My Sheep Hear My Voice

Lesson #109

In this lesson we will look at the fourth of five passages that relate to John 6:44: “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:26 – 27 NASB). In Matthew 25 people are divided into two groups: goats and sheep. Goats represent the unsaved while sheep represent the saved. In real life a goat has 60 chromosomes and a sheep has 54. Physically a goat never becomes a sheep. The implication is that from the beginning a person is either a sheep or a goat and before salvation a sheep is known as a lost sheep. Sheep are the ones the Father draws; the ones he has chosen to give to his Son. The reason those in the crowd do not believe, Jesus says, is because they are not sheep. You can preach to a goat for as long as you want, but they will never become a sheep. A believer’s job is to go out into all the world and search for loss sheep.

What determines whether we believe in Jesus, whether we hear his voice and follow him? Jesus says it depends on a decisive act of God that makes us part of his flock. As we reviewed in the last lesson, this is the same as saying: “All that the Father gives me will come to me” (John 6:37), “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44), and “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65). It is very important to note that we come to Jesus voluntarily and freely because we want to come, but behind that desire is the decisive work of the Father. Without that work no one would come because “There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one” (Romans 3:11 – 12 NASB). Justice demands that all spend an eternity apart from God in Hell, but through the sacrifice of Christ the grace of God is given as a gift to some. This is his sovereign will! Do you have the freedom and the right to give gifts to those of your choosing? Is that fair?

Prayer

Father, thank you for causing me to be a sheep; a member of the flock that belongs to Jesus Christ. Understanding this decisive act on your part results in me feeling greatly loved and secure, but also imparts to me a sense of responsibility. Thank you for your work in my heart and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.