In John 10, Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. As a believer, we become part of his flock. That makes us sheep in His Kingdom.
Ps. 23 speaks eloquently of how the Good Shepherd cares for His sheep. There is not a question of what the Good Shepherd will do.
The question isn’t the intent of Him. It’s not a question of His competence, either. The Good Shepherd is perfect and cares perfectly for His sheep.
So, what is our part?
To hear His voice.
To follow.
John 10:1-6 (ESV) says, “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.”
As believers, we are born again into God’s Kingdom. As sheep, we are made to follow the voice of our Master. This is “Voice Recognition.” It is recognizing His voice. It is saying, this here, right there, is the voice of the Lord.
Back to John 10, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3 (ESV) There are three things happening in this description:
As sheep, we have spiritual ears to hear His voice.
He calls us specifically by name.
He leads us out.
We hear the voice of the Lord by the Spirit of God. His Spirit confirms with our spirit that we are sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:16). 1 Corinthians 2 addresses spirit-revealed truths and how God reveals these truths to us by His Spirit. It says that no eye has seen, ear heard, or heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
If it stopped there, it might be discouraging. But, the next verse says, “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10 ESV)
So, there is hope that as we love God, He has things stored up for us that His Spirit can reveal to us. These are spiritual truths taught by the Spirit of God to us. Verse 13 says, “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:13 ESV
All this to say, that the voice of the Lord speaks to our spirit. It is “Spirit to spirit”: The Holy Spirit to our spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) goes on to say that “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
This is a key distinction in learning to recognize the voice of the Lord. If we are trying to hear the voice of God in our natural minds and not in our spirits, we can get off track pretty quickly. Not only may we be missing what the Spirit of God is saying, but we can easily get into error.
We are to be spiritually discerning people that say, “Is this the Spirit of God? Am I hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd? Is He calling my name specifically on this one?”
In the Spirit, we are to judge all things (1 Corinthians 2:15). Verse 14 and verse 15 use the same word in Greek, “anakrino.” It is important to catch this. Verse 14 speaks of things of the Spirit of God being spiritually discerned (anakrino). The next verse goes on to say that the
spiritual person judges (anakrino) all things, but is himself to be judged (anakrino) by no one.”
Let’s keep this in the flow of what the Apostle Paul is saying here, there is a spiritual discernment that comes from the Spirit of God. It’s not natural. So, in the Spirit, the charge is to discern, to be spiritually discerning. About what?
Everything. It circles back to the sheep hearing the voice of the Shepherd. It is discerning His voice and also recognizing the voice of a stranger. To be spiritually discerning, having the ability to discern (anakrino), is the same word used in Acts 17 to describe the Bereans who “searched (anakrino) the scriptures daily” (v. 2 ESV).
Catch this. There is a Spirit-driven revelation that it is not intended for your flesh to catch. It is from the Holy Spirit and can only be received by your spirit.
So, how do I learn to walk in the Spirit and hear the voice of the Lord? I simply spend time listening to it. It is the same concept as learning to spot counterfeit money. There are countless ways for criminals to make counterfeit money. But, to learn to spot a fake, you have to be thoroughly familiar with the real deal or what real money looks like and the characteristics of those bills.
Have you ever given a grocery clerk a larger bill and see them hold it up to the light? They are looking for particulars in that specific bill to determine that it is real. That person has been taught what a real bill looks like.
Likewise, we have to spend time listening to the voice of the Lord in order to recognize that it is His voice. We have to read His word. We can’t expect to live a life in tune with the Spirit of God if we are not listening to Him while reading His word.
We don’t need to be experts in all the ways the enemy can deceive us. We don’t need to catalog the "stranger danger" voices. In John 10, Jesus says, the sheep flee from the voice of the stranger.
We need to do the same. We flee from anything that isn’t the voice of the Lord. It doesn’t matter what it is— good, bad, or ugly, if it’s not the voice of the Good Shepherd, I’m out. I’m not playing.
May God grant us grace by His Spirit to hear His voice today. May we hunger for the things of God. May we sit before Him and say, “I know my natural eyes, ears, and mind can’t catch all you have, but your Spirit is here so please teach me.” And just as Jesus promised as the Good Shepherd to “lead us out,” His Spirit will lead us forward as we recognize the voice of the Lord and respond in immediate obedience, without allowing hesitation or the hardening of our hearts to set in (Hebrews 3:15).
Amen and amen.
