Sermons
800017_0569
on in our study together. I've asked Aaron to read this morning's scripture. It's the first 21 verses of John chapter 10. Well, out of respect for God's word, let's go ahead and stand. And I'll have Aaron go ahead and read for us. John 10, 1 to 21. Very truly, I tell you Pharisees. Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought them out on all on his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger. In fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All those who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of the sheep. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to 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 the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father. The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, he is demon possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him? But the others said, these are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Very good. Thank you so much, Aaron. Let's go ahead and sit down at tables. We'll have English speakers on the right-hand side of the room and Chinese speaking. If you'd like to sit at a table, why don't you come to this side of the room? You're left my right. OK, English speakers over here. English speakers on the right side of the room sitting around the table. Chinese speakers on the left side of the room. And we have a couple questions for you. Or one question. Have one question for you to share. This is just an opportunity for you to introduce yourselves to one another and enjoy each other's company, OK? You do this? Very good. And we'll do the best we can to just be sure we hear each other, OK? Aaron, maybe you could join on the English side. The question I've got for us this morning for around your tables. Describe a time when you were a good follower. Describe a time when you were a good follower or describe a time when you were in a leadership position and someone in the group was a good follower, OK? My example, my example, I was in a work situation a few months ago. My boss threw out an idea to present a number, some numbers differently. I had a good idea on what to do, what he was looking for. And so by the end of the day, I was able to send him a finished product that incorporated what he was thinking about. So my example for just being a good follower, that's kind of how it worked. I think he was appreciative of that. So a few folks could share something similar around the table as best you can. Just take a minute, share something about a time when you were a good follower. OK, thank you for participating in that. During that little exercise, let's go ahead and find a seat that you're comfortable in. Oh, our dollars got to go back to work. Again, thank you all for participating in that discussion. Hopefully you learned something new about somebody. [LAUGHS] So these 21 verses Jesus talks about being a gate to the sheep, gate to the sheep pen. And then he also talks about being a shepherd, watches over the sheep, talks a little bit about being good shepherds, not good shepherds, or the hired hand. And then actually, at the end of this time, we'll talk about what it means to be a sheep. Got a question or two about a sheep. And we have communion this morning as well. Let's have a word of prayer as we begin our discussion. So Lord, thank you for this message recorded by John. Given through Jesus, may we have open ears, hearts, minds to hear your word spoken to us this morning. May we understand clearly the path, the journey, that you would have us to be on. Thank you for your presence in our midst, Lord. Pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So did you catch the question that we have here at the end? I'm starting at the end, verse 21. You see that on the screen, but others were said, these are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? So it was a couple of weeks ago that I was upfront here. Chapter 10 is a continuation of what we saw in John chapter nine. John chapter nine, if you recall our discussion, was the story of Jesus healing a blind beggar. Remember that story? The one thing we heard there, one of my favorite verses, one thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. There are various alternatives of that phrase, but that's just a real, I once was blind, but now I see. And what happened after that though? The quercies questioned him, questioned the blind beggar. Then they also questioned his neighbors, his parents, and eventually the Pharisees or Jewish leaders at the time kicked the guy out of the synagogue. They were so upset with him. At that point, the blind beggar, previously blind man, who was now previously blind beggar, has no association with neighbors, no association with the parents, no association with the church. The church has kicked him out, but Jesus finds him, gives him assurance, comforts him, joins in and creates the relationship between Jesus and the previously blind beggar. There's another part to this story that we talked about after that as well, and that is the division, the separation that is beginning to develop, or as we're in the middle of developing, between the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, and Jesus. We've seen that, and we continue to see that as we go through this Gospel of John. And so John concludes verse chapter nine. If you were blind, Jesus is saying if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see your guilt remains. So in verse 40, the Pharisees had talked about, we can see just fine, we're not blind people. Jesus replies this way, you claim you can see, but your guilt remains. And then Jesus goes on here with what we have in verse chapter 10, verses one and two. Very truly, I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate climbs in by some other way is he's a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, the sheep listen to his voice, he calls his own sheep by name, leads the sheep out. When he is brought out all of his own sheep, the shepherd, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. And then verse five, they will never follow a stranger. In fact, this is a sheep, sheep will never follow a stranger. In fact, they will run away from him or run away from the shepherd because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. Jesus used his figure speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Now, the Pharisees should have understood. This is an agricultural society. Sheep and shepherds are common in this area, but it's pretty clear the Pharisees have no understanding of what's going on. They're a little bit out of touch with the common person. They don't seem to understand it at all. So with that's our introduction. Let me also comment that we're in the middle of this Gospel of John. John talks about Jesus and highlights Jesus through these various talks and discourses and he's separating himself again from the Jewish leaders at the time. Jesus is making a number of IM statements claiming his messiahship, his deity. And he's doing it in a number of ways in John chapter eight or John in the Gospel of John. We've already read some of these and we will continue to read some of these as we go through John. But in John six, I am the red of life. I am the light of the world. We've heard that. Today we'll be talking, I am the gate. This is Jesus talking, I am the gate and I am the good shepherd, a couple more. Later on that we'll see in John. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine and even a few more. Very truly I tell you Jesus answered before Abraham was born. I am, I am, okay. And then in John 18, verses four and five, John 18, four and five. Jesus knowing that all that was going to happen to him went out and asked him, who is it that you want? This is in the garden of Gethsemane and Judas is coming with soldiers. Who is it that you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they said, I am he, Jesus was his response. So Jesus proclaiming very directly that he is the Messiah, the coming one that was to be expected. But back to our text. Jesus used this figure speech about the shepherds, the sheep being in the sheep gate. The Pharisees didn't understand what he was telling them. Use this figure speech. The language we're comfortable here in churches, parables. You know, so we're using the word parables. This is similar to a parable as recorded in the other three ospels is the language that is used for these kinds of situations, parables or this figure speech, basically just a story in the common days. So, but they're displaying or illustrating the spiritual truth. That's the essence of what Jesus is talking about here. So verses seven and eight, therefore Jesus said again, very truly, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life, might have it to the full. Now, Val and I had this gatekeeper and shepherding experience last year when we were at camp. Darla was actually a camp with us as well. All of us, kids, our kids, and then our four grandkids, Val and I, the two of us, were all staying in one caverns. Kind of neat, there's nine of us in this one cabin. The kids, our kids, grown up kids, our adult kids, have some time just to go out and they have a whole room set up where adults can just play games, just some board games, and let the grandkids and our grandkids rest in the caverns. Sleep 'cause it's nighttime. So the kids, our kids got to stay up late, grandkids are sleeping in the cabin. Val and I are also in the cabin with responsibilities for the grandkids, keeping them safe and under our control. Well, we all get to bed and we're all falling asleep. We all fall asleep, kids and grandkids, and Val and I, we're conked out. One of the grandkids decides to wake up. This happened last summer, gets up, calls out of their sleeping bag, and wanders out, goes out the cavern door, wanders down the steps and because the caverns are elevated, goes down the steps and finds where the adults are, shows up in where the adults are playing some games. Anyway, no problems, but Val and I clearly failed in our responsibilities as shepherds. Let me read you this other story. Another story about a little more of a modern day thing about a gatekeeper. This is a drama that took place on the slopes of Washington's Mount Rainier. May shed light on the meaning of what a good shepherd is. One Memorial Day weekend, a Christian dentist named James Redick was teaching his 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-olds on the joy of mountain hiking. A sudden storm came up, battering them with hurricane force winds and a thick, wet, sleet of snow. A blinding white owl made it impossible to see or move on the steep slopes. Redick, laboriously dug a trench with a mess kit. Those are things that you can use for eating off of. Then, tucks his children into sleeping bags away from the entrance. He covered the opening with a tarp, but the tarp kept blowing away, exposing this cave or the trench to the swirling snow outside. Redick found he had to lie directly across the opening using his own weight to hold down the edges of the tarp and therefore, thereby, his body protected his son and daughter from the howling wind. Well, two days pass. These four searchers finally notice the corner of a backpack protruding from the deep snow. They rushed to the side, hoping the snow-covered mountain would contain the three missing hikers. Inside, they found Billah Sharon and David Redick, the kids, very much alive, but the stiff body of their father lay against one wall of the snow cave. He had taken the cold spot in one searcher's word by using his own back as the outer wall. An image something like this must have filled the minds of Jesus's listeners as he describes a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Nothing, not ravaging cold, thieves or wolves, would come between a good shepherd and his sheep. A good shepherd would even die for their projection. Now, in these New Testament times, during the daylight hours, the sheep would graze throughout the countryside, wherever the shepherd would lead them, someplace where there would be some shade, there would be green grass, source of food, and source of water. But when it was dark, the shepherd would lead the sheep again to a cave or some type of enclosure where they could protect the sheep from outside forces or in and from the weather. Now, for us, maybe you can even think about rocks on the east side of Chico, remember those rock walls, something like that would be used to keep an enclosure around the sheep. And it provided protection, again, from thieves, robbers, wild animals, was the intent, and also some covering for the elements. But there would not be any door. There wouldn't be a gate, and so the shepherd would serve as the gate. You let the sheep in, let them go out. And the sheep had that freedom, apparently. But in the evening, there would be thieves and robbers. These are bad folks who would steal the sheep for themselves, just to eat or for selling. You know, for us, in today's context, I think, anything that would distract us from recognizing Jesus as the gate, as the gate, which is actually the door to eternal life, I think that would represent thieves and robbers for us in today's society. Love of money, right? Social status, pursuit of material goods, pursuit of education, pursuit of a good job, all of those kind of things, they could distract us from seeing Jesus for who He is, from distracting us from seeing the door that leads to eternal life. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you, Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 33. In this section again, all have come before me, thieves and robbers, but in verse 10, John records in Jesus saying, just the thief. Just the thief comes. The thief is Satan. Don't-- don't let yourself be fooled by that. It's Satan, who is the chief of all thieves and robbers. And then, verses 9 and 10, again, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in, go out, find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they might have life and have it to the full. Now, this is also reported-- or repeated, again, a little bit later, John, chapter 14, another familiar verse that we're familiar with. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is using this example of a gate, walking through the gate, walking through the door, as entrance to eternal life, for life eternal. Now, one of the verses I memorized when I was a college student, many, many years ago, was this John, 10, 10, very, very exciting verse for me. I am calm that they might have life and might have it more abundantly. That's actually King James' version, but that's how I memorized it. I'm pretty old. That's what we had back then, was that version, OK? But it's great. It's indeed true. You have eternal life. Your life opens up much-- it just becomes much more full. You don't have the worries, the anxieties of stress, just because you're sheep. And you know that you are following a good shepherd, one who will lead you, take care of you, lead you through food and water, provide protection when you need it. That's the purpose of the shepherd, and that's your role as a sheep. Now, I realize-- and I'm sympathetic-- life is complicated. Nowadays, there is stress and anxiety in life. We cannot deny that. But if we have passed through that gate, we have the shepherd, the great shepherd, the good shepherd, to watch over us. And we just need to remember that, to trust in our shepherd and to walk as sheep. Let's talk about this a little more. John chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, on the other hand, is not the good shepherd, does not own the sheep. He runs away. He abandons the sheep, the verse 13, the man runs away because his hired hand cares nothing for the sheep. So we knew this. Val and I, we at our-- in our prior lives, we've owned and operated some food service businesses. We worked hard to be present in the stores because we knew that being active in the stores would result in better customer service, better store operations. Now, we had good conscientious managers, but they were hired hands. They simply didn't have the investment, the emotional attachment to the businesses we had. That's just the way it is. So having a place to go for the sheep would be something that is a desirable thing. Took a pretty big effort to do this back in those days so that there were sometimes, many times, families would actually gather, would come together and build big sheep pens. And they would then allow their sheep, their different families, to be able to be kept in one place. But what that would allow them to do is just have one hired hand to be the shepherd, to be the gatekeeper for them. And the gatekeeper would be able to be watched over multiple flocks, the flocks of any different families. But Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. So the sheep would be in this big sheep pen in the evenings, all mixed together with sheeps of different family groups. But in the morning, the shepherds, the various shepherds for each of these family groups, would come and call out their sheep. And they would call them by name. Or they would whistle. Or they'd even have a little flute. They would play that. And the sheep would know. They would she know, hey, my shepherd is calling. Or that's not my shepherd. I'll wait, I'll wait. So that was the normal routine for the sheep and the shepherd back in those times. But this verse 14, I am a good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. That's a reference or a reminder for me for Psalms 147. He may have heard this one. He determines the number of stars and calls them each out by name. God is an amazing God, knows all the stars. He knows all of us, all of us by name. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus the Son, God the Father, very, very close. I have other sheep that are not of the sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice. There shall be one flock and one shepherd. So this is a reference. Jesus is making a reference that he will be shepherd for Gentiles as well. Not just the Jewish people, but the Gentiles as well. If you go back to verse four, brought out all of his own, I don't have this up here, but his sheep will follow him because they know his voice. Verse 16 says, kind of the same thing. They too will listen to my voice. They will listen to my voice. So this is a recognition by the sheep of who their shepherd is. We've just talked about that a little bit. You may be familiar with this if you're old enough like me to have your phones that do not have color ID. It did not have color ID. Somebody would call, you'd answer the phone, you'd say hello, the person on the other end would say hi, and you know who it was. If you knew the person really well, you would recognize them by their voice. So same kind of thing for the sheep and the shepherd. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life, only take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father. So we're emphasizing here clearly. Jesus is emphasizing that he's going to die for the sheep, willing to die for the sheep. We saw it in verse 11, verse 14, and now a third time in just this short section, verse 17. I lay down my life for the sheep, the sheep. Again, is people. He's talking about us, laying down his life. And then taking it up again, taking it up again, and verse 17, taking it up again, verse 18. It's just a reference. Prediction Jesus saying, I'm going to die for my sheep, but I'm going to be resurrected. Okay, I'm going to come back to life. 19 through 21, Jesus heard the words were again divided. Many of them said he is demon-possessed, raving mad, why listen to him? Others said these are not the same, and we started our talk with this. These are not sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? We even talked about this this morning in our Bible study time. Jesus, when we are confronted with Jesus, there is division, separation. There will cause a disagreement. Jesus, when we become into Jesus' presence, His presence demands a response. We cannot remain neutral when we come into Jesus' presence. There is division and disagreement at this time, back in New Testament times. There is division and disagreement nowadays, today's world, when we talk about and we bring up and we come into the presence of Jesus Christ. Let's just talk about the sheep for a minute. I think, what do you think? This is the other question I probably should have had in our discussion times. What do you think of a sheep? What's your image for a sheep? And sheep is singular and plural. By the way, it's one of those English words that singular and plural when we say sheep. But I think, what do you think of? I think a follower, a sheep, somebody who's content, follows this shepherd because the shepherd is a source of food, the source of water for the sheep, gives them direction, gives them protection. And so the question we have to ask ourselves, are we good sheep? Are we being good sheep? The other question then, if we ask that one, what are the characteristics of a bad sheep? One who maybe goes off on their own. And if we're a, have a bad sheep in our midst, we read this in Matthew chapter 18. If a man owns 100 sheep, this is Jesus talking. And one of them wanders away, well, he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off. And if he finds a truly, I tell you, he's happier about the one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off. In the same way your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. So the encouragement for us, don't get distracted. Jesus, God desperately wants you to be one of his good sheep. But I want to go back to verses three and four in our study today. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he is brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice, talked about that. But the key, the good shepherd leads his voice, leads the sheep by getting out in front of him. He doesn't drive the sheep. That's our relationship with Jesus. He is our shepherd. He will lead you and me to pasture, to protection, to food and water. Our job as sheep is simply to follow. Jesus will lead us, but again, he will not drive us. We can follow or we can sit and wait in the sheep pen. But that's not what Jesus calls us to do. Jesus will lead us to water and green pastures. He doesn't want us to be sitting and waiting or going off on our own. It's our job just to get up and follow Jesus. We must make, there's a decision that needs to be made, that a choice that we need to make, and that is to get up. It's the start of a new day, get up and follow. And so we want to close this morning with the question, are we being a good sheep and following the good shepherd? Or are we one of the sheep that just kind of wanders off? Or am I one of the sheep that doesn't get up? That doesn't get up and follow that just is sitting and waiting. So that's the question we've got for this morning. Let's pray, okay. Lord, this is indeed a privilege to be one of your sheep, be called and one of your sheep to be cared for and protected by you. Lord, we're grateful. And if we are one of those who have not acknowledged you as the gatekeeper, if we have not gone through your gate, we want to come before you even this morning and confess that and acknowledge that. And if you are one of those this morning here, let's follow me with this prayer and that will enter. You pass, that will allow you to pass through the gate and allow you for you to recognize that Jesus is your good shepherd. We say this, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn for my sins and invite you to come into my heart and life, I want to trust and follow you as my Lord, my Savior and my good shepherd. And that's our commitment, Lord, to be sheep who follow you as our shepherd. Thank you for this message and for this time of being together, pray this in Jesus' name, amen. (congregation clapping) [BLANK_AUDIO]