- The Context:
- The Lesson:
- Sheep:
- Shepherd:
- Porter:
- Sheepfold:
- Door:
- The Meaning:
- The Point:
- The Shepherd Warns Us: Be Alert! (Jn 10:1-2)
- The Shepherd Calls Us: Follow Him! (Jn 10:3-6)
- The Shepherd Provides for Us: Rest in Him! (Jn 10:7-10)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:00-00:01
You want to play a game?
00:02-00:03
Like, this is church.
00:03-00:04
Are we allowed to do that?
00:04-00:05
We're going to.
00:06-00:08
We're going to play a game, and the game is this.
00:09-00:14
If you could be any animal other than a human being, what kind of animal would you be?
00:15-00:17
All right, I'm going to give you a minute to think about that.
00:18-00:20
Some of you, like, already have your answer.
00:20-00:30
But if you could be any animal other than a human being, what kind of animal-- Oh, we have somebody, who?
00:31-00:32
Okay.
00:33-00:34
Audrey.
00:35-00:40
What kind of, if you, if you were not a human being, what kind of animal would you be?
00:41-00:41
A chinchilla.
00:42-00:43
You didn't even have to think about that.
00:43-00:44
Why would you want to be a chinchilla?
00:45-00:46
Because they're awesome.
00:50-00:51
What's awesome about a chinchilla?
00:51-00:52
You're gonna have to help me out here.
00:53-00:55
They jump, they jump high.
00:57-00:58
All right.
00:58-01:00
Party on, plus that's a cool name, Chinchilla.
01:01-01:03
All right, all right, how about somebody else?
01:03-01:06
If you could be an animal other than a human, what would you be?
01:06-01:08
Go ahead, Taylor Brown.
01:09-01:11
An otter, why would you be an otter?
01:14-01:16
They do look like they have a lot of fun, huh?
01:16-01:21
We get out into the zoo and they always look like it's playtime, that's a good choice.
01:22-01:26
I gotta ask you, man, Derek Edward, an octopus.
01:26-01:27
Why would you wanna be an octopus?
01:28-01:37
and the dexterity of his tentacles, being able to do multiple things at once, blending in perfectly, can change color anytime.
01:38-01:39
Still an octopus.
01:40-01:41
And never run out of ink?
01:42-01:43
(audience laughs)
01:43-01:43
That's it.
01:44-01:44
All right.
01:46-01:48
Somebody else, come on, what kind of animal would you like to be?
01:48-01:51
Paige, a chameleon.
01:52-01:54
Wow, why would you like to be a chameleon?
01:55-01:58
Because they change color, yeah, there you go.
01:58-02:00
Like, you don't even have to worry about changing clothes.
02:01-02:03
Just like, I feel like being purple today.
02:03-02:04
Bam, I'm purple!
02:05-02:05
Right?
02:06-02:07
That's pretty cool.
02:08-02:09
Plus, they get like the whole eye thing.
02:09-02:10
It's like, woo!
02:11-02:11
Right?
02:14-02:16
Some of you know what I'm talking about.
02:16-02:17
(audience laughing)
02:20-02:26
Some of you are right now getting on your smartphone and doing a Google search on chameleons' eyes.
02:26-02:26
Woo!
02:27-02:28
(audience laughing)
02:29-02:30
Come on, one more.
02:31-02:34
Debbie Simons, if you could be an animal other than a human being, what would you be?
02:34-02:36
I would be the family dog.
02:36-02:37
The family dog.
02:37-02:39
I love family dogs.
02:39-02:48
You know what, I was thinking about that as, you know, the dog's bed is right beside my office chair and I think about that often.
02:48-02:50
I'm like, you have a great life, dude.
02:51-02:54
Seriously, it's just like from one nap to the next.
02:55-02:55
Right?
02:57-03:02
I was, as I was thinking about this, if I could be any other animal other than a human being, I'd like to be a hippopotamus.
03:03-03:05
I mean, hippos are fantastic.
03:06-03:11
I mean, you know, you get to spend all that time in water and your teeth are like this big.
03:11-03:13
And I think hippos are really cool.
03:14-03:16
And you're like, okay, why are we playing this game?
03:16-03:17
Here's why.
03:20-03:29
What kind of animal does the Bible say you are most like, and I am most like.
03:29-03:35
The Bible uses a term, an animal term, to describe us over and over and over.
03:35-03:36
It's all through the Bible.
03:37-03:40
The Bible says you are, what kind of animal?
03:41-03:42
Sheep.
03:45-03:47
I want that to sink in for a second.
03:48-03:49
I want that to sink in.
03:49-03:51
You are a sheep.
03:52-04:02
I noticed that nobody said sheep when I said, "What kind of animal would you wanna be?" Is there anybody here that's like, "Yeah, I'd like to be a sheep." No, there's not.
04:02-04:03
I know that.
04:04-04:04
Why?
04:06-04:06
Why?
04:06-04:08
Why doesn't anybody wanna be a sheep?
04:09-04:11
Because sheep are lame.
04:15-04:18
Seriously, sheep are lame.
04:19-04:22
Are there any professional sports teams that are a sheep?
04:22-04:24
(congregation laughing)
04:29-04:31
What, like what are sheep?
04:31-04:32
What do they even do?
04:32-04:33
What do sheep do?
04:34-04:42
Like, okay, if an animal attacks them, how do they defend themselves?
04:42-04:48
They don't got like horns like a bull or they don't have like venom like a snake.
04:48-04:52
They don't even have like the big hooves or anything.
04:53-04:55
They got this little tiny mouth.
04:57-04:58
Not very scary.
05:00-05:00
Okay.
05:02-05:03
They look like a pillow.
05:06-05:10
I mean, how fearsome is an animal that's like covered in cotton?
05:11-05:15
It just looks like this big pillow and they're stupid.
05:16-05:20
And the Bible says that's what we are.
05:22-05:23
The Bible says we are sheep.
05:26-05:30
Plus they have like the nerdiest animal noise in the entire animal kingdom.
05:30-05:31
I mean, think about it.
05:32-05:35
You got lions with that growl.
05:37-05:41
You know, and you got birds that sing beautiful melodies.
05:43-05:45
And then you got what sheep do.
05:45-05:46
What does sheep do?
05:48-05:49
Go ahead, do it, it's fun.
05:52-05:54
Nerds, that's what sheep are, nerds.
05:55-05:56
(sheep bleating)
05:58-06:02
That's what sheep do, nerds of the animal kingdom.
06:03-06:08
Helpless, lame, nerds.
06:09-06:16
That's what sheep are, and the Bible says, "That's what you are." Still not convinced?
06:17-06:20
Name another animal that requires a full-time babysitter.
06:22-06:25
What do you call somebody that's in charge of watching a group of chickens?
06:25-06:26
What do you call them?
06:27-06:28
There is no such person.
06:29-06:33
What do you call somebody that's in charge of watching a group of horses?
06:34-06:36
There is no such person.
06:37-06:40
What do you call somebody that's in charge of watching a group of sheep?
06:41-06:42
A shepherd, yeah.
06:43-06:45
Sheep require full-time supervision.
06:46-06:46
Why?
06:48-06:49
Because they're dumb.
06:50-06:51
That's right.
06:51-06:53
They're defenseless and they're dumb.
06:53-06:58
They will walk off a cliff and not even realize it till three quarters of the way down.
07:00-07:01
Dumb animals.
07:03-07:04
And I am one.
07:05-07:05
And you are one.
07:05-07:07
So turn to John chapter 10.
07:09-07:12
Gosh, I like going to harvest so much because he makes me feel so good.
07:14-07:16
Today he told me I was the nerd of the animal kingdom.
07:18-07:22
Well, this is what the Bible says. You're a sheep and I'm a sheep.
07:25-07:29
So, we're going to be looking at John chapter 10.
07:33-07:35
And this is actually a two-part message.
07:35-08:00
We're going to be looking just at the first ten verses today, and then we're looking at the rest of the passage next week, because as we're going through the "I am" statements of Jesus Christ, there are actually two in this passage. Jesus used metaphors in this passage, but we're going to see that they're really just two aspects of the same thing, one this week, one next week.
08:01-08:22
All right? So grab your outline, because I want to give you the context of this passage. All right. This is important. Jesus says in chapter 10, verse one, truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
08:23-08:35
Now, like, you understand, you read the Bible in context, right? You read the Bible in context, don't get this idea that, you know, during the first century, Jesus was just walking along.
08:35-08:38
And all of a sudden he's like, "You know what? I want to talk about sheep all of a sudden.
08:38-08:45
Can we talk about sheep? Can we please talk about sheep? I want to talk about sheep." There was a reason that Jesus brought this up.
08:46-08:48
And what comes before chapter 10?
08:49-08:51
Chapter 9, you're correct.
08:52-08:56
Losing that hour's sleep didn't do anything for some of you.
08:58-09:04
But in chapter 9, this is the context, Jesus was confronting false shepherds.
09:04-09:07
Let me tell you what happened in chapter 9. I'm sure you've read it before.
09:07-09:11
But in chapter 9, Jesus healed a man who was born blind.
09:15-09:26
But he did it on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees, who were the ultra-religious, legalistic sect of the Jews, the Pharisees were livid.
09:27-09:30
I mean, think about this. Here's a man that was blind from birth.
09:30-09:37
Jesus healed him. And instead of breaking out in the greatest worship service of all time, they were livid.
09:38-09:41
They were angry. How dare you break the Sabbath?
09:44-09:48
And here's the whole issue, the Pharisees thought that they were the shepherds of Israel.
09:51-09:56
But what we're going to see that Jesus is pointing out in this passage is this, they didn't care about the sheep.
09:59-10:02
They just cared about enforcing man-made laws.
10:03-10:07
And listen, this is always the same.
10:09-10:11
Throughout history, this is always the same.
10:11-10:17
It was like this in the Old Testament times, it was like this in Jesus' day, and it is like this today.
10:19-10:25
There are false teachers and false leaders out there that don't give a rip about the people.
10:26-10:28
All they care about is what?
10:31-10:31
Themselves.
10:32-10:37
Money, power, prestige, me being the celebrity speaker.
10:38-10:39
And that's all they care about.
10:39-10:40
They don't care about the sheep.
10:42-10:49
They don't care if the sheep are growing in the Lord, or if the sheep are starving because they're not being fed.
10:49-10:50
They don't care.
10:51-11:01
They don't care if the sheep are being protected, or if the sheep are in danger, they don't care, because a false shepherd only cares about who?
11:02-11:02
Himself.
11:05-11:08
So in this passage we're going to look at, Jesus gives two images.
11:10-11:28
In the first six verses, and then in verses 11 and 18, which we'll get to next week, Jesus talks about being a shepherd to the sheep, and then in verses 7 through 10, where we're going to camp out a little bit today, Jesus talks about being the door of the sheep.
11:31-11:35
And as you know, Jesus Christ used the most common images to teach lessons.
11:36-11:37
We've already seen that, right?
11:37-12:00
To people that were after Jesus for a free lunch, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." To people who were watching the lights light up in the temple to celebrate the Shekinah glory of God, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." And in the face of false shepherds, we're going to see that Jesus said He is the good shepherd.
12:03-12:07
Very common image. There's nothing more common than a shepherd in Jesus' day.
12:10-12:18
So do we have anyone here this morning that was a shepherd during the first century that can explain how that worked?
12:20-12:23
Derek, were you a shepherd in the first century?
12:23-12:25
Maybe explain how this worked.
12:28-12:30
I know you've-- - I was black sheep of the family.
12:31-12:32
You were the black sheep of the family.
12:39-12:45
Well, all right, since we don't have any first century shepherds, I'm going to share with you what I studied.
12:47-12:51
While you're off working during the week doing what you do, here's what I'm doing, I'm studying this.
12:52-12:53
So jot this down under the lesson.
12:54-13:01
This is important to understand how shepherding worked in the first century.
13:01-13:07
Because if you just read this passage without that understanding, honestly, you're not gonna have much idea of what Jesus is talking about.
13:07-13:10
So we're gonna do the background stuff together, right?
13:11-13:13
So this is first century Middle East shepherding 101.
13:18-13:22
So each village had a sheep fold.
13:23-13:24
Jesus is going to reference that.
13:24-13:25
What is a sheep fold?
13:26-13:33
Well, each village would have this giant, it was a giant parking garage for sheep.
13:34-13:48
I know there weren't like lines, but just picture this giant enclosed area that each shepherd, when he would bring his flock back so he could go home and sleep for the night.
13:48-13:49
What was he gonna do with his flock?
13:49-13:51
Like, they're not hanging out in my living room.
13:52-14:00
So there was this giant sheepfold that many different shepherds would actually take their flock into this giant sheepfold.
14:00-14:04
So if you can get this picture in your mind, it wasn't like they had their own garage.
14:04-14:08
It was a giant common area where a bunch of shepherds had their sheep.
14:08-14:10
So you got that picture in your mind?
14:10-14:17
In the sheepfold, there would have been all these sheep, but some belonged to this shepherd and some belong to this shepherd.
14:17-14:20
And you guys stay separated, right?
14:20-14:20
Wrong.
14:21-14:22
They'd get together and they'd mix up.
14:22-14:27
And so there's all these sheep that would stick together in this sheepfold.
14:30-14:36
And the sheepfold was actually guarded by someone called a porter.
14:38-14:44
He was the hired guy who covered the third shift while the shepherds went home to sleep, right?
14:44-14:47
So that would be like the paid parking attendant.
14:49-14:51
You know, he was the guy that the shepherds paid.
14:51-14:53
And he's like, okay, you guys go home and sleep.
14:53-15:04
My job is to watch this giant sheep pen and make sure that the sheep are okay during the night.
15:06-15:07
This is really interesting.
15:08-15:09
This is something I learned this week.
15:10-15:23
But when the shepherd took his sheep to the sheepfold, One of the things that he would do as the sheep were getting ready to go in, the shepherd would actually lower his rod to stop each sheep at the doorway.
15:24-15:25
He'd lower his rod.
15:26-15:35
And as the sheep would walk up, the shepherd would look it over to make sure there weren't any scrapes or bruises or like wolf bite marks or anything.
15:36-15:37
He checked to make sure it was healthy.
15:38-15:43
And then he would raise the rod, let it go in, And then he would lower it and he would check the next one.
15:45-15:46
Why is that important?
15:46-15:58
Well, Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse 37, the Lord says, "I will make you pass under the rod." You know, it's a picture of God being a loving shepherd to us.
15:59-16:06
He's not just like, "Oh, next, boots, next, boots." God taking time and taking care with every one of us.
16:06-16:07
That's the picture.
16:08-16:10
So the shepherd would take his sheep there.
16:10-16:13
the porter would shut the door, he would guard the door.
16:13-16:18
And then the next morning, each shepherd would actually enter the door.
16:20-16:23
And what do we see in this giant sheep pen?
16:23-16:24
All these mixed sheep.
16:24-16:27
So like, how did they know whose was who?
16:29-16:31
Well, the shepherd would actually call his sheep out.
16:33-16:39
He would call them out and would lead them from the front.
16:42-16:46
But the only person that walked through that door was the shepherd.
16:48-16:51
And there were people that would actually steal sheep.
16:51-16:52
How did they make that happen?
16:52-16:54
Well, they'd sneak over the wall.
16:56-17:04
They would kill the sheep and they would throw them over the wall dead because a dead sheep makes a lot less noise than a live one.
17:05-17:08
All these pictures are going to come into play in a second.
17:11-17:15
But in verses 7-9 we're going to see Jesus talks about a door.
17:19-17:23
This is where we have to really explain something.
17:23-17:24
Everybody with me so far?
17:24-17:33
You got the sheep pen, you got the porter, you got the big sheep parking garage, and the shepherd goes in and he calls out his sheep, they know his voice, they follow him out.
17:36-17:45
But oftentimes the shepherds would lead their sheep so far out that they knew they couldn't get them back to the sheepfold in time.
17:47-17:52
So they would have little sheepfolds just for their flock out in the wilderness, right?
17:55-18:08
Well, what the shepherd actually did in And this little sheepfold, just for his sheep out in the wilderness, the shepherd would actually lay across the doorway of that sheepfold to sleep.
18:09-18:09
Why?
18:11-18:12
Why would the shepherd lay across the doorway?
18:13-18:21
Because sheep are dumb, and the only way a sheep was going to get out of the sheepfold was how?
18:22-18:26
He'd have to stomp all over the shepherd to get out.
18:26-18:31
But the other aspect of that is what? Nothing could get in.
18:32-18:42
No predators could get in after the sheep unless they crossed over, they walked over the shepherd who was laying across the doorway.
18:42-18:45
Do you see the picture? Get that picture in your mind?
18:48-18:56
Those sheep, again, all belonged to the shepherd, No door, just an opening, sleeping across the doorway.
18:59-19:04
How many people think they could pass a test on 1st century Middle Eastern sheep herding 101?
19:07-19:11
It's important because we're going to be talking about this the next couple of weeks.
19:11-19:17
Now, with all of that background, listen to what Jesus says.
19:21-19:24
Because like, his audience would have known that stuff.
19:24-19:37
You know, if I'd get up to you and use an illustration about, you know, the Stillers, or the Penguins, or Heinz Ketchup, you all would be like, "Oh yeah, I get that, I get that, I get that." That's what Jesus was doing here, using something everybody understood.
19:37-19:39
We're going to do a little homework. So here we go.
19:40-19:50
Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door," This is the sheepfold by the village.
19:51-19:56
"But climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
19:58-20:04
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
20:07-20:28
To him the gatekeeper opens." And Jesus' audience would have been like, "Yeah, we get that. Yeah, that's how shepherding works. Right." And he calls his own sheep, I love this, by name, and leads them out.
20:31-20:36
And his audience would have been like, "Yeah, of course they do." But he's starting to see the spiritual teaching.
20:36-20:38
Do you see where Jesus is going with this?
20:40-20:57
He's like, "The shepherd knows the name of his sheep." When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.
20:59-21:39
A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from Him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." And then John inserts here, sort of making a comment on Jesus' teaching, John inserts this, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says, "This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them." The Pharisees and the people who had not believed in Jesus at this point were like, Yeah, we totally understand how shepherding works.
21:40-21:41
Why are you telling us this?
21:42-21:59
Verse seven, "So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you,'" here it is, "'I am the door of the sheep.'" He's still with us on this picture.
22:00-22:06
The shepherd leads the sheep out and they're out in the wilderness, temporary sheep fold with his own sheep.
22:06-22:07
He's already led them out.
22:08-22:10
Now the shepherd lays down as the door.
22:10-22:16
See, that's how Jesus can talk about being a shepherd and being a door, because they're the same thing.
22:16-22:18
The shepherd was just like a human door.
22:18-22:21
Jesus said, "I am the door of the sheep.
22:22-22:27
"All who came before me are thieves and robbers, "but the sheep did not listen to them.
22:30-22:31
"I am the door.
22:33-22:44
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
22:46-22:51
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
22:51-22:59
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
23:03-23:05
Let's talk about the meaning of Jesus' teaching.
23:06-23:10
First of all, what is the sheep? We already established that. That's you and me.
23:11-23:19
That's why the title of this message is "To the Helpless." Because really, that's all we are, is helpless sheep.
23:22-23:36
All through the Scripture, Matthew 9, 36, the Bible says, "When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them." And why? Because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
23:39-23:44
Name a famous psalm. Probably everybody's favorite psalm in here. You like Psalm 23, right?
23:47-24:02
What does Psalm 23 say? "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 79, Psalm 95, Psalm 100, we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
24:02-24:05
Over and over and over we are called sheep.
24:07-24:08
And here's why.
24:10-24:11
Here's why we're called sheep.
24:12-24:13
We need a shepherd.
24:16-24:18
We need a shepherd.
24:23-24:27
That's why the Bible calls us sheep, because we need a shepherd.
24:31-24:52
Isaiah 53, 6 says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each to his own way." So if you're sitting here now and you're like, "I don't know what his thing is with the sheep, but I'm not a sheep. I do my own thing." Do you know what else does their own thing?
24:54-25:00
A sheep. We all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way.
25:00-25:01
That's how sheep are.
25:01-25:02
They're not paying attention.
25:02-25:04
And here I am over here all of a sudden.
25:04-25:05
How did I get over here?
25:05-25:06
I don't know.
25:08-25:13
We're like that. We find ourselves in these situations and we're like, how did I get here?
25:14-25:18
Because we all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way, meaning.
25:20-25:24
We might end up in different places, but the problem's the same. We're sheep.
25:26-25:39
1 Peter 2.25 says, "You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls." So why are we like sheep?
25:40-25:43
Well, first of all, we're like sheep because we need a shepherd.
25:44-25:48
But here's something else that Jesus was pointing out.
25:48-25:53
We're going to get in a little deeper with this in a second, but we can follow the wrong shepherd.
25:56-25:57
We can follow the wrong shepherd.
26:04-26:07
Several years ago, I was visiting a friend of mine who just bought a house.
26:08-26:14
Behind his house, it was out in the country, woods and trails and all this stuff.
26:14-26:17
Well, this man's grandson, Aaron knows what I'm going to say.
26:18-26:21
This man's grandson, he was what, six or seven at the time?
26:22-26:23
Maybe not even, maybe a little older.
26:24-26:25
He was like seven or eight maybe.
26:26-26:30
But he's like, "Pastor Jeff, let me walk you around these paths.
26:30-27:03
I want to show you around." And I'm thinking, "Well, the kid lives here." I'm like, "You sure you know where you're going?" He goes, "Yeah." I'm thinking, "Jeff, the kid lives here. He knows where he's going." So, we go walking on these trails and we're walking for a while, and we're walking for a while, and we're walking for a while, and I'm like, "Is this the way back?" And he's like, "Yeah." So, we're walking and we're walking and we're walking and we're walking.
27:05-27:16
I'm like, "Jeff, don't be rude. He lives here." I'm like, "Are you sure this is the way?" He's like, "Yeah." So we're walking and we're walking and we're walking and we're walking.
27:17-27:38
And then finally, I stopped him. I said—his name is Isaac—I said, "Isaac, where are we?" He goes, "I don't know." And I said, Isaac, you told me that you knew the way.
27:38-27:40
And he goes, yeah, you shouldn't have trusted me.
27:45-27:46
Now, who's the dumb sheep?
27:50-27:54
But as sheep, we can follow the wrong shepherd, right?
27:58-28:03
Something else, sheep, good news, God is seeking lost sheep.
28:03-28:04
Isn't that great news?
28:05-28:10
Matthew 18, 12, Luke 15, you know the story, one out of a hundred sheep get lost.
28:11-28:13
Well, at least I have 99, that's good enough, right?
28:13-28:15
No, the shepherd goes after the lost one.
28:16-28:19
And Jesus said, "That's what my father's like.
28:21-28:24
"He cares so much about one lost sheep.
28:25-28:26
"Whatever it takes, I'm going after him.
28:28-28:35
"I gotta bring her back." So we talked about the sheep, we talked about the shepherd, obviously.
28:36-28:37
You know who the shepherd is, right?
28:39-28:39
Spoiler alert.
28:43-28:44
The shepherd is Jesus.
28:44-28:46
We're going to get to that next week.
28:47-28:51
If you run into somebody who didn't turn their clocks ahead, don't spoil it for them.
28:52-28:53
What is the sheepfold?
28:54-28:55
The sheepfold by the village.
28:55-28:59
You're like, "What's that all about?" Some people say, "Well, that's the church.
29:00-29:01
That's the church.
29:03-29:04
That's not the church.
29:06-29:12
For one, with this picture that Jesus is painting, why would he be calling people out of the church?
29:12-29:18
Because the church itself is called the called out ones, so why would Jesus be calling people out of the church?
29:18-29:19
That doesn't make any sense.
29:19-29:21
I don't think he's talking about the church there.
29:22-29:24
Some people say this, this kind of cracks me up.
29:24-29:27
Some people say the sheepfold by the village represents heaven.
29:29-29:33
Like really, there are thieves and robbers breaking into heaven, stealing people.
29:34-29:35
That's bad theology.
29:37-29:39
So what does that sheepfold represent?
29:41-29:44
The sheepfold actually represents Israel.
29:45-29:55
The Messiah here is calling His people out of the Old Testament law and into the fulfillment of the promises of God.
29:57-30:00
You're like, "Do you have some like biblical support for that?" Actually, I do.
30:01-30:08
Matthew 15, 24, Jesus said that He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
30:08-30:28
And in this particular passage, if you jump down to John chapter 10, verse 16, Jesus said, "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock, one shepherd." Who's he talking about there? He's talking about the Gentiles.
30:30-30:41
Jesus said, "My mission was for the lost sheep of Israel, but I also have this other mission because I have other sheep that they're just not Jewish sheep, but I'm going after them too.
30:42-30:49
And my goal is to get the Jewish sheep and to get the Gentile sheep, and I'm going to have this like fantastic like flock of sheep.
30:50-30:51
That's my goal.
30:55-31:03
And then he takes us out into the sheepfold in the wilderness, the one where it's, we're all his, and that represents God's blessing.
31:05-31:10
Calling his people out and calling his people into a sheepfold all his own.
31:14-31:16
That's being a sheep 101.
31:17-31:19
That's Middle Eastern sheep herding 101.
31:20-31:23
And now, you're like, I hope there's a point to this.
31:23-31:23
There is.
31:24-31:25
Why is Jesus saying this?
31:26-31:30
Well, three takeaways for my fellow sheep.
31:33-31:34
Here they are.
31:34-31:39
Number one, the shepherd warns us.
31:40-31:41
Be alert.
31:43-31:45
The shepherd warns us, be alert.
31:46-31:47
That's the first thing Jesus said.
31:47-31:50
He's in the face of these false shepherds.
31:52-32:01
He starts by saying, truly, truly, I say to you, notice when Jesus says truth, truly, what he's saying is, listen up, this is really important.
32:02-32:03
Like, why would he say that?
32:03-32:04
We all do that, right?
32:05-32:07
Like, is his other stuff not as important?
32:08-32:09
He's putting an emphasis on it.
32:09-32:14
He's he's running a highlighter over his words to say this is extra important.
32:17-32:18
Why is he saying that? Because this is a warning.
32:19-32:22
There are people that sneak into the sheepfold.
32:26-32:28
Thieves and robbers, Jesus said.
32:29-32:46
He warned us, "Be alert." And here to the Pharisees, to the false shepherds of Israel, Jesus was saying, "You people aren't shepherds, you're not even sheep." I want to tell you, church, that false teachers aren't just mistaken.
32:48-32:51
False teachers are dangerous.
32:54-32:57
Not just mistaken, they're dangerous.
32:58-33:00
They're evil tools of the enemy of your souls.
33:00-33:03
Listen to this from 1 Timothy 4, 1.
33:04-33:21
Paul writes, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times, as in now, Some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.
33:24-33:24
That's from your Bible.
33:26-33:37
So when someone is a false teacher, knowingly teaching false doctrine, our attitude is not, "Oh, bless their heart, they're close.
33:38-33:45
"Oh, bless their heart, they just have a few things off a little bit." False teachers are dangerous.
33:47-33:47
How dangerous?
33:49-33:54
Jesus compared them to people that kill sheep and throw them over the wall to steal them.
33:54-34:00
Jesus said, "That's what false teachers do." And this isn't just, again, ignorance on the part of man.
34:01-34:05
Jesus was teaching us here and Paul was teaching us, this is the teaching of demons.
34:06-34:12
And that's why almost every single book in your New Testament warns against false teachers.
34:14-34:16
And I have to warn you.
34:18-34:27
Because when I first became a Christian, I thought that everything that had the name of Christian on it, or a cross, or said the name Jesus, was legit.
34:28-34:29
That's what I thought.
34:30-34:37
"Oh, that group says they're Christians, so I'm going to swallow everything they say, And this group says they're Christians, and I'm going to believe everything they say.
34:37-34:49
And it didn't take me long to learn that not everyone who claims they're teaching the truth actually are teaching the truth.
34:53-34:55
So how do I know a false teacher?
34:58-35:00
Just what I've been telling you all along.
35:01-35:04
You need to test them like I tell you to test me.
35:05-35:06
What do I tell you?
35:08-35:09
How do you test me?
35:11-35:15
You need to know God's Word for yourself. That's how.
35:18-35:23
My job as a pastor every week is to get up.
35:24-35:28
Listen, this is almost motivation to quit.
35:29-35:37
My motivation as a pastor every week is to get up and say, "This is what God said." Do you think that makes me a little nervous?
35:39-35:39
It does.
35:41-35:46
To stand up in front of a group of people and say, "Here's a message from God.
35:46-35:55
This is what the Creator of the universe wants to tell you." That's why I have to spend all week working on these messages.
35:56-35:58
This isn't something that I want to miss.
35:59-36:14
I don't want to shoot from the hip on that one, to say, "This is what God said." And the only way you learn to discern is by being in God's Word yourself.
36:14-36:19
You're going to get so familiar with God's Word that you can smell the false teaching right away.
36:21-36:22
You have to get in God's Word yourself.
36:25-36:26
Are you in God's Word?
36:26-36:34
Are you spending time regularly reading and studying and memorizing and meditating God's Word?
36:34-36:35
Are you doing that?
36:36-36:37
Get on that.
36:39-36:41
You're like, "I don't really have a plan." Make one.
36:43-36:45
Like, "I don't even know where to start." Call me.
36:45-36:46
I'll tell you where to start.
36:47-36:50
But you need to be in God's Word for yourself, okay?
36:51-36:55
Get this in here and get it from in here to in here.
36:56-37:04
And then when these dangerous, demonically fueled false teachers get up and start teaching, automatically you're going to know.
37:04-37:05
You're going to know.
37:08-37:25
So the shepherd warns us, "Be alert. Be alert." Secondly, the shepherd calls us, "Follow him." Do you see that to Him the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear His voice and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.
37:27-37:32
When He's brought out all His own, He goes before them and the sheep follow Him for they know His voice.
37:35-37:47
The irony to this whole passage is in verse 6, "As Jesus was teaching, His own people that He was talking to didn't hear Him." But this is the kind of shepherd that we have.
37:49-37:51
This is the kind of shepherd that we have.
37:54-37:55
He leads us out.
37:59-38:02
He goes with us and He goes before us.
38:03-38:04
Isn't that comforting?
38:08-38:09
You understand that, right?
38:09-38:38
It wasn't like Jesus said, "Believe in Me, okay, you're saved and I'll see you in heaven. He said, I will never leave you or forsake you. He's not a shepherd that takes any sick days. Right there at all times with his sheep. Going with us and going before He calls us and we know his voice.
38:40-38:42
You know, Debbie had earlier mentioned about dogs.
38:44-38:50
I had this boxer, his name was Brody and he was the greatest dog ever.
38:51-38:55
And you might not agree with that, but you can be wrong.
39:00-39:01
Brody was built like a bull.
39:02-39:12
He was fast as a cheetah. He was smart as a fruit fly. But that was a fantastic dog.
39:14-39:55
But I remember I'd take him when I'd do a camp for little kids, little second graders. You know how boxers are, right? High strung a little. Brady would be running around with all the, he'd be surrounded by dozens and dozens and dozens of kids that, you know, little second graders all screaming and laughing and playing with them. And I remember I could be standing at the other end of the camp as Brody was surrounded with all these screaming kids and say, "Brody, come here." And as soon as he heard my voice, the ears went back, the head went up, and he was right there. He didn't stay very long, but he came.
39:59-40:08
that always amazed me. How in the midst of all that clamor did he hear me? How?
40:09-40:36
Well the answer is he knew my voice. He just knew my voice. And Jesus is saying, "Sheep, you have the same type of a relationship with him." Do you know how much clamor there is from the world around you? And you should believe this, and you should do this, and you should buy what I'm selling, and there's all this clamor around us, but somehow, Christians, you know when it's Jesus speaking to you, don't you?
40:37-40:41
You know when it's your shepherd saying your name.
40:44-40:47
"Steve!" And Steve's ears go back, and his head goes up, and he comes running, right?
40:49-40:51
But you know when it's the voice of your shepherd.
40:53-40:57
He calls us, follow him, and this is just the reality.
40:57-41:00
Some of you know the voice of the shepherd and some of you don't.
41:01-41:04
And there's really no other way to explain it.
41:05-41:15
You either know what it is to have God ministering to your hearts, to follow His voice in leading, to feel His presence, or you have no idea what I'm talking about right now.
41:16-41:17
That's just all there is to it.
41:19-41:20
But this is what the Christian life is.
41:22-41:25
It's following Jesus. That's the Christian life.
41:26-41:32
It's following Jesus. He's the shepherd, I'm the sheep, I'm following Him.
41:33-41:35
It's the adventure of faith.
41:38-41:48
Right now, there are some people in this room that are like, "Yeah, I totally get that." It's because you can hear the voice of the shepherd, and you know.
41:49-41:52
You're going to follow Him wherever He leads you. Why?
41:53-42:01
You might be like, "I don't know where he's leading me, but I do know that wherever he's leading me is where I want to be, because that's where he is." Right?
42:04-42:10
I had zero plans of getting into ministry, seriously. Bottom of the list.
42:12-42:30
But that day, the shepherd said, "Follow me." And then that day he said, "I want you to get into ministry." I remember like, "I don't want to do that." But this is where he's called me.
42:32-42:40
And now I couldn't imagine doing anything else, you know, 16, 17 years later, however long I've been in ministry now, I couldn't imagine doing anything else.
42:40-42:44
Why? I just want to be close to the shepherd, right?
42:44-42:46
And it's not the ministry that makes me close to the shepherd.
42:46-42:47
You understand that, right?
42:48-42:51
It's just in my Christian walk, following where He leads.
42:51-42:56
Like, "Jesus, I know that You have a plan for me, and I just want to be where You want me to be.
42:56-43:00
I just want to be where You are." That's what it means to follow Christ.
43:03-43:13
He might turn your whole world upside down, but you want to be where He wants you to be, because you just want to be where He is.
43:14-43:16
You're a sheep following a shepherd.
43:17-43:22
And finally, the shepherd provides for us.
43:24-43:28
Rest in Him. Rest in Him.
43:28-43:30
Look again with me, verses 7 through 10.
43:31-43:36
"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
43:36-43:41
All who came before me are thieves and robbers.' But the sheep did not listen to them.
43:42-43:49
"I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
43:50-43:52
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
43:53-44:02
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." The shepherd who is also the door.
44:03-44:05
What is this a picture of?
44:06-44:08
Why is Jesus saying, "I am the door"?
44:08-44:37
this is a picture of security. That's what this is, it's security. You realize what Jesus is saying by saying, "I'm the door"? What he's saying is, "You want at my sheep? You want at my sheep? You gotta go through me. These sheep belong to me, and if you want them, you're going to have to walk over me to get at them." Like, who Who wants to get in line for that?
44:39-44:40
No thanks.
44:42-44:43
Security.
44:44-45:02
Notice Jesus said in verse 9, "If anyone enters by Me." That's why I'm telling you, if you're with us today and you haven't responded, but you know, you felt like, "Man, I've just really felt like God might be calling me.
45:02-45:09
I feel like God's been trying to get my attention lately, And I just really feel like, I don't know, like God's after me.
45:12-45:14
And you need to respond to that.
45:16-45:20
If you sense that the shepherd is calling you out, you need to respond to that.
45:23-45:27
He says, "If anyone enters by me, look at these three blessings.
45:28-45:30
He will be saved and we'll go in and out.
45:34-45:35
We'll find pasture.
45:37-45:39
Got three S words for you, I want you to jot these down.
45:40-45:43
Blessings of coming to Christ, the first one is saved.
45:44-45:45
Saved.
45:50-45:56
Coming to Christ, first of all, means you're saved, but you're not just saved from something.
45:58-46:04
You are. You're saved from hell. You're saved from condemnation. You're saved from judgment.
46:05-46:11
You're saved from death. You're saved from something, but you're also saved to something.
46:13-46:25
Like, what are we saved to? Well, Jesus said it in verse 10, "You're saved to abundant life." Okay, so the creator of the universe, the author of life is giving life.
46:26-46:28
What do you think the quality is on that?
46:29-46:30
You think it's C+?
46:32-46:38
Like, yeah, Jesus saved me and he dwells in me and it's kind of like a ho-hum experience.
46:40-46:42
What do you think? Is it B? Is it B+?
46:44-46:46
Is that the kind of life that Jesus gives?
46:49-46:50
What kind of a grade do you think it is?
46:52-46:54
It's A+, isn't it? It's abundant.
46:55-47:01
It's the best. Save from, but save to abundant life.
47:01-47:06
Second S word, write this word down, secure. Secure.
47:09-47:15
He says he will be saved and will go in and out. Go in and out of what?
47:15-47:19
Is he talking about salvation? Of course not. He's not talking about salvation.
47:19-47:21
What does it mean to go in and out?
47:24-47:24
Here's what it means.
47:27-47:29
Right now we are in, right?
47:31-47:32
What have we been doing here?
47:34-47:35
We've been in the presence of our Lord.
47:35-47:37
We've been worshiping our Lord.
47:37-47:39
We've been getting into God's word.
47:39-47:41
We've been praying together as a congregation.
47:42-47:44
This is the safe place, right?
47:48-47:55
And sadly, in a few minutes, you're going to leave, back out into the dark world.
48:00-48:02
That's what Jesus is talking about with us going in and out.
48:04-48:12
We go in and out, we get out into the dark, dangerous world, back into the security of His presence and His people, His other sheep.
48:13-48:17
Back out into the dark world, when you go to your small group, back into security.
48:18-48:29
You leave small group, back out into the dark world, you get together with a Christian brother or sister, back into security, back out into the dark world, back here, hopefully in the auditorium next Sunday, security.
48:30-48:31
That's what it is to know Christ.
48:33-48:34
That's what it is to know Christ.
48:36-48:39
It's security, in here or out there.
48:39-48:45
I know he's with me, but I find a special security being in his sheepfold.
48:45-48:48
And the last thing is this, satisfaction.
48:53-48:58
He will be saved, we'll go in and out and find pasture.
49:01-49:02
And find pasture.
49:04-49:05
You know the 23rd Psalm, right?
49:05-49:08
"The Lord is my shepherd." What's the next line?
49:09-49:15
"I shall not be in want." He gives me everything that I need.
49:15-49:28
because he gives us himself. And that takes us back a couple of weeks ago when we talked about Jesus being the bread of life. Okay? So that was the introduction.
49:30-49:48
Here's the sermon. There's only one thing that a sheep needs, and what's that? A The truth is you will follow someone.
49:52-50:05
But the question is, are you following the only shepherd who can save you, who can give you security, and who can truly satisfy you?
50:06-50:07
Are you following that shepherd?
50:11-50:22
Next week we're going to continue in this text as Jesus continues with this theme of being the Good Shepherd.
50:23-50:25
Bow your heads with me and pray, please.
50:29-50:39
Father in heaven, we are sheep.
50:43-50:57
Even in our best moments, with all of our accomplishments and accolades and achievements and things that we might boast about in the flesh, at the end of the day, we're a sheep.
51:00-51:02
And the truth is, we need a shepherd.
51:06-51:11
So Father, we come before you and we thank you that you are our shepherd.
51:14-51:19
You have called us out and you have called us in.
51:22-51:33
You have saved us and given us life and given us protection, and given us your presence and you've given us fulfillment and satisfaction as only you can.
51:38-51:41
Father, just now I pray for any in this room who aren't following the shepherd.
51:43-52:02
I pray, Father, that if they right now are experiencing you calling them out, If they know in their hearts that you are speaking to them and you're telling them to follow you, I pray, Father, you would give them the faith to respond.
52:05-52:20
And Father, for those of us who do already follow the shepherd, I pray, Father, that we would continue to grow in our understanding of what it means to rest in Christ.
52:23-52:30
We live in such a busy culture, and everyone's over-committed and over-extended and worn out.
52:33-52:40
And we try to bring that into the church, when really what you've called us to do is just one thing, that's to follow you.
52:42-52:47
We thank you, Father, for the salvation and security and satisfaction that you give.
52:52-52:53
Give us ears to hear.
52:55-52:56
Give us faith to follow.
52:59-53:01
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read John 10:1-10
In John 10:4, Jesus said His sheep know His voice. How do you know when it is the voice of Jesus speaking? How do you respond when someone says, “God (or the Holy Spirit) told me...” when you are not convinced.
How can you tell when someone is a false shepherd (the “thief and robber“, Jn 10:1, 8)?
How have you experienced “abundant” life in Jesus? (Jn 10:10)
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.