Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this morning's message is based comes from our Old Testament lesson (Genesis 2: 7 to 3: 9) read earlier.

Whose voice do you recognize on the phone? You know, when someone calls you on the phone but they don't identify themselves, who are you able to identify? Your brother or sister? Your mother or father? Your kids? A close friend? Whose voice are you able to identify without even trying? And how did you develop that ability? Did you take voice recognition classes?

Probably not. The way you developed that ability to tell the differences between people's voices is partly an innate, God-given ability, and partly the result of years of experience in hearing that voice, over and over again. There is even computer software now that does "voice recognition", that is it is able to listen to a human voice and determine by sophisticated computer processes if that voice matches a previously recognized pattern.

Our Old Testament and Gospel texts today are, in a sense, about voice recognition. Is the voice being heard a recognizable, trusted voice, or is it another voice, a voice that must be resisted? Is it a voice of truth or of falsehood? Is it the voice of God, or is it the voice of the greatest of deceivers, of Satan himself? Ultimately, how we spend eternity will depend upon our voice recognition, about whose voice we hear and follow, God's or Satan's.

In our Genesis text, Eve is listening to the voice of the serpent. Had she heard his voice before? Was his a voice she recognized? Had he come to her and to Adam earlier to tempt them with his words? We really don't know. Maybe he had come to them and spoken to them, tried to sell them with his stories. Perhaps they had responded to him like so many of us respond to phone salespeople, saying "No, thank you, I'm not interested in what you're selling." We don't know. But we do know that he came this time, and his words, his questions were persuasive, his voice convincing. "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Martin Luther once said "All heresies (that is all misteachings in the world) result from the devil's temptation of Eve to doubt God's Word and ask "Did God really say?" In a sense all 'successful' temptations lead us to doubt our recognition of the voice of God in his Word. In a sense, all 'successful' temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh are based on that question "Did God really say?" The world and even, unfortunately, many Christians, ask that question about any number of things God has said, separating themselves from God's grace either fully or partly. They ask:

"Did God really say?" that Jesus is the only way to come to the Father? And they disbelieve that Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14: 6)

"Did God really say?" that Baptism now saves you? And they forget God's Words in 1 Peter 3: 21 and how Romans 6 tells us how we are connected to Christ's death and resurrection through Baptism.

"Did God really say?" "This is my body; this is my blood shed for you for forgiveness of sins?" And they forget that Jesus said those very words in Matthew 26.

Which ending to "Did God really say?" is the most "successful' at getting you to doubt God's voice, God's word for you?

"Did God really say?" "I have to obey and respect my parents?" "All the time?"
"Did God really say?" "I have to be honest in all my business ventures?"
"Did God really say?" "I shouldn't live with my boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage?"
"Did God really say?" that attending worship and devoting myself to Bible Study are beneficial, even essential to my life?
"Did God really say?" that I should forgive my neighbor, my brother or sister?
"Did God really say?" that I should forgive even those who are mean to me?
"Did God really say?" I should be patient and kind and loving to everyone?

"Did God really say?" and you fill in the blank. What phrase is the one that leads to the most temptation in your life? In what ways are the devil, the world and your sinful flesh most successful at getting you to forget, neglect or ignore God's voice.

Satan is so proud, so confident in his abilities to tempt that he even made his attempts at Jesus. And why not, Satan had been successful with Adam and Eve, with all the people before the flood, with God's chosen people of the Old Testament, Israel. Both Adam and Israel had been called the "Son of God". Now Satan was up against a 3rd "Son of God." Why shouldn't he expect to be successful at temptation? Instead of "Did God really say?" Satan uses "If you are the Son of God" against Jesus. But, congratulations for us, Good News for us, this Son of God responded as a Servant of his Father. This Son of God, God Himself, responded with God's word, with the recognizable voice of God. Jesus the Son of God responds with God's Word from the book of Deuteronomy: "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Deuteronomy 8:3) "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test" (Deuteronomy 6: 16). "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." (Deuteronomy 6: 13). Jesus answered all the devil's temptations, not with weak human will power, but with the Word of God. Jesus fulfilled what Adam and Abraham and Moses and David and Israel could not fulfill. The gift of grace of the one man Jesus Christ now overflows to the many, to you and to me. Through the obedience of this one man, the man-God Jesus Christ, many have been made righteous before God the Father. Even when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, in anguish and sweating blood He prayed to his Father, "Not my will but your will be done." (Luke 22: 42). And the will of the Father was that this Son of God would not just be tempted, tested, but also to go the cross for you and me. "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him" (Romans 5:9). I have a friend from Seminary days, who two years ago I spoke with 3 or more times per week. I would recognize his voice on the phone when he called. Now he calls about twice per year. He called me Friday night and said "This is your friend Don." I didn't recognize his voice at first. I have several friends named Don. I hoped that he would say something in his second sentence that would help me identify who he was. And he did. When he began to talk about St. Louis and the seminary, I then knew who I was talking to. But the point is, I don't easily recognize his voice any more responded. I don't hear it frequently enough for his voice to be easily recognized anymore. At the beginning of the sermon I asked whose voice you recognized on the phone and noted that we recognize the voices of those we know best, who we hear most often, our close friends and relatives. Jesus said voice recognition is very important. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd and said that "the sheep listen to his voice." Jesus is the Good Shepherd and "his sheep follow him because they know his voice." Voice recognition comes from hearing and hearing someone's voice repeatedly, regularly, daily. Jesus said "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of mine and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8: 31-32). Hearing Jesus' voice, hearing his Word makes us free. It gives us the strength to withstand the Satan's temptations of "Did God really say?"

Many voices compete with our Lord's voice for our attention, for our recognition. But did you notice what happened at the end of our Genesis lesson. Despite knowing of the sin of Adam and Eve, despite knowing that they have rejected Him, the Lord comes to them again, calling out to them, searching for them, calling them back to Himself: "Where are you?" While our tendency is to doubt God's love for us, to too often succumb to the question "Did God really say?", He continues to come to us with his voice given us in his Word and say to us "Where are you? I've come for you. Listen and recognize my voice, the one and only voice that brings you life and salvation."

The grace and peace of our Lord's voice be with you always. Amen.