My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
16 sermons cite this verse
… Notice this verse. John chapter 10, verse 27 and 29, Jesus' words directly. He says, My sheep, he's the good shepherd, my sheep listen to my voice. That's how you know who's a believer and who's not. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Then he says, and I give them eternal life, which starts the moment you put your hand in his hand, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand. My father gave me, my sheep, to me. and he's greater than all and no person can steal my sheep out of my father's hand. Once you have put your life in the hand of God, there will be times you might want to pull back and say, I don't even know what I believe and I doubt not. God says, I'm not letting go. He says, you're in God's hand and no man can pluck you out of God's hand. Your salvation is secure. …
… and then he went to an area where there were some sheep they believed. Now I obviously left out a very important section. I want to save it till the last. Look at John 10 27. We've talked about goats quite a bit this morning. We've talked about those who are not among the sheep. I want to talk about the sheep as I close the message. I find in verses 27 through 30, four characteristics of bonafide sheep. Use them as a checkpoint in your life this morning. You sit there and you wonder, am I a sheep? Well, to be precise about it, you should be able to go back in your mind and call attention to a day, though you may not be able to date it, a time in your life when you said, Lord, I accept your plan of salvation personally. Jesus died for me. He rose from the dead for me. I claim it personally. Forgive me. Come into my life. I give you my heart. …
… because God preserves. John 6, 37, all that the Father gives to me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Later in John 10, 27 through 29, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. Jesus preserves us to the end. So Jesus, we see in this first question, is the subject. And what does he do? He gathers, he protects, and he preserves. That's the predicate. and who is the direct object who is the recipient of these actions it's a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith it's you and it's me it's the church universal it's the church the church a community gathered protected and preserved by the son of god And how can you not love this last little tender line? …
… from the Lord and to align your ears and your heart with God's voice. You want to trust God more in 2026, read your Bible. Listen to his voice. Amen. John 10, 27 says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Too many followers are convinced that you don't hear God's voice. I imagine if you went through the 21 days of prayer and fasting and you didn't hear from God, You probably felt that way at one point, but his scripture tells us we are his sheep and we do hear from him. Amen. And it all starts in his word. So how do you trust God more? You listen to his voice. The second thing that you do is you honor God with everything you own. If we're not careful, we start to think that I made this. I got this job. This is my money. But Psalm 24 verse 1 says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. You want to grow the muscle of trusting God? …
… he goes on, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the Father are one. You do not believe in me because the Father has not given you to me. That's what he's saying. It must be given to you. at the earliest, deepest, most decisive root, our belief in God is not a work that we achieve, but it's a gift that we receive. at the earliest, deepest, most decisive root, our belief in God is not a work we achieve. It's not something that we do. It's a gift that we receive. The father gifts us to the son and in handing us to the son, he gifts life and faith to us by the spirit. …
… John 10.10 says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Look over in verse 27. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. Here it is. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. Isn't that good news? Isn't it good to know that there's absolutely nothing you can do to earn your salvation? As a result, there's nothing you can do to lose your salvation. God's got you in his hand. By his grace, by the finished work of Christ on a cross, we can be assured of eternal life. That's good news. Keep going over. John chapter 11, verse 25. John chapter 11, verse 25. Lazarus being raised from the dead on this story, Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. One more, John chapter 14. Jesus is talking about heaven. He's talking about where he's headed. Thomas asked him, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way? And Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Over and over again, we see the central purpose of Jesus at the center of his mission was to impart life. …
… John 10 in verse 14 says, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep. He knows us. He knows where we are. He said in verse 27 of the same chapter, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. John 13, 18. I speak not to you all. I know who I have chosen. I know who I have called. I know who I have put my hand upon. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for that. John 14, seven and nine. If you had known me, you would know my father. For if you have seen me, you have seen him. Mark 13 and three, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall not pass away. But of the day and the hour, when I will come again, is what he's referring to knoweth no man, but the father knows and he will reveal it to the son. You know, he's coming again, but we don't know when, but he knows, he knows what he's going to do. He's not worried about the antichrist. He's not worried about, uh, the six, six, six number. He's not worried about artificial intelligence. He's not worried about Iran, Russia, or any of them. He said, I know what I'm going to do and man can't stop it. …
… My sheep, I'm talking about my sheep, those that are mine. Verse 27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me, and I give them eternal life. But verse 26, you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. The people who are not of Christ's sheep don't believe the Word even from the lips of the Savior, whereas the people who do believe in Him hear His Word. That is the distinguishing mark. Again in chapter 14, verse 21. This is our Lord speaking to the disciples, He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. That is a very clear statement. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him." Down in verse 23, Jesus answered and said to him, "'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.'" Verse 24, "'He who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.'" This is the distinguishing mark of a true believer. …
That's the picture of the shepherd coming for his own elect sheep. If you look to verse 27 for a moment, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. He knows His sheep. Messiah came to call His sheep, and when He calls His sheep, they know His voice. They have been awakened by the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, and they follow Him. And they will not follow another. And He gives them eternal life, and they will never, ever perish. And no one can snatch them out of My hand, no one, because My Father and I hold them, And no one is greater than my Father and I." There's more. …
… times are we going to fall and slip before we learn to stay close to the shepherd? Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. In order to follow the shepherd three things are necessary. Number one, you've got to be obsessed with the shepherd. You've got to love the shepherd. Number two, you have to observe the shepherd. Sheep don't have good eyesight. You have to stay close to the shepherd. And number three, you have to obey the shepherd. My sheep hear My voice. They hear My voice. Now you can't obey anybody whose voice you don't hear. And how are you going to hear your shepherd's voice? How are you going to see your shepherd? You're going to have to have that quiet time in the green pastures chewing upon his word, meditating upon the word of God. That's the way the shepherd, my dear friend, is going to lead you and he's going to guide you. You are going to hear his voice in the word. …
… you except He come through me. You like that? Brother I like that. That's the reason he said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. You see folks, listen, what you need in order to deal with this stress is number one, security. He maketh me. He leadeth me. I may be weak like a sheep, but he's the strong shepherd. He's the good shepherd. That's the first thing I see in this verse is Security. And that security helps me to deal with stress. I'll tell you what else I see. Not only do I see security, but I see sufficiency. You see, look at it. He maketh me to lie down in brown, withered pastures. Is that it? He leads me beside muddy streams, dried up water brooks. Oh no. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. All I need and more I find in the Lord Jesus Christ. …
… Verse 27 My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me When you say my shepherd then the shepherd says my sheep and a sheep is someone who hears his voice, someone that he knows, someone that follows him. Have you heard his voice? Have you received him as your personal Savior and Lord? You see, my dear friend, it is a personal relationship with the shepherd. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. But not only is it a personal relationship, permanent relationship. Notice in verse 28, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Now, any earthly shepherd is going to lose some sheep, but the good shepherd has never lost one, never lost a sheep. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. You say, Pastor, do you believe in the eternal security of the believer? I do. Why do you believe in the eternal security of the believer? I believe in the eternal security of the believer because of John 10, verse 28. …
… Friend, we are kept because He holds us. Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. Why have I been kept all of these years? Because I've been a good boy and know I've got a great Savior. God's amazing grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And grace provides a Savior. That ship was a picture of Jesus. And grace provides salvation. The Bible says that Noah was justified by faith when he entered the good ship Grace. and grace provides security. You see, if you're saved by works, you have to be kept by works. But if you're saved by grace, you're kept by the grace of God. …
… Am I just thinking this up? He said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. You see, the truth is Jesus Christ is the good shepherd. And if I know him and I love him, I'm going to follow him. Now, who can say the Lord is my shepherd? Just because somebody says, well, I believe in God. No, the Lord is my shepherd. that is a personal relationship. How do you have a personal relationship with the great shepherd? You have a personal relationship by coming to the realization that you're sinful, acknowledging his death on the cross and receiving him by faith as your personal Savior. How can, listen, how can the one who's the Savior of the world be your good shepherd and you reject the Savior? You can't reject the Savior and have the shepherd. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Trinity that makes up to triune God, the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. And when you think in terms of the creation, who's there creating the world? Jesus Christ. He is the good shepherd. You cannot pray this, and oftentimes this is a prayer. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's the way people oftentimes, especially when they're in trouble. They will pray this as if it's a prayer, not a prayer. He's simply expressing his relationship to the Father. So, what I want to …
… 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, My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 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. Now here, Jesus declares a unity between Himself and the Father, a text that has been ripped from its context time and again in church history. We think back to Arius in the fourth century where he used this verse, I and the Father are one, to interpret it in this way, that yes, Jesus was one with the Father only in the sense that they agreed on the same mission. They thought alike. They embraced the same ethic. …
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. For 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 the Father are one. He who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear. You may be seated. Let us pray. Our fathers, we consider these words from the 10th chapter of John. We pray that you would grant to us understanding of the meaning of Jesus' words, how they relate and edify His people even now. For we ask it in His name. Amen. Last week we, for the second time, considered elements of Jesus healing the man born blind. And we didn't finish chapter 9 last week, but at the very end of that chapter, leading up to what I read this morning, the following things took place. Jesus found the man who had been cast out from the presence of the Pharisees because of his testimony to Christ, and he said to him, Do you believe in the Son of God? …