Title: My Sheep Hears and Follows My Voice.
Contents The content of this text describes Jesus' relationship with the Lord as a relationship between man and sheep.
Animal researchers say that unlike goats, sheep are docile and obey their masters very well. Also, once tamed by the owner, the sheep can understand the owner's voice, so it is said that they will come running whenever the owner calls, no matter where they are grazing. A sheep, once accustomed to the master's voice, does not budge no matter how many others call it. This is a characteristic of sheep. Because of this, the Lord must have expressed His people as sheep. But goats are said to do the opposite. It looks like a sheep, but the goat first looks cheeky with the beard. Unlike sheep, goats are owners, and if they don't like them or are angry, they will run into them unconditionally. Coincidentally, both male and female goats have horns, which is different from sheep. When it is said that sheep have horns only on males, indicating their animal instincts, it is somewhat uncertain that goats have horns on both males and females.
At the Last Judgment, the Lord says, “Gather all nations before him, and separate each one, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so he will put the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left” (Matthew 25:33).
Just as a sheep hears the voice of its master and follows it, so those who believe in Jesus today must have the faith to hear and follow the voice of the Lord. However, it is a big problem that so many people do not even know the voice of the Lord, let alone believe. The people of Israel in the Old Testament lived outside the law and went to destruction because they could not understand the voice of the prophets. The Pharisees also pretended to be righteous, but rejected the Lord because they could not understand the voice of the Lord. But, even the Gentiles of the present cannot even distinguish the voice of the Lord, so how can they have perfect faith?
Each church shouts that they are the true shepherds, but they say that you will know them by their fruits. By looking at their fruits, you can quickly tell whether they are true shepherds or not. When you see the fruits that appear from them, you can quickly identify them by looking at what they want to achieve. What they seek is not eternal life, but only what they can do to eat well, dress well, and live well in this world. Even if they appeal to them to get rid of the sins that remain in them for eternal life, most of them do not listen.
Those whose nature is already stained with sin cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and live according to it. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and does not work in an evil heart. In order to properly listen to the voice of the Lord, first of all, we must empty our original heart that is stained with sin within us. If you are unable to empty your original heart, you will constantly be greedy for worldly things and become engrossed in greed. Greed is the root of all sins. Look at the Pharisees who did not even understand what the Lord of Heaven was talking about in front of Pharaoh because of their sinful nature, even though they had a good life of faith! We should see this and realize how foolish and foolish humans are.
In his own eyes, no matter how earnest he is, he will never be able to hear the voice of the Lord unless he is completely under the control of the Holy Spirit. Because the Lord has not come to see with the naked eye, but comes and speaks through the Holy Spirit, only those who can understand the voice of the Holy Spirit can hear and follow the voice of the Lord. Let's not neglect our daily efforts to empty ourselves so that the voice of the Holy Spirit will not be cut off from us.