Last week, we spoke about, "The Peace of Jesus, the valuable gift of Peace". Most importantly, he asked what the source of our peace and its quality is. I think this will be a good juncture to ponder on that point “the source and quality of our Peace” while reflecting on our lives and events of 2020 and looking ahead to 2021.
I believe the source and quality of our peace are closely linked to today's subject matter. But, before we delve into that, I want to start with a story to set the scene for today's message.
In the days before refrigeration, before they invented refrigerators, people used to preserve food in iceboxes. The ice will be kept in a well-insulated area known as an icehouse and covered in sawdust so that the ice will last for a while.
Maybe you've heard this story before; there was a man that worked in one of those icehouses. In the summertime, while working in the icehouse, he lost a valuable pocket watch, a gold pocket watch that his father had given to him, and he was very upset about that.
He began looking, got out a rack, and he started racking through all the sawdust trying to find this pocket watch. But no matter how hard he looked; he couldn't find it. He called all the other employees, and all the other people together and they all started searching going through the sawdust with their hands trying to find this pocket watch, and nobody could find it. When it was lunchtime, the man was distraught and didn't know what to do. They then went out to lunch, and while they were eating, a little boy slipped into the icehouse closing the door behind him.
A couple of minutes later, this little boy came walking out with that gold pocket watch, and the man was very, very happy and asked the little boy:
Son, how could you find that so very quickly? How were you able to do what none of us was able to do?
Well, the young boy said, I went in and closed the door behind me, and I just lay down in the sawdust, and I was very, very quiet and I heard the watch ticking.
Sometimes in our lives, we don't find things because we are too noisy, we are too busy, and especially when it comes to the things of God, sometimes we don't hear God speak to us because we don't position ourselves, we don't go through the effort of getting quiet, getting into a place where we can hear that still small voice of God speaking to us.
And that is what I want to talk to us about today, hearing the Shepherd's voice. Please open with me to John 10:1-6, we will be reading verses 27-29 later on the message
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
John 10: 27 (1-6) NIV
Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
1. What does it mean to hear the Shepherd's voice who is our Shepherd?
2. Why do the sheep need a shepherd?
3. How do we put ourselves in a position to hear the Shepherd’s voice?
Who is the True Shepherd?
The Scripture tells us in verse 1 that there were many sheep in the pen most likely it was a larger, independent enclosure, where several families kept their sheep at night. They would have hired a ‘watchman’ to guard the gate and only allow those who were authorized to enter to come through the gate.
Those who climb in over the fence rather than through the gate are thieves and robbers. Jesus describes their character as those whose purpose is to steal or brutally wound the sheep. Most likely He was referring to the religious leaders who are more interested in fleecing the sheep than in guiding, nurturing and guarding them. They were the leaders of ch. 9, who should have been listening to Jesus’ claims and recognizing Him as the revelation from God. Instead they belittled and put heavy burdens on God’s flock and drove them away from God.
In contrast to the Pharisees, the true Shepherd is recognized by the watchman (under shepherd) at the gate and by the sheep. He comes in the morning and leads them out to pasture for their good. He calls them out by name from the other sheep in the pen. Here we see Christ emphasize the voice of the Shepherd in verse 3; "The sheep hear his voice".
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me . . . a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers" (Jn. 10:5).
This passage tells us that only the sheep that know Him will respond to His voice when called.The word for “listen” means that they respond in obedience to what the shepherd is calling them to do and in this case it is to follow Him.
Jesus said the true shepherd goes before his sheep and leads them to green pastures, he does not drive them. He is willing to lay down his life for the sheep, He is willing to do everything necessary to nurture, provide and protect them from thieves and robbers and wolves. The image of the authentic shepherd is an extremely important biblical picture of a “leader” (Num 27:17) because it implies not only an intensely personal relationship between God's people and their leaders but a style or model of leadership exemplified by Jesus (cf. Mark 6:34).
Which brings me to my next point...
2. Why do the sheep need a shepherd?
We need a shepherd because…
In today's world, we have thousands of messages competing for our attention; Some good, sound messages, some very pragmatic messages and some that at first, seem spiritually sound but instead of leading people, it drives them. We must hear and go after the voice of the Shepherd. ``God's Voice" because it will help our discernment and follow in the direction God is leading us.
Throughout this passage Jesus is referring to Himself as the shepherd and as the door, which speaks about Jesus being the agent of wholeness, of eternal life, of secure pasture, and of release from the realm of darkness. The door speaks about His protection. Those who listen to the Shepherd's voice will not only be saved from eternal Hell but from so much heartache, deception and danger in time.
In verse 14 Jesus said I know my sheep and my sheep know me- the word know is in the perfect active indicative- it is an ongoing intentional 2 way relationship.
But to hear the Shepherd's voice requires that we take time to (v1 stop, watch, wait?) withdraw, that we wait, and then we watch.
Habakkuk 2: 1-2
1I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. 2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
4. Discerning the Shepherd’s Voice
How can we discern the difference between God’s voice and other voices others? When we are talking about hearing God’s voice, we are not talking about having to ask God about what shoes should I wear or food should I eat, or when to rest, or other common sense questions (though there is nothing wrong with talking to God about these things). We are talking about hearing from God about the key issues of life. God has given us so much practical wisdom, we only have to learn to listen. We get to know the shepherd’s voice only by spending personal time with Him, in His word, with His people and in His house.
How can we discern the difference between God’s voice and other voices others? When we are talking about hearing God’s voice, we are not talking about having to ask God about what shoes should I wear or food should I eat, or when to rest, or other common sense questions (though there is nothing wrong with talking to God about these things). We are talking about hearing from God about the key issues of life. God has given us so much practical wisdom, we only have to learn to listen. We get to know the shepherd’s voice only by spending personal time with Him, in His word, with His people and in His house.
I believe this is more important than ever before to purposely know Him and to listen to His voice. If We know Him, if we really listen to Him then we will follow Him. Jesus said If you know the shepherd’s voice, you will not listen to a stranger's voice in fact you will run the other way. A stranger in this case is someone who causes confusion in the flock, they do not speak according to the word. They do not direct people to Christ, there are a lot of strangers in the Theological world that cast more doubt than certainty about the truth and the authority of the scriptures.
This is why this last year we have been spending so much time teaching about who the real Shepherd is, so that we know Him. If you remember how we started year 2020 with the Gospels - we spoke about journaling our journey with Jesus, then we went onto the Knowing God series. This is why we fasting and praying.
Fasting from those things which have the power to really distract us so we can be intentional in our focus on following the Lord. We want to seek the Lord’s direction as a church and as His children.We want to know Him even better this year -The Word to know, means especially through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance). When we know Him, we can trust Him that wherever he is leading us is good and for our good.And so how we can put ourselves in the place of hearing His voice.
