Knowing the voice of the Shepherd

Jesus said "My sheep know My voice." But how is it possible to hear in the midst of so much "stuff?"

by Helen Gardiner

CHRISTIANS are living in difficult and often-times confusing days; God is dealing with much "stuff" in our lives; there are also many voices demanding to be heard so that it becomes hard to discern the true voice of the Lord. Yet, the Good Shepherd says, "My sheep know My voice..."

The other day we received a teaching tape from Kelley Varner, an apostolic teacher and preacher from Praise Tabernacle in Richlands, North Carolina, entitled, "My sheep know My voice." It is powerful and revelatory and was a blessing to us. We trust the following edited version will also be helpful to you:

The text for Kelley's teaching is John 10:4, and he begins by reading John 10:1-5. Jesus is speaking in this passage:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

"And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

"Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Kelley emphasises in verse 4, the word "know," which is the Greek word oiada which means 'to see or to perceive,' and it means revelation knowledge.

"All of us are facing more 'stuff' than any generation that has ever lived. Young people today are being bombarded by so many stimuli, everything coming from every direction. To prove my point, as I am speaking to you right now, there are other thoughts trying to run interference. Some of you are making a conscious effort to say, 'I really want to hear this, but there is all this other stuff.' And that is what I want to minister on: How in the world can we cut through all of this 'stuff?'

"John 10. Look down in verse 16: 'And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.'

"Go all the way down to verse 27: 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.'The word for voice is phone; think of phonograph or phonics. It is in the same word family as the verb phaino which interestingly means 'to lighten or to shine.'

"So this voice of God is the light of God and this word for voice means 'a noise, a sound or a voice.' They hear the sound, they see the light and it says, 'They follow Me' and that word literally means that they 'are going in the same way.' The Greek word has a particle of union in it, meaning these people are walking in such agreement with God; whichever way He is walking, they are walking in the same direction.

"The same verse is used in Revelation 14:4 where it talks about 'these are they that... follow the lamb wherever He goes.'

"Especially since I went to South Africa in February, in the realm of the spirit I have had to face things that I have never faced in all of my life. There is stuff; there are circumstances; there are pressures that we all have to deal with. And we are being bombarded. How am I going to recognise what is God and what isn't?

"I want to show you three people. Mary Magdalene, Cleopas and the apostle Peter encountered the risen Christ and none of them recognised Him -- until He spoke.

"Mary met Jesus as the gardener; Cleopas met Him as the guest who became the host and Peter met Him as the cook -- and nobody realised it was Jesus, until He spoke.

"Turn with me to John 20:11. Where were all the apostles, where were all the menfolk? They were hiding and one woman stayed behind. Mary was the woman who loved Jesus; but look what she is doing. She loved the Lord intensely. Can you relate to her? It says she stood outside the sepulchre. That word sepulchre literally means 'a remembrance or a memorial.'

"And I find myself at times standing, like Mary, at the place of remembrance, weeping. Good and bad memories... A lot of good memories and there are bad memories: there are people who are casualties in the Kingdom of God because of my immaturity -- this goes back 20 years. My heart hhas always been right, but in my zeal, without knowledge, I made mistakes and there are people who are casualties because of my mistakes. Every ministry has made mistakes.

"Here is Mary weeping at the place of remembrance. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. I could stop here and preach another message: the angel at the head is a company of End Time prophets; the angel at the feet is a company of End Time evangelists, foot-soldiers. I'll say this: until all the prophets acknowledge all the evangelists, until all the evangelists acknowledge all the prophets, the Body of Christ will never get up. There have got to be both in every ministry and in every church."

Then, Kelley reads on from John 20:13, "Then they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.'

"Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know it was Jesus.

"Jesus said to her, 'Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, 'Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.'"

Kelley continues: "She thought Him to be the gardener. If you look this word up, it means 'a garden keeper or a garden watcher.' Turn to three people and say, 'Jesus is watching you.'

"She thought He was the gardener, and He was. And here is what I don't like right now: He is coming to weed His garden. And the fact is that you and I have been sanctified by one sacrifice forever. I am as holy as I'm ever going to get: that's the truth. The fact is: there are weeds in my garden.

"And He is showing up in a form that I've never seen before. His fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly purge His floor. He is coming now to sift the Church. He is coming as the gardener.

"And she didn't know, until the next verse: '

"Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' she turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher or Master)."

"My sheep know My voice. You may find yourself weeping at the place of remembrance and Jesus may show up in a form you don't recognise, but, when He speaks, you'll know it's Him.

"Then in John 21, let's meet Peter; this is also after the resurrection.

"And here Jesus doesn't show up on the beach as the gardener. He shows up as the cook, and He has a very intense conversation with Peter because Peter is doing what I have done; what you have done and what we all have done at times. Peter was holding back; whether it is the giving of our finance, our time or our talent; whether it is our commitment to the Lord."

Kelley then quoted a woman in their church who had obviously brought a word, exhorting the people: "You have got to love it." This woman went through the five-fold ministry:

The apostle: "You have got to love government."

The prophet: "You have got to love correction."

The evangelist: "You have got to love the lost."

The pastor: "You have got to love caring for the flock."

The teacher: "You have got to love His Word."

Says Kelley, "This room is full of good Christian people, but most of us are just fond of the Kingdom. The only way that we will build a launching pad for the nations is that the passion of the Lord becomes our passion."

John 21:1-3, "After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

"Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We are going with you also.' They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing."

"Peter said, 'I go a-fishing.' Now you have got to know what this word means. The Bible says in Romans 8:14: 'For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.' The word 'led' is ago. This word where Peter says, 'I go fishing' is the word ago but it has got a prefix in front of it and the prefix is the word hupa, which means under.

"Here is Peter, the resurrection is past. He is about to become one of the world's greatest preachers in Acts 2 (he doesn't know that yet; he is not Spirit-filled yet), but he is totally disillusioned here, and he comes into this place and he says, 'I go a-fishing' because fishing is what was familiar to him.

"I know preachers who are called to the Most Holy Place; who are called to the third day; who are called to maturity; who are called to perfection; but they will not leave the familiarity of Pentecost; they will not leave the familiarity of the second day. They are called to Zion; they are called to the top of the mountain; but when the pressure comes, they retreat to that which his familiar.

"Fishing was Peter's strength, so when the heat is on, he says, 'I'll tell you what I'm going to do boys I go hupago. The word means to 'lead oneself under,' it means to 'withdraw or retire,' as if sinking out of sight.

"I have been there. It means: 'Excuse me boys; I'm going to come to church when I want; I'm going to tithe when I want; I'm going to listen to the pastor when I want; I'm going to casually walk in the Kingdom at my own pace.'

"In Luke 5 (first 10 verses) when Jesus first called Peter, they fished all night. It was the same scenario: they caught nothing.

"And let me show you Peter's problem, and my problem, and your problem. Jesus said in Luke 5, 'Boys, put down the nets (plural).' Peter says in Luke 5, 'Nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net (singular).' Not disobedience, but unbelief. Jesus said, put in nets, and Peter put in net.

"Peter's problem is my problem: I have days when I don't love God, I'm just fond of Him. The Church is full of folk like that today.

"It is such a hoot. When Peter says, 'I go a-fishing,' the rest say, 'we go with you.'

"Tell me you've never had a Monday or a Tuesday where you have led yourself under. I have my moments when I am bombarded with so much 'stuff,' I get an attitude; I am not fun to live with. It's not right; it's flesh. I need to repent. Nevertheless I have those days. Everyone of us has had moments of weakness; we have led ourselves under -- and somebody was foolish enough to follow us."

John 21:4-7: "But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, 'Children, have you any food?' They answered Him, 'No.'

"And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'"

"How do we know it's the Lord? Same thing happened back in Luke 5. And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, the sucker was naked because when you go hupago you go without clothes, you go under naked; he girded his fisher's coat under him for he was naked and he cast himself into the sea.

"This word cast means 'to throw yourself with violence.' Up until now Peter was laid back, but when he heard that it was the Lord, with passion, he cast himself into the sea; and he became the bait.

"Isaiah 57:20 says, 'The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest.' In the book of Revelation everything happens in the earth, the sea or the heavens. The sea in your Bible speaks of masses of unregenerated humanity; it speaks of the lost. Jude 13 talks of the wicked foaming or raging like the sea. So when Peter threw himself into the sea, he was on his way to his destiny."

Kelley then goes on to read John 21:8-17: "But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about 200 cubits), dragging the net with fish.

"Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, 'Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.' Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, 153; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.

"Jesus said to them, 'Come and eat breakfast.' Yet not one of the disciples dared ask Him, 'Who are You?' -- knowing that it was the Lord.

"Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.

"So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.'

"He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Tend My sheep.'

"He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' and he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'"

As he reads the above passage, Kelley throws in the following comments:

The fire of coals denotes worship;

The bread, in the Greek, means it is raised bread. There is no leaven in this bread because Jesus is cooking; there is no leaven, no hypocrisy, no sin;

Jesus asks Simon Peter three times whether he loves Him -- Peter had denied the Lord three times;

Simon means a reed and Peter means a rock.

"'Do you love Me, do you agape Me?' is the question the Lord asks all of us. Each time, Peter replies, 'You know that I phileo you' That word means friend love, in other words, 'I'm fond of You Lord.' You can't have God's love without the Holy Spirit because Romans 5:5 says God's love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, Luke 24. Here Jesus showed up as the host, unveiling His Word.

Kelley focuses on verses 13-32: "Now behold, two of them were travelling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

"So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, 'What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?'

"Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, 'Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?'

"And He said to them, 'What things?' So they said to Him, 'The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.

"'Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.'

"Then He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?'

"And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.

"But they constrained Him, saying, 'Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.' And He went in to stay with them.

"Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.

"And they said to one another, 'Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'"

As Kelley proceeded swiftly through the passage of Scripture quoted above, he made the following points and illustrations and interpretations:

Here Jesus showed up as the host, unveiling His Word;

When Jesus asks them what kind of communication they are having, the word he uses is logos -- the letter of the Word, not the rhema or revealed word. They were talking the letter of the Word, but "they weren't happy campers" -- they were sad;

The two walking down the road were probably preachers: Cleopas, "a called father," was not a baby Christian;

They were walking down the road, talking about Jesus, not knowing what they were talking about, and Jesus showed up anyway!

"Cleopas was upset because his previous conceptions about the Kingdom had totally changed. He was upset because God's Israel was bigger than his Israel. God's Israel is bigger than the natural land of Israel; to all the white men who dislike black men, and vice versa, God's Israel is bigger than yours; to all the men who don't like woman preachers, God's Israel is bigger than yours.

"My problem is that my perception of the Kingdom was limited. Our main problem is that we put our own interpretation on His expectation."

"Jesus started at Moses and all the prophets. It was when He spoke that they said, 'That was Jesus.'

"The secret to my keeping sane is that I know His voice."

"Rabboni (Master); It's the Lord... and He pretended like He would go further, but they compelled Him into the house and set Him down. And all of a sudden He comes to the table, and then He started talking and then He took the bread, and He blessed the bread, and He broke the bread and He gave the bread... and He was the Bread of Life. He was taken from the bosom of the Father; blessed at Jordan, broken on the cross and given in resurrection.

"And He will take your life and bless it, but, hang on to your hat, He'll break it -- and then He will do something with you.

"And when they knew Him in the breaking of the bread, it says, all of a sudden, He vanished out of their sight. Where did He go? Oh, that's easy: because Adam knew his wife. They knew Him in the breaking of the bread; Adam knew his wife and there was a birth. In knowing God there is a birthing and He was birthed into a higher dimension. He moved inside; the voice moved inside -- 'Christ in you, the hope of glory!''

"You might be like Mary, weeping at the place of remembrance; you might be like Peter, only fond of the Kingdom; you might be like Cleopas -- mad because your notion of Israel is not as big as His. But all three knew it was Jesus when He spoke.

"'My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me.' I am being bombarded by all kinds of perplexing forms: Jesus is even showing up in forms to which I am not accustomed. I must learn to recognise His voice.

"One: Jesus is showing up in my life in the form of a gardener: He is weeding my garden; I am like Mary, weeping at the place of past remembrances, good and bad.

"Two: Jesus is showing up in My life in the form of a cook, pressing me to pay the full price -- nets, net, agape, phileo. I am like Peter reluctant to move from phileo to agape.

Thirdly: Jesus is showing up in my life in the form of a host, unveiling His Word. I am like Cleopas, upset that my previous misconceptions of the Kingdom are being taken away. I must go back to letting Him interpret Himself and not have my interpretation of what I thought He said.

"Finally, a divine progression. How are you going to know in the midst of all this stuff that you deal with, where the voice of God is? How are you going to know how to recognise real ministry and rascals?

"I am done: and this is so simple a kid can hear it. The gardener is a servant; Jesus grew the meal. A cook is a servant; Jesus cooked the meal. And the host served the meal. He grew it, he cooked it and he served it. How can you recognise it is God and not just Varner talking to you today?

"In the midst of all the stuff, how will you recognise Jesus? How will you recognise the men and women whom He has sent? It is easy. They will all have the spirit of a servant and if they don't have the spirit of a servant, it ain't God.

"You show me somebody in any local church who avoids serving the House of the Lord and just casually comes; hides somewhere else in the building during preaching; or sits here in this room hiding inside their own emotions... but you show me a man or a woman who's a servant! And that is what God is dealing with me about and I know that is what He's dealing with you about. You've got to love it!"