We're going to be looking at one verse, John 10, 16, for a sermon I've entitled, The Other Sheep. But I want to back up to verse 11. Let's back up to verse 14, just to get some context. Here's what it says. I'm a good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me. Even as the father knows me, and I know the father, I lay down my life for the sheep. And then the verse for us today. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. We are poor little lambs who have lost our way. Ba, ba, ba. We're little black sheep who have gone astray. Bah, bah, bah. You know, when it comes to sin, there are a lot of terms and images that are used in the Bible to describe it. One Greek word used for sin carries the idea of missing the mark. I mean, think of an arrow that's shot at a target and falls short of it. Doesn't the Bible say, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? Sin can also be thought of as incurring a debt. Jesus told a parable of a man who owed a king 10,000 talents. He was unable to pay, and so the king ordered him and his family to be sold off as slaves. But the man begged, and the king graciously forgave him. You know, the national debt of the United States stands today at over $38 trillion. If you're a taxpayer, your portion of that is $330,000. Do you have enough to pay your part? As it's said, our sins, like our debts, are often greater than we know. Each day an unbeliever lives, he's adding to his sin debt. In Romans 2.5, Paul warns unbelievers that because of their stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you're storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Sin can be thought of as self-deception or maybe a spiritual disease. Jeremiah 17.9 says, the heart is deceitful above all else and desperately sick. Who can understand it? The word transgression pictures sin as a crime, a breaking of God's law. Trespass pictures sin as going beyond proper boundaries, entering into an area that's unrestricted to us. Sin's also spoken of as rebellion. When Samuel confronted King Saul about his failure to carry out God's command to wipe out the Amalekites, he told him that rebellion is as sinful as wishcraft and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you from being king. Did you know the Bible also speaks of sin as wandering away? Isaiah 53.6 says, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each has turned to his own way. Now, that way might be an immoral, destructive way that gets you gunned down in the street, but it also might be a self-respecting way, an outwardly moral way. But it's still our way, not God's way, that we go. Now, Jesus in this chapter is referred to himself as a good shepherd who calls and cares for his sheep and ultimately lays down his life for them. And in Matthew 10, when Jesus sent out his disciples, he instructed them, saying, So Jesus' mission focus in his ministry was first and foremost to his countrymen, the Jews. But here in this chapter, in this verse, as the good shepherd, he tells us, I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. Well, who are these other sheep? How does Jesus bring them in? And what does he mean to say that they will become one flock with one shepherd? And how does this affect us as believers today? How do we fit into this framework? These are some of the questions we want to answer as we look at this verse. Let's pray and get into the text. Father God, I pray for grace and mercy that you open up our hearts and minds to understand and to lead us into green pastures to feed on your word. Bless us now for we're asking Christ's name. Amen. It's interesting when you look at scenes and symbols and images of the early Christians and their artwork. Not surprisingly, you'll find a lot of crosses, but they also have images of the fish and loaves. Of course, that refers to the feeding of the 5,000. A ship's anchor is also very common. I was probably taken from Hebrews 6.19, which speaks of the hope the Christians have because of God's oath promise to us when he says, But you know, the most common image found in early Christian art is that of Jesus as a shepherd. And I suppose that's because the idea that Jesus cares for us and watches over us, and most importantly, lays down his life for us, is one that's comforting to his followers. Well, even though this verse is only one, I think it still breaks down into three parts. First, you can label the identity of the sheep. Next, the calling of the sheep. And finally, the unity of the sheep. So the identity of the sheep. Jesus said, I have other sheep which are not of this fold. Well, what is the fold that he's mentioning here? And who are the other sheep that are not in this fold? Well, the fold would be those who are in the nation of Israel. Remember, God made a covenant promise to Abraham that to you and your descendants, I will give this land from the wadi of Egypt to the great river Euphrates. Whatever the present day conflicts between the Jews and the Palestinians, the Bible makes it clear that the land of Canaan, all of it will eventually belong to the Jews. And when Abraham showed the reality of his faith by being willing to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord, in that last dramatic moment, God stepped forward and told him to not do it. He said, Now I know that you fear me because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. But then it says, The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, I swear by myself declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the heaven and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed me. And then Paul points out in Galatians 3.16 that the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed, singular. Scripture does not say seeds, meaning many people, but to your seed, meaning one person, that is Christ. And it was through this one seed, this one descendant, that God was going to bring salvation to the world. And that's what it was meant in the promise that through your offspring, all the nations on earth will be blessed. But in the Old Testament, the focus was almost exclusively on the nation of Israel. I mean, it's true there were individual Gentiles who were welcome to become part of that nation and join to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Think about Rahab. And Ruth, Uriah the Hittite, all became proselytes, but there were not many Gentiles who did so. The Jews were called to be a light to the nations, but you know, nowhere in the Old Testament were they commanded to send out missionaries to the Gentiles. And Jesus himself said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, Matthew 15, 24. There still is, was, and always will be, a priority on Jewish evangelism. For Paul said, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God, for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Now, you can divide people up in many ways, rich, poor. old, young, tall, short. But in the Bible, the one great divide is between Jews and Gentiles. Jews are the physical descendants of Jacob. Gentiles are everybody else, all the other nations. So the fold mentioned here, which Jesus is calling his sheep out of first, was Judaism. The other fold would be the sheep that he calls from among the Gentiles, the rest of the nations of the world and their ethnic groups which make them up. By the way, in many countries in the world, your ethnic group, your tribe, is far more important than your nationality. Both sides in the Rwanda genocide were citizens of that nation, but in the minds of all, there was a big difference between being a Hutu tribesman as opposed to a Tutsi. You know that in a four-month period, 500,000 to 600,000 people were hacked to death, and nearly 500,000 women were raped. It's not only the Jews that need the gospel, it's Gentiles like those in Rwanda. I think it's important that we note here that when Jesus is speaking of his sheep, that term is not equivalent to being a believer. He's talking about the elect, those given to him by the Father. Now how do we know that? It's because what he says in the next part of this verse concerning the calling of the sheep. He says this, Now notice they're already his sheep, but yet they haven't heard his voice. as of that point. Few teachings in the Bible, though, stir more heated debate than our election and predestination. In Ephesians 1, Paul praises God by saying this, He predestined us to our adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved. But you know, the idea that God, in His wisdom and grace, chose certain people to bring to faith while leaving the others to perish in their unbelief, well, to many, that just sounds un-American, undemocratic, unfair. They say, well, that would be unjust of God to choose to save some and not others. Really? I mean, if a governor of a state decides to pardon one person who is on death row, is he morally obligated to pardon the other five who are on death row? No. One gets mercy, the other five get justice. But nobody gets injustice. In the Great Commission, right before Jesus goes back to heaven, he widened the focus of his ministry when he told his disciples, But at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the church, that multitude that was converted, almost all of them were Jews. In the early church, a large number of Jews were being saved, and no doubt the apostles were thinking it's just a matter of time and Israel's going to be converted and the Golden Age is going to come in. But alas, that was not going to be the case. For a short time, it became clear that the overwhelming number of their countrymen were going to reject Jesus as the Messiah. But shock of shocks, at the same time, many Gentiles responded to the Gospel message. In Acts 13, we have one such incident. Paul and Barnabas were invited to preach in a synagogue in Pisidian, Antioch, and they presented Jesus as Israel's Messiah. And they got a pretty positive response, so much so that the people begged him to come back and speak to him again the next Sabbath. But when they did, when they showed up on that Saturday, the synagogue was packed. Not so much with Jews, but even more so with pagans, raw pagans at that. This is what it says, But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict the things spoken by Paul, and they were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke up boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, meaning because they were Jews, but since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we're turning to the Gentiles. For the Lord has so commanded us, saying, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as had been, past tense, appointed to eternal life, believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. Acts 13, 45 to 49. Who believed that day? It wasn't the Jews who you would expect to believe, but the Gentiles. And which ones believed? As many as had been, past tense, appointed to eternal life. Those Gentiles believed on that day because they were among Christ's sheep, those of another flock who Jesus said he must call. Let's camp on those words, must call. Jesus didn't say that he might call them, that he wants to call them, and that he hopes that they'll respond. No, he said he must call them. You know, when Congress requests that a person come and testify before that body, the person can either agree or disagree, but if they receive a subpoena, they must testify. If not, they can be thrown into prison. Well, this obligation to call in his sheep was laid on Jesus by God the Father. John 6, 37 to 40, Jesus said this, All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that of all that He has given me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. This is what the theologians call irresistible grace. Now, by that, they don't mean that it's not possible for a person to resist God, because that's what the essence of sin is, resisting God's will. What they mean by irresistible grace is that for the elect, Christ's sheep, when the call comes through the preaching of the gospel, that grace of God is extended to them in such a way that it melts away all their resistance to God, giving them a heart to believe and embrace the truth that Christ crucified for their sins is good news, great news, the best news they could ever hear. Before that, they ran from God, but now they run to God by way of His Son. And I've heard many pastors say, I could never do evangelism if I believed that God was the one who already determined who saved. Really? You mean the promise that God's Word will never return void without accomplishing the reason for which He sent it, saving the elect, Christ's sheep? That promise and the success that it tells us about somehow is a discouragement for you to do evangelism? That's strange logic. Our confidence in sharing the gospel is that all of Christ's sheep will eventually hear and respond to that call. I mean, do you have relatives, friends and co-workers that just seem so resistant to the gospel that it's inconceivable to you that they could ever get saved? Think about the Apostle Paul. Who would have ever thought he was among the elect? And look what God did with him when Christ called him. And this call and this confidence is what we have when we send out missionaries, that there's other sheep out there that have to be brought in and that they will be brought in. That's a strange, strange thought, that the idea that God elects people is somehow a discouragement to doing evangelism. That brings us to the last thing, though, we see in the text, and that's the unity of the sheep. Jesus must call his sheep out of the Jewish fold and also among the Gentiles. And he says when he does, they will become one flock with one shepherd. Now, before the formation of the church at Pentecost, there was a walling off of the Jews from the Gentiles. Jews wouldn't even sit down and eat with Gentiles. The special customs, diets, and practices set the Jews off from the Gentiles, and not surprising, Jews and Gentiles looked at each other with suspicion and contempt. To the Jews, Gentiles were unclean idol worshipers lost in darkness. But to the Gentiles, Romans, and Greeks, the Jews were standoffish, arrogant, and odd. I mean, how can you worship God or gods without an idol? Old prejudices die hard. The early Jewish followers of Christ had a hard time adjusting to this new covenant era. All Jews knew that someday the Gentile nations would come to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but in their reading of the Old Testament, they expected the Gentiles would come to the true faith under the yoke of Judaism as sort of second-class citizens. Now, some in the church, former Pharisees, even argued that Gentiles had to receive circumcision, the Jewish rite, in order to be saved. But Paul vigorously opposed that idea. He understood that undermined the very idea of grace and faith. Well, the church called a council meeting to hammer out this issue, and they came to the right conclusion, that people would become right with God, not by keeping Jewish rites, but by believing the Jewish Messiah. But lest the Gentiles forget the amazing grace that was shown to them when God called them to faith in Christ. Paul reminded the Ephesians of their condition and plight before that grace was poured out on them. He says this, Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, meaning the Jewish people, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you at that time were separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier and the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments contained in the ordinances, so that he himself might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and that he might reconcile them both into one body, through the cross by having put to death its enmity. And he came and preached peace to those who are far away and peace to those who are near. For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. So then you're no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens of the saints and are of the household of God. Having been built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building is being fitted together and growing into a holy temple to the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God the Spirit." Now, David, Gates, and Bread sang a song with the words, I'm lost without your love. Life without you isn't worth the trouble of. I'm helpless as a ship without a wheel, a touch without a feel. I can't believe it's real. Before the New Covenant was inaugurated and the Church was formed, Gentiles were lost without the love of Christ. But since then, millions and millions of Gentiles have been added. Americans, Britons, Frenchmen, Africans, Indians, Russians, Chinese, and many more will yet be added. In his vision, the Apostle John said, I saw in the right hand of him who sat upon the throne a book written inside and outside, sealed with many seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who's worthy to open the book and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book and to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. And one of the elders said, Stop weeping. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between the throne, with the four living creatures and the elders, a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And he came, and he took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song. Listen to what they sang. Worthy are you to take the book and break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. And you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign, future tense, upon the earth." Revelation 5, 1-10. A couple chapters later he says this, And they cried out in a loud voice saying, and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders answered me, saying, These clothed in white robes, who are they and where do they come from? I said, well, you know my lord. And he said, I mean, these are the ones who've come out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. For this reason, they're before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For the lamb is at the center of the throne and will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of water of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eye. You know, there's so much division and strife in our nation today, in our world today. There's wars and rumors of wars. There's ethnic hatred. There's family strife. Man is at war with man because mankind is at war with God. I have a book in my library written by David Ross, who was a Middle East negotiator for the US government under both President Bush and then later Bill Clinton. The book is entitled The Missing Piece, P-E-A-C-E. But that's a play on words, because we often speak of the missing piece of a puzzle. Well, the truth is, the reason there's peace missing in the Middle East and in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Congress, in our streets, in our homes, because they're missing the most important piece in achieving that peace, which is Jesus Christ. No N-O-Jesus, no peace. No K-N-O-W-Jesus, no peace. For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. Let me ask you this question. Do you know Jesus? Do you know Jesus? If so, then you know the peace that He provides. Peace with God. In Christ, God buried the hatchet and called off His war against us when we called off our rebellion against Him and submitted to His Son. If you have received that peace offer by God, you also know the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension. And you need that peace when you're facing scary times and going through hard days. But as the Good Shepherd has promised, his presence saying, I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you, so we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what will man do to me? As we talked about last week, if you're a believer, if you're one of his sheep who has already been called by the Good Shepherd, you need to grow in your knowledge. not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge of Christ. For as the song says, to know, know, know him is to love, love, love him. Adam Rainer was born in 1899 in Austria. He holds an unusual distinction in medical history. He's the only known person who at one time was a dwarf and later became a giant. From birth until adulthood, he was short. He only stood 3 feet, 8 inches tall. But at age 19, or until age 19, but at age 21, he began a growth spurt due to a tumor on his pituitary gland, which made him over 7 feet tall in just 10 years. Now, some Christians, quite honestly, have grown very little in their faith and knowledge. Sometimes that's because the pastors haven't fed them well on the Word of God. But Paul urged Timothy to teach sound doctrine so that in pointing out these things to the brethren, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of faith and of sound doctrine which you've been following. Timothy was to feed his own soul and then feed the flock of God. Some have stunted growth because they've been on a calorie-low spiritual diet. But when they get fed the word of God, they really begin to take off. But perhaps you're here today and you don't know Christ. You only know about him. Could it be that the Good Shepherd is calling you, even now? As the song says, come to the Savior, make no delay. Here in his word, he has shown us the way. Here in our midst, he's standing today, tenderly saying, come. Turn from your sins and come by faith to receive the gift of eternal life, which is all free. If and when you do, you will join that multitude of Christ's sheep from every tribe and tongue and nation, which will someday be around the throne, celebrating the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that crowd will include not only Gentiles, but a large number of Jews, because the prophet Micah, after speaking about how the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, shoots way ahead to the end when he says this, and he, meaning the Messiah, will arise and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they will remain, because at that time his name will be great to the ends of the earth. This one will be our peace, he's talking as a Jew, when the Assyrian invades our land, when he tramples on our citadels. You see, the Good Shepherd will eventually call in all of his sheep, Jews and Gentiles. The question I have today is, are you one of his sheep? Has he called you in? Listen for his voice and respond when he calls. May God give you ears to hear. and eyes to see. Let's pray. Our Father in God, this is our confidence. It's my confidence when I preach. I don't know who the elect are, but I know the elect will all eventually turn and embrace Christ as their Savior. And of course, that's what we're confident in sending out missionaries with the broadcast that goes from the radio and the internet. Lord, we know that you're going to call in all your sheep, because Jesus said it was your will that he lose none of them but raise them up the last day, and he's certainly not going to fail in that task. But Lord, we don't know who they elect are, so we're praying for everybody. And Father in God, I pray for those who are hearing the message now that you'd work in their hearts as well. For we ask now in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen.