The Security of the Sheep of God
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted
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And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
John 10:22-
Introduction
Introduction
Liberation into a Relationship
Liberation into a Relationship
We have a continuation of the thought that we highlighted previously in this chapter. Jesus spoke a parable to these Jews about the True Shepherd and the false shepherds. We said that Jesus being the True Shepherd came into the fold of Israel and the religion of Judaism to call his sheep out into a personal relationship with him.
He has not simply liberated us from something but he has liberated us to himself!
It is a great truth to know that Christianity is not simply a religion do and don’t, but is a relationship of know and love. Although many of us understand this truth in our heads we are creatures of habit and easily fall into religious tradition and dead routine.
The Accusation in disguise
The Accusation in disguise
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
The Jews surrounded Christ again as he was in the temple on Solomon's porch (a fitting reminder that the true temple was outside of the physical one) and they posed and interesting question.
The Jews surrounded Christ again as he was in the temple on Solomon's porch (a fitting reminder that the true temple was outside of the physical one) and they posed and interesting question.
“how long doest thou make us to doubt”?
They placed the problem of doubt on the shoulders of Christ
The unsaved man will do the most amazing blame shifting one can imagine
It was God’s fault that they could not see?
It was God’s fault that they had doubt?
The question posed by these Jews was really an accusation, and one that still exists today!
If God is real then why all the suffering in this world
if God is real then why do I have unmet needs
If God is real then why is there so much confusion in the world
If God is real them why is there so much war and death in the world???? Why?
Jesus’ Words
Jesus’ Words
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Jesus’ Words
Jesus’ Words
“I told you, and you believed not”
“I am the light of the world”
“I am the bread of life”
“before Abraham was I am”
“I am the door of the sheep”
“I am the good shepherd”
Jesus’ Works
Jesus’ Works
“the works that I do in my fathers name, they bear witness of me”
The water into wine
The healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda
The healing of the Nobleman’s Son
The Blind beggar at the temple
Feeding of the 5000
The Real problem of Unbelief
The Real problem of Unbelief
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
The problem was not with the words of Christ - he was clear in what he proclaimed
The problem was not with the works of Christ - his many miracles were obvious
The problem was that they were not his sheep
The world says seeing is believing but the Bible teaches believing is seeing - we must trust God by faith in order to see God by sight! There is no higher expression of our love and gratitude to God than to simply take him at His Word!
‘Tis So Sweet to trust in Jesus
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Main Thesis - What they desired only Jesus could provide
Main Thesis - What they desired only Jesus could provide
Jesus has called his sheep into his fold & is in the rightful position of Shepherd. We have yielded to his control and Lordship. In contrast these blind Pharisees are unwilling to relinquish their asserted position of authority to the one true Shepherd and the problem lies with a heart of unbelief. They are blinded by their own ability to control the situation and are not willing to give that up until they can be assured the one taking their place will do a sufficient job of making right their circumstances. On the other hand the sheep hears his voice, knows he is the Messiah and finds true rest and security in the hand of Almighty God!
Are we really any different?
At times do we not grasp the control lever with the same white knuckle fist?
Declaration: Jesus tells us that if we will relinquish control He will provide security we cannot obtain
Declaration: Jesus tells us that if we will relinquish control He will provide security we cannot obtain
Transition: Notice with me several important truths about the security of the Sheep
Transition: Notice with me several important truths about the security of the Sheep
I. We Recognize His Guiding Voice
I. We Recognize His Guiding Voice
“my sheep hear my voice” (v 27)
The Pharisees were supposedly teachers of God - but they could not hear his voice
In order to follow God we must hear Him - we cannot see Him
A. The capacity to hear His voice
A. The capacity to hear His voice
“my sheep”
Illustration: The problem was not with the broadcast but with the tuning. Talking to dad about trying to tune in the Tigers game on his phone- everything he tried did not work. Tune In radio - had the game blacked out- there was not a problem with the broadcast- it was happening- the problem was with the tuning.
As sheep we have the capacity to hear His voice
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
B. The condition to hear His voice
B. The condition to hear His voice
“hear my voice”
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; Hearken, and hear my speech.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother:
As sheep we must maintain the condition to hear his voice
Where is God’s voice heard?
In Church - the preaching
In Quiet places - when we read and study his Word
In our minds - when we pray and meditate on his word
II. We Receive His gracious Gift of Eternal Life
II. We Receive His gracious Gift of Eternal Life
“and I give unto them eternal life” (v 28)
Since the beginning of time man has sought to live forever
Countless books have been written to reverse the signs of aging
Plastic Surgeons charge great sums of money to help you look like plastic!
Illustration: Article - New Yorker Magazine April 3, 2017 “The God Pill”
On a velvety March evening in Mandeville Canyon, high above the rest of Los Angeles, Norman Lear’s living room was jammed with powerful people eager to learn the secrets of longevity. When the symposium’s first speaker asked how many people there wanted to live to two hundred, if they could remain healthy, almost every hand went up.
Yet the premise of the evening was that answers, and maybe even an encompassing solution, were just around the corner. The party was the kickoff event for the National Academy of Medicine’s Grand Challenge in Healthy Longevity, which will award at least twenty-five million dollars for breakthroughs in the field. Victor Dzau, the academy’s president, stood to acknowledge several of the scientists in the room. He praised their work with enzymes that help regulate aging; with teasing out genes that control life span in various dog breeds; and with a technique by which an old mouse is surgically connected to a young mouse, shares its blood, and within weeks becomes younger.
Yet the premise of the evening was that answers, and maybe even an encompassing solution, were just around the corner. The party was the kickoff event for the National Academy of Medicine’s Grand Challenge in Healthy Longevity, which will award at least twenty-five million dollars for breakthroughs in the field. Victor Dzau, the academy’s president, stood to acknowledge several of the scientists in the room. He praised their work with enzymes that help regulate aging; with teasing out genes that control life span in various dog breeds; and with a technique by which an old mouse is surgically connected to a young mouse, shares its blood, and within weeks becomes younger.
Joon Yun, a doctor who runs a health-care hedge fund, announced that he and his wife had given the first two million dollars toward funding the challenge. “I have the idea that aging is plastic, that it’s encoded,” he said. “If something is encoded, you can crack the code.” To growing applause, he went on, “If you can crack the code, you can hack the code!” It’s a big ask: more than a hundred and fifty thousand people die every day, the majority of aging-related diseases. Yet Yun believes, he told me, that if we hack the code correctly, “thermodynamically, there should be no reason we can’t defer entropy indefinitely. We can end aging forever.”
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Pharisees thought their great need was circumstantial deliverance but it was actually “eternal life”
NOTE: Everyone possesses eternal existence! Your soul is eternal by its very nature but for it to exist in an eternal state of life we must trust Christ and receive it as a gift!
III. We Rest in his Guarded Hand
III. We Rest in his Guarded Hand
“and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (v 28)
How big is God’s hand?
You could run as fast as you could for the edge and never find it!
No man can take you out of it
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What is it that these religious Pharisees were looking for? Every single need is abundantly provided in the fold of the great shepherd!
We have His guiding voice
We have His gracious gift
We have his guarded hand