They Recognize His Voice and Come to Him
July 24, 2023 · Hearing the Voice of the Lord
Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
-
Matthew 6:14 quoted directly during the open-mic sharing time on forgiveness: 'for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you'
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
John 10:1-19
read aloud by the congregation in turns as the main text for tying a bow on the hearing-God's-voice series
1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But one who enters in by the door 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 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Song of Solomon (opening section)
Brian quoted the young woman saying 'dark am I yet lovely' to illustrate that Jesus still draws near to those who feel like a mess
Keep this verseJohn 8:32
Brian quoted 'you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free' from his Bible during the discussion of hearing God's voice before surrendering to him
32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This was the sixth and final week of Tribe's summer series on hearing the voice of God. Pastor Brian tied the series together using John 10, where Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd whose sheep recognize his voice and come to him. The service was also marked by open sharing from the congregation, a word about forgiveness, and ended with communion.
What was said
Brian opened by acknowledging where the series had been. Over the previous weeks, Tribe had been looking at a collection of tools, things like scripture, prayer and fasting, godly counsel, and the peace of the Holy Spirit, that together form a kind of filter for discerning God's voice. His warning was that any one of those tools used alone, without the others, becomes a way to lead yourself into a ditch. The point was never to master a single technique but to use them together.
He used two images to describe what it feels like when that discernment starts to develop. One was his daughter Selah naming wildflowers on hikes. Once she gave him the name "lupin," he began seeing them everywhere, even though they had always been there. The other was tuning to a radio frequency. God, Brian said, is always speaking, always leading. The skill is learning to isolate and identify that particular voice among all the others.
He returned to something from an earlier week in the series: obedience is the key that unlocks hearing God's voice. He connected this to the book of Song of Solomon, where the young woman says she is dark from the sun but Jesus still calls her beautiful. The point was that obedience does not have to be perfect or confident to count. Even reluctant, stumbling obedience opens the door to greater clarity.
Reading through John 10 together, Brian paused at the verse that describes what the wolf does when it comes to the flock. It scatters them. He said that scattering is one of the enemy's primary tactics, and that it rarely happens all at once. A little distance here, a little compromise there, and then one day a person looks up and realizes they are isolated from their community, from their spouse, from the habits that keep them close to God. The congregation added to this, noting that community is not always easy but that the peace of the Lord is found inside it, not apart from it.
Brian drew the congregation's attention to verse three and asked what the universal result of hearing the shepherd's voice always is. The answer the room arrived at was that the sheep come to him. He said that is the whole message. When Jesus speaks and we recognize his voice, we are drawn to him. He contrasted this with the voice of the enemy, which always moves in the opposite direction, using condemnation and shame to push people away, to scatter rather than gather.
He described how ancient shepherding actually worked, with multiple shepherds keeping their flocks together overnight in a shared stone corral, then each calling his own sheep out in the morning. The sheep sorted themselves out by voice alone. That picture, Brian said, is what Jesus is describing. The shepherd knows each sheep by name, and the sheep know which voice is theirs. Someone in the congregation added that amateur shepherds are sometimes told not to name their sheep precisely because naming creates attachment, and that the fact that Jesus names every one of his sheep says something about how much each person is worth to him.
The service closed with communion. Brian walked through the Last Supper and connected it to the Passover meal the disciples had been eating their whole lives, noting that Jesus reframed the bread and the cup they already knew. He framed communion as both a remembrance of what Jesus has done and a forward-looking anticipation of the wedding supper described in scripture. He prayed that the meal would be a place where the congregation encountered the voice of the good shepherd, and that they would follow him even into hard places, because he said, that is often exactly where his voice becomes clearest.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Pick one thing from the hearing-God's-voice funnel that you have been neglecting and practice it deliberately every day this week.
- If there is someone you have been avoiding because forgiveness felt impossible, reach out to that person this week.
- Pay attention this week to the moments when you feel scattered or pulled away from community, your spouse, prayer, or God's word, and treat that feeling as a signal to turn back rather than drift further.
- If you have never fully surrendered your life to the Lord and asked the Holy Spirit to take up residence in you, use this week to sit with that question honestly and talk to someone at Tribe about it.
- Make a point to show up and be present with your community this week, even when staying home alone feels easier, because Brian reminded us that the peace of the Lord is found in being together, not in the comfort of isolation.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Brian talked about how learning the name 'lupin' made him suddenly notice that flower everywhere in the mountains. Has something similar happened to you with hearing God's voice, where once you recognized it you started noticing it more often? What changed for you?
- Brian said obedience is the key that unlocks hearing God's voice, and that even small, stumbling acts of obedience open the door to greater revelation. Can you think of a time when obeying something you found in scripture, even reluctantly, led to something unexpected from God?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Este domingo, Brian cerró una serie de seis semanas sobre cómo escuchar la voz de Dios. Usó la imagen de aprender a identificar flores silvestres en las montañas: una vez que aprendes a reconocer el lupino, lo ves en todas partes. Con la voz de Dios pasa lo mismo. Él siempre ha estado hablando, pero cuando aprendemos a reconocer esa "frecuencia", empezamos a notarla en todas partes. Brian repasó varias herramientas para discernir su voz, como la oración, el ayuno, la Palabra, el consejo sabio y la paz del Espíritu Santo, y recordó que ninguna de ellas funciona bien si se usa sola.
Brian se enfocó en Juan 10, donde Jesús se describe como el buen pastor. Señaló que cuando el pastor habla, el resultado universal es siempre el mismo: las ovejas lo reconocen y se acercan a él. También destacó la táctica del enemigo, que no es atacar de frente sino dispersar poco a poco, alejando a las personas de su comunidad, de la Palabra y de la intimidad con Dios. Varios miembros de la congregación participaron con sus propias experiencias sobre cómo escuchan a Dios, y hubo una reflexión sobre cómo la obediencia, incluso cuando es pequeña y tropezante, es la llave que abre una mayor revelación de su voz.
El servicio terminó con la Cena del Señor. Brian recordó que en la última cena, Jesús tomó el pan y la copa que Israel ya conocía del Seder de Pascua y les dio un nuevo significado: su cuerpo entregado y su sangre derramada por el perdón de los pecados. Invitó a la congregación a participar de la comunión como un acto de comunidad, de memoria de lo que Cristo hizo, y de esperanza en su regreso.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados
- Juan 10:1-19
- Mateo 6:14
- Cantar de los Cantares (referencia a la mujer joven al comienzo del libro)
Read the full transcript 7,057 words
The Lord wants to speak to us, and we're each made so uniquely and hear him. So come speak to us today, God. Yeah. So we invite your Holy Spirit. If you have a word, we have a couple microphones just so everyone can hear you.
Just slip your hand up, and we'll get back there to you. Or and it's also for our livestream family who doesn't wanna miss out. So, We
were hiking yesterday, and we saw a patch of dry ground, the kind that was, like, crackly and just parched. And as we were singing this song, pour your spirit out, I saw a picture of a waterfall. And I just wanted to share this morning, if you're feeling dry, if there's an area of your life that you're believing God for and you're praying God, please, for more of something in your life, God doesn't just have a little bit of the Holy Spirit to pour out. He's got a waterfall coming for you. So open your heart and receive him today.
We love that. Yes. Yes. Yes. Janet, would you pray that over us?
For whoever that word is for today that needs that, that they would just be
they would be able to receive that today? Yes. Yes, father. I I think all of us have areas of hard ground in our lives. I think this is a word for all of us.
And, father, just open our hearts and our eyes to your abundance, that you're more than enough in in every area. And, father, we thank you for that vision of water, of cool, fresh, fragrant life. And we just pray that you would birth that in each one of us Yes. That our eyes would be opened to the possibilities of walking with you and in total trust that we would walk by faith knowing that your waterfall is is opening up for us. We just thank you for your abundance and for your love and for the fragrance of heaven in us and on us.
Yeah. In Jesus name.
Is connected to our minds. The other end is connected to the heart of Jesus. And he's saying that our minds are the gateway to the spirit realm. It's the gateway to connecting in the spirit with Jesus. And he's saying Be careful.
Be cautious. Be aware of what you allow into your life. And today, I'm shaking that line. I'm bringing it up out of the grass. And I'm in the process of
transforming you through the renewal of your mind. But I need your permission. I, all I need, this is what the spirit is saying.
Say yes to Jesus. Whatever you feel, whatever he you think that he might be speaking, you don't have to understand it. Just just say yes. Because I am here. If if you don't know me or if you do know me, we all need that process of transformation.
So Jesus, thank you and we do, we say yes to you. We welcome you in our presence. We welcome you. In our hearts and in our minds to do that work that you set yourself to do.
So this morning, the first thing I did was I told Alexa to put on Air One because it just makes me wake up happy. And so I was going about my morning, and this song came on that it said something to the effect that you're in a dark place and it hurts, and that's okay because God's not done, and there will be joy and there will be light. And it's that same thing with the waterfall because both the what did it say? Both the wicked and those that are faithful followers have had had that happen to them. Right?
It's not just because you're a bad person. God wants us to be strong for that time that comes. And for for anybody else who needs it, just that he's not done. It might be a tough time right now, but the joy is coming, and the light and the waterfall that come with that, it's just gonna be that much more powerful and strong when we come out of it as his follower.
Allison, as I think of that picture of the waterfall and how it does just wash us clean with our hope and the Holy Spirit inside of us, I wanted to share something about forgiveness. And I bet everyone in this room has somebody in their life that's tugging on their heart for forgiveness. And I just have to tell you that if you keep it in your heart, bitterness grows, and you're separated from God because of that. In Matthew six fourteen, it says, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. And I want to share about a God ordained thing that happened to me a couple of days ago.
I needed to forgive my sister-in-law, and unbeknownst to me, she arrived in the Valley to visit a friend. My neighbor was out to dinner with her, and this friend took a picture and said, Ah, look who's in town. And of course, I cringe, like, Oh, no. I have not talked to her for so many years alone. What is this going to be like?
I have to reach out to her. I did. She came over to my house, and we spent probably five hours talking and crying. And the forgiveness that the Lord allowed allowed me to give to her was and not from me. It was from him, totally.
She has hurt our family so much, but I was able to let it all go. And then the Holy Spirit led me to really share about the love of Jesus. She's a very fearful person, and now she's questioning, who is Jesus, and how can he be relevant in my life? So God is amazing. God is good.
God has a plan, and God loves her. Thank you.
When Colleen said, all you have to do is say yes to Jesus. I just saw this, like, transformation of what is in the spirit and then you knowing it and then just how thank you for the gifts that you've given, Lolita. We thank you that whenever I call her and come, she says, yes, immediately. Lord, we pray that you would see her surrender and doors would open that she's never even known before to use this gift for you. There's a reason that she's so gifted.
When I pray that if she says yes to you, it would just be like a flood of
Hey, Jay. Yep. Might have showed you up a
little bit
on the plane today
even though
I was gonna I didn't even know you have one. And also sorry. Also, Alyssa asked me
to stand in the back.
Yeah. So that's the only
reason why.
Just saying.
To be fair.
Just saying,
I showed you You up didn't have to move at all.
I had
to walk
across the aisle. Oh, really? You had to do it more.
The picture that we had during worship, Allison White, the the the graceful and eloquent preacher. The picture that you had this morning was was great and certainly for me, probably for others as well. So that was great. Thank you for having the courage to step out and share. If you're new to Tribe, the vibe of Tribe is we like to be collaborative.
So we wanna hear from you. If you have questions, comments, connections, not just in worship, but throughout our time together. Yes. Even while the preacher is preaching, we welcome interruptions through your questions, comments, and connection. That's why we have mics sprinkled around the room so that we can hear you here so that our livestream families can hear your contribution as well.
And so if that bubbles up inside of you, just raise your hand and we'll make sure to get the mic to you. Didn't Jason Chatham do a great job here in the state? Thank you. Thank you, Jason, for the word that you brought and for worship last week. Lisa and I, members of our worship team were in Dallas at a Maranatha conference in Dallas.
Dallas never fails to be Dallas. I get the heat and the giant Longhorn steers in the Convention hall. So I'm gonna share more about the conference that we were at next week. There's still great things that are percolating and simmering. We'll let that cook in the pot for another week.
And next week, I will share a little bit more about our time in Dallas. This week, we're going to our conversation is gonna be revolve around kind of trying to tie a bow on the series of conversations that we've been in hearing the voice of the Lord. And so if you've been with us all six weeks, this will be week six in the concluding week, Jade, Jade communicates a lot with his eyebrows. Now, our eyebrows, they're really like I guess they can kind of like one at a time or both at a time go they just really go up and down. But Jake communicates a lot with his eyebrow raises.
And so he's like week six question mark. No. No. No. This is week six wrap up, but who knows what the world wants to do next week.
And so by that's what that eyebrow is. So we'll see. We'll see. So by just a brief way of bringing up to speed of where we've been, If I could put all of what we've talked about onto one slide, it would be this graphic of a a funnel. Discerning and practicing the skill of hearing the Lord's voice is a combination of a lot of different elements.
This summer, Selah has taken a job as on a, like, a gardening crew, and she's learning a lot of different things about flowers. I've grown up in and around these mountains and I'm so illiterate when it comes to flower identification. But being out in the mountains with Selah, she's like, oh, this is lupin. This is Indian paintbrush. And, like, that's literally like as far as my wildflower ID goes.
I know. I know. I know. Like, many of you can like flower ID circles around me, but we all have our gifts and talents and flower identification. I'm just improving that skill.
But here's what's really cool, is as she points out these flowers as we're gallivanting through the mountains, I start to notice them more. In my mind, it's kind of always been like, pretty color and then I just keep, you know, I just keep going on. But as she points out these these flowers, oh, dad, this is lupin. Oh, I I see it now and and I I grew up in Texas. I spent a while, like, my younger years in Texas, and and the state flower of Texas, does anybody know what it is?
Blue. Oil? Just telephone. Oil. A little bit yes.
What's the state flower of Texas? From the back, just shout out. Bluebonnet. Yes. Bluebonnet.
Yeah. Yeah. Bluebonnet. And so if you know about flower, bluebonnets and lupin look similar. They probably are cousins.
They could be related. I'm looking for any kind of confirmation or maybe a horticulturist. Horticulturist. Okay. But seeing lupin in the mountains, now whenever I go in the mountains, I see them everywhere.
I'm like, oh, that's moving. That's moving. They've been there this whole time, but once I finally had the name to the flower, it's a lot easier to identify in a similar way. Hearing God's voice is not much different. God's voice is always speaking.
And not just general things, but he has wonderful and incredible things to whisper to your heart. And he is constantly leading and speaking and encouraging and guiding and sometimes warning with his voice. But if we have not developed this skill of identifying and kind of isolating that frequency, I've gone from flowers to frequencies now, my metaphors are are jumping around. But once we're able to identify the flower of his voice or isolate the frequency of his voice, we're
like,
that's you. You've been talking to me and leading me and guiding me this whole time and I've just been accidentally or occasionally picking up on your voice, but that's you? And so that's what we've spent the last number of weeks talking about, learning how to identify and and and be able to pick out in a field of all different kinds of wildflowers, the the clarion call of the beautiful indigo glue like the lupine of his voice that is right for our heart. And some of the things that we've been talking about are we put up here on the screen, and I have a funnel. As you use these things, they're like a a grid or a filter so that we can as we're trying to narrow down and hear his clear voice for our life and for our heart, there are various things that we can use to be able to hear his voice.
However, we talk about this all the time. We have to be really careful that we don't use any one of those things in isolation or that we would cherry pick because that's a great way to lead yourself right into a ditch. For example, if you never get into God's word yourself, but you always ask godly counsel now, hopefully, they're giving you godly counsel, but if you never get into God's word yourself, but you only ask somebody else, hey, what should I do? Hey, what should I do? You're gonna wind up in a ditch because because any one individual, even the most godly counsel that you can think of, they make mistakes from time to time.
Prayer and fasting, so good and such a valuable way of quieting the chaos in your heart to hear God's word. But if you only ever pray, never fast, but you don't rely on the peace of the Holy Spirit or guidance from the Holy Spirit, you can get a weird picture in your mind that could just be like you craving donuts. But you have to be able to use all of these. Think of them as ingredients on a shelf. If you just put all paprika in, like, you're gonna mess up the recipe.
Got it. Got it. Let me check-in with you. This is a good spot to check-in with you. From this graphic that you've seen for several weeks now, and you can write it down or you can probably easiest to just take a picture of it.
What is one of the ways that you particularly the way that God has you wired, what's one of the ways particularly that you tune in to hearing God's voice through one of these and or maybe one that's not in that graphic? I'd love to hear from you.
In addition to these, one way that the Lord speaks to me
is through
repetition. And so whatever whatever it is, I'll read it in a book. Someone will say it. I'll hear it on a podcast. Like, just unintentionally, the same thing will Yeah.
Hit me again and again and again. So repetition, I think, is another great one to add to that list. Yeah.
Oh. Yes. That's Love it. Love it. That's so good.
How about how about somebody else? Let me share it in the back. So good. Being led by the peace of the Holy Spirit. Good.
I'd like to hear a little bit more from you.
It's opposite of what I want to do. Most of the
time, it's opposite of what I want to do.
So you remember that episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza, like, has the absolute worst luck in dating. And then his friends give him the advice, like, it is that you think that you should do, George Costanza, do the opposite of that. And then he has, like, all this great luck in dating. Yeah. Okay.
So the George Costanza technique. Great. We'll add that up there.
And the the other approach is the absence of god's peace when you start down a road that you shouldn't have started down.
Oh, man. Yes. Once you learn to identify the authentic and the genuine, it becomes really easy to encounter or identify the absence of it. And you're like, and then you turn the little wagon of your heart around. Yes.
So good. That's so good. Lee. Somebody somebody near to me. Yeah.
Hey, Jay. Where are you?
All the way to the back.
Gretchen's supposed to be having an off
week for everyone. Oh.
She's there.
Yeah. For
me, it's sitting alone, My eyes open. I'm staring at something. I can't close my eyes. And I I no music. No nothing.
Alone. And, you know, I'm saying, Lord, what about this or what about that? And sometimes, you know, an answer comes to my mind, but most of the time, it's 02:00 in the morning. Me. And I I get an answer.
Oh. Delayed. Delayed.
So so the the like, focusing on something visually helps to you to hear?
Yeah. It's it's like when I get a word from the Lord like this morning Mhmm. I'm I'm staring, not not at somebody. I I think I was staring at at the corner. Or, like, if I'm praying for a person and the Lord gives me something to give to that person, I can't look at them.
I I look away, and I'm totally focused on space or or whatever. Oh. That's just kinda weird.
Alright. But it works. I love those little He
was just so captivated by me. He's just looking at my direction.
Now we know. Now we know.
So
several weeks ago, we talked about the key that unlocks hearing God's voice. The key. There was one key that unlocks hearing God's voice. What would that one thing be? And I'll give you a hint.
It was from that passage where Jesus is talking and he says, I'll tell you what it's like for somebody who comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys. Obeys. Obedience is the key that unlocks hearing God's voice. Well, how do I know what to obey if I'm not even quite sure if I've heard his voice? Remember, one of the primary ways that he speaks is through his word.
Obey what's in his word in those little, small, stumbly ways, and watch how it just unlocks greater and greater revelation of who he is and how he speaks. And I love how in the book of Song of Solomon, it says, the young woman is speaking and she is it's an allegory. We're like the young woman at the beginning of the book of Song of Solomon. The young woman says, dark am I yet lovely, dark like the tents of Kinder because I've been out in the sun. The idea is when she first encounters Jesus, she's like, oh, boy.
I'm a mess. I'm a wreck. I've messed up. I've blown it. And Jesus still is like, oh, my beautiful one.
Like, let me see your face, let me hear your voice because your voice is altogether lovely and your face is cunning, your face is beautiful. So Jesus knows that we mess up and that we blow it and we don't nail obedience all the time. But every single act of obedience, even if it is reluctant, recalcitrant, and stumbling. He's like, look at you. Look at you.
Look at you. Obedience is the key that unlocks hearing God's voice even in the little things. With all of those things in mind, let's turn to the book of John as we tie a bow on this morning's conversation. John chapter 10. John chapter 10.
We're gonna read verses one through 19, and just like we would do when we were all huddled up together in the upper room at the TMC, let's take turns reading together. So whoever would like to start, Jay
Jay is holding me down right now. Okay.
I'm gonna read through it.
Yes. Yes. And start in John chapter 10 verses one through 19. Read a few verses and then just hand it off and we all take turns reading God's word together.
Okay. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheep bowl by the door but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calls his own sheep by name and hits them out.
And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, And the sheep follow him for they know his voice.
The love of eagle.
A stranger, they will not follow, but they will flee from him. For they didn't know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. It will go in and out in my pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He was a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Pause. Sorry, George. Pause. Interesting. When the wolf comes, what does he do?
What does he do? What does the wolf do?
Snatches them and
scatters them.
Snatches them and scatters them. That is one of the primary subtle techniques of the enemy, to scatter you, to scatter you from your spouse, to scatter you from intimacy with the holy spirit, to scatter you from True. The discipline of getting into god's word, scatter you from the the the prayer and fasting lifestyle, to scatter you from the truth. He doesn't have to to to come at you and instantly take you out out of nowhere. His his tactic is to just scatter you and to just put a little bit of distance, a little bit of distance, a little bit of distance, a little bit of compromise at at a time.
And then once you realize, uh-oh, where's the flock gone? Where is that that connection and that intimacy and you're all alone? That's when he can snatch and that's when the enemy steals, kills, and destroys. But it begins with this simp seemingly innocuous strategy of just a little distance.
That dirty devil. I got the picture of, like, the National Geographic, like, when the lions are chasing after the gazelle or whatever. And the first thing they do is try and, like, scatter them until they get one isolated, and then that's the
one they go after. Easy prey. Mhmm. Don't be easy prey. Mhmm.
Okay. Let's keep going. We're in verse 14. Verse 14. Who's got
I'm actually gonna make one more comment. Please. Just that idea of Satan's tactic to try and get you alone and exactly that picture that Jay just said is so important. You know, God has designed us to live within community. And that's a like Bob was saying, the absence of peace is an indication that you're on the wrong track.
And as soon as you start to get a little bit alone is another indication that you're on the wrong track.
That's good.
Okay. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father, and I lay down my life with the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. Must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This change this charge I have received from my father.
Yep. Three nineteen. There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Jesus
his words divide. His words divide. His words and his actions, they always bring disruption. They bring disruption to our preconceived notions. They bring disruption to the status quo.
They divide what we thought, what we want from the truth, but he always is on the right side of the disruption. He's always on the correct side of the division. The opportunity is ever before us to align with him and to turn our cat around and to get on his page. I'd like to draw your attention to verse three. As we tie a bow on hearing the voice of the Lord, there's one result that always happens whenever we encounter his truth, whenever we hear his voice whisper our name or speak guidance to us or give us peace that surpasses all understanding, the result is always the same.
What do you see in verse three that is the universal result of hearing the voice of the Lord for us.
People
are like, ugh, makeable choice. I'm gonna I'm gonna throw out. Listen said, he calls the sheep by name. Yes. But when he speaks, what is the result in our life and in our heart?
We
listen.
We list so we recognize it. Yes. People are like He leads them out. He leads them out. You're doing good.
You're doing good. So these are things that Jesus does. He calls the sheep a name. He leads them out. But what is the result in our life and in our home and our heart?
Always, Conner's like, he's giving us his visual aid. So he's the yes. He is the gatekeeper. Look at verse verse three. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him.
The sheep recognize his voice. And what do they do?
They come to him.
They come to him. Now turn around to your neighbor and be like, good job. We got it. When he speaks, the universal result is always they come to him. When Jesus I have I have such a simple message.
I'm almost embarrassed myself about it. It's so simple. This is not like it's just so simple. But there's a lot of depth and beauty to this simple phrase right here. The end result of hearing Jesus' voice, when we recognize it, is always to be irresistibly Drawn.
Drawn to him. Yeah. To just come to him. Yeah. If you feel repelled or to turn away from him like like magnets, There's this there's this attraction between the voice of Jesus and every single human heart.
They're just made to go together. Now there are two things that repel us. Number one, it would be the voice of the enemy that is trying to bring condemnation into our life. And, again, he's trying to isolate and to scatter. Isn't it interesting that Jesus says, the wolf scatters, but when the shepherds speak, there's a drawing and a coming together.
I'm just seeing that in the text just now. Thank you, Brian, for that contribution. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for showing me that. But there is there is within the human heart, whenever we encounter him, sometimes the enemy likes to try to step right in and scatter. You're you're not worthy of that.
You don't deserve that. You've messed up. You've blown it. You're you're no good. You're trash.
You're garbage. What in the world do you think you're doing here at church on Sunday? You are so unworthy. Scatter. Scatter.
Scatter. Scatter. Scatter. Now there can also be the conviction of the holy spirit where where we come to church or we sit under the voice of Jesus speaking to us, drawing us close, and we're like, and we're holding on to something tightly that we just need to let go of. But, man, when we let go of that, when we reject the voice of the enemy in condemnation trying to scatter us, like like two magnets, like, coming across the table to each other, slamming together.
Verse three, the sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd and they come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. I don't have time this morning to go into a a long descriptive story about in throughout the the shepherd world throughout time. Right now, they do, like, you know, herd grazing where there's, like, thousands and thousands sheep. But in the day that Jesus told this parable, a sheepfold would have a certain number of sheep per shepherd, and he would wander through the hills of Judea with his sheep on them.
In the morning, he'd bring him on to the he would bring his sheep on to the sunny side of the hillside where they could eat and nipple and frolic and play and do sheep things. And then as the afternoon sun got higher, he would then take them on to this shady aspect of slopes and he would just walk and whistle and and and sing, do whatever he would do and the sheep would hear his voice and they would just follow him. They would lay down in green pastures and then in the evening, he would take them to the well and he would peel back the lid where they could get a nice cool drink. And then in the evening, he would lead them back home into a stall a stone corral. And then the the shepherd, he would literally sleep at the door of the stone corral so that no bad guys got in or no sheep wandered out.
And in the morning, it was time to take his sheep back out. And sometimes, some stone corrals were larger, so if you had 20 sheep per shepherd, perhaps the the patriarch of the family, maybe at a 100, several 100 sheep, well, there would be multiple shepherds. And you can read about this, like, get little glimpse and hints of this in in the Old Testament. For example, Abraham or Jacob, they had a lot of sheep and the shepherds of the sheep. So they would they would keep their sheep altogether at night.
But then in the morning when it was time to lead them out, the shepherd would come to that stone gate and he would whistle or call and all of the it was so cool. I wish I could see it. But all of the sheep that were under the leadership of that one shepherd would see him and recognize him, like, oh, I guess it's time for us to go out. And the sheepherder would be like, yep. Your mind.
Your mind. Your mind. Nope. Not yet for you. Your mind.
Your mind. He would take his group of sheep and then off they would go. When the shepherd speaks, the sheep recognize his voice, and they just come to him.
I was just just
just press the power button.
I was just gonna say I was thinking about when I before I recognize the voice of the Lord, and I think he was definitely always speaking to me externally, you know, like, external signs, but I was repelled by it because it was foolishness to me because I was perishing. But I can think of specific times now that I've surrendered my life to the Lord that I knew that that was the Lord. But before I'd surrendered my life to him, it was like I was absolutely repelled by it. Mhmm. Mhmm.
And I was just thinking, you know, for maybe anyone in the room or people we know, if they're like, I don't hear the voice of the Lord. I was just sitting there thinking, well, he's speaking to you, but you're not hearing him in your spirit yet because you have you're you haven't your spirit hasn't been awoken by the Holy Spirit to hear his voice internally. Mhmm. And it can be you know, you can be repelled by it before your spirit is born again. Yeah.
And so I I just felt like that was important, and I was remembering that about myself. If you can't hear the voice of the Lord, you're sick, I've never heard it. Maybe that's a great place to start. Like, have I fully surrendered my life to the Lord and has the Holy Spirit taken up residence inside me? Mhmm.
You know, far be it for us to talk about hearing the voice of the Lord, but someone's like, I've never heard it. And we're skipping over how to hear it, and they're lost.
I love that. I was In my Bible, it says, Jesus is speaking. He says, you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Mhmm. But in fine print in my bible, it says, but until it does, it'll make you miserable.
Or like those little sheeps, they might not know which one is their shepherd. How do they go why do they recognize his voice if they don't know which one is their shepherd yet? Jesus
Really good. Distinguishes himself from all of the other voices by saying, I am the good Right. Shepherd. He is the good shepherd. There are lots of shepherds that would try to lead you into a place that tickles your ears and says what you want to hear.
Mhmm. But Jesus is the good shepherd. And it says that he rewards that obedience with a long and satisfying life. It just says here in the text.
And the good news is is he is calling your name even before you have recognized or declared him as your shepherd. Like, he's always calling your
name. Yeah.
Yeah. Going off that idea of the good shepherd and calling his right name. I don't know how many of us could look at a big herd of sheep and distinguish differences between each and every one of them. And I think about how even right now on this planet, there's we're approaching 8,000,000,000 people. And then you think about all the people that have existed throughout time.
The fact that the good shepherd knows each and every one of us by name is just impressive. And then another
it's impressive. It is quite impressive.
And then the other thing I thought about is I have a friend that got into, like, amateur shepherding and bought a couple sheep for himself. And apparently,
of the things you
are, like, not supposed to do as a shepherd is to name your sheep because you form an attachment to them and you form a bond to them. So that if you ever have to slaughter them or whatever, it makes it extremely difficult. Extremely difficult because you now formed an attachment to the sheep. And the fact that our good shepherd knows each and every one of us by name is how precious each and every one of us is to him. I just wanna know.
Amen.
Wow. Gonna
to you.
I'm lie yours?
Oh, yeah.
Thanks. I
appreciate it. Yeah. We should do both.
Just give you one for the win.
I was just thinking about, you know, the enemy scattering us and what Joy was saying,
what Bob was saying.
You know, there's a difference between having the peace of the Lord and it being easy. Because I think, like, in this passage it says that the enemy wants to scatter us. Right? And the opposite would be the Lord wants us to be together. And living together in community or being in relationship is not always easy.
There is a lot that goes into it. A lot of times it would be easier to just sit in your house by yourself, zone out, watch TV, or do whatever makes you feel good. But the peace of the Lord is in being with people and being together. And that's where the reward comes in because he designed us all to offer something to each other. And so by being with each other like there's a little nuggets and little things that we can each offer each other, little mirrors that we can, like, put up to each other.
And so, like, that's where the reward is. So just wanted to wear out. There's a difference between easy and peace of the Lord. Amen.
So good. Yeah. Yeah. Within the context of community. Now I'd like to be a little bit past oral with you.
We were gone last week, and I know that it was only one week, but I've missed you all so very much. And there are there are some of you just schedule a life and time and summer and things. You'll I only get to see you maybe every couple of weeks. Some of you may even be brand new, but I've missed you. I'm glad that you're here.
And so we're gonna come to the communion table together. I thought maybe as a way to be in community, remit our hearts to together with one another and with the Lord that we'll celebrate the Lord's Supper together. Maybe you are a part of a vibrant community of of Christians. Maybe that's people that you Shabbat with on Friday or that you do life with or maybe your church family, maybe your friend grew. Maybe you would feel lately like you have been scattered and are distant and really have no community.
Well, like the Olive Garden, the restaurant, the Olive Garden, if you're here, you're family, and so you get to be a part of our family today. I would just like to for us to reaffirm the bonds of being sheep under the shepherd Jesus. Reaffirm the bonds of community that we have here as a tribe family, and I could just use it as an excuse to give you a hug. And so I'll explain that part in just a moment. But as we come to the table of communion, it's recorded in scripture that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, they were celebrating Passover meal together.
And during that meal, it's recorded that Jesus took bread, he broke it, and he gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat. This bread that Israel had been eating for thousands of years on this annual feast. He said, this bread, not just this bread, but the bread that you have been breaking and eating as part of a Seder dinner for thousands of years during Passover. That bread that you've been eating your whole life, that bread represents my body, which is given for you. And even the disciples were like, I'm trying to follow you.
I'm trying to follow you, boys. And then after the meal, the Bible records that during the Passover meal, there are four different cups that are that are shared. Jesus took a specific cup, and he said, this cup that you've been drinking from for for thousands of years during the Passover meal, this cup represents my life's blood, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. And then he said, this cup I'll not drink again from the fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you and my father's kingdom. For every time you partake of this cup and you partake of the bread, you do show forth my death.
You remember my death until I come back again. Oh, y'all. He's coming back. The one whose eyes burn like fire, whose hair is his hair is white as wool. Out of his mouth comes a sharp two edged sword.
He'll come back to claim his bride, which is us, the church. And it'll be a great wedding feast. And as we partake of communion, we long for and remember what he has done and look for great eager anticipation for that day when we eat together with him at the wedding supper of the lamb. God, I ask that you would perform a miracle right here. That you would take these simple common elements and that you would transform them into a sacrament.
And a sacrament is simply a means of grace where we can touch you by faith. So that as we partake of this meal together, that we would encounter your voice as the good shepherd, that we would be quick to follow you, and as a result, that you would reward us with a satisfying and rich life. We don't ask for riches or wealth. We're not asking even for an easy life. Just speak to us and we will follow you.
And we invite you to lead us into hard places because that's where we hear your voice declare us. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego literally saw you, and you walked around with them. It just happened to be in a blazing furnace. Oh, we want to hear your voice. Meet us in the mystery of this meal.
We pray these things in Jesus' Amen. Amen. Now a couple of nuts and bolts about
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