Louder (Part 4)

When God Speaks, We Need to Answer

Welcome to the last part of our Louder series. I hope this has been helpful for you and encouraged you in your walk with Jesus to hear His voice.

In our first session, we talked about what it means to hear God’s voice. We saw how Samuel heard the voice of God in the stillness and quiet of the night.

Then, we explored how powerful God’s voice truly is. By simply speaking, God’s voice created a universe and even brought the dead back to life.

Last time, we looked at how God’s voice is not the voice of shame or fear but of love and grace. God doesn’t come to condemn us but to bring restoration and freedom.

Today, we’re wrapping up our series by looking at this key point: God’s voice requires a response.

We’ll see that throughout Scripture, when God speaks, it requires a response. How we respond ultimately depends on each individual person, but by the end of our time, we’ll see the challenge of responding with action, trust, and obedience.

II. TENSION

Have you ever been in a room full of people before, and someone called your name? Maybe you’re at a party, lunchroom at school, or even at a church event. But when that one person called out your name, you instantly picked up on it. It’s as if your ears are specifically tuned in to that person’s voice, and you could hear it out of a sea of noise.

Optional Illustration: I Heard You (Personal Story)

My dad has this unreal loud whistle. He’ll stick his fingers in his mouth and whistle and you can hear it for miles it feels like. When me and my brother were younger, if we were outside playing and we heard that whistle, we knew that meant come home or you’re in trouble. It was super recognizable and Dad’s signature call. In fact, that’s how he met my mom. He whistled at her in a parking lot. Later on, my parents went to an American Idol concert. They had nosebleed seats. Dad went down to the very bottom level of the arena and whistled, Mom immediately picked it out and knew it was him.

Maybe for you, it’s the voice of 7that close friend, parent, or coach. That voice is familiar. You recognize it. It’s powerful. You’d know that voice if you haven’t heard it in years.

Part of that is because when we hear someone’s voice and know that voice, it’s more than just knowing a sound. When we hear that voice, it brings familiarity, authority, recognition, memories, a relationship, or even a response. The same is true when it comes to hearing God’s voice. We recognize it. It stands out. It rises above the crowd.

But in a world full of competing voices, social media, culture, and even lies, it can be hard to hear God’s voice. Then, when we do hear it, it can be hard to act on it because of all the pressures in the world.

Maybe God’s voice is:

Telling you to stop living a certain way.

Telling you to find a better influence.

Make Godly choices in a relationship.

Share your faith with someone.

Today, we’ll see from the words of Jesus that His sheep listen to His voice and follow Him. But, my question for you: if we’re not obeying Jesus, are we actually listening? Hearing God’s voice is just the start…now we need to do what He says

III. TRUTH

Today, we’re going to look at two primary verses. We’ll see that these two verses have a profound impact on our relationship with Jesus, how we respond to Him, how He sees us, and what He offers us.

John 10:27–28 NLT

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,

Some helpful context here:

These are the words of Jesus as He speaks to the religious leaders of His day.

Throughout Jesus’ life, He referred to Himself as a Shepherd, and His people are His sheep. This type of language helps paint a picture of the relationship we have with Jesus.

A shepherd in His time would protect, care for, lead, guide, comfort, and love their sheep. Sheep are pretty defenseless. They rely on their shepherd to sustain life for them each day.

If you look back earlier in John 10, you’ll see where Jesus even says that these sheep won’t follow a stranger or the voice of one they do not know. Sheep know their shepherd’s voice and will follow their shepherd.

These religious leaders of Jesus’ day were not shepherds. They were, as Jesus called them, “thieves and robbers.” They were unhelpful, cruel, and unfit for caring for God’s people. Jesus routinely called them out for these.

They became religious leaders for selfish reasons rather than sacrificial love.

So, in short, John 10 is Jesus telling us that He is our good Shepherd and we are His sheep. That means we are to follow Him and obey His voice.

1. True followers hear God’s voice

Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say that some of His sheep hear Him. He simply says that His sheep hear Him.

Hearing God’s voice is a defining characteristic of being His follower. As we live in our world, play on our teams, and talk to our friends, we are marked as followers of Jesus to hear Him.

We’re taught early on in school and at home that we are to be quick to listen and slow to speak. When you’re in a classroom, the teacher wants you to listen to what’s being said. When your coach is talking to you, he/she expects you to listen. When a parent is talking to you, they expect you to listen.

On a football field, it’s a loud setting. Players are talking, fans are cheering, bands are playing, and you can hear the chants of an excited cheerleading team. But what are the football players doing? They are tuned into two voices. The quarterback and their coach from the sideline. Each team is focused on hearing those voices from their respective team. Nothing else matters at that moment.

As we follow Jesus, we are to listen to Him. In order to listen to Him, we have to know His voice.

I love how Jesus paints the picture of sheep knowing their shepherd’s voice. When a thief or a robber comes, the sheep don’t listen. In fact, earlier in John 10, Jesus says that the sheep will flee from him. They won’t follow a stranger.

As followers, we know the voice of a stranger, and we flee from it. We know the voice of shame, fear, defeat, the voice of our enemy, and we flee from it.

We know the voice of God, and we follow that. Followers of Jesus not only hear His voice, but they recognize and respond to it. That voice is trusted and even sought after.

Our response to hearing God’s voice should be the same. When God speaks to us, we listen. The more we listen, the easier it becomes to recognize when He is speaking.

Are you truly listening for God’s voice, or are you letting the noise of the world drown Him out?

2. Jesus knows His followers personally.

Jesus shows us how much He cares. He says that not only do His sheep hear His voice, but He knows them. He even says that a good shepherd knows his sheep by name.

Jesus isn’t just talking about a head knowledge of each other, but a deep and personal relationship.

The word Jesus uses in His original language when He says, “I know them,” is the word ginóskó.

It’s a word that means to know or to recognize. It implies that the knowledge is gained through experience or a personal relationship. It’s an intimate and relational knowledge as opposed to an intellectual or head knowledge.

That’s how Jesus sees His sheep. They are known on a personal level. For example, it’s one thing for me to say as a sports fan that I know things about Steph Curry because I’ve seen his highlights, heard about him from ESPN, and even seen him play. It’s another level of knowledge if I say I know how good he is because I played basketball with him growing up, and we get together and play today. In one scenario, I know that he is good because of what others say. On the other hand, I know he is good because I have personally experienced it and witnessed it.

This means that as Jesus looks at His followers, He doesn’t see them as a crowd. He sees us as individuals. He knows us uniquely and intimately.

As we think about why we listen to God’s voice, we’re encouraged because the voice speaking to us is the One who knows us better than anyone or anything in the world. It’s the voice that cares and loves us sacrificially. 

3. True followers respond with obedience.

Sheep know the shepherd’s voice, the shepherd knows his sheep personally, and now, the sheep respond and follow their shepherd.

Jesus says that His sheep follow Him. As we follow Jesus every day, we don’t just belong to Him, but we act on what He says.

When God speaks to us through His Word, prayer, worship music, and even our friends, we are to respond to Him.

Sheep respond with obedience because they trust the shepherd’s voice. So, when we hear God’s voice, we listen to it, we know that God knows us, and then we respond with trust and obedience.

The reality of the world we live in – many people hear God’s truth but don’t follow it. Jesus is making it clear that those who know Him follow and obey Him.

In your own life, are there areas where you are hearing God’s voice but rejecting it? Listening to God requires a response. As we see in John 10, not only are we called to hear His voice, but we’re called to follow and obey it. Let’s talk about a few ways to do that.

IV. APPLICATION

Here are two things for you to think about as we talk about God’s voice requiring a response.

Get familiar with His voice.

In order to know God’s voice, you have to be familiar with it.

The best way to get familiar with His voice is to spend time with Him.

Whenever a new album drops from your favorite artist, you immediately go to listen to it as much and as often as you can. Why? You want to hear what he or she says, and you want to learn the songs. But at first, you only pick up on a few words as you’re learning it. The more you listen to the song, the more familiar you get with it, and before too long, you even have it memorized.

Getting familiar with God’s words is the same way. The more we listen to and read it, the more familiar we become with it. But if we never take time to listen, His voice will always seem distant. And God is not distant. He draws near to those who draw near to Him.

Get familiar with His voice by:

Spend time in God’s Word. Each day, spend time reading God’s Word. Start a reading plan through the Bible app, or come talk to me about where to start. But each day, read God’s Word personally to know it.

Quiet the noise. We talked about this earlier in the series, but if you want to hear God’s voice, you might have to drown out others. Check your screen time. Put down the phone or social media apps. Wake up a few minutes earlier each day and remove those distractions.

Respond with trust.

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” As you respond to God’s voice, know that you can trust it.

God is trustworthy, so His words can be trusted. Last time, we talked a lot about the voice of shame and fear. The voice of shame and fear will try to hold you back from trusting God. Don’t give that voice the power over your life.

As God gives us guidance and direction, we can act on what He says by trusting Him and being obedient to Him.

V. GOSPEL

This entire message has centered around this truth: God’s voice requires a response. Part of that response, if you’ve never done it before, is responding to Him by starting a relationship with Him.

God created us to know Him and be known by Him. Jesus says in John 10, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” He also says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Jesus tells us that He offers us eternal life. He offers eternal life in His presence. He gave His life so that we could experience an abundant and true life in a relationship with God. So, how do you respond to that? Maybe you need to respond to receive that abundant life He offers. Maybe your response is to give over an area of your life you’ve been holding back to Him because you wanted to do things your way.

Whatever your response, we’d love to help you navigate that decision however we can. If that’s you, come talk to me or a leader before you head home today.

VI. CONCLUSION

We’ve talked about what it means to listen to God’s voice and respond with trust. Today, you may not hear the audible voice of God like others did when Jesus was on earth, but He is still speaking. God speaks through His Word, through His Spirit, and through our everyday circumstances. The challenge for all of us isn’t whether or not God is speaking but whether or not we’re listening. I hope this series has encouraged you to listen more closely to the things of God and be willing to tune out the voices of our enemy. Don’t ignore His voice. Don’t push it aside. Know His voice. Listen to His voice. Respond to His voice.

Let’s pray.