December 9, 2007

 

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

The Voice of God; the Voice of the Good Shepherd

 

Introduction: We must learn to listen to and follow the voice of God. Do we know his voice? What does it sound like? What does it say? What is the language of God? How do we recognize it from other voices? These are important biblical questions that I want to answer today. There are many claiming to speak for God. In the midst of all these voices, how do we know His voice?

 

Texts: “And they heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Gen. 3:8.) But more than this, earlier they had heard two voices. One voice said, Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. If you do, you shall surely die. The other voice said, You shall not surely die. (Gen. 3:1-7.) Which voice is the voice of God? Whose voice should we follow? Is God sometimes wrong in what he tells man?

 

Eli told young Samuel to reply to the voice that spoke to him: “Speak Lord; for thy servant heareth.” (1 Sam. 3:9.) This young man being trained by Eli in the service of God was not accustomed to hearing the voice of God speak to him. He needed to learn to listen to His voice and obey. God spoke to the prophets and the prophets spoke to the people. The Hebrew writer said: “God, who at sundry times and divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Heb. 1:1-2.) God has spoken to man in many different ways over the history of time; but He now speaks to us through His Son. This is an important summary statement. We are told whose voice we should hear today.

 

Peter wanted to build monuments in honor of Moses, Elijah and Jesus. The voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” (Matt. 17:5.)

 

Jesus said that he was the Good Shepherd and his sheep hear his voice. “To him the porter opens and the sheep hears his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice. A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John 10:3-5.) “But you believe not because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:26-28.)

 

Body: How do we know the voice of the Good Shepherd? What are the chief characteristics of the voice of God through His Son?

 

Adam and Eve Knew from the Beginning. God revealed himself to man. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden and had fellowship with them. It was not a matter of confusion, not knowing the voice of God. The woman was deceived by Satan, but the man was not deceived. (1 Tim. 2:14.) They fell because of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

 

When God spoke from heaven during the events of Jesus’ life, whose voice it was could not be mistaken. The voice from above said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. When the Lord spoke to Saul on the Road to Damscus and Saul was not sure who spoke, Saul asked, Who are you Lord? The voice identified himself as Jesus whom you persecute. (Acts 9:3-4.)

 

For us today, it is not a matter of voices and dreams. The writer said, In times past, God spoke to the fathers in these different ways, but now he speaks to us through his Son. (Heb. 1:1-2.) God has revealed himself to us. We know him, just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden. Jesus has come to make known the Father to mankind.

 

The Good Shepherd and the Hireling. Jesus said that a hireling will flee when trouble comes. He will not risk his life for the sheep. One whose voice is not the voice of God does not care for the sheep; they use the sheep for their own advantages. Someone wrote that the ranch of the world is filled with sick and dying sheep. The hireling does not care for his sheep. We know the voice of the Shepherd because he speaks for our good. He is the Good Shepherd.

The Law of Moses recorded: “The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day.” (Deut. 6:23-24.)

 

“The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27.) The Sabbath day was given for the benefit of man that he might find rest. The Pharisees made this commandment a burdensome thing instead of a blessing.

 

How do the sheep know the voice of their shepherd? Sheep will not follow just any shepherd; they know the voice of their shepherd from all others. Sheep need to consider whose voice they are following. There are many voices out there calling for the sheep. I believe that the answer to that is that there is a line of identification of the voice of God from the Garden of Eden with Adam to this day. God revealed himself to them and even after driving them from the Garden, he made himself known to man. He spoke to the fathers by the prophets in various ways. Jesus came to reveal God more fully and completely to man than at anytime before. We know the voice of the Shepherd because of the messages of the prophets in the Old Testament down to their fulfillment. For example, we know that we ought not to follow the voice of Muhammad because he is a descendent of Ishmael. Abraham pleaded with God, “O, that Ishmael might live before thee.” (Gen. 17:18.)

 

To believe that Ishmael is the lineage that God planned is to misunderstand the entire biblical record. The old and the new agree that Isaac, is the one God chose. The son of the bond-woman, Hagar, shall not inherit along with the free-woman, Sarah, and her son, Isaac. What does the Scripture say? It says, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” (Gal. 4:30-31.)

 

We know the voice of the Shepherd because he is the one the porter lets in through the door of the sheepfold. In Palestine, the sheepfold was an enclosed area by a wall that protected the sheep by night. There was a door attended by a porter. Thieves and robbers would try to climb the wall and steal sheep. But the true shepherd would come to the door and enter. The porter would recognize the shepherd as a legitimate shepherd and let him call his sheep.

Over the years, many have enquired as to the identity of the porter. Some have suggested Moses, John the Baptist, God the Father and others. We should note that the porter is not identified by Jesus in his parable, but the role of the porter is very important. He allowed the shepherds to enter by the door. It seems that the porter must be God the Father. The voice of God having already been established gave his approval to his Son audibly from heaven three times. The sheep have learned the voice of the Good Shepherd and they follow him. God speaks to us now by his Son. The word of the so great salvation was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bore witness with signs and wonders and divers gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Heb. 1:1-2; 2:1-4.)

 

It is helpful to listen to all the adjectives use to describe the Lord. In addition to Good Shepherd (John 10:11), He is also called the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20); the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4); the One Shepherd (John 10:16). Jesus himself said, There shall be one fold and one shepherd. That one Shepherd of the sheep is not Mohammed! It is not Hira Krishna, the Dalla Lama, Moses or Siddhartha Gautama. It is Christ Jesus the Lord.

 

Our Own Voice vs. the Voice of God. One of the great dangers in determining whose voice we are going to follow is confusing our own thinking with the voice of God. Preachers are prone to say, The Lord told me thus and so. He did not tell them anything; they are presumptuously speaking for the Lord. Beware of saying, I know that God is pleased with this or that. If it does not come from the Bible, how do you know?

 

The voice of God, the will of God, the voice of the Shepherd is now recorded for men of all ages to follow. We know his voice by what the Bible says. (2 Tim. 3:16-17.) If someone claims that God told them something, we can test what they say by the Word of God. John said that we should not believe every spirit (voice), but to test the spirits to see if they are from God. (1 John 4:1-2.) If a voice does not confess that Jesus is Lord, that voice is not of God.

 

There is an interesting exchange between Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn, his wife. He claimed that he knew the voice of God. He said to her: “I  have worked in out in my mind; I pray to God. I tell you this, Ann Boleyn, that God answers prayers; that’s known. Every morning I go on my knees and pray that whatever I do may be God’s will. I pray him to direct me, that whatsoever comes to my mind, whatever notion floods into my heart should be God’s will; and I only his instrument. Wherever I turn, whatever I do, whether to reach for food, or thread by way through the coarsed paths of law, or to interpret the Holy Word or judge men innocent or guilty. I pray every morning that nothing shall arise in my brain or heart but that he hath wished it first. Since he answers prayers, and He has given me a heavy power to act; power for good or evil. He must answer this; He does answer. I find such peace in t his that not one morning my life long do I fail in these devotions.

 

Ann Boleyn replied, That’s noble of you, your majesty. But, of course, you must realize your majesty that it could be used as much for. . . . The king demanded, As much for what? “For doing as you please!”

 

I am sure the king was not pleased by that retort. But it is true. We should be careful that we do not attribute to God what is nothing more than our own thinking.

 

Mysticism. The doctrine of mysticism is the belief that one has direct contact with ultimate reality, with God. Mother Teresa believed the voice of God spoke directly to her. It made her very demanding of those around her; she did not want to wait for her leaders, even the Pope, to make a decision about her work. To her God had already spoken on the matter. The belief that one has direct contact with ultimate reality is dangerous. We speak to God in prayer, but he does not speak privately to us.