"My sheep hear my voice" Joh 10:27
"My sheep hear my voice" Joh 10:27
Whose voice do you hear in the Word of God?
The text is clear, if we are one of Christ's sheep, we will hear his voice, but this fact is often forgotten or ignored. When we don't hear his voice, it means either we are not a true born-again Christian, or we have slipped into formality and routine, and accepting them as the norm; heart intercourse with Christ no longer experienced.
The text clearly says each and every Christian hears the voice of Jesus. Jesus speaks of "his sheep," a specific term for the elect, and says, "they hear." This is language of certainty, language of personal communion, and language of living present reality. All this is locked up in the verb "hear." As to certainty: "they hear", not "they might hear"; as to personal communion: "hear" is a singular, even though the subject (sheep) is plural (literally, "all my sheep, each one of them, is hearing my voice"); and as to living, present, reality: "is hearing," it is a present active, the tense of on-going activity.
So real is this for we who are Christ's true people, that we flee the stranger (v.5), "for we know not his voice". We know only the voice of our Beloved Shepherd, Jesus. Only his voice has the ring of Truth, we hear the others, and say LIAR, FAKE!
How do we hear? We hear in the inner man. Christian, when God called you out of death into life, was it your ear or your heart that heard the Savior's voice? And Christian, when God speaks to you from the Word, does he speak to your ear, or does his voice penetrate to the inner most recesses of your heart and mind and being? Though the text is not specifically addressing this point, yet it is clear we hear in our hearts, even as the two on the Emmaus road said, "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while He open to us the Scriptures?" Luk 24:32.
When we were saved, the Lord put his Holy Spirit within us, and it is he, the Holy Spirit who now, as the mouth of God within, speaks to us. The Lord Jesus is in heaven, the Holy Spirit is within us. If you have been saved, re-birthed by the Holy Spirit (born again; born from above), he lives in you, and he talks.
The question must then be asked, "When did you last hear, or indeed have you ever heard, the voice of Jesus?" As you read the bible or hear it being preached, does it go beyond the eye or ear, and into your inner being, to your very soul. As you read or as you sit under preaching, is the Word alive to you, as coming from the lips of Christ himself? Does your heart burn because he is opening the Scriptures to you, personally? Is there a yearning and hunger within you to hear Christ speak, springing from a heart alive to the things of God? "I found thy word and did eat, and thy word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart" Jer 15:16. Is this your experience, is this your desire? If it is not, either you have become dull of hearing, and need the Lord's gracious work to restore you to fellowship, or you are yet lost and dead, need to be saved, for the dead cannot hear.
And parents, what of your children, do not be content that they come to church with you, and warm a pew, ask them, "Does the Word speak to your heart?" Going to church to merely hear a sermon being preached is insufficient and ineffectual; the Lord Jesus must speak to them, and teach them within by the Holy Spirit. Ask them if He is teaching them; pray that He will teach them. Press this upon them and encourage them to flee to Christ, warning them of their perilous state if they are outside of Christ. If they experience silence, it shows they are still not one of his sheep. We are not talking about knowledge, we are talking about hearing his voice.
Now, a word of caution: Not every voice heard within is the voice of Christ. John warns us to "test the spirits." I fear some are deceived at this point. His voice is grand and glorious, yet still and small; without equal; with authority, compelling, effectual, shedding light, giving hope, strengthening faith, leading out of sin, and always in accord with the Written Word. Be not deceived, there are many seducing spirits; stick to the Word, the entire Word, and to every Word, for in the Word there is safety and sure salvation, for therein is Christ revealed, and through His Word He speaks.
If you hear things contrary to the Bible, they are not of God! You are being lied to, the devil is seducing you away from the Truth.
But dear, true saint of God, Jesus speaks of you, he says, "My sheep hear my voice." If you are a sheep, a true born-again Christian, then he is speaking of you, he will speak to you, and you know His voice, it is sweet and clear. Your daily delight is to meet with your Savior in the Word, that he may speak to you, for "the entrance of thy Word giveth light" Psa 119:130 and the voice of the Beloved is sweeter than ten thousand to your soul. Christian be comforted, for he assures you, you will hear His voice, not because of anything in you, but because he delights to reveal himself to you. You hear him, because as he delights to speak to you, he sovereignly causes you to hear.
12 October 2025