Preface from New Book:

I have been reading the words of the Lord Jesus Christ for several decades by now, and those words have never grown stale to me; instead, they are increasingly informing my mind, convicting my conscience, stirring my emotions, and energizing my will — all by the blessed Holy Spirit.

The words of Christ are bread and water for those who hunger and thirst for a right relationship with God and who desire to walk in intimacy with him who loved us and gave himself for us. From his baptism to his ascension to his last recorded words in Revelation 22, the words of Jesus have been preserved in the Written Word of God for believers’ instruction, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.

Jesus says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn. 6:63). To those who have ears to hear, the spoken words of Jesus give life to the walking dead, joy to the downhearted, hope to the depressed, truth to the blind, and salvation to the lost. Jesus rebuked his religious antagonists, who prided themselves as expert interpreters, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (Jn. 5:39). Having memorized vast passages of the words of Moses and the prophets, their ears were deafened to the living words flowing forth from the lips of the living Word of God.

To feed on Christ is to feast on his words. To drink of Christ is to satiate our thirst by drawing from him “a spring of water welling up to eternal life”; and for the one who keeps on drinking —absorbing into their spirit his wonderful words of life — Jesus promised, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jn. 4:14; 7:38).

No one satisfies the soul like Jesus, and no words meet the soul’s deepest needs like the words of Jesus. Knowing this, the apostle Paul, who had met and was transformed by Christ, urged first-century believers, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16). As we meditate on the words of Jesus, our heart-prayer should often be …

Spirit of God, my Teacher be,
showing the things of Christ to me.¹

And the Holy Spirit will do just that, for in speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised, “he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn. 16:13), the truth of God. Jesus said of the Spirit, “he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:14). The Holy Spirit has been at work for two millennia now, illuminating minds through the words of Jesus.

None of this is to suggest that what Jesus spoke was from a higher revelation or inspiration than what the apostles would later speak and write, for they only spoke and wrote what harmonized with the words of Christ. The Holy Spirit never contradicts himself. However, what Jesus said is foundational to all that the apostles wrote. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said to the three disciples, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Mt. 17:5).

From the sayings of Jesus, the following have been selected for the reader’s consideration. We would do well not only to read the words of Jesus often, but also to “listen” to Jesus (by his Spirit) as we read his spoken words. The Holy Spirit has been given to enable us to do that very thing.

Soli Deo Gloria!