debasedpersons in the grip of evil habits and given to vicious practices can
only make themselves felt with course yelling.
The ancient Greeks appreciatedthe value of a clear, resonantvoice. The voice
is regardedas the index of the soul. We can hear the sound of voices and
understand thoughts of the mind.

-1 Corinthians 14:10 says "There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the
world, and none of them is without signification."
-Job 4:10, "The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the
teeth of the young lions, are broken."
-Song of Solomon2:12, "The flowers appearon the earth, the time of the
singing of the birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
-John the Baptist was the "Voice of one crying in the wilderness."
But the voice of Jesus is the most significantof all voices. It is the only
harmonizing voice of the world's discordant notes.
Luke 9:35 35A voice came from the cloud, saying,
"This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listento him."
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Wisdom Of Hearing Christ
Luke 9:35

W. Clarkson
Three things are clearto us, preliminarily.
1. Jesus Christis addressing us. From his home and throne on high our
Saviour stoops to callus, to instruct us, to bless us. He is saying to us, "Come
unto me;" "Abide in me;" "Follow me.
2. We need not hear him if we choose notto do so. As in a room where many
groups of people are conversing, we only hear the voice of treat company to
which we join ourselves and listen, so in the large room of this world there are
many voices speaking and it rests with eachof us to determine which we will
regard. Shall it be the voice of ambition? or that of appetite? or that of human
learning? or that of Christ?
3. Our heavenly Fatherurges us to give our bestattention to Jesus Christ.
This is my beloved Son: hear him. We shall see, if we consider, how and why
God presses onus this act of hearing.
I. BECAUSE OF OUR URGENT NEED OF A VOICE THAT IS DIVINE.
There are two things we urgently require, but which, apart from Jesus Christ,
we cannot have.
1. One is a knowledge ofwhat is true. We are strangers onthe earth," and
know but very little. Like the little bird (of the ancient story) that flew from
the darkness into the dimly lighted room and out into the darkness on the
other side, so from the darkness ofthe past we enter and stay for a brief time
in the dimly lighted present, and forth we pass into the darkness ofthe future.
2. The other is the power to do what we know to be right. Truly pathetic is the
Roman's confession, "Isee the better course, and approve; 1 follow the
worse." Whatmen everywhere have wantedis the inspiration and the power
to be and to do that which they perceive to be goodand right. Whence shall
we gain this? Only from a Divine Saviour, from One who has lived and died
for us, to whom we offer our hearts and our lives, the love of whom will
constrainus towardall that is goodand pure, and restrain us from all that is
bad and wrong.

II. BECAUSE OF HIS INTIMATE RELATION TO HIS DIVINE FATHER.
"This is my beloved Son," therefore should we "hearhim." For one of the
deepestand most practicalquestions we canask is - What is God's thought,
feeling, purpose, toward us? If there were any human being who sustained
toward us a relation which at all approachedin intimacy and importance that
which God sustains to us, we should be eagerindeed to know what was his
feeling and intention concerning us. How eagerly, then, should we inquire of
him "in whom we live, and move, and have our being," "with whom we have
everything to do," on whose will we are absolutely dependent for our future
here and hereafter!What does God think about us? On what conditions will
he receive and bless us? Christ, "the belovedSon," who came forth from God,
and who knows his mind as none other can (Matthew 11:27), cananswerthis
supreme question for us.
III. BECAUSE OF HIS CLOSE AND INTIMATE RELATION TO
OURSELVES. We want some one to speak to us who knows us well, who
understands us altogether;one about whom we can feel that this is true. To
whom, then, should we listen, if not to the Son of God, our Maker;to the Son
of man, our Brother? "He knew what was in man," as the evangelisttestified,
and againand againhe showedthat he knew his disciples far better than they
knew themselves. Such is his knowledge ofus. We may think that we know
ourselves and what is best for ourselves. Butwe may be utterly mistaken. We
find that our neighbours display lamentable and ruinous ignorance on these
greatmatters. Who are we that we should be full of wisdom where others err?
Let us distrust ourselves:"There is a way which seemethright unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death." Ignorant presumption is a foe that
"hath slain its ten thousands." The truly wise will seek the greatTeacher's
feet, and say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" - C.
The overshadowing cloud, and the voice that comes from it

R. Newton.
The first thing that claims attention is —
I. THE OVERSHADOWING CLOUD. It is not necessaryforus to go on far
in life before we find clouds coming to casttheir shadows overus. We know
that the elements are there out of which overshadowing clouds are in constant
process offormation. And we know too that there are active agents all the
time in operation on those elements. There are the rivers and lakes and seas
about us, spreading out their broad watersurfaces. And there is the sun with
his genialbeams, turning that waterinto vapour, and sending it off on its
floating voyage through the air, to form into clouds which shall casttheir
shadows overour pathway. And just so it is in our experience of life in its
moral or spiritual aspect. We carry in us, and find around us, the elements
and agents that are occupiedcontinually in forming the clouds that come and
overshadow us. In the sicknessand death of those we love, or in the visitation
of personalsickness,in the loss of property, in the disappointment of our
reasonable expectations, whatclouds arise continually from all these varied
sources!How darkly their shadows fallupon us! The apostles were onthe
Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus in all the glory of His coming kingdom stood
in the midst of them. They stoodat the very vestibule of heaven, with all the
radiance of its glory beaming around them; and yet, even on that towering
summit — a point of elevationin brightness and bliss, such as dwellers on this
globe had never reachedbefore — "there came a cloud and overshadowed
them." And so it must be with us. We must expectthe clouds to come and cast
their shadows overus. This side of heaven we cannot getbeyond their reach.
"There came a cloud and overshadowedthem," has been descriptive of the
experience of God's people from the beginning. If we look at the lives of
Abraham, Job, Jacob, David, or any of God's servants, as written in the Bible,
we see how broad and deep these shadows have lain upon their pathway.
II. THE FEELING WITH WHICH THIS EXPERIENCE. IS GENERALLY
MET. "And they feared as they entered into the cloud." Nothing is more
natural to fallen men than fear in reference to God and eternity. And it is not
difficult to point out the causesofit.

1. One of these is our consciousness ofsin. Fearcannotfind room where sin
has not gone before it.
2. There may be a failure to understand the views which the Scriptures give us
of God's providence; or an unwillingness to believe those views. Either of
these things will give rise to the fearof which we are speaking. This is the
Bible view of God's providences towards His people. Could anything be
brighter, or more cheerful? Then why should Christians fear when the cloud
comes? There would be no room for fear if we only had simple faith in these
Bible views of providence. Fearsprings from the want of faith. In the darkest
hour of Luther's trying life the Electorof Saxony was the only earthly
defender who stoodby him. For a time it was doubtful whether the Emperor
Charles V. might not send an army againstthe electorand crush him. "Where
will you be," said some one to Luther, "if the emperor should send his forces
againstthe elector?" It was under the sustaining influence of the principle we
are now considering that that heroic man sublimely said, "I shall be either in
heaven or under heaven." He could enter the darkestcloud without fear.
III. THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD. "There came a voice out of the cloud,
saying, This is My beloved Son; hear Him." And this is the design of all God's
afflictive dealings with His people. The cloud comes upon us, with its
overshadowing gloom, to check us in the too eagerpursuit of other things, and
to enable us to see Jesus, and understand His characterand work. A soldier
had losthis right arm from the shoulder during the last war. To an agentof
the Christian Commission, who visited him, he said, "It seems to me I cannot
be grateful enough for losing my arm. It was dreadful to me at first." Thus he
"fearedas he entered into the cloud." "But," he continued, it has ended in
bringing me to Jesus. And now, I can say with truth, "It is better to enter into
life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feetto be castinto
outer darkness." Thus God lets the clouds of trial come and overshadow us,
that we may be prepared to see the light, and glory, and infinite sufficiency,
and preciousness, that are to be found in Christ.
"Sorrow touch'd by love grows bright,
With more than rapture's ray;

And darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day."
And then this voice from the cloud quickens to duty, as well as points to Jesus.
"This is My beloved Son; hear Him." Such was David's experience when he
said, "Before Iwas afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept Thy word."
The voice from the overshadowing cloudhad quickenedhim in duty. There
are two trees. One is growing on a fertile plain, the other is perched high up
on the mountain-side. The lowland tree will lean to this side or that, though it
be but a summer breeze that bends it, or a bank of cowslips from which its
trunk leans aslope. But let the storm and the avalanche do their worstto the
hardy pine-tree of the Alps, it will cling to its little ledge on the side of the
precipice and grow straight. Its roots point down to the centre of the earth;
and the more the storms rock it, the hardier, and the stronger, and the
straighterit will grow. And the same law holds in spiritual growth as in that
which is natural. The voice from the overshadowing cloudquickens to duty
and strengthens for service. And there is no nobler sight to contemplate than
that of a child of God, whose confidence in Him cannot be shaken — not
fearing when the clouds gather, nor faltering when the tempests burst. And
thus we have attempted to speak of the overshadowing cloud; of the fearwith
which it is entered; and of the voice that comes from it. The cloud, the fear,
the voice. There is just one lessonwe may carry awaywith us from the
considerationof this subject. It is this: If we are true Christians we never need
fear the developments of God's providences. Howeverdarkly the clouds may
gather, or however fiercelythe storms may burst, they cannot harm us. We
need not fear.
(R. Newton.)
The cloud and the voice
Bishop Huntington.
With a natural cloud the facts we associate are obscurity, dimness, a degree of
mystery, a hiding of the light — some-times very mercifully softening and

tempering what would be more dazzling than the delicate organ of sight could
bear — yet a body so attenuated, transparent, and movable, that we feel the
darkness is transient. It may pass awayfrom the face of the sun; it may be
touched by his beams, transfigured to the eye, and made almost like another
sun in splendour. Such, under the laws of light and air and waterand
attraction, are the properties of the cloud in nature. Now, in that successionof
specialdisclosures ofthe Divine Presenceand care for man, of which the Bible
is the completestrecordand Christ the perfectincarnation, it is striking to see
how eachprincipal act of revelationis coveredwith a cloud — a palpable veil
of mystery. From the beginning to the end you see the persistentand
remarkable reappearance ofthis symbol. Considering how these different
books of the Bible were produced, and what a variety of authors, periods,
countries, stages ofliterary culture, they proceedfrom, this is more than a
coincidence — it is design. It disclosesa generaltruth. As men are brought
near to the very sight and feeling of their Lord, an obscurity overshadows
them; there is a shrinking; reverence hides the face; the angels even, admitted
to the brightest day, veil their eyes with their wings; no sight is clearenough,
no faith is bold enough, not to need the screen. "Theyfeared as they entered
into the cloud."
1. Mostof our deepestacquaintance with religious truth comes by a discipline
of some severity. To pass out of a life of indifference and self-indulgence into
one of purity and prayer requires a painful effort. If you can look back to any
time when your life took a new starting-point, or rose to a higher aim, you will
remember there was some hard conflictconnectedwith it. Suffering is not
only the consequence ofsin, but the instrument of recovery. It is a means of
penitence, and so a minister to the only real peace.
2. The secondpoint on this practical side of the doctrine is that it is when we
are entering into this cloud — having only the dark side of it before us, and its
damp and chilly folds closing around us — that we are afraid. The purpose of
the cloud is to shut out all that we are not meant to see. It is also a kind of
backgroundfor the heavenly vision. This is only one way of expressing the
exactand eternal contradictionof right and wrong. The true life is born by a
painful travail.

3. For, thirdly, there comes, as the Evangelistwrites, "a voice out of the
cloud," which is sufficient, if we will hearkento it, to guide us through the
dark, into the light, where the sun is never dim.
4. "HearHim." Hear Him, and He will scatterthe cloud from about you with
the breath of His mouth.
(Bishop Huntington.)
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Son, My ChosenOne;
listen to Him!"
Adam Clarke Commentary
This is my beloved Son- Instead of ὁ αγαπητος, the beloved one, some MSS.
and versions have εκλεκτος, the chosenone: and the Ethiopic translator, as in
severalother cases, to be sure of the true reading, retains both.
In whom I am well pleased, or have delighted - is added by some very ancient
MSS. Perhaps this addition is takenfrom Matthew 17:5.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen:hear ye
him.
The voice must be identified as that of the Fatherhimself who spoke to Jesus
three times during his ministry in the same audible manner as here, namely,

at the baptism, during Jesus'prayer at the last public discourse (John 12:28),
and here. That the voice was primarily for the benefit of the apostles appears
in the use of the third person, and also in the content of the message.
Hear ye him ... All divine commandments are restrictive;and this means,
therefore, "Do not hear Moses;do not hear Elijah, etc." This element of the
instruction was visually impressed upon them when, coming down from the
mountain, they saw "Jesus only" (Matthew 17:8).
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
If εκεινους — ekeinous be acceptedhere instead of αυτους — autous the three
disciples would be outside of the cloud.
Out of the cloud (εκ της νεπελης — ek tēs nephelēs). This voice was the voice
of the Fatherlike that at the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:22; Mark 1:11;
Matthew 3:17) and like that near the end (John 12:28-30)when the people
thought it was a clap of thunder or an angel.
My son, my chosen(ο υιος μου ο εκλελεγμενος — Ho huios mou ho
eklelegmenos). So the best documents (Aleph B L Syriac Sinaitic). The others
make it “My Beloved” as in Mark 9:7; Matthew 17:5. These disciples are
commanded to hear Jesus, God‘s Son, even when he predicts his death, a
pointed rebuke to Simon Peteras to all.
This is my Son, my chosen:hearye him. See .
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges

35. φωνή. 2 Peter1:17-18. As in two other instances in our Lord’s ministry,
Luke 3:22; John 12:28. The other Synoptists add that at this Voice they fell
prostrate, and, on Jesus touching them, suddenly raised their eyes and looked
all around them, to find no one there but Jesus.
ὁ ἐκλελεγμένος. ‘My chosenSon’(‫א‬ BL). Cf. Luke 23:35;Isaiah 42:1.
αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε.The specialimportance of the words, as a Messianic
confirmation, may be seenin Deuteronomy 18:15.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my chosen, hear
you him.”’
And from the cloud came a voice, declaring that Jesus was His Sonand His
chosenOne, His Son (Psalms 2:7; John 1:14; John 1:18) and His Anointed
Servant (Isaiah 42:1). Note how God takes the attention off Mosesand Elijah
and concentratesit on Jesus. Theyare not to regard the others as of primary
importance but to concentrate onHim as the One to Whom Moses andElijah
had borne witness, the One Who had brought ultimate truth. He was
essentiallythe One to Whom they had to listen, for He had come from His
Father’s presence as a Light into the world (John 8:12). He is a greaterthan
Moses andthe Law. He is greaterthan Moses orElijah as representative of all
the prophets. He is God’s final Word. In the words ‘listen to Him’ there is a
reflectionof Deuteronomy18:15. He is God’s final Voice.
Copyright Statement
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Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography

Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Luke 9:35". "PeterPett's Commentary on the
Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/luke-9.html. 2013.
return to 'Jump List'
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
For a secondtime God spoke from heavenidentifying Jesus as His Son (cf.
Luke 3:22). God"s words here also show that Jesus was God"s obedientSon
and that He possesseddivine authority. The words recall Psalm2:7, Isaiah
42:1, and Deuteronomy 18:15. Thus this divine vindication identified Jesus as
the Sonof God, God"s chosenServant, and the eschatologicalProphet.
"Our culture desires to assemble a religious hall of honor from as many
religious traditions as possible, all in honor of our commitment to religious
toleration. But Jesus does not ask for a booth alongside the others." [Note:
Bock, Luke , p273.]
Many students of this verse have seenin it a divine warning againstgiving
human wisdom precedence overdivine revelation.
"The heavenly voice which declares that Jesus is God"s Sonrecalls the scene
of Jesus praying after his baptism in Luke 3:22. In that scene Jesus was
preparing for his ministry. In the transfiguration scene he is preparing for the
crisis in Jerusalem. To prepare him, Jesus is given an anticipatory experience
of the goalof his life and death, the heavenly glory which he will enter when
exalted to the right hand of God (see Luke 24:26;Acts 7:55-56)." [Note:
Tannehill, 1:225.]
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Luke 9:35. My Son, my chosenone. The words were not spokenin Greek, and
the actualword used might be translatedinto Greek by either of the terms,
‘beloved’ or ‘chosen.’
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Luke 9:35. ἐκλελεγμένος, the reading of (93) (94) (95), is to be preferred,
because ἀγαπητός, T. R., is conformed to that in the parallels;here only in N.
T.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
And a voice, &c. This is the voice of the Father from the cloud, as if he should
say, "I callhim not one of my sons, but my true and natural Son, to the
resemblance ofwhom all others are adopted. (St. Cyril) --- Not Elias, not
Moses,but he whom you see alone, is my beloved Son. (St. Ambrose) ---
Therefore, it is added: and when the voice was heard, Jesus was alone, lestany
one should imagine these words, This is my beloved Son, were addressedto
Moses orElias." (Theophylactus)
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
out of. Greek. ek. App-104. Notthe same word as in Luke 9:5
hear = hear ye.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my belovedSon: hear
him.
And there came a voice out of the cloud - "sucha voice," says Peter
emphatically [ foonees (Greek #5456)toiasde (Greek #5107)]. "And this voice"

he adds "we heard when we were with him in the holy mount" (2 Peter1:17-
18). There must have been something very unearthly and awe-striking in the
sound, especiallyas the articulate vehicle of such a testimony to Christ, to be
thus recalled.
Saying, This is my beloved son - "in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 17:5):
Hear him: Hear Him reverentially, hear Him implicitly hear Him alone.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(35) This is my beloved Son.—The better MSS. give “chosen.” (Comp. the use
of a like word in 1 Peter 2:4; 1 Peter2:6.) Assuming this to have been the
original reading, the “beloved” of the receivedtext must have originated in
the wish to produce a verbal as wellas a substantial agreementwith the other
Gospels.
END OF STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
VOICE OF JESUS SERMONS
The Voice Of Jesus
Contributed by Evie Megginsonon Oct 18, 2000
based on 45 ratings
(rate this sermon)

| 2,581 views
Scripture: John 7:45-53
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: The human voice is wonderful thing, a dog canbark, a bird can
chirp, but a man can talk,forGod has given him the wonderful gift of speech.
The human voice is wonderful thing, a dog can bark, a bird can chirp, but a
man can talk,forGod has given him the wonderful gift of speech. With this
gift, man can pray, he can sing praises to God, and he can preachthe
unsearchable riches of God.
But, have you ever thought about the voice of Jesus. Revelationsays his voice
was like "the sound of many waters." He spoke from boats, from mountains,
from roadsides, from the temple, from homes and even from the cross.
But most important than the sound of His voice is what He said with voice, He
spoke eternaltruths.
I-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT SALVATION: MARK 1:15, JOHN 14:6
II-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT SIN: JOHN 8:34
III-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES:MATTHEW 4:4
IV-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT SUPPLICATION: LUKE 18:1
V-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT SERVICE:LUKE 9:23
VI-JESUS SPOKE WORDS ABOUT HIS SECOND-COMING:JOHN 14:2-3
Many years ago nearthe royal English residence on the Isle of Wight stood
severalhomes for the poor and aged. A missionary, visiting some of the
elderly people one day, askeda lady, "Does QueenVictoria ever call on you
here?" "Oh, yes," was the answer, "Her Majestyfrequently comes to see us."
Then, wondering if the woman was a Christian, the missionary inquired,
"Does the King of kings evervisit here?" The lady immediately gave him a

happy, knowing smile and replied, "No, sir, He doesn'tvisit here -- praise
God, He lives here. That's why we're so richly blessed!"
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The Voice Of Jesus
Contributed by David Radcliff on Apr 22, 2017
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| 1,377 views
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: This sermon looks atthe different tones with which Christ spoke
when engaging others.
INTRODUCTION:This is a profound statement. And the truth of it is enough
to convince all those who did not believe in the reality of God’s word.
I. FROM THIS WE LEARN:

1. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God createdthe heaven and the earth"
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2. John 1:3 “All things were made by him”
II. CHRIST SPOKE WITH AUTHORITY IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE
RACE
1. Exodus 8:1 “Let my people go”
III. CHRIST SPOKE WITH FINALITY ON THE CROSS
1. John 19:30 “It is finished”
2. That is, the work of man’s complete redemption was now completed, in fact
Jesus had now paid the full price.
IV. CHRIST SPOKE IN SIMPLICITY HERE ON EARTH
1. “Speaking in parables." Thatis, in word pictures so that the most
uneducated, the most illiterate might understand.
V. CHRIST SPOKE DIRECTLY
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1. He spoke about God.
2. He spoke about the joys of heaven.
3. He spoke about the torments of hell.
VI. CHRIST SPOKE ANGERLY IN THE FACE OF HYPROCRISY

1. To the Pharisees. Luke 11:42-44 But woe unto you, Pharisees!for ye tithe
mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of
God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe
unto you, Pharisees!for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and
greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!for
ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not
aware of them.
2. To the money changers. Matthew 21:12-13 And Jesus wentinto the temple
of God, and castout all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold
doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be calledthe house of
prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
3. To the wise of this world. I Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the
scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world?
Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things,
but condescendto men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
VII. CHRIST SPOKE TENDERLYTO THOSE IN NEED
1. Christ spoke in tenderness to the children.
2. Tenderly to the widow of Nain, to the woman with the issue of blood, to the
fallen woman, to all sinners and wayfarers — when he said, COME UNTO
ME ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN etc.
CONCLUSION:Christ is still speaking today. Through His word, through
providence, and through His Holy Spirit.
Is he speaking to you today??
When Jesus Speaks Series

Contributed by Perry Greene on Jan 7, 2019
(rate this sermon)
| 1,616 views
Scripture: Luke 7:1-10
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
Summary: The words of Jesus are powerful. Our faith determines how we
respond to what he says.
1 2
Next
1. Luke 7.1-10 [Slide of Capernaum Synagogue
2. Have you everwondered what the voice of Jesus sounds like?
a. Were they a toned down version of the voice at Sinai? At His baptism? At
the Mount of Transfiguration?
b. It must have been a pleasantvoice –
• Luke 19.48 allthe people were hanging on his words.
• Luke 4.22 And all spoke wellof him and marveled at the gracious words that
were coming from his mouth.
3. Words are important.

a. The Civil War changedONE significantword in regardto the country. We
went from the United States ARE to IS.
b. The Average personspeaks 25,000words/day
c. Lluis Coletwas entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for
longestspeech. His 2004 speechlasted48 hours. Since then, the record was
beaten, so Coletwon it again, this time by talking for an amazing 124 hours.
d. The fastestPOTUS speechwas delivered by JFK at 327 wpm
e. A. Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in about 2 minutes
f. LongestInaugural Address: William Henry Harrison’s in 1841. He
delivered the 1 hour 45 minute oration without wearing a hat or coatin a
howling snowstorm, came down with pneumonia, and died one month later.
His was the shortesttenure in the White House.
g. On September 14, 2007, TonyWright today broke the world record for the
longestphone call. The Cornishman talkedon his internet phone for 40 hours
- and was still going strong. The previous recordfor the world's longestphone
call stoodat 39 hours, 18 minutes and 24 seconds.
4. What did Jesus’words sound like?
a. `The Centurion told Jesus to, “just say the word.”
b. Jesus marveledat this Roman’s faith in Capernaum.
• He also marveled at the Syro-Phenicianwoman’s Faith (Matthew 15.21-28)
• He also marveled at the unbelief of the people in Nazareth (Mark 6.1-6)
5. When Jesus speaks. . .
I. His Words Are Powerful
A. He is the Agent of Creation – John 1.1-3
B. He is the Agent of Healing (servant healed)

C. He is the Agent of Unity
1. He was sent to the Jews (Matthew 15.24“Iwas sent only to the lost sheepof
the house of Israel.”)
2. He has impacted all of us – Galatians 3.28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no
male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
II. His Words Bring Restoration
A. Centurion’s Motives for the Servant’s Healing
1. It was for his best
2. He wanted the relationship restored – Luke 7.2 2 Now a centurion had a
servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
[Dear/cherished/honored]
B. Centurion’s Attitude of Humility
1. As one under authority he understood service.
2. What would it be like if in humility Christians took the words of Christ to
heart to save relationships with one another? Philippians 2.3 Do nothing from
selfishambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves.
[An elder interrupted a preacher’s sermonone Sunday morning. He read
Matthew 5.23-24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there
remember that your brother has something againstyou, 24 leave your gift
there before the altar and go. First be reconciledto your brother, and then
come and offer your gift.
He then related how there had been a church split a decade before that
resulted in hard feelings betweenthe two congregations. He suggestedthat the
whole church go to the other’s campus and make amends. The vast majority
of the church loaded up in their cars and made their way to the neighboring
church. “Looks like a funeral procession.” “Itis, we are dying to ourselves.”

The entire congregationcame forward at the end of the service to make
reconciliationwith the others. The words of Jesus healedthe sicknessofsin
which separatedbrothers and sisters for a decade.
III. His Words Are Healing
A. This Servant was Healedby the Word of Jesus
1. Initiated by the request of the Centurion
2. The healing did not happen by the touch or even the presence of Jesus
3. The man with the withered hand – Luke 6.9-10 9 And Jesus saidto them, “I
ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do goodor to do harm, to save life or to
destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he saidto him, “Stretch
out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
B. Jesus CanHeal in the Physicaland the Spiritual Realms
1. “Heal” canalso mean “Save.”
2. The Paralyzed man in Mark 2.1-12 was healedand forgiven by Jesus
1. In the 1970’s-80’s the E.F. Hutton stock brokerage firm had a commercial
which said, “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.”
2. We should always listen when Jesus talks.
John 10.4 . . . the sheepfollow him, for they know his voice.
John 6.68 Simon Peteransweredhim, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life,
Strong sermons during fear & uncertainty...
3. In this story Jesus marvels at the faith of this non-JewishGod-fearer
(never marvels at the faith of the Jews, btw, only at their lack of faith).
4. Would you like for Jesus to marvel at YOUR faith?

a. At Judgment: “_________, during your lifetime I marveled when you took
me at my word and did _________.”
b. As the Centurion, we can have absolute faith in the power of the words of
Jesus.
Follow His Voice Series
Contributed by JefferyAnselmi on Nov 14, 2014
based on 1 rating
(rate this sermon)
| 4,547 views
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
Summary: With all th voices calling to us in the world, one must focus in on
following the voice of Jesus!
1 2 3 4
Next
INTRODUCTION
• U571 CLIP-Winclips.comKeyword FOLLOW

• SLIDE #1
Privacy
• There are many voices calling out to eachof us enticing us to follow them.
• Voice of fearcall out to us.
• Voice of pride.
• Voices of sin.
• Voices of reason.
• The young sailor in our clip had to decide which voice to follow, the voice of
fear, or the voice of his commander.
• When one is committed to Jesus, we have to decide which voices we will
follow.
• Which voice would a committed Christian follow?
• Over the last two weeks we have been examining the conceptof commitment.
• Last week we defined the word committed as follows:loyal to a belief,
organization, or group, and willing to work hard for it.
• Can you imagine a world with no commitment? How would you enjoy being
married to someone who is not committed to you? How would you like
employees who are not committed to doing a greatjob, or would you feel good
working for an employer who was not committed to you?

• Zacchaeus demonstratedone’s need to be committed to the transformation
which Jesus offers. Last week we examined the conceptof counting the cost
before jumping into the water.
• Commitment to Jesus is more some of the religious practices people follow, it
is about FOLLOWING Him!
• In our text today, a group of religious leaders have cornered Jesus, seeking
an answerto a question.
• Let open up with John 10:25-26
• SLIDE #2
• John 10:25–26 (HCSB)25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus
answeredthem. “The works that I do in My Father’s name testify about Me.
26 But you don’t believe because youare not My sheep.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Why listen to His voice? (25-26)
• In verses 22-24 we seethat Jesus is at the Festivalof Dedication.
• The FeastofDedicationor Hanukkah, or "the Feastof Lights," began on the
25th day of the month December.
• On that day in 167 B.C. the Greek King Antiochus Epiphanes desecratedthe
temple and sacrificedon an altar erectedin it to Zeus, the chief Greek god(1
Macc. 1:59).
• Three years later to the day (164 B.C.)Judas Maccabeus re-dedicatedthe
temple with a new altar, and Jews have since kept this feastin memory of this
national victory.
• So as Jesus is walking in the temple complex, He is surrounded by a bunch
of Jewishleaders who start asking a question.
• In verse 24 they ask Him how long is He going to keepthem in suspense?

• SLIDE #4
• John 10:24 (HCSB) 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and asked, “How
long are You going to keepus in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tellus
plainly.”
• "Keep us in suspense" literally, "take awayour life.”
• Jesus you are killing us!
• They want to know when Jesus is going to tell them if He is the Messiah.
• In verse 25, Jesus replies that He HAD told them, they just did not believe
Him.
• They had not acceptedthe claims he had made nor the evidence he had given
them (John 5:30-40)in the testimonies.
• "Don’t believe" has the force of continuing not to believe.
• The reasonthese do not believe is that they are listening and following other
voices, not the voice of the goodshepherd.
• So one of the reasons we should listen to Jesus is because we all are seeking
answers.
• These leaders were looking for purportedly were looking for answers;
however, with the evidence starring them in the face, they were not willing to
acceptthe answer.
• DO you know people still do this today?
• It is like asking a thief who holding your jewelryif they took it, you cansee
the evidence, you just refuse to acceptit.
• IF you are seeking ananswerto life’s questions, Jesus’voice would be a good
on to listen to.
• A secondreasonone should listen to the voice of Jesus is His works.
• “The works that I do in My Father’s name testify about Me.

• Jesus was not only speaking ofthe miracles, He was speaking ofall the
works He had done to this point, including His teachings.
• The pre-2011 versions ofthe NIV use the word MIRACLES insteadof
works. Translating the Greek in that way was a stretchof the meaning of the
word. So they correctedit in 2011.
• Jesus’works give one a reasonto listen to Him! If you are looking for a
Messiah, whatmore could one ask Jesus to do or teach, especiallynow that we
have the complete story!
• A third reasonone ought to pay attention to the voice of Jesus is simply that
unbelief, refusing to listen is akin to rejecting Jesus!
• In verse 26, Jesus takesthe leaders to the root of their problem, they do not
hear Jesus becausethey are not His sheep!
• Why are they not His sheep?
• Their unbelief shows they "do not belong to my sheep".
• The religious leaders chose not to listen to the voice of Jesus not because He
was not their shepherd, but rather because theywere not His sheep!
• For one to be one of Jesus’sheep, they must begin with belief in Him, which
would be followedup with confession, repentance,and baptism where at that
point you clothe yourself with Christ! Romans 6!
• The religious leaders would not listen to the voice of Jesus because theydid
not want Jesus to change things, they loved life just the way it was for them.
• People today refuse to listen to Jesus for the same reason. Theyare afraid
they will have to let go of some things in this life.
• With all the voices callout to you in this life, Jesus is the one to listen to, He
has displayed the powerto show you He is who He claims to be!
• Next let us examine verse 27

• SLIDE #5
• John 10:27 (HCSB) 27 My sheephear My voice, I know them, and they
follow Me.
• SLIDE #6
II. Who will follow His voice? (27)
• I have said this before, but I hate that Jesus calls those who follow Him
sheep. Sheepare not the most intelligent of creatures, but they do have a trait
that is important, when they hear the shepherd, they follow!
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• In a world full of voices cry out for you to follow them, those who have given
their lives to Jesus will be the ones who will listen.
• It is not always easyto listen. In our opening clip from U571, logic and fear
was calling out to the gunner to take down the enemy plane. He was locked
and loadedand ready to go, finger in the trigger, ready to take the enemy plan
down.
• What stopped him? His commander, the young man on the gun was able to
muster the courage to listen to his commander in the midst of fear and
confusion.
• The young man’s fellow sailor was pushing him hard to fire the weapon,
however, the voice of the commander won out.
• In a world filled with voices calling you, when you belong to Jesus, you need
to follow His voice.
• Had the young man heeded the fearful voice of his fellow sailor, the mission
would have been ruined. They had procured the Enigma machine which the
Germans used during WWII to send codedmessages.

• Failure of the mission would mean the deaths of more sailors in the long run.
• The mission was too important to fail.
• You life’s mission is too important to fail, when you are in Christ, you need
to trust and follow His voice!
• Jesus saidHIS sheepHEAR His voice. The difference betweenthose who are
His and those who are not is simply belief in Jesus.
• If you belong to Jesus, you hear Him.
• Jesus also says He knows His sheep. He knows you!
• To "Hear" carries with it the idea of heeding, of obedient faith expressing
itself in following.
• When you hear the voice of Jesus, you will follow!
• One cannot be a part of Jesus if they refuse to follow Him, if they refuse to
listen to His voice.
• We all have struggles at times with honing in out the voice of Jesus. They
world and our desires canat times drown out His voice.
• SLIDE #7
• John 10:28–30 (HCSB)28 I give them eternallife, and they will never perish
—ever! No one will snatchthem out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greaterthan all. No one is able to snatchthem out of the
Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
• SLIDE #8
III. Why follow His voice?(28-30)
• I want to look now at some reasons as to why it behooves one to follow the
voice of Jesus.

• First blessing we find in verse 28 for those who follow Jesus-ETERNAL
LIFE!
• This is a gift of God! It is not a paycheck earned.
• SLIDE #9
• Ephesians 2:8–9 (HCSB) 8 For you are savedby grace through faith, and
this is not from yourselves;it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one
can boast.
• Do you want to getto heaven? Follow the voice of Jesus, He will lead you
there!
• The life Godhas in store for you is awesomein both quantity a quality!
• I wish I could put into words how greatheaven will be. The Biblical writers
did the best they could!
• SLIDE #10
• Revelation21:3–4 (HCSB)3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:
Look!God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will
be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will
wipe awayevery tear from their eyes. Deathwill no longer exist; grief, crying,
and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passedaway.
• We also see a couple of other benefits tied to one’s eternal life.
• First, those who possesseternallife will NEVER perish!
• This is an emphatic constructionin Greek, meaning, “Theywill certainly
never be destroyed.” This is the language ofimmortality.

• One in Christ will never ceaseto exist! We no longer have to fear not
existing!
• SLIDE #11
• 1 Thessalonians4:13–18(HCSB)13 We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the
rest, who have no hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in
the same way Godwill bring with Him those who have fallen asleepthrough
Jesus. 15 Forwe say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are
still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those
who have fallen asleep. 16 Forthe Lord Himself will descendfrom heaven
with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive will be caught up
togetherwith them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will
always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourageone anotherwith these
words.
• WOW!
• Next those who possesseternallife will have security in Christ!
• No one can snatch them out of my hand. For Jesus this is because these
sheepare his with the consentand cooperationofthe Father, and no one can
snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
• One is secure in Christ. You still have the freewill to walk away, but who
would be foolishenough to do that?
• Sadly some have.
• No one is more powerful than God, no one canwrestle you awayfrom God!
CONCLUSION
• WE can all hear the voices calling, the voices offear, the voices of sin, the
voices of peer pressure, along with the voices of the world.

• The question one must decide whose voice they are going to listen to.
• If one is to be committed to Jesus, there is but one decision.
• Don’t listen to all the conflicting voices, listenand follow Jesus!
Voice Of The Shepherd
Contributed by JonLipka on Mar 4, 2012
based on 1 rating
(rate this sermon)
| 3,333 views
Scripture: John 10:1
Denomination: Anglican
Summary: We must know the voice of Jesus our Shepherd, because he is
calling us to follow Him.

1 2 3
Next
A few weeks ago, Iwoke up with a painful earinfection. So I went to the
doctor’s office to have it lookedat. After I signed in at the desk, I sat down
and waitedfor the nurse to call. And I waited, and waited, and waited.
Finally, I lookedat my watchand saw that it had been nearly 90 minutes. I
went up and askedthe nurse if I was going to be called. She had calledme
over an hour before. Only I didn’t hear, I couldn’t hear her voice.
Today is GoodShepherd Sunday. Today’s lessons are absolutelybeautiful.
The first lessonshows how the early Church heard the voice of Jesus and
actedon it, in very practical ways. The Psalm tells what blessings there are in
having God as your shepherd. In the epistle, Peterwrites about the reality of
suffering in our lives and that we must follow Christ’s example in our
suffering. And in the Gospellesson, Jesus tells us the importance of knowing
who is the Shepherd and recognizing his voice. || We must know the voice of
Jesus our Shepherd, because his calls us to follow Him, || especiallyin
suffering.
Let’s look at today’s Gospel:John 10. What is the sheeppen? It is the Church.
What is the Gate? It is Jesus. Thatis to say to saythat he is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father—orinto the Church—except
through Him. Only those sanctifiedin Christ enter into the Church. Only
those who hear Jesus and accepthim and follow him can enter through him.
Privacy
The thief and robber try to find another way in besides the gate. What are
they trying to do? “Only to stealand kill and destroy.” There are thieves who

come to stealus from God and to try to stealblessings from Him. Thieves,
who try to kill us because ourholiness to the Lord stands in contrastto the
depravity of the world, and they try to kill God, like Nietzsche by making him
irrelevant, a quaint bygone. There are thieves who try to destroy the sheep,
maiming them with lies distractions from God, and they try to destroy God by
corrupting our view of Him. Thieves who try to destroy the sheeppen by
breaking down the walls and blurring the line betweenit and the world (even
by having Christians themselves duped into tearing down the wall to attempt
secularrelevance—the Church cannotbe relevant in the context of
secularism, because itis supernatural and it is holy). There are thieves who
try to ruin the pastures by filling our minds with vain secularisms and
profanities. There are robbers who try to getthe benefit of being one of
Christ’s sheepwithout being part of the flock, like a goatthat jumps the fence
and hides in among the sheep. But God will separate them out and judge them
accordingly—God, the just judge who discerns the thoughts and intentions of
the heart.
The Shepherd enters through the gate. And the shepherd brings sheepin and
out according to the gate. The true shepherd enters by the gate. He knows
how to take the sheepin and out of the gate. He knows its location. The
shepherd must “play by the rules” and enter by the gate so that he can show
the sheephow to do the same. Jesus is the Gate of the sheep. He is the only
way to enter into the Kingdom of God. By rejectionof Him, one is excluded
from the sheepfold. Woe to those shepherds who try to hoist sheep over the
fence instead of taking them through the gate!They are men trying to find a
shortcut into heaven. They do not acceptthe responsibility of being a
shepherd, or are seeking some unholy personalprofit. These false shepherds
may have heard Jesus’voice (probably they have), but they could not accept
suffering.
The sheeplisten to the shepherd’s voice. They’ve grownto know it. They
weren’t born knowing his voice, but grew to trust in the true shepherd who
proved himself—he laid down his life. We, the sheep of his flock, know our
shepherd’s voice. We hear it throughout our lives, calling sometimes loudly,
sometimes softly, and (if you’re familiar with the Dark Night of the Soul)
sometimes silently. We were not born knowing his voice. By our parents and

godparents, pastors and Sunday schoolteachers, we become awareofthe
Shepherd’s voice. We learn to discern it first by learning what kinds of things
the shepherd says, and then listening for that voice. Sometimes we hear
another voice, that of the tempter, calling in similar words, but when we
follow that voice we discoverthe error. When you read the Bible you’re
listening to the shepherd’s voice. When you pray, you’re calling out
(bleating?) to the shepherd, and listening for his reply.
How can we know Him? This knowledge ofShepherd and his voice is
intimate; it has to be, or else there could be no trust, no vulnerability on our
part. This knowledge is one of love. Pope St. Gregorythe Great wrote, “I
assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him [i.e., God],
but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action. John the Evangelist…tells
us that ‘anyone who claims to know God without keeping his commandments
is a liar”’ (1 John 2:4). Does that blow you out of the water? Think of it in this
way. BishopWeeks loves June. Do you have any doubt of that? No? Neither
do I. He may say the words, “I love you.” She can have some faith in those
words. But what if he gives her flowers? Ah, then her faith is confirmed. And
if he, some years ago, asks forher hand in marriage, and he forsakes all
others and gives her a ring as a tokenof this vow, her faith in his love is
strengthened. And over years and years of doing acts of love—fulfilling the
commandments of love, if you will—she knows him and his love for her.
That kind of knowledge is what our Shepherd offers us. He calls us, his sheep
by name. He knows them and he leads them. He knows what they need and
where they have been. He doesn’tovergraze them in one field (e.g., grass of
evangelism), to the exclusionof another (e.g., cloverof sacraments orthe
vineyard of Pentecostalism). Theymust eat from many places so as not to
devastate the fields or to malnourish the sheep.
Sheepwho know the shepherds voice Christ calls out from the sheeppen. One
of the mysteries of Christianity is that the sheepbecome themselves
shepherds. The sheepgo out into the world and help bring back lost sheep.

We follow the example of our shepherd. This involves more than just eating
grass and producing milk for our own young.
We are called to suffer for doing good, just as Jesus did for us. We do this not
for the sake ofsuffering along, but so that the world may die to sins and live to
righteousness. This is how we reachout to the world.
Even as by Christ’s wounds we have been healed of our wound (sin), so by our
faithful suffering, the world’s wounds (sin) can be healed. And this is not by
our own powers, but through a sacramentalrepresentationofChrist’s
sufferings; our lives become a witness of Christ’s life to the world, a means by
which he is made present to them. We bear their sins in our body on our
crosses(i.e., sufferings imposed by the world). This we do personally, and
corporatelyin our body—the body of Christ, which is the Church.
We bear sins in our body by accepting suffering and consecrating it as a
sacrifice to God. Did you know that you can do that? You, as a member of the
royal priesthood, are in fact obliged to do this. A priest has three basic
responsibilities:to pray, to bless, and to offer sacrifice. Thatis our ministry to
the world: to pray for the world (to come to Christ, and also for the needs of
the world), to bless the world (giving thanks to Godfor the goodnessin the
world and helping to consecrateit), and to offer our lives as sacrificesfor the
world. Christ suffered and died and offered the once-forall sacrifice forthe
sins of the whole world, but the world will refuse to believe this Good News
unless it cansee Christians, little Christs, who are also willing and prepared to
suffer to this end. We bear sufferings in our body in verbal abuse, shunning
and ostracizing, by being different and accepting that difference without
shame.

We canbear sins by lifting up the world in prayer. Bless those who persecute
you; bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14). We have been given a ministry of
reconciliation, not a ministry of irreconciliation!Our goalis not to “be
overcome by evil, but [to] overcome evil by good” (Rom. 12:21). It is the
Christian’s ministry to seek to bring men to God, to return them to Paradise.
It is God’s to avenge. Jim, as a deacon, a Levite, you are called to help the
people understand and fulfill these roles in their ministry to the world.
Jim, as a deacon, a Levite, you are calledto assistthe royal and priestly people
of God to minster to the world. Christians will suffer for the sake ofthe cross,
and you must help them do so gladly, devotedly, and with proper intent. By
your example, you will teachthe sheepfoldof God to be the shepherds of the
world. Help them learn to hear the Shepherd’s voice and to trust in him.
Do not forgetthat we were like sheep going astray. We were, but no longer!
Now we have returned to the Shepherd and Bishopof our souls. We have a
spiritual overseer, Christ, who is our supreme Shepherd (Pastor)and
Overseer(Bishop). We have another overseer, ourBishop, who stands as
“anotherChrist” for the faithful. And eachpriest stands vicariously in place
of the bishop, as another Christ. Our bishops and priests help us hear the
voice of the Jesus. Theyassistus to learn his voice, to discern it from others
that would try to imitate it. They train us to pick our Shepherd’s voice out of
noisy cacophonyand focus on his words alone. As deacon, minister to them so
that they may focus on the ministry of the word of God.
Finally, remember that it is God first whom you serve. Remember the scale of
His vision. He is not about being “nice”, pleasant, or enjoyable. He is
awesome,immeasurable and unconstrained, and He is polarizing. Godis not
in the business of giving people “warm fuzzies.” He comes to change lives…to
make our toes curl.

View all Sermons
The Voice Series
Contributed by Timothy Peck onOct 9, 2002
based on 138 ratings
(rate this sermon)
| 14,993 views
Scripture: Mark 1:14-28
Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Summary: Four ways Jesus speakswith authority to break through into our
lives.
1 2 3 … 5 6
Next
One of my favorite movies is the Indiana Jones movie The Last Crusade. It’s
the story of Indiana Jones and his father’s quest for the holy grail, the
legendary chalice that Jesus usedin his Last Supper with his disciples. In one
of the final scenes,the ancient temple they’ve found the chalice in is collapsing
and people are running for their lives as the walls are falling and the ground
opens. The grail falls into a deep crevice createdby the earthquake, and
Indiana Jones is hanging in the crevice by one hand, reaching with the other
hand to grab the grail. He can almostreach it, as he becomes entrancedby
allure of the grail. All around him rocks are falling, the ground is shaking, the
temple is collapsing, but he’s fixated on the grail. Finally a voice breaks
through the spell, the voice of his father, who says, "Indiana, let it go."

Indiana climbs out of the crevice, and togetherhe and his father escape justas
the temple completely collapses.
The powerof a voice to break the spell of temptation. The power of a voice to
bring us back to reality. There used to be a commercialfor an investment firm
that said, "When E. F. Hutton speaks, people listen." Who do you listen to
when they speak? Maybe it’s the voice of a parent. Whenever my mom said,
"Timothy James Peckwith that certaintone, I listened because I knew I was
in trouble. Or perhaps the voice of our spouse or a friend you respect. Who
causes youto listen just by hearing their voice?
Jesus’voice has the ability to break through our lives. Have you heard his
voice in your life? Today we’re going to talk about Jesus’voice. Lastweekend
we started a new series through the New Testamentbook of Mark called
FOLLOWING JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD. Last weekendwe lookedat
the prologue to Mark’s story about Jesus. We saw that Mark writes to
chronicle the origin of the Christian faith for us as readers who weren’t alive
when Jesus walkedthe earth. Todaywe’re going to look at how when Jesus
speaks people listen. We’re going to find four short scenes fromthe life of
Jesus where his voice breaks through in a powerful way. Along the way we’re
going to explore how we canhear and respond to Christ’s voice in our own
lives.
Privacy
1. Jesus Announces (Mark 1:14-15)
Let’s look at vv. 14 and 15. Jesus launches his ministry after the Roman
government imprisons John the Baptist, his forerunner. Jesus begins his
ministry in the regionof Galilee, whichis the region he grew up in. As I

mentioned lastweekend, Galilee was a rural community in Northern Israel
viewed as "the sticks." The poverty in the regionof Galilee was terrible, and it
was a fertile place for bandits and revolutionaries to hide out.
Jesus begins his work by "proclaiming" God’s goodnews about God’s
kingdom. The word "proclaim" here means "To announce [something] in a
formal or official manner" (Louw and Nida, Greek-EnglishLexiconBasedon
Semantic Domains 33.206). Usuallythis kind of announcement was given by a
herald, the rough equivalent of a town crier. A herald was like the old
newspaperboy, who would yell out the newspaperheadline, and then say,
"Readall about it." The herald didn’t make up his message,but they simply
shouted out whatevermessagehad been given to them.
Here Jesus begins his public life by heralding the arrival of God’s kingdom.
The time had finally arrived for God’s Kingdom to break through in a
powerful and unique way. Now we need to understand what the Jewish
expectations were atthis time to truly understand what this announcement
would mean. The Bible pictures God as ruling heaven as the king over his
creation. So God’s kingdom is God’s rule and reign in heaven. But on the
earth it’s another story, because Godhas given the human race a significant
amount of freedom to rule and reign over our own lives. We rule over our
lives under God’s sovereignty, but God gives us a lot of room to exercise our
own dominion, even if our way is often a destructive way. This is one reason
why God allows bad things to happen, because many of these bad things
happen as a consequence ofour rule and reign over our own lives.
To say that the Kingdom of God has arrived is to saythat God’s rule and
reign from heaven has invaded our reign on this earth. Jesus’announcement
here declares that the decisive movement of God’s dominion has finally
arrived, that God’s intervention in our world has finally come. Whereas
before Jesus God was sovereignoverthe events of human history, now God
has enteredinto human history in a new and specialway.
So now here on earth there are two kingdoms, two different reigns, that are
running parallel to eachother. There’s our reign as human beings, with our

kingdoms, our governments, and our power structures. But there’s also the
rule and reign of God through Jesus Christ. Eachreign has its own values, its
own king, its own vision for life. These two opposite kingdoms run parallel to
eachother, approaching the end of human history.
Until Christ returns again at the end of the age these two kingdoms will stay
parallel This is the part that the people of Israelhadn’t countedon, because
they figured that once God’s kingdom invaded human history, the human
kingdoms of this world would be toppled and destroyed. But for now, they run
parallel. But at the end of human history, the book of Revelationsays that the
kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ
(Rev 11:15). So we shouldn’t confuse the entrance of God’s kingdom that
Jesus is announcing here with the consummation of God’s kingdom at the end
of the age (Garland, Mark NIV Application Commentary, p. 59).
Jesus announces the entrance of God’s kingdom, inviting people to enter into
the kingdom by making a new start and trusting in his message.The challenge
to repent and believe suggests thatno one lives under God’s rule and reign
automatically, merely because oftheir ethnic origin or their church
membership. Every person must enter the kingdom by making a new start of
faith.
Here we find the first way Jesus’voice speakswith authority. Jesus speaks
with authority BY ANNOUNCING THE ENTRANCE OF GOD’S
DOMINION IN HUMAN HISTORY.
God’s kingdom was now present because the King had arrived. This is why
Jesus calls us to trust him and make a new start. BecauseGod’s kingdom had
invaded human history, it was now possible to live under God’s dominion on
this earth. Living under God’s reign wasn’t just a hope for the future or a
dream for another day, but it could become a reality at this moment. You and
I can now live under God’s dominion even today.

2. Jesus Calls (Mark 1:16-20)
But Jesus’voice of authority doesn’t end with this announcement. Look at vv.
16-20. Here we find Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee, which was a body
of water in the region of Galilee. This body of waterwas more accuratelya
lake, though many people back then calledit the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of
Tiberius. It’s about sevenmiles wide at its widestpart and about 13 miles
long. The Sea of Galilee is know for all kinds of fish, so fishing in Galilee was a
booming industry.
As Jesus walks by one of the many fishing ports along the shore, he sees two
brothers fishing. Now when we think of fishing, most of us think of a leisure
activity. We think of chartering a half-day boat fishing out of Long Beachfor
albacore orabout hiking to a secludedplace in the Sierras to fly fish for trout.
But fishing here is the livelihood of Simon and Andrew, their profession, not
their hobby. They’re working, throwing out circular nets, and dragging them
back in, so they can sell the fish and support their families.
Jesus’words are short and stunning: "Come, follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men." His words have the force of a summons, an invitation that
comes with authority. The call to follow is a callto discipleship, a call to
become an apprentice and a pupil of Jesus. Simon and Andrew don’t know
much about who Jesus is, but they respond to the call by leaving behind their
livelihood to become disciples of Jesus. The same sortof scene is repeatedwith
James and John, only this time we find that these two brothers not only leave
behind their livelihood, but also their father.
Here in this secondscene we find the secondwayJesus speakswith a voice of
authority. Jesus speakswith authority BY CALLING PEOPLE TO
FOLLOW HIM AS DISCIPLES.
The calling of these initial four followers of Jesus is remarkable, because it
happens so abruptly. There’s no interview or probation period, no testing of

their Bible knowledge orentrance exam. We know from the rest of Mark’s
story that these four men aren’t even sure who Jesus is yet; they just know
that they want to be with him.
Notice that Jesus’callto discipleship came on their own turf. They weren’t in
church or attending synagogue, it wasn’tthe Sabbath or a specialtime
religious holiday. They were simply just providing for their families, plying
their trade, when suddenly the call of Jesus invaded their lives and changed
everything.
Jesus still calls people to follow him as disciples in the same way. Following
Jesus as a disciple is what it means to be a Christian. It means making a new
start and trusting Jesus, eventhough we don’t have it all figured out yet. I
wonder what these four guys heard in Jesus’voice that made them drop
everything. I wonder what they saw in Christ’s face to cause them to follow.
People today hear the call of Jesus in much the same these four men did back
then. I think back to how I first heard Jesus’callto follow. I first started
hearing his voice calling me into discipleship when I was sitting in Alcoholics
Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. I heard the same voice
through a coworkerin a psychiatric hospital in Pomona I workedat. While
we workedtogether, plying our trades, I encounteredthis same call. And I too
responded to that callto follow, to become a disciple of Jesus.
Maybe you’ve heard the call of Jesus while sitting at an intersectionwaiting
for the light to change or while changing the diaper on your son or sorting
through your tax records. Whereveryou are, the call of Jesus cancome to
you. Just avoiding church and religious people can’t insulate you from this
summons to follow Jesus, to become a disciple of Jesus.

I find it comforting that Jesus says, "Iwill make you." We’re not called
because we’ve arrived at some super level of spiritual maturity. Jesus’calling
of these ordinary laborers shows us that the Kingdom of God invades human
history in small and subtle ways, not with fanfare and fireworks, but by
calling four ordinary laborers busy at work. Yet when it comes, it makes us
into something different than we were before It made Peterand Andrew
fishers of men, people who would be empoweredby God to invite others into
the rule of God.
Here in this small community of five--Jesus and four fishermen--we find the
seeds that would flower into the Christian Church. After announcing the
Kingdom of God, the first thing Jesus does is create a new community. It’s
this same new community you and I became a part of when we respond to
Jesus’voice. Jesus demonstrateshis authority when he calls us to become his
followers.
3. Jesus Teaches(Mark 1:21-22)
Look at the third scene in the story, vv. 21-22. Jesusmoves from the shore of
the sea ofGalilee to a synagogue in the city of Capurnaum. Capurnaum is
going to be Jesus’base ofoperations for his ministry throughout Galilee.
Archeologists have actually uncoveredthe site of this synagogue Jesus visited.
Now synagogueswere a specialbuildings createdso Jewishpeople could
gather togetherto study the scriptures. Since most people didn’t live close
enough to Jerusalemto worship God in the Jewishtemple regularly, most
towns had at leastone synagogue. Worshipin the synagogue would consistof
a series ofpublic readings from the Hebrew scriptures, followedby a sermon
or explanation of one of the passages by a lay person in the congregation. Here
we find Jesus had been selectedthat day to give the sermon.

Now the people in this synagogue are amazedat Jesus’teaching. In fact, the
Greek word here for "amazed" is very strong;it means "to be so amazed as to
be practically overwhelmed" (Louw and Nida, Greek-EnglishLexiconBased
on Semantic Domains, 25.219). Oftenthis word has overtones of fear, so they
weren’t just impressed, they were overwhelmed, even scaredby the authority
Jesus taught with.
Jesus’authority is contrastedwith the authority of the "teachers ofthe law"
or the "scribes."The scribes were the theologyexperts back then, and they
focusedon studying the Hebrew scriptures and the traditions of the elders.
The scribes all knew how to read and write, which made them the most highly
educatedmembers in most communities. They were authorized to give legally
binding judgments on questions that the Bible was unclear about, so many
people came to the scribes for advice. But wheneverthey taught, the scribes
were careful to always quote whateverauthority they based their decisionon.
So they’d say, "Mosessays in the book of Genesis,"or"Rabbi Gamaliel
teaches"and so forth. They’d always quote another authority, so their
teaching always restedon something outside of themselves. That’s what made
them so different than Jesus.
Sociologistsdistinguish betweentwo different kinds of authority people act
with. The first is extrinsic authority, which is authority outside of one’s self.
That’s the kind of authority the scribes had. It’s also the kind of authority
pastors and teachers todayuse. I can’t just tell you what God wants you to do
on my own authority. But I canshow you what the Bible says about
something, and then basedon the external authority of the Bible, I can tell you
what you need to do. So as a pastor, I exercise extrinsic authority, like the
scribes did, an authority outside of myself.
The other kind of authority sociologists talk about is intrinsic authority,
authority that comes from within. This is the kind of authority Jesus taught
with. He didn’t quote scripture verses or cite the opinions of previous teachers

or rabbis. He simply said, "This is the way it is." To teachin that way was to
claim to have a specialkind of authority that went far beyond that of a
teacher, rabbi or religious leader. It was more like the authority of a prophet
or some other specialrepresentative ofGod. This kind of authority was so
overwhelming, it frightened the people in this synagogue.
So here we find the third way Jesus demonstrates his authority. Jesus
demonstrates his authority BY TEACHING PEOPLE NEW REALITIES
ABOUT GOD.
The teachings ofJesus were radicaland innovative because he spoke with
authority. We know from the other Gospels, thatsometimes Jesus said,
"You’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you." That kind of formula tells us
that Jesus believes himself to be speaking the very words of God himself in his
teaching. Jesus didn’t just summarize what others said, but he spoke directly
from the heart of God.
And Jesus’teachings have carriedthat same kind of authority down through
the ages.His sermon on the mount has inspired many through the centuries,
people as diverse as the Russiannovelist Leo Tolstoyto the Indian reformer
Mahatma Ghandi. His teachings are in a categoryby themselves, because they
speak with razor sharp incisiveness, yetthey’re coatedwith the mercy of God.
If you place yourself under the teachings of Jesus, Iguarantee it will change
your life. You’ll find yourself actually loving your enemies, really giving
yourself awayfor the sake ofothers, genuinely sacrificing for God’s kingdom.
You’ll find yourself praying the way Jesus taught, organizing your priorities
the wayhe modeled, treating your spouse and your kids the way he instructed,
and so forth. You’ll find your business practices change, new values will
emerge, a new vision for your life will captivate your heart. You’ll never be
the same againif you put yourself under his teachings.
Yet many of Jesus’teachings are difficult. Not so much difficult to
understand, but difficult to live by. His saying, "It’s harder for a rich person
to enter God’s kingdom than for a camelto go through the eye of a needle"
worries us. When he says that anyone who loves husband or wife, father or
mother, son or daughter more than they love him cannot follow him, that

troubles us. When he tells us to love those who hate us, we wonder how we can
do it.
Yet these teachings turn our lives upside-down and place us under the rule
and reign of God. Jesus teachesus with authority.
4. Jesus Rebukes(Mark 1:23-28)
While Jesus is teaching, he’s interrupted. Look at vv. 23-28. Notice the irony
here. Within a holy place of worship during a holy time of worship, an unholy
presence makes itselfknown. A man possessedby an evil spirit disrupts this
teachable moment.
Now people today sometimes struggle with the idea of a person being
possessedby an evil spirit. We think, maybe this was just the way they
referred to mental illness back then. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the existence
of an unseenspiritual realm of both goodand evil spirits. These spiritual
beings try to influence people, and given the opportunity, they can gain a
foothold in people’s lives. In this man’s case, his body has become like a host
for a demonic spirit.
This evil spirit speaks onbehalf of all evil spirits when it asks Jesus, "Whatdo
you want with us? Have you come to destroyus?" This spirit recognizes Jesus
for who he is, even if the no one else here recognizes him. Yet Jesus silences
the spirit and commands it to leave this man alone. With a shriek the spirit
comes out, and the man is delivered from his bondage to evil.
Here again, Jesus speakswith authority. Jesus demonstrates his authority BY
REBUKING THE FORCES OF EVIL.

Since God’s kingdom is invading time and space, God’s rule and reign is
evicting the evil that’s been ruling and reigning up to this point. And of
course, the irony is that this evil has found a home in a place of worship, this
synagogue ofCapurnaum. Yet they were helpless to deliver this poor man
who was victimized by this evil spirit.
Jesus continues to speak with authority againstthe forces ofevil today. I’ve
seenpeople dominated and harassedby demonic spirits find relief and
freedom through the voice of Jesus today. And if you don’t think the forces of
evil are alive again, think again. Think about the Curve fire in San Gabriel
canyon a few weeks ago thatwas started by people making an animal sacrifice
to a demon. Think about the fascinationwith evil and darkness in some
movies and music. Think about the evil that motivates people mercilessly
massacre others. Christhas the authority to rebuke the powers of darkness.
Conclusion
When Jesus speaks,people listen. Have you heard his voice? Have you heard
his announcementof God’s dominion, his calling to discipleship, his teaching
about God, and his rebuke of evil?
He still speaks today. Although Jesus isn’t physically present with us
anymore, he still speaks withjust as much clarity. He speaks through the
Bible and he speaks through His Church. Have you heard his voice? Have you
responded?
Listening to the Voice of Jesus

Scripture appointed for the Last Sunday after Pentecostincludes II Samuel
23:1-7, Revelation1:4b-8, and John 18:33-37
“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
On this Sunday, our readings invite us to considerJesus Christas King.
Is that a goodidea?
I know that this Sunday has as its nickname, “Christ the King Sunday”… but
is that a positive way to imagine your relationship with him?
Our Old Testamentreading lets us listen in to the last words of another king,
King David, Israel’s greatestking. He was so popular that Israelexpectedthat
when God would somedaysend a Messiah, God’s specialagent, he would be
much like David.
So these words are a long epitaph summing up David’s successas a king:
“One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of
morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain
on the grassyland.”
Those are high approval ratings, aren’t they? That’s what a goodking is like.

Then both our collectthat we prayed togetherand our reading from the Book
of Revelationspeak of Jesus as not just a king, but as the King of kings.
But the more crowns we put on his head, the surer we need to be what kind of
king he is.
And to learn that, we must listen to his voice.
“I’m not a king in the same waythat you’re a governor,” he explains to
Pontius Pilate. You have many hundreds of troops at your command. I have
12 disciples—well, make that 11—andthey’re not a fighting force, believe me.
“But you insist you’re a king?” asksPilate.
“You’re saying that,” replies Jesus, making me wonder how goodan idea it is
that we keepon calling him a king.
“Forthis I was born, and for this I came into the world, to tell the world the
truth about who God is and what God does and what God wants. Everyone
who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
That’s what I want to talk to you about today: listening to the voice of Jesus.

You have it on higher authority than mine that this is what Jesus wants us to
do. Otherwise, we don’t understand what his kind of poweris, or his kind of
love, or his kind of justice.
There’s nothing more important for us to do here in this place than listen to
the voice of Jesus. It’s why we prepare for worship when we first arrive in the
pew. It’s why we stand for the Gospel, whenhis words and his story speak
fresh things to us. It’s why we keepsilence togetherafterall the readings are
finished. It’s why we have a sermon. And why we listen so carefully to what
we and others sing. And it’s what’s going on in holy communion. These are all
specialmoments when our intention is to listen to his voice.
We don’t do it just here. Here is where our listening skills are trained and
encouraged. Everyday, every personwe meet and every place we go, we try to
seek and serve Christ in all people. We promise that in our baptismal
covenant.
And it’s not only in other people that Jesus Christ lives and moves. He lives
and moves in you, in me, and our listening to his voice there—within—is like
learning to use the global positioning systemGod has given us in our baptism.
You must plug it in.
So I want to ask you today to considerthe listening you do in church.
I can tell you that from my usual perch as preacher, you are really good
listeners. And what a reward that is to a preacher, a choir, a reader, and
anyone else who gets up to speak in church. You know how valuable it is to
listen well. Forexample,

· To keepyour eyes on the one you’re listening to, so you take it all in
· But sometimes to close your eyes for the very same reason, perhaps at
moments when you especiallydon’t want to be distractedby anyone or
anything
· And to not be afraid to show that you’re listening: heads nodding for that
reasonare a gift. Smiles—and frowns, and quizzical looks, whateverhonest
response you’re feeling—alsobecome part of the chemistry in goodlistening.
And while we’d probably have to go into training with Pentecostalsand
Evangelicals to getgood at it, I’ve gotto sayit spikes my adrenalin when I
occasionallyhearan uninhibited soulbreak out with “Yes” or “uh-huh” or
whateverpersonalexclamation might, in one of those other traditions, be
“Amen!”
To really talk about listening, we’ve got to talk about distractions. But in a
positive way.
I believe that goodlistening starts right at eachdoorwayto this room.
Do you remember the signs that used to be placedat railroad crossings? Do
you recallthe three words on that sign?
STOP… LOOK…LISTEN

It’s goodmanners, when entering a place like this that is set apart for listening
to the voice of Jesus, it’s goodmanners to catchyourself at the doorwayand
Stop, Look, and Listen.
Are you hearing the still small voice of quiet? Then that’s how you should
enter the room. Jointhat quiet. Contribute to it, don’t take awayfrom it.
And if you know the worship service is underway, it’s even more important to
Stop, Look, and Listen— so that you help the listening that other people are
doing.
Again, from my perch in the pulpit, it’s quite amazing what happens when a
person arrives late, or gets up to leave the room, or comes back from having
left the room earlier. It’s like a Wave in a sports stadium: heads turn, eyes
shift, it’s a message fromthe primitive brain stem, like when a dog sees a
squirrel.
Does that help the community to listen? I don’t think so.
So I put it this way: Stop, Look, and Listen.
· As you’re about to enter this room, are you hearing a single voice speaking?
Then maybe it’s a goodidea to wait. Or at leastto enter quietly and sit down
in the nearestavailable spot—then wait to return to your ownseatat a kinder
moment. This example would hold true also if you hear the choir singing their
anthem.

· On the other hand, when you’re standing in the doorwayand you’re hearing
the whole community speaking together, singing together, passing the peace
together, come full steamahead.
· And if you’re not sure what you’re hearing, use the third verb: stepin far
enough to look around, then you’ll know how to enter and join the listening
community.
To expect all this of children is a lot, isn’t it? But from what I’m hearing from
some parents, it’s the right thing to expect. It really needs to fall on adults to
practice and model this thoughtfulness to Stop, Look, and Listen. Parents and
other adults who love our kids are the best teachers ofchildren to join them in
developing this skill. Make it positive, keepit positive.
Neverbefore have we been blessedwith as many babies and toddlers as we
have now. The wondrous range of sounds that babies make is music to my
ears. It’s the sound of our future.
It isn’t easykeeping a little one happy in church. Especiallyif a parent is
doing that single-handedly on a particular Sunday. Are we going to make that
harder? Not on my watch.
But parents need to know that we’re committed with them to making sure
they have their place in the community that listens to the voice of Jesus.
We offer a safe and appealing nursery for babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers
every Sunday, headed by a capable and popular early-childhood professional.

And the upper room, just through the porch, is available when a little respite
is needed. The audio dimension of our service is piped-in there, there are sofas
and carpets and, usually, something to eat and drink. It’s an oasis whena
break is needed.
Eachfamily has to judge how best to make church a positive experience for
the child, for the parents, and for the community.
We are a community called to listen to the voice of Jesus. It’s the most basic
and important thing we do togetherunder this roof. It’s the call of God to all
our generations.
Postedby Fr. PeterElvin at 9:59 AM
Do You Hear Jesus’Voice?
Matt Moore
moorematt.org
2017
28 Mar
COMMENTS
1

“My sheephear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” – John
10:27
My friend Ben recently told me he fears he may not be saved. When I asked
him to share with me the reasonfor his lack of assurance, Iexpectedhim to
divulge that he was being masteredby some secret, besetting sin or that he
was growing doubtful about the truthfulness of the Scriptures. But that
wasn’t the kind of response I received. He said sorrowfully, “I don’t hear
from God like I should.”
Ben’s charismatic cousin once told him that God speaks to her everyday. He
askedher if she meant that the Spirit guides, influences, and “inspires” her—
because he too experiences these things. She said no, insisting that God
literally speaks to her—and not in a “he brings bible verses to mind” kind of
way. She said he encourages herwith personalwords of affirmation, gives her
‘words’ to give to other people, and sometimes even informs her of events that
lie ahead in the future.
Ben was intrigued by his cousin’s description of how God speaks to her in
such a clearand direct way. But he was also discouragedthat his relationship
with the Lord lackedthis kind of super-personalcommunication. When he
told her he doesn’t hear from God like that, she said, “You have not because
you ask not, Ben!” So Ben started asking. Fortwo years now he has been
pleading with God to speak to him in a more personalway and has been
listening intently for his voice. But he has yet to hear a divinely uttered word.
The deafening silence in his soulhas causedhim to question whether or not he
is really known and loved by Jesus.
Ben’s trouble reveals how vital it is that we rightly understand what the Bible
means when it talks about hearing God’s voice. But before we venture into
what it means to hear God, we should first considerhow God most commonly
speaks. Icannot find any biblical ground to stand on in saying he never speaks
to believers in the way Ben’s cousin described. However, I do not believe the
Scriptures portray this as God’s normative method for speaking to his people.
In the introduction of his epistle, the author of Hebrews describedhow God
usually communicates:

“Long ago, atmany times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days he has spokento us by his Son . . .” – Hebrews
1:1-2 (emphasis mine)
It has been God’s longstanding practice to speak to the generalpopulation of
his people through spokespersonsorprophets. And as the author of Hebrews
wrote, God’s last major spokespersonwas his Son. The Fathergave Jesus
words of eternallife (John 6:68) to speak into the world (John 17:8). He spoke
many of these words while dwelling bodily on the Earth, and he spoke the rest
of them by the Spirit through his hand-selectedmessengers (John16:12-15).
The biblical writers supernaturally remembered, received, and recorded
Christ’s words so that future generations wouldhave accessto God’s final,
glorious messageto the world: the goodnews of the gospel.
To this day and until the end of days, God speaks primarily through his Son,
Jesus Christ, whose words are preservedfor us in the Bible—both those he
spoke with his physical mouth (red ink) and those he spoke by his Spirit
through the inspired writers (black ink). While the New Testamentobviously
does not containevery word Jesus everspoke (John 21:25), it does contain
every word the Father gave him to give to us (John 17:8).
So, understanding that God’s normative method for speaking to Christians is
by Jesus through the inspired Scriptures, we can now ask the question: what
does it mean to hear Jesus’words?
In chapter 10 of John’s gospel, Christ statedthat the distinguishing mark of
his sheepis their ability to hear his voice. Ironically though, there were many
listening to him who he said were not among his sheep(John 10:26). These
people heard with their physical ears the words he spoke—yethe accused
them of not hearing him. It’s obvious that the kind of “hearing” Jesus was

talking about involves more than merely processing his words with our
physical capacities.
He went on to say in the next verse, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Notice what the sheep that truly hear
his voice do: they follow him. The only people who follow Jesus are those who
believe, embrace, and bank their lives on his words. Many who were under
the sound of his voice rejectedwhat he said; therefore they did not truly hear
him. But those who believed his words followedhim and thereby
demonstrated that they truly heard his voice.
Simply put: to believe Jesus is to hear Jesus.
Back to my friend, Ben. I askedhim, “Ben, do the words you read in the Bible
resonate with you as the truth that is from God?” “Theydo,” he said. “Do you
cherish what you read in the Bible?” I asked. “With all my heart!” he
exclaimed. “Does whatyou read in the Bible convict and challenge you?” I
asked. He laughed and said, “Only every day.” “Then you hear God’s voice!”
I assuredhim.
Some of my fellow Baptists may take issue with what I’m about to say, but I
do believe God sometimes speaks to people outside of Scripture (though never
out of sync with Scripture). I see nothing in the Bible that leads me to
conclude he has utterly discontinued communicating in the forms of an
audible voice, dreams, and visions (though the content of these forms of
suspectedcommunication must be testedagainstbiblical revelation).
However, the clearestand most common way God speaks to all his beloved
children is by the sacredScriptures. It is no insignificant thing when we read
the Bible and our souls swellwith gratitude, awe, comfort, fear, and praise.
Our faith-filled response to these inspired words demonstrates that we are
legitimate sheep of Christ who truly hear his voice.
“My sheephear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my
hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greaterthan all, and no one is

able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” –
John 10:27-30
The Voice of the Lord
The Voice of The Lord is The Word of God. It speaks to your heart and mind.
There are many loud, meaningless voices in the world. The voice of: pride,
evil, hate, anger, foolishness, vanity, materialism, and unrighteousness.
These voices ofthe world try to confuse us and leadus down the wrong path.
The crowds in the world follow these meaningless voices. Theyare dead and
not living.
Your challenge is to hear the Voice of The Lord, and block out the voices of
the world, and follow the Voice of The Lord. If you want to Live, then follow
The Voice of The Lord.
God makes knownto us His will, and His identity- through His Voice, which is
His WORD. JESUS is The WORD OF GOD, and therefore THE VOICE OF
GOD.
GOD’S WORD is GOD, GOD’S VOICE is GOD.
John 10:30 - "I and My Father are One".
Those that Hear and Obey the Voice of the Lord will be saved.

John 5:25 - "Verily, Verily I sayunto you, The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God: and they that Hear
shall Live."
John 10:27 - "My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me".
John 6:63 - "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: The
WORDS that I speak unto you, They are SPIRIT, and They are Life."
John 8:47 - "He that is of God heareth God’s WORDS:.."
John 18:37 - "...Everyone that is of THE TRUTH heareth My VOICE"
John 14:24 - "He that Loveth me not keepethnot My Sayings:and THE
WORD which ye hear is not mine, but THE FATHER’S which sent ME.
Elijah was afraid of the voice of Jezebel, so he ran away into the wilderness.
He was listening to the voices of the world. These voices oferror, try to
frighten us. The Bible tells us not to be afraid of them, or what they do to us.
Elijah’s experience in the wilderness, taught him, not to be afraid of loud
noisy voices of fear, but to LISTEN TO THE STILL SMALL VOICE, which
is the Voice of The Lord.
Read- 1 Kings 19:11-12
Note:(the Bible tells us, the Lord was not in the wind, and the Lord was not in
the earthquake, and the Lord was not in the fire) The Lord was the STILL
SMALL VOICE, which Elijah heard, evenduring the the noise of wind,
earthquake and fire.
Can you hear the Voice of The Lord speaking to your heart and mind?
Can you block out the loud voices of the world, that tempt you, try to frighten
you, and try to lead you astray?

Please Listento this messagefrom the Lord:
Matthew 7:24 - "Therefore whosoeverHEARETHthese sayings of Mine, and
DOETHThem, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock."
Your House is your Understanding. The Rock is JESUS.
Ezekiel3:10 - "MoreoverHE said unto me, Son of Man, all MY WORDS that
I shall SPEAK unto thee receive in thine heart, and HEAR with thine ears".
Listen to The VOICE of The LORD, and LAY UP His WORDS in your
Heart.
Please ignore the vain, and misleading voices ofthe world. What would it
profit you if you gain the world, and lost your soul?
Matthew 16:26 - "Forwhat is a man profited, if he shall lose his own soul? Or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Many of you have expressedthese problems:
"I don’t know what the Lord wants me to do."
"I am seeking the Lord’s guidance and direction."
"I don’t know if I should go to college, orhelp the homeless and needy".
"I don’t know if I should start a business or not."
"I am not sure which way to go."
Hear are the answers to all these questions.

The Voice of the Lord is within your heart, and you can hear it, if you block
out the voices that try to confuse you.
Money and the wealth of the world, leads many astray. Don’t you be one of
them!
Pride and fame and admiration of others, leads many astray. Don’t you be one
of them!
Hear is the Voice of The Lord:
"Be Humble, meek, kind and Loving."
"Forgive others, pray for others".
"Follow afterrighteousness".
"Do what is Good".
"Be honestand speak the Truth".
"Think about The Glory of God".
"Live your life, as if every day, were your last".
"Do not follow the comfortable, easy, lifestyle of the rich and famous".
"Walk and listen, then obey, then help others to obey".
"Love others enough- to sacrifice your career, your ambitions, and your life,
for their sake, thatthey might receive the salvation of their souls".
In one sentence - "Live your life as a living sacrifice, for the sake ofyour
brethren".
Glory to God, His Truth is Marching On.
Amen Amen

John Daniel
How Do We Hear the Voice of Jesus?
Article by John Piper
Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org
Do you want to hear the voice of Jesus? So do I. The Father certainly wants us
to. “This is my Son, my ChosenOne; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35).
To which we cry, “Yes, Lord. Yes! We want to listen to him.”
Does he speak today? He does.
Every word of the Bible is the voice of Jesus.
How do we know this? By inference. And better, by experience.
First, by Inference
We believe that “all Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). And we
know that “whateverthe Father does, the Son does likewise”(John5:19).
When the Father, by the Spirit (2 Peter1:21) was guiding the writing of
Scripture, the will and heart of the Son was in perfect concert.
Not only were all things made by the Father, with the Spirit (Genesis 1:2),
through the Son(John 1:3), but all things are absolutely through the Son:
There is “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things” (1

Corinthians 8:6). The inspiration of the Bible was through the Son. Therefore
the Bible is the word of Jesus.
When the Spirit guides the New Testamentwriters, he is taking the heart and
mind of Jesus and rendering them in scripture as the words of Jesus:“All that
the Fatherhas is mine; therefore I said that the Spirit will take what is mine
and declare it to you” (John 16:15). Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James,
Peter, Jude, and the writer to the Hebrews write the words of Jesus.
When the Gospelwriters say, “Jesus said,”it is Jesus saying, “I said.” When
they write “Jesus did,” it is Jesus saying, “I did.” When they write about
Jesus, Jesusis speaking about Jesus. Whenthey quote Jesus, Jesus is quoting
Jesus. In the Bible we hear the voice of Jesus talking about Jesus.
Second, by Experience
When we are born again, we have new ears. Theyare tuned to the frequency
of the voice of Jesus. “The sheepfollow him, for they know his voice. A
strangerthey will not follow, for they do not know the voice of strangers. . .
My sheephear my voice . . . and they follow me” (John 10:4–5, 27). We know
the Bible is the voice of Jesus becausewhenwe hear it we hear his voice.
Does Jesus speaktoday? You may listen to him any time you please. On
hundreds of topics. The wayhe means for us to live is to be so familiar with
his voice from a thousand pages of precious Scripture that we sense his will
where he is silent.
The Voice of Jesus

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Jesus was the greatest voice in history

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