Am I the Sheep God Seeks?

Good afternoon. I imagine many of you have been interviewed at some point in your life. Not all of you. And I imagine that some of you likely have been interviewed multiple times over the course of your career. Some of you maybe have even interviewed people many times, maybe a few times. And as I look back over my lifetime, in my career I did many interviews. I interviewed many people myself.

And a question that never really occurred to me, particularly as an interviewee, one who was actually being interviewed, was if I was the employee they were looking for. The question never occurred to me. I was more interested in the job responsibilities or the pay, the salary. I wanted to get right down to it. “What is it that you want me to do and how much are you going to pay me to do that?” I did not even consider asking, what type of employee were they looking for? And maybe they didn’t even consider that deeper question. They maybe were thinking about the responsibilities or the tasks that had to be done and whether or not I was qualified or had the experience and skills to do that job.

And in my confidence, I assumed I was exactly what the company needed, or could use, or was seeking. Right or wrong, this attitude was incorrect. And I mentioned this example, I start off my message by saying this, similarly as Christians, we are privileged to be sought out and called by God. And in a way, God has asked us to participate in the greatest internship that any human being could participate in. The intent is if we qualify during this internship, we could be hired permanently. Or I could say, we would be hired eternally.

And each year of this internship, if I could use that, like everyone understands that term, God has us go through a performance review. His intention is not to let any one of us go, but He wants us to continue preparing for even a better, more successful year ahead. And we continue to do this year after year until the long-awaited moment that God launches or brings His kingdom to earth.

And brethren, we are deep into the pre-Passover season, and I would say, well into our annual performance review, the time of self-examination. We’re studying, we’re praying, likely fasting, examining, and preparing ourselves in hopes of being hired permanently. And as part of those efforts, we ask questions, sometimes hard questions. Let’s turn to Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven, and look at an instruction that Christ gave to His disciples. A scripture that we’re very familiar with, but maybe we’ve never thought of it quite this way or using it in this way.

Matthew chapter seven and verse seven, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you are evil and know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?”

Now, I find it interesting that Christ did not say you coming off of your father but use the word “them.” It’s as if there’s a large group of people who can claim that God is their Father, but it’s only to them certain things happen. Brethren, if we’re pursuing a permanent position in God’s kingdom, what could be better than God giving us feedback on our progress? You may have never considered applying this verse to our spiritual progress.

It would be great if God revealed what He seeks. What greater knowledge could a human being have? What greater knowledge could a human being have in knowing what God seeks in each of us or expects from every one of us? Would not God showing us what He seeks, what He expects from us in terms of developing be a good thing? Of course, it would. The key, brethren, is seeking, asking, knocking.

You know, interns who approach their bosses voluntarily to get critical feedback, I got to tell you, that’s impressive. I’ve been a supervisor or a boss, a manager of many people in my lives, and I will tell you, I can count probably on my one hand how many times an individual came up to me voluntarily to ask for feedback. Now, I gave annual performance reviews. Again, I’ve gone through annual performance reviews. And quite honestly, if I’m honest with you, there were times where I didn’t, in my job, go and voluntarily ask out of that season of performance reviews about how I was doing, how I could get better. If I could go back in time, I would’ve done it a lot more. That’s impressive.

Of course, if you look at this verse as we oftentimes apply it, God wants us to come to Him for things that we need, for things that we want. There’s nothing wrong with that. Seeking, asking, knocking for blessings, physical ones, financial ones, a job, miracles, healings. We can ask and seek God for things that are going on in our marriages, or if we want to get married. We can go to God about our children, seeking, asking, knocking to help us out in a situation or if we want to have children. Those are all good things to seek God for.

Nothing wrong with that, but do we go to Him seeking, asking, and knocking with the exact same intensity for understanding what He seeks? Because at the heart of Christianity, if you really get to the core of it, it’s giving God what He seeks. That, my friends, epitomizes the give way of life, not the other way around as the world has it. They have it backward, like we did, like I did. We wanted a God to be what we thought a God should be, and that is not how it works. So today we will seek answers to one simple question that we can ask God during this time of self-examination. One question, and we’re going to seek answers to it.

Let’s turn to Ezekiel thirty-four and we’ll start in verse one. “And the word of the Lord came to me,” that’s Ezekiel speaking, “...saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds.” Now, from this point, and in the following verses, God indicts those responsible for caring over His flock. God reveals to Ezekiel that they were looking to satisfy their own selfish needs. They didn’t have God’s flock in mind and He indicted them for, as you read the verses, not feeding his people, not strengthening the disease, not healing the sick, nor binding up the broken.

But I want to focus on verse eleven. God inserts Himself into the conversation and He contrasts Himself with those shepherds by declaring the following. Verse eleven, “For thus says the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he’s among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep,” and then He adds, “...and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Now obviously there’s a prophetic application there, brethren, but God has always sought and continues to seek out His sheep.

So here’s that one simple question that we can all ask individually. Are we, am I the sheep God seeks? Because the wording suggests here, when you ask that question, the wording suggests some sheep are not God’s. God placed emphasis on the possessive pronouns, my. He uses it at least twice here in this verse. That means that not everyone who claims to be His sheep is counted as His. So, let’s begin with someone who knew the answer to that question. And it was long before Ezekiel ever wrote these words.

This individual knew the answer, “Am I the sheep God seeks?” Let’s turn to Psalm one hundred. Psalm one hundred. Obviously, King David. I believe it was some six hundred years prior to Ezekiel writing this. Psalm one hundred and verse one, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. He has made us, and we do not make ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Brethren, there it is. Of the many great contributions of King David, one of those great contributions is revealing that God considers His people sheep, certain people, sheep.

And I found it interesting because I looked at it, and any reference to sheep from Genesis to Deuteronomy, fifty-seven times, you can find that word. Joshua, two times. Judges, one time. First and Second of Samuel, you’ll find the word sheep twenty-four times. First and Second of Kings, eight times. First and Second of Chronicles combined fourteen times, you’ll see the word sheep. Nehemiah and Job, combined those two, eight more times. Any of the books I didn’t mention is because I don’t believe the word sheep appears in any of those early books prior to Psalms.

Now, do you know the only time that sheep is referenced as a symbol of a human being in those books that I just mentioned came off the lips of David? Every other reference was about sheep themselves, the actual animal. From King David, we discover God considers people, a certain people, to be sheep. And not only sheep, to be His sheep. Remember back to Ezekiel, “My sheep,” not someone else’s sheep. And it’s through King David, that we can begin to know and understand what it means to be a sheep of the great Shepherd.

Let’s build off of that point, Psalm seventy-nine. Let’s just go over some chapters. Seventy-nine. Because we’re answering the question, “Am I the sheep God seeks?” Psalm seventy-nine and verse thirteen. “So we your people and sheep of your pasture...” Now that’s two times that we’ve read. Plenty of other times we see the word sheep, but right next to it is the word pasture. That’s interesting. We’ll come to that shortly. “So we your people and sheep of your pasture will give you thanks forever and show forth your praise to all generations.”

Now being a shepherd boy, if you will, himself, having interacted a lot with sheep himself, he realized, King David, that he was a sheep and God was his great Shepherd. Dozens upon dozens of times, God refers to certain people as His sheep, but the question remains, “Am I the sheep that you seek? Am I the sheep that God seeks?” A question maybe we’ve never asked before during this pre-Passover time. This is a time of year we do not assume anything. We open ourselves to scrutiny like no other time.

Galatians chapter six, and I could go on and read many other verses that refer to God’s sheep. Galatians chapter six. Those are just two. And verse three. We don’t assume anything, brethren. And here’s a statement by the Apostle Paul to the Galatians, verse three, “For if a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” I could insert the following and read it this way. “For if a man thinks himself to be a sheep, when he is not a sheep, he deceives himself.”

We might cry out to God during this time. “God, you make it so plain in your word that you seek your sheep. How can I be sure I’m one of them? Because I want to give you exactly what you want, what you’re looking for, what you’re searching for, what you’re seeking.” You know, the question that I didn’t ask to my potential employers during those interviews. If you ask that question during this time, brethren, it’s a good indicator already that you are likely one of his sheep.

If you feel confident that you are one of God’s sheep, that’s not bad. That’s good. King David himself was confident enough to declare that he was a sheep of God. So maybe we want to ask the question slightly different than that. Maybe you want to ask the question, “Am I the kind of sheep you want me to be?” Because here’s one problem, particularly during this time of year, that some brethren probably don’t even realize that they have. During this time of self-examination, they’re more skilled at examining others than examining themselves.

I know, brethren, and I’ve heard it from ministers in the field who openly state their doubts about whether someone else in their congregation is actually a Christian, or I could put it, a sheep. That’s a real head-scratcher for me because ministers can’t distinguish real sheep from fake ones. Think wheat and tares. Second Corinthians chapter thirteen. Just a few pages over. Because if a member concludes that another person is not a sheep or a sheep of God, that individual, he or she, has already concluded that they’re obviously a sheep because it takes a sheep to know one, right? Takes one to know one. But I said, this is the time of year we don’t assume anything about ourselves.

That is why the same Apostle Paul says this to the Corinthians. Second Corinthians thirteen verse five, “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Know not yourselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?” We’re going to revisit this scripture a little later. Brethren, that is why we approach Passover, the Passover season, Passover itself. When we do so, we particularly, during this time, heed the apostle’s instructions to examine ourselves.

In verse four he invokes Christ crucifixion. The most important event ever during the days of Passover. Think about Christ after He was baptized. The amazing knowledge that we’ve learned recently, and never really clicked in my mind before. After overcoming Satan in the wilderness. We’ll talk about that a little bit later. John the Baptist introduced Him as what? Not the Messiah. He introduced Him as the Lamb of God.

He could have said Messiah, they were awaiting Him, but he introduced Him as the Lamb of God. Right around Abib one. Just days before Abib ten when God commanded Israel to select the lambs to be sacrificed. First Corinthians chapter eleven and verse thirty-one, for a moment here hammering this point about examining ourselves. Verse thirty-one, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

So brethren, let’s judge ourselves individually. As part of examining and judging ourselves, let’s again ask the question, “Am I the sheep God seeks?” And there are several ways when I was preparing for this message and I came across the particular verse of the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus, and Christ told her that the Father seeks worshipers who worship in spirit and truth. And it just occurred to me, “God, what are you seeking aside from that?” And so I started looking and there’s plenty of things in the Bible, brethren, I would encourage you to go and examine.

Do your own personal Bible study about what God seeks because that’s at the core of Christianity, giving God what He seeks. I’m just going to consider two ways that we can answer the question specifically about whether or not we are the sheep that God seeks. John chapter ten. That will be the focus of the message. A couple ways that we can measure. There are other ways about whether or not we can determine if we are the sheep that God seeks, but we’re just going to look at two.

So let’s consider what the Lamb of God has to say about it. That’d be a good place to start, would it not? John chapter ten. Probably already there. And verse twenty-two. “And it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.” Verse twenty-two. Twenty-three, “And Jesus walked into the temple,” specifically Solomon’s porch there. “Then the Jews surrounded him and said to Him, How long do you make us doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly? Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because you are not my sheep, as I said to you.”

Now, that statement, “You are not my sheep,” probably didn’t matter much to them. Didn’t carry much weight in the years of the Jews that were surrounding Him that day, much less the Romans who ultimately dragged Him to the cross after beating Him. That question would’ve meant even less to them. “You are not my sheep.” But what about to us? The mere thought of standing before him one day and hearing the same or something similar should make us shutter. Think about the day of the Lord. An extraordinary multitude of people of the innumerable multitude who found out that they were not Christ’s sheep at all, but actually Satan’s goats. Some will even be shocked by it. Frightening, but God’s word gives us hope.

The scriptures help us clearly know what Christ’s sheep are like. The scriptures tell us the essential attributes of a sheep so that we can identify and work towards it. All we have to do is continue reading here. Verse twenty-seven, “My sheep,” Christ explains, “...hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me: And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me,” important there, “...is greater than all; and no man can pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” So you have two hands there. You have Christ’s hands and the Father’s hands. “I and my Father are one.” Singular in purpose.

Brethren, there they are. God’s sheep, Christ’s sheep hear Christ’s voice and follow Him, obey Him wherever He is. It’s that simple. Now, some of you may think, “Oh, well, that’s an oversimplification of Christianity.” It oversimplifies what Christianity is about. No brethren, it’s actually very difficult for a human to be one of God’s sheep. But did you notice, again, Christ said the Father gave His sheep to Christ. And who is still holding the sheep? The Father too. That is why we can refer to Christ as a shepherd, or we can refer to God the Father as a shepherd. At the end of the day, we are their sheep. They are unified in caring for their sheep.

Psalm ninety-five, one of my favorite hymns. Hymn fifty-one, “O come, and let us worship Him.” That’s where that hymn comes from, Psalm ninety-five and verse one, “O come, let us sin songs to God. Our cheerful voices raised.” This is where it comes from, brethren. “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” What a hymn. What a song.

Verse six, “O come, let us worship and bow down.” Probably the words are already playing in your mind, the music. “Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we the people of what? His pasture.” There’s that word again, “...and the sheep of His hand.” It’s like the sheep and the pasture go hand in hand. The words Christ spoke back in John ten, “No man can pluck them out of my father’s hand,” aligns with Psalm ninety-five. Christ told the Pharisees the same thing the Psalmist was inspired to write here at the end of verse seven.

Read it. Verse seven. “Today, if you will hear his voice,” that’s what Christ was referring to. “Today, if you hear my voice, Pharisees Jews, we will know, the Father will know that you are one of my sheep. If you do not hear my voice, the opposite applies.” They did not hear Christ’s voice. So, what happened? Their hearts hardened. And it says, “As in the provocation, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.” That’s interesting. The day, singular, of temptation.

Verse ten, “Forty years long,” the Psalmist continues, forty, a number we often read in the Bible, “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is the people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” Christ sheep, the Father sheep, their sheep here. So the first vital characteristic of God’s sheep is excellent hearing.

In fact, people who raise sheep know that sheep’s lives depend upon hearing because they don’t have particularly stellar vision. It’s interesting, they have eyes on the sides of their heads. I think they have rectangular pupils. So they have a wide range of vision, but not particularly good vision. They rely primarily on their hearing to alert them of dangers, to hear the voice of their shepherd. They may not be able to see him, but they certainly can hear them. God designed them that way, I believe, brethren, so that we could draw parallels to ourselves.

And by the way, God is not seeking anything different from us than what He sought from Christ. Christ knew that God was seeking sheep. Christ knew that God seeks sheep, so He endeavored to be the first of many. Again, His title was the Lamb of God. Look what it says here. “As in the day of temptation in the wilderness.” Think about what we’ve learned recently about Christ and being hungry for forty days, not eating. And then He was tempted. In a very brief short period of time, think about the knowledge we learned. “As in the day of temptation and wilderness,” it says.

And what was Christ’s response to the devil’s first temptation, brethren? “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Brethren, God’s lambs, sheep, have great hearing. So during this time of self-examination, our hearing must be at its best. Anyone who wonders, “Am I the sheep God seeks?” My response, how is your hearing? Are you hearing Christ’s voice? Because eternal life, thinking back to John ten, never perishing, thinking back to John ten, and here, eternal rest, depend upon it.

John eighteen. And verse thirty-three. We must ask the all-important question. A question the world does not ask, nor is the world capable of knowing. “What is the voice of Christ?” Again, because eternal life rides on it. John eighteen, thirty-three. Let’s answer the question. Let’s have Christ answer the question for us. What is His voice? Verse thirty-three, “Then Pilate,” the scene where Christ and Pilate have a private encounter with one another, “...entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said, Are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus answered, Do you say this of yourself?” In other words, “Did you come up with this question yourself or did others tell that to you about me? Or did they say that about me?”

“Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priest have delivered you to me: what have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth and everyone that is of the truth,” what’s did He say? “...hears my voice. Pilate then asks, What is truth?”

Now, if you listen carefully or you read carefully, whichever one you want to choose, I’ll argue that Christ already defined truth for Pilate right there in His statement. Pilate missed it. The world misses it, but we don’t. Christ explained what He bears, and that word bears means to testify, give evidence of what Christ affirms is truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears His voice.

So, someone listening to me in the world would say, might argue God’s sheep are those who have a Bible. In fact, there are Bibles with red letters in it that actually points you to the words of Christ. Now, people wish it were that simple. I did, before coming into the truth. Let’s turn to Romans chapter ten. I have a Bible, brethren. I have several Bibles. I have a digital Bible that I can use. I’m sure you have, well, you have a Bible. Maybe you have multiple copies of the Bible. Maybe you use a digital version as well. In twenty twenty-two alone, Bible societies distributed more than thirty-five point five million copies of the Bible in one year, digital and physical.

So if billions have the Bible and do not hear Christ’s voice, and as a result are not God’s sheep because God’s sheep hear His voice, then what is Christ’s voice? Because there is a difference between what is written here and Christ’s voice. It has to be. Just look to Satan. Satan actually used what was written in here to tempt Christ. Remember he told Christ, “For it is written,” he quoted the Bible.

Romans chapter ten, you should be there, verse thirteen. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him,” how in the world are they going to call on him, “...in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”

Brethren, let’s let this verse reveal the voice of Christ. That Greek word sent will reveal who is they in this verse. Because believing in Christ and God ride upon hearing and understanding from these particular individuals. And it will lead us to identify which sheep are Gods. The word sent is Strong’s G six forty-nine apostello, from which we get apostolos, or the word apostle. God’s sheep gather where His apostle leads and guides God’s flock.

The world misses this monumentally important portion of Scripture. Protestant or modern church organizations, they tell people, “All you have to do is believe Jesus in your heart and confess, and you’ll be saved.” Not so fast. Literally, not so fast. It’s not as easy as people want it to be. Christ and God’s word must be heard from an apostle because no one can call on God through Jesus Christ if that person doesn’t have an apostle to reveal or explain who the real God is or who the real Jesus Christ is. That’s digging deeper into Romans ten, the verse we just read. Let’s continue to build on that monumental point as we continue during this pre-Passover season, and look at every area of our lives, every attitude, every thought. John twenty-one and verse one, “After these things,” what he referring to was in the previous chapter, chapter twenty. It’s the account of the resurrection.

Christ encountered, Mary Magdalene appeared to her, then later appeared to the disciples, then Thomas. And so, “After those things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus and to Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee as well. That would be John and James, and two other disciples.” I count as correct, that’s seven.

[Verse 15] “So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, ‘Do you love me more than these? Now, you can probably hear a pin drop at that moment. And we can sometimes read past crucial statements in the Bible that support critical understanding. We know that these men went on to be apostles. They went on to be apostles also, but Christ singles out Peter who became the chief apostle.

And what does Christ tell Peter after he expresses his love for Jesus? Verse fifteen, Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” What that word feed means, brethren, pasture. Take them to pasture. Remember that I said three times, I think we read it, sheep and pasture right beside each other. He told the chief apostle, “Pasture my lambs.” He asked the second time, verse sixteen, “Simon son of Jonas, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

That word is different than the first time we read feed. That means shepherd my sheep. He told the Apostle Peter, the chief apostle, “Shepherd.” Jesus asked the third time, “Simon son of Jonas, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he asked the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Pasture my sheep.” He returned to the first way that he said it.

The greatest expression of an apostle is to pasture and shepherd the sheep of God. God fed his lamb, Jesus Christ. Everything that Jesus heard, He passed on to the apostles. That’s why He called them friends and no longer servants. Everything that I hear the father say, I have given unto you. Now I call you friends. So the apostles were fed by the shepherd, Christ.

And what do the apostles do? They feed us. What does the apostle do today feeds us. We are fed by the apostle. We are pastured. We are shepherded. I remember the first time that we came to services here at Headquarters. It’s a longer story. My wife was a little bit reluctant to come. And we came just the two of us. We left our daughters at home. We wanted to see what it was like. I agreed to that. I wanted to bring my daughter. She didn’t.

And any of the ministers at that time, and I think we had more ministers here at headquarters at that time than we currently do, any minister at that time could have been given the message that day, but it was Mr. Pack. We had never met him. We only heard his voice through the literature. And I remember my wife, maybe not exactly the words she said but right when we finished, she said, “That was the first time that I was fed.” It was the first time that she felt fed. And the rest, as we say, is history. If we sincerely ask God to show us if we are the sheep He seeks, then we must be cognizant of the fact that God’s sheep are identified not just by the truth we hear, but by the person from whom we hear it. One final verse on this. Let’s go back to Second Corinthians thirteen. Remember I said we’d go back there.

Second Corinthians thirteen. Remember we read verse five earlier, we’re going to read it again. But the setup for verse five begins back in verse one. Here’s what the Apostle Paul wrote. “This is the third time I come to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them who have sinned and everyone else for that matter.”

To everyone. I want everyone to hear what I’m about to say. So you can imagine someone was reading this letter to everyone, the ones who were sinning as well as everyone else. I want everyone to learn the following point. Here’s what it says. “That if I come again, I will not spare.” I’m not going to hold back. If I come again, I’m not going to hold back. “Since you seek,” verse three, “A proof of Christ speaking in me.”

Then verse five, because the Corinthians were looking for a proof that Christ was speaking in and through an apostle, and in this case, Paul. Then he says, “Examine yourselves.” If you ask that question, examine yourselves whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves, know not yourselves how Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?

Let me paraphrase the Apostle Paul here. If you doubt Christ speaks in the apostle, He was telling the Corinthians, then you should question whether Christ is in you because the truth you heard, the truth that brought you to repentance, the truth that led you to baptism was the voice of Christ speaking. God, Christ speak through the apostle, the truth.

Now, Sabbath occurs just fifty-two times a year, maybe fifty-three if there’s more in a year. We have services another twenty-four times, I think, if I have my count right during the spring and fall holidays. We sprinkle Bible studies throughout the year. So, we just don’t hear every single day God’s apostle speaking or the ministry that supports the apostle and supports the truth that He brings every single day. But the sheep God seeks should be grazing on pasturing in the truth three sixty-five days a year.

Imagine a sheep that didn’t eat every day. So, point number two, not just that, God’s sheep gather where His apostle pastures them, shepherds them, but God’s sheep feed in His pasture, in God’s pasture. Psalm twenty-three.

And verse one, is a psalm of David. “The Lord is my shepherd.” One that we’re very familiar with. “I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.” Now, King David didn’t go out every day and lay down in a grassy field. We know that. Logical. “He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Think brethren. Where is the largest Bible base library of books, booklets and articles found on planet Earth? The church’s vast library is where the green pastures of God are found. God’s sheep graze where the richest food supply exists. Again, I remember my wife’s comments after the Sabbath service just before Passover. She said it was the first time she felt fed. I look back and know only a sheep of God could have that feeling of satisfaction, peace, restoration, hope, a path to righteousness.

But it’s important that I mention my story. I did not accept an invitation to come to Sabbath services because of this Bible, the Bible that’s sitting on your laps. I had a Bible long before I became connected to RCG. I read it fairly often. I came because I sampled the goodness of God’s green pastures online, and from the books and booklets the print shop sent to me.

My story was a little bit different, but my wife and I exemplify what I’m talking about. She heard the voice. She didn’t read as much as I did. She came as a result of me being fed from the pasture of God. She came into the truth and knew she was being called because she heard the voice of the apostle. But at the end of the day, it’s the same.

That vast library, the largest in the world, didn’t magically happen. It came from the truth that God’s apostle gave to the final generation, to the final era of the church. At the core of every book in an article are the teaching of God’s apostle. What does Revelation ten-seven, we’ve heard it so many times, says in the days of what? In the voice, the days of the voice of the seventh messenger. Voice, hearing.

It could have said in the days of the seventh messenger, but it says in the days of the voice of the seventh messenger. Why? Because Christ’s sheep hear Christ’s voice through the apostle. Obviously, as I said, supported by ministers set in the body of Christ to instruct God’s sheep with the truth that Mr. Pack has given us from the scriptures.

Now, this may be painfully repetitive for some of you, but it’s worth repeating as we examine every area of our lives, as I said earlier. Our attitudes, our thoughts, everything. And one final series of verses about hearing rather because God’s sheep, the sheep that God seeks, have excellent hearing. And these are cautionary verses. Remember, sheep have keen hearing. In fact, they have the ability to turn their ears in opposite directions because they rely on that hearing to alert them of dangers.

Am I the sheep God seeks? John ten. John chapter ten, we jump right into the thought here. Verse two, “He that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice.” There it is again. “He calls his own sheep by name and leaves them out.” Verse four, “The sheep follow Him for they know his voice, and a stranger they will not follow but will flee from him.”

Did you catch that brethren? Sheep who have excellent hearing recognize the voice of their shepherd. We already defined that, but they also had the keen ability to recognize strange voices, and will not follow after them. Brethren, am I the sheep God seeks, when God’s sheep recognize immediately and flee immediately from the voice of strangers. As a young man, my dad took us deer hunting almost every year, and we had to be quiet for hours at a time. Our hunting skills relied heavily on our hearing, not our sight. We had to hear the deer before they heard us. That was the game. Hours at a time. Whether I was walking into the woods or walking out of the woods, whether I was sitting down or whether I was standing up quietly, because I had to hear strange noises that you wouldn’t hear because likely it could be a deer, it could be a bear, it could be anything.

But you know what the deer were listening for? Strange sounds too. Like sheep, deer have great hearing. Deers of older, more mature deer perk up immediately when they hear unfamiliar sounds. In fact, the older deer, their mother will stand her tail up to alert her fawns when there’s danger, because the younger deer haven’t developed that hearing that they needed to identify strange noises.

Just happy, going along, they see that tail go up, they know mom heard something, particularly a predator. And when in doubt they dart, they run. They flee immediately for their own safety, and the safety of their offspring or the herd, the entire herd. I have never in all my years of hunting, seen a deer willingly walk toward a strange noise unless they get confused.

I have hunting stories, you can ask me sometime. They wouldn’t last long in the wilderness if they didn’t do this. The same with God’s sheep, they won’t last long. There are those who prove themselves not to be a sheep of God. Rather than fleeing from strange voices, they ran towards them. And in fact, they developed their own strange voices themselves. They got used to listening to themselves and not to the voice of Christ.

Is our hearing like the sheep God seeks and that it helps us recognize, avoid, and properly deal with strange voices? Colossians chapter two and verse eight, “Beware...” Colossians two verse eight. Did you get there? “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Pointing once again to the lamb of God. The sheep of sheep, if you will.

Over the years, we all have heard enticing philosophy, even in the church from so-called experts, giving advice, offering carnal reasoning. It sounded odd at the time, but I was new. My hearing was still developing, but I have enough sense to look at the more mature ones in the herd, if you will, and watch their tails perk up. Extraordinarily helpful when I was developing my hearing, but over time, God sheep developed that hearing. We become apt at detecting philosophies, deceit, traditions, worldly ideas that fight against God’s way of life. Hebrews thirteen and verse seven, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken...” There it is again, audible hearing. “Who have spoken unto you the word of God whose not only faith, I would argue, follow, but also their voices follow, considering the end of their conversation or conduct.”

Verse eight, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.” The voice of Christ has not changed. It comes through an apostle and the pasture is the greatest largest biblically based library on the planet, created from the voice of Christ through that apostle and the ministers that serve. What does it say after it says Jesus Christ? “The same voice yesterday, the same voice today, the same voice forever,” be not carried away about with divers and strange doctrines. Christ’s voice has not changed over Millennia, brethren.

Anything that sounds different, run from it. If it sounds strange, it’s likely strange. So stay away from hater websites. Stay away from websites that teach manmade doctrines and preach a false God and a false Jesus. You can hear them spewing out their personal opinions about who we are or who God is, or who God should be, or who Jesus Christ they suppose should be.

Second John chapter one. Second John chapter one and verse seven, “Many deceivers are in the world,” not just back then, but now. It goes on to say. And then verse eight, “Look to yourselves.” Interesting, interesting way to combat strange voices. “Look to yourselves, “he says. In other words, examine your hearing. Make sure your hearing is at its best.

“That we lose not the things that we have wrought or worked for,” because a lot’s riding on it, “So we receive a full reward.” Talk about that in a moment. “Whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in Christ’s doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and brings not this doctrine…” hold fast what we have received, our pleasant present truth that comes through the apostle, “…receive him not into your house neither bid him God’s speed. For he that bids him God’s speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

That is why we don’t invite Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons or anyone who intends to give us a different perspective about our religion into our homes. I’m not referring to family. My family, my biological family, my wife’s family, they don’t believe the same things we do, but they don’t come to my house with a purpose of changing our minds. If they did, it would be a pleasant goodbye.

I’d still feed them, but anyone coming trying to talk strange things that go against the doctrine of Christ, we don’t even say goodbye to. That is why, brethren, we don’t visit websites. Oh, you think it’s only a person knocking on your door. You can invite someone into your home by going to a website that you shouldn’t be in because we’re inviting another gospel into our home.

Nor do we endorse or like other Christian sites. It’s the same thing. We’re wishing them well if we do that. These fight what we have heard from God’s pasture. They will cause us to transgress and not abide by the doctrine of Christ. So brethren, let’s look to ourselves. Let’s self-examine and ask, “Am I the sheep God seeks?” I ask, are we hearing Christ’s voice? Do we recognize and believe that Christ’s voice is heard through God’s ministry beginning with His apostle?

Do we graze regularly in God’s pasture, which is where His church is, which grows the most abundant nutrient-rich food available? Is my hearing keeping me alert to avoid strange noises? Strange sounds and voices. Am I blocking them out? Brethren as we self examine, we need to check our ears to ensure our hearing is working properly. If they are, if we do this... You know what? I have encouraging news, we’re only a fraction of way there. A fraction. I’ve spent all this time, we’re only a fraction of there if I learned to listen to the voice of Christ? Yes.

I told you earlier, it wasn’t easy to be a sheep of God. Let’s turn to John ten, back to John ten. Excuse me. We’ll go to Genesis three here in a minute. Genesis three. Genesis three. Famous quote by Thomas Edison. “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.” A sheep gets excited when it hears its shepherd voice approaching. We got excited when we heard the voice of Christ, the way that we just defined it, my wife and I.

But that’s only one percent. Ninety-nine percent laid ahead. It takes more than excitement or inspiration. Again, that’s only one percent of the equation. Without it, without hearing the voice of Christ, we can’t go on to complete the other ninety nine percent, the perspiration. Remember Christ said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Obey me.”

Now, let me ask you another question. Why did God take away the tree of life from Adam and then cursed the ground because of him, and then made him eat from it in sorrow every day, it says? Every day of your life. Why would God do that? Quite a punishment. Genesis chapter three. We know what happened in the previous verses starting in verse one, but we’re going to pick it up in verse eight.

“And they, Adam and Eve heard,” what did they hear? “The voice of the Lord.” There it is. “Walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” Verse ten. “And he said, I heard your voice.” There’s two times now it’s referenced the voice of God. I don’t think that’s by coincidence.

God was trying to shepherd sheep that he wanted to become permanent. He wanted them to accustom to his voice, not just hear it and recognize it because obviously Adam developed that skill. “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. “God begins asking a series of questions. Things get complicated as a lot of accusations fly around.

“And after Adam and Eve have their say, God addresses Adam.” Verse seventeen. Here’s why God took away the tree of life from Adam. Here’s why He cursed the ground because of him. Here’s why He made him eat from the ground in sorrow every day of his life. It says, “Because you hearkened to, obeyed the voice of your wife and ate of the tree which I commanded that you not eat of. Cursed is the ground for your sake and thou shall you eat of it all the days of your life.”

God has made it known to mankind for six thousand years, from the Bible when it was written, husbands and wives beware that Adam’s punishment was a result of disobeying God’s voice and choosing to obey someone else’s. Yes, even his wife’s. Brethren, God’s sheep obey God’s voice. Period. Sometimes the hardest voices to disobey come from those closest to us.

During this time of self-examination we can ask ourselves, am I the sheep that God seeks, who hears and obeys his voice? Because brethren, here’s what’s riding on obedience as God’s sheep to His voice, not the other ones. There’s many rewards. Let’s see how many we can cover with the time that remains. Luke six, Luke chapter six. Brethren, this is the reward of ninety-nine percent. My message isn’t about obedience.

If you hear what Christ says as I explained, His voice, and obey it, just do it, as the Nike commercial would say. Just do it. When you hear your Shepherd’s voice in the pasture that God gave us, led by the Shepherd, the apostle, and the ministry, just do it. Because everything’s riding on it. And I mean everything. I’m just going to cover a few here. Luke six, chapter six, verse forty six. “Why call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?”

“Whosoever,” and that would include sheep, “Whatever sheep comes to me,” where? His voice is, obviously, God’s pasture, “Hears my sayings,” hears His voice, “Grazes and eats, and does them.” Very simple formula, brethren, to being healthy, vibrant sheep of God. Obey His voice, follow the Shepherd’s instructions. And I will show you who He is like. I want to talk about a life of prosperity. A solid life.

A man or woman that people can look to and say, “Wow, he and she is different, no matter the circumstances.” Here’s what happens. It says, “He is like a man with a house that has a deep foundation on a rock that could not be shaken in the face of floods and currents, overcoming trials.” Brethren, this is that time of year. For it was founded upon the truth Christ testifies. That’s why.

Remember, back to the saying, bears witness of? Our lives are founded on the truth that we have heard and the obedience to it. What Christ testified, what He gave evidence of, what He affirmed to God’s sheep. Remember, He speaks to God’s sheep through His government. Our lives are on solid foundations. Trials and tribulations and tests can come our way, but nothing can knock us over if we simply hear and obey what God says. Jeremiah seven, twenty-three.

“But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice…” What’s the reward? “…I will be your God…” your Shepherd, “…and you shall be my people,” my sheep. “And walk in all the ways I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” Brethren, blessings now, not just in the future, now right on us, listening, hearing, and obeying God’s voice as His sheep.

Think about all the times that you’ve obeyed something that you heard, either in your private Bible study, or maybe something a minister said during a message, Mr. Pack, something you read in the materials because you were struggling with an area, and you couldn’t find it in the Scripture, so you googled it, or not googled it, but you searched it in RCG, and you found it, and you obeyed it. Think about the blessings. Think about that. Blessings come as a result, not just a solid, founded life balanced that people can admire but blessings too come your way.

Exodus nineteen, five. Exodus nineteen, five. I gave a message some time ago, I don’t recall when on the if and then, the conditional statements of the Bible, it’s full of them. If you do this, then this will happen. Here’s another if-then statement. Exodus nineteen, five, “Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine.” And then he adds in verse six, here, “And you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Just by hearing and obeying.

Matthew seven, twenty-one. Matthew seven, twenty-one. Very familiar verse. “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” We all want to reach the kingdom of God and enter in, not be shut out, “But he that does the will of my Father.” “He that does the will of my Father in heaven.” Brethren, that is why we pray each and every day, “Your will be done.”

I’m not talking about something that you want him to do, or a promise that he made to you, certainly, that can be part of it, or something you want other people to do. That prayer is a personal prayer about your willingness to do what you hear God says, His will. Hebrews five, nine, kingdom of heaven, and entrance. Hebrews five, nine. Speaking of Christ. “And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation.” Not just saved occasionally in our lifetime from circumstances that we’ve come across, but eternal salvation unto all… who? Who obey Him, all the sheep that obey Him, eternal salvation.

First John chapter two for our final verse. First John chapter two and verse fifteen, very familiar verse as well. “Love not the world nor the things in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life, are not of the Father but of the world.”

Verse seventeen, “And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever.” Are you the sheep God seeks? Am I the sheep God is seeking? What voice are you hearing? Which voice are you obeying? Because God’s sheep, brethren, his true sheep, withstand trials, overcome in the midst of adversity, receive blessings, both physical and spiritual, will become priests and citizens of God’s holy kingdom, and we will be saved and enjoy eternal life. If we just listen and obey Christ’s voice, God’s voice, we will enjoy eternal life no longer as sheep, but as eternal God beings.