To the Powerless: I am the Vine

1. The cast of this passage: (Jn 15:1-6)


1. Vine = Jesus Christ = The Source of Life.


2. Vinedresser = God the Father = The Active Worker.


3. Branches = Man = The Fruit Bearers.


2. How do I know I'm abiding? (Jn 15:7-11)


1. I experience a powerful Prayer life. (Jn 15:7)


2. I experience a fruitful Ministry. (Jn 15:8)


3. I experience a loving Obedience. (Jn 15:9-10)


4. I experience a supernatural Joy. (Jn 15:11)

So what do I need as a Christian?

• I need money
• I need happiness
• I need more time
• I need to get things done
• I need to be the best
• I need to be perfect
• I need to abide!

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:07

  This is our last message from the "I Am" series, looking at the incomparable claims of Jesus Christ.

  00:10-00:12

  And as we turn to John 15, do you want to hear a funny story?

  00:14-00:14

  Do you want to hear a funny story?

  00:16-00:19

  This is one of the funniest stories to me.

  00:19-00:23

  And, like, how many of you have met my wife?

  00:24-00:27

  You know Erin, right? Okay, that's what makes this story so great.

  00:30-00:36

  We were, this was what last fall I believe it was, we were getting ready to go somewhere.

  00:36-00:42

  So we were, I think we were going to a doctor appointment or something, but we all went out into the driveway.

  00:43-00:56

  And if you've been to our house, you know, we live in downtown Prospect, downtown, like in the heart of the city, like three houses away from the blinker lights, downtown.

  00:58-01:12

  So we're, I just remember, I just remember we were like dressed up. I don't mean like we were going to the prom, but you know what I mean. Like we weren't in our sweatpants. We were dressed up like we were going like out. No offense if you're wearing sweatpants today, I'm sorry.

  01:14-01:24

  But we were going out and I opened the door to let the kids in the car and I saw something I couldn't even believe what I saw.

  01:26-01:32

  I walking from around the shed was a chicken.

  01:33-01:38

  Yeah, a chicken was walking around the side of the shed.

  01:40-01:43

  It had a tomato in its beak.

  01:45-01:45

  I'm not even joking.

  01:47-01:50

  And I'm just looking at this chicken.

  01:51-01:52

  And oh, quick flashback.

  01:53-01:57

  My wife is so into gardening, and we have this little, you've been to our house.

  01:57-02:00

  You know how much property we have, right?

  02:00-02:02

  Like, what is it like?

  02:02-02:05

  One hundredth of an acre or something.

  02:05-02:14

  Well, she has cherry trees and apple trees and blueberry bushes or trees, whatever blueberries grow.

  02:14-02:15

  I don't even know.

  02:15-02:18

  And she's got tomatoes and she's got all these things.

  02:18-02:24

  And she's got like hanging on the fence, these big like trough things with things growing.

  02:24-02:29

  and I never know where to mow because I'm always afraid I'm going to mow one of her bushes or whatever.

  02:29-02:34

  And she spends so much time and energy into this.

  02:35-02:41

  And she's so excited, she goes out every day to see how things are growing and she comes in to report, okay?

  02:42-02:47

  So with that backstory, there's a chicken with a tomato in its beak.

  02:49-02:52

  And I'm just like, oh, this is about to get real interesting.

  02:53-02:53

  (congregation laughing)

  02:56-02:58

  Where did the chicken come from?

  02:58-03:00

  I mean, I couldn't even wrap my brain around that.

  03:00-03:01

  There's a chicken in my yard.

  03:02-03:09

  Well, I said, "Aaron, look, "that chicken has one of your tomatoes." How do you think she reacted?

  03:11-03:12

  Like the incredible Hulk.

  03:14-03:22

  And this is what's so funny if you know my wife, because you know, cute little pretty dainty Aaron, turned into a volcano.

  03:22-03:27

  She grabbed, the nearest thing she could grab was a shovel.

  03:28-03:30

  And she grabbed the shovel.

  03:30-03:33

  She's like, "Get back here!" She starts chasing this chicken with the shovel.

  03:35-03:40

  Well, the chicken is running from her, like any smart chicken would.

  03:43-03:47

  Well, she chases it, and it runs into the fenced part of our yard.

  03:48-03:57

  And she's like, "Oh, great!" So now she's in the yard chasing this chicken around the fence line and around the trampoline with the shovel.

  03:59-04:02

  Well, I was laughing so hard I could barely stand.

  04:03-04:09

  So finally I went and opened up the back wooden gate and the chicken got away.

  04:10-04:13

  And they're like, why are you telling us this story?

  04:13-04:14

  Because it's hilarious.

  04:14-04:18

  That's why it was one of the times in my life.

  04:18-04:22

  I think back, the hardest times I've ever laughed in my life.

  04:22-04:30

  But there is actually another reason I'm telling you that story, because today we're going to get all botanical up here.

  04:31-04:31

  Okay?

  04:32-04:40

  We're going to be looking at an analogy, a metaphor that Jesus gives that comes straight from gardening.

  04:41-04:41

  All right?

  04:42-04:45

  I thought that was just a good excuse to tell the chicken story.

  04:48-04:50

  Well, this is a very profound lesson.

  04:52-05:06

  And actually at the end of John 14, we see that Jesus and the disciples were leaving the upper room.

  05:09-05:19

  Actually, the very last sentence, Jesus said, "Rise, let us go from here." So best understanding when you get to chapter 15, is this is something that Jesus was saying on the way.

  05:19-05:24

  And it makes a lot of sense because Jesus and the disciples would have passed some vineyards.

  05:28-05:34

  And if you recall what we discussed last week, Jesus told his disciples, "I'm leaving.

  05:37-05:40

  But the reason I'm going is I'm going to prepare a place for you.

  05:40-06:01

  And then I'm going to come back and I'm going to take you so that you can be with me." So I'm sure at this point the disciples were thinking, "Okay, I saw that our Lord had this thing happening, you know, he was doing this ministry and now he's leaving.

  06:01-06:17

  So does that mean that the work of Christ on earth is done?" Right? I mean, that's what I would think. He's leaving, so what do we do? Go back to fishing, go back to the tax booth. Jesus' work on earth is done because he's leaving, right?

  06:18-08:00

  Wrong. Actually, Jesus uses this to illustrate how the work's going to continue. And you can see them walking past a vineyard and Jesus stopping to give an object lesson. Look at the first six verses, then we'll go back in on your outline. This is the cast of this passage. Jesus said, "I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." So let's look at the cast of this passage. On your outline, the The vine is Jesus Christ.

  08:01-08:05

  And in this picture he's giving, he is the source of life.

  08:09-08:12

  The life of the branch is found in the vine.

  08:12-08:17

  The power and the nourishment come from the vine into the branch.

  08:17-08:23

  Actually, just yesterday we were out in our yard and right beside our house, we have a giant weeping willow tree.

  08:24-08:29

  And Aaron pointed out, he said, Did you see that that huge branch has broken off?

  08:29-08:34

  And I didn't see it before just a couple of months ago when I was out.

  08:35-08:41

  But one of the biggest branches, where it meets the tree, it just like broke off.

  08:42-08:50

  So what are the chances that that branch is going to sprout and thrive and have leaves and grow this summer?

  08:50-08:52

  What are the chances that branch is going to grow anything?

  08:54-08:54

  None.

  08:55-09:24

  it's not. But it's still like on the tree, kind of. I mean it's broke off, but it's still being supported by other branches. But there's no life to it. So it's dead and it's not going to produce anything. So that's the vine. Jesus said He's the vine, he's the source of life.

  09:25-09:29

  The vine dresser is God the Father, jot this down, he's the active worker.

  09:32-09:37

  He says, "My father is the vine dresser." What that tells me is personal care.

  09:39-09:41

  He's actively involved.

  09:41-09:42

  Isn't that awesome?

  09:42-09:51

  That God's not like, yeah, next thing on the calendar is like the return of Christ, and I'm just gonna be up here in heaven sort of minding my own business, you guys fend for yourselves.

  09:51-09:54

  And that's not the picture of God.

  09:54-09:58

  We see him actively involved in his garden.

  10:04-10:07

  Then thirdly, the branches, that's you and I.

  10:12-10:14

  Jot down fruit bearers.

  10:15-10:16

  We are the fruit bearers.

  10:20-10:32

  Look again at verse two, Jesus said, "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away." Now, some people have used this passage to teach that you can lose your salvation.

  10:36-10:38

  But I want us to be crystal clear.

  10:38-10:47

  Scripture teaches that if you are truly saved, if you have truly been born again, you cannot lose your salvation, okay? You cannot.

  10:49-10:51

  Jesus said that he has you in his hand.

  10:51-10:59

  So if you're going to lose your salvation, that would require somebody more powerful than Jesus Christ to come and take you from his hand.

  10:59-11:01

  So who's more powerful than Christ?

  11:02-11:03

  Like who's doing that job?

  11:05-11:06

  Absolutely not.

  11:07-11:09

  This is not teaching that you can lose your salvation.

  11:10-11:11

  So what's he talking about?

  11:12-11:14

  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit.

  11:14-11:17

  I believe what he's teaching here in light of the immediate context.

  11:19-11:22

  Recall, Judas was with them at the Last Supper for a while, remember?

  11:23-11:26

  And then he went to betray him.

  11:28-11:38

  And I really believe that's what Jesus is teaching here, that there are people like Judas that are hanging around, but they aren't really attached to the life of the vine.

  11:40-11:43

  And sadly, there isn't just one Judas.

  11:44-11:47

  Sadly, there are millions of Judas's.

  11:48-12:00

  There are people that sit in churches, there are people that hang around Jesus, they hang around Christ's people, but they're not really attached.

  12:03-12:05

  That's what Jesus is talking about here.

  12:08-12:10

  Or you could say like that branch on our weeping willow tree.

  12:12-12:16

  If you drove by, you would say, well, that that branch is on the tree.

  12:18-12:22

  And I would say, yes and no, it's hanging there.

  12:23-12:27

  But it's basically being supported by the other branches, it's not attached to the life.

  12:30-12:39

  And there are people like that in this church and in every church across the globe, people hanging around but not attached.

  12:39-12:52

  And you're like, "Well, why do people go to church "if they're not interested in life-changing faith "in Jesus Christ?" Well, we surveyed 100 people, top five answers on the board.

  12:54-13:01

  Name a reason people go to church if they're really not interested in life-changing, life-giving, life-saving faith in Jesus Christ.

  13:03-13:04

  Start with number one here.

  13:06-13:08

  People say this, "Well, it's my duty.

  13:09-13:11

  God will give me a good week if I go to church.

  13:12-13:14

  For some people, it's about the religious experience.

  13:14-13:23

  They think that God's up in heaven, Sunday morning, he's looking down on the Naur household.

  13:25-13:27

  He's like, "Oh, Jay's going to church.

  13:28-13:34

  You know what? I'm going to make sure he has a good week this week." Some people think like that. Is that true?

  13:38-13:47

  It's true that people think that way, but that's not a true statement. God's not going to give you a cookie because you went to church. That's superstition, okay?

  13:48-14:07

  Like, "Okay God, I did something for you, now you owe me one." Yeah, God owes us something, right? Laughable. Well, that's number one. Number two, that's like the positive side. Here's the negative side. If I don't go to church, God's going to hit me with the whammy this week.

  14:08-14:09

  Some people believe that.

  14:09-14:25

  I gotta go to church because if I don't go, my car's gonna break down, my roof's gonna leak, I'm gonna get fired from my job, I'm gonna get lice, something.

  14:27-14:29

  Something bad's gonna happen to me because I didn't go to church.

  14:30-14:32

  And that too is, that's superstition.

  14:32-14:40

  And both of those really are just different sides coin. It's sort of a...

  14:40-15:11

  it's sort of being afraid of God. And I want you to understand that Scripture speaks of the fear of the Lord. That's reverence, and that's how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There's a difference between having a fear of the Lord and being afraid of God. Some people go to church because they're afraid of God. "I better do it so he's good to me. If I I'm gonna miss, he's gonna like, you know, do something bad, put some sugar in my gas tank or something, maybe send a chicken to eat my tomatoes.

  15:14-15:19

  Okay, number three, you know, that's a true story.

  15:19-15:20

  I know a girl that that happened to.

  15:23-15:31

  She disrespected her husband and God was like, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

  15:33-15:38

  Number three, for some people, I like being around those good quality people.

  15:40-15:41

  That's the third reason.

  15:41-15:42

  I just, I like those church people.

  15:42-15:46

  I go to this church because my neighbor goes there and she invited me.

  15:46-15:47

  And you know what, I like those people.

  15:47-15:49

  I mean, have you met Paul Fields?

  15:49-15:50

  I mean, I just love this guy.

  15:51-15:52

  And I just like being around them.

  15:52-15:55

  And they're just nice people.

  15:55-16:12

  For some people, it's, "I want my kids raised in the church." I've met so many parents whose shadow has never darkened a church in their lives, but they send their kids to church because they're like, "I want my kids to be around good people and to learn some good morals." Well, what about you?

  16:12-16:14

  And that's been like free babysitting time for me.

  16:15-16:20

  And for some, it's just about, "We're nice people." I mean, you are, you're nice people.

  16:20-16:21

  You're very nice people.

  16:22-16:23

  Shooks came over to our house the other day.

  16:24-16:25

  You guys are great people.

  16:25-16:26

  We had a lot of laughs, didn't we?

  16:27-16:32

  Nice people, for some people, that's all the further they get with going to church.

  16:36-16:37

  Okay, reason number four.

  16:40-16:44

  People say this, "I'm just here for him or her.

  16:45-16:53

  "I just go because my wife is going to get on my case "if I don't go." I've said that.

  16:54-16:57

  I'm like, "I don't wanna go to church." And Aaron's like, "You're preaching today."

  16:57-16:58

  (congregation laughing)

  16:59-17:02

  But for some people, that's their motivation for going.

  17:03-17:08

  It'll keep her from nagging me, it'll keep her off my back, so I'll go.

  17:08-17:09

  Or him.

  17:09-17:20

  You know, "Well, my husband's really into it, "and it's not really my cup of tea, but whatever, I'll go." That's why some people, hanging out, but not attached.

  17:21-17:22

  And for other people, it's this.

  17:22-17:24

  Number five, I was raised in the church.

  17:25-17:27

  I was raised in the church.

  17:27-17:30

  And at that point, it sort of becomes a family tradition.

  17:31-17:34

  You know, I talked to people, "Well, where do you worship?

  17:34-17:40

  Why go to such and such church?" "Oh, okay, why do you go there?" That's just where we've always gone.

  17:42-17:49

  It's just sort of the family custom, you know, every Saturday night or every Sunday morning, that's just what we did.

  17:49-17:55

  And I'm not like really into like being religious and I'm not really into all that stuff, but that's just kind of what our family does.

  17:58-18:01

  Well, some people hang out, but they're not attached.

  18:02-18:04

  We'll talk more about them in a second.

  18:04-18:09

  You're like, "Well, what about the attached branches?" Well, look at what Jesus said again about them.

  18:11-18:24

  "Every branch that does bear fruit, "he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." And there are a thousand other things I wish this passage said, honestly.

  18:26-18:34

  You know, the ones that bear fruit, he rewards, he gives some sort of a tangible blessing of some kind.

  18:35-18:42

  If you're bearing fruit, God's going to prune you.

  18:44-18:45

  What do you mean by that?

  18:45-18:50

  Well, even as Christians sometimes, we get these things that are called sucker shoots.

  18:50-18:51

  You know what a sucker shoot is?

  18:52-18:53

  You know what that is?

  18:53-18:55

  I had to do a little reading up on that this week.

  18:56-19:06

  It's when the branch gets these little shoots on them that aren't going to produce anything, but what they do instead is they suck the nourishment that's meant for the branch.

  19:07-19:11

  And many times these sucker shoots will bear leaves, but they won't bear fruits.

  19:13-19:15

  And what is that in the life of the Christian?

  19:16-19:18

  I believe he's talking about sin.

  19:20-19:48

  that sin, you know, we're branches, we're a task, but even as Christians sometimes we get involved in sin that saps our energy, it diverts us, it sidetracks us, it gets us off task, and the vine dresser comes and says, "We're gonna have to do some pruning here." Now, we surveyed 100 trees.

  19:50-20:01

  And a hundred trees said this, "Pruning hurts." Pruning hurts, what is pruning?

  20:03-20:04

  Well, it's hardship.

  20:04-20:12

  It could be loss of stuff or persecution or discouragement or sickness or whatever it is.

  20:12-20:16

  Here's the over-encompassing heading on pruning.

  20:17-20:25

  Trials and troubles that God allows in your life to uncover the problem that he wants to prune.

  20:26-20:34

  Okay, God's going to allow some things to happen in your life to show you and to show me that we have some areas that need pruned.

  20:37-20:40

  Scripture speaks so much the purpose of trials.

  20:45-20:48

  But what I want you to see today, this process is like surgery.

  20:48-20:49

  Look at verse three.

  20:49-21:00

  Jesus said, "Already you are clean "because of the word that I have spoken to you." It's like surgery.

  21:02-21:06

  The knife is the trouble that God allows into your life.

  21:07-21:11

  The needle that stitches to heal is the word of God.

  21:12-21:14

  Okay, so do you have this picture of what pruning is?

  21:15-21:16

  God's going to allow hardship in your life.

  21:17-21:27

  And you're going to come to this realization that God is using that to show an area of your life that he needs to do some healing.

  21:30-21:32

  And the way that he heals it is with his word.

  21:37-21:39

  It's a painful process.

  21:42-21:49

  But scripture tells us that the Lord disciplines loves. Right, parents? The Lord disciplines those whom he loves.

  21:52-21:54

  Then verse four, here it is.

  21:56-22:01

  Abide in me. And I in you.

  22:02-22:05

  Actually, in verse four, he says abide three times.

  22:05-22:09

  In this passage, you're going to see it nine times.

  22:11-22:14

  He says that our job is to abide.

  22:14-22:15

  And how do we do that?

  22:15-22:20

  Well, notice that it's active and passive at the same time.

  22:21-22:22

  Do you see that, verse 4?

  22:23-22:25

  Abide in me and I in you.

  22:25-22:26

  It's active and it's passive.

  22:27-22:31

  The passive part is Jesus promised that he will abide in you.

  22:34-22:35

  What's the active part?

  22:36-22:37

  Here's the active part.

  22:38-22:44

  we make decisions to abide, right?

  22:44-22:45

  Otherwise, he wouldn't have said this.

  22:46-22:56

  If it was sort of a natural thing that happens on autopilot that we kind of stumble into or we kind of do in our sleep, Jesus wouldn't have given us an imperative command.

  22:58-23:00

  But that's exactly what this is here.

  23:00-23:19

  Jesus is telling his disciples in his day and in our day, He's saying, "Abide in me." You need to make some decisions to abide in him.

  23:24-23:26

  You're responsible for the decision.

  23:26-23:28

  He is responsible for the power.

  23:29-23:40

  This is so important that you get this because you know, Taylor's preaching next week and then we're gonna be starting this series on relationships, on marriage, and on parenting, and on friendship.

  23:41-23:51

  And here's the biggest danger for the church, thinking that we can hear a command from God and think that we can fulfill it in the flesh.

  23:53-23:55

  And that's the American way, we'll just try harder.

  23:55-23:56

  Right, we'll just try.

  23:57-23:58

  Oh, I see what it says.

  23:58-24:02

  I'll try to fulfill that in the flesh, But look at what Jesus said about that.

  24:03-24:11

  "A branch cannot bear fruit by itself "unless it abides in the vine." Just like on my weeping willow tree.

  24:12-24:15

  Jesus said, "Neither can you unless you abide in me.

  24:17-24:19

  "I am the vine, you are the branches.

  24:19-24:24

  "Whoever abides in me and I in him, "he it is that bears much fruit." Look at the end of verse five.

  24:24-24:27

  This should be underlined in every single Bible in this room.

  24:28-24:33

  We will have ushers at the door checking to make sure this is underlined in your Bible.

  24:39-24:49

  Jesus said, "For apart from me, you can do nothing." Apart from me, you can do nothing.

  24:52-24:56

  Jesus didn't say, "Apart from me, "it's gonna be a little harder.

  24:56-24:58

  "Apart from me, it's going to be mediocre.

  24:59-25:04

  "Apart from me, you can probably put out "grade C or D work." What did he say?

  25:05-25:08

  "Apart from him, we can do what?" Hold up the universal symbol.

  25:10-25:10

  "Nothing.

  25:14-25:25

  "Nothing." The hard thing with this is sometimes it looks like things are happening apart from him, right?

  25:25-25:27

  There are people trying to do things in the flesh.

  25:28-25:36

  There are people that in the flesh are pastoring churches, or working in churches, or doing this ministry, or doing that ministry.

  25:37-25:38

  And it looks like things are happening.

  25:41-25:44

  Jesus, once again, made an exclusive claim.

  25:44-25:46

  It's black and white.

  25:47-25:49

  In Him, there's power.

  25:51-25:53

  Apart from Him, you can do what?

  25:54-25:54

  Nothing.

  25:56-25:57

  Like, okay, we get it, we get it.

  25:57-25:58

  No, we don't get it.

  26:00-26:00

  Because you know why?

  26:00-26:08

  In a couple of weeks, we're gonna be starting this series on Proverbs and people are going to be leaving here thinking, yeah, there are some things that I need to do to be a better husband.

  26:08-26:11

  There are some things that I need to do to be a better wife.

  26:14-26:16

  You can't do it on your own.

  26:16-26:17

  You can't.

  26:17-26:18

  You can't.

  26:21-26:22

  And you're like, says who?

  26:22-26:23

  And I say, says Jesus.

  26:24-26:38

  Apart from me, you can do nothing." You're like, "What about those branches that are taken away?" Well, look at verse 6.

  26:39-26:43

  Jesus said, "If anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away like a branch and withers.

  26:44-27:02

  The branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned." So if you're a branch that's just hanging around, but will not allow yourself to be attached to Christ by the authority of God's Word, your future is not good for you.

  27:05-27:06

  I want you to understand something.

  27:07-27:11

  There's only one unforgivable sin. Did you know that?

  27:11-27:21

  There's only one sin that you can commit that you can't be forgiven for.

  27:21-27:22

  Do you know what that sin is?

  27:23-27:27

  It's rejecting God's cure for your sin.

  27:31-27:34

  That's the only unforgivable sin.

  27:34-27:39

  Whether you've murdered, whether you've committed adultery, whether you're a liar, whether you're a thief.

  27:40-27:51

  whether you're a gossip, whatever your favorite sin is, maybe things that you've done that nobody knows but you and God, all of those things can be forgiven.

  27:53-27:56

  That's how powerful the blood of Jesus Christ is.

  27:59-28:08

  But to reject Jesus Christ, there's no forgiveness for that because there's no plan B.

  28:09-28:12

  Jesus came and laid down his life and rose from the dead.

  28:12-28:14

  Wasn't that an awesome celebration last week?

  28:15-28:17

  Why were we so celebrating?

  28:17-28:19

  Why were we so excited?

  28:19-28:21

  Why were we so jubilant?

  28:23-28:24

  Because sin is forgiven.

  28:28-28:31

  The only sin that can't be forgiven is rejection of Jesus Christ.

  28:31-28:32

  There's nothing else that can be done.

  28:33-28:41

  God says, "Here's a cure for your sin." And you're like, "I don't need Jesus." God's not going to extend something else to you.

  28:41-28:42

  Well, how about this?

  28:42-28:45

  Would this, can I tickle your fancy with this?

  28:47-28:50

  It's Jesus, because he's the source of life.

  28:53-28:59

  So I'm sure some of us now are thinking, well, I'd like to be sure, right?

  29:00-29:03

  Do you wanna be sure that you're abiding in Christ?

  29:03-29:04

  Do you wanna be sure?

  29:06-29:14

  Or would you rather, I don't know, stand before God someday and then discover that you were a fruitless branch, just hanging around?

  29:16-29:18

  The most sobering words that anyone will ever hear.

  29:19-29:22

  Jesus said in John chapter seven, some people are gonna stand before him.

  29:22-29:27

  And you know, we did all these miracles and we cast out demons and we did all these things in your name.

  29:27-29:30

  And Jesus said, I will say, depart from me, I never knew you.

  29:31-29:32

  It wasn't about the stuff that you did.

  29:35-29:37

  You didn't know Jesus Christ.

  29:39-29:40

  Do you wanna find out then?

  29:42-29:43

  Or would you like to find out now?

  29:45-29:47

  All in favor of finding out now?

  29:48-29:51

  All right, good, because Jesus covered that.

  29:52-29:53

  That was the introduction, here's the sermon.

  29:53-29:54

  How do I know I'm abiding?

  29:56-29:57

  How do I know I'm abiding?

  30:00-30:02

  Jesus gives us, these are four proofs.

  30:04-30:06

  This is what abiding Christians do, okay?

  30:10-30:17

  You need to bookmark this in your Bible and you need to go back this week and keep revisiting these things.

  30:17-30:21

  Look, I can't take this test for you and you can't take this test for me.

  30:22-30:24

  You have to take this test for yourself.

  30:25-30:30

  And you just have to ask yourself honestly, get before God and say, "God, am I the real deal?

  30:31-30:33

  "Have I genuinely accepted Jesus Christ?

  30:33-30:34

  "Have I been born again?

  30:35-30:44

  "Do I see these things that Jesus is talking about "in this passage, do I see it in my life?" If you're abiding, these are four things that you'll see in your life.

  30:44-30:49

  If you're not abiding, you're not going to see these things in your life, it's that simple, okay?

  30:50-30:51

  So how do I know I'm abiding?

  30:51-30:54

  Number one, I experience a powerful prayer life.

  30:56-30:58

  I experience a powerful prayer life.

  30:58-31:13

  Look at verse seven, Jesus said, But if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

  31:15-31:18

  First evidence of abiding, powerful prayer life.

  31:19-31:21

  People that abide in Christ get this.

  31:22-31:25

  They see God move and they see prayers answered.

  31:26-31:30

  But understand this isn't a free pass to get whatever your flesh wants.

  31:31-31:36

  Okay? This isn't the free pass. Jesus is like, "I'm gonna give you a little secret.

  31:36-32:26

  Here's a little magic formula that if you do this, God will make all your wildest dreams come true and give you every single thing your flesh wants." That's not what he's saying. What is he saying? Well, did you know I'm amazingly consistent about being inconsistent in my diet? Did you know that? You would be and how consistent I am about being inconsistent in my diet. And if you're like me, is there anybody else like me that way? That you like get on the health food kick and that lasts a couple weeks and then you're eating Oreos like Tic Tacs and that lasts a couple weeks and then it's like water and spinach for for me for a couple weeks.

  32:28-32:31

  Then you have your own parking place at Krispy Kreme.

  32:33-32:35

  Anybody else like that or just me?

  32:36-32:37

  Okay, a couple of you, all right.

  32:37-32:39

  The rest of you are gonna have to pretend that you understand what I'm saying.

  32:41-32:44

  But here's the thing, when I'm eating junk, I crave junk.

  32:45-32:46

  Isn't that true?

  32:47-32:50

  When I'm eating that garbage, I crave that garbage.

  32:51-32:57

  cookies and pop and all the stuff that I know I shouldn't be eating, but I'm craving it.

  32:59-33:05

  But when I'm eating healthy, interestingly, I crave healthy food.

  33:07-33:11

  The other interesting thing about this is when I'm eating junk, I don't crave healthy food.

  33:13-33:23

  You know, I'm in the middle of one of my like junk binges, "And me and my boys just ate an entire package "of triple double Oreos, which has happened.

  33:24-33:26

  "I confess to my wife now in front of all of you."

  33:28-33:28

  (congregation laughing)

  33:29-33:31

  This is a place of grace.

  33:32-33:33

  (congregation laughing)

  33:36-33:38

  I don't finish that and think, you know what I could go for?

  33:38-33:39

  A salad.

  33:42-33:43

  But the opposite is true too.

  33:43-33:48

  When I'm like eating healthy, and then like I'm out somewhere I have like a glass of pop.

  33:48-33:55

  I'm like, "Oh, I like this stuff." Well, here's the point.

  33:57-34:00

  Abiding changes your appetites.

  34:01-34:02

  That's the point here.

  34:02-34:06

  When you abide in Christ, He changes your appetites.

  34:09-34:12

  So how do I feed the godly appetite?

  34:13-34:23

  Well, Jesus said right here in verse seven, "My words abide in you." That's how you feed the godly appetite.

  34:23-34:29

  You've gotta let the Lord's words abide in you, getting in this book.

  34:30-34:40

  And you're gonna find that the more you're in this book, the more you're going to be interested about being on God's agenda, and the more that's going to affect the way you pray and what you pray about.

  34:45-34:50

  You know, I've had to check myself this past month because it can be so easy.

  34:52-34:53

  And I've had to make some changes.

  34:54-35:04

  It can be so easy to get caught up in Twitter feeds and Facebook and what else is there, Pinterest and what...

  35:05-35:06

  The list is endless.

  35:09-35:29

  A few weeks ago I was just looking through a Facebook news feed and I'm just like, "This is such a waste of time." And how much time and energy do we put in, you know, being nosy at what everybody else is doing or political opinions or...

  35:29-36:19

  How much time and energy do we put into getting into God's Word that we would put into the internet or television or sports or video games. So let God's Word abide in you and you're going to find a growing appetite for his agenda. So let me ask you first question, can you point to specific ways you're seeing him answering your prayers right now? Right now in your life can you say, "I've been praying about this and I can see how God has been moving and answering my prayers. Can you see that in your life right now? If you can, that's evidence that you're abiding. And if you're sitting here going, "I have no idea what he's talking about.

  36:20-36:29

  I haven't had a prayer answered since like the Carter administration. What is he even talking about?" Then you might want to check yourself. All right?

  36:33-36:36

  You Abiders experience a powerful prayer life.

  36:36-36:40

  Secondly, number two, I experience a fruitful ministry.

  36:42-36:44

  I experience a fruitful ministry.

  36:44-36:45

  Look at verse eight.

  36:49-36:57

  By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

  36:59-37:03

  As the father has loved me, So have I loved you abide in my love.

  37:03-37:04

  Oops, I read ahead.

  37:05-37:07

  Verse 8, I experienced a fruitful ministry.

  37:07-37:08

  What is fruit?

  37:10-37:12

  Well, biblically, fruit is two things.

  37:12-37:14

  There's attitude fruit and there's action fruit.

  37:16-37:18

  Attitude fruit, that's Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit.

  37:20-37:23

  The way that the Holy Spirit manifests himself in you and through you.

  37:25-37:30

  He produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

  37:31-37:33

  That's the Holy Spirit working those things through you.

  37:34-37:42

  I've heard people say things like, "You know, since I became a Christian, you know, I've been so much more patient." That's because the Holy Spirit's working in you.

  37:42-37:49

  Like, "Since I became a Christian, I've learned self-control." That's because the Holy Spirit's working self-control in you.

  37:49-37:55

  So that's attitude fruit, but there's also, biblically, there's action fruit.

  37:55-37:57

  What's action fruit? Good works.

  38:00-38:02

  Praise is considered an action fruit.

  38:03-38:07

  You know, when the worship team's up here leading worship, where's your heart?

  38:09-38:10

  That's a fruit.

  38:11-38:12

  Evangelism.

  38:14-38:16

  The Bible would teach that that's a fruit.

  38:17-38:20

  That you're eager to share your faith with others.

  38:20-38:22

  You're eager to invite people to come to church with you.

  38:23-38:26

  And another fruit, biblically, New Testament is giving.

  38:27-38:28

  That's a fruit.

  38:31-38:34

  It's all God's, he's entrusted me with this, I'm gonna give it back to God.

  38:36-38:37

  That's an action fruit.

  38:39-38:42

  But understand this, the fruit is not about the activity.

  38:45-38:50

  The fruit that God wants to produce in you is about character.

  38:51-38:53

  because that is what glorifies God.

  38:53-38:57

  And that is the platform from which he manifests the activity through you.

  39:00-39:02

  This is where we get everything so backwards in the church.

  39:03-39:11

  Like, well, maybe I'll give, and maybe I'll get involved, and through that, maybe I'll grow closer to God, and maybe my life will get better.

  39:11-39:12

  That is backwards.

  39:14-39:15

  Here's how it goes.

  39:15-39:17

  I abide in Jesus Christ.

  39:18-39:22

  I allow him to be at work in me, changing me.

  39:23-39:27

  And as he's working in me, he's going to do things through me.

  39:28-39:30

  That's how it works.

  39:33-39:38

  Your ministry should be an overflow of what God's doing in your life.

  39:41-39:41

  Okay?

  39:42-39:53

  God should be pouring into you so much that everything is like splashing out of the bucket of your heart, everything is overflowing that God's doing in you, that's your ministry.

  39:54-39:56

  That's just him working through you.

  40:01-40:05

  So look at your life right now, what kingdom purposes is God doing through you?

  40:07-40:10

  What kingdom purposes is God doing through you?

  40:10-40:12

  Like, I'm not really sure this is that big of a deal.

  40:13-40:22

  Well, notice Jesus said, "And so prove to be my disciples." Jesus said, "This is proof." Like I'm a disciple of Christ.

  40:22-40:23

  Jesus says, "Really?

  40:24-40:26

  Here's how it's proven.

  40:27-40:33

  It's when you bear much fruit." Examination questions, are you ready?

  40:34-40:36

  What ministry would not be getting done if you moved?

  40:38-40:44

  If you found out that you had to move to Sacramento, California tomorrow?

  40:46-40:51

  What ministry would not be getting done when you move?

  40:52-40:54

  What would change if you weren't here?

  40:54-40:55

  What would change in this church?

  40:56-40:57

  What would change in your workplace?

  40:59-41:00

  Would it be any different?

  41:07-41:09

  There's plenty of ministry to be done here.

  41:10-41:13

  and we need you to step up and be fruitful here.

  41:16-41:19

  You're like, well, yeah, I really would like to get plugged in here, but I'm not sure how.

  41:20-41:20

  Come and see me.

  41:21-41:28

  I got a list of things that I literally, I have a 16 page list of things that we are working on as a church.

  41:33-41:37

  So another proof of abiding in Christ is experiencing a fruitful ministry.

  41:38-41:43

  Thirdly, I experience a loving obedience.

  41:44-41:46

  Look at verses nine and 10.

  41:46-41:49

  I experience a loving obedience.

  41:49-42:00

  Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, "so have I loved you." Question, how much did God the Father love Jesus Christ?

  42:00-42:00

  How much?

  42:02-42:03

  Go ahead, shout it out.

  42:04-42:04

  How much?

  42:07-42:09

  Don't be shy, don't be like, oh, I'm gonna mumble something.

  42:09-42:10

  No, come on, shout it out.

  42:10-42:13

  How much do you think God the Father loved God the Son?

  42:15-42:17

  A lot, okay, we're getting there.

  42:18-42:19

  What's that?

  42:20-42:21

  Infinitely, right?

  42:21-42:25

  Like, can you put a measurement on it?

  42:25-42:30

  It's beyond anything that we can think about.

  42:32-42:37

  Jesus said, So have I loved you.

  42:38-42:39

  Isn't that awesome?

  42:39-42:45

  He loves you with the same amount that his father loves him.

  42:49-42:55

  And then he says it again, abide in my love.

  42:59-43:03

  Then verse 10, he says, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.

  43:04-43:09

  just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love." There's that analogy again.

  43:10-43:20

  Jesus said, "I abide in the father's love because my whole life is just dedicated to honoring him and pleasing him and obeying him." And Jesus was so focused.

  43:22-43:24

  He said, "That's how I abide in my father's love.

  43:24-43:25

  And I'm telling you the same thing.

  43:26-43:31

  Obey my commandments and abide in my love." So I experienced a loving obedience.

  43:32-43:36

  And for many people hearing the word obedience, just immediately it sounds like slavery.

  43:37-43:38

  Like obedience, here we go.

  43:39-43:42

  It's based on a loving relationship.

  43:43-43:44

  Did you catch that?

  43:45-43:48

  It's obedience based on a loving relationship.

  43:52-43:57

  Like to remind you, you know, we live in a day where there's no lack of Bible information.

  44:00-44:06

  We live in a day rather where we lack application of what we do know.

  44:08-44:16

  You know, we live in a day where we can listen to John Piper's, we can read a John Piper book and listen to the latest John MacArthur sermon on podcast.

  44:16-44:21

  And we're, you know, listening to Word FM and we are constantly bombarded with information.

  44:23-44:26

  Our problem is we don't apply what we do know.

  44:29-44:42

  And the way that Harvest Bible Chapel makes disciples is this, you come to worship and you get plugged into a small group, and your small group time is about digging deeper into applying the passage.

  44:44-44:47

  Getting the word of God from your head to your heart.

  44:48-44:51

  That's why we want everybody involved in a small group.

  44:53-44:54

  Everybody needs to be involved in a small group.

  45:00-45:08

  It's in that context that we learn and that we grow in experiencing this loving obedience that comes from abiding in Christ.

  45:09-45:14

  So, checkpoint question, do you delight to obey because you have a loving relationship with Jesus?

  45:15-45:18

  Do you delight to obey because you have a loving relationship with Jesus?

  45:19-45:26

  If it's fists clenched, teeth clenched, "Well, I'll do this because I guess it's the Christian thing to do," you've missed it.

  45:28-45:39

  But if you're like, "You know what? I love doing what Christ has called me to do because I love Him." And it's just a manifestation of the relationship that we have.

  45:39-45:44

  Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." I do love you. I want to keep your commandments.

  45:46-45:52

  And finally, number four, I experience a supernatural joy.

  45:56-46:00

  You're like, oh, I knew he was gonna sneak that in somewhere because we're talking about joy this year.

  46:01-46:02

  Well, I didn't sneak it in.

  46:02-46:03

  Look at your Bibles.

  46:04-46:17

  Jesus said, "These things I've spoken to you "that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full." And this is what we set out this year going after.

  46:17-46:19

  We're going to continue to go after this year.

  46:20-46:22

  We're going after joy.

  46:23-46:24

  How are you doing in that?

  46:25-46:26

  Some of you have been with us through this journey.

  46:27-46:28

  How are you doing in that?

  46:29-46:31

  Do you find yourself growing in joy this year?

  46:33-46:34

  Like, well, I guess I'm kind of happy.

  46:34-46:36

  No, I'm not talking about kind of happy.

  46:43-46:47

  We're not looking for joy, actually. I keep saying we're going after joy.

  46:48-46:50

  That's not really what I mean. You get that, right?

  46:50-46:52

  You don't look for joy, you look for Jesus.

  46:54-46:55

  Because Jesus wants to give you His joy.

  46:57-46:58

  Checkpoint question.

  46:59-47:08

  Do you have a settled, contented, restful joy in the Lord in the midst of whatever storm is around you?

  47:12-47:16

  These are four things of Jesus that are true about people that abide in Him.

  47:16-47:17

  Are you abiding in Christ?

  47:18-47:20

  Are you hanging around the vine?

  47:20-47:25

  Or are you a branch that's attached to the life-giving source of the vine?

  47:25-47:26

  Which one are you?

  47:26-48:02

  Jesus said if you're attached to him, you'll experience a powerful prayer life, you'll experience a fruitful ministry, you'll experience a loving obedience, and you'll experience supernatural joy. Sometimes I think we make things really complicated and really stressful. So the question is, as a Christian, what do I need as a Christian? What do I need as a Christian? Well, I need money, right?

  48:03-48:05

  I need money, is that right? Is that what I need as a Christian?

  48:09-48:26

  Survey said, right? Yeah, we surveyed one Lord and Savior. Top one answer on the board. Tell me something you need as a Christian, it's not money. I need I need happiness, that's what I need.

  48:26-48:29

  That's what I really need out of life, survey said?

  48:31-48:31

  (buzzer buzzing)

  48:46-48:46

  (audience laughing)

  48:49-48:49

  (buzzer buzzing)

  48:50-48:51

  Go ahead, it's fun.

  48:54-48:55

  What do you need, moms?

  48:56-48:58

  What do you need, busy dads?

  48:58-49:00

  I just need to get things done.

  49:00-49:03

  I just got so much stuff to do and I just need to get things done.

  49:03-49:04

  Is that what you need?

  49:07-49:08

  (buzzer buzzing)

  49:08-49:09

  That's not what you need.

  49:11-49:12

  Oh, you know what I need?

  49:13-49:14

  I need to be the best.

  49:14-49:21

  I have this competitive drive in me and I just feel this need that I have to, I just have to be the best.

  49:23-49:30

  Survey said, some people are like, I need to be perfect.

  49:31-49:32

  I need to be perfect.

  49:34-49:39

  I just, I just see all these areas in my life where I'm not perfect and I need to try harder.

  49:39-49:48

  And what I need to do is to get my act together and I need to try harder and I'm gonna be perfect.

  49:48-49:50

  Is that what you need as a Christian?

  49:53-49:54

  So here's the question.

  49:57-49:58

  What do you need as a Christian?

  50:00-50:01

  The answer is one thing.

  50:03-50:04

  One thing, what do you need?

  50:10-50:11

  There it is.

  50:13-50:14

  You need to wait for it.

  50:15-50:17

  That was a dramatic, thank you Aaron, that was dramatic.

  50:19-50:27

  One thing you need as a Christian, I need to abide.

  50:30-50:31

  Let's pray.

Small Group Questions ­(Whole Group):
Read John 15:1-11

1. What does it mean to abide in Christ? (Jn 15:4-7, 9-10) Describe specifically what that looks like in the life of an “abider”.
    

2. Tell of a way God has “pruned” you with hard circumstances, and how that has resulted in fruitfulness in your life.

Breakout Questions:

Take the Test! Evaluate the proofs of abiding from John 15:7-11
Rate the following from 1­-10 (1 = poor, 10 = strong).
Go around the group for each question, then everybody answer the last one.

1. I am experiencing a powerful prayer life. (Jn 15:7)

2. I am experiencing a fruitful ministry. (Jn 15:8)

3. I am experiencing loving obedience. (Jn 15:9-10)

4. I am experiencing supernatural joy. (Jn 15:11)

5. In the area I am weakest, what choices can I make to abide in Christ?

To the Troubled: I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

John 11:25 - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,"

1. There is a PEACE that Jesus PROVIDES (Jn 14:1)


2. There is a PLACE that Jesus PREPARES (Jn 14:2-3)


3. There is a PATH that Jesus PRESCRIBES (Jn 14:4-6, Jn 3:16)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-01:14

  There's some things to be stressed out about, isn't there? Well here, Jesus, look at this. This is an imperative. Jesus actually gives a command here by saying, "Let not your hearts be troubled." Jesus is saying that you need to take charge of your heart, of your mind, and of your emotions. And the question is, "Well, how do I do that?" Well, he tells you, very next sentence, "Believe in God, believe also in me." So how do I let not my heart be troubled? Well, I do that by doing this. I trust God with the things that I don't understand. I trust God with the things that I have no control over, and I trust God even with the things that could drive me to despair. I trust God with them. Honestly, of that list that I just read you, how many of those things are you capable of even fixing? How many of those things?

  01:14-01:49

  Hold up the universal sign. How many of those things can you fix? The answer is none. Right? So if your heart is troubled, let me ask you, how much have you been trusting? And I mean, I mean really trusting Christ. I don't mean, well yeah, I trust Christ. I go to church on Sunday. I mean, there's a settled rest in your heart that says, I know no matter how bad things look, no matter how hard things get.

  01:52-01:53

  It doesn't have to trouble me.

  01:56-02:02

  Because my faith isn't in myself, my faith isn't in my ability to try to fix this.

  02:03-02:06

  Jesus said, believe in God, believe also in me.

  02:08-02:26

  Actually, that sentence could be better read, Jesus was saying, "You believe in God, you must also believe in me." Not some generic, "I believe that the big man upstairs is looking out for us." It's about Jesus Christ, okay?

  02:30-02:32

  So how much have you been really trusting?

  02:32-02:37

  How much have you, whatever's stressing you out, Let me ask you, how much have you been praying about that?

  02:40-02:47

  How much have you been in God's word and resting in God's promises concerning whatever's troubling you?

  02:49-03:08

  Or as I heard a friend of mine say recently, do you say, "Oh God, I got big problems." Or do you say, "Problems, I got a big God." So first of all, Jesus tells his disciples and he tells us there's a peace that he provides.

  03:10-03:14

  But secondly, there's a place that he's preparing.

  03:14-03:15

  Look at verses two and three.

  03:18-03:23

  Jesus said, "In my father's house are many rooms.

  03:25-03:29

  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

  03:30-03:43

  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also." Wait, wait, wait, you're leaving Jesus?

  03:44-03:45

  Where are you going?

  03:46-03:48

  But see, Jesus is saying, "I'm not just leaving.

  03:49-04:00

  It's not just adios." Jesus is saying, "I'm going somewhere to prepare a place for you." And what does he call this place?

  04:01-04:09

  Actually, he says in verse two, "In my father's house." You know, there's a lot of words in the Bible that describe heaven.

  04:11-04:11

  This is my favorite.

  04:13-04:17

  He describes heaven as his father's house.

  04:20-04:21

  Why house?

  04:24-04:30

  Because home is not a place that is weird or unfamiliar.

  04:31-04:36

  Home is the place where you can sit back and say, this is where I belong, right?

  04:37-04:39

  Home is a place where your children feel safe.

  04:40-04:45

  And even as an adult now, my mom still lives in the house that I grew up in.

  04:45-04:49

  And when I go visit mom, it's not weird walking into that house.

  04:49-04:50

  It's not weird.

  04:50-04:51

  Like, you know, what am I allowed to touch?

  04:51-04:52

  What am I allowed to...

  04:52-04:54

  When I walk in, I just flop down.

  04:55-04:57

  I help myself to whatever's in the refrigerator.

  04:59-05:00

  Why do I do that?

  05:01-05:02

  'Cause that's home.

  05:03-05:05

  This is a place of comfort and it's familiar.

  05:05-05:29

  And Jesus said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you in my Father's house." Now, some of you are like, "Oh, question, Pastor Jeff, my Bible says mansion, and I've always been raised to learn that I'm going to get my own mansion in heaven." We have this idea that heaven's like sprawled out, right?

  05:30-05:36

  Like it's so spread out that you're gonna get to heaven someday and like, where's your mansion?

  05:37-05:40

  Well, I actually live 189 blocks from God.

  05:41-05:47

  You're gonna go down East Street there and then you take a right on Broadway and then it's pretty far down there.

  05:48-05:51

  But my mansion, I didn't get a real close one to God.

  05:52-06:03

  Actually, in Jesus' day, when He would have been speaking these words, you see, the father would have built a house.

  06:05-06:13

  And then many times the son would get married and they would come back and actually add a wing onto the father's house.

  06:14-06:17

  And then another son gets married and guess what he does?

  06:17-06:20

  Yeah, we're gonna build a wing on the dad's house.

  06:20-06:51

  And they would build these wings ended up circling a central patio. So they were like all in their own places, but they were all attached, but they all shared a common patio. And Jesus here is saying that's what heaven's like. But instead of a central patio, what's going to be in the center of heaven? Better question, who's going to to be in the center of heaven.

  06:52-06:52

  It's God.

  06:53-06:54

  It's God.

  06:54-07:01

  So understand, it's not gonna be like, I'm going to go visit God today in heaven, in his Father's house.

  07:02-07:04

  You're always going to be in his presence.

  07:04-07:07

  You're always going to be home.

  07:09-07:11

  And you're like, seriously?

  07:13-07:13

  Seriously?

  07:14-07:15

  Seriously?

  07:15-07:16

  Is that really what it's like, seriously?

  07:18-07:19

  I love what Jesus asked here.

  07:21-07:28

  He said, "If it were not so, would I have told you?" Like, I'm not here to blow smoke.

  07:29-07:39

  I'm not here to give you some kind of a fairy tale and spin you some kind of unbelievable yarn, you know, like this boogeyman, you know, tooth fairy thing.

  07:39-07:43

  "In my Father's house are many rooms." Oh, that was so poetic, Jesus.

  07:43-07:45

  He goes, "No, this is for real.

  07:46-07:46

  "This is for real.

  07:47-07:48

  I'm really going somewhere.

  07:48-07:51

  I'm really going to be preparing a place for you.

  07:51-07:54

  And if it wasn't so, I wouldn't have told you that.

  07:56-08:03

  And then verse three, he says, I'm going to come and I'm going to take you that where I am, there you may be also.

  08:04-08:05

  I love that.

  08:06-08:07

  Do you know why I love that?

  08:08-08:09

  Do you know why I love that?

  08:10-08:11

  Because I hate going to Walmart.

  08:13-08:14

  That's why I love that.

  08:14-08:15

  You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, back up.

  08:16-08:24

  "Is there Walmart in heaven, what are you saying?" No, what I'm saying is this, my wife is the shopper in the family for sure.

  08:25-08:34

  And the rare times that I'm out and she's like, "Can you stop at Walmart and pick something up?" It turns into like the next installment of Indiana Jones.

  08:34-08:55

  I'm like, "Where in the world is that?" And then I look for one of the employees and I'm like, "Excuse me, can you tell me "where I can find the Stevia or whatever?" and they're like, "Oh yeah, you need to go back to this aisle and you need to, and then you're gonna see the..." And then I'm just like, I have no idea where I'm going.

  08:57-08:58

  But do you know what I love?

  08:59-08:59

  Do you know what I love?

  08:59-09:08

  Do you know what warms my heart is when that Walmart employee says, "I will take you and show you where it's at." Come on, let's be honest.

  09:09-09:12

  How many people you're like, you're the bomb, employee of the month, right?

  09:18-09:21

  Well, notice this is exactly what Jesus is saying.

  09:23-09:28

  I'm going to come back and I'm going to take you there.

  09:29-09:30

  Yeah, where's heaven at?

  09:30-09:31

  Jesus is somewhere over there.

  09:31-09:35

  Now, Jesus says, I'm going to take you because your place is with me.

  09:39-09:41

  And then thirdly, I want you to see that there's a path.

  09:42-09:44

  that Jesus prescribes.

  09:44-09:47

  Just look at verses four through six with me.

  09:47-09:50

  Jesus, I love this statement.

  09:51-09:58

  Jesus is talking about like, you know, building these rooms in his father's house and I'm gonna take you.

  09:59-10:02

  And then here comes something like completely out of left field.

  10:02-10:12

  Jesus said, "And you know the way where I'm going." And then in verse five, Thomas draws a blank.

  10:13-10:14

  Can you see the picture?

  10:14-10:16

  Jesus is like, "Okay, you know where I'm going, right?

  10:16-10:22

  "You know the way to where I'm going." And Thomas, all right, I'll speak up if nobody else will.

  10:22-10:27

  Thomas said to him, "Lord, "we do not know where you're going.

  10:28-10:30

  "How can we know the way?

  10:33-10:38

  "Can you like help me look it up on MapQuest "or Google Maps or Jesus?

  10:38-10:44

  "Do you have some kind of a supernaturally empowered GPS that you can give me?

  10:46-10:57

  How can we possibly know the way?" And Jesus said to him, verse 6, here it is, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

  10:58-11:12

  No one comes to the Father except through me." You have to notice that Jesus didn't say, "I'm a way." You know, there's a big swing even in evangelical Christianity.

  11:13-11:14

  There's many paths to heaven. Did you know that?

  11:15-11:16

  You're going to be hearing more about that.

  11:17-11:31

  More and more conservative preachers are standing up saying, "Oh yeah, there's many paths to heaven." I don't understand that line of thinking, to be honest with you, because that doesn't work in any other realm, does it?

  11:31-11:40

  If you come up to me and you say, "How do I get to Zillion Opel?" Like, any road will take you there, really.

  11:41-11:41

  Any road.

  11:43-11:44

  Like 279?

  11:45-11:45

  Sure.

  11:47-11:48

  What about 51?

  11:48-11:49

  Will that take me to Zillion Opel?

  11:51-11:54

  If you believe in all your heart that it will, sure.

  11:56-11:56

  Right?

  11:58-12:04

  You're like, "That's crazy." Jesus didn't say I'm one of many ways.

  12:04-12:06

  He said, I'm the way, I'm the way.

  12:07-12:10

  I am the way, I am the only way.

  12:12-12:13

  And then he says, I am the truth.

  12:14-12:17

  You're like, oh, Pastor Jeff, that sounds so intolerant.

  12:17-12:19

  Well, truth is intolerant every time.

  12:19-12:22

  Truth is intolerant, isn't it?

  12:23-12:24

  What's two plus two?

  12:25-12:25

  Four.

  12:28-12:30

  Intolerant, that's not up for debate, is it?

  12:31-12:32

  Is that up for debate?

  12:32-12:34

  Jay, would you like to contest that?

  12:36-12:39

  Well, I got news for you.

  12:39-12:40

  It is not.

  12:41-12:43

  And do you know when it will be three?

  12:43-12:46

  Never, because truth is intolerant.

  12:48-12:57

  And Jesus says, "I am the truth." And it says, "I am the life." We're all dead and dying in our sin.

  12:58-13:02

  Only the author of life can give us his life.

  13:03-13:08

  And then Jesus makes the most controversial statement ever spoken at the end of verse six.

  13:10-13:18

  He said, "No one comes to the Father except through me." And really, when you look at this verse, you have two choices.

  13:19-13:25

  Either Jesus was telling the truth, or Jesus was not telling the truth.

  13:26-13:28

  Those are really the only two choices that you have.

  13:31-13:38

  And as I wrap up, I want us to think about why can Jesus make a statement like this?

  13:39-13:43

  How can Jesus make a statement like this?

  13:47-13:59

  Understand that every single person on this planet, including yourself, was born with a terminal disease, and it's called sin.

  14:01-14:17

  Sin separates you from God and causes your heart to be prideful, self-centered, and rebellious. And sin disqualifies you from heaven. But the good news is this.

  14:19-14:25

  The Bible tells us that despite our rebellion, despite our sin, God loves us.

  14:28-14:55

  In fact, John 3:16, the most well-known verse in the Bible, says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." So from our perspective, it looks like a dilemma for God. I have to punish sin, but I love these sinners. So change my holy and righteous judgment about the sin?

  14:56-15:00

  Or do I abandon my love for my creation?

  15:01-15:03

  To us, that looks like a problem.

  15:03-15:06

  That God's going to have to compromise somewhere.

  15:09-15:14

  But His answer came in the form of Himself, actually.

  15:15-15:17

  He came to this earth as a man.

  15:18-15:36

  Jesus Christ, who laid down His life on the cross, bearing the full wrath of God for your sin and for my sin, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life, and now says to us, "Turn from your sin.

  15:38-15:42

  Turn from your self-centered ways and believe in Me.

  15:42-15:56

  Receive the gift of eternal life that only I can give, because only I took God's punishment for you on myself." So who are you trusting?

  16:00-16:01

  Who is your king?

  16:03-16:04

  Like, what do you mean by that?

  16:05-16:07

  Here's the issue at the end of the day.

  16:10-16:29

  On your heart is a throne. And by nature, who's sitting on that throne? I am. I sit on the throne of my own heart. Nobody tells me what to do. I'm my own king.

  16:32-16:44

  Well, then we run into a crisis because Jesus Christ comes along and he says, "Excuse me, but you're sitting in my chair." So who's ruling your life?

  16:46-16:47

  Who are you trusting?

  16:50-16:51

  Who is your king?

Small Group Questions ­(Whole Group):
Read John 14:1-6

1. How does “believing in God, Believing also in <Jesus>“ keep your heart from being troubled? (Jn 14:1)

2. How does Jesus calling heaven “My Father’s House” make you think about heaven? (Jn 14:23)

3. How would you respond to someone who says, “There are many ways to God.” (Jn 14:6)

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.

To those in Despair: I AM the Resurrection

John 11:25 - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,"

1. R.I.P. - My doubts about God's Timing (Jn 11:1-16)


2. R.I.P. - My doubts about God's Ability (Jn 11:17-27)


3. R.I.P. - My doubts about God's Motives (Jn 11:28-38)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:02

  Open your Bibles to John chapter 11.

  00:08-00:14

  We've been going through this series where Jesus Christ has been making some claims about himself.

  00:19-00:29

  And when he made these claims, there was always something going on to accompany these claims.

  00:29-00:39

  For example, when Jesus said, "I am the bread of life," he had just fed thousands of people from a little boy's lunchbox.

  00:40-00:59

  And when Jesus stood up and said, "I am the light of the world," he was actually standing in the midst of the Feast of the Tabernacles when the lanterns were lit to celebrate God's Shekinah glory from the Exodus.

  01:01-01:22

  And in the face of false shepherds, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd, and I am the door." And we studied that the door is actually the good shepherd laying down across the gateway to protect his sheep.

  01:25-01:40

  And we're going to see in today's passage that Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." What could He possibly do to accompany such a bold statement?

  01:44-01:52

  You know, several years ago, the news was on, and they were talking about a celebrity had passed.

  01:52-02:04

  I can't remember who it was now, but I do remember Aaron, my wife, saying, "Was that expected?" And I said, "Yeah, yeah, it was expected.

  02:04-02:12

  "It was?" And I said, "Well, we knew he was gonna die someday." Pray for my wife.

  02:16-02:18

  But right, we knew it was gonna happen.

  02:20-02:25

  Or in the words of Woody Allen, Woody Allen said, "I'm not afraid of dying.

  02:25-02:44

  "I just don't wanna be there when it happens." But the sad truth is, man does, universally, across the board, in every culture, in every period of history, there's a common denominator.

  02:45-02:46

  Man fears death.

  02:53-02:56

  And part of the fear is tied up in the fact that death is inescapable.

  02:59-03:04

  We just found out last week, actually, Darren got a text during the worship service, I believe, wasn't it?

  03:05-03:13

  A guy that we went to high school with, who was actually between Darren and I, was killed in Katanning.

  03:15-03:17

  You probably saw that on the news.

  03:20-03:21

  Senseless.

  03:25-03:27

  But ultimately death is inescapable.

  03:31-03:36

  I had several people ask me today, why are you dressed like that?

  03:37-03:41

  And my answer has been, because we're having a funeral today.

  03:44-03:51

  And when we get into John chapter 11, we're going to go to a funeral with Jesus, where He gives the greatest news of all time.

  03:52-03:59

  And if you're familiar with this passage, actually, we're not having a funeral for Lazarus.

  04:00-04:01

  Spoiler alert.

  04:05-04:06

  Lazarus doesn't stay dead.

  04:08-04:11

  Which really makes this funeral sort of a rip-off when you think about it.

  04:12-04:15

  Could you imagine showing up with a gift for Mary and Martha?

  04:16-04:19

  Sorry to hear about your brother passing and then Jesus raises him from the dead.

  04:19-04:25

  You're like, "I'm totally taking my gift back." But we are having a funeral.

  04:25-04:26

  Actually, we're having three.

  04:28-04:37

  Today we're having a funeral for the biggest doubts that we face as people.

  04:38-04:39

  Are you ready?

  04:39-05:06

  your outline, write this down. Number one on your outline, RIP. Rest in peace, my doubts about God's timing. Okay? We're having a funeral and the dearly departed that we are going to remember first are these little doubts that we have about God's timing. Look at the passage with me, John chapter 11, picking up in verse 1.

  05:07-05:23

  It says, "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha." We've met them previously. What is it? Luke chapter 10.

  05:23-05:35

  Mary was sitting and listening to the teachings of Jesus and Martha was acting like Martha Stewart and running around and banging pots and pans and all disgusted that Mary wasn't helping.

  05:38-05:49

  Further explanation, verse 2, "It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.

  05:51-06:04

  So the sisters sent to him, saying, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.'" Now Jesus healed a lot of people, right?

  06:04-06:22

  We see constantly Jesus was healing the blind and the deaf and the lame and Jesus was healing. So it almost sounds like they were sort of turning it up a notch. Like we have somebody else ill Jesus, but this isn't just like any old guy. This is your friend.

  06:28-06:36

  This But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death.

  06:37-06:53

  It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

  06:54-07:05

  "So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, "he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." I'm sorry, wait a minute.

  07:06-07:07

  Does your Bible say that?

  07:09-07:13

  Let's read that again, because I don't think I read this right, hang on.

  07:14-07:19

  "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." You with me so far?

  07:20-07:21

  Does your Bible say that?

  07:25-07:36

  So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

  07:43-07:45

  Yeah, that is what that says.

  07:51-07:52

  Jesus loved these people.

  07:54-08:00

  And I would expect the Bible to say, because Jesus loved them, "Oh, Lazarus is sick.

  08:00-08:04

  Come on, we've got to get moving now." And instead, what did Jesus do?

  08:05-08:09

  "Oh, Lazarus is sick." Sounds like an emergency, huh?

  08:11-08:12

  Not looking good for Lazarus, huh?

  08:14-08:16

  Let's just hang out here for a couple of days.

  08:18-08:18

  What?

  08:20-08:21

  Hang out here?

  08:26-08:33

  You know, when we're suffering, that's the number one question we ask, isn't it?

  08:34-08:37

  Why hasn't God done something about this yet?

  08:37-08:38

  Have you ever been there?

  08:39-08:39

  Have you ever been there?

  08:40-08:43

  Actually, I started counting in the Psalms.

  08:43-08:45

  You know what the number one question is people ask while they're suffering?

  08:46-08:47

  What's the number one question?

  08:49-08:50

  How long?

  08:51-08:52

  Do a little study on that.

  08:52-08:53

  I actually lost count.

  08:53-08:59

  All through the Psalms, that's the number one question that people who are suffering ask God.

  08:59-09:00

  How long?

  09:00-09:01

  How long is this gonna keep going on?

  09:02-09:02

  God, how long?

  09:03-09:04

  Will you forget me forever?

  09:04-09:05

  How long, oh Lord?

  09:05-09:06

  How long, oh Lord?

  09:06-09:07

  How long?

  09:07-09:07

  How long?

  09:08-09:08

  How long?

  09:09-09:11

  Why aren't you doing something about this?

  09:14-09:21

  You know, God, I've had this health problem and I've been praying about this and I've been praying about this and I get to church praying about this.

  09:22-09:24

  How long am I going to have to deal with this?

  09:28-09:31

  God, you know this issue I'm having.

  09:34-09:45

  God, I have this child whom I love and you know this problem that we've been having and and I've been praying and I've been praying and I've been praying and we're not getting anywhere.

  09:48-09:52

  Doesn't it seem to you oftentimes that God is just always late?

  09:53-09:54

  Doesn't it seem like that to you?

  09:54-09:56

  Come on, show of hands, let's be honest.

  09:57-10:02

  How many of you honestly feel like, you know what, it seems like a lot of times I think God is late.

  10:02-10:03

  Doesn't it feel that way?

  10:05-10:07

  Why aren't you doing something about this?

  10:09-10:11

  God, I need you and I need you now.

  10:13-10:18

  And the response is, we're gonna hang out for a couple of days.

  10:20-10:25

  God, I've been looking for a job and I've needed this and why isn't it happening?

  10:29-10:36

  Verses five and six should say, if you love them, you're gonna go help them now, but that would be incorrect.

  10:39-10:42

  because we don't understand what love is sometimes.

  10:44-10:50

  Love is not about getting what you think you want.

  10:53-11:01

  Love is not about, because God loves me, he should always give me what I want and he should always spare me from suffering.

  11:03-11:05

  Do you know who understands this?

  11:07-11:08

  Parents, right?

  11:10-11:18

  Can I get an amen from the parents in the house that the loving thing to do for your children is not always giving them everything they want, right?

  11:19-11:19

  Right?

  11:20-11:24

  Like Wilson, what would happen in your house if you're like, "That's all I'm doing.

  11:24-11:28

  Everything my daughters want, I'm just going to give them everything they want." Is that good parenting?

  11:30-11:30

  That's not good parenting.

  11:32-11:42

  Or "I'm going to do everything I can to keep them from any kind of a trial or any kind of hardship. I'm always going to shield them and protect them. Is that good parenting?

  11:43-12:00

  That is not good parenting. You're raising a wimp who's going to face the real world and think that everything's always owed to them. And Sometimes I am that wimp.

  12:02-12:03

  We'll jump down to verse 11.

  12:08-12:10

  I think this passage is funny here.

  12:11-12:12

  I'm just gonna be honest with you.

  12:12-12:15

  I don't mean that irreverently, but I think you're going to agree with me.

  12:15-12:16

  I just think this is funny.

  12:18-12:20

  So we skipped a few verses.

  12:20-12:25

  Basically, Jesus is like, okay, now we're gonna go and disciples are like, bad idea, they're trying to kill you.

  12:25-12:29

  And Jesus is like, yeah, I'm on God's schedule, So I'm not really worried about that.

  12:30-12:33

  But verse 11, you can read it for yourself.

  12:33-12:34

  That's what it says.

  12:35-12:43

  Verse 11, after saying these things, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.

  12:44-12:48

  The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.

  12:48-12:50

  I just, I think that's funny.

  12:50-12:54

  Jesus is like, Lazarus has fallen asleep and I'm going to wake him up.

  12:54-12:59

  And the disciples are like, "Okay, so it's nappy time.

  13:01-13:14

  And for some reason, do you think it warrants the son of God to go wake Lazarus up from his little nappy time?" They're like, "Jesus, you know, falling asleep really isn't a critical thing.

  13:15-13:17

  People wake up from sleeping all the time, Jesus.

  13:17-13:27

  I don't think they need the hand of God for this one." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking rest and sleep.

  13:28-13:35

  Then Jesus told them plainly, and thank you God for this, because I'm such a knucklehead, I miss it sometimes.

  13:35-13:38

  So Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

  13:39-13:41

  Okay, now do you understand what I'm saying?

  13:44-13:52

  And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him.

  13:58-14:02

  Lazarus has died, and I'm glad I wasn't there.

  14:03-14:03

  Why?

  14:03-14:06

  He says, it's for your sake so that you may believe.

  14:06-14:07

  This is gonna be really important here in a few minutes.

  14:09-14:09

  And he could love Thomas.

  14:09-14:18

  So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go that we may die with him." That's the spirit, Thomas.

  14:19-14:22

  Mr. Optimism. All right, let's just go die.

  14:24-14:28

  So why did Jesus wait for two days? That's the burning question here, right?

  14:29-14:36

  Lazarus is sick and I'm not in any hurry. In fact, I'm delaying. Here it is.

  14:37-14:50

  It was more loving to let them go through the death of Lazarus if ultimately it it will show them God's glory.

  14:54-14:57

  And please hear me, 'cause we're bringing this right home.

  14:58-15:05

  The loving thing that God is doing in your life right now, do you know what it is?

  15:06-15:09

  Do you know what the loving thing God is doing in your life right now?

  15:09-15:20

  Is he's allowing trials to take place, which is ultimately going to result in you experiencing His glory.

  15:22-15:24

  That's the most loving thing God can do.

  15:29-15:36

  That's why James chapter 1 tells us to consider it all joy, my brothers, when we go through trials of various kinds.

  15:37-15:39

  Why would we consider it joy?

  15:41-15:44

  because it means God is working and he's going to use it.

  15:46-15:55

  And not just use it to make me a better person or a smarter person or a more, you know, sympathetic person.

  15:55-16:03

  He's going to use it to accomplish the greatest thing that I can accomplish while I walk on this earth.

  16:03-16:04

  And you know what that is?

  16:05-16:06

  Experiencing him.

  16:08-16:10

  That's his purpose for your trial.

  16:11-16:14

  And Jesus made it very clear that that was the purpose for delaying.

  16:16-16:23

  What kind of life would it be if we just coasted from birth to death?

  16:24-16:26

  Our faith was never tested.

  16:26-16:27

  We never needed God.

  16:27-16:30

  We never felt dependent on God for anything.

  16:34-16:40

  If you want to experience God, you're going to have to be put in a position where only He can deliver.

  16:44-16:55

  But here's the thing, you're going to have to wait on His timing, because His timing is always perfect, even though to us, He always seems late.

  16:59-17:01

  We've thrown that phrase around a lot.

  17:04-17:05

  God is never late, but he's seldom early.

  17:07-17:13

  And sometimes even when I say it, I think, you know, sometimes God seems late, but he's not.

  17:15-17:23

  I think back to when this church was planting and people were coming and kicking the tires and asking how this was going to happen.

  17:25-17:27

  I had some people ask me things like this.

  17:27-17:29

  So is James McDonald going to buy us a building?

  17:34-17:39

  Yeah, he's gonna pull out his checkbook and he's going to write a check and buy us a building.

  17:40-17:44

  Oh, is Big Harvest going to give us a million dollars to get us started?

  17:44-17:46

  People would ask all kinds of questions like that.

  17:47-17:49

  But here was the response.

  17:49-17:52

  No, and I'm glad.

  17:53-17:53

  Why?

  17:55-18:00

  Because when this church launches, let's pretend, Let's pretend that that's exactly what happened.

  18:00-18:09

  James got out his checkbook and he, you know, he wrote us out a check for a million dollars and said, "This will get you started." What would we be singing every week?

  18:11-18:13

  "Blessed be the name of James McDonald.

  18:14-18:17

  "Blessed be your name." Right?

  18:19-18:20

  Isn't that what we'd be singing?

  18:21-18:30

  We'd be like, "Eyes off of God." Because we didn't think we needed them.

  18:34-18:41

  You won't know that God is a provider until you have a need.

  18:44-18:50

  You won't know that God is a healer until you are sick.

  18:52-19:00

  And you won't know that God is a comforter until you mourn.

  19:01-19:03

  So the question I have for you, church, is this.

  19:04-19:15

  If whatever trial you're going through right now is ultimately going to bring you closer to God, because He's going to use it to reveal His glory, is it worth it?

  19:17-19:17

  Is it worth it?

  19:24-20:12

  When you look back from eternity, when you're in heaven and you're looking back at your life, do you think there's going to be a point that you're like, "God, you should have shown up sooner at this point in my life. You were too late. Why didn't you do something about it sooner?" Do you think you're going to say that in eternity? Or do you think in eternity you're going to look back and say how glorious it was when you showed up and revealed yourself. God you remember that time in my life I was at the end of my rope and the only thing that I needed was you and you delivered and I and there I even thought maybe for a couple days you forgot about me but you showed up so gloriously. Those are the things you're going to celebrate?

  20:15-20:23

  As I was studying this this week, I thought, what if Jesus would have showed up and healed Lazarus when he found out he was ill?

  20:24-20:26

  Let's talk about that for a second.

  20:26-20:27

  What if Jesus would have done that?

  20:28-20:30

  Okay, so Lazarus is sick.

  20:31-20:35

  Jesus, the one whom you love is sick, and Jesus goes and he puts his hands on him and he heals him.

  20:35-20:39

  And that would have been really exciting, right?

  20:40-20:41

  for like a week.

  20:42-20:45

  And then it would have been, well, maybe Lazarus wasn't really that sick.

  20:47-20:51

  It was nice of Jesus to show up and heal him.

  20:52-20:59

  But what you're going to see is the thing that he actually does, actually does rather, actually did, does.

  21:00-21:13

  The thing that he actually did, we'll go with that one, is so much more glorious than just showing up and doing what people expected him to do.

  21:15-21:17

  So I want you to write this down on your outline.

  21:19-21:22

  Delay doesn't mean late, okay?

  21:22-21:23

  We're gonna write that down.

  21:24-21:25

  Delay doesn't mean late.

  21:31-21:33

  Don't use that as an excuse to be late for church.

  21:35-21:41

  But when it comes to the way God is working in your life, Delay doesn't mean late, delay does mean this.

  21:41-21:51

  I'm going to do something so much better than what I could do now.

  21:54-21:56

  So does God seem to delay in your life?

  21:59-22:01

  Does it seem like God has been delaying?

  22:05-22:11

  Well, let's have a funeral and let's lay to rest our doubts about God's timing.

  22:13-22:31

  Let's lay it to rest and say, "God, your calendar, your timetable to reveal your glory to me is so much better than mine." Rest in peace.

  22:33-22:35

  Second funeral we're having today is this.

  22:36-22:38

  Rest in peace my doubts about God's ability.

  22:41-22:43

  Rest in peace my doubts about God's ability.

  22:48-22:49

  Where did we leave off?

  22:49-22:55

  Verse 17, "Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

  22:58-23:01

  Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off.

  23:02-23:14

  And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother." When John speaks of Jews, oftentimes he's talking about Jewish leaders.

  23:14-23:16

  Lazarus was probably somebody important.

  23:18-23:21

  But did you know also in those days they had professional mourners?

  23:21-23:22

  Did you know that?

  23:23-23:24

  They had people like that was their job.

  23:24-23:27

  There was a funeral and they would show up and just like wail.

  23:28-23:29

  That was their job.

  23:33-23:34

  So you have the scene.

  23:37-23:41

  So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him.

  23:42-23:44

  But Mary remained seated in the house.

  23:47-23:59

  Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Wow.

  24:00-24:01

  Right out of the gate.

  24:03-24:05

  Right out of the gate.

  24:07-24:13

  Martha probably thought one thought for the past four days.

  24:15-24:18

  And when Jesus showed up, she couldn't even wait till he got there.

  24:18-24:20

  She rushed to meet him.

  24:24-24:33

  First thing out of her mouth, If you would have been here, Lazarus wouldn't have died.

  24:38-24:44

  You know, Jesus, you could have done something back when he was sick.

  24:47-24:47

  Now he's dead.

  24:49-24:50

  And he's been dead for four days.

  24:51-24:52

  So what could you possibly do now?

  24:55-24:56

  Well, she offers a little hope in verse 22.

  24:57-25:03

  But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

  25:06-25:16

  You have to wonder what was going on in Martha's head and in Martha's heart, that on one hand there's despair, but on the other hand, she's still holding on to some hope.

  25:17-25:35

  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Martha had some good theology.

  25:36-25:38

  You know, that was a hotly debated topic in Jesus' day.

  25:38-25:41

  Is there a resurrection or is there not a resurrection?

  25:42-25:44

  The Pharisees held that there was a resurrection.

  25:45-25:47

  The Sadducees said that there was not.

  25:47-25:51

  And you see that argument going on and on and on.

  25:53-25:56

  Well, the Old Testament says that there's ultimately going to be a resurrection.

  25:56-25:59

  In John chapter five, Jesus talked about a resurrection.

  26:00-26:06

  The book of Revelation closes talking about the final resurrection and the new heaven and the new earth.

  26:07-26:11

  So yeah, Martha's theology was right on, except for one little detail.

  26:16-26:25

  She believed that something awesome is going to happen for Lazarus in the future, but not today.

  26:28-26:36

  And before we start picking on Martha, sometimes we are so lame when it comes to believing God in the here and now, right?

  26:37-26:38

  Let's be honest, church.

  26:39-26:50

  We read our Bibles and we think, remember back in like Moses' day, parting in the Red Sea and manna from heaven, and God did some awesome things back then, didn't he?

  26:51-26:53

  Didn't God do some awesome things like way back in the day?

  26:55-27:03

  And then we think, you know, like you read the book of Revelation, someday God is going to do some awesome things.

  27:04-27:06

  And don't we get stuck there sometimes?

  27:06-27:11

  Like God was awesome back then and God will be awesome someday, but what about today?

  27:12-27:17

  Well, God's just kind of like got the cruise control on and he's just kind of kicking back and sitting and watching.

  27:22-27:24

  Someday he's going to do something awesome.

  27:24-27:24

  That's Martha.

  27:25-27:27

  Someday, Jesus said, he'll rise again.

  27:27-27:38

  Martha's like, yeah, I know, someday, someday, someday, someday, you didn't show up when I thought you were going to Jesus, so I guess I'll have to wait for heaven.

  27:39-27:44

  What makes you think that God lacks the power right now?

  27:48-27:51

  Let me ask you, church, what keeps you from praying for a miracle right now?

  27:52-27:53

  What keeps you from praying for a miracle?

  27:56-27:58

  Do you think that the Lord is not able to handle it now?

  28:00-28:00

  Is that it?

  28:06-28:09

  Are you facing a problem that only God can fix?

  28:09-28:11

  When was the last time you prayed for a miracle?

  28:15-28:17

  When was the last time you prayed for a miracle?

  28:18-28:26

  To say, "God, I need you to show up in a big way." Praying, believing that He still has the power.

  28:28-28:30

  Like, "Wow, I'm really tired from all those Old Testament miracles.

  28:30-28:33

  I better rest until the end of the age." Wrong!

  28:36-28:45

  That's why through this whole series, Jesus is saying exactly how God revealed himself.

  28:47-28:48

  And here it is.

  28:53-28:57

  One of the most amazing statements ever.

  28:59-29:09

  Jesus said to her, this was in response to, I know he's going to, you know, rise again in the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

  29:11-29:20

  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

  29:24-29:25

  Do you believe this?

  29:30-29:34

  Jesus didn't say I was the resurrection back in Elijah's day.

  29:35-29:40

  Jesus didn't say I will be the resurrection at the end of the age.

  29:41-29:42

  What did he say? Tell me.

  29:44-29:46

  Say it loud, I am.

  29:47-29:48

  I am the resurrection.

  29:51-29:52

  Jesus said this to Martha.

  29:54-30:00

  And he's saying it today and he'll say it tomorrow because it doesn't change.

  30:02-30:03

  He is the I am.

  30:07-30:25

  And as Martha was so in despair mode and the window of opportunity is passed and "Oh Jesus, why didn't you do something?" Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life." This is the greatest news in the history of mankind.

  30:25-30:26

  You're going to die.

  30:27-30:29

  No, that's not the great news.

  30:29-30:42

  The great news is this, death is not the end. The worst fear humanity faces is forever eliminated by one sentence.

  30:47-31:00

  Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me..." Notice he He says, "Though he die, yet shall he live." Death isn't like the period at the end of a sentence.

  31:00-31:01

  Death is more like a comma.

  31:02-31:03

  The sentence goes on.

  31:03-31:04

  It's not over.

  31:08-31:17

  Just to make it extra clear, Jesus said, "And everyone who lives and believes in me," look at this, "shall never die." Shall never die.

  31:23-31:27

  That's why when a believer dies, I don't even like to say they died.

  31:27-31:28

  You know what I like to say?

  31:29-31:31

  You know what I like to say when a believer dies?

  31:31-31:33

  I like to say they graduated.

  31:34-31:34

  Right?

  31:35-31:36

  They graduated.

  31:37-31:44

  They like went through the school of life and God says, "Okay, you're done." They graduated.

  31:47-31:51

  But then Jesus asked the question, here's the question though.

  31:52-31:56

  Jesus said, "Do you believe this?" Do you?

  31:58-31:59

  Do you believe this?

  32:03-32:05

  You know, I've done a lot of funerals.

  32:05-32:07

  I couldn't even fathom a guess.

  32:08-32:10

  I was talking with Taylor about this before the service.

  32:12-32:33

  But the church that I came from, we were a downtown church and there were a lot of funeral homes around us. And oftentimes one of the funeral home directors would call us if somebody died but didn't have a church. Like this guy had no church affiliation, no church membership, and we want to have a little funeral here.

  32:40-32:48

  Will I've done a lot of funerals for Christians, and I've done a lot of funerals for non-Christians.

  32:50-32:54

  And let me tell you, there is a huge difference.

  32:56-33:02

  There is a huge difference between the Christian's funeral and the non-Christian's funeral.

  33:07-33:39

  I think of Shervil Martin's funeral, friend of mine, Brooke's grandmother. That was a celebration, wasn't it? You know, we knew that she was having the best day of her life, and the funeral service was more of like this big worship service and celebration, and quite frankly, we were all just like a little jealous. Like, "Man, she's in heaven and we're like not there yet." That was glorious. But I've been to a lot of funerals of people that...

  33:39-33:49

  no No spiritual background, never been to a church, never cracked the spine of a Bible, never received the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  33:52-33:57

  And belief in Christ forever changes, forever changes the way that we view life and death.

  34:00-34:03

  So is there a sense of anticipation for your own death?

  34:05-34:09

  Do you have a sense of anticipation for your own death?

  34:09-34:33

  I don't mean like you're suicidal, but isn't there just something in you that says, I'm kind of looking forward to being done in this fallen world and living in this fallen flesh and disease and suffering, and to just eternally be in the presence of my Lord?

  34:35-35:09

  I think it was Joe Stoll who said, "The Bible doesn't tell us any more about heaven than it does because people would be jumping off of the tops of buildings to get there." So the second funeral we're having today is this, "Rest in peace my doubts about God's ability. Let's not fall into the Martha trap. Oh someday, someday, someday, day when Jesus is saying, I have the power to do a miracle today because of who I am.

  35:10-35:13

  And then finally, look at number three, rest in peace.

  35:15-35:17

  My doubts about God's motives.

  35:19-36:28

  Picking up in verse 28, "When she had said this," I'm sorry, verse 27, "Martha said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.'" Then verse 28 says, "When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.' heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Does that sound familiar?

  36:29-36:35

  That's exactly what Martha said. What do you think the conversation was that week?

  36:36-36:55

  What do you think people talked about for the past four days? What do you think Topic of conversation, if only Jesus was here, if only Jesus had showed up in time, if only Jesus had come, if only Jesus had come, and first thing out of Martha's mouth, first thing out of Mary's mouth, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

  36:56-36:57

  Wow.

  36:59-37:00

  That's the big question, isn't it?

  37:03-37:08

  If God is all loving, and God is all powerful, then why is there suffering?

  37:09-37:13

  If God is all loving and God is all powerful, why is there suffering?

  37:14-37:18

  That's a question that has turned evangelists into atheists.

  37:18-37:18

  Did you know that?

  37:19-37:21

  Read a little bit about Charles Templeton.

  37:22-37:28

  That was the question that turned the evangelist who was supposed to be bigger than Billy Graham into an atheist.

  37:29-37:32

  God's all loving and God's all powerful, why is there suffering?

  37:32-37:34

  That was a question that plagued my own father.

  37:36-37:46

  Because we knew that Jesus loved and we knew that Jesus had power, but now we're looking at Lazarus is dead, so something is wrong.

  37:49-37:59

  Verse 33, "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping." Are you in this scene?

  38:00-38:03

  Here comes Mary, here comes all these wailing people.

  38:05-38:18

  It says, "Jesus was deeply moved in His Spirit and greatly troubled." Deeply moved, this phrase is used three times outside of this gospel.

  38:19-38:23

  And every time it refers to a rebuke or a warning.

  38:26-38:32

  We would use the phrase, "Fired up." was fired up in his spirit.

  38:33-38:35

  That says he was troubled.

  38:36-38:43

  That's a word that means agitated, the same as John chapter 14, verse 1, when Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled.

  38:47-38:51

  Here, Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

  38:55-38:58

  And he said, where have you laid him?

  39:01-39:08

  They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept.

  39:12-40:13

  So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" There have been a lot of sermons preached about this passage and a lot of times they go like this, "You know it's okay when we're sad because, you heard this, even Jesus cried at a funeral." There's something a lot deeper than that happening here. A lot of theologians say here's what's happening. Jesus was angry at death. But he sort of planned this, right?

  40:13-40:24

  If Jesus was so angry about death and upset that this happened, he could have just prevented it. You know, he He didn't even have to be there for that to happen.

  40:24-40:25

  He could have just said the word.

  40:29-40:32

  There's something really deep and complex happening here.

  40:32-40:46

  And I do believe that part of the issue, part of the issue, the thing that grieved our Lord was grieving for the destruction and death and despair that sin had brought.

  40:47-40:56

  I believe that's part of the issue, that Jesus stepping back, Here's the fruit of sin, death, mourning, wailing.

  41:00-41:01

  But here's the real issue.

  41:03-41:08

  I read a great article from John Piper about this, and I agree with him.

  41:09-41:14

  That the thing that grieved our Lord was this, his motives were questioned.

  41:15-41:16

  Did you see that in the text?

  41:17-41:19

  His motives were questioned.

  41:19-41:23

  First thing Martha says, Lord, if you'd been here, our brother wouldn't have died.

  41:24-41:29

  So then Jesus goes and Mary meets him, Lord, if you had been here, our brother wouldn't have died.

  41:33-41:34

  And then the mourners.

  41:35-41:37

  Wow, he really loved them.

  41:40-42:07

  Yeah, he could heal blind people, couldn't he have done something about this over and over and over. Jesus delayed to show his love and now the very love that he has is questioned. I thought he was good. I thought Jesus was for us. How could he do this? Jesus could have prevented all this. I believe what really moved Jesus.

  42:11-42:16

  was the unbelief, the suspicion, and the questioning.

  42:21-42:29

  Because those are the things that keep you from seeing Christ in your pain.

  42:31-42:32

  I'm going to say that again.

  42:33-42:42

  Jesus was moved over unbelief, suspicion, and questioning, Because those are the things that keep us from seeing Christ in our pain.

  42:45-42:55

  When God is delaying and He's allowing a trial and He wants to accomplish a purpose, and instead of us crying out and saying, "What's your purpose in allowing this, God?

  42:55-42:57

  What are you trying to do?

  42:58-43:05

  What aspect of your glory are you trying to show me here?" Instead, we turn to Him and say, "I thought God loved me.

  43:06-43:07

  I thought God cared about me.

  43:09-43:11

  I thought God could do something about this.

  43:14-43:15

  His very motives were questioned.

  43:19-43:24

  Watch somebody go through a trial, and one of two paths are always taken.

  43:26-43:28

  People get bitter, or people get better.

  43:30-43:31

  Isn't that the truth?

  43:32-43:41

  The trial you're going through, the path that you're going to take, bitter or better, is going to depend on how you have assessed Jesus' motives.

  43:43-43:44

  That's the determining factor.

  43:44-44:01

  The trial you're in right now, we talked about that at the beginning, health thing, relationship issue, financial issue, whatever happens on the other side of this trial, you're either going to come out better, or you're going to come out bitter.

  44:03-44:08

  And what makes the determination is on how you have assessed God's motives.

  44:14-44:16

  So do you have any doubts about God's motives?

  44:18-44:20

  Today's a good day to lay him to rest.

  44:23-44:24

  Now, I'd like to stop here.

  44:28-44:30

  But let's see how this story ends, shall we?

  44:34-44:40

  If our ushers would bring the communion elements forward, we're going to receive the Lord's Supper here in a couple of moments.

  44:45-44:49

  Look at verse 38, "Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb.

  44:50-45:06

  It was a cave and a stone lay against it." Now, in those days, in the funerals, the people actually came and they stayed for an entire week, and they immediately buried the person.

  45:12-45:18

  And they would mourn and they would comfort each other, but there would not be any food, because they didn't want to turn it into a party.

  45:21-45:25

  Well, here, Scripture tells us about the grave.

  45:25-45:29

  The grave would have been a cave. Imagine like a 6 by 9 by 10 grave.

  45:30-45:31

  It would have had shelves in it.

  45:33-45:38

  And usually there were about 8 shelves per little cave.

  45:39-45:41

  And they would...

  45:41-45:50

  The Jews would actually, not like the Egyptians where they kind of wrap the whole thing, the Jews would actually wrap individual limbs and lay them on that shelf.

  45:51-46:02

  And then they would immediately close it and seal it, and then get right to mourning.

  46:06-46:10

  So Jesus said, you have the scene here, Jesus shows up.

  46:11-46:19

  Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Could you imagine like you're at a funeral and Jesus walks in, he's opened the casket up.

  46:21-46:44

  "What?" "Open it up." Jesus says, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Like, Jesus, you don't wanna do that.

  46:46-46:48

  You roll that stone away.

  46:50-46:51

  it's going to stink.

  46:52-46:56

  I think, you know what I think another issue was going on here was, do you want to see your dead brother?

  46:58-47:03

  Do you want to tear the scab off of that wound and see, roll the stone away?

  47:06-47:08

  He's been dead a while, Jesus. I don't think that's a good idea.

  47:10-47:36

  Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Not, "You'll see a miracle." He said, "You'll see the glory of God." So they took away the stone, and Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard me. I know that You always hear me.

  47:36-47:49

  But I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent me." When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice.

  47:49-47:54

  Now, this word loud in Greek, do you know what it means?

  47:55-47:56

  It means loud.

  47:56-47:58

  And I don't just mean loud.

  47:58-47:59

  It's like the loudest of the loud.

  48:00-48:01

  So can you picture this?

  48:01-48:02

  Roll the stone away.

  48:03-48:05

  It's gonna sting, bad idea.

  48:06-48:08

  And they roll the stone away.

  48:08-48:28

  And with a loud voice, Jesus cries out, "Lazarus, come out!" Well, Jesus had to say Lazarus because like if he hadn't specified, probably all of the dead people would have come out.

  48:29-48:35

  "Now Lazarus, I'm talking to you." That is going to happen by the way, spoiler alert.

  48:37-48:54

  But in this case, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and his feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth.

  48:58-48:59

  What do you even say?

  48:59-49:02

  Seriously, Lazarus comes walking out of the grave.

  49:04-49:05

  Everyone's speechless.

  49:07-49:15

  And Jesus as plain as anything said to them, and unbind him and let him go.

  49:21-49:24

  This is the glory of Christ that he wanted to display.

  49:27-49:37

  That not just there's going to be a resurrection, the glory of Christ is this, he is the resurrection.

  49:39-49:43

  And Lazarus is just a preview of your resurrection, by the way.

  49:47-49:49

  And this is the love of God.

  49:52-49:54

  God is saying, I love you.

  49:58-50:09

  I love you sometimes by delaying my answer, but I do love you and I will show you my glory.

  50:12-50:14

  So the trial you're going through, you can wonder.

  50:16-50:17

  You can wonder about the duration.

  50:18-50:20

  I wonder how long this is going to happen.

  50:20-50:21

  You can wonder about the purpose.

  50:22-50:24

  Why is God allowing this?

  50:27-50:30

  But you never have to wonder about God's motive.

  50:32-50:32

  He loves you.

  50:33-50:34

  Let's pray.

Small Group Questions ­(Whole Group):
Read John 11:1-46

1. John 11:5-6 says Jesus loved Lazarus, so He waited 2 days before He went to him! Why does it seem that God is always late?
    

2. Jesus allowed Lazarus to die so Jesus’ glory could be revealed in raising him. Tell of a time God allowed suffering in your life, and you saw how He revealed His glory through it.
    

3. In Jn 11:24, Martha said she believed Lazarus would resurrect in the future, but not now. Why do we sometimes fall into that kind of thinking, hesitating to believe God can do something now?
    

4. Why did Jesus weep (Jn 11:35)? What does this tell you about God?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.

To the Defenseless: I AM the Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherds Job Qualifications:

1. Committed Love (Jn 10:11-13)


2. Uniting Love (Jn 10:14-16)


3. Obedient Love (Jn 10:17-18)

Why is obedience important to the follower of Christ?

1. Obedience is evidence that we Know God.

1 John 2:3 - And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.



2. Obedience is evidence that we Love God.

John 14:15 - If you love me, you will keep my commandments.



3. Obedience is evidence that we Trust God.

Deuteronomy 6:24 - And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always...

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  00:00-00:20

  If you remember last week, the Bible says that we are like an animal. What animal are we like? I'm a tiger, right? That's what I am. I'm a tiger, right?

  00:22-00:29

  No, what does the Bible say I am? Yeah, I'm a sheep. No, no, no, that's That's lame.

  00:30-00:32

  It looks like a pillow, okay?

  00:32-00:33

  It feels like a pillow.

  00:34-00:37

  Actually, that's what they use to make pillows, okay?

  00:37-00:37

  Lame.

  00:38-00:39

  I'm a falcon.

  00:41-00:43

  No, I'm a...

  00:46-00:47

  I'm a bombardier beetle.

  00:47-00:48

  Have you ever seen these things?

  00:49-01:04

  They get these two chambers in their abdomen with these biochemicals in them Long story short, they fire out a 200 and some degree blast.

  01:05-01:06

  That's what I am.

  01:07-01:11

  And you're like, no, Pastor Jeff, you are a-- lame.

  01:13-01:20

  Defenseless, weak, vulnerable, stupid.

  01:20-01:22

  That's what I am as a sheep.

  01:24-01:29

  And before you say, "Amen," that's what you are too.

  01:31-01:33

  We are weak and vulnerable.

  01:33-01:39

  And really, the main reason the Bible says we're sheep is because we covered this last week.

  01:39-01:41

  This is a little review for those of you who weren't here.

  01:41-01:43

  But what do sheep need?

  01:44-01:45

  A shepherd, right?

  01:45-01:49

  More than anything else, sheep need a shepherd.

  01:50-01:55

  And in John chapter 9, Jesus healed a man who was born blind.

  01:56-01:57

  Awesome, right?

  01:57-02:03

  But the problem for the Pharisees was that Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath.

  02:03-02:05

  And if you've read your Bibles, you know that was a constant issue.

  02:06-02:07

  Everybody was always upset.

  02:08-02:09

  Jesus healed on the Sabbath.

  02:09-02:11

  We can't do that on the Sabbath.

  02:11-02:13

  That's not allowed on the Sabbath.

  02:14-02:22

  Well they said Jesus broke the Sabbath by healing, and then they turned around and denied that Jesus actually healed him because they didn't believe that Jesus could heal.

  02:24-02:26

  Figure that one out, I'm still working on that.

  02:26-02:34

  So these Pharisees were people that had appointed themselves as the shepherds of Israel.

  02:34-02:39

  They're like, yeah, we're the guides, we're the enlightened ones and we'll guide you.

  02:40-02:45

  And in John chapter nine, Jesus says to them, you're blind.

  02:47-02:48

  You're not a shepherd.

  02:49-02:52

  And then in chapter 10, we saw Jesus said, you're not even sheep.

  02:54-02:55

  You're so lost.

  02:57-03:07

  Jesus makes his point by talking about something everyone knew, and that was shepherding sheep, the sheep fold, we covered these things last week.

  03:08-03:13

  But verses one through 10, Jesus actually compared himself to the false shepherds.

  03:13-03:25

  Jesus said, "His sheep know His voice, they follow Him, and He gives salvation, security, and satisfaction." That was the review. Let's pick up in verse 11.

  03:27-05:08

  As Jesus continues the metaphor, Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd." The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep 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 for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I received from my father." There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon and is insane.

  05:08-05:22

  Why listen to him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" Let's pray.

  05:24-05:35

  Father in heaven, we know that a demon in fact cannot open the eyes of the blind.

  05:38-08:18

  Only you can do that, Father. Only you can open our spiritual eyes. Father, just now I pray against blindness, I pray against self-deceit, and I pray against the lies of the enemy as we take some time this morning to hear the words from the Good Shepherd. And it's in his mighty name, Jesus Christ, that we pray and all God's people said, "Amen." Did you get a sense of the love jumping off of the page and into your heart in that passage? Did you get that or was it like just me? Did you feel that? Carrie, you did, you're smiling. You got that, didn't you? Like the love just the love of Christ just pouring out out of his mouth into our hearts. On your outline, you know, Jesus here makes a claim twice in this section in verse 11 and verse 14. Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd." And what we're going to look at today, the Good Shepherd's job qualifications. Like, if you're making a claim like that? I'm the good shepherd? I'm the good shepherd? If you're making a claim like that, you better have some job qualifications on your resume to back that up. And here Jesus is giving us just that. So number one, jot this down, committed love. Committed love. Look at verses 11 through 13. We're gonna go through this again because Jesus says so much. He says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." He was a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep. Well, he sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. And then why does he do that, Jesus? Well, they all knew this and Jesus was explaining it to them and to he flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." So first of all, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd." Now, in the Greek, there were basically two words for good, and one of them had to do with, like, morally good.

  08:21-08:21

  Morally good.

  08:22-08:25

  Now, I'm not a worship leader. I wish that I was.

  08:27-08:33

  But even though I'm not, I could get up here and I could lead you in a good song, a morally good song.

  08:34-08:41

  Well, the other word for good in the Greek meant wholly good, completely good.

  08:43-08:49

  Now you see, I can't sing a morally good song well, you'll need Darren for that.

  08:51-08:58

  Or you could say, I'm a morally good musician, you could say, he's a thoroughly good musician, morally and skill-wise.

  08:59-09:01

  Like, where are you going with this?

  09:01-09:08

  Well, that second word is the word that Jesus used to describe himself as the good shepherd, thoroughly, completely.

  09:09-09:12

  Every single thing about him is good.

  09:13-09:18

  He didn't just say, "I'm a shepherd," like me and the Pharisees, or there's a bunch of us.

  09:18-09:25

  He says, "I'm the shepherd," But he didn't even leave it at that.

  09:26-09:43

  He says, "I am the good shepherd." Literally, literally in the Greek, if you would read this, Jesus said, "I am the shepherd, the good one." And you have to understand what a controversial statement that would have been in front of the Pharisees.

  09:44-10:16

  That would be like me walking into the campus of Pitt, into the, you know, the faculty lounge all of the professors are sitting, it'd be like me walking in saying, "I'm the teacher, the good one!" And you are. That's what Jesus was doing. In the midst of all these false shepherds, Jesus said, "I'm the shepherd, the good one." So you can see where some hairs were already standing up on the backs of some people's necks.

  10:19-10:25

  committed love. Notice Jesus said it actually five times in this passage.

  10:26-11:05

  Verse 11, verse 15, verse 17, and twice in verse 18, he says, "I lay down my life." "I lay down my life." Why did he do that? Well, he tells us he lays down his life for the sheep. Now, you see, there's something a little different going on than in the human realm. Imagine a shepherd on a hillside guarding his flock and a pack of wolves come and the shepherd dies defending the sheep. Tell me what happens next. What happens next?

  11:12-12:12

  What happens next? Go ahead, shout it out. The sheep die, right? Isn't that what happens next? Like, the shepherd fights off the wolves and dies, the wolves aren't like, "Okay, we're done." Now the wolves are like, "It's ponderosa time, and the sheep are toast if the shepherd dies." Well, spoiler alert, Jesus said, "I'm the good shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep, but, but what happened to that dead shepherd?" He tells us in verses 17 and 18, he said, "I laid down my life, but I have the authority to what? Take it up again." Isn't that awesome? We're not following a shepherd that's in danger of getting ravaged by wolves. We're following a shepherd that got ravaged by the wolves and came marching right out of his grave, who lives to eternally take care of his sheep.

  12:12-12:13

  Isn't that fantastic?

  12:15-12:16

  Committed love.

  12:17-12:18

  Committed love.

  12:18-12:23

  Jesus compared himself to the Pharisees by mentioning the hireling.

  12:23-12:24

  What was the hireling?

  12:24-12:26

  Well, the hireling was paid part-time.

  12:27-12:28

  Okay?

  12:28-12:32

  It was the guy that the shepherd would hire if he needed a day off or if he was sick.

  12:33-12:34

  He was paid part-time.

  12:35-12:36

  And why did the hireling take the job?

  12:38-12:42

  Well, he was just in it for the money. He didn't really care about the sheep, right?

  12:43-12:47

  They're not his sheep. I don't care what happens to the sheep.

  12:48-12:51

  Just here for a paycheck. Have you ever had a job like that?

  12:52-13:00

  Where you're like, "I'm just here to get a paycheck," but the job stinks so bad that you quit after the first day?

  13:00-13:02

  Has that ever happened to you? Anybody?

  13:03-13:05

  I'm going to tell you a story. You're going to think of some of your own.

  13:06-13:13

  But my wife, Erin, when she was 15, she gave me permission to tell this story, by the way.

  13:14-13:18

  When she was 15, you remember these goofy jobs you got when you were like a teenager, right?

  13:18-13:20

  Before you could drive and all that.

  13:20-13:27

  Well, when she was 15, she heard of this place up by Montauk where you could go and pick blueberries.

  13:28-13:32

  You could go there at eight in the morning and stay till five in the afternoon.

  13:34-13:36

  And Erin was like, this is fantastic.

  13:38-13:40

  Because her friend was going to go with her.

  13:40-13:47

  She's like, so we can pick blueberries all day, and we can talk, and we can listen to music, and we can just have a great old time outside working.

  13:48-13:49

  It's all so much fun.

  13:52-14:01

  Then we're going to go home, and we're just going to sit, and we're going to count our money, maybe fill it in a silo like Scrooge McDuck and swim in it.

  14:01-14:05

  And well, she got up early.

  14:07-14:11

  First of all, she found out the employer was this really nasty, mean lady.

  14:12-14:16

  And you would have to take many trips to dump these blueberries.

  14:16-14:21

  So all day, you'd fill this little thing, and then you'd go have to dump it to fill the big thing.

  14:21-14:24

  And you were actually paid by volume.

  14:24-14:29

  And this lady would throw out all these blueberries that didn't match her criteria.

  14:32-14:34

  And Erin said she endured the heat.

  14:36-14:37

  They got attacked by bees.

  14:38-14:40

  She got a nasty sunburn.

  14:42-14:48

  And she went home with $6.36 payday.

  14:50-14:51

  Oh, it's not over.

  14:54-15:00

  because she was 15 and needed transportation, she had to pay $5 for the trip.

  15:02-15:07

  She did all that work for not even a buck and a half.

  15:09-15:13

  So what do you think the chances were that she went blueberry picking the next day?

  15:13-15:14

  What do you think the chances were?

  15:15-15:17

  No, she did not go back blueberry picking.

  15:18-15:19

  Well, what's the point here?

  15:19-15:21

  Well, Jesus said, well, that's what the hirelings are like.

  15:23-15:30

  They're in the job for the money, but they don't really care about the job and they're going to bail.

  15:30-15:31

  They're going to bail.

  15:32-15:34

  If you're just in it for the money, you're not gonna stick around.

  15:35-15:38

  And again, Jesus was calling out the Pharisees, the religious leaders.

  15:38-15:47

  He says, "You're just a bunch of cowardly hirelings." The Bible warns us that some pastors are in ministry that way.

  15:47-15:47

  Did you know that?

  15:48-15:51

  There are some pastors in ministry that are just about collecting the paycheck.

  15:52-15:53

  They don't care about the people.

  15:53-15:58

  They don't care if you're growing, if you're understanding God's word.

  16:00-16:01

  They don't care.

  16:02-16:05

  What they care is the money, the prestige, the fame.

  16:07-16:09

  Well, and then when things get hard, what do they do?

  16:10-16:14

  When things get hard, they pack up and go because they don't care about the sheep.

  16:15-16:20

  That's why, what is it, like one in 10 people who actually start ministry actually finish ministry?

  16:23-16:28

  That's why church, you face a double whammy, don't you?

  16:30-16:31

  The church faces a double whammy.

  16:31-16:38

  You either have to face the wolves, or you have to face a hireling that will bail when the wolves show up.

  16:39-16:42

  Well, Jesus sets the example for us in ministry.

  16:43-16:49

  For the good of the flock, he laid down his life.

  16:50-18:38

  For the good of the flock, he committed. And he didn't just commit to say I'm going to fulfill a few years of ministry. He didn't just commit to where he said, "Well, if this starts getting hard, I'm still going to endure." How far did Jesus commit all the way to carrying the cross on his back, all the way to public humiliation and shame, agonizing physical pain on the cross, but nothing compared to the pain of bearing the wrath of sin on himself. How can you not love a shepherd like this? We have a shepherd who says, "I will lay down my life for the sheep. I will sacrifice myself so that they may live." And understand, that's what happened at the cross. When Jesus Christ was crucified, some people think that, you know, it was so horrible because of the physical pain, and it was. But the horrible part of the cross, and the horrible pain rather, was the truth that when Jesus was hanging there, he was bearing the wrath of God for my sin and for your sin.

  18:40-18:45

  The Bible tells us that God is a God of justice and he must punish sin.

  18:46-18:56

  Some people think God is like grandpa, like, "Oh, the kids are out of hand again "and I'm just gonna overlook it." And God is a holy and righteous judge.

  18:56-18:59

  And God said He will punish sin.

  18:59-19:02

  He said the wages of sin is death.

  19:07-19:11

  And God always keeps His word, isn't that the God that we worship, the God who always keeps His word?

  19:12-19:16

  Well, when it comes to punishing sin, He's going to keep His word on that, too.

  19:18-19:19

  But see, here's the glorious truth.

  19:19-19:22

  when Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was stepping in.

  19:24-19:26

  He took my place on the cross.

  19:26-19:28

  It should have been me bearing the wrath of God.

  19:30-19:35

  It should have been you beside me on your own cross bearing the wrath of God.

  19:35-19:39

  You should be punished for your sin, and I know I should be punished for mine.

  19:41-19:45

  But Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, I laid down my life for the sheep.

  19:48-19:53

  taking the full brunt of God's punishment.

  19:58-20:04

  So that we can be completely forgiven, completely without guilt.

  20:06-20:07

  No condemnation.

  20:08-20:09

  Do you understand that?

  20:10-20:12

  Do you understand what that means?

  20:12-20:18

  Because I even talked to some Christians that say things like, why know when I stand before God, I'm going to have some things to answer for.

  20:18-20:21

  Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

  20:22-20:27

  If so, what makes you think God punished Jesus, and then he's going to turn around and punish you too?

  20:29-20:33

  That's why the Bible uses this word, I love this word, propitiation. You know what that means?

  20:34-20:57

  Christ is our propitiation. It means that God was satisfied with Christ. God wasn't like, "I took it out on Jesus, but Derek, I'm going to take it out on you too!" Because you've trusted Christ, he says, You're not guilty. You're free. You're delivered. You're innocent. Because Jesus took your place.

  20:58-21:02

  He bore your punishment. And you're alive and you're free.

  21:05-21:09

  So the question is, have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

  21:10-21:15

  Have you believed in him and in the work that he accomplished?

  21:17-21:21

  And this is an urgent thing. You know the Bible talks about the day of salvation.

  21:22-21:25

  Do you know when that is? Do you know when the day of salvation is?

  21:26-21:29

  It's today. Do you know why it's today? Why isn't it tomorrow?

  21:31-21:35

  Why isn't tomorrow the day of salvation? Because you might not have tomorrow. Right?

  21:36-21:45

  Either Christ could return, or who's to say that you're still alive this time tomorrow?

  21:48-21:55

  Today is the day of salvation. Have you received the shepherd who laid down his life, committed love?

  21:57-22:02

  Committed love. What's not to love about Jesus Christ?

  22:04-22:13

  Secondly, on his job description, jot this down, "Uniting love." Uniting love.

  22:19-22:22

  Here's a lame shepherd here. Do you want to hear about a lame shepherd?

  22:22-22:23

  Here's a lame shepherd.

  22:24-22:36

  You walk up to him and you say, "Is that your sheep?" And he's like, "I don't know." Or you walk up to him and say, "How many sheep do you have?" I don't know.

  22:37-22:39

  More than six, I think. I don't know.

  22:40-22:41

  Lame shepherd, right?

  22:42-22:44

  Hey, how are your sheep doing?

  22:44-22:46

  What's the general health of the flock?

  22:49-22:49

  (blows raspberry)

  22:51-22:52

  Wish I could tell you.

  22:53-22:54

  Why don't you tell me and we'll both know.

  22:58-22:59

  Um, uniting love.

  22:59-23:28

  Well, this word for "know" that Jesus used, we're going to look at this again, but listen, this word for "know" that he used doesn't just mean like I have head knowledge about something, like I know the square root of 16 or something like that. This word for "know" is experiential, intimate knowledge that we actually gain through the experience.

  23:29-23:32

  To know someone. Do you know how it was used in the Old Testament?

  23:34-23:41

  In the Old Testament it meant relational intimacy that culminated in the physical human experience.

  23:43-23:48

  That's why in Genesis it says, "Adam knew Eve." What does that mean?

  23:49-23:52

  He wasn't like, "Oh Eve, I'm pleased to meet you." Yeah, we met.

  23:53-23:57

  What that meant was they had an experience together.

  24:00-24:04

  And when we get to the New Testament, that's what that word no means.

  24:04-24:07

  It's not always tied into the sexual connotation.

  24:09-24:14

  What it means is we've experienced some things together.

  24:17-24:21

  We have a relational knowledge of each other, okay?

  24:22-24:28

  Closeness and experience, God's desire that we grow in a relationship with Him.

  24:30-24:33

  Because that's what love goes after, isn't it?

  24:33-24:35

  Doesn't love go after unity?

  24:36-24:36

  Isn't that true?

  24:37-24:38

  Does love go after unity?

  24:42-25:13

  I think back to those days about 12 years ago or so, when I said, "Aaron, I love you. Will you be my pen pal?" That went a lot further than I anticipated. "No, will you marry me?" Why did I want to marry her? Why did I want to marry her? Because you can't cook, Pastor Jeff. There's even a bigger reason.

  25:15-26:09

  because I wanted to know her. I wanted to be in a relationship with her. I wanted to be close with her. I wanted to experience life with her. I wanted to grow old with her. All of that. It's knowing her. You see, love goes after unity. Love says, "I want to be close to you." Love says, "I want to have experiences with you. Love says I want to know you more. Okay, so now look at verses 14 and through 16 again where Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own." Ah, is that making sense now? I know my own. And my own know me. Are you getting that?

  26:10-26:28

  If I was like, "Jesus, who's this guy?" And Jesus is like, "Oh, his name's Justin, "begins with a C, Justin, Justin Katie, yeah, "yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I know him." Jesus said, "I know my sheep." How well does Jesus know Justin Katie?

  26:30-26:32

  Better than Justin Katie knows himself.

  26:33-26:39

  That's the level of knowledge that this shepherd has for his sheep.

  26:43-26:46

  So not only does he know the sheep, but the sheep know him.

  26:49-26:51

  And you're like, well, like how deep does that go?

  26:52-26:53

  As deep as it gets.

  26:54-26:58

  He says, just as the father knows me and I know the father.

  26:59-27:02

  What kind of relationship did God the father and God the son have?

  27:02-27:03

  It was pretty tight, wasn't it?

  27:05-27:07

  Yeah, there's nothing tighter.

  27:08-27:25

  There is no, there's nothing you can compare that relationship to on one hand, but on the other hand, Jesus was saying that his relationship and knowing the sheep and the sheep knowing him is just as, wow.

  27:26-27:28

  Just as he knows the father and the father knows him.

  27:31-27:36

  And then Jesus says, I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

  27:36-27:37

  And again, we talked about this last week.

  27:37-27:38

  He's talking about the Gentiles.

  27:40-27:46

  He came to the lost sheep of Israel and here Gentiles, he's going after them, too.

  27:46-27:51

  Jesus said, I must bring them also so they will listen and they will listen to my voice.

  27:51-27:54

  Excuse me. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

  27:56-28:00

  So the point is this, Jesus Christ is the unifying center.

  28:01-28:10

  He came to bring us into a loving relationship with God and a loving relationship with each other.

  28:14-28:19

  Those two things real quick, first of all, Jesus came to bring us into a loving relationship with God.

  28:20-28:22

  As Christians, our goal is God's goal.

  28:22-28:24

  What's God's goal for you, Christians?

  28:25-28:30

  Romans 8, 29 says that God's goal for you is to be conformed into the image of his son.

  28:30-28:32

  Do you see that unity thing? Do you see it?

  28:32-28:40

  God's goal is you're so unified with his son that you're becoming like him, conformed into his image.

  28:42-28:45

  That's why Paul said we just studied Philippians, right?

  28:45-28:48

  Remember Philippians 3.10? What was Paul's ultimate goal?

  28:49-28:59

  Paul's ultimate goal, he says, "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." Paul's goal was, I want to know Jesus more.

  29:01-29:06

  I want to know Jesus more, not just about Jesus, the experiential relationship.

  29:06-29:07

  That's what I'm going after.

  29:07-29:08

  How are you doing there?

  29:09-29:12

  That's why at Harvest we encourage you to pray without ceasing.

  29:12-29:15

  That's why we encourage you to be part of a small group.

  29:15-29:18

  That's why you hear me say week after week, you need to be in God's word for yourself.

  29:19-29:25

  OK, that's part of your growing in unity in the Lord, knowing him deeper.

  29:26-29:31

  That's why we encourage you to come here for worship in the Word, growing in your relationship with the Lord.

  29:32-29:33

  All these things will help you.

  29:34-29:37

  Secondly, he's called us to grow in the relationship with each other.

  29:39-29:53

  Again, verse 16, talking about the Gentiles, that's one of the most beautiful things about the church, is because you have messed up people of all colors and all backgrounds, all unified.

  29:55-29:59

  "a flock under one shepherd." So jot these words down on your outline.

  30:00-30:00

  You ready?

  30:02-30:03

  Jot these words down on your outline.

  30:03-30:05

  First word is this, elitism.

  30:06-30:07

  Elitism.

  30:08-30:09

  Write it down.

  30:09-30:14

  And then put a big fat X through it because that's not allowed here.

  30:14-30:16

  Elitism is I'm better than you.

  30:20-30:21

  I'm a sheep, you're a sheep.

  30:24-30:26

  Elitism, no room for that in the church.

  30:27-30:33

  If you walk through the doors thinking, it's really nice of me to tolerate these people.

  30:34-30:36

  They're really blessed to have me here.

  30:37-30:41

  You're a sheep, saved by grace, just like me.

  30:43-30:45

  Here's another word, write this word down, favoritism.

  30:46-30:49

  Favoritism, write it down.

  30:50-30:51

  And guess what you're gonna do with that?

  30:53-30:54

  put a big fat X through it.

  30:55-30:56

  Favoritism.

  30:57-30:58

  Elitism is I'm better than you.

  30:58-31:01

  Favoritism is you are better than him.

  31:02-31:03

  That's favoritism.

  31:05-31:07

  You're a sheep and he's a sheep.

  31:08-31:11

  He was saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

  31:12-31:13

  How did you get saved?

  31:13-31:15

  Oh yeah, it was the blood of Christ.

  31:16-31:16

  Right, right, right.

  31:16-31:19

  So that means you guys are pretty much equal, right?

  31:20-31:24

  Sheep, there's no room for favoritism in the church.

  31:28-31:30

  And then the last one, racism.

  31:32-31:37

  Racism, write racism down and put a big fat X through that one.

  31:39-31:40

  Elitism is I'm better than you.

  31:40-31:42

  Favoritism is you're better than him.

  31:42-31:44

  Racism is you aren't as good as anyone in here.

  31:50-31:59

  Okay, if you're a black man saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, you're a white man saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, like really what's the difference in God's eyes?

  31:59-32:00

  What's the difference?

  32:02-32:05

  We're sheep, we're sheep.

  32:06-32:07

  Okay, so there's black sheep and there's white sheep.

  32:08-32:09

  What, you don't like a little color in your flock?

  32:11-32:13

  No room for racism in the church.

  32:14-32:16

  There's one shepherd, we're all sheep, okay?

  32:17-32:20

  Elitism, favoritism, racism, not welcome here.

  32:22-32:25

  And then finally today, let's talk about obedient love.

  32:27-32:30

  Obedient love, look at verses 17 and 18 again.

  32:31-32:37

  Jesus says, "For this reason, the Father loves me." That's a confusing statement, isn't it?

  32:37-32:39

  For this reason, the Father loves me?

  32:39-32:41

  Like God didn't love you before?

  32:44-32:52

  For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again." Did Jesus earn the Father's love?

  32:52-32:54

  No, that's not what he's saying.

  32:55-32:56

  This is what he's saying.

  32:58-33:15

  The highest act of love to the Father was the Son laying down his life for the sheep, which is also the highest justification of the Father's love for the Son.

  33:16-33:16

  Do you catch that?

  33:17-33:20

  Jesus didn't like earn God's love because he did that.

  33:21-33:23

  It was the ultimate expression of his love.

  33:24-33:27

  And for the Father, it was the ultimate justification of his love.

  33:28-33:29

  Like, of course I love my son, look at him.

  33:34-33:39

  Jesus came to sacrifice himself, but I think you saw in these verses, he wasn't forced to.

  33:41-33:47

  Five times I laid on my life, I lay down my life, lay it down, lay it down, that I may take it up again.

  33:49-33:50

  Oh, so they're going to kill you, Jesus.

  33:51-33:54

  No one takes it from me.

  33:58-33:59

  So, like, who killed Jesus?

  34:00-34:01

  It was the Jews, right?

  34:01-34:02

  The Romans, right?

  34:03-34:05

  No one takes it from me.

  34:06-34:08

  But I lay it down of my own accord.

  34:09-34:12

  I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.

  34:12-34:36

  this charge I received from my father. Jesus wasn't forced to sacrifice himself. So if the choice is A, die a brutal death, or B, surviving and avoiding a brutal death, which option are you going to take? Or the question is, why die?

  34:37-35:23

  Why die? Well, there was one thing that motivated Jesus Christ 24/7. Do you know what it was? There was one thing that Jesus kept his eyes on, motivated him every single step that he took, every second of every day, there was one thing that drove Jesus, and that was this, glorifying the Father through His obedience. That was it. And I wrote down all these verses. We can do a whole another study on that. But Jesus made it so clear. Do you know why I'm here? Do you know why I'm here? I'm here to do my Father's will, period. That's why I'm here.

  35:24-37:25

  perfect obedience and being one with Christ going down the homestretch here please this is so important being one with Christ it is the same for us listen to me obedience flows out of love you aren't saved by obedience but you are saved for obedience, it's like good works, right? How many times have we said that? You're not saved by good works, you're saved for good works. It's the same with obedience. Obedience is the fruit of salvation. Obedience is the evidence of salvation. And the other thing I need to remind you of, as I do often, is that God doesn't call you to something that he doesn't empower you for, right? So it's not like, "Go out there and try to be obedient." That's what walking in the Spirit is all about. It's allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through you. So why is obedience important to the Follower of Christ? Three things. First of all, obedience is evidence that we know God. It's evidence. It's evidence that we know God. 1 John 2:3, he says, "And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Again, it's that intimate, it's that relational knowledge. Are you a friend of God? Do you know God? Well, John says if you do, it shows up in your life. It affects the way that you live. Secondly, obedience is evidence that we love God. Obedience is evidence that we love God. Jesus said in John 14, 15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Again, it's fruit.

  37:26-37:26

  It's fruit.

  37:27-37:28

  If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

  37:30-37:34

  The fruit of loving Jesus Christ is I wanna do what he says.

  37:37-37:48

  Just like Jesus said, "I know the Father, I love the Father, "so I'm just here to do what the Father says." And then thirdly, obedience is evidence that we trust God.

  37:49-37:51

  Obedience is evidence that we trust God.

  37:54-37:58

  It's so interesting, many, many references in the Old Testament actually, is God's giving the law.

  37:59-38:24

  When we think of the law, a lot of times we think of just arbitrary rules, but over and over, like look at Deuteronomy 6.24, "The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always." There's an element in which obedience is really saying, "God, I just believe you know best.

  38:25-38:26

  I believe you know best.

  38:27-38:28

  I trust your word.

  38:29-38:41

  You know what, God, right now I'm having a hard time maybe acting upon it, but I'm going to do it anyways because I believe you and I trust you." It's evidence that we trust God.

  38:41-38:44

  God, when he tells us to do something, what's he really saying?

  38:45-38:57

  He's saying, "Do this for your own good." when God tells us not to do something, God's saying, "What? Don't hurt yourself." As we've heard James MacDonald say so many times, "You choose to sin, you what?

  38:58-39:52

  Choose to suffer." Right? Choose to sin, choose to suffer. Whether you obey the Word or not just reveals whether you trust God or not. So church, that's what we're going after. Christlike, humble obedience. As we cap this off, no surprise here, look at verse 19 again. Jesus makes this statement. "There was again a division among the Jews because of these words." Jesus is polarizing. He's Some people come to church and say, "I'm not going back there." Other people come and say, "I can't wait to go back." Why? It has to do with the words of Jesus.

  39:53-40:01

  Some people are going to hate it and run from it, and some people are going to just drink it down like cold water on a hot day.

  40:03-40:32

  If this wasn't so sad of the condition of these men's hearts, it would almost be funny, but look at verse 20, many of them said, "He has a demon and he's insane." It's like, demon possession alone isn't enough to explain how crazy this man is.

  40:33-40:38

  So we postulate that he does in fact have a demon possessing him.

  40:39-40:42

  And on top of that, he has mental illness.

  40:43-40:46

  That's the only explanation for a man that would get up and say the things that he said.

  40:49-40:55

  Well, Jesus is a madman, or he's God.

  40:57-41:06

  So if you leave thinking that Jesus is just all right with me, then you haven't been paying attention to anything he said.

  41:08-41:15

  Jesus is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all.

  41:17-41:25

  Several years ago, we were going around the neighborhood doing some evangelizing, and I met the most peculiar lady.

  41:26-41:34

  I was talking to her about our church and talking to her about Jesus, and the lady, her whole face got really sad.

  41:37-42:04

  She said, "You know, it's the worst thing that's ever happened in history, you know." I'm like, "What?" She said, "They got Jesus." Like, "What?" Think about it. He was going out, he was healing people, he was teaching people good things, and they got him.

  42:06-42:12

  Think of how much more effective his ministry would have been if he hadn't been cut down so young.

  42:14-42:18

  But they got him. And the world hasn't been the same ever since.

  42:20-42:21

  Because they killed Jesus.

  42:23-42:30

  And I was trying to explain to her what God's Word says about that, and she totally wasn't buying it.

  42:30-42:31

  She wasn't getting it.

  42:32-42:33

  She's like, "No, you don't understand.

  42:34-42:36

  It's a shame that they killed him.

  42:36-43:00

  Think of how much better off we would be had they let him live." But when you see an image of Jesus on the cross, whether it's an advertisement for a church, whether it's an advertisement for an Easter service, or even if it's in your mind's eye, you picture Jesus on the cross, here's where your mind should go.

  43:01-43:04

  Okay? Do you have that picture in your mind? Do you have it?

  43:07-43:11

  Jesus on the cross, here's where your mind should go.

  43:14-43:21

  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

  43:23-43:28

  Committed, uniting, and obedient.

Small Group Questions ­(Whole Group):
Review John 10:11-21

1. Why does Jesus say (four times!) that he is “laying down His life for the sheep (Jn 10: 11,15,17,18)? How does that make you view the cross?
    

2. How would you describe the place obedience has in a Christian’s life? 

Breakout Questions: 

1. In what area do you struggle the most with obedience? Why? What steps are you taking to honor God in this area of your life?
    

2. Pray for one another.

To the Helpless: I AM the Door

1. The Context:


2. The Lesson:
• Sheep:
• Shepherd:
• Porter:
• Sheepfold:
• Door:


3. The Meaning:


4. The Point:


1. The Shepherd Warns Us: Be Alert! (Jn 10:1-2)


2. The Shepherd Calls Us: Follow Him! (Jn 10:3-6)


3. The Shepherd Provides for Us: Rest in Him! (Jn 10:7-10)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

• Audio Transcript

  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

1.  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.
    

2. How can you tell when someone is a false shepherd (the “thief and robber“, Jn 10:1, 8)?
    

3. How have you experienced “abundant” life in Jesus? (Jn 10:10)

Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.