"My Sheep Hear My Voice"

Samuel and the Rare Word of the Lord

Someone once said, at least in this age, if you want to hear God speak, read the Bible. If you want to hear God speak audibly, read the Bible out loud. So we're going to begin with this account of the young boy, Samuel.

And in the way of background, you may remember his mother was barren, and she had prayed to the Lord, making a vow that if she had a son, she would give her son to the service of God. So the Lord answered her prayer.

Samuel was born. And as she puts it, I kind of like this. She said, I have lent him to the Lord. So Samuel ministered before Eli the priest, who was Israel's ruler at the time. This was the period known as the judges.

Samuel would also grow up to be not only a great prophet of Israel, but to be Israel's last judge before the nation rejected the Lord and asked for a king. But at this time, Samuel was a young boy, and Jewish tradition has him around age 12.

So you can take that for what it's worth. We don't really know, but let's begin reading in first Samuel chapter three, starting in verse one. It says now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was rare in those days.

And there was no widespread revelation. And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place. And when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see. And before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

And while Samuel was lying down, that the Lord called Samuel. And he said, here am I. So he ran to Eli and said, here I am for you called me. And he said, I did not call lie down again. And he went and lay down.

Then the Lord called yet again, Samuel. So Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, here I am for you called me. I did not call my son lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.

And the Lord called Samuel again, the third time. So he arose and went to Eli and said, here I am for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore, Eli said to Samuel, go lie down and it shall be.

If he calls you that you say speak Lord for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as the other time, Samuel, Samuel, and Samuel answered, speak for your servant hears.

Then the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle in that day. I will perform against Eli. All that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end, where I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity, which he knows because his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them.

So this chapter begins with this statement that the word of the Lord was rare in those days and that, um, there was no widespread revelation. Now it's not that they didn't have any word from the Lord.

They had the, the word of God given to Moses, but there was no widespread revelation. So the first thing we learned from this passage is that there were times, even biblical times where God really wasn't speaking.

And most of you are familiar with the fact that there was a period of 400 years between the end of the old Testament, the beginning of the new Testament, 400 years in between Malachi and Matthew, where God was silent.

God was not speaking. And again, it says the Lord, the word of the Lord was rare. There is no widespread revelation. So, uh, Eli, the priest is lying down. He's an old man and God was going to bring judgment upon his lineage because he basically allowed his sons to run wild and they were doing, uh, openly immoral things.

And because Eli was the ruler of the nation, when his sons are doing immoral thing and things, and he's allowing it, that helps to pervert the whole, the whole country. That's how it works. So the Lord sees this and he determines he is going to judge Eli's lineage.

So back in chapter two, the Lord had already given this message through a man. And now he's going to use Samuel to deliver this message. So Samuel is in bed and in verse four says, the Lord calls him and Samuel hears this voice, doesn't he?

And who does he think that it is? Yeah, well, he assumes that it's, it's, it's Eli. So this is the second thing that we learn that when God speaks, listen now, this is very important. When God speaks, it's not some inner impression.

Uh, it's not some thought in Samuel's head where he just feels like the Lord is speaking to him. No, he clearly hears an audible voice that is so clear that he thinks it's coming from the next room. He thinks Eli, the priest is speaking.

So he says, here am I for you called me and Eli, what's his response? No, I didn't go back to bed. So that's what Samuel does. Then in verse six, the Lord called yet again, Samuel. So the same thing happens, but verse seven is very significant.

Notice what it says. Now, Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. Now, if I can take a moment to point something out, because I think there's a lot of people out there today who, uh, believe or they're claiming to hear the voice of God.

And we'll get into that a little later on, but one of the things that they say, and maybe this is just what a lot of people would assume that if somebody wants to hear God's voice, um, or if somebody does hear God's voice, it's because that person in the Lord are very, very close.

So basically the closer you are with God, the more likely it is that you will hear his voice. I think that's a common idea within Christianity. I mean, if a person is hearing the voice of the almighty, it must be because that person is so close to God.

I mean, it sort of makes sense, right? That they have their relationship with God. They can just pray and God talks right back. Well, the third thing we learned is that's not true. That is not true because what does the scripture say at this moment where God is speaking to Samuel?

What does it say? Samuel did not yet know the Lord. So it's not that the Lord just hadn't spoken to him yet. That's also true, but Samuel, it plainly states Samuel did not know the Lord. Here's a very, um, true thing here.

You can know about the Lord without actually knowing the Lord. Okay. You can know about the Lord without actually knowing the Lord. Samuel did not know the Lord in a personal way. He knew about God, right?

He knew probably a lot about God, but he did not know God personally. And yet God spoke directly to him. He gave Samuel divine revelation. You know what that tells me? It tells me it really didn't have so much to do with Samuel as it did had to do with God and his choice to reveal himself to this young child.

And I think there's a lot who have the idea that if you really have faith, and I think this is a burden placed on some Christians. If you really have faith, if you would just believe hard enough, if you can just keep God's commandments in such a way, then maybe God will start speaking to me.

Now, maybe you've never thought that, but I'll tell you that idea is out there within evangelical Christianity. My friends, that's not the way it works. There's nothing you can do to make God start speaking to you, giving you divine revelation.

There's nothing you can do. That's not the way that it works. Samuel, was he seeking the Lord? I don't know. You might assume that he was, but still it says he did not yet know the Lord. And yet God revealed himself to him.

So hopefully we're starting to see and get a little perspective on the subject of hearing God's voice. How many of you have ever read an article about learning how to hear the voice of God or seen an article like that?

What's going on here? Like, am I the only... I see this all the time. Videos on YouTube and Facebook. I'm not on Facebook anymore, but how to hear the voice of God. I saw an article this week and it said learning how to hear the voice of God.

And my first thought was, well, that's funny. Samuel didn't have to learn how to hear God's voice. He just heard it. He just heard it. So, but then again, some people never heard of this. Don't think this way.

Other people do claim to hear the voice of God. And, uh, you know, I think a lot of Christians when they speak this way, you know, God told me we've brought this up the past few weeks. God told me, how many of you have heard this?

Someone will say, God spoke to me and he said, thus and such. God told me this, right? You've at least heard this. Okay, good. Um, most Christians, when they say that, they don't literally mean that they heard it, the audible voice of God, right?

We, we know a lot of Christians will talk this way. You know, the Lord told me this and they don't literally mean that God, God spoke to them in that way. Uh, just, you can just make a note of this. You take all the men in scripture who heard the literal or audible voice of God, take all the men throughout the Bible, compare that to the number of people who have lived throughout world history.

The number doesn't even register. So it says that the word of God was very rare. So for someone to literally hear God's voice, uh, it's extremely, extremely rare. So with Samuel, this happens again, look at verse eight and the Lord called Samuel again, the third time.

So he arose and went to Eli and said, here I am for you did call me. I mean, he keeps hearing this voice going to Eli. Here I am. No, it wasn't me. Go back to bed. Here's it again. Here I am. Uh, you did call me.

No, I didn't go back to bed. And now he comes again. No, you did call me. And Eli finally figures it out. Eli, finally the light bulb goes off. He perceived that the Lord had called the boy. So it took a little while, but Samuel, uh, Eli tells him the next time you hear it, the next time you hear it respond this way.

Samuel say, speak for your servant. Here's verse 11 says, then the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. If you ever come to church and had your ears tingle, you've heard of, uh, having your ears tickled.

I don't know about tingle. I think this is a verse that's a ripe for being taken out of context. Uh, yeah, I want my ears to tingle when I hear the word of God. Well, the Hebrew word there, you know what it means?

Not tingle. I mean, that's one way to translate it. It means to have your ears quiver. Okay. Meaning that whoever hears the word of God will be afraid. I think there's a lot of people who might read this Lord, tell me something Lord that will make my ears tingle.

Well, that's what he did here. And given the spiritual condition of Israel at this time, remember the judges, this is a time period where each man did that, which was right in his own eyes. So given the state or the spiritual condition of things today, I think if there's someone out there saying, Lord, tell us something new, Lord, give us some new, fresh revelation, something that will make our ears tingle.

I don't think they'd like what the Lord would have to say. Certainly Eli didn't, but here's my point. A point that needs to be made. If you're listening, say amen. Okay. The Canon of scripture is closed.

When we talk about the word of God, it's right here. This book is closed. There's not going to be any new newer Testament or any books added on to revelation. So God's final revelation to mankind has already been given.

And what is it? What's God's final revelation to mankind? Revelation, the book of revelation. It's called what? What's the proper title? Right. The revelation of Jesus Christ. That's the proper term. And I think we all know what's in the book of revelation.

Hey, that'll make your ears tingle. I promise you. So how do we know God isn't going to speak some more? And for the record, I believe there will be prophetic words in the future. Let me explain what I mean by that.

During the tribulation, there will be the two witnesses who are speaking prophetically for God. There will be an angel who in revelation 14, verse six flies in the midst of heaven and preaches the everlasting gospel.

So I believe there will be prophetic words in our future here upon the earth. But here's the thing. Those things will line up. They're in accord with what God's word already says. God is not going to give as some of the guys on TV like to say new, fresh revelations.

He has already given his revelation through Jesus Christ. Hebrews one, we read this earlier says God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets in these last days, he has spoken to us.

How? Through his son. And what does the Lord say at the end of the book of revelation? He gives this warning revelation 22, verse 18 says for, I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book.

If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. So is that, is that clear? You can't add any books to the Bible. God is not going to give new, fresh revelation.

Some people will say about that statement in revelation 22. Well, that just means you can't add to the book of revelation. Well, that's true. You can't add to the book of revelation, but what it's okay to add to God's word elsewhere.

I don't think so. So revelation ends with eternity, the new heavens in the new earth, folks, that's the end of the story. There's nothing else to add. So I think this should give us a pretty good idea of what it means to hear God's voice, but I want to cover two other passages.

These are two prime passages that people go to on this subject of hearing God's voice. So turn to first Kings chapter 19. And again, with some of the things I'm seeing some confused looks, you're like pastor, what are you talking about?

Nobody says this. All right. Well they do. Maybe I watched too many YouTube sermons on YouTube. Okay. You guys aren't doing that. You're, it's probably good. Good, good for you. Yeah. It's just mine. Okay.

That's good. But honestly though, if you're going to listen to someone on YouTube or online and you're going to do it continually, it's best that you know, the person like some of the pastors or churches in the area.

You actually know the guy, you can talk to them, you can reach out to them, ask them questions. People that are totally unaccessible. It's some random person. That's a recipe for confusion. So it's just something to be aware of, but this should give us an idea of what it means to hear God's voice.

And in first Kings 19, we're going to look at Elijah who hears what is said, the still small voice, the still small voice. And then after this, we'll look at the most famous chapter, which was John 10, where Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice.

So we'll look at these two passages. Now I want to give you the context of first Kings 19. Elijah at this point in history, he had just experienced that great victory at Mount Carmel. That was kind of the high point of Elijah's ministry.

It's the, it's the story that everyone remembers about Elijah. So he has this victory at Mount Carmel. He defeats the prophets of Baal, and he actually has them slaughtered. And Jezebel who is the king or the queen at that time, and she really, she was the king in some ways.

Jezebel was a worshiper of Baal. So when Elijah has the prophets of Baal slaughtered, Jezebel now is hunting Elijah, looking to kill him. And when Elijah finds out, what does he do? He runs, he flees from, from Jezebel and he comes to a broom tree.

Not sure what that is, but he prays to God under the broom tree. Lord, basically he says, Lord, kill me now. Lord, I just want to die. He didn't want to die at the hands of Jezebel, but he wanted the Lord to take his life.

Look at verse nine. And there, Elijah, he went into a cave and he spent the night in that place. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said to him, what are you doing here, Elijah? So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword.

And I alone am left. And they seek my life. They seek to take my life. And he said, that is the Lord go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire, what a still small voice.

Now, the way this is often used today, preachers and authors will talk about hearing the still small voice of God. Some famous books have taught you need to hear the still small voice of God. And they talk about it as if it's a voice in your, your head, a voice in your heart, some sort of inner impression where you hear God's voice within you.

Is that what's going on here though? Look at verse 13. So it was when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And suddenly a voice came to him and said, what are you doing here, Elijah?

And notice he hears the still small voice goes to the entrance of the cave. And then all of a sudden it becomes louder and more clear. And he hears this message, which is the same message as it was before.

What's the point? This is not some inner voice. This isn't some mystical thing. This isn't a thought in your head. It says, Elijah heard it. How did he hear it? This isn't a trick question. How did he hear it with his, with his ears?

I know I, I feel kind of foolish. This is so, this is so basic hearing the voice of God. And we were at dinner last night and I was talking about this and my daughter said, well, what are you talking about?

Like here, like hearing an actual voice, like people actually hear God's like audible voice. Yeah. That's what some people claim, but is that really what new Testament Christians should expect? And then the Lord tells Elijah, what's the message?

Elijah, you're not alone. There's still 7 ,000. I have reserved 7 ,000 who have not bowed the knee to bail. So now turn to John chapter 10. So what have we seen so far? We have seen Samuel who hears the voice of God and it's audible.

He thinks it's Eli in the next room. Then there is Elijah who hears a still small voice, but it's still an actual voice that he hears audibly. And then he hears God's voice coming through more loudly.

So based on all of that, and then the third thing that we see is that God's revelation was rare, right? It's rare in those days. So there are time periods where God is not speaking. It's happened before it would happen after this, with the 400 years that were silent between Malachi and Matthew and newsflash.

We're living in a time period like that from Malachi to Matthew, 400 years of silence. We've been living in about 1900 years of silence. Don't let that discourage you. Don't let that make you what, why isn't God speaking?

This is what God has done before and He's doing it now. It's nothing new. All right, John chapter 10, this is the passage where Jesus says, my sheep shall hear my voice. And some people say, well, there it is right there.

My sheep will hear my voice. Okay. It's true in the old Testament. God revealed things to men. He spoke audibly. But now in the new Testament, every Christian should hear God's voice. After all, it says my sheep will hear my voice.

Is that true? That the Lord sheep, and if you're saved, that you will hear God's voice. Is that true? Well, yes, it's true. That's what it says, but it depends on how you define it, right? What are the three rules of biblical interpretation?

What are they? Oh, that's a different thing. But yes, context, context, context. So for the context, let's go to verse 22, John 10 verse 22. Now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Now, based on everything, if you were to take a closer look, but I think you can tell the context just by reading this much.

But if you look at everything that is happening, they're not coming to Jesus saying, please tell us so we can decide whether or not to follow you. Please tell us so that maybe we can believe in you. That's not what's going on here.

They wanted Jesus to say, yes, I am the Christ. Yes, I am the son of the living God for what purpose? Right. So that when Jesus says, I am the Christ, then they can take his words and charge him with blasphemy.

That's their purpose. So these people who are trying to trap Jesus, what are they? They're unbelievers. They are not his sheep. So Jesus responds, look at verse 25. He says, I told you, and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name.

They bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. As I said to you, so clearly the context has nothing to do with God giving revelation. This is about those who believe versus those who don't.

It's not about someone hearing the audible voice of God. That's not what this passage is about. The Jews here did not believe. So Jesus says it's because you're not my sheep. That's why. So the next verse is Jesus referring to those who do believe again, this is, I think, very basic.

Look at verse 27. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they do what? Okay. So hearing the voice of the shepherd means what you follow the shepherd. And Jesus said, and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, this refers to God's choice in election, giving an elect people to the son. My father, who has given them to me is greater than all.

And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. So again, this has nothing to do with hearing an audible voice. If you go online, okay, what's the title of the sermon?

Hearing God's voice. If you go and take that sermon title and look up sermons online by famous preachers, they're going to say the exact opposite that you should hear an audible voice. One of the most famous ministers in all of the world said, if you pray to God and you speak to God in prayer, if he doesn't speak back, you really don't have much of a relationship with God.

Can you imagine the heavy burden that that places upon Christians? People start to think what's wrong with me. These people say they're hearing God's voice. What's wrong with me? I've never had God speak back to me while in prayer.

So this is a very serious thing. And they take verses like this out of context. So my sheep hear my voice. This has nothing to do with hearing God's voice in that sense. It has everything to do with what?

Believing upon Christ has everything to do with following Christ. This is a theory of mine. I don't know the hearts of men. I have a pretty good idea, you know, what some people think. I think people are seeking new revelation because they don't like what's been revealed here.

They want to find something new that will make their ears tingle because they know what God has said and given his commandments. They don't want to follow him. They want something else. Sometimes when preachers talk about the word of God, you know what we mean when we talk about the word of God, we're referring to scripture.

But there's some famous preachers when they talk about the word of God, they're talking about their inner voice, their inner impressions. It's a jungle out there. My sheep hear my voice is everything to do with knowing what Jesus has said in scripture and doing it.

It's that simple. Believing in him. Unbelievers are not his sheep. Believers are. We hear his voice, meaning we follow God's elect, believe, and we believe and follow the voice of the shepherd. So in conclusion, for those who have a personal relationship with the Lord, this is true.

And in a figure of speech, if you have, if you know the Lord, right, Samuel did not know the Lord at the time God spoke to him. But if you know the Lord, you will hear his voice in the sense of you hear the voice of the shepherd in scripture.

You understand it. You obey it. You follow it. There is a personal connection to God. I don't want to downplay that. We do have a real relationship in a real personal connection with God that is available to everyone through the Holy spirit.

The spirit will convict us of things, right? The spirit will lead us. He may even prompt us at times. So to go back to what I said at the If you want to hear God speak, what do you do? Read the Bible.

If you want to hear God speak audibly, read the Bible out loud. Let's close in prayer. Our father, how thankful we are for your grace. And while we may never hear the audible voice of God, like Samuel or Elijah, we do have your word, which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

But Lord, with that said, we know that one day we will hear your voice in eternity. And more than just that, your word tells us that we shall behold the face of the father. And we're so looking forward to that day.

Lord, if anyone listening right now has never given their life to you and chosen to heed your words and follow you, grant them repentance so that they would call upon the name of the Lord today and receive the gift of everlasting life.

We thank you for these blessed promises. It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen.