Luke 9:34-36 “While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. (35) And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (36) When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.”
God’s leading of His children with His audible voice is another method which has not changed between the old and the new covenants, with one notable exception. That exception is the way He speaks to those who are called to the ministry as prophets, which we have already dealt with earlier in this teaching. As with dreams, God speaks to His saints today with an audible voice, as and when He wills. There is no account in the New Testament where the saints sought the audible voice of God. And there is no place in the new testament where we are taught to seek guidance through His audible voice. Nevertheless God still speaks to His saints in this manner, as and when He chooses. There are very few examples given to us in the New Testament of this phenomenon occurring, which in itself is an indication to us of just how infrequently our Lord Jesus uses this method of guidance. It is also important to note that those who heard the audible voice of the Lord as recorded in the New Testament only heard His voice once or twice in their entire lifetime. As we study the examples given in scripture of this phenomenon occurring, you will see that when our Lord did speak audibly to the saints under the new covenant, that it was always linked to a profound event that would take place in their lives and ministries. The first account that we will look at is quoted above, when Peter, James and John accompanied our Lord Jesus when He went up the mountain to pray. We all know the account of our Lord being transformed while He was praying, and how Moses and Elijah then appeared and stood with the Lord and conversed with Him. We will pick up the account as Peter is speaking to the Lord about what he was seeing. In this instance Peter, James and John had an indescribable spiritual experience. They had seen our Lord Jesus transformed before their eyes. They had seen Moses and Elijah appear and talk with the Lord. And then the glory of God had enveloped them in a bright shining cloud. And then finally they heard the audible voice of God the Father. This incident had a profound effect on all three of them, and many years later the apostle Peter wrote to the church describing this encounter (2 Peter 1:17-18).
Acts 9:4-7 “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" … (7) And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.”
In the next account quoted above, the Lord Jesus spoke to the apostle Paul in an audible voice when he was on the road to Damascus. In this particular incident, not only did Paul hear the Lord’s voice, but those who were travelling with him also heard it. And so obviously the Lord spoke to Paul in an audible voice that all could hear. As a result of our Lord Jesus speaking audibly to Paul and as a result of his subsequent vision of our Lord, Paul was saved. This was an extremely significant event to the gentile church, for our Lord Jesus had appointed Paul to be the apostle to the gentiles. And so we see that when our Lord Jesus used this method of communication with His saints, that it was always an encounter that stayed with them for the rest of their lives. It was also always linked to a significant event or change in their lives and ministries. And we also see that this phenomenon occurred very infrequently in the saints’ lives. I have never heard the audible voice of the Lord, but I know of individuals who have. And it has always had a profound impact on the lives of those who have heard Him. They never forget it. The saints have the right to seek the Lord’s guidance through those methods that He has ordained in the church. The audible voice of the Lord is not one of those methods. As we have seen, it is still a method that the Lord uses today, but it only occurs as He wills. For any saint to seek His guidance through this method today would be gross error, and they would open themselves to Satan’s deception. Satan will accommodate those seeking voices, for he is the god of this world.
Michael E.B. Maher
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