THE VOICE OF THE LORD

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27). 

 

“Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice.” (John 18:37).

 

“And this voice which came from heaven we heard...” (2 Peter 1:18).

 

God wants every one of His children to learn to hear and recognize the voice of his Master and Lord.  God delights to speak to His children and to have them speak to Him.  It is this intimate relationship – this divine fellowship – which God has desired from the dawn of creation.  Man lost that close relationship with God by Adam’s fateful error; but now, in Christ Jesus, it is regained.

 

When the Lord called Paul to serve Him, He sent a disciple by the name of Ananias to lay hands on Paul to restore his eyesight and speak these words to him: “The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth.  For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.” (Acts 22:14, 15).  There are five things that stand out in these prophetic words of Ananias that not only apply to Paul, but to every child of God. 

 

First, God has chosen us and not the reverse.  This is important because, if we should ever feel that we are not worthy for any reason, we just need to remind ourselves that the Creator of heaven and earth saw all that was in us and chose us to serve Him just the same.  He didn’t have any qualms about whether we could do it or not.  He had confidence that we could make it if we would only trust in His might, and He knows us better than we know ourselves!

 

Second, God chose us so that we can know His will.  As we grow in Christ, we also grow in the knowledge of His will.  There are too many Christians who are willing to run where they have not been sent and speak what they have not heard.  We are quick to go, and we expect God to come along after us and bless where we have led.  Faith must come from hearing, and hearing can only come by the Word (voice) of God (see Romans 10:17).  Once we hear what God is speaking, then we can act in faith based on what He has said.  His will is then clear, and our mission is defined.

 

Third, God has chosen us to see and know the Just One (Jesus Christ).  Our Christian walk is dependent on learning to know the Lord Jesus more and more intimately.  Grace is increased to us to the same degree that Jesus’ divine nature is revealed to us.  “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (2 Peter 1:2, 3).  When we stop having a fresh revelation of our Lord and Savior, we cease to grow spiritually and will become stagnant in our faith.  Paul prayed for the Church “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him [Jesus]: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what [are] the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”  (Ephesians 1:17, 18).

 

Fourth, God has chosen us to know His voice.  He speaks to us in various ways.  Sometimes He speaks in a still, small voice in our hearts, using the Holy Spirit to instruct, comfort, direct, or chasten.  Other times He may speak audibly in order to really get our attention.  He most often uses the Bible to speak a word of revelation to us.  He also uses the members of His Body to exhort and encourage one another.  Learning to discern the voice of God from the many other voices that vie for our attention is something we are continually trying to master.  His Word will always give us confirmation for what He speaks.  It is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our pathway.  Beware, however.  Satan often uses the truth to deceive us by speaking half truths or by distorting the truth in some way.  If something you hear seems right but something about it just does not feel right, it may be the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) warning us that it is error.  It is also possible for Christians to do the right thing for the wrong reason.  We must be careful.  Jesus said, “And when He [the Good Shepherd] putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John 10:4, 5). 

 

Last of all, God has chosen us to be witnesses to all men of what we have seen and heard of Him.  Once we hear God’s voice, know His will, and see Jesus for ourselves, it behooves us - and we are compelled – to witness of the things we have been shown.  The Holy Spirit will help us in this and teach us when and how to share our faith.  God hasn’t called all of us to be evangelists, but we all can do the work of an evangelist when the Lord gives us an opportunity to witness to a family member, friend, or co-worker.  We all are fishers of men, so we should not be afraid to throw a little bait on the hook and drop our line in the water when we can.  It may be something as simple as saying, “God bless you,” or “Isn’t it a blessed day?”  That may just be the kindling that ignites a blaze!

 

I’d like to share an excerpt from a message that the Lord laid on my heart in 2015 about learning to hear His voice.  It seems fitting that it should be included here:

 

“After Samuel [the prophet of God] had been in Shiloh for some time (the Jewish historian, Josephus, suggests Samuel was 12 years old, though scripture is silent on this point), God chose to speak audibly to him.  As he lay down to sleep, God called his name.  Samuel, who had never heard God speak to him, thought that it was Eli calling him, and ran to see what he wanted.  Of course, Eli didn't know what the boy was talking about, and told him to go back to bed.  God called to him the second time with the same result.  After the third time, Eli finally realized that the Lord was trying to speak to the child, so he advised him to go back to bed, and when he heard the Lord call to him say, ‘Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth’ (1 Samuel 3:1-10).

 

“It is absolutely essential that every child of God learn to listen for, and hear, Him speak to them personally.  Yes, it is much easier to run to the priest or to the pastor to hear what they have to say for God, but this should never replace our hearing directly from God.  Any mature man of God will direct young Christians to go back and let God speak to them Himself.  The ministers of God are there to encourage us and to confirm what God is speaking to us, but never to take His place as His mouthpiece altogether.  This is a dangerous precedent that breeds followers of man rather than followers of Christ: who espouse man's ideas rather than God's truth.  Of course, God does use men to speak His words, but never to replace hearing from Him directly.  The things we hear from men and women of God should confirm and reinforce what we already have learned and know of God.  The Lord has placed the Spirit of truth in each of us so that we may discern the truth from every lie.

 

“The way God speaks personally to His children today is primarily through His Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  ‘But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.’ (John 14:26).  ‘Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.’ (John 16:13).  As we study God's Word, the Spirit opens our understanding of its truths, and convicts us of areas where we need His grace to overcome sin.

 

“The things that God speaks to us are not always popular - even among the ‘Christian’ crowd.  Jesus spoke some hard sayings to his disciples; and, at one point, many of them quit following Him because of this.  When God was finally able to get through to Samuel, He spoke some hard sayings to the young child, also.  He spoke of the judgment that He was going to bring upon Eli's family because of the sins of his children that Eli allowed to go on in the tabernacle.  As a child, Samuel was forced to tell Eli, the aged priest of the Lord, all of the bad things that were going to befall his family.  We not only have a responsibility before God to hear what He desires to speak to us, but also to speak those things as He directs.

 

“When God spoke to Paul about preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, it was not a popular notion among the Jews.  Because of this, he could not afford to rely on what his fellow Hebrews had to say on the subject.  He had to hear from God!  He did not consult with man, therefore, but got alone with God to hear what He would say.  God revealed His will in Christ Jesus to Paul, and he was therefore forever convinced of the truth of it.  ‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.  But when it pleased God, Who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus’ (Galatians 1:11,12, 15-17).

 

“We have patterned our faith after the thoughts and imaginations of man for far too long.  They would convince us that if we pay our tithes and warm a church pew every Sunday, we have fulfilled our Christian duty to God.  There is so much more, however, that our Father wishes to speak to us, and we have the perfect pattern set before us to follow: Jesus Christ our Lord.  Do you have the courage to say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening?’

 

“ ‘But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.’ ” (1 John 2:27).”

 

The one thing that God is looking for from us in response to hearing His voice is obedience.  Our Father has promised us all manner of blessings if we are obedient to His instruction.  God told the Israelites, “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine.” (Exodus 19:5).  These words are just as applicable to us today who are God’s chosen people as they were centuries ago when they were spoken to God’s chosen people of that day.  “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…” (1 Peter 2:9).  Again, God admonished His children saying, “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:20). 

 

In his letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul warned the Jews who were converted to the Gospel about the importance of obeying the voice of the Lord.  Quoting from Psalm 95 Paul writes, “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” (Hebrews 3:15).  Paul understood men’s tendency to either forget or ignore what God speaks to them.  He knew that the problem was a hardness of heart that forms when we don’t stay close to the Lord and allow His Spirit to soften our hearts and make them pliable in His hands.  Let us listen for God’s voice, and be quick to obey His will always!

 

“He doth send out His voice, and that a mighty voice.” (Psalm 68:33).