But even as he [Peter] spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is My dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy. Listen to Him.”[1]
In the four gospels, it is written that the Father spoke three times during the time Jesus was on Earth. The first time the Father spoke was to Jesus at His water baptism in the Jordan River. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, John the Baptist saw Heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. A voice came from Heaven and said to Jesus, “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”[2] This event is also significant because all three Persons of the Godhead were clearly present, the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The second time the Father spoke was to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. He said to them from a cloud that enveloped them, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”[3]
The third time the Father spoke was to Jesus, but it was for the benefit of the crowd. It was before the Passover that preceded the crucifixion of Jesus and was in answer to Jesus’ prayer when His heart was troubled. Jesus knew the evil and suffering that the Father, the Holy Spirit and He would have to endure. He knew the reason why He had come to this hour. And through it, the Son of Man would be glorified so that God is glorified in Him at once.[4] Jesus cried out to the Father, “Father, glorify Your Name!” Then a voice came from Heaven and replied, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”[5] Those who heard the Father’s voice said it sounded like thunder or an angel speaking because they did not recognise the voice of God that spoke for their benefit.
Perhaps the Israelites had long forgotten the voice of God when they chose to stay at a distance from His presence. For, after God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He called His first public assembly with Israel at Mount Sinai. The Father spoke out of the darkness in the desert to the Israelites, and Mount Sinai was set ablaze with fire and billows of smoke.[6] God said to Israel, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery,” and He gave them the Ten Commandments.[7]
However, the Israelites responded by saying to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die[8] … We will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. For what mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived? Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.[9]”
Note that the Israelites did not have the courtesy to say this to God directly. The splendorous display of His presence, the thunder, lightning and smoke, intimidated and terrified them. So they chose to remain at a distance while Moses alone approached the thick darkness where God spoke with Him face to face. Did they think that God rescued them from slavery in Egypt just so He could kill them by speaking to them?
By God’s word, the Israelites would not have died if He were to speak to them directly. God had desired to speak directly to His people and have them hear Him speak with Moses. For He said, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.”[10] It is not the sound of God’s voice that would bring death. God’s voice carries life in abundance. His voice is the voice of life. It is when we disobey His commands that bring life that sin and death have power over us. When Adam and Eve sinned in eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and Blessing and Calamity against God’s command, they were bound by God’s word that they would surely die.[11] However, is the church any better than the Israelites who reacted to God in this way? Don’t we also ask God to stay at a distance from our lives and ways of living? Don’t we invite Him into our living rooms and offices, but not into the most intimate places? We mark boundaries with our relationship with Jesus. Just like God said to the waves of the sea in Job 38.11, so we say to Him, “This far You may come and no further. Here in my heart is where You halt.” We put time limits on our fellowship with the Holy Spirit, placing men between the Holy Spirit and ourselves, just like Moses went before God between the Israelites and God.
At the second time of God’s coming to us, the Father did not send His Son Jesus to come in a frightening display of thunder, lightning and billowing smoke. He did not design for the birth of His Son to be a grand entrance with many witnesses and worshippers. Only Mary and Joseph, the magi,[12] the shepherds and some cattle were present to testify to the dawning of the new age of the bright Morning Star. The Father did not announce the place of Jesus’ birth by a show of fireworks and a loud trumpet call. The magi saw the bright star of the east that led them to the first place of worship of the Son of Man. But things will be different when Jesus returns because the Son of Man will come on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. Question is: Where will you be when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem?
The Father poured out the glory of His excellence and perfection into the flesh of the Son of Man, who is the Word become flesh. Jesus, the Word in flesh, is a form that we can relate and listen to, receive and love. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The Father draws us to Jesus, the Word in the fullness of truth and grace, faithfulness and unfailing love - so that those who hear the words of Jesus, and put them into practice, will not fall.[13] For eternal life is that we may come to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent.[14] Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.[15] If we hold to Jesus’ teaching, we are really His disciples, and we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free.[16] For the words that Jesus spoke to us are S/spirit and they are life. The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.[17] The flesh of the Lord would have counted for nothing if not for the fullness of grace and truth living in Him to do the Father’s work.
Do you know what is so eternally special about our Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus carried in Him ALL truth in the fullness of grace, so that we may stand under the weight and enormity of the holy majesty of truth. The Father had deposited the glory of the Word into flesh, and as He released the word to Jesus in perfect timing, Jesus spoke the word with grace and precision in self-control learned through the training He had received from His Father. The Son’s time with His Father began before the foundations of the Earth were laid. He was with His Father when God marked out the horizons on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the foundations of the deep, and when He marked out the foundations of the Earth.[18] Jesus, as the Word, was the Craftsman at His Father’s side, rejoicing with His Father and delighting in Him, delighting in all of God’s Creation.[19] But Jesus’ training on Earth in the flesh was a new thing for both Father and Son.
Jesus Christ, mighty to save, overturned every injustice unto God by His dedicated love to honour and glorify the Father, to save and resurrect every lost dream and delight of the Father. He reclaimed everything under Heaven that belongs to the Father in full restitution, including every word of God trampled, buried alive and stolen by men. He did so by taking on the ultimate injustice Himself - death on a cross for the sins of all mankind.
God’s word is truth[20] and the fullness of truth had sanctified the body of Christ before the creation of the world to prepare the Holy One as the Passover Lamb. For the Father had given Jesus the glory because He loved Jesus before the creation of the world[21] - the glory the Word had with the Father before the foundation of the Earth. The same glory Jesus has given us so that we may be one as They are One.[22] Oneness of spirit in word - in truth - in understanding - in life - in glory - in justice - in love - and in eternity. For it is all about God’s eternity - God’s love - God’s justice - God’s glory - God’s life - God’s understanding - God’s truth - and God’s word, from everlasting to everlasting. It has never been about us. But it is all about us in Them, for that is the paradox of God. Just as it is not about what we are going to do for God, but what God is about to do for His own glory through us. It is not about whether God is for us or against us, but whether we are for Him or against Him, regardless of how much we think it costs us. And it is not about whether we can trust in God, but how much God can trust us. He is God, the only one who is good.[23]
Why shouldn’t He be trusted? Who are you not to trust God? But ask yourself whether He can trust you. Will you be trustworthy in handling worldly wealth that He may entrust you with true riches?[24] Will you be faithful in a small matter so that you can take charge of His cities?[25] Absolute power does not corrupt. If that were so, God would be corrupted beyond recognition. However, just a drop of His power can corrupt you if your heart is not constantly and completely on Jesus, and if you have in mind the things of men and not the things of God.
All eyes are on Jesus, the Word of God in the flesh. The eyes of the Father, the eyes of the sevenfold Spirit of God, the eyes of the saints in Heaven and the eyes of the holy angels are all on Jesus. The reason our eyes are not perfectly focused on Jesus is because we are blind, though we claim that we see. The Father never takes His eyes off Jesus. And because whatever the Father does the Son also does,[26] Jesus never takes His eyes off His Father. His eyes are never on Himself because He seeks glory not for Himself,[27] and He looks to no one but His Father. The Father, who always listens to Jesus, tells us to do the same. We must listen carefully to His Son because the Son is disciplined with razor-sharp precision to speak only what He hears from the Father. Our focus should be on the words of Jesus Christ - every command, lesson, instruction, warning, parable, prayer, encouragement and rebuke. The focus should not be on this popular phrase, “What would Jesus do?” Rather, seek understanding from the Holy Spirit by asking, “What did Jesus say? What did He mean and how, why and who to did He speak it?” How can we learn what Jesus would do, if we do not listen to Him in the first place?
The focus is not on our words, our understanding, our honour or our lives. But when the Father sees you listening to Jesus, His focus will also be on you like a father whose heart is relieved and delighted because he knows his son or daughter is on the right path. Then you will begin to take on the likeness of Jesus who is the perfect, avid listener of the Father, as is the Holy Spirit. There is no unity or oneness in the church if we are not listening to Jesus at the standard to which we are individually called and is our duty to fulfil. No one can listen to Jesus on your behalf. No one can fulfil your destiny for you. If we do not follow and listen to Jesus, cry out for understanding, obey His commands and put His words into daily practice, love His justice, seek the truth and wait at His door for His return, we might as well close shop now. Which is exactly what will happen as the church age comes to a close. The church will not manifest the power of unity or the glory that flows from the oneness of our abiding in Jesus and His words abiding in us under the Covenant for the Forgiveness of Sins, if we do not receive the Holy Spirit through the baptism of the Spirit and of fire. For it is not by might nor by power, but by God’s Spirit[28] that all power in the W/word of God streams and surges forth. The focus is not one-dimensional. It is not by might or power, but by the fullness of the Person of the Holy Ghost. No can see and enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again of water and of the Spirit.[29]
The power of the W/word of God is not designed to come upon us like the weak trickle of a dripping faucet. It is a mighty and splendid waterfall where the deepest depth of the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, the widest width of the Father’s glory and the highest height of Jesus’ love calls forth to each other in the roars of the grandeur of eternities, as its boundless opera of waves and breakers sweep and wash over mankind’s ignorance and indifference towards God Almighty. But how much power of the Word of God will flow from us if we have not read Jesus’ words and His words do not remain in us? How can the power of God respond to us when it roars out of Him, but it does not find the fullness of truth living in us, active and ablaze like fire and a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces?[30] How can the church make preparations for the return of Jesus Christ and remain alive during the days of distress unless it is entrusted and operating in the full power of the Holy Spirit?
You want to talk about trust? How can God trust you with His power if He cannot even trust you to take time to read His words over and over again? You see yourself as powerless. God sees you as wordless. That is, lacking in the knowledge of the words of Jesus, which we acquire when we read and practise His words. If you are W/wordless, you may still be used in His campaign to fight the battles to win God’s war, but how far can He bring you into the full stature of Jesus the Son?
Like an opera to be seen and heard, experienced and beheld, the Father released His Son, the Word of God, when He said, “Let there be light.”[31] As the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters, His power went forth with the Word who contained in Him all the details of the Father’s heartfelt dreams and imaginings. The Holy Spirit created and brought into existence that which the Word of God spoke from the Father’s heart to be made manifest. Here’s a side question to those who deliberately do not speak in tongues or consider it evil. Do you think that God spoke in English, Korean or Aramaic when He said, “Let there be light”? Or did the Lord use His beautiful native Heavenly tongue, the same as the gift from the Holy Spirit that is a sign which accompany believers?[32]
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Power.[33] He is the power in the miracles that allows the invisible traits and qualities of a miraculous God to appear before our eyes and touch our hardened hearts, so that we may repent and believe in Jesus, follow Him and listen to Him as we witness the miracles and accept the seed that is sown into our hearts. The Lord said, “Do not believe Me unless I do what My Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe Me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father[34] … But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”[35] Performing miracles is what the Father does. He is a God of miracles. Miracles come naturally to Him as He is God and not a man. We call them ‘miracles’, but they are the very nature of God.
Jesus did the same things to show us that He is from the Father and He is now seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.[36] To elaborate, this is my understanding of the Lord’s words in John 10.38: “Even if your hearts are so hard and your minds so stubborn that My words find no place in you, then at least open your eyes and witness the power of God which flows from the Father. Those miracles support My words and prove that I am doing the work of My Father and My God. These impossible events performed by unexplainable, supernatural power are incontestable evidence of the truth that I am from God, and that He has sent Me and He is with Me even as I am talking to you.”
We have been given two Counsellors. Follow the pattern in Genesis 1.3. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. If the Father declared light to be and the Holy Ghost did not act upon it, He would have made a liar out of the Father. The word was first spoken as it was released by the Father to the Word of God, then the power of God went forth to back up the word. Truth is our first Counsellor. Truth is the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ in the flesh. Power is our second Counsellor. We received power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us for the purpose of testifying for Jesus and the word of God. Jesus sent us the Counsellor to be with us forever - the Spirit of Truth.[37] When we are baptised with the Holy Spirit, we receive the gift that Jesus promised,[38] for our Father promised in the book of Joel that He would be poured upon all people when He said, “And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”[39]
All believers of Jesus are meant to manifest the following signs in His Name: Drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes with their hands and drink deadly poison but not be harmed, and heal the sick.[40] We believe in Jesus at the preaching of His Gospel: “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”[41] But we are to go and make disciples of all nations, not just believers, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded.[42] For those who will receive the Holy Spirit,[43] Jesus baptises us with Him and with fire[44] as our entry into discipleship training under the Holy Spirit‘s counsel. We are clothed with power from on high for we receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us. The purpose is for us to testify for Jesus with the Holy Spirit. But we are also meant to befriend and be close to the Holy Spirit, for He lives with and is in those who receive Him.[45] The presence of the Holy Spirit is the gift from God. We did nothing to deserve to have the Spirit of our God living in us. We did nothing to deserve such holiness of His presence. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must be honoured to the highest degree and with the deepest affection, for our proximity with the Holy Spirit qualifies Him to be more intimate with us than any parent, best friend or partner.
There is no one else who lives in us like the Holy Spirit does. No one searches our mind, heart, understanding and strength like the Holy Spirit does. No one else but the Spirit guides us into the ALL truth and teaches us ALL things. No one else but the Spirit shows us how to minister to the Father and Jesus. No one else but the Spirit convicts us who believe in regard to righteousness, because Jesus has gone to the Father, so that we may continuously repent and forgive sins as we practise Jesus word. For this is the practice of righteousness. For if man, though he is evil, knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more our Father in Heaven gives good gifts to those who ask Him![46] Yet we never had to ask the Father to send us a Counsellor as wonderful and wise as our beloved Holy Spirit! Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”[47]
Our Father sent into the world two amazingly wonderful Counsellors, the Truth and the Spirit of Truth, because He seeks true worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth.[48] God is Spirit,[49] but the world could not accept the Truth or the Spirit of Truth, for They are not of the world. For Truth and the Spirit of Truth could find no resting place in a sinful and rebellious world that is defiled and ruled by unforgiveness, violence, greed and lies. Even the temple that bears His Name has been desecrated by traditions, customs and doctrines that have nothing to do with worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth.
Do we think that we are dressed in splendour and living in kings’ palaces, when we are covered with the powerlessness of our traditions rather than powerful truth and the regal justice of God’s Word? Does reading a hymn or prayer book fulfil the command to listen to Jesus? Does listening to a 20-minute sermon fulfil the command to listen to Jesus? Does reading religious self-help books or controversial fictions and prophecies fulfil the command to listen to Jesus? And does daily reading of a few random verses of the Epistles or the Psalms replace the actual eating of Jesus’ words in a continuous format? Why are we taught to highlight the apostles’ words in preference to Jesus’ words?
Listening to Jesus carefully means that you have to search out His words in the Bible and highlight them and read them over and over. Reading God’s words as recorded in the Bible is like going through a doorway that leads to a hall, which takes you to more rooms and hallways of understanding and knowledge as you explore His written word. And by God’s words as recorded in the Bible, I don’t mean the Epistles or Psalms or Eliphaz’s preach in Job. I mean the words which proceed directly from the mouth of our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Highlighting God’s words is a process that helps you discern between the holy (God’s words) and the common (all other words).
Therefore knock and the door will be opened to you,[50] because what you are truly knocking on is the door to God’s heart. You may find that as you increase your consumption of God’s words in the company of the Holy Spirit, He will open up more of His words to you personally and directly. He is the Spirit of Revelation.[51] The realisation of how much of the Father and Jesus you can come to know will overwhelm and humble you. It will draw you back to His Word every night, like a man in the desert would reach out for a cup of cold water. When you listen to Jesus, you may even see the words of Jesus as jewels because they have become so precious to you. Each word He speaks is like an array of colourful stones and you treasure them in the jewellery box that is your heart where only God has access. You will have an unexplainable urge to pick the gems off the pages of your Bible and eat them.
The more you listen to Jesus, the more of a “purist” you will become. You will guard and protect His words with your heart, spirit and understanding in jealous love and fierce loyalty. You will become so jealous for Jesus that you will lose all desire to listen to anyone else unless you know they are also listening to Jesus. And you would sooner die of thirst than reach out for the glass of seawater, which is man’s lifeless words.
You don’t even have to pay attention to me. This is my testimony. I love listening to Jesus. You should go and acquire your own testimony of Jesus and the word of God.
Jesus’ words are all the pure river of life we will ever need. But when we chose to disobey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus, we began to foil the Lord’s plans for the ministry of His church. We abandoned truth and took on half-truths, even lies. And we renounced the righteousness of God that comes from obeying the command to listen to Jesus. We took on the ugly rag that is stubborn pride and self-righteousness, rather than the glorious cloak of humility and grace that is mighty to save. This is the garment of our Lord that even the Roman soldiers knew not to rip into shreds.
We developed a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe church traditions that have nothing to do with listening to Jesus and practising His words.[52] Did not Jesus say that His flesh is real food and His blood is real drink, and that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, we have no eternal life in us?[53] So, did it truly seem good to the Holy Spirit, or was it purely James’ own judgment that we should abstain from food polluted by idols and from blood?[54] Didn’t the Lord teach us that what goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth from his heart makes him ‘unclean’?[55] What about when we accept that our brothers in Christ have become our fathers through the Gospel[56] and we address them as “holy father” in a priestly context? Aren’t we contradicting the word of Jesus: “Do not to call anyone on Earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and He is in Heaven”?[57] If the enemies of God slapped our Lord’s face with this one, congratulations, they did so using our hands.
Where did Jesus teach us about ‘holy water’? Where did Jesus say to worship His Earthly mother, or to pray to her or the saints to intercede for them? And where in Jesus’ words did He tell us to bind demons? It is not written that Jesus bound demons. He just drove them out.[58] The incorrect practice of binding demons circulates in the churches because we have not listened to Jesus and the Holy Spirit carefully. Do not misunderstand the words of Jesus when He drove out a demon from the man who was mute. When the demon left and the man who had been mute spoke, the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, He is driving out demons.” Others tested Him by asking for a sign from Heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.”[59]
You must also read Mark 3.22-29: The teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons He is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”
Shepherds: Please note that Jesus taught the tying up of the strong man as a parable because some people were saying He had an evil spirit and was driving out demons by the power of Satan. He was showing them that His power, the power of the Kingdom of God, exceeds Satan’s power and overpowers his kingdom. Jesus did not mean for us to tie up Satan or demons literally. Neither did He practise this Himself. He did not teach us to rob Satan’s house, but to set the people free from what allowed Satan to bind them as captives.[60] God does not rob. He is not a thief. The souls that are held in bondage by Satan because of their sins belong to God rightfully. Parables are illustrations that help us to understand better. If we were to act on a parable literally, it would mean that we should sow seeds along the streets instead of preaching the Gospel, lose a coin and sweep the house to find it in order to experience the joy, or go mix yeast into a batch of dough. No, what Jesus meant is that His power to drive out demons does not come from Satan, but from God, and such insinuation of the crowds (either in their hearts or from their mouths) came very close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit. This is why He tied together the two teachings in a parable.
Shepherds: Jesus gave His disciples authority to drive out demons.[61] He also said it is a sign that accompanies believers.[62] The authority of a disciple to drive out demons is different from a believer being able to do it in Jesus’ Name, just as driving out demons is different from binding them. Your disobedience of Jesus’ words alone ensures that you will have no power over the demons. Repent and stop binding demons. Stop teaching the flock to bind demons. Disciples did not receive the authority to bind demons, but to drive them out.
Therefore, obey the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. Listen to Jesus’ words first and foremost by prioritising them in your heart and spirit, mind and understanding. Actively practise His words in your daily life. Jesus is the true Bread of Life that came down from Heaven.[63] He came and released the truth into the world for the benefit of His Father so that we may feed on His words and not die, but have eternal life. We were not created to die. This is the harvest of resurrection glory and resurrection justice for God.
The words of the Lord’s apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are not life unless they are repeating the words of Jesus Christ and speaking the exact words the Holy Spirit gives them. While it is true that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are given by Jesus to the church that the body of Christ may be built up,[64] the food we are given to grow and mature is in Jesus Christ. And in Jesus is His nourishment which comes from doing the will of God who sent Him and from finishing His work.[65] Therefore, treasure His words, the truth, and the counselling of the Holy Spirit.
We were meant to achieve oneness with the Father through Jesus and in Jesus, and return to God a hundred-fold of ALL that He has given us. His Word is the Chief Cornerstone and His Word is the Capstone. He is the First and the Last.[66] The first stone is the chief cornerstone for a sure foundation,[67] and the last stone is the capstone. And for us, all that is in between the Alpha and the Omega is the glory and joy of the oneness of our remaining and abiding in Him, and of His words remaining and abiding in us.[68] This is what falling in love with Jesus and the words of God is all about. It begins with listening to Jesus carefully.
For the words of Jesus, which come directly from His own mouth, reign supreme. God’s words from God’s mouth reign supreme. We must place His words above and beyond the words of any man, even men of God. Check all their words against the Lord’s words and check with the Spirit of Truth, who is the Spirit of Wisdom calling out to you. For not every word spoken by men is precisely as the Holy Spirit intended in terms of timing, power, purpose, audience and content. But every word of Jesus is just as the Father purposed it to be. Every word spoken by Jesus is directly from the Father, for they flow from the Father’s heart unto Jesus’ sinless lips. The world must learn that Jesus loves the Father and He does exactly what the Father has commanded Him.[69] But how would the world learn if the church hasn’t learnt?
The Lord is a man of truth. He is the Man of Truth. He works for the honour of His Father and speaks to gain honour for the One who sent Him.[70] For the words that Jesus spoke to us were not just His own, they belonged to the Father who sent Him.[71] Jesus did nothing on His own but spoke just what His Father had taught Him.[72] Whatever Jesus said was just what the Father told Him to say. He testified about Himself, and His testimony alone is valid because He is from God and has gone back to God.[73] And He is coming back to us. But the Father also testified about Jesus when He said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”[74] So are you listening to Jesus?
For us to become men and women of truth just like Jesus, the only starting place and launch pad is the command, “Listen to Jesus.” The practice of this command in obedience to our Father is the only way to dig deep and lay the foundation on the Rock - the Word of God, and to have a steadfast mindset to listen to Jesus first and foremost. The rock of the church is not Peter. The rock is the truth Peter declared, that Jesus is the Son of God. And we must listen to Him.
How do we listen to Jesus?
Listening to Jesus is simple. It only takes your time, a Bible and a highlighter. Highlight the words of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit only. Personally, it was easier to start with the New Testament, as the Old Testament may be daunting at first. It is not about highlighting the words that apply to you or sound good to you. This is not the purpose of this exercise. The Father did not command us to listen to Jesus selectively. The process of highlighting the words spoken by God is the differentiation process of the holy and unholy. It is a sanctification process for growth. As you progress, the Old Testament will become like a treasure hunt as you learn to distinguish between the words of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This takes discipline, effort and time on your behalf, but it is more than worthwhile. It is where worship, fellowship and discipleship merge into one to form the greater level of sonship or daughtership and friendship, and it is truly a treasure. The book of Leviticus is never boring. It is an entire book of the Father speaking! It just depends on how hungry you are for God to come to know Him.
For the churches in the literate parts of this world, the words of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the only place where you will fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Him. And to fall in love with the Father, you must first be in love with Jesus because no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.[75] And if you are not in love with Jesus and the Father, the Holy Spirit will never reveal His Person to you. If the Holy Spirit does not reveal Himself to you as you fellowship with Him, how then can you fall in love with the Spirit of God? When you are in love with God, the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because you have come to know Them and you begin to tell Them apart, you will be even more in love with the words of God. It is indeed a circle of love that begins with the Father’s command to listen to Jesus. You might even become so attached to God’s words that you hold your Bible to sleep because it is the closest thing to hugging Jesus for now.
Your first “highlight” may be difficult and labour-intensive. You may even want to give up. But think of it this way, it is nowhere as hard as carrying two heavy slabs of wood after being flogged, only to end the journey by being crucified on the cross for sins you did not commit. Every other task pales in comparison in terms of difficulty - whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Make up your mind and commit yourself to highlighting the whole Bible. It is truly not that hard. No excuses will stand up in the presence of God. In Australia, we live in a country where Bibles are as common as pigeons, and we will not be punished if we own a version of the Bible that is not approved by the government. Excuses like “I have to work,” “I have children,” or “I am too busy” are unacceptable. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The New International Version Bible published by the International Bible Society consists of 880 pages. If you read two to three pages a day, you would complete one reading within a year. Reading three pages would take you less than fifteen minutes a day. If Jesus cared enough so as to die on a cross for the forgiveness of your sins and remain there for six hours until all was finished, what is stopping you from willingly and lovingly giving Him at least fifteen minutes of your day? Once you get past your first read, you may develop an insatiable appetite for Jesus and His words, and hunger for more. You will become like the merchant looking for pearls.[76] This means you have become more like your Father. Also the moment you say, “I know the word of God and I don’t need to listen to Jesus,” you have not only revealed your lack of humility, but also your ignorance.
Is it truly that daunting a task to read the Bible? Haven’t you read a novel from beginning to end? I tell you the truth; Leviticus is not overwhelming or dull once you have acquired the taste for the voice of God. The pleasure of Leviticus is “God uninterrupted.”
Why should we listen to Jesus
Why should we read and highlight the words that proceed directly from the mouth of the Lord, the Lord and the Lord? Why should we do so with diligence, determination and urgency, as if we are training for a marathon, sitting for an exam or preparing for war?
Because a storm is coming; a storm of colossal proportions and distress unequalled from the beginning of the world until now – and never to be equalled again.[77] In the days when the fullness of the cup of God’s wrath is poured out first on His house and then on the world, there will be nowhere to run or hide from He who sits on the throne or from the wrath of the Lamb.[78] For the great day of Their wrath is coming, and who can stand?[79]
Listen to Jesus. He has told us who can stand in that day of God’s wrath and vengeance against His household and against a world that scorns the perfect sacrifice of His beloved Son. It is the house that is built on the solid rock of His words with no impurities mixed in to weaken the base. That house will stand. The rain will come and the streams rise, the winds will blow and the torrent will strike and beat against the house, but it will not be shaken because it was well built on the foundation of hearing the words of Jesus Christ and putting them into practice.[80]
The church needs the words of Jesus Christ and the power that comes from the abidance and practice of His words to withstand the force of the coming tempest storm that will come upon the whole Earth and its inhabitants. A thousand may fall at its side and ten thousand at its right hand, but that house will stand firm in faith, stay rooted in solid understanding and grounded in the love of justice for Jesus.
For there will be ones who have come to Jesus, heard His words and put them into practice. Those houses will answer the Lord’s call, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith?”[81] They are ones who have gone the miles with the Holy Spirit to ensure that Jesus will not only find faith upon His return, but He will also find forgiveness, delight, knowledge, understanding, righteousness, justice and rejoicing, arranged beautifully as a fragrant bouquet of “welcome back” flowers at the Mount of Olives, and triumphantly presented by those who have steadfastly remained alive to welcome the King on His return to reign. They are the Lord’s elect who He will gather from the four winds with a loud trumpet call, from one end of the Heavens to the other.[82] They will be caught up together with Jesus in the clouds to meet Him in the air,[83] and reign with the King of kings and the Lord of lords for a thousand year. This is the first resurrection.[84]
Listening to Jesus is about knowing what He said, and how and why He said it. What tone of voice did Jesus use? When did He speak those words? Who was His audience? In fact, if you are earnest, you can write out all of Jesus’ words in the New Testament as part of your consumption. You can also highlight His words in different colours to differentiate between the words He spoke to His Father, His disciples, the crowds and His enemies. You may learn that words you thought were given to His disciples were actually spoken to say, the Pharisees who were His enemies at that time. These details are important in understanding the Lord and the meaning of His words. This is coming to know the Father and Jesus whom He sent. And it is only the Holy Spirit who counsels you in the words of Jesus and reminds you of what Jesus said. The Holy Spirit alone gives us understanding and revelations on the words of Jesus.
This leads us to the next chapter.
[1] Matthew 17.5 NLT
[2] Matthew 3.17; Mark 1.11; Luke 3.22
[3] Matthew 17.5; Mark 9.7; Luke 9.35
[4] John 13.31-32
[5] John 12.28
[6] Exodus 19.18
[7] Exodus 20.1-17
[8] Exodus 20.19
[9] Deuteronomy 5.25-28
[10] Exodus 19.9
[11] Genesis 2.16-18 AMP
[12] Matthew 2.1, 7, 16
[13] Matthew 7.24-25
[14] John 17.3
[15] John 5.21
[16] John 8.31
[17] John 6.63
[18] Proverbs 8.27
[19] Proverbs 8.30
[20] John 17.17
[21] John 17.24
[22] John 17.22-23
[23] Matthew 19.17
[24] Luke 16.11
[25] Luke 19.12-17
[26] John 5.19
[27] John 8.50
[28] Zechariah 4.6
[29] John 3.3, 5
[30] Jeremiah 23.29
[31] Genesis 1.3
[32] Mark 16.17
[33] Isaiah 11.2
[34] John 10.38
[35] Matthew 12.28 combined with Luke 11.20
[36] Luke 22.69 NLT
[37] John 14.16
[38] Acts 1.5, 8
[39] Joel 2.28
[40] Mark 16.17-18
[41] Luke 24.46-47
[42] Matthew 28.19-20
[43] John 20.22
[44] Luke 3.16
[45] John 14.17
[46] Matthew 7.11
[47] Luke 11.13
[48] John 4.23
[49] John 4.24
[50] Matthew 7.7; Luke 11.9
[51] Ephesians 1.17
[52] Mark 7.9
[53] John 6.53-55
[54] Acts 15.19-29
[55] Matthew 15.10-11; Mark 7.14-16
[56] 1 Corinthians 4.14
[57] Matthew 23.8
[58] Mark 1.34
[59] Luke 11.14-22
[60] Luke 13.16: “Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
[61] Mark 3.15; Matthew 10.1
[62] Mark 16.17
[63] John 6.47-51
[64] Ephesians 4.11
[65] John 4.34 NLT
[66] Revelation 22.13
[67] Isaiah 28.16
[68] John 15.5
[69] John 14.31
[70] John 7.18
[71] John 14.10, 24
[72] John 8.28
[73] John 8.14
[74] Matthew 17.5
[75] John 14.6
[76] Matthew 13.45
[77] Matthew 24.21
[78] Revelation 6.16
[79] Revelation 6.17
[80] Matthew 7.24-27
[81] Luke 18.8
[82] Matthew 24.31
[83] 1 Thessalonians 4.16-17
[84] Revelation 20.4-5