KNOWING GOD'S VOICE

Introduction

-{John 10}

-This weekend was our DNow (Discipleship Now) weekend for our Student Ministry. The theme has been FREQUENCY: TUNING INTO THE VOICE THAT MATTERS. This is a very timely theme for not only youth, but also for everybody (no matter our age) because we are constantly bombarded with all sorts of different voices that want to speak into our lives and influence the direction that we walk. Whether it is through entertainment, sports, or social media, there are a million voices trying to guide us in a certain direction, and we want to make sure that we are tuned into the one voice that matters—the voice of God.

-Over the weekend, Chad has talked with our students about the distractions that keep us from listening for the voice of God. He also spoke about the silence that we sometimes have—there are times when God seems silent, but that does not mean that He has left us or forgotten about us. God still speaks to us, maybe not in the ways we want or expect.

-Today, I want finish the DNow theme and talk about Knowing God’s Voice. That means that I am inviting all of the church into our DNow weekend—I want all of us to be discipled in tuning into God’s voice. But in order to tune in to God’s voice we need to know God’s voice.

-And here, in John 10, Jesus taught us how to distinguish God’s voice from all the other voices that might come our way. I want you to be encouraged, knowing that God’s voice can be spiritually heard, known, and followed...

John 10:1–10 ESV

1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

-{pray}

-Just prior to this passage, during the festival of booths Jesus had healed a man who had been blind from birth, and that threw the entire city of Jerusalem into a frenzy, especially the religious leaders that took offense at everything Jesus did. And it’s no different here. Jesus then used the picture of the man’s physical blindness to touch upon the world’s spiritual blindness. The Pharisees asked if they were blind, and Jesus told them that because they claim to spiritually see, but they are blind to who He is, they are actually spiritually blind and they are guilty before God.

-These religious leaders claimed to be the voice of God to the people, but they were blind to who God was, what God does, and who God had sent. And so Jesus wanted to let those religious leaders (as well as the crowd) to know where they can hear the voice of God—and it wasn’t from the Pharisees.

-To make the point, Jesus uses a picture that would have been very familiar to the people of the day. Israel was very much an agricultural society which included the keeping of flocks. So, Jesus uses the picture of a flock of sheep and the shepherd who tends to them to point the people to the true source of the voice of God. I want to consider this picture that Jesus gives, but we’re going to do something a little different as we look at the passage backwards, starting at the end and working our way back because I believe that is where the logic of Jesus’ point can be found. So, we want to consider three lessons about knowing God’s voice. First, Jesus tells us that you need to:

1) Be part of God’s flock (vv. 7-10)

-In order to hear the voice of God you need to be one of His sheep. In this passage Jesus uses a lot of different elements to the picture He is giving. There is a flock of sheep that represents the true people of God. These sheep are kept in a sheepfold, which would have been an area enclosed by a large stone wall for the keeping and protection of the sheep, with there being only one door/gate/opening for going in and out. We could say that this represents God’s kingdom and/or God’s protection. Then there is a shepherd who cares for and tends the sheep, a gatekeeper, and then there is the door to the sheepfold. All three of those in some way represents Christ.

-In this last part of the passage Jesus says in v. 7 and in v. 9 that He is the door of the sheep. In v. 9 He makes it clear that it anyone would enter the sheepfold by Him, they will find salvation, find pasture, and have abundant life. That means that if anyone would be a part of God’s kingdom and be a part of God’s people, there is only one way to enter and that is only through Jesus Christ.

-Most buildings today have several entrances. Our home has a front door, a back door, a garage door—the church has doors galore all over the place. But the Jews of the first century would know that there is only one door/gate into a sheepfold—only one way in and out. That means that there is only one way into God’s kingdom. There is only one way to be a part of God’s flock—and Jesus Christ says that He is it.

-Much to the chagrin of most of the world, there are not many roads or paths or doors to God. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism, and name any more of the thousand -isms that are out there, they cannot get you into the sheepfold—they can’t make you part of God’s flock. Only by believing in Jesus Christ do you become part of God’s flock, and only when you are part of God’s flock can you hear God’s voice.

-When you believe that Jesus is God the Son and the coming Messiah who took on humanity, lived the perfect life by perfectly following God’s law, and then died on the cross to pay for sin and rose again, then you have entered the one door and you become part of God’s flock, and then you can hear His voice.

-Jesus says I AM THE DOOR, IF ANYONE ENTERS BY ME—not by religion, not by good works, not by some made-up personal ethic, not by walking an aisle, not by getting baptized, not because your parents are Christian, not because your uncle is a pastor—but, (Jesus says) BY ME then you are one of God’s sheep. Then you belong to the people of God.

-And then listen to what He says you receive when you enter by Him. V. 9, you receive salvation—you are delivered from the penalty and power of your sin—you are forgiven and all of your sins are cleansed and not held against you.

-He says that you are able to go in and out and find pasture. This doesn’t mean you can go in and out of salvation or that you can go in and out of being part of God’s people. It’s referring to the safety and security that we have in Jesus Christ. A sheep would not leave the sheepfold if they thought they were in any danger. But Jesus is saying that once you have entered through Him, you are free to move about because you are under His protection—you’re safe and secure.

-And then Jesus says that you will receive abundant life. That doesn’t mean what most people thinks it means—that you will be rich and happy and healthy and all that. It is not talking about abundance on earth, it is talking about the abundance of eternity—true spiritual life. We are a generation living in anxiety and fear and worry and anger and worldliness and fleshliness because we are not living in the abundance that is ours in Christ. We are trying to live life our way instead of living out who we are in Jesus. Only in Christ is there true abundance.

-Jesus says in John 17:3 that true, abundant, eternal life is knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent—it is a life growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Only when you have this life in Christ are you able to know and hear God’s voice. And then, once you are part of the flock, then you need to...

2) Be led by Christ’s voice (vv. 3-5)

-Here Jesus describes Himself as the Shepherd—later He calls Himself the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd cares for the sheep, provides for the sheep, protects the sheep, and leads the sheep. The Shepherd is going to lead the sheep to where they need to go to experience that abundant life—to find the green pastures and the still waters, the places where our souls can find rest and refreshment.

-Notice what Christ says. He says in v. 3 that the sheep hear the Shepherd’s voice as He calls them by name and they recognize the voice. This shows to us that Christ is in a deep, intimate relationship with all of His people. We are not merely a cog in the machine or just one of so many that He can’t tell us apart from anybody else. If you belong to Jesus Christ, if you entered the sheepfold through Him, you are loved and cherished for who you are in Him. He knows you as an individual and He calls you by name to hear His voice and follow His voice.

-In v. 4 He says that when He brings His sheep out He goes before them. Notice that Jesus does not lead from behind trying to push the sheep to go where He wants them to go. Jesus isn’t driving the sheep like you might drive cattle, using prongs and whips to direct His people where He wants them to go. No, Jesus leads from the front and talks to the sheep and directs them by His voice saying THIS IS THE WAY. And it says that the sheep follow Him because they know His voice.

-This is how we are led to where God wants us to be—He leads us from in front and calls us to follow Him, and we follow His voice. But how do we know if it truly is the voice of Christ that we are following? Jesus says we would know, but how would we know? Jesus admits that there are voices of strangers, so how do we know it’s His? We’ll quickly mention several ways to know if you are following Christ’s voice:

-First, does the voice align with Scripture? If you think a thought or feel a feeling or get an inkling and it contradicts what is found in Scripture, then it’s not His voice. But if the voice is confirmed by Scripture, then it is of God. Jesus would never voice anything that goes against His holy Word. If something in the world is trying to lead you toward something that blatantly goes against the Bible, you know that isn’t God’s voice. But if something is trying to draw you closer to God through the Word, then you know it is His voice. That is why it is so important to know the Bible. How will you compare the voices to Scripture if you don’t know the Scripture?

-Second, does the Holy Spirit within you give you peace about what the voice is saying? When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit and He will confirm the voice of Christ when it is leading you. If what we have heard in our spirit is of God, it will be confirmed by the Holy Spirit and bring peace. But if what we have heard is not of God it will cause turmoil in our soul. When you are watching a show or reading something online and there is something within you that makes you think that something isn’t quite right, then it’s not God’s voice. If there is someone in your life trying to lead you in a certain direction and it’s like a spiritual red flag goes up in your soul, that’s the Holy Spirit telling you not to follow—it isn’t the voice of Christ. But if what you hear brings peace to your soul and it conforms to Scripture, then it is God’s voice.

-Third, if you want to confirm if something is God’s voice or not, then seek godly counsel from people that you know have a close walk with Christ.

Proverbs 11:14 ESV

14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

-Youth, for you it means first to go to your parents. They have been entrusted with your complete care, including the spiritual. Start with them and get their input. After seeking them, then you come to your pastors, come to church leaders, and then come to friends whom you know love Jesus. They can help counsel you if something is the voice of God.

-Fourth, is the voice leading you toward spiritual fruit? Does the voice lead you to be more like Christ and reflect His character, or does it lead you to look more like the world? The voice of Christ will lead you to reflect the Spirit of Christ. Ask yourself if you will bear more of the spiritual fruit by following the voice. You know the fruits:

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

-If you want to know the voice of God, you first become a part of God’s people through Jesus Christ, and then you allow yourself to be led by Christ’s voice, but we want to close today with a warning:

3) Beware of false teachers (vv. 1-2)

-In v. 1 Jesus warned that there would be those who try to get to the sheep by illegitimate means to hurt them in some way. In v. 5 He warns that there would be strangers who would try to lead the sheep astray. In v. 8 and v. 10 He warns that there would be thieves who would try to steal and kill and destroy the sheep. So, not every voice that you hear comes from God. You need to be discerning and you need to take every voice and test it.

-There is a reason John gave the warning:

1 John 4:1 ESV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

-You need to test the voices—test the spirits. First, if you are not part of God’s flock, you can’t help but be led by the wrong voices because you are deaf to the voice of the Shepherd. Second, you need to make sure you know how to hear the voice of the Shepherd and be led by it with the ways that I mentioned in the previous point. If you are founded in these, then you should be able to tell the true from the false. But you need to know that the voice of the thief will come for you to make you ineffective and prevent you from living in that life of spiritual abundance.

-And you need to know that just because the voice comes from someone who labels themselves Christian does not mean that it is Christ’s/God’s voice. Just because this dude on Tic Tok says he’s speaking from a Christian perspective doesn’t mean he’s speaking from a Christian perspective. Just because that gal on Instagram quotes the Bible doesn’t mean she’s using it in its context—she could be twisting it to her own ends.

-There are ten of thousands of voices out there that identify as speaking the voice of God, but in reality they are speaking the voice of the world, the flesh, or the devil. Again, you discern them from the way we talked about hearing and being led by the voice of Christ. If a voice says something that goes against Scripture, if there is a voice that raises red flags from the Holy Spirit, if there are voices that seem to go against the counsel of godly people in your life, if there is a voice that leads you away from spiritual fruit, then that is not a voice that you need to listen to. You need to mark those voices and avoid those voices.

-But, I also want to encourage you youth, and everybody else, to also listen to good, biblical preachers and teachers with a discerning heart. I encourage everyone to be Bereans. In Acts 17 Paul preached in the synagogue in the city of Berea and it says that these people were noble because they heard what Paul taught and then they examined the Scripture daily to see if what he said was true.

-I’m not trying to make everyone paranoid or say that you can’t trust anyone, but even those you do trust sometimes make mistakes. I would love to say that I never make a mistake. But the truth is that we humans are fallible creatures, and I want you to trust Scripture in its context even more than you trust me. And take what I say and compare it to the Scripture. I’ll tell you this, if someone says to you that you just need to trust me instead of telling you to look in Scripture for yourself to see if something is true: BIG RED FLAG!

-But even amongst us biblical preachers and teachers, listen to the voice of God coming through them, and if they are wrong then reject it without necessarily rejecting them. Even your most favorite celebrity preachers out there on the radio and on TV that are completely solid can sometimes say something that is wrong that is not a gospel or salvation issue. On that point we disagree with them without start labeling them heretics. If they get the gospel and salvation wrong, then yeah, they’re a heretic. But the point is that I am going to be discerning about him and everyone else to make sure I am hearing the voice of God in what he’s saying.

Conclusion

-I’ll close with this thought. Back in the late 80s, early 90s, Star Trek: The Next Generation came on and the way that they got things done on the starship Enterprise is saying the word “computer” and then giving the computer a command. You know, back then, we all thought that was the most far fetched thing ever—a computer that responds to a human voice. Well, here we are. All you got to do is call out for Siri or Alexa and it hears your voice and follows your commands.

-There are voices in the world calling out your name wanting to give you commands and input. Which voice are you listening to and following? Just so you know, the voice of the culture is not the voice of God. The voice of actors and athletes are not the voice of God. The voice of social media influencers are not the voice of God. You come to God through Christ and you listen for His voice.

-Christian, maybe you need to come to the altar to gain clarity on the voices that are trying to influence you. Come and pray to God that you would hear His voice loud and clear. Or maybe there is someone you know that is listening to the wrong voice and you want to come and pray for them.

-But maybe you can’t hear God’s voice because you are not part of God’s flock. Until you repent and believe in Jesus you will never hear God’s voice. So, today, take that first step and believe...