The Rev. Herbert G. Hand

Faith Anglican Church

Cordova, Tennessee

April 13, 2008

Series: Drawing Close to the Living God

Title: Recognizing Jesus’ Voice

Text: John 10:1-10

I.         Listening to Others

The Bible tells us in James 1:19,

...Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
James 1:19 (NIV)

There is a reason God gave you two ears and one mouth.  Are you quick to listen?

Are They Listening?

One day President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual pleasantries at all those White House receptions.

So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was really listening to what he was saying.

As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said,

“I murdered my grandmother this morning.”

How did people respond?  With automatic unthinking responses:

“How lovely!” or

“Just continue with your great work!”

Nobody truly listened to what he was saying, except one foreign diplomat.

When the president said,

“I murdered my grandmother this morning,”

The diplomat responded softly,

“I'm sure she had it coming to her.”

James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 318.

Unfortunately, all too often, we are so concerned with what we have to say, that we just don’t listen.

Your Hearing is Fine, But..

Years ago Jed Harris, the producer of Our Town and other plays, became convinced he was losing his hearing.

He went to the doctor, who gave him a thorough checkup.

He pulled out his gold watch pocket watch and asked,

“Can you hear this ticking?”

Harris said,

“Of course.”

He walked to the door and held up the watch again.

“Now can you hear it?”

Harris concentrated and said,

“Yes, I can hear it clearly.”

The doctor walked out the door into the next room and said,

“Can you hear it now?”

Harris said,

“Yes.”

The doctor said,

“Mr. Harris, there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don't listen.”     James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 319.

Many are quick to speak and slow to listen.

God wants each of us to “be quick to listen [and] slow to speak...”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said,

“He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer be listening to God, either.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 4.

As you practice truly listening to others, it will prepare you to truly listen to God.

II.        Listening to Jesus

In our reading from John chapter ten, Jesus, speaking of himself and his people said,

³... the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
John 10:3-5 (NIV)

You and I are His sheep.

Verse 11 goes on to say that Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Middle Eastern shepherds primarily raise their sheep for wool, not for slaughter:

Their sheep are like pets.

They give each one of them a name, like we name our cats and dogs.

They truly care for their sheep, like we care for our pets.

They graze their sheep out in the open fenceless fields.

To provide the very best pastures lands, the shepherds tirelessly lead their sheep for miles and miles to find the greenest pastures.

But when the shepherd senses danger, he quickly leads his sheep into a cave or a stone sheepfold.

Often several shepherds make a dash for the same sheepfold, so their sheep become irreversibly intermingled.  There might be two, three, or four flocks all jumbled together.

Yet, when the danger has passed and the shepherd is ready to bring out his sheep, what does he do?  How does he separate them?  Verses three and four:

³... He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

At work, at school, in the community, Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling you out:

Are you listening?

Do you know His voice?

Or have you been wandering so far from Him, that you can’t distinguish between His voice and that of the stranger, the thief, Satan, who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

III.      Learning to Listen to Jesus’ Voice

Jesus said that His sheep “know his voice... [and] do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

How do you come to know Jesus’ voice?

Lambs do not know the shepherd’s voice.

Mature sheep do.

Lambs frolic here and there, paying no attention to the shepherd.

Lambs who refuse to learn to listen to the shepherd end up:

Wandering away from the flock.

Being devoured by wolves.

Falling into crevasses with no one to save them.

The same is true for you and me.  When we remain lambs, when we refuse to grow up, we cannot distinguish between the voice of Jesus and the voice of our adversary the devil.

Followers of Jesus, like sheep, find safety in the flock.

Followers of Jesus, like sheep, are dependent upon our Shepherd’s leadership and protection, not just on Sunday morning, but 24-7.

The only way sheep come to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, is to spend time with him in His flock.

The more you are around Him, the more confident you will be in identifying His voice.

Five Ways to Hear From God

The Bible gives us five ways to listen to God’s voice:

1) We listen to God’s voice by observing God’s creation.

God’s Word tells us in Romans chapter one,

²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Romans 1:20 (NIV)

God’s creation is the evidence of His existence.

The stars, the planets, the animals, you and me are God’s fingerprints, the evidence of His existence.

The first time I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God was real, was when I was rebellious undeserving teenager.

I was up on the Appalachian trail in the cold of winter.  I looked up and saw thousands upon thousands of stars.  Immediately, I knew God was real, and I knew I needed to do something about it.

2) We listen to God’s voice through prayer.

Prayer is a conversation with God:

It’s not your monologue to God.

It’s not a set of demands you make to God.

It’s a two way conversation with God.

In John 5:19 Jesus said,

¹⁹...“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
John 5:19 (NIV)

The reason Jesus:

“withdrew to lonely places and prayed,” was to speak with, not just to our Heavenly Father.

Luke 5:16 (NIV)

Most psychiatrists would think you were crazy if you told them God spoke to you. Just tell them you’re crazy about Jesus!

Throughout Holy Scripture, God is not a dead and dumb idol, but the living, speaking God.

In Psalm 50:7, God says,

⁷“Hear, O my people, and I will speak,

Psalm 50:7 (NIV)

3) We listen to God’s voice through others.

Not only does God speak to you, but He speaks to you through others as well.

Often God speaks directly to his people through sermons.  These sermons are prophetic sermons, for God is speaking specifically to certain individuals.

Over and over again, people have told me,

“This morning’s message was for me.”

I’ve seen the same thing happen in Sunday school and Bible studies.  God wants to speak to His people!

As Jesus said over and over again,

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Luke 14:35 (NIV)

Sometimes, God will put a burden on someone’s heart to speak a Word from God to you, a word of:

“strengthening, encouragement and comfort.”
1 Corinthians 14:3 (NIV)

As First Corinthians 14:1 says,

¹Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)

4) We listen to God’s voice through dreams and visions.

Acts 2:17 tells us:

¹⁷“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 2:17 (NIV)

Over a decade ago God gave me a vision.  I can still see it in my mind as if it were yesterday.  In the vision:

I was up on a tall mountain, looking down into a beautiful, but lonely valley.

There was a narrow road leading to a small settlement by a clear river.

There was a faint wisp of smoke coming up from the cabins.

For years I had no idea what the vision meant, but I knew it was from God, so I waited.

A few years ago, God began to show me that the vision was the “road less traveled.” The vision was about Faith Anglican Church.

5) We listen to God’s voice through His unchanging Word, the Bible.

God always, always speaks through Holy Scripture.  That’s why we call it the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us:

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

As you read Holy Scripture with open ears, God will speak to you.

How can you know with certainty that God has spoken to you?

Through His creation.

Through your prayer life.

Through someone else.

Through a dream or vision.

The answer is simple:

If it doesn’t agree with God’s Word, it’s not from God.

When a great American leader like Thomas Jefferson rejects the Old Testament and most of the New Testament, your response must be 2 Timothy 3:16:

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

When Oprah Winfrey’s A Course in Miracles, teaches .... “My salvation comes from me,” your response must be, Romans 6:23:

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 (NIV)
http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=27754

When L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology teaches that:

Jesus was not the only incarnate Son of God...and that “All humans are...capable of realizing a nearly godlike state through Scientology...,” your response must be, John 3:16,

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NIV)
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8057_1.html

As you listen for the Good Shepherd’s voice, always weigh what you hear against the Holy Scripture.

IV.       Conclusion

Are you like President Roosevelt’s hearing, but not listening admirers?

Or are you more like the attentive diplomat, who truly heard him.

Sheep who follow their shepherd spend time in the flock, listening to the voice of their shepherd.

What about you?

Are you growing in knowing the voice of our Good Shepherd Jesus?

Are you learning to recognize His voice?