Attention Please

OCTOBER 12, 2023

 “…the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 1:20)

Every word that God has given us in the Bible claims our attention because of the infinite majesty of Him that has spoken it. When God speaks, every other voice ought to keep silent. “Keep silence before me, O islands.” (Isa. 41:1) “Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD….” (Zech. 2:13) What voice is like His voice? “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” (Psa. 29:4) There are many voices calling out to us, many of them siren voices. Let them all be silenced by The Voice which speaks from above.

Let it not be said of you that you went through this life, God speaking to you in His Book, and you refusing to hear. It matters little whether or not you should hear the voice of the preacher except as he preaches the Word of God. It matters a great deal whether you listen to God or not. It is He Who made you; in His hands is your breath; and if He speaks, bid all others to keep silent, and tune your ears to hear Him, and be not rebellious. There is an infinite majesty about every line of Scripture, but especially about that part of Scripture in which the Lord speaks of Himself and His glorious plan of Salvation in the person of His dear Son Jesus Christ.

Surely, we are compelled to hear the Word of God from the fact of His unspeakable condescension to speak with us. It was quite something for God the Mighty Creator to bid us to look at the work of His hands, and listen to the voice of creation as it declares His glory throughout the world. (Psalm 19:1-4) But for God to speak through His prophets in the language of mortal man is even more wonderful. And then, that He should move holy men of old to write down His words in known languages to be translated into all tongues is more marvelous still. We have the Word of God in our language in a Book which we have in our possession. If you do not own a Bible, you have access to one and can easily purchase one for yourself. Can it be that the all-glorious Jehovah speaks to mortal man? How can it be that any should neglect to hear Him, or be indifferent to His Word? Yet, the tragic truth is that the most published book in the history of the world may also be the most neglected. The ox and the ass know their owners better than sinful men know their Creator. Yet, He will be known to those who will seek Him in His Word.

It is imperative that we give ear to the voice of God because of the intrinsic importance of what is spoken. “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” When the Lord speaks, it is the voice of One Who dwells in infinity and eternity. Vain janglings are for mortal man, but the eternal God speaks nothing of vanity or frivolities. Yet, foolish men treat the Bible as if God were such a one as themselves. God speaks not as a man, “for He is not a man that He should lie (speak vanities), neither the son of man, that He should repent (or change His mind).” The Word of God deals with eternal realities. Do not treat it as if it is of secondary importance. Your eternal existence, your happiness, or your misery hang on how you treat that which the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. Jesus said, “Be careful how you hear.”Eternal life is promised to those who hear aright: “Hear and your soul shall live.”

Depend upon it; if “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,” there is an urgency, a pressing necessity. God speaks not to say that which might as well have remained unsaid. His voice indicates great urgency. “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” If God speaks to you by His Word, you can be sure there is overwhelming cause for it. Satan will whisper to you that there is no urgency, but the apostle says, “…exhort one another daily, while it is called To day.” Our Savior said, “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live.” (Isa. 55:3) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)