Chapter 10. All right, everybody. We're going to go ahead and get started with John chapter 10. We're going to be in John chapter 10 today. Let's go ahead and open up with a word of prayer. And then we'll kind of review what we've been talking about the last couple of weeks. And then we'll get into today's lesson. Father, we thank you so much for this time that you have given us together. We thank you for a chance to come into your presence, to be among your people, and to study your word. We're thankful for all that Chatham Transition Ministry is doing to help folks out. We're thankful for the lunches that were provided for us today, and we pray you'll bless the people that made it and bless the food to our bodies. And now we come to feed upon your word, your spiritual food, and I just pray that you will fill our minds and our hearts with your truth. Help us to receive it, help us to believe it, help us to focus on it and keep our minds and our hearts in this room and on task, what we're talking about, your son, Jesus Christ, being our good shepherd. And so again, thank you. For all that you do for us, especially for sending him to save us and we love you and we ask you to Just guard our minds now in Christ's name we pray Amen. All right So for we didn't meet last week because it was Thanksgiving week But the weeks before that a couple of weeks building up that we talked about Jesus and John 10 saying I am the Good Shepherd right and we talked about the good shepherd and what a good shepherd does. We went to Psalms 23 and saw that the good shepherd provides for the sheep. He takes care of the sheep, he protects the sheep, he watches over the sheep, he leads them on the right path, he guards them and guides them. And so one week we talked about good shepherding and then another week we talked about bad shepherding and we talked about how that all through the Bible narrative, God would be leading his people, but there was always people that would come along and try to lead his people astray. And so there was a comparison and a contrast between the good shepherd and bad shepherding, what good shepherding looks like and what bad shepherding looks like. And so we want to look today in particular at John chapter 10, verses 11 through 21, John chapter 10, verses 11 through 21. Now remember, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and there are also people in the room that are not believers. There are others there that are hearing him teach, and so there's gonna be a reaction to what he teaches here, and we wanna make sure that we notice that, okay? So John 10, verse 11 says this. 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 is not the owner of the sheep, he sees the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches and scatters them because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Even as the father knows me and I know the father, And I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but for myself I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my father. A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. And many of them were saying, he has a demon, and he is insane. Why do you listen to him? Others were saying, these are not the words of someone demon possessed. Can a demon open the eyes? of the blind. So that is our text for today. And again, this statement, this I am statement is a statement of authority. It is a statement of deity. What do I mean when I say that it is a statement of deity? He's God. He's making this statement and it is an authoritative statement and it is a declaration of his deity. In the book of John, there are seven I am statements. I am the bread of life. I am the good shepherd. I am the door. I am the light of the world. Remember all of those I am's. Well, if you go all the way back to the beginning of the book of Exodus, you will remember that Moses was confronted by God. How was Moses confronted by God? Do y'all remember in the book of Exodus at the beginning? The burning bush. That's exactly right. And so when Moses asked God, who was speaking to him from the burning bush, when Moses asked God, as he was speaking from the burning bush, who do I tell the people you are? What is your name? I am. And he said, I am that I am. I am that I am. That's very important to see. So when God was asked who he is, he said, I am. Well, what is so important about that? He didn't say, I was. Because if he said, I was, what does that mean? He has no more. And if he said, I will be, what would that mean? I'm not yet. I'm not yet. But God is eternal, and God is ever present. Now, one of the things that we need to remember about the life of Jesus is that the life of Jesus The very focal point of the entire redemptive narrative of the Bible in other words is coming up in about three weeks We're going to be celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, right? And and the world around you is all right and cool with a baby Jesus a Baby is a baby. They can't hurt you But when Jesus becomes judge when Jesus becomes King when Jesus becomes the Shepherd The world has a problem with him When he is the judge, when he is the good shepherd, when he is the king, when he claims his deity, when he claims that he is God, that is when the world has a problem with him. You see? But the entire redemptive narrative, the whole story of God creating the world, of man falling away from God, and from God sending his son to restore the world back into fellowship with him, in that whole story, the focal point of that story is Jesus, the good shepherd. Jesus, the light of the world. Jesus, the great I am. He is the very focus and cause of all of the salvation and redemption of man. And so when Jesus tells these people that he is the I am, they have a problem with that. Matter of fact, he said, before Abraham was, I am. Well, what had happened was is he told the Jews, those folks that were wanting to kill him and reject him, he said this, before Abraham was, I am. Jesus said to the Jews before Abraham was I am and They picked up stones to kill him why well because they said Jesus said it this way. He said Abraham longed to see my day and was thankful when he did In other words, he says that Abraham was looking forward to him coming And when Abraham saw him by faith, he was delighted. And the Jews said, what do you mean? You're only 50 years old, and you tell us that you've seen Abraham, that Abraham's seen you? You see the problem with that? He was 30. But he said you're not even 50 years old yet, and you're telling us that you know Abraham, like you've seen Abraham. He was probably with Abraham in heaven before God sent him here. Right, so think about what he's saying there. He's saying that the promise was made to Abraham all the way back in Genesis. And he said, Abraham believed me by faith. Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. So he was there. And so when the people hear that, they say, how do you say that? You're only 50 years old. Abraham was 1,400 years ago and you're telling us you saw Abraham? And Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am. Meaning he's God. That's exactly right. And then the very next line says, and then they picked up stones to stone him. See, he was claiming his deity. He was claiming that he is the God man, the man God. They knew exactly what he was saying. They knew exactly what he was saying, and they were trying to kill him because he was claiming to be God. He was speaking from authority. Yeah, he was speaking from a place of authority. So he says, I am the good shepherd in verse 11 and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Now I want you to see that. That's very important because the first thing we're going to talk about today is a specific sacrifice for a specific people. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd and I lay my life down for who? The sheep. That's exactly right. Look at it again. As a matter of fact, he brings it up again in verse 15. Look at verse 15. Even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. He is the good shepherd, and who does the good shepherd die for? The sheep. He lays his life down for the sheep. And so we want to go back into the Old Testament and kind of remind ourselves of the Good Shepherd and who he is. So take a left. Put a mark in your Bible because we're going to come back to John 10. But let's go back to Isaiah. That's one of the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah 40 and verse 11. Isaiah 40 and verse 11. Isaiah 40 Isaiah 40 and verse 11 All right, and let's look what that says. It says, like a shepherd. Now remember, this is Isaiah giving a prophecy of the Messiah when he comes. This is Isaiah giving a prophecy of the Messiah when he comes. And look what it says. Like a shepherd, he will shepherd, who? His flock. In his arms, he will gather the lambs. He will carry them in his bosom he will gently lead the nursing ewes. All right? What is a lamb? A sheep. A baby sheep. A baby sheep. And what is a ewe? A female. A female sheep, right? What is the point of females and babies? They give birth to them. The females do give birth to babies. And they care for them. But a lamb is weak and cannot fend for themselves. Right? They're weak, and so remember Jesus, all through the Bible, one of God's focal points is widows and orphans and children. Those are all very important things to God. What does he say? Take care of the widows and the orphans. Well, why is the focus on the widows and the orphans? Because God's focus is on those who can't help themselves. He focuses on the humble. He focuses on the broken. He focuses on the weak. And so the good shepherd goes and finds the weaklings. The good shepherd goes and finds those that can't fend for themselves. All right, Kim's down there looking. She's mad because she's taking that as a sexist response. Well, no, no, no. No, I can't. No, my thought is, I tell you, I can't. I can't. My face tells it all. I was just curious. I can understand about the children. I can understand about orphans because they have no one. Right, right. The widow part, I'm thinking it's because back in the day, women didn't have many rights. Is that it? Well, yeah. And not only that, but in that environment, their physical demeanor was not capable of surviving on their own. Like a man would come in and abuse them. Right, they didn't own property, so that's to her point. The point that is being made is, if you're focusing on the gender part of it, you're focusing on the problem, not the problem. The problem is, is that God helps those who cannot what? Help themselves. So even for a man, it has nothing to do with the sex. It has to do with the, so it's not like Jesus said, men are big and strong and they can take care of themselves. poor little women, they're weak and can't take care of themselves. What it's saying is that a good shepherd comes along and he takes care of those who cannot take care of themselves. He takes care of the weaklings. He takes care of those who are broken and cannot help themselves. That's the focus. And widows usually are older. Another thing, a widow doesn't have to be a woman. A widow doesn't have to be a woman. So again, the point being is that if I take offense at the weaknesses that's being pointed out in me, then oftentimes that's my pride. Like, I have weaknesses, guys. Even as a man, I have weaknesses. My mom is a widow. She's 83, but she's a widow for a few years now. But she couldn't take care of herself. That's why I'm to help her. Right. That's the point. Once you get up an age where you can't go and get out and earn a living for yourself, you have to depend on other people. And so, again, I want to emphasize this fact that we, as fallen human beings, we don't want help. Well, often we don't want to admit that we need help. Right, that's true. Well, let me ask you this, because I was in a situation where I needed help. I won't lie, it was just God who helped me. But other people were kind of like, Right. Right. Sure. And so one of our problems with that is we focus on other fallen creatures instead of focusing on God. Because what God said was, you do need help and I love you and I sent my son to help and save you. We all need help to get into the kingdom of God. The focus needs to be on him. So it said in the prophecy, what is the prophecy? That he would shepherd his flock. And in his arms he would gather the lambs, that's the ones that can't help themselves, right, the children. Remember what Peter said about new Christians, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. So what is the good shepherd gonna do? He's gonna take care of the young in the flock, and he's gonna carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead Nursing use. All right, then we turn over to the right just a couple pages to the book of Ezekiel That's two books over and we're gonna look at Ezekiel 34. This is something that we looked at a couple weeks ago Ezekiel 34 verses 11 to 16 It says for thus says the Lord Yahweh behold I myself will seek my sheep and I will care for them and As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his sheep which are spread out, so I will care for my sheep and will deliver them from all of the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and a gloomy day. I will bring them out from the peoples. I will gather them from the countries. and bring them into their own land. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel by the streams and in all of the inhabited places of land. I will shepherd them in a good pasture and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and be shepherded in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. I will shepherd my flock I will make them lie down, right? That sounds like Psalm 23. He makes them to lay down in green pasture. I will search for the lost. I will bring back the scattered. I will bind up the broken and strengthen the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with judgment. All right, so the good shepherd is saying what he's gonna do. What is he gonna come in and do? He's gonna come in and he's gonna take care of his sheep. He is the shepherd and he is going to shepherd his flock. Okay, now we turn back to Isaiah 53 and that's back to the left where we were just in Isaiah four. We're gonna look at Isaiah 53. This is called the prophecy of the suffering servant. right and we're going to look at verses well we'll just look at the whole thing now remember this is a prophecy of of the messiah when the messiah comes this is what he's going to look like and this was written roughly 700 years before jesus ever was born in the manger all right this is about 700 years before jesus was born The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is going to empower the prophet Isaiah to give a prophecy of what the Messiah is going to look like when he comes. It says this, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground. He had no stately form or majesty that we would look upon him. nor an appearance that we would desire him. He was despised and forsaken by men. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our peace fell upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. All of us, like what? Sheep. Sheep have gone astray. Each one of us has turned his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before it shears, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living? That for the transgressions of my people, striking was due to him. So his grave was assigned with wicked men, and yet he was with a rich man in his death. Because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. But Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If you would place his soul as a yield offering, he will see his seed. He will prolong his days, and the good pleasures of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many. He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide for him a portion with the many and he will divide the spoil with the strong Because he poured out his soul to death and he was numbered with the transgressors yet. He himself bore the sin of many and Interceded for the transgressors. All right now. Yes I'm kind of don't understand Intend here when his soul makes an offering for guilt. He shall see his offspring and prolong his days. Yes So and in the in the promise to Abraham that's a great question You're asking his offspring or his seed is what some of the translations use. Okay. So what is the seed or an offspring? What is the seed or offspring me you're the the product of your seed offspring you produce like seeds produce like seeds okay all right seeds produce like seeds so in the promise to Abraham this is what so this is talking about Abraham not Jesus for you no that's all my it's all about Jesus and it's talking about in verse 10 says Yahweh was pleased to crush him putting him to grief if you would place his soul as a guilt offering what does that mean It was offering for our it was a sacrifice for our guilt offerings, right? Okay now that guilt offering goes back to the book book of Leviticus because that was one of the Sacrifice that was offered in the tabernacle in Leviticus or the temple a guilt offering. Okay, so it said Yahweh crushed him was pleased to crush him As a guilt offering He will see his seed. He will prolong his days All right now in the very beginning when God promised Abraham. He said and to your seed But that came through Abraham having children But but look what it said is saying to your seed all of the nations of the world will be blessed That's what he promised Abraham through your seed. I All of the nations of the world will be blessed. But Paul brings it up in the book of Galatians and he says this, he did not say unto your seeds, meaning many, but to your seed, meaning one, one seed. So the promise all the way back to Abraham was is that one day you would have a son and through him, all of the world would be blessed. Okay, so what about the pro? All right, so what did Jesus do he died on the cross? He suffered and died for who for us. Okay, and so what it's saying is is through that work That seed will become many seeds Remember what Jesus said unless a grain of corn die and falleth to the ground It cannot produce Right. Okay You take a grain of corn, what is a grain of corn called? A kernel. And if you take that kernel and you stick it in the ground and you bury it, what comes up? A stalk of corn. And then what comes on that stalk of corn? More cobs. And what's inside those cobs? More kernels. So through one seed, you get what? Through the product of one seed, you get what? More seeds. I have no children. Jesus had no children of his own. But the children who he died to save are his offspring. So we are, he didn't have any biological children. Biological children, that's exactly right. So we are all his children. Not all of Adam's sons are of the seed. All of Adam's sons are of Adam's seed. So who are we? But the believer is the seed of who? You see what had to happen? Abraham. Deceit of weird sons of God. Right. Sons of God. Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us. Which started without him and it went down a certain bloodline. I get that. Austria means like future. Future generation. Future generation. Yes, that's it. So people who are saved. Hold on. Kim's on it, I think. People who are saved. We are the spiritual offspring of the work of Christ on the cross. So in the other people, God bless them, but they are not the offspring. That's right. Unless a man be born again. All right. The first time you were born, you were born of your mom and your daddy's, your daddy's seed, right? The new birth, you were born of the seed of God. The seed of God is planted within you and it comes forward. So you are now of a different family. You are now of a different seed. That's what I was missing. All right, we got it? What about the prolonging of his days? Because he was killed. Yeah, how long is he? But where is he right now? In heaven. Where? Sitting at the right hand of his father. And how long is he going to live? He's alive. So that's forever. Forever. Yeah. There you go. OK. We with that? Yeah. OK. So it's very important to see that. Now watch this. So Jesus was like, think about that grain of corn. And Jesus used that example. He said, unless a grain of corn die and fall to the ground, it's of no good. But when it dies and falls to the ground, what does it do? It produces more seed, it multiplies. And so through that death on that cross, it produces life and life everlasting. And anyone who is of the family of God has that life everlasting. And anyone who is of the family of God is a byproduct of that sacrifice that he made on that cross. That make sense? All right, now, let's go back and I wanna show you something, because remember, what our focus is, this is a specific sacrifice for a specific people. Now look at verse 53. Verse one, our report, and look in verse, let's see. Verse four, Isaiah 53, verse four. Surely our grief he bore. and our sorrows he carried. Verse five, he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our peace fell upon him and by his wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. So all of us, like sheep, have gone astray, and Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. It says in verse 10, Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him in grief. If he would place his soul as a guilt offering, he will see his seed He will prolong his days and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, look at verse 11, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, who is the righteous one? Jesus. My servant. Why does God call him my servant here? Because he's doing his will. He's doing his father's will, good. Will justify the many. See that? The many. The first time he come he didn't come to rule he came to serve. That's right, but he died on the cross and through that death he is going to justify the many. Now the many is not all is it? Yeah, but remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper. This is the cup of my blood that was shed for the many. That's what he says. This is the cup of my blood that was shed for the many. And so we see here that the good shepherd shows his love not only for his father by coming and doing his will, but also his love for who? The sheep by dying to save them. All right? Now, let's look at Hebrews 10, 14. That's to the right, far right. Hebrews 10. And verse 14, this is what it says. For by one offering, for by one offering, he has perfected for all times those who are being sanctified. How many offerings? By one offering, what has he done? Perfected who? All of those who are being sanctified. You know what it means to be sanctified? What does that mean? It means to be called apart and separated from the rest. Remember what it said about the good shepherd? What did he say he was gonna do? He was gonna go out and find all of his sheep that was astray and bring in the ewes and the lambs and bring them into his breast, right? So by that one sacrifice, he has perfected forever all of those who are being sanctified. So this is a specific sacrifice for a specific people. The good shepherd lays down his life for who? The sheep. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Yeah, but sheep can be plural. You don't say sheeps. You don't say sheeps. You say sheep. That's the whole flock. So a sheep or the sheep. What about the flock? The flock is a flock of sheep, not sheeps. Now there is a difference in sheep and goats. There's a big difference in those two, isn't there? Because remember on the last day, what is he going to do? He's going to separate the sheep from the goats. Where do the goats go? Hell. Where do the sheep go? Heaven. Heaven. Why would the goats go to hell? Huh? Because they're the evil ones, the ones that worship Satan. That's a bad idea. Yeah. But they're animals. Well, we're sheep, so we're not animals. It's a metaphor for the ones that truly follow the shepherd and the ones that don't. Yeah, all right now we'll look at very we're back to John 10 go back to John 10 now I told y'all to keep you label there All right, John 10 and verse 12 and 13. Nobody says here. He who is a hired hand. What does it mean to be hired? Your employee he was a hired hand and not the shepherd who is not the owner of the sheep and He sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches and scatters them Because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep you see Verse 12 and 13 he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd is who is not the owner of the sheep, he sees the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and he flees and the wolf snatches and scatters them because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep. So this hired hand that says he's not concerned about the sheep, what do you think he's concerned about? His own self. Yeah, his pay. I can promise you at my job, like on the front of our store it says Jones Red and White. Well, the reason it's called Jones Red and White is because Mike and Mitch Jones own it and their sons Chris and Drew and Austin Jones are the managers there. And I can promise you they're concerned about their business. Like they get upset when one of our freezers breaks down and we lose all of the product in it, like it happened during the hurricane. But you know what? Most employees could care less, could they? They might be mad that they got to go and clean all the goop out of the freezers, but they're not thinking about how much it's going to cost to replace all of that that they lost. Why? Because all they're worried about is what? Yeah, just make sure that my paycheck here on Tuesday and then I'll be Wednesday, right? They're not concerned about The the welfare of the family and the welfare of the business they're concerned more about that check being there on Wednesday Well, if it's a good family they do work yeah, but this is so what is this saying? What is this saying right here? The hired hand doesn't care about the sheep. All he cares about is his pay. He's hired. All he cares about is the job. But his concern is not for the sheep. His concern is for himself. And we can even see that even in local, especially in like the transition ministry. There are so many people that you try to help. They're not concerned about you. They're not concerned about God. They're concerned about themselves. It's about me. I need my bills paid. I need this. I need this. I need this. If they truly are sheep, then they're going to be concerned about the shepherd. They're going to be concerned about what he says and how he guides them and how he teaches them. You see? But what he's saying here is the good shepherd comes in and he shows his concern for the sheep by doing what? By laying down his life for them. The hiring hand is not going to die for the sheep. The hiring hand will throw the sheep to the wolves before they'll let the wolves get to them. The good shepherd steps in and between the wolf and the sheep. You see the difference in that? All right. And so he could be talking about, remember, Jesus is addressing this group of religious leaders and what he's saying, you don't care about these people. All you care about is making sure they put money in that offering plate when it comes by. All you care about is that paycheck. And it's even the same thing. I've been discussing this this weekend on our sermon at my church. One of the things that I was really convicted of is how we build our own little empires. Like we're worried about what Whitmarsh Island Baptist Church is doing. And you come to us and look what Whitmarsh Island Baptist Church is doing, when in reality, the gospel is not come and look and see what we're doing. It's to go out to them and tell them what Christ has done. And so often we, even as Christians, are more concerned about our own little kingdoms and we forget about the kingdom of God. And that's what Jesus is confronting these people with. You don't care about these sheep. I want to show you how much I care about these sheep because I'm going to lay down my life for them. That's what he's telling them. All right. And verse 14, he said, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Look at John 10 verses four and five. Now this was a couple of weeks ago, but look what it says. When he brings all of his own out, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they will never follow, but they will flee from him because they do not know the voice of a stranger. So what is the true indications of a true sheep? They know the shepherd and the shepherd knows them. And how do the sheep know the shepherd? They know him because they know his voice. or they know his voice because they know him. And everyone of us in this room can attest to this. Your best friend, your mom, your dad, your loved ones, when you hear them speak, you know who it is. You don't even have to see them. They can be in the other room and you hear them speak and you say, that's my mom, or that's my dad, or that's my best pal, Bill. Because you recognize their what? Voice. And what he's saying, what Jesus is saying is, I know my sheep and my sheep know me. There is a spiritual bond between the shepherd and the sheep. They cannot be broken by this world. You see, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, I know me. Even as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay my life down for the sheep. Now, let's look here at verse 16. I have other sheep, and we'll have to finish with this today. This will be where we have to stop today, because we're gonna run out of time. We got started late, but it says, and 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. So at the end of time, Judgment day how many flocks are there gonna be one one flock and how many shepherds one? All right. So what is he talking about here? Remember the only people in this audience are Israelites are Jewish people He's speaking He's speaking to a group of Jews and this is what he said I have other sheep and They're not of this flock But I will go and I will gather them too, and then we will become one flock with one shepherd. So I use the example again of my personal church, with Marsh Island Baptist Church, right? We're one flock. But we're a part of a bigger flock, which is the body of Christ. So that means that for all true, regenerate, born-again, blood-bought children of God that are members of Whitmarsh Island Baptist Church, and all of the truly regenerated, born-again, blood-bought children of Independent Presbyterian Church downtown in Samantha on Bull Street, if they truly are regenerate, they are the seed, right? And we're all one what? One flock, one family. And you know what he said? There are other of my sheep that are scattered out there all around, and I must gather them too. And then we will become one flock with one shepherd. So he's talking to the Jews in particular. And what he's saying is this kingdom thing is way bigger than just your little nation. I've got people spread all over to all four corners from every tribe and every tongue and every nation. No, they didn't want to believe that at all. Yes. Sheep is there are believers. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. All right So 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 I should turn back to the left. We're gonna finish up with this today Matthew chapter 10 verses 5 & 6 This is actually where I was preaching from at my church this week Using Matthew 10 This is what we've been learning from but it says in Matthew 10 verses 5 & 6 Jesus is talking to his disciples and and he's about to send them out to go out and preach the gospel all around. And look what he said in verse five. These 12 Jesus sent out, you got it, Lorraine? Matthew 10, verse five. These 12 Jesus sent out after instructing them and said, do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter any of the cities of the Samaritans, but go rather to the what? Lost sheep of who? Of the house of Israel. So remember, when Jesus first came unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given. He was born in the city of David. He's a son of David. And he came as the Messiah of the people of Israel. And what's gonna happen after all of those 30 years of him being there, living in Israel, being a Jew? The Israelites are gonna reject him, and then what's gonna happen? Upon their rejection, that message is gonna then turn to the Gentiles. All right, now watch. Turn back to your right to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. And this is Paul talking in Romans chapter one and verse 16. is what he says for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek or to the Gentile the Jew or the Greek that word Greek is other than Jews all right so it is the power of God of salvation to everyone who believes you know everyone who believes this all of the believing ones. You know where we hear that verse again? For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. So this whoever believes, the gospel is the power of salvation to all of the believing ones. To the Jew first, And then to the Greek. You see what happened? Paul is showing us that God's salvation plan, it came first to where? To the nation of Israel. And then where did it go? To all of the world. The whole plan came through the nation of Israel. Now, the Bible actually teaches us that in the very last days, right before Jesus returns, that many of the children of Israel are going to be provoked to jealousy. It means that a lot of Jewish people are going to be, wait a minute, that's our Messiah. You see what that means? That was my next question. Is there a point where Israel is going to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior? Paul says that all of Israel will be saved. Well, what is all of Israel? All of the people of God. Right. So in the end, nobody's going to slip through the cracks and not get saved. But the plan is go to the Jews. The Jews reject him. the Gentiles receive the message and then the Jews are going to be provoked to jealousy and turn back to the Messiah because they're going to be like, we missed him. You got him. You got our Messiah. And they're going to turn and come back into the fold. So what are they now? They're just like all of our lost family and friends who were out there. They're lost sheep. They're scattered. And what is the good shepherd doing? He's bringing them in slowly, but surely he's, winning his flock back to himself. He's going out and he's gathering. And so every time you go to a church and you see a pastor in a pulpit, if he's a real pastor, he's preaching the gospel. Why? Because it is through the proclamation of the gospel that God will draw all of his sheep to himself. How do we know that? Because he said, I'm the good shepherd, my sheep know me, and I know them. They know my voice, and when I call, they what? They come. And so it's our job not to go around and, you know, Tie a sheep by the neck and drag him to church. That's not our job. Matter of fact, it's not even our job to pick out who. It's not even, no, it's not your job. It's not your job to pick out who the sheeps and goats are either. Did you know that? It's not for me to determine what I got. There's no way that guy will ever be a believer. It's my job. You never know. So what do we do? we simply share the promises with all and then what does God do through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Proclaiming of the word he draws his people unto himself. All right, so Again, one more thing and then we're done Romans 10. That's just a couple pages over right Romans 10 verses 11 through 13 It says this For with the heart A person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation. For the Scriptures say, whoever believes upon him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is the Lord of all. That's comforting. Abounding in riches for all who call on his name, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So it's not a matter of your ethnicity. It's not a matter of your DNA or your genetics. It's not a matter of you being of the family of Adam. It is the ones who are born again that believe. It is the ones who are called by God and hear His voice that come to them. Where is it that there's no difference? Verse 12. There's no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is the Lord of all abounding, for the same Lord is the Lord of all abounding in riches for all who call upon His name. So what are we to do? Call upon the name of the Lord and we will be saved. And you know who it is that calls upon the name of the Lord? His sheep. Why do they call? Because they hear. They call because they hear. What do they hear? The Good Shepherd's voice. And what do the sheep do? And what do the sheep do? Have you ever heard a sheep when they're stuck in a pen and all the other sheep... And so when the gospel is proclaimed, guess what's gonna happen? His sheep are gonna hear his voice and they're gonna come. And so it's not up to me to go around and pick out who the sheep are and who are the goats. That's not my job. It's not my job to hook a rope around their neck and drag them in because they'll come kicking and screaming and then as soon as I take the rope off, what do they do? Run right back out again. My job, your job, fellow believers Is to let people know about the Shepherd To let them know who he is. Let them hear his voice and the only way they're going to hear his voice Is through his word The only way they're going to hear his voice is through his word You can't go out and just can't you can't go and so just going around and tell people you know what? I used to be a drunk and alcoholic and Jesus saved me and now I'm sober see I That's not gonna save anybody. You have to have scripture to back that up. It's the scriptures. It's come unto me all of you that are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Now you can definitely say he's giving me rest like I was living the wrong way and he saved me and he's forgiven me. That's perfect, perfectly fine. But it's not our personal testimonies that save anybody. No. It's the word of God. It's the promise, it's the voice of the shepherd that brings salvation. Amen. Father, thank you for this time we had together. We love you. We thank you for being our good shepherd. We thank you for giving us the ears to hear and hearts to believe. And we pray for all of our family and loved ones who have yet to come to know you, that you will give us the strength and the willingness to share with our neighbors, with our loved ones, with all around us the beauty of who you are, our God and our King. In Christ's name we pray, amen.